283 BOTANY OP BRAEMAR. {^December, 



other hand, as we emerge from the belt of foliage upon the 

 mountain-side, we have presented to our view one unvarying, and 

 yet far from monotonous, prospect : — as far as the eye can reach 

 extends one boundless sea of heathery moor; little patches of 

 greenest verdure, or dark masses of rock, occasionally relieving 

 the prevailing hue of brown. At intervals of one or two miles, 

 the gently undulating surface of moor is deeply indented by nar- 

 row valleys or glens, through which a rushing torrent makes its 

 way, and often, as we trace the stream up to its course, we come 

 at last upon a dark still loch, or mountain tarn, immured in its 

 rocky basin, with black rugged precipices shelving down abruptly 

 to the water's edge ; each rocky ledge and crevice being a rich 

 storehouse of delicate alpine plants. 



But turning from these general geographical features, and re- 

 garding the country more in a geological point of view, we shall 

 find much to interest ; and though this branch of science cannot 

 be said to come strictly within the limits of a botanical journal, I 

 trust I shall be excused for alluding briefly to the geological charac- 

 ter of the district in question. By far the greater part of the dis- 

 trict of Braemar consists entirely of granite ; all the loftier moun- 

 tains of the Grampian range are composed of this rock, as Ben- 

 na-muic-dhui. Cairngorm, Ben-na-buird, Lochnagar, etc., while 

 near Balmoral, and as far down as Ballater, the granite stretches 

 completely across the valley of the Dee. Above the Castleton of 

 Braemar however it recedes to a distance of three miles from the 

 bed of the river on each side, and is not met with £lt a lower ele- 

 vation than 2500-3000 feet, all the lower part of the valley being 

 composed of mica-slate or quartz rock. In reference to this part 

 of the district however, I will quote a few extracts from Professor 

 M'^Gillivray's work on the Natural History of Deeside, a book 

 to which I am under the greatest obligations, and from which I 

 derived much assistance in my various expeditions. Unfortu- 

 nately the book in question is not accessible to the public gene- 

 rally, as it is merely printed for private circulation by order of 

 His Royal Highness the Prince Consort, and but a very few 

 copies of it have been printed. The Professor resided for several 

 months at Castleton of Braemar, and thus enjoyed especial ad- 

 vantages for studying the natural history of the neighbouring 



at Ballater (42 miles), 780 feet; at Castletou of Braemar (60 miles), 1070 feet; 

 and at the Bridge of Dee (68 miles), 1294 feet. 



