62 LUNDY ISLAND. 



warm sunny air without, was like going into a bake- 

 house on a day in November. 



I took the opportunity, before climbing the cliffs, of 

 examining the rock pools that were exposed by the 

 present low condition of the tide. It was evident 

 how much superior, as a field for the zoologist or 

 botanist, the shale is to the granite ; for while the 

 latter presented no tide-pools, and comparatively few 

 of the finer or more delicate seaweeds, the former, 

 nearly clear of boulders, exhibited a comparatively 

 level surface, hollowed into numerous pools, varying 

 much in form, size, and depth. Though the aspect 

 was a southerly one, and much exposed to the sun's 

 rays, the seaweeds struck me as unusually fine. Thus 

 the dulse, (EJiodymenia palmata,) a species common 

 on our coasts, and eaten by the poor in Scotland and 

 Ireland, was fringing the sides of the pools, its broad, 

 deeply cleft, dark-red fronds, developed in great luxu- 

 riance. There were also large and dense tufts of 

 Chondrus crispus, the Irish or Carrigeen moss, as it 

 is called, when dried and sold in the shops, to make 

 jellies, for use in cookery, and for many other pur- 

 poses. This, too, is a common species, and one that 

 varies much with the locality where it grows. When 

 found in shallow pools, considerably above low-water 

 mark, it degenerates in size, becomes of a pale olive 

 tint, and quite devoid of beauty. But see it at a 

 lower level, growing in some deep shadowy pool, as I 

 saw it here, and you would hardly believe it to be the 

 same. The fronds form large, bushy, and well-grown 



