SEA WEEDS. 69 



wrecked mariners who owed the preservation of their 

 lives to the knowledge of the habits of this plant, 

 possessed by one of their number. 



It was many years ago that a large ship was driven 

 upon the rocks in the English Channel, upon which 

 she soon became a wreck. The entire crew were lost 

 except four, who clung to a large projecting crag, 

 which appeared to be the only refuge to which they 

 could resort. The darkness of the night rendered 

 every other object invisible, except when the vivid 

 flashes of lightning would cast upon the wild scene 

 around them a momentary glare, revealing the true 

 horrors of their forlorn condition. This was rendered 

 the more hopeless as they perceived that the tide 

 was rising, and the spot on which they stood was 

 decreasing in size as each succeeding wave broke 

 over them. The storm was too violent to admit of 

 their being heard from the shore, and the melan- 

 choly thought that they would soon be driven from 

 their only hope of safety by the advancing waters 

 was truly disheartening. Just at this moment, when 

 they were debating whether or not they should com- 

 mit themselves to the mercy of the waves, in hopes 

 of reaching some more elevated position, one of them, 

 while endeavoring to hold more firmly to the rock, 

 grasped a weed, which, wet as it was, he at once re- 

 cognized as the Rock Samphire, which he knew never 

 grew beneath the water. The knowledge of this fact, 

 indicating that the tide had nearly reached its highest 

 point, assured them that they might remain with 

 safety. Their anxiety was at once relieved, and the 



