had been brought on, every one seemed to be on the best possible terms with himself and his neighbor. They were all, except myself, bound to Londonderry, which was the destination of the steamer, and they appeared to be plain farmers, or traders, in and about that place, with the exception of my friend the old burgher, who was a manufacturer at Glasgow. Anecdote and story-telling now became the order of the day, or rather night; and, finding that I was bound to the Causeway, they each contributed their share of information for my guidance. All the traditions concerning it were told over-how the giant Fingal had commenced building it in order to cross to Scotland, but he did not lay the foundations well, and it sunk into the sea-or, perhaps, he had given it up in despair-the legend went both ways; how, too, the Spanish armada fired into a part of the basaltic-bound coast, thinking it a fortress. They came afterwards to more veritable history, relating all the pugnacious feuds between the McQuillans who originally owned the country, and the McDonalds, who now possess it, by which it seemed that McDonald, being a powerful leader of a gallant band of highlanders, seeking occupation in a warlike way, assisted McQuillan to fight his neighbor; in return for which kindness the latter invited the whole clan to his castle of Dunluce; but McDonald found his quarters so comfortable, that he first made love to the old man's daughter, and then, with her assistance, defeated all plans which McQuillan laid to get rid of him, till, at last, the proprietor was glad to give up possession to his guest.

When we returned to the deck it was quite dark-a cold wind was blowing from the land-a few sea-sick passengers were lying about upon the settees, and the Irish harvesters were crouched together, wrapped up in awnings and old sails, and, for the most part, fast asleep. We were nearly off that part of the coast where the Causeway lies; but I was told that it was difficult to distinguish the columns even in the daytime, the whole coast being for miles formed of the same material.

At about twelve o'clock we entered the harbor of Port Rush, distant a few miles from the Causeway, where I committed myself and trunk to the care of a solitary porter, who conducted me to quite a spacious hotel; but the beds were all

occupied, so I camped down on a settee in the coffee-room, and, wrapping my cloak around me, was soon fast asleep. I arose at five o'clock, and finding no one up, unlocked the front door and wandered forth to look at the town, which I had concluded, from the appearance of the hotel, must be a place of some importance. My astonishment was of course proportionable at finding nothing but mud hovels around me. They were well whitewashed, however, and had an appearance of neatness which I have not seen since. Few of their occupants were yet out; the very pigs were snugly asleep around the doors. I found finally a straggler with a pick-axe on his shoulder, on his way to work upon a bit of road they were cutting through a hill. On asking him a few questions, he answered civilly, and, finding I was a stranger, seemed disposed to do the honors. He told me that it was a very thriving place the people were all Protestants, and ". as industhrious a set as ye'll find in all the county of Anthrim.” "Are you repealers?"

"No indade, sir-devil a bit do we care for O'Connell here!"

"Have you any thing like a bookstore here?"

"A booksthore! ye'll find one, maybe, at Coleraine, a few miles off. Did you want a histhory, sir?"

"No, a map of Ireland, or of the county."

"Is't a map ye want? For the matther of the county of Anthrim, I can tell ye the way as well as any map can. See here, sir-here's Port Rush, (marking with his pick on the sand,) that's this place, sir; and there's Ballylough, that's five miles; and there's Ballycastle, that's a thrifle more than tin miles; and there's the Causeway-ye'll see the Causeway, sir!-and there's Coleraine, that's in the county of Derry. Is there any other place ye'd like to see, sir?"

"No, I thank you; you are well entitled to the shilling I should have paid for the map."

Returning to the hotel, the door of which was ornamented on each side by a pillar from the Causeway, I ordered breakfast, and immediately after mounted a jaunting car, (a queer vehicle, looking like two settees placed back to back upon wheels, with resting-places for the feet,) and was off at a brisk trot for the great point of interest. My driver, a bright little Irishman, entertained me

constantly by his accounts of the people who lived here, nearly all of whom he knew, and whose intelligence and prosperity, as compared with those who lived further south, he was extremely anxious to impress upon my memory.

"It's only in the south, sir, where the praists is, that they care about rapale; and, troth to tell, sir, it's hard to see where's the good they'll get out of it, down about Dublin.-Get along with ye! ye've ate too much braikfust to carry ye'r weight! He's a good horse, sir, when he gets a start-seeing, as I was a saying, that the parlyment can't make bread, sir, and that's the most--(how do ye do, Misther M'Kane?)—that's wanting, sir. They're a saying that it will kape the landlords more at home-(what are ye afther, shying so, for? If ye was a man I should think ye'd been a taking a dhrop too much!)-and maybe they would, sir; but it's not much of their rints they'd be a spinding at home, sir, except at the time of elaicshun. I'm thinking they'd find the wurth of money betther at Dublin or London."

