I tried this once at Blackgang Chine for three-quarters of an hour, and in the course of that time I filled both my waistcoat-pockets with red bits. It is true, none of these were larger than pudding-raisins, and some of them scarcely more brilliant; still, the search was very diverting. If the shingle had not been unusually damp, I might have lain down every now and then and looked along its surface; in which case I should, doubtless, have succeeded better. The mention of Blackgang leads me to speak of the Isle of Wight, as the choicest storehouse for this kind of fossils in Britain. * * * * * If it be true, as some geologists aver, that the pearly “Vectis” was at one time joined on to our Hampshire coast, from which it afterwards broke off like a loose morsel from the side of a cake, that would go far to explain the abundance and beauty of its organisms. For, upon such a separation from the mainland, the industrious sea would have great opportunities of denuding the face of the cliffs and sucking the orifices of the chines. Also, this circumambient sea is peculiar in its character hereabouts; and the crystallizing waves impart an unusual lustre to rolling agates and jaspers. The beaches of the Wight are circumscribed in extent, which is a great relief after the interminable ranges on the Sussex coast. The difference is as great as that between a quiet forenoon spent in the museum in Jermyn Street, and the laborious distractions experienced if we pass a similar interval of time amidst the endless rooms and innumerable cases on the first floor of the British Museum. The village of Sandown, from the flag-staff on as far as Red Cliff and Culver, exhibits a tempting and instructive shore. In winter, it is better to commence at the dyke, and end with Red Cliff; but in summer, you may walk the whole range with advantage. Here, a couple of hours may be taken to as many miles; and if you do not shut your eyes, you must fill your pockets. But look with resolution for good ones. From Sandown to Shanklin, in the opposite direction, it is scarcely inferior. It was once even better; but, lying so near at hand, it has been unceasingly hunted over; and to look for a fine pebble there now, is almost like hoping to find a hare sitting in your kitchen-garden. Many tons’ weight of beautiful fossils have been gathered within the compass of a morning’s walk here, in the last few years.