SARDINIA AND ITS WILD SUKE? 7 



this time on n iini'i-()w-!j;;nii;v Tail\va\- which winds for fiffv 

 miles into the mountains. At the terminus we found the 

 ''post" wait ino- — a small edition of a Roeky Mountain mud- 

 waggon, already occupied by three passengers, and into 

 whii'h we were invited to stow oiii' live selves. At first 

 the ('((iiduclor volubly refused all luo-o'ao-o, but b\ diui of 

 heavy briber}- we got our riJles allowed and such a 

 minimum of eijuipmcnt as would serve at a piiicli. The 

 rest was h^ft forlorn on the ])latform. and did not rejoin us 

 for a week. 



Somehow we all squeezed in — six inside, two in the 

 coupe, driver and conductor in front of that — and started 

 for a twenty hours' continuous drive. We saved our lives 

 by walking nearly all the way: and this was not ditlicuh, 

 as we were always either divinij,- into a ravine or climbino- 

 out of one. The road continually returns u])on itself, and 

 short cuts were numerous. As we rose, the cultivation 

 became scantier, and the nmcquia or scrub more frecpient, 

 till it covered the whole hillside. The population is 

 exceedingly thin, and the houses are all huddled tooether 

 for mutual protection in little towns, separated by long 

 intervals. In the evening we stopped at such a one, and 

 the conductor wired an incjuiiy as to the state of the road. 

 Somewhat to our rebef. the answer came back thai there 

 was too much snow to traverse it in the ni^ht. and six feet 

 two inches was able to stretch itself on the flat. The 

 1 1'"/ rone o\' the telegiaph otlice was hospitably inchiicd — 

 as indeed we found all the Sards — and put bread and wine 

 before us. and a room to lie in. W f had rescued from our 

 stores two bottles of that traveller's friend, British jam, 

 and with the fiadronc. and his brother the priest, enjoved 



