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Article COLLEGE MUSINGS,* ← Page 2 of 5 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
College Musings,*
As I approached the lake , and surveyed its gloomy waters with the circumjacent fells , as the mountain ranges are called in that country , I coulcl not help contrasting in my mind the diminutiveness of the tout ensemble with the descriptions I had read of similar scenery in Switzerland . But national predilections soon flew to allay the keen , self-inflicted smart of ridicule which such an unfair comparison had suggested ; and I strolled onhappy in the idea thatthough collaterally smallthis was
, , , the natural production of my own pater-land . Indeed , a tourist whom I subsequently met at Derwent AVater , and who hacl lately returned from Helvetia , assured me that our lakes , with their beautiful scenery , being unique of their kind , were to him as much the subject of his admiration , in a lesser degree , as the grander ancl more stupendous scenery of the . Alps : therefore , a comparison was ridiculous , because the character of each locale is perfectly distinct . In this self-satisfied mood , then , I
reached the perspective boat-house , ivhich was constructed on the margin of the lake ; and , while the good sybil of this humble abode was preparing some homely refreshment ( for I have always observed that we modern knights-errant cannot exist , as the heroes and heroines of chivalry did of yore , upon sentiment and glory ) , 1 launched forth in the rude skiff , to enjoy the coolness of the waters . The towering and rugged cliffs on the opposite side shed a gloomy aspect over this water ; and the bosom of its dark and fathomless pool being ruffled by a boisterous south-west wind , ivhich rushed down the precipitous steep at the farther extremity , rendered the navigation to a
stranger highly dangerous . But my nature , ever venturous and enterprising , urged me to row on , not heeding obstacles which might have appalled a less daring temperament . The force of the current , however , obliged me to desist ; and , after tugging with the ill-contrived paddles till my fingers were blistered , and my physical strength well nigh exhausted , I , in the nautical phrase , "lay to , " allowing my ungainly bark to follow the course in which unruly Boreas chose to impel her .
The whole spot is dreary in the extreme ; a fit retreat for the recluse and the anchorite , and possessing no attraction to the ordinary traveller , except its excellent fishing . The lake abounds with every variety of the finny tribe that is peculiar to those celebrated natural reservoirs . I was peculiarly impressed , at the moment , by the following incident . Stretching across the lake , which is little more than a mile in width , while intensely gazing on the receding shore , I perceived what appeared
to be one side of the fell on fire . The sight was magnificent , and although , as a Southern , 1 was puzzled to account for such an apparent phenomenon , I could not help regretting that " night had not spread her ebon mantle o ' er the horizon , " to give the spectacle that grand effect which darkness would have supplied . 1 afterwards discovered it to be a custom in those parts to burn the whins , or furze , to prepare the soil for a more profitable herbage . * But I could not resist the thought—O
sacrilege ! to despoil the beauteous face of nature thus : yet what will not man do for the sake of filthy lucre ? Such was my ejaculation , when I beheld the devastating hand of the boor continue to apply a lighted ember to the driest roots of the devoted furze . Resuming my melancholy
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
College Musings,*
As I approached the lake , and surveyed its gloomy waters with the circumjacent fells , as the mountain ranges are called in that country , I coulcl not help contrasting in my mind the diminutiveness of the tout ensemble with the descriptions I had read of similar scenery in Switzerland . But national predilections soon flew to allay the keen , self-inflicted smart of ridicule which such an unfair comparison had suggested ; and I strolled onhappy in the idea thatthough collaterally smallthis was
, , , the natural production of my own pater-land . Indeed , a tourist whom I subsequently met at Derwent AVater , and who hacl lately returned from Helvetia , assured me that our lakes , with their beautiful scenery , being unique of their kind , were to him as much the subject of his admiration , in a lesser degree , as the grander ancl more stupendous scenery of the . Alps : therefore , a comparison was ridiculous , because the character of each locale is perfectly distinct . In this self-satisfied mood , then , I
reached the perspective boat-house , ivhich was constructed on the margin of the lake ; and , while the good sybil of this humble abode was preparing some homely refreshment ( for I have always observed that we modern knights-errant cannot exist , as the heroes and heroines of chivalry did of yore , upon sentiment and glory ) , 1 launched forth in the rude skiff , to enjoy the coolness of the waters . The towering and rugged cliffs on the opposite side shed a gloomy aspect over this water ; and the bosom of its dark and fathomless pool being ruffled by a boisterous south-west wind , ivhich rushed down the precipitous steep at the farther extremity , rendered the navigation to a
stranger highly dangerous . But my nature , ever venturous and enterprising , urged me to row on , not heeding obstacles which might have appalled a less daring temperament . The force of the current , however , obliged me to desist ; and , after tugging with the ill-contrived paddles till my fingers were blistered , and my physical strength well nigh exhausted , I , in the nautical phrase , "lay to , " allowing my ungainly bark to follow the course in which unruly Boreas chose to impel her .
The whole spot is dreary in the extreme ; a fit retreat for the recluse and the anchorite , and possessing no attraction to the ordinary traveller , except its excellent fishing . The lake abounds with every variety of the finny tribe that is peculiar to those celebrated natural reservoirs . I was peculiarly impressed , at the moment , by the following incident . Stretching across the lake , which is little more than a mile in width , while intensely gazing on the receding shore , I perceived what appeared
to be one side of the fell on fire . The sight was magnificent , and although , as a Southern , 1 was puzzled to account for such an apparent phenomenon , I could not help regretting that " night had not spread her ebon mantle o ' er the horizon , " to give the spectacle that grand effect which darkness would have supplied . 1 afterwards discovered it to be a custom in those parts to burn the whins , or furze , to prepare the soil for a more profitable herbage . * But I could not resist the thought—O
sacrilege ! to despoil the beauteous face of nature thus : yet what will not man do for the sake of filthy lucre ? Such was my ejaculation , when I beheld the devastating hand of the boor continue to apply a lighted ember to the driest roots of the devoted furze . Resuming my melancholy