Page:The aquarium - an unveiling of the wonders of the deep sea.djvu/118

Rh a sort of ravine; cottages were scattered here and there. A low spit of rock runs out into the sea, where I was the other day searching for Actinias. The ruins of Sandsfoot Castle just peep over the brow of the slope; and beyond is the calm Bay sleeping under the sun, bounded by Portland with its breakwater and its throng of shipping. A little to the right is that wondrous barrier, the Chesil Beach, and outside that the vast expanse of West Bay and the British Channel.

My little boy interrupts me with "Give me some of those shells!" He points to the hedge, and I find that he means the young shoots of the Male Shield Fern coming up in great tufts, the points of each frond being curled round like a ram's horn, or still more closely like the shell of Trochus magus, which my little urchin supposed them to be. What a strange plastic imitative power there is in nature!

After a season in Devonshire, the scenery around Weymouth appears tame and mean, but this road is an exception to the rule. It is the back way to Wyke, leading past Belfield, the seat of Mrs. Buxton; and what with the rural character of the lanes, the woods that ornament the estate, and the fine views that occur, it is by far the most charming walk in the vicinity. Along the road-side there is a belt of wood, into which we took the liberty of straying, though I believe we were trespassers. However, the hoary and lichened trunks of the trees, the cool shadow, and the rank herbage that covered the ground tempted us too strongly. Among the coarse grass were many tufts of the stinking Iris, and the whorled stalks of the