372 Rev. W. Scoresby on the Effect of Mountain Echoes, 



nature, the occasional echoes, with their various diminuendo of 

 reverberation, afford a pleasing accession to the ordinary im- 

 pressions of majestic scenery. And in respect to this particu- 

 lar, we have now a source of new and exquisite enjoyment, un- 

 known to the admirers of nature in former days, through the in- 

 troduction of the keyed bugle, for the developement of the 

 echoes. From the application of the powerful and flexuous 

 tones of this commanding instrument, for eliciting the echoes of 

 mountain passes, and other situations favourable for reflecting 

 sound, an accidental beauty has been discovered in the produc- 

 tion of the most surprising harmonies from a series of simple 

 tones. Though this eff^ect, at the first hearing, so astonishing 

 and apparently miraculous, has become familiar to most travel- 

 lers who have visited the mountainous districts of the United 

 Kingdom, yet it is worth consideration, on account of the curi- 

 ous and beautiful effect of the progression of sound, in produ- 

 cing a fortuitous coincidence, not easily to be imitated by the 

 most elaborate combination of instruments. 



The buglemen, who accompany parties of travellers through 

 the rich, varied, and, in some particulars, unequalled scenery of 

 the Lakes of Killarney, are particularly happy, though appa- 

 rently ignorant of the principles on which they succeed, in the 

 developement of the numerous echoes afforded by the cliffs and 

 mountains around. In the Gap of Dunloe (the sublimely wild 

 and celebrated pass between Tomie's Mountain and Macgilley- 

 Cuddy's Reeks) the stations for musical echoes are various and 

 interesting ; but in front of the remarkable cliff called the 

 " Eaglets Nest,"*' which is washed by the river communicating 

 between the Upper and Lower Lakes of Killarney, the reper- 

 cussion of sound is of the most striking and extraordinary per- 

 fection I have any where heard. The manner in which it is eli- 

 cited is twofold ; by the use of the paterera, and of the bugle. 

 The place selected for witnessing the results has been deter- 

 mined by innumerable experiments ; and to any oi^e acquainted 

 with the principles of acoustics, it is at once evidefnt, that it af- 

 fords an extraordinary combination of favourable circumstances 

 for producing the realised effects. The Eagle's Nest, from its 

 peculiar form, and vertical position, is admirably calculated for 

 the repercussion of sound ; the smooth and sheltered surface of 



