Lord Shelburne, to whom the place belongs, has built one for his agent. There is a vale of good land, which is here from a mile and a half to a mile broad; and to the north and south, great ridges of mountain said to be full of mines.

At Nedeen, lord Shelburne had taken care to have me well informed by his people in that country, which belongs for the greatest part to himself, he has above one hundred and fifty thousand Irish acres in Kerry; the greatest part of the barony of Glanrought belongs to him, most of Dunkerron and Ivragh. The country is all a region of mountains, inclosed by a vale of flat land on the river; the mountains to the south come to the water's edge, with but few variations, the principal of which is Ardee, a farm of lord Shelburne's: to the north of the river, the flat land is one-half to three quarters of a mile broad. The mountains to the south reach to Bear-haven, and those to the north to Dingle-bay; the soil is extremely various; to the south of the river all are sand stones, and the hills loam, stone, gravel, and bog. To the north there is a slip of lime-stone land, from Kilgarvon to Cabbina-cush, that is six miles east of Nedeen, and three to the west, but is not more than a quarter of a mile broad, the rest including the mountains all sand stone. As to its rents, it is very difficult to tell what they are; for land is let by the plough land and gineve, twelve gineves to the plough land; but the latter denomination is not of any particular quantity: for no two plough lands are the same. The size of farms is various, from forty acres to one thousand, less quantities go with cabins, and some farms are taken by labourers in partnership.

Soon entered the wildest and most romantic country I had any where seen; a region of steep rocks and mountains, which continued for nine or ten miles, till I came in view of Mucrass. There is something magnificently wild in this stupendous scenery, formed to impress the mind with a certain species of terror. All this tract has a rude and savage air, but parts of it are strikingly interesting; the mountains are bare and rocky, and of a great magnitude; the vales are rocky glens, where a mountain-stream tumbles along the roughest bed imaginable, and receives many torrents, pouring from clefts, half overhung with shrubby wood; some of these streams are seen, and the roar of others heard, but hid by vast masses of rock. Immense fragments, torn from the precipices by storms and torrents, are tumbled in the wildest confusion, and seem to hang rather than rest upon projecting precipices. Upon some of these fragments of rock, perfectly detached from the soil, except by the side on which they lie, are beds of black turf, with luxuriant crops of heath, &c. which appeared very curious to me, having no where seen the like; and I observed very high in the mountains, much higher than any cultivation is at present, on the right hand, flat and cleared spaces of good grass among the ridges of rock, which had probably been cultivated, and proved that these mountains were not incapable from climate of being applied to useful purposes.

From one of these heights, I looked forward to the lake of Killarney at a considerable distance, and backward to the river Kenmare; came in view of a small part of the upper lake, spotted with several islands, and surrounded by the most tremendous mountains that can be imagined, of an aspect savage and dreadful. From this scene of wild magnificence, I broke at once upon all the glories of Killarney; from an elevated point of view I looked down on a considerable part of the lake, which gave me a specimen of what I might expect. The water you command (which, however, is only a part of the lake) appears a basin of two or three miles round; to the left it is inclosed by the mountains you have passed, particularly by the Turk, whose outline is uncommonly noble, and joins a range of others, that form the most magnificent shore in the world: on the other side is a rising scenery of cultivated hills, and lord Kenmare's park and woods; the end of the lake at your feet is formed by the root of Mangerton,

on whose side the road leads. From hence I looked down on a pretty range of inclosures on the lake, and the woods and lawns of Mucruss, forming a large promontory of thick wood, shooting far into the lake. The most active fancy can sketch nothing in addition. Islands of wood beyond seem to join it, and reaches of the lake, breaking partly between, give the most lively intermixture of water: six or seven isles and islets form an accompaniment, some are rocky, but with a slight vegetation, others contain groups of trees, and the whole thrown into forms, which would furnish new ideas to a painter. Farther is a chain of wooded islands, which also appear to join the main land, with an offspring of lesser ones scattered around.

Arrived at Mr. Herbert's at Mucruss, to whose friendly attention I owed my succeeding pleasure. There have been so many descriptions of Killarney written by gentlemen who have resided some time there, and seen it at every season, that for a passing traveller to attempt the like, would be in vain; for this reason I shall give the mere journal of the remarks I made on the spot, in the order I viewed the lake.

