366 THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST. 



sure that we will disallow our approval of shrimp- 

 sauce, indeed we fear we have admitted as much on 

 a former occasion; and as to potted-shrimps ye 

 nymphs of Lancaster ! can we be so ungrateful as to 

 forget them ? No ! the proud forms of 



" Gaunt's embattled towers " 



may vanish from our memory, but still the shrimps 

 of Morecamb Bay, embalmed by fairy fingers Hold ! 

 we must not dwell on such a theme. We are just 

 now above such gastronomic thoughts. 



We will suppose ourselves upon the silent shore at 

 evening's first approach, as the declining sun steals 

 gently towards the horizon, and the receding tide lays 

 bare the wave-worn beach : 



" Back to its bed the ocean creeps, 

 Clear as a mirror shine the deeps, 



One smile on sea and sky ; 

 All softly breaks the rippling tide, 



Low murmuring on the rocky land, 

 And playful wavelets gently glide, 

 As they approach the strand." 



And here, amid this labyrinth of tangled wrack 

 and weed-crowned stones, we wander on in search of 

 pretty things, such as the waves bequeathe us. Let 

 us sit awhile upon this rock, beside the margin of the 

 quiet pool left in the hollow of its ample base : 



" An elfin pool so shelter'd, that its rest 

 No winds disturb ; the mirror of whose breast 

 Is smooth as clear, save where, with dimples small, 

 A fly may settle or a blossom fall." 



On looking down through its translucent waters, we 



