SECOND PRIZE DESCRIPTION.
When the day is fine and the sea calm, it is very pleasant to wade and splash about in the sunny water, and to roam among the rocks, searching for little crabs, many-coloured anemones, starfish, &c.; but when the rain is pouring down as if it would never stop, and the sea looks grey and dismal, it is sometimes difficult to amuse oneself within doors.
It is interesting to collect seaweed, though in pressing it, it is difficult to prevent the thin fibres from matting together when taken out of the water. One of the best methods is to float the seaweed on a plate, full of water, and after placing a piece of rather thick blotting-paper in the water, underneath the seaweed, to raise the paper suddenly out of the plate, when the water sinks through the blotting-paper, on which the most delicate parts of the seaweed remain spread out.
There are many games suitable for a rainy day; amongst them a poetry game, in which each player is provided with a slip of paper and a pencil. A circle is formed; every one writes a noun, and, folding down the line on which he has written, passes the paper to the next player, who writes a question on it. Each paper is then passed to the next person, who, unfolding it, has to make a short piece of poetry, not only introducing the noun but also answering the question.
When finished, the rhymes are read aloud, and generally cause much amusement.
This game can be varied by limiting the "nouns" to names of animals, with any absurd question concerning them: for instance—
"Porcupine," and
"Does it like sweets?"
The porcupine of many spines
Always eats sweetmeats when it dines,
'Tis very fond of chocolate-creams,
And munches candy in its dreams.
The little ones, as may be seen,
On brandy-balls are very keen,
And peppermints they will devour,
And lemon-drops eat by the hour.
For girls, painting and drawing are a great pastime, and a very pretty and effective method of shading small landscapes is produced by drawing on smooth paper the outlines of a landscape (a sea view is the prettiest, with the moon shining on the water), and then painting with a weak solution of gum-arabic the lightest parts of the picture, such as the moon, the ripples, and the high lights. When quite dry, rub the whole surface over with lead-pencil dust, applied either with a stump or with chamois leather, till the whole becomes dark grey; then mark out with a B pencil the shadows of the rocks, &c. When everything is drawn, pass a damp handkerchief down the picture, which will wipe off the gum, leaving the places where it has been perfectly white.