1878] Last visit to Roundstone. 271 



Natural History " which he delivered to a Eoundstone 

 audience on the 3rd of October, and which, he records, 

 brought 15^. <\d. "door-money" (given to the poor of 

 Roundstone). On his return to Glasnevin he found him- 

 self seriously ill, and so ended the last of his visits to 

 Roundstone. His interest in the locality never faded, 

 and his opinion of it was probably not far different from 

 that which had been communicated to him by Mr. Evans 

 in 1855: "Roundstone is the nicest place in Ireland. " 

 Amongst the inhabitants of Roundstone with whom he 

 maintained a correspondence was the boatman, Thomas 

 Mongan, who had gone with him on most of his seal- 

 hunting excursions, and participated in the triumph over 

 " Rone-More Thorang." The hope of yet obtaining an 

 Irish Harp Seal perhaps contributed one of the many 

 chords which bound him to the favourite Connemara 

 hamlet. But a cause which he could not control pre- 

 vented his seeing Roundstone again. 



