176 
THE FERN WORLD 
this wild coast that the beautiful Sea Spleenwort flourishes 
there in such great luxuriance. The shady clefts of rode 
and dripping caves, though offering a congenial home to this 
Fern, are too difficult, though not impossible, of access to 
admit of many visits from any except the most enthusiastic 
of Fern hunters. Hence for years the flora of this shore 
remains undisturbed, and the botanical adventurer is content 
with the luxuriance of the earliest found of his favourites. 
We ourselves did not explore along this coast to the extent 
we could have desired had time permitted. None know 
better than the naturalist how quickly the hours pass in the 
delightful work of exploring a coast unvisited before ; how 
much to study and admire is found, and how slow is progress. 
The wilder and more rocky the coast, too, the more difficult 
is progression, and even at the end of a long summer’s day, 
devoted to such a work of discovery and examination, but a 
small extent of coast can be compassed. A week might well 
be spent in an exploration of the two or three miles of coast 
between Portlemouth and Prawle Point, and the Fern 
gatherer would find a world of pleasure in examining the 
charming nooks of that home of the Sea Fern. 
