from ^^mWesfte. 137 



scene twice alike, — the great landmarks themselves being 

 scarcely recognisable unless it be by certain incidents of 

 their forms. 



At Esk Hause, the traveller will determine which of the 

 summits composing the great mass of Scafell he will ascend. 

 There are four of them which collectively go under that 

 name ; — the most southerly is called simply Scafell ; Sca- 

 fell ^ikz, which is sixty feet higher, and the highest moun- 

 tain in England (3,208 feet) ; and the lower hills, Lingmell 

 and Great End, — the last being the northernmost, fronting 

 Borrowdale. Aiming for the Pike, the route is now almost 

 due west, holding a little to the left towards the foot of the 

 great mass of ©teat JEtttJ, on reaching which there is a faint- 

 ly-marked path and guiding stones in a south-westerly direc- 

 tion. The way now roughens, the passage being over a field 

 of massive stones and debris. The Ordnance Surveyors have 

 set up a staff on a pile of stones on the highest peak ; so that 

 there need be no mistake about that for the future. The two 

 summits, Scafell and Scafell Pikes, are about three-quarters of 

 a mile apart, in a straight line ; but the great chasm between 

 them, called X^icfeletiore, renders a wide circuit necessary. 

 There have been foolhardy persons who have passed Mickle- 

 dore, without losing their lives ; and there are strangers, almost 

 every season, who attempt the ascent without a guide. These 

 last usually pay the penalty of their rashness by hours of un- 

 easy wandering and excessive fatigue. When they think they 

 see their way clearly enough, they are pretty sure to find them- 

 selves brought up on the verge of a chasm, and compelled 

 to ' try round ' many times before they succeed. If darkness 

 comes on, there is nothing -to be done but wait for daylight 

 where they are. Another reason for having a guide is that 

 the mountains around are not recognisable by their forms, 

 — so great is the change caused by the aspect they present 



