1857.] TOUR IN SCOTLAND. 33 



all their charms. Saxifraga stellaris of various sizes^ from an 

 inch to six inches high^ still abounded at this altitude, and the 

 rarer S. nivalis was soon collected. This species has white flowers, 

 but the petals are smaller than in ;S^. stellaris, and they are of a 

 ^ slightly different shape. They want the yellow spots at the base, 

 and the plant has larger and more rounded radical leaves. The 

 stem is leafless in S. nivalis ; in S. stellaris this organ is leafy. 

 Draba incana also abounded on these rocks, and so did Arabis 

 hirsuta." We believe Draba muralis grows on the same place. 

 We thought we had captured a specimen of Arabis petrma, but 

 on inspection it turned out to be Cardamine hirsuta, without 

 hairs and of very slender habit. C. hirsuta of the common form 

 and C. p)i^o,tensis were also observed, but the latter not so high 

 up the mountain as the former. One of the showiest species of 

 this Alpine flora was Cochlearia grmilandica,. This plant usually 

 affected damp, sheltered places, where it was almost covered by 

 the upper and impending crags. It was often seen in open 

 exposed parts, but not in such luxuriance and beauty as when 

 nestled in these cozy crannies and corners among the surround- 

 ing rocks. Sagina saxatilis, Wimm., Spergida saginoides, Sm., 

 a plant which does not differ much from S. procumbens, was not 

 uncommon on the rocky fragments that abound everywhere , 

 under and between the impending precipices. Thalictrwn alpi- 

 num, not more than two or three inches high, was plentiful every- 

 where on the rocks and on their debris. 



By this time the evening was beginning to draw near; the 

 shadows, when the sun favoured us with a gleam, began to 

 lengthen. This and our own feelings admonished us that it was 

 time to seek a place of repose. We had, in the morning, when 

 we arrived at Lawers, engaged our beds at our inn, and now we 

 made up our minds to take our ease at it for the night. We de- 

 scended to the base of the mountain, or rather to the borders of 

 the lake, and went along its margin and along the course of the 

 stream which issues from it until we reached the village of 

 Lawers. The descent even from the upper end of the lake was 

 not accomplished in less than an hour. It may have cost us 

 more time than this. But we got down well, and were thankful. 



In the dusk of the evening Cli(Erophyllum temulentum and 

 Cartim Carui were collected in the churchyard of Lawers. The 

 same evening one of us went to the station of Vicia sylvatica, 



N. S. VOL. II. F 



9^? 



