of Cumberland and Westmofr eland, 299 



pretty residence; and before yon arrive at it, on the same 

 side, you pass a white building, which was probably intended 

 for a barn, but which is now appropriated to the purpose of 

 a quakers' meeting-house ; here we found the nest of the wil- 

 low wren (Sylvia Trochilus) containing five eggs, which are 

 white, beautifully spotted with pink ; the nest is composed of 

 moss and grass lined with feathers, and was snugly constructed 

 in the bank by the lane side. 



We did not obtain a sight of Ulswater until within a very 

 short distance of the lake. Passing through Powley, which 

 consists of about a dozen houses (one occupied as an inn, and 

 another by a surgeon), we crossed the bridge at the extremity 

 of the lake, and took the road winding along the western 

 margin of it, at the foot of a range of mountains, beautifully 

 wooded with pine and other forest trees. 



The finding ourselves really on that spot which we had so 

 long hoped to see, and the knowledge that we were actually 

 pursuing a path which we had years before pencilled out 

 upon our map, and often trod over in anticipation by a Christ- 

 mas fire, produced feelings which it would be equally impos- 

 sible to describe or to forget ; and to attempt even the most 

 distant description of the scenery would be undertaking a task 

 which I feel my thorough incompetency to perform ; indeed, 

 the views all along the lake are exceedingly picturesque ; and 

 the brightness of the day, throwing the mountains into light 

 and shade, added not a little to the beauty of the picture. 

 Mr. Green, in his Guide to the Lakes ^ informs us, that Uls- 

 water is in the shape of a Z ; but I could find so little affinity 

 between Ulswater and that letter, that I am induced to sup- 

 pose that Mr. Green and myself have not been taught by the 

 same writing-master. Following the second turn of the lake, 

 or rather the down-stroke of the Z, you presently reach Gow- 

 barrow Park, the property of the Duke of Norfolk. On 

 entering the park we were particularly struck and pleased 

 with an old oak, from the broken trunk of which, about 6 ft. 

 from the ground, grew a large bough of sycamore : the seed 

 of it had in all probability been deposited there by some of 

 the feathered race, at a distant period of time. I made a 

 sketch of it ; and we were afterwards informed that these para- 

 sitical branches are by no means unfrequently to be met with 

 in Cumberland. 



Gowbarrow Park is situated at the foot of a hill, and 

 appears to be well stocked with deer. About the centre of 

 it, on a gently rising eminence, is Liulph's Tower, a stone 

 building, having all the appearance of antiquity, with its de- 

 cayed wooden sentry-boxes standing outside its walls, and a 



