17 



the want of change, and the tuber deteriorates from the 

 same cause. 



As this is a question of national importance, which 

 vitally att'ects the subsistence of the poorer people of Ireland, 

 something ought to be done to assist them in the matter. 

 Although the north-western section of Ireland, where I am 

 located, is exposed to the full fury of the Atlantic gales, and 

 catches every capful of rain which collects in that watery 

 waste, the climate here is much less trying to vegetation 

 than in England. Take last winter as a casef^in point. 

 The Siberian winter which visited England, and fi-oze our 

 water pipes six feet below the ground for three months, 

 never touched Ireland ! " There were one or two light frosts, 

 but nothing more," said m}^ host, when I asked how he got 

 over the winter of 1895. Amongst some of the resident 

 gentry in this part of Ireland cock fighting is still a com- 

 mon so-called sport. The police take no notice of the 

 matter ; the official classes, which constitute the bulk of the 

 residents '' who toil not, neither do they spin," being 

 apparent!}^ exempt from that rigorous enforcement of " law 

 and order." As some of these cock fighters are amongst 

 m\ personal friends, I feel constrained not to make full use 

 of the information in my possession. But this much I can 

 say, that cock fights for high stakes are common, and rhat 

 these fights are attended by large gatherings of magistrates, 

 officers, and Government officials. 



Of all the strange creatures that furnish food for man, 

 commend me to the salmon; and of all the uncertain, but 

 glorious, sports there is none that equals salmon fishing. 

 In spite of all the books and learned essays that have been 

 uTitten upon the subject of how to catch him Mr. " Salmo 

 Salar" is as difficult of capture and as full of whims and 

 caprices, which we cannot overcome, as he was before so 

 much ink and learning had been devoted to his destruction. 

 All their actions are governed by certain laws of nature 

 uhich have 3'et to be understood by man, but that which is 

 true of a salmon in one river will by no means be equally 

 true of a similar fish in another Hver. To illustrate my 

 irieaning I will explain what occurred here last Monday, 



