
          691.

walked along the River Rd. to R.  This part of our trip was enjoyed
very much.  The road was shady and it was so much cooler than
in the ravine.  Three more violets, V. blanda, V. pubescens var
scabriuscula, and V. tricolor were added to our list <s>of violets</s>.  When
about half way to R. we stopped to rest.  We found an nice
place on a rock <s>close to</s> standing out from the river.  We stopped
here about ¾ hr.  As Miss S. descended to the rock, she found
near it a broken off plant of Mertensia Virginica.  While we were
here resting we saw a young man with a vasculum pass and a
little later a young women with an old gentleman.  The former
had plucked at least a dozen pretty specimens of Mertensia.  We
felt very bad, <s>then</s> seeing how ruthlessly some people destroy some
of our prettiest plants.  As we were now rested we continued
our tramp & when I reached the Mertensia place I noticed that but
two plants with flowers were still remaining.  They had not be [been] plucked
not doubt, only because they were not yet fully open.  Thinking of
the card Mr. W. had left on our trip of April 12,  I descended the slope to
see if it were still there.  It was found without trouble, for it
was lying on top of the post. One glance showed me that it had
been discovered that day.  The following is a facsimile of Mr. W's
        