SCENERY OF KILLARNEY. 101 



liar feature. That tree grows here naturally in great 

 profusion and luxuriance, and this is said to be the 

 only place north of the Alps where it is found indi- 

 genous. The yew and the holly, with the arbutus, 

 make a perpetual verdure in this drive. It runs along 

 a peninsula, dividing Muckross from the Lower Lake 

 of Killarney ; and every now and then skirting their 

 banks, it affords views of the majestic mountains which 

 overhang them. From the bridge over the stream which 

 connects the two lakes, the prospect is most beautiful. The 

 fine mountain Glena on the right, rising abruptly from 

 the lake, with oak and evergreens fringing its base, and 

 the feathery larch and fir stretching far up its rugged 

 sides • and on the left the brown Tore, w T ooded from 

 the lake nearly to its summit ; while immediately 

 beneath, the waters of both lakes are rippling on their 

 shores — all form a scene which one is unwilling to leave. 

 Crossing the bridge, and riding onwards, a neat cottage 

 is seen, where tourists are allowed to enter and eat their 

 repast. Landing-places from both lakes are near it. 

 But I must not pause on the picturesque, for pages 

 might be written without conveying more than a notion 

 of the varied beauty which everywhere greets the eye. 

 Wooded mountains, lakes, and islands, glens and water- 

 falls, the shooting of the " rapids " through the arch of 

 the ancient bridge, the quiet bays and winding shores, 

 must all be visited to be understood. 



Next morning we rowed from Muckross to the west- 

 ern extremity of the lower lake, a distance of eight 

 miles, passing on our left a continuous wood stretching 

 from the lake far up the glens and sides of the moun- 



