Page:Sea and River-side Rambles in Victoria.djvu/60

41 sex they be, that searchers after sea-side treasures must not regard their personal appearance, nor hesitate to adorn themselves with the paraphernalia of the craft in the shape of sundry sized "billies," or tin cans, suspended on a strap or string, for collecting; a hammer, such as is used by Geologists, is indispensable—one end tapering to a fine point, the other blunt, and let the handle be tolerably long and well seasoned; a cold chisel is often of very great assistance, and a small muslin net made so as to fasten to a walking stick is the most useful instrument the Sea-side collector or diver into Ocean's mysteries can employ; wet feet, as a matter of course, will fall to our lot, but no matter so long as we keep moving and the spoil is plentiful. The rocks just left dry by the retreating tide, with here and there a few very shallow pools we will search first; Tops (Trochi), Cerithium, Natica, and the brilliantly-colored bivalves Aviculæ, are in profusion;—taking lip the stones, one by one, we meet with so many interesting forms that we must needs be moderate in our gatherings or our pots will soon be overcrowded,—it is well therefore to select only such as cannot easily be obtained at any other time, leaving the more common to be collected as leisure offers;—to arrive home after a day's fag on the rocks, to reach which we may have had a preparatory row, or a tedious walk on a soft sandy beach, with hosts of creatures to " bed and board," which to do successfully inculcates some acquaintance with the habits of each, is indeed a bore, and likely to damp the ardour of even the most enthusiastic of our readers. Strolling quietly along "improving" (we