226 A VISIT TO BRAEMAR. 



oppositifolia, Salix myrsinites, Carex capillaris, C. rvpestrts, (or something 

 very like it, though we have occasional misgivings that it may have 

 been nothing but an alpine condition of C. pulicaris. — I should be delighted 

 to have the opinion of some abler botanist than myself on this point;) 

 Lycopodium selago, L. alpinum, L. selayinoideSj L. clavatum; nor must we 

 omit the chief object of our search — Astragalus alpinus, which, sure enough, 

 we found, profusely mixed with the greensward over a space of considerable 

 extent; — alike acceptable from its rarity, (this being its second British 

 station,) beauty, and fragrance. 



Descending, as best we may, from our elevated position, we find more 

 stable footing, first, in a rude pathway, common among these hills, and 

 known as deer-paths, and ultimately for some distance along another path, 

 boasting alike of monarchial usage — not this time, however, that of the 

 antlered monarch of the hills, but of the Sovereign of these "fortunate 

 isles" of the western wave, over which she lords it with sway so gentle, 

 yet so gracefully commanding.'^" Diverging, however, alike from our new- 

 found path, and the uncalled-for digression to which it has given rise, we 

 commence in earnest the ascent of Ben-A'an — a task of no great difficulty 

 if you go about it judiciously. I question much if the course we adopted 

 would entitle our being ranked among the judicious, where an easy ascent 

 is the only desideratum; but having certain other objects in view, and the 

 "Burn of Essie" (^'of Falls," as the keeper, M'hom we here met, informed 

 us,) presenting every appearance of at least in part satisfying them, we 

 must not repine at our rugged road to the summit. The Burn of Essie 

 may be described as a succession of waterfalls, varying from ten to twenty 

 feet in height, and reaching from the top to the bottom of the hill, dashing 

 from ledge to ledge of well-smoothed granite in headlong sheets, now col- 

 lecting its spent energies before it shoots over the next fall, in some quiet 

 pool of crystalline transparency, at the bottom of which used to be often 

 found the better description of Cairngorums, namely, those (in the opinion 

 of the keeper) that are of a greenish hue. On its sides we observed 

 Gochlearia officinalis, (var. Greenlandica being somewhat less common,) Las- 

 troea oreopteris, Polypodium alpcstre in great abundance; a solitary specimen 

 of the mountain ash — the roddin of most potent efficacy in warding ofi^ 

 all and sundry attacks from the so-called "good folk" of our Highland 

 glens — the Pyrus aucuparia of more learned society; Vero7iica alpina, Viola 

 canina, and Caltha palustris. 



Having duly prepared, by a hearty luncheon, for an effi^rt which should 

 take us at once to the top of the hill, we soon reached a large patch of 

 snow, from an opening in which, amidst a cloud of spray, or, to use a 



* Her Majesty, on one occasion, ascended to the summit of Ben-na-bourd by a bridle-path, 

 made by her command, along Glou Gaii-u, and a good way up the mountain. 



