3 o THE SOUTHERN CLIFFS 



oozed from the decaying sea-weed bed. On this a flock 

 of crows and rooks were busily digging for food. 

 Beyond lay a zone of wet sand, on which a flock of 

 small black-headed gulls were daintily tripping up and 

 down on the margin where the ripples rolled slowly in. 

 Lastly, in a shallow lagoon, a few big herring-gulls 

 were standing quietly up to their breasts in water, 

 some even sleeping with their heads half-covered by 

 their wing. An old fisherman was anxious to sell 

 some lobsters which he had in a pot among the rocks, 

 and we followed him across the slippery ledges to 

 where the pot and the lobsters lay. The creatures 

 - never described as " fish " in the Isle of Wight 

 were alive, and as smart as a Lancer, in full uniform 

 of blue and gold. Their backs were deep blue-black, 

 and their tails mottled with two brilliant shades of 

 Prussian blue. Their smaller legs were mottled to 

 match their tails, but the two big claws were faced 

 with brown and pink. The antennas were pink also ; 

 but all the under parts of the body and tail were pearl- 

 coloured, and the joints of their armour-plates edged 

 with golden fringe. How to carry live and irritable 

 lobsters without a basket was a difficult problem, 

 but the two corners of a pocket-handkerchief tied in 

 slip-knots made a safe means of transport. The pot 

 looked like a prawn-pot which it was and we 

 inquired of the man whether he had any prawns. 

 "Yes," he said "one a beauty ; " and taking off his 

 cap he exhibited an enormous live prawn sitting inside ! 

 There is almost nothing which a sailor will not carry 



