THE BILBERRY. 57 



and, some say, the flavour ; but those who cull it in its 

 native wilds have the advantage of health and pleasure, 

 in addition to a keenly-whetted appetite, to enjoy it. 



This is not the only berry to be met with in such 

 places ; for after the coppice is cleared, and the heath 

 arrived at, if it be dry, and the soil tolerable, there is 

 the beautiful myrtle-leaved bilberry, (vaccmium monta- 

 num,) with its fine round berries, of the brightest lustre, 

 and the most intense, though very deep, purple. This 

 delicate berry can bear the keenest blast of the moun- 

 tains, and where the plant is the most stunted the 

 flavour is the richest. If the soil be inclined to moisture 

 without any admixture of peat, and especially if it be 

 under the shade of a pine forest, which often occurs in 

 such situations, sheltering the bilberry and destroying the 

 heath-plant, the bilberry assumes a more lofty character. 

 The plants are continuous, with leaves the size of those 

 of an ordinary myrtle, and the berries are as large as 

 the black currants of the garden ; they are also very 

 abundant, and more juicy than in the exposed situations, 

 though perhaps they have riot so rich a flavour. These 

 berries are often considered as a different species from 

 the others, but they are probably only a variety pro- 

 duced by difference of situation. In lonely situations 

 they afford a welcome harvest to the mountain birds. 

 The bilberry is produced so abundantly in some places 

 that, in passing through the bushes, one may gather 

 handsful without stopping ; but it is tender, and soon 

 becomes sour. Where it is abundant, it might probably 

 be made into wine. Upon the lofty parts of the heath, 

 the cow-berry (vitis idced) is now to be found ; the bush 

 is low and hard, and so is the berry, which, notwith- 



