THE HONEYCOMB SEA-WORM. 275 



to dark shadowy bowers among the ivy and hushes at 

 their summits, combined with the bold outlines of the 

 far-receding coast, and the expanse of the sea, to con- 

 vey an impression of great grandeur ; an impression 

 immarred by the presence of any object mean or little 

 or common-place ; for where I stood no trace of the 

 proximity of man, of his buildings, or his cultivation, 

 was visible, nothing but the works of God himself. It 

 was one of those times and scenes in which probably 

 most thinking persons have occasionally found them- 

 selves, in which we are unfit for study or for action, 

 but in which the whole soul seems alive and awake to 

 enj oyment. 



THE FLESHY FLUSTRA. 



When I was at the beach, a shower coming on 

 induced me to seek a shelter in a narrow cleft between 

 the perpendicular rocks; and being within I found a 

 shallow cavern on each side, wliich afforded me suffi- 

 cient protection from the rain- drops, though a briny 

 shower was dripping freely from the stony roof. Of 

 course I could not stand there without looking to see 

 if I could do anything in the way of business. From 

 one of the caves a narrow hole ran slanting upwards 

 many yards, till it opened at the top of the rock and 

 let the light streaming in. The floors of both were 

 covered with the curious cells of the honeycomb sea- 

 worm (Sabella alveolata), all composed of minute 

 fragments of gravel imbedded in a delicate mosaic- 

 work, of which two broad spoon-like blades projected 

 around the mouth of every tube, exquisitely thin and 



