CHAP. vin. FERNS AT DUNNET. 89 



"I moved westwards. I passed along delighted. 

 The scene was grand and unusually striking. I came 

 at length to a narrow fissure, up which I forced my way 

 in quest of Ferns. Yes, Ferns ! Ferns grow green on 

 Dunnet Cliffs all the year round. In fact, Dunnet Head 

 is a forest of ferns. It was the Sea Spleenwort that I 

 wanted, and sure enough I found it growing green in all 

 its glory. I gathered a few, and left the rest. 



" Retracing my steps, I ascended the cliff. It then 

 began to rain, and it rained nearly all the way home." 



Dick often descended the cliff, sometimes to gather 

 ferns, and at other times to inspect the geological 

 conditions of the rocks. One day he went down the 

 face of the headland a little to the west of the light- 

 house. He went searching about among the rocks and 

 clefts, finding many new things to wonder at. But he 

 completely forgot the lapse of time. Looking round, he 

 found that the tide had risen and completely overflowed 

 the path among the rocks by which he had come. On 

 one side was the precipice, on the other was the sea, 

 coming in higher and higher at every wave. He had no 

 alternative but to go onward, for the sands were still dry 

 in front of him. At length he discovered a portion of 

 the headland which he thought might be attempted, and 

 he succeeded, with much difficulty and danger, in reach- 

 ing the summit of the cliff. 



In fine weather, when the billows are asleep and the 

 waters merely lave the base of the cliffs, pleasure parties 

 sometimes set sail from Thurso, and, when the tide is 

 low, they land on the sands under Dunnet Head. On one 



