464 WILD FLOWERS OF 



I proceeded slowly along the pebbly barrier, though 

 with some difficulty, as the smooth stones were dis- 

 placed, and rolled about at each footstep. On one 

 side appeared a smooth shallow pool, where a flock of 

 Sandpipers were sporting, and immediately in front 

 rose a proud, lofty mass of red sandstone, the base of 

 which was washed by the Otter, which at this point 

 rushed with a swift current over the pebbles into the 

 sea, dividing into two branches, and forming a small 

 pebbly island at the ebb. This island I contrived to 

 reach by striding along the slippery stones, and occa- 

 sionally flouncing in the water, and was amply repaid 

 by the scene of desolation presented to my view. For 

 some distance along the shore the rock had been 

 shivered to pieces, and lay on the beach in vast broad 

 slabs, presenting an awful geological spectacle. These 

 masses of sandstone are evidently covered by the 

 tide, which dashes violently against the cliffs, forming 

 cavities and grotesque shapes, and the friable consti- 

 tuents of the sandstone thus mutilated by the waves, 

 and acted upon in winter, probably by the frosts, and 

 at all times by the atmosphere, necessarily causes 

 huge masses of the rock deprived of support from 

 below, or detached from above, to thunder down upon 

 the beach, leaving a singular scene of ruin and deso- 

 lation. These fragments are profusely covered with 

 olive-green fuel, and form a favourite resting place 

 for sea-birds. An old fisherman put me in his crazy 

 boat from the island across the other branch of the 

 Otter, and botanizing about the sandstone cliff, I 

 found some fine specimens of Arenaria marina in full 

 flower, and the beautiful Sea Lavender (Statice limo- 

 nium) on the ledges of the rock. Here, too, were 



