THE IRISH PEOPLE. 



and feet are so small that they would excite the 

 envy of Andalusian women. The men are also very 

 remarkable ; they have handsome and strongly- 

 marked features, eyes from which dart passionate 

 and intelligent glances ; they are for the most part 

 athletic and slender in build, and of noble bearing 

 (cavalierement tournes). They dress in quite 

 Castilian fashion in their long patched carricks, 

 and wear their hats over one ear. The peasants of 

 the County of Mayo, and of Connacht generally, 

 are handsome and strong, their features are well- 

 defined (accentues), their looks proud and piercing, 

 their whole bearing indicates vivacity and energy. 

 It is in this out-of-the-way region that the artist 

 will discover the purest types of the native race. 

 The women have large almond-shaped eyes, aquiline 

 noses, brown hair, which falls in waves over their 

 strong shoulders. Those Irish women of the West 

 have quite the Spanish cut of features, and, at the 

 same time, the colour of a whiteness and trans- 

 parency as delicate as that of English women, or of 

 the other daughters of the North. In spite of their 

 misery, which is only too evident, these women 

 have in their attitude, in their gestures, in their 

 gait, something noble and striking ; all their move- 

 ments are stamped with a graceful distinction which 

 seems inborn. More than once I have been struck 



