RYDE, the Guide-books tell us, was only a few years ago a small fishing village; but if this really was the case, it seems almost to have rivalled Aladdin’s palace in rapidity of growth, for it is now a large and flourishing town. The streets are wide, and the shops are splendid. The pier is also long and large; and the view of Portsmouth, with its harbour full of shipping, and Spithead with its numerous men-of-war, is very striking. Agnes was, however, most pleased with the shops full of shells, which she found near the hotel; the shells being marked at prices so low as to be quite astonishing. Some very nice specimens of Haliotis, or Sea-ear, were marked only a penny each, and others were equally cheap. Above all things, there were numerous specimens of articles from the Royal George, a very large ship, which everybody knows sunk while lying at anchor at Spithead, about sixty years ago, and the remains of the wreck of which have been lately brought up by the exertions of Major-General Pasley. The Bazaar at Ryde reminded Agnes of the Burlington Arcade; and everything in the town appeared so comfortable, and in such a superior style to any other place they had seen in the island, that Agnes at last said she thought she should like to live at Ryde almost as well as in London. She was also very much delighted with a stroll on the beach, where she picked up some shells, though she found nothing very valuable. At last she found a mussel-shell that she was sure was not common, as it was quite different from anything she had ever seen before; and, on showing it to her mother, she was delighted to find that it was indeed very rare. [Illustration: _Fig. 34._ RIBBED MUSSEL (_Myrtilus crenulatus_). ] “It is a native of the West Indies,” said Mrs. Merton; “and must have adhered to some ship from that country, which has chanced to come into Portsmouth Harbour.” Agnes now admired her treasure more than ever, for, like many persons much older than herself, she valued things by their rarity rather than their beauty.