178 Irish Volcanoes. 



hundredweight. All are fragments of ancient trees converted 

 into flint. 



The waters of the lake have also been celebrated for their 

 curative properties, and it has even been imagined that the 

 name Neagh is a modification of the Irish word Neasgh, an 

 ulcer. In the reign of Charles II. it is recorded that the son 

 of a certain Mr. Cunningham, who had been touched by the 

 King in vain for the " King's evil," was induced to bathe in 

 this lake for eight days, after which his sores were dried up, 

 and he was ever after a healthy man. Mangy dogs, no less 

 than human beings, are said to be cured in this water. 



The gems of the lake are found chiefly on the south-eastern 

 shore; they are all, without exception, varieties of quartz 

 minerals, and as they agree exactly with those got from the 

 veins and crevices of the ancient lava of the Causeway, and do 

 not agree with other forms of the same mineral within the 

 British Islands, except under somewhat similar conditions, we 

 may fairly conclude that they have been washed out of similar 

 rock. 



Of this the geologist, at any rate, will have no doubt, 

 since, at a short distance from the lake, in a deserted quarry 

 not far from Portadown, the basalt may be seen in contact with 

 the chalk, which it there overlies, while, near the banks of the 

 lake there are rotten veins in the basalt full of crystals. 



That the general floor of the whole country around and to 

 the east of Lough Neagh, is of the nature of ancient and gene- 

 rally submarine lava, is best seen on the coast, but it is capable 

 of proof in abundant instances elsewhere. The soil itself, and 

 the road-metal or broken stones used to make and mend the 

 highways, has the same origin. The material is too good, and 

 wears too well for the latter purpose, to admit of the smallest 

 doubt as to its nature. 



The well-known gems of Lough Neagh, then, must be 

 regarded as the former contents of blebs and cavities in the 

 old lava, or of the interspaces and cracks produced in the 

 natural contraction of the mass while cooling. 



Lough Neagh, as seen from the grounds of Brownlow 

 House, the residence of Lord Lurgan, is extremely pictu- 

 resque. The lake is at some little distance, and the long head- 

 land of Ardmore breaks its somewhat monotonous line, while 

 the Tyrone Hills form a fine background; but generally, and 

 from the lower ground near the water, the scenery is tame and 

 uninteresting. Rocky and precipitous cliffs do not exist around 

 or near it, and the general rarity of timber in the north of 

 Ireland is fully experienced here. Extensive peat-bogs are 

 found on and near the shores, and though these are rather 

 interesting, owing to the large quantity of black bog-oak and 



