300 DEPARTURE FIXED. 



" His misfortunes have given me more distress than any 

 thing that has ever hefallen myself personally. His attach- 

 ment to me is so devoted, that I cannot but have brotherly 

 feelings for this ill-starred fosterer. Although he would fol- 

 low me to the corners of the earth, if I required, he would 

 rather risk a trial than leave the country, which I have often 

 and earnestly entreated him to do." 



I offered here to take Hennessey under my protection to 

 England, but my kinsman shook his head. 



" It is a kind intention, Frank, but he would not leave 

 me. I am the last link that binds him to the world, and 

 while life lasts, we must run our wild career in the same 

 couples. Poor Hennessey ! there are worse men than he, 

 although misfortune has made him thrice a homicide.'* 



It was late : John brought oysters at the customary hour, 

 and soon after we separated for the night. 



CHAPTER XLII. 



My departure fixed Coast suited to an ornithologist Godsend An 

 ocean waif My last day Coursing Size of hares Fen-shooting 

 Kill a bittern Castle of Doona Fall of the tower Netting rabbits 

 Reflections Morning Passage through the Sound Hennessey De- 

 parture from the kingdom of Connaught. 



THE day of my departure from this wild retreat, where so 

 many months have happily passed over, is determined : 

 indeed, the season hardly admits a longer sojourn, and cir- 

 cumstances beyond my control require an immediate return to 

 England. My kinsman has made arrangements for passing 

 the genial season of Christmas, and the remainder of the 

 winter, with his relations in the interior ; and in the morning 

 fox-hunt and evening dance, the dullest months of gloomy 

 winter will merrily disappear. 



For me, were I not encumbered with a fortune, and " all 

 the ills that flesh is heir to" when one is afflicted with inde- 

 pendence, this place would suit me admirably. Though these 

 shores be wild, and weather savage, yet every day brings its 

 novelty along with it. The winter fisheries on the coast are 

 magnificent ; and birds, known only to a naturalist elsewhere, 



