1066 



through which we passed, presented considerable diversity of wood 

 and bleak trackless moors, the latter of which are generally unfavour- 

 able for botanizing. 



The next morning we set out for Widdy-bank Fell, Cauldron Snout 

 and Falcon Glints ; which comprehend a district probably the richest 

 in Teesdale for a botanist. Passing along the Alston road for about 

 two miles, we gathered Trollius europseus, Cnicus heterophyllus. 

 Polygonum viviparum and Primula farinosa, which we saw in most 

 of the moist meadows. Leaving the road, we crossed Langdon foot- 

 bridge, and followed the course of a mountain stream, now much di- 

 minished in consequence of the long drought. Along its margin we 

 found Sedum villosum, Tofieldia palustris, Saxifraga aizoides, Bartsia 

 alpina, Kobresia caricina, Potamogeton plantagineus, Cochlearia 

 groenlandica ? Armeria marilima, ^. alpina^ &c. ; and on the top of 

 the Fell, Gentiana vema, Thalictrum alpinum, Lycopodium alpinum, 

 Selago and selaginoides, Juncus triglumis, Carex capillaris, curta, 

 dioica and ampullacea. Rub us Chamgemorus, Arabis hirsuta, Gna- 

 phalium dioicum, Plantago maritima, &c. Here we found a small 

 plant resembling a Spergula ; but being unable to identify it with any 

 described British species, we transmitted a specimen to Sir W. J. 

 Hooker, and soon received from him the gratifying intelligence that 

 it was Spergula stricta, a plant not previously found in the British 

 islands. It occurred very sparingly, and from its growing among 

 Arenaria verna, which, when out of flower, bears considerable resem- 

 blance to it, it was difficult to detect. We saw no trace of it in any 

 subsequent part of our excursion, although we searched carefully in 

 many likely localities. 



We next visited Cauldron Snout, a cataract of the Tees where the 

 river is precipitated in a broken fall of about two hundred feet down 

 a dark basaltic gorge. In consequence of the small quantity of water, 

 this, as well as most of the other falls, was less striking than usual ; 

 from the foot-bridge across the fall, a fine view of it is obtained, and 

 the beauty of the scene is increased by a range of lofty basaltic crags, 

 called Falcon Glints, which commence here, and extend along the 

 side of the river for about a mile and a half. We scrambled over the 

 debris at the foot of these crags, carefully examining the face of the 

 scar for Woodsia ilvensis : we succeeded in finding three small plants 

 of it, growing in the fissures of the basalt. When first gathered by 

 James Backhouse, twenty-three years ago, it was considerably more 

 abundant and luxuriant than at present. 



We noticed also upon the rocks and among the debris, many com- 



