Rev. Dr Fleming’s Gleanings of Natural History . £49 
When at the mouth of Loch Eribol on the morning of the 7 th, 
we landed at. the cave of Uamh Smowe, which has been so well 
described, (we believe by one of the greatest writers of the age), 
in the Edinburgh Annual Register for 181£, vol. v. p. 2. p. 438. 
It is situated in a horizontal bed of bluish compact limestone of 
greatextent, abounding in beds and contemporaneous veins of white 
quartz. Upon entering the cave numerous wild pigeons , water 
ouzels and common sandpipers , (Totanus hypoleucos), hastily 
escaped. The walls were hung with Scolopendrium vulgar e, 
Cyathea dentata , Rhodiola rosea> and Chrysosplenium oppositi- 
folium. On the mossy ground over the roof of the cave, 
especially near the place where the rivulet enters it through a 
chasm in the rock, the Dryas octopetala was flowering in a 
healthy state, probably the northern limits of its British geogra- 
phical distribution. In walking from the cave to a sandy bay 
on the east side of Tarout-head, the Saxifraga aizoides , Tha- 
lictrum minus , Habenaria viridis , Listera ovata and cordata , 
invited our attention. A few shells were likewise observed, viz. 
Helix nemoralis and Arbustorum , Bidimus fasciatus and 
Vitrina pellucida . On the beach we observed many fragments 
of Spongia palmata , and in the deeper pools left by the tide 
the Aplysia depilans seemed to abound. 
In the morning of the 8th we found ourselves to the west- 
ward of Cape Wrath. Nor did we find this promontory mis- 
named, for we soon experienced a stiff gale, which induced us 
to take shelter in Stornaway. Next morning, in expectation 
that the wind would abate, we proceeded on our voyage, but 
were now forced to run into Loch Shell, The gneiss rocks which 
prevail at these two places exhibit little to interest the minera- 
logist on a cursory view. At the latter place we observed, in a 
fishing boat, many Sea Bream , here termed Braize. (The Cypri- 
nus "rutilus is called Braize in the river district of the Clyde.) 
This is the Pagrus Rondeletii of Willoughby, although the pe- 
culiar character which he assigns, “ in pinnis dorsi et ani ex- 
tremis cutis in sinum quendam procurrit, 'et extremes pinnae 
radios obvolvit et fere occult at,” (Ich. 312.), did not appear 
obvious. The Hake is, according to the testimony of the fish- 
ermen, frequently caught here ; the Tusk occasionally. The 
former is probably near the northern, the latter near the south- 
