one of
them turned back with us. He was an old man, and he had to return a
distance of twelve miles; but he never seemed to give this a thought.
They were dressed in black gowns, and high black caps. Our road lay
through a populous district, and many were the salutations Petrarca
received, coupled with enquiries respecting us--long conversations
taking place over miles of intervening hill and dale. This time, I
believe, I filled the part of the English ambassador. The outward
appearance of our quarters, when we arrived, was not prepossessing;
but the state of dirt of the best room could hardly have been
anticipated. Its equal--I speak advisedly--could not be found out of
the country we were in. The floors mouldy and rat-eaten--old shelves
hanging about, containing every kind of rubbish--crusts of bread, a
bit of tallow candle in a bottle--old cups and glasses in different
directions, with the remains of something in the bottom of every one.
The only covering on the boards which formed the bed, was a sheepskin
blanket, very old and dirty, looking like the mother of fleas. It
would take a page to mention the manifold horrors that presented
themselves. At length, after a late bad supper, I felt repose
desirable, be it where it might. We had stipulated, however, for the
sole possession of this melancholy dormitory, and having made up the
best bed I could, turned in with loathing; but the cold made one less
particular, as it was hard frost, and the windows had no shutter or
fastening of any kind. I found, however, there was one exception to
our sole right of tenure; no other than the old priest himself, whom I
had shortly to get up and let in. Poor man! he had nowhere else to go;
and having given up his luxurious couch, he proposed for himself to
court slumber on the top of an old chest--it looked hard, certainly,
and the poor old man seemed ill at ease. All night he rested none. He
groaned much, and was afflicted with a cough and its usual results;
and in each result he laboured long and strenuously, as though putting
his whole soul in it, till a severe shock on the opposite wall showed
the successful issue of his exertions. We did not lie in bed next
morning very long after waking, and by six o'clock were on our road,
expressing a firm determination to reach Cattaro or perish, sooner
than pass another night in a Montenegrian homestead. There was no
other mule to be procured to-day, so it was a case of riding and tying
with