No.

the long stones in the level dry mountain near Gortnacarnane.

2785-Heavy micaceous red and yellow earth, in the lands of upper Killeen.

2786-Dark purple coloured stone, coated red on one side, from same place.

2787-Purple fine grained stone, from same place.

2788-Yellow ochre, from same place.

2789-Yellow ochre, made by strong spa waters. 2790-White marl in the demesne of Monivae, in the canal near the house-good.

2791-Soft fine grained stone from a rock of it at Lady Grove, near Gort; it lies nearly horizontally:

there is a stratum nine inches thick in this rock like coal-bind.

ccc-Spar from Cong.

The limestone in almost every part of this county, except the primitive one of Cunnemara, contains shells and other petrefactions of various kinds, and in different quantities, from that at Oughterard, disfigured by sections of large shells, to the beautiful marbles of Angliham and Merlin Park, near Galway, which are a fine black, nearly without shells, highly prized in England and in Dublin, to which they are exported in blocks, and a large quantity worked up into chimney pieces in Galway: they are much superior to Kilkenny marble, but until the quarries are worked, and the chimney pieces executed by machinery, they can never meet those of Kilkenny at market, as there, almost every operation is performed by machinery worked by water. I am informed a cubic foot of the Galway marble generally weighs 168lb.; the workmen say the marble of Merlin Park is tougher than that of Angliham

or any other in the county. At Ballyleigh near Gort, a fine black marble has been long used, and some of a fine quality has been lately discovered near Athenry. A very beautiful grey marble has been discovered at Woodbrook, the estate of the Misses Netterville, much superior to any in this county, perhaps in Ireland. I discovered a very beautiful red and blue coloured marble at Merlin Park, greatly admired by the manufacturers, but all the trials that have been made are very defective; the quarries have been worked only near the surface, the deeper they go the better the marble has been found, and probably will encrease in goodness with the depth. A very beautiful green marble has been discovered on the estate of Mr. Martin near Ballynahinch, which promises to excel any as yet discovered in Ireland.

Iron ore was formerly raised in the neighbourhood of Woodford, and after being mixed with that brought up the Shannon from Killaloe by a Mr. Croasdale, was smelted near that village, part of the estate of Sir John Burke. The works were carried on so extensively, that they devoured all the great oak woods with which that country abounded, and were then abandoned. Mr. Berry, I understand, at present raises ore on part of Lord Clanrickard's estate; and indications of iron are every where visible in the mountains between Woodford and Mountshannon. The refuse of those bloomeries has been used for making excellent roads by the late Sir Thomas Burke.

A very fine kind of grit stone is raised in considerable quantities near Dunmore, of every thickness, from that of slates to the largest mill-stones, which are frequently sold for ten guineas a pair, and when well chosen, are esteemed for some purposes superior to French burr stones at £30 or £40. a pair; but they must

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be selected by a judge of their quality, or those of a very inferior kind may be given.

On the mountains near Roxborough, a very fine kind of whetstones, and for polishing marble, have been found, nearly equal to the best hones, and are frequently hawked about the country for Loughneagh hones.

Marl abounds in many places, particularly in, and on the banks of the Shannon, in a small lake near Marblehill, which it is probable was formed at a remote period by sinking for marl, as traces of extensive improvements may be seen in the neighbouring mountains; it is also found in most of the low grounds between Portumna, Marblehill, and Eyrecourt. Formerly a great quantity of ground in the neighbourhood of Mountshannon was improved by marl raised by dredging in the Shannon: it is used in small quantities near Loughrea, from some pits on the banks of the lake near Cowreen. The late Sir Thomas Burke has used it more extensively than I believe any other person in this county, on a large tract of heathy mountain of little value before; it has since produced fine crops, is perfectly reclaimed, and a very valuable farm. Beds of marl several feet thick, and occupying many acres, may be seen on the road between Hampstead and Ballymackward, and has been formerly used in large quantities, as may be seen by the extensive excavations; but I could not perceive any traces of a recent use of it a very large tract may also be perceived on the side of the road between Ahaseragh and Lowville, on the estate of Sir Ross Mahon; I believe little use has been made of it: as Sir Ross is a very spirited and intelligent improver of land, I suspect it is of inferior quality; it is also in great abundance between Mylough and Mount Bellew. This manure has been often tried alone on deep bog with little effect, but whether from

not previously draining the bog, or using too small a quantity, I could not ascertain. I understand from those who have tried it on bog, that alone it produces but a trifling improvement, but that mixed with a very small portion of animal manure, the effects were astonishing; either manure or marl uncombined, very inferior in their effects. I have frequently seen a patch of deep bog that had formerly been marled, and after cropping according to the custom of this county, was let out without sowing grass seeds of any kind; though the herbage was neither good in quality or quantity, there was not the least appearance of heath, though the surrounding bog was covered with it: certain I am, that if this patch had been covered with either lime or limestone gravel, it would have been covered with white clover and other valuable plants. *

In the midst of a large bog and heathy mountain near Marblehill, the property I believe of Lord Riverston, an extensive bed of fine limestone presents itself; for many miles to the south and west no such thing is to be found: what a treasure lies here quite neglected, probably unknown to the proprietor, where a profusion of fuel is on the spot, and the carriage next to nothing; but no advantage is taken of this circumstance, whilst in the county of Wexford, where fuel is very scarce, there is a competition for limestone at 3s. 6d. per ton, and is in that state drawn 10 or 12 miles, frequently much further; but instead of improving what they have, the monied men of this county are more anxious to add to their unimproved rent-roll at an interest of 3 or 4 per cent. frequently much less, when the improvement of the

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• In the Statistical Survey of the county of Cavan, we find that marl exposed to the influence of salt water becomes quickly petrified.

grounds they have, would produce from 10 to 20 per cent. at least, if judiciously expended; and what too many overlook, would give employment to their tenantry, and furnish them with a beneficial example. It is probable that many of those who purchased at war prices have not, from the sudden depreciation in the value of land, one per cent. for their money.

Near Ardfroy, and also in Mr. D'Arcy's demesne in Cunnamara, large beds of oyster shells may be seen, many feet above high water mark; lime has been sometimes made of those in Cunnamara before the discovery of limestone in so many places on Mr. D'Arcy's estate. In many parts of Cunnamara beautiful crystals of quartz and felspar may be found, and I was informed that on the banks of Lough Inagh, crystals of various colours may be procured.

A crystaline sand of very superior kind for making scythe-boards, occurs at Loughcoutra, the estate of Lord Gort; mowers come for it upwards of 20 miles, and prefer the riffles made of it to those imported from England; the same kind of sand may be seen at Loughgreene, in the county of Clare, and is held in the same estimation for this purpose. That several trials have been made for the discovery of minerals is evident, from the number of shafts which have been sunk in many places; they may be seen in many parts of Knockmoy, and the remains of some of the works for melting the copper ore may be still seen. I have been informed by an intelligent friend that the ground at the foot of this hill (Knockmoy) to the southward of Brooklodge, the estate of Mr. Blake, and close to the high road, has every appearance of minerals, probably copper. A shaft was sunk near Lawrencetown, the estate of Walter Lawrence, Esq. many years ago: tradition says they did not discover any ore, but that