442 



From the north-eastern side we descended into the alpine glen of 

 Canlochen, which runs into the head of Glen Isla, one of the highest 

 valleys of the Clova district. 



Canlochen Glen is hemmed in on each side by dark precipices, 

 while larch forests clothe its lower slopes, affording shelter for hun- 

 dreds of red deer that roam at large over the vale and surrounding 

 heights. The bogs and streamlets above the glen produced Phleum 

 commutatum, Alopecurus alpinus, Carex aquatilis, and in one place 

 (far above where snow usually lies unmelted from year to year) a spe- 

 cies of Eriophorum, apparently different from E. vaginatum, having 

 short, thick, and highly polished stems, round below and bluntly tri- 

 angular above, with very large spherical or almost flattened heads : 

 it differs from the E. Scheuchzeri of continental authors in having a 

 differently formed nut, and leaves rough towards the point,' but is 

 probably the plant found by Don on Ben Lawers, which he called 

 capitatura. 



We returned to the Spital of Glen Shee over a high precipitous 

 mountain, covered with acres of tumbled quartzose rocks, which forms 

 the southern abutment of the Glass Mhiel. 



The next morning saw us toiling once more up the steep western 

 ridge of this mountain, buried in clouds and enduring all the pleasures 

 of a highland shower. From the top we steered by compass into 

 the head of Canlochen Glen, and commenced a careful search of the 

 great precipice at the south-western head. 



In many places the rocks were covered with Dryas octopetala, Vac- 

 ciniuui uliginosum, Salix reticulata, and Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, ac- 

 companied by a profusion of Saxifraga oppositifolia, which trailed 

 upon the ledges in all directions, sometimes intermixed with large 

 tufts of Silene acaulis. It was a delightful place for a botanist ; and 

 as we crept cautiously along the ledges under the towering cliffs, 

 fresh rarities delighted our eyes at every few yards. Potentilla alpes- 

 tris, Saxifraga nivalis, Cerastium alpinum, Hieracium diaphanum, H. 

 Halleri (in curious and varying forms), with the distinct H. nigrescens 

 and H. alpinum, conspicuously adorned the sombre rock, contrasting 

 their blossoms with the purple Erigeron alpinus and Saussurea al- 

 pina. Here and there fine tufts of Carex atrata waved in the wind, 

 and Poa alpina, montana, and caesia grew under the shelter of wet 

 rocks. The exquisite little Veronica saxatilis occasionally showed 

 its brilliant flowers, and Gentiana nivalis, sometimes almost micro- 

 scopic, and sometimes 6 or 7 inches high, was sufficiently abundant to 

 make us believe that we were the first botanical visitors at its lonely 



