THE HOME OF THE FERNS. 815 



ber, the best period of the year to see Killarney in all its many- 

 hued glory. The morning after our arrival at the Lake Hotel 

 looked, indeed, most unpropitious for our proposed pedestrian 

 excursion around the upper and lower lakes. A dense mist en- 

 veloped everything in its vapory folds, preventing objects, even 

 within a few feet of us, from being distinctly visible. Our aneroids 

 were, however, rising rapidly, and we were assured by the weather- 

 wise folk that before midday the fog would be " lifted " by a light 

 breeze, which would be sure to spring up. After having break- 

 fasted, we set out on our not particularly inviting tramp, selecting 

 the route in the direction of the lower lake. Along that exqui- 

 sitely beautiful and well-known path which, canopied by trees of 

 various foliage, winds close by the marge of this charming sheet 

 of water, we took our course, preceded by the inevitably loquacious 

 guide. As we pursued our beclouded way, the rush of the foam- 

 ing cataracts dashing madly from the hills, which rose to the 

 height of some three thousand feet above us, came upon our ears 

 from time to time, and splashed us with their spray, but yet were 

 completely invisible. Even the water which rippled on the pebbly 

 beach at our feet was as much hidden from our view by that all- 

 enveloping mist as though Egyptian darkness surrounded us. As 

 may be imagined, our walk was not a very enjoyable one, but we 

 were soon destined to be amply recompensed for our pains. Two 

 hours had elapsed from the time of our setting out, and noon 

 found us sitting on the parapet of that romantic bridge which 

 spans the outlet between the upper and lower lake. While we 

 were deliberating whether to return or continue our walk, it sud- 

 denly became evident that the surface of both lakes was agitated 

 by a strong gust of wind, which, as we afterward learned, came 

 down through the celebrated Gap of Dunloe. The previously 

 motionless mist began immediately to wreath itself in upright 

 columns, to which the breeze gave a kind of rotatory motion as 

 they were suddenly lifted up from the surface of the water. Then 

 followed, with startling rapidity, one of the most wondrous natu- 

 ral transformation scenes it is possible to conceive. In less than 

 six minutes, not merely were the two lakes spread out before us, 

 from shore to shore, in all their beauty, but the thick masses of 

 vapor had rolled up the sides of those gigantic hills which over- 

 hung them, and the brilliant sun was shining merrily out of the 

 bluest of skies. I had previously witnessed similar cloud-phe- 

 nomenon amid the peaks of the higher Himalayas, but nothing 

 which for startling effect and scenic beauty could bear compari- 

 son with this 



It was the first acquaintance which every one present, myself 

 excepted, had made with Killarney, and it was scarcely to be 

 wondered at that from every lip burst an ejaculation of glad sur- 



