Of the town of Ballyshannon and its magnificent salmon leap we have already spoken. It is neat, clean, and comfortable; and has an air of business. Its situation on the northern border of Lough Erne, and within a few miles of the sea, renders it advantageous for commerce. The Erne is here crossedinto Fermanagh-by a bridge of fourteen arches. The adjacent scenery is exceedingly picturesque and beautiful; and its famous fishery supplies great attraction to the angler-who is, however, subjected to unwise restrictions which considerably detract from his enjoyments and prove highly detrimental to the interests of the town. About four miles from Ballyshannon is the pretty village of Bundoran, near the mouth of the Harbour. It is much frequented by sea bathers, and is exceedingly healthy; the wide ocean immediately facing it, and a line of mountains enclosing it from harsher winds.

On the other side of the town of Ballyshannon, and not far out of the way from Donegal, the tourist will do well to visit a natural wonder, "the Pullins," situated in the demesne of Brownhall. It is formed by the course of a mountain torrent, which runs for nearly a mile through a most singularly picturesque ravine, presenting to view in succession a series of cascades, caves, wild cliffs, huge shattered rocks, amidst a profusion of the richest and most varied ferns, and every description of mountain plants. The whole course of the river is shaded by a mass of deep wood, which greatly enhances the effect of the scenery. A solid bed of limestone seems to have

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been cleft, from thirty to forty feet in depth; and in this narrow fissure, turning often at a very acute angle, the river foams along, frequently entirely disappearing in caves where its course passes under and through the rock for a considerable space. In one of these caves, the regularly formed arched roof, above fifty feet span, and above one hundred yards long, presents one of the wildest representations imaginable of the lawless distiller's haunt, or the outlaw's refuge. A dropping well of the purest water is found in a basin of the rock within, and a succession of winding caves, forming numerous outlets, afford opportunities of escape or concealment on all sides. Often the course of the river is obliterated by masses of rock piled over each other in the most fantastic manner, and the existence of the stream is only known by a hoarse murmur deep below the place on which the spectator stands. After a course again, of half a mile through a flat meadow, the river reassumes its wild character, but with increased magnificence of scenery. The river suddenly descends about sixty feet in a deep and dark chasm, the rock actually meeting overhead, whilst a precipitous wall of rock bounds either side; it falls at once nearly twenty feet in an unbroken stream with a roar, which makes the solid wall around absolutely quake. It emerges under a narrow natural bridge of rock of the most perfect gothic mould, and turning suddenly, a vista of a quarter of a mile appears opening upon the sea in the distance, and on either side a perpendicular wall of rock, clothed with the richest ivy, extends in a perfectly straight line to the village of Ballintra, the river occupying the entire space between these curious walls. A description can but faintly convey the extraordinary character of these lovely scenes, nor can the artist represent their singular beauties*.

Fragments of several old traditions are connected with them. A fierce monster is said formerly to have inhabited these caves, which was at length slain by St. Patrick on a neighbouring hill, called from that conflict "Bally na dearg." The famous "water-horse" is said to resort to these caves, in form resembling a serpent, and as thick as "a sack." He comes out only by night, and chiefly for the purpose of stealing the farmers' hay from the neighbouring meadows.

On the borders of the river lies a huge mass of granite on the surface of the ground-singular in consequence of its distance from any rock of that description. It is called "Crockmacraoshleen," and bears a noted character. On one side of it is a hole, said to be the print of a finger, (a giant's it must have been), and whoever can walk blindfolded twelve paces towards it, and put a finger into this hole, will, whether man or woman, infallibly be married in the course of that year. The tradition respecting its appearance there is curious. Two giants or heroes, Fin Ma Coul, and another, were in the habit of sitting in the evening on the tops of these two mountains which form the grand pass of Barnesmore to smoke their pipe most lovingly, passing it across the valley from hand to hand. One day, the smoker having kept the pipe rather longer than his due time, Fin gruffly called to him "to hand it smartly across," but not being noticed, he took a pebble in his knuckle, and as a marble shot it at his companion's head to remind him of his delay. The pebble missed its mark but now lies where it fell, in the Pullins, a distance of ten miles from Barnesmore, and bears the mark of the finger of Fin Ma Coul, as a witness to the truth of the whole transaction.

LONGFORD.

THE inland county of Longford, in the province of Leinster, is bounded on the south and east by that of Westmeath, on the west by that of Roscommon, from which it is separated by the Shannon and Lough Ree, and on the north by the counties of Cavan and Leitrim. It comprises, according to the Ordnance survey, an area of 263,645 acres; of which 192,506 are cultivated; the remainder being either mountain and bog, or under water. It is divided into the baronies of Abbeyshrule, Ardagh, Granard, Longford, Moydon, and Rathelme. Its principal towns are Longford, Edgeworthstown, Granard, and Lanesborough. The population in 1821, was 107,570, and in 1831, 112,558.

We entered the county by the Royal Canal, voyaging part of the way in one of the "Fly-boats" to which we have already made some reference, and to which we recur chiefly in order to supply the reader with a pictorial description of the singular" con

travelling it is exceedingly inconvenient; there is scarcely space to turn in the confined cabin; and an outside "berth" for more than one is