SECOND DAY, 9 
was on board our vessel. Bavaria, Pomerania, Anhalt- 
Dessau, Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Bohemia, Galizia, 
the Dalmatian Islands, various parts of Hungary, and 
perhaps other countries also, were represented in this little 
space. I forgot to ask the chef’s people and the crew about 
their birthplaces, or we might have collected more localities. 
But to revert to our special theme. The steamer had 
made its turn skilfully: Ofen was gliding by us on the 
right, the Bloxberg, with its romantic precipices, followed, 
and the plain between it and the wooded mountains of Ofen 
came into view. 
On the left bank the splendid quay of Pest had already 
long passed by, the houses had become smaller, and the 
region of the market-gardens began. To these succeeded 
straw huts, and at last the town terminated in sand. This 
is a characteristic peculiarity of all Hungarian villages, 
market towns, and cities; they all end in sand, instead of 
being surrounded by a zone of gardens, country-houses, and 
promenades. 
Beyond the Bloxberg the Danube got wider and wider, 
and high crumbling banks began alternating with wet 
meadows, while on the left side large villages appeared on the 
horizon. A broad plain stretched towards the south-east, the 
mountains of Waitzen melted more and more into the blue 
morning mists, and the outlines of the Csomad wood and the 
Mogyorédd hills grew more indistinct, and soon vanished from 
our sight. I waved them a parting greeting ; for they are 
good old friends, and close behind them lies beautiful Gédélls. 
On the right bank there was still a continuous background 
of wooded mountains, sometimes approaching the river and 
sometimes receding from it. 
Now on our right appeared the little village of Promontor, 
situated on the ridge of a hill which sloped steeply down to 
the water’s edge; and soon afterwards came the large island 
