a thirteen-hour battle with the elements! A second party of two, reported as being en route by the first party, never turned up till Monday night. They had been defeated by a cornice in the Garbh-Choire, and had had to return to Derry Lodge, arriving there 1.30 A.M. Monday morning. A second attempt to reach Aviemore by the Larig met with success, the journey taking nine hours. Monday and Tuesday were glorious days-snow down to the 1,000 foot line, brilliant sunshine, clear atmosphere. The photographers, headed by Lamond Howie, made hay while the sun shone; it was an opportunity not to be missed. The fine photogravure which appears as a frontispiece in this number of the Journal gives undeniable evidence of the favourable atmospheric conditions and the skill of the wielder of the camera. These two delightful days will so impress the minds of those who were fortunate enough to be out on one or both of them, that the previous bad weather will be wiped off memory's slate, and Easter 1913 will remain on record as a snowy and good weather Meet.

Nothing of special note was done. Some fifteen members in all were at Derry Lodge, the favourite route being by Cairngorm and Ben Macdhui and back the next day by Cairn Toul and Braeriach, or vice versa. Sgoran Dubh had its share of attention, whilst Càrn Eilrig, of whose ascent no previous record is contained in the Journal, was visited by no less than seven men on the Monday. Meall a Buachaille was also ascended. Both the last mentioned hills are fine view points. The big hall at the Aviemore Hotel encouraged and made easy that social intercourse which is such a feature of the S.M.C. Meets. On Saturday, the 29th March, Collins, Howie, Meares, and Solly departed for the south, leaving Maylard in sole possession. Another of life's pleasant milestones is past. Auf wiedersehen!

A DELIGHTFUL DAY ON CLISHAM.

BY F. G. FARQUHAR.

"Wie komm' ich am besten den Berg hinan?

Steig nur hinauf und denk nicht daran."- NIETZSCHE.

THE advice contained in the above verse, for such at least as have sufficient philosophy in their composition to put it into practice, is doubtless both sound and commendable. It does not, however, preclude preliminary observations being taken as to the best route to be followed in order to reach an unknown summit, and such was our procedure before attempting to bag Clisham.

This hill being only three or four miles distant from Tarbert Hotel, North Harris, where we were staying, was sufficiently near to give us an opportunity of reconnoitring it from different quarters, notwithstanding that it lay in the opposite direction to our daily rendezvous at the fishing lochs in Laxadale, which is on the eastern coast of North Harris. Clisham, on the other hand, occupies a central part of the district, and it is completely hidden from view on this side by an intervening range of hills which follows the direction of the coast line.

Fine mountain as it is, Clisham might, however, be in another continent for all that one hears of it from the natives of Tarbert, nor did it seem to appeal very much to the circle of fishermen from the mainland and from England who were collected in the hotel. As a cobbler to his last so a fisherman to his angle. He comes to fish, so fish he must and will. It is difficult to get him to do anything else, so if you want a day off, you'll have to gang by yoursel', and so it was in my case.

The climate of the Hebrides appears to be contrarious. Last summer, such a wet one on the mainland, was an exceptionally fine one there. Day after day a bright sun, a hard blue sky, a northerly wind and the driest of weather made fishing, except for the dry-fly man, a vain pursuit.

It was enough to make an angel swear, and therefore, a fortiori, a fisherman. Accordingly, on the 2nd August I chucked it and took to the hill instead.

From a previous reconnoitre of the mountain we had a good notion of what was to be done and how to set about it. The Tarbert-Balallan road crosses the eastern spur. Taking advantage of this we motored to a point on the road between the lochs a Mhorghain and na Ciste at an elevation of about 600 feet, where, leaving the road and crossing the deer fence, we made for the saddle which unites the two featureless heights of Tarsaval and Sròn Carsaclett.

At this elevation, viz., of about 1,200 feet, one is nearly on a level with the top of the ridge of Clisham's Corrie on its eastern side.

We followed this contour for a considerable distance, making for the head of a coombe in order to avoid unnecessary hill-work, and continuing the same contour on the far side of it we reached the foot of the steep eastern spur which falls abruptly enough from the top of the mountain. Nothing further remained to be done but to tackle it, and, à la Nietzsche, to think no more about it. It is pretty steep but not difficult.

