which a person has to accomplish before he could believe them possible. Well, when we were approaching near the Valley of Death on the occasion of this visit of Mr. Ussher, I perceived that the way was blocked by the earth thrown up from the other side. We were all three lying on our stomachs, and we had to retreat backward in this fashion until we reached the Abyss. When we got to the ascent at the other end we had to climb up into the upper tunnel, but Mr. Ussher, who is a much older man than Mr. Thompson or myself, found the utmost difficulty in climbing up, and indeed, no wonder, after the positions he had previously to assume, which were most miraculous for a man of his years. He said that he found it impossible to resist the laws of gravitation by climbing up the face of a rock with no support except the pressure of his dorsal muscles against the opposite wall. At length, by the united exertions of the three of us, Mr. Ussher, sans shoes or stockings, was got safely to the top. Only that Mr. Ussher is not addicted to strong language, I think he should have called the Abyss by a still more dreaded appellation. I found a small bone oddly adhering to the side of the wall in this chamber, it must have stuck there for ages. Apropos of the Abyss, the following story of a coincidence might be of interest. When going down through the Valley of Death one day, I carved on the wall an arrow pointing down towards the forbidding-looking passage leading to the Abyss, which passage is now blocked up. In front of the arrow I wrote, "To the Abyss." Well, some time afterwards, Mr. Ussher came into the Valley of Death, and being unacquainted with the more sombre gallery further on immediately named the valley "the Abyss." Next day he was surprised and almost horrified to see the mysterious "writing on the wall," as he had not told anyone that he had called any chamber in the cave "the Abyss." When he saw my "plan" it of course explained the mystery.

Fairyland consists of several narrow deep corridors, some of them containing the remains of three different floors. These corridors are of the utmost beauty, but were fearfully difficult to get into until Mr. Ussher widened the approaches. It was here that the great tibia of a mammoth, gnawed at both ends (presumably by bears) was discovered by frightened John Hannon, who while endeavouring to find his way out when lost in the gallery, fell through the second floor right on to the ground floor, almost on the top of the bone. This enormous shin bone is practically two feet long and weighs two stone. I imagine it must be larger than the tibia of the mammoth in the South Kensington Natural History Museum. Several more bones have since been discovered in the same corridor during the explorations of Mr. Ussher. In a passage leading from Fairyland to the Valley of Death, I discovered

PLAN OF PRINCIPAL CHAMBERS IN CASTLEPOOK CAVES.

[Owing to the Passages running at two or three different levels, the Caves are really more intricate than represented here. According as the line gets thicker or thinner, the floor rises or falls. Double line denotes an upper and lower floor.]

one day a blackened bone lying on the stalagmite floor. As the bone was lying on the surface and in a small tunnel, I was not sure (being unacquainted with osteology) whether it was prehistoric or not; however, I placed it aside for some years, until Mr. Ussher's visit, when he showed it to Dr. Scharff, who pronounced it to be one of the finest humerus of a bear which he had ever seen.

One remarkable feature of the cave is the series of parallel corridors or galleries which widen gradually as they recede from Fairyland on towards the Fairy Hall. The Fairy Hall is the only large chamber in the cave which is of circular (or rather elliptical) form.

In conclusion, I may state that a door has been put in the cave to prevent further vandalism, Lord Castletown undertaking the expense. The key is of course in the possession of Michael Connell, the intelligent tenant of the lands on which the caves are situated. If at Doneraile, I should be very happy to conduct any visitor over Castlepook caverns.

Souvenir of the "Mary Russell" Tragedy.

