AN IBISH EXCUKSION 33 



A few more passages may be quoted. 



Galway is a horrible town with 30,000 inhabitants, 

 filthy in the extreme, without a single good building in it ; 

 the whole neighbourhood is limestone, and the fields are 

 all covered with large stones which are turned into walls 

 of the worst description. 



Thursday, botanised about Cliffden, rained tremendously 

 all day ; went to Mr. D'Arley's at Cliffden Castle. Mr. D. 

 is a very nice gentleman, hospitable in the extreme, who 

 regretted his inability to take in our party of 12. He is 

 tremendously in debt, but no creditor can go to the expense 

 of arresting him, for the Connemara boys, with whom he 

 is a great favorite, will allow no such intruder near Cliffden 

 Castle. The last person who tried was an Innkeeper here, 

 but the inhabitants, guessing his intention, would not let 

 his servant enter the village, but beat him unmercifully 

 and sent him off. The police force were collected, who took 

 them, and the malefactors are now lying in Galway jail for 

 the next assizes. 



True to his careful upbringing, he is ever punctilious in 

 recording his Sunday observances. 



[At Galway] we went to Church twice, and I once to 

 the Koman Catholic chapel besides, with which I was much 

 disgusted ; the gallery was well filled with respectable 

 persons, but the body of the Church was crammed with 

 inattentive hearers covered with rags or nearly naked. 

 The English services were good, but the congregations 

 wretched. [Next week, at Killery] for some reason or 

 other no service was performed, nor was there a Church 

 nearer than 20 miles. 



It was not a very profitable excursion in its results, albeit 

 he is most careful in his expenditure. 



I have regretted the expense, just 10, extremely, as 

 except getting a good stock of the above-mentioned plants, 

 nothing has been done but making as many sketches as I 

 could by waiting behind the party ; these I have had no 

 time to finish at all. Of plants I have about 3000 specimens, 

 as far as I can count, all dried as well as I could ; this I say 



