66 MORVEN TOP. 



stated that Morven could only be ascended from the 

 west side, being totally inaccessible on all other sides. 

 Downright nonsense! Morven is accessible on every 



" My object in ascending the hill was to gather 

 plants, and of course I went up the steepest face to get 

 among the crags and stones near the top. Morven is 

 poor in plants. I found nothing new. True, the 

 season was too far gone, but there in sheltered spots 

 many of them still lived. On the top Alchemilla alpina 

 was in flower. I observed from the decayed leaves on 

 all sides that the various species were not many. 

 Braalnabin, a much lower hill, and much nearer to Thurso, 

 is better for ferns. Two weeks since I went there and 

 got nine different ferns all in bloom, though none of 

 them were new to me. 



" Strange it was to look around me. The day was 

 cold and stormy. The sun was shining above me, but a 

 snowstorm was battling far below. Skerry Ben was 

 grey-white with snow. The sound of the wind among 

 the crags was like the roaring of the sea along the shore. 



"I reached Morven top at eleven o'clock A.M. and 

 left it at two P.M.* It was now mid-day. The river of 

 Berridale runs at the foot of Morven. The best way 

 of getting over it is to wade through it ; but what of 

 that ? The Highlandman walks best when his feet are 

 wet, and so does the Lowlandman, if he could only be 

 persuaded to try. In going to Morven I had waded no 

 fewer than six burns, and at least a score of marshes. 

 My feet had not been dry since seven in the morning. 



