469 



Ijiight ones. If the sun beats strong and the air is dry, his lace gets 

 tanned and his ears blistered. If the mist comes on, and he has no 

 compass nor guide, he runs the risk of losing himself, and descending 

 the wrong side of the mountain. If he is overtaken by a Highland 

 showei-, he is positively certain of being thoroughly drenched to the 

 skin ; and if he has lacked the foresight to provide a spare suit to ex- 

 change for his wet one on reaching his inn, his plight will be pitiful. 

 Moreover, he will occasionally have the comfort of getting over the 

 ancles in a bog, of being stung by an angry wasp, or of having his 

 blood painfully abstracted in various ways by tiny demons in the 

 shape of insects. Yet after all, these are but trifles when we look 

 them lightly in the face, and consider what a vast amount of pure 

 delight is derivable from the contemplation of Nature, either in her 

 minute details of vegetable and animal structure, or in her more general 

 features of landscape scenery. 



Thalictrum alpinum. Plentiful on Ben Lawers and the other mountains in the Bvead- 

 albane range, growing on the marshy banks of rills, as well as on wet rocks. 



minus, j3. majus. On the hanks of Loch Tay. 



Anemone neinorosa and Trollius europaus. These two beautiful denizens of onv woods, 

 the one with its delicately-tinted drooping flowers, and the other with its swelling 

 globes of vegetable gold, adorned the wild and lofty rocks of Stuich-an-Lochan, 

 and were greeted with all the rekindled warmth of early friendship. Stuich-an- 

 Lochan is a wild rocky mountain, rising almost perpendicularly from the dark 

 waters of Loch-na-Gat, and connected with Ben Lawers, of which it is generally 

 considered a part, by the yet more fearful clitTs of Craig-na-Hein. It is one of 

 the richest botanical fields in Breadalbane. 



Coc/dearia r/rcenLmdica. Plentiful about the summit of Ben Lawers, varying much in 

 size, and in the colouring of the flowers and foliage. 



Draha rtipcstris. In the crevices of rocks about the summit of Ben Lawers, but not 

 in great quantity. 



incana. More or less abundant on the rocky summits of Ben Lawers, Stuich- 

 an-Lochan, Mael Tarmanach, Mael Greadha, and Craigalleach ; varying from 

 two inches to nearly a foot in height. 



Arabis kirsuta. On the rocks of Stuich-an-Lochan, in fruit. 



Silene acaulis. Abundant on all the Breadalbane mountains, at a good elevation, 



forming here and there a beautiful sward, glowing with its myriad blossoms of 



vivid red. 

 Lyclinis diuma. On Stuich-an-Lochan, showing another example of low-ground 



plants seeking a high altitude. 

 Spergula sacjinoides. Rocky banks on Ben Lawers and Stuich-an-Lochan. 

 Alsine rubella. Very sparingly on crumbling rocks, at the summits of Ben Lawers and 



Mael Greadha. 

 Cerastium alpinum. Scattered profusely over all the range, and varying considerably 



in its degree of pubescence. 



