358 SEARCH FOR A BONE. CHAP. xxi. 



shores here. I had no intention of being there more 

 than once ; but once at it, I could not get off without 

 suffering a great deal. ... I can walk for miles 

 upon miles over these dead fish, almost without drawing 

 a sigh ! Once I .felt differently. I was then lost in 

 wonder and mute astonishment. Now 'it is quite an 

 everyday affair. If I think at all, I think they are 

 part of the still existing creation. 



" Many years ago, when Hugh Miller was alive and 

 in his glory, I had seen in a pool of water, bound fast 

 in the rock, a bone. It was a broken bone. The pool 

 was connected with three other pools of salt water. 

 To get at the bone at the bottom of the pool it was 

 necessary to throw out the water from all the pools. I 

 boggled at the labour. . . . On Monday last I got 

 up at midnight, toiled at my work, and was off by 

 midday to the sea-shore. After half an hour's walking, 

 I arrived at the place, took off my hat, my coat, my 

 neckcloth, tucked up my sleeves, and with the assist- 

 ance of a flat stone I threw out the water. This took 

 me an hour's incessant work. 



"Well, I cut out the fossil bone, and another frag- 

 ment of bone. Strange to tell, under that bone I 

 found indications of another bone. I toiled away and 

 cleared off the stone saw that the bone was a good 

 bone, and hoped that it was something new. Beturned 

 to it a second day; cut deep round the bone; got 

 wearied out; tried to force it up, and broke my pick 

 handle. 



" I returned to it two days after, and spent about an 



