EXCURSIONS. XXV 
crowned my efforts, combined with the genial sun- 
shine and bracing air of that memorable occasion, 
is representative of many other pleasant outings of 
this kind. There is another side to the shield. One 
illustration will suffice. I left Kirkwall one morning 
by the Stromness coach for Bigswell Hill, Stenness. 
The weather forecasts of that morning were falsified. 
Proceeding by way of the hills near Hobbister, Sten- 
ness, I took a bee-line for the Bigswell Hills, and on 
the way thither saw nothing of note. To my utter 
disappointment, no sooner had I commenced the 
ascent of the hill than rain began to fall. Hoping 
it might pass off, I took shelter in a quarry with 
fairly precipitous sides. A water-proof on one’s arm 
climbing a hill is an insupportable burden with 
which I rarely encumbered myself. I remained here 
for about an hour without any other sign of change 
than that the heavy rain had become moditied to a 
persistent drizzle. As there was no hope of turther 
improvement, I made for Finstown, to wait for the 
coach on its return. On my way I got Lycopodiwm 
alpinum, which I had seen only once before ; and 
down in the valley between Bigswell Hill and Ger- 
miston, in old peat-banks, I tound Carex muricata 
for the first time. Only once again did I meet 
with it. Then amid the old quarries on the hill of 
Heddle I got Agrostis vulgaris, var. pumila; so my 
disappointment was not so keen as the earlier day 
predicted. 
A botanist in Orkney can rely on being treated 
with kindness and consideration by the inhabitants. 
The right to pass through any field or to explore even 
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