26 
overliead, I noticed some very large plants of the 
greater whortle-berry —Vaccinium uliginosum. We 
now began in earnest the ascent, and very steep it 
was. As we get higher various alpine plants begin 
to be seen. Among them we recognised with pleasure 
our old friend, the Alpine Lady’s Mantle —Alcliemilla 
alpina —and others, but none of any rarity. The 
cause of the scarceness of rare plants is easily accounted 
for by the dryness of the rocks. Slowly, but surely, 
we reach the summit of the ridge, and then think 
that we cannot be far from the object of our journey. 
But vain hope—the gillie assures us that we have a 
mile or two to go yet, and so we push on along the 
ridge. We are now at an elevation of about 3000 
feet, and various alpine plants are of frequent occur¬ 
rence. Here grows the herbaceous willow—its shining 
leaves and downy cathins scarcely rising above the 
moss, among which it loves to creep. Here is a bed 
of the little azalea ; and here a tiny plant of the com¬ 
mon heather or ling, but this, bowing its head to the 
storm, unlike its brethren in the valley below, and ac¬ 
commodating itself to circumstances, keeps its leaves 
and flowers close pressed to the bare ground, However, 
we must get on through the mist, and keep our way 
along the ridge, now going down a few hundred feet, 
now ascending the same distance, but still over the 
same kind of bare rocky ground. We come at last 
to some shallow pools of water, and from them get 
specimens of the Arctic Agabus [Agahus Articus), a 
water beetle only found high up the mountains. 
When alive in its native pools it is of a pretty red 
colour, which is lost with life. 
The character of the ground now began to change 
—instead of the bare stoney surface there was a 
coarse grass. A short chase ended in the capture of 
Scopula alpinalis, a moth of very local distribution 
in Britain. Still on through the mist we go, till 
straight before us rose the steep sides of the summit, 
covered vuth grass and thickly sprinkled with the 
rare Cerastium trigynum. After several rests to 
recover breath, we finally reach a mossy plateau, 
and making our way to a large cairn, have at last 
the satisfaction of standing on the summit of Mam- 
