THE WONDERS OF THE SHORE. 133 



prolific fancy for imagery here, but was well content 

 to jot do^vn the simple lineaments of nature as he 

 saw her in plain, homely England. 



" It is a beautiful and fascinating sight for those 

 who have never seen it before, to see the little shrub- 

 beries of pink coralline — 'the arborets of jointed 

 stone' — that fringe those pretty pools. It is a 

 charming sight to see the crimson banana-like leaves 

 of the Delesseria waving in their darkest corners ; 

 and the purple fibrous tufts of Polysiphonise and 

 Ceramia, 'fine as silkworm's thread.' But there are 

 many others which give variety and impart beauty 

 to these tide-pools. The broad leaves of the Ulva, 

 finer than the finest cambric, and of the brightest 

 emerald-green, adorn the hollows at the highest level, 

 while, at the lowest, wave tiny forests of the feathery 

 Ptilota and Dasya, and large leaves, cut into fringes 

 and furbelows, of rosy Ehodjrmenise. All these are 

 lovely to behold ; but I think I admire as much as 

 any of them, one of the commonest of our marine 

 plants, Chondrus Crispus. It occurs in the greatest 

 profusion on this coast, in every pool between tide- 



