PECULIAR MODE OF PRINTING. 135 people speak the Illyrian language, and our German was unintelligible to them. One man, however, directed us to an ancient fortress about two miles off. We pursued the road for double that distance in the midst of a pouring rain which threatened to bring down our frail covering upon our heads; but finding nothing, we were compelled to return. On re-entering the town, we perceived the dismembered fragments of a fort, with a large mass of solid stone-work, crowning a hill, but were unable to prosecute any further our search. In the inn where we dined, two cards, curiously printed, were affixed to the wall. On one of these was inscribed, or, "GOTT ERHALTE UNSERN GUTEN FERDINAND!" "God preserve our good Ferdinand!" On the other was a polite request that everybody would be so kind as to pay ready money. The letters were capitals, and each was formed by the colored figure of a man represented in a certain attitude with something in his hand. At a distance the words were perfectly legible, and the figures not discernible: on a near inspection, the letters were entirely lost, and nothing but the figures appeared. 136 GATES COSTUME. The mode of hanging gates in the interior of the Banat is curious. They are made with the upper bar projecting very far behind, and piled with heavy wood; so that, when hung upon a stump, the point of which passes through the bar, the gate is nearly balanced and swings upon the stump as its fulcrum. Some of the peasants wear leather coats, and cloaks lined with wool and here we observed, for the first time on this frontier, the girdle, or waistband, worn by all Asiatics. A large sock of blanketing is sometimes brought over the ankle and allowed to hang down in loose folds on the foot, which is protected by a red boot made of fragrant Russia leather. With their heads turned homewards, our little nags galloped as fast as we could wish, and faster than we had ever been carried by the heavy horses of Germany. They soon brought us to the turning which leads to the baths, and the drivers were ordered to take that road, but nothing would induce them to comply. They urged that it was too late in the evening; that the horses were fatigued; and that even now daylight would not last to carry us direct to our inn. They had reason on their side, and the result proved that they were correct; for it was dark long before our return. HERCULESBAD.-HOT SPRINGS. 137 In the vicinity of the baths, which are now quite a fashionable resort, there is a little village, consisting of about twenty good lodginghouses, and a large inn containing between one and two hundred bed-rooms, supported at the emperor's expense. The name given to the spot is Herculesbad, from a tradition that Hercules bathed in a dark cavern, access to which is by a small aperture not large enough to allow a man to enter erect. The natural spring which supplies the baths is impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen gas, and the water, whose temperature is 45° of Reaumur, or 133° of Fahrenheit, is found to be beneficial in cutaneous and hypochondriacal cases. There is nothing very remarkable in the place itself; the beauty of the scenery in the neighbourhood is that which a traveller should not lose; and this we enjoyed as much as the unfavorable state of the weather permitted. VOL. I. I CHAPTER V. VOYAGE ON THE DANUBE. FROM ORSCHOVA IN HUNGARY TO SCALA CLADOVA IN WALLACHIA. Embarkation.-Neu Orschova.-Fort Elizabeth.-Customhouse. Scenery.-Remains of Roman canal.-Porte de Fer.-Projected canal.-Fall of river.-Rapidity of current. Party land. Costumes.-Quarantines.-Sibb.Kladosicza. Delay of steamer.-Customs connected with sneezing.- Description of Scala Cladova.-Huts.-Feth Islam. - Diminished interest of scenery. Rural scene - Dinner. and repast.-Degraded condition of inhabitants. Dress. -Postilions- Their howling.— Arrival at Tchernitz. Reception. Sweetmeats. Supper.-Wash-hand basin. -Town of Tchernitz. - Houses.- Posts of gates. - Chief street. Dark complexion of inhabitants.-Beauty-spot. ·Breakfast.- Governor.- Salary.- Anecdote.-Slaves. Return to Scala Cladova. - National hospitality. Cheapness of food. Practice of burying money. -Etymology of name Wallachia.-Mode of reckoning time. Government. - Hospodar.- Former subjection to Porte.Treaties of Bukharest and Adrianople.-Present influence of Russia. - Anecdote.- Religion.-First printing of Bible.-System of tyranny.-Gipsies.-Their origin and names.—Tax in gold-dust. - Anecdotes. - State of - EMBARKATION AT ORSCHOVA. 139 - morality in the two principalities. - Divorces.-Courts of law. Power of Frank consuls. — Anecdote. — General aspect and productiveness of country. Fertility of ancient Dacia. Adoption by people of Roman name and language.-Mixture of Greek, Persian, and Italian words. - Examples. THE following morning all the morning all the passengers started for Scala Cladova, twelve miles from Orschova, having embarked on a wide flatbottomed barge, the only sort of boat of the requisite size which can pass the ridge of rocks called by the appropriate name of Porte de Fer, because it effectually closes the navigation of the Danube. The morning was fine, and the exquisite scenery around glowed in all the loveliness with which the God of nature has invested it. The first object that attracted our attention was the fort of Neu Orschova, standing in the middle of the stream, two and a half miles below Orschova, and garrisoned by Turks, as are all the fortressés in Servia. Thus far, the islands in the river are held by Austria; but the Porte retains possession of this as an outpost. We sailed on the Servian side, close under the windows of the governor's harem, and were able to perceive the nakedness of the land and the utter inefficiency of this fort in case of war, as it is out of |