THE DESEBT. 81 



countless buntings, bnt their nests are BO far in among 

 the crevices that it is a difficult matter to obtain an 



egg- 



Have done with the birds : let us take a glance at the 

 flora of this wild spot. This is scanty. The very moss 

 in some places is turned black as coal by the icy trick- 

 lings from the snow, and it is only where there is a dry 

 sheltered spot that any flowers can blossom. There are 

 a few. 



The pale blue butterwort, on its sickly leaves, trembles 

 timorously in the piercing blasts which roll over the 

 Jokiills, and yet bravely endures them. I do not think 

 the little flower has as cheerful a hue here as in the 

 south. It seems blanched with cold. 



The grass of Parnassus is also to be found, but the 

 little bullet heads are not yet unfolded. On a southern 

 slope of volcanic ash a scanty growth of creeping azalea 

 may be discovered, and a few varieties of heath which I 

 cannot identify just now, as they have not yet flowered. 



In the marsh at the head of this tarn, in which my 

 poor ponies are wading after the young willow-tops, I 

 find the bog whortle and the blaeberry, now coming 

 into flower ; and I light upon a bunch of Burtsia 

 alpina, its rich plum- coloured flowers just beginning to 

 open. 



On the lava rocks, especially when old, may be seen 

 masses of pale Dryas octopetala a glorious flower, with 

 its eight delicate milky petals and its sunny eye. No 

 where have I seen this plant in such perfection as in 



