212 The Naturalist of Cumbrae. 



sneezing. It was difficult to conjecture the cause, as 

 he was neither subject to such attacks nor had he 

 had any exposure to cold. The fit soon passed off, 

 and no more was thought of it till they reached home, 

 when upon his taking out the ropes the sneezing began 

 again with the same violence as before. It then 

 occurred to him that before leaving Drobak he had 

 been dredging among medusae, and that the ropes were 

 covered with their stinging fibrils. There could be 

 little doubt that it was the dry dust of these irritating 

 fibrils that caused the sneezing. Evidently a large for- 

 tune is awaiting some one who will turn this accidental 

 discovery to advantage in the manufacture of snuff. 



On arriving in the Thames the steamer was boarded 

 as usual by the custom-house officers. Mr. Robertson 

 was showing some of his luggage to one of them, and 

 Mrs. Robertson was showing the contents of a large 

 trunk to another, who appeared to be the principal. 

 He asked if she had any silver plate or tobacco to 

 declare. 



She answered that she had not, and volunteered to 

 lift the things out herself, as some of them might be 

 easily broken. 



Instead of accepting her offer, he said that he 

 would take every care of them, and bending down on 

 one knee began to lift them up. At last he came to 

 a row of cigar-boxes snugly packed at the bottom of 

 the trunk. Upon this he looked up in her face with 

 an expression on his own that seemed to imply his 

 belief that King David, when he said, " All men are 

 liars," might justly have extended the remark to one 

 at least of the female persuasion. 



