TYRONE is mountainous in the north, hilly in the west and south, sloping gently on the east towards the shores of Lough Neagh. On the whole, Tyrone is a county of "gentle hills, fruitful valleys, pretty glens, and small plains." Agriculture and the manufacture of linen and woollen goods are the staple industries. The county town, OMAGH (4), stands on a hill in the centre of the county, Strabane (5), and Dungannon (4), are engaged in the linen trade. FERMANAGH consists of a long and fertile valley, in which lie the beautiful Loughs of the Erne, enclosed on either side by high and bleak uplands. ENNISKILLEN (6), the county town, is beautifully situated on an island in the River Erne, between the two loughs. MONAGHAN is hilly, with many bogs and numerous small lakes. The three largest towns are MONAGHAN (3), the county town; Clones, an ancient town, occupying the summit of one of those round hills so numerous in that part of the limestone plain; and Carrickmacross (2). CAVAN, like Monaghan, is hilly, with many lakes and bogs. There are deposits of coal and i.on, copper and lead ores; but agriculture and flax-growing are the chief industries. CAVAN (3), the county town, Cootehill and Belturbet (each 2), are small towns with some trade in corn and flax. THE PROVINCE OF CONNAUGHT.1 LEITRIM is cut in two by Lough Allen and the Shannon- both divisions are hilly, with much bog and waste land. several coal-pits near Lough Allen. There are The county town, CARRICK-ON-SHANNON, has some trade in grain and provisions by the river. SLIGO is hilly in the north-west; the rest of the county-north and south of the Ox Mountains-is low, and in some parts moderately fertile. Agriculture and fishing chiefly occupy the people. The county town, SLIGO (11), a port at the head of Sligo Bay, has considerable trade. MAYO is level in the north and east, but Clew Bay is surrounded by a mass of wild and rugged mountains and bleak uplands.--“The great conical mass of Nephin Beg is a conspicuous landmark ali over the west of Ireland. Sheep and cattle rearing and fishing are the chief industries." CASTLEBAR (4), in the centre of the county, is the chief town. Ballina (5) is a port at the mouth of the Moy. The areas and population of the Counties of Conaught are as follows: (.) Leitrim, 613 sq. m., pop. 69,201. (2.) Sigo, 721 sq. mn., pop. 84,022. Killala, on Killala Bay, has exports of (3) Mayo, 2,126 sq. m., pop. 202,627. grain and provisions. The French, under General Humbert, landed near the town in 1798. The port of Westport, on Clew Bay, is the prettiest town in all Ireland. GALWAY is divided into two unequal and strongly contrasted portions by Lough Corrib. The larger eastern division is level, and comparatively fertile; the western portion is one of the wildest districts in Ireland, and includes the romantic tract of country known as Connemara, a region of alternate hills and valleys, with enclosed lakes and mountain streams. GALWAY (13), the county town, is a seaport and railway terminus, near the head of Galway Bay. At one time it was expected that Galway, with its fine harbour and floating dock, would become important as a mail packet station for America. Ballinasloe, on the Suck, is noted for its great horse, sheep, and cattle fairs. Aughrim, a village in the eastern part of the county (a few miles distant from the right bank of the Suck), witnessed a decisive victory gained by William III. over the troops of James II. in 1691. Tuam (3) and Athenry are ancient towns in the interior. ROSCOMMON, a pastoral county, includes the fine and rich grazing lands west of the Shannon and its Loughs, and extending to the Suck in the south, and the Curlew Hills (863 feet) in the north. The county town, ROSCOMMON (2), has some manufactures of linen, woollen, and pottery goods, and contains the ruins of a fine old abbey, and a beautiful Anglo-Norman castle, both built in the 13th century. THE PROVINCE OF MUNSTER.' WATERFORD contains long ridges running across the entire country from east to west, between which are deep and fertile valleys. The valley of the Blackwater, from Cappoquin to the sea, is the finest in Ireland. WATERFORD (27), the county town, exports large quantities of dairy produce to Liverpool and Bristol. Lismore, on the Blackwater, has a large salmon fishery. Dungarvan (5) is a fishing port, and also has some trade in agricultural produce. There are valuable quarries of marble near Cappoquin. Lismore, on the B'ackwater, a cathedral town, with a fine castle. CORK is the largest and most southerly county in Ireland. Its surface is broken by long ridges and hilly woodlands, between which are rich, fertile valleys. The coast is broken by numberless bays and inlets-one of which, Cork Harbour, is one of the finest in the kingdom. The county town, CORK (76), the chief manufacturing and trading city of he south of Ireland, is picturesquely situated on the Lee, 10 miles above its entrance into Cork Harbour. Cork butter, and other dairy produce, are famous. 