404 



MY LIFE 



[Chap. 



crags in search of rare mosses, they dashed about so close to 

 his head as to cause him to retreat. After returning to Bedd- 

 gelert we went up a small valley to find a very rare water- 

 moss, which Mr. William Borrer, the well-known botanist, 

 had told Mr. Mitten was to be found there ; and after a long 

 search in every rock-hole that seemed a likely place, he, at 

 last, found the treasure, as he almost always did when he 

 went in search of any rarity. While stopping at a cottage 

 during a shower, and noticing some large birds of prey 

 screaming on a mountain near, he asked the woman of the 

 house what birds they were. To which she replied, " Harpies," 

 which made us wonder what remote part of the world we had 

 got to. We afterwards went to Dolgelly and Cader Idris, 

 where, in a small lake, we found the uncommon Lobelia 

 Dortmanna. 



In 1875 we went again to Snowdon, and afterwards to the 

 curious ravine called Twll-dtj, or the " Devil's Kitchen," near 

 which I found an umbrella, and Mrs. Mitten, who accompanied 

 us, found somebody's lunch, consisting of a baked trout and 

 grapes ; while Mr. Mitten revelled as usual in the rare mosses, 

 and later at the Swallow Falls, on the way to Bettws-y-Coed, 

 he found a moss quite new to him. 



Our next excursion was to South Wales, when my wife 

 and Mrs. Mitten accompanied us, as I wished to show them 

 the beautiful scenery of my favourite Vale of Neath. We 

 stayed a few days at a cottage at Pont-nedd Fychan and 

 visited the beautiful waterfalls, the rocking-stone, the subter- 

 ranean river, and the fine Dinas rock. While here one day 

 we passed a labourer at work on the roadside, and Mrs. Mitten, 

 thinking to gratify the patriotism of a Welshman, remarked 

 on the beauty^of the scenery, and asked him if he did not 

 think it a privilege to live in such a fine country ? Rather to 

 our amusement, he told us that he did not think much of the 

 country, it was all hills and stones, and there was no good 

 land, and he much preferred his own country, which was 

 Lincolnshire ! 



Another year I and Mr. Mitten went to Glen Clova in the 

 Highlands in search of the many rare plants for which it is 



