

II 



A BUTTERFLY-HUNT BY THE SEA 



BY the sea, as Nature left it by the sea, 

 washing into sandy bays or thundering 

 into little natural harbours between cruel granite 

 rock ridges at the foot of cliffs crowned with 

 downlands and clover-fields, beloved of brilliant 

 blue butterflies and their more soberly clad 

 spouses. Patches of green turf, studded with 

 sea-pinks and orange-yellow lady's-slipper, where 

 soil has lodged on shelves and crevices in the 

 cliffs. 



It is good to lie in the warm sun by the shore. 

 It is good to wade into the sea, past the buffet- 

 ing of the breakers, and to swim lazily in the 

 calm water beyond, heaving with the Atlantic 

 swell in the heat-haze brooding over the waters. 

 For full enjoyment of the cool sea water it is 

 also good to take some exercise first and to get 

 really hot ; butterfly-hunting gives an excuse 

 for a climb up a little airless lane, shaded by high 

 flowery banks, to the fresher air of the fields 



