XIV INTRODUCTION. 



minister to the wants of the modern traveller. The 

 ragged and somewhat irresponsible bands of personal 

 retainers have dwindled down to harmless necessary 

 gillies and guides. Produce, such as it is, can find a 

 market, and barley and oats not needed for home con- 

 sumption are no longer destined to the illicit still. The 

 wild red deer is long ago extinct, and the most industrious 

 trapper would fail to make a living now-a-days out 

 of killing otters ; but seals are numerous, salmon leap 

 their way upwards from the sea, and the eagle may 

 reward the vigilance of the tourist, The same great 

 Atlantic billows thunder against the same stupendous 

 cliffs. Mountain, lake and river are unchanged. 



The author is fond of introducing legends and anec- 

 dotes. Among the latter, the story of " The Man Who 

 Would Not Do For Galway " is a fine example of the 

 kind of Irish anecdote which remained very popular 

 for many a year afterwards ; and the account of Mr. 

 Dawkins, of Toole Castle, and how he was eaten up 

 by the sporting friends of his wife, and finally ruined 

 in mind and estate, is a convincing instance of that 

 riotous extravagance both of narrative and of life in 

 which writers upon Ireland of the period delighted. 

 Much more real and quite beautiful in its way is the 

 account of the death of Antony, the otter-killer. In 

 fact, this old peasant, so full of unselfish affection, so 

 wise in the lore of the mountains, the rivers and the 

 lakes, and so skilful in his craft, is the one real portrait 

 that stands out in the book. His simple devotion to 



