feathered with snow, and sparkling with frost, intermingled with dark branches of yew, shooting from amongst the crags, crested the rocky barrier before me. From the side facing Matlock Bank, the summit of the rock beetles over its sides, and its extreme verge was fringed with a cornice of brilliant icicles, which looked like a coronet on the brow of winter, and glittered amongst the branches, that hung like a filmy network over the face of the rock. Proceeding along the dale, I passed the High Tor: dark rolled the river at the base of this giant Tor, in one unbroken current, that happily assimilated with the grandeur of the scene; below, some huge masses of stones, capped with snow, interrupted the progress of the stream, round which it impetuously rushed, then circled into turbulent eddies below. A little beyond Saxton's Hotel, on the opposite side of the river, is Wild Cat Tor. Though the entrance into the dale had greater beauty, yet here the scene had more grandeur : the rocks have a wilder character, and the trees at their base are more magnificent. A few straggling pines and yews were scattered amongst the topmost crags; on these the snow hung heavily. It was a wintry picture; and the ruins of a mill near, that had just been consumed by fire, the dark half-burnt beams and rafters of which were rendered more conspicuous by the snow that lay upon them, improved its sublimity. About a quarter of a mile further on the dale, the road passes through Scarthing Rock. From the jutting crags that hung in masses over our heads, long branches projected, feathered over with frost and snow; from others, huge icicles depended, as beautiful and more transparent than the stalactites of the caverns of the Peak. Such were the adornments of the two sides of this rocky portal. The summits were crested with trees; and, through the vista between, a confined landscape was admitted, in which a road and a rocky bank, covered with light downy foliage, were the principal features; whilst beyond we had a glimpse into distance, amongst woods and hills that seemed but the doubtful and shadowy resemblances of what they were. A soft snow shower was floating about them; their individual forms were indistinct, but not obliterated; and the fine filmy veil that was cast over them softened down the harsh asperity of lines, and threw an harmonious uncertainty over the whole. A scene of greater and rarer beauty but seldom occurs. I had now attained the object of my visit to Matlock Bath, and, therefore, during a heavy fall of snow, that a little impeded my progress, I returned to Bakewell, where I passed the night, and from thence, on the following day, to Sheffield, after a short absence of three days. END OF PART III. |