state of preservation, are objects of great curiosity to tourists here, and subjects of the deepest interest to antiquarian ob servers. My route lay westward; and after leaving Ballyshannon, and passing through the village of Bundoran, a favourite bathing-place in this locality, with a fine shore, I went forward to Sligo. On my right was Donegal Bay, gloriously shining under a blue sky; beyond it the lofty mountains of the same name, stretching east and west for nearly thirty miles; on my left, rising abruptly from the narrow strip of land along which I was travelling, and which seemed to have been wrested from the sea, were the mountains of Leitrim and Sligo. My road became more and more solitary, winding amidst scenes of desolation and barrenness, with here and there a cabin, or congregation of half-a-dozen such, as if they had grouped together by an instinct of self-preservation, to be a mutual defence against the terrific westerly winds, which, at certain seasons, sweep across the exposed parts of the country, with all the force of a tropical hurricane. Most of the huts had the thatch secured by twisted hay or straw, or by ropes of more durable materials, to enable them to resist the Atlantic gales. After passing a portion of the coast, where an abortive attempt was made, some few years ago, to form a harbour, but which the proud sea resisted, and most successfully, I skirted the noble mountain of Ben Bullen-an abrupt termination to the range, at the base of which I had been travelling ever since I had left Ballyshannon. The road now turned in a southerly direction, and speedily brought me to a lovely spot, near an amphitheatre of mountains. It was a small village, called Drumcliff. One of the old round towers stands by the side of the road, into which I climbed, but found nothing to satisfy my curiosity. Like others that I saw, it was open to the sky; although there were evidences of its having once had a series of floorings, and a conical cap. It is pretty generally agreed that these towers were used by the worshippers of fire, and also for sepulchres in some localities; skeletons and urns having been discovered in them. The peasantry of Ireland, who are very fond of the marvellous, have abundance of legends connected with them: most of them are supposed by them to have been built in one night. Not far from this tower was a very fine ancient cross, about ten or twelve feet high, apparently cut out of one stone. This stood inside the wall of the churchyard, whose situation was one of the most beautiful that can be conceived. In about an hour after leaving this enchanting spot, I arrived at Sligo. This is a good-sized town, with an air of activity about it. It is situated two miles from the head of the bay, on the banks of a river, whose waters are supplied by Loch Gill. There are extensive remains of a very fine abbey here. The small arches of a range of cloisters or cells are in a good state of preservation, handsomely carved and ornamented. The interior of the ruins is almost choked with tombstones, graves, and human bones. The lake mentioned is very beautifully studded with islands, some of which are richly wooded. Cottage Island and Church Island are both of them inhabited. Lying so far from those parts of Ireland which are usually visited, it has not received that attention from tourists which it deserves. creased facilities of transit, however, will place this lake, as well as other spots in this interesting country, before the admiring eyes of thousands. In From Sligo I journeyed to Castlebar. The road led through scenes still wilder than those I had the day before traversed; at times within sight of the waves of the Atlantic, at others through bog and wilderness, until at length the town of Ballina presented itself, standing on the banks of a bright, flashing stream, the Moy, whose waters, after a course of about ten miles, fall into the ocean. I was agreeably surprised to find so neat a place thus far west, and situated in a county (Mayo) which I had heard, and, as I afterwards found, with truth, was very poor. It was after this town was left behind, that the country began to present features of wildness surpassing all I had hitherto seen, and when I reached the borders of Loch Conn, it was the very magnificence of desolation that rose around me. The road for some distance almost overhangs the waters. Following the shore, it at length strikes off in a westerly direction, over a kind of isthmus, running between this lake and Loch Cullen. The two are connected at a narrow part, which is crossed by a new stone bridge, that has taken the place of a ferry-boat; at one time the only medium of communication one too, I should conjecture, from the force and rapidity of the current. It was just before we crossed at this spot that I saw the only eagle I met with in Ireland. He stood on a rock, looking very indifferently upon us as we passed; and appeared in perfect keeping with the strangeness and wildness of the scene. The road hence, called the Pontoon-road, was a work of no small labour and skill: it is cut in some places out of the solid rock, huge masses of which defend the traveller on the side towards the lake. between the two banks, and a dangerous | derstood as their native tongue. From the fact that the Irish is spoken by two millions of people, who are unacquainted with any other, it is of no small moment that instruction should be given to them in it, on the great subject of salvation. This is being done by different sections of the Christian church, who are locating missionaries and teachers in the midst of these districts; and these by being able to speak to them in the language they so much love, predispose them to listen to the things that make for their peace. The Irish is highly figurative, and at times very nigh the extravagant. Nothing can be From this place