The highest point of Clisham, according to the Ordnance Survey, is 2,622 feet. This constitutes it the monarch of the Outer Hebrides. There is a cairn on the top.

The ridge here is very narrow and jagged, the outer sides both to north and east falling precipitously, while on the inside it is a perpendicular cliff. The ridge makes a big dip to the west of its culminating point, only to rise again suddenly, and resume its former cliffy character, though not to attain quite such an elevation as at the cairn. Eventually the western flank of the corrie develops into a wide and continual sort of causeway, which gradually shelves away into the moorland below.

This appears to offer an easy though a tedious approach to the summit. From the north-west side of the ridge a connecting one runs north at an elevation of about 2,000 feet, which gets the name of Mullach an Langa. The corrie's eastern boundary, which is sharp and well defined

and of a uniform level, loses itself in the surrounding heights in the south.

Clisham's corrie is its chief feature. It is very spacious, of noble dimensions, and of a most striking appearance when seen from the south, whence it stares one in the face. Its jagged outline, perpendicular walls, and semi-craterlike aspect at once fascinate and astonish the beholder. In shape it resembles a horse shoe, with its almost encircling sides, the westernmost one, wide and flat as it is, being very like that of a heavy-built Clydesdale's shoe. We climbed down into it from the ridge where it reaches its lowest elevation between the contiguous cliffs, but it is by no means a pleasant way, especially to one in ignorance, as we were, of what might be awaiting below, for it is impossible to see to the bottom from the ridge.

On "sic" a day, however, it was very delightful when one did get down to rest on the heather-grown slopes, and refresh oneself at the numerous rills which force their way beneath the luxuriant growth. The corrie is so sheltered from north, east, and west, and is so little trodden by man, that it is a perfect sanctuary for heather. At the same time it is a regular suntrap, so that no wonder the heather was already in full bloom in this oasis in the forest.

The view from the top of Clisham is superb. The most striking object was the gem-like trinity of St Kilda set in the ocean and glittering in the sun. It bears some twenty degrees north of west from the cairn.

The whole extent of the Lews to the north lay at our feet, half land, half water, flat and desolate. The farinpenetrating sea-loch of Seaforth, which so nearly insulates the district of Pairc, or Park, from the rest of North Harris, filled in the immediate scene to the east. To the south lay the isthmus of Tarbert which unites North and South Harris. North Uist appeared to be a prolongation of the Lews, with the Sound of Harris omitted. Quirang and the Cuilin were prominent, while on the mainland Slioch and Ben Eighe enabled us to locate the Gairloch district.

A FIFTEEN-HOUR WALK IN BENDERLOCH.*

BY F. S. GOGGS.

To be on the tramp from early morn to dewy eve—to start with lantern, and to arrive at the haven where we would be in company with the evening star, having seen the sun make a complete circuit of the heavens, is an experience which cannot be considered uncommon in the case of those whom the spirit of the mountains calls to Alpine snows; but in Scotland, to spend fifteen consecutive hours on the hills, though by no means an unprecedented, is yet not a very common proceeding. It might be mentioned as a further fact, which, though by no means unprecedented, is yet not very common, to wit, that during the whole of those fifteen hours it never ceased raining. From the last mentioned fact, any member of the S.M.C. will at once anticipate that the log of the expedition will produce moving incidents of fell and flood.

Most unfortunately, the Club's versatile Honorary Secretary has not yet turned his attention to the science of crystal gazing, and when in December 1911 the Club at its Annual General Meeting decided to hold the Easter Meet at Glencoe, no official warning was given that this might prove to be a difficult matter. As Easter 1912 drew near, however, the railway men struck, and the service of trains became smaller by degrees and beautifully less, til over many of the branch lines no trains. ran. Ballachulish, the most convenient station for Glencoe, is at the end of a branch line, and the problem whether that particular section would be working or not at Easter could only be solved by the famous formula of the Prime Minister, Wait+C. There seemed to be a fair probability that at least one train a day would run from Edinburgh to Oban, so three members of the S.M.C. having pored over maps for some time decided to take the train to Taynuilt and from there to trust to Charon and shank's mare.

* Benderloch Ben-eider-da-loch=hill between two lochs.

=