Blea Tarn, the next object, is on the heights between the Langdales and is enriched by the Pikes, Bonfell being in direct prospect,

"A quiet treeless nook, with two green fields,
A liquid pool that glittered in the sun,

And one bare dwelling; one abode, no more!"

At Wall End you look down into a scene composed of extraordinary grandeur and sublimity; a circuitous and level bottom of rich enclosures and wood straggling up the sides of the mountains, amidst which meanders the mountain-born Brathay, fed with the dews and storms of heaven. From Wall End the road passes across the valley to Mill Beck, whence is commenced the ascent of the Pikes.

In a fissure of the mountain, and enclosed by gloomy rocks, is Dungeon Gill, a considerable stream tumbling from a lofty precipice, between sides of impending and perpendicular rock, into a deep dark basin. From the summit a fragment of rock is suspended, forming a rude arch; the stranger will admire but shudder to pass this natural bridge.

Stickle Tarn is a circular piece of water in the bosom of the mountain, having soft turf on three fourths of its margin and reflecting in its calm surface the dark and towering crags of Pavey Ark which rise from its brink, and are perhaps the most magnificent range of rocks in the country: a good point to view them from is the outlet of the lake.

The summit of the mountain is crowned with three lofty pikes, all composed of perpendicular rocks and seeming like pillars to support the hea

vens.

" There the sun himself,

At the calm close of summer's longest day,
Rests his substantial orb ;-between those heights
And on the top of either pinnacle,

More keenly than elsewhere in night's blue vault,
Sparkle the stars, as of their station proud."

They appear to rise not far from each other, but it takes many a weary and toilsome step to travel from one to the other. The north-west pike is the lowest, but most regular and conical; the south is more broken and rugged; and the east, which is the highest and most easy of ascent, overlooks the rest, and all these mountain regions, rising in masses that are beheld with somewhat of terror. Langdale Head and Scafell Pikes are quite close. On the right are Great End in Borrowdale, Seatallor in Yewbarrow, Great Gable in Wathdale, Glaramara and Rosthwaite Cam, Grasmire, Grizedale and Causey Pikes, Lord's Seat, and the distant coast of Cumberland and Scotland. In a northern direction are seen Skiddaw, and on the left of him, Helvellyn, Fairfield, and Wansfell; Ambleside with Windermere, Loughrigg Tarn, Elter Water and Esthwaite Water.

After descending, the slate quarries at Thrang Crag are on many accounts worthy of inspection. The dependent chapel of Langdale, at the foot of Silver How, is small and neat, adapted to its congregation.

Elter Water Tarn has low marshy shores, frequently inundated by its waters; seen in conjunction with Windermere it however forms a beautiful picture. From the chapel the tourist may return either by Loughrigg Tarn to Ambleside, or round Loughrigg Fell, along the terrace road of which there are sweet views of Grasmere and Rydal;

both which waters should be seen from their western sides, although the carriage road, along their eastern banks, is replete with beauty. The inspection of the western sides ought to form a separate journey, the return to Ambleside being by

the east.

Bidding adieu for a season to Ambleside, highly gratified with it and the neighbouring scenery, we shall now proceed on the direct route to Keswick.

The road from Ambleside is adorned with beautiful trees amongst which the Lord's Oak is conspicuous. On the right is Rydal Hall, the large mansion of Lady le Fleming, embosomed in a shady park, on a gently rising eminence at the junction of two vales; behind it rise the steep and lofty Fairfield and the ravine of Rydal Head. The Rydal Waterfalls are shown by a domestic; the stranger is introduced into a summer-house, from which he suddenly beholds the Lower Fall forming an enchanting garden-scene. He is then conducted amidst groves of oaks, through whose opening glades peeps are obtained of the huge mountains above and the sweet vale below, to the Upper Fall which is fine in all seasons; the stream is much contracted and precipitated down a perpendicular wall of rock into a dark basin. From the bed of the river at the top of the lower cascade, this fall is a scene of considerable interest. The houses at Rydal are prettily covered with ivy, and other creepers, and the old fashioned, picturesque chimneys are retained: it is now also ornamented by a tasteful little chapel of the English style of architecture, and its hexagonal tower finished with pinnacles, is a beautiful object from various points. Above the hall is

Rydal Mount, the residence of William Wordsworth, Esq., looking down upon the vale of Ambleside and Windermere on the one side, and of Rydal on the other; the house and gardens are in the best taste, the latter having been laid out by the poet himself. Ivy Cottage on the road side, is the beautiful creation of the sportive genius of Dr. Tilbrooke, formerly a fellow of Peter House.

RYDAL WATER

Is a small lake, two miles from Ambleside, about one mile long and half a mile broad, and surrounded closely on all sides by lofty fells. The shores are picturesque, having a rocky promontory here and there, and bays in which the reeds wave over the floating flowers of the lily. Two wooded islets add to its beauty. Pike, perch, eels, and trout, are found in its waters, which have been at different times the graves of rash and thoughtless skaters.

At the White Moss Slate Quarry the new and old roads to Grasmere separate. Pursuing the new road, which winds through a narrow defile, having the Rothay on the left hid amidst a profusion of underwood, a sudden bend introduces the traveller to the Dale and Lake of Grasmere, on whose shores the road lies for a small distance.

GRASMERE.

This water is oval, and lies at the south end of an oval valley. Its dimensions are a mile one way, and half a mile the other. In its centre is a single island of verdant pasture rising boldly from the water in a fine swelling form. Being completely

encircled by mountains, a view of Grasmere from any direction is varied with bold and ennobling mountains, but those are the most awakening which include the church. There are two Inns in the dale, so that the tourist may stay here for a while, and examine its component features in detail.

The finest views are from the terrace-road under Loughrigg. Here the lake is at your feet, with the church and village scattered amid green enclosures at the base of Butterlip How; on the left are the beetling rocks and woods which ornament the front of Silver How. On the right Fairfield and Seat Sandal, and in front Helm Crag, with its rugged top surnamed the Lion and Lamb, beyond which is seen the road stretching through bare enclosures up to the Raise Gap. descent from Langdale gives very nearly the same features, and if I am not mistaken has been thus felicitously described by the master-hand of Wordsworth:

So we descend; and winding round a rock
Attain a point that showed the valley-stretched
In length before us; and not distant far,
Upon a rising ground a grey church-tower,
Whose battlements were screened by tufted trees.
And, tow'rds a crystal mere, that lay beyond
Among steep hills and woods embosomed, flowed
A copious stream with boldly-winding course;
Here traceable, there hidden-there again
To sight restored, and glittering in the sun.
On the stream's bank, and every where, appeared
Fair dwellings, single, or in social knots,
Some scattered o'er the level, others perched
On the hills' side, a cheerful quiet scene,
Now in its morning purity arrayed."

The

The approach from the Old Ambleside road extends the prospect into Easedale. The views on