HUNTING EQUIPMENT. 11 



must make up your mind to lacerated hands, even if you 

 escape bruises, to utter soakings, to unusual gymnastics in 

 wriggling yourself into impossible places. You can only 

 do this at certain tides. And, after all, you may return 

 empty-handed, unless you are very modest in your desires. 

 I did, indeed, behold a stout gentleman, who had been 

 reading Mr Gosse, severely deluding himself into the idea 

 that he was "collecting," because he was gasping among 

 boulders with a pickle-bottle in one hand and a walking-stick 

 in the other : but I ain not firmly persuaded that he carried 

 home much worth his trouble. 



Let me mention the proper equipment for a day's hunting, 

 and you will see that the pickle-jar and walking-stick theory 

 is primitive, and somewhat inefficient. It is necessary to 

 take with you from London, or any other large town, in or 

 near which you may live, a geologist's hammer (let it be of 

 reasonable size), and a cold chisel ; to these add an oyster- 

 knife, a paper-knife, a landing-net, and, if your intentions 

 are serious, a small crowbar. We now go to market for a 

 basket. It must be tolerably large, and flat-bottomed. 

 Havino- made that small investment, we turn into the 

 chemist's and buy up all the wide-mouthed phials he will 

 sell us — those used for quinine are the best ; but as he pro- 

 bably will only have two or three to sell, we must take what 

 we can get. The short squat bottles, with wooden caps, now 

 sold for tooth-powder, are very convenient. We lay hands 

 on half-a-dozen of these, and having laid in three or four 

 earthenware jars (not to be too abstract in our diction, let us 

 frankly say jam-pots), we return home to construct our 



