CHAPTER XVII. 



SEAWEEDS. 



' The floor is of sand like the mountain drift. 

 And the pearl shells spangle the flinty snow : 

 From coral rocks the sea-plants lift 

 Their boucdis where the tides and bill nvr> flow. 



O 



The water is calm and still below. 

 For the winds and the wave- are absent there ; 

 And the sands are bright as the stars that glow 

 In the motionless fields of the upper air. 



There with its waving blade of green, 

 The sea- flag streams thro' the silent water. 

 And the crimson leaf of the dulse is seen 

 To blush like a banner bathed in slaughter." 



Percival. 



EAUTIFUL as are many of the delicately formed 

 olive sea-weeds, they become tame in our eyes 

 when contrasted with the succeeding class, that 

 of the red weeds. Although red is their prevailing colour, 

 yet they vary to black, purplish, or brown, and their 

 form and texture present endless variety. Now we have 

 branches of the most complex and delicate workmanship, 

 and now simple expanded fronds, or perfect crimson 

 leaves. Sometimes the texture is so delicate as to tear 

 with the touch of a camel-hair pencil ; sometimes it is 



K 



