254 Information as to Meadows and Hay

their posterity. Formidable as this obstacle may be, yet, as I mentioned in a former letter, it is of a moral nature, and consequently admits of removal.

Many of the meadows we have seen this day abound so much with fiorin, that I am per suaded, with little labor, they might be ren dered exclusively redundant of that herbage.

Wishing to obtain some information respecting the value and method of treating their meadows, I was induced to stop at a very decent cabin. The proprietor was about eighty years of age, and had, by great industry and care in his early days, been enabled to purchase some life leases, which, when bought, were of trifling value. His length of years, and change of times, had made him "passing rich." He informed me, with great satisfaction, that he had settled two sons in stone houses, about a mile from him. After patiently hearing his story, he proceeded to answer my questions. The meadows, he said, had been mown, time out of mind, for hay, and had never failed of producing good crops. The hay was such as the bog always produced, but he knew nothing about fiorin. His cabin was comfortable;-he lamented his dame was not at home, adding,

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she was a thrifty woman, and the best rearer of poultry in the country; abundant proof of which was exhibited in the number of turkeys and hens sitting in their nests all over the house. The practice of bringing up poultry seemed also generally attended to by the cottiers in this district. In return for his communications, the good old man felt entitled to inquire into the motives which brought us into Ireland. To him whose long life had been spent on the spot where first he drew his breath, and whose whole mind and exertions had unceasingly been directed to the favourite object of multiplying his means, it appeared incomprehensible that time should be sacrificed, and money expended, for mere curiosity only. We "must certainly have some other object in view;" though I repeatedly assured him to the contrary; and at length we were compelled to part with an apparent impression on his mind, that his civility had been ill requited.

As we passed by the edges and sides of the bog, we saw the practice of burning for the ashes carried on to a great extent. Though the country is very high, yet the husbandry is bad, and the crops consequently late. We saw some fields of oats in a perfectly green state.

256 Description of the Inn at Raphoe,

The deanery house at Raphoe, about a mile from the town, which is a very paltry place, is an extensive building, with much apparent comfort about it. The cathedral is but a mean edifice. The palace is large, and the demesne well wooded.

The exterior appearance of our inn did not indicate much in its favor. Our first reception prepared us for what we might be led to expect. As we were about to enter the door, we were stopped by a monstrous pig. This personage has considerable pretensions to justify the fami liarity he is pleased to exercise in the cabin; the rent of which his presence is said to pay, while his progressive increase constitutes his owner's sinking fund; by means of which, on a future day, he is to discharge most important demands.

Where there is no resource but by a toll of courtesy to a pig for entering his sty, happy are those who have the ready coin of good humour to satisfy such a demand, and make light of imaginary ills. If such things cannot be dispensed with, the frequented path should never be quitted. Adieu.

J. C. C.

LETTER XXI.

Donegal, August 30, 1813.

THE town of Raphoe appears to have little to engage the attention: had the accommodations there been better, still we had not any object to induce a protracted stay. The spinning of linen yarn is carried on to some extent, and much flax is grown in the neighbourhood. On walking round the town, rather late in the evening, the general decorum and decency which prevailed were pleasing; we did not see or hear any thing in the public houses that indicated the least inebriety or want of good order. There is a considerable endowment for a school, which has some reputation.

On climbing the hill, at the end of the town, this morning, we had a most extensive view of the vale towards Derry; whence a more direct road passes hither through a very beautiful country. The husbandry on this side of Raphoe is tolerably well conducted.

Mr. Montgomery's seat, at Convoy, has the

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Extensive Wastes should be planted.

appearance of a fine place, surrounded with extensive woods. Cultivation is carried to a considerable height on the sides of the hills; the use of lime is very general, and the rent of the land from forty to sixty shillings per acre. On quitting the village of Convoy, we got into a wild country, with a view of one still more alpine before us.

There are two distinct causes whence the mind derives infinite satisfaction in exploring a new country. The one is that of beholding all its resources made available, and the surface under a good system of cultivation; the other, is in estimating the improvements of which it may appear to be capable. Thousands of the neglected acres we have already seen might be advantageously appropriated to the growth of wood. In a circuit of one hundred and forty Irish miles, we have not met with a single experiment of modern planting, sufficiently important to entitle the individual to a record of his name as a planter.

I cannot describe to you the pleasure I felt on the first glance of Mr. Stewart's plantations at Tyrehallam. This gentleman has clothed the sides of an extensive range of hills, including many hundred acres, with plantations