“--------------------- Fair scene,
Most loved by evening and her dewy star! 
Oh! ne’er may man, with touch unhallowed, jar
The perfect music of the charm serene! 
Still, still unchanged, may one sweet region wear,
Smiles that subdue the soul to love, and tears, and prayer.”

A comfortable hotel has recently been opened, from which, as it stands on an eminence, a fine view is obtained; and at the Red Lion and Swan Inns every necessary accommodation for tourists may be had.

In the neighbourhood there is some delightful panoramic scenery.  From Butterlip How and Red Bank the lake and vale are seen to great advantage.  “The Wishing Gate,” about a mile from Grasmere, should be visited.  It has been so called from a belief that wishes indulged there will have a favourable issue.  Helm Crag, a singularly-shaped hill, about two miles from the inn, commands an extensive and delightful prospect; Helvellyn and Saddleback, Wansfell Pike, the upper end of Windermere, Esthwaite Water, with the Coniston range, and Langdale Pikes, are all distinctly visible.  The Glen of Esdaile, marked by highly-picturesque features, lies in a recess between Helm Crag and Silver How, and the ascent commands fine retrospective views.  Throughout this district the hills and dales are remarkably interesting, and offer numerous attractions to the tourist.  Delightful excursions may be made from Grasmere into Langdale and Patterdale, and the ascent from Grasmere to the top of Helvellyn, to Langdale Pikes, and to Dunmail Raise will be events not easily to be forgotten.  A heap of stones on the summit of Dunmail Raise marks the site of a conflict in 945 between Dunmail, King of Cumberland, and Edmund, the Saxon King.  In descending this hill Thirlmere comes into view.  Thirlmere lies in the Vale of Legberthwaite, and the precipices around it are objects of special admiration.  The ascent of Helvellyn is sometimes begun at the foot of Thirlmere.

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Keswick is a market town, in the county of Cumberland, and parish of Crosthwaite, and is situated on the south bank of the Greta, in a large and fertile vale, about a mile from Derwent Water.  Coleridge, describing the scene, says:—­“This vale is about as large a basin as Loch Lomond; the latter is covered with water; but in the former instance we have two lakes (Derwent Water and Bassenthwaite Mere), with a charming river to connect them, and lovely villages at the foot of the mountain, and other habitations, which give an air of life and cheerfulness to the whole place.”  The town consists only of one street, and comprises upwards of two thousand inhabitants.  Some manufactures are carried on, including linsey-woolsey stuffs and edge tools.  Black-lead pencils made here have acquired a national repute:  the plumbago of which they are manufactured is extracted from “the bowels of the earth,” at a mine in Borrowdale.  The parish church, dedicated to St. Kentigern, is