THEIR HEIGHT, FORM, AND STRENGTH. 149 



' spare diet,' as he calls the Connacht harvesters. I 

 have looked at them in their native places, at the 

 Broadstone Station, along the streets and quays, 

 and in the ships which take them over to England. 

 From niy careful observation, I judged that the 

 mean height of the full-grown labourers of Mayo, 

 Sligo, and Leitrim is over 67 inches." 



As soon as I saw the statement of the Dublin 

 University Magazine I went to the late Sir John 

 Lentaigne, Inspector of Prisons, who knew Ireland 

 well. He said it was a gross misrepresentation, and 

 asked me to go with him to Mr. Burke, Under 

 Secretary for Ireland, a Connaoht man, with whom 

 he had an appointment. Mr. Burke, whom we met 

 at his house in Westland Row, said the whole thing 

 was absurd ; he laughed at the words which I read 

 to him, or at me, I did not know which.* Then I 

 went to Sir William Wilde, who lived close by in 

 Merrion Square, and who had written much on 

 Irish ethnography. He said : " Johnny Gray (Sir 

 J. Gray) and I are from that part of the world; 

 he is from Claremorris (Mayo), and I am from 

 Castlereagh. Ask Gray, and ask the Eagle of the 

 Fdg an bealachs ; I tell you what, the Mayo men 

 are so far from being a degraded race, that you 



* This Mr. Burke and Lord Frederick Cavendish were 

 murdered in the Pha-nix Park. 



