THE LOVE OF MOUNTAINS 235 



and skeletons evinced. We walked back by the side 

 next to the lake, but to look down from thence was so 

 terrible, I could not endure it a moment. We per- 

 ceived from thence, that my companion, whom we had 

 last left, was laid upon the ground ; I pressed the 

 guide to hasten to him, but he refused, alledging that 

 a fog was rising, and it would be very hazardous for 

 me to explore my way alone down the mountain : in 

 a short time we were enveloped in a very dense 

 vapour, so that we were obliged to keep near to each 

 other ; the sudden change was almost incredible. It 

 was with difficulty my guide regained the passage, or 

 dry-bridge, which we missed on several attempts ; and 

 one incautious step would have plunged us in the 

 horrid abyss. The fog soon afterwards dispersed, as 

 precipitately as it came on ; and left us again under a 

 serene sky. We passed to the foot of Foul-cragg, to 

 view its wonderful precipices from their base ; and 

 again safely reached Mr. Clement's house, after a 

 laborious travel of four hours.' " 



A plate in the History shows Skiddaw as a volcanic 

 crater, while Saddleback is a hill which positively 

 overhangs on one side. So greatly did the Lake hills 

 impress the imaginations of that generation ! Green 

 and Otley, in their ascent of Sharp Edge, found them- 

 selves " reduced to the necessity either of bestriding 

 the ridge or of moving on one of its sides, with our 

 hands lying over the top, as a security against falling 

 into the tarn on the left, or into a frightful gully on 

 the right, both of immense depth." 



Years ago I used to read these old narratives with 

 unqualified amusement. But a solemn feeling now 



