4 SOIL ANB CLIMATE. 



bogs, I (hall have occafion to fpeak more particularly here- 

 after. 



The rockynefs of the foil in Ireland is fo univerfal, that it 

 predominates in every fort. One cannot ufe with propriety, 

 the terms clay, loam, fand, &c. it mod be a ftoney clay, a 

 jloney loam, a gravelly fand. Clay, efpecially the yellow, is 

 much talked of in Ireland, but it is for want of proper difcri- 

 mination. I have once or twice feen almoft a pure clay upon 

 the furface, but it is extremely rare. The true yellow clay, 

 is ufually found in a thin ftratum under the furface mould, and 

 over a rock ; harm, tenacious, ftoney, ftrong loams, difficult 

 to work, are not uncommon j but they are quite different from 

 Ehglifh clays. 



Friable fandy loams dry, but fertile, are very common, and 

 they form the beft foils in the kingdom, for tillage and fheep. 

 Tipperary, and Rofcommon, aboiand particularly in them, 

 The moft fertile of all, are the bullock paftures of Limerick, 

 and the banks of the Shannon in Clare, called the Corcaffes, 

 Thefe are a mellow, putrid, friable loam. 



Sand, which is fo common in England, and yet more com- 

 mon through Spain, France, Germany, and Poland, quite 

 from Gibraltar to Peterlburgh, is no where met with in Ireland, 

 except for narrow flips of hillocks, upon the fea coaft. Nor 

 did I ever meet with, or hear of a chalky foil. 



The bogs of which foreigners have heard fo much, are very 

 extenfive in Ireland ; thaj..of Allen extends 80 miles, and is 

 computed to contain 306,000 acres. There are others alfo, 

 \ery extenfive, and fmaller ones fcatrered over the whole 

 kingdom j but thefe are not in general more thati are wanted 

 for fuel. When I come to fpeak of the improvement of wafte 

 lands, I fhall defcribe them particularly. 



Befides the great fertility of the foil, there are other cir- 

 Curaftances, which come within my fphere to mention. Few 

 countries can be better watered, by large and beautiful rivers ; 

 and it is remarkable, that by much the finell parts of the king- 

 dom, are on the banks of thete rivers. Witnefs the Suer, 

 Blackwater, iheLiffy, the Boyne, the More, the Barrow, and 

 part of the Shannon, they wafh a fcenery that can hardly be 

 exceeded. From the rockynefs of the country however, there 

 are few of them that have not obstructions, which are great 

 impediments to inland navigation. 



The mountains of Ireland, give to travelling, that intereft- 

 ing variety, which a flat country can never abound with. And 

 at the fame time, they are not in fuch number as to confer the 

 ufual character of poverty, which attends them. I was either 

 upon or very near the moft confiderable in the kingdom. Man- 

 gerton, and the Reeks, in Kerry ; the Galties in Corke $ thofe 

 of Mourne in Down; Crow Patrick and Nephin in Mayo ; tbefe 

 are the principal in Ireland, and they are of a character, in 

 height aud fublimiry, which fhould render them the objects of 

 every traveller's attention. 



Relative 



