ANECDOTE OF AN ENGLISHMAN. 



" desperate pirates," but for our seasonable rescue. My 

 cousin smiled. " The conduct of tbe drunken scoundrels," 

 he said, " was unpardonable ; but he doubted whether they 

 harboured those nefarious designs. Strangers were frequently 

 led away by appearances, and it was no uncommon thing foi 

 travellers to suffer unnecessary alarm from groundless causes." 

 And he related an anecdote of a gentleman being put in fear 

 and terror, in a neighbouring county, by mistaking a fish for 

 a weapon. 



" Soon after the rebellion of Ninety-eight, an English 

 merchant was necessitated, by urgent business, to visit the 

 kingdom of Connaught. Having provided himself with a 

 servant, who professed an acquaintance with the language 

 of the country, he made his will, and took a place in the 



Westport mail. He reached the post-town of in safety, 



and from it proceeded to cross that wild and picturesque 

 mountain- chain which bounds the beautiful shores of Lough 

 Corrib. 



"It was late in autumn: the weather had been wet, and 

 owing to the difficulty of the bridle-roads, the traveller was 

 benighted some miles' distance from the house that he had 

 calculated upon reaching. Unable to proceed farther, he 

 reluctantly took up his quarters at a shebeine-house. It was 

 but a sorry caravansera but nothing could surpass the ap- 

 parent kindness of the family. Supper was prepared; the 

 best bed was sheeted, and when the belated stranger had 

 sufficiently refreshed himself, he was conducted to an inner 

 room, where, at his own request, the servant was also accom- 

 modated with a pallet. 



" Yet, notwithstanding the marked civility of the family, 

 the stranger could not overcome a secret apprehension of 

 impending danger. It was a wild place a wilder family ; he 

 feared that treachery lurked underneath this studied kindness ; 

 and, as he tossed upon his restless bed, he listened with 

 painful anxiety to every sound. Midnight came ; the outer 

 door was opened cautiously several men entered the kitchen 

 with stealthy pace they conversed in their native language, 

 his name was mentioned, and himself was beyond doubt the 

 subject of this nocturnal conversazione. Crawling in an agony 

 of apprehension to the pallet where his attendant lay, he 

 awoke the sleeper, intimated his suspicions in a whisper, and 



