and Lieutenant Brownrigg, of his Majesty's 75th regiment, was reduced to the alternative of again freighting a private vessel in the name of the Honourable East-India Company, in order to transport us to Madras On the 10th of June we took our final leave of Mosambique; and on the 13th anchored at Joanna, with an intention of procuring provisions, and furnishing ourselves with other conveniencies; having accomplished our ends, we left the island the 19th, after experiencing from its generous inhabitants every aid in their power, and every attention which humanity could dictate. It was at this period, when we concluded every difficulty surmounted, a fond but delusive hope began to dawn upon our minds, and we anticipated a safe and expeditious passage to Madras, when, on the 7th of July, in the lat. of 5 deg. 40 min. North, and long. 63. East, we were captured by the le Mutine, a French privateer from the Isle of France. We were entirely ignorant of the commencement of hostilities between Great Britain and France, by which our vexatious disappointment encreased. Having taken Lieutenant Brownrigg, myself, with twenty-two seamen and soldiers, on board the privateer, they put an officer, with some of their own people, into our vessel, with orders to conduct her to the Mauritius. The privateer afterwards proceeded on her cruize, and on the 15th of July entered the Road of Tutecorin, where she engaged a Dutch Indiaman (the Ceylon, Captain Muntz), and, after an action of about fifteen minutes, was captured. Being thus again at liberty, I repaired to Pallamcotah, whither, in a short time, an order came to prepare a boat for our conveyance to Madras, where I arrived August 20, 1793, twelve months after our unfortunate shipwreck.

(Signed) &c.

ACCOUNT OF A TOUR TO KILLARNEY, &c.

IN A LETTER TO J. AND E. FRY.

BY CAPPER LLOYD, ESQ

DEAR KINSMAN,

Cork, 16th Sept.

I

Enter upon the task which you have imposed upon me without reluctance, for, besides the pleasure arising from communication, I hope you will receive it as the offering of sincerity at the shrine of friendship.

At Limerick I received your injunctions, and with that place I m tend entering upon my description: but great things ought not to be expected from a juvenile traveller, nor is it easy to describe many places where similar beauties arise in succession, without a sameness of description and stile. If I afford amusement to our small circle of

convivial friends, I shall then have done more than many who visit Killarney; and whilst travellers more learned than myself stand foremost in the ranks of literary fame, I will contentedly mingle with. the humble tribe of minor journalists.

Having at Limerick met with three of my intimate friends, ready to depart from thence to Killarney, I made a proposal to join them in the excursion; the acceptance of that proposal I shall always re-, member with sensations of delight, as it produced more pleasure than I ever experienced in any other journey. No company could study more than we did the art of being agreeable to each other, so that mutual exertions to please, did not fail to produce mutual hap piness.

Of Limerick I have not much to inform you, having met few things there to excite curiosity. The city is divided into two parts, that called Newtown Perry is well built with brick, and the houses mostly large. A communication between this and the Old Town, is formed by a handsome bridge of three arches, near to which are several convenient quays, and a new Custom-house fronting the Shannon. The export of beef, pork, and raw hides, is here very considerable, and to this the fine plentiful country round Limerick must largely contribute.

Pretty early in the morning of the 9th instant we departed from Limerick, and passing through a country finely improved, stopped at the pleasant village of Adare, to breakfast. This is a sweet woody place, and though there are the ruins of several churches and abbeys, our impatience to get forward hurried us away without giving them a visit.

We passed through the small town of Rathkeel without stopping, but at Newcastle staid several hours, where a new church and several pretty buildings gave it an appearance superior to most towns in this country. Lord Courtenay has a considerable estate here, and his agent (an English Gentleman, whose name is Locke) has raised the Lombardy poplar in great numbers; in some inclosures contiguous to his house these plantations have a grateful appearance to the eye of a traveller, where such sights do not abound, but, on the contrary, the country is bleak, and bare of wood.

