104 THE NAUTILUS. 
In the summer of ’94, while attending the class in conchology at 
Long Beach, our teacher, Mrs. M. Burton Williamson, kindly 
planned an excursion to Dead Man’s Island, and took eighteen 
members of her class to San Pedro the evening before we were to do 
our collecting. Wespent the night at an old seaman’s hotel on Timm’s 
Point, and at 3 o’clock A. M., rose to take advantage of the first 
beams of the sun and the tide, which was to be at the lowest point 
at about 4.30 A.M. There happened to be a dense fog, and as our 
ghostly boatman took one boat load after another of our compan- 
ions away from us across the bay, we were strongly reminded of that 
other boatman, the Charon of our early studies and the River Styx. 
However, by the time we were safely landed on our hunting 
grounds, the mist had risen and we could see to begin work. The 
most that we found of value was on the mud flats uncovered by the 
low tide. There we found, under the grass which lay flat on the 
mud, thus concealing thousand of mollusks which lay below, Ham- 
inea virescens Sby., and Haminea vesicula Gld. We also found, 
partly covered with mud, Cardium quadrigenarium Conr., and 
altogether covered with mud except some tiny points of a Chorus 
belcheri Has. What a shout went around when some one called 
out, “ Mrs. White has found a Chorus,” and how eagerly the mud 
in that vicinity was scanned to see if another could not be discov- 
ered. But no, I bore off my trophy in triumph alone, for not 
another one was found. 
On our way home, while walking along the beach, some one, I think 
Mrs. Williamson, called our attention to some narrow slits in the 
sand, where, upon digging carefully, we found a dozen Lingula 
albida Has. 
Later, on a walk to Alamitos Bay, I found Periploma argenteria 
Conr., Petricola carditoides Conr., Labiosa undulata Gld., Yoldia 
cooperi and Clidiophora punctata(?) Cpr. * * * * And now 
this account brings us up to the year of our Lord, 1895, and finds 
us still enthusiasts in conchology, only waiting for a favorable tide 
to go again in search of treasures of the sea. We are of those who 
believe that nature has secrets which she reveals only to those who 
love her, and we feel that in this kind of communion with her she 
has fully rewarded us. 
