salmon
stream which debouches into Killala Bay, the most important inlet of
the sea between Westport and Sligo. Perhaps Ballina is the principal
town in county Mayo; certainly it seems to be the most improving one.
It is, however, a considerable distance from the sea. Just now it is
the seat of a species of internecine war between landlord and tenant,
waged under conditions which lend it extraordinary interest. Exacting
"landlordism" and recalcitrant "tenantism" seem here to have said
their last word. Between a considerable landholder and her tenants a
fight is being fought out which throws a lurid light on the present
land agitation in Ireland.

The landholder referred to is the Miss Gardiner whose name is familiar
in connection with more or less successful attempts at eviction. This
lady, who many years ago inherited a large property from her father,
the late Captain Gardiner, has become a by no means _persona grata_ to
"the Castle," the sub-sheriff, the Royal Irish Constabulary, and her
tenants. She is doubtless a resolute and determined woman, and
possessed by a vigorous idea of the rights of property. If not
descended from the celebrated Grace O'Malley, Queen of Connaught, she
has at least equally autocratic ideas with that celebrated ruler of
the West. For years past Miss Gardiner has been famous as a raiser of
stock, equine and bovine, but unfortunately she has been most
frequently before the public as the strong assertor of territorial
rights. She dwells far beyond Killala, near the village of Kilcun, at
a house called Farmhill. From Westport to Farmhill the country is as
picturesque as any in the West of Ireland. The snow-clad hills of
Nephin and Nephin Beg are in sight all the way from Manulla
Junction--the chief railway centre hereabouts, and the line past
Loughs Cullen and Conn to Ballina, and the car-drive beyond Ballina,
reveal a series of magnificent views. There is, however, something
very "uncanny" to the Saxon eye about Farmhill. The first object
which comes in sight is a police barrack, with a high wall surrounding
a sort of "compound," the whole being obviously constructed with a
view to resisting a possible attack. This stiff staring assertion of
the power of the law stands out gaunt and grim in the midst of a
landscape of great beauty. Autumn hues gild the trees, the wide
pastures are of brilliant green, and on the rough land the reddening
bent-grass glows richly in the declining sun, which throw