132 THROUGH GLADE AND MEAD. 
of 13,000 feet. The grass which he mentions (Poa 
annua, L.) is No. 55 of my next list. He says: 
« Along the narrow path I found the two common- 
est of all British weeds, a grass (Poa annua), and the 
shepherd’s purse! They had evidently been imported 
by man and yaks, and as they do not occur in India, I 
could not but regard these little wanderers from the 
north with the deepest interest. Such incidents as these 
give rise to trains of reflection in the mind of the nat- 
uralist traveler; and the farther he may be from home 
and friends, the more wild and desolate the country he 
is exploring, the greater the difficulties and dangers 
under which he encounters these subjects of his earliest 
studies in science, so much keener is the delight with 
which he recognizes them, and the more lasting is the 
impression which they leave. At this moment these 
common weeds more vividly recall to me that wild scene 
than does all my journal, and remind me how I went on 
my way, taxing my memory for all it ever knew of the 
geographical distribution of the shepherd’s purse, and 
musing on the probability of the plant having found its 
way thither over all Central Asia, and the ages that may 
have been occupied in its march.” 
Every one familiar with the native flora must have 
had similar, if not quite as striking, experiences. The 
old roads, the same flowers seen year after year, these 
are a perennial delight, and they open the heart for the 
new ones which we chance to meet afar. 
