1810.] Ledters of a Wanderer through England and Wales. 
the caves in the West-Riding of York- 
shire; Charles taking a place in my 
curricle, while our servants occupied the 
travelling seat ; and crossing the country 
without accident or material occurrence 
to Lancaster, we passed from thence to 
Kirkby-Lonsdale, a pretty little town 
on the banks of the Loyne, situated in a 
fertile pretty vale, diversified by many 
rural objects, and the beautiful windings 
of the river, over which there is a good 
stone bridge at the end of the town. 
From Kirkby we proceeded about 
seven miles to Ingleton, a large village, 
where we passed the night; and at an 
early hour in the morning, having pro- 
cured a guide to conduct us on the way, 
we set out on foot by the side of a brook 
called Doe-Beck,* when we shortly 
reached the base of a tremendous preci- 
ice, partly covered with wood, and in 
et nearly a hundred yards; while, on 
the opposite side of the stream, another 
rocky eminence hemmed us compietely 
in, and seemed so closely united with its 
neighbour, that there was scarcely room 
for the rivulet to pass betwixt the boun- 
caries of the romantic dell; at the extre- 
mity of which, a grand cascade is formed | 
by the waters of the brook already 
named, which, rushing impetuously 
through an aperture of the rock, falls 
above thirty yards in height, in one un- 
broken sheet, from the summit of a 
rocky ledge of considerable width; when, 
dashing down the steep, it precipitates 
itself into a dark deep pool, whence 
it boils up with prodigious force, fcam- 
ing and dashing its spray around on 
every side. 
This cataract is known by the name of 
Thornton-Force, and when viewed from 
where we stood below, is one of the 
finest scenes of the kind I have ever 
seen; the tops and sides of the crags 
being beautifully adorned by shrubs of 
various hues, shooting from crevice to 
crevice, and creeping, intermingled with 
a darkish-coloured moss, over the rocky 
precipices, with almost incredible Juxu- 
riance and richness of colouring. 
A wildness and solemnity pervade this 
scene, that is inexpressibly pleasing to a 
meditative mind ; and I had a full oppor- 
tunity of indulging my reflections, as I 
sat upon a stone beside the roaring 
stream, while B made a beautiful 
sketch of the surrounding view. 
* Beck, in Westmoreland and the adjoin- 
. ing counties, is the name for a small brook 
er rivulet, 
415 
Pursuing the course of the rivulet, we 
passed beneath a number of terrific pre- 
cipices, and crossing a tolerably pleasant, 
but very small, valley, we again pro- 
ceeded by the waier’s edge to Yordas 
Cave, ‘an awful chasm, to which we 
descended through a_ rudely-formed 
archway, and were instantly struck with 
the loud resounding noise of a waterfall, 
which however. was for some time longer 
invisible to our sight; when our guide, 
who had made preparation for the expe- 
dition, struck a light, and sticking several 
candles in a piece of wood athxed to the 
end of a pole, we journeyed on with cau- 
tion, and entered a cavern of prodigious 
extent, so spacious indeed, that even the 
number of lights he carried scarcely 
served to enable us to distinguish its 
boundaries. Imagination. cannot con- 
ceive a more awe-inspiring place than 
that in which we then found ourselves ; 
not the most distant aperture admitted a 
ray of day-light; no sound, save that of 
the unseen cataract, broke in upon the 
stillness of the scene ; and that appeared 
to gain strength as we the longer listened 
to its roaring noise. A subterranean 
stream, mto which we were in no small 
danger of being frequently precipitated 
by the slipperiness- of the. ground 
amongst the loose stones at the bottom 
of the cave, flowed just immediately 
beneath our path; but having surmount 
ed some of our difficulues by climbing a 
ledge of rock that impeded the way, 
our eyes become accustomed to the 
darkness of the place, and we could look 
fearlessly around upon a number of 
curious petrifactions, hanging from the 
roof and sides of the cave; while our 
guide informed us, one of an immense 
size was denominated the  Bishop’s 
Throne; and several others on the op- 
posite side, he also said, bore strong 
resemblance to the heads of animals. 
This, however, we could neither of us 
perceive; and I am apt to think the 
resemblances are more in the imagina- 
tion of the visitor, than any real likeness 
they display to any thing ip nature: just 
as we fancy we perceive likenesses and 
resemblances in the fire, upon a wintry 
night. 
From this prodigious recess we were 
next couducted by a narrow pass, suftici- 
ently wide for only one person to stand 
in ata time, and which is difficult, if not 
dangerous also, as the moisture of the 
ground precludes the possibility of ma- 
king a sure footing, and the stream being 
just below this sort of path, there is a 
Bi 
a 
chance | 
