A VISIT TO BRAEMAR. 227 



more expressive word, reek, (which is used in Scotland alike in reference 

 to the sraoke of a chimney, or the spray of a cataract,) the stream, along 

 whose course we had been clambering, emerged. Into this strange cave 

 we penetrated for some distance, and found its chief attraction to be in 

 its roof, which was curiously and fantastically scooped out, and of alabaster 

 whiteness. On the summit itself we witnessed another of those scenes which 

 are only to be seen on our higher mountains — a herd of the noble Red- 

 Deer, {Cervus elaphusj) feeding leisurely on a grassy glade opposite us, 

 headed by their majestic but wary leader. They continued thus for some 

 time, and gave us an opportunity, through an excellent glass, of observing 

 the various movements of both old and young among them, till their 

 delicate sense of smell, (for they could hardly have seen us, ensconced as 

 we were behind a huge stone,) gave intimation of our proximity, when 

 they disappeared over the ridge on which they were feeding, at an easy 

 trot, their antlers, as they sunk from view, appearing like the dismantled 

 branches of a thicket in winter. 



"Magnificent creature! so statel}'- and bright! 

 In the pride of thy spirit pursuing thj' flight; 

 For what hath the child of the desert to dread, 

 Wafting up his own mountains that far beaming head, 

 Or borne like a whirlwind down on the vale; 

 Hail! king of the wild and the beautiful! — hail! 

 Hail! idol divine !- whom Nature hath boiTie 

 O'er a hundred hill tops since the mists of the mom, 

 Wliom the pilgrim, lone wandering on mountain and moor, 

 As the vision glides by him, maj' blameless adore." 



Pkofessor "Wilson. 



Luzula spicata, Statice Armeria, and Juncus trijidus, we found abundantly, 

 with Azalea prociunbens still in full flower, enlivening with a pinkish blush 

 its dark evergreen leaves. The peak itself forms a good example of the 

 gradual decomposition of the granite, being composed of broad tabular 

 masses, here and there overlapped by other masses, bearing no unapt re- 

 semblance to the toppling layers of an overflowing bumper. Carex rigida 

 and C. vaglnata formed the prevailing herbage at its base, with [here and 

 there thick and pretty tufts of Silene acaulis, creeping, moss-like, over the 

 stones, and substituting for their otherwise dull livery of lichens a suit of 

 its own tiny pink blossoms. In marshy places we found Aira alpina, and 

 many specimens of an elegant viviparous variety, Saxifraga dellaris, Viola 

 palustris, Jungermannioe julacea, J. ciliaris, J.juniperina, and Conostomum 

 boreale. 



In these mountains Lepus variabilis is of common occurrence, and one 

 of these creatures we pursued for some distance, as its curiosity so far got 

 the better of its fear, as to permit us to come at times to very close 

 quarters. We may remark of a very extensive tract of greensward near 



