360 BOTANICAL RAMBLES IN JUNE, 1859. [December, 



passable barrier of ''heather" {Calluna vulgaris). Now I had not 

 only to VTend my own way through this formidable heathy forest, 

 but to drag the two children. 



I never saw so much of long heather in my life ; it was six or 

 seven feet, and in a half- procumbent position ; had it been erect 

 as it was slanting, it would have been impossible for any human 

 being to have gone forward : as it was, it taught me a lesson never 

 to attempt such a task again. Passing slowly forward and up- 

 ward, at the height, I should imagine, of seven or eight hundred 

 feet, the heather became considerably shorter, and progress became 

 less tedious and difficult ; I sat or rather fell down and lay for 

 half an hour ; I then arose, and looking around me saw the 

 heath spotted with abundance of the snowy blossoms of Trientalis 

 europcea, and prostrate here and there occurred the trailing 

 stems of Lycopodium clavatum. 



Passing upwards until, I should say, I was about 1,000 feet 

 above the town of Dunkeld, and 500 feet below the summit of 

 the mountain, and being now quite clear of the wood, I sat down 

 on a hillock and took a survey of the beautiful and extensive 

 landscape, stretching far and wide its picturesque scenery, con- 

 sisting of hill and dale, mountain and moor. 



Right before me to the northward and westward lay the fertile 

 vale of Strath Braan, through which the impetuous little river 

 Braan pursued its precipitate course, until it mingled Avith the 

 waters of the majestic Tay. In the distance rose the huge Gram- 

 pians, with their rugged and rocky summits and sides skirted with 

 trees and shrubs planted by nature, and not by man. Directly 

 northward in the distance rose Ben-y-gloe. Standing prominent, 

 head and shoulders above its companions, and alongside its rival 

 neighbour, stood Ben Vracky. 



Looking eastward, the little town of Dunkeld, with its Gothic 

 cathedral, lay before me, and 1,000 feet below where I sat. East- 

 ward of it the Loch of Cluny was seen obscurely, partly hid by 

 the intervening woods. The vale of Strathmore was all but in- 

 visible to me, being on the northern side of the mountain, and 

 more than 500 feet from its summit. 



Finding I had neither strength nor time to reach its top, I 

 wended my way downwards by a footpath to the terminus; and 

 on my way collected the following plants:— Care-r binenis, C. pu- 

 lica7'is and C. pilulifera. Among the heather I gathered a few 



