576 NOTES ON IRISH NATURAL HISTORY. 



land by the more powerful and savage species above referred 

 to, much in the same manner as the old English black rat has 

 yielded to the more powerful animal from Asia, known as the 

 brown or Norway rat. 



I ascended Urrisbeg, a rugged little hill at the back of the 

 town, and was very much delighted with the singular view 

 from its summit : the sinuosity of the ocean-coast, and the 

 multiplicity of islands in the sea, and of lakes on the land, is 

 very remarkable. All over this district Menziesia grows in 

 the utmost profusion, and at the base of Urrisbeg occurs Eri- 

 ca Mediterranean though not abundantly, and here it was first 

 discovered by Mr. Mackay. This plant has since been re- 

 corded as occurring in En-is, and on the side of the Mullrea 

 mountain, near the Killery ; but I believe I have the pleasure 

 of first recording its most abundant habitat — Coraan Achill. 

 At the foot of Urrisbeg, on the shore of Lough Bulard, Mr. 

 Babington found Adiantum Capillus- Veneris. When at 

 Roundstone, I was not aware of the exact locality, and 

 searched for this rare plant in vain, having no more precise 

 habitat than "near Roundstone." But though unsuccessful 

 in this instance, I was delighted with the variety of ferns 

 which I here found among the boulders by the sea. Aspidi- 

 um aculeatum and dilatatum, Nephrodium filix-mas, Athy- 

 rium jilix-foemina, Blechnum boreale, Asplenium marinum, 

 Aspl. Adiantum-nigrum, Aspl. Tricliomanes, Aspl. Ruta-mu- 

 raria, Pteris aquilina, and Osmnnda regalis, are crowded 

 together in profusion and endless variety. In the evening I 

 dined with some great men's great men, or rent-collectors for 

 land-proprietors, and from them I learned much as to the fish- 

 ing &c. in this district. The salmon-fisheries are perhaps the 

 best in the world : about four miles from Roundstone is one 

 taken by a Scotchman, in which, the day I was there, two 

 hundred and eighty-seven salmon were taken. The contract- 

 or, I was told, had taken the fishery at 2d. per fish. The 

 fishery was the property of Mr. Martin of Ballinahinch. 



On our breakfast-table next morning were herrings, two 

 kinds of trout, and salmon, all three in the perfection of fresh- 

 ness ; indeed the fish of the west of Ireland is beyond all 

 comparison the finest in flavour that I ever ate ; it is fresh, 

 and in all probability had been swimming at large within an 

 hour of its being placed on the table. The white trout of the 

 west of Ireland is a fish with which I was before unacquaint- 

 ed ; as a species it is perfectly distinct from the salmon or trout 

 Mr. Yarrell, in his ' History of British Fishes,' vol. ii. p. 37,* 

 says that the Salmo trutta of Linnaeus, the sea trout of Flem- 

 ing, and his salmon trout, is the white trout of Ireland ; but 



