36 TENT LODGE. 



a field, the last before reaching the new house on Coniston Bank- 

 Some people think this the finest view in the whole District : and 

 truly, the frequent visitor pronounces it incomparable every time 

 he comes J and the passing tourist feels that, once seen, it can 

 never be forgotten. Nowhere else, perhaps, is the grouping of 

 the mountain peaks, and the indication of their recesses, so strike 

 ing; and as to the foreground, with its glittering waterfall, its 

 green undulations, its diversified woods, its bright dwellings, and 

 its clear lake, — it conveys the strongest expression of joyful 

 charm, — of fertility, prosperity, and comfort, nestling in the 

 bosom of the rarest beauty. 



A little further on, stands the house in which Elizabeth Smith 

 lived and died j and, on the opposite side of the road. Tent Lodge, 

 built on the spot where a tent was pitched, that she might draw 

 her dying breath with greater ease, and enjoy, as long as possible, 

 the incomparable landscape there stretched before her. The boat- 

 house is at the bottom of the slope, down which she used to take 

 her mother's guests ; and she and her sister were so well practised 

 at the oar that they could show the beauties of the scene from 

 any point of the lake. 



The road then descends and, sweeping round the head of the 

 lake, passes the site of the former Waterhead Inn, now a young 

 plantation of Mr. Marshall's. 



The other roads out of Coniston are, the high-road to Amble- 

 side and Hawkshead, which parts ofi' to the north from the head 

 of the lake ; the mountain road up Yewdale ; and the pony track 

 over Walna Scar. This last will be described among the passes. 

 The Ambleside road will be followed by the traveller in continuing 

 his tour, and it therefore remains to see Yewdale. This will be 

 best done when making the excursion into Langdale by Blea Tarn, 

 which is one of the finest in the region, and can be taken from 

 Coniston quite as well as from Ambleside or Grasmere, — the view 

 of the slate-quarries in the Coniston route being fan- compensation 

 for the Skelwith valley in that from Ambleside or Windermere. 



The way is through Yewdale, (described hereafter). After 

 ascending for some distance, the traveller sees a road parting off" 

 to the right, over a bridge. This is the OxenfeU road, by which 

 he will probably return. He must not fail to notice the old yew 

 from which this dale derives its name. It is said to be of a fabulous 

 age. There are plenty of younger specimens, quaintly clipped, at 

 the farm of High Yewdale. 



Passing through a farm -yard, into Tilberthwaite, — the dell 

 which lies between Wetherlam and OxenfeU, — the traveller takes 

 the right-hand gate. The stream dashes among rocks below. 



