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pleases. In accordance with the rule of lake approach, we
should recommend his going down first. He embarks at the
pier at Bowness, and is carried straight across to the
Ferry, where the boats touch. Then the course is southwards,
with the lake narrowing, and the hills sinking till the
scenery becomes merely pretty. The water is very shallow
towards the foot, and the practicable channel is marked out
by posts. The best work that the whole neighbourhood could
undertake would be the deepening of the lake at this part,
and of the river which carries off the overflow. Not only is
the passage of the steamers difficult : there is a far worse
evil in the inundations which take place on all the
low-lying lands, even up to Rydal, from the insufficiency of
the outlet. The mischief has much increased since drainage
has been introduced. The excellent and indispensable
practice of land drainage must be followed up by an
improvement in arterial drainage, or floods are inevitable.
The water which formerly dribbled away in the course of many
days, or even weeks, now gushes out from the drains all at
once; and if the main outlets are not enlarged in
proportion, the waters are thrown back upon the land. This
is the case now in the neighbourhood of Windermere,- the
meadows and low-lying houses at Ambleside, a mile or two
from the lake, being flooded every winter by the overflow of
the lake first, then of the river, then of the tributary
streams. The Steam Yacht Companies gave fifty pounds to have
the lake deepened at Fell Foot, about five years ago; and
Mr. White, the proprietor of the Newby Bridge Hotel,
subscribed the same amount: and this was good as far
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