of leather gloves, the material of which is so thin that a pair may easily be placed in the shell of a walnut. It has a considerable trade in butter and other provisions. Vessels of 600 tons can lie at the quays. The commerce of the city is increasing.

ROUTE 7.

DUBLIN TO BELFAST.

112 miles; first class, 20s.; second, 15s.; third, 9s. 4d.

EAVING the Amiensstreet station, we pass, 9 miles, MALAHIDE (Hotel: Royal), a town much resorted to for sea-bathing. Near the village is Malahide Court, the princely residence of Lord Talbot de Malahide, a square building flanked by round towers, The roof of the grand hall is of richly-carved oak, and one of the chambers, called "the oak chamber," has a large quantity of elaborate and curious oak carving. The collection of pictures is interesting and valuable, among them being a small altar piece by Albert Durer, and several portraits by Van Dyck. SKERRIES (17 miles), the ancient name of which was Halm Patrick. According to tradition it was here that St Patrick sought refuge when persecuted by the Druids. BALBRIGGAN (21 miles), noted for themanufacture of stockings, whence we reach DROGHEDA (32 miles, pronounced Droyda), (Hotel Imperial), situated on the River Boyne. It was once surrounded by a wall, of which considerable fragments remain. Cromwell took the place by assault, leading it in person, in

1649. Clarendon, speaking of the assault, says, (6 Except some few who during the time of the assault escaped at the other end of the town, there was not an officer, soldier, or religious person belonging to that garrison left alive." About one mile from the town, on the bank of the river, the famous battle of the Boyne was fought on the 1st day of July, 1690, between the forces of the Prince of Orange and James II., his father-in-law. obelisk marks the spot where the battle began. Drogheda has a considerable trade in linen, and large quantities of provisions are annually exported. Its commerce has increased considerably for a few years past, and it promises to become a place of considerable importance.

An

DUNDALK (543 miles). (Hotel: Imperial.) Population, 11,600, situated on the magnificent bay of the same name, possesses little of interest. Edward Bruce was here crowned King of Ireland, and, after residing here for two years, was killed in a battle with the English, on Foighard (or Faughart) Hill, near by, in 1318. The town has considerable trade in grain, and some important manufactures. Beyond this there is nothing remarkable upon our route until we reach LISBURN (105 miles). (Hotel: Hertford Arms.) Population, 8,000, a prosperous town, having a large trade in linens, chiefly damasks. The church contains monuments to Jeremy Taylor and to Lieutenant Dobbs, who was killed in an engagement with Paul Jones, the pirate, near the Irish coast.

BELFAST (112 miles.) (Hotels: See "HOTEL LIST.") Is the metropolis of the North of Ireland, and next to Dublin the most important city in Ireland. It is situated on the River Lagan, a short dis

tance above its junction with Belfast Lough. It is a modern city, its origin scarcely dating beyond the 17th century. Its growth is remarkable. In 1821 it had but 37,000 inhabitants; in 1851, 100,000 in 1861, 120,000; in 1870, 140,000; in 1880, 215,000. The growth of its trade and manufactures is commensurate with its increase in population. Its tall chimneys, immense factories and spinning-mills remind the traveller of the great manufacturing towns of England, though Belfast is almost wholly free from the smoke which disfigures Manchester and other purely manufacturing towns. The streets are wide and regularly laid out, well kept, and well lighted, and the public edifices of the city are remarkable not only for their numher but their elegance. Among these we note, as worthy of particular notice, the new City Hall, the Commercial Buildings, with an Ionic facade; the Custom House; the Ulster Bank; the Theatre Royal; and the Linen Hall. the churches, the only two which will attract attention are the parish church (St Ann's) and Christ Church, the former with a lofty tower and cupola; the latter with an octagonal spire. Queen's College is a building in the Tudor style, with a front of 600 feet. It was opened in 1849. There are also Presbyterian and Methodist Colleges. The Museum on the north side of College square contains a valuable collection of Irish antiquities, ornithological specimens, and a small geological collection. The Botanic Garden, near Queen's College, was established in 1830. It has a beautiful conservatory constructed of iron. Admission, 6d. Belfast is celebrated for its schools and benevolent institutions. The People's Park is very extensive and well laid out.

Of

Tourists interested in manu

facturing operations will find a visit to the flax mill of the Messrs Mulholland, the largest in the city, especially interesting. This firm, one of the first to commence the manufacture of linen yarn in Belfast, employs nearly 25,000 persons.

The harbour is accessible to vessels drawing 16 ft., and in spring tides to those drawing 20 ft. The recent improvements are very extensive, and cost over £500,000. The quays extend on each side of the river on the western side 5,000 ft., on the eastern 3,500 ft. There are two docks, the Prince's and Clarendon, where foreign vessels have every facility. The offices of the Harbour Commissioners is a fine Italian building of cut stone, the principal front of which faces Clarendon Dock.

