before she lived in Borrowdale she was no    
great walker) she is become an active climber    
of the hills, &

I must tell you of a feat    
that she & I performed on Wednesday the 7^th    
of this month. I remained in Borrowdale    
after Sir G. & Lady B. and the Wilberforces    
were gone, & Miss Barker proposed to me    
that the should go the next day she & I    
should to Seathwaite beyond the Black    
lead mines at the head of Borrowdale, &    
thence up a mountain called at the top Ash    
Course, which we suppose may be a    
corruption of Esk Hawes, as it is a settling    
between the mountains over which the Peo-    
ple of Eskdale are accustomed to pass be[?]    
their way to ^{between Eskdale and} Borrowdale; & such settlings    
are generally called by the name of “the    
Hawes” – as Grisedale Hawes – Buttermere    
Hawes – from the German word Hals, the    
(neck). At the top of Ash Course Miss Bar

- ker had promised me that I should see a    
most magnificent prospect; but we had some    
miles to travel to the foot of the mountain, and    
accordingly we went thither in a cart, Miss    
Barker, her Maid, & myself: We departed    
before nine o’clock.- the sun shone; the sky

was clear and blue; and light and shade fell    
in huge masses upon the mountains;

the fields    
below glittered with the dew, where the beams    
of the sun could reach them; and every little stream    
tumbling down the hills seemed to add to the chear    
-fulness of the scene.    
    We left our Cart at Stonethwaite ^Seathwaite    
and proceeded, with a man to carry our provi    
-sions, and a kind Neighbour of Miss Barker’s,    
a Statesman & Shepherd of the Vale, as our    
companion & Guide. We found ourselves at the    
top of Ash Course without a weary limb,    
having had the fresh air of autumn to help us    
up by its invigorating affects, ^power & the sweet    
warmth of the unclouded sun to tempt us    
to sit and rest by the way. From [vertical pencil mark] the top    
of Ash Course We beheld [vertical v-shaped pencil mark] a prospect which ind

indeed have amply repaid me ^us for a toilsome    
journey, if such it had been; and a sense    
of thankfulness for the continuance of that    
vigour of body, which enabled me to climb    
the high mountain, as in the days of my    
youth, inspiring me with fresh chearful    
-ness, added a delight, a charm to the    
contemplation of the magnificent scenes    
before me which I cannot describe – Still    
less can I tell you the glories of what

we saw. [vertical v-shaped pencil mark] Three views, each distinct in    
its kind, we saw at once – the vale of Bor-    
rowdale, of Keswick, of Bassenthwaite – Skid    
-daw, Saddleback, Helvellyn, numerous    
other mountains, and,– still beyond,– the Solway    
Frith, and the Mountains of Scotland.    
Nearer to us on the other side, and below    
them to us ^us were the Langdale Pikes – their    
own Vale below them, - Windermere – and, far    
beyond ^Windermere, after a long long distance we saw

Ingleborough in Yorkshire. – But how    
shall I speak of the ^peculiar deliciousness of the    
third prospect! At this time that was    
most favoured by ^sunshine sun & shade. The    
green Vale of Esk – deep & green, with    
its glittering serpent stream was below us;    
and on we looked to the mountains near    
the sea – Black Comb & others – and still    
beyond, to the sea itself in dazzling    
brightness. At this same station,    
(making as it might be called a 4^thdivisi    
-on or prospect). Turning round we saw the    
Mountains of Wasdale in tumult; and    
Great Gavel, though the middle of the Mountain

was to us as its base, looked very grand.    
    We had attained the object of our jour-    
ney; but our ambition mounted higher.    
We saw the summit of Scaw Fell, as    
it seemed, very near to us: we were indeed,    
three parts up that mountain; & thither    
we determined to go [pencil mark].⁽⁷⁾

