nding this the vessels
had for us an irresistible attraction, and we entered a mountain cabin,
where we learned their real character. A second attempt to reach the
Priest's Leap, of whose exact bearing we were ignorant, involved us in
deeper mist and a heavier shower, from which we took shelter in a
wretched hut, directly over the bay, and within about one mile of an
hotel of great fame, frequented by travellers who are attracted to these
districts to view the magnificent bay and the singular beauty of
Glengarriff. Here we spent the remainder of the day. Eggs and potatoes
were provided for us; and when, as evening approached, we prepared to
depart to the hotel, the woman pressed us to remain, and produced clean
sheets, telling us they would give up their bed, and adding that she
would be satisfied with the fifth of what we should pay in the hotel,
where, she slyly hinted, our reception would be very doubtful in our
then trim. We readily consented to her arrangement; and it was further
agreed that her husband should go to the hotel and provide some bacon,
bread, tea, and whisky.

We had not, during our wanderings, met two such characters as this man
and woman, nor had we taken shelter in so extraordinary an abode. They
had a single child, a girl about four years of age, whose dark eyes and
compressed lip Akkad evidenced the presence of those terrible passions
which had burned deep channels along the brow and cheek of her mother.
The cabin was ten feet square, with no window and no chimney. The floor,
except where the bed was propped in a corner, was composed of a sloping
mountain rock, somewhat polished by human feet and the constant tread of
sheep, which were always shut up with the inmates at night. The fire,
which could be said to burn and smoke, but not to light, consisted of
heath sods, dug fresh from the mountain. A splinter of bog-wood, lurid
through the smoke, supplied us with light for our nightly meal. The tea
was drawn in a broken pot, and drunk from wooden vessels, while the
sheep chewed the cud in calm and happy indifference. They were about
twelve in number, and occupied the whole space of the cabin between the
bed and the fire-place.

In that singular picture, the figure of the woman stood out bold,
prominent and alone, absorbing, in its originality, every character of
the entire. Neither she nor her husband could be said to wear any dress.
Neither wore shoes or stockings, or any covering whatever on the