390 THE BRITISH ISLES. 



mineralisation, and the peat found here and there almost resembles lignite. They 

 contain also the trunks of trees, known as bog-wood or black oak, from their 

 ebony colour, which is due to an impregnation with iron. Some of these trunks 

 dug up from the peat bogs have become so flexible in the course of their long 

 immersion that they can be cut into straps and twisted into ropes. Formerly the 

 peasants wove them into coarse nets, upon which they suspended their beds. 

 Mr. Kinahan is of opinion that, to judge from the layer of bog which covered 

 them, the trunks of oak dug iip at Castleconnell, near the Shannon, must have 

 been buried at least fifteen hundred years. 



The red bogs, owing to their position on the hillsides, are far less humid than 

 the black ones, and for the most part clothed with patches of heath. Most of the 

 mountains of Ireland are covered with bog from the foot to the summit ; even 

 rocky precipices have every vantage-point occupied by patches of bright bog, 

 presenting the appearance of hanging gardens. We may wander for days through 

 the hills ^'ithout ever quitting these red bogs, now and then alternating w^ith 

 quagmires. In several counties the hills seem to rise like islands above the vast 

 expanse of black bog surrounding them. The peasants say that the wanderer 

 in these deserts may chance to pick up a " hunger herb," in which case he runs a 

 great risk of dying of exhaustion ; but they ascribe to the influence of a mysterious 

 plant what in their state of poverty may often happen from sheer Avant. 



The bogs and lakes scattered broadcast over the country store up an immense 

 quantity of water ; but so considerable is the amount of rain that they are 

 able to feed numerous rivers in addition. The water of many of these rivers 

 is stained black with particles of humus ; and several amongst them, including 

 that which enters Youghal Harbour on the south coast, are known as " Black- 

 water." Indeed, the rivers of Ireland might be classified into white and black, 

 as are those of the basin of the Amazonas, according to whether their waters 

 contain tannin or not. All those which have a long course through bogs are of a 

 darkish hue, but several purify themselves in their passage through large lakes. 



The streams which traverse the great limestone plain resemble chains of lakes 

 rather than rivers. The normal rivers of Ireland, those which have filled up the 

 ancient lake basins of their valleys, rise at a considerable elevation, and slope 

 down rapidly and regularly to their mouth. Amongst such is the Barrow, which, 

 after its junction with the Nore and Suir, falls into Waterford Harbour. Such 

 also are the Lee and Blackwater in the south, the Slaney and Lifley in the east. 

 Even the Boyne, though rising in a region of swamps, has drained the ancient 

 lakes which formerly occupied its basin. The Foyle, in the north, is also one of 

 the rivers whose regimen has become regulated, whilst the Bann only traverses a 

 single lake, Lough Neagh. Very striking is the contrast between rivers such as 

 these, and those which traverse the plain, sluggishly wandering from lake to lake. 

 Among these latter are the rivers that drain the lakes of Connaught — the Erne, 

 which is a lake-like expansion for the greater part of its course, and the Shannon, 

 the most considerable river of all Ireland. 



The Owenmore, which drains the valley lying between Cuilcagh on the north 



