633 Retrofpect of Domejiic Literature— -Travels, Voyages, i(c. 



" The Stranger in Ireland: or a Tour 

 in the Southern and IVt/lern Parts of 

 that Country/, in the Year 1805, by John 

 C'arr, Efq." 



Tke honour of knighthood, which fince 

 tlie publication of ihis volume has l)een 

 conferred upon its author by the Lord 

 I/ieutennnt, is a futficicnt indication of 

 the credit of tiic work at Dublin. Its 



frofefl«d objeift is the illuftration of the 

 rilh charatttr ; inclu(ling an account of 

 the prefent ftate of fociety m the coun- 

 try, its poliiical economy, national man- 

 ners, public buildings, ftc. 



The fliorl defcriplion of Strafford upon 

 >\von, on the road to Holyhead, is per- 

 haps tjie moll charatteriftic Iketch in the 

 tir/l or prcllmiBary chapter. The fecond 

 opens with a defcription of the bay of 

 Dublin. In another portion of the work 

 wc find the author directing hi.'; attention 

 to the courfe of exchange, and the de- 

 plorable ftate of the Irifli coin. His 

 obfcrvalions on the latter defeive the 

 attention of the kgiflature. The de- 

 fcription of Dublin is long and circum- 

 ftantiai. 



The firft excurfion which Sir Joim Cam 

 made from the metropolis of Ireland 

 was into the county of Wjcklow ; in 

 which, after relating fuch particulars as 

 « traveller would mod dclire to know, he 

 fliewe, both by his pen and pencil, that 

 tlipy who enjoy the beauties of nature 

 vill iind the fcenery of this part of the 

 country richly worthy of their attention. 

 The peculiarities of charadter which mark 

 the Irifli gentleman are pourtrayed with 

 fidelity; as well as the condition and 

 cliara^terof the Irilh peafantry : the lat- 

 ter aided by a multitude of iiich anec- 

 dotes as belt difplay their native llweirvd- 

 nels. 



The fecond excurfion on wliich our 

 author adventured was from Dublin to 

 tiie Lakes of Rillaniey, proceeding by 

 the wav of Limerick, and returning by 

 that of Cork. The Bog of Allen he 

 points out as a fourcc of uncommon fur- 

 pri/e, curioiity, and amufcment. it re- 

 fembled, at a diltance, a vad brown lake, 

 and was once covered with the tineft 

 forell-trees, now buried under its dreaiv 

 furface. It croflcs feveral counties, and 

 contains 300,000 acres. How bogs of 

 tliis kind are produced, our author oL- 

 I'erves, is a fabjeCt which, like the attri- 

 butable caufe of mofl phenomena, is in- 

 volved in philofophical conjecture. Un- 

 derneath their furface, at a conliderable 

 depth, whole forcfts of proftrate trees, 

 ijiparently banit oii" t'rvia the root.s, are 



found, and the roots remain faft in the 



ground; and fo antifeptic is the nature 

 of the extraordinary mats \vhich covers 

 them, that the fined oaks, fir, and yew, 

 with all their branches, are condantly 

 dug up in fo pcrfett, or rather in fo im- 

 proved a condition, that they arc pre- 

 ferred to the wood of th^ fame fort of 

 trees felled by the woodman. Th.? par- 

 ticulars relatmg to thcfe bogs feem liighly 

 deferving of attention. 



The mod valuable, however, of the 

 remarks on this route relatt to the af- 

 femblage of the beauties of nature, 

 which are as grand here as any country 

 can boaft of. We Ihall quote a ihort 

 fpecimen from what relates to the Upper 

 Lake of Killarncy. 



" Gl(-naa, always the great object of 

 the Lakes, and whom Iliad never con- 

 templated before fo clofcly, notwithdand- 

 ing his fpoliation, rofe with uncommon 

 majedy before us: upon his rocky anti 

 indented Ihores, the fined arbutus, or 

 ftravvberry trees, were m berry and blof- 

 fom too ; whild its fouihern fide prefent- 

 ed a varied covering of the tops of oak, 

 alh, pine, birch-trees, and alder ; white 

 thorn yew, and holly, growing wild, and 

 blending their did'erent greens with great 

 luxuriance : here, a neat little cottage 

 peeped upon us from fonie unexpedfed 

 openings; there, the fmoke, curling abo\ c 

 the tree-tops, pciinted to its conceal- 

 ment; whild groupcs of grazing catlle 

 enlivened the whole. From a folid de- 

 tached rock, apparently without any foil, 

 we remarked a yew-tree growing. In 

 Ruliian Finland, I remember having fcen 

 feveral firs growing, without any vege- 

 table mould, upon tlie tops of matVcs iif 

 granite; they were fupported by long 

 fibrous roots which clafped the rock, 

 and which I was able to overturn with 

 eafe." 



To follow tke author minutely through 

 liis tour would be impoilible. His work 

 defcribes a date of fociety, not only in- 

 tereding, but unutual; and evinces that 

 with regard to the interior of Ireland 

 much is dill to be Icamt, both in a phv 

 fical, a moral, and a political point of 

 vieiv. We trud it will form an opening 

 to a more complete knowledge of the 

 country. Of the views which adorn it, 

 thole of the Upper Lake of Killarney, 

 and .the P-ntrance of the Durgle, are 

 perhaps the mod elegant. 



It is fufficient, probably, to fay of 

 " l^he Belgian Traveller; or a Tour 

 through Holland, France, and Switz- 

 criand, during the Years 1804 ana 1805, 



