326 BOTANICAL RAMBLES IN JUNE, 1859. \November, 



along with my guide, we came all at once upon a forest of Ferns, 

 most decidedly the tallest I ever saw in Britain, and by nature 

 the most closely planted. It was with great difficulty we could 

 force our way through, and having my little boy with me (seven 

 years old) we had to carry him. At this early period of the 

 season these Ferns were upwards of six feet in height, and the 

 gardener told me he had frequently cut them down among the 

 trees, and found some of them nine and ten feet in length. They 

 reminded me of the groves of cocoa-nut trees so common on the 

 sandy shores of the West India Islands. These Ferns were, with- 

 out exception, species of the common Brake, Pteris aguilina, and 

 were extremely abundant throughout the entire southern side of 

 the hill. Proceeding still upwards by an artificial walk con- 

 structed long ago, nothing remarkable was noticed by us except 

 Solanum Dulcamara, which occurred about halfway to the summit; 

 this, though not a very rare plant, and widely distributed through- 

 out the British Isles, is not common in Scotland. 



'' Higher ! higher " still ! and all on a sudden we discerned at 

 some distance before us a profusion of lilac-coloured blossoms, 

 which on nearing we found to be the fragrant Dame^s Violet, 

 Hesperis matronalis. I opened my vasculum, and filled it to the 

 brim. This sweet-scented Crucifer is well spread over an extent 

 of at least an acre and a half, and appears even more abundant 

 than on Kinnoul Hill, on the opposite side of the Tay. A few 

 hundred yards more of a steep climb, through rocks and rugged 

 stones, brought us safe to the " Moredun," or highest summit of 

 MoncriefFe Hill, which is much about the height of that of Kin- 

 noul, five or six hundred feet, and, like to its neighbour on the 

 northern side of the river, wooded to the summit. The view 

 from the top of MoncriefFe, like Kinnoul, is very good, but far 

 inferior to that obtained from Birnam, near Dunkeld. To the 

 north the trees intercepted the view, and hid the Grampians, 

 Carse of Gowrie, and " Fair City '' (Perth) from sight. West- 

 ward the spacious valley of Strathearn was plainly visible, ter- 

 minated in the distance by the mountains of Ben Ledi and Ben 

 Voirlich. To the south and south-west the long line of the green 

 Ochils formed the bounds of the visible horizon. South-eastward, 

 about three miles distant, was seen the long wooded den of Glen 

 Farg, a highly picturesque and romantic spot, containing many 

 objects of great attraction to the practical botanist. Amongst 



