390 JOTTINGS ON THE CLOVA MOUNTAINS. 
The lower rocks form a long sloping declivity, at the top of which they 
again became rugged and precipitous, and are somewhat difficult of 
access. Abundant evidence was still visible of the ruin occasioned by 
the storm of the previous day in the loose earth, broken fragments of 
rocks that were scattered around, and in the marks of terrible concus- - 
sions that had taken place between the projecting rocks and the larger. 
fragments in their descent, the point of contact being surrounded bya 
stratum of smoke-like dust, where the smell of fire was still apparent. 
I had penetrated to a considerable distance among the cliffs near the 
summit, at a place where one of the masses had descended, breaking 
off pieces of rock and tearing up and grinding the vegetation in its pro- 
gress. I had just pulled myself up and secured my footing on a green 
shelf, which had been partly torn from its moorings on the rock: on 
getting hold of the shelf above and raising myself upon it, my astonish- 
ment and delight may be better conceived than expressed, on perceiving 
the whole shelf covered with a dense mass of Pyrola rotundifolia, flower- 
ing profusely, and literally loading the air with its delightful fragrance. 
No one who has not witnessed such a scene can form an idea of the 
beauty of this lovely alpine gem; and the pleasure was no doubt consi- 
derably enhanced by the reflection that on this spot, perhaps, the foot 
of man had never stood, that no sacrilegious hand had ever culled 
these floral gems before. After gathering a supply, my attention was 
attracted by something green on the bare ground beneath a willow 
close by; on gathering a fragment, what was my delight to recognize 
the rare and beautiful Weissia latifolia, its curious stems and leaves 
looking like little bulbs at the base of the fruitstalks. 
It is curious to see, associated with these alpine rarities, the most 
common denizens of the plains. Thus Alchemilla vulgaris, Prunella 
vulgaris, Plantago maritima, Parnassia palustris, and numerous others, 
were growing in close proximity with Alchemilla alpina, Oxytropis cam- 
pestris, Veronica alpina, Epilobium alpinum, Saussurea alpina, Sonchus 
. alpinus, and many other alpines: Pteris aquilina was closely associated 
- with Aspidium Lonchitis, and Hypnum cuspidatum with Hypnum rufes- 
cens, and at the head of the Glen, Polypodium alpestre grows side by 
side with Lastrea dilatata; but I nowhere observed Athyrium Filiz- 
femina associated with or at the same elevation with Polypodium al- 
pestre, nor did I find a single frond of Polypodium alpestre towards 
the base of the mountains or lower down than the base of the diffs. 
