To see Lowther Castle to advantage, the traveller should walk along the river bank from the bridge at Brougham Hall to Askham, and then ascend the steep bank of red sandstone, overshadowed by trees, to the park of Lowther Castle.

The grounds here are very fine, especially the terrace, which affords a noble walk. It is very elevated; broad, mossy, shady, breezy, and overlooking a considerable extent of country, some of which is fertile plain, and some a preparation for entrance upon the mountain district within. The most remarkable feature of this landscape is perhaps the hollow, within which lies Hawes Water. The park has some fine old trees; and the number and size of the yews in the grounds will strike the stranger. But great damage was caused in these woods by the extraordinary hurricane of 1839, which broke its way straight through, levelling everything in its path. On the road from Askham to Bampton the high grounds from Lowther present on the left a nearly straight line of great elevation, along which runs the park wall, almost to the extremity of the promontory. From a distance it looks the most enviable position for a park that can be imagined.

About five miles from Askham lies Hawes Water, a small lake, but of great beauty. It is little more than three miles long, and about half a mile broad. One side is richly wooded; the other nearly bare; and two bold promontories threaten to cut it in two, in one part, where the passage is only two or three hundred yards wide. Round the head of the lake cluster the great mountains of Harter Fell, High-street, Kidsey Pike, and others, leaving space among their skirts for the exquisite little valley of Mardale. Those who are able to obtain one of Lord Lonsdale's boats for the traverse of the lake may think themselves fortunate; for this is, of course, the most perfect way of seeing the surroundings of so small a sheet of water: and all other persons are deprived of the means of doing so. There are some good houses on the shores, and at the further end; but the occupants who live on the very brink are not allowed to keep any sort of boat. His lordship's boats are to be had for the asking, it is declared; but there is doubt, of course, about people being on the spot when the boat is wanted: and it must be bespoken at Askham, and all this is something different from the ordinary facility of obtaining a boat at once, wherever there are inhabitants. The walk, however, is easy and agreeable enough,by a good road which runs along the western bank.

The crags which are heaped or sprinkled about the head of the lake are extremely fine. They jut out from the mountain side, or stand alone on the green slopes, or collect into miniature mountain clusters, which shelter tiny dells, whence the sheep send forth their bleat. There is a white house conspicuous at the head of the lake, which must not, under penalty of disappointment, be mistaken by the tired traveller for the Mardale Inn. The inn at Mardale Green is a full mile from the water; and sweet is the passage to it, if the walker be not too weary. The path winds through the levels, round the bases of the knolls, past the ruins of the old church, and among snug little farms, while at one extremity of the dale is the lake, and the other is closed in by the pass to Kentmere and Sleddale, and the great Pikes tower on either hand. The stream which gushes here and pauses there, as it passes among rough stones or through a green meadow, comes down from Small Water, reinforced by a brook from Blea Water on High-street, which joins the other a little above Mardale.

The hostess at Mardale Green Inn will make her guests comfortable with homely food and a clean bed: and the host will, if necessary, act as guide up the passes.

The traveller may make his choice of three ways out by the Pass of Nanbield. He may take a turn to the left before reaching Small Water, and go down into Long Sleddale,-to which we know of no sufficient inducement, unless it be that the way is practicable for a horse, which the others are not: or he may ascend, by the pretty Blea Tarn, the slope of High-street on the right, see where the Roman road ran along its ridge, and descend into Troutbeck: or he may go forward past Small Water, leaving High-street unvisited on the right, and drop into Kentmere, study its character as he proceeds down its length, and than strike over the fells to the right into Troutbeck. His choice will be much determined by weather, of course: and we wish him something more of a choice than was permitted to us lately by a wind which laid us flat on the summit of the pass, and made all thought of High-street quite out of the question.

There is no difficulty in the ascent from Mardale Green; but the traveller indulges in frequent rests, for the sake of looking back upon the singularly-secluded valley, with its winding stream, its faintlymarked track, and its little inn, recognised to the last by the sycamores

and poplars which overshadow its roof and rustle before the door. Then he comes to the hollow where lies the tarn,-Small Water. Here he will rest again, sitting among scattered or shelving rocks, and drinking from this pure mountain basin. Arrived at the top, he loses sight of Mardale and greets Kentmere almost at the same moment. The dale behind is wild as any recess in the district: while before him lies a valley whose grandeur is all at the upper end; and which spreads out and becomes shallower with every mile of its recession from the mountain cluster which he is now about to leave.

When he has gone down a mile, he finds that he is travelling on one side of the Tongue of Kentmere,—the projection which, in this and some other valleys, splits the head of the dale into a fork. When he arrives at the chapel, he finds that there is a carriage road which would lead him forth to Staveley and Kendal. But he is going over into Troutbeck: so he turns up to the right, and pursues the broad zigzag track which leads over the fell, till Troutbeck opens beneath him on the other side. Before beginning the ascent, however, he will note Kentmere Hall,-the birthplace of Bernard Gilpin, in 1517. If familiar with the old descriptions of the district, he will look for Kentmere Tarn, and wonder to see no trace of it. It is drained away; and fertile fields now occupy the place of the swamp, reeds, and shallow waters, which he might have seen but a few years ago. While this tarn existed, the mills at Kendal were very irregularly supplied with water. Now, when the streams are collected in a reservoir which the traveller sees in coming down from the Pass of Nanbield, and the intercepting tarn is done away with, the flow of water no longer fails.

