er, were ordered to Tralee
in county Kerry. When we arrived at Tralee a detachment of a
lieutenant, myself, a corporal, and seventeen men were ordered next
day to go to Dingle, which is situated on a large tongue of land, and
here we were again stationed in barracks for about a year, our
principal duty being to guard the coast against the smuggling that was
at that time being carried on to a very great extent.

We were chiefly under the command of the coastguard captain, whose
name was Collis. It was astonishing to see the many manoeuvres which
the inhabitants practised in this art of smuggling. I remember once
being called out by the captain to search a house that he had received
information about as containing a quantity of smuggled tobacco. I went
with twelve men and the captain to the house, and at the door we were
met by three ruffianly-looking Irishmen, whose conversation we could
not understand at all: however, we passed on and searched the house,
at one end of which were standing three cows, which did not seem to me
at the time to be very homely guests. At first we could find nothing,
so we were proceeding to search the outside, when I saw the three men
laughing. Not feeling at all satisfied I turned the cows out and
looked under the litter, where I discovered a trap-door, under which
when I had opened it I found a flight of steps leading into a cellar,
which contained upwards of twenty bales of tobacco. This made the
men's countenances change instantaneously. We brought this up, but
still not being content we searched farther into the garden, and
finding that ground had lately been moved, we disturbed it again and
turned up about twelve bales more that were concealed there. These we
conveyed in press-carts to the captain's house, and received a good
supper for our services and extra pay, mine amounting to half a crown
and the privates' less in proportion. On another occasion, when we
were again out on the search, we passed what we thought was a funeral,
to which we presented arms, but which we afterwards found was nothing
but smuggled tobacco put into a box of the shape of a coffin with a
pall over, and in this way conveyed into security. Such and similar
transactions were frequent during our stay here, the inhabitants being
of the very wildest sort. Once even a cotton-ship drove ashore, and we
had the greatest difficulty in keeping them from plundering it.

At last, however, we were ordered back to Plymouth,