61)0 



ENGLAND. 



In Hunt- 

 mgdon- 



tliire. 



the Avon attracts our notice, from the wonderful rem- 

 nants of antiquity, to which, if we follow the course 

 of iu stream, we shall be conducted. Stonehenge, 

 Ameshury, Harridon Hill, (iaiiishorough Castle, and 

 ( )ld Saruru, are among the mort striking and celebra- 

 ted of these remains. As this river, however, ap- 

 proaches the New Forc*t, it has claims on the admira- 

 tion of the man of taste. The country now become* 

 delightfully wooded, the river forming a vale, with the 

 forest on one side, and various gentlemen's seats on the 

 other ; below Itingwood it loses this interesting cha- 

 racter, and a sandy level succeeds, which accomj)anies 

 it nearly to its mouth. 



We have thus described, not only the principal rivers 

 of F.ngland, but also those which may be deemed of a 

 secondary rank ; and we have rendered our descrip- 

 tion, both of their course, and of their peculiar and 

 distinguishing feature, full and minute, because thus 

 we thought we should best exhibit a just and impres- 

 si\c picture of this part of the physiognomy of the 

 Country. From our account and description, it will be 

 abundantly evident, that England possesses numerous 

 rivers, not only of great utility for the purposes of 

 agriculture and commerce, but of great beauty or gran- 

 deur, as forming features in the landscape. In some 

 districts of England and Wales, the beauty and gran- 

 deur are much increased by the lakes, to a brief de- 

 scription of the most celebrated of which we shall now 

 proceed. 



In Huntingdonshire, from the low and level situa- 

 tion of the county, and near neighbourhood of the fens, 

 there are several lakes. The most remarkable are 

 Brick-mecr, Ug-meer, Wittlesey-meer, Ilamsey-meer, 

 and Benwick-meer. Of these, Wittlesey-meer is by 

 much the largest. Formerly there appears to have 

 been a navigation from Peterborough to this meer, and 

 from thence to Ramsey ; but now, since some part of 

 the county is drained, the bounds of these lakes are very 

 much reduced. In Cheshire there are also several 

 lakes, which likewise have the name of mcers, but none 

 of them are of considerable extent. Among the most 

 distinguished are Bog-meer, Comber-meer, Oakhanger- 

 meer, and Pick-meer. They are rather singular than 

 beautiful, a river, or at least a rivulet, running out of 

 each of them. In Wales there are many lakes, there 

 being scarcely a single county without them ; but in 

 Cardiganshire and Caernarvonshire, they are the most 

 abundant or remarkable. In Brecknockshire there is 

 a singular lake, called Lyn Savadhan. It lies near the 

 town of Brecon, and is two miles long, and nearly the 

 same in breadth. When the spring advances, and the 

 ice breaks, it makes a great noise, resembling long and 

 repeated claps of thunder, so as to be heard at a consi- 

 derable distance. Bosherton-meer, near Stackpole, in 

 Pembrokeshire, is noted for rumbling noises on diffe- 

 rent parts of it ; by attending to which, the people who 

 live near it are said to be able to predict the weather. 

 Lyn Tegid, in Merionethshire, called by the English 

 I'emble-meer, is represented as being never raised 

 above iu banks, by land floods, heavy rains, or the 

 melting of snow ; yet storms of wind commonly, if not 

 constantly, make it overflow. 



But the mofct celebrated of the English lakes are si- 

 Weft- tuated in Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancashire, 

 morelani). These are Lllswater, Thirlmere or Leatheswater, Der- 

 "f? Lnca- went* water, Basseiithwoite- water, Ovcrwater, Lowes- 

 water, Knu.-rdale- witter, \\a-t-v.ater, Burnmoor Tarn, 

 Devock-water, Tindale Tarn, Talkin Turn, Tarnwad- 

 ling, Winander-mere, and Coniston-mere. 



I'llsw.ittr. 



In Che 

 shire. 



In Wales. 



In Cumber- 



I'lNwater is .situated p.irtly in Westmoreland and Statistics. 

 partly in Cuinl>erltiiul. It is about nine miles long, 

 but at it- i;natc-t width little more than one. Its 

 sli.n-es are uncommonly bold, and the fells which are 

 in its nci-rhlxmrhood rise with great sublimity 

 notwithstanding the vast ness of these accompaniment*, 

 I'llswatcr retains ;1 character of high and impressive 

 dignity. This character is intermixed with one little 

 less striking, though of a more mild and captivating 

 nature : The rocks of the lake, and of its vicinity, are 

 celebrated for reverberating sounds, so that, by the in- 

 troduction of a few French horns and clarionets, ac- 

 cording to Gilpin, ' the whole lake is transformed into 

 a kind of magical scene, in which every promontory 

 seems peopled by aerial beings, answering each other 

 in celestial music !" Thirlmere, or Leatheswater, is a 

 narrow irregular sheet of water, about three miles in 

 length. It skirts the huge base of Helvellyn ; it is si- 

 tuated in the interior of a very sequestered district ; and 

 its shores being for the most part naked and rocky, it 

 displays a scene of desolation, heightened in no trifling 

 degree by the huge masses of stone which appear to 

 have fallen from Helvellyn. The impression made on 

 the mind and feelings by this scene, is deepened by the 

 noise of the water-falls, which, on every side, are tum- 

 bling from immense heights. Der went- water, or Kes- D*rwcnt- 

 wick-lake as it is also named, is about three miles in water, 

 length, and one and a half in breadth, somewhat ap- 

 proaching to an oval figure. In beauty it is superior 

 to all the other lakes, but in dignity and grandeur it is 

 much inferior to that of Ullswater. Its greatest ble- 

 mish to the eye of taste, arises from its want of propor- 

 tion, when viewed in connection with the scenery 

 around it. This scenery is on a very grand and su- 

 blime scale ; whereas the lake is not only too small to 

 be grand, but also in its features and form excludes 

 all idea of grandeur; for, being seen all at once, it 

 leaves nothing for the fancy to feed upon. But, in re- 

 spect to beauty, it has undoubted and large claims on 

 the man of taste : " The soft undulation of its shores, 

 the mingled wood and pasture that paint them, the 

 brilliant purity of the water, that gives back every 

 landscape on its bank, and frequently with heightened 

 colouring ; the fantastic wildness of the rocks, and the 

 magnificence of the amphitheatre they form, are cir- 

 cumstances, the view of which excites emotions of sweet 

 and tranquil pleasure." When visited by moon-light, 

 the deep shades of the frowning mountains the re- 

 flected light of the moon on the unrippled surface of 

 the water and the silence of the night, only broken 

 by the murmurs of the water-falls, are represented as 

 filling the mind with inconceivable pleasure. 



About three miles to the north of Dcrwent- water, Brood- . 

 Bassenthwaite-water, or Brood-water, is situated : it is ter. 

 about four miles long, and at one end nearly a mile 

 across ; but at the other end, its breadth is not more 

 than a quarter of a mile. There ore many points in 

 the surrounding scenery, which give to this lake a 

 striking character: on the east of it is spread the beau- 

 tiful and extensive vale of Bassenthwaite, beyond which 

 Skiddaw rears its lofty head ; on the west, mountain*, 

 low in comparison with Skiddaw, fall abruptly to the 

 water's edge, disclosing here and there small patches of 

 cultivation, and partly covered with thick woods. The 

 situation of Overwater is naked, and the country neither 

 sulliciently picturesque or sublime, to engage the atten- 

 tion of such as have already viewed the beauty of Der- 

 went- water, or the grandeur of I'llswater. It is about 

 half a mile in length, and rather more than a quarter of a 



