ADVERTISEMENT. THE Publishers have preserved in this, as in the preceding Excursion, the divisions and editorial introductions, as originally published, and which added much to the variety and entertaining character of the composition. This second part contains much and sound instruction relative to lake fishing, and the angler will find (as in the former) a valuable table annexed, showing the several flies, the materials of their formation, and the seasons when they are most effective. We can truly assure the lovers of the piscatory art, that from the sheets to which we allude, he will receive more clear and efficient information on lake fishing, than from all the volumes that have hitherto been published. ANGLING EXCURSIONS IN IRELAND. PART II. CHAP. I. "The summer dawn's reflected hue "The blackbird and the speckled thrush SCOTT's Lady of the Lake. WE should hope that the readers of Mr. Greendrake's Angling Excursion into the County of Wicklow, will not be displeased to renew their acquaintance with this observant Englishman. The second excursion was to the Lakes of Westmeath; and such of our readers as are acquainted with those waters, will not deny the application of our introductory quotation to their beauties. We shall now let our angler speak for himself: The very great pleasure which I experienced from my excursion to the county Wicklow, induced me to repeat this *** year, , my visit to Ireland, and prosecute my acquaintance with its scenery and the manners of its people. I arrived in Dublin on the 13th of May; and, having consulted with my friend to whom I had introduction on the former occasion, he acquainted me that the lake angling, in the county of Westmeath, which I had determined on as the scene of my amusement on this excursion, would set in on or about the 20th, and continue to the middle of June. To the question, where I ought to fix my head-quarters, he replied, that, consulting my own personal convenience, I should go to Mullingar, where excellent accommodations were to be had, either at Wilton's, the head inn, or at the humbler, but, perhaps, not less comfortable, auberge of Mrs. Clarke; and having the beautiful lakes Belvidere and Lough Ouel, the one within two, and the other three, miles of the town; but, if I preferred the better sport, with far less luxurious accommodation, he would advise my going to Castlepollard, a town in the same county, and equi-distant from Dublin. Here I should be within two miles of Lake-Derevaragh, latterly the best in the county for yielding good sport to the angler: within. about seven miles of Lough-Sheelan, the largest and, at one time, the best of the lakes; three miles of Lough Lane, the same of Lough-Bawn, also called LoughCarrick, and less than two miles of Lough-Glore; all affording successful sport from the latter end of March to the end of September. I did not hesitate in my choice: he is no sportsman who can suffer personal indulgence to influence the pursuit of his favorite amusement. However the civilized Nimrods of our days may startle at the proposition, it appears to me that a love of field sports is the principle of savage life contending in our nature against the constraints and refinements of arti ficial and sophisticated society. What, in our rude and aboriginal fathers, was necessity and habit, and I would almost say, instinct, becomes with us softened into amusement; and where the passion claims more from us than is necessary to the ends of exercise, health and relaxation, and absorbs in its indulgence the time which should be devoted to the higher duties connected with the place we hold in society, it is a theory of mine that then the savage predominates, and that rank, education, and public and domestic ties have been bestowed upon us in vain. Wildness of scenery and difficulty of enjoy ment enhance the pleasures of the sportsman, and i to such it is no repulsive prospect that his table or his couch may be simple and coarse, and that, for awhile, he may exchange the highly seasoned banquet of mental refinement and cultivation, for the plainer, more inelegant, but often times not less racy aliment of rustic communion. The engagements of my Irish friend preventing me the pleasure and advantage of his com PA pany, I was obliged to proceed alone on my excursion. Never having fished any of the larger lakes of Ireland, I naturally looked to the Dublin tackle shops for a supply of good flies, and accordingly filled my book. Every fly recommended to me was to be "a bully," and a buffer," as the sporting vender termed it, and of itself was to fill my basket. On the 24th I took the coach, and, as I proceeded, was forcibly struck with the contrast opposed to my excursion into the county Wicklow, not only with respect to the topographical appearance of the country, but that of the people also. Passing the extreme gate of the Phoenix-park, only three miles from the Castle of Dublin, exhibitions of human wretchedness present themselves, which an Englishman must see to believe could exist at the very gates of the second capital of the British Union; and, as we proceeded, the picture of sordid misery became more aggravated. From Dublin to Trim, the assize town of the county Meath, a distance of twenty-two miles, is one of the most tiresome, uninteresting drives that can possibly occur to a traveller: the country flat and monotonous; and, were I to judge of the whole island by this specimen, I would apply, alike to the country and its inhabitants, the short but comprehensive character of downright, literal naked ness. At Trim, situated on the river Boyne, there are numerous monastic ruins, and, in particular, one very extensive and interesting baronial ruin, called King John's Castle. It is a quadrangular building, of the noblest order of its day, and comprising all the strength |