of Lough Mask. On this account a kind of bloodtax had been imposed on all the tenants of the neighbouring district, in order to raise a fund for the compensation of the families of the murdered men. This tax, it was hoped, would have some effect in preventing future murders; though it seemed to me at least doubtful whether, considering that the prospect of large rewards had hitherto failed to induce the people to give evidence against the murderers, the certainty of incurring a slight fine would for the future prevent the commission of such crimes; and in fact the revolting massacre which has since occurred on the very same spot has already disappointed the hopeful anticipations of the efficacy of the bloodtax. Fearing that the tax would fall very heavily on my acquaintance, as the tenant of a whole mountain in the district, I asked him if he would not be a great sufferer from its assessment; but this he denied, saying that, as being a person above suspicion, he should be able, though with some difficulty, to obtain exemption from the tax, which would consequently fall with greater weight upon tenants who were poorer, less respectable, and more open to suspicion on the part of the police. He also stated, as a fact in his favour in claiming

this exemption, that he lived at some distance from the place; but I ventured to point out to him that this fact told against him rather than on his behalf, according to the received theory that the murders are committed by persons imported from a distance into the district. He was good-humoured enough to admit this point, but nevertheless it did not shake his confidence that he should be exempted from the incidence of the

tax.

At this place I had to part with my American fellow-traveller, who was going on to Westport, and thence back to Dublin; while I wished to prolong my tour until I had seen something of the cliff scenery of Clare and the mountains and lakes of Killarney. Accordingly he drove off with my new acquaintance on the Westport road, and I was left to hire a boat to row me down the stream to Lough Corrib and across the head of the lake itself to Cong. Thenceforward, although I had always seen the facts and talked to the people on my own account, I should no longer be exposed to the danger of hearing the facts commented on from an American point of view, which my kindly critics seem to think has so far poisoned all my sources of information.

I started down Lough Corrib in a small boat with two rowers for a four hours' pull to Cong, leaving the mountains gradually in our rear. Numerous wild duck and cormorants flapped past overhead, to which latter the boatmen gave the expressive name of black hags, cursing them for their mischievous propensity for fishing without a licence. High up in the hills I noticed a small white cottage, and was told by the men that it was that of a herd who had applied for police protection, 'to bring a bad name on the district,' in the opinion of my informants; but they may have been prejudiced witnesses, and I could hardly believe that this was his sole motive in making the application when I heard that he had issued summonses against his neighbours for the crime of cutting heath on the hills to make beds for themselves, whereas the landlord was very particular that it should all be reserved for his grouse. This fact may, perhaps, have made him unpopular; and the district is wild, and his locality lonely, so that altogether I could hardly be surprised at his wishing for the society even of the police. We passed also a substantial schoolhouse on the right shore of the lake, and not a single house within miles of it in any direction. This I took for

granted was a peculiarly Irish arrangement, and so expressed no surprise; but the rowers were ready with a reason for it, and told me that there was once a large village clustering round the school, but the landlord had exterminated the people, preferring to reign over sheep as a more docile sort of tenants. Until the last few years children were ferried across from the other side of the lake for their daily school, but now the school had been turned into a herd's house, and a new one built on the opposite shore. In the distance a larger white house stood out prominently on the hillside, and I was told it was the abode of the late Lord Mountmorres, who had been murdered in the neighbourhood, and whose house had been turned into a headquarters for the police. I perceived that I was again approaching a district of outrages, where a murderous spirit was abroad among the people, which the presence of large bodies of police was ineffectual to check.

I landed at Cong, and went up to the Carlisle Arms, ordering a car to drive over to Captain Boycott's house on Lough Mask, but the account of my interview with him must be reserved for another chapter.

71

CHAPTER V.

CAPTAIN BOYCOTT-POTHEEN.

My last chapter brought me as far as Cong, about five miles from Captain Boycott's famous farm. I drove over to his house only to find that he was absent and had gone to a lawn-tennis party in the neighbourhood. This was disappointing, but I was told I might call again about nine o'clock in the evening, which I promised to do. At eight o'clock I paid a visit to a priest, having always found them able and willing to give information about the state of their district. I was shown into his drawing-room, and he shortly appeared, but on his appearance I divined without much difficulty that I was disturbing him at a meal, and expressed a hope that I had not interrupted his dinner. He replied with some indignation that he was not at dinner, which in fact he had enjoyed in the middle of the day, but that he had just finished his tea, and was very glad to see a visitor. Doubtless the tea is strong