122 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



magnificent specimen it was— some four or five feet 

 high. On an old wall were some tall Cotyledon 

 umbilicus, afterwards scarce in Connemara, and 

 beyond, in a wet meadow, Carditus pratensis was 

 growing among masses of Stachys palustris, Senecio 

 yacobcea, and Lythrum Salicaria, the latter three being 

 the cornfield weeds in western Ireland. Hydrocotyle, 

 Viola palustris, and Lycopodium selaginoides were then 

 found, and shortly after Myriophyllum spicatum 

 growing in the dykes. On the margin of some name- 

 less lough we found the pretty Alisma ranunculoides 

 rather plentifully, and great masses of white and 

 yellow lilies were growing in the centre, while the 

 borders were fringed by tall growths of Arundo 

 Phragmites. Continuing our course we at length 

 reached the Erriff valley, very finely bounded on 

 one side by hills rising in graceful outlines, on whose 

 slopes were some fine effects of light and shade. On 

 our right, glowing in rich colour in the bright sun- 

 light, stretched great tracts of moorland to the conical 

 top of Croagh Patrick far in the distance. But few 

 trees, save "wet shot" alder, had been seen, so the 

 little shady wood of Erriff was a welcome sight, and 

 the scenery became very pretty as we rounded the 

 head of Killery Bay, surrounded as it is by some fine 

 outlined hills. As soon as we caught the sea-breeze, 

 appeared Sedum anglicum and Saxifraga umbrosa, 

 Lysimachia nemorum, and, nearer the beach, Triglo- 

 chin maritimum, Atriplex littoralis, Glaitx Armeria, 

 and other maritime plants. Leenane seemed very 

 far off, and the miles unusually long as the road 

 wound round bays and headlands to an almost 

 interminable length for weary pedestrians, but Lee- 

 nane's quiet hotel was at length reached after our 

 twenty-four Irish miles walk. 



A morning's ramble resulted in the find of Ceterach 

 qfficinartcm on Leenane Bridge ; Plantago maritima 

 and Coronopus, Silene maritima on the beach. On 

 the hill behind the hotel, from which a lovely view 

 may be had of Killery Bay, we found Hypericum 

 pulchrum, humifusum, and Andros^mum, Poly gala 

 vulgaris and Lotus major. In a ravine some natura- 

 lized Tanacetum vulgare was growing. The walk 

 after breakfast by the side of Killery Bay was very 

 delightful, Mweelrea looking admirable across the 

 bay, the road from Leenane to Kylemore lying 

 over hilly moorland with loughs at frequent intervals 

 and glorious prospects of sea and mountain scenery. 

 Among the plants we gathered in this walk were 

 Scirpus Savii, Saxifraga umbrosa, Silene acaulis (at low 

 elevations), Scirpus pauciflorus, palustris and ccespito- 

 sus, Utricularia minor, whose insect traps were objects 

 of much curiosity, Menyanthes trifoliata, Comarum 

 palustre, Carduus pratensis, all the Drosera, and a 

 double-flowered specimen of Cardamine pratensis. 

 The long rooting stems of J uncus uliginosus, floating 

 in the peat-holes, appeared most strange. 



On entering Kylemore Pass we were certain it 

 would not equal the Scotch passes, but as we pro- 



ceeded the charms of Kylemore so increased that 

 eventually we said it equalled, and at last exceeded 

 even the Trossachs, which it much resembles in 

 general character, Ben Venue's place in Kylemore 

 being occupied by the Diamond Mountain (so called 

 from crystals of carbonate of lime of very clear colour 

 being found nearly at the top), while Kylemore 

 Lough offers attractions as great as Loch Achray, 

 though we are bound to say in Kylemore there is no 

 Katrine. In botanical treasures Kylemore is most 

 interesting, among the more showy being Dabeociapoli- 

 folia, Hyperiatm Androsccvium, Ulex Gallii, Lythrum 

 Salicaria, Orchis maculata, Asperula odorata, Lysi- 

 machia nemorum, Lonicera Per icly menu tn, Trifolium 

 medium, Lycopodium Selago, magnificent Filix-fcemina, 

 Solidago cambrica, Blechnum, Rhinanthus Crista-galli, 

 Melampyrum pratense, Hypericum humifusum, Habt- 

 naria chlorantha, yasione montana, and by the lake, 

 Nymphcea alba, Lobelia dortmauna, and Peplis Portula. 

 From Kylemore to Letterfrack, where we had dia- 

 monds from the mountain offered us, and from thence 

 to Clifden, yielded but few fresh plants, Scirpus 

 setaceus, fluitaus, and Myosotis cccspitosa being seen, 

 but the walk was through country of a very pictur- 

 esque character, with its streamlets bordered as thickly 

 with Osmunda as our English ones are with Epilobium, 

 the Dabeocia being as plentiful as our Taraxacum, 

 so it could not prove uninteresting. On entering 

 Clifden a variety of Geranium robertianum, closely 

 allied if not identical with purpurea, was noticed. 



Clifden was the termination of our second day's 

 walk, it being about nineteen Irish miles from Lee- 

 nane. Clifden, like so many Irish towns, showed 

 too plainly the effects of emigration ; but little wonder 

 was excited at that emigration, considering the miser- 

 able state of the population. The cabins we had 

 passed excelled in wretchedness anything we had 

 deemed possible, a chair being frequently the 

 only furniture, and that more usually occupied by 

 hens than the proper inhabitants, who seemed to 

 prefer the mud floor as a resting-place, and solaced 

 themselves (we refer to the aged female portion of 

 the community) by smoking a short clay pipe. The 

 window was often but of one pane, and in several 

 cases that was stopped by rags, no chimney, the 

 smoke choosing the door rather than the hole in the 

 roof for an outlet, and the interior filled even in 

 summer with peat-smoke to such an extent as to make 

 a stranger's eyes water ; perhaps, in some way, ac- 

 counting for the frequency of purulent ophthalmia, 

 with which many of the children were afflicted. 

 The dress of the people was certainly not unventilated, 

 nor did it consist of more than was absolutely neces- 

 sary for the sake of decency, yet, notwithstanding, 

 they seemed as cheerful as could be expected, con- 

 sidering " their contiguity to the melancholy ocean." 

 Nor, the eyes excepted, did they seem to suffer much 

 in health from the neglect of the simplest sanitary 

 laws, resulting from the presence of porcine residents 



