d about more quietly, or cowered beneath their
sheltering places. This is the only part of the country where goats are
now found;[66] but this morning, before we had seen these, I was
reminded of that picturesque animal by two rams of mountain breed, both
with Ammonian horns, and with beards majestic as that which Michael
Angelo has given to his statue of Moses.--But to return; when our path
had brought us to that part of the naked common which overlooks the
woods and bush-besprinkled fields of Blowick, the lake, clouds, and
mists were all in motion to the sound of sweeping winds;--the church and
cottages of Patterdale scarcely visible, or seen only by fits between
the shifting vapours. To the northward the scene was less
visionary;--Place Fell steady and bold;--the whole lake driving onward
like a great river--waves dancing round the small islands. The house at
Blowick was the boundary of our walk; and we returned, lamenting to see
a decaying and uncomfortable dwelling in a place where sublimity and
beauty seemed to contend with each other. But these regrets were
dispelled by a glance on the woods that clothe the opposite steeps of
the lake. How exquisite was the mixture of sober and splendid hues! The
general colouring of the trees was brown--rather that of ripe hazel
nuts; but towards the water, there were yet beds of green, and in the
highest parts of the wood, was abundance of yellow foliage, which,
gleaming through a vapoury lustre, reminded us of masses of clouds, as
you see them gathered together in the west, and touched with the golden
light of the setting sun.

[66] A.D. 1835. These also have disappeared.

After dinner we walked up the Vale; I had never had an idea of its
extent and width in passing along the public road on the other side. We
followed the path that leads from house to house; two or three times it
took us through some of those copses or groves that cover the little
hillocks in the middle of the vale, making an intricate and pleasing
intermixture of lawn and wood. Our fancies could not resist the
temptation; and we fixed upon a spot for a cottage, which we began to
build: and finished as easily as castles are raised in the air.--Visited
the same spot in the evening. I shall say nothing of the moonlight
aspect of the situation which had charmed us so much in the afternoon;
but I wish you had been with us when, in returning to our friend's
house, we espied his lady's large white dog, lying in the