; but after some progress had been made in the work it was
abandoned from a conviction, that, if well executed, it would lessen the
pleasure of the Traveller by anticipation, and, if the contrary, it
would mislead him. The Reader may not, however, be displeased with the
following extract from a letter to a Friend, giving an account of a
visit to a summit of one of the highest of these mountains; of which I
am reminded by the observations of Mr. West, and by reviewing what has
been said of this district in comparison with the Alps.

Having left Rosthwaite in Borrowdale, on a bright morning in the first
week of October, we ascended from Seathwaite to the top of the ridge,
called Ash-course, and thence beheld three distinct views;--on one side,
the continuous Vale of Borrowdale, Keswick, and Bassenthwaite,--with
Skiddaw, Helvellyn, Saddle-back, and numerous other mountains--and, in
the distance, the Solway Frith and the Mountains of Scotland;--on the
other side, and below us, the Langdale Pikes--their own vale below
_them_;--Windermere,--and, far beyond Windermere, Ingleborough in
Yorkshire. But how shall I speak of the deliciousness of the third
prospect! At this time, _that_ was most favoured by sunshine and shade.
The green Vale of Esk--deep and green, with its glittering serpent
stream, lay below us; and, on we looked to the Mountains near the
Sea,--Black Comb pre-eminent,--and, still beyond, to the Sea itself, in
dazzling brightness. Turning round we saw the Mountains of Wastdale in
tumult; to our right, Great Gavel, the loftiest, a distinct, and _huge_
form, though the middle of the mountain was, to our eyes, as its base.

We had attained the object of this journey; but our ambition now mounted
higher. We saw the summit of Scawfell, apparently very near to us; and
we shaped our course towards it; but, discovering that it could not be
reached without first making a considerable descent, we resolved,
instead, to aim at another point of the same mountain, called the
_Pikes_, which I have since found has been estimated as higher than the
summit bearing the name of Scawfell Head, where the Stone Man is built.

The sun had never once been overshadowed by a cloud during the whole of
our progress from the centre of Borrowdale. On the summit of the Pike,
which we gained after much toil, though without difficulty, there was
not a breath of air to stir even the papers containing our refreshment,
as they lay spread out upon a r