168 



THE OPAL SEA 



about the rocks and within the pot holes and 

 gravel pens, not only from the assaults of the 

 wave but from the common enemy. 



The beaches far removed from cliffs or rocky 

 outcroppings are always made up of the finer 

 sands, and are studded with shells of the fora- 

 minifera and polycystina. These smaller shells 

 are not usually seen, except under the micro- 

 scope, and a shore made up of them looks like 

 an ordinary stretch of white sand. Yet they are 

 far from white. Many of them have gaily- 

 stained lips, others are roofed with shells of 

 pink, rose, blue, and yellow ; and all of them are 

 surprising in their spirals and patterns. The 

 beaches are heaped with these minute shells, 

 and mingled with them are flashing crystals, 

 black dots of magnetic iron, gray needles of 

 flint, crushed fragments of mother-of-pearl. 

 Taken together and perhaps by virtue of their 

 varied colors, they form a beach of white sand 

 which we tread under foot without a thought — 

 a mosaic beach constructed of millions of tiny 

 patterns which the water is always keeping 

 clean and the sunlight is ever flashing into 

 beauty. 



The waves as they rise and break upon such 

 a beach seem all crystalline clearness. During 

 a storm, when they come in with sufficient force 



