326 WINDERMERE AND THE 



over; and that was in the ruthless winter of 

 1854-55, which, in the annals of war, and the 

 sufferings and losses of our brave army, was as 

 memorable as that of 1812-13 (when it was 

 also frozen over) for the disastrous retreat of the 

 French under the first Napoleon. This brings 

 the East to my recollection, and especially the 

 Bosphorus, for the resemblance of Winder- 

 mere to the Bosphorus is remarkable. Both 

 have the appearance of noble rivers ; indeed the 

 latter is a salt-river flowing constantly from the 

 Black Sea into the Sea of Marmora ; both are 

 skirted by high grounds and ornamented with 

 villas, groves and gardens. I remember once, 

 on entering the Bosphorus from the Black Sea, 

 hearing a Turk from the highlands of AsiaMinor, 

 remark (it was his first visit) " he had never 

 before a just idea of Paradise." Might not an 

 observation somewhat of the same kind be ex- 

 pected to come from the denizen of one of our 

 great manufacturing towns on first coming in 

 sight of Windermere. Which of the two is most 

 beautiful, it may be difficult to determine. 

 Windermere has the advantage in its girding 

 mountains, ever varying in appearance with the 

 state of the atmosphere, and the degree and 



