Page:The aquarium - an unveiling of the wonders of the deep sea.djvu/87

54 locker. "Shove her off! Up with mainsail and jib! and away to go!"

Pleasant it is to start on such an excursion. The day all before us; hope dominant; fancy busy with what treasures of the deep the dredge may pour at our feet; the sun rays's cheerful; the breeze exhilarating; a good, stiff boat, clean and light, under foot, and an agreeable companion, for such is our friend Jone;—and thus we swiftly glide out into the Bay.

The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared;
 * Merrily did we drop;

Below the Kirk, below the hill,
 * Below the light-house top."

To many of my readers probably the whole scheme now engaged in is as patent and clear as daylight; they have been out dredging themselves, and can fancy the matter perfectly, perhaps with a momentary wish that they had been

But some may honour these pages with their perusal to whom it may not yet be quite clear, what is the object of the excursion, and what the manner. While then we are running down before this north-west breeze to reach our field of operations, which is some four or five miles away, I will occupy the time with a word or two about dredging.

Valuable as are the acquisitions which the naturalist frequently makes by searching the shores at low water and at spring-tides, he feels that this gives him but a small acquaintance with the treasures held in the