Browne — Ethnography of the Mullet^ Inishkea, Sf Portacloy. 589 



extreme north point of the peninsula. Off this part of the coast lies 

 Eagle Island, high and rocky in coast and surface, and a lighthouse- 

 station. From Frenchport (or rather Annagh Head, its southern 

 boundary) southward, the coast is sandy beach, shingle, and low 

 rocks, and is backed to a large extent by rolling ranges of sandhills. 

 Off this part of the coast lie Iniskea and Duvillaun, having a sandy 

 or rocky shore, and a surface of no great elevation. The eastern shore 

 along Blacksod Bay and Broadhaven is sheltered and low. 



The surface of the Mullet does not reach any very great eleva- 

 tion, the highest point in the northern part being 410 feet above sea 

 level, and the rounded granite hill of Tarmon, in the extreme south, 

 369 feet. It is much diversified, a good deal -of it being fertile land, 

 especially on the east side, but in the north part there is a good deal 

 of bog and moor, and in the south and west rolling sandhills barely 

 held in check by bent. In some of the narrower portions a fertile 

 belt lies between two sandy ones. 



The district of Portacloy is a wild mountainous region, with a coast 

 of precipitous cliffs of great height, and riddled with caves. Benwee 

 Head, which rises above the sea to the height of 1000 feet, is just 

 outside the mouth of the deep narrow inlet which forms the harbour. 

 The surface of this part of the district is very wild, and consists 

 largely of bog and mountain. The climate is very mild, frost and 

 snow being of infrequent occurrence and not lasting for long, but the 

 rains are heavy and almost constant during the greater part of the year, 

 and storms are frequent and severe. 



Vegetation flourishes well, but, owing to the storms, trees are very 

 few and only grow in sheltered localities. 



The whole district is largely cut off from the outer world by the 

 wide stretch of wild and sparsely peopled country through which the 

 mail road from Ballina runs.^ 



III. — Antheopogeapht. 



1. Methods. — The methods employed did not differ to any great 

 extent from those made use of on the two previous occasions. A few 



1 I am indebted to Mr. G. H. Kinahan, M.R.I. A., for the following note on 

 the geology of the Mullet : — The south rough portion is granite, while the north 

 rough portion is in part Archaean [query, the equivalent of the Sutherland Algotikian 

 rocks that have been called Old Bay), and in part of Archaean quartzite (query, the 

 equivalents of the Scotch Torridan Sandstone) ; while the central portion is 

 occupied by schists of an uncertain age that lie unconformably on the Archaean 

 rock to the northward. 



