onderry, and its vicinity,
which I much desired. At length we were brought into Dublin at half-past
three o'clock, or in eight hours from Belfast, about one hundred and
thirty miles.

The face of the country through this part of Ireland is moderately
rolling, though some fair hills appear in the distance. The land is
generally good, though there are considerable tracts of hard, thin soil.
Small bogs are frequently seen, but no one exceeding a dozen acres; the
large ones lying farther inland. Taking so little room and supplying the
poor with a handy and cheap fuel, I doubt that these little bogs are any
detriment to the country. Some of them have been made to take on a soil
(by draining, cutting, drying and burning the upper strata of peat, and
spreading the ashes over the entire surface), and are now quite
productive.--Drainage and ridging are almost universally resorted to,
showing the extraordinary humidity of the atmosphere. The Potato is now
generally in blossom, and, having a large breadth of the land, and being
in fine condition, gives an appearance of thrift and beauty to the
landscape. But, in spite of this, the general yield of Ireland in 1851
is destined to be meager. There is more misery in store for this unhappy
people.

We cross two small lakes some ten to fifteen miles north of this city,
and run for some distance close to the shore of the Channel. At length,
a vision of dwellings, edifices and spires bounds the horizon of the
level plain to the south-west, and in a few minutes we are in Dublin.

XLI.

WEST OF IRELAND--ATLANTIC MAILS.

GALWAY, Ireland, Aug. 2, 1851.

I came down here yesterday from Dublin (126 1/2 miles) by the first
Railroad train ever run through for the traveling public, hoping not
only to acquire some personal knowledge of the West of Ireland, but also
to gain some idea of the advantages and difficulties attending the
proposed establishment of a direct communication by Mail Steamers
between this port and our own country. And although my trip is
necessarily a hurried one, yet, having been rowed down and nearly across
the Bay, so as to gain some knowledge of its conformation and its
entrance, and having traversed the town in every direction, and made the
acquaintance of some of its most intelligent citizens, I shall at all
events return with a clearer idea of the whole subject than ever so much
distant study of maps, charts and books could have given me.

The Midlan