From Newcastle we rode through a poor lonesome country on the borders of the County of Kerry, which we found joined with that of Limerick by a bridge of twenty-two small arches, over which we passed, and late in the evening reached Castle Ifland. The country hereabout is both fertile and well improved, but the town is a mean, dirty place; our inn was worse than tolerable, or at least it seemed so after the more decent entertainment we had received at Newcastle though our table at supper was covered with plenty, there wanted the appearance of order and cleanliness; and this I have observed in many places in Ireland, too much of the profusion of nature, and too little of the elegance of art. We did not leave Castle Island so early in the morning as we intended, for the town had no apparent beauties to entice our stay, yet we met with

:

other causes of detention; bad wine, and indifferent lodging, had made the whole company a little indisposed; but, as I was worse than the rest, it was agreed, on my account, to breakfast there-boiled eggs, which generally form part of an Irish travelling breakfast, were plentifully served up, attended with a large plateful of honey to eat with our bread and butter. I did not yield to the temptation of these rarities, and therefore partook of neither; but a few dishes of fine hyson tea so far recruited me, that by ten o'clock I was able to join my companions in the prosecution of our journey.

After riding a few miles, we had a view of the mountainous part of Kerry, which sometimes exhibited a picture of romantic wildness and sometimes of dreary solitude, and now and then got sight of the Lakes; to see which we had now travelled near fifty Irish miles, which is equal to sixty-three and a half English ones, the proportion being as five one-half to seven.

About noon we arrived at Killarney, which is one of the principal towns in the County of Kerry. There are four streets, in one of which is a new Court-house, of an unfinished appearance, having yet had but little external decoration bestowed upon it.

Near the town is the seat of Lord Kenmare, which is a building in several respects inferior to what we had expected to see, as a palace to the sovereign of Lough Leane*. Killarney is about an English mile and a half from the Lower Lake, and from which it forms the boundary of a good prospect; it is distant from Dublin 125, Cork 38, Limerick 50, and Tralee 12 miles.

We had scarcely alighted at our inn, before one of those good-natured fellows, who are ever ready to instruct the uninformed stranger, brought us word, that the hounds were then in pursuit of a stag on the borders of the Lake: this information immediately set us in motion, but though we hastened to see the hunt with all the eagerness of impatient curiosity, we arrived at the scene of action a little too late, of which the report of a gun, usually fired at the conclusion of the chace, gave us notice. Unwilling, however, to return to our inn, without seeing some few of the many things which courted our attention, we hired a boat at Ross Castle, and from thence (to use the nautic phrase) took our departure on a voyage to the Lower Lake. The Lower Lake is in some places three, and in others four miles across; a beautiful sheet of water, with so calm a surface as to reflect the contiguous beauties that adorn its inlands; but notwithstanding this flattering surface, some fatal accidents have happened to the incautious adventurer. Sail-boats are frequently used here, and several have been overset (by sudden squalls of wind) on a part of the Lake where no assistance could be timely afforded.

Crossing from Ross Castle to the opposite side, we were rowed about four miles along shore, where the mountains are very high, and covered with variety of trees, as ash, oak, beach, and mountain ash, beautifully blended with holly, yew, and arbutus. The arbutus, or

The Lakes and Land contiguous thereto are part of Lord Kenmare's estate. › »

strawberry tree, abounds here; it is generally from eight to twelve feet high, and I apprehend for the most part about one foot in dia meter; it generally blossoms the latter end of September, and in De cember the fruit is ripe, of a bright scarlet colour, rather larger than the common strawberry.

Landing at the foot of Tomish, we visited O'Sullivan's Cascade, in a situation encircled with trees; its hideous roar surprises, where a sylvan gloom would else delight, and impress the mind with an idea of a mixed kind in the contemplation of noisy retirement. Our visit was next directed to the Island of Innisfallen, a delightful place, containing about twenty acres of land, almost covered with ivy, holly, and arbutus trees. Among several other similar curiosities, we were shown a French holly, the stem of which measures near nine feet in circumference, which I think you will allow is an extraordinary size. Encircled with ivy stands an old abbey in ruins, which is now fres quently converted into a house of refreshment, it being the usual place of dinner for visitors of the Lower Lake, who begin their excursions in the morning.

