When the wind was from the west the air would be so laden with spray that one could not walk there without being wet.

And yet the place was very healthy, and noted for the fineness of its air.

Rising from the cottage, which itself stood high, was a steep hill running up to the top of the cliff, covered with that peculiar moss which the salt spray of the ocean produces.

On this side the land was altogether open, but a few sheep were always grazing there when the wind was not so high as to drive them to some shelter.

Behind the cottage there was an enclosed paddock which belonged to it, and in which Mrs.O'Hara kept her cow.
Roaming free around the house, and sometimes in it, were a dozen hens and a noisy old cock which, with the cow, made up the total of the widow's live stock.