Before leaving Seathwaite, the tourist should not fail to visit the station Wordsworth has pointed out in his Notes,' for the sake of the view he so beautifully describes. The reader who may not have his work at hand, will thank us for quoting the whole passage, hardly equalled, we think, by any descriptive piece in modern prose. He is speaking of the way of approach to the Duddon :

"After all, the traveller would be most gratified who should approach this beautiful stream neither at its source, as is done in the sonnets, nor from its termination, but from Coniston, over Walna-scar; first descending into a little circular valley, a collateral compartment of the long winding vale through which flows the Duddon. This recess, towards the close of September, when the after-grass of the meadows is still of a fresh green, with the leaves of many of the trees faded, but perhaps none fallen, is truly enchanting. At a point elevated enough to show the various objects in the valley, and not so high as to diminish their importance, the stranger will instinctively halt. On the foreground, a little below the most favourable station, a rude foot-bridge is thrown over the bed of the noisy brook foaming by the wayside. Russet and craggy hills, of bold and varied outline, surround the level valley, which is besprinkled with grey rocks plumed with birch-trees. A few homesteads are interspersed, in some places peeping out from among the rocks like hermitages, whose site has been chosen for the benefit of sunshine, as well as shelter; in other instances, the dwelling-house, barn, and byre compose together a cruciform structure, which, with its embowering trees, and the ivy clothing part of the walls and

roof like a fleece, call to mind the remains of an ancient abbey. Time, in most cases, and nature everywhere, have given a sanctity to the humble works of man that are scattered over this peaceful retirement. Hence a harmony of tone and colour, a consummation and perfection of beauty, which would have been marred had aim or purpose interfered with the course of convenience, utility, or necessity. This unvitiated region stands in no need of the veil of twilight to soften or disguise its features. As it glistens in the morning sunshine, it would fill the spectator's heart with gladsomeness. Looking from our chosen station, he would feel an impatience to rove among its pathways, to be greeted by the milk-maid, to wander from house to house, exchanging good-morrows' as he passed the open doors; but at evening, when the sun is set, and a pearly light gleams from the western quarter of the sky, with an answering light from the smooth surface of the meadows; when the trees are dusky, but each kind still distinguishable; when the cool air has condensed the blue smoke rising from the chimneys; when the dark mossy stones seem to sleep in the bed of the foaming brook ; then he would be unwilling to move forward, not less from a reluctance to relinquish what he beholds, than from an apprehension of disturbing, by his approach, the quietness beneath him.”

This 'Station' will be found without difficulty by those who have descended from the source of the Duddon. You cross the vale from Seathwaite by Seathwaite brook, having Under-crag on your left, and, ascending Walna-scar, the proper position will be readily found by the preceding descrip

tion, which is as accurate as it is beautiful. In returning we may follow the streamlet here spoken of, which dashes in a sparkling current past the churchyard of Seathwaite, till it joins the river in the midst of the wild and beautiful scenery which gave occasion to the Sonnets from the fourteenth to the twentieth, inclusive. This is unquestionably the grandest part of the scenery of the Duddon. The river here makes its way between steep and lofty crags of bold and imposing aspect; and as the course of the stream is very tortuous, strange and striking combinations of forms, with wild and varied effects of light and shade, occur at every step. The rock is a friable kind, and shattered in every direction; large masses have fallen from the heights on either hand, and others impend in a threatening manner. "The chaotic aspect of the scene is well marked by the expression of a stranger, who strolled out while dinner was preparing, and at his return being asked what way he had been wandering, replied, 'As far as it is finished.'" (Wordsworth.)

The best way to explore the scenery here, if the traveller does not mind a little rough climbing, is to get into the bed of the river by the brook, and proceed along it, under Walla-barrow crag, as far as he can towards the source. He must make his way over huge fragments of rock that in some places appear to entirely block up the bed of the river, the water forcing itself under and between them in such a manner as to be unseen at a little distance; and in others are so disposed as to produce the singular variety of sparkling waterbreaks that occur here in little more than half a mile. It