Tarn is within five or six hundred feet from the top of Helvellyn, with a ridge of rock called Striding Edge on the south-east, and another called Swirrel Edge on the north-west. Catchedecam must be ascended, and then Swirrel Edge crossed, which is safe, though it has a somewhat dangerous appearance. A tourist who has a steady foot, a firm head, and a stout heart, should be bold, but not rash; yet some are rash enough to take their course along Striding Edge, though in one part it is only about six feet wide, with a tremendous precipice on each side of it. It was from Striding Edge that poor Gough fell, and a fearful fall it was.”

"What! down one of those tremendous precipices? Oh, then he was dashed to pieces ! "

"You shall hear. This unfortunate young lover of nature' attempted to cross Helvellyn from Patterdale, one day in the spring of 1805, after a fall of snow had partially concealed the path, and rendered it dangerous. It could never be ascertained whether he was killed by his fall, or perished from hunger. Three months elapsed before the body was found, and then it was attended by a faithful dog which Mr. Gough had with him at the time of the accident.

This dog had been, through three months' space,
A dweller in that savage place;

Yes-proof was plain, that since the day
On which the traveller thus had died,

The dog had watch'd about the spot,

Or by his master's side;

How nourish'd there through such long time,
He knows, who gave that love sublime,

And gave that strength of feeling great

Above all human estimate.

"That was a very faithful dog, indeed. Oh, how I should have loved him!"

66

Grasping my staff, I set off for the top of Helvellyn, and soon found the way exceedingly steep; but I plodded on, never straying far from the stream which came tumbling down from Brownrigg's well, a spring that breaks forth from the mountain little more than three hundred yards from its top. I was told that this spring would be a sufficient guide, and such I found it."

"It was a long way up to the top, I dare say."

"It was; but I went my own pace, and stopped so many times to look around me that the effort did not try me so much as it otherwise would have done. As I ascended, I saw Harrop Tarn below me on a rocky shelf beneath Tarn Crag; and noticed the frightful ravines, and seams, and scars, that storms and watercourses had made down the sides of Helvellyn. The sight of Thirlemnere, too, from so great a height was pleasant to me. In less than a quarter of a mile above Brownrigg's well, I found Helvellyn Man a little on my left hand, so that I soon stood on the very top of the mighty mountain."

"What a prospect you would have! No end of pikes, and fells, and crags, and lakes, and tarns.”

"The air was unclouded, and the scene almost unbounded;- Keppel Cove Tarn on the north, and

Catchedecam, and Saddleback, and Skiddaw, and, far in the distance, Solway Firth, and the Scottish mountains. Red Tarn lay to the east, with its monster rock guarding it. I saw it between Swirrel Edge and Striding Edge; and beyond lay the lake of Ulleswater, and Gowbarrow Park, and Stybarrow Crag, and Place Fell, Beck Fell, and Swarth Fell, with Cross Fell in bold relief against the sky."

"I thought you would see mountains enough.”

"There was Patterdale, too, and Angle Tarn beyond it, and Kidsty Pike; High Street and Hill Bell on the south-east. Still southward were Kirkstone, Fairfield, and Grisedale Pike, with a part of Windermere, and a glimpse of Lancaster Castle: but it would be useless to run through the long list. Among the remainder were Coniston Old Man, dreary Black Combe, seen through Wrynose Gap, Bow Fell, Langdale Pikes, Scawfell Pike, Great Gable, and the Buttermere mountains, with Cat Bells, and our old friend, Honister Crag. Altogether it was a glorious prospect; but in the midst of it all, when I turned my head towards Striding Edge, the thought of poor Gough saddened my spirit. Sir Walter Scott says of him,

'But meeter for thee, gentle lover of nature,

To lay down thy head like the meek mountain lamb;
When wilder'd he drops from some cliff, huge in stature,
And draws his last sob by the side of his dam.
And more stately thy couch by this desert lake lying,
Thy obsequies sung by the grey plover flying,
With one faithful friend but to witness thy dying,
In the arms of Helvellyn and Catchedecam.""

187

CHAPTER XVI.

LOITERINGS ABOUT BROTHERS' WATER.

Paul Ritter's prudence.-Brothers' Water.-The old name of the lake, and the origin of the new name.-An advantage possessed by the lake country.-Grisedale and the sublime heights seen from the valley.-Anglers and eagles.-Connexion between God's works and his holy word.-Deepdale.-The king of Patterdale.-Red deer. Mardale. - Bannerdale. - Bordale.-Martindale. - The revolving seasons.

PAUL RITTER'S imagination had been much excited by the many mountains which his father had mentioned as being visible from the top of Helvellyn; yet still the sad story of poor Gough was uppermost in his mind, and he determined that if ever he should visit the lake country, and ascend Helvellyn, no one should ever persuade him to go near that terrible ridge called Striding Edge, with the tremendous precipice on each side of it. In this resolution he gave himself credit for much prudence, though it sprang altogether from his fears. Strong in the consciousness of his own wisdom, he imparted his resolve to his father, who, while he commended him for the exercise of prudence, still wished him to foster self-possession and courage.

Perhaps, Paul," said he, "after you have heard what

I am about to tell you of Brothers' Water, you will make up your mind to keep at a distance from that lake as well as from Striding Edge."

"Was any

"Why do you think so?" replied Paul. one ever drowned there? I remember what you told me of the pool of Esthwaite Water, called Priest's Pot, for two priests were there drowned. Do please to tell me all about Brothers' Water."

"Brothers' Water, Paul, might perhaps be called a large tarn, with as much propriety as a lake. It is very little larger than Rydalmere, not being more than three quarters of a mile long, with a breadth of half a mile. In old maps this lake is called Broader Water, but many years ago, two brothers who went out on a new year's day to keep holiday there on the ice, were unfortunately drowned. It is said that a similar accident took place of a more recent date. No wonder, then, that in consequence of these double deaths, the lake should be called Brothers' Water."

"No, indeed. What a terrible thing! Why, then, two brothers were drowned there at one time, and two brothers at another!"

"I believe that was the case. Small as Brothers' Water is, my rambles about it were of a very delightful kind, it lies in so attractive a neighbourhood. Grisedale, Deepdale, Patterdale, Scandale, Mardale, Fordendale, Bordale, Martindale, and several others are round it."

"What a number of dales! You might ramble for a week in such a place as that."