space of time I was every where received with a hospitality which has nothing surprising in Ireland : That in such a length of time I have been but six times at an inn, will give a better idea of this hospitality, than could be done by many a laboured phrase.
On what was merely personal to myself, I have generally been silent ; some inconveniences must have been sustained in an expedition of the kind ; but they were much fewer than could have been expected. What has most affected me, has been the death of Mr. Burton Conyngham, whose plan is in great part followed throughout this work ; could I have profited by his advice to its completion, it might have proved a more extensive and a more useful one.
At my return to Dublin, I was to have followed the course of all the canals made or projected ; and of the navigable rivers ; and to have visited the coal-mines of Kilkenny and Leitrim ; this tour, through the interior of the country would have rendered my work more complete ; but the disturbances which prevailed, would have let me hope but little safety or satisfaction. Though in the journey from Belfast to Dublin, no accident had befallen me, I had however seen enough to anticipate nothing seducing, in a renewed ramble on foot through high roads ; so remained in the capital, where I have put in order the remarks I had been able to collect, and which I now publish in the hope that they may interest the respected individuals by whom I have been treated with so much kindness, and not prove unworthy the notice of the public at large.
Fate having denied me the happiness of being useful to