If the tourist desires a bird'seye view of Belfast and its environs, he would do well to make a visit to Cave Hill, 24 miles from the town, so called from three caves in its face. It rises 1,140 ft. above the level of the sea. The view over the city, Belfast Lough, and the County Down is very fine. In clear weather the coast of Scotland is included in the view.

STEAMERS leave Belfast twice a day for Glasgow. The first service, at 8 P. M. on every week day, stops at Greenock to land passengers who prefer to go from that place to Glasgow by rail. The steamer reaches Greenock at 4.30 A. M. Train leaves at once for Glasgow, reaching there at 5.30. The second service leaves Belfast at 9.30 P.M. every day except Saturdays and Sundays, the steamer going directly to Glasgow without stopping, reaching there at 9.25 A.M. Fares, Belfast to Glasgow or Greenock, first class, 12s. 6d.

Steamers leave Belfast every evening for Fleetwood, arriving in time for the early morning trains

from Fleetwood to London and all parts of England. Fares, to London, first class, 45s.; second class, 35s.

ROUTE 8.

BELFAST TO PORT RUSH, LONDONDERRY, AND THE GIANT'S CAUSEWAY.

Fares to Port Rush (68 miles) first class, 12s.; second, Ss. 6d.; third, 5s. 5d.

HE excursion from Belfast to the Giant's Causeway and back, via Port Rush, may be accomplished in one day by taking the early morning train to Port Rush, where cars may be taken for the Causeway direct, taking Dunluce Castle in the route, and returning to Port Rush in time for the evening train to Belfast. Return tickets, good for one day, are issued at a fare and a half. If the tourist has two days at his disposal, he may, by passing the first night either at Port Rush or at the Causeway, go on the second day to Ballycastle, where a public car may be taken to Larne on the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway, by which he will reach Belfast early in the evening. He will, if he chooses the longer excursion, have passed over about 145 miles of the most interesting scenery in Ireland.

The railway, on leaving Belfast, skirts for 7 miles the shore of Belfast Lough, Carrickfergus Junetion (6 miles), ANTRIM (21 miles) (Hotel: Massareene Arms). Population, 2,800. A pretty town, situated on the Six Mile Water, near its junction with Loch Neagh. Near the town is Antrim Castle, the grounds of which are handsomely laid out, and through

which visitors may walk to the shore of Lough Neagh, the largest lake in the United Kingdom. BALLYMENA (33 miles), a town with a very considerable linen trade. COLERAINE (614 miles). (Hotel: Bridge End). Population, 6,000. An old town, renowned for the excellence of its linen fabrics, called "Coleraines," and its salmon fisheries.

[The direct line of railway continues on to Londonderry, which is reached in an hour and a half from Coleraine, and in four hours from Belfast. A branch line goes off to Port Rush, the station nearest the Giant's Causeway. LONDONDERRY (Hotels: Jury's, Imperial).

This city is beautifully situated on a hill more than 100 ft. above the Foyle. Its chief objects of interest are the old walls and the Cathedral. These walls were built in 1610, and with their six gates are to a great extent preserved.

The Cathedral, on an eminence overlooking the town, has been recently restored. It was erected in 1633. It is a beautiful edifice in the perpendicular style. A splendid view may be had from the tower. Corporation Hall, the Court House, and the new bridge, are well worth notice.

The city is memorable from its famous siege in 1689, when the army of King James besieged the city for 105 days, and tried in vain by assaults and famine to subdue its brave Protestant defenders.]

PORT RUSH, 68 miles (Hotel : Antrim Arms). A small seaport, considered as theportof Coleraine, is situated on a peninsula of basalt, opposite the picturesque rocks called the "Skerries." It is much frequented for sea-bathing. Cars are taken here for the Causeway, distant 7 miles. On the route between Port Rush and Dunluce are

the WHITE ROCKS. In a distance of 2 miles there are 27 caverns or gullies worn out by the action of the waves on the limestone rock. The most interesting is called the "Priest's Hole." DUNLUCE CASTLE (3 miles), one of the finest ruins to be seen anywhere. "It stands about 100 ft. above the sea on a perpendicular and insulated rock, the entire surface of which is so completely occupied by the edifice that the external walls are in continuation with the perpendicular sides of the rock." The rock is united to the mainland by a wall only 18 inches in width. The origin of this castle is unknown; it is attributed to De Courcey, Earl of Ulster. BUSHMILLS (2 miles) (Hotel: Imperial), so called from the river Bush, on which it is situated. THE GIANT'S CAUSEWAY (2 miles) (Antrim Arms). At the hotel may be had a tariff of prices for guides, boats, &c. The landlord at the Antrim Arms at Port Rush will recommend a good guide, and it would be well to follow his advice. There is no lack of intelligent guides. The best course to pursue in seeing the wonders of this remarkable region is, if the day be not stormy, to visit the caves and then to land upon and see the Causeway. The first of these caves is PORTCOON, into which the boat may be rowed for a considerable distance. Its length is 350 ft., its height, 45 ft. It may be entered also by land, but the effect is not so good. Dunkerry cave can only be entered by water. Its entrance resembles a Gothic arch. It is 660 ft. long, and its height is 60 ft. above high-water mark. After leaving the caves the visitor is rowed directly to and landed upon the Causeway.

