222 SEPTEMBER. 



sands of unknown and unimagined treasures which 

 must have slipped through those huge meshes. No 

 object of less size than two inches in any diameter had 

 a chance of being brought to the surface ; and how 

 many precious specimens range below these dimensions 

 we are now beginning to discover. 



Yes ; I'm glad I have got a Ball's dredge ; and this 

 fair autumnal morning I mean to use it ; to go out with 

 honest Harvey, and scrape the stony sea-bottom in the 

 offing yonder. It is a nice portable affair, that one 

 hand can manage ; eighteen inches by four and a half 

 are the dimensions of the frame ; the scraping lips are 

 double, one on each edge, so that, however the dredge 

 falls on the bottom, it is sure to scrape ; a double bridle 

 from each side meets in a ring to which the rope is 

 made fast ; and the bag, some twenty inches deep, is 

 made of stout twine, well netted, with meshes about 

 half an inch in diameter. Owing to the swelling of the 

 twine in the water, there is scarcely anything of value 

 that will escape such a net. 



Harvey has carried down everything to Babbicombe 

 Beach, and now all is on board; dredge, sieve, pans, 

 buckets, jars, bottles, ad libitum. And now we run up 

 the mainsail and jib, and with a light westerly breeze 

 and smooth water, lie up for Exmouth, or a little beyond, 

 for about an hour. 



