INTRODUCTION. 
IX 
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 wdll, 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 ascertaining 
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 fleld 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 hours 
probably, but not very easy to get away from, when climbing over boulders had to be combined 
with striding knee-deep in water. This was the Windmill Bay at St. Mary’s, Scilly; and it is 
but one case among hundreds, for even flat sand-bank shores are not safe without attention, as 
any one who knows Withernsea, near Hull, will bear witness. Enough, however, of warnings, 
lest people should be frayed from venturing on the shore at all ; whereas our hints are only 
intended to teach them to do it safely. 
h 
