SEA WEEDS. 69 
wrecked mariners who owed the preservation of their 
lives to the knowledge of the habits of this plant, 
possessed by one of their number. 
It was many years ago that a large ship was driven 
upon the rocks in the English Channel, upon which 
she soon became a wreck. The entire crew were lost 
except four, who clung to a large projecting crag, 
which appeared to be the only refuge to which they 
could resort. The darkness of the night rendered 
every other object invisible, except when the vivid 
flashes of lightning would cast upon the wild scene 
around them a momentary glare, revealing the true 
horrors of their forlorn condition. This was rendered 
the more hopeless as they perceived that the tide 
was rising, and the spot on which they stood was 
decreasing in size as each succeeding wave broke 
over them. The storm was too violent to admit of 
their being heard from the shore, and the melan- 
choly thought that they would soon be driven from 
their only hope of safety by the advancing waters 
was truly disheartening. Just at this moment, when 
they were debating whether or not they should com- 
mit themselves to the mercy of the waves, in hopes 
of reaching some more elevated position, one of them, 
while endeavoring to hold more firmly to the rock, 
grasped a weed, which, wet as it was, he at once re- 
cognized as the Rock Samphire, which he knew never 
grew beneath the water. The knowledge of this fact, 
indicating that the tide had nearly reached its highest 
point, assured them that they might remain with 
safety. Their anxiety was at once relieved, and the 
