342 SEA-SIDE STUDIES. 



lioht in summer : it only gives a more exquisite sense 

 oF the evening coolness, and the breezy shade. To 

 walk out unde'r this August sun demands a touch of 

 heroism ; yet if we venture out, there is always the 

 refuge of a shady nook behind the rocks, where, shel- 

 tered amid the ferns and purple heath, we may recline, 

 and watch the gentle sea lapping the pebbles at our 

 feet. In dreamy mood we " fleet the time carelessly 

 as they did in the Golden Age." A pleasant book 

 beguiles the lazy hour. Murmurous insects sing and 

 labour all around ; birds chirp and twitter in their 

 busy joy. These are the psalms of nature, in which 

 the soul finds perennial delight. They sink into our 

 minds with the gentle fall of raindrops in a silent pool, 

 creating many ciixles. They speak to us of happy 

 days, and chide mth their serenity the feverish impa- 

 tience of our lives. 



Then, delicious are our evening rambles, when the 

 birds are ceasing from melodious labour. The lazy 

 toad crawls ungainly from his hole (not despised of us, 

 although the victim of popular prejudice) ; the timid 

 bat wings its purblind way through the dim air, hold- 

 ino- her young one fastened to her breast, and moving 

 with her dear burden less gracefully than her mate ; 

 and the numerous goats, browsing on the rocks, are 

 being milked, while their kids are tenderly led home. 

 The sands or the lanes invite us to a meditative stroll, 

 and we ramble on, revolving the various hints, ghmpses, 

 hypothetic suggestions, which gather round the facts 

 observed in the morning's labour. 



