1897-] - 45 



A FRENCH TRAVEIvIyER IN IRELAND. 



Irlande ct Cavcrnes Anglalses. Par B. A. Martei.. Paris, 1897. 



(Ivibrarie Ch. Delagrave.) 



This book is the outcome of the travels of its accomplished author 

 during the summer of 1895. He states that he has been induced to write 

 it, firstly by the successful issue of his explorations of the caves, and 

 secondly, because of the " admiration and interest which the natural 

 beauties of Ireland and its archaeological treasures, both too little known 

 by travellers" have given him. " Ireland," he says, " has been called the 

 land of the Great Elk, and of the Giant's Causeway," thus defining it by 

 its two principal scientific curiosities : the majestic fossil deer, and the 

 marvellous basaltic columns of the County Antrim. " But," he continues, 

 "the definition is incomplete : Ireland is also the country of unequalled 

 sea-cliffs, of charming lakes with hundreds of islets, of mysterious sub- 

 terranean rivers ; of unexplained cromlechs and enigmatic round-towers, 

 of enchanting and luxuriant parks and scenery, of heathen legends, 

 mystical beliefs, and heroic traditions ! " 



It v.'ill be seen from these quotations that Monsieur Martel has carried 

 away from his stay among us a rose-coloured impression of the country. 

 Of the state of the people his conclusions are as cheerful. He deprecates 

 the importance which former writers, especially Mile, de Bovet, in her 

 " Trois Mois en Irlande," have given to the political contests and dis- 

 orders of the time. He finds everywhere he went, " the aspect of the 

 country, the animals and the people much less miserable than I had 

 expected ; innkeepers and drivers, fishermen and farmers, barge-men 

 and labourers, all owned that for the past five or six years a universal 

 reaction from the former state of misery had set in to relieve everyone." 

 He proceeds to say that he does not wish to attempt to estimate the 

 reasons for, or the extent of the change — he merely wishes to state its 

 effect on the pleasure of the tourist. " Whatever may be said of the 

 beggars, they are less persecuting than in too-hackneyed Italy — the 

 reception met with everywhere is more affable, the good humour and 

 native cordiality of the worthy Irish make them eminently sympathetic ; 

 the hotels of the larger towns, and those of the Causeway, Kilkee, 

 Killarney, etc., lack nothing of the comfort and excel in charming 

 simplicity those of Switzerland," and even in the remote villages 

 where the search for unknown caves led him, " the inns were such as 

 would be commended in Dalmatia and in Greece, or even (must it be 

 owned ?) in many of the chief cantonal towns of the Cevennes or 

 Dauphine." 



After this handsome testimony to the charms of travel in Ireland, 

 Monsieur Martel describes the exploration of the Marble Arch cave in 

 Enniskillen. He had here the assistance of Mr. Jameson, who had been 

 deputed by the Fauna and Flora Committee of the Royal Irish Academy 

 to accompany him. The curious underground river was explored by 



