136 Bogs furnish Food as well as Fuel. 



A great difference is perceptible in the soil, 

 cultivation, and cabins of Antrim, when com- 

 pared with the county of Down. The banks of 

 the Bann, or White River, passing as it does 

 through a great extent of bog, have little to at- 

 tract the attention in point of beauty. 



Nothing can be more erroneous than the idea 

 commonly entertained of an Irish bog by those 

 who are unacquainted with the country. Bogs 

 furnish not only fuel but food ; a great propor- 

 tion of most of them is capable of cultivation* 

 and of bearing very tolerable crops of grain. 

 The most enviable site for a cabin is by the side 

 of a highway adjoining to a bog. Cabins are 

 found to extend along the roads for miles toge- 

 ther when contiguous to a bog whence with 

 less labor a supply of fuel may be obtained, by 

 the cottiers, who have thus an opportunity of 

 cultivating, at little expense, a part of them, 

 and also of extending their efforts in the same 

 way ; a disposition which seems to be an inhe- 

 ritance, and to increase as it descends from 

 father to son. Little doubt can be entertained 

 that by these means, in process of time, the 

 whole may be reclaimed ; and when that shall 

 be effected it is difficult to conjecture what will 

 become of so redundant a population. Ireland 



