* JOURNAL, 30 Sept. 1769.

Wind at N. W.; clouds and sunshine. A mile and a half from Brough, on a hill lay a great army encamped †. To the left opened a fine valley with green meadows and hedge rows; a gentleman's house peeping forth from a grove of old trees. On a nearer approach, appeared myriads of horses and cattle in the road itself, and in all the fields round me, a brisk stream hurrying cross the way, thousands of clean healthy people in their best party-coloured apparel, farmers and their families, esquires and their daughters, hastening up from the dales and down the fells on every side, glittering in the sun, and pressing forward to join the throng; while the dark hills, on many of whose tops the mists were yet hanging, served as a contrast to this gay and moving scene, which continued for near two miles more along the road, and the crowd (coming towards it) reached on as far as Appleby.

On the ascent of the hill above Appleby, the thick hanging wood, and the long reaches of the Eden (rapid, clear, and full as ever), winding below with views of the castle and town, gave much employment to the mirror; but the sun was wanting and the sky overcast.

* The copy of the journal from which this is transcribed, is in the hand-writing of Dr. Wharton; much is altered and omitted, as the reader may ascertain by comparison, in Mason's Memoirs of Gray.-Ed..

There is a great fair for cattle kept on the hill near Brough, on this day and the preceding.—Mason.

Mr. Gray carried usually with him on these tours a plano-convex mirror, of about four inches diameter, on a black foib, and bound up like a pocket-book. A glass of this sort is perhaps the best and most convenient substitute for a camera obscura, of any thing that has hitherto been invented, and may be had of any optician.'-Mason.

Oats and barley cut every where, but not carried in. Passed Kirby-thore, Sir W. Dalston's house at Acorn-Bank, Winfield Park, Harthorn Oaks, Countess-Pillar, Brougham-Castle, Mr. Brown (one of the Six Clerks) his large new house; crossed the Eden, and the Eimot (pronounce Eeman) with its green vale, and at three o'clock dined with Mrs. Buchanan, at Penrith, on trout and partridge. In the afternoon walked up the Beaconhill, a mile to the top, saw Winfield and Lowther Parks, and through an opening in the bosom of that cluster of mountains, which the Doctor well remembers, the lake of Ulz-water, with the craggy tops of a hundred nameless hills. These lie to W. and S.; to the N. a great extent of black and dreary plains; to E. Cross-fell, just visible through mists and vapours hovering

round it.

October 1. Wind at S. W.; a grey autumnal day, air perfectly calm and gentle. Went to see Ulz-water, five miles distant. Soon left the Keswick road, and turned to the left through shady lanes along the vale of Eeman, which runs rapidly on near the way, rippling over the stones. To the right is Delmaine, a large fabric of pale red stone, with nine windows in front, and seven on the side, built by Mr. Hassel, behind it a fine lawn, surrounded by woods, and a long rocky eminence rising over them. A clear and brisk rivulet runs by the house to join the Eeman, whose course is in sight and at a small distance. Farther on appears Hatton St. John, a castlelike old mansion of Mr. Huddleston. Approached Dunmallert, a fine pointed hill, covered with wood, planted by old Mr. Hassel, before mentioned; who lives always at home, and delights in planting. Walked over a spungy meadow or two, and began to mount this hill through a broad and strait green alley among the trees, and with some toil gained the summit. From hence saw the lake opening directly at my feet, majestic in its

calmness, clear and smooth as a blue mirror, with winding shores and low points of land covered with green inclosures, white farm houses looking out among the trees, and cattle feeding. The water is almost every where bordered with cultivated lands gently sloping upwards till they reach the feet of the mountains, which rise very rude and aweful with their broken tops on either hand; directly in front, at better than three miles distance Place Fell, one of the bravest among them, pushes its bold broad breast into the midst of the lake, and forces it to alter its course, forming first a large bay to the left, and then bending to the right. I descended Dunmallert again by a side avenue, that was only not perpendicular, and came to Barton bridge over the Eeman, then walking through a path in the wood round the bottom of the hill, came forth where the Eeman issues out of the lake, and continued my way along its western shore close to the water, and generally on a level with it. Saw a cormorant flying over it and fishing.

LETTER VI.

MR. GRAY TO DR. WHARTON.

Aston, 18 Oct. 1769.

DEAR DOCTOR,

after that For me I

I HOPE you got safe and well home troublesome night; I long to hear you say so.. have continued well, been so favoured by the weather, that my walks have never once been hindered till yesterday (that is, during a fortnight and 3 or 4 days, and a journey of 300 miles and more) and am now at Aston for two days. Tomorrow I go towards Cambridge: Mason is not here, but Mr. Alderson receives me. My best respects My best respects to the family.

Pray tell me about Stonehewer.

Adieu! I am ever yours.

* Dr. Wharton who had intended to accompany Mr. Gray to Keswick, was seized at Brough with a violent fit of his asthma, which obliged him to return home. This was the reason that Mr. Gray undertook to write the following journal of his tour for his friend's amusement. He sent it under different covers, I give

it here in continuation. It may not be amiss, however, to hint to the reader, that if he expects to find elaborate and nicely turned periods in this narration, he will be greatly disappointed. When Mr. Gray described places, he aimed only to be exact, clear, and intelligible; to convey peculiar, not general ideas, and to paint by the eye, not the fancy. There have been many accounts of the Westmoreland and Cumberland lakes, both before and since this was written, and all of them better calculated to please readers, who are fond of what they call fine writing: Yet those who can content themselves with an elegant simplicity of narrative, will, I

JOURNAL continued.-1 October, 1769.

The figure of Ulz-water nothing resembles that laid down in^ our maps it is 9 miles long, and (at widest) under a mile in breadth. After extending itself three miles and a half in a line to S. W. it turns at the foot of Place Fell, almost due W. and is here not twice the breadth of the Thames at London. It is soon again interrupted by the roots of Helvellyn, a lofty and very rugged mountain, and spreading again turns off to S. E. and is lost among the deep recesses of the hills. To this second turning I pursued my way about 4 miles along its borders beyond a village scattered among trees, and called Water-Mallock, in a pleasant grave day, perfectly calm and warm, but without a gleam of sunshine. Then the sky seeming to thicken, the valley to grow more desolate, and evening drawing on, I returned by the way I came to Penrith.

October 2. Wind at S. E.; sky clearing, Cross Fell misty, but the outline of the other hills very distinct. Set out at 10 for Keswick, by the road we went in 176. Saw Greystock town. and castle to the right, which lie only 3 miles (over the Fells) from Ulz-water. Passed through Penradock and Threlcot at the feet of Saddleback, whose furrowed sides were gilt by noonday sun, while its brow appeared of a sad purple, from the shadow of the clouds as they sailed slowly by it. The broad and green valley of Gardies and Lowside, with a swift stream glittering among the cottages, and meadows, lay to the left; and the much finer (but narrower) valley of St. John's, opening into

flatter myself, find this to their taste; they will perceive it was written with a view, rather to inform than surprize; and, if they make it their companion when they take the same tour, it will inhance their opinion of its intrinsic excellence: in this way I tried it myself before I resolved to print it,-Mason.