The natural character of the surface of the country forms two very distinct features: the lake district being hilly and mountainous; and all the other tract passed over, flat or gently varied. The soil on the red sandstone is almost everywhere light, free, and generally deep, because the gritty stone from which it is formed readily decomposes. The soil in the schistose district is fine, compact, clayey rather than sandy, very thin on the eminences, and only deep in the valleys; this genus of rock decomposing but very slowly. The soil and surface on the sandstone district are well adapted for the culture of corn, and all the roots and herbage plants of agriculture, especially if the climate be somewhat moist; the schistose district, under a moist climate, is adapted for the growth of timber on the eminences, and for pasture on the sides of the hills and in the valleys. Had the sandstone been as difficult to decompose as the schistus, the whole tract of country where it prevails must have remained one rocky surface, covered for ages with little else than lichens: had the schistose rocks of the lake district not been considerably elevated, the weather, and especially the rain, could not possibly have had so much effect in reducing their surface, nor would those numerous crevices have existed, which alone render it possible for the roots of trees to establish themselves amongst them.
