Wanderings through unknown Austria

tar rei

omes B

e (The Win

ting character to the public, to wit the "Gentle Lunatic," who ru

nd June, the "Gentle One" filling the place

; from thence we went to Trieste by train. Our train was half an hour late, for which w

"Photographic Lady," who smothered herself and everybody else with books, time-tables, etc., asked every one's opinion collectively and singly, and made an elaborate plan beforehand; my collaborator, who did not care a rap how

nds you may have in the neighbourhood of the station. The bell rings a third time and tolls three. The conductor suggests the advisability of taking your seat, the engine-driver and stoker go for their last drink, and the stationmaster begins to play with a little horn he wears suspended round his neck. The conductors-there are generally two or three of them on each train-having ascertained that none of the passengers have any particular wish to remain any longer, step out upon the platform, shout ready, and blow whistles. The stationmaster

n of going to find some tame turtles. He said he meant to buy a dozen, and we could take them home in our pockets. H

basilicae. It is a great pity that the beautiful old columns are covered with red damask. They look like a forest of pillars

, to whom she promised a photograph, whether of herself or the church we were unable to discover. We were

e place, as it is beautifully situated on green hills sloping quite gently down to the

the time. But his answer was somewhat vague, and his method of ascertaining the time appeared to us peculiar. He took out his watch, looked at it for a long time, gazed fixedly at the sun, shut his eyes, seemed by the contortion of his features to be going through some abstruse calculation, and then said it was between one and two o'clock. This nettled the lady, and she replied rather warmly that she wanted to know the exact time. With a mournful smile he took out his watch again,

blue sky above, and blue sea all around, and the great gaunt prison lighted up by the golden rays of the sun, and forming a bright patch of yellow in the lan

e been the richest town in Istria. There were many wealthy patrician families, renowned for their luxurious living, inhabiting it. With the fall of

off to inspect the town. It was a remarkable conveyance. The "G. L." selected it, and it appeared as if he had chosen the dirtiest he could find. It was small too. We could only just squeeze in, and were very much cramped for room; but any trifling defects in the carri

tian windows, innumerable inscriptions, coats-of-arms, and other carvings, and the whole crowned by the Venetian lion. A pretty outer staircase with little marble columns runs along part

TOWN

n, who explained its beauties to us in a confidential manner. I remember, too, that we saw some pictures. In one church (the "G. L." says it was in the big one on the piazza) there was a very fine one of Benedetto Carpaccio-the Madonna in the company of some saints, and with two little angels playing the banjo (it may be a guitar) a

Duino, in quaint armour, with their ladies and soldiers, on the one side of the picture; on the other, the representatives of the vanquished town bringing gold, etc., and in the background a t

ny old drinking-fountain known as the "Bridge" (why

in one quaint sort of jeweller's stall the fashionable ornaments of Istria were pointed out to me. These are ear-rings-littl

-eyed girl strolling along with the peculiar shuffling gait ca

-KNO

silence, abandonment, and decay. There are some fine old palaces, but the windows are shut, and they seem deserted. On one we admired a wonderful old bronze knocker of most refined workmanship, and as the hous

ercial soul has put glass windows, and the interior is dishonoured by the usual little marble tables and black leather seats. The

T CAPO

stone bench together, and discussed politics and literature. In the meantime another beggar came up, whom the first beggar introduced as "the greatest poet of Capodistria." The poet was proud, however, and evidently averse to becoming intimate with strangers; at any

our chariot, and betook

n still distinguish some of the charms that won for her that poetic name. May she dream of the glorious time long ago-the glorious time of