September 27, walked into Mr. Herbert's beautiful grounds, to Oroch's hill, in the lawn that he has cleared from that profusion of stones which lie under the wall; the scene which this point commands is truly delicious; the house is on the edge of the lawn, by a wood which covers the whole peninsula, fringes the slope at your feet, and forms a beautiful shore to the lake. Tomys and Glena are vast mountainous masses of incredible magnificence, the outline soft and easy in its swells, whereas those above the Eagle's Nest are of so broken and abrupt an outline, that nothing can be imagined more savage, an aspect horrid and sublime, that gives all the impressions to be wished to astonish rather than please the mind. The Turk exhibits noble features, and Mangerton's huge body rises above the whole. The cultivated tracts towards Killarney, form a shore in contrast to the terrific scenes I have just mentioned; the distant boundary of the lake, a vast ridge of distant blue mountains towards Dingle. From hence entered the garden, and viewed Mucruss abbey, one of the most interesting scenes I ever saw; it is the ruin of a considerable abbey, built in Henry the Sixth's time, and so entire, that if it were more so, though the building would be more perfect the ruin would be less pleasing; it is half obscured in the shade of some venerable ash trees; ivy has given the picturesque circumstance, which that plant alone can confer, while the broken walls and ruined turrets throw over it

The last mournful graces of decay;

heaps of sculls and bones scattered about, with nettles, briars, and weeds sprouting in tufts from the loose stones, all unite to raise those melancholy impressions, which are the merit of such scenes, and which can scarcely any where be felt more completely. The cloisters form a dismal area, in the center of which grows the most prodigious yew tree I ever beheld, in one great stem, two feet diameter, and fourteen feet high, from whence a vast head of branches spreads on every side, so as to perform a perfect canopy to the whole space; I looked for its fit inhabitant, it is a spot where

The moping owl doth to the moon complain.

This ruin is in the true stile in which all such buildings should appear; there is not an intruding circumstance, the hand of dress has not touched it, melancholy is the impression which such scenes should kindle, and it is here raised most powerfully.

From the abbey we passed to the terrace, a natural one of grass, on the very shore of the lake; it is irregular and winding; a wall of rocks broken into fantastic forms by the waves: on the other side a wood, consisting of all sorts of plants, which the climate can protect, and through which a variety of walks are traced. The view from this terrace consists of many parts of various characters, but in their different stiles complete; the lake opens a spreading sheet of water; spotted by rocks and islands, all but one or two wooded, the outlines of them are sharp and distinct; nothing can be more smiling than this scene, soft and mild, a perfect contrast of beauty to the sublimity of the mountains which form the shore: these rise in an outline, so varied, and at the same time so mag. nificent, that nothing greater can be imagined; Tomys and Glena exhibit an immensity in point of magnitude, but from a large hanging wood on the slope, and from the smoothness of the general surface, it has nothing savage, whereas the mountains above and near the Eagle's Nest are of the most broken outlines; the declivities are bulging rocks, of immense size, which seem to impend in horrid forms over the lake, and where an opening among them is caught, others of the same rude character rear their threatening heads. From different parts of the terrace these scenes are viewed in numberless varieties.

Returned to breakfast, and pursued Mr. Herbert's new road, which he has traced through the peninsula to Dyniss island, three miles in length; and it is carried in so judicious a manner through a great variety of ground, rocky woods, lawns, &c. that nothing can be more pleasing; it passes through a remarkable scene of rocks, which are covered with woods; from thence to the marble quarry, which Mr. Herbert is working; and where he gains variety of marbles, green, red, white, and brown, prettily veined; the quarry is a shore of rocks, which surround a bay of the lake, and forms a scene, consisting of but few parts, but those strongly marked; the rocks are bold, and broken into slight caverns; they are fringed with scattered trees, and from many parts of them wood shoots in that romantic manner, so common at Killarney. Full in front, Turk mountain rises with the proudest outline, in that abrupt magnificence which fills up the whole space before one, and closes the scene.

The road leads by a place where copper mines were worked; many shafts appear; as much ore was raised as sold for twenty-five thousand pounds, but the works were laid aside, more from ignorance in the workmen, than any defects in the mine.

