56 The Winnots. 



points we seem absolutely shut in. The hugeness and 

 the loneliness of the place, relieved only by a few sheep, 

 powerfully call to mind the great passes among the 

 lakes ; once, however, it must have been comparatively 

 cheerful, the road to Castleton having passed down the 

 centre until about sixty years ago. 



Everywhere hereabouts in fact, throughout the day, 

 after leaving Chapel-le-Frith a remarkable negative 

 feature is the rarity of water. Elsewhere, a pass like the 

 Winnots would have had a splashing and plentiful stream, 

 crowded with little cascades. Here all is dry, except 

 where there is an inconsiderable ooze. It is further re- 

 markable, that among these hills there is no heather; 

 nor is there a single plant of bracken or of whortleberry. 

 Arena'ria verna, as befits the proximity of lead-mines, is 

 plentiful. Ordinarily, our native plants are very self- 

 accommodating they mingle, indifferent to the mate- 

 rial about their roots, and make the sweet and many- 

 coloured fantasy of meadow and hedge-bank. Some, on 

 the other hand, more dainty, prefer lime, or chalk, or fer- 

 rugineous earth, and then, as in the case of the Castle- 

 ton Arenaria, a sort of vegetable inscription tells the 

 chief constituent of the soil beneath. The Arenaria 

 occurs plentifully also on the rocky ground about Peveril 

 Castle, associated with the A'rabis hirsu'ta. 



Passing both Chapel and Doveholes, we come to 

 BUXTON, twenty-five miles from Manchester, and once 