It is a vast collection of basaltic pillars. The grand causeway consists of a most regular

arrangement of about 40,000 columns of a black kind of rock, very hard; almost all of them of a pentagonal figure, but so closely and compactly situated at their sides, though perfectly distinct from top to bottom, that scarcely anything can be introduced between them. The columns are of unequal height and breadth, some of the highest being about 20 ft.; they do not exceed this heightat least, none in the principal arrangement. How deep they are fixed in the earth has never been discovered. This grand arrangement extends nearly 200 yards, visible at low water; how far beyond is uncertain; from its declining appearance, however, at low water, it is probable it does not extend under water to anything like the distance seen above. The breadth of the principal causeway, which runs on in one continued range of columns, is from 20 to 30 ft.; at one or two places it may be 40 ft. for a few yards. In this account are excluded the broken and scattered pieces, as they do not appear ever to have been contiguous to the principal arrangement, though they have been frequently taken into the width. The figure of the columns is almost unexceptionably pentagonal; some few there are of three, four, and six sides, but the generality are fivesided. What is peculiarly curious to the non-scientific observer, is that there are not two columns in ten thousand to be found that have their sides equal among themselves, or whose figures are alike. They are not of one solid stone in an upright position, but composed of several short lengths curiously joined, not with flat surfaces, but articulated into each other like ball and socket. The length of these particular stones from joint to joint is various ; generally, they are from 12 to

24 inches long, and near the bottom they are longer than toward the top. Their size and diameter differ also; in general they are from 15 to 20 inches in diameter. The cliffs, at a great distance from the causeway, especially in the bay to the eastward, exhibit at many places the same kind of columns, figured and jointed in all respects like those of the grand causeway.

the

The causeway is divided into three parts, or platformsLittle, Middle, and Grand Causeways. The objects best worthy the attention of the visitor are the following:

The GIANT'S GATEWAY, a gap bounded on each side by columns. THE GIANT'S ORGAN, consisting of a number of large pillars declining on either side to shorter and shorter ones, like the strings of a harp. The GIANT'S AMPHITHEATRE, "the most beautiful work of the kind, that in Rome not excepted." The GIANT'S CHIMNEY TOPS, three isolated pillars standing upon a promontory, the tallest about 45 feet in height. The Priest and his Flock, The Nursing child, The King and his Nobles, will all be pointed out by the guides. Pleaskin Head, "the finest of all promontories," rises to a height of 370 feet. Be yond are the Giant's Pulpit, a precipitous rock, an irregular pillar called the Giant's Granny, and near it four isolated columns called the Four Sisters.

The tourist who chooses the coast route for his return to BELFAST, will find much to interest him on the way. Between the Causeway and BALLYCASTLE is one of the most interesting natural curiosities in this extensive basaltic region, the little pyramidal islet of "Carrick-aRede," "the rock in the road." The epithet is derived from the interruption which this mass of

basalt occasions to the salmon ranging along the coast in quest of their original haunt. Elevated upwards of 300 feet, the level also of the nearest mainland, sterility keeps uncontrolled possession of the surface; while the majestic swell of the ocean, the almost uninterrupted prevalence of boisterous weather, and the eternal screaming of the sea-fowl that hover overhead, or sweep rapidly around the island, present a picture of remoteness from the busy haunts of man, of a melancholy meaning. Here, too, are not wanting horrors to enhance the effect of sublimity, for between the island and the shore is a dark, deep gulf, where the surges beat and the billows roar, and the spray is in eternal suspense. Across this gulf of frightful depth the proprietor of the valuable salmon-fishery has thrown a rope suspension bridge, for the accommodation of his fishermen during the season. Like the geological structure of the rock itself, there was a time when the bridge excited curiosity, and when its transit was performed, and remembered as a performance evincing the most manly courage; but the repute of both has faded, science has dissipated that astonishment which the scrupulous and accurate formation of columnar basalt once excited, and suspension-bridges have become universally adopted.

The swinging bridge from the Antrim coast to the rocky islet, consists of two parallel ropes secured to rings let into the rock on each side of the yawning chasm, with crossing cords, on which, as on the rounds of a ladder, planks are loosely laid. There is undoubtedly little attention here paid to security; the whole structure swings with every breeze, the planks are not even tied to the cross cords, and a rail or hand