which will occasionally interrupt the prospect till he arrives at Skelgill, but affording now and then beautiful openings to the fells of Rydal, the luxuriant vale of Ambleside, and to the Langdale pikes, between which and the margin of the lake, are scattered below the steeps of Loughrigg, the Clappersgate houses and the Brathays: the views down the lake towards Bowness, and the islands, from the craggy elevations at Genkin Wood, and Cumpston Scar, from amongst respectably grown trees, are exquisite; and Claude himself would have been delighted with such sights.

A little short of Skelgill, a peat road on the left leads up the mountains to the pike of Wansfell, the additional ascent to which will be noticed amongst a variety of excursions to be made from Ambleside.

From Higher Skelgill, which is the first of the two from Ambleside, there is an easy descent to Lower Skelgill. The foot road to the village of Troutbeck is continued from the brook between the houses on the left, which, though of considerable elevation, is not equal in interest to that by Lower Skelgill.

There is, a little to the north of Lower Skelgill, a most correct scene of the islands on Windermere, with Bowness and the neighbouring seats on the left, and on the right the ferry and station houses. The foot of Furness fell on the same side, beautifully embays the lake, from which it rises in elegant slopes to a desirable de

gree of elevation. The island house, at a mo. derate distance, always adds a cheerfulness to the scene, and is here a good object, being of a greater height than any of the neighbouring trees; this island and the ferry-house point, appear from Skelgill as one grand projecting promontory from the main land, the intervening waters not being visible; but the Bowness ferry point, with its pretty ornaments, jutting far into the water, are seen distinctly, with Storrs, the seat of John Bolton, Esq., and the summer-house at the end of a narrow stripe of land stretching far into the lake, a considerable portion of which is seen to the south of Storrs-Gummer's How, in lines of beauty, closes the scene: the fore-ground to this charming view is composed of ancient fir and ash trees, from which, all the way to the lake, the woodlands are in admirable distribution. Lower Skelgill has been fitted up as a genteel residence.

Another view down the lake, made something south of Lower Skeigill, has furnished a subject (No. 7) of the small etchings.

The rocky promontory called Holm point, about half a mile from the head of the lake, is a delightful object from the many desirable stations between Lower Skelgill and the Low Wood Inn, on looking towards the north-west.

From all the above stations to the lake, the woods extend over the irregular surface of the land in the most pleasing and interesting va

riety of combinations; the buildings at Clappersgate and Brathay, so often mentioned before, appear most happily situate. New and old Bra-. thay, amidst wooded bowers, are seen over the margin of the richly embayed coast of the lake, from which the rocky knolls, crowned with trees, spread in the sweetest variety. Beyond the Brathays, rising grounds are succeeded by Lingmell and other aspiring heights, but out-topped by the pikes of Langdale and Bowfell; between Bowfell and Langdale pikes, the lofty summits between Borrowdale and Wastdale close the

scene.

There is no want of fore-ground in the above district: but those fore-grounds are trees, which with a little scolastic management, will exhibit on paper many rare assemblages.

Rocks, though sturdy materials, are often more accommodating than trees, for there are many scenes of mountains known to the writer, which are particularly profuse in such accommodation.

Though it would be folly to go to nature without the preparatory rules of art, yet the head full of those rules, what is the sort of nature to which both head and hand will be most beneficially taken? not in the opinion of the writer to a wooded country, either mountainous or flat, but to one of mere mountains, rocks, stones, and waters, where there is not "an oak with one green leaf upon it." Here let him apply his rules of art in the study of untutored

nature, and having learnt its mode of management, he may proceed not only to the study of the leaf, but to the sparingly leafed tree, to the group, to the forest, and to the combination of all with the majestic wilds of nature.

A tangled road will presently conduct the traveller from Lower Skelgill to the more commodious one between Troutbeck and Low Wood; this road descends steeply to the inn, affording occasional views of the head of the lake and the fells of Langdale.

Troutbeck and Troutbeck Bridge.

The road to Troutbeck leaves that to Kendal about two hundred yards from the Low Wood Inn, and about two hundred yards more upon this deviation, in a field to the right, is a place where

No. VII.

Windermere taken near Low Wood

May be seen. This view is over woods to the lake, on the opposite side of which appears Brathay Hall, the Langdale pikes, and in more remote distance the Borrowdale mountains give a fine finish to the scene.