to Castlebar the road was over a bog, with bold mountains near us on the right, and swelling hills closing the horizon on the left; while, at | a distance before us, rose upwards to the clouds, the majestic Croagh Patrick, one of the gigantic guardians of Ireland against the waves of the heaving ocean. The distant view of the town was by no means unwelcome, either to me or my fellow-travellers; for the journey had been very tiring. One of the passengers, a female, who had got upon the coach at Ballina, had just returned from America. During the voyage the vessel had narrowly escaped being crushed by icebergs. She described the horror of those moments of suspense that passed over them, the awful stillness that reigned, each one hearing distinctly the beating of his own heart, as he listened to catch the slightest sound from the lips of the captain, who had taken the helm, and on whose skill hung the lives of all in the ship. Huge masses of ice came down upon them, and destruction seemed inevitable; they gazed, breathless, with horror; in a few fleeting seconds of time, there seemed to be concentrated the agony of yearswhen, at the very moment they expected to hear the terrific crash that should herald death, by the signal goodness of God, the ship, obedient to the helm, cleared the iceberg, and escaped. Her heart seemed to be unfeignedly thankful; and I trust the lessons she has learned in early days, (for she had enjoyed religious instruction,) were not ineffectual to the production of right views of the Divine interposition. Castlebar is the assize town of Mayo, but has nothing whatever in its buildings, or site, peculiarly attractive. Almost all the people here speak Irish; the majority in Connaught know no other language. By the more respectable persons, however, the English is as well un more beautiful than the words of endearment with which the mother greets her child, or hushes him to slumber. "Veins of my heart," "My heart is within yours,' would sound strange to Anglican ears, yet are they on every mother's lips. There is a vast amount of ignorance and superstition in this county, of which the people of England might easily convince themselves; for three out of five who visit our island in the autumn, to engage in the harvest, are from Mayo. The titular, or popish archbishop of Tuam, sets himself against the schools that have been established, and the priests, slaves to his nod, refuse to allow the people to send their children to be instructed. This the latter would be delighted to do, and would themselves listen to Protestant preaching, were they not forbidden, with the threat of ecclesiastical pains and penalties. Hence among them there is an almost universal ignorance of the spirituality of religion, and the plan of salvation. The homage due to the Saviour is paid to the virgin: her name, or that of some saint, is far more frequently on their lips than his. Of the nature and merits of his atonement, they seem not to have the most distant idea: pilgrimages and penances, together with the most implicit deference to the authority of the priest, appear to constitute their religion. An instance of their ignorance and superstition was mentioned to me at Castlebar :-A small farmer had been robbed of some article, and was testing his neighbours, in order, if possible, to discover who had stolen it. One man, who was very earnest in his repudiation of the theft, avowed his readiness to swear to the truth of his state ment on the word of God. "Ay, ay!" said the farmer, "you'll swear on that Bible, but you dare not on the gospel of Mullosh;" a book of devotions, if I am not mistaken, left by a saint of that name, and to which the peasantry of this part pay more respect than to the word of the living God. Indeed, there are hundreds who never heard of the Bible. "It is time for thee, Lord, to work; for they have made void thy law." It is worthy of notice, that the people who reside in the immediate vicinity of those places, which are the resort of pilgrims, are most indifferent to those miscalled religious exercises, in which strangers from all parts appear to engage with such zest and eagerness. "They are heretics there," said a zealous Roman Catholic of the latter class, when he saw their neglect and almost contempt of the observances he so diligently attended to. Perhaps it would not be very difficult to account for this coldness. A resident knows more than casual visitants do. The belief in charms and amulets is very common amongst the poor, and the virtues of the scapular are held by them in great esteem. Many of the readers of this paper may not be acquainted with this notable piece of folly; and although I have lying before me, "A Short Treatise of the Antiquity, Institution, Excellency, On the western coast of the county is Indulgences, Privileges, etc., of the most the island of Achill, the name of which famous and ancient Confraternity of our is familiar to Protestant ears. A colony blessed Lady of Mount Carmel, commonly was founded here in 1833, with the hope, called 'The Scapular,'" yet it contains so through the instrumentality of truth and much consummate nonsense, and so many the power of the Holy Spirit, of convertbarefaced falsehoods, presumes so much ing Romanists, and affording an asylum on the ignorance and credulity of the de- for those who by the renunciation of luded victims of papistical imposture, that | Popery had exposed themselves to temit is unworthy of further notice, save as porary evils. an evidence of the degraded condition to which men are reduced when these things are most surely believed by them. In a separate paper, I will endeavour to give some account of "this sacred habit," as it is called, from their own published statements concerning it; and, for the present, content myself with one quotation from the preface to the book, which will convey