THE TRAVELLER THROUGH
ENGLAND.

THE WESTMORELAND LAKES-
ULLSWATER.

W. I see, papa, that Mr. Young has arranged his "Notes" just as we arranged our lesson on Northumberland. He has written about the shape first;-then the boundaries-the soil-surface, and so on. That is very curious!

P. I can explain it to you. I sent him our Northumberland

lesson-and he sent word that he would in future arrange the particulars in the same order. Here is his next letter.

MY DEAR CHILDREN,—

I had no intention to remain at Penrith, so when I went to see Peg and bid her good night, I whispered to her "To-morrow morning, old goody, at five o'clock, we will be off to the lakes-so sleep soundly."

We did not, next morning, start until six o'clock, but then-when Peg sniffed the fresh dampness of the morning breeze, how briskly she trotted along! We turned off to our right, as we left the town, and took the road to Ullswater. I watched the pale white sun which had risen in a dripping mist from behind the hills-the streaks of purple and rosy clouds,-the colours glistening in the dew, which sparkled on the yellow heath-the early busy bees, and the soaring lark-then, by the time the mist of the rising dew had cleared off, and the sun had begun to warm us, we had reached the end of our journey-about 7 or 8 miles, and looked down upon the clear bright lake of Ullswater.

"This is enchanting !" said I to Peg; but I never saw a horse so

indifferent to natural scenery, for she had her nose close to the turf, and was trying the flavour of some wild flowers!

Everything around the lake was pleasing. On one of the shores I saw many gentlemen's villas, with green lawns, shaded by the thick woods surrounding them. On the opposite shore are mountains of a great height, with their summits lost in the clouds-rude rocks which seemed to strive, one with another, for grandeur. We could not see the distance very clearly, because in some parts, the vapour was rising from the lake, causing all beyond it to look grey and indistinct.

We turned off to the village of POOLEY, where I stopped to have breakfast at a fisherman's house.

When the cloth was laid, the fisherman's wife brought me some fine trout, of which I ate very much, for I had a famous appetite.

"What other fish do you catch in this lake, mar'm?” I said.

"Mostly trout, and eels, sir. The eels here are very large-and so are the trout sometimes. I have known them to weigh as much as thirty pounds."

When breakfast was over, I went with this good woman to a most surprising place, which I will tell you about.

After half-an-hour's walk, we found ourselves in a spot surrounded by high rocks, and hills.

I was looking, and wondering at the strange wild shapes of the rocks-when, suddenly, I heard the report of a cannon, which she had told some man to fire off.

"Hark, sir!-listen !" she cried; but it was not very easy to "hark." I was almost stunned-the report of the cannon struck against one

of the rocks, and then bounded back again to another.

It rolled back from that one to another rock, and another, and another, until the number of echoes it made, all sounding together, were like a loud peal of thunder. For several seconds, the sounds were banging about amongst the rocks, and seemed to have no place to go to-until they gradually and gently died away.

"I am rather glad that the sound has gone," said I, "but why! they seem to be approaching again." I could not now tell where the sound came from. Sometimes it seemed to be on the right hand side, sometimes on the left-now it seemed to be behind me, then in front-but at last it seemed to be coming from all quarters with good speed. Again the sound left us, and then returned as before, and this was repeated seven times!

"Be'ent that queer, sir?" said my companion, as she laughed with joy at my staring-"but, ye shall hear more yet."

In a moment there came a noise so violent that I felt as though I should fall to the ground. Several cannons had been discharged toge

ther;

and the clap was tremendous. The sounds echoed and echoed from every side-whilst the confusion and uproar was so great, that it seemed as if the enormous rocks which surrounded the lake were being rooted up, and hurled into the water.

"Ah! now ye be in trouble, sir," cried my companion, "but, when the noise be all gone, ye shall hear something pretty!"

I soon heard the sound of two French horns, which now produced very curious effects. Their echoes seemed to mingle together, forming sounds of all kinds of music;sometimes like a splendid deep

ed organ,-at other times like a soft breathing flute.

"Well," said I, "this is very beautiful! I never before heard such wonderful echoes! - How large is this lake?" I asked of my companion, as we went home again.

