50 



IRISH GARIMINING 



up the stream woi\- tlio C'lL-nliaiias aeauliswas ivtusa, S. oppositilolia p\ rcnaica, and vet, 



a carpet ot colour, \erna seeined to seek the hij^her on the o\ erlianj^iiii^ roeUs, Saxifraga 



loPiTcr j^rass at tlie sliaJ\ side o\ tlie buslies, loui^itoha and S. Ai/oon in various forms were 



rostani was \er\ small and was i;rowini; with plentilul up tliis \alle\ oi" snow lowartls l\>inl 



Trifolium alpinum. and a purple-crimson torm Xii^nemale. 



of acaulis was to be found at places in this Close i\v we saw -.nis to cause otiier 



small streamless valley whicli this familx had emotions, the Alpine ros,-. Rhododendron iiir- 



niade its home. sutum, .and Sa\ifr.i-a opposit ifoli.i now in 



in fellowship with ihes,' was Primula farinosa entltess foinis and colouis; Priniula \iscosa 



in ver\- wee shinini^- dots. In the -rassy j^reen, -rowin- in healthv .lunips, 1-iut in very wee 



which at fust si^hi looked like a siui^le crow n form at iliis alliuide. It w.as just comin,i,'- into 



In Tn.\T Cklkstial C.xl.m.' 



of a silver saxifraga. The flowers of this plant 

 were over, but by the seedpod.s one could see 

 that another colour carpet had reig-ned in the 

 earlier Alpine spring-. 



Just above this were the last of the pines, and 

 under their sheltering influence were Anemone 

 alpina, Lilium pyrenaicum, Astrantia major, 

 Anemone hepatica, and various, ferns. But 

 we were too high for this class of herbage to 

 continue, and we next came out at Lac de 

 Gaube, and passing its barren shores we went 

 up a long- moraine valley beyond. Campanula 

 abietina, C. alpina and C. rotundifolia were found 

 below, and above, on . the finer moraine was 

 Androsace pyrenaica, A. cylindrica, Saxifraga 



flower, and what a glorious colour up here ! 

 None of that washy tinge which so characterises 

 it on the lower rocks. 



Perhaps the most notable fact is that the 

 succession of the diff"erent flowers were quite 

 out of order to what we get dealt out to us by 

 these same subjects under cultivation. 



From this scene of study we returned home- 

 wards, and so finished that day's task with nine 

 hilly miles to go, and with an overfull knapsack 

 it was no easy outlook. So when I regained 

 the beaten track I hired an ass to carry my 

 person and portage. 



Another day's work placed us up over 10,000 

 feet on Mont Perdu. The afternoon of this 



