But no notice was taken of these things by the police, and when the
tedious formalities of the law had all been gone through with, a squad
of men were put in charge of the house and the holding, the rest of the
army re-formed for the march back, our cars came up, and we left West
Lettur. Seeing a number of men come down the hill, as the column
prepared to move, Mr. Roche, making his voice tremendous, after the
fashion of a Greek chorus, commanded the police to arrest and handcuff
any riotous person making provocative noises. This had the desired
effect, and the march back began in silence. When the column was fairly
in the road, "boos" and groans went up from knots of men higher up the
hill, but no heed was taken of these, and no further incident occurred.
I shall be curious to see whether the story of this affair can possibly
be worked up into a thrilling narrative.

We lunched at Mrs. Shee's, where no sort of curiosity was manifested
about the proceedings at West Lettur, and I came back here with Colonel
Turner by another road, which led us past one of the loveliest lakes I
have ever seen--Lough Caragh. Less known to fame than the much larger
Lake of Killarney, it is in its way quite worthy of comparison with any
of the lesser lakes of Europe. It is not indeed set in a coronal of
mountains like Orta, but its shores are well wooded, picturesque, and
enlivened by charming seats--now, for the most part, alas!--abandoned by
their owners. We had a pleasant club dinner here this evening, after
which came in to see me Mr. Hussey, to whom I had sent a letter from Mr.
Froude. Few men, I imagine, know this whole region better than Mr.
Hussey. Some gentlemen of the country joined in the conversation, and
curious stories were told of the difficulty of getting evidence in
criminal cases. What Froude says of the effect of the prohibitive and
protection policy in Ireland upon the morals of the people as to
smuggling must be said, I fear, of the effect of the Penal Laws against