1886-1887.3 50J 



The ore, having been crushed to the size of fine gravel, is thrown 

 upon a sloping floor over which water flows, when the pulverised 

 rock and earthy matter are carried away, and a mixture is left, 

 consisting chiefly of lead ore and baryta, or heavy spar, which 

 latter, on account of its high specific gravity, is very difficult to 

 separate from the ore. This mixture is placed in rectangular 

 boxes filled with water, to which an up-and-down vibratory 

 motion is given, which causes the lead ore to slowly sink to the 

 bottom of the boxes. The water is then run off, and the 

 contents carefully removed in horizontal layers. The upper- 

 most layers, containing hardly any ore, are thrown on one side. 

 The middle layers are set aside to be washed again, while the 

 lowest layers consist of nearly pure ore. From the ore thus 

 obtained the metal is elsewhere extracted by roasting in the 

 usual way. 



Specimens of galena, iron pyrites, and barytes having been 

 obtained, the party moved towards Helen's Tower. The hill 

 above, covered with a yellow blaze of whin and broom, with 

 here and there a dash of purple heather, proved very attractive 

 to the botanists of the party, and a number of interesting and 

 rare plants were obtained, Eight species of the orchid family 

 were found, including the deliciously perfumed Gymnadenia 

 conopsea^ which, though it is to be accounted a rare plant, is 

 extremely abundant on this hill. The green habenaria (H. 

 viridis), was also found here. Those two curious carnivorous 

 plants, Drosera and Pinguicula, were obtained in marshy spots, 

 and the rocks were covered with the white and rose-coloured 

 flowers of the mountain everlasting {Antennaria dioica). A 

 pool on the western slope of the hill yielded two uncommon 

 plants, Sparganium minimum, our smallest native bur-reed, and 

 Hypericum elodess the marsh St. John's wort. Among the 

 heather a few specimens of the moon wort [Botrychium lunarid) 

 were obtained, and the winter green {Pyrola media) was also 

 found. In marshy places the yellow, star-like flowers of the bog 

 asphodel {Narthecium ossifragum) were noticed, and the pink 

 blossoms of that most beautiful of tiny plants, the bog pimpernel 

 {Anagallis tenelea). 



