rock; and Stanley Gill, somewhat inferior in height, is equal to it in beauty and grandeur. The original name of the latter was Dalegarth Force, which has been changed, out of compliment to Mr. Stanley, of Ponsonby, the proprietor of the estate on which it falls. It is far up a narrow, and richly-wooded ravine, and the road not being easily found, it may be as well for the traveller in search of the picturesque, to inquire at the Farm-house called Dalegarth Hall, where a guide may be obtained. Birker Force is by some considered the finest waterfall in Cumberland. The most convenient mode, however, of proceeding into this wild region, is to make an extension of the trip from Ambleside to Coniston, of which an account has been already given; and of which all the stages are duly recorded in the guide books. At a point in this region called Esk House, pronounced Ash Course, may be seen the whole of Borrowdale and Derwentwater, with Skiddaw in the rear, visible from his base to his cope. The river Esk forms a succession of beautiful falls, for fully five miles of its course.

Burnmoor, with Scaw Fell in the distance, and the wild and desolate-looking Tarn in the middle, are also points of some attraction to the majority of tourists; but like Birker Force, and the beauties of Eskdale, they are more conveniently seen by the traveller who starts from Coniston.

From Wastdale and Eskdale there is a somewhat

circuitous, but very interesting route, by Muncaster Castle, Gosforth, Ponsonby, Newton, Egremont, and Copeland Forest, to Ennerdale Water, Buttermere, and Crummock Water, and so by Newlands back again to Keswick. Following the river Esk, seawards, we pass Muncaster Castle, on a wood-crowned steep, the ancient seat of the family of the Penningtons, Earls of Muncaster. The country in this neighbourhood, now green and luxuriant with wood, is said to have been bleak and bare before the late Earl undertook its improvement. He covered the hills with trees-now of a goodly growth; introduced various breeds of cattle; irrigated the fields; and increased his own wealth, and the wealth of his dependants, by his judicious expenditure. About a mile and a half to the east of the castle, on the opposite side of the Esk, upon an eminence called Birkby Fell, are ruins of considerable extent, which the country people call the remains of the ancient "city of Barnscar." They extend for about three hundred yards one way, and one hundred the other; and have long puzzled antiquaries to account for them as there is no historical record in existence which throws the smallest light upon the subject. The small market and sea-port town of Ravenglass is about a mile and a half from Muncaster, at the confluence of two small streams, called the Mite and the Irt; but it is in no respect remarkable. From this

place, we follow the high road to Whitehaven, as far as Gosforth, where the lover of the picturesque will admire the situation and architecture of the church; and where the antiquary will delay his steps for a short time to take a look at a tall cross in the churchyard, supposed to have been erected by the Danes. From thence to the bridge over the river Calder, is

about two and a half miles. On the north side of this stream, a mile above the bridge, are the ruins of Calder Abbey, founded so early as 1134, for Cistercian

monks; and forming an adjunct to the superior and parent establishment of Furness. It is a small, but beautiful ruin; and the tourist has an additional inducement to visit it, from the fact that on the opposite side of the river are the vestiges of a Roman encampment. A modern house has been built upon a portion of the site of the ancient abbey. The church connected with it, was, says the Rev. Mr. Ford, in his Description of the Scenery of the Lake District, "of the usual cross form. The south side of the nave is gone. The west door is good Norman, but plain. The nave consists of five arches, now overgrown with ivy. The centre tower stands on four pointed arches, supported by lofty piers. The east end of the choir is gone. It had no lateral lights, but the walls are adorned with long slender pillars and niches; and on the south side are four circular niches, foliated, one being pierced as a door. There are the remains of cloisters on the south side, sufficient to show them to have been beautiful specimens of early English. There are some old monuments with recumbent figures. The grounds are kept in excellent order; the greensward is beautiful; and no noxious weeds are allowed to disfigure the precincts of this once hallowed shrine."

Ponsonby Hall, standing in a park, on the opposite side of the high road to Whitehaven, will scarcely delay the steps of the traveller, who, if he be bound