30 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



water algse, desmids and diatoms which he 

 identified in my material. 1 his I hope shortly to 

 publish. On the present occasion, my remarks 

 will be confined to the mosses and hepatics. As I 

 use the nomenclature adopted in Dr. Braithwaite's 

 " British Moss Flora," I shall omit the author's 

 names. 



The view of Slieve Donard, which is the highest 

 mountain in Ulster, is reproduced, by permission, 

 from a photo taken by Mr. R. Welch, of Belfast. 

 It gives an excellent idea of the proximity of the 

 mountain to the town of Newcastle and the sea, the 

 great cairn on the summit being only three miles 

 from the parish church. In the sand-dunes there 

 is strong evidence of the presence of golfers, 

 but passing through their links, the botanist will 

 meet, among the mimic mountains of sand, with 

 TortularuraUs, var. arenicola, Bryumprnliferum, Mollia 

 microstotmon, Grimmia canescens, Climaciiim dendroides , 

 Brachythecium albicans, Hypimm cordifolium and 

 Pallavicina hibernica. And at the extreme northern 

 edge of the sand-hills inside the ruins of Dundrum 

 Castle (which of itself is well worth a visit) will be 

 found Eurhynchium pumilum. A little way up the 

 Shimna River, not far from the railway station at 

 Newcastle, have been found Orthotrichum nvulare 

 and Brachythecium vehitinum. 



Near the centre of the village of Newcastle the 

 road is cut through a black basaltic rock, one of 

 the numerous dykes that traverse the Mournes. 

 This is known to the villagers as " the Rock ; and 

 on the top of it stands the parish church of St. 

 John, built by an Earl Annesley. On the sides of 

 the rock cutting occurs Mollia littoralis. Following 

 this route on past the ruinous harbour, the road 

 skirts the sea, with Slieve Donard towering above. 

 The rocks here produce Grimmia maritima, Mollia 

 inclinata, Hypnum cupressiforme, var. lacunosum, and 

 Blindia acuta. About a mile and a-half from New- 

 castle, on the old walls of the Bloody Bridge, I 

 have gathered Barbula brevifoUa and Zygodon viri- 

 dissimum, var. mpestre. 



After these preliminary rambles, attention will 

 be turned to the mountains. The demesne of 

 Donard Lodge, which runs round the base of Slieve 

 Donard, is not very productive of either mosses or 

 hepatics. In it, however, will be found Bryum 

 alpimim as low down as one hundred and fifty 

 feet. The higher parts of it, where the larch 

 and Scotch-fir and spruce show by their stunted 

 growth that they are on the verge of their region, 

 are well worth searching, especially above the 

 harbour, where I have found some rare plants, and 

 in the neighbourhood of the ice-house. 



The stream which bounds and slides down its 

 rocky channel in this demesne is the White River. 

 It can be followed for two miles up the glen, 

 between Slieve Donard and Slieve Commedah, and 

 at the upper end of it the adventurous will have an 



opportunity of exercising their skill in scrambling 

 and climbing. 



The streamlet which joins the White River close 

 to the ice-house should be followed up to the rocks 

 known as the Black-stairs. Here, after rain, there 

 is a considerable waterfall in a narrow chasm. 

 This and the surrounding rocks I have found to be 

 the best moss-ground in the district. It faces the 

 north, is protected from the sun's rays, and is 

 always cool and more or less moist. Mosses and 

 hepatics are everywhere, and on every stone and 

 rock. From this locality the top of Slieve Donard 

 is invisible, being shut off by the projecting 

 shoulder, designated Thomas's Mountain, on the 

 rocky face of which several rarities have been 

 found. From Thomas's Mountain to the base of 

 the cone of Slieve Donard is a stretch of boggy 

 moorland where I met with many species that did 

 not come under my notice elsewhere. 



Moss-tramping in the Mournes, as the writer 

 knows from the experience of twenty-five years, is 

 the delightfully quiet work that a botanist enjoys. 

 Although so close to Newcastle, Rosstrevor and 

 Warrenpoint, when one gets a mile away into the 

 heathery region one seldom, if ever, meets with a 

 human being. There are no roads, except the one 

 through the Deer's-meadow, no houses, no 

 refreshment rooms, nothing to induce the mere 

 noisy tripper. In all my rambles through these 

 mountains I have not met (excepting the turf- 

 makers in their season in the Deer's-meadow) more 

 than three persons. One was a gentleman who 

 was descending by the Black-stairs from Slieve 

 Donard and suddenly came round a rock from the 

 face of which I had just secured a moss, and still 

 had my sailor's-knife open in my hand. He was 

 so alarmed at suddenly meeting me, with the bare 

 blade, that he took to his heels without a word, 

 On another occasion, near Shanslieve, I was 

 followed by a game-keeper, who, on coming up to 

 me, watched my operations for some time till at 

 last he scornfully remarked, " Why, it is only fog 

 you are lifting " — fog being a local name for moss 

 — and he left me to go on my way. 



Though sheep-tracks are the only marked paths 

 through the Mournes, there is no diffculty in 

 making one's way anywhere through them. The 

 accompanying map will be of some use for this 

 purpose. Those who desire a better guide should 

 procure the Ordnance Survey Maps of Ireland, 

 scale of one inch to a mile, Sheets Nos. 60 and 61, 

 price one shilling each. 



The mosses and hepatics which I found on the 

 Slieve Donard localities described above are as 

 follows: — Sphagnum acutifolium and its vars. 

 purpurcum, rubellum, hiridum, arctum and versicolum, 

 S. squarrosum with var. laetevirens, S. rigidutn and its 

 var. compactum, S. subsecundum, also var. contortum, 

 S. papillosum, S. cymbi/olium; Andretsa petrophila 



