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known by the various names of Wythburn Water, Leathes Water,
and Thirlmere. It is a choice of pleasures; and he will
ascend Helvellyn hereafter, if he does not now. Of the two
lake roads, the rude western one is unquestionably the
finest. The woods, which were once so thick that the
squirrel is said to have gone from Wythburn to Keswick
without touching the ground, are cleared away now; and the
only gloom in the scene is from the mass of Helvellyn. The
stranger leaves the mail road within a mile of the Nag's
Head, passes the cottages called by the boastful name of the
City of Wythburn, and a few farm-houses, and soon emerging
from the fences, finds himself on a grassy level under the
Armboth Fells, within an amphitheatre of rocks, with the
lake before him, and Helvellyn beyond, overshadowing it. The
rocks behind are feathered with wood, except where a bold
crag here, and a free cataract there introduces a variety.
There is a clear pool in the midst of the grass, where, if
the approaching tread be light, the heron may be seen
fishing, or faithfully reflected in the mirror. The track
leads by the margin of the lake, and through a shady lane,
and a farm yard, to the bridge by which the lake is to be
crossed. The water is shallow there, between two
promontories; so that piers are easily built, with little
wooden bridges at intervals: and thus is solved what is to
novices a great mystery;- how there can be a bridge over a
lake. There is another mystery just behind, under the
Armboth Fells,- a haunted house. Lights are seen there at
night, the people say; and the bells ring; and just as the
bells all set off ringing, a large
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