GALWAY.

THE County of Galway is in the province of Connaught. Its boundaries. are, on the north, the counties of Roscommon and Mayo; on the east, those of Roscommon, King's County, and Tipperary; on the south, the county of Clare and Galway Bay; and on the west, the Atlantic Ocean. It comprises, acccording to the Ordnance Survey, an area of 1,510,592 acres; of which 955,713 are cultivated; 476,957 are unprofitable bog and mountain; and 77,922 are under water. In 1821, the population (exclusive of the town and liberties of Galway, which forms a county of itself,) was 309,599; and in 1831, 381,564. It is divided into the baronies of Arran, Athenry, Half Ballymoe, Ballynahinch, Clare, Clonmacnoon, Dunkellen, Dunmore, Kilconnell, Killian, Kiltartan, Leitrim, Longford, Loughrea, Moycullen, Ross, and Tyaquin. Besides the provincial capital, it contains the populous towns of Tuam and Athenry, and the market-towns of Loughrea, Eyrecourt, Gort and Headford, besides the greater part of Ballinasloe; the small, but rising and rapidly improving town of Clifden, being its only seaport in addition to the port of Galway.

Proceeding from Dublin, the county of Galway is entered on passing over the bridge that crosses the Shannon at Ballinasloe. From this pretty and prosperous town, where the grand cattle fair of Ireland is held, two great roads branch off, the north leading to Mayo through Tuam, the west through Augrim and Loughrea to Galway-town. Although we visited the county by the former route, we shall conduct our readers by the latter, as enabling him to examine the district, and Connamara in particular, to greater advantage; for, as we were told when too late to profit by the knowledge, to enter this region, as we did, by the Killeries, was "like looking at a man's face behind his back." Proceeding thus, however, we shall miss the old town of Tuam-and "no great loss," for it is a dirty and ruinous looking place, and its Roman Catholic cathedral, recently erected, is sadly out of harmony with the dull and dingy habitations upon which it looks down. Approached from the east,

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nevertheless, it has a remarkably picturesque effect, towering above the landscape, and commanding an extensive prospect of the adjacent country.

way passes through Loughrea a remarkably neat and orderly town; and leaves, to the right, the ancient but now ruinous town of Athenry, where there are several interesting remains of antiquity. Athenry was famous long before Galway became remarkable; and early records of the provincial capital distinguish it as situated near Athenry*. The comparatively unchanged character of the district soon becomes apparent; if there were no other proof, the tourist will obtain one in the frequent occurrence of the "original Connaught

Although the west of Ireland contains some of the best harbours in the kingdom, the spirit of commerce has made but little way there. Galway may indeed be considered as its only mercantile port; and even here trade seems to languish sadly in and about its "new and commodious docks." To open this populous district would be to make it prosperous; plans are in progress to run a railroad through it from Dublin; and if such a design could be carried into execution, the results would, undoubtedly, be most advantageous, not only to Ireland, but to the whole kingdom. Our readers are aware that, excepting the limited lines-from Dublin to Kingstown (about six miles), from Belfast to Lisburn (about the same distance), and from Dublin to Drogheda (about twenty-two miles), there are no railroads in Ireland. The time is, perhaps, approaching when the care of Government will be directed to this important subject; without State assistance it is impossible that Ireland can procure this vast advantage; for, in the present position of the country, as a mere speculation for profit, any extensive scheme of the kind would be a failure. It would be difficult, however, to point out a mode in which the public funds might be more judiciously and beneficially expended. A project is now in course of formation for carrying a line of road from Dublin to Galway. We have made some inquiries upon the subject, and received some information from P. V. O'Malley, Esq., civil engineer, who is now endeavouring to press it upon public attention. He finds that "in the proposed line no tunnelling would be required, and very little cuttings or embankments, and not many aqueducts or viaducts," and considers that the cost of the railroad would be trifling in comparison with any line that has been made in England. The projected linemaking a grand total of 115 English miles-would pass through no less than six counties and several towns of importance, the commerce of which would be thus largely increased. Mr. O'Malley's estimate, for the cost of the line, does not much exceed £5000 per mile-that is to say, "for a single line of rails or tracks with turnoffs and switches." He also suggests that Wheatstone's electric telegraph should be used. Certainly if such a project can be carried out-and assuredly it may be, if Government will co-operate with some wealthy and enterprising individuals-in no part of the kingdom could the experiment he tried with surer prospects of success. The port of Galway has several manifest advantages-not the least of them being its "proximity" to America.

