USE OF STORMS. 3 



more delicate than those of earth, in rich profusion 

 clothe the sides and bottom ; others of varied dyes, 

 purple and green, hang loosely floating in the quiet 

 depths ; pensile Confervae wave from every stone a 

 wilderness of vegetation. Interspersed with these, the 

 jointed Corallines spread forth their stony branches, 

 and Sea-flowers of every colour, opening to the sun, 

 unfold their living petals to entrap their food. The 

 glassy shrimps and prawns are faintly seen, lost in 

 their own transparency ; and little fishes darting here 

 and there, or poised with quivering fins, give life and 

 animation to the scene. 



The sun becomes obscured, and the breeze freshens 

 from the sea ; dark clouds are gathering on the hori- 

 zon, and the tide begins to turn ; the heaving waves 

 now tumble towards the shore, and as they break, in 

 angry foam, portend a storm. The sky looks threat- 

 ening, and the thunder growls far in the distance. 

 The sea awakens as from slumber, and the blackening 

 heavens lour over its dark bosom; while the rising 

 blast, impelling all the waves, drives them upon the 

 rocks in sheets of feathery foam, lashing them on to 

 madness, till at length ocean and sky seem mingled. 

 The raging winds now 



" . . . . take the ruffian billows by the tops, 

 Curling their monstrous heads, and hanging them. 

 With deafening clamours in the slippery clouds ;" 



from whence they fall into the yeasty depths, where 

 all is violence and roar and rage. 



Such are the changing aspects of the Sea, and such 

 the efficient means whereby Nature ensures the reno- 

 vation of that element, the mighty deep, the grand 



