Wanderings of a Naturalist 



feet lay on the hill, and with the surface half thawed by 

 the soft wind — ^which at times blew with the force of a whole 

 gale — ^the going was exceedingly stiff. Standing at an 

 elevation of 7,000 feet and fully exposed to the storms was 

 a wood of true mountain pine — Pinus montana uncinata. 

 The outskirts of the wood were guarded by veteran trees, 

 evidently of great age but now dying. It was of considerable 

 interest to notice that their trunks showed the phenomenon of 

 spiral groAvth well marked, the phenomenon which can be 

 noticed in some of the outlying Scots firs in Glen Derry and 

 Glen Quoich in the Highland Forest of Mar. It is tjo meet 

 the great strain put upon the wood by incessant gales that 

 this picturesque spiral growth is formed. 



Of all the trees of the Pyrenees the mountain pine is the 

 one which best resists the storms of winter at high elevations : 

 the Scots fir, though hardy enoUgh, does not penetrate to 

 near the limit of tree growth and is found in the comparative 

 shelter of the valleys. Well below the forest of mountain 

 pine — around the 5,000-foot level — we passed through a thick 

 growth of yew trees. The specimens did not approach the 

 dimensions which are attained by this species in England, 

 but to me it was of interest to see them for the first time in 

 a natural state. It is well known that the leaves are imme- 

 diately fatal to any sheep which is unfortunate enough to 

 swallow them. 



A rapid descent brought us to a deep valley with precipit- 

 ous hills on either side and a swift-flowing river, with semi- 

 opaque waters of the blue tinge that denotes an icy source, 

 hurrying southwards. Here tree-growth was luxuriant, and 

 on either side of the burn Scots firs stood strong and straight. 

 We were now no more that 4,000 feet above sea level, and 

 at this relatively low altitude I noticed the mountain pine 

 was entirely absent. Rain was falling heavily, and about 

 the hilltops the mists were gathering, foretelling a continu- 

 ance of the storm. A long walk down the glen still lay before 

 us, and under fine-weather conditions the scenery must have 



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