THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
79 
wort. But the gem of all was a mass of the rare filmy fern 
(Trichomanes radicans). Far under the cliff, where the 
rocks were dripping with moisture and where the sunshine 
never reached the fronds, was the home of this delicate fern. 
My first view of this interesting plant was a memorable one. 
A turn in the cliff, a lowering of the head, still lower, down on 
the knees, then I obtained a full view of the dainty beauty. 
But to collect it a humbling of my pride was necessary, as I 
had to cast aside hat and botanical equipment, and crawl under 
the projecting rock, with scarcely room for head and should- 
ers to enter. It meant strained muscles and a fresh accumula- 
tion of mud on the dress that had already passed recognition, 
but it also meant a treasure to gloat over ! 
After packing to take leave for the next collecting field 
we found that the promised "spring wagon" that was to con- 
vey us away, was but a two-wheeled, home-made affair, — half 
road-cart, half sulky, with no room for baggage for two per- 
sons. So the plan of locomotion was rapidly changed and we 
were rowxd up Green River in a *'jow" boat. As the water 
was so clear, and such a bright green, — true to its name, — 
and the bluffs extremely beautiful, we did not regret the 
change. The next house we stopped at, a frame and not a 
log one, in a yard full of old-fashioned red and yellow roses, 
made us take heart as to accommodations, but a near glimpse 
of the family, and the rooms soon dispelled all hopes of finding 
more comfort. We spent two days on the banks of Ivy and 
Indian creeks, then went in a wagon some twenty-five miles 
farther north into another country. 
The people there wxre all hospitable and treated us well, 
but were primitive and quaint in habits and in speech. The 
members of the dialect society would be pleased at the many 
obsolete words heard here, many that may be traced to old 
English and Scotch words. An old woman was "sorry she 
did not have time to peruse these hills" with us. A thicket 
