68 



KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



can assure them they will not repent having 

 taken my advice. The next morning I made 

 a tour of the city ; and at 4 P.M., set off per 

 Midland Great Western for Mullingar. From 

 the latter place I departed per mail coach 

 for Ballina, a distance of about seventy 

 Irish miles, equal to a hundred English. 

 The coach starts from Mullingar at 10 p.m., 

 and arrives at Ballina about 10 A.M., the 

 next day. From thence I sej; off across the 

 country, and passing through Castlebar and 

 Westport, finally arrived at Newport, a small 

 village near the coast. 



I would here caution any young sports- 

 man, or naturalist, who fancies that by 

 going to such "a wild, out-of-the-way 

 place," as Western Ireland, he can live and 

 cruize about at a cheaper rate there than in 

 any other part of the British Isles. This is 

 all moonshine. Nearly all the inns are 

 most exorbitant in their charges ; and in 

 the aforesaid little village of Newport, 

 another gentleman and myself were charged 

 half-a-crown each for what they were 

 pleased to call " a dinner." This " dinner" 

 consisted of four mutton chops, served up 

 in a small public house bearing the name of 

 " Hotel." The waiters at these places are 

 the most voracious set of fellows I have 

 ever met with. They certainly do amuse 

 you at your meals by their odd tales ; but 

 they take special care to make you pay well 

 for your amusement, and higgle with you 

 ten times worse than a London cabman. I 

 found the best way to manage them was, to 

 get back what they had refused, and then 

 politely inform them that they should have 

 nothing. I mention these little matters by 

 way of duty. Every travelling naturalist 

 ought to communicate to his brethren such 

 facts as may be of use to them, if peradven- 

 ture they should ever travel in his footsteps. 



A week after my arrival, I started for 

 the entrance of Clew Bay. I found it just 

 the place I had pictured to myself. Imagine 

 an immense bay, filled with islands, high 

 mountains on either side, with Clare Island 

 stationed at its mouth. Here and there, 

 close to the shore, were cabins or native cot- 

 tages ; and one of them I made my home 

 during my stay. 



There are many who talk largely about 

 how they have "roughed it" in small public 

 houses on the English coast ; but I'll venture 

 to say, if they paid a visit to a cabin in the 

 wilds of Connaught, they might use that 

 term more appropriately. But in my various 

 peregrinations in search of specimens, I have 

 been introduced to a few hardships both by 

 sea ( when the vessel I was in was 

 wrecked, and nearly a hundred of my poor 

 fellow-mortals met with a watery grave), 

 and land. These have caused me to think 

 lightly of such minor matters as mud floors, 



fleas, and cock-roaches. The room I occu- 

 pied contained two beds, an old chest, a 

 table, and a broken chair or two ; but with 

 these, and a jolly good peat fire, I felt far 

 happier than if seated in the most splendid 

 drawing-room. At night, as the wind 

 moaned through the shutters, and the rain 

 descended in torrents on the thatch, I 

 heaped more turf on the fire ; and as the 

 cheerful blaze rushed up the chimney, I 

 filled my " dudheen," and mixing a glass of 

 glorious " toddy," sat and amused myself 

 with the past numbers of " Kidd's Own," 

 Mudie, Col. Hawker, and others. 



My days were generally spent in sailing 

 about the bay, or scrambling over the hills 

 and moorlands, looking out for specimens ; 

 and the result of my observations may be 

 combined in the following rough notes, 

 which I made during my short stay in that 

 wild yet beautiful country. 



The heron was common ; and usually to be 

 found standing motionless, upon some small 

 rock close in shore, watching for prey. I 

 saw one of these birds in a domestic state 

 in a poulterer's shop in Dublin ; and the 

 owner informed me that he had been in his 

 possession for upwards of twenty years. His 

 food consisted solely of the windpipes of 

 ducks and geese, which I saw given to him. 

 Cormorants, too, were very common. I 

 descried them in companies of seven or 

 eight, sailing about the bay. They allowed 

 the boat to come within thirty yards, keep- 

 ing their heads and necks only above water. 

 They kept very close together, and dived 

 the instant the gun went off, so that it was 

 difficult to kill them. I shot four on the 

 11th of August One of them had the belly 

 and underside dusky- white ; while the others 

 were clothed with green. The boatmen and 

 their families ate them for supper, and de- 

 clared they were very good. 



Of gulls there were hundreds. I noticed 

 four or five different kinds. Wherever the 

 poor people were to be seen collecting 

 cockles, sand eels, &c, there were the gulls 

 sure to be in crowds, sailing over their 

 heads, and every now and then dipping 

 down for some of the small fish thrown 

 away. When the tide had receded in the 

 night time, and the moon had risen, it was 

 delightful to sit and listen to the cries of 

 the gulls, and other sea birds. The hoarse 

 scream of the largest species of gull, might 

 be heard at the distance of a mile with the 

 greatest ease. Curlews were in great num- 

 bers. These birds are a great annoyance to 

 the coast shooter, in consequence of their 

 timid habits. They generally have a senti- 

 nel posted upon some rocky eminence ; and 

 at the first appearance of danger, he imme- 

 diately gives the loud peculiar note of alarm. 

 This causes the whole body of curlews to 



