The women looked pretty, except when you got near them, but they were very clumsy about the waist. This may be so, for when the Magyars conquered the country in the eleventh century they found the Huns settled in it. 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. Some of them were just like the peasants at home or those I saw coming through France and Germany, with short jackets and round hats and home-made trousers; but others were very picturesque. I find that the district he named is in the extreme east of the country, just on the borders of three states, Transylvania, Moldavia and Bukovina, in the midst of the Carpathian mountains; one of the wildest and least known portions of Europe. What ought they to be in China. I am going among the latter, who claim to be descended from Attila and the Huns.

Being practically on the frontier—for the Borgo Pass leads from it into Bukovina—it has had a very stormy existence, and it certainly shows marks of it.

The women looked pretty, except when you got near them, but they were very clumsy about the waist. On the stage they would be set down at once as some old Oriental band of brigands. At the very beginning of the seventeenth century it underwent a siege of three weeks and lost 13,000 people, the casualties of war proper being assisted by famine and disease. (Mem., I must ask the Count all about them.) I did not sleep well, though my bed was comfortable enough, for I had all sorts of queer dreams. At every station there were groups of people, sometimes crowds, and in all sorts of attire. They are very picturesque, but do not look prepossessing. It seems to me that the further east you go the more unpunctual are the trains.