68 THE LIFE AND WORK OF GEORGE DON. 
and it is said that he might have done well at this calling had 
not his frequent absences from home on his botanical wanderings 
been inimical to his success. 
One may allude to the great tract of country he, at one time 
or other, explored. Not only Clova was repeatedly worked, but 
he visited the distant Ben Nevis, where he gathered Sagzna 
alpina, and a grass which he thought was Smith’s Poa flexuosa. 
Ben Lawers was again and again explored. He gathered 
Arenaria sulcata,and saw the long-legged plover on it in 1793, and 
in the following year gathered the rare rush Juncus castaneus. In 
1798 he found Carex saxatilis, and in 1804 /uncus supinus, 
and he was the first to report the beautiful A/yosotes alpestris 
from that rich hunting ground. On Ben Lomond he discovered 
Carex saxatilis, and saw Cerastium alpinum; on Ben Voirlich 
he gathered the pretty Saxifraga oppositifolia ; the bold peak of 
Schehallion yielded Thalctrum alpinum and Carex vesicaria, 
and Ben Chonzie, which he spells “ Ben-a-conich,” gave him a 
form of Cerastium alpinum which he mistook for C. latzfolzwm. 
He also explored the remote and wild recesses of Inverness- 
shire, finding Ryxchospora alba plentifully by Loch Nevis, and 
Carex filiformis and a form of Stellarza graminea, which Smith 
thought was a new British species, namely S. scapigera, from the 
neighbourhood of Loch Ericht. The picturesque region of Blair 
Athol was explored as well as a great part of southern Perth- 
shire, and his northern expeditions extended to the Isle of Skye, 
where he gathered Aradbis petrea, Brassica campestris, Sagina 
seed of Reseda lutea, and a plant of the Sc77pus or Bull Rush that grows by 
the side of the river at Newburgh [probably S. Zabernemontanz], when the 
frost goes off. With best wishes for the welfare of Mrs. Booth and family. 
I remain, dear Sir, Yours truly, 
Mr. David Booth. G. DON. 
V.B.—I have had a long botanical excursion since I was in Newburgh, 
and have been successful, having discovered the following new plants to 
Britain, viz., Sa/zx anata of Linn., and a nondescript species, Ranunculus 
nivalis of Linn. [R. acris, var.], Astragalus campestris of Linn., Carex 
rarifiora of Wahlenberg, and also Carex salina of Swortz [C. vaginata], and 
a & nepdasael species of Juncus [Luzula arcuata| with many other rare 
plants, and some new and rare cryptogameous plants. —Yours, as above, 
cD, 
P.S.—The parcel is sent agreeable to your directions, 
