th great civility, to pass the night at a little
castle of his, a few miles off, assuring us we should have a very
hard day's journey to reach Essek. This we found but too true, the
woods being very dangerous, and scarce passable, from the vast
quantity of wolves that hoard in them. We came, however, safe,
though late to Essek, where we stayed a day, to dispatch a courier
with letters to the bassa of Belgrade; and I took that opportunity of
seeing the town, which is not very large, but fair built, and well
fortified. This was a town of great trade, very rich and populous,
when in the hands of the Turks. It is situated on the Drave, which
runs into the Danube. The bridge was esteemed one of the most
extraordinary in the world, being eight thousand paces long, and all
built of oak. It was burnt, and the city laid in ashes by count
Lesly, 1685, but was again repaired and fortified by the Turks, who,
however, abandoned it in 1687. General Dunnewalt then took
possession of it for the emperor, in whose hands it has remained ever
since, and is esteemed one of the bulwarks of Hungary. The
twenty-eighth, we went to Bocorwar, a very large Rascian town, all
built after the manner I have described to you. We were met there by
colonel ----, who would not suffer us to go any where but to his
quarters, where I found his wife, a very agreeable Hungarian lady,
and his niece and daughter, two pretty young women, crowded into
three or four Rascian houses, cast into one, and made as neat and
convenient as those places are capable of being made. The Hungarian
ladies are much handsomer than those of Austria. All the Vienna
beauties are of that country; they are generally very fair and
well-shaped, and their dress, I think, is extremely becoming. This
lady was in a gown of scarlet velvet, lined and faced with sables,
made exact to her shape, and the skirt falling to her feet. The
sleeves are strait to their arms, and the stays buttoned before, with
two rows of little buttons of gold, pearl, or diamonds. On their
heads they wear a tassel of gold, that hangs low on one side, lined
with sable, or some other fine fur.---They gave us a handsome dinner,
and I thought the conversation very polite and agreeable. They would
accompany us part of our way. The twenty-ninth, we arrived here,
where we were met by the commanding officer, at the head of all the
officers of the garrison. We are lodged in the best apartment of the
governor's h