206 TRAVELS IN UPPER 



pholads, limpets, and trumpets. Sea-larks*, 

 chevaliers^, maubechesj, hop and flutter about 

 on the shore ; some curlews § likewise rcsort 

 thither in quest of their prey, while swarms of 

 goelands, of the great and of the small species, 

 cross each other as they skim incessantly along the 

 face of the waters ; numerous tribes of porpoises 

 reflect the vivid colours of the rainbow from their 

 arched and humid backs ; the waves themselves 

 which, as they return in succession to spread over 

 the beach, seem to play among the feet of the 

 mules ; all these objects compose a spectacle 

 which inspires pleasure and attracts attention, 

 when for a long time one has been encompassed 

 only with a steril uniformity ; they agreeably fix 

 the eyes, and prevent their roving toward the 

 south, where all that presents itself to view is a 

 sandy wild, terminating in hills of the same de- 

 scription, and sadly interrupted by here and there 

 an isolated and straggling palm-tree. 



Travellers are glad to stop for a few moments at 

 the tomb of a holy Mahometan, built close by the 

 sea ; an Arab, who lives there, presents coffee and 



* Alouette de mer. Buffon, Hist. Nat. des Ois. & pi. enlum. 

 No. 581. — Tringa cinclus. Lin. 



f Chevalier commun. Id. ibid. No. 844. — Tringa littorea. Lin. 



2 Maubeche commune. Id. ibid. — Tringa callidris. Lin. 



§ Courtis, first species. Id. ibid. No. 8 1 S.—Scelopax arquata, 

 Lin. 



4 brackish 



