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clay slate; among these we found a botanical rarity, the salix
herbacea, which had fixed its roots in the scanty soil.
Proceeding along this ridge, we unexpectedly heard the sound of
human voices, and presently descried some men engaged in building
a large pile of stones around a structure of timber thirty feet
high, upon the very summit. They proved to be a party of Royal
Engineers and Artillerymen, who had been encamped here for
several days, employed in erecting an object to be observed in
the Trigonometrical Survey; as the Commanding Officer obligingly
explained to us. Some philanthropic gentleman had caused a small
cot to be constructed here for the accommodation of visitants,
and on looking in we perceived that the men had spread their
blankets on a little moss, and thus converted it into a temporary
barrack.
The mist at length became so attenuated, that the glorious orb of
day appeared through it like a large full moon; and in a moment
the clouds opened and the north end of Bassenthwaite lake - with
the variegated country around it - burst into view with the most
astonishing brilliancy. We overlooked an extensive plain, spotted
with houses, villages, and corn fields, extending to the Solway
Firth, both shores of which were distinctly visible with their
various indentations, and beyond it the
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