8 ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY LIFE [ch. n. 
journey which he made from Blair Atholl to the 
sources of the Dee in September 1816, the year in 
which he had commenced the study of botany, he 
says that journey was made on his way back to 
Aberdeen from a prolonged botanical excursion 
through the Hebrides and the south of Scotland. 
This excursion, accomplished no doubt almost 
entirely on foot, necessarily involved much physical 
exertion and fatigue, thus showing that he must 
then have been pursuing his botanical studies— 
although only recently begun—with no little energy 
and zeal. 
On his arrival at Blair Atholl from the south, 
on the occasion just mentioned, he made inquiry 
with regard to the route to be followed for the- 
sources of the Dee; and, guided by the informa¬ 
tion which he received, he proceeded on his way, 
reaching Blair Lodge in Glen Tilt about six o clock 
in the evening. On calling at the Lodge he was 
kindly received by a woman who provided him 
with some refreshment, of which, he says, he was 
much in need. The narrative of that night’s 
adventure as recorded by MacGillivray in his 
Natural History of British Birds , vol. i., page 175, 
proceeds as follows :— 
“ The good woman very benevolently exerted 
herself to persuade me to remain all night, the 
hills being, as she said, bleak and dreary, entirely 
destitute of everything that could afford pleasure 
to a traveller, and even without human habitation, 
the nearest house being fifteen miles north. It 
