RELAND, the second island of Europe in population, corresponds to its larger neighbour, Great Britain, in having its eastern coast comparatively tame and unbroken, while the northern, western, and southern is generally bold, often fringed with gigantic cliffs, and very deeply invaded by the ocean. The eastern line of seaboard is also encumbered with sandbanks, bars, and sunken rocks, rendering careful navigation necessary, or interfering with it altogether, whereas in the other directions, the deep water of the Atlantic comes close to the strand, and the numerous inlets rank with the finest harbours in the world for easy access, capaciousness, and shelter. The eastern side of Ireland, like that of Great Britain, has few subordinate isles associated with it; but an immense number

stud the western shores, mostly small, yet thickly peopled, and situated at an inconsiderable distance from the mainland. Valentia Island, on the southern side of the entrance to Dingle Bay, was for some time held by the Spaniards, who were, however, finally expelled by Cromwell. During the period of their occupation, commercial intercourse was active between places on the adjoining shores and Spain, traces of which remain to the present day, in the names of many localities, and in the peculiar styles of building. The town of Galway has its open space called the Spanish Parade, and both there and at Dingle, are several old houses with enclosed courtyards after the Spanish fashion. Legends respecting 'green islands' rising out of the sea, 'enchanted islands' floating on the ocean, and 'fairy castles' appearing and vanishing to seaward, are common in the old Irish chronicles. They may be referred to optical illusions caused by the phenomenon of the mirage, similar to the Fata Morgana of Sicily, and now often observed in the strait between Rathlin Island and the coast of Antrim. In this neighbourhood the shores consist of magnificent ranges of basaltic columns, which form the cliffs and promontories of Fair Head, Bengore Head, and the Giant's Causeway. These polygonal pillars, made by nature herself, seem at a distance like grand monuments of human architecture, or occasionally like ruined edifices, surrounded by a wild waste of rocky fragments, which, in the course of centuries, have been dislodged by the gradual action of the elements, or wrenched away by the ocean in its storms.

The position, limits, linear extent, and area of Ireland, have already been given (see p. 301); but it may be added for easy remembrance, that the island is nearly one-eighth larger than Scotland, nearly two-fifths of the size of Great Britain, and more regular in shape than the contiguous mass. The structure of the surface is extremely simple, consisting of an extensive central plain skirted by imposing mountains. Its general aspect is less rugged than the north and west parts of Great Britain, but not so tame as the east. The great central plain extends east and west from sea to sea, between the bays of Dublin and Galway; and from the shores of Lough Neagh on the north, to the confines of Waterford on the south. Though varied by swells, the highest ground within its limits, Moat-a-grenogue, in Westmeath, is little more than 300 feet above high-water mark. The foundation rock is carboniferous limestone, the same which has the name of the mountain limestone in England, from being developed there in ranges of considerable height and magnitude. Upon this substratum rest accumulations of clays and gravel, forming a rich cultivable soil, but through a vast proportion of the area it is overlaid with peat-bogs, a characteristic formation of Ireland. The bogs are not confined to the plain, but occur on the uplands, though to an inferior extent. They are estimated by Dr Kane to occupy one-seventh of the whole surface of the island. The largest is the famous Bog of Allen, which stretches in a vast plain across the centre of the island, or over a large portion of Kildare, Carlow, King's and Queen's Counties-having a superficial elevation of 280 feet. Extensive traces of deep wet bog also occur in Longford, Roscommon, Mayo, Galway, and other counties, and give a peculiarly dreary and desolate aspect to the scenery. They are composed of decayed and compressed vegetable matter, or peat, with an overgrowth of unproductive living vegetation, holding more or less stagnant water. They seem to have arisen from interruptions offered to the drainage by fallen timber, or the gravel ridges, whence shallow pools resulted, specially adapted for the growth of aquatic plants, as Sphagnum palustre, and other mosses, which luxuriated till a spongy mass of vegetation was formed, decaying, rotting, and compressing into peat below, while continuing to shoot out new plants above. The peat extends to the average depth of from twenty to twenty-five feet, though sometimes to forty feet; dried by the summer heat, it is in many districts the only available

fuel. The bogs of Ireland have no analogy to the fens of England, as they lie in all cases so far above the sea-level as to be readily susceptible of drainage and reclamation. Notwithstanding their moisture they are not insalubrious, owing to the large quantity of tannin which they contain; and such are their antiseptic properties, that bodies of men and animals have been taken out of them with but few symptoms of decay after the lapse of generations. Trunks of oak, yew, pine, and birch are met with at great depths, and remains of the gigantic horned elk are very abundant. Various ornamental articles are made of the bog-timber, that of the oak being generally as black and hard as ebony, while the colour of the yew is a rich brown approaching to chocolate.

