THE SEA AND ITS SHORES. 15 



great harm is done. Now bear in mind that the time of low- 

 or high-water will be about forty-five minutes later to-morrow 

 than it was to-day, and the same number of minutes must be 

 added on each day to give the correct time for your visit to the 

 shore. Arrived there, it is best to keep close to the ebbing tide, 

 and as it goes further and further back, to turn over the stones 

 and weeds that have just been left by it. In this way you will get 

 acquainted with the best manner of proceeding, according to 

 the peculiarities of the special bit of coast you are on, so that 

 when, a week after your arrival, there comes the spring-tides, 

 you will be able to make far better use of your opportunities 

 than if you had arrived in the locality just at the period of 

 spring-tides. 



The lowest tide is the third after New and Full Moon. 

 Then the water goes out to a great distance, and if on a rocky 

 shore you will be able just to step over the border among 

 the Laminaria, and hunt for specimens on its roots and 

 under its long broad fronds. If you really desire to see and 

 find as much as possible with the greatest amount of comfort, 

 then pay attention to your dress before seeking the shore, 

 You should don an old suit of clothes that has become top 

 shabby for ordinary wear. If it is a bicycling outfit, so much 

 the better, for the knickerbockers will be more handy for 

 wading. There is, of course, no necessity for wading, but often 

 it will be found that a " likely " looking rock is cut off from us 

 by a few feet of shallow water, too wide to jump. In such a 

 case wading pays. But it is really best to make up the mind 

 to wade. Take with you an old pair of shoes, and above high- 

 water mark you will find some safe place in the rocks for 

 depositing your walking-shoes, socks, and such other articles 

 of clothing as you wish to doff. Put the old shoes on your 

 naked feet, and roll up your trousers or knickerbockers as high 

 as they will go. You thus run little risk of getting your clothes 

 \vet, and your feet will be protected from the sharp edges of 

 newly-fractured rocks and broken shells, or even from the nip 

 of a too familiar crab. 



