144 SADDLEBACK. 



" Derwent Water, as seen from the top of Saddle- 

 back, is one of the finest mountain scenes in the 

 country." That s\immit is called Linthwaite Fell; 

 and there the guide will point out, better than we 

 can do, the various objects, seas, islands, castles in 

 their woods, and cities of the plain ; mountains, far 

 and near ; shores, like the boundaries of an estate, 

 and lakes like its fish-ponds. People who made the 

 ascent sixty years since have left a terrifying 

 account of its dangers, such as now excites a smile 

 among energetic tourists. One gentleman was so 

 " astonished," near the outlet, " with the different 

 appearance of objects in the valley beneath," that 

 he chose to stay behind. Another of the four 

 presently " wished to lose blood and return : " but 

 he was coaxed onward to the tarn, where, however, 

 he cotdd see no stars, though it was noonday. Mr. 

 Green, with his companion, Mr. Otley, was among 

 the early adventurers who stood on the highest 

 ridge. He was so accurate an observer that his 

 descriptions of unfrequented and unalterable places 

 will never be antiquated. " From Linthwaite Pike,^' 

 he says, '' on soft green turf, we descended steeply, 

 first southward, and then in an easterly direction 

 to the tarn, — a beautiful circular piece of trans- 

 parent water, with a well-defined shore. Here we 

 found ourselves engulphed in a basin of steeps, 

 having Tarn Crag on the north, the rocks falling 

 from Sharp Edge on the east, and on the west, the 

 soft turf on which we made our downward progress. 

 These side-grounds, in pleasant grassy banks, verge 

 to the stream issuing from the lake, whence there 

 is a charming opening to the town of Penrith ; 

 and Cross Fell seen in the extreme distance. Wish- 



