THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



263 



(Primula farinosa) ; Antennaria dioica, &c, &c. 

 Recrossing the bridge we regained the high 

 road, and found growing by it the Melan- 

 choly Thistle (Carduus heterophyllus) ; San- 

 guisorba officinalis ; the Ladies' Mantle (Alche- 

 milla vulgaris) ; a peculiar variety (Rothii) of 

 the Lady fern ; the black-stalked spleen wort 

 (A . trichomanes) ; and the Brittle fern (Cystop- 

 teris fragilis) . After a good tea at the High 

 Force Inn, we walked through the planta- 

 tion of larches to the High Force — the 

 greatest cataract in England. The roar of 

 the great volume of water, which pours into 

 the black chasm below, is heard distinctly 

 at the Inn, a distance of a mile. In the river 

 below are fine trout, and the High Force Inn 

 is celebrated for its trout breakfasts. 



The following morning we found the rain 

 coming down in torrents, and had almost 

 decided to return home, but as the rain 

 diminished about ten o'clock, we pushed on 

 over the moors to Widdy Bank, which we 

 reached in about two hours. After ascertain- 

 ing that we could have a bed for the night, 

 at the farm just at the foot of the fell, we 

 left our things there, and wandered over the 

 fell, amid the bogs and rills — where the 

 beautiful starry Saxifraga aizoides was grow- 

 ing in profusion. On the high lands about 

 here, the Yellow-mountain Pansy (Viola 

 lutea) was abundant, as likewise were the 

 common Sundew (Drosera rotundijolia) and 

 the Butterwort (Pinguecula vulgaris), and on 

 the top of Widdy Bank fell, we found fine 

 specimens of two of the Lycopodia (L.silago 

 and selaginoides). Crossing over the fell, we 

 made tracks — rather devious ones, on ac- 

 count of having to go round bogs, &c— for 

 the " Weel " ; as the only quiet portion of 

 the Tees, just above Caldron Snout, is called. 

 Scrambling among huge masses of fallen 

 rock, we soon found ourselves at the mag- 

 nificent cataract — Caldron Snout — a fall of 

 about 200 feet in length, which is crossed by 

 a narrow bridge about 15 inches wide — 

 crossing which makes one feel giddy as you 

 look into the boiling torrent below. After 



luncheon on the rocks, in full view of the 

 cascade, we searched the meadow land on 

 the Westmoreland side, for botanical speci- 

 mens, and were rewarded with the fragrant 

 Gymnadcnia conopsea, several specimens of the 

 globe flower (Trollius Europeus). Recrossing 

 the river we worked Falcon clints — a lofty 

 range of Basalt — for Woodsia ilvensis ; but 

 like many other botanical visitors to this 

 neighbourhood, without success. Among 

 the fallen rocks, at the foot of the cliffs, we 

 found fine specimens of the Oak and Beech 

 ferns.the prickly shield fern (Polystichum aculc- 

 atum) and the mountain fern (Lastraa 

 Or copter is, &c. 



Next morning, by our hosts' advice, we 

 retraced our steps, as he informed us the 

 road over the fells to Appleby was a difficult 

 one to find. We took the opposite bank of 

 the Tees, through the juniper-covered moors 

 — the shooting ground of the Duke of Cleve- 

 land — and beneath the frowning Cronkly 

 Fell, past a frothy cataract — the White Force 

 — until we reached a range of cliffs overlook- 

 ing the High Force. The whole bank of 

 the Tees was clothed with the Potentilla fru- 

 ticosa, a plant found nowhere else. Leaving 

 the river we struck for Holwick Scars, a 

 range of lofty crags, where we found the 

 parsley fern (Allosoruscrispus) very abundant, 

 and where among Asplenium trichomanes my 

 friend bagged a single specimen of Asplenium 

 marinum ; Cystopteris fragilis was one of the 

 most abundant ferns at the top of the scars, 

 along with Blechnum borealc. From Holwick 

 Scars we took the road to Middleton, where 

 we found the wild raspberry (Rubas idaus) 

 plentiful, and a few specimens of the grass 

 of Parnassus (Pamassia palustris). Arriving 

 at the station just in time to catch the train, 

 we left behind us with regret the beautiful 

 and romantic scenery among which we had 

 wandered for the previous week, looking 

 forward to other excursions of a similar 

 character which we hoped would follow — 

 but which circumstances have rendered very 

 unlikely at present. 



