Decidimos en consecuencia emprender nuestro viaje hacia el norte al expirar otro mes. En esta expedición no teníamos la intención de seguir el camino principal hacia Edimburgo, sino visitar Windsor, Oxford, Matlock y los lagos de Cumberland, con el propósito de llegar al término de este recorrido hacia finales de julio. Empaqueté mis instrumentos químicos y los materiales que había reunido, con la resolución de terminar mis labores en algún rincón oscuro de las tierras altas del norte de Escocia.
Abandonamos Londres el 27 de marzo y nos quedamos unos días en Windsor, deambulando por su hermoso bosque. Este era un paisaje nuevo para nosotros los montañeses; los majestuosos robles, la cantidad de caza y los rebaños de majestuosos ciervos eran todas novedades para nosotros.
From thence we proceeded to Oxford. As we entered this city, our minds were filled with the remembrance of the events that had been transacted there more than a century and a half before. It was here that Charles I had collected his forces. This city had remained faithful to him, after the whole nation had forsaken his cause to join the standard of parliament and liberty. The memory of that unfortunate king, and his companions, the amiable Falkland, the insolent Goring, his queen, and son, gave a peculiar interest to every part of the city, which they might be supposed to have inhabited. The spirit of elder days found a dwelling here, and we delighted to trace its footsteps. If these feelings had not found an imaginary gratification, the appearance of the city had yet in itself sufficient beauty to obtain our admiration. The colleges are ancient and picturesque; the streets are almost magnificent; and the lovely Isis, which flows beside it through meadows