with a church on the opposite side, detached from the village. The character of the valley now begins to change, and approaching towards the head of it, the mountains are lofty and denuded, their sides being covered with the debris. The road continues to ascend till it attains a considerable elevation, and the scenery becomes wild: no houses nor huts are any where to be seen: all is solitude. On reaching the furthest point, where, the valley terminates, the road winds round the mountain, and on looking back, down a valley which lied beneath us, there is a very pretty peep of the head of Windermere, near the little vil lage of Ambleside. The road comes in at the head of this valley, upon which our backs were for the present turned, which was of little moment however, as, on returning from Ullswater, whither I was proceeding, it was necessary to retrace my steps, and pass through this valley, We continued still to ascend, winding round a mountain called Kirkstone, till the road had attained its highest point, when we entered upon another valley through which there is a somewhat rapid descent to Ullswater. The view that bursts upon the sight on entering this latter valley is very imposing. On either side are lofty precipitous mountains, with many a silvery streamlet trickling down their sides, which crossing under the road in some parts fall into a rapid stream at the foot of the mountains, hurrying onwards to a little placid lake, called Brother Water, which is seen on entering the valley, apparently backed by the lofty, mountain of Placefell. This little sheet of water, from whence a stream flows into Ullswater, is one of the principal feeders of that lake, which, discharging itself at its northern extremity into a river called the Eamont, joins the Eden, and pursuing a north-west direction flows into the Solway Frith.

Nothing can be prettier than the disposition of the hills at the head of this lake where there is a little village called Patterdale, and a small inn for the accommodation of visitors, They are really lofty some of then being upwards of 2,000 feet. Placefell which I have mentioned before, stands in an imposing manner on the right shore, at the head of the lake. Herds of red deer are said to frequent it; and foxes are plentiitiful in the neighbourhood. I walked up the side of Placefell to a spot where they are working a slate quarry, from whence there is a fine view of the other monntains and Helvellyn towering above them in the following form. In one of the recesses of the mountains opposite to Placefell there is a lead mine, and the white smoke arising from the smelting of the ore, and ascending into the air, amidst the surrounding darkness of the rayine, added not a little to the effect. There are one or two other lead mines which we had passed in the valley descending to the lake.

I now procured a little poney at the Inn, scarcely bigger than a Shet

land, and rode along the margin on the west side of the lake, some four or five miles, to look at a waterfall called Airey Force, the situation of which, in a deeply-wooded glen in Gowbarrow Park, at a little distance from the lake, is pleasing enough. The path that leads to it is only wide enongh for one person. I took my little poney up to the fall, but had some little difficulty in turning him round in so narrow a place. There is no road on the side immediately opposite, the mountains sloping abruptly down into the lake. The ride back from the fall, towards the head of the lake, well repaid me, and I should imagine that Ullswater cannot be seen from any better point of view.

Having gratified my curiosity, and satisfied my appetite, which the mountain air had rendered rather more than usually craving, I hired another gig and horse, and retraced my steps to the head of the valley. They are here building a little Inn, probably one of the wildest spots in the neighbourhood. The road now enters another valley, at the extremity of which lies Ambleside. This truly may be called a beautiful vale, embracing as it does a rich view of verdant fields and fine sloping woods, with a small portion of Windermere, terminated by several ranges of mountains, of somewhat regular formation; and beyond them I fancied I caught a glimpse of the sea. The descent to this little village is very pretty, the houses not being visible till you come close upon them. It is situated at the foot of the hills, some little distance from the lake, of which there is no view from Ambleside, without ascending the hills. Behind the Inn where I am staying, the "Salutation," there is a pretty little cascade, some half mile off, called Stock Gill Force.

As I had missed a favourite spot on the left bank of Windermere, about a mile and a half from Ambleside, called Low Wood Inn, by going through the valley of Troutbeck, I walked to look at it. The inn is prettily situated near the lake, and commands a fine view of the upper part, with the surrounding mountains. There were several little pleasure yachts moored off this place.

Fearing that I shall already have tired both you and your readers; and, having little else to say of the spots I have visited, I shall conclude my present epistle, intending to address my next to you from Edinburgh, and to continue my rambling account of my progress through the district of the lakes.

