Descending the hill, I prepared to retrace my steps,-satisfied with what I had seen of Borrowdale's mountains and defiles. A second view of the dale and hamlet of Grange confirmed the impressions which its beauty had before excited. Near the edge of it I passed a peasant cutting peats;-a fuel however which he said is little used by the villagers or any of the neighbouring inhabitants. Coals and wood, are chiefly burnt; and are prefered both for cheapness and useful

ness.

Near the town of Keswick, I was met by a buxom damsel who, with a face tinged with a bloom which Hebe might have envied, came bounding along, skipping a slack rope, and showing more of her legs in the exercise than comported with the most feminine modesty:-her hose I would have said, but this would have been a licence of speech on a par with a Highlander's knee-buckle. She paused on my passing, and dropt her head to conceal, as I thought, a blush; but, in this I was doubtless mistaken, for a moment after, she commenced again with an agility which would have done honour to Harlequin.

The public clock was striking eleven as I entered Keswick. The many satisfactions which I had experienced on my ramble rendered me in some degree insensible to its length and fatigue;-but on the whole I was nowise unwilling to take up for a while with other enjoyments, and suspend the gratification of gazing upon valleys and rocks and mountains for the substantial comforts and refreshing shelter of the Royal Oak.'

I had resolved yesterday upon ascending Helvellyn to-day should I have ascertained the attempt to be practicable;— but it is represented as attended with so much danger and labour, particularly at this season of the year, that I have abandoned the thought entirely. The chief difficulty is in the heavy clouds, which often suddenly come over its summit, rendering a safe return almost impossible. A year or

two ago, a strong experienced young man, well acquainted with the mountain, attempted a journey over it, and being overtaken in this manner, was unable to find his way down and perished. The justice of those representations I saw signally exemplified, on leaving the pass of Borrowdale. Thick mists suddenly rolled over the heights which I had just left, and in a few minutes completely concealed their summits. What enhances the danger in such an extremity is the number of precipices which occur at irregular intervals, down which a person is liable to fall, without being apprised a moment before of his danger.

To one contemplating the effect at a distance, there is something strikingly grand in the appearance which those clouds exhibit when investing the mountain tops. The face of the heavens has been seldom free from them during any part of the day;-and in returning from my morning's walk, I often lingered to behold them sweeping majestically along, and throwing their loose aerial drapery over the summits of the surrounding mountains.

But Keswick, as is well known, boasts other attractions than the charms of its landscape. It is distinguished by being the residence of Mr. S. the poet laureat; and a fitter place for wooing the 'coy muse,' he could not have selected. Her favourite Helicon did not offer a better: This gentleman is chief of a trio who constitute what is termed the Lake school of Poetry: their different but equally eccentric tastes, and brilliant genius, having introduced and given celebrity to, an order of composition of a peculiar and novel character. I had anticipated the satisfaction of a personal interview with Mr. S.; but on arriving in Keswick, was disappointed in learning that he was absent in London on the famous 'Wat Tyler' affair.

At one o'clock in company with a Swedish traveller, I left Keswick for Penrith, distant eighteen miles. Two miles from the former on the summit of a hill near the road, we

stopped to examine a Druidical remain. It is of an oval form; the greatest diameter being about 150 feet in length. The stones which compose the figure are chiefly standing; they are ranged at some distance apart, and are about six feet above the ground. It is probable, however, that they have sunk considerably, owing to their weight, and the long period in which they have remained in their present position. In the centre of the circle is a clump of small larches; and on one side is a massive flat stone, which an antiquary would doubtless have pointed out as the old altar. Instead, however, of the ferocious priests who once celebrated thereon the rites of their horrid superstition, and fattened the soil around with the blood of human victims, the only living creatures which we saw, on entering the area, were a few sheep, that were feeding peaceably upon the green sward.