some idea of the estimate in which the scapular is held : "The singular prerogatives of this holy confraternity, above all others, are, first, that it is no human invention, having its institution immediately from heaven. Secondly, that it is favoured with the singular protection of the queen of heaven, who is the patroness and advocate of the confraternity. Thirdly, that it hath the promise of eternal salvation. (The italics are mine.) Fourthly, it avails much to abbreviate the expiating flames of purgatory. This sacred habit also hath quenched the flames, when it hath been thrown into the fire. It hath appeased violent tempests, when it hath been cast into the sea by those that were in danger. Briefly, it is known by daily experience, that the scapular is a sovereign preservative and remedy against all the evils of this life, both spiritual and temporal; insomuch that the devils many times have been heard to howl and cry most miserably, saying, "Woe unto us, by reason of the sacred scapular of the blessed virgin Mary, of Mount Carmel.'" These be thy gods, O Rome! Clew Bay is beautifully dotted with islands, that appear to have been broken off from the main land by the eternal action of the waters of the Atlantic. This part of the Irish coast is characterised by wildness and sublimity, and will amply repay the inconveniences to which the tourist must make up his mind in traversing the district. My route now led me to Galway. The road from Castlebar to this town, through Ballinrobe, was even yet more sterile than that which I passed after leaving Ballina. Fields of stone for miles were visible, and ruined castles in all directions. Of the latter I saw more to-day than I had done during all my journey. The chieftains in this part of Ireland must during the olden time have been exceedingly belligerent, to render it necessary for their safety to build such strongholds as these every two or three miles. There was very little during this day's ride to interest, except a distant view of the magnificent range of the mountains of Connemara. This district of the county of Galway is rich in splendid scenery, and deserves a lengthened tour and description. Unfortunately, the arrangements I had made prevented me at this time from visiting it. All the guidebooks describe it as a spot of mingled beauty and grandeur-Nature in her rudest forms presenting herself to awe the mind, or, arrayed in the most bewitching smiles, enchanting and leading captive the wondering beholder. Moun A tribe west of the rocky mountains, called "Carriers," have this tradition respecting the formation of the earth, and the origin of the human race: tains and lakes are found in all directions, | the ashes. They looked, and behold a giving an inexpressible charm to this man stood up from the ashes! Hence comparatively solitary region. Between the name Piqua―a man coming out of us and Connemara lay Lough Corrib, on the ashes, or made of ashes." whose eastern shores we were travelling. There is in this locality an abundance of bog, which continues almost to the town of Galway. A few miles before we reached this place, we passed through Clare, where there are the remains of a fine old abbey, near which is a modern religious house, some of the inmates of which were cooling themselves in the shadow of the ruins. At length, after a very fatiguing ride, we reached Galway in safety. T. A. NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. It is interesting, as well as painful, to contemplate the religious notions and superstitions of the North American Indians. Like most barbarous and rude nations, who have not had the light of Christianity spread before them, they have a belief in superior beings or spirits, who exercise a controlling influence over them; and, like the ancient Athenians whom Paul addressed, they, in some mode or other, erect their altars "to the unknown God." And though their ideas with regard to the immortality of the soul are vague and undefined, they all have the basis of such a doctrine, and all believe that the spirit within them will exist in some condition or other after the death of the body. Having none to declare unto them the true character of the God "whom they ignorantly worship," they bow down to things seen and temporal," as the nearest approach they know how to make to those which are 66 unseen and eternal. Hence their adoration is paid to the sun, or the moon, or the ocean, or a high mountain, or a vast lake, or a great river, or a roaring cataract, or the devouring fire, or the mighty wind, or the earthquake beneath their feet, the thunder-tempest over their heads, or anything that wears the impress of vastness, mystery, or power. 66 Still more crude, among some nations and tribes, are their ideas of material creation, and of the origin of men and animals. The Piqua tribe, one of the four tribes of the Shawaneese, have a tradition that they originated as follows: "In ancient times, they had a large fire, which, having burned down, a great puffing and blowing were heard among "Water at first overspread the face of the world, which is a plain surface. At the top of the water a muskrat was swimming about in different directions. At length he concluded to dive to the bottom, to see what he could find, on which to subsist; but he found nothing but mud, a little of which he brought in his mouth, and placed it on the surface of the water, where it remained. He then went for more mud, and placed it with that already brought up; and thus he continued his operations until he had formed a considerable hillock. This land increased by degrees, until it overspread a large portion of the world, which assumed at length its present form. The earth, in process of time, became peopled in every part, and remained in this condition for many years. Afterwards a fire ran over it all, and destroyed every human