The Conchologist's Companion

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Argonaut a Argo. Nautilus Pompilius. LETTER VII. UNIVALVES. To The cliffs of Tenby first rose upon the view of your friend, on one of those delightful mornings in July, when a fresh cool breeze gently ripples the surface of the deep; and the distant mountains, beautifully varied with light and shade, are...
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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Argonaut a Argo. Nautilus Pompilius. LETTER VII. UNIVALVES. To The cliffs of Tenby first rose upon the view of your friend, on one of those delightful mornings in July, when a fresh cool breeze gently ripples the surface of the deep; and the distant mountains, beautifully varied with light and shade, are occasionally obscured with floating mists, whichsometimes envelope their majestic heads, and again as rapidly disclose them. The scene was beautiful and animating. Light skiffs glanced merrily over the transparent waters, and sea-birds darted from their coverts in the rocks, now rising in the air, now diving into the sea, and again appearing like foam upon the billows. In the distance, stupendous masses of black granite stood forth in all their native majesty, and on the nearest cliffs the glittering windows of a range of houses met the view. Suddenly the mellow tones of the church clock, as if inspired by the spirit of Memnon, began to strike the hour at the moment when the beams of the now rising sun burst in full glory on the surrounding scene, and a long line of radiance streamed upon the face of the waters, occasionally lost or broken by the huge shadows of distant rocks. Meantime the vessel advanced to the shore, and the voyager sprung on land, Seeking whate'er of beautiful or new, Sublime or dreadful, in earth, sea, or sky, By chance, or search, was offered to his view, To scan with curious and romantic eye. Beattie. A variety of sea-shells, including several fine specimens of the Turbo interruptus, or Streaked Turbo, and the Mya declivis, or Sloping Gaper, had been recently thrown on shore; the former, half buried inthe sand; the latter attached to a group of sea-weed, with an elegant little Rotatus, or Wheel Nautilus, a species of shell-fish...