ONE of the most curious, unique, and interesting objects to be seen in the Cork Exhibition of 1903 was the full-rigged ship, made entirely of meat bones, the handiwork of Captain Stewart, the unhappy author of one of the saddest and most painful incidents in the annals of Cork Harbour-the remembrance of which has not yet wholly died out amongst the nautical portion of the population who live along its beautiful shores. This little ship, the length of whose hull from bow to stern along the deck line is 21 inches, and the height from the keel to the mainmast head 251⁄2 inches, belongs to Dr. Cecil A. P. Osburne, of Lindville, Cork, and The Grove, Old Calton, Norwich, grandson of the Dr. Osburne named below; and it is to the kind courtesy of this gentleman and Mrs. Osburne the readers of the "Journal" are indebted for the illustration of the Stewart ship and the descriptive particulars here given-a copy of that paper which was attached to the little vessel when it formed such a marked centre of attraction at the Cork Exhibition. (1)

"In the year 1828 a schooner (called the 'Mary Russell') arrived in Cork Harbour, then known as 'The Cove of Cork.' When the authorities boarded her they found on the vessel only two living souls, the master, Captain Stewart, and the cabin boy. On enquiry it was found that the remainder of the crew had been murdered by the captain a few days previously.

"Captain Stewart was arrested and brought to trial; but on the ground that he was insane at the time he committed the crime he was sent to the Asylum for Criminal Lunatics at Dundrum (Co. Dublin). At the request of Dr. Thomas Carey Osburne, who was at that time medical attendant of the Cork District Asylum (the present South Infirmary), and who gave evidence at the trial as to Captain Stewart's mental condition, the patient was transferred to the Cork (1)Its other dimensions are-from point of jibboom to boom-end, 36 inches; depth of hull, 5%1⁄2 inches; and length of keel, 141⁄2 inches.

District Asylum. During his stay at this asylum Captain Stewart had several attacks of homicidal mania; but during the intervals between these outbreaks he was perfectly natural, and a very agreeable companion.

"In these lucid intervals he collected the beef and mutton bones left after the patients' meals, and with these built the ship. As he was not allowed to use a knife he had recourse to a very hard bone, with which he carved the decorations of the vessel. When finished, he presented it to his medical attendant, Dr. Osburne.

"Captain Stewart remained at the Cork District Asylum until Dr. Osburne's death, when he was transferred to Dundrum Asylum for Criminal Lunatics, where he remained until his death, which occurred on the 21st of August, 1873, caused by senile decay."

Captain Stewart's son was also a sea captain, and was master of the "Wellington,' one of the largest of the considerable fleet of sailing ships owned some forty or fifty years ago by Messrs. James Scott and Co., of Queenstown. This second Captain Stewart ultimately settled at Liverpool, where his sons, of whom one was also a merchant captain, now reside.

In the "Old Church" graveyard on top of the hill over Passage West is still (1905) to be seen a headstone bearing the following inscription: "Timothy Connell, who was murdered on board the 'Mary Russell,' 22nd June, 1828."

"You, gentle reader, that pass this way,

Attend awhile, adhere to what I say:

By murder vile I was bereft of life,

And parted from two lovely babes and wife;

By Captain Stewart I met an early doom,

་

On board the Mary Russell' the 22nd of June.
Forced from this world to meet my God on high,
With whom I hope to reign eternally. Amen."

J. C.

List of Books, etc., Printed at Cork in the 17th and 18th

Centuries.

BY E. R. McC. DIX.

PART X.

SINCE the publication of this List was closed by the appearance of Article IX. in this "Journal," I have met with a good many additional items of Cork printing, which I think might now find a place in this "Journal," as the more complete the List can be made the more useful and interesting it will become. I accordingly contribute these further items of Cork printing, in chronological order. I would be glad to hear of other items from any of the readers of this "Journal."

In the Cashel Diocesan Library is the unique Cork Edition of "Inquisitio in Fidem Christianorum," &c., by Dean Boyle (1664). It measures 5 by 31, and contains 2 leaves and 66 pages.

In the Article on Bishop Wetenhall in the "Dictionary of National Biography" there are given as printed in Cork in 1698 two works by him entitled "The Testimony of the Bishop of Cork as to a Paper entituled Gospel Truths, &c.," 8vo., and "A brief Reply to Mr. Penn's Defence," 1699, 8vo.-but I have never met a copy of either work.