Having been by virtue
of his office over a great part of Ireland he had seen a good deal of
the oppression of the tenant, partly from the thoughtlessness of
absentee landlords, partly from the want of any sympathy with the
tenants. Had the Land League confined themselves to moderate efforts,
and to the employment of constitutional means--means not tending to the
dismemberment of the empire, he would have joined them with heart and
soul, knowing the need there was of redress to the wrongs of the small
farmer. He advised me to take a car and go on to Skull through
Ballydehob if I wished to see poverty and misery.
The road from Skibbereen to Ballydehob and Skull runs along the coast
mostly. All that grand rocks and great stretches of water dotted with
many islands can do to make this scenery grand, wild and romantic has
been done by Dame Nature. It is not satisfying to merely pass along. One
would like to tarry here and get acquainted with nature in these out-of-
the-way haunts of hers. The cottages are most miserable, most ruinous.
There is no limestone here. It resembles Achil Island in this respect.
The houses are built of stones and daubed with clay.
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