Report of Meetings for 1885. By Jas. Hardy. 85 



of rocks upon which they appear to be painted or inlaid. This 

 display of scarlet or crimson sprays will be set off by a mass of 

 verdure from a healthy tree of the same species growing from a 

 deeper soil alongside, while a vigorous upright attendant birch 

 with foliage of golden green springs up from behind. The con- 

 cavities of the rocks brightened with the tender green mosses, 

 mixed with Chrysosplenium oppositifolium, when visited, through 

 the entanglement of multitudinous branches and twigs, by gleams 

 of sunlight, afford charming glimpses of interior verdure, the 

 more tempting that they are out of reach. The rich masses of 

 ferns grow chiefly in the subsidiary ravines. There is a gay 

 intermixture of red and white dog and burnet roses about the 

 middle, as well as trails of honeysuckle ; and especially here and 

 in the lower section the curtains of delicate-hued wood-vetch 

 blossoms, suspended from rock or tree, are most attractive. 

 Owing to the inequalities of the surface of the south side, its 

 repeated rises and depressions, and the deep gashes in its sides 

 by slips or entering water-runs, there is no regular sloping rise 

 of the birchen wood, such as is seen on a hill-face, but each tree 

 or bush has maintained an independent struggle for existence on 

 its own station whether high or low; the result being that arch 

 rises above arch of embowering sylvan adornment with a want 

 of uniformity that greatly enhances the picture. "What adds to 

 the picturesque confusion is the bending of the trees in all sorts 

 of directions occasioned by the pressure of the heavy winter 

 snow-wreaths, which sometimes also uproot those that are heavy- 

 headed, and these continue to grow long after they have been 

 prostrated, or send forth young upright stems from the still lively 

 roots. Tangled thickets of this kind are almost impenetrable ; 

 but they are admirable to look at. 



My first visit was made, August 6th, 1878, I entered on the 

 south side about the middle, letting myself down by long 

 branches of the trees. Among the red-rock walls of the stream 

 at the bottom, the rock-bramble was abundant running in hori- 

 zontal lines across the fissures. Among the gravel beside the 

 stream, Myosotis sylvatica, of which there was a white variety, 

 held a chief place. One detached lumpy rock was finely starred 

 with tufts of Asplenium Trichomanes. Cistopteris fragilw was 

 scarce. The main floral centre is on a steep grassy and rocky 

 bank above the middle on the north side, which although 

 naturally dry is moistened with trickling water from boggy 



