92 LAYER. 



dull and soml)re, but others brilliantly vivid and 

 silky. And, besides the large lettuce-like leaves of 

 Ulva, which here attain unusual size, great patches 

 of rock are covered with the equally large and still 

 more tender fronds of Poiyhyra^ of a brownish-purple 

 tint, bearing no small resemblance in texture and 

 surface to gold-beater's skin, and which in the esteem 

 of some persons, perhaps, presents the sole redeeming 

 trait of "utility" amidst a Class proverbially "vile," 

 since it contributes to the indulgence of their appe- 

 tite. For this is the Sloke, or Laver, which, being 

 stewed to jelly and served up with lemon-juice, is a 

 favourite dish at the tables of many. For myself, I 

 am free to confess that the exquisite beauty of form 

 and colom- displayed by many of these humble plants ; 

 the delicacy of their simple structure ; and tlie pur- 

 poses which they evidently serve in the great chain of 

 being, of which it has been truly said — 



** From Nature's chain whatever link you strike, — 

 Tenth or ten thousandth, — breaks the chain alike ;" — 



are sufficient qualifications to redeem them from the 

 baseless charge of vileness, even without any preten- 

 sions to sapidity. 



And while I am speaking of beauty, I will mention 

 a species of sea-weed that possesses it of a very pecu- 

 liar character, and in an extraordinary degree. It 

 grows in the vicinity of the Mixon, though not ex- 

 actly on it ; and indeed this is the only locality in 

 which I have met with it. It is the Cystoseira eri- 

 coides. Between the Mixon and the end of the jetty, 

 in about a fathom's depth, we discern, as the boat 



