Mollusks. 4463 



to the small Rissoa, quietly passing its life in the retirement of some 

 small nook beneath a stone in some warm rock-pool. 



The coast of Devonshire, from the days of Montagu and Turton 

 down to its numerous ardent collectors of the present day, has always 

 been famous for the richness of its marine Fauna, which, owing to the 

 labours of its numerous and energetic naturalists, receives annual ad- 

 ditions to its already extensive list. During two years' residence at 

 the small and pretty watering-place of Budleigh-Salterton, on the 

 South coast of Devon, situated on the Otter, having Sidmouth on the 

 East and Exmouth on the West, and by the aid of temporary resi- 

 dences at Dawlish and Plymouth, I have been enabled to complete 

 my examinations of nearly the whole length of the sea-board of 

 Devon. Many of the former inhabitants of the deeper and more in- 

 accessible parts of the Channel now also repose in the drawers of my 

 cabinet, the result of many pleasant and long-to-be-remembered 

 dredging excursions, in the society of one who for a period of sixteen 

 years has almost identified himself with these coasts, and whose boat, 

 dredges, and his still more valuable services through many a long 

 summer's day, have done much towards any merits that these eluci- 

 dations of the mysteries of the sea may possess.* In forming a Fauna 

 of a line of coast of many miles, consisting of varied features, the 

 difficulty arises as to the best method of bringing the facts into order. 

 There are two methods ; one, the progress of a tour through a country 

 in the manner it is undertaken ; and the other according to the classi- 

 fication of Zoology, as Zoophytes, Mollusca, &c. Each plan has its 

 own peculiar advantages ; but as I prefer the second, as requiring the 

 least repetition, I will give a preliminary description of the general 

 outline of the coast of Devon, from the vicinity of Lyme Regis to the 

 commencement of the Cornish coast. 



Shortly after leaving Lyme Regis, in Dorsetshire, the blue lias be- 

 gins to disappear, and on arriving at the small watering-place of 

 Seaton the chalk and green sand make their appearance : the Axe here 

 loses itself in the sea. On the opposite side of the river is the fishing 

 hamlet of Beer Regis; and its lofty cliff of chalk, known as Beer 

 Head, is a striking headland, and is the last chalk to the westward. 

 From hence to Sidmouth runs a long pebble beach of some miles, 

 backed by cliffs of red sandstone and green sand intermixed, the 

 cliffs presenting beautiful slopes to the South, and laid out in straw- 

 berry gardens ; the cliffs rising all the way towards Sidmouth, where 



* C. S. Harris, Esq., of Budleigh-Salterton. 



