THE START. 47 



locker. " Shove lier off! Up witli mainsail and jib ! 

 and away to go !" 



Pleasant it is to start on siicli an excnrsion. Tlie 

 day all before ns ; hope dominant ; fancy busy with 

 what treasures of the deep the dredge may pour at 

 our feet ; the sun's rays cheerful ; the breeze exhila- 

 rating ; a good, stiff boat, clean and light, under foot, 

 and an agreeable companion, for such is our friend 

 Jone ; — and thus we swiftly glide out into the Bay. 



" The ship was cheer' d, the harbour clear'd ; 

 Mei'rily did we drop ; 

 Below the Kirk, below the hill, 

 Below the light-house top." 



To many of my readers probably the whole scheme 

 now engaged in is as patent and clear as daylight ; 

 they have been out dredging themselves, and can 

 fancy the matter perfectly, perhaps with a momentary 

 wish that they had been 



" there to see." 



But some may honour these pages with their 

 perusal to whom it may not yet be quite clear, what 

 is the object of the excm'sion, and what the manner. 

 While then we are running down before this north- 

 west breeze to reach om- field of operations, which is 

 some four or five miles away, I will occupy the time 

 with a word or two about dredging. 



Valuable as are the acquisitions which the naturalist 

 frequently makes by searching the shores at low water 

 and at spring-tides, he feels that this gives him but a 

 small acquaintance with the treasures held in the 



