SALMON ANOLINO IN IBELAND. 229 



peculiar and uniform flavour not much prized by Saxon palates ; in 

 fact, the food, animal and vegetable, had been converted into conso- 

 lidated peat smoke. To feel thankful for the kind intentions. of the 

 ladies was easy ; to eat was impossible. How grateful I was to the 

 miserable cur that at this moment rubbed his nose against my 

 knees ; in secret I blessed him as my deliverer from a gi-eat diffi- 

 culty. I was expected to consume certain viands, not a morsel of 

 which could be swallowed. My unexpected ally was less nice. Slily, 

 pieces of fish and fowl were slipped into my lap, and as slily con- 

 sumed. The corpulence attained by that dog during my stay was 

 regarded as quite miraculous. 



The phantom dinner at length came to an end, and then Pat 

 pointed to the spoils of the morning. Two salmon of 121b. and 

 81b. held the post of honour, then came Mr. M'Hale's great trout, 

 then a brace, whose united merits were good for ten pounds ; next 

 figured the rank and file, in number about twenty-four, of all sizes, 

 from 31b. to ^Ib. I felt as though I had fared sumptuously. Down 

 fell the heavy rain, making sweet music as it dropped unceasingly 

 from the eaves. One by one the guests departed; gradually the 

 household stole off to mysterious holes and comers. Presently a 

 chorus of snores mingled with the sounds of the mountain stonn, 

 yet there sat your scribe polishing off a batch of flies, by the light 

 of a couple of home-made rushlights, dreaming pleasant waking 

 dreams of what the mon'ow would bring forth. During the 

 remainder of our stay there was rain more or less each night, the 

 sport being proportioned to the amount of water. At the end of the 

 week the weather cleared up and sent us back to Newport, to haimt 

 the Beltra and Burrishoole. 



In this and the previous chapter Pat M'Hale has figured as my 

 host. Kind and gentle spirit, I have called you from your bloody 

 shroud in memory of many long-passed happy hours spent in your 

 company. Had not some cowardly murderer's bullet sent you to an 

 untimely grave, you would have been my comrade as you once were. 

 Doubtless you inhabit realms brighter even than the heathery slopes 

 of Tyrena on a cloudless September noon. Pardon me that I have 



