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| GAP OF DUNLOE, CO. KERRY.- In the splendid scenic region which enframes the matchless Lakes of Killarney, there is no more striking feature than the awe-inspired Gap of Dunloe-a wild mountain pass, lying between the Mcgillicuddy Reeks and the Tomies Range, and having an extent of four miles, passing through some of the weirdest highland country on the planet. Precipices, almost covered, in summer, by heather, furze and other flowering shrubs, thretheningly overhang the pass; and a rapid mountain torrent, the Loe, which gives name to the defile, thunders along the rock bed beneath. A difficult path, which the natives dignify by the title of "the Pike," follows the verge of the abyss above the dangerous creek, and great care has to be observed by adventurous travellers in order to avoid serious accidents, particularly when the boisterous "river" is at full flood. The pass is approched from the town of Killarney, and the journey is generally made on the back of a donkey or small, sure-footed pony. It is the home of the echo, and uncanny sounds are produced there by "the beautiful human voice," the hunter's bugle or the hoarse braying of an impatient, perhaps hungry, jackass. |
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