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The finest part of the Duddon scenery is just here; and it
is a charming walk by the stepping-stones, celebrated by
Wordsworth, and up and over the moor, to descend upon
Eskdale. The travelling party sees nearly the same view, as
far as the mountain is concerned, by crossing at Ulpha Kirk,
and getting upon the moor that way. As soon as the
enclosures are past, up springs the lark, and freely run the
rills, and keen is the air; and ghostlike are the mountains
that appear by degrees above the high foreground of the
moor. It is a rare pleasure in the lake district to meet
with the lark. It is only on a very wide expanse of moorland
that it can happen; for in the valleys the birds of prey
allow no songsters. The eagles are gone (or nearly), and few
ravens are left among the crags: but there are hawks
domineering in every vale; so that those who would hear the
lark must go out to such places as Birker Moor.- The
mountain group in front is that which has been remarked upon
before as the centre of the region;- the lofty nucleus
whence the vales diverge (as Wordsworth observed after
Green) "like the spokes of a wheel." Scawfell is the
highest; and the whole line, from that peak to Hardknot, is
very fine in all lights. The dark basin
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