Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume II.djvu/188

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stands, where a close glen opens to the eye, exhi- biting one of the most beautiful and solemn com- binations of rock and wood that can be conceved. The grand face of rock before-mentioned make; the chief feature of this picture, towards the summit of which a singular phcenomenon is seen; abroad patch, highly tinged with green, and evidently appearing to be copper mineral, whose lofty situa- tion throws some light upon, and adds much strength to, the hypothesis of the modern produc- tion of metals by descending materials. Quitting our seat, near which we contemplated with horror the profoundly deep well or the ancient castle, we were led into a hollow, a cut in the solid rock, from whence ah prospect being excluded, the eye is confined to a gloomy cavern, at the termina- tion of which is a door faced with an iron grating, a stately stern figure of a lion appearing through the bar-;. Ascending by a path from this abyss, we arc led through an undulating meadow towards the grotto hill, that vast natural wall of rock we had been contemplating from below. The walk up this declivity is extremely well managed, shut- ting out, by its depth of shade, the scenery intended io burst upon the vision at once from its elevated summi:. Arrived here, we passed on to the grotto, one of the most novel, grand, beautiful, and exten-

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