192 president's address. 



as marked as in England, and consequently in some parts whole 

 sections of country have been closed to ordinary visitors. But 

 it is not only the visitor and the plant collector for botanical 

 purposes who are the sinners in this matter. A regular trade is 

 carried on by the Swiss in beautiful Saxifrages, Sempervivums, 

 Ferns, and other rare plants by persons who make it their busi- 

 ness to seek them for sale. So great has this evil become that, 

 I am informed, very recently measures have been taken to 

 prevent the exposure for sale of such plants in the markets of 

 Geneva. 



Our members on this occasion gathered in no great numbers. 

 But the party was a very pleasant one. Cronkley Scar and the. 

 parts close at hand were those which formed the centre of at- 

 traction on the first day. 



On the second our plans were laid further afield, and so first 

 Cauldron Snout, then the Moor Farm at Birkdale, and up the 

 Maize Beck to High Cup Mck, were the places to which our 

 thoughts and our hopes tended. 



A beautiful morning ushered in a bright but not over warm 

 day, and merrily we sped onwards, after paying our reckoning 

 and saying farewell to the obliging host of the capital inn at 

 High Force. The walk was extremely pleasant, and close atten- 

 tion was paid by some of our party to the peculiarities of the 

 strata through which the Tees and Maize Beck force their way, 

 while others were not less pleased by forming the acquaint- 

 ance of some of the more rare plants growing on the moorland 

 side. 



A most welcome lunch of simple fare was procured at Birkdale, 

 and so we reached the.Mck just as gathering clouds warned us 

 that a storm was not far off, and the distant thunder warned us 

 not to linger. 



"Far along, 

 From peak to peak, the rattling crags among, 

 Leaps the live thunder, not from one lone cloud, 

 But every mountain now hath found a tongue." 



The brunt of the storm did not reach us, but broke with great 

 fury over Weardale. 



