IRELAND 259 



variety of the most picturesque views. The middle lake 

 is the smallest, and is greatly indented with bogs and 

 creeks, surrounded with dark groves of trees. 



There is splendid trout - fishing in these waters. 

 Salmon are not so very numerous. Trout have been 

 caught here of great size, and the quality is very 

 superior to fish caught in many other waters in Ireland. 



The kind of flies requisite for these lakes depends 

 greatly on the state of the weather. If the day be dull 

 and the wiud high, large gaudy ones will often succeed 

 best, whereas the very reverse must be the case when 

 the day is clear and little wind. A skilful angler can 

 seldom make any serious mistake in this matter. 



The upper lake of Killarney is encu'cled with moun- 

 tains of vast height, and ornamented with wood; and 

 from the bright surface of the waters emerge huge rooks, 

 crowned with the arbutus, whose dark leaves form a beauti- 

 ful contrast to its scarlet fruit. The islands of the lake 

 are of fantastic shapes, a circumstance which has induced 

 the country people to fancy resemblances between them 

 and certaia objects, as a man-of-war, the church, etc. 

 The craggy summits of these islands give an air of 

 sublimity to the scene which it is impossible to describe. 

 Shrubs and plants, in immense variety, line the bold and 

 lofty shore, and suggest to the mind the beautiful lines 

 of the poet of nature — 



" Here spring the living hei'bs profusely wild, 

 O'er all the deep-green earth, beyond the power 

 Of botanist to number up their tribes ; 

 Whether he steals along the lonely dale 

 lu sUent search, or climb the mountain rock, 

 Fired by the nodding verdure of the brow. 

 "With such a liberal hand hath nature flung 

 Their seeds abroad, blown them about in winds 

 Innumerous, mixed them in the nursing mould." 



In travelling in the neighbourhood of the Lakes of 

 Killarney, the most sublime views open out to the angling 

 tourist among the mountains. Every league changes the 

 landscape, and new and interesting objects pass in 

 constant succession before the enchanted eye. Now we 



