garniture till far into the autumn, nor dream of decay 

 until the setting of October suns. 



Scarcely, if ever, have the woodlands presented such 

 a gorgeous display of fruit and foliage as at present : the 

 bramble almost weighed down under its load, and the 

 rowan tree (pyrus aucuparia), with its clustering scarlet 

 berries, being so abundant that the trees bend with their 

 weight ; and one would think it impossible to imagine a 

 better display of wild flowers and ferns than this summer 

 has recorded. The heathers illumined the mountain slopes 

 with their brilliant tinge of purple Skiddaw especially 

 presenting a magnificent picture, with its bold front of 

 heather shaded by the intense g/een of bracken, Never- 

 theless, this gigantic mountain is not rich in choice plants. 

 You will find chiefly lycopodium clavatum and alpinum ; 

 also, cystopteris fragilis, and regia (the bladder terns), lastrea 

 montana, vaccinium vitis idcea (the whortleberry), and 

 occasional tufts of white heather (salix herbacea and 

 dianthus deltoides) ; whilst, in the opposite direction, over 

 Grisedale Pike, Hobcarton, and Brackenthwaite, we find 

 one of the rarest alpine plants in Britain and, in all 

 probability, established there during the ice period 

 lychnis alpina (or mountain catch fly), beautiful in the 

 extreme when seen flowering in its native habitat, and 

 at the foot of the deep ravine I gathered this plant. 

 My friend, Mr. Stansfield (who is an expert in botanical 

 science), accompanied me. On emerging from this deep 

 ravine, we discovered a nest containing four young 

 buzzards in a cliff some eight or ten feet above our heads, 

 and in close proximity a fine specimen of this rare plant 

 in full bloom a charming glimpse of Nature. And here, 

 in this perfect solitude, our thoughts are drawn to those 

 beautiful lines from the " Minstrel," by James Beattie, 

 Profess.or of Botany, Aberdeen University : 



