public, but was there more abused than used, and at length, finding that the moderate sum necessary for the safe-keeping of the books, payment of caretaker, &c., could no longer be raised, Mr. Porter was obliged reluctantly to withdraw his unappreciated boon. There is also at Bellisle what we trust is only the commencement of a large collection of national antiquities. We gladly enrich our page with a careful illustration of one of the objects which it contains, viz.,

a pagan sepulchral urn, found in the neighbourhood, and which for elegance of form and richness of decoration is scarcely equalled in any collection. This relic of a prehistoric age is of a purely Celtic type, and no doubt was designed to contain the ashes of some long-forgotten torquebearing, chariot-riding, spear-hurling 115h, or king, whose very dust has long since mingled with the elements. Of the character of our pagan tombs and sepulchral memorials we shall have occasion to treat in a following chapter; suffice it here to say that the Bellisle urn measures 1 foot 8 inches in circumference, and stands 4 inches in height-a small space wherein to deposit the remains of a chief who in life had stood like a tower" amid the shock of spears," and whose sword "ne'er gave a second wound!" as probably sung or said by bard or shannachie perhaps 3,000 years ago. Bellisle, in the good old times, before the introduction of railways and steam-boats, was a very secluded place.

Lord Rosse, in going to or from the island used to embark his carriage and horses in a huge flat-bottomed boat, which was rowed across the lough. His favourite road was upon the Knockninny side, so that a drive ever so short by land necessitated a considerable trip by water. The ghost of his lordship is said to haunt the old house. What must be its sensations on beholding the Knockninny? Once past Bellisle, we glide by Killygowan Island into the broad waters of the Upper Lough Erne. Killygowan (" the wood of the smith”) is Mr. Porter's deer-park. The islands here are numerous, and being generally more or less planted, and not altogether overgrown with wood, have a very pleasing appearance. Upon one of them, Naan (or "the ring island"), is the stump of an ancient castle, the history of which we have not been able to ascertain, but which in all probability was a fortalice of the Maguires. Most of these islets are inhabited, and were formerly not without their export trade, in the shape of potteen-which, we need not say, had never come under the ken of the gauger. This "Irish wine," as Peter the Great was wont to style whiskey, was easily made, and as easily disposed of in the neighbouring towns in the days of the Revenue Police; but now that the Royal Irish Constabulary are supposed to look after the breakers of the excise laws, the trade may be said to have become almost extinct.

From a point nearly opposite Inisleague the tourist will obtain an interesting view on every side. Knockninny rises to the left, a picturesque mountain, the sides of which present a beautiful diversity of light, shade, and even of colour, as the sun illumes its serrated peaks. The name signifies the Hill of Ninnidth, a saint and contemporary of SS. Molaisse and Columba, whose chief residence was upon the Island of Inis MacSaint in the Lower Lough, where his church and a very large cross of stone, together with many foundations of the ancient establishment, still remain. These shall all be noticed in our Third Excursion. Our course is still in the broad lough, though now through an archipelago of islands-Inishlaght, Aghinish, Inishcrevan, Inishturk, Trannish, Inishore, Inishcorkish, and goodness knows how many more Inishes, the names of which, as they are possessed

of no especial interest, we need not now dwell uponuntil we arrive at a point to the north of Inish Rath, where the Erne once more assumes the character of a river, and its islands, from the greater amount of shelter which they receive, seem decked in triple green. We pass the quaint, picturesque, and warm-looking cottages of Mr. Tipping and of Captains D'Arcy and the Hon. Cavendish Butler, with their fairy-looking attendant yachts, launches, and pleasure-boats quietly moored around. We glide by rush, and bank, and wood, and all the usual accompaniments of beautiful river scenery, for about two miles further, when, almost at the same moment, two castles meet our view-the one as it were bowed with the weight of centuries, grey-tinted, and shattered, and all but conquered by the forces of ivy which have mined, escaladed, and planted their colours upon its towers and parapets; the other in singular contrast, a noble creation of the genius of our own time-a castle and yet a home, guarded by the esteem in which its owner is held by a prosperous and contented tenantry. The ancient castle of Crom figured largely in the war of the Revolution. It was a kind of frontier station of the Enniskilleners, and though never of very great strength as a fortress, was still considered as a key to the Erne, as far at least as Enniskillen. In 1688, Colonel Creichton, ancestor to the present Earl of Erne, was the governor of Crom. The place being besieged by Lord Galmoy, a general in the interest of King James, the garrison was effectually hemmed in, and having no artillery and a great deal of gallantry, defended itself by the deadly fire of long fowling-pieces, which had hitherto only been used against the wild birds of the lough. "After an unsuccessful stratagem to produce intimidation, by ordering two painted tin cannons to be drawn by eight horses towards the fort, the garrison being reinforced from Enniskillen, made a vigorous sally upon the besiegers, drove them from the trenches, and returned in triumph with considerable booty, and the mock cannon which had with so much apparent difficulty been drawn up against them." It would be useless and unnecesand indeed beyond the scope of this Guide, to dwell at any length upon the horrors of this great civil war, even when