"Take care that ye don't be a falling off with ye'r legs a danglin' that way, my darling!" exclaimed a bare-legged, thick-set Pat, who was driving his cow along the road.

"It's grateful ye may be that it's not yerself behind me horse's heels, seein' it's none but jintlemen he's used to draw." So he rattled on, now enlightening me on the subject of repeal politics and the country at large, and now turning to exchange a joke with passers-by on the road. In about an hour we arrived at Dunluce castle, (the scene of the McDonald and McQuillan feud,) and were immediately surrounded by about fifty ragged urchins, offering to act as guides, each with his well-thumbed book of recommendations. I selected the bestlooking of them, in whose book I found several familiar names. A rocky island, about seventy feet in diameter, rises abruptly from the sea to the height of one hundred feet, and at a distance of only about ten feet from the land, so that on that side there is a deep gulf into which it might be dangerous for a man of weak nerves to look while crossing the frail bridge of boards, with the sea roaring in a perfect whirlpool among the rocks below. Upon this island is seated all that remains of the castle of Dunluce. Portions of the rock are much wider at the top than at the bottom, and a part

of it broke off one stormy night, carrying away with it a portion of the castle in which several girls were sleeping; whereupon the rest of the occupants wisely deserted it, and the place has been left to go to ruin. So strongly is it built, however, that but few of its towers have yet fallen, though the hand of time has been busy with them for many centuries. It is a somewhat picturesque ruin, full of interest to the antiquary, though it does not appear to have been more than two stories high, and has not all that striking effect which we see in the more lofty towers of Scotch and English ruins. It belongs to the Earls of Antrim, who are descendants of the McDonalds, and also own the Causeway, to which we now proceeded, about two miles further on. The guide mounted the jaunting car by my side, and began to tell me all about the Antrim family.

"They are a good family in the most part, sir, and arn't over hard on their tinants; but they thrayten a writ against any poor fellow who stales a bit o' the Causeway; so, sir, if ye should want a column shipped for you to ornamint ye'r libreery, and give an idea of the matther to others, jest be careful to spake to me privately, and won't I get one out in the night time for ye? It's the only way in which we can get at 'em, sir. Bein' a nathral curiosity, it's wrong they should kape it all to thimselves, and I don't think it staling, do you, sir?"

The idea of such an act of ownership over the Causeway, struck me very much as would the possession by an individual of a fee simple in the falls of Niagara; and I could not help coinciding with the guide, although I was informed afterwards that the practice of carrying away columns had become so general as to make such a regulation necessary in order to preserve the best ones.

We stopped at a small bay, where a large boat with six stout oarsmen was ready to take us out to the front of the Causeway. We were followed to the water's side by a great number of boys, each of whom had some crystal or other minerals which they had picked up in the neighborhood, and which they insisted upon selling to you, taking no refusal. A man with a gun and powderhorn, for whom we had been waiting, having at last arrived, we pushed off and were pulled over a heavy sea around to the front of the bank, which formed a wall of dark rock, here and there vary

ing in height, and with a slightly undulating surface, having the appearance of huge columns, and now and then split into wide fissures. Into one of these clefts we were rowed, and found ourselves in a cavern some hundred yards in depth, the basaltic sides running into a point at the top at a height of ninety feet, and giving an appearance not unlike that of a Gothic entrance. This basalt, of which the coast for twenty miles is formed, is a very close-grained, heavy stone, of a dark gray color, at times approaching to black. Its principal component parts are iron and flint, and it is susceptible of a beautiful polish. In many places it has a degree of natural polish which gives it a brilliant appearance when lighted up. The aspect of the Giant's Cave, as we entered its dark recesses, was truly beautiful. The sun's rays, just peeping in at the mouth, caused a delicate tint to be reflected along the natural vaulting, and as the sea broke from one side of the entrance to the other, we could now and then in looking back discover a rainbow in the spray so formed. The gun was now brought into use, and echo repeated its report some half-dozen times with what seemed a kind of ringingmetallic sound.

Coming out of the cave, we returned to the place from which we started, and landed the man with the gun, who, by way of eliciting a larger fee, told me that he had a wife and seven children to support by his business as echo-maker. Putting out again, we rounded a sort of promontory, and came in full sight of the long projecting mole forming the Causeway. As is almost always the case with objects of which we have heard so much, the first sensation was that of disappointment. I had heard it compared to a great stone-yard or quarry full of hewn rock; and at a little distance the comparison holds good. But as you approach, it has more the appearance of a huge castle or fortification, portions of which have fallen down; and when you are directly in front of it, the comparison ceases entirely, for it looks like nothing that I have ever seen. Thousands of columns rise one above another from the height of one foot to sixty, over a space of perhaps five acres. In the back ground you may see the palisades of the Hudson, gradually changing from a rough to a smooth surface, in which long lines, as it were, of columns in embryo, are to be traced-and finally breaking into

perfect pentagonal or hexagonal pillars, in clusters and unequal lines, as if the porticoes and projections of a hundred Grecian temples had been suddenly thrown together by the fantastic architecture of Nature. And this is gradually lost in the ocean's depths, forming, in all probability, a connection with Fingal's Cave in Staffa, and the similar formations on the Scottish coast. The columns, as every one knows, are found divided at intervals of four or five inches, each of which divisions is found, on separation, to fit into the one above it like a ball into its socket.

