AN IRON REGION. 133 



no one description may be strictly exact. I 

 may have my doubts as to the theory, as you 

 have, with all deference to the artistic views 

 of a man who considered poetry as matter of 

 highest art, and elaborated his verse accord- 

 ingly. 



AMICUS. What a change in the aspect of the 

 country ! We seem to be in a region of iron 

 and forges. The road is actually coloured by 

 iron, so too are the dresses of the labourers, 

 and what a number of carts we have passed 

 bearing iron-ore, as I infer, to be smelted, 

 where in more than one spot in the distance 

 we see volumes of smoke pouring forth into . 

 the atmosphere. And lo ! a turnpike gate, the 

 first we have come to since we left the turn- 

 pike road at Ambleside. And lo ! an embank- 

 ment, thrusting itself out in the valley as if it 

 were a railway in growth. 



PISCATOR. It is a branch railway in pro- 

 gress, from the coast junction line, of which 

 we shall soon have the benefit. We are now 

 in a district of the red sandstone formation, 

 in which there is limestone, coal, and iron ; 

 and in what you point out, you see the con- 

 sequences. These, limestone, coal, and iron, 



K 3 



