THE WONDERS OP THE SHORE. 147 



wliich shall grow food, perhaps in some future state 

 of our planet, for generations yet unborn. 



But to return to the water- world, and to dredging, 

 which of all sea-side pursuits is perhaps the most 

 pleasant, combining as it does fine weather sailing 

 with the discovery of new objects, to which, after all, 

 the waifs and strays of the beach, whether " flotsom, 

 jetsom, or lagand," as the old Admiralty laws define 

 them, are few and poor. I say particularly fine 

 weather sailing ; for a swell, which makes the dredge 

 leap along the bottom, instead of scraping steadily, is 

 as fatal to sport as it is to some people's comfort. 

 But dredging, if you use a pleasure boat and the 

 small naturalist's dredge, is an amusement in which 

 ladies, if they will, may share, and which will in- 

 crease, and not interfere with the amusements of a 

 water-party. 



The naturalist's dredge, of which Mr. Gosse's 

 " Aquarium " gives a detailed account, should differ 

 from the common oyster dredge in being smaller ; 

 certainly not more than four feet across the mouth ; 

 and instead of having but one iron scraping-lip, like 

 l2 