1. The areas and population of the Counties of Munster are as follows: (1.) Water ord, 721 sq. m., pop. 87.030. (2.) Cork, 2,890 sq. m., pop. 44,813. (3.) Kerry, 1,850 sq. m., pop. 165.331. On Great Island, in Cork Harbour, is Queenstown, the port of call for the American "liners' to and from Liverpool. The American mails are landed here, and taken by train to Dublin, and thence by steamer to Holyhead. Yougha (4), at the mouth of the Blackwater, and Kinsa e (4), at the mouth of the Bandon, are thriving seaports. G.engariff is a tourist resort at the head of Bantry Bay, and Berehaven, in the same bay, is a rendezvous for the Navy. KERRY, the most westerly county of Ireland, is the most deeply indented and mountainous portion of the island. The coast scenery is unsurpassed in variety and grandeur. The Kerry mountain region combines the grandest mountain, valley, and lake scenery in the British Isles, and this combination of the wild, the beautiful, and the sublime is seen in perfection at Killarney. TRALEE (10), the chief town, is a small port near the head of Tralee Bay. Killarney (6), a mile east of the Lower Lake, is a favourite tourist resort. The splendid mountain and lake scenery attracts thousands of visitors every year to this part of Ireland. Listowel (2), on the River Feale, is in the northern part of the county. Valentia, an island at the southern entrance of the fine inlet of Dingle Bay, is the terminus of the Atlantic Cables. CLARE is hilly in the east; the middle and south form a broad and fertile plain, dotted with picturesque lakes. Agriculture, the manufacture of linens and woollens, and fishing, are the chief industries. town. ENNIS (5), on the River Fergus, in the centre of the county, is the county Kilrush, on the estuary of the Shannon, is a flourishing port, and a harbour of refuge. Killaloe, on the Shannon, has marble and slate quarries in the vicinity. LIMERICK is extremely fertile in the centre and north; from its richness, the plain east of the city of Limerick is called the "Golden Vale." Agriculture, and cattle and sheep rearing, are the chief industries. LIMERICK (38), the county town, stands on either side of the Shannon, a short way above the estuary, and has a large export trade in Irish produce, and is famous for its manufactures of lace, gloves, and fish hooks. The produce of a large extent of agricultural country is brought down the Shannon for shipment at Limerick. The city is rich in historic associations, and sustained two memorable sieges on behalf of James II. in 1690-91. TIPPERARY is mountainous in the west and boggy in the north, but the central portion of the county is a magnificent and extremely fertile plain, watered by the River Suir and its tributaries. As in Limerick, agriculture is the chief industry, and much cattle and dairy produce are exported. The county town, CLONMEL (8), is beautifully situated on the Suir; lower down the river is the river-port of Carrick-on-Suir (6). Cashel (4) is a cathedral city in the "Golden Vale." The "Rock of Cashel" (300 feet high) is crowned with the ruins of a round tower, a chapel, and a cathedral. Thurles (5) is a flourishing town, with interesting ruins. THE UNITED KINGDOM. Though comparatively small in area, and surpassed by many other countries in point of population, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is the greatest commercial and manufacturing country in the world. The total area of the United Kingdom is a little over 120,000 square miles, or rather more than one-half the area of France or Germany, and scarcely oneseventeenth part of the size of the Russian territories in Europe. As regards number of inhabitants, Great Britain and Ireland contain a few millions more people than France, but 15 millions less than Germany, about 37 millions less than the United States, and 65 millions less than Russia, the most populous of European countries. According to the Census Returns for April, 1901, and inclusive of the islands in the British Seas, the population of the United Kingdom, in 1901, amounted to 41%1⁄2 millions, of which England and Wales contained 321⁄2 millions, and Scotland and Ireland, each nearly 41⁄2 millions. The population of Great Britain has nearly trebled since 1801, but that of Ireland, which increased by 3 millions in 40 years (1801-41), decreased also by 3 millions during the next 40 years (1841-81), and now the island contains fewer people than it did a century ago. The density of population in the United Kingdom is greatest in England and Wales, where, according to the latest returns, it amounts to 58 per square mile, and least in Ireland-137 per square mile. In Scotland, the density amounts to 149 per square mile. In 1901, England itself had 612 persons to each square mile, as against 231 in Wales, 149 in Scotland, and 137 in Ireland. In the same year, the average density of population in the British Isles, as a whole, was 346 per square mile. Emigration from the United Kingdom, and especially from Ireland, has been very active during the present century, and