IN THE LAND OF THE BORA. 107 



Austrian Lloyds get their chief stewards, that 

 they should all give one the idea of their having 

 served their time in an imperial household at 

 least ?) This we might have hetter borne had not 

 the autocrat in question absolutely refused to 

 entertain the idea of lunch until the solemn 

 ceremony of soup, fish, etc., etc., had been gone 

 through. Considering the hour at which we had 

 breakfasted, we were pretty well starving before 

 half-past one. However, when it did come, lunch 

 was excellent, though beefsteak, cheddar cheese, 

 and beer is perhaps hardly Dalmatian. Neverthe- 

 less, I maintain that a midday table d'hote on a 

 steamer, which is nothing if not cosmopolitan, is 

 a nuisance. If a man wants sixteen courses at 

 that hour by all means let him have them, but 

 a la carte, and let him not delay the Britisher's 

 humble chop. 



Long before lunch, however, we had left a 

 couple of places of call behind us. Firstly, we got 

 back to the eternal island of Brazza again, and the 

 Trieste went through the performance of inducting 

 herself into the tiny but perfectly land-locked 

 harbour of Puciscie, which is about ten yards 

 wider than the ship in question is long. When 

 we had been solemnly informed that there were 

 exactly the same amount of passengers and goods 

 for embarkation as what w T e had landed, i.e. nil, 

 we screwed and backed, and puffed and whistled, 



