gariff. It is about four miles long, and one in its widest part. The scenery of this celebrated glen may be said literally to baffle description.' The most powerful and pictorial writers have acknowledged their inability to do it anything like justice, or to give adequate expression to the feelings it inspires. I had heard much,' said Mr. Otway, ' of this Glengariff-the Rough Glen-Pallis Aspera, as O'Sullivan, in his Catholic history, calls it. As I passed along from east to west of the county of Cork, everyone expressed the hope that I should not leave the county till I had seen Glengariff. I would as soon have gone through Italy and passed by Rome. And was I disappointed? Not in the least. Nothing in Ireland is equal to it; it is singular, it is unique.' A bay, called Glengariff Harbour, runs at right angles from Bantry Bay, its entrance apparently closed by an island, on which stands a martello tower, and which gives it the appearance of a lake. It is surrounded by hills, each of which has a charm of its own, presenting everchanging pictures, according to the point of view or the state of the atmosphere-bright or gloomy, near or distant; 'valleys laughing in sunshine, or shrouded in dark and undefined masses of shade.' No meadow, no morass or bog; nothing but a congeries of rocks flung up in a thousand forms by some convulsion of nature: 'like the Bay of Biscay in a hurricane, when by some Almighty fiat, the tremendous swell of all this vexed ocean was arrested in an instant, and there fixed as a specimen of God's wonders in the deep. In every nook and crevice, in every opening among the rocks, grow luxuriantly beautiful shrubs and trees, yew, holly, arbutus. As we ascend the pathway to the high grounds, we proceed through woods of oak, birch, and arbutus, which in some places thickly mantle the hills, stretch out their branches over the precipices, and half close up the mountain gorges with entangled masses of foliage. The charm of all this wildly romantic scenery is heightened by the encircling chain of mountains, some raising their breasts almost perpendicularly, and casting their deep shadows upon the abyss of water ebbing and flowing far below. At the top of the bay, and close to the water's edge, stands Eccles Hotel, an exceedingly comfortable and homely

establishment, which the tourist would do well to make his head-quarters in his excursions by car or boat through the delightful scenery of this romantic spot. The hotel is under the immediate superintendence of Mrs. Eccles, who spares neither trouble nor pains to make her guests thoroughly at home in her establishment. Within ten minutes' walk of the house there is a magnificent view of Bantry Bay, which will well repay a visit.

CHAPTER XII.

KERRY AND KILLARNEY.

HE county of Kerry is bounded on the north by the estuary of the Shannon, on the east by Limerick and Cork, on the south by Cork and Kenmare estuary, and on the west by the Atlantic. Its greatest length, north and south, is 60 miles, breadth east and west, 58 miles, area 1,858 square miles, or 1,186,126 acres, of which 726,775 are uncultivated, 11,169 in plantations, 807 in towns, and 3,961 under water. Its coast is indented by the bays of Tralee; Brandon, Smerwick, Dingle, Ballinskillig, and Kenmare: The subsoil is slate and red sandstone; with limestone in the low districts. Iron ore, copper, and lead are found in many places, and mines are worked near Tralee and Kenmare. A coal vein runs into the north-east part of the county, and slate of a superior kind is found in the Island of Valentia. Viscount Castlerosse is Lord Lieutenant of the county, and the number of magistrates is 119, including 16 deputy-lieutenants. The assizes are held at Tralee. The constituency of the county is 5,506, and of Tralee borough,-263.

THE LAKES OF KILLARNEY..

The readiest way to reach Killarney from Cork is by the Killarney and Tralee branch of the Great Southern and Western Railway, which joins the main line at Mallow, a

distance of 41 miles. The line runs for some miles up the valley of the Blackwater, which is adorned here, as well as in its downward course, by a number of beautiful demesnes. At Dromaneen there is an old castle on a bold rock overhanging the river, which formerly belonged to the O'Callaghans. Nine and a-half miles from Mallow is Kanturk, a thriving little town, situated at the junction of two small rivers. Here M'Donagh Carthy erected a castle of enormous strength, which was condemned by Queen Elizabeth as being too large and strong for a subject. It occupied four sides of a quadrangle, 120 feet by 80, three storeys high, and flanked at each angle by a square tower four storeys high. It is known as 'M'Donagh's Folly.' Five and a-half miles from Kanturk to the east, is the small village of Cecilstown, near which Lahort Castle, an ancient fortress, supposed to have been built by King John, a stronghold of the M'Carthys, held by the Irish, 1650, when it was surrendered by Sir Hardress Waller. George Jones Percivale, the sixth earl, succeeded his cousin in 1841, and keeps up Lahort Castle as one of his residences.

Newmarket, lying to the north of Kanturk, is worthy of notice for the Priory, once the residence of John Philpot Curran. The country around is a high bleak region, so wild and poor, that, according to Mr. Frazer, there is not between Mr. Aldworth's seat at Newmarket, and the Knight of Glyn's on the banks of the Shannon, a distance of 34 miles, a single gentleman's residence. As we proceed along the line to Millstreet, half way to Killarney, we meet Drishane Castle, built by Dermot M'Carthy, now, with modern additions, the residence of Colonel Wallis. The demesne is well wooded, and in the same neighbourhood are Altamont, Mount Leader, the residence of the Leader family, and Cromlogane, the owner of which is M'Carthy O'Leary, Esq., D.L., who represents The O'Leary, whose great influence in maintaining order amongst the people, and boundless hospitality, are recorded by the Rev. Mr. Townsend in his Survey of Cork.

Macroom, to which there is a railway direct from Cork, is 10 miles south by east of Millstreet. It is a small straggling town, distinguished by a castle, which stood a long siege