4 i! 



[Proc. B.N.F.O., 



In 1 87 1 he joined the Botanical Exchange Club, which was 

 of much assistance to him in naming critical plants, and to it he 

 contributed many of the rare plants of the district. About this 

 time he met G. A. Hunt, the Manchester bryologist, and as far as 

 I can learn through this acquaintance he became a Fellow of the 

 Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 



If he could have been induced to put together notes of his 

 life and experiences during his frequent explorations, as I often 

 urged him to do, they would have been of great interest. In 

 some respects he was very reticent. 



On one occasion George Donaldson and he were at Portmore 

 Lake near the Tunny. They had to cross a wide muddy drain by 

 a round slippery log, and both fell in and were covered with mud, 

 but the friendly waters of Lough Neagh were near where they 

 washed their clothes and spread them to dry on the shore. On 

 another occasion in the same district they missed the last train 

 home at Moira and had to tramp all the way to Belfast. Stewart 

 told me of an adventure he had on Howth Head. He came to a 

 place where he could not pass round a rock to reach the top. 

 After several attempts he ceased exhausted. Looking out then 

 over the sea he resolutely set himself to call up before his mind 

 scenes from his past life till he had become quite calm again and 

 rested. Then with one steady effort the obstruction was passed 

 and he was safe. 



The two following incidents I quote from a letter to me from 

 Canon Lett. " When Stewart was a lad one Saturday afternoon 

 his uncle took him for a walk to the top of Divis from which they 

 had a view of Lough Neagh, which so filled the mind of Stewart 

 that the next Saturday he set off on foot by himself for Lough 

 Neagh, and arrived at Crumlin late in the evening footsore and 

 hungry, having had no food since morning except " a piece " he 

 had put in his pocket. When he went into a house to obtain a 

 drink by the wayside, the woman questioned him and having 

 found out his story kept him till morning, and then sent him home 



