I04 BY THE SEA. 



Stones, ovals, small, round pebbles, gravel and 

 finally into sand and mud, as they are whirled over 

 and over again toward the coves. 



Occasionally one picks up pebbles rounded like 

 marbles or eggs, that belong to other kinds of 

 rocks than those from the adjacent ledges. 



Here is a piece of white quartz which, perhaps, 

 the waves have broken off from some protruding 

 dike, miles away, and after a long process of rasp- 

 ing and scouring, have at last formed into a per- 

 fect oval, and, in a storm, have flung high on the 

 beach for a curiosity, or a decoy for some over- 

 credulous bird. At Donnell's cove I discovered 

 innumerable small grains of garnet that glistened 

 almost like rubies amidst the dull-colored pebbles. 

 Who could tell how far they had traveled or from 

 what part of the coast they had come ? Were 

 they the remains of the crystals from the heart of 

 some decayed granite boulder, or had they been 

 washed ashore from distant beds of iron ore, 

 where this kind of mineral is often found .' 



While climbing over the rocks I came upon 

 a most remarkable example of conglomerate. 

 Large fragments of granite and other light-colored 

 stones had been firmly cemented in a mass of the 

 dark, gray ledge ; the surface of which, worn 

 smooth by the action of the waves, suggested a 

 huge piece of nut caramel with its cut edge 

 turned up to view. This would seem to provq 



