INTRODUCTION. 



ix 



It is a suit consisting of a full short skirt of blue flannel or serge (like very fine 

 bathing-gown material), with waistcoat and jacket to match. Cloaks and shawls, 

 which necessarily hamper the arms, besides having long ends and corners which 

 cannot fail to get soaked, are, of course, very inconvenient, and should be as much 

 avoided as possible; but where this cannot be, a good deal may be done towards 

 tucking them neatly up out of the way. In conclusion, a hat is preferable to a 

 bonnet, merino stockings to cotton ones, and a strong pair of gloves is indispensable. 

 All millinery work — silks, satins, lace, bracelets, and other jewellery, &c. must, and 

 will, be laid aside by every rational being who attempts to shore-hunt. 



A stick was alluded to before, and is a very desirable appendage, both as a balance 

 in rock-clambering and for drawing floating sea-weeds from the water. It should 

 have a crook for a handle therefore. But about these sort of matters, people should 

 amuse themselves by devising ingenious varieties. The basket may be lined with 

 gutta percha, or exchanged, by those who care to invest in it, for an Indian-rubber 

 bag, which can be strapped round the waist, and into an inside pocket of which a 

 bottle or two for the more delicate sea-weeds may be easily stowed away. But the 

 common basket which has served the bygone generation will do very well for any one 

 who is in earnest in this. Few tools come amiss to a good workman, and it argues 

 a rather dilettante state of mind to insist on having everything the perfection of 

 convenience. Into which question comes also that of expenditure ; and the reader is 

 here assured, once for all, that it is quite possible to go shore-hunting for life quite 

 comfortably without any extra expense whatever; that very strong-soled pair of boots 

 perhaps alone excepted, and they will be found quite as useful in country walks 

 afterwards, as on the sands. 



Equipped, therefore, with as much woollen in the dress as possible, let us imagine 

 a pair of friends starting for the shore. But they must never do so without ascer- 

 taining from more than one inquiry the real state of the tide. It sounds like a 

 joke to say that a sea-weed collector should always order his dinner at high-tide hour, 

 but the idea is a very good one, and, were there none but sea-weed collectors in a 

 company, might be (under limits) carried out every day. Nevertheless, as there are 

 plants well worth having, to be found near high-water mark, these can be looked 

 for on the days when low-water occurs at dusk, or in the too early morning. All 

 that is insisted upon here is, that no one should venture upon the shore among 

 rocks, the ins-and-outs of which it needs long experience to understand, without 

 ascertaining whether the tide Is ebbing or flowing. A flowing tide often steals round 

 the back of perhaps a pretty extensive field of low rocks instead of advancing straight 

 over them, and in that case it is very easy to be surrounded before one is aware. 

 A steady determination to wade and not be frightened is then the only resource; 

 but the evil is better avoided, and this can be done by a little care and watchfulness. 

 Both are necessary, however, and no enthusiasm must cause this fact to be forgotten. 

 A casually-overheard remark, that a certain bay in the Scilly Isles was "deceitful," 

 induced a late visitor there to be more than usually vigilant, although it was impossible 

 by looking over it to detect where the danger lay. But when the tide had flowed 

 for about a couple of hours it became evident that it was making a circuit, following 

 an unobserved lower level among the rocks, and that a considerable portion of the 

 hunting-ground would presently be left an island; high and dry itself for several 



