Wanderings of a Naturalist 



on the tops of the Cairngorms mist still lingered, in Rothie- 

 murchus Forest the sun shone bright and warm. The way 

 led up the Bennaidh, with clear rushing waters sparkling in 

 the sunlight, until gradually the last of the fine old Scots 

 firs was left behind, and an unbroken expanse of hill and 

 moor met the eye. Some three miles from Loch Einich, and 

 at a height of about 1,400 feet above sea level, the first snow 

 was passed, and at the loch side (just over 1,600 feet) quite 

 three inches covered the ground, while thick ice encrusted 

 the pools in the peat bog. A pair of grouse walked up the 

 track in front of me, and were so confiding — or perhaps sur- 

 prised — that they could scarcely be induced to take wing, and 

 although the nearest tree was several miles distant, more than 

 one chaffinch was flitting about the bothy which stands at 

 the lochside. 



Crossing the burn where it leaves the loch, I had a fine 

 view of Coire Odhar — ^that big corrie at the head of Loch 

 Einich. In summer more than one burn falls in a white 

 cascade down this lonely corrie, but to-day these burns were 

 fast imprisoned beneath snow and ice, and the corrie was an 

 unbroken expanse of white. 



To climb Sgoran Dubh from Loch Einich is, even in 

 summer, a difficult business, for there are only one or two 

 gullies which are accessible, and with a cornice of snow 

 projecting many feet beyond the ridge these were to-day 

 impracticable. A detour was therefore made northwards, 

 where the hillside is less steep, and where a gradually rising 

 ridge could be followed all the way to the summit. My way 

 led me past Loch an-t-Seilich, a small loch concealed amidst 

 great boulders in a slight depression, taking its name from 

 certain dwarf willows which grow out over its peaty waters, 

 and under whose shade trout may be seen to rise in the quiet 

 of a summer's evening. To-day these willows had turned 

 their leaves to a rich brown colour, which contrasted curiously 

 with the surrounding expanse of white. Not far off there 

 was borne on the north wmd the roaring of stags, and soon a 



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