GGO

THEORY AND PRACTICE OF ENGINEERING.

Hook II.

which the water occupies but a small portion in dry weather, is covered with lxmlders,some of an hundred weight, and small pebbles, and here anti there an accumulation of sand.After rain, and in winter, the stream flows in a powerful flood. At short distances, on bothsides of the rivers, are vales or gullets, with the banks feathered with wood, through which,with thundering noise, the smaller streams, called Burns , rush over the stones to join thegreat stream below. These deep fissures are of importance, as they often lay open to viewveins of ore, and direct the operations of the miner to the places where it is met with insufficient plenty to reward his toil.

Weardale is held by many to be the most beautiful of these vales. It gradually contractsinto narrower spaces, and the hills become loftier on proceeding westward from the lowcountry ; it is 15 miles in length, and considered to commence about 3 miles below thevillage of Stanhope, where the grass lands are interspersed with fields of wheat, oats,and turnips, the soil being fertile, and the crops abundant; there is much woodland,but gradually, as we ascend, this is less frequent; for some miles there is a considerableshow of trees by the river banks, and thick plantations on the sides of the ravines, throughwhich, over rocks and stones, the burns dash downwards : towards the upper part of thedale the trees are solitary, near habitations, or occasionally on the river-side. Beyond isWearhead, a hamlet where two burns meet, and which give a name to the Wear; eachrises a mile or two higher up to the centre of a wild, treeless, heath-covered hollow inthe mountain.

Both sides of the dale, for ^ mile, back from the river at Wearhead, and still fartherdown are clothed with the most beautiful green and rich vegetation. The whole ofthe dale is well inclosed with stone fences, and subdivided into holdings of about 5 acreseach. Houses are distributed on both sides of the river, and form a continuous scatteredvillage : these houses, built of blocks of stratified hard sandstone, are covered with slate,and as lime is abundant, they are whitewashed, and present a clean, neat appearance, witlithe fronts towards the sun. Here and there is a little hamlet by the road-side, the residenceof tradesmen, to whose stores and workshops the population of both sides of the vale resort.There is much travelling backwards and forwards along the road, but seldom do the inhabit-ants of the dale pass far beyond its bounds. They see few but themselves, and intermarry,so that, by nearer or more remote relationship and affinity, they constitute but one greatfamily, and an attachment subsists between them which nothing can overcome : hence itis that, although by removing only 20 miles lower down, into the coal country, a youngman might nearly double his income, and have the prospect of adding many years of healthand strength to his life, he will not remove. He clings to his beloved dale, and followsan occupation which in most instances allows but a short life, the last years of which arespent in sickness and in sorrow ; and this, too, is the effect on a population well educated,and of intellectual capacity and acquirement surpassing any met with elsewhere inEngland.

The river Tees rises in a hollow, near the foot of Cross Fell, and is soon augmented byother mountain torrents; for many miles it flows through a desolate valley, with a littlegrass land on each side, a few houses, with only now and then a solitary tree ; graduallythe vale widens, and for 3 or 4 miles before arriving at Middleton-in-Tecsdale it is welladorned with wood. On the Yorkshire side the rude hills approach very near the river, andin some places present lofty cliffs. Middleton is a pleasant village, embosomed in woods, withthe 'Fees flowing on its south side, and the Yorkshire hills receding for several miles.Below Middleton, and down to IJarnard Castle, the country is beautiful, and the grasslands are interspersed with fields of grain.

From Stanhope it is ten miles in a northerly direction to the mines and washing-floors on the Derwent. A turnpike road, then one made by the parish of Stanhope, andanother by that of Edmondbyers, conducts to the parish of Hunstomvorth. The fell isaltogether uninhabited, and it may be stated as a proof of the severity of the climate inwinter, that there are high posts of wood painted white , with the top black , to enable thetraveller to find his way amidst the snow.

The Vale of the Derwent, near the works of the Derwent Company, is not 100 yardswide; the miners and washers come from a distance, and for a time remain in the lodgingshops provided for their use.

The upper part of W est and East Allendale, where the mines and washing-floors aresituate, are wild, narrow vales, inclosed within lofty dark fells. From Weardale to AlstonMoor the roarl lies over a higli uncultivated dreary tract, which conducts to the busyvillage of Nenthead, with its smelting mills and washing floors, on which may usuallybe seen a multitude of children engaged at work. The little river Kent flows five milesto the town of Alston Moor, through a narrow vale, divided into small holdings, andstudded with houses like Weardale, but with very little wood.

'Hie town of Alston is situated on the side of a hill close to the river Tyne , beautifullysurrounded with wood. The vale of the Tyne below the town is richly cultivated, andascends for about five miles between lofty hills, where the river rises in a hollow at the foot