The highlands which border the central plain do not form a continuous belt around it, but occur in detached groups or ranges of limited extent, generally close to the shores, and often forming the coast-line. They consist of primary strata, with various igneous rocks, which have protruded through the great pavement of carboniferous limestone, rising to considerable elevations above it. The loftiest masses on the eastern side are the Mourne Mountains, in the county of Down, which approach the height of 2800 feet, and those of Wicklow, which slightly exceed 3000. In the north-west and west, Donegal, Mayo, and the wild district of Connemara, have summits of nearly equal

altitude, with stupendous sea-cliffs. But the most generally rugged district is the southwestern, chiefly the county of Kerry, where several ranges run parallel to each other,

between which the ocean far advances its waters, and is overlooked by the highest points of Ireland. Occupying a specially maritime site, in the peninsula north of Dingle Bay, Mount Brandon rises 3120 feet, but is surpassed by Carn Tual, 3404 feet, not far from its southern shore, one of Macgillicuddy's Reeks, a ridge running between the lakes of Killarney and the coast. The Reeks, or rocks, have smooth, sharp, conical summits; and are traditionally said to derive their specific name from that of an old extinct family in the neighbourhood. Carn Tual rises with a uniform slope on every side; and a very striking panorama is in view from it of winding inlets, estuaries, and peninsulas,

whenever the volumes of mist and cloud which roll up from the Atlantic are withdrawn. Macaulay has eloquently described the district, now brought within reach of a vast number of excursionists. The mountains, the glens, the capes stretching far into the Atlantic, the crags on which the eagles build, the rivulets brawling down rocky passes, the lakes overhung by groves in which the wild deer find covert, attract every summer crowds of wanderers sated with the business and the pleasures of great cities. The landscape has a freshness and a warmth of colouring seldom found in our latitude. The myrtle loves the soil. The arbutus thrives better than even on the sunny shores of Calabria. The turf is of livelier hue than elsewhere; the hills glow with a brighter purple; the varnish of the holly and ivy is more glossy; and berries of a brighter red peep through foliage of a brighter green.' Besides these highlands, several groups are distributed over the southern counties, the Galty, Knockmeilidown, Silver Mine, and Slieve-Bloom Mountains, some of which range to an important altitude.

Ten principal river-systems are distinguished, which, though not of much value in a navigable point of view, except in the instance of the Shannon, supply an amount of water-power fitted for industrial purposes which few countries of the same extent possess, and are often associated with highly picturesque scenes, adding to the

beauty or impressiveness of the landscape by their placid flow, wild dash, or roaring cascades.

Foyle (properly so called),

Cork, Passage, Queenstown.
Strabane, Lifford, Londonderry.

The Shannon is the third river of the United Kingdom in the extent of its basin, being only surpassed by the Humber and the Severn, while it is the first in rank as to the length of its navigation. It issues from a bog among the mountains of Cavan, called in the locality the 'Shannon Pot,' flows generally from north to south, forms Loughs Allen, Ree, and Derg, washes the shores of ten counties, meets the tide below Limerick, and then travels westerly to the Atlantic through a long and noble estuary, from one to eleven miles broad, answering to Spenser's description, 'the spacious Shenan, spreading like a sea.' Aided by a few lateral cuttings, the navigation is continuous through upwards of 200 miles, nearly the whole of its course. By one of these cuts the rapids of Doonas above Limerick, where the bed of the river becomes strongly inclined, are avoided, and the whole body of water, 300 yards wide and 40 feet deep, rushes over and through a succession of rocks for half a mile, forming a scene of great magnificence. The Barrow, next in importance, drains a south-eastern district, and includes in its system the Nore and Suir, popularly called the Three Sisters, from rising in the same neighbourhood, and after a long divergent course pouring their united waters through Waterford Harbour into the Atlantic. In the north, the Bann, divided into upper and lower by Lough Neagh, enters the sea below Coleraine; and the Foyle passes Londonderry to the large marine inlet of Lough Foyle. On the eastern side are the Boyne, celebrated for the battle fought on its banks between the forces of William III. and those of James II.; the Liffey, on which Dublin is situated; and the Slaney, which forms at its mouth the haven of Wexford. In the more southerly portion of the island, the Blackwater, designated the Irish Rhine' from its scenic attractions, discharges itself into Youghal Bay; the Lee forms the fine harbour of Cork; and the 'pleasant Bandon, crowned with many a wood,' terminates its course at Kinsale, but is now shorn of much of the timber it possessed when the author of the Faery Queene trod its banks.

Lakes are numerously distributed, and occupy a very considerable space in proportion to the whole extent of the surface, amounting to nearly 1000 square miles. They differ generally in form and position from the Scottish lakes; have their length and breadth more correspondent, occur in open districts, and, with one striking exception, have tame borders, level or marshy. Lough Neagh, the largest inland expanse in the kingdom, washes the shores of five counties in the province of Ulster, extends seventeen miles in length by ten in average breadth, covers an area of 150 square miles, is a navigable basin, and has waters celebrated for their incrusting quality. In Ireland the word lough, like the similar term loch in Scotland, is applied indifferently to fresh-water expanses, inlets of the sea, and the estuaries of rivers. Lough Corrib, in Connaught, is the next in magnitude, but much smaller. It maintains communication with Lough Mask, about three miles to the northward, by a subterranean channel through the intervening limestone isthmus. The connecting stream may be seen at various points in