15 



its bloody-red stem, and I have formerly noticed a 

 good deal of it on tlie railway embankment between 

 Weymouth and Portland, but from some cause it was not 

 so plentiful there this year ; but the gray foliage of 

 Obione portulacoides met the eye abundantly. Both 

 here and on the banks of the Fleet the Sea Beet (Beta 

 mariUma) grew very tall and in great quantity. It 

 struck me as rather curious that the Samphire 

 (Crithmum maritimum)^ that mostly grows high up on 

 the precipitous rocks of the coast, so that it is difficult 

 to reach it, grows plentifully on the embankment of the 

 Portland KaUway, and on some parts of the Chesil 

 Pebble Beach, so that gathering Samphire here would 

 not be the " dreadful trade " that Shakspeare describes 

 it, unless that epithet be given to an occupation that 

 would find but few customers in the present day, 

 though I have myself gathered it for pickling, and 

 found it not bad. 



The rare local plant for wh^ch the Chesil Pebble- 

 beach is celebrated, is the Sea Pea (Lathyrus mari- 

 timusj, and this, where it flourishes, forms a pretty 

 feature among the pebbles, especially when in flower ; 

 but as it is almost confined to one side of the pebbly 

 bank, some distance from the Portland Eail way-station, 

 the particular spot is rather difficult for a stranger to 

 find. The plants form several green clusters growing en- 

 tirely by themselves, on the descent to the Fleet, and these 

 verdant clusters may well in the distance be mistaken 

 for rushes, and such I at first thought them to be ; 

 and close inspection is necessary to be undeceived. I 



