AUTUMN 25 



ground between the boulders. At that ex- 

 posed height not even a blueberry bush ven- 

 tures to stand upright. One of them, V. 

 caespitosum, was both a surprise and a lux- 

 ury, the small berries having a most deli- 

 ciously rich fruity flavor, like the choicest 

 of bananas ! Probably no botanical writer 

 has ever mentioned the point, and I have 

 great satisfaction in supplying the deficiency, 

 apprehending no rush of epicures to the place 

 in consequence. About the fact itself there 

 can be no manner of doubt. My companion 

 fully agreed with me, and he is not only a 

 botanist of international repute, but a most 

 capable gastronomer. Much the poorest 

 berry of the three was the Pennsylvanian, 

 the common low blueberry of Massachusetts. 

 " Strawberry huckleberry " it used to be 

 called in my day by Old Colony children, 

 with a double disregard of scientific proprie- 

 ties. Even thus late in the season the Green- 

 land sandwort was in perfectly fresh bloom ; 

 but the high cold wind made it a poor " bird 

 day," though I remember a white-throated 

 sparrow singing cheerily near Eagle Lake, 

 and a large hawk or eagle floating high over 



