INTRODUCTION. 
XVII 
rocks and boulders, and still more treacherous morasses that 
are so prevalent. During the day the mountain-rambler can 
see about him, and with the exception of fatigue, and hunger 
il he does not provide himself against it, has no discomfort 
to dread save a Highland shower, but this is sometimes no 
trifle. All of a sudden, without giving any prelusive warning 
drops, a cloud above him, dark and menacing, bursts at once, 
and a perfect deluge comes down roaring and raging like a 
mountain torrent, and in a few moments he is drenched to 
the skin. Sometimes, too, vivid lightnings flash athwart the 
gloom, and crashing thunder-peals are reverberated from 
mountain to mountain in fearful magnificence. Frequently 
the scene is as suddenly changed. The clouds are parted, 
and the sunbeams, with all their burning impetuosity, rush 
through the openings, impatient to revel amid the freshness 
and beauty of the earth. The effect is magical ! The bright- 
est sunlight and the darkest gloom seem contending for the 
mastery, but the latter soon gives way, leaving the former to 
drink the fragrance of the freshened heath, and to brighten 
the path and cheer the heart of the drenched flower-hunter. 
Ben Red is the most conspicuous mountain to the west ol 
Loch Brandy, and on its summit may be gathered Azalea 
procumbent and other plants of interest. Between this and 
the next summit. White Bent, there is the corrie ot Ben 
Hard, into which a stream pours its fertilizing waters, and 
among its rocks many interesting plants may be found. At 
the back of the White Bent, between Bousties and Cairn 
Derg, the- elegant Splachnum vasculosum grows in greater 
perfection than in any other station in Clova. A little be- 
yond White Bent, is the Red Craig, with the farm of Bra- 
dooney at its base, and from thence there is a path up Glen 
Bradooney, and across the Capel Mount, to Deeside, pass- 
ing the famed Lochnagar; and another path leading up 
Glen Bradooney to Bachnagairn and Loch Esk. Nearly 
opposite to the farm of Bradooney the Esk is joined by the 
Dole. The Esk is crossed by a wooden bridge, and passing 
the uppermost farm of Clova, Acharne, you enter the famed 
