﻿NO. 7 



SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, I926 



23 



rough and the shore often precipitous. The rock where exposed to 

 the action of the waves and windblown sand assumes an almost 

 ebony-like hue and polish, but on close inspection it is found to be 

 often filled with small streaks and gashes of a blood-red color. Broken 

 fragments on the beach have given rise to a diversified series of 

 oval pel)bles of green, gray, purplish and red colors from which it is 

 a delight to assort and select those which are most beautiful. Below 

 the zone of pebbles the beach is of fine, clean sand over which the 

 warm waters of the cove seeth with seductive softness, making it 

 a bathers' paradise. As bathers are out in force one looks for bath 



;.. pimife v 





"s-'sf r^- 



j-r*r;^^ 



Mm'^ 



'"^-■^'^'^jM 



pendeem. 



Fig. 28. — Pendeen. A glimpse of an old tin mining region in Cornwall. 



houses, but not one of these ugly conveniences disfigures the land- 

 scape. A brief investigation reveals the fact that the numerous 

 caves worn by the sea in the shattered serpentine are made to answer, 

 and in their shallow and not very dim recesses may be seen groups 

 of men and maids making the slight changes in raiment considered 

 appropriate to the occasion. There is a primitive simplicity about it 

 that is very pleasing, though it might have been a trifle shocking to 

 a modest man had he witnessed it before his eyes had become 

 accustomed to the scanty costumes of the present day. 



Naturally the beauty of the stone, when polished, long ago attracted 

 the artist and the artisan, and attempts were made to utilize it as 

 a marble for interior decoration. The attempt failed for the same 