pig "-which now exists in no other part of Ireland-modern improvement having completely destroyed his "seed, breed, and generation." He is a long, tall, and, usually, spare animal; with a singularly sharp physiognomy, and remarkably keen eyes. His race is still preferred by the peasantry; for he will "feed upon anything "_ even the thin herbage of the common; and the

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rearing" costs neither trouble nor expense. For

the purpose of sale, however, he is useless; and

as it is the pig that "pays the rent," and is seldom or never brought up for "home consumption," the Connaught pig is nearly extinct, and probably, in a few years, will be found only in pictures

The tourist on approaching Galway Town perceives other evidence that he is in a peculiar district; the dark features and coal-black hair of the people indicate their Spanish descent; and they are, for the most, so finely formed, so naturally graceful, that almost every peasant girl might serve as a model for the sculptor. Passing along the narrow streets, he is startled by greater singularities; houses with remains of "jalousies," and arched gateways,

Ugly and unserviceable as are the Connaught pigs, they are the most intelligent of their species. An acquaintance of ours taught one to "point," and the animal found game as correctly as a pointer. He "gave tongue," too, after his own fashion, by grunting in a sonorous tone; and understood when he was to take the field as well as any dog. The Connaught pigs used to prefer their food (potatoes) raw to boiled, and would live well and comfortably where other pigs would starve. They perforate hedges, scramble over walls, and run up mountains like goats, performing their feats with a flourish of their tails and a grunt of exultation that are highly amusing to those whose observations have been previously confined to the "swinish multitude" of clean, white, deliberate, unwieldy hogs that are to be seen in English farm-yards. A Connaught pigdriver is as lean, as ungainly, as clever, and almost as obstinate as his "bastes," and finds little favour in the southern or northern states of his own land. He is, notwithstanding, a patient, enduring, good-natured fellow -less bland than the southern, and less "canuy" than the northern; but "sly," and "'cute," and "droll," as need be, in his own way. In England they are frequently supposed to be the types of "all Ireland ;" and certainly a raw-boned, swarthy, dark-eyed "boy" from the "County Mayo," as he brings up the rear of a troop of dusty pigs-his long coat hanging upon, rather than fitting him-his open shirt-collar exposing a corduroy sort of throat-his "cawbeen " bound with a string, and illustrated by a "doodeen " and turnpike tickets-shouting to his swinish multitude, brandishing his wooden-handled whip, and jabbering Irish to his assistant,-is anything but an attractive, though a very picturesque, representative of the "sons of the sod." Such a one passed our gate the other morning. "That is a countryman of yours," we said to a bricklayer, who was repairing a wall. "Is it that," he answered in a ripe, round, mellifluous Munster brogue; "is it that tatther demallion-is it that!-HE!-Faix, he's not an Irishman at all; he's nothing but a Connaught man!" We remember a man ouce expressing bis astonishment that so much bother should have been made about a "boy" who had been killed in a row at a fair, concluding his harangue by an exclamation, "And he was nothing but a Connaught man, after all!" The prejudice against Connaught is indeed somewhat general in the other parts of Ireland; there seems to have been a pretty extensive willingness to construe literally the brutal epithet of the soldiers of Cromwell-" to H-or Connaught !"when forcing emigration from the pleasant plains of Limerick and Longford, into the rude and barren districts of the far west.