180 MEMORIAL TRIBUTE 



attempt the ascent. Before I reached the base of the 

 rocks, I felt very weak, and was obliged to halt every 

 now and then. However, I proceeded, and at length, 

 being well accustomed to rock-climbing, found my- 

 self on the very summit of this vast mass of rock. It 

 was covered with mist, which rolled rapidly along the 

 ridges. The sun now and then appeared through it. 

 The view through the corrie, which I had just ascended, 

 was delightful dreadful it might have been to some 

 the whole glen, the deep corrie just beneath, with 

 its fearful rocks, the opposite mountains with an Alpine 

 lake before me. The scene was truly sublime, and I 

 contemplated it with great delight. 



" I had now reached the rounded summit of the ridge, 

 and proceeding along the streamlet, which was the prin- 

 cipal object of my research, I traced it to two fountains 

 and several smaller springs. I took a glassful from 

 each of the larger, and drank it to the health of 

 my friends. Near these fountains, which were 

 among coarse granite sand, I saw a covey of ptarmi- 

 gans, and a small bird, which I took for Alauda 

 pratensis. The only phsenogamous plants which grew 

 on the summit of the mountain were Silene acaulis 

 and Salix herbacea, both in abundance, the former 

 still in flower. 



" Descending on the northern side of the mountain, 

 I came upon a precipitous corrie, down which I did not 

 venture, and farther on found myself on a precipice, 

 from which I had a view of a deep valley, with a lake 

 and a stream, ending in a plain partially covered with 



