GIBSIDE, THE SEAT OF THE COUNTESS DOWAGER STRATHMORE, DURHAM.

Gibside, an extensive domain, the seat of the Countess Dowager of Strathmore, and of her son, John Bowes, esq., member of parliament for the south division of the county of Durham, is situated in the midst of a delightful park, five miles and a half south-west of Newcastle.

The mansion occupies a sequestered site on the southern bank of the Derwent, and is approached through a wood of venerable oaks. It is an ancient structure, in the style that prevailed in the seventeenth century. At the end of a most beautiful terrace, nearly in front of the house, stands an elegant chapel, which was built in 1812 by the late Earl Strathmore, and ornamented with a portico and highly-embellished dome. At the other extremity of the terrace rises a fine Ionic column of stone, one hundred and forty feet in height, surmounted by a colossal figure of Liberty, and embosomed in an extensive wood. In another part of the grounds, the banqueting-house, a gothic structure ornamented with pinnacles, terminates a spacious avenue.

Although nature, with a lavish and luxuriant hand, has adorned this scene with some of her richest gifts, yet art has bestowed a number of embellishments; and, besides the buildings already mentioned, the green-house, bath, and other edifices, are finished with great taste, and the sylvan beauties that surround them are not surpassed in any part of the country. The interior of the building is ornamented with numerous family portraits and some good paintings. Of the latter, the principal one is a fine picture of Rubens' wife.

Various beautiful views occur in different parts of the grounds, and particularly from a walk near the back of the house, on the brink of a steep descent, whence the Derwent is seen flowing through a deep vale, enclosed on the north by hanging woods; but on the south bounded by cultivated lands, rising from the river in irregular swells. The Park is about four miles in circumference. The approach to the house is by a serpentine road, nearly a mile in length, winding through the oak forest, sometimes extending along the brink of a deep valley, at others descending on the easy inclination of an eminence.

In 1385, Gibside was the estate of the Merleys; and in the reign of Henry VIII. Roger Blackiston, esq. and his wife Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Richard Merley, had livery of it about the end of the seventeenth century, Sir William Bowes acquired it by marriage with the heiress of Sir William Blackiston, and from him it descended to John Lyon, Earl of Strathmore, who took the name of Bowes.

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BASSENTHWAITE LAKE, LOOKING TOWARDS THE SOUTH,

CUMBERLAND.

Bassenthwaite Lake, or, as it is sometimes called, Broad Water, is nearly four miles north of Derwent-Water, and is formed by the river Derwent, which flows in a serpentine form through a fine extensive vale.

"The river nobly foams and flows,

The charm of this enchanted ground,
And all its thousand turns disclose
Some fresher beauty varying round;

The haughtiest breast its wish might bound,

Through life to dwell delighted here."

This lake is said to be four miles and a half in length; at its northern extremity it is nearly a mile in breadth; but, lower down, it decreases to little more than a quarter of a mile. On the east side is the beautiful and extensive vale of Bassenthwaite, deeply indented with three bays, behind which the mighty Skiddaw rears its lofty head. Opposite, on the west, is a range of high mountains, which fall abruptly to the water's edge, leaving only two or three small spots on which cultivation can prevail. These declivities are called Withop Brows, and are partly rocky, and partly covered with thick woods which consist chiefly of young oaks growing out of old stems.

To view the beauties of the lake, the tourist should proceed along the eastern margin to Armathwaite. A road to the left leads to Bradness, a round verdant hill, which projects considerably into the water, and, with the assistance of two other promontories, forms a spacious bay, having Bowness on the south and Scarness on the north. From the summit of this hill, you have a good general view of the lake, and of the three beautiful bays which indent its eastern shore, forming a fine contrast with the lofty hills and hanging woods on the opposite side.

After regaining the road, you recede rather farther from the water, and proceed towards Ousebridge, by way of Bassenthwaite Hall. On an elevated part of this road, to the north of the village, is another fine view of the lake, the north side of Skiddaw, the opposite shore, and the vales of Embleton and Isel. Farther on, you reach Armathwaite, a small but finely-situated seat, at the head of a gentle slope, and commanding, through a grove of trees, a grand view of the lake. Here you see the lowest bay in all its beauty: the lake of Bassenthwaite seems to retire beyond the promontory of Scarness, and the hanging woods of Withop on the opposite side add considerably to the scene. A pleasant road leads to Ousebridge, where is a good inn, fronting the lake, and commanding some variegated prospects. Here the lake, without any previous contraction, or the least appearance of an outlet, pours forth its waters beneath a stone bridge of three arches ;