5A LOCALITIES OF RARER BRITISH PLANTS 
ers of variously tinged shades, as coppery or faded yellow; but 
under all circumstances it is a plant of much interest and beauty. 
It often grows in the undisturbed débris of the slate-quarries. 
Our next ascent was a feat; at least we believe most of our 
readers will admit that it partook of this character. At seven 
o’clock the day following we started for the summit of Snowdon, 
though our landlord warned us that the sky looked wild, which 
means stormy in Wales. Before advancing two hundred yards 
from our hospice, a violent shower drove us for shelter under the 
porch of one of the neighbouring houses; a very inauspicious 
beginning. Our route was by the Victoria, and the real ascent 
was begun about eight o’clock. A heavy shower compelled us a 
second time to retreat into the very last cottage on our left, about 
half a mile from the Victoria Hotel. Hence, when the rain some- 
what abated, we plodded our weary way up the mountain in very 
unenviable plight. On reaching within a mile or two of the top, 
the wind blew a hurricane, and the sleety rain drove through all 
our upper clothing, and eventually soaked ourselves, or at least 
all our clothes. We saw nothing of course but the mist, which 
was close to our noses, and thick as a London fog. The best 
sight or view we had was the interior of one of the huts, which 
was a welcome shelter, and besides shelter it had a stove, at 
which we warmed our persons, dried our clothes, amusing our- 
selves with the entry-books kept for the signatures and remarks 
of the visitors. Here we stayed two or three hours, and left just 
as the fog was beginning to clear away; our ascent occupied 
about three hours, and our descent about two. Of course we 
saw little or nothing of the grand scenery, but just a little bit 
while we were descending, for the top was clear before we reached 
half-way dowu. Under such uncomfortable circumstances, it 
may readily be inferred that we added little or nothing to our 
botanical knowledge. The vegetation up the mountain from the 
Victoria is of a very commonplace character. Lycopodium al- 
pinum and Juncus squarrosus, the latter a far from uncommon 
species, were observed. If botany had been our chief object, we 
would have pursued a very different procedure; and what we 
ourselves would have adopted, as the most effective plan for her- 
borizing Snowdon, we will now communicate to our readers. 
Most people are better qualified to give advice to others, than’ 
they are to take it to themselves. If we had intended to bota- 
