80 STUDIES OF NATURE 



on some breezy upland, where the midges dare 

 not come. On the shore, at any rate, the 

 experiment is a snare and a delusion. Creep- 

 ing things innumerable get in among all the 

 eatables ; and marvellous flying creatures per- 



vade all the drinkables ; and so I kept away, 

 spending my time instead on the water ; but in 

 the evening I went to fetch the company home. 

 They looked rather doleful, and had got their 

 arms and faces much bitten ; but these incon- 

 veniences were soon forgotten in the pleasure of 



