how, therefore, were they to decide? It is highly probable that they hesitated and balanced long before they determined; at length, however, they made the important choice," and music won the cause." Perhaps it would be difficult to find a more decided proof of either a musical taste, or a musical mania, than this brief anecdote affords.

From Winster we made a short excursion of about a mile to the Rowter Rocks, which are an assemblage of huge blocks of gritstone, tumbled confusedly together by the hand of nature in one mighty pile. These singular rocks are situated on the southern side of Stanton Moor, and close by the village of Birchover. At a short distance, they appear only a heap of stones; when at their base, they are terrific masses, that seem not to be permanently fixed in their positions, but so slightly connected with each other, and so apparently in the act of falling, as to create an apprehension that they may yet descend with one tremendous crash into the vale below. Some of these blocks lie horizontally, some are perpendicular, and others are placed in every possible degree of obliquity. The intricacies amongst them may be threaded with a little toil and difficulty, but scarcely without dread---for it is not easy to suppose, that any thing put so carelessly together can be very secure.

Some writers have supposed that these immense stones have been piled up by human exertion, a supposition extremely improbable, and not at all supported by appearances. The different remains about Stanton Moor, the Circle in Nine Stones Close and ArberLow, and the turrets on the two extremeties of Grained Tor, are all evidences that this part of Derbyshire was once the resort of the Druids; and if they ever used this gloomy pile at Birchover as a

Picturesque Rocky Scenery.

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place of worship and of sacrifice, which they are represented to have done, they may probably have added a few blocks to the mass which nature had prepared for their purpose, and thereby increased the altitude of Rowter; but that the whole structure is the contrivance and the work of man, is too incredible to be believed. The rocking stones at this place, which Pilkington mentions as being so nicely poised that a child might easily give them a vibratory motion, are now immoveable.

As we passed along the road that leads from Birchover into the valley, near Hartle Brook, we paused awhile to gaze upon the extraordinary group of rocks that is here included in one little picture Rowter was on our right---Bradley Tor, another dark mass of rocks, was on our left---Cratcliff rocks, Mock Beggar's Hall, and Durwood Tor, lay in mid distance in the space between; beyond these, we had a glimpse of some distant hills, apparently as unsubstantial and as shadowy as the clouds of which they seemed to form a part. Evening was fast approaching: a softened radiance crested the eminences before us; and the tops of the trees that grow at the base and about the summit of Cratcliff, glowed with some vivid touches of light. The foreground where we stood, and the valley below, were in deep shadow, but the rocks above us were gleaming with the bright effulgence of the setting sun.

Our next ramble was in a contrary direction, along the Ashbourn road to the vicinity of Grange Mill, where, we had been informed, we should have an opportunity of exploring the supposed crater of an extinct volcano. At the place pointed out to us, the upper strata appear to have been rent asunder by a strong power from beneath.

This reputed crater is an irregularly-formed oval of nearly two miles in circumference: the declination of the strata is from one common centre, and the confusion into which they are thrown favours the idea that has been suggested. Within the hollow of this capacious limestone bason lies an immense mound of toadstone, which is full of bladder holes, and has the appearance of the Scoria of Metals. Whitehurst says, it is indisputably lava; and certainly in colour, composition, and character, it strongly resembles a product of fire.

From the examination of the form and structure of the hills in the vicinity of Grange Mill, we returned to Winster, and from thence along a good carriage-road, we proceeded to Wensley, a small village, about a mile from Darley Bridge. Leaving Winster, some beautiful scenery lay on our left, amongst some deep dells, the sides and summits of which were finely wooded. Through the openings between, they admitted a pleasing view of some of the most picturesque parts of Darley Dale. Nearer Wensley, a valley on our right presented a landscape of a different character. At the foot of a steep declivity, some detached masses of upright rock are scattered amongst the trees, and a passage, which takes a semi-circular direction, runs between them and the craggy hill, from which they appear to have been rent: ivy creeps along their sides, and some light and elegant foliage plays on their summits: rocky fragments, partly covered with moss, and half hid amongst tufts of grass and tangling briars, compose the foreground of the romantic picture here presented.

At the distance of about a mile from Wensley is Darley Bridge, a village very pleasantly situated on the banks of the Derwent. The bridge, which gives name to the village, is a good plain stone struc

View from Darley Bridge.

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ture of four arches; and the views it commands, both up and down the river, are richly diversified with beautiful scenery. Looking up the dale, the tower of Darley church rises gracefully from out the surrounding foliage; and the hills on the left are in some places covered with wood; in others, their steep acclivities are cultivated, and their summits are crested with broken rock, every where liberally interspersed with heath and intervening verdure. Such are the materials that compose the scenery of Darley Dale.

Having passed the bridge over the Derwent, instead of taking the nearest road to Mallock, we crossed some fields by the side of the river to Darley church, about half a mile higher up the dale. The church, as I have before intimated, is embosomed in trees: on the right, in mid distance, a rocky eminence, covered with pine, is a good feature in the landscape; and the distance is composed of well-wooded hills, that mark the course of the river, and display a pleasing variety of outline.

In Darley church-yard we stopped to contemplate the huge dimensions and wide-extended branches of a magnificent yew-tree. The epithet is by no means extravagant, for a nobler object can hardly be met with than this venerable tree. Though many a rude and pityless storm has howled through the branches for nearly six hundred years, its leafy honours yet remain in health and vigour. The trunk, for about four yards from the ground, measures upwards of thirtyfour feet; it then assumes the appearance of two separate trees, which rise perpendicularly from the parent trunk, and throw out their ramifications over an area of between seventy and eighty yards in circum

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Yew Tree in Darley Church-yard.

ference. Some of its extreme branches have been lately cut away, but it is yet a noble object.

We found nothing in the church of sufficient interest to detain us long in so chilling a place; but, returning through the porch, we observed a rudely-sculptured stone with a figure upon it, representing something like an ornamented battle-axe.