282 WILD FLOWERS OF JULY. 



was quite consistent with stainless vestures. To be 

 short and expressive, we were all in a sad draggle-tail 

 plight ere we could shelter from the elemental out- 

 pourings within the literally sanded cells of " the 

 Mermaid," where all was cold and cheerless as the 

 chrystal mansions of the Nereids themselves. But 

 we soon contrived to raise the cheerful flame, and 

 drying ourselves and our garments, amused ourselves 

 with the pictured daubs upon the walls till the frugal 

 refreshment the Mermaid had in store for us was 

 placed before our view. This dispatched, we had 

 nothing to do but to gaze upon the gloomy sea, the 

 watery skies, the inundated ground, the faded prints 

 upon the walls, and some old books of long byegone 

 fashions forgotten except by antiquated " mermaids," 

 till our Swansea vehicle drove up in the evening, and 

 rolled us over the intervening space to the spot from 

 whence with bright expectations, now sadly dimmed, 

 we had started in the morning. As we rode along 

 almost close to the sea, the waves in continued loud 

 resounding plunges burst furiously upon the beach, 

 as if even in our flight to remind us of the insecurity 

 attendant upon all maritime adventure. 



