Chee Tor. 61 



served as a foundation for the Tower of Babel. Concealed 

 in the bosom of the hills, and still more deeply secluded 

 by the windings of the wooded valley of the Wye, it rises, 

 a stupendous mass of limestone, to the height of 300 

 feet, the front with a grand curvilinear outline of nearly 

 a quarter of a mile in extent, jutting forth like a cliff by 

 the sea, absolutely perpendicular, and uniformly gray 

 and bare, except for a little ivy, and a few iron-like yews 

 that are rooted in the crevices. The Wye, sweeping 

 round and washing the base, divides it from a cliff of 

 corresponding curve, but less precipitous, and clothed 

 over its whole surface with half-pendulous shrubs and 

 trees. The gorge formed by the opposing rocks pos- 

 sesses, in consequence, a character of peculiar and re- 

 markable symmetry, yet by no means so exact as to give 

 the idea of repetition of the parts. The water soon 

 escapes from the chasm, then moves along the valley, 

 and at Millersdale station we meet its lively current. 



Thence to the Tor there are three ways of approach : 

 one by the high road on the opposite side, going as far 

 as the mansion called Wormhill Hall, then descending 

 past the cottages, by a rugged path which leads to the 

 mouth of the gorge, the longest, and if the weather be 

 hot and dry, a rather tedious way; the second is by the 

 Buxton road, along which we proceed for about a quarter 

 of a mile, then cross a couple of steep fields upon the 

 right, descend through a little wood, cross the rails, and 

 find our way to a foot-bridge over the river, the best 