I remain, your obedient servant,

A MIDDY ASHORE.

ENLARGED SERIES.---NO 1.---VOL. FOR 1840.

Nabal Chronicle.

SHIPWRECKED FISHERMEN AND MARINERS' BENEVOLENT SOCIETY.

THE season of the year has rendered the demands upon the funds of this Society both numerous and heavy, since we last gave a report of the cases relieved by the Institution. We feel much pleasure however, in mentioning that the finances have increased so as to enable the Committee of Management promptly to render the required aid.

The Society extended assistance to the surviving relatives of five fishermen of Staithes, who were lost in their cobles while they were out fishing. Two men out of the five left widows and children; the other three left aged parents, who had been entirely dependent upon these sons for support. In some of these cases nets were given to the sufferers to enable them to gain a livelihood by letting them ont. In others, the parties were assisted towards paying a year's rent of their cottages.

Relief has been afforded to two pilots of Redcar, subscribers to this Society, who had their boat, whilst in tow by a steam-tug, run down by a brig, and lost.

The crew of the Cleveland of Hull, who were wrecked on the Scroby Sand, narrowly escaped from drowning, and saved nothing but the clothes they had on. They were supplied with clothing and food, and forwarded to their homes.

The Yarmouth Auxiliary Society have relieved a lad, who was serving on board the William and Jane of Cromer, when the vessel was wrecked on the Scroby Sand. He was supplied with provisions, and forwarded to Ipswich.

The Secretary, Mr. West, having read in the public papers an account of a melancholy accident at Dunure, on the coast of Ayr, wrote to inquire of the resident clergyman, if the facts were properly stated, and he obtained a reply that all the particulars were correctly given. The Secretary then laid the case before the Board: the details are as follows; "Three fishermen were out in a boat for the purpose of lifting their nets; and while close upon the shore, a sudden squall overturned the boat. One of the three reached the shore completely exhausted; the other two sank to rise no more. They were both married men: one left a widow and four children; the other, a widow and eleven children, ten of the number being daughters. A sum of money was remitted to the clergyman to be expended by him in the relief of the widows and orphans.

Auxiliary Societies have been formed, and Honorary Agents appointed at the undermentioned places since our last report:

Beaumaris,

Bodedern,

Derby,
Dumfries,

Harwich,

Kirkaldy,

Bridgewater,

Dundalk,

Kilrush,

Maryport,

Newport,

Pembroke,

Penryn,

Rochford,

St. Ives,

Southampton,
South Shields,

Westhaven, Weymouth, Wick, Wisbeach, Workington,

and

Wainfleet.

SHIPWRECKS AND UNDERWRITERS,

The following letter appears to refer to the brig Bure, No. 20, of our table of wrecks, and may be of importance ;--

Gentlemen,---In your esteemed Publication, No. 11, of November, 1839, p. 747, I read the following words; "Weed, &c." I do not think it necessary to transcribe the whole sentence, written by a master of a British merchant vessel. I cannot but agree with these words, the more so, as shortly after having read them, the following circumstance took place with a British vessel, at the eve of her entering in our Port of Texel: it was the brig Bure, loaded with a cargo of iron, cotton, &c., bound from Liverpool to Amsterdam. This vessel sailed from Liverpool on the 11th of September last, in company with several other ships having the same destination: all these latter had a short voyage, whilst the former alone first ran into the Port of Poole, and then into that of Harwich; at last she came to anchor at five fathoms, near the coast of the Isle of Eyerland. Here the Master looked out for a pilot; but, as he states, (and I am inclined to believe it) there was none to be found. He then went on shore, with two men of his crew, leaving the vessel under charge of the mate and four sailors, instead of sending the mate and remaining himself on board of the brig, as was his duty. On his arrival at Texel he applied to the Vice Consul of Great Britain, who advised him to hire a boat for assisting him in bringing his vessel in deep water, and into the New Deep, which he did accordingly. On coming however, on the spot where he had left his vessel, he found the buoy with the anchor and chain, (the latter slipped) but no brig. He returned to the Consul with this intelligence, and intimated to him that as there was no vessel to be found there where he had left her, he had now made an agreement with another fisherman to bring him to the Vlie and Terschelling, to ascertain whether the brig had arrived there; but, neither was the brig in these ports. He is now, at this moment, still looking out for his brig, not knowing to what part of the globe she has gone. As the cargo of the brig has been insured in Amsterdam, you will conceive that our underwriters are, on the one hand, very anxious to get some information respecting the vessel, whilst en the other hand, they cannot refrain from condemning, in the strongest terms, the unwarrantable conduct of the aforesaid Master of the Brig, Bure, who left his vessel to his mate, in order to go on an errand, which a second officer might, and according to my humble opinion, ought to have fulfilled. Although, by making this circumstance known to the public, the loss, in the present instance, cannot be averted; yet, I have thought it might answer this purpose for the future, to the benefit of my fellow underwriters abroad. Trusting you will not refuse to admit these lines in your valuable publication, I have the honour to remain, respectfully, Gentlemen, your obedient servant,

