The most celebrated is that which
occurs on the lake of Killarney. This romantic sheet of water is bounded
on one side by a semi-circle of rugged mountains, and on the other by a
flat morass, and the vapour generated in the mass, and broken by the
mountains, continually represent the most fantastic objects; and often
those on shore are transferred to the water, like the Fata Morgana.
Many of the rocks are distinguished for their marked and lengthened
echoes, and the structure, which in acoustics reflects sounds to the
ear, from a point from whence they did not come, reflects images on the
eye, from a place very different from where the objects stood which
produced them. Frequently men riding along shore, are seen as if they
were moving across the lake, and this has given rise to the story of
O'Donougho. This celebrated chieftain was, according to the tradition of
the country, endued with the gift of magic; and, on one occasion, his
lady requested him to change his shape, that she might see a proof of
it. He complied, on condition that she would not be terrified, as such
an effect on her must prove fatal to him.
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