Passing around the Causeway, we entered a little opening in a side of the mole, where the water was comparatively smooth; and where, ascending a pair of stairs, which had been formed by removing portions of columns, we found ourselves on a comparatively even surface at the top. The rolling of the sea had made me sick, and this was a great relief. As an additional remedy, the guide advised me to drink some whiskey at the Giant's well, a curious spring issuing from the joints of the columns, near the uppermost part of the Causeway. An old woman was sitting there to deal out the favorite liquor, with which an IrishInan so well loves to flavor his water. She was, in appearance, a sort of mediate creation between Meg Merrilies and Norna of the Fitful-Head. She wore a red flannel petticoat, above which a man's coat of the largest size was held together by buttons of various colors and kinds. Over this was fastened an old red cloak of coarse stuff, with a hood attached, which had fallen back. Her long half-gray hair was brought round from behind her ears in two strands, and tied in a knot under her chin, in a kind of hangman's cravat. A pair of capacious feet, in Nature's shoes, peeped out from under her gown. She was very tall, and her whole appearance, from a distance, might have led one to believe her a descendant of the traditional builders of the Causeway and the Giant's Cave. When we first saw her she was walking about with a stick in her hand, scolding two or three boys for some matter of offence. The tatterdemalions seemed to have been on the look-out for strangers, tumbling forwards in a body to sell me their crystals and spars, while Meg herself proceeded to uncork her bottle and wash the tumbler, all the while vociferating, “Take a dhrop of potheen! take a dhrop of

potheen! It's good, and no desait nor mixin'."

I accepted the proffered tumbler. It had a most unpleasant taste of smoke and soot, which with the Irish is a great recommendation. I threw her a sixpence, however, which, of course, called forth a shower of blessings, and walked away. When I afterwards looked back and saw her with hood on head and cane in hand, I could not resist the idea that there was something supernatural about the old crone, and half expected to see her walk down to where the Giant's pavement has sunk beneath the sea.

We went on to inspect the more curious formations. Columns are to be found of almost every prism, though the greater part are five and six sided. The different clusters are distinguished by various names such as the Giant's Organ, the Giant's Chair, and other Titanic titles. The guide took great pains to point out every part to me, and seemed apprehensive that I would be disappointed. "It's only by these close inspaictions, sir, that a gintleman can understand the wondherful nathur ov the work."

"How do you suppose these columns came here ?"

"Indade, sir, an' that's more than I can tell, or any other man. Many jaologists and learned men has been here, and puzzled their brains about it, but afther all they can only say that God made it, and that's the troth."

There is, indeed, a mystery about the workings of nature here, which gives an interest different from that with which we view other objects far more impressive to the eye. It is something so different from any thing we have ever seen before; so evidently natural, and yet so near an approach to art, that the mind is filled with speculation and astonishment; and, when we have conned over all the theories on the subject, there still seems to be so much that is unsatisfactory, that we are led to content ourselves with the conclusion of the guide, that the Deity made it, without undertaking to say through the agency of what convulsion it was brought about.

In justice to the geologists, however, it ought to be remarked, that they are not without a very plausible theory on the subject. They have mostly agreed, that this is an ancient torrent of lava, which, suddenly precipitated into the sea, would separate into spherical bodies while in the process of cooling, when

acted upon by peculiar magnetic forces; and by constant pressure against each other, while yet in a soft state, and the tendency of flint and iron to crystallization, they might gradually assume the form of oblong prisms. This view is not without its difficulties, but it has more arguments in its favor than most others, though, as we are not writing for the scientific, we shall not enter into the merits of the question. The learned professor of geology at Yale College informed the writer that there are similar formations to be seen at Mount Tom, near Northampton, in Massachusetts, where every thing indicates former volcanic action; but at no place are they so numerous or perfect as at the Giant's Causeway.

We now returned to the boat, where we found the men taking their comfort with lighted pipes. We directed our course towards another small headland, east of the Causeway. It required the utmost exertions of the oarsmen to make much headway against the heavy billows, for it was now high tide, and the sea was breaking furiously over all the lower columns, leaving a long line of foam and spray at their base, that greatly heightened the effect, as we moved away, of the vast, bold colonnades and the dark rock above. I gazed with intense interest upon the columns, as they faded by distance, and at last became blended with the masses piled above; and, as we rounded the point, it was with reluctance that I bade adieu to this object, the last appearance of which so much exceeded the first. There was a solemnity and wildness about the whole scene, which absorbed all my thoughts, and led me to pay little attention to the constant comments of the guide upon the beauty of this or that particular point. He seemed at last to comprehend my feelings, exclaiming :

"Sure and ov little use is it for me to be a talking to ye'r honor, when ye'r own reflaiction will sarve you betther than any tongue of mine could!"

