THE EQUINOCTIAL ON THE DUNES. 63 



ever-varying angles, the cliffs and passes of the 

 mimic mountains making all manner of currents 

 and eddies in the wind. Kuffled by these gusts 

 the pools changed color from moment to mo- 

 ment, sometimes being white with foam and 

 reflected light from the sky, then varying 

 through every shade of blue and sea-green to 

 ultramarine. The coloring in these miniature 

 valleys was exquisitely beautiful. In some, the 

 yellow sand, over which lines and ripples of pur- 

 ple sand were laid, curved from every side with 

 the most graceful lines downward from the 

 ridges to a single tinted mirror at the centre. 

 In others, where the valley was broader, lagoons 

 filled with tiny islands were fringed with vegeta- 

 tion of striking shades. The clumps of sturdy 

 " poverty grass " (hudsonia tomentosa) cov- 

 ered much of the ground, its coloring, while it 

 was wet by the rain, varying from burnt umber 

 to madder brown. Over it strayed scalp locks 

 of pale yellow grasses, restless in the wind. 

 Next to the pools and under them grew a dense 

 carpet of cranberry vines, yielding shades of 

 dark crimson, maroon, and wine color. Lines 

 of floating cranberries edged these tiny lakes, 

 or shone like precious stones at their bottom. 

 Between the lagoons and 011 their islands dense 

 thickets of meadow-sweet and leafless wild-rose 

 bushes formed masses of intense color, the 



