



fly and mascula timothy and doddering grass ; gcntiana 

 campestris and amarella, lastrea montana and erica tetralix 

 (the cross-leaved heath). 



Passing by Harrop and Blea Tarns, over the mosses 

 and heather-clad moors to Deer Bields or Far Easdale, 

 there are found cystopteris and asplenium adiantum nigrum 

 in the sheltered crevices of the rocks ; and above are 

 massive, perpendicular rocks, where the ravens build 



their nests, 



" The crags repeat the raven's croak 

 In symphony austere. " 



Again, how beautifully this perfect solitude is set forth by 

 the Poet Wordsworth in " The Excursion," 



" How divine 



The liberty, for frail, for mortal man 

 To roam at large among unpeopled glens 

 And mountainous retirements, only trod 

 By devious footsteps ; regions consecrate 

 To oldest time ; and, reckless of the storm 

 That keeps the raven quiet in her nest, 

 Be as a presence or a motion one 

 Among the many there." 



Some twenty-five years ago I was present when a 

 nest, containing three ravens, was hauled down the 

 precipice by means of ropes, etc. The enormous nest, 

 composed almost entirely of bones, came with a crash, 

 scattering the onlookers in all directions. Two of the 

 ravens fluttered down unhurt, and grew to be magnificent 

 birds, which were eventually set at liberty, 



Descending into the valley towards Grasmere, 

 Boothwaite (half marsh half meadow land) is gay with 

 flowers. Here is the cotton grass (eriophorum), and the 

 lousewort (pedicularis), Parnassia palustris, menyanthes 

 trifoliata (bog bean), campanula rotundifolia (blue bell), 

 crowfoot or scillas, and scores of different varieties of 

 grasses; chrysanthemum leucanthemum (oxeye daisy), and 

 Bellis perennis (the lesser daisy) everywhere. 