We found the dis-    
tance greater than it had appeared to us; but    
our courage did not fail; however, when    
we came nearer we perceived that, in ^but order    
to attain that summit which had invit-    
ed us forward, we must ^have make^de a great    
dip, and ^seeing that the ascent afterwards    
would be exceedingly steep & difficult, so    
that we might have been benight-    
ed if we had attempted it, therefore,    
unwillingly, we gave it up, and resolv -    
-ed, instead, to ascend another pike ^point    
of the same Mountain, called the Pikes,    
& which, I have since found, the mea -    
- surers of Mountains estimate as higher    
than the larger summit which bears    
the name of Scaw Fell, & where the

the ^Stone Man is built, which we, at the time,    
considered as the point of highest honour.    
-The Sun had never once been oversha -    
-dowed by a cloud during the whole of    
our progress from the centre of Borrow    
-dale; at the summit of the Pike there    
was not a breath of air to stir even the    
papers which we spread out containing    
our food. – ^{refreshments which} [ink] There

we ate our dinner    
in    
summer warmth; and the stillness seem -    
-ed to be not of this world. – We paused,    
& kept silence to listen, & not a sound    
of any kind was to be heard. – We were    
far out of ^above the reach of the Cataracts    
of Scaw Fell; & not an insect was    
there to hum in the air. 

The Vales    
which I have

before described lay    
in view; : and, side by side with Esk    
-dale, we now saw the sister Vale    
of Donnerdale terminated by the    
Duddon Sands. - But the majesty

^{knew  Some friends of ours} that Mr & Mrs Wilberforce & their Family    
(if they kept the intention which they had    
formed before when they parted ^{from us} the night    
before) must certainly be upon Skid-   
-daw at that very time [pencil mark]

– and so it was.    
They were there, and had much more rain    
than we had; we, indeed, were hardly at    
all wetted at all wetted; and before we    
found ourselves again upon that part of    
the mountain called Ash Course every

cloud had vanished from every summit.    
-Do not think we here gave up our    
spirit of enterprise. No! I had heard    
much of the grandeur of the view of    
Wasdale from Stye Head, the point    
from which Wasdale is first seen    
in coming by the road from Borrow    
-dale; but though I had been in Wasdale    
I had never entered the Dale by that    
road, and had often lamented that I    
had not seen what was so much    
talked of by Travellers. Down to that

Pass (for we were yet far above it) we    
bent our course by the side of Ruddle Gill,    
a very deep red chasm in the mountains,    
which begins at a spring;

that spring    
forms a stream, which must, at times, be    
a mighty Torrent, as is evident from the    
Channel which it has wrought out – thence    
by Sprinkling Tarn to Stye head; & there    
we sate & looked down into Wasdale.    
We were now upon Great Gavel which    
rose high above us. [pencil, circle around full stop] Opposite was Scaw Fell,    
and we heard the roaring of the stream,    
from one of the ravines of that moun    
-tain, which, though the bending of    
Wasdale Head lay between us and Scaw    
Fell, we could look into, as it were;    
and the depth of the ravine appeared    
tremendous; it was black, & the Crags    
were awful.    
    We now proceeded homewards    
by Stye head Tarn along the road into    
Borrowdale. Before we reached Stone

thwaite a few stars had appeared, and

to go thither in quest of his sheep; for    
on the Pike there is no food to tempt them.    
    We certainly were singularly fortunate    
^on in the day; for when we were seated on    
the summit our Guide, turning his eyes    
thoughtfully round, said to us, “I do not    
know that in my whole life I was ever    
at any season of the year so high up    
-on the mountains on so clear ^{so calm} a day.”    
Afterwards, you know, we had the storm    
which exhibited to us the grandeur    
of earth & heaven commingled, yet    
without terror; for we knew that the    
storm would pass away; for so our pro    
-phetic Guide assured us. I forgot    
to tell you that I espied a Ship    
upon the glittering sea while we    
were looking over Esk dale, “Is it a    
Ship?” replied the Guide?”

“A Ship!    
yes it can be nothing else don’t you    
see the shape of it?” Miss Barker    
interposed, “It is a Ship [indecipherable cancel]