between 1815 and 1889 upwards of 10 million persons of Brit sh origin emigrated, the majority of them settling in the United States of North America. During the last 35 years, nearly 7 million British emigrants left their native land; 44 millions going to the United States-of these nearly 2 millions were English, 360,000 Scotch, and over 21⁄4 millions Irish-the rest settling chiefly in Canada, Australasia, and South Africa. The industrial and commercial supremacy of the United Kingdom is due to its splendid geographical position and almost unparalleled development of coast-line, a favourable climate and an abundant supply of coal, the most essential of all minerals, and iron, the most useful of all metals, the energy and enterprise of the people, ample capital and efficient labour, unrivalled facilities for carrying on industrial operations on a vast scale, colonies and dependencies in all parts of the globe, and a mercantile marine larger than the merchant navies of all the principal countries taken together. The geographical position of the British Isles is undoubtedly the best in the world, because, although "detached from the great continental masses, they are peculiarly and influentially situated with reference to them," occupying, as they do, a central position among the countries of the world-the exact centre of the land hemisphere being within a few miles of Falmouth-and also most favourably placed with regard to the chief industrial and trading countries, with which they easily communicate by what Professor Seeley happily terms an incomparable road-system," namely, the sea. The development of coast-line is such that no part of the country is far from tidal waters, and products are thus readily received and exchanged with all parts of the world—this interchange being all the more easily carried on because of the abundance of seaports, and the unrivalled facilities for internal communication by roads, railways, and navigable rivers. Another peculiarity is the remarkable contraction in breadth of both Great Britain and Ireland at various points by deep indentations on opposite coasts. Thus, between the tidal waters of the Thames and the Severn, the distance is under 100 miles; while Hull, on the Humber, is 113 miles from Liverpool, on the Mersey. The mouth of the Tyne is only 60 miles from the head of the Solway Firth, and the Firths of Forth and Clyde are divided only by 32 miles of land. In Ireland, there are similar contractions between Dundalk and Sligo and Dublin and Galway. The numerous navigable rivers, with their broad and deep estuaries, into which the tide penetrates very far, together with an admirable, and so far complete, system of canals, which are much used for the conveyance of minerals and heavy goods, are all favourable to the activity and growth of British connerce. The entire extent of the coast-line of Great Britain and Ireland, including the larger indentations, is vastly in excess of the direct distance between the extreme points of the land, while the true salt-water coast-line has a far greater extent, and the line of tidal influence is still more enormous in proportion to the area of the country. Further, the British Isles enjoy the advantage of higher tides than most other countries, which enable vessels of considerable burden to penetrate almost to the heart of the country. The climate of the British Isles is remarkably mild and equable, as compared with that of continental countries under the same parallels of latitude. The variation of temperature is comparatively slight, and in no other part of the world do the isotherms of 46° and 50° F. reach so far north as in this country, the truly Oceanic climate of which is the most favourable for industry and trade in the world. Out-door work and railway traffic are carried on with little interruption all the year round, and the tidal estuaries and navigable rivers are never frozen over even in the severest winters. Of the energy and enterprise of the British people, industries on a vast scale and a world-wide commerce are the best evidence. The national characteristics of the British people are, according to a German writer, solidity, energy, endurance, enterprise, strict respect for the law, and great industry; while a French savant declares that the British race is extraordinarily vigorous, and that in physical strength, practical intelligence, mental soundness and tenacity of purpose, it is the equal of any on the globe. The British, he adds, possess inventive genius, the love of adventure, the innate instinct of trade, a passion for success, and imperturbable courage. r. In the British Isles there are more than 20 seports with a depth of at least 25 feet at high water, and most of these are situated in the vicinity of the great seats of production. In view of the ncreasing size of the shipping of the present day, this large number of doen harbours is a matter of peculiar importance."--(Hand Book of Commercial Geography--Chisholm.) 2. Cari Zehden. 3. Onésime Reclus |