| From the Eagle's Nest, a continuous range of mountain runs to the upper lake. On the opposite side of the river is the famous musical echo. The Voice is supposed to reside in a hollow bay of the steep, covered on all sides with trees. Of the upper lake, I shall only say that in addition to much of the beauty of the lower, it has an air of grandeur peculiar to itself. It is closely girded by lofty hills, which throw their shadow upon the water, and there is something almost awful in its still and solitary aspect. A characteristic portion of it is given in the annexed engraving, the view taken from Rowan's islands, with M'Gillicuddy's Reeks in front. // One great charm of a scene like this is pointed out with so much elegance of expression by the anonymous author I have quoted at the commencement of the chapter that I shall be excused for copying his words: "The effect of many of these views is, in my opinion, much heightened by the hourly revolutions in the face of the heavens. The vast volume of clouds which are rolled together from the Atlantic, and rest on the summits of the mountains, clothes them with majesty: the different masses of light and shade, traversing the lakes in succession, as the shifting bodies above float over them, exhibit all the varieties of night and day almost at the same instant: the mists interposing their dull, yet transparent coverings to the view, raise new desires of a fuller, and clearer prospect: and the wandering vapours flitting from cliff to cliff, as if in search of the clouds from which they have been separated, amuse the eye with their varieties, and irregular motions." [Vol. II, p. 248-249] |
