Nineteenth of August.-Preparations for the Mountains.Order of March.-A Cook broiled to death.-Interruption of a Funeral.-Drowned Shepherd.-Grouse shooting.Evening compotation.--Morning.-Locale of a Shooter's cabin.-Life in the Mountains.-The Red Deer.-Return to the hut.-Luxury of a cold-bath.

THE nineteenth of August, that busy day of preparation with Irish sportsmen, came at last. An unusual commotion was evident among my kinsman's household, and there was a won

drous packing up of camp-beds, culinary utensils, baskets and bottles, arms and ammunition -in short, of every necessary article for the support and destruction of life. At dawn of day, four horses set off heavily laden; shortly after, a second division of dogs and guns moved under a careful escort. The otter-hunter' hobbled off while I was dressing, and the piper, the lightest laden of all concerned, closed the rear. After breakfast, two ponies were brought to the door, and with a mounted attendant to carry our cloaks, my cousin and I pursued the same route that the baggage had already taken.

Talk not of India! Its boasted gang of servants is far surpassed by the eternal troop of followers appertaining to an Irish establishment. Old John tells me, that sixteen regulars sit down to dinner in the servants'-hall, and that, at least, an equal number of supernumeraries are daily provided for besides. When I hinted to my cousin the expense that must attend the supporting of this idle and useless multitude, his reply was so Irish. "Pshaw! hang it !—sure they have no wages, and what the devil signifies all they eat? My father, before the landing of the Paul Jones, fed two hundred men for a fortnight, and used to declare, that never were there such plentiful times. It killed

the cook, however; poor woman! she was literally broiled into a pleurisy-such a wake as she had! I remember it as if it occurred but yesterday. She was carried to the old graveyard of Bunmore, the very evening the Paul Jones landed her cargo; and although five hundred men left the house with the corpse, the cook remained over ground till the following morning, for want of sufficient persons to fill the grave. The fact was, that just as the funeral reached the church-yard, the lugger was suddenly discovered rounding the Black Rock. Instantly the mourners absconded-the bearers threw down the body-the priest, who was deeply concerned in the cargo, was the first to fly, and the defunct cook was left in peaceable possession of Bunmore."

To arrive at our mountain-quarters, we were obliged to cross the river repeatedly; when swollen with rain, the stream is impassable, and the communication between the hill country and the lowlands interrupted, until the flood abates. At one of the fords, my kinsman pointed out a little caim, or heap of stones, erected on the summit of a hillock, which overhung the passage we were crossing. It is placed there to commemorate the drowning of a shepherd-and as an incident of humble life, it struck me as being particularly affecting.

"In 1822, when the western part of Ireland was afflicted with grievous famine, and when England stepped forward nobly, and poured forth her thousands to save those who were perishing for want, a depôt of provisions was established on the sea-coast, for the relief of the suffering inhabitants of this remote district.

A solitary family, who had been driven from their lowland home by the severity of a relentless middle-man, had settled themselves in this wild valley, and erected the clay walls of that ruined hut before you. The man was shepherd to a farmer who kept cattle on these mountains. Here, in this savage retreat, he lived removed from the world, for the nearest cabin to this spot is more than four miles distant.

"It may be supposed that the general distress afflicted this isolated family. The welcome news of the arrival of succours at Ballycroy at length reached them, and the herdsman set out to procure some of the committee-meal to relieve the hunger of his half-starved family.

"On arriving at the depôt, the stock of meal was nearly expended, however, he obtained a temporary supply, and was comforted with the assurance that a large quantity was hourly expected.

"Anxious to bring the means of sustenance

to his suffering little ones, the herdsman crossed the mountains with his precious burden, and reached that hillock where the stones are loosely piled.

"But during his absence at Ballycroy, the rain had fallen heavily in the hills; the river was no longer fordable-a furious torrent of discoloured water rushed from the heights, and choaked up the narrow channel. There stood the returning parent, within twenty paces of his wretched but dearly loved hovel. The children with a cry of delight rushed from the hut to the opposite bank to welcome him; but terrified by the fearful appearance of the flood, his wife entreated him not to attempt its passage for the present.

“But would he, a powerful and experienced swimmer, be deterred? The eager and hungry looks of his expecting family maddened the unhappy father. He threw aside his clothes, bound them with the meal upon his back— crossed himself devoutly, and "in the name of God," committed himself to the swollen river.

"For a moment he breasted the torrent gallantly two strokes more would bring him to the bank-when the treacherous load turned, caught him round the neck, swept him down the stream, sank, and drowned him. He struggled hard for life. His wife and children fol