210 Wild Connemara. By Dr Charles Stuart. 



Hill may stand for Benvenue ; Kylemore Lake, although most 

 picturesque, might stand for Loch Achray, but never for Loch 

 Katrine. " Comparisons are odious," however — each has attrac- 

 tions of its own. After coming through a moorish country, to 

 suddenly enter Kylemore Pass was to come upon a union of 

 beauty. Mr Mitchell Henry, late M.P. for Galway, has done 

 much to beautify a naturally romantic place. 



The Castle is a noble edifice, situated at the base of the 

 Diamond Mountain, which is covered with natural oak and 

 heather. Lower down ornamental Coniferse and fine shrubs 

 thrive to perfection. The Fuschia Riccartoni grows in hedges six 

 feet high, loaded with bloom, for miles along the roadsides. 

 The lake, from which issues a beautiful clear river, adds a 

 charm to the landscape, and the whole district is unlike anything 

 we saw elsewhere in Ireland. Nymphcea alba was in fine flower 

 on the lake, and many other water plants which we had not 

 time to examine. Hypericum androscemum^ Hy. humifusum, 

 Hahenaria chlorantha, Dahoecia polifolia, Melampyrum pratense, 

 Lonicera periclymenum, and other plants, were observed in passing 

 along, growing in the underwood close to the highway. 



We reached the inn at Letterfrack, where we refreshed, 

 getting splendid glimpses of a most romantic district. We tried 

 before coming to Ireland, to get rooms here, as the hills are 

 among the best for plants ; but unfortunately there was not 

 sufficient accommodation for our party. Clifden was still seven 

 miles off, and we started, and after a toilsome journey reached 

 comfortable quarters at MuUarkey's Hotel. The day had been 

 warm and close, and we were all vei-y glad to get to our Inn. 



In our progress from Letterfrack, Osmunda regalis, the Royal 

 Fern, fringed all the streams we passed, attaining a shrublike 

 size; in fact all day in our progress from Westport, this fine 

 fern grew in great luxuriance in many places, and formed a 

 feature in the woodland scenery about Kylemore and elsewhere. 



On the 8th of August we set off for the reputed habitat of 

 Erica ciliaris, but like many other botanists found the plant 

 extinct. The place where it is said to ^row is near a bridge, 

 two miles south from Clifden. However, our walk was a 

 pleasant one. In passing along I encountered Dr Pye, Pro- 

 fessor of Anatomy in Galway College, who was most civil, and 

 invited us to lunch at 2.30. He has a pleasant summer retreat, 

 close to where a fine lake discharges into the sea. The Salmon 



