236 THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST, 



It was on the day following such a scene that we 

 visited the beach, and witnessed for ourselves the wild 

 havoc caused by the storm. The shore was strewn 

 with fragments of the wreck, some of which told too 

 well what Ocean can be in her angry mood. Huge 

 beams of oak lay snapped, as though they had been 

 willow- wands ; thick iron bolts, wrenched and con- 

 torted, looked like writhing snakes, and masts and 

 spars and boxes lay around in terrible confusion. The 

 sea, however, was now tranquil, and as it glittered in 

 the sunshine seemed as innocent as any playful child. 



Let not the reader suppose, however, that these 

 alone remained to tell how violent had been the fury 

 of the tempest. On visiting the scar where we were 

 wont ,to pass the hours of the ebb-tide in search of 

 specimens, we found a harvest, such as only similar 

 occasions offer to the most enterprising naturalist. 

 Scattered in rich profusion on the sand, or huddled 

 together in heaps among the rocks, involved in rolls 

 of sea- weed, or ensconced within the holes and cran- 

 nies of the ragged barrier of stones that kept them 

 prisoners, Fishes and Zoophytes, Mollusks and Aca- 

 lephs lay stranded by the surge in most bewildering 

 plenty ; for, unfortunately, it is with the naturalist as 

 with the angler, too abundant sport is less appreciated 

 than one good fish. 



In the midst of this chaos, however, we were not 

 long in discovering something that fixed our notice ; 

 and a shapeless lump it seemed, about as unattractive 

 to the eye as anything could be. We picked it up, 

 and consigning it to our jar, felt we had got a prize. 



As we were returning home with a rich cargo for 



