These islands, he added, were under the rule of O'Neill, and they were 'very pleasant and fertile, plenty of wood, water, and arable ground, pastures, and fish, and a very temperate air.' On this description Mr.Froude remarks in a note--'At present they are barren heaps of treeless moors and mountains.

They yield nothing but scanty oat crops and potatoes, and though the seas are full of fish as ever, there are no hands to catch them.

_The change is a singular commentary upon modern improvements_.' There were many branches belonging to the four septs, continues the credulous reporter, who was evidently imposed upon, like many of his countrymen in modern times with better means of information.

For example, 'there was the branch of Gogath, the glutton, of which one man would eat half a sheep at a sitting.

There was another called the Carrow, a gambler, who generally went about naked, carrying dice and cards, and he would play the hair off his head.