CHAP. xxi. THE WORLD A GRAVEYARD. 349 



" By wafting winds and flooding rains, 



From ocean, earth, and sky, 



Collected here, the frail remains 



Of slumbering millions lie. 



" Like me, thou elder-born of clay 



Enjoyed the cheerful light ; 

 Bore the brief burden of a day, 

 And went to rest at night." * 



" For my own part," he says, " I would never have 

 sought after these fish, did not a feeling of wondrous 

 astonishment take possession of me. Every time I 

 think of them, I can scarcely understand how they are 

 there." And again, " I often feel very much puzzled 

 about those dead fish. I mean as to whether they lived 

 before or since the creation and fall of man. Did 

 Death exist before man's disobedience ? . . . One thing 

 is certain : the present habitable world is a graveyard ! " 



The fossil fish heretofore discovered had for the most 

 part been broken. Bucklers, scales, bits of fish of 

 various kinds, had been found fossilised, and from these 

 drawings had been made; but parts of the drawings 

 were guess-work. Dick determined to find, if he could, 

 an entire fossil fish, and proceeded to make many 

 searches for it. He thus picturesquely describes one of 

 his journeys for this purpose : 



" On Monday I made a large day's work (that is, of 

 bread and biscuit making and baking), intending to set 

 out early on Thursday morning. The morning was 

 rainy, but by eleven o'clock I was able to set out on 



* Montgomery. 

 16* 



