was either unknown to, or unacknowledged by the natives.
In less than half an hour we had tumbled our knapsacks into the
cart--which was a country dray, of course without either springs or
seats--and disposing ourselves as conveniently as we could on its rough
edges, were rattling and jolting off over the uneven road towards Collin,
our station for the night.

The country through which we passed was uncultivated and uninteresting;
but, like the rest that we had seen, it spoke of a poverty rather induced
than natural. With the exception of the two villages of Planinam and
Bohmishbrod we scarcely saw a house, and human creatures were extremely
scarce. As we approached Collin we halted for a moment to look at a
column of black marble erected on the roadside to commemorate the
devotion of a handful of Russian troops, who had at this spot checked the
progress of the whole French army for many hours. A little later, and we
were lodged at our inn in the market-town of Collin, where we supped on
bread and cheese and good Prague beer. A wild chorus of loud voices, and
an overwhelming odour of tobacco and onions, were the accompaniments of
our meal. The morrow being market-day in Collin, the whole population of
the district had flocked to the town, and the houses of accommodation
were all full. Our common room was quite choked up with sturdy forms in
white loose coats; broad country faces, flushed with good humour, or
beer, shone upon us from all sides. Our driver, who had been very sedate
and reserved during the whole of the day, soon joined a cluster of
congenial spirits in one corner, and was the thirstiest and most
uproarious of mortals. As for ourselves, we seemed to be made doubly
strangers, for there was not a word of German spoken in our hearing.
Hours wore on, and the country folks seemed to enjoy their town excursion
so extremely well, that there were no signs of breaking up, till mine
host made his appearance and insisted upon the lights being put out, and
upon the departure of his guests to bed. But, beds; where were they?
Our military Lubecker laughed at the idea.

"There are never more than two beds in a Bohemian house of
entertainment," said he, "and the landlord by law claims the best of the
two for himself. The other is for the first comer who pays for it.
Perhaps we shall get some straw, perhaps not. At the worst there are the
boards."

But we did get some straw, after considerable trouble, and the