IRELAND. 



381 



The most elevated mountains of Ireland rise in the county of Xerry, but are 

 inferior in height to the giants of Scotland, and even to Snowdon of "Wales. 

 They form parallel chains running in the same direction as the deep and 

 narrow bays which penetrate that part of Ireland, and consist of old red sand- 

 stone, whilst the valleys which open upon the sea are scooped out of the carboni- 

 ferous formation. It can hardly be doubted that the whole of this region, 

 mountains and all, was formerly occupied by the formation which we now 



Fig. 191. — The Lakes of Killakney. 

 Scale 1 : 130,000. 





VV.of G. 



'3" 3o 



2 Miles. 



see in the valleys, but through the action of ice and other causes which still 

 sculpture the face of the land all salient points have been planed off. Moraines 

 and polished rocks at the foot of the mountains bear witness to the existence of 

 glaciers, and the delightful Lakes of Killarney, which contribute so much towards 

 the beauty of the country, occupy the bed of one of these moving rivers of ice. 

 The beauty of these lakes and of the surrounding hills attracts crowds of tourists, 

 but the solitary rambler may derive greater pleasure from exploring the western 

 slopes of the mountains. There he looks down, on the one hand, upon pro- 



