254 ^eslMick ^District. 



the merely undulating country through which the mountains 

 sink into the plains ; while the strangers have hardly patience 

 to look at it, in eagerness to find themselves under the sha- 

 dow of the great central fells. pSa00enti}toaite is one of 

 the outermost lakes : and it is therefore no more cared for by 

 the tourist in general than the foot of Coniston or Winander- 

 mere. Still, considering that Skiddaw overshadows its eastern 

 shore, it must be worthy of attention ; and the drive round 

 it is, to our mind, a very delightful one. 



This lake is larger than Derwentwater, being four miles in 

 length and a little more than half-a-mile in breadth. The 

 distance from lake to lake is between three and four miles, a 

 large proportion of which is apt to be flooded in winter ; and 

 occasionally the waters actually join, so as to present the 

 appearance of a lake ten miles long, — the length of Win- 

 andermere. These floods are a serious drawback to the pro- 

 ductiveness of the lake levels, and the health and comfort 

 of the inhabitants. 



The road passes through Portinscale and Braithwaite to 

 Thornthwaite, and leaves Whinlatter on the left. It passes 

 through woods and pretty glades, which make a charming 

 foreground, while old Skiddaw fills the view on the opposite 

 shore. Lord's Seat and Barf rise boldly to the left ; and the 

 road runs, for the most part, on the margin of the lake.=* 



The Pheasant Inn, near Bassenthwaite Railway station, 

 on the western side of the lake, is clean and comfortable, 

 and the best resting-place in this circuit. It is a resort 



* About a hundred yards east of Ouse Bridge, there is a gate with a 

 path leading through a wood to the foot of the lake. This point of the 

 shore offers incomparably the finest view of Bassenthwaite. The whoxc 

 length of the lake is seen, with the majestic slopes of Skiddaw on the 

 east ; Lord's Seat and Barf on the west, and the head closed in by 

 the Walla Crags and Helvellyn. 



