I am going among the latter, who claim to be descended from Attila and the Huns. It takes a lot of water, and running strong, to sweep the outside edge of a river clear. It was on the dark side of twilight when we got to Bistritz, which is a very interesting old place. All day long we seemed to dawdle through a country which was full of beauty of every kind.

I shall enter here some of my notes, as they may refresh my memory when I talk over my travels with Mina.

I was not able to light on any map or work giving the exact locality of the Castle Dracula, as there are no maps of this country as yet to compare with our own Ordnance Survey maps; but I found that Bistritz, the post town named by Count Dracula, is a fairly well-known place. Having had some time at my disposal when in London, I had visited the British Museum, and made search among the books and maps in the library regarding Transylvania; it had struck me that some foreknowledge of the country could hardly fail to have some importance in dealing with a nobleman of that country. They wore high boots, with their trousers tucked into them, and had long black hair and heavy black moustaches. Count Dracula had directed me to go to the Golden Krone Hotel, which I found, to my great delight, to be thoroughly old-fashioned, for of course I wanted to see all I could of the ways of the country. Towards morning I slept and was wakened by the continuous knocking at my door, so I guess I must have been sleeping soundly then. All day long we seemed to dawdle through a country which was full of beauty of every kind. They had all full white sleeves of some kind or other, and most of them had big belts with a lot of strips of something fluttering from them like the dresses in a ballet, but of course there were petticoats under them. Towards morning I slept and was wakened by the continuous knocking at my door, so I guess I must have been sleeping soundly then.

The strangest figures we saw were the Slovaks, who were more barbarian than the rest, with their big cow-boy hats, great baggy dirty-white trousers, white linen shirts, and enormous heavy leather belts, nearly a foot wide, all studded over with brass nails. I read that every known superstition in the world is gathered into the horseshoe of the Carpathians, as if it were the centre of some sort of imaginative whirlpool; if so my stay may be very interesting. Fifty years ago a series of great fires took place, which made terrible havoc on five separate occasions. I was not able to light on any map or work giving the exact locality of the Castle Dracula, as there are no maps of this country as yet to compare with our own Ordnance Survey maps; but I found that Bistritz, the post town named by Count Dracula, is a fairly well-known place.

What ought they to be in China. Having had some time at my disposal when in London, I had visited the British Museum, and made search among the books and maps in the library regarding Transylvania; it had struck me that some foreknowledge of the country could hardly fail to have some importance in dealing with a nobleman of that country.