being, except one man and one woman. They saved themselves by going into a deep cave in a large mountain, where they remained for several days, until the fire was extinguished. They then came forth from their hiding-place; and from these two persons the whole earth has been peopled." Among some of the tribes, however, their tradition and customs afford strong arguments in favour of the opinion now held by many, that the North American Indians are descendants of the ancient tribes of Israel. For instance, what a striking coincidence between the following, and the account given by Moses, of the creation of man. Masco, one of the chiefs of the Sacs, or Sauks, stated to Major Marston, that his people "believed that the Great Spirit, in the first place, created, from the dirt of the earth, two men; but finding these alone would not answer his purpose, he took from each man a rib, and made two women. From these four, sprang all red men. That the place where they were created was Mo-ne-ac, Montreal. That they were all one nation until they behaved so badly, that the Great Spirit came among them, and talked different languages to them, which caused them to separate, and form different nations." The points of coincidence here are so numerous and so direct, that it seems impossible to resist the conclusion that the traditions of these people must have been handed down from those who had received the Mosaic account. First, that the man was created from the dust of the earth. Second, that the man was created before the woman. Third, that the woman was made from a portion of the man. Fourth, that the particular portion of the man used for that purpose was the rib. Fifth, that they were one nation till they "behaved badly." Sixth, that they were separated by the Great Spirit into different nations. And seventh, that the means used in both cases for their separation and dispersion was the confusion of their language. ca The Indians make great use of tobacco in their religious, as well as social ceremonies. They not only smoke the " lumet of peace" with their friends, but they, on all occasions, offer tobacco as an incense to their gods, and think it the most acceptable sacrifice both to the good spirits and the evil spirits. In passing, in their canoes, the sublime scenery of the "pictured rocks," on the shore of lake Superior, they paddle in breathless silence, and cast tobacco into the lake to keep the spirit of the waters quiet till they are past the scene of danger. They throw tobacco into the air to still the tempest and the winds, and into the rivers, the lakes, and the ocean, to quiet the raging waves. And even when they smoke for personal or social enjoyment, as a general custom, "the first puff is upwards, intended for the Great Spirit, as an act of homage to him; the next is to their mother earth, whence they derive their corn and other sustenance; the third is horizontal, expressive of their good will to their fellowman." They are generally earnest and sincere in their devotions, and some of their ideas are highly refined and poetical. It is said of the Shawaneese, "They fancy that the Divine Being, or the Great Spirit, comes and sings in their religious meetings; and if they do not hear his still, small voice, they conclude their sacrifice is not accepted." Their reverence for the Great Spirit is of the highest character. It is said of the Cherokees, "They never profane the name of God in their own language; and that they have no words in their language to express such profanity." A person who visited a tribe of the Osages, upwards of twenty years ago, as an agent for the government, gives an interesting incident of their worship. He says, "Their village was built as compactly as Boston, and in the centre of a vast prairie. All the warriors, chiefs, and young men met us two miles from the town, mounted on good horses, and as fine as they had feathers or anything else to make them. The Osage town consisted of one hundred and fifty dwellings, with from ten to fifteen in each house. Very few white people had ever been among them. They are entirely in a state of nature. They know nothing of the use of money; nor do they use any ardent spirits. I pitched my tent about half a mile from the town, and remained five days. They made dances and plays every night to amuse me. These Indians have a native religion of their own. At day-break, every morning, I could hear. them at prayer, for an hour. They appeared to be as devout in their way as any class of people." But even among different tribes of the same nation, their habits, religious notions, and moral character, are very various. Mr. Requa, in 1822, speaks of another tribe of the Osages, with whom he spent some time, as follows: "The moral darkness in which this people are involved is greater than has been communicated to the Christian world. It has been commonly reported that they worship God, and acknowledge him as the Great First Cause of all things. This, however, will, I believe, be found to be a misrepresentation. From the best information I can obtain, it appears that they are an idolatrous race, and that they worship the sun, the earth, the moon, the thunder, and the stars. They worship these creatures of God as creators. If asked who made the sun, moon, earth, etc., they cannot tell. Hence it is evident that they have no knowledge of Him who made the heavens, and the earth, and all things that are therein." The same writer represents this tribe as being low and filthy in their habits, and degraded in their morals. We cannot close this brief article more appropriately than by quoting the following passage from a sermon delivered by a clergyman of Massachusetts, a quarter of a century ago:-"I hear the voice of the savage, sounding from the bosom of the trackless forest. And there is in that cry a wild, native eloquence; it says, |