JuLYlSO?.] BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 59 



side, and thought it also a likely habitat for tlie l\are 

 Pyrus, all the more that a young plant grows near its 

 junction with the stream. I determined to examine it. 

 I was rewarded by finding the Ifare Tyrus in consider- 

 able abundance. One of the plants, of the intermediate 

 type, had the largest leaves I had yet noticed in any of the 

 varieties — one, not including stalk, 5x3|- inches. Here 

 also I found a specimen of Scdum Tdei^hium. I passed 

 over the ridge, and descended the gorge on the opposite 

 side. Great abundance in it of Fi/rus AimqHtria, and of 

 the Aspen ; but none of the IJare Pyrus. 



Tliird Sncccss/ul Excursion. — At the mouth of Glen 

 Catacol is an amphitheatre of level ground, with a radius 

 of half a mile. It has evidently been formed by detritus 

 brought by the stream. In addition to the Catacol, four 

 little torrents flow into it. The course of the two on the 

 south side I examined without success. So also on the 

 north, the Abhain Bheag (the Little Stream). But at the 

 north-east corner is the Uisge Solus (the Water of Light, 

 i.e. the Sparkling Water). This is a remarkable stream. 

 It is a main stream, and not a tributary. It comes down 

 the side of a high steep, leaping and dancing in many a 

 foamy fall, resembling the White Water at Corrie, only the 

 falls more numerous and the body of water less. It was 

 not likely to have on its banks the Pare Pyrus, as it was 

 near the sea, and the rock was slate, while this Pyrus had 

 hitherto been found only in the granite, and at a distance 

 from the sea. The stream, however, was inviting, and I 

 ascended. I had gone only half a mile (afterwards 

 measured), and to the height of 400 feet, when, on passing 

 a little sheep bridge, I came upon the Rare Pyrus, which 

 continued at intervals till the bare moorland was almost 

 reached. A number of things were notable. (Lst) There 

 was good shelter, for it was a cross stream, that is, a 

 tributary, and thus not exposed to the tremendous blasts 

 which render tree-life almost impossible in the great glens. 

 (2nd) The stream abounded in little waterfalls, presenting 

 specially cosy nooks. (3rd) The rock is contorted schist, 

 " gnarled and twisted, with many minute cross grains " 

 (Smith), which decomposes into a soil specially suitable 

 for nourishing plants, while its many crevices provide 



