305 



LETTER XXV. 



Belleek, Sept. 4, 1813. 



THE soil and its cultivation undergo a great 

 change for the worse on quitting Sligo. Indeed 

 the whole of the country we have traversed 

 from Deny, with some few exceptions, has 

 been considered by us as of inferior quality in 

 point of surface ; little wheat being grown ex- 

 cept in the neighbourhood of Bally Shannon. 

 At Ballysedere there is a very romantic water- 

 fall, and above it the remains of a monastery. 

 We travelled some miles by the side of Knock- 

 naree, a mountain of considerable height and 

 extensive base. There are in this country 

 numerous cairns, and the remains also of what 

 seem to have been places of defence. 



After travelling six miles we approached 

 within a short distance of the sea, and con- 

 tinued to have it in our view along the coast 

 for more than twenty miles. The herring fishery 

 had commenced, which diffused a general joy 

 throughout the country ; we met people carry -^ 

 ing these fish in creels in every direction. A 

 failure in the potatoe crop, and the high price 



VOL. i. x 



