18981902. No. 19.] STRAY CONTRIBUT.TO THE BOTANY OF N.DEVON. 19 
higher land of the interior which, in the more elevated southern portion, 
is covered with a large snow field and sends out a glacier down to Cardigan 
Strait and some small hanging-glaciers into some of the ravines. 
During my first visit to North Kent, when I had not yet seen Castle 
Island, I thought it very poor land, and I have specially noted that it 
was far poorer than the neighbouring part of Ellesmereland which shows 
the same geological character. The fact that it is more difficult for 
plants to reach the convenient growing-places here than on the mainland, 
seems to accounl for the relative scarcity of species of higher plants. 
The vegetation was, however, dense enough in favorable spots. 
The place (1.) which I visited, July 13, 1901, lies about halfway 
between De Lacy Head and the easternmost point of the island. From 
the narrow strip of foreland, a small valley or broad ravine trended 
steeply upwards to the interior plateau. The loose strata, for the greater 
part, consisted of gravel with numerous stones of all sizes, with, in some 
places, also a considerable admixture of clayish material, and locally 
pure clay, especially along the broad shallow brooks which flowed down 
from the interior. In the high land of the interior also, there was the 
same gradual transition from shingle fields to clay plains strewn with 
stones, or wet clay plains with open an vegetation. In some places, the 
rock was uncovered or only overlaid with heaps of stones of different 
sizes, somewhat resembling the talus below the steeper cliffs. 
Among the plants of the lower land, Saxifraga oppositifolia was 
absolutely predominant, and it was abundant even in the interior, appe- 
aring with flowers of very different size, shape, and colour in different 
individuals. Another species, very common in all moist localities, was 
Saxifraga flagellaris, and the genus was further represented by 4 more 
species, S. nivalis, S. stellaris var. comosa, S. groenlandica, and S. 
cernua. Other plants found here were: — Dryas integrifolia, Poten- 
tilla pulchella, P. emarginata, Draba alpina with its var. gracilescens, 
D. subcapitata, Cochlearia officinalis var. groenlandica, Papaver radt- 
catum, Ranunculus nivalis, R. Sabinei, Cerastium alpinum, Stellaria 
longipes, Alsine verna, Oxyria digyna, Salix arctica, Luzula arcuata 
var. confusa, L. nivalis, Festuca ovina, Poa abbreviata, Glyceria 
distans, Catabrosa algida, Aira caespitosa var. arctica, Alopecurus 
alpinus. Cerastium alpinum showed the same transition, from large, 
hairy forms to the extreme f. pulvinatwm, as found in some loca- 
lities in Ellesmereland. Most of the 28 species enumerated above are 
included in a little collection in alcohol, which was all I could bring 
home of flowering plants (2832). 
