Page:The aquarium - an unveiling of the wonders of the deep sea.djvu/72

Rh day was almost as unpropitious as could be, the weather being cold and rainy.

The zeal of an explorer however is not to be so easily quenched; and accordingly, accompanied by a gentleman of the town, not unknown to zoological science, William Thompson, Esq., I crossed the Bay, in one of the Steamers that ply daily between Weymouth and Portland.

The island has but one commodity, stone; and that is abundant enough. A massive quay is built of huge square blocks, whose weight and form are sufficient to ensure their stability; at least I suppose so, for no trace of cement is visible at the joints. Similar blocks are piled on each other, all over the wharves and their approaches, so that the passengers have to thread long narrow alleys between cyclopean architecture, thinking, as they wind along, of the Pyramids, or the ancient temples of Thebes. We walked along the shore towards the Breakwater, but it was most laborious work, and as unproductive as toilsome. The shore is formed of loose angular blocks and rolled boulders of the same freestone, over which walking is difficult and hazardous; and rood after rood we pass, without discerning a tuft of seaweed, except of the commonest kinds, and those, as Ulva, Enteromorpha, Cladophora, &c. stunted and ill-grown. Of course animals are equally scarce, except such as haunt the open sea; for no pools can exist among these shifting masses, and besides some two or three rock-loving species, as Actinia mesembryanthemum, and Trochus umbilicatus and T. cinerarius, we saw absolutely nothing here. The Trochi indeed