Pursuing our route we often looked back upon the retiring vale of Keswick. Distance, as it softened, seemed to add new lovelines to its features. The rich meads of Newdale and St. Johnsdale, watered by the limpid Greta, which next appeared, pleased us very much. Saddleback, a huge mishapen lump of a mountain, soon came in sight. Though possessing little beauty in its general aspect, in point of magnitude it yields to none of the English mountains, with the exception of Helvellyn. Our road conducted us along its base. Near Threlkeld, we noticed the effects of the bursting of a surcharged thunder cloud:-the water having committed frightful ravages in its descent into the valey. Approaching Penrith we traversed some extensive downs; covered, as usual, by fine flocks of sheep. Saddleback, as we receded from it, looked bolder than on a first view. Its top is naked, a circumstance which rather adds to its grandeur, instead of diminishing it. It shows more distinctly its outline; and in one or two points of view discloses with tolerably good effect the stupendous masses of rocks which crown its summit.

Near the town of Penrith are the extensive ruins of a castle. It is constructed of red free stone, which, a short distance off, resembles brick. Its appearance, of course, is very indifferent; and it is destitute moreover of ivy, moss and other usual mourning habiliments of English castle ruins.To an American, the frequency of those ruins is truly astonishing. England especially abounds with them; and wherever the traveller goes, he is sure to meet with them. Sometimes, and particuliarly in certain stages of decay, they greatly embellish the landscape. Abbey ruins also, are occasionally seen; and they form a feature entirely distinct, but equally picturesque with the former. An American, however, whatever satisfaction there may be to the eye, in surveying these objects, has little reason to regret the want of them in his own country. They are all the mournful monuments of the mutations of human prosperity;-and many of them to an Englishman, are standing remembrancers of events which he could gladly consign to oblivion.-The finest of these ruins, whether castle or abbey, which the tourist meets with in his rambles through this country, he owes to the violence of the two most tyrannic rulers, who ever governed England; the former to the cannon of Cromwell, and the latter to the rapacity of Henry 8th.

Penrith is rather a mean looking town. The red freestone of which its houses are built, gives it a dingy and disagreeable appearance; although it answers better for houses than for castles. It is an ancient town, and was formerly claimed and held by the Scots. The English however, at length succeeded, not only in disputing their title to it, but in removing their border thirty miles further north.

The river Emont flows a short distance from the town. While dinner was preparing we walked to it, and visited also the frontier village of Westmoreland;—the river forming the boundary line here between the counties of Cumberland and W. On the north bank of the Emont are two spacious caves,

of narrow and difficult entrance, dug from the solid rock, which it is supposed were intended as places of safety during the incursions of the Scots. However this may be, the latter also have found it convenient to avail themselves of similar precautions in times of English invasions. Not long since, visiting the domain of Roslin, I explored those caverns which have been excavated with incredible labour, from a rock which overhangs the north Esk, about a mile distant from the castle. The largest is ninety feet long, and communicates with the other cave, the outer entrance being from the face of the rock towards the river by a ladder which was drawn up and let down at pleasure. Those caverns, it is reported, have often afforded shelter to the family and weaker tenantry of Roslin. Happy it is for the cause of humanity, as well as for the interests of the two kingdoms, that neither these, nor other mutual defences are requisite for the security of their respective inhabitants;-that one common throb of national feeling beats responsive in every bosom;-and that the stranger now searches uncertainly for the border line, which formerly was traced in blood from Berwick bay to the Frith of Solway.

May 6th.-Adjoining Penrith, is an high hill which commands an excellent view of the country, for a wide circuit. The morning proving uncommonly clear I was induced at an early hour to ascend it, and was amply repaid for the exertion. The hill stands within a park, or rather, chase, belonging to the Earl of Lonsdale. Formerly, it served as a look-out, and was a very important station for that purpose. On its summit is a watch tower in almost entire preservation. It is constructed with immensely thick walls, through which are a few loopholes, the only inlets of light, excepting at the door-entrance. I noticed on one of the stones the date of 1719;-but its actual erection was probably at a much earlier period. Similar towers are found at intervals along the whole extent of the Scotch and English marches.