hirty or forty cows are kept on some of
them, for butter is the chief produce, and this is sent into England,
Portugal, and the East and West Indies. Some of the nice butter you
eat on your bread and rolls comes from Ireland. Sheep and cattle are
fed in great quantities on large pieces of land devoted to the
purpose the sheep are large, and have fine wool.

The mud cabin of the Irish peasant is the most miserable cottage you
can imagine; the walls are formed of clay, which hardens in the
sunshine, the roof is made of sticks and straw, and the floor is the
mere damp earth. It has frequently neither door, nor chimney, and
consists of only one room; the furniture is rarely more than a stump
bedstead, two or three stools, an iron pot, to boil the potatoes in,
and a table to eat them from. Generally, there is a small piece of
land attached to the dwelling, and in this potatoes are grown; the
peasants of Ireland hardly ever eat anything besides potatoes. When
they have enough of them to eat, and a little whiskey to drink, the
poor people are exceedingly jovial and merry; they laugh, sing, and
joke; and go to weddings, fairs, dances, and what are called in
Ireland "wakes," which, among the poor, is a kind of laying in state
before funerals;--but sometimes the crops of potatoes fail, and then
the unfortunate peasants die by hundreds from hunger. The favourite
dance of the common people is called a jig.

Dublin, which, I dare say, you know is the capital of Ireland, is an
elegant city, with fine houses and good streets. The churches, the
castle, the linen hall, exchange, bank, custom-house, and
post-office, are all very noble buildings. There are also parks,
gardens, theatres, canals, and other ornamental places throughout the
city. From Dublin have been sent models of carriages, specimens of
metals, slates, and linens, and a model of a house made in granite.

[Illustration]

I have now told you, my dear little friends, a great many stories
about the industry of all nations, and we have gone through the
World's Show together. We have seen nearly all the useful and splendid
things sent to the Great Exhibition from all parts of the world. I
have told you about Europe, and Asia, Africa, and America; and I must
soon leave you. But before I go, we must have another look at the
Exhibition, and one more glance at those few things which we have not
as yet seen.

We forgot to examine this magnificent chess-board, worth one thousand