Amsterdam, Nov, 20, 1839.

J. C. CHILCHER, one of the Underwriters,

THE CYCLOPS STEAM FRIGATE,

On Friday, the 13th of December instant, this splendid vessel left her moorings at Blackwall for a trial trip down the river, and to proceed

to Sheerness, to take in her guns and equipments, This, being the largest Steam Frigate in the world, attracted much attention, and throughout her passage down the river was an object of great curiosity and admiration.

The trial was made under the directions of the Lords of the Admiralty and their officers, several of whom were on board, viz., Sir C. Adam, the Secretary of the Admiralty Mr. Moore O'Ferrall, Sir E. Parry, Sir Wm. Symonds, Captain Nott, Captain Austin, &c., &c.

Her performance was most excellent; the speed was found to be about 10 knots or 11 miles in still water, her engines working 21 strokes; and it was universally remarked that there was an entire absence of the unpleasant tremulous motion, so generally found in other Steamers.

After proceeding close to the Nore Light, she turned and met the "Fearless" Admiralty Steamer, which accompanied her down, and their Lordships embarked in that vessel to return to Woolwich, while the Cyclops proceeded up the Medway, and made fast to the buoy off Sheerness Dock Yard.

This vessel was designed by Sir William Symonds, and built under his immediate superintendence, at Pembroke Dock Yard. She combines in a most eminent degree the qualities of both sailing and steaming, together with such improvements as have suggested themselves to her designer from the experience of the "Gorgon."

She is propelled by two engines of 160-horse power each, made by Messrs. J. and S. Seaward and Capel, on the new principle adopted by them, by which they dispense with the large cast iron side frames and sway beams, the cross heads, side rods, &c. &c., and thus bring the weights of these engines to 70 tons less than they would have been if they had been made on the common beam principle, and thereby also effect a very important saving of space in the length of the engine room, These engines are fitted with a contrivance (which is protected by patent) for warming the feed-water on its passage to the boiler, by causing it to pass through a number of copper pipes around which the spent steam from the cylinder circulates on its way to the condenser, by which means the heat of the feed-water is elevated about 60 degrees above the usual temperature, and a saving thereby effected in the consumption of fuel of 7 per cent.

There are four copper boilers for supplying the above with steam, made entirely of copper, and placed in pairs, back to back with a fore and aft stoke hole; these boilers are clothed on the system first used by Messrs. Seawards, and since introduced into the Navy for H. M. Steam Ships, for the prevention of the radiation of heat, the advantages of which were evident in the surprising coolness of the engine room. A barometer placed against the side of the boilers only rose to 68°, and another in the stoke hole to only 72°.

The boilers are fitted with a patent apparatus for detecting and indicating the state of saltness of the water in the boilers, and with 'a receiver and apparatus for blowing out, when the time for that operation has arrived, by means of which all danger from salting the boilers or blowing out the water too low is entirely obviated, and the boilers may be worked as long with salt water as with fresh.

There are coal boxes placed on each side of the vessel the whole length of the engine room, and holding when full about 450 tons of coals.