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The Naturalist. 



below. We waited some time, and now and then got a view of the 

 Wells and the precipitous sides of Braeriach. We here consulted our 

 maps and watches, and found that if we attempted the summit of 

 Cairngorm (which was only three miles off, with very little ascent), we 

 should hardly have reached the woods of Rothiemurchus at dark ; 

 therefore, as we had already worked the highest point of the group, 

 we resigned ourselves to the descent, but unfortunately happened to 

 choose a very precipitous part, which grew more difficult and dangerous 

 after we had fairly started. We had to use the utmost caution in this 

 extremely laborious descent, for a single false step would probably 

 have been fatal. We were rewarded for our toil by finding Veronica 

 alpina and Arabis petrsea before we reached the bottom, from whence 

 we noticed many much better places where we might have got down ; 

 and later, we found out that had we gone to the summit of Cairngorm 

 and descended from thence, we should have reached our destination as 

 soon, if not sooner, than we did. Cornus suecica. Polygonum vivi- 

 parum, Splachnum sphaericum, and Sphseria cornus suecicas were the 

 next plants collected as we neared the woods of Rothiemurchus, the 

 deer bounding before us quite startled at such unusual visitors. 



We had now to walk as fast as we could go, as the darkness began 

 to envelope us ; and, by dint of perseverance through some awkward 

 adventures — such as seeking a plank-bridge, which we thought there 

 must be somewhere about, across a river in a wood, after dark, — we 

 managed to reach the Llynwilg Inn at 11-10 p,m., where they informed 

 us we could not stay, as they had no room left. This was the first inn 

 we had seen since leaving Blair Athole, and we insisted on them 

 finding us room, as we could have reached no other place for hours. 

 We threw off our baggage, and as we were firm in our resolve to stay, 

 we were, after some delay, told that we could join in the use of a 

 small room which another gentleman had taken. We enjoyed an 

 excellent supper, and I felt pleased at having accomplished a journey, 

 under a blazing sun, exactly as I had planned it before starting, and 

 which my companion (an experienced mountaineer) had pronounced 

 impossible to accomplish in the time at our disposal. 



Next morning I had to return home from Aviemore station, before 

 reaching which, we gathered Trientalis europea, Gnaphalium sylvati- 

 cum and Coleosporium rhinanthacearum, and noticed an abundance of 

 Amanita muscaria, as well as the finest assortment of large fungi that I 

 ever saw. 



15, Horton Lane, 

 Bradford, Yorks. 



