BEPORT OF FIELD MEETINGS. 27 1 



The Fourth Meeting of the season was fixed for the 17th of 

 August, the place to be visited being Corbridge and the Devil's 

 Water. Unfortunately the weather was bad; a dull morning 

 giving place to a steady pitiless rain for the rest of the day. 

 On gathering at the Central Station a consultation was held 

 as to whether we should proceed with the excursion or abandon 

 it altogether. The majority were in favour of proceeding, in 

 case any members from other localities might be on their way, 

 and also in the hope that the weather might improve as the 

 day advanced. This hope was not realised, however, and the 

 rain continued to pour for the whole day. It was not sur- 

 prising therefore that we had only a small party, numbering 

 nine in all; and as our route lay principally through the 

 " pathless woods," the best preparation would have been oil- 

 skins and sea boots. However, having made up our minds, 

 there was no flinching on the part of any ; so boldly plunging 

 into the woods, we made our way upwards, following the river 

 as closely as possible. Under such conditions it was not 

 possible to make a very careful search for natural history 

 objects, but we were very much struck with the beauty of the 

 sylvan scenery, and realised how grand it must be under 

 favourable weather conditions. Ant hills are not very common 

 objects in this part of the country, but one very fine one was 

 noticed as we passed through the wood. Our original plan 

 was to go as far as Linnels Bridge, but by the time we reached 

 Sunnyside we had got as much as we cared for, so striking 

 the Hexham road, we travelled thence and returned to New- 

 castle. The party, however, got broken up in passing through 

 the woods, several members getting detached from the rest. 

 These retraced their steps through the woods to Dilston Castle 

 and Corbridge, reaching Newcastle by another train. This 

 was the one unfortunate meeting of the year ; all the rest being 

 favoured with good weather for our purpose. 



The Fifth Meeting of the year was held on the 15th of 

 September, Rothley Crag and Lakes being the destination. 

 On arriving at Scots Gap Station we found that, through the 



