the tail, he will draw better,-quite fresh again. Indignant reader, this is no jest of mine, but cruel, stubborn, and barbarous truth."

In another place he says:

They have three customs: first they harrow with the tail; the fellow who leads walks backwards, and strikes them in the face; and they burn corn in the straw instead of thrashing it.”

These practices appear to have been so common in Charles the First's time, that two Acts of Parliament were passed to restrain them :-one entitled An Act against Ploughing by the Tail, and Pulling the Wool off the Living Sheep,' ch. 15 of 10 and 11 year (1634-5), Charles the First; the other, An Act to prevent the unprofitable Custom of Burning of Corn in the Straw,' 10 and 11 Charles the First, ch. 17.

To the lovers of angling there is perhaps no part of Great Britain which will afford more sport. The lakes and rivers all abound with trout and salmon: in the larger lakes will be found the Gillaroo trout.

In conclusion, I trust I shall not be considered over-sanguine in predicting that this part of Ireland will, before many years, rise into importance. It is to be hoped that its great resources, its fisheries, and its noble harbours, will not

much longer be allowed to remain unemployed and unused. What advantages would arise, not only to Ireland, but to Great Britain, if one of these noble Western Harbours were used as the port for the departure of the Trans-Atlantic steamers! And should the canal be completed across either the Isthmus of Panama or Tehuantepec, which is now under consideration, it would reduce the time of communicating with our Australian possessions nearly one-half.

G. P. W.

A TOUR IN CONNAMARA.

CHAPTER I.

"I will a plain unvarnish'd tale unfold."-OTHELLO. "One has only to glance at the map to see how much Nature has done for Connamara.”—INGLIS.

It is singular, notwithstanding the number of works of all kinds which have been written on Ireland, so little should be said of a district possessing such peculiar advantages as Connamara,-not only as regards scenery of no ordinary character, but likewise as a district possessed of considerable physical advantages. I of course do not allude to the brilliant writings of Lady Morgan, Lever, and others, which are beyond all praise in their peculiar vein; but they must, nevertheless, be regarded as bordering on caricature, and thus must to some extent be

Α

prejudicial to the country to which they relate. I feel that those who only know Connamara through such a source, will be inclined to smile at my humble effort to point out some of its industrial resources.

The name of Connamara' is most appropriate, as a glance at the accompanying Map will show, it means bays of the sea. I proceeded to Connamara by way of Galway, which, as it is the mail-coach road, will be found the most convenient route. The town of Galway is of great antiquity, but it presents little to interest the general tourist; unfortunately, like too many Irish towns, its great natural capabilities remain neglected. I look forward, however, to the completion of the proposed Midland Great Western Railway rendering it most essential service. There was formerly an extensive trade carried on between the inhabitants of this town and the Spaniards, and wine was largely imported.

The town still possesses, in its older buildings, numerous traces of Spanish intercourse. Mr. Inglis remarks, “I had

heard that I should find some traces of its Spanish origin, but I was not prepared to find so much to remind me of that land of romance. At every second step I saw something to recall Spain to my recollection. I found the wide entries and broad stairs of Cadiz and Malaga, -the arched gateways with the outer and inner railing, and the court within, needing only the fountains and flower vases to emulate Seville. I found the sculptured gateways and grotesque architecture which carried the imagination to the Moorish cities of Granada and Valencia. I even found the little sliding wicket for observation in one or two doors; reminding one of the secrecy, mystery, and caution observed where gallantry and superstition divide life between." There still exists an old house in the town, pointed out as the residence of James Lynch Fitzstephen, Mayor of Galway in 1493, and whose name has been handed down to posterity from the circumstance of his having hanged his own son.* A tragedy, entitled the 'Warden of

* See Appendix.