SALMON ANGLING IN lEELAND. 209 



tinguished this summer ; still, we fished with great perseverance, 

 always remaining on the lake whenever a chance existed, and stroll- 

 ing over the noble mountains on impracticable days. Our subsequent 

 spoi-t never came up to. or even near, that first recorded ; but we 

 generally got a salmon, sometimes two, with more or less trout, and 

 on the whole were abundantly satisfied with our doings in this very 

 exceptional season. That Kylemore is an excellent station from July 

 to October, there can be no doubt. "We must not say, " better 

 cannot be found ;" still, let there be the amount of wind and clouds 

 usual in ordinary years, and we maintain that few anglers will leave 

 this wild lake dissatisfied with their entertainment. As the car bore 

 us along its shores on the afternoon of our departure, I felt no small 

 regret at leaving a place where I had been so happy. With what 

 wonderful minuteness memory traced out every spot where victory 

 smiled or disaster attended me. I remember them now with 

 perfect exactness, and fancy that when they are forgotten there 

 will be few things I shall be able to recall at will. 



The sun was sinking behind the mountains of Murrisk as we drove 

 up to the snug and unpretending hospitium at Leenane, near the 

 head of the Killeries. This beautiful inlet, of which so much has 

 been written, is a narrow and deep fiord running far inland, and 

 bounded on either side through its whole length by a lofty range, 

 as wild and picturesque as any to be found in the island. It is 

 nearly a mile in width, and though the hills rise sheer from the 

 water's edge, yet they fall off here and there, and discover wild 

 glens, savage ravines, and many a more distant peak beyond. On 

 the north-west bank lies Delphi, hid in the wilderness of Munisk, 

 not only the most secluded corner of Mayo, but probably the most 

 sequestered district in the three kingdoms, for the tourist rarely 

 invades it, and the wandering angler could find no accommodation 

 there. Everybody has heard of Delphi as an admirable station ; but, 

 like the Costello, few except the lessees know anything about it. 

 Several times in passing Leenane I vowed to cross the harbour and 

 view this mysterious elysium piscatorum, but something always 

 occurred to prevent the fulfilment of the vow, and when at length 



P 



