IRELAND. 305 



smaller ones are scattered over the whole island. Where they do not 

 occupy too great a proportion of the land, they are of utility to the 

 inhabitants, by the abundance of fuel which they furnish. The wa- 

 ters of these bogs, far from emitting putrid exhalations, like standing 

 pools and marshes, are of an antiseptic and strongly astringent quali- 

 ty ; as appears from their preserving for ages, and even adding to the 

 durability of, the timber which is found every where buried beneath 

 their surfaces, and from their converting into a kind of leather the 

 skins of men and animals who have had the misfortune of being lost, 

 and remaining in them any length of time. 



Lakes. ...There are in Ireland a great number of lakes, or, as they 

 were formerly called, loughs, particularly in the provinces of Ulster 

 and Connaught. The principal are that of Erne, in the county of 

 Fermanagh, which is more than thirty English miles in length, and 

 twelve in its greatest breadth, at its northern extremity ; that of Cor- 

 rib, in the county of Galway, about 20 miles in length, and from 2 to 

 5 wide ; and the great lake Neagh, between the counties of Antrim, 

 Down, and Armagh, above IS miles in length, and nine in breadth, 

 and occupying an area of nearly 60,000 Irish, or above 90,000 English 

 acres. The water of the latter lake is said to have a petrifying qua- 

 lity. Some of the Irish lakes afford the most beautiful and romantic 

 prospects, particularly tha^of Killarney, which takes its name from a 

 small town in the county of fL° r ry. This lake, which may be divided 

 into three, is entirely surrounded, with mountains, rocks, and preci- 

 pices, the immense declivities of wn; c h are covered with woods, in- 

 termixed with evergreens, from near tW;ir tops to the lakes them- 

 selves ; among which are a number of fivulets tumbling over the 

 precipices, some from heights of little less th«jq 300 feet. On the top 

 of one of the surrounding mountains is a small vound lake, about a 

 quarter of a mile in diameter, called the Devil's Punch Bowl. From, 

 the surface of the lake to the top of the cavity, or brim of the bowl, 

 may be about 300 yards ; and when viewed from the circular top, it 

 has a most astonishing appearance. The depth of it is vastly great ; 

 but not unfathomable, as the natives pretend. The discharge of the 

 superfluous waters of this bowl, through a chasm, into the middle 

 lake, forms one of the finest cascades in the world, visible for 150 

 yards. The echoes among the hills surrounding the southern parts 

 of the lake, which is mostly inclosed, are equally delightful and asto- 

 nishing. The proprietor, the earl of Kenmore, has placed some can- 

 non in the most proper places, for the amusement of travellers ; and 

 the discharge of these pieces is tremendous, resembling almost the 

 rolling of a violent peal of thunder, which seems to travel the sur- 

 rounding scenery, and die away among the distant mountains. Here 

 also musical instruments, especially the horn and trumpet, afford the 

 most delightful entertainment, and raise a concert superior to that of 

 a hundred performers. Among the vast and craggy heights that sur- 

 X'ound the lake, is one stupendous and frightful rock, the front of 

 which towards the water is a most horrid precipice, called the Ea- 

 gle's Nest, from the number of those birds which have their nests in 

 that place. 



Rivers... .The largest river in Ireland is the Shannon, which issues 

 from Lough- Allen, in the county of Leitrim, serves as a boundary be- 

 tv/een Connaught and the three other provinces, and altera course of 



iO miles, forming in its progress many beautiful lakes, falls into the 

 Atlantic Ocean, between Kerry-point and Loop-head, where it is nine 



Vol. I. R r 



