WEST COAST SHELLS. 



CHAPTER I. 



The Ocean Home — Its Inhabitants — A Visit to the 

 Shore — The True Fairyland — What We See There 

 — Beautiful Forms of Life — Sympathy with Living 

 Things — Our Choice — The Kindly Spirit. 



THE ocean is a great home. Its waters are full of 

 life. The rocks along its shores are thickly set 

 with living things ; the mud and sand of its bays are 

 pierced with innumerable burrows, and even the abyss 

 of the deep sea has its curious inhabitants. 



Huge whales steam along near the surface of the 

 ocean ; fishes of a thousand kinds are at home a little 

 lower down ; crabs and lobsters, star-fishes and sea- 

 urchins, creep along the rocks or make their way 

 through the masses of seaweed which grow near the 

 shores. Clams and oysters lie on the bottom ; sea- 

 snails, with their curious shells, mussels, barnacles, 

 and a host of inferior creatures, all find their proper 

 places in this great ocean home. 



We are not able to see all that is going on under 

 the water; in fact, our field of observation is quite 

 limited ; but by keeping a sharp lookout we may be 



