Page 207 - Third Book of Reading Lessons

206 THIRD BOOK OF
ject of magni cence, and anger n's more lo y
and more interesting summit soars above the whole.
2. The passage of the upper lake is round the ex­ tremity of iucross, which con nes it on one. side, · and the approaching mountains on the other. Here is a celebrated rock, called the Eagle's Nest, which produc wonder l echoes.· A French horn sounded here, raises a concert superior to that of a hundred instruments ; and the report of a single cannon is answered by a succession of peals resembling the loudest thunder, which seem to traverse the sur­ rounding scenery, and die away among t e distant mountains. The upper lake is ur miles in length, and om two to three in breadth. It is almost sur­ rounded by mountains, from which descend a num­ ber of beauti l cascades. The islands in the lake are numerous, and a ord an amazing variety of pic­ turesque scenes. e centre lake, which communi­ cates with the upper, is small in comparison with the other two, an cannot boast of equal variety ; but the shores are, in many places, indented with beauti l bays, surrounded by dark groves of trees. The eastern boundary is rmed by the base of Man­ gerton, down the steep side of which descends a cas­ cade, visible r 150 yards. This ll of water is supplied by a circular lake near the summit of the mountain, called the evil's Punch-Bowl, which, on account of its immense depth, and the continual over ow of water, is considered as one of the greatest curiosities of Killarney.
3. One of the best prospects which this admired lake a ords, is from a rising ground, near the ruined cathedral of Aghadoe. The depth of this lake is equally surprising,-places under the rocky shores