56 INTEODUCTION TO CONCHOLOGY. 



eggs ; she may float about for a short time, and look wist- 

 fully at her pilotless bark, but presently the waves overwhelm 

 her fragile form, and she sinks in the abyss. 



Farewell, beauteous Mollusk, the Deep's fairest daughter ! 



Thy dii-ge faintly soundeth ft'oni out the dark sea ; 

 From the halls of the Nereids, far do^Ti in the water ; 



And sad are my thoughts, O thou lost one, of thee ! 



'Mid the sparkle and flash of the waves scarcely heaving, 

 'Mid the seas of the Tropics, when far olf from shore, 



I have seen thy small bark ; and the poet's fond dreaming. 

 Seemed true, as he sung from old Tiber's green shore. 



The sea -stars had lit up their coral-paved dwelling, 



And the Nereids looked forth by their light o'er the sea ; 



They watch'd for thy bark, as the waves, proudly swelling. 

 Floated back from our shores in theii" triumph and glee. 



But they bear thee not now, and the Nereids are weeping. 

 Lest thy tiny bark gladden their wild haunts no more ; 



Yet still theii- fond watch the bright sea-stars are keeping. 

 And the conch of the Ti-iton is heard as of yore : 



That the music and stars, 'mid the rush of the wild waves, 

 May guide thy frail bark through the night-glooming sea. 



But, alas for the Nereids, who watch in their sea-caves. 

 The bark and its pilot they never may see. 



Concerning the Spirula, naturalists spoke in former times 

 without any reference to its occupant. A small spiral shell 

 found on the shores of New Zealand excited their admiration, 



