The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

DUEHAM. 289
of lead pencils. The Bowder Stone—a huge erratic block, weighing 2,000 tons
lies at the entrance to this valley.
The Derwent, belo'n" Keswick, flows through Bassenthwaite Water, and then
enters the manufacturing town of Cocl;ermouth, prettily situated at its confluence
with the Cocker. There are cotton, woollen, and paper mills. The ruins of
the castle, dismantled in 1648, are very extensive. Cockermouth was the birthplace
of Wordsworth.
The only towns which remain to be noticed are Wigfon, 10 miles to the south
of Carlisle, which has a Quakers' Academy, and Alston, in the extreme east of the
county, on the Southern Tyne, which belongs geographically to Northumber-
land, and is known for its lead mines, the property of Greenwich Hospital.
Durham, bounded on the south by the Tees, and on the north by the Tyne and
its tributary Derwent, is traversed in its centre by the "Wear. It is occupied to
a large extent by heathy moorlands, but the valleys and the south-eastern portion
of the county are fertile. This deficiency of cultivable land is, however, amply
compensated for by the mineral treasures buried in the soil. The western moun-
tainous part of the county is rich in lead, whilst its centre is occupied by a
broad band of coal measures extending from the Lower Tyne to the Tees. Agri-
culture is carried on with much spirit. The Teeswater variety of short-horned
cattle is one of the best in the kingdom, and the native sheep are large, and
produce fine combing fleeces. The manufactures are various, but every other
branch of industry is dwarfed by huge iron works, busy machine factories, and
noisy ship-yards for the construction of iron vessels.
The Tees rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell, the giant of the Pennine
Mountains, and some of its upper valleys are deservedly renowned for picturesque
scenery. Soon after entering Durham the river expands into a narrow lake,
bordered by sterile moorlands, and then rushes down in a series of wild cataracts,
known as the Caldron Snout. A few miles lower it forms the High Force (50 feet),
the finest waterfall in Eastern England. It passes Middkton-in-Teesdale, near
which are lead-mills, and then washes the foot of the decHvity upon which stands
the ancient city of Barnard Castle. The castle, now in ruins, was built 1112-32
by Bernard Baliol, and was at one time a stronghold of considerable importance.
Close to it rise the modern museum and picture gallery, the contents of which are
for the most part the gift of the owner of the neighbouring Streatham Castle.
The town has a few manufactures, but it is only when we reach Darlington and
Stockton, on the Lower Tees, that we enter one of the great industrial districts of
Northern England. Darlington, on the Skerne, a few miles above its confluence
^ith the Tees, is one of the principal seats of the Quakers, whose influence there
is considerable. The town lies in a fertile country, and is one of the busiest
manufacturing centres of the north. There are factories for building locomotives,
blastfurnaces, and rolling-mills—Durham supplying the coal; the Cleveland Hills,
on the Yorkshire side of the Tees, the iron and iron ore. The railroad which joins
Darlington to Stochton-on-Tecs is the oldest in the world, having been opened in
1825, or four years before railway commimication was established between Liverpool
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