26 A YEAil OF LTiBEETY; OE, 



well pleased to have spent this our last day on the Blackstones ; 

 but it cannot be, as the sporting rights are reserved. In such cases 

 I never give leave, except to an old friend ; so, of course, never ask it. 



A walk through Glen Carra, however, may not unprofitably occupy 

 the time, for it possesses the gifts of grouse ; spring and summer 

 salmon ; and for cocks, the covers of Lickeen are second to none in 

 the kingdom. Situated in an extensive basin, the moors rise gradually 

 to the summit of the mountains. On all sides the heather stretches 

 for leagues, and were it not for the " big house," with a few scattered 

 cabins near the bridge, the region might pass for a wilderness. 

 Fancy a bright morning in February ; the dead leaves filling the air 

 with their odours as they crackle under your feet ; the oak and holly 

 scrub full of cocks, and many a bright-eyed salmon waiting your 

 commands in the rocky pools of the Blackstones. I think we should 

 then deem Lickeen sufficiently charming. 



At no great distance up the valley lies an extensive lake, which a 

 friend (one of the most accomplished sportsmen in the kingdom) 

 assured me holds noble red trout. It had been the chief object of 

 my walk to visit this water, but the time failed me. Hitherto it has, 

 I believe, been very little fished, as the situation is so remote. I think 

 Captain D told me, no boat but his own had ever floated on it. 



Were I to become skipper of a curragh and master of a tent, I 

 should like to launch the one and pitch the other on the shores of this 

 solitary lake. 



All the surrounding waters contain red trout, and here, doubtless, 

 undisturbed for centuries, they have reached a good old age, and 

 attained the maximum of size and dignity. 



