102 LAKES. 



train oil, often has a film of iron on the surface, and 

 is always so cold and astringent that the very stones 

 seem to be shrunken by its touch. 



Turning to the other parts of the very same ridges 

 of mountains, how different is the scene, and how 

 different the emotions ! The lakes of Cumberland and 

 Westmoreland, now contrasting their silvery surfaces 

 with the swell of green hills, and the shade of dark 

 woods ; and now giving back the reflection of rugged 

 cliffs and frowning precipices ; there is music in the 

 name, and at the thought of them all the wealth of the 

 plains is forgotten. The gem of every country is a 

 lake. England has her Ulswater, Ireland her Killar- 

 ney, Scotland her Katrine, and Wales her Bala, which, 

 though designated by the humble name of a pool, is 

 capable of softening down the fiery spirit of the Cam- 

 brian, as he gazes on it from the mountain's ridge, 

 and the waters are so limpid, that " the lasses of Bala," 

 by laving their beauties in it on May-morn, excel in 

 brightness all the other daughters of the principality. 



There is even a deeper feeling in the contemplation 

 of a lake than in that of a mountain. It is a moving, 

 almost a living thing ; and a focus for the concentration 

 of other life than you meet with upon land. In the 

 secluded tarn, or in those coppice-encircled bays where 

 the wind is excluded, the creatures are assembled. 

 The trees are full of birds, the bushes swarm with 

 quadrupeds, the air is alive with insects, and ever and 

 anon, as they touch with tiny foot the surface of the 

 water, the dancing circles convince one that the water 

 has its inhabitants likewise. Numerous visitors have 

 their banquetting house here, One grand spoiler is 



