382 



TUE imiTISII ISLES. 



montories, islands, and the open Atlantic, whilst on the other the view embraces 

 verdant valleys, foaming torrents, and mountain-tops, streaked black with peat, 

 or dyed white, yellow, or green by mosses. The contrasts of light and shade 

 presented by the mountains enclosing Dingle Bay, Kenmare Eiver, or Bantry 

 Bay are rendered all the more striking through the varied tints of the rocks. 

 Few landscapes in Ireland can compare with the valley of GlengariflP, on the 

 shore of Bantry Bay, for magnificence of contours, wealth of vegetation, or the 

 wild grace exhibited in every feature of the ground..* 



The mountains of Kerry culminate in Carrantuohill (3,414 feet), in the 

 Macgillicuddy Reeks. In the east they sink down into higlilands, upon which 

 rise at intervals a few hills. The river Black water runs along the northern 

 foot of these hills until it abruptly turns to the south, and finds its way through 

 a breach into Youghal Harbour. The hills which rise to the north of the 



Fig. 192. — The Wicklow Mountains. 



Blackwater are of considerable elevation, and really mountainous in appearance. 

 They include the Knockmealdo wn (2,609 feet) and Comeragh Mountains (2,476 

 feet). Farther north, and almost insulated, rises the pyramidal mass of the Galty- 

 more (3,015 feet), with small black lakes almost choked with sedge in its recesses. 

 The various groups of hills on both banks of the Middle Shannon are likewise 

 ranged along axes running from west to east, and this parallelism in the arrange- 

 ment of the mountains of South-western Ireland must evidently be traced to a general 

 cause acting over a wide area. Slieve Bernagh (1,746 feet) and Slieve Aughty 

 rise to the west of the Shannon ; the Silvermine Mountains, culminating in Keeper 

 Hill (2,278 feet), Slieve Felim, and the Devil's-bit Mountain (1,586 feet) rise to the 

 east; w^hilst Slieve Bloom (1,733 feet) occupies the most central position of the 

 Irish hills. 



The mountains of Wicklow do not, like those of Munster, include several 

 distinct groups or ranges. They are of compact structure, and only on the south 



* Thackeray, "Irish Sketch-Book." 



