AN INTRODUCTION TO 
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 
CUMBERLAND 
HE rugged heights which crown the lofty eminences of central 
and western Cumberland have been carved into strange and 
fantastic forms by the action of weathering. Stern and for- 
bidding as they may appear to be on first acquaintance, they 
serve to include many beautiful dales within their outlying spurs, while 
their own surface is sufficiently fertile to afford subsistence to the hardy 
Herdwick sheep which are characteristic of this region. The Cumbrian 
group of hills embraces many of the higher summits of England, includ- 
ing Scaw Fell Pike, 3,208 feet; Scaw Fell, 3,161 feet; Helvellyn, 3,118 
feet ; Skiddaw, 3,058 feet ; Great Gable, 2,949 feet ; Saddleback, 2,847 
feet; Grassmoor, 2,791 feet; as well as many other eminences of 
approximate altitude. The scarcity of animal life, or at least of the 
higher forms of life, upon the mountains of this area has often awakened 
surprise among those who spy out the beauties of the ‘ Wordsworth 
country ’; the only wild mammal that deserves notice here is the pine 
marten, better known to the shepherds of the dales as the ‘clean’ or 
“sweet mart.’ The raven and the common buzzard are often to be 
observed crossing from one hill to another, or circling around some dizzy 
cliff on the face of which their young are being reared. The glory of 
the local avifauna departed when the Lakeland race of sea eagle became 
extinct about the end of the eighteenth century ; but a few pairs of the 
tame and unobtrusive dotterel continue to rear their young upon the 
slopes of certain favourite mountains. 
The Cumbrian mountains include in their fauna many interesting 
insects, notably the mountain ringlet butterfly, the only a/pime butterfly of 
which the British Islands can boast. The mountain carpet, the red carpet 
and the striped twin-spot carpet are certain finds, reposing on the stone 
dykes of the mountains or resting on the faces of the rocks. The most 
characteristic Coleoptera of this county are found among the mountains, 
including such well known species as Carabus glabratus,Calathus micropterus, 
Pterostichus cethiops, and many others. The lakes, which fill the hollows 
of the valleys that run among the hills, are celebrated for their abundance 
of fish. The vendace is only found in Derwentwater and in Bassen- 
thwaite Lakes. The gwyniad or skelly swims in large shoals in Ulleswater 
XXiii c 
