He stated that he knew many families of five
to eight persons, who subsisted on 2-1/2 lbs. of oatmeal per day, made
into thin water gruel--about 6 oz. of meal for each! Dunfanaghy is a
little fishing town situated on a bay remarkably adapted for a fishing
population; the sea is teeming with fish of the finest description,
waiting, we might say, to be caught. Many of the inhabitants gain a
portion of their living by this means, but so rude is their tackle, and
so fragile and liable to be upset are their primitive boats or
_coracles_, made of wicker-work, over which sailcloth is stretched, that
they can only venture to sea in fine weather; and thus with food almost
in sight, the people starve, because they have no one to teach them to
build boats more adapted to this rocky coast than those used by their
ancestors many centuries ago.[234] This is but one among many instances
of the wasted industrial resources of this country which, whether in
connection with the water or the land, strike the eye of the stranger at
every step."[235]
To Glenties Mr. Tuke and his companions made their journey through a
succession of wild mountain passes, rendered still wilder by the deep
snow which covered everything.
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