THE AUTHOR'S FIRST VISIT TO DROUGHSBURN. 387 



foolscap volumes of white and brown paper and news- 

 papers. I opened several of the books, while we all looked 

 on. The specimens were laid down in the usual manner 

 on the front of each page, but they had been much 

 disturbed, and sadly showed the extensive ravages of moths. 

 When I crushed some of these destroyers with an 

 expression of annoyance, he remarked, " Weel, weel, it's a 

 peety, but I canna keep them clean noo, as I ance did, 

 I can tell you. But," added he, with a quiet smile, " they 

 were ance leevin', the puir things " referring to the plants 

 " and they're leevin' again, ye see ! " thus hiding his 

 pain at the loss of his treasures behind a touch of humour. 

 But they could scarcely have been other than wasted, even 

 in better circumstances for preservation, for many of these 

 plants had been gathered by him forty years before. 



I was so saddened and disappointed at the sight of 

 what I had looked forward to see with keen anticipation 

 as a rare and valuable collection, that I could not continue 

 the inspection, and asked if these were all ; hoping that 

 they were but duplicates and waste specimens, and that the 

 best were still to come.* 



Key in hand, he opened one of the chests close by the 

 door and revealed a more cheering sight a large number 

 of books in very good condition. The under side of the lid 

 exhibited the coloured pictures and printed matter he 

 had pasted there to brighten the box and increase his 

 pleasure when he consulted his library, herein partly 

 contained. After turning over several books, at which we 



* I found afterwards that we only saw a small part of his better 

 herbarium containing the specimens now in Marischall College, which 

 he never opened out unless there was ample time to examine it. 



