236 The Field Naturalist" s Quarterly August 



lying as it does immediately at the foot of Slieve Donard, 

 the highest of the peaks ; and with roads radiating in 

 several directions that all lead into charming scenery for 

 those who are not able to devote their energies to rough 

 scrambling up the heathery slopes of the hills, or to 

 tramping by the, in places, boggy margins of the various 

 rivers that occupy the intervening valleys ; with the near 

 proximity of three extensive demesnes open to the public 

 on certain days of the week ; and with a splendid bay with 

 a beach of hard sand for sea-bathing ; all these ought to 

 tempt more seekers after fresh air and healthy exercise to 

 Newcastle than the golf links that at present form the 

 attraction to the majority of its visitors. 



Slieve Donard is, of course, the point to which the 

 attention of the field naturalist will be early attracted, and 

 its ascent is not a matter of any difficulty to one who does 

 not require a beaten path among its rock-strewn heathery 

 slopes. Perhaps the easiest ascent is that through the 

 Donard Lodge demesne, a delightful natural park that half- 

 encircles the little town of Newcastle, watered by the spark- 

 ling Glen river that, rising in the boggy hollow between 

 Slieve Donard and Slieve Commedagh, pours itself over 

 nearly a mile of cascades and water-slides through a 

 picturesque woodland of pines and other forest trees — a 

 veritable paradise for the field naturalist, the artist, or the 

 photographer. The demesne is open freely to the public on 

 four days in the week, and the route followed should be 

 along the banks of the Glen river until the boundary wall of 

 the estate is reached, when we can strike across the open 

 moorland, along a tributary stream, and make our way up 

 the steep side of Thomas Mountain, from the summit of 

 which a mile of fairly rough walking will bring us to the 

 cairn on Slieve Donard (2796 feet). Long before this, we 

 shall, of course, have had many a look backward over the 

 ever-widening and glorious prospect that lies to the north ; 

 and the summit reached we shall, if the day be fine, be 

 charmed with the great expanse of country visible, from the 

 Cave Hill, near Belfast, on the north, to the Hill of Howth, 

 near Dublin, on the south, while the intervening country in 

 the latter direction is occupied with a picturesque group of 



