I860.] BOTANICAL SKETCHES FROM NORTH WALES. 45 



which T. minus has been split, v/as seen in tolerable plenty. T. 

 flavum is said to grow in the vale of Eydernion, but we did not 

 see \t, — I did not, — but we saw Cynoglossum officinale in Llan- 

 drillo, a scarce plant here, and Geranium lucidum, which is not 

 scarce in several parts of North Wales. 



The vegetation of the Berwyns would soon be catalogued. The 

 common Heaths, the Milkwort, Tormentil, a few Rushes {Junci), 

 a dozen or so of Cyperacece, — for example, Scirpus caspitosus, — 

 a few Carices, and Eriophorum. The most common plant next to 

 Calluna vulgaris is Juncus squarrosus (Goose-corn). This con- 

 stitutes almost the sole vegetation of large, fiat, elevated, moist 

 mountainous tracts. Cultivation is encroaching on the brow of 

 the mountain, which is in many parts very steep. Miles of a flat 

 dreary waste intervene before the ridge or summit is reached. 



The Ferns begin to disappear at about 1,500 feet of elevation, 

 and towards the summit there is no living creature ; neither rep- 

 tile nor insect is visible. There is however no want of vegetation 

 'even here. But a single pair of ravens were the only birds we 

 observed. On the steep, rocky south side, sheep and even colts 

 were observed at great elevations. Here the herbage was of a 

 different sort, being mostly of a more succulent nature than 

 that on the north side. This side, the southern, is hollowed out 

 into immense cwms (combes), flanked by steep sides, and termi- 

 nating in rocky prominences on the mountain -ridge. These nar- 

 row combes, after some miles, open out into broad fertile fields 

 and meadows, such as in Scotland would be called straths. In 

 the combe above Pistyll Ehaiadr there is, at the head of the 

 opening in the mountain's side, a circular basin of pure water, 

 somewhat like the Loch-na-Gat on Ben Lawers. There was no 

 vegetation whatever in this Berwyn pool. 



We regretted that we had not a pinch of Anacharis Alsinastrum 

 to throw into it. It would have been a charitable act if there 

 be any living creature in it ; and if there be not, it would have 

 afforded some sustenance to the ducks and other aquatic birds by 

 which it is visited in the winter months. 



It would be next to impossible for a stranger to reach Pistyll 

 Rhaiadr from Llandrillo without the aid of a guide. It would 

 be easy for such as are naturally endowed with strong thews and 

 firm resolution to accomplish the feat of crossing the mountain ; 

 but when the summit is reached, the traveller is still two or three 



