NIGHTSHADE AND MISSELTOE. 129 



rock I found bristling with hundreds of minute slender 

 shells, all of the same species {Cyli7idrella subula)^ 

 alive, but shrunk into the interior of their dwellings, 

 which were attached by their mouths to the surface 

 of the rock, at various degrees of inclination from the 

 perpendicular. The great majority were decollated, 

 as is customary with this genus ; but some half-dozen 

 occurred in a perfect condition, the shell running off 

 into a delicate taper spire with an acute point. The 

 summit, however, was excessively fragile, so that it 

 was almost impossible to secure the specimens, with- 

 out reducing them to the ordinary condition of ampu- 

 tation. 



The gentleman on whom my friend had intended 

 to call was lying on what proved to be the bed of 

 death, too ill to receive us ; we therefore returned 

 without accomplishing the main object of our jour- 

 ney, but in other respects much gratified. 



NIGHTSHADE AND MISSELTOE. 



Immediately behind Bluefields, extending over the 

 plain at the foot of the mountain, and considerably up 

 its steep side, is the pen of Pinnock Shafton. A 

 small inclosure, into which the numerous cattle may 

 be driven for examination when required, contains a 

 few objects of interest. The loose stone walls that 

 surround it, as well as the other fields, are half- 

 hidden by a vegetation whose wild luxuriance con- 

 ceals or adorns their naked unsightliness. Long 

 Cacti, with cylindrical or angular stems, especially 

 Cereus grandiflorus and C. triangularis^ trail irregu- 



