f/^-jv/zj" of the roots it beeoraes very ftrong, foas to bear a 
man 5 I have gone on Bogs that would rife before and be- 
hind, and fink where I ftood to a eonfiderablc dcptb^ 
under was clear water, as fome of us experienced by fal- 
ling in with one leg up to the middle, and that by break- 
ing the lurface of the earth v/here we ftood : even thefe 
in time will grow r^^ 50^/3 but mayeafily be turned in- 
to meadow,as I have leen feverall times, meerly by clear- 
ing a trench to let the water runaway. 
The inconveniences of thefe Begs are very great; a 
confiderable part of the Kingdom being rendered uleiefs 
bythemi they keep People at a diftance from one ano- 
ther, and confequently hinder them in their affairs, 
and weaken them; for it is certain, that if fuppofe a 
1000 men live on 4 contiguous acres, they can both bet- 
ter aflift , and defend one another, then if they lived on 
4 not contiguous ; and therefore it were good for Ireland^ 
iho. Bogs WQVQ funk in the Sea, fo their good land were 
ail contiguous ; butit is further obfervable here, that ge- 
nerally the land, which fliould be our medows, and hnefl: 
eveneft plains, are covered with Bogs ; this I obferved 
thro all Connoughy but moreefpecially in £o«^/ir^3! 6c 
Hkewife in Weji Meath and in theNorth of Ireland. Thefe 
Bo^gs are a great hindrance in pafling from place to places 
rn ars much as that you areforc't to go far about to avoid 
them,and on this account the roads are very crooked in 
Ireland '^Qf {one t (by vaft charges to the cauntry,) through 
Bogs; by tliefe means they are long, and hard to find. 
The Bogi are a great deftrudion to Cattle, the cheif 
commodity of Ireland^ in the fpring time when the Cat- 
tle are weak and hungry,the edges ofthe Bogs have com^ 
monly grals^ and the Gatttle venturing in to get it, 
fall into pits or floughs;6c are either drownd,or(if they are 
found,j fpoilt in the pulling out i the number of Gattel 
loft this way is incredible. 
4, They are a fhelter and refuge to Toryx, and TMeves^, 
who can hardly live without them. The 
