sand,
etc.; it must be a stony clay, a stony loam, a gravelly sand. Clay,
especially the yellow, is much talked of in Ireland, but it is for want
of proper discrimination. I have once or twice seen almost a pure clay
upon the surface, but it is extremely rare. The true yellow clay is
usually found in a thin stratum under the surface mould, and over a rock;
harsh, tenacious, stony, strong loams, difficult to work, are not
uncommon: but they are quite different from English clays.

Friable, sandy loams, dry but fertile, are very common, and they form the
best soils in the kingdom for tillage and sheep. Tipperary and Roscommon
abound particularly in them. The most fertile of all are the bullock
pastures of Limerick, and the banks of the Shannon in Clare, called the
Corcasses. These are a mellow, putrid, friable loam.

Sand which is so common in England, and yet more common through Spain,
France, Germany, and Poland, quite from Gibraltar to Petersburg, is
nowhere met with in Ireland, except for narrow slips of hillocks, upon
the sea coast. Nor did I ever meet with or hear of a chalky soil.

The bogs, of which foreigners have heard so much, are very extensive in
Ireland; that of Allen extends eighty miles, and is computed to contain
three hundred thousand acres. There are others also, very extensive, and
smaller ones scattered over the whole kingdom; but these are not in
general more than are wanted for fuel. When I come to speak of the
improvement of waste lands, I shall describe them particularly.

Besides the great fertility of the soil, there are other circumstances
which come within my sphere to mention. Few countries can be better
watered by large and beautiful rivers; and it is remarkable that by much
the finest parts of the kingdom are on the banks of these rivers.
Witness the Suir, Blackwater, the Liffey, the Boyne, the Nore, the
Barrow, and part of the Shannon, they wash a scenery that can hardly be
exceeded. From the rockiness of the country, however, there are few of
them that have not obstructions, which are great impediments to inland
navigation.

The mountains of Ireland give to travelling that interesting variety
which a flat country can never abound with. And, at the same time, they
are not in such number as to confer the usual character of poverty which
attends them. I was either upon or very near the most considerable in
the kingdom. Mangerton, and the Reeks, in Kerry; the Galties in Cor