132 THE EUCRATEA. 



them not to risk their lives ; for it was blowing a 

 most dreadful gale. So nobody went off, but the 

 little anchor held on beautifully, and the vessel rode 

 out the storm till the next day. Then the wind 

 abated, so that she was able to come round to Ilfra- 

 combe harbour ; and it was a very wonderful deliver- 

 ance. She was repaired here, and I have often seen 

 her in the harbour since." 



'Tis pleasant by the cheerful hearth, to hear 

 Of tempests, and the dangers of the deep, 

 And pause at times, and feel that we are safe ; 

 Then listen to the perilous tale again. 

 And with an eager and suspended soul 

 Woo terror to delight us. 



Madoc. it. 



EUCRATEA CHELATA. 



In a round and deep little pool in a rock at Hele, 

 overshadowed by its side, and almost as regular in its 

 form as if it had been chiselled by human art, I found 

 two specimens of Caryophyllia ; and close to it, in 

 another open pool, grew Dasya arhuscula, on the old 

 decaying frond- stalks of which that rather rare and 

 very pretty zoophyte, Eucratea chelata, was numerous. 

 The inhabiting polypes were in high health and 

 activity, and afforded me an opportunity of making 

 myself acquainted with their structure. 



The Polypidom is irregularly branched, but the 

 whole is composed of cells in single series, and 

 springs from a single cell at the base. The normal 

 shape of the cell has been compared to a bull's horn, 

 (perhaps a powder-horn would be a better compari- 



