60 THE HOMICIDE. 



who formed the crew, not one escaped without receiving a fair 

 proportion of the charge. They put about instantly, and for 

 a fortnigh\afterwards, a country quack had full employment 

 in extrac^dtfg my double B. I sent a message to their master, 

 for which" he Benched me ; and it cost me a cool hundred before 

 I got clear of the Honourable Justices. * A plague upon all 

 cowards !' as honest Jack says." 



" But, Julius, who was that wild and melancholy man to 

 whose guidance you entrusted me in the island ?" 



" Oh, Hennessy, my foster-brother ! Poor fellow, he has 

 been rather unlucky !" 



" Unlucky ?" 



"Why, yes he hit a fellow a little too hard, and finished 

 him. He is keeping close until the assizes are over, and then 

 he will have time to settle with the friends. It would 

 not signify a farthing, had he not been in two or three scrapes 

 before." 



" Has he been always riotous ?" 



<c Oh, no, quite the contrary. When sober, he is the 

 civilest creature on earth. No, poor fellow ! they were only 

 two homicides, and an abduction." 



" And do you countenance and shelter such a character ?" 



" What ! abandon my own foster-brother for an accident or 

 two ? Pshaw, Frank, you jest. I'll tell you the particulars 

 another time." 



It was late, and we separated. 



CHAPTER XII. 



Angling Fish found in Mayo Peasantry Their mode of fishing The, 

 Pooka Description and use Pike and trout Their size Perch- 

 Their fecundity Trout destroyed Greater lakes described Sub-i 

 terraneous communication between them Lesser lakes Their fish- 

 Lake of Derreens Its trout extinct Lake of Castlebar. 



IN a country whose surface is covered with numerous 

 and extensive sheets of water like Mayo, it may be con- 

 sidered that the angler will find ample occupation. Inde- 

 pendently of salmon and trout fishing, to those who wiU 

 employ themselves in killing pike and perch, the lakes and 



