io MOUNTAIN AND MOORLAND 



the garden. The Red Deer feed mostly in the morn- 

 ings and evenings, resting and chewing the cud during 

 the day among the heather. The Hind looked at us 

 full in the face for a minute, and then without any 

 flurry turned and trotted off. We thought the day had 

 begun well, and we made a start. 



It is no bad sign for the summer day's excursion 

 when the distant tops of the hills are veiled in mist. 

 The day is very young yet and the high rocks are cold ; 

 therefore it is that the air round about them gets 

 chilled and the water-vapour condenses, becoming 

 visible as mist. Everyone knows how the water- 

 vapour of the breath condenses in the air on a winter 

 morning. The mist on the mountain-tops far ahead of 

 us is a thin cloud, always changing as the air-current 

 flows slowly or quickly on, and many of the minute 

 particles of water suspended in the air sink on to the 

 rocks and lichens and mosses. Some of the water will 

 evaporate again and steal off into the air when the 

 sun's rays begin to warm things up; some of it will 

 soak down to the roots of the plants and will be used 

 in part to build up starch and similar substances ; while 

 a residue will pass from the plant's leaves into the air 

 once more. Some of it, trickling from blade to blade, 

 will collect in a tiny pool no bigger than a saucer, and 

 there a Ptarmigan may slake its thirst; but of this 

 water used by the bird some will return to the air in 

 the hot breath; or if it were used by a mammal it might 

 pass off not only in the breath, but also in sweat and 

 by the kidneys. Finally, some of the water, escaping 

 all capture by bird or beast, by plant or by mineral 

 matter, will pass slowly down and down through 

 crevices and underground runlets, until it drips over a 



