183 



with it is taken into account, measuring altogether hundreds of miles, 

 and when the natural character of a great proportion of these waters 

 is considered, the beds over which they flow being so well suited for 

 the reception of salmon ova, an estimate may be imagined of the 

 wealth which might be derived from them, if a care was bestowed upon 

 them adequate to their importance in a piscatory point of view. 



THE IRISH LAKES. Ireland possesses not only the largest river in 

 the British islands, but also the la.rgest inland sea, Lough Neagh. It 

 is fifteen miles in length, and twelve broad, and the area covered by 

 its waters are estimated at one hundred thousand acres. Its shores, 

 though destitute of the interest of scenery, are cultivated by an indus- 

 trious and intelligent people. 



The lakes of the Erne, in Fermanagh, are celebrated for their ro- 

 mantic scenery : the neighbouring Lough Melvin is well known for its 

 abundant supply of salmon and trout, and there are few districts in 

 Ireland which attract more visitors for the amusement of angling. 

 Those of Killarney are superior in every attraction to others in the 

 island. The wild mountainous Lough Corrib and Lough Mask, the 

 picturesque Lough Gill, and the minor loughs Conn and Culliri, are the 

 principal lakes of Connaught. Their extent, solitude, and stern scenery, 

 with the agreeable pleasures the country affords to a sportsman, will 

 certainly cause them to be more frequented than they now are. 



XIII. 

 ANGLING IN IRELAND. 



Although Angling does not enter into the catalogue of rural sports, 

 for the encouragement of which a distinguished politician used to say he 

 would willingly bring in one bill to make poaching felony, another to 

 encourage the breed of foxes, and a third to revive the decayed amuse- 

 ments of cock-fighting and bull-baiting that he would make, in short, 

 any sacrifice to the humours and prejudices of the country gentlemen, 

 in their most extravagant form, providing only he could prevail upon 

 them ' to dwell in their own houses, and be the patrons of their own 

 tenantry,' yet the earnest eloquence of Isaac Walton has ranked it 

 high in the list, as a peaceful and humanizing pastime. It also offers 

 a means by which the well-being of the Irish people may be advanced, 

 in promoting a happy intercourse between them and the higher classes 

 of their own and of the sister island, as well as in attracting visitors to 

 her romantic and inmost recesses, and in assisting to raise the prosperity 

 of one of her natural resources. 



To this adaptation of human enjoyments to subserve a good purpose 

 the benevolent mind of Sir Walter Scott was remarkably alive, and 

 those of statesmen have been frequently awake. It is to be found 

 gleaming through his beautiful compositions, and especially in that 

 from which the passage above is partly taken, his essay on Ornamental 

 plantations and gardening, in which the value of a taste for country 

 pursuits and pleasures is referred to, and Pope's celebrated apology 

 for profuse expenditure in buildings and grounds is quoted; 



Yet hence the poor are clothed, the hungry fed, 

 Health to himself, and to his children bread, 

 The labourer bears. 



