sublime. But though Windermere, as a whole, is infinitely superior to Bassenthwaite; it is not equal in sublimity to Wast Water, Ulls Water, Haws Water, Derwent Water, and some other lakes; and though the highest mountain in England, and some others not much inferior in altitude, can be seen from Windermere, they are generally so remote as to be softened down into beauty. Can any one view these splendid scenes and rationally wish to contemplate the boasted prospects of other countries, unless indeed it be for the purpose of learning duly to appreciate those they may enjoy in England; for it is now an ascertained fact that the many essentials to the perfection of landscape are here more variously and happily congregated than in any other so limited a district in the known world.-Even in other parts of this island, and in the sister kingdom, where the hand of nature has been liberal to her votaries, that liberality has been so partially extended, as not unfrequently to detach their rarities by immense inhospitable moorlands, which can serve the anxious traveller in no other way than to render more charming by contrast the coyness of the courted beauties. "Far sought and dear bought is good for ladies," an adage, old but true, or why would such multitudes leave their own romantic vales to view, in sun burnt beauty, the spriggeries and frosty mountains of the Continent, when we may say, in the language of Goldsmith “Whatever blooms in torrid tracks appear Whose bright succession decks the varied year, Whatever sweets salute the northern sky The magnificent wilds of Ennerdale, Wastdale, and Eskdale, fill the mind with a reverential melancholy; but too long dwelt upon, a change of scene becomes necessary.Ulls Water is bounded by surfaces not dissimilar to those of the more western mountains, but trees, in voluptuous riotings, are so multifariously spread over those surfaces as to give one uniform appearance of beautiful sublimity. The natives of these parts, are familiar from infancy with the great scenes of nature: they do not understand, nor have they been taught to enjoy them: generally speaking, they feel neither pain nor pleasure, while encircled by them'; but place these mountaineers in towns, and if sensations, unconnected with anxiety for money getting, should arise, a wish to revisit their native dales, to which, by the power of contrast, they have learned to attach some value, will not fail to be one of them. Many, on the other hand, who come from flat countries, after a time, wish for a temporary retreat from romantic grandeur, though a desire to enjoy it again is soon experienced. Persons who feel thus, will find Ambleside and Keswick severally possess these relieving flats, in views of the outlets of Bassenthwaite and Windermere. If Windermere and Derwent Water have any pretensions over Ulls Water, it is in the facility by which a change of scene may be attained. It may be said that the Penrith aspect at Ulls Water is of the humbly beautiful, but the favourite stations are considerably removed from the points presenting grandeur: even the Moss House scene, towards its outlet, has not any neighbouring view up the lake, excepting that from the road, which is of the Hartshope mountains, a scene greatly inferior to those where St. Sunday Crag is a prominent feature. Even at Brow Top, a quarter of a mile from Keswick, the savage features of Borrowdale and the flats of Bassenthwaite, may be seen from the same spot, but not so advantageously as from Castlerigg, a mile from Keswick; and scarcely from any other place, in so divine a contrast, as by ascending (after entering Barrow Common from Keswick) the skirts of the wood on the left, to such a point, as by looking towards the foot of Bassenthwaite, Derwent Water, with two of its islands, is seen, succeeded by a multitude of wooded inclosures in prolific cultivation, the lake of Bassenthwaite, in agreeable tranquillity, and beyond it, a distance of easy swelling lines; while, on the left, the head of the lake, with the sublime mountains of Wastdale, are seen tower ing over the rugged "jaws of Borrowdale" and Barrow. But Windermere, while carrying the eye to an horizontal distance, favours it with one of the most delightful scenes in nature, as observed from the road or fields between Low Wood and Troutbeck; and there are several places in that neighbourhood where this sweet scene which is over the great island, and that of the Langdale Pikes, may be observed from the same stand: the former is a complete assemblage of delicate beauties; and the other a mixed scene of beauty and remote sublimity. As a place for study, Ambleside has for years been much admired by amateurs and artists. Its neighbourhood abounds not only in well combined wholes, but in valuable detached parts for the embellishment or the composition of landscape. The sublimes of Patterdale and Hartshope, and the best parts of Ulls Water are not far removed from Ambleside, and are more conveniently visited from that village than from any other primary station in the country. The party proceeding in the boat from Purse Bay, may be landed where they first entered it; or may return by Blea Wyke to the road on the edge of the common, from which the views into Grisedale and Glenridden are singularly interesting. The road leaves on the right, the modern house called Side, (formerly the residence of Charles Luff, Esq.), and on the left, the slate quarry called Place Fell Quarry; it then passes the farm called Broad How, where the view towards Hartshope is grand and impressive; here Goldrill Bridge is in sight, which the traveller may do well to cross for a trout, mountain mutton, and ham feast, at the inn. Goldrill Bridge is a picturesque object, and the mountains, in every direction, are excellent backgrounds to it; there is likewise a foot path from Side over a pleasant field to Goldrill Bridge. As the Place Fell Quarry is only about half a mile from the inn, it may not be an object unworthy attention, particularly, as the terrace formed by the excavated waste, presents one of the finest half circles about the head of Ulls Water. When the waters of the lake are too turbulent to be navigated, this quarry and the walk from it to Silvery Bay, will be highly gratifying, though not so much varied as the boat excursion, and the views obtained by landing from it on both sides of the lake. From the slate quarry the party may walk on the path direct to Silvery Bay, and return from it according to the foregoing directions. The only carriage road from Powley Bridge to Patterdale, is that which passes Water Millock and Lyulph's Tower, and has been already described; but there is a horse road up the southern side of the lake under Swarth Fell |