Entrance into Macroom. 433 



and, as we reached a lower level, the valley 

 became richer in soil, and better attended to in 

 point of cultivation. Many of the cabins had 

 gardens attached to them, and the children were 

 employed in gathering from the road the fallen 

 manure ; an indication of industry we had not 

 before seen, and which evidently bespoke a de- 

 sire for improvement. 



The general state of things seemed to be im- 

 proving on us : a great many neat cottages were 

 observed at the entrance of the town j and, being 

 market-day, numbers of people, decently dressed, 

 were met on their return home. 



Macroom is a place of some extent, and very 

 tolerably built. It was late before we arrived : 

 yet numbersof persons were still in the town, and 

 the business of the market did not seem to be 

 finished. As we entered we were shocked at 

 the sight of several miserable objects, who were 

 planted in different parts of the streets, inter- 

 cepting our progress and presenting a most 

 melancholy picture of the poverty under which 

 the lower classes existed. One beggar pn the 

 bridge had provided himself with a large bundle 

 of fern, to protect him against the influence of 

 the wind, which was very turbulent in that 

 situation : the trade is well understood in Ire- 



VOL. i. 2 F 



