holding out both his hands to welcome his visitors. Instantly there appeared, in his wake, the old lady with her honest kind face betokening the warmest interest. She was followed by the two servant-girls, smiling their welcome. Questions were asked of all that had happened in the interval, mingled with expressions of pleasure at the renewal of the acquaintance. It transpired in the course of conversation that the little inn was full. The worthy couple, however, insisted upon putting Musafir and his friend into their own room, saying they could easily manage elsewhere for the night. Meanwhile the hostess gave orders for the preparation of a repast in her best style, of which the speckled trout was to form a necessary portion. This was done ample justice to, and the rest of the evening was spent in pleasantly chatting with these honest, warm-hearted Austrians.

Early in the morning, after a plunge in the glorious little basin formed by the river just below the inn, our two friends started to spend the forenoon at the two lakes, the peculiar beauties of which we have already described.* We will only refer to them now to remark that notwithstanding the glowing language in which Musafir had painted them to his companion, Mercator found the reality, especially with respect to the second lake, far surpass the conceptions he had formed. As to Musafir, he thought it then, and he thinks it still, one of the wonders of Europe. Had it been situated in Switzerland it would long before this have been thronged by crowds of tourists; in the course of a few years its simple beauty would have been spoilt by

* Pages 32-4.

the erection of artificial grottoes, and vulgar refreshmentrooms; but being in unsophisticated Austria, off the line of rail, and not on the high road, unmarked, or scarcely marked, by the English guide-books, it has happily hitherto escaped defilement of that sort, and still constitutes, in its simple majesty, a place in which nature reigns supreme and triumphant !

That same afternoon our two friends bade farewell to their kind hosts, after many promises-alas! not yet fulfilled of a future visit, and started in an einspänner for the little village of Traunkirchen on the Gmunden lake. An einspänner is one of the best sort of carriages for mountain travelling. It is a four-wheeled chaise, with a hood, a low seat in front, and a place behind for the luggage. In the seat over which is the hood it can accommodate two people, whilst in front there is a place for the driver, and, if need be, for a fourth person beside him. It is fitted up with arrangements for keeping out rain, and is, altogether, a most comfortable sort of conveyance. In one of these our two travellers drove to Traunkirchen, a distance of only seven miles, and, arriving there, put up at the comfortable little inn facing the giant Traunstein, a rocky mountain rising straight up from the surface of the water to a height of nearly 5,500 feet, and giving by its presence an air of stately grandeur to that part of the lake, in marked and striking contrast to the smiling verdure and green foregrounds, studded with villas, on the other side. The landlord of this little inn did not at all impress

* Fulfilled, as we have seen, in 1871.-Vide page 37.

our travellers at first sight. He was short and stout, with a swarthy complexion and gloomy air, giving one the idea of a man to whom a smile was unknown, and in whose eyes a hearty laugh was the surest indication of moral turpitude. But a few hours' acquaintance with him was sufficient to dissipate these illusions.

It soon appeared that he was a very good little fellow, rather matter-of-fact indeed, but quite a character in his way. After our friends had finished dinner they invited him, according to the homely Austrian custom, to come and sit at their table, and partake of some wine. It soon appeared that not even an innkeeper is proof against the liquid that "maketh glad the heart of man," for in a few minutes he was engaged in unfolding the principal events of his life. The most important of these had reference to his service in the Austrian army during a period of six years, in the course of which had been fought the battles of Magenta and Solferino, at both of which he "assisted." He was then a corporal, and he complained bitterly-he felt it, he said, even then-of having been kept for three days and three nights without food of any kind. In relating this sad event, his face assumed an expression of agony, which, contrasted with his well-rounded form, was, to our travellers, inexpressibly comic. "But," suggested Mercator, mildly, "it does not appear to have made you thin." "Thin!" shrieked the landlord, with an awful grimace, "I was as thin as a lath, you could have pulled me through a ring; I was just like that "--saying this, he drew in his face hideously. It was evident that he still felt the pangs of those terrible three days. He talked freely of the Austrian generals, and of all

but Benedek disparagingly. But his greatest fury was reserved for the mention of the name of Giulay. "The scoundrel," he said, "hole ihn der Teufel,-and he draws full-pay to this day!" Many anecdotes of his military life did he relate, almost all personal to himself, with an air of gravity, which, considering that the ludicrous predominated in the stories, was most comical.

We pass over the walk to the Traunfalls, the visit to Gmunden, the drive to Ischl, interesting as they were, because we have already described the impressions made by these places on the mind of Musafir. On reaching Ischl the travellers drove to the Kaiserin Elisabeth, but, it was the height of the season, and that hotel, large as it was, was crowded to the topmost garret. But this did not much signify. The obliging landlord, Herr Endmoser, recommended them to an adjoining hotel, and engaged to procure for them, for next morning, the best guide in the country to conduct them over the mountains to the Grundl See.

Very early next morning they started,-not indeed by the carriage road followed by Musafir and his wife the previous year, but viâ Rettenbach over the Rettenbach Alp, about 5,000 feet high,-one of the most charming walks possible to conceive. There was but a pathway, but it led to most lovely places; some of the gorges being magnificent. The ascent of the Rettenbach was steep, but, once surmounted, the travellers came upon a large plateau of lovely green turf, covered with wild strawberries, at first level, but afterwards descending with an increasing slope towards Alt-Aussee. From this summit were visible, apparently quite close, the shining Dachstein with his field of snow, the stern stony

Loser, causing the Dachstein to shine still more brightly from the contrast, below, and between them and the travellers a smiling green foreground. Not long was this view vouchsafed them. The clouds, then rising from the horizon, soon overspread the heavens, and scarcely had AltAussee been reached, four hours and a half after leaving Ischl, than the rain poured down in torrents. The summerhouse, jutting out into the lake, of the little inn at AltAussee was, however, admirably adapted to lunch in on a wet day, and the travellers fondly hoped that before that meal had been consumed, the rain would hold up, and the walk across the hills to the Grundl See be resumed. As, however, the rain still continued to pour, it became necessary to give up the walk across the hills and to proceed to the Grundl See by the road, through Aussee. An hour and a half took our friends to the lake. There, as at Langbath, the greetings were warm and friendly. The hostess was, as usual, demonstrative, but many changes had occurred in the household. Elise, the under-cook, had been allowed to accept the situation of head-cook in a neighbouring inn ; whilst Fanny, the Kellnerin, had left to live with her mother, who was infirm. The old Kanzler, however, was there, as anxious as ever to go about with the "Herrschaft." The lake itself, notwithstanding the clouded state of the sky, was as glorious as ever, still soft, beautiful, and bewitching, well deserving the title of the Pride of Styria. Other lakes may indeed surpass this in some one particular point, but in the combination of beauties of all sorts the Grundl See remains unrivalled. It is enchanting in all weathers, and though the day on which our travellers arrived was peculiarly