98 THIRLMERE. 



At the Horse's Head, the little inn, opposite 

 Wythburn Chapel, which is about a mile and a 

 quarter further on, the traveller must decide on one 

 of three courses, — as politicians are wont to do. 

 He may go up Helvellyn; or he may bowl along 

 on the high road, straight through Legherthwaite, 

 and immediately under Helvellyn ; or he may go 

 on foot, or on a pony, round the western side of 

 the lake, which is known by the various names of 

 Wythburn Water, Leathes Water, and Thirlmere. 

 It is a choice of pleasures ; and he will 

 ascend Helvellyn hereafter, if he does 

 not now. Of the two lake-roads, the rude western 

 one is unquestionably the finest. The woods, which 

 were once so thick that the squirrel is said to have 

 gone from Wythburn to Keswick without touching 

 the ground, are cleared away now ; and the only 

 gloom in the scene is from the mass of Ilelvellvn. 

 The stranger leaves the mailroad within a mile of 

 the Horse's Head, passes the cottages called by the 

 boastful name of the City of Wythburn, and a few 

 farmhouses, and soon emerging from the fences, 

 finds himself on a grassy level under the Armboth 

 Fells, within an amphitheatre of rocks, with the 

 lake before him, and Helvellyn beyond, overshadow- 

 ing it. The rocks behind are feathered witli wood, 

 except where a bold crag here, and a cataract there, 

 introduces a variety. There is a clear pool in the 

 midst of the grass, where if the approaching tread 

 be light, the heron may be seen fishing, or faith- 

 fully reflected in the mirror. The track leads by 

 the margin of the lake, and through a shady lane, 

 and a farm-yard, to the bridge by which the lake 

 is crossed. The water is shallow there, between 



