309 



Amarella and Arabis hirsuta. Scutellaria galericnlata grew profusely 

 among the pebbles on the shore, Papaver Argeraone and dubium in 

 sandy fields, and Juncus maritimus in salt marshes : in moist places 

 near the loch, Callitriche verna and pedunculata, Potamogeton pusil- 

 lus and crispus, Helosciadium inundatum, Myriophyllum spicatum 

 and Scirpus glaucus. 



Loch Gruinart has a sandy bottom, and it is nearly emptied when 

 the tide is low. Sand-banks exist in many places, and on these we 

 saw numerous seals sporting in the sun. The tide flows here with 

 great rapidity. A bar of sand extends across the mouth of the Loch, 

 and at its head there is an alluvial plain. The shores to the south- 

 west of the point of the Nave are rocky and inhospitable, and exhibit 

 reefs of various extent. The cliffs become more elevated as we pro- 

 ceed south and caves occur in many places. The interior of the 

 island in the neighbourhood of Loch Gruinart is composed of boggy 

 and peaty soil, furnishing such plants as Droseras, Rhynchospora alba 

 and Utricularia minor. On Nave Island Crambe maritima is said to 

 grow. 



In this part of the island there are the ruins of the old church of 

 Kilnave. It is a building of considerable antiquity, and seems to 

 have had only two windows, the arches of which are very peculiar. 

 In the church-yard there is an old stone cross, which differs in the 

 curvature of the cross portion from those seen at Campbelton and in 

 lona. 



August 21st. — Early this moraing I started for Ballytarson, and 

 gathered Anthemis nobilis in abundance. This plant is by no means 

 common in Scotland. In Islay it occurs in several places, and always 

 associated with limestone rock. After breakfast we prepared for a 

 visit to the south-eastern district of the island, but the stormy nature 

 of the weather caused no small alarm to some of the party, and the 

 number of zealous botanists willing to encounter a long and wet walk 

 was found to be very small. One of the party preferred botanizing 

 near Ealabus, within sound of the dinner-bell. Undismayed by the 

 desertion of friends, our little band proceeded in one of Mr. Chieve's 

 conveyances as far as Kintra, at the southern extremity of Laggan 

 sands, and thence walked towards the Oe. On the sands the chief 

 plants were Convolvulus Soldanella, Poa pratensis var. arenaria and 

 Kceleria cristata. On none of the sands in the island did we observe 

 Sinapis monensis, a plant which is common in many of the sandy 

 shores on the west coast. 



From Laggan sands we proceeded along the rocks to Slochd Mhaol 



