HARD WI CKE 'S S CIENCE -GOSS IP. 



151 



comes very near to E. trachyodon : the latter grows 

 in a more scattered way, on wet rocks, never, as far 

 as I have seen, in water, as is the case with its ally. 



Connemara is quite easy of access to the tourist ; 

 a few hours bring one from Dublin to Galway, and 

 vans leave the latter city twice each day for Clifden, 

 in the heart of the mountains. I took the day-car, 

 and, barring the dust, enjoyed a delightful drive of 

 forty miles, the greater part of which lay over wild, 

 uninhabited moors and beside picturesque mountain- 

 lochs, veritable rock-basins. This i-egion has been so 

 often described that it would be useless to enlarge on 

 it ; suffice it to say that it seems the very paradise of 

 the naturalist. Here Nature holds undisputed sway 

 over mountains and lakes that have not been pro- 

 faned by the improving hand of man ; one can label 

 specimens obtained in such a locality without being 

 haunted by any doubt that they may be only 

 "casuals" or "introduced." 



Having, on the evening of my an-ival, perambu- 

 lated the boundaries of Clifden, a clean and respect- 

 able village for such an out-of-the-way region, I set 

 out next morning to visit Urrisbeg, and fill my vas- 

 culum with specimens of the beautiful heath Erica 

 Mediterranea, I made an early start, and soon 

 leaving the road, struck out across the moor, or, as 

 they call it here, the mountain. This seems to be in 

 Ireland the usual term for a heath ; and I found that 

 I was not understood when I spoke of Urrisbeg as 

 the mountain, but that it was necessary to distinguish 

 it as the hill, and to call the low-lying boggy flat 

 behind it, with its numberless lakelets, the mountain, 

 Urrisbeg, though dignified in books as a mountain, is 

 not entitled to that distinction, being only a hill of 

 987 feet, that overlooks Roundstone Bay, and domi- 

 nates the pretty little village of that name. It is 

 one of those hills that, by reason of their isolation, 

 appear much larger than they really are. In the 

 seven or eight hours that I spent there I ascended 

 and descended it many times, and on all sides, poking 

 into nearly every nook, and scaling nearly every crag 

 to be met with. I was, however, disappointed with 

 regard to its botanical riches : as far as the early 

 spring is concerned, it is scarcely worth a visit. 

 Orchis Morio was rather plentiful in places, but the 

 plants small. I found also leaves of Vacciniu)n vitis- 

 idcea. Glyphomitrium Daviesii, a rather rare moss, 

 occurs on rocks near the summit, but not in such 

 plenty as we find in Antrim. Erica Mediterranea 

 was not to be found anywhere, and, after careful 

 search, I could not help feeling considerable doubt 

 as to whether a single scrap of it now remains on the 

 hill. I had consulted all the notices of this heath 

 that I could find, and certainly the impression re- 

 ceived from reading these was that the plant grows 

 plentifully on Urrisbeg. That, doubtless, has been 

 the case ; but it is certain that it is now nearly, if not 

 altogether, extirpated in that station. Having stayed 

 on the hill until sunset, and then got entangled in a 



labyrinth of little lakelets, out of which there seemed 

 to be no outlet. I was delayed until near midnight 

 before reaching the hotel at Clifden. Here I found 

 the people all gone to bed, save the "boots," and I 

 had to retire supperless, a regimen that possibly was 

 healthful, but scarcely agreeable under the circum- 

 stances. 



Next day I started to visit the Twelve Pins, and 

 took advantage of the van as far as Ballynahineh, 

 from whence I commenced the ascent of Ben Lettery. 

 The Twelve Pins form a magnificent group of moun- 

 tains, and the climbing is excellent. Bare rocks, as 

 hard and as reliable as a street pavement, give a firm 

 footing ; and in scaling the steepest cliffs, one feels 

 that he may trust his life on the smallest surface 

 whereon he can get foothold. During the day, I 

 ascended three of the principal tops, and had I not 

 been occupied with plant-hunting, I could have done 

 the whole dozen before night. A fine stream comes 

 down the west face of Ben Lettery, and has cut a 

 deep gorge, in which plants attain unusual luxuriance. 

 Here, in a sheltered, sunny nook I found one speci- 

 men of Dabeocia polifolia already (May 10) in flower. 

 I also found Sphagnum riibellii/n growing on rocks 

 by the stream, and in abundant fructification thus 

 early : this moss is plentiful in the North of Ireland, 

 but I have never seen it fruiting there. The greatest 

 charm of this mountain is, however, the London 

 Pride {Saxifraga lonbrosa), Avhich grows in the 

 greatest profiision from the base up, close to the very 

 summit : the form that occurs is the variety punctata, 

 and it is especially luxuriant on the banks of the 

 stream, becoming dwarfed on the dry, unsheltered 

 cliffs above. On the summit I found Armeria mari- 

 tima, a dwarf form, and not in flower ; Cochlearia 

 alpina also occurs, growing on the caini at the very 

 summit of Lettery. The cryptogamic floi^a of these 

 mountains seems to be good. I have luxuriant speci- 

 mens of Hyinenophyllwn Wilsoni in my herbarium, 

 from gorges cut in the cliffs : some of my fronds 

 measure five inches in length. Hypnnm fiagellare 

 occurs in profusion on wet rocks by the stream, but 

 barren ; Eiitosthodon Tcniplctonii also occurs, but not 

 plentifully ; Hypnion uridiilatitm grows magnificently, 

 but immature at that date ; Catiipylopiis atrovirens 

 was abundant, but not in fruit. I am not familiar 

 with the Hepatica, but one fine species that I met 

 with abundantly could not fail to attract attention — 

 namely, Physiotium cochlear if orme. Sendtnera adunca 

 was also in great quantity. At the base of the 

 mountain were great plants of the Royal Fern just 

 commencing to throw up their fronds. Here also I 

 met with Carduus nutans in flower, but not full- 

 grown. 



On the next day I set out on my return, and on 

 the way enjoyed the excitement of a breakdown that 

 threatened to keep us longer in the mountains than 

 we had bargained for. Late in the afternoon I 

 arrived in Galway, and arranged with a Claddagh 



