232 president's address. 



left by the early train, intending to walk from Bardon Mill, by 

 Chesterholme, to Hotbank and House Steads, and before reach- 

 ing Bardon Mill the party was considerably increased. There 

 they had to wait an hour for breakfast ; the good landlady of the 

 Inn, perhaps doubtful of our Secretaries' note, had decided to 

 see her guests before providing for them ! 



In the early days of the Club this district was much visited 

 by the members, ledTjy a local botanist, who was well acquainted 

 with its antiquities as well as its plants. The locality being new 

 to those present they kept as closely as possible to the burn-side 

 till they arrived at Chesterholme, the Vindolana of its Roman 

 founders. Here was a Camp situated on what may be called the 

 low road, Stanegate, from "Walwick Chesters to the west. 



Attention was called to a remarkable milestone by a country- 

 man, who expatiated on it and the other antiquities, but, like 

 many local ciceroni of his kind, with an evident eye to the main 

 chance. A long examination was made of the numerous Roman 

 stones, now built into the walls of a modern residence, pleasantly 

 situated for shelter in winter and coolness in summer, on just 

 such a site as may have been a sanitarium in the old Roman 

 days for the soldiers stationed along the Wall. 



Some of the party here broke away, intent on exploring the 

 Muckle Moss, once a favourite place for some rarer local plants, 

 and which, in spite of constant attempts to drain it, is as treach- 

 erous a piece of bog as ever. Situated between, and almost sur- 

 rounded by sandstone ridges, there is no visible outlet for the 

 water which gathers in its hollow. Probably some of it perco- 

 lates through the sandstone ridges, and through the lines of 

 stratification to the south. Enough, however, remains to keep 

 the accumulation of peat in an almost fluid state, and to accele- 

 rate the rank growth of Sphagnum, Ling, and other marsh -loving 

 plants. The uncertainty of the footing near the edges gave 

 scarcely a minute to gather some of the rarer plants, and, with 

 all the drainage, many parts would not support the weight of a 

 man. If this old and treacherous bog could be drained and ex- 

 cavated, what a fund of interest it might afford ! Bones of un- 

 wary wanderers, Briton, Roman, and Saxon, may lie there ; and 



