least) here coming to a conclusion, we walked on to 
the shooting lodge to make enquiries as to our further 
route. The sun, which had smiled kindl}^ on us at 
the outset of our journey, had now hid himself in a 
thick hank of clouds, and the mist hung heavily on 
the higher and more distant mountains. Still, how¬ 
ever, Loch Affaric appeared to great advantage, 
and a more beautiful loch I have never seen. Most 
mountain lakes have the mountains running parallel 
to their sides, but Loch Affaric has the ends (or, 
so to speak, the gables) of the mountains turned 
to it, and sloping into rocky points which jut into the 
loch. The lake, though several miles in length, is of 
no great breadth, and entirely shut in by wooded and 
rocky mountains of great height. While walking 
up to the shooting lodge that is situated on what was 
once an island, but is now a peninsula in the loch, 
I noticed great numbers of that delicious esculent 
fungus Boletus edulis ; while close to the lodge, 
another fungus, but of exactly opposite qualities, 
being very poisonous —Lactarius rnfus —w^as tolerably 
abundant. At the lodge w’e obtained information as 
to our future course, and wTat was almost necessary 
on such a “ dark” day—a gillie to guide us through 
the mist. One feature of Loch Affaric I shall not 
readily forget, and that was the innumerable hordes 
of biting midges. 
W e now enter on the second part of our journey in 
quest of the icy loch, and rapidly ascending the hill¬ 
side, find ourselves on a bleak and desolate table¬ 
land, sprinkled with peathags, and bounded by 
several precipitous mountains. At the edge of this 
tableland I gathered some specimens of a somew’hat 
rare moss, Hypnuin trifarium. CrOvSsing one of the 
peathags, we next begin the ascent of one of the 
mountains, and on the wa^y turn aside to visit a caA^e. 
This cave or rather pit has evidently been formed by 
n large mass of the hill slipping forwands and doAAn- 
wards. l^umerous deep holes are thus left on the 
hillside, and being quite invisible till one is close 
upon them, form very dangerous pitfalls. The cave 
into which we entered is beautifully overgrown wdth 
seA-eral kinds of ferns, while hanging from the rocks 
