From Clitheroe we do well to proceed to Chatburn, by rail, if preferred, but far preferably on foot. Going about half-a-mile along the highway, presently, upon the left, there is a gate into a downward-sloping field, the path through which is continued under a flat railway bridge, then past the first of the celebrated Chatburn quarries, and into the fields again. Or we may go along the foot of mighty Pendle itself, and along a series of narrow and winding green lanes to Downham. The Chatburn quarries are capital hunting-grounds for the student of fossil shells, encrinites, and other remains found in limestone. We are enjoined to "consider the lilies of the field"--not foreign to the Divine behest is it to consider the Crinoidea, the wonderful stone-lilies of the limestone rock, the petrified flower-like heads of which here occur in inexpressible abundance. The great stones set up edgeways in place of stiles between the fields near the quarries, are crowded with fragments, and show the rough condition of a favourite material for chimneypieces. For the sake of ladies who may think of going this way, it may be well to add that the vertical stone barriers in question were plainly erected in defiance of the art of dress. Chatburn is the point to start from when the top of Pendle is the object, a rather heavy climb of two miles and a half, but if the atmosphere be clear, well rewarded. The view from Whalley Nab was magnificent. Pendle is to the latter just what Cobden Edge is to Marple--a brow upon which the former grandeurs seem diminished to a fifth. The glistening waters of the Irish Sea beyond the broad green plain in front; in the north, dim vistas and dark peaks, or mild blue masses, that declare the mountains of the Lake District,--old Coniston tossing the clouds from his hoary brows; proximately the smiling valley of the Ribble, the whole of the upper portion of which is overlooked; of the Hodder also, in temperament so wild and dashing, and the wandering Calder; and, turning to the east, the land towards the German Ocean as far as the powers of the eye can reach. The highest point of this huge mountain--the most prominent feature in the physical geography of mid-Lancashire--is stated by the Ordnance Survey to be one thousand eight hundred and fifty feet, thus falling very little short of the loftiest part of Kinder Scout, which nowhere claims a full two thousand. Keeping to the level, there is endless recreation, whether we penetrate Ribblesdale, or cross the river at the ferry, a mile below, for the fragments of Sawley, or content ourselves with the peaceful borders. Not what the Ribble is at "proud Preston," some seven leagues lower down, a broad and majestic river, do we find it here, but rural, chaste, and tranquil, the water shallow and clear, the _beau-ideal_ of a Peneus, the laurels only wanting. [Illustration] Footnote