CHAPTER I. 



The Adklsberg (trotto — Vill.v Mira:viar at Triest — C,i:sAR*s Camp 

 AT Ramleh — The IIed Sea — The Taxks of Aben. 



It thus happened, as explauied in the Introduction, 

 that in the autumn of 1870 I bade good-bye to the 

 Lake of Geneva, travelhng by way of Turin to Triest, 

 and stopping en route at Adelsberg, situated amongst 

 the wild mountains of lUyria, in order to visit its 

 splendid caves, or rather group of grottos, about a 

 mile from the railway station. They are the largest 

 known in Europe, if not in the world, probably ex- 

 tending a very great distance into the mountain, 

 five miles only having so far been explored, and 



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