a confused mass of peasants struggling on the platform, with all
sort of baggage, which the people lifted into the train for
themselves as well as they were able. The seats ran up either side
of the cars, and the space between them was soon filled with sacks
of flour, cases of porter, chairs rolled in straw, and other
household goods. A drunken young man got in just before we started,
and sang songs for a few coppers, telling us that he had spent all
his money, and had nothing left to pay for his ticket. Then, when
the carriage was closely packed, we moved slowly out of the station.
At my side there was an old man who explained the Irish names of the
places that we came to, and pointed out the Seven Pigs, a group of
islands in the bay; Kerry Head, further off; and many distant
mountains. Beyond him a dozen big women in shawls were crowded
together; and just opposite me there was a young woman wearing a
wedding ring, who was one of the peculiarly refined women of Kerry,
with supreme charm in every movement and expression. The big woman
talked to her about some elderly man who had been sick--her
husband, it was likely--and some young man who had gone away to
England, and was breaking his heart with loneliness.

'Ah, poor fellow !' she said; 'I suppose he will get used to it like
another; and wouldn't he be worse off if he was beyond the seas in
Saint Louis, or the towns of America?'

This woman seemed to unite the healthiness of the country people
with the greatest sensitiveness, and whenever there was any little
stir or joke in the carriage, her face and neck flushed with
pleasure and amusement. As we went on there were superb sights--
first on the north, towards Loop Head, and then when we reached the
top of the ridge, to the south also, to Drung Hill, Macgillicuddy's