BERTHA'S VISIT TO HER 



fixes the sand on those great dykes or embank- 

 ments, which alone preserve the country from 

 the inundations of the sea. This grass is called 

 murah, in the Highlands ; on the coast of Lin- 

 colnshire, signal ; in Norfolk, mat-grass ; and by 

 Linnaeus, arundo arenaria. It has long, sharp- 

 pointed leaves, and, fortunately, no cattle what- 

 ever will taste it. The sea eryngo and the creep- 

 ing restharrow, contribute also to defend us 

 against these almost irresistible sands. 5> 



When we returned home, my uncle shewed 

 me an extract of a letter from the unfortunate 

 traveller Bowdich ; containing an interesting ac- 

 count of a sandy plain in Madeira, about eighteen 

 miles from Funchal. I must copy a part of it 

 for my dear mama. 



" From Canial, by following a rough track, on 

 the margin of shallow cliffs of alternate tufa and 

 basalt, for about a mile and a half, we reached 

 a depression, more like a basin than a plain, and 

 covered with a deep bed of sand. This sand 

 has, in some degree, been fixed by the numerous 

 branches of the forest-trees which it has en- 

 veloped, and which are spread over the surface 

 as well as beneath it, like a net-work of roots. 

 Both the branches and the trunks are encased 

 in a thick hard sheath of agglutinated sand ; 

 and in some instances, the wood having entirely 

 perished, the envelopes are found empty, like 

 tubes. Most frequently, however, the wood is 



