A  person  traversing  those  parts  of  the  country  that
were  inhabited  found  no  difficulty  in  getting  from  place  to
place  ;  for  there  were  roads  and  bridle-paths  everywhere,
rough  indeed,  and  not  to  be  compared  with  the  roads  of


Fig.  18.
Ferryboat,  ai  feet  long  by  x  foot  broad :  now  in  National  Museum,  Dublin.    (From  Wilde's  Catalogue.)

our  day,  but  good  enough  for  the  travel  and  traffic  of  the
time.  If  the  wayfarer  did  not  choose  to  walk,  there  were
plenty  of  ox-waggons  ;  and  among  the  higher  classes
rough  springless  chariots,  drawn  by  one  or  two  horses#
Horse-riding,  though  sometimes  adopted,  was  not  in  those
times  a  very  general  mode  of  travelling.  What  with  rough
conveyances,  and  with  roads  and  paths  often  full  of  ruts,
pools,  and  mire,  a  journey,  whether  by  walking,  driving,  or
horse-riding,  was  a  slow,  laborious,  and  disagreeable  busi-
ness, and  not  always  free  from  danger.  Rivers  were  crossed
by  means  of  wooden  bridges,  or  by  wading  at  broad
shallow  fords,  or  by  little  ferry-boats,  or,  as  a  last
resource,  by  swimming  :  for  in  those  days  of  open-air  life
everyone  could  swim.  Fords  were,  however,  generally  very
easy  to  find,  as  the  roads  and  paths  usually  impinged  on


CHAP.  II]  A  PRELIMINARY  BIRD'S-EYE  VIEW  20.
them,  and  in  many  places  lights  were  kept  burning  beside
them  at  night.