sary,

we touch upon scenes or places usually associated with deeds of the time. The relation of one or two incidents, however, will suffice to illustrate the spirit in which it was carried on. Brian MacConogher MacGuire, an Irish officer, having become a prisoner to the Enniskilleners, it was proposed to exchange him for Captain Dixy, son of the Dean of Kilmore, who had been taken by the Lord Galmoy. The exchange having been arranged, MacGuire, who was surety for Dixy, was set free, but Galmoy retained that unfortunate officer, and tried him upon the charge of "levying men by the Prince of Orange's commission." The Rev. Andrew Hamilton, author of the little work to which we have already referred, entitled "Actions of the Enniskillen Men," states that thereupon MacGuire went to Galmoy, and told him that his putting Captain Dixy to death, after his promise under his hand to return him, would be a perpetual stain on his honour; and rather than he should do so base a thing, prayed he might be returned a prisoner to Crom, and that Dixy's life might be saved, for he did not desire to purchase his freedom by so great injustice. Notwithstanding, the young gentleman was hanged on Mr. Russell's sign-post at Belturbet." Another authority states that " MacGuire was so much disgusted at this action that he returned to Crom, threw up his commission, and would serve King James no longer.'

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The same Galmoy, having inveigled Colonel Creichton, the Governor of Crom, to "an interview of public faith," had him arrested, and would have put him to death but for the timely interference of Lieutenant-General MacCarthy, Lord Mountcashel, his superior officer, by whom the Colonel was forcibly rescued, and safely passed to Crom. 'Which instance of justice and honour did not lose its reward," writes Harris, in allusion to the mercy and consideration received by MacCarthy, after he had lost his entire army, and had been taken prisoner at Newtownbutler, as noticed in a former chapter.

"When all was done that man could do,

And all was done in vain,"*

the general, in order, as he himself stated, to "lose his

*We had to twist grammar a little in fitting the quotation-but, never mind, the moral is good.

life," threw himself single-handed upon his enemies, and was about to be "clubbed to put him out of the pain," for he had been severely wounded, when the fame of the generous action at Crom gained him honourable terms.

The modern Castle of Crom is a grand, imposing structure, situated upon an eminence not far from the lake. The offices and farm-yards are upon a proportionate scale. Much of the work is accomplished by the aid of steam machinery. The view of the castle and grounds, as seen from the deck of the Knockninny, is interesting in the extreme. The graceful towers rise, like those which have been imagined as appertaining to a fairy palace, above plantations of great extent and natural loveliness. In front, in a deep well-sheltered bay, is the anchorage of his lordship's yachts and steamers. The offices, &c., are upon Innisherk, an island connected with the grounds of Crom by a bridge. Few walks can be imagined more beautiful than the path from the ruined castle to the modern buildings, leading, as it does, by the edge of the lake, over which in many places hang graceful trees. It would be unreasonable to expect that the grounds at Crom should be unrestrictedly open to sight-seekers. On Tuesdays and Fridays, however, visitors are admitted; and, indeed, we have never known respectable parties who had come from a distance to be refused upon any day. Many arrive by car from Newtownbutler railway station, five miles. distant; others prefer coming by water from Belturbet, a plan which we think worth recommending for adoption by such tourists as may have time to spare.

Once past Crom, we find the Erne narrowing to the proportions of a river, upon the eastern side of which are numerous bays and expansions, and many islands, which, however, are less attractive to the artist, antiquary, or tourist, than to the fisher and fowler. Nevertheless, for the rest of our course to Belturbet, the lover of nature need not fear an attack of ennui, as, though deficient in features of the sublime or strikingly beautiful, the surrounding landscape possesses, in a great degree, the quiet charm of rich pastoral scenery. And now, reader, we have concluded our Second Excursion.

The third, which will be upon the Lower Lough, will illustrate the remainder of the direct steam-boat course of the Erne.