QUESTION OF THE O El GIN OF TARNS. 49 



There is one adjoining which I should like you 

 to see, for the sake of the grand fa$ade of rock 

 that rises from its shore. I speak of that one 

 already mentioned, Stickle Tarn, at the head of 

 Langdale, and at the foot of the Pikes. As to 

 the question of the formation of these tarns, I 

 am not aware there is any proof of their having 

 been volcanic, at least craters of volcanoes, there 

 being no traces of volcanic ejecta anywhere 

 known in the district. Moreover, their forms, 

 mostly very irregular, or, in the instance of the 

 larger ones and of all the lakes, more or less 

 elongated, rather favour the idea of their 

 hollows being rents or chasms, and these formed 

 contemporaneously with the mountains, 



AMICUS. Why such a nakedness of wood? Is 

 it owing to elevation, or to peculiarity of soil 

 and climate. 



PISCATOR. The cause here is, I believe, the 

 same as in the wilder parts of Ireland, Donegal, 

 Connemara, and Kerry, the want of protec- 

 tion from cattle, and especially from sheep. 

 The treeless fells, remember, are unenclosed. 

 Wherever in this district enclosures are made 

 and planted, the result is successful. Even 

 here at Goodie Tarn, you see there is one tree, 



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