134 TECTIBRANCHIATA.—PLEUROBRANCHIDA. 
And arborets of jointed stone were there, 
And plants of fibres fine as silkworm’s thread ; 
Yea, beautiful as mermaid’s golden hair 
Upon the waves dispread. 
Others that, like the broad banana growing, 
Rais’d their long wrinkled leaves of purple hue, 
Like streamers wide outflowing.”* 
A hundred times might you fancy you saw the 
type, the very original of this description, tracing, 
line by line, and image by image, the details of the 
picture; and acknowledging, as you proceed, the 
minute truthfulness with which it has been drawn. 
For such is the loveliness of nature in these 
secluded reservoirs, that the accomplished poet, 
when depicting the gorgeous scenes of eastern 
mythology; scenes the wildest and most extra- 
vagant that imagination could paint; drew not 
upon the resources of his prolific fancy for imagery 
here, but was well content to jot down the simple 
lineaments of nature, as he saw her in plain 
homely England. 
It is a beautiful and fascinating sight for those 
who have never seen it before, to see the little 
shrubberies of pink coralline,—the “arborets of 
jointed stone,’—that fringe these pretty pools. 
It is a charming sight to see the crimson banana- 
like leaves of the Delesseria waving in their 
darkest corners; and the purple fibrous tufts of 
Polysiphonie and Ceramia, “fine as silkworm’s 
thread.” But there are many others which give 
variety and impart beauty to these tide-pools. 
The broad leaves of the Ulva, finer than the finest 
cambric, and of the brightest emerald-green, adorn 
the hollows at the highest level; while at the 
lowest wave tiny forests of the feathery Ptilota 
* Southey. Curse of Kehama, xiv. 5. 