It

"Nine miles long, sir. It be one of the largest lakes in Englandand is called ULLSWATER. measures two miles across in the broadest part. But the largest lake in England is WINDERMERE, sir. That is nearly 12 miles long."

"And how far is it to Windermere?"

"About 14 miles, I should say but if ye be going there, ye'd better stay and take some dinner first, sir. May be my good man will be home."

So I stopped at the house of the fisherman until the afternoon; and in my next letter, you shall read how Peg and I set out for Winder

THE air is chill, the rain falls fast, And dark and wintry is the night, And cold and biting is the blast, And not a star affords its light; How can I then ungrateful be, Who have a house to cover me?

How many poor around me roam,
Not knowing where to lay their head,
Without a friend, without a home,
Except it be a mud-wall'd shed;
How can I then ungrateful be,
Who have a house to cover me?

W. Please, papa, I would rather not undertake to describe them. They have a very awkward look.

P. Well, you need not do so. I will simply tell you their names. They are called Trapeziums. Every quadrilateral figure which is not a square, or a rhomb, or a rectangle, is called a Trapezium-no matter what may be its shape.

L. What is meant by Quadrilateral figures, papa?

P. You may almost perceive that it must mean four sided. The word "quadrilateral" is made from two Latin words meaning four sided.

You may now sit down and make a lesson on all the quadrilateral figures you have been learning about.

P. Now, here is a new drawing for you. You must not think it is difficult-you must first copy the two trapeziums carefully,then, if you can draw easily the figures you have learned before, you will be sure to make the drawing nicely.

L. I will count the different figures in it. There are two squares, viz.:-the upper part of the house, and the window of the shed.

Three rectangles, viz. :-the lower part of the house, the tower of the church, and the door in the wall.

Three trapeziums, viz. :-the two roofs, and the little house on the left.

The little piece of roof projecting from that house forms a right-angled triangle-and, the spire of the church is an isosceles triangle; so that there are, altogether, two squares, three rectangles, three trapeziums, a right-angled triangle -and an isosceles triangle.

"He that runs fast will not run long."

"What do you think aunt has sent for us?" cried Rose to her elder sister Ann-as she held up a parcel.

"I can't tell," said Ann.

"Then look! first, here is a little letter-a note; and secondly, here is a new instruction book. Aunt says that she has marked one of the best pieces-and, that we are to learn it by the end of next week, when she will be coming back to town. I shall soon learn it!" said Rose-"very quickly."

"It seems rather difficult," said Ann, "it will take me a long time; but-ah! that is very pleasant. Aunt has marked the fingering all the way through,—1, 2, 3, 4, and a x for the thumb."

"Well, I will begin at once," said Rose, "I will soon run it over, while you go on with your crochet."

Ann listened to Rose as she played, and thought that it was very quick work. When she came to a bar which was rather difficult, it was so 66 run over," that it was spoilt.

"But you are not counting!"

said Ann.

"No, I can play without that," said Rose. "Listen to this part! is it not pretty? I call it delightful." "Yes; but if you were to finger it-just as aunt has marked it here -I think that it would sound better still."

"So it would, perhaps-and, I think I'll attend to that soon; but

Moral Lesson.

I want now to get an idea of the

tune.

"Yes-it is a very nice tune indeed-so hear me make the piano go!" The unfortunate piano had no alternative but to "go;"-so it gave forth the best sounds it could in return for her thumps ;-indeed, it went on rather strangely. Some of the sharps were sounded rather flat; the flats were played as naturals, and sounded quite unnatural; there were sad accidents with the accidentals, for some were lost in the crowd. The soft and loud parts were all treated alike; and, if any parts were wrong, the keys were thumped again to make them "go" right. Thus, after shaking her head, shaking her elbows, knocking her feet together to beat time; and keeping her body, limbs, eyes, head, and hair in motion in a peculiar manner for half-an-hour, Rose felt that she could not possibly go on any longer. She jumped off her stool feeling hot and tired, and ran to have a roll on the grass.

"I think," said her little brother James, "that you have learned that tune very quickly!"

"To be sure I have-I learn very fast; I like always to do things at once!"

"I like to do things at once, sometimes," said Ann, "but not always. There are many things which were not intended to be done directly-they require a long time in doing."

The next day came, and Rose sat down again to her new piece. This time it was not quite so in