Wanderings of a Naturalist 



of bird and animal life. ; A few yards from the road we 

 flushed a somewhat sickly-looking cock grouse; but during 

 the whole climb we saw, with the exception of the seagulls, 

 no birds but a pair of meadow pipits. No curlew or golden 

 plover cheered us with their musical cries; even the buzzard, 

 which in the Island of Mull is numerous, seems quite absent 

 here. About the summit of Clisham one or two pairs of ptar- 

 migan are still said to be found, but during our climb we 

 came across no trace of them. The eagle was formerly to 

 be found here, but "has not, so I am informed, been seen for 

 several years. There is scarcely any heather on the hill; 

 grass extends from base to summit, and even at a height of 

 2,600 feet wild thyme was in flower. 



During our climb the weather gradually improved, until 

 the summit cairn was mist free ere we reached it. The cairn 

 of the hill was moss-grown, and amongst the rocks saxifrages 

 bloomed, with an occasional violet near them. Not many 

 yards from the cairn are the remains of a rough shelter which 

 the surveyors inhabited for three months some fifty years 

 ago when making a survey of the district. For fuel they 

 burned peats, and a certain sturdy Highlander carried a sack- 

 ful of peats every day from the low ground to the summit of 

 the hill, receiving for this very hard work the modest sum of 

 i per week. 



During the time we spent on the hill-top the mist was 

 never far above us, but was never really down on the hill. 

 Curiously enough, Clisham, although the highest hill in 

 Harris, was at this time the only one free from mist, due 

 probably to the fact that it lies further removed from the 

 influence of the Atlantic than the surrounding tops. This 

 mist curtain extended all round except northward, and while 

 giving some very fine effects, greatly restricted the view. At 

 our feet lay West Loch Tarbert, the sun shining on its waters, 

 ruffled by a southerly breeze, which seemed fresher at sea 

 level than where we stood. Across the loch the large island 

 of Taransay was prominent, with many rocky islets, known 



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