7-2 NOTES ON IRISH NATURAL HISTORY. 



several instances have occurred, in which fawns have been 

 secured without injury, and if they survive the period of suck- 

 ing, they are sure to do well, although never sufficiently re- 

 conciled to captivity to encrease their kind. 



It was through the Gap of Dunloe that I now took my 

 course, having heard its sublimity mightily extolled, but I 

 cannot say I think it would pay for the trouble of exploring, 

 unless to those who are unacquainted with the wilder parts 

 of Wales and Scotland ; for the pass is thronged with guides, 

 and it is a sheer impossibility to address a single observation 

 to a companion, without receiving a reply from at least half 

 a dozen of these familiar Milesians. At the top of the Gap 

 I rested awhile in the cottage of the celebrated Kate Kearney, 

 and from her own hand I received the cup of poteen and goat's 

 milk, — a very comforting mixture. After reaching the sum- 

 mit of the gap I turned to the left, and seeing below me the 

 cottage at the end of the upper lake, I abandoned the path, 

 and pursued my way towards the lake in a tolerably di- 

 rect line, over the trackless waste. All over the side of the 

 mountain VirKjuicula grandiflora occurs in great abundance : 

 its flowers were generally gone, but some were even yet re- 

 maining, and struck me as very beautiful. I believe botanists 

 do not agree as to the value of this species, but to me it ap- 

 peared distinct : [ should however mention that not having 

 the commoner species [Ping, vulgaris) at hand, I had no op- 

 portunity of comparing them. 



At the extremity of the upper lake a boat was in waiting, 

 and I once more embarked. The upper lake looks small 

 compared with Lough Lane, but is said to cover an area of 

 1000 English acres : the little rocky islets rising from it are 

 very beautiful. Leaving this lake the rowers entered a.rapid 

 river connecting it with Loughs Lane and Turk, and ha\^ng 

 reached a fine bold cliff called "the Eagle's Nest," pulled to 

 the opposite shore, and we landed in order to hear to greater 

 advantage the extraordinary echo for which this spot has long 

 been famous. A tune played by the bugleman standing op- 

 posite the cliff, has the effect of a duet. Whether it be pos- 

 sible to produce a duet by merely causing a repetition of a 

 Jirst, I must leave the scientific to decide, but so it appeared 

 to me. Indeed the echoes in many parts of these lakes seem 

 perfectly magical. But I am forgetting the ferns. After 

 leaving the Eagle's Nest, Onmunda regalia completely fringes 

 the banks of the river between the lakes, and forms a pro- 

 minent feature in this most lovely scenery. So.alifered is the 

 usual character of this fern, that its long fronds arch grace- 

 fully over, and dip their masses of seed in the crystal water ; 



