Ben More Mull 



ous scree, so that a descent into it is a matter of consider- 

 able difficulty. Among the rocks the rose-root flowers, and 

 clumps of parsley fern unfold their delicate fronds with the 

 melting of the snow. The sea thrift grows here, flowering, 

 however, considerably later than at its usual habitat at sea 

 level, and saxifrages open their white flowers. In the corrie 

 is fine grazing, so that deer are almost always here from 

 June until the coming of the autumn snows, and ptarmigan 

 croak quietly from the rocks. In the corrie snow lingers 

 till late. On one occasion it was not until July 7 that the 

 last trace disappeared, and for a hill so much under the 

 influence of soft Atlantic winds this is a very late date. 

 But the following year the snow had gone from the hill 

 by mid-June, and at the time of the climb of which I write 

 no remnant remained. 



This June day, in the shelter of the summit cairn, the 

 midges made themselves felt even at this great height, and 

 each time I halted on the lower reaches of the hill during the 

 descent they were exceedingly hungry. 



When about one thousand feet above Loch Scridain, 

 which lay almost directly below me so steep was the 

 descent I found a small loch where was the nesting-ground 

 of several pairs of common gulls. During the whole of 

 the day I had watched the birds soaring gracefully at 

 immense heights, evidently revelling in the joy of life which 

 a day such as this must give to all nature, but as I 

 approached their lochan they flew angrily towards me, utter- 

 ing fierce cries. Several young birds of various ages 

 crouched on the grass or endeavoured to escape by swim- 

 ming, and I saw more than one nest containing eggs, which 

 for some reason had been deserted. 



Arriving at sea level, no breath of wind disturbed the 

 loch. Gradually the flood tide crept inward, covering the 

 sun-baked rocks and parched seaweeds with its cool waters. 

 Along the shore sandpipers called anxiously, for their young 

 were near them, and in the air was the scent of many yellow 



