it was as hot as if Tokay was to be grown on the boat:  and the number of tourists was great, but—­only think of it—­not an Englishman!  They cannot yet have discovered Hungary.  There were, however, odd customers enough, of all races, oriental and occidental, greasy and washed.  A very amiable general was my chief traveling companion; I sat and smoked with him nearly the whole time, up on the paddle-box.

I am growing impatient as to what has become of Hildebrand; I lean out of the window, partly mooning and partly watching for him as if he were a sweetheart, for I crave a clean shirt—­if you could only be here for a moment, and if you too could now see the dull silver of the Danube, the dark hills on a pale-red background, and the lights that shine up from below in Pesth, Vienna would go down a good way in your estimation as compared with “Buda-Pesth,” as the Hungarians call it.  You see that I too can go into raptures over nature.  Now that Hildebrand has really turned up, I shall calm my fevered blood with a cup of tea, and soon after go to bed.

     JUNE 24TH:  Evening.

As yet I have had no opportunity to send this off.  Again the lights are gleaming up from Pesth; on the horizon, in the direction of the Theiss, there are flashes of lightning; above us the sky is clear and the stars are shining.  I have been a good deal in uniform to-day; presented my credentials, in formal audience, to the young ruler of this country, and received a very agreeable impression.  After dinner the whole court made an excursion into the hills, to the “Fair Shepherdess”—­who, however, has long been dead; King Matthias Corvinus loved her several hundred years ago.  There is a view from there (over wooded hills, something like those by the Neckar) of Ofen, its hills, and the plain.  A country festival had brought together thousands of people; they pressed about the Emperor, who had mingled with the throng, with ringing shouts of “eljen” [vive]; they danced the csardas, waltzed, sang, played music, climbed into the trees, and crowded the court.  On a grassy slope there was a supper table for some twenty persons, with seats on one side only, while the other was left free for the view of forest, castle, city, and country.  Above us were tall beeches, with climbing Hungarians on the branches; behind and quite near us, a closely crowded and crowding mass of people; further off, music from wind instruments, alternating with song—­wild gipsy melodies.  Illumination—­moonlight and sunset-red, with torches scattered through the forest.  It might all be produced without a change as grand scenic effect in a romantic opera.  Next to me sat the white-haired Archbishop of Gran, in a black silk gown with a red hood; on the other side a very amiable, trig cavalry general.  You see the picture was rich in contrasts.  Then we drove home in the moonlight with an escort of torches....

It is very quiet and comfortable up