THE FERNY MOORLANDS. 
63 
in shadowy outlines. Now the eye rests on the 
graceful scenery which lies immediately contiguous 
to the path : huge boulders scattered about on 
each side, clothed with moss and ferns ; rugged 
hedge-banks formed of slate rock and red sand- 
stone teeming with fern-life ; slopes of furze and 
heather intermingled with wild flowers. Now the 
path descends the hill-side and traverses and lights 
on a glade strewn with boulders of all sizes and 
shapes, forming a natural rockery, and giving 
congenial shelter to the roots of the Bracken, 
whose tall fronds are spread out with a wild 
grace which no word-painting can adequately 
represent. 
Along the route which we have indicated, the 
fern-hunter may find, in charming variety, the 
Common Polypody, the Soft Prickly Shield Fern, 
the Male Fern, the Broad Buckler Fern, the Lady 
Fern, the Black Maidenhair Spleenwort, the Harts- 
tongue, and the Hard Fern. 
Few sights can be more grand and imposing 
than the view which is to be obtained shortly 
after commencing the descent — a mile in length 
