|
|
Page 145:-
task in earnest, the ground here becoming much steeper, and our
road being exchanged for a turfy path.
Persons who have not been accustomed to mountainous excursions,
cannot form a conception of the toil they require, or the demands
they make on the breath and patience of the traveller, and it
requires no small degree of judgment and precaution to regulate
the proportion of pause to exertion, for by too bold an effort to
gain ground at the outset, time and strength are often
ineffectually wasted.
As we advanced in altitude, the valley gradually lost its
picturesque appearance, and began to put on the semblance of a
map; and spots that an hour before had reared themselves with
pride above us, now seemed almost levelled with the plain; the
principal mountains however lost little of their importance, and
new ones rose at a greater distance. One of the Pikes of Langdale
appeared in the horizon, but its figure so different from what it
assumed on Windermere, that we should not, without being told,
have recognized it.
After half an hour's toil in this steep, we found ourselves upon
a soft trackless turf of less acclivity by which our progress was
greatly facilitated; but though our elevation was prodigious, we
were not permitted to be amused by prospects, for the clouds had
enveloped us, and nearly prevented
|
