SEVENTH DAY. 109 



V 



Cere vie lies partly at the foot of these hills, and is partly 

 built upon them in terraces, the houses situated among the 

 fissures and earthy cliffs, and the two churches standing on 

 the slope, having a very picturesque appearance. The high 

 ridges behind the village are stony, quite treeless, and planted 

 with vines, while yellow soil, which, when lit up by the sun, 

 glows with true oriental richness of colour, forms the back- 

 ground of the picture. 



We put in to the pier of the village, where the large gaily- 

 dressed crowd which had assembled by the bank received us 

 in the heartiest manner, and Count Rudolf Chotek, one of the 

 proprietors of the greater part of the Fruska-Gora mountains 

 and all the adjoining lands, hastened on board to welcome us, 

 almost before the steamer had reached her moorings. He 

 and his brother Otto are the joint lords of all these estates. 

 Count Rudolf has, however, the larger share of their manage- 

 ment, and spends almost the entire year in this part of the 

 country. 



Let me begin by saying that Count Rudolf, who accom- 

 panied us on our shooting-expeditions during our whole stay 

 in Cere vie, made all the arrangements for our excursions, 

 and exerted himself to further our sport in the most assiduous 

 and amiable way, is one of the kindest and most thoughtful 

 of hosts one could possibly meet with, and we all owe him our 

 warmest thanks. 



After a short greeting he told us what kinds of birds of 

 prey the woods contained, and pressed us to spend a few days 

 here. He spoke of huge Cinereous Vultures, Sea-Eagles, 

 Imperial Eagles, and of all the lesser hawks, of Eagle-Owls, 

 Black Storks, and many other birds which inhabited his 

 domains. We were to make a shooting-excursion into the 

 Fruska-Gora this very day, but, unfortunately, as it was Sunday 

 and a great Greek festival, we could not set out before eleven 

 o'clock. At nine my brother-in-law, Bombelles, Count Chotek, 



