Contraband Distillation of Whiskey. 2<5l 



turned to a good account. The bog furnishes 

 abundance of fuel, and the difficulty of access 

 enables them to brave the laws with impunity. 

 The manufacture of potcheene, or whiskey, made 

 in small stills, is here carried on to a consider- 

 able extent, and the produce is held in high 

 estimation. The trade, though lucrative, is, like 

 most other contraband pursuits, in the end not 

 often profitable. While the lottery has enriched 

 a few, it has impoverished and been the ruin of 

 thousands. The appearance of the cabins by 

 the side of the road, and the state of the 

 potatoe grounds, bespoke the absence of in- 

 dustry ; while the looks of the children, nearly 

 in a state of nakedness, left nothing to con- 

 jecture as to the extent of wretchedness in 

 which the parents existed. . I made some in- 

 quiries of a little boy, which he answered in 

 Gaelic ; this furnished me with a pretence for 

 following him home. His mother was employed 

 in the cabin, by attending to four other children. 

 In this miserable hut there was no division of 

 apartments ; the cattle occupied one end, the 

 family the other ; near the fire was a bed, 

 which apparently served for the repose of all 

 the human beings. I addressed some inquiries 

 to the woman, which she either could not, or 

 would not comprehend. Her husband's atten- 

 tion was seemingly directed to the cows and 

 6 



