FOURTH TOUR. 



ASCENT OF SKIDDAW. 



The ascent of Skidd aw is easy, even for ladies, 

 who have only to sit their ponies to find themselves 

 at the top, after a ride of six miles. There must 

 be a guide, — be the day ever so clear, and the path 

 ever so plain. Once for all let us say, in all 

 earnestness and with the most deliberate decision, 

 that no kind of tourist should ever cross the higher 

 passes, or ascend the mountains, without a guide. 

 Surely, lives enough have been lost, and there has 

 been suffering and danger enough short 

 of fatal issue, to teach this lesson. But 

 the confident and joyous pedestrian is not the most 

 teachable of human beings. In his heart he despises 

 the caution of native residents, and in his sleeve he 

 laughs at it. The mountain is right before him ; the 

 track is visible enough ; he has a map and a guide- 

 book ; and boasts of his pocket-compass. With the 

 track on his map, and track on the mountain, how 

 could he get wrong? So he throws on his knapsack, 

 seizes his stick, and goes off whistling or singing, 

 — the host and hostess looking after him and con- 

 sulting as he strides away. For some time he 

 thinks he can defy all the misleading powers of 

 heaven and earth ; but, once out of reach of human 

 help, he finds his case not so easy as he thought. 



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