Chapter XVI: Appendix

One morning, during Mr. Roby's stay at Keswick, in September 1849, it was reported that the floating island in the lake was making its appearance. He immediately took a boat, and we hastened with a friend to the spot. The island was plainly to be seen at a short distance below the surface of the water, nearly approaching it in some parts, in others gradually retreating beyond our sight. It was easily touched with a stick, and appeared covered with vegetation. We grappled up with the boat-hook, and brought away, as a memento of our visit, a specimen of the _Isoetes Lacustris_ (European quill-wort), a plant which grows abundantly at the bottom of the lakes in this district. The boatmen rowed carefully about, afraid of passing over the island, lest the boat should run aground. It gave a strange feeling thus to find land coming up where, a few days before, we had floated in deep water. It did not rise any higher, but, after continuing for a day or two in the state just described, sank gradually to its old position at the bottom of the lake. The last time it was visible, some years since, it rose above the surface.

It lies at some distance from the shore on the Barrow side of the lake, between the Barrow landing and Lodore. It was near the former spot that we gathered the _Circaea Alpina_ (Alpine Enchanter's Nightshade) in fruit, growing side by side with the _Silene Maritima_ (Sea Campion). The botanical reader will, perhaps, feel an interest in the notice of two or three other localities of the rarer plants. In the same direction, high up among the rocks, near Ashness Gill, Mr. Roby found the _Oxyria reniformis_ (Kidney-shaped Mountain-sorrel.) The _Salix Herbacaea_ (Least Willow), the smallest of British trees, and _Lycopodium Alpinum_ (Savin-leaved Club-moss), on Skiddaw, their well known habitat; the latter plant also, with the _Alchemilla Alpina_ (Alpine Lady's-mantle), its silvery leaves glistening in the sun, on the mountain-side opposite Honister Crag. In the wild and shady nooks of Borrowdale, the _Polypodium Phegopteris_ (Pale Mountain-polypody) and the _P. Dryopteris_ (Tender Three-branched Polypody), growing in charming profusion. And on Dunmail Raise, and on the precipitous descent of the Stake between Langdale Pikes and Bowfell, the golden stars of the _Saxifriga Azoides_ (Yellow Mountain-saxifrage) were still sparkling, where a little moisture allowed them to flourish.

THE END.

LONDON:

SPOTTISWOODES and SHAW,

New-street-Square.

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| Transcriber's Notes: |
| |
| Words surrounded by _ are italicized. |
| |
| Obvious punctuation errors have been corrected, other |
| punctuations have been left as printed in the paper book. |
| |
| Titles have been added to the music pages (page 121-122) based |
| on Table of Contents. |
| |
| Obvious printer's errors have been corrected, including: |
| - Page 162-207, incorrect spellings of character names repaired, |
| ("RONALD" corrected to be "ROLAND," "HERMOINE" corrected to be |
| "HERMIONE") |
| - Page 317, "Herman" corrected to be "Hermann" (Doctor Hermann |
| Sichel) |
| - Page 360, "c[oe]stus" correced to be "caestus" (the _caestus_) |
| |
| Other variable spellings retained, including variable usage of |
| accent (e.g. "winged" and "winged"), ligature ("daemon" and |
| "demon"), hyphen (e.g. "a-ground" and "aground"), archaic form |
| (e.g. "can" and "canst"), any other inconsistent spellings (e.g. |
| "synonyms" and "synonymes") |
| |
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