He descends into Troutbeck by the road over Applethwaite Common, which brings him down upon the chapel and the bridge, in the very depth of the deep valley of Troutbeck. Or, if he likes to drop down at once, so as to alight in the dale at the extremity of Troutbeck Tongue, he will enjoy the walk along the whole length of this charming valley,among its old-fashioned farmsteads, and primitive aspects of every kind. He must be careful to cross the beck, and proceed on the western side of the valley, if, as we must suppose, his object is to reach Lowwood Inn or Ambleside. If he means to make Bowness his resting-place, he may keep on the eastern side of the stream, and follow the road.

From the western road, there are exquisite views, now of Troutbeck

Tongue; next, of the deep levels through which winds the beck, peopled with trout, and therefore sought by the angler: next, of the chapel and bridge below; and then, when the road has wound some way over the boundary hills, of Windermere in almost its whole extent. The country people will tell him that "this is thought one of the most handsomest views in these parts,-especially at the back-end of the year." It is always so "handsome," whether in the vivid green of spring, or the deep lustre and shadows of summer, or the radiant woodland hues of autumn, or the solemn lights of a wintry sunset, that we could make no choice among the four seasons. Has any one who wonders at this seen this view when there was a bar of red-hot snow on the ridge of Wansfell, and the islands lay purple in the crystal lake,-the Calgarth woods standing so still as that not a single twig let fall its burden of snow? If not, let him not wonder that the residents of the district hesitate between its winter and its summer charms.

The traveller cannot now miss his way down to the high-road from Kendal to Ambleside, which he will join at a short distance from Lowwood Inn. It will generally be found most convenient to visit Hawes Water from Penrith by way of Eamont Bridge; turning to the right at Arthur's Round Table, to Askham 5 miles; thence by Helton, and Butterswick, to Bampton nearly five more. From many parts of the road, the Castle and woods of Lowther, with the lofty limestone rocks of Knife Scar, are conspicuous objects.

Leaving Bampton Grange with its church on the left hand, two miles more bring us in sight of Hawes Water.

Strangers commencing their tour of the lakes at Penrith, may go first to Hawes Water, either returning to Penrith or to Pooley Bridge; then by Ullswater to Patterdale, and over Kirkstone to Ambleside, Windermere, Coniston, Langdale, Rydal, and Grasmere, and over Dunmael Rise to Keswick, from whence, after having made their tours of observation, the tourists may return by way of Threlkeld to Penrith; or they may reverse the tour by driving first to Keswick, and conclude with Ullswater or Hawes Water.

This latter route presents so many advantages in point of scenery and completeness, that we will briefly describe it in the words of a writer in "The Land we Live in." No account could be more perfect or more graphic than this.

"Keswick is usually made the head-quarters of tourists for some days, and this is almost a necessary plan for those who travel only in carriages; but the more independent pedestrian will not find much to detain him in the town. Within reach are several little clean country inns, which will afford him opportunities for seeing, in the most varied manner, the world of beauties included in the Derwent Water district. Besides the inns in the plain, there is the 'King's Head,' at the entrance of the Vale of St. John's, five or six miles from Keswick; and the Lodore inn, near the head of Derwent Water; and further on, in Borrowdale, the little inn at Rosthwaite.

"While at Keswick, the traveller will look with interest on Southey's residence, Greta Hall. He will probably visit the Museums; and he certainly ought not to omit seeing and studying Mr. Flintoft's Model of the Lake District, which will teach him more in ten minutes of the structure and distribution of the country than he could learn from a hundred pages of description. On first entering the room, this model -under 13 feet by 10-looks a mere uneven, ugly bit of plaster; but a few moments are enough to engage the observer's attention so deeply, that he does not leave it till he has traced out almost every valley and pass in the district. He visits all the sixteen large lakes and the fiftytwo small ones, and looks abroad from every summit in turn. This Model is held to be a work of extraordinary correctness; and a leisurely visit to it should be an object to every traveller who cares to know where he is, and where he is going. Every one will, of course, visit the Castle Head,-a walk of a mile from the inns; where, from an eminence, a fine view of the lake and environs is obtained. And it is worth while to ascend the long hill of Castlerigg, even if the traveller is not there in natural course on his way to Ambleside, to enjoy the magnificent view which some think unrivalled in the region; extending. from the singular and solemn entrance of Borrowdale to the subsiding hills beyond the lake of Bassenthwaite. We have seen this view many times; and each time we have been more than ever taken by surprise by its wonderful range of beauty.

"The celebrity of Derwent Water is out of all proportion to its size; for it is only three miles long, and never exceeds a mile and a half in breadth. Our own private opinion is, that the beauty of the lake itself does not answer to its reputation. The islands have no particular

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