10 SEA-SIDE STUDIES. 



over which the gull is floating broad-winged, uttering its 

 piteous cry, or startling you with its strange mocking laugh. 

 A little farther and the eye rests on a purple-tinted wall of 

 rock, from the sides of which jut ledges covered with vege- 

 tation. The soil here is so generous, that nature seems to be 

 bursting into life through every crevice and on every inch. 



There is, however, one serious drawback at Ilfracombe — 

 the complete absence of sands whereon to loll or stroll, or, in 

 the quiet hours of moonlight, to wander nourishing one's 

 middle age sublime vnih the fairy tales of science and the 

 long results of time. However, sands are jDOor hunting- 

 grounds ; let us take consolation in that, and enjoy the 

 positive excellences of this place. 



The evening of my arrival was spent in reconnoitring the 

 coast and its promises. What a flutter agitated me as I 

 bent over the many rock-pools, clear as crystal, and some- 

 times enclosing perfect landscapes in miniature. It seemed 

 as if I should have nothing to do but stoop and fill my jars 

 with treasures ; for I had read in numerous books descriptions 

 from which the inference was, that nothing coidd be easier 

 than collecting " marine store." " You stroll along the 

 beach and pick up so-and-so," is the pleasant phrase of these 

 Avriters, wishing, we must suppose, to make science appear 

 easy. Now the truth should be told. It was quickly forced 

 on my conviction that, although after a gale you may go 

 down to the shore and find many things, mostly dead, which 

 you will cany home with interest — for " 'tis an ill wind that 

 blows nobody molluscs " — yet hunting among the rocks is 

 not easy, nor always safe, nor certain to be successful. You 



