IRISH RIVERS. 151 



or, as they are called in Ireland, grauk; and 

 this was in a very bad season for salmon fish- 

 ing. The Bann, near Coleraine, abounds in 

 salmon : but in this river, except in close time, 

 when it is unlawful to fish there, there are few 

 good casts. In the Bush, a small river about 

 seven miles to the east of the Bann, there is 

 admirable salmon fishing, always after great 

 floods ; but in fine and dry weather it is of 

 little use to try. I have hooked twenty fish 

 in a day, after the first August floods, in this 

 river ; and, should sport fail, the celebrated 

 Giant's Cause way is with in a mile of its mouth, 

 and furnishes to the lovers of natural beauty, 

 or of geological research, almost inexhaustible 

 sources of interest. The Blackwater, at Lis- 

 more, is a very good salmon river : and the 

 Shannon, above Limerick and at Castle Connel, 

 whenever the water is tolerably high, offers 

 many good casts to the fly fisher ; but they 

 can only be commanded by boats. But there 

 is no considerable river along the northern 

 or western coast, with the exception of the 

 Avoca, which has been spoiled by the copper 

 mines, that does not afford salmon, and, if 

 L 4 



