i885-i886.] 419 



the Isle of Man in the far distance, appeared. At last, passing 

 the traces of the encampment once occupied by the officers and 

 men of the Ordnance Survey during their sojourn on Slieve 

 Donard, the highest point was reached by the whole party at 

 one o'clock. Refreshments were partaken of, water pure and 

 icy cold being obtained out of a well close to the great cairn, on 

 the lee side of which the usual business meeting was held and a 

 new member elected. The mountain takes its name from Doman- 

 gard, a saint of the 6th century. There formerly existed some 

 rude ecclesiastical edifices built of dry stones on the summit, as 

 described in Harris's History of the County Down, but no trace 

 can now be discovered of them. Slieve Donard rises to the 

 height of 2,796 feet, and is the highest point in Ulster. Stand- 

 ing on its top the visitor can command a view of the whole of 

 the other mountains of the range, considerably over a dozen of 

 which are more than 2,000 feet in height. He surveys the coun- 

 ties of Down, Antrim, and Tyrone, with parts of Derry and 

 Armagh, Louth, and Meath, while on a clear day Dublin and 

 the Sugar Loaf Mountains in Wicklow are visible — nay, were 

 it not for the perpetual haziness of our British atmosphere, the 

 view would be extended much farther. It is the moisture 

 from the Gulf Stream, and not the curvature of the earth, 

 which hides the Welsh mountains and those of Cumberland 

 from view. This was demonstrated when, by the aid of extra 

 clear weather and the oxy-hydro light, the Ordnance Sur- 

 veyors united the triangulation of Great Britain and Ireland 

 by obtaining a triangle having for its three points Slieve 

 Donard, Snowdon, and Sea-Fell Pike, in Cumberland, and the 

 highest of the English mountains. These three base lines 

 were about 100, 120, and 130 miles respectively. The views 

 obtained on the present occasion were most satisfactory, and 

 alone more than repaid the fatigue of the climb. According to 

 geologists the Mourne Mountains are composed of a peculiar 

 granite, full of cavities, containing crystals of quartz, orthoclase, 

 topaz, and emerald ; and one spot where they abound goes by 

 the name of the Diamond Rocks. Professor Hull says that 

 the granite of the Mournes is the roots of volcanoes, the trunks 



