NATURE AND SPORT IN BRITAIN 



a patient ass, its two deep wicker creels, or panniers, 

 laden to an impossible height with turf sods, behind 

 which is usually perched a ragged, barefooted boy or 

 girl. The turf sods, dug out of the wild bogland with 

 so much toil, represent, of course, winter firing and 

 winter comfort in the humble Mayo cabin. These way- 

 farers and a bird or two, a heron, or, as an Irishman 

 would call him, a ''crane," cleaving his majestic flight 

 against the yellow sky, or a skein of duck, or a sand- 

 piper, are the only occupants of the quiet waste. Near- 

 ing home, we cast a final glance backward towards the 

 lone, majestic mountains, amid which our lake is set. 

 Beautiful Beltra, ever fair to the eye and memory, even 

 among the romantic scenery of wild Mayo, how pleasant 

 are the days passed amid your peerless solitudes and in 

 pursuit of your excellent sporting fish ! 



lOO 



