'16 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



Ceoaghpatbick — continued. 



1000 feet. 



SoKdago yirgaurea. I Empetrum nigrum (lower 



j limit). 



820 feet. 

 Carduus palustris, | AnagalHs tenella. 



630 feet. 



Cotyledon umbilicus. 

 Pyrus aucuparia. 



S cilia nutans. 

 Lastrsea semula. 



300 feet. 



Ulex europaeus. 



250 feet (Cultivation begins). 



At sea level, at the base of Croagbpatrick, I noticed on the soutb. 

 side of tbe road in deep ditcbes by a -pond Alisma ranuncuhides, Sparga- 

 nium natafzs, and Carex paniculata ; and on tbe sbore at the north side of 

 tbe road, Kcehria cristata, Carex extensa, C. distans, and Statice iahu- 

 siensis, with commoner species. Statice has not been found north of 

 Clifden on tbe west coast previously. On the way to "Westport I 

 noticed (Egopodium podagraria, not before recorded from western Mayo 

 or Gal way. 



From the summit of Croagbpatrick, the most prominent group of 

 mountains in view is that of Mweelrea, about eight or ten miles 

 distant in a south-westerly direction. Mweelrea, 2688 feet, is the 

 highest summit in the west of Ireland, north of Brandon. Seen at a 

 distance it appears to be continuous with tbe rest of the mountain 

 land around Doo Lough, and these high table-lands, north of Killary 

 fiord at the south-west corner of Mayo, will be best considered as one 

 mass divided into three distinct portions by low-lying river valleys. 

 These mountains are composed of Silurian slates chiefly with sand- 

 stones, schists, and conglomerates, and we no longer meet with the 

 dome-shaped or conical summits usual to the quartzite formation. At 

 Cead-na-binnian there is a considerable exposure of gneiss. Plateaus 

 bounded by long ranges of precipices, ridges, and gullies, ending in 

 ravines with sheer sides and dangerous nooks and corners, promised 

 well for alpine botany. Amongst these I climbed every day for a 

 week in constant expectation, but I met with no such variety as I had 

 hoped : there were, however, some interesting discoveries made. 



Taking the southern end of Doo Lough as the centre, the three 

 valleys dividing tbe mountains radiate at about equal angles from this 

 poiat. Of these, one, that of Delphi, Fin Lough, and Bundorragba 



