The northern range, taking it in its utmost extent, forms, by its mountains and vallies, the fascinating scenery round the lakes of Cumberland and Westmore land—the gloomy grandeur of Craven, in Yorkshire— and the romantic dales of Derbyshire. The loftiest part of it is seen in all its magnificence on the road from Kirby Lonsdale to Kendal. The general height of these mountains is from 3000 to 3400 feet. Accord ing to the barometrical admeasurcments of Mr Dalton, the particular heights of the most remarkable are as follows: Ingleborough is nearly the same height as Whernside. Crossfell, in Cumberland, which borders on the county of Durham, according to Donaldson, is 3390 feet; and according to Mr Bailey, (in his Agricultural Report of Cumberland,) 3400 feet. The height of Saddleback, ac cording to the latter author, is 3048 feet.
The southern division of the northern range, is di vided from the northern division, by the valley of the Ribble, Craven, and the valley of the Ayre : its west ern boundary is formed by the lower, or vale lands of Lancashire and Cheshire ; its eastern, by thc manufac turing districts of Yorkshire ; and its southern, by the upper grounds of Derbyshire and Staffordshire; the extent of these hills is above 60 miles : their width is extremely irregular, being upwards of 20 miles from the feet of the Cheshire hills, to the hills near Sheffield, whereas between Blackstone-edge and Huddersfield, they merely form a ridge. The highest hills in Derby shire are Kinderscout, near Hayfield, Axe Edge hear Buxton, and Whinhill and Mara Tor near Castleton; but they are much lower than the mountains of Cum berland, the highest part of Derbyshire not being more than 2100 feet above the sea.
As we approach the Alpine districts on the west of England, we meet with some hills, which it may be proper to notice, before we proceed to the consideration of the Cambrian range. The Malvern hills, which are situated partly in Gloucestershire, but principally in Herefordshire and Worcestershire, are from 1100 to 1300 feet high : the highest parts are those distinguish ed by the names of Herefordshire and Worcestershire beacons ; the former rising near 1260, and the latter 1300 feet above the level of the plain ; the Malvern hills extend for ten miles, rising on the eastern side, from the flat country, which forms the vale of they are connected on the western Side with a range of lower hills, which extend several miles into Here fordshire.
The Cotswold and the Stroudwater hills, in Glances tershire, are by some regarded as a continuation of the central chain, proceeding south from Derbyshire, and passing through Gloucestershire into Wiltshire, there swelling into the Salisbury clowns, and afterwards run ning west towards the Land's End in Cornwall. If
viewed in this light, they may be regarded as connect ing the northern with the Devonian range. The ex tent of the Cotswold hills, from Broadway hill to near Tetbury, is 30 miles ; their area, about 200,000 acres; their surface is billowy, and their climaturc, if the na tural elevation of the land is considered, unusually mild. The sides of the hills abound with springs, and almost every dip has its rill, and every valley its brook." The Stroudwater hills partake, in some parts, of the character and features of the Cotswold hills, and in other parts, they partake of the vale character.
The Wrckin hill in Shropshire is so much higher than the surrounding hills, that it appears to rise alone from the middle of the plain. It is craggy at the top. Its form is that of a long oval, pointing tacarly north and south ; it has been supposed very exactly to re semble a whale asleep on the surface of the sea. The most precipitous side of this mountain is the eastern ; its height is reckoned about 1200 feet. The Wrekin may be considered as the northern extremity of a ridge, lying in the same line with it, and consisting of the hills of Frodsley, Caradoc, Ste.: each of these has the long diameter from north to south. They are craggy at top, and ascend from the plain of Salop very abrubt ly, at an angle of about The Cambrian range of mountains is considerably more elevated in North than in South Wales, extending through Caernarvonshire and Merionethshire, and de clining in height as they pass through Cardiganshire. The direction of this range in Caernarvonshire is north easterly, from Bardsey Island to a promontory in the bay of Conway. The mountains composing it are the highest of any in Wales, and gradually ascend from each extremity of the range towards the centre, which is formed and occupied by Snowdon, the loftiest of all; the altitude of the highest point of this celebrated mountain is about 3600 feet from the high-water mark on Caernarvon quay. It is composed of various cliffs, rising one above another ; and that particular peak, to which the name of Snowdon is given, scarcely exceeds in height several of the summits that surround it on all sides.