We were now out some quarter of a mile from the shore, and had a fine view of the coast for some miles, till cut off by the high bluff of Bengore Head, projecting into the sea. One continuous seawall here presented itself to the eye, all of dark basaltic rock, varying froin one to five hundred feet high; in some places presenting the appearance of a vast fortress, with its towers and pinnacles-in

others, capped by cliffs and jagged points formed by the falling out of the rocks below; here cut into terraces, or shelves, on some of which a small quantity of earth and stunted vegetation had collect ed-and there, split into huge fissures, through some of which, over piles of fallen rocks, a glimpse could be caught of the country beyond; and from others a light cloud of spray arose, caused by the leaping of some light waterfall over the giddy height. Flocks of sea-birds were flying into and out of the deep crevices, but no other sign of life was seen, except a solitary cow chewing her cud above, and apparently watching our progress. As if on purpose to add to the loneliness of the scene, a small dark cloud had settled over this very spot. I remarked that it must be a bad place for shipwrecks. This made the whole crew eloquent at once. Each had some story to tell of terrible disasters which had happened in this quarter-of vessels which had gone to pieces at midnight on the rocks, of shrieks heard through the tempest, and bodies found in the morning strown along the foot of the crags. But they all talked together, with every possible pitch of voice, and it was not easy to make out any consecutive meaning.

Steering for a sort of cave or opening in the bank, we ascended a steep hill above the ocean.

"Look here, sir," said the guide, pointing to a place that jutted two hundred feet over the sea. "Isn't that below a steep place? And would ye think, sir, that any thing could go over there and kape the life in him?"

Hardly."

"Well, sir, it's the troth I'm goin' to tell ye. There was Dinnis Slater, (he was one of thim in the boat,) had a bull that was the fiercest crathur in the county. And one night two boys from Bushmills was out here huntin' for a sthray cow; and they had two tirrible great dogs. Off there, by thim stouns, they saw the cow-as they consaited. 'There she is!' says they. Oo-w-oo!' says the bull, bellerin' low. 'No, tisn't!' says they, and run; and the bull run afther 'em and they set the dogs on, and there was a mischaiv'us fight. The bull worrid them a dale, and they worrid the bull a dale-for if one got on his horn, the other was bitin' on his neck, or tearin' him behind. Finally he reflaicted, Isn't it bothersome fitin' two at the

once? So he whirlt one up wid his horn, thin thrampled him all down whin he fell wid both his feet, afore the cur kim to his sinses. Thin he turned on the second-and the second run awaywhist! how he run-and the bull afther him-and they wint it round and round in a circle, an' closer an' closer on the edge; and the bull got dizzy and didn't mind his footin'-the crazy fool!-till over he wint, and the boys heard a dale of bellerin' and a splash, but they couldn't see nothin', for 'twas too dim, faith, to see a church for to know it. And they wint home and told Dinnis his bull had gone over the rocks; and the next mornin' Dinnis came here, thinkin' he might get out his boat and save the ould carcass, for he tho't, in coorse, the crithur was dead; but what was his wondher when he see the bull solimnly standin' in the wather up to his neck, sufferin' no spacial inconvaniance exsaipt from the dampness-and when it saw Dinnis it looked up and bellered, as much as to say, 'Kim and hilp me, you spalpeen, who've been a slaapin' all night, while I've been nigh drownin'!' And troth, sir, it was wondherfull how the crathur had lighted on the only sandy standin'place there was amongst the rocks, where he would not have been knocked to paices; but isn't it the more strange that he should have iver got down there with the breath in him?-and indade, Dinnis said it was because he was dhrunk with dizziness; and you know dhrunken men niver get hurt in a fall, sir! and faith, Dinnis himself's an example of that, for he's dhrunk the bull's health tin times a day, ever sinse! But it took the consait out of the bull-intirely!"

Such was the guide's story. It will serve, as would a thousand others which any traveller in Ireland would hear, to show the fondness of the Irish for incessant chat and story-telling on all occasions, a trait which Lover has, I was surprised to find, described with so little exaggeration.

The extreme absence of all substantial property among the common people of Ireland constantly appears from the ideas they seem to entertain when one happens to possess a little. On leaving the scene of the above story, we passed over a potato field which gave assurance of our being near what my guide termed the "Great Causeway Hotel." He added that its proprietor was a very thriving man, having become "intire