Barrington — On the Flora of the Blasket Islands. 369 



four days' waiting, I procured a boat, the Rev. Tatlier Egan, P.P., 

 having spoken to the people on my behalf. 



On approaching the Great Blasket, vs^hich is one mile distant from 

 the nearest point of the mainland, the people were seen to run from 

 the houses, and congregate on the edge of the cliff over the landing- 

 place, shouting and gesticulating at the same time. Heaps of stones 

 were piled, and the natives began to throw them at our boat. 



Much loud conversation took place, which lasted a considerable 

 time. In the end I was permitted to land, provided I kept at a 

 distance from the houses. Seeing no harm was intended, the inhabi- 

 tants became friendly, and many of them accompanied me during a 

 walk of three hours, which I then took over the island. Unfavour- 

 able weather and want of time did not permit a longer visit in 1879, 

 but I saw sufficient to make me anxious to examine the flora of the 

 islands carefully, which could not be done without a stay of some 

 days on the Great Blasket. 



The Royal Irish Academy having given me a grant to explore the 

 group, I again went to Dingle in July, 1880. "Eo difficulty was now 

 experienced in procuring boats. On the contrary, the people received 

 me with many expressions of welcome, as I had interested myself on 

 their behalf during the severe distress in the spring. 



I landed on July 16. The mud cabins are of the poorest descrip- 

 tion. I slung my hammock from the rafters of a vacant one, called 

 the schoolhouse. The curiosity of the natives was intense, and I 

 suffered much from intruders when examining specimens, and placing 

 them between the blotting sheets. 



The houses on the Great Blasket are all built together on the end 

 facing the mainland. Here the people have several patches of 

 potatoes and oats, the only crops noticed. The rest of the island is 

 pasture, and is grazed by cattle, sheep, and goats. There are no lakes, 

 or even pools, on any of the Blaskets. The Great Blasket is three and 

 a-half miles long by half a mile broad. Its longest axis extends in a 

 south-westerly direction. In shape it resembles a ridge, for the most 

 part 700 feet high, and for a mile its height exceeds 900 feet. 

 Towards the south the ridge slopes much more gradually than on the 

 northern face, which is almost perpendicular in many places. 



The Great Blasket and Innishnabro consist of the Dini^le beds, 

 which are placed by Mr. Jukes between the Upper Silurian and Old 

 Red Sandstone. Generally the Blasket group is Silurian, but trap 

 rocks appear on Beginish and Innishvicillane. Near Dunquin the 

 Dingle beds consist of green and purple grits and slates without 

 fossils, and pass up into coarse Sandstones. Old Red Sandstone appears 

 on the extreme north point of Innishtooskert. The conical Tearaght 

 is composed of grits and conglomerates. 



The cliffs and precipices are very grand, notably the north- 

 western face of the Great Blasket and the north-eastern portion of 

 Innishnabro, which latter resembles, when viewed from the sea, a 

 cathedral 500 feet high, the towers, spires, and even doors and 



