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rocks above the crumbling glacis, more than sufficient, indeed, to 

 render the fears of the late Sir J. E. Smith, as hinted in the ' English 

 Flora,' as to the plant's being lost, quite futile. Still pressing by 

 degrees higher among the steepest rocks, and in places with difficulty 

 accessible, I found a few plants of Lychnis Viscaria. At length I 

 paused before the abrupt escarpments that yet towered above me, and 

 tacking to the right, took advantage of some trees growing on the 

 acclivity to aid my course up the mountain. 



It was at this point, about midway u}) Craig Breidden, that a sight 

 of extreme beauty met my eye : the lovely Veronica spicata, var. 

 hyhrida, in its full perfection of flowering, covered for a great extent 

 a shelving buttress of the hill, brightly blue, as if a wide patch of blue 

 sky had been transferred from heaven to earth. Origanum vulgare, 

 excessively plentiful, contrasted its regal purple with the loftier blue 

 Veronica, while a few patches of Helianthemum vulgare gleamed with 

 golden lustre among the rocks. I threw myself upon the turf, and 

 resting from my up-hill work, for some time contemplated the scene 

 with rapt enjoyment. Several of the tall plants of the Veronica had 

 clustered heads, and both among the latter and the Origanum were 

 pretty varieties with white flowers. 



Leaving my mossy lair after a delicious reverie, I again addressed 

 myself to complete the ascent, and at length, threading my way to the 

 pillar where I had stood the day before, I glanced round at the wide- 

 spread view. This day the Salopian plain was clear ; Shrewsbury's 

 spires and column beamed brightly amidst the green landscape, and 

 the Wrekin towered behind, while eastward the shattered crags of the 

 Stieperstones were plainly discernible. But southward and westward 

 the prospect was splendid. Plinlimmon was singularly distinct, and 

 the whole intervening heights to the majestic Cadir Idris vividly 

 revealed, while the latter was robed in a veil so lucid as to exhibit 

 every feature of the aspect of the mountain. For now the clouds 

 would circle about its base, leaving clear its blue indented back ; then 

 again, rising up, they would dot its summit and ridges in the most 

 fantastic manner, anon robing its awful head and leaving its sides 

 clear, then rapidly passing from the summit again to I'oU about its 

 sides and base, the sunbeams all the while illumining and decorating 

 this moving phantasmagoria with a magical effect that could not be 

 contemplated without pleasure. Sulky as ever, not one smile beamed 

 from Snowdon, who, like a genius of horror, frowned dark and 

 envious, while inky clouds hung over his lofty peak portentously, 

 though without actually enveloping it from view. 



