Wanderings of a Naturalist 



some instances the plants were growing on the bare gravel, 

 with which their crimson blossoms contrasted in a very strik- 

 ing manner. Everywhere Salix herhacea, that dwarf willow 

 of the high tops, was making the best of the all too short 

 summer, and its small green leaves and reddish brown flower 

 buds crept prostrate over the windswept ground. Beside 

 the Wells, the ground was still covered by a small and fast 

 decreasing snowfield, and here plant life had not as yet begun 

 to grow. Up to close on the 4,000 feet level we had noticed 

 violets, both blue and white, in blossom, and, quite 3,000 feet 

 above the sea, a cluster of globe flowers, with rich yellow 

 blossoms, formed a pleasing patch of colour amongst the dark 

 rocks. 



The Dee has its source from several springs, all lying 

 near each other, and the infant river, here known as the Allt 

 na Garbh Choire, flows along the plateau for a distance of 

 some 600 yards before falling, in cascades, down the steep 

 face of Braeriach to the Garbh Choire beneath. Along its 

 banks the grass grows green and succulent — this is, I think, 

 the highest point in Scotland where grass grows really well 

 — ^and a couple of hinds were grazing here. A pair of ptar- 

 migan, with newly-hatched young, showed great anxiety at 

 our approach, the hen running round us, feigning injury all 

 the while, and the cock croaking suspiciously. Although, 

 as the result of a June snowfall in the preceding year, a small 

 stock of ptarmigan were on the high ground that spring, the 

 summer was throughout an excellent one for their young 

 broods, and by autumn the stock was again up to the average. 



Although the Dee has its source at the great height of 

 4,000 feet, it nevertheless rises in a slight depression, for just 

 to the north is one of the most westerly spurs of Braeriach, 

 which in the map bears the name Einich Cairn. Then to the 

 south is a like spur, immediately above Horseman's Corrie, 

 which, although not far short of 4,200 feet high, is apparently 

 nameless. Following along the Dee, then, we reached, near 

 the edge of the plateau, a great snowfield, beneath which the 



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