[p. 86] 24th. The morning was rather wet but as it seemed clearing I sent my baggage along the road to Tralee & procured a guide to conduct me over the mountains. Before I parted my Landlady strenuously recommended me to a lodgings at Tralee because the inns were so extravagant & to her nephew at Listowel who she said was a butcher there and knew the country well. She advised me also to go down to Ballylongford and go in a passage boat to Limerick, a plan which I afterwards adopted as nearly as circumstances would permit.
A ridge of Mountains apparently forming a branch or rather a continuation of the [p. 87] Dingle mountains under the name of Slieve Meesh extends to the north of Castlemain & forces the road to Tralee to make a considerable bend in order to get round it. I observed in these a rocky hollow to which I ordered my guide to conduct me. In the way I had some noble views over Dingle Bay and to the Iveragh Mountains but the latter were never entirely clear. The showers were frequent and the ground wet and boggy which together prevented me from sketching. On reaching the cliffs I had observed, I was disappointed in finding their height very trifling, but was afterwards gratified by finding abundance of Saxifraga palmata98 tho out of flower. At the summit of my walk I had a last view of the lake of Killarney. On the other side was a wide uninteresting country without any [p. 88] bold or beautiful features. The Shannon was just visible, but the atmosphere was dull and hazy. In such a mountain as Slieve Meesh there is little Botany. I passed thro the manufacturing town of Blennerville99 to Tralee & remarked with regret that I had turned my back on the beauties of Ireland. There seemed nothing before me to attract the eye or please the imagination. [p. 89] I did not at all admire the look of the lodgings recommended by my