424 



[Proo. B.N.F.C . 



more difficult to reach than they are in our day. Thus, he gathered 

 for the first time the rare plants of Connemara and Lough Derg 

 in the summer of 1867 ; he searched the barren summits of the 

 Sperrin Mountains for the long missing Cloud-berry in 1868 ; and 

 explored the coast from Galway to Dingle some years later. All 

 the time, however, he was working steadily at the Botany of Down 

 and Antrim. It seems uncertain when the idea of a flora of the 

 North-East first began to take shape in his mind, but it is clear that 

 for a long period he was amassing the material which finally 

 appeared in a completed form in 1888. 



The publication of Cybele Hibemica in 1866 acted as a 

 stimulus to Irish botanical research such as we can hardly realize 

 now-a-days ; and when, twelve or fifteen years later, A. G. More 

 began to urge the systematic exploration of the less known districts, 

 with a view to the eventual production of a more complete second 

 edition, Stewart willingly enrolled himself as a volunteer ; aided 

 by grants from the Royal Irish Academy, he investigated several 

 of the more remote and inaccessible areas. These expeditions 

 greatly increased his knowledge of the flora of Ireland, and of 

 critical genera in particular. In his field-work he was indefatigable ; 

 day after day he spent twelve or fourteen hours in the open ; he 

 took copious notes, and collected extensively. 



Meanwhile, groups other than Flowering Plants had been 

 engaging his attention. The Mosses and Hepatics had attracted 

 him from the beginning. He worked at them diligently, so that in 

 1875 was a °l e to publish his List of the Mosses of the North-East 

 of Ireland, which greatly advanced our knowledge of this group, 

 especially when it was followed by a Supplement in 1884. Geology, 

 as will be seen later, also occupied his attention to a large extent 

 at this period, and his simultaneous advance in these various 

 studies speaks volumes for his industry and ability. 



Late in the seventies the collaboration in the preparation of 

 the Flora of the North-East of Ireland of Mr. T. H. Corry was 

 secured, and as regards both the completion of the field work and 



