THE MIDLAND COUNTIES. 259 



of keeping up Chatsworth ; and then the consequence will 

 be, that this Versailles of England will either disappear 

 altogether, or it will become national property, which it is, 

 in fact, already, considering the use that is made of it. 



The Duke of Devonshire is, besides, proprietor of a 

 large part of the county. The Duke of Kutland has also 

 extensive property there, a part of which consists of the 

 High Peak mountains, separating Derbyshire from York- 

 shire, and which form the dorsal fin of England. Culti- 

 vation, of course, is completely. checked upon these high 

 lands, which are covered with barren moors as far as the 

 eye can reach ; but these waste grounds subserve another 

 object of luxury ; they are enclosed with walls to the 

 extent of many square leagues, and stocked with all 

 kinds of game. 



The lower mountains, of which three-fourths of the 

 county consist, are covered with pasture. Wheat there 

 thrives badly ; the only cereal which succeeds is oats. 

 It is a rearing country, as such countries generally are ; 

 there are bred short-horned cattle and Dishley sheep, 

 which are sold to the low -country farmers : cheese is 

 made to a considerable extent, which, without having the 

 reputation of that produced in the rich valleys of the 

 west, meets a ready market. This county much resem- 

 bles the mountainous districts in the middle of France, as 

 Auvergne and Limousin, both in appearance and in the 

 occupation of its inhabitants. Unfortunately, if the means 

 employed be the same, the results are widely different ; for 

 while rents in the middle of France scarcely reach 5s. per 

 acre, they are on an average nearly 20s. on the Derbyshire 

 hills ; but it must also be added, that while our central 

 departments have no outlets for their produce, roads and 

 railways run through Derbyshire in all directions. Loco- 

 motives are to be seen dashing along the sides of steep 



