THE MIXON. 97 



Guard, whence those hardy fellows are often exer- 

 cised in artillery practice, firing their one great gun 

 at a signal fixed on a buoy some mile or two out 

 at sea. 



A fine and substantial jetty of hewn stone has been 

 built out from the base of the point, lengthening the 

 harbour ; on the end of which a large lamp lighted with 

 gas from the town indicates the entrance to the port 

 in the hours of darkness. For the protection of this 

 important work from heavy seas, which are apt to pre- 

 vail from the south and east, and which have ere now 

 proved very injurious to it, a sort of breakwater has 

 been formed about thirty or forty yards off, which is 

 called the Mixon. It was made by throwing large 

 stones overboard, until a heap was accumulated, sufii- 

 oient to appear above the surface. The action of the 

 waves settled their angles one within another, and 

 gradually gave the mass considerable solidity; and it 

 now appears as a low island of rocks, covered at or- 

 dinary high tides. 



Within the numberless crevices of this mass of un- 

 shapen stones, which run down to considerable depth, 

 though without possessing that isolation of the con- 

 tained water which would constitute them pools, grow 

 Algffi of many species in more than littoral vigour. 

 The margins of the heap, especially the shoreward 

 margins, which enjoy a more protected sea, are fringed 

 with luxuriant tufts, and the surfaces of the individual 

 blocks are studded with hundreds of fine specimens. 

 In fact it is a varied, well-filled, and fertile garden of 

 marine botany, and the algologist who may visit 

 Weymouth will find it well worth his while to explore 



