BOTANICAL WANDERINGS IN THE SOUTH. 229 



walks, they gathered and preserved all the rare plants they 

 found, and these went to swell the collection with which 

 John returned to the north. 



From this narrative, it will be seen that the temptations 

 of the harvesters to a rough kind of life were very great, 

 especially in regard to the relations of the sexes. Of 

 the women he saw, John " thocht nae muckle ; " and in 

 regard to both men and women, he felt that " the best way 

 was to keep himseP as far as possible asunder frae them in 

 their common intercourse with each other." 



In walking from place to place, his fare was extremely 

 simple, and his expenses were very small. As was then 

 more the custom than now, he was generally treated with 

 the greatest kindliness and hospitality by the farmers and 

 others he visited along the roads traversed by him, especially 

 in the less frequented regions. Even when he stayed at an 

 inn, his food and lodging generally cost about sixpence, 

 sometimes more, and often even less. His chief dish was 

 plain porridge and milk, and sometimes a little tea at night ; 

 but to that dish, in his younger days, he had little liking. 

 His powers of endurance, in travel and work, on this simple 

 fare were quite astonishing. 



In these primitive times of little locomotion and 

 secluded life, such a man as John Duncan was a god-send 

 to his entertainers, with his plants, books and horological 

 instruments of which he always carried several his 

 varied knowledge, and his intelligent and, before attentive 

 listeners, fervent and informing talk. His simple, un- 

 affected, homely style, quaint ways, and evident honesty of 

 character and purpose soon gained their interest and 

 esteem ; so that he was frequently asked to prolong his 



