h had left the bay. I assured him they would return under
a Dublin Parliament. He refused to be comforted, because they were
not.

There is no railway from Bundoran to Sligo, that is, no direct
railway. The great lines mostly run from east to west, but the west
lacks connecting links. Look at the map of Ireland. Cast your eye on
the west coast. If you would go by rail from Westport to Sligo, you
must first go east to Mullingar. If you would go by rail from Sligo to
Bundoran, you must first go east to Enniskillen. If from Bundoran to
Donegal, less than twenty miles, you must again go to Enniskillen,
thence to Strabane, where you arrive after the best part of a day's
journey, ten miles further away than when you started, thence to
Stranorlar, changing there to the narrow-gauge railway for your final
trip. Travelling on the west coast is tedious and expensive, whether
you go round by rail or drive direct. Many of the most attractive
tourist districts are almost inaccessible. To open them up is to
enrich the neighbourhood. Few Englishmen know what the Balfour
railways really mean. The following statement gives particulars
respecting the Light Railways authorised by the Salisbury Government,
and constructed either wholly or in part by the nation. These
railways introduce tourists to those parts of Ireland which are best
worth visiting, and the economy of time, money, and muscular tissue
effected by them would be hard to overestimate. But this is not all,
nor was this their primary purpose. They gave and still give
employment to the people of the district, and besides bringing the
money of the tourists into the country, enable the natives to send
their produce out of it, to place it on the market, to turn it into
gold. There is no railway from Dugort, in Achil, to any market. Fish
caught in Blacksod Bay are therefore worth nothing except as food for
the fisherman's family. Large crabs were offered to me for one
halfpenny each. Does this fact impress the usefulness of Balfour's
railways? Here they are complete:--

Length in Balfour's
Name. miles. contribution.
Donegal and Killybegs 17-3/4 L115,000
Stranorlar and Glenties 24-1/2 116,000

On this line you run for twelve miles from Stranorlar without seeing a
single cottage. There are none within sight on either side.

Downpatrick and Ardglass 7-1/4 L30,000
Galway and