Came to the opening on the great lake, which appears to advantage here, the town of Killarney on the north-east shore. Look full on the mountain Glena, which rises in very bold manner, the hanging woods spread half way, and are of great extent, and uncommonly beautiful. Two very pleasing scenes succeed, that to the left is a small bay, hemmed in by a neck of land in front; the immediate shore rocks, which are in a picturesque stile, and crowned entirely with arbutus, and other wood; a pretty retired scene, where a variety of objects give no fatigue to the eye. The other is an admirable mixture of the beautiful and sublime: a bare rock, of an almost regular figure, projects from a headland into the lake, which, with much wood and highland, forms one side of the scene, the other is wood from a rising ground only; the lake open between, in a sheet of no great extent, but in front is the hanging wood of Glena, which appears in full glory.

Mr. Herbert has built a handsome Gothic bridge, to unite the peninsula to the island of Brickeen, through the arch of which the waters of the north and south lake flow. It is a span of twenty-seven feet, and seventeen high, and over it the road leads to that island. From thence to Brickeen nearly finished, and it is to be thrown across a bottom into

Dyniss.

Returned by the northern path through a thick wood for some distance, and caught a very agreeable view of Ash Island, seen through an opening, inclosed on both sides with wood. Pursued the way from these grounds to Keelbeg, and viewed the bay of

the Devil's Island, which is a beautiful one, inclosed by a shore, to the right of very noble rocks in Ledges and other forms, crowned in a striking manner with wood; a little rocky islet rises in front; to the left the water opens, and Turk mountain rises with that proud superiority which attends him in all these scenes.

The view of the promontory of Dindog, near this place, closes this part of the lake, and is indeed singularly beautiful. It is a large rock, which shoots far into the water, of a height sufficient to be interesting, in full relief, fringed with a scanty vegetation; the shore on which you stand bending to the right, as if to meet that rock, presents a circular shade of dark wood: Turk still the back ground, in a character of great sublimity, and Mangerton's loftier summit, but less interesting outline, a part of the scenery. These views, with others of less moment, are connected by a succession of lawns breaking among the wood, pleasing the eye with lively verdure, and relieving it from the fatigue of the stupendous mountain scenes.

September 28. Took boat on the lake, from the promontory of Dindog before mentioned. I had been under a million of apprehensions that I should see no more of Killarney; for it blew a furious storm all night, and in the morning the bosom of the lake heaved with agitation, exhibiting few marks but those of anger. After breakfast it cleared up, the clouds dispersed by degrees, the waves subsided, the sun shone out in all its splendor; every scene was gay, and no ideas but pleasure possessed the breast. With those emotions sallied forth, nor did they disappoint us.

Rowed under the rocky shore of Dindog, which is romantic to a great degree. The base, by the beating of the waves, is worn into caverns, so that the heads of the rocks project considerably beyond the base, and hang over in a manner which makes every part of it interesting. Following the coast, open marble quarry bay, the shore great fragments of rock tumbled about in the wildest manner.

The island of rocks against the copper-mine shore, a remarkable group. The shore near Casemilan is of a different nature; it is wood in some places, in unbroken masses down to the water's edge, in others divided from it by smaller tracts of rock. Come to a beautiful land-locked bay, surrounded by a woody shore, which, opening in places, shews other woods more retired. Tomys is here viewed in a unity of form, which gives it an air of great magnificence. Turk was obscured by the sun shining immediately above him, and casting a stream of burning light on the water, displayed an effect, to describe which the pencil of a Claude alone would be equal. Turn out of the bay, and gain a full view of the Eagle's Nest, the mountains above it, and Glena, they form a perfect contrast, the first are rugged, but Glena mild. Here the shore is a continued wood.

Pass the bridge, and cross to Dyniss, an island Mr. Herbert has improved in the most agreeable manner, by cutting walks through it, that command a variety of views. One of these paths on the banks of the channel to the upper lake, is sketched with great taste; it is on one side walled with natural rocks, from the clefts of which shoot a thousand fine arbutus's, that hang in a rich foliage of flowers and scarlet berries; a turf bench in a delicious spot; the scene close and sequestered, just enough to give every pleasing idea annexed to retirement.

Passing the bridge, by a rapid stream, came presently to the Eagle's Nest: having viewed this rock from places where it appears only a part of an object much greater than itself, I had conceived an idea that it did not deserve the applause given it, but upan coming near I was much surprised; the approach is wonderfully fine, the river leads directly to its foot, and does not give the turn till immediately under, by which means the view is much more grand than it could otherwise be; it is nearly perpendicular,