Near Innisfallen Island is a large rock, called O'Donnahue's Prison, from a report that O'Donnahue, before the abolition of the Feodal System, being absolute Governor in these parts, banished to this rock such of his vassals as had the misfortune to incur his displeasure. Here, the report adds, they were left to starve, unless they could save their lives by the hard and dangerous alternative of swimming ashore. Several other stories, for the most part ridiculous and improbable, were told us of this man, but with which I do not mean to tire your patience; beside, whilst I am anxious to save my friend from weariness, I am conscious I ought not to forget, that the fabric of that history, whose only basis is oral tradition, may be justly suspected of uncertainty and weakness.

There are about thirty other islands in this Lake, mostly abounding in arbutus trees, and in several other respects very much like those before mentioned; we were satisfied in seeing a few of them, therefore landed at Ross Mines early in the evening. A few years since, a considerable quantity of copper-ore was raised at this place, but the work now remains in a state of total neglect. A poor man who lives near this place informed us, that its discontinuance was owing to the great difficulty of obtaining proper fuel for smelting; but at Killarney we were told, that the ignorance and untractable manners of the workmen had been the greatest impediment; however, we had not much right to be offended with the poor fellow for giving us a wrong account, since he probably thought that misrepresentation might serve our turn, as well as confession of his own inability.

After returning to our inn, and partaking of a comfortable meal, which the landlord had provided against our return, his attendance was requested to our council of procedure, and where he very readily lent his assistance.

Our first business was to write a note to Lord Kenmare, in which we informed him of our arrival at Killarney, and requestedt he would

accommodate us the following day with his six-oared-barge. To this note we had soon a satisfactory reply, and we spent the remainder of the evening in providing proper stores for our intended voyage.

11th September.

Were I to give you a pompous account of our embarkation, I could not say less than, that, favoured by a fine morning, we rose early, and having embarked with our provisions, train of artillery, and musical instruments, by seven o'clock we proceeded to Mucrus and the Upper Lake.

From Ross Castle we went to the opposite side, and kept pretty close to the shore, under the great mountain of Glena, which with Tomish exhibited an extensive and at the same time magnificent piece of woodland scenery.

At Glena Bay we went on shore and cut our names on a large birch tree (the record of innumerable visitors), discharged two pieces of cannon, and sounded the French-horn. The echo from the report of the guns was first heard on the adjacent mountains, and twice after on others at a considerable distance, like claps of thunder; the several echos of the music were delightfully harmonious, whilst reverberating round the mountains, and then gradually dying away in strains of softest melody.

Leaving this place, we passed a kind of bay, called O'Sullivan's Bason, and at nine o'clock landed at Old Ware Bridge, where chusing a retired spot amongst the trees, our boatmen kindled a large fire with wood, and we made a very comfortable breakfast.

On the eve of our departure from this place we were suddenly surrounded by a number of women and children, each carrying a bundle of walking-sticks, which they cut in the woods adjacent to the Lake, and coloured in a curious manner. The sticks were offered for sale on reasonable terms, and a brisk trade immediately followed, the ardour of which did not abate until the bottom of our barge was covered with walking-sticks. It often happens, that pleasure is suspended by commerce; but here it proved quite otherwise, for this solitary and unexpected traffic, by opening a new source of entertainment, instead of interrupting, served to enliven the scene.

After leaving Ware Bridge we found the Lake in many places but 2 few yards wide, and the water so shallow that the barge could not proceed, without our getting out, whilst the men dragged it along into deeper water.

The Eagle's Nest is a very high mountain on the right hand, which rises majestically above the water.

At a short distance from this place we put one of our men on shore, with orders to blow the French-horn in five minutes after our depar ture, and landing higher up the Lake, we expected at the expiration of the limited time to have heard him; nearly ten minutes having

Lord Kenmare keeps a register of every visitor of the Lakes, therefore all our names were sent of course.