pears more so after the stony
desolation which the rest of Dalmatia exhibits. Though the houses
still remain in ruins, the gardens continue to be cultivated. Olives,
vines, figs, and carruba trees grow in them, and the tops of the hills
are covered with stone pines and delightful evergreens, of heaths,
junipers, cypress, and other plants, which at home we coax to grow in
our greenhouses.

Quitting Ragusa, after having been once driven back by the badness of
the weather, we at length entered the Bocca of Cattaro, after a
passage of about nine hours. Both in its general and immediate
position, few spots can be imagined so cut off from the rest of the
world as Cattaro. Standing close on the sea, with stupendous mountains
overhanging it on each side, it is deprived even of the light of the
sun for the greater part of the day; and, towards the end of
November--this is no boon. By land the Dalmatian coast-road (the only
one, I believe, in the country) passes through it, but it would prove
indifferent, I should think, to any but the pedestrian; and there is
also the mountain-path, of three hours' ascent, which leads into
Montenegro, and issues up from the gates of the town in a zigzag form,
till it appears lost in the clouds. Any one wishing to quit Cattaro,
has indeed, like the country waiter in England, but "three desperate
alternatives." He must wait for the next steamer, a whole month if in
winter, and return the way he came. Or he may attempt to pass through
Albania to Greece or the islands, which would in all likelihood prove
the last attempt he would ever make. Or he may hire one of the country
_trabacolos_ to take him where he likes. They are neither fast in
their sailing nor luxurious in their accommodation--the price being
any thing but cheap. In one thing the traveller has no difficulty,
which is to discover the first hotel, as their number is strictly
limited. Consequently in about half an hour, during which the steamer
had taken her departure, we found ourselves the inmates of the
principal _salon_ in the Locanda della Corona. It is ever a comfort,
when expectation is not at its highest, to find things better; and
happy the mind that seeks it!

The house was not very dirty, the landlady was full of kindness, and
not destitute of good looks. After her first paroxysms of welcome and
surprise had passed, then succeeded admiration, then a general
presentation to all friends and relations of the family that could be