HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



seating a rugged /acing, fluted and gashed by wind 

 and weather. Here, among the high recesses, in 

 situations impressively lonely and romantic, the 

 mountain tarn nestles amid the grim wilds, rarely 

 trodden by man. Here, too, the lakes are stern and 

 desolate, encompassed by grisly rocks, wild and 

 savage, that impress a solemn reflection upon the 

 steel-like livery of their waters. The convulsed 

 character of Nature's forces here may be gleaned from 

 the general aspect of the mountain ridges. Hurled 

 into infinite shapes of rugged grandeur and irregular, 

 save where some fair-shaped cone cleaves the air, 

 their forms are exceedingly picturesque and im- 

 pressive. Peaks, points, pillars, rocks, ridges, edges, 

 and niches are presented in infinite assortment, and 

 of potent picturesqueness. 



These external characteristics are related to a 

 physiognomy. They are especially and peculiarly 

 facile, plastic, and, as it were, capricious : here they are 

 eminently potent as vehicles of expression, i.e., they 

 afford abundant scope to a spirit that aspires to, as it 

 were, humanise material nature. The mountain-sides 

 have broken surfaces, whence arises a play of colour 

 ever mixed, and ever changing. Processions of 

 yellow, vapoury clouds, filing off in volumes down 

 the vales, or scudding athwart the hills, vary at times 

 the' shapes of the rocks on the summit of the ridges. 

 Turbidness of the air, and turbulence of the elements 

 are succeeded by clearness, calmness, and peace. 

 Then, ascending to a table-land, we greet the com- 

 pany of mountains with a sympathy and a pleasure 

 unalloyed ; for therein we recognise nature subjected 

 to tremendous force, internal or external, tossed and 

 hurled, wrought and fashioned into shapes beauteous, 

 sublime, and picturesque, which the light and air 

 decorate and embellish with exquisite sprinklings of 

 trees and flowers, ferns and grasses. At times there 

 is a heart-touching peace — "a sleep among the lonely 

 hills ; " and the valley, contemplated from a ridge on 

 a quiet summer's evening, bodies forth tokens of 

 complete rest and contentment. Occasionally we 

 encounter a grisly screen of rock, rent and gashed, 

 black and dismal ; or a colossal pyramid of green 

 bank projects singly from the plain, how or why we 

 know not. In the higher valleys that branch away 

 precipitously from the region of the loftier emi- 

 nences, the streams tumble down from tier to tier of 

 stone, singing now with merry music, now with 

 hollow harmony, or whispering sweetly the secret of 

 their blithe and merry turmoil. Afar off we hearken 

 to its voice murmuring from out the heart of the 

 mountain, a bleating sylph-like sweetness of sound, 

 congenial to a quiet, pensive mood. Then, ad- 

 vancing upwards, we come upon the tarn, silent and 

 calm, engirt with savage precipices — the mirror of 

 grim shadow, the haunt of austere sound, the cir- 

 cumvented image of peace and rest eternal. 



The deep-embosomed lake, clear and calm, resting 

 in shadow, imparts a fairy charm to rocks, trees, and 



clouds reflected in its clear depths ; the transparent 

 lustre of the flood, imparting to them a soul-like 

 nonentity, an unsubstantiality akin to mind, a pene- 

 trability into the heart of nature. The lonely valley 

 unenlivened by man, free and wild, without a trace 

 of homestead or of cultivation, allows of nature to 

 speak unreservedly, unbiassedly to us. Here nature 

 is serious, and pregnant with meaning ; here wildlings 

 flourish, straggling and careless, but replete with life 

 potency ; here the more beautiful wild animals (the 

 falcon, the heron, the hawk) scared from the haunts 

 of men, resort, and fling their attractions unheeded 

 to the air ; here the waters sing and murmur in a 

 free, unartificial way, consonant to the well-tuned 

 soul ; here, in short, Nature's panoply of heart- 

 touching influences is most potent and unstinted. 

 Yet pray do not despise the tract of wild heathery 

 moorland, the deep dark waste, with its terribly 

 brooding desolation. It is Nature herself that im- 

 presses us here. We observe, we contemplate, and 

 absorb ; and afterwards, when it has passed into the 

 region of memory, we love its chastened image ; for 

 it is pregnant with a serious sobered spirit. 



We shall now furnish a catalogue, with brief 

 remarks, of the principal minerals that are found in 

 this fascinating region : — 



The Minerals of the Lake District.— There 

 are some eighty-six varieties of minerals found in 

 Cumberland and Westmoreland. Of these, fluorspar 

 is one of the most beautiful and^abundant, exquisite 

 forms of a deep blue, lilac, green, and amber colour 

 being found in the Alston Moor district. Calcite 

 occurs beautifully crystallised at Greenside Mine, 

 Dulton Fell Bowder Stone, etc. in hexagonal prisms, 

 projecting clearly to some inches at various angles 

 from the surface of the specimen. Barytocalcitc 

 and alstonite, formerly common, are now scarce. 

 Dolomite appears in white, curved rhombs at Green- 

 side, etc. Barytes is very common in every mine, 

 especially at Force Crag, where I have seen it well 

 crystallised in flat tables ; the cock's-comb variety is 

 also very interesting. Gypsum occurs as clear colour- 

 less crystals at Alston Moor, etc. Apatite is found 

 in the granite of Threlkeld Quarry. Quartz is 

 extremely abundant in the rocks, and as the matrix 

 of galena, haematite and blende ; eight varieties of 

 it are found in the fells at various places. Garnet is 

 found in many of the rocks round Keswick, St. John's 

 Vale, etc. ; also Epidote, fibrous and crystallised. 

 Fine large crystals of Felspar, of a red tint, occur in 

 the granite of Shap, and Carrock Fells. There is not 

 very much Mica about ; Chiastolite is embedded in 

 rectangular spots in the slates about Skiddaw. 

 Hypersthene occurs massive in the rocks of Carrock 

 Fells, etc. Chlorite glistens in the green slates, with 

 Nacrite and Talc. Tourmaline and Corundum are 

 around Skiddaw Forest. The metallic minerals are 

 well represented, some of them, such as Galena, 

 Chalcopyrite, Haematite, and Blende being abundant 



