PERILS OF THE CHASE. 11 



solatiou ill that, and enjoy the positive excellences of 

 this place. 



The evening of my arrival was spent in reconnoitring 

 the coast and its promises. What a flutter agitated me 

 as I bent over the many rock-pools, clear as crystal, 

 and sometimes enclosing perfect landscapes in minia- 

 tm:-e. It seemed as if I should have nothino- to do but 

 stoop and fill my jars with treasures ; for I had read in 

 numerous books descriptions from which the inference 

 was, that nothing could be easier than collecting '' mar- 

 ine store." " You stroll along the beach and pick up 

 so-and-so," is the pleasant phrase of these writers, 

 wishing, we must suppose, to make science appear 

 easy. Now the truth should be told. It was quickly 

 forced on my conviction that, although after a gale 

 you may go down to the shore and find many things, 

 mostly dead, which you mil carry home with inte- 

 rest — for "'tis an ill wind that blows nobody mol- 

 luscs " — yet hunting among the rocks is not easy, nor 

 always safe, nor certain to be successful. You must 

 make up your mind to lacerated hands, even if you 

 escape bruises, to utter soakings, to unusual gymnastics 

 in wriggling yourself into impossible places. You can 

 only do this successfully at certain tides. And, after 

 all, you may return empty-handed, unless you are very 

 modest in your desires. I did, indeed, behold a stout 

 gentleman, who had been reading Mr Gosse, severely 

 deluding himself into the idea that he was " collect- 

 ing," because he was gasping among boulders with a 

 pickle-bottle in one hand and a walking-stick in the 



