1900.] COI.GAN. — Botany of Galway and Mayo Highlands. 117 



the arete, which gave us a few yards of hand and foot 

 climbing^ Carex rigida and Salix herbacea turned up in abund- 

 ance, as we fully expected they would. 



The view northward from the summit of Cushcam extended 

 as far as the eye could reach over a perfect desert of mountain 

 and lough-strewn bog, the form of the mountains as seen 

 from, this point fully justifying Mr Hart's depressing estimate 

 of their botanical capabilities. Close at hand, to the south- 

 west, the mountains looked more promising, but we had no 

 time to explore in this direction. The examination of some 

 of the cliffs towards Bengorm, the descent to Glenamong, the 

 tramp along its rough and trackless bogs, with an assiduous 

 escort of bloodthirsty midges, and the final descent along the 

 western shore of Lough Feeagh to the Newport high-road by 

 a rocky mule-track worthy of the Spanish Pyrenees — all this 

 was more than enough to fill in the day's work, and to con- 

 vince us that we had fully earned our two additions to the 

 Nephin ^^% flora. As at present known, the alpine flora of 

 this extensive region is certain 1)'- a poor one, numbering but 

 8 species altogether : — Sediim Rhodiola, Saxifraga stellaris^ S. 

 oppositijolia, Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi, Oxyria re7iiforniis, Salix 

 herbacea^ Carex rigida, and Isoetes lactistris. 



Jul}' 22nd was a lazy day, spent round about the southern 

 end of Lough Beltra, the fine sheet of water from which the 

 Newport river rises, some five miles north-east of the town. 

 Amongst the sixt5"-odd species jotted down in a hasty survey 

 of one of the islets at this end of the lake were Gali^mi boreale 

 and Crepis pahtdosa, and on our way back to Newport Juncus 

 obttisiflorus was gathered in wet bogs by the roadside. On the 

 old bridge at Newport we found Sagina apetala, hitherto un- 

 recorded for District VIII. of Cybele. 



On Monday, the 24th July, we pushed on from Newport to 

 Dooagh, in Achill Island, where we found in an inchoate 

 hotel accommodation fully on a level with the sobriety of our 

 expectations. It may be doubted whether this hostelry, 

 situated though it is in the most picturesque part of the island, 

 will ever be made attractive or, indeed, tolerable for the 

 tourist. If not, the adventurous pilgrim can at least count 

 on finding there ample opportunity for the practice of plain 

 living and the study of modern Irish. Dooagh is within easy 



