Morning journal and courier., 1889-01-26

the seat of the Martins, among the grand Conemara mountains and lakes, surely led to no other place in Erin.
 The two great roads of Conemara lead from
 Galway. One winds from the old town be- tween crumbling walls out to the northwest, touching the edge of mystic Lough Corrib,
 traverses wild moors and bogs at the foot- hill edges of northern mountain ranges of wondrous changefulness and beauty, and, cutting through the desolate heart of Cone mara, finally leads to the thunderous sea at romantic Clifden. The other skirts the Bay of Galway. It is wide, massively- walled, winding and zig-zsg in it's course; and dis closes on Galway Bay and its northern coves scenes that rival those along the ancient roads of the Riviera, and particularly many of the
 bolder views in the vicinity of Gibralter. un- til old Cloghmore is reached. Then 6 rude carriage road creeps sinuously across penin- sula at the edge of lowering precipice, around shores glittering white with myriad shells,
 over mountain, through weird defle, but ever
 within sight of the wild Atlantic, away around the rock-ribbed, desolate and awful
 coast; at last leading up to the Clifden heights
 aud town, hanging there as you may see half Moorish clusters of battlemented towers
 upon the brows of Portugal's crags above the sea. When you have known these two roads
 as one on foot may know them, and have fol-
 lowed your fancy for exploration among the quaint peasant homes in the wilds between, you have witnessed the most interesting in scenery and people that can be found in any
 portion of Europe.
 Bianeoni, the Italian rag-picker, who through his introduction of the s'long-car"- simply 8 four-wheeled elongatien of the jauntipg-ear-into Ireland, and his subse- quent establishment in all parts of the island of express and post routes, with rapid if rather odd and nerve-strainirg service, be- came in his time both 8 benefactor to, and
 the richest self made man in, Ireland. One
 of his old drivers in sense fell heir to these
 Conemara routes; and being patronized by
 the government with the mails, sends be-
 tween Galway and Clifden on the sea, morn ing and night long cars. These make the
 intervening distance of about fifty miles with
 such surging, rushing speed, that the passage
 becomes quite @ dangerous experience to the novice. Take an American farm-wagon with
 tremendous springs which would lift the box top above the highest wheels; extend seats along the top on either outer side like an outer
 box-step over the wheel-hubs; pile the main
 box, which is covered and called ''the well, :"
 wherein are slowed express packages and the like ten feet high, with huge hampers
 filled with Her Maiesty's "parcels-post" mail matter; imagine from four to six wrapped and bundled people upon each of these airy side seats, with their backs banged by the
 baggage mountain behind, their toes catch ing and slipping from the bounding foot rest, their hands despairingly clinging to
 luggage ropes to prevent sudden plunges into
 blackthorn hedge, over stone wall or into
 bottomless bog; the three, and sometimes
 four, horses attached to the contrivancs leap ing along at fiery gal1op; and the severest, slyest, merriest of wild Irishmen upon the ''box," bowling like circus-ring master at the horses and every manner of human or conveyance approached or passed; and you have some idea of the Irish 'flong car" and it's roaring passage from old Galway to Cliff ic fba ia bur1ad tnronoh Conemara. And such was my preathless transit by the morning car out, by the night car back, when the lanterns b1inked in the fog which hid the earth and stars, aud the clouds of steam from the foarning horses, rolling upward in the yellow lantern light recalled, as in dream, my youth tide Bible pictures of Elijahs wondrous translation. But this, only better to know the way for ths \ delicious tramping, which began the nexi | day along the white, wide road; where ths \ other humble folk who use their legs alwayi give most lightsome happening for the yerl | love of your own companionshiD.
