140 WALKS AX1) TALKS BY THE SEASIDE. 



the clondless sky, that at the horizon line sea and sky mingle. Behind us, 



the hot sun rays are beginning to quiver on the sand hills which stretch 



away for a mile or more ; but beyond this barren ground we can see the 



verdant hill tops, looking doubly green through contrast with the white sand. 



A purple mist hangs over Cape Ann, which lies just to the southward. In 



all this we see no sign of the tempest of yesterday, but when we glance at 



the great green waves that come dashing in and spreading themselves in 



long lines of foam upon the gray sands with a force which even now but 



little can resist, we can readily understand with what overpowering force 



the breakers must have dashed upon the land during the height of the 



tempest. 



We cannot complain, however, Old Neptune, when he bids his Triton's 



pipe for the storm winds, this time did us a good turn, for the beach is 

 fairly strewn with objects which are of the greatest interest to us, and if 

 possible I want to tell you something about all of them. Among so many, 

 where shall we begin ? Well let us take the first thing at hand, and here 

 it is asserting itself quite prominently. A long, brown ribbon lies out on 

 the sand at our feet, nearly two* yards in length by some four inches in 

 breath ; attached to this ribbon is a round stem quite stout, and beside it is 

 another stem and ribbon, and both stems are firmly fastened at their roots to 

 an object which we shall examine later. I have said that the huge brown 

 object before us has roots, or what appear to be roots, for it is a vegetable, 

 a gigantic sea- weed, being, in fact, the largest that we have on our shores ; 

 the fishermen call it the devil's apron string, why I shall leave you to con- 

 jecture, for I do not know. When 'I say that the Laminaria, as those who 

 have given Latin names to the Algae, or sea- weeds have called it, is an in- 

 habitant of our coast, the statement is, perhaps, not strictly correct, for not 

 only is this plant an inhabitant of the sea, but always grows in deep water 

 at a depth of at least fifteen fathoms, about one hundred feet, the height of 

 an ordinary church steeple. " There is nothing on the land but what is 

 found in the sea,"- is a saying that we hear repeated by almost every one 

 who has association with the ocean, and this is true to a greater degree than 

 those who are most familiar with the expression are aware ; upon the land 

 are are belts of timber of certain kinds representing different altitudes, thus 

 in the lowlands are certain plants and shrubs, higher, another growth, still 

 higher are still other kinds, and so on up the mountain slopes, we find every 

 few hundred yards a change, until at the top all is barren save a few hardy 

 lichens that grow on the naked rocks, inhabitants of the Arctic Zone. Yes, 

 zone is the proper word to apply to these belts of plant growth, and in the 

 sea we find a similar occurrence ; different groups of sea-weeds occupy differ- 

 ent zones, and as certain marine animals feed upon particular weeds, they 

 too occur in zones. 



