Page:The parochial history of Cornwall.djvu/230

188 its conical shape). We alighted from our horses and ascended. On the north or north-west side of it there appears a hollow, more like a large chimney than any other thing I can compare it to; the outside of which seems to have given way, and the steep hill below is strewed with an immense quantity of rocks and large stones, as if carried down or poured out from this hollow. Whether this was caused by the operation of fire or water bursting from this hollow or crater, if I may use the expression, I will not take upon me to say; but that one or other of these agents burst from this mount appears to be extremely probable, for the rocks and stones seem exactly as if they had been tumbled or thrown out of this crater by a current of some kind. We could not, however, discover lava; therefore it is probable water might have burst out, unless the lava has been decomposed. The views from this place are truly sublime. The spot is nearly the centre of the broadest part of the county; from it we saw both seas, north and south, and consequently the intervening land; and I believe it is the only eminence (except perhaps Brownwilly) in the eastern part of Cornwall, from whence both seas may be seen. We also saw in the North Sea a very high land, which we concluded must be Lundy Island; but the horizon to the north being rather hazy, I will not take upon me to say positively that it was that island, though it is probable to have been so. The prospect was equally extensive east and west, and as I took a pocket spying-glass with me, we viewed therewith the vast extent we commanded. We discovered Launceston Castle with the naked eye; through the glass it became very visible. We were much struck with the beautiful and highly-cultivated lands to the east of us, terminated in part by the high land of Dartmoor. To the westward, nothing was to be seen but a vast continuance of moor land, without a hedge, without a tree, for a stretch of many miles. The cultivated land commenced