162 pkesident's addeess. 



the not very cheering prospect as we drove along towards Grains 

 o' the Beck Inn. 



" But, westward, Staiumore's shapeless swell, 

 And Lunedale wild, and Kelton Fell, 

 And rock-begirdled Gilmanscar, 

 And Arkengarth, lay dark afar." 



At this place we left our conveyances, and having secured, on 

 account of the uncertain weather, the best guide we could ob- 

 tain, we started off up the Long Grain for half a mile, gathering 

 on our way plenty of Primula farinosa and Polygonum vivijparum 

 in full bloom, with the Globe Eanunculus and other sub-alpine 

 flowers. Our road led over the Long Grain Moss to Close House 

 Miners' Hut, now abandoned, sheltering ourselves now and then 

 from pelting and drifting showers sent down from Miekle Fell 

 with great impetuosity. On the moss we gathered a few flowers 

 of the Cranberry, by excessive drainage now becoming rare on 

 our Moors and Mosses, and our first specimens of Saxifraga stel- 

 laris in fine flower. Our route now was over a couple of miles 

 of inveterate "Moss Brocks," amid thick diiving mists from 

 the mountain top. At length we managed to reach the green 

 grass-covered plateau of Miekle Fell, but so thick and threaten- 

 ing were the drifts or clouds of mist that our guide hesitated to 

 go farther, and after realizing, that we were really on the grassy 

 top of this highest Yorkshire hill, that it was a large lonely iso- 

 lated mass of the Great Limestone, and having gathered a few 

 Yiolets and some stunted specimens of Saxifraga hypnoides, we 

 set off down hill in the direction of West Hush and the Arngill 

 Beck, which was soon reached. At the "West Hush Lycopodium 

 selago, alpinum, etc., and some ferns, one very much like the 

 Holly Fern, were obtained. Passing the pool of water called 

 the Fish Ponds, we were soon at Grains o' the Beck Inn. Some 

 cups of refreshing tea prepared us for the homeward ride to 

 Middleton, where a welcome meal awaited our arrival. 



In passing over the moorland we came upon the eyrie of a 

 Merlin, containing three young in the early downy stage. Our 

 attention was first drawn by the parent bird flying off as we ap- 

 proached, and while we examined the young birds she flew in 



