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Journal continued. 1 Oct: 1769.
The figure of Ulz-water nothing resembles that laid down in our maps: it is 9 miles long, & (at widest)
under a mile in breadth. after extending itself 3 m: & ½ in a line to S: W: it turns at the foot of Place-Fell, almost due West, and is here not twice the breadth of the Thames at London. it is soon again interrupted by the
roots of Helvellyn, a lofty & very rugged mountain, & spreading again turns off to S: E:, & is lost
among the deep recesses of the hills. to this second turning I pursued my way about four miles along its borders beyond a village
scatter'd among trees & call'd Water-malloch,
in a pleasant grave day, perfectly calm & warm, but without a gleam of sunshine: then the sky
seeming to thicken, the valley to grow more desolate, & evening drawing on, I return'd by the way I came to Penrith.
Oct: 2. Wd at S: E:, sky clearing, Cross-fell misty, but the outline of the other hills very distinct. set
out at 10 for Keswick, by the road we went in 1767. saw Greystock-town & castle to the right, wch lie only 3 miles (over the Fells) from Ulz-water. pass'd
through Penradock
& Threlcot
at the feet of Saddleback, whose furrow'd sides were gilt by the noon-day
Sun, while its brow appear'd of a sad purple from the shadow of the clouds, as they sail'd slowly by it. the broad & green valley
of Gardies and Low-side, with a swift stream glittering among the cottages & meadows
lay to the left; & the much finer (but narrower) valley of St John's opening into it: Hill-top the large, tho' low, mansion of the Gaskarths, now a Farm-house, seated on an
eminence among woods under a steep fell, was what appear'd the most conspicuous, & beside it a great rock like some antient tower
nodding to its fall. pass'd by the side of Skiddaw & its cub call'd Latter-rig,
& saw from an eminence at two miles distance the Vale of Elysium in all its verdure, the sun
then playing on the bosom of the lake, & lighting up all the mountains with its lustre.
Dined by two o'clock at the Queen's Head, & then straggled out alone to the Parsonage, fell down on my
back across a dirty lane with my glass open in one hand, but broke only my knuckles: stay'd nevertheless, & saw the sun set in all
its glory.
Oct: 3. Wd at S: E:, a heavenly day. rose at seven, & walk'd out under the conduct of my Landlord to Borrodale. the grass was cover'd with a hoar-frost, wch soon melted, & exhaled in a thin blewish
smoke. cross'd the meadows obliquely, catching a diversity of views among the hills over the lake & islands, & changing
prospect at every ten paces, left Cockshut & Castle-hill (wch we formerly mounted) behind me, & drew
near the foot of Walla-crag, whose bare & rocky brow, cut perpendicularly down above 400 feet, as I guess,
awefully overlooks the way: our path here tends to the left, & the ground gently rising, & cover'd with a glade of scattering
trees & bushes on the very margin of the water, opens both ways the most delicious view, that my eyes ever beheld. behind you are
the magnificent heights of Walla-crag; opposite lie the thick hanging woods of Ld Egremont, & Newland-valley with green & smiling fields embosom'd in the dark cliffs;
to the left the jaws of Borodale, with that turbulent Chaos of mountain behind mountain roll'd in confusion;
beneath you, & stretching far away to the right, the shining purity of the Lake, just ruffled by the breeze
enough to shew it is alive, reflecting rocks, woods, fields, & inverted tops of mountains, with the white buildings of Keswick, Crosthwait-church, & Skiddaw for a back-ground at distance. oh Doctor! I never
wish'd more for you; & pray think, how the glass played its part in such a spot, wch is called Carf-close-reeds: I chuse to set down these barbarous names, that any body may enquire on the place, & easily find the
particular station, that I mean. this scene continues to Barrow-gate, & a little farther, passing a brook
called Barrow-beck, we enter'd Borodale. the crags, named Lodoor-banks now begin to impend terribly over your way; & more terribly, when you hear, that three years since an immense
mass of rock tumbled at once from the brow, & bar'd all access to the dale (for this is the only road) till they could work their
way thro' it. luckily no one was passing at the time of this fall; but down the side of the mountain & far into the lake lie
dispersed the huge fragments of this ruin in all shapes & in all directions. something farther we turn'd aside into a coppice,
ascending a little in front of Lodoor water-fall. the height appears to be about 200 feet, the quantity of
water not great, tho' (these three days excepted) it had rain'd daily in the hills for near two months before: but then the stream was
nobly broken, leaping from rock to rock, & foaming with fury. on one side a towering crag, that spired up to equal, if not
overtop, the neighbouring cliffs (this lay all in shade & darkness) on the other hand a rounder broader projecting hill
shag'd with wood & illumined by the sun, wch glanced sideways on the upper part of the cataract.
the force of the water wearing a deep channel in the ground hurries away to join the lake. we descended again, & passed the stream
over a rude bridge. soon after we came under Gowder-crag, a hill more formidable to the eye & to the
apprehension than that of Lodoor; the rocks atop, deep-cloven perpendicularly by the rains, hanging loose &
nodding forwards, seem just starting from their base in shivers: the whole way down & the road on both sides is strew'd with piles
of the fragments strangely thrown across each other & of a dreadful bulk. the place reminds one of those passes in the Alps, where
the Guides tell you to move on with speed, & say nothing, lest the agitation of the air should loosen the snows above, & bring
down a mass, that would overwhelm a caravan. I took their counsel here and hasten'd on in silence.
Non ragioniam di lor; ma guarda, e passa!
Have you lost the former part of my journal? it was dated from Aston, 18 Oct:. How does Stonhewer doe? will his Father's condition allow him to return as yet? I beg my respects to all the family at
Old-Park, & am ever