SECRETARY'S REPORT. 289* 



dealers to buy them among the mountains, where they are to be 

 had at from four to five pounds, or twenty to twenty-five dollars, 

 take them down into the lowlands around Killarney, feed them 

 up into condition, and turn them at fancy prices. They have 

 the reputation here of being good milkers, many of them giving 

 twelve quarts a day for eight months after calving. They are a 

 hardy and useful animal, well adapted to the wants of the small 

 cottager in this section. 



One of the stout oarsmen who set us over the lakes of Kil- 

 larney, in this county of Kerry, after telling a doleful tale of the 

 hardships of the people of that lovely section, with little chance 

 to earn even the small pittance of a shilling a day, closed 

 pathetically by saying, — 



" An' shure, yer honor, an' wouldn't we like to row you to 

 Ameriky ? " 



A bugler acted as our cicerone, carrying his sweet-toned 



horn to show us the wonderful echoes of various parts of the 



lakes, — 



♦ 



" Where the echoes hung b.ack from their full mountain choir, , 

 As if loth to let song so enchanting expire ; 

 It seemed as if ev'ry sweet note that died here 

 "Was again brought to life in some airier sphere ; 

 Some heaven in those hills, where the soul of the strain 

 That had ceased upon earth was awaking again." 



This poetic bugler, after saying that America had given a home, 

 employment and bread to thousands of his countrymen, wound 

 up with the assurance that " The Irish never forget ! " 



Muck'ross Abbey, near the shore of the middle lake, is one of 

 the most interesting of the ruins of this far-famed locality. Its 

 lofty and graceful cloisters, overgrown with ivy and buried in 

 a rich mantle of green foliage, are as beautiful as if they had 

 been designed as the most perfect picture that could be 

 imagined. In the very midst of this crumbling and picturesque 

 ruin rises a gigantic yew tree, thirteen feet in circumference, 

 whose stout arms actually support some parts of the massive 

 walls. In this ancient abbey the nobility were buried, and the 

 tombs of the O'Donoghues, the O'SuUivans, and the McCarthy 

 Mor, are still well preserved, and green with creeping foliage. 

 This ruin is still a place of burial, and has been occupied as 

 such from time immemorial. Through the Muckross domain 



37* 



