78 EASED ALE. * 



furbished of late. The traveller goes now merely 

 because it is on the way to his destination. If he 

 were going to stay at Grasmere, he 

 would take up his abode at the Prince 

 of Wales' Lake Hotel. The beauty of the view 

 from that house is evident at a glance ; and good 

 accommodations will be found within, with ample 

 means of conveyance of all kinds. Whatever the 

 dinner at the Red Lion is to be, it must not be 

 ready under two or three hours, — rather three than 

 two. Proceeding for a mile between fences and 

 stone walls, the tourist reaches the opening of 

 Easedale. The gate and shrubbery to the right 

 are tlie entrance to Lancrigg ; and there the regular 

 road ends. The car can cross the stream and go 

 about a mile further along the farm-tracks in the 

 valley, through the meadows which yield a coarse 

 hay, and near the stream v/hich is tufted with 

 alders. At the farmhouse where the 

 car stops, the people will shew the 

 stranger the way he must go, — past the planta- 

 tion, and up the hill-side, where he will find the 

 track that will guide him up to the waterfall, — 

 the foaming cataract which is seen all over the 

 valley, and is called Sour Milk Ghyll Porce. The 

 water and the track together will shew him the 

 way to the tarn, which is the source of the strea.m. 

 Up and on he goes, over rock and through wet 

 moss, with long stretches of dry turf and purple 

 heather ; and at last, when he is heated and breath- 

 less, the dark cool recess opens in which 

 lies Easedale Tarn. Perhaps there is 

 an angler standing beside the great boulder on the 

 brink. Perhaps there is a shepherd lying among 



