THE OEIGTN OF TAEXS. 
By the Eev. J. CLIFTON TTAED, F.G.S., FE.FLS. 
TTTHO has not felt a sndden and intense pleasure when. 
\ V rounding the end of some mighty mountain or towering 
crag, the still waters of an upland lake or tarn have first met 
the eye ? Perhaps, on approach, wild birds have started from the 
smooth surface and left it a little sea of shimmering gold- as 
the suns light has been reflected from each tiny wavelet. 
The raven's croak among the overhanging cliffs, the patch 
of snow lying unmelted deep in a rocky fissure, the scattered 
sheep browsing carelessly on the few grassy slopes, while all 
around are masses of tumbled rock, and the light veil of cloud 
that ever and anon sweeps the c-lift tops and adds an air of 
mystery and wonder to the whole — all combine to make a 
scene which cannot but send a th rill of pleasure and perhaps 
of happy awe to every heart. Instinctively one feels- if the 
power of expression be not present, what nature’s true poet hath 
so truly sung. 
Ho w divine 
The liberty, for hail, for mortal man. 
To roam at large among unpeopled glens 
And mountainous retirements, only trod 
By devious footsteps : regions consecrate 
To oldest time ! and. reckless of the storm 
That keeps the raven quiet in her nest. 
Be as a presence or a motion— one 
A m ono- the many there. 
No one can wander over ragged and beautiful mountains 
without being led to love and admire these calm sheets of 
water, which lie nestled in hollows, and are ofttimes blackened by 
the shadow of encircling cliff?. Love for such solitary spots 
soon excites our curiosity as to the origin of these miniature 
upland lakes. In the Cumbrian lake district they are scattered 
broadcast over the country in far greater numbers than most 
people imagine, and at a period not vastly remote their number 
must have been more than double what it is now. But the 
