along our road is very rocky, and with the ocean in full view one can hardly imagine a more romantic ride than we enjoyed. Two miles from the Causeway we passed near the ruins of the Castle of Dunluce, which stands upon an isolated rock one hundred feet above the level of the sea, and is connected with the main land by a bridge only some twenty inches wide. It was founded no one knows at what date, but is known to have once been the residence of the McQuillans, who claimed to trace their family back three thousand years, and to the city of Babylon, whence they left for Scotland. Although these ruins are spoken of as the most picturesque in the United Kingdom, we consider the Giant's Causeway as the one great sight of Ireland. Here is a promontory extending one thousand feet or more into the sea, and at low tide one may walk over the heads of basaltic pillars, numbering, it is said, not less than forty thousand. They are variously shaped-from triangular to nonagon, or nine sided-and are arranged side by side with such perfect uniformity that one might fancy them to be the work of ingenious artificers; still it is questionable whether the art of man could rival the nicety with which each piece is fitted to the other. In one place there is what they call the Wishing Chair-the projection of the pillars being such as to form a complete seat with back and We were assured by an elderly Irish woman, who urged us to buy some of her "mountain dew," with a small quantity of water from the Giant's Well, another natural curiosity near by, that any wish made by us while sitting in this chair was certain to be granted! We accordingly tried it (not the mountain dew,) and, wonderful to tell, her assurance in our own case was most happily verified! Conse

arms.

quently, it would be very unbecoming in us, to say the least, to suggest any doubts on the subject. Other singular formations were pointed out to usthe Amphitheater Gateway, Chimney-tops, the Pulpit, etc. In the side of a hill, further in shore, there is a series of pillars so arranged as to present the appearance, and they take the name, of the Giant's Organ; and near these is the Giant's Grandmother, who was petrified for having three husbands at the same time." In the vicinity of the Causeway there are wonderful caves one forty-five feet high and three hundred and fifty feet in length, and another seventy feet in height and six hundred feet long. They can be entered only by row-boats from the sea. A horse pistol discharged therein makes a report equal to that of a small field-piece in open space.

We have seen little of Belfast, except what came within our view in going from the railroad dépôt to the steamboat landing, stopping at the Post Office, a fine building, in the anxious but disappointed hope of hearing from home. We saw enough, however, to satisfy us of what we already knew, that it is a handsome city, full of life and business activity. For two pence, the regular fee, the baggage-master at the dépôt took care of our trunk while we made our trip to the Giant's Causeway.

CHAPTER V.

LASGOW, JUNE 1.- After a quiet night on the

steamer from Belfast we arrived in Glasgow at six o'clock on the morning of the 29th ultimo, having come by land from Greenock, where we took the railroad cars. We are pleased with everything about this city except the smoke, clouds and rain, which give it a decidedly gloomy character. We have scarcely had a sight of the sun here, and we are told that there is hardly a day in certain seasons of the year when it does not rain. The smoke from the furnaces on the Clyde constantly floats in thick volumes over the city, enveloping it in semi-darkness even when there are no other clouds to obscure the sun's rays. The city has a very solid appearance, the buildings generally looking as though they were built for all time. Most of the streets are of good width, and there is an abundance of pure water, brought through tunnels and aqueducts thirty-four miles from Loch Katrine, to keep it clean. The first steamer in Europe, we are told, was launched here in 1812. This is the native place of James Watts, who first demonstrated the power of steam, and in St. George's Square, a spacious and beautiful park, there is a bronze statue of him in a sitting posture and meditative mood. Here also are equestrian statues of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, statues of Lord Clyde, Richard Moore, Sir Robert Peel, and a lofty monument to Sir Walter Scott. On Sunday we attended church at the great Cathedral, which was founded in the twelfth century, and which is one of the grandest in, Europe, being, perhaps, unsurpassed in respect especially to its stained-glass

windows.

After church we took a walk through the adjacent cemetery, called the Necropolis, which rises in terraces to a considerable elevation, and is beautifully laid out. It is the burying-place of many distinguished persons, containing numerous costly monuments—the most conspicuous of which is one to John Knox, the reformer. On Monday we walked to Kelvin Grove Park and Museum in the west end of the city. This Park, containing some forty acres, is very beautiful, and facing it are some of the finest residences. In the Museum we saw a letter written by Lord Nelson, ordering dinner and wine, several letters from the Duke of Wellington, and one written by Robert Burns. Without favors to ask, we called on our consul, whose name, curiously enough, is Samuel L. Glasgow, and he and his wife returned our call at the Queen's Hotel. We found in them all we could desire as representatives of our country abroad -unaffected courtesy, ample knowledge of what they were required to do, and a willingness to give advice or to communicate any desired information.

Of course, we have been to Ayr, which is forty miles by railroad from Glasgow. This took all of one day, which was full of enjoyment. Our route led us through Paisley, famous for its shawls of that name. Burns' cottage is two miles from the village of Ayr. We entered it with alacrity, devouring with our eyes every object that had ever met the vision of the rustic poet. Here, in a little recess in the side of the kitchen, just large enough to admit a bed, the immortal bard first drew breath. Here, too, were the candle-stand chairs, and the old-fashioned dresser, plates and dishes, which were used by him. An old clock, the case of which reaches from floor to ceiling, likewise remains here, still counting the expir

ing hours since the moment when it noted the last beat of the poet's pulse. The window by the whitewashed dresser consists of only four seven-by-nine squares of glass, and the front window is but double that size, while the fire-place is large and high enough to hold an eighth of a cord of wood. The other room of the original cottage was also shown to us. This was the parlor or sitting-room, and here, also, some of the old furniture is yet preserved. The old one-story Alloway Kirk is situated about two miles from the cottage. Only the four walls, with bell-tower and bell, remain standing. It is in a cemetery, flanked on both sides by grave-stonessome of which mark the graves of Burns' father, mother, and sister; and here, too, we were assured, rest the ashes of jolly Tam O'Shanter and Souter Johnny.

"O, Tam, had'st thou but been sau wise

As ta'en thy ain wife Kate's advice!
She tauld thee weel thou wast a skellum,
A blethering, blustering, drunken blellum;
That frae November till October

Ae market day thou was nae sober;
That ilka melder wi' the miller

Thou sat as lang as thou had siller;

That ev'ry naig was ca'd a shoe on,

The smith and thee gat roaring fou on;
That at the Lord's house, ev'n on Sunday,
Thou drank wi' Kirkton Jean till Monday.

She prophesy'd that, late or soon,

Thou would be found deep drown'd in Doon;
Or catch'd wi' warlocks i' the mirk

By Alloway's auld haunted Kirk."

Near by the Kirk we stopped at the well "where Mungo's mither hang'd hersel';" and proceeding a short distance from the cemetery we came to the handsome monument erected to the memory of