50 THE OCEAN. 
derived from the edge of the stem, which is greatly 
dilated and curled into tortuous waves or plaits. 
A long, narrow, ribbon-like leaf, with a thick mid- 
rib, grows on the coast of Scotland, where it is called 
Hen-ware, as well as on the northern shores of Ire- 
land, where it receives the appellation of Murlins, 
It is the Alaria esculenta of botanists. It is of a 
transparent yellow-green, and in the herbarium dries 
without any change, and has a very beautiful ap- 
pearance. The midrib is the part usually selected 
for eating, but Mr. Johns gives us a somewhat unfa- 
vourable notion of its quality. “While walking,” 
he observes, “round the coast near the Giants 
Causeway, I once observed a number of men and 
women busily employed near the water’s edge; and 
on inquiring of my guide, found that they were 
providing themselves with food for their next meal. 
Being curious to discover what kind of fare the 
rocks afforded, I stopped one of the men, who was 
going home with his bundle, and asked him to give 
me a bit to,taste, prepared in the way in which it 
was generally eaten. He accordingly stripped off all 
the expanded part of a long and narrow leaf, and 
presented me with a stem, or midrib. It was, I 
. must confess, as good as I expected; but at best a 
very sorry substitute for a raw carrot, combining 
with the hardness of the latter the fishy and coppery 
flavour of an oyster. I made a very slight repast, as 
you may suppose; and, after having given the man a 
few pence for his civility, continued my walk. My’ 
guide, however, seemed to think, that if I did not 
choose to enjoy to the full the advantage which I had 