 To your left, across the black and bogg, ! moors, are the billowy hills of lar Connaught ! and these seem to advance and recede as i with sullen impulse of aggression or retire ment during your whole days journeying | To the right is the valley of the Corrib river | gray and black with desolate reaches of rock and mere desolate still from the counties deserted cabins of pitilessly evicted tenant ! ry. Dangan, which you reach in an houri | tramp and where broken walls of former ricl l structures huddle smong the low huts, wa l once seat of the ancient Conemara "Mar l tins" Soon little, nestling Moycullen i | reached. The quaint chapel, the fey | matched shops, the rude cabins built against former gigantic walls enclosing great de mesnes, all have the seeming of quiet ant rest about them. One fingers here as wher before study of sleedy Holland hamlets | Besides Moycullen means the plain of UiI | Ian. Lillian was an Irish hero, grandson o | Nuad Silver-hand, who slew the great chief. l tain, OrDson Mac Alloid. Down where the
 rocks loom in jagged yiles as if hurled l there by giant hands, is the spot your fan | cy fixes upon as the site of the conflict | Turning back upon the road, you are nearly | run down by a pack of shaggy asses scam pering towards Golway. They are being clubbed and hallooed at merrily by scantily dressed lads who are perched upon theil | backs. seated nonchalently on diminutiv, osier creels which hand upon and flap agains 1 the donkey's long sides. The creels contain | peat from the mountain-bogs, and each cree | of peat will bring sixpence in Galway. Al | impulse seizes you to buy the whole consign ment for five shillings. The lads breathlesly accept the money. You tell them to again | sell the peat in Galway. They believe you l stark mad; leap upon their beasts and scuf' | fle off to 8 safe distance. But they halt I there and begin their blessings which you at | tempt to silence with gestures of depreca. ! ton. But the good wishes como the fastel | as they move away. You were never blessed like this before. Blessings on yer honor l the day an' night!" ''Heaven be yer hardest l bed, aorl" "Long life an divil sorra, sorl'
 "God sind the sunshine iver, sorl" and a1 | hundred more heartily-yelled benedictions until you are ashamed of their boundlessnesl | and are rather relieved and glad when theil | childish voices are stilled, and their ragged | forms hidden in a cloud of dust far down the pleasant way.
 l Soon the promontory of Ross, juttins darkly into Loueh Corrib, opens on the view. Just 8 glimpse of one of Corrib's | mystic, countless islands is caught. On thil I are the remains of an old stronghold of thu | O'Hallorans. Nearer and to the right stand the picturesque ruin of the castle of Augna | nure (Acha-na-nure), the "ield of the yews. | Its great tower, and well-preserved quad | rangle of massive walls over sixty feet il | height, are still standing. One of the an l cient yews, from which the locality derive | it's name, & scathed aud blasted trunk send ing out branches with undaunted virility | alone remains; and this tree is over ont l thousand years old. Every mute token O the place tells of magnificent assemblag of structures in former days. If you hay l wandered to it, the very stream which wash I es it's tremendous foundations, and has pene I trated unbidden it's hideous Iecesses ant
 dark dungeon-keeps, may be traced back t
 the road, where it passes beneath a nstura
 arch of black marble. Lettering beyon' this, and dreaming on the wraith like pres
 ences of past with which your fancy peo pies the whole region, your tramping imme
 diately brings you to the top of a noble hill
 Here you stand in the presence of far nor
 impressive past. Here was once the gres city of the Druids. For miles back toward
 old Galway, stretching away towards th
 black moors of lar Connaught, covering th
 sides of the valley sweeping past grim Aug
 manure, and showing gray and white toward
 the gleaming waters of the Corrib, are innu
 merable cromlechs, their half-obliterate
 great and little circles composed of Druid
 cal stones of all sizes and shapes. Here tw
 thousand, yes three thousand, and perhaI
 four thousand years before you came, gatt
 cred hosts of pagan Irish to witness Druid rites and stand in awe before the weird spell
 and mysteries their incantations evoked, po
 sibly on the very spot where your own fee
 now touch the earth. As you finger withi the magic influence that flashes your thougf from this time to that it is rudsly broken b l tha dashiuo r,ast vpu If wacyonatfas trar