158 TRANSACTIONS, NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 



very sharp turns, termed the " Devil's-Elbow," on the 

 passage over the shoulder of the mountain. After 

 ^* dining with the coach," as it is termed, I got out 

 my vascuhim and started for a walk on the road 

 towards Braeniar. When about two miles up Glen 

 Beg, I noticed on the face of the hill a very peculiar 

 ti'ap-dyke ; and, when viewed from the road, the 

 rock bore a considerable resemblance to coal, in its 

 vinusually black appearance. This I decided to 

 examine ; and on getting over the fence into a piece 

 of wet ground, I was surprised to find a plant of 

 the indigo-coloured speedwell, Veronica alpina. As 

 I had not seen this plant in life for nearly seven 

 years, I was very soon "on the stoop." Although 

 this piece of marshy ground w^ould be only about 

 twenty yards square, I saw as many different alpine 

 plants in half-an-hour as I have seen in the Killin 

 and other districts in the course of a ^vhole day. 

 Rushes, sedges, and grasses were in great numbers, 

 and all large and healthy. Carex cajnllaris, for 

 instance, that we find on the Breadalbane range of 

 an average height of 4 inches, was here growing 

 plentifully from 12 to 16 inches. Mosses and 

 Hepaticce that I had before gathered only as strag- 

 gling plants, mixed up with others, were here in 

 large patches. On ascending the hill, which was now 

 •covered with a thick, heavy mist, I found Pyrola 

 secjinda growing pretty freely among the heather, 

 but past tlie flowering stage ; also a few other good 

 ^il pine plants. My first impression of the district was 

 therefore a favourable one. 



The following morning brought with it a threaten- 

 ing sky and falling weather-glass. I started, how- 

 ever, to do the Cairnwell, and see how the road to 

 Oanlochan lay. After walking along the road 

 towards Brnomnr, till within a mile of where the 

 footpath to Glen Isla (shown on the Ordnance- 

 survey map) meets the road, I found it impossible 

 to discover the path or to follow its direction. It is 

 «o little used by man that the grass has completely 



