324 SEA-SIDE STUDIES. 



heroism ; yet if we venture out, there is always the refuge 

 of a shady nook behind the rocks, where, sheltered amid the 

 ferns and purple heath, we may recline, and watch the gentle 

 sea lapping the pebbles at our feet. In dreamy mood we 

 " fleet the time carelessly as they did in the Golden Age." 

 A pleasant book beguiles the lazy hour. Murmurous insects 

 sing and labom- all around ; birds chirp and twitter in their 

 busy joy. These are the jisalms of Nature, in wliich the 

 soul finds perennial delight. They sink into our minds with 

 the gentle fall of raindrojjs in a silent pool, creating many 

 circles. They speak to us of happy days, and chide with 

 their serenity the feverish impatience of our lives. 



Then, delicious are our evening rambles, when the birds 

 are ceasing from melodious labour. The lazy toad crawls 

 ungainly from his hole (not despised of us, although the 

 victim of popular prejudice) ; the timid bat wings its pur- 

 blind way through the dim air, holding her young one fast- 

 ened to her breast, and moving with her dear burden less 

 gracefully than her mate ; and the numerous goats, browsing 

 on the rocks, are being milked, while their kids are tenderly 

 led liome. The sands or the lanes invite us to a meditative 

 stroll, and we ramble on, revolving the various hints, glimpses, 

 hypotlietic suggestions, which gather round the facts observed 

 in the morning's labour. 



Or, it may be, we step into a boat, and glide softly over 

 the water, skimming its surface with the Medusa-net, to 

 gain fresh material for study. The muslin net, after skim- 

 ming the surface for two or three minutes, is examined. To 

 the unlearned eye it contains nothing beyond foam-bubbles 



