My fellow-passengers were in no way remarkable, but harmless enough, even including an unfortunate mad woman, whose mania it was to recount unceasingly the ill-treatment to which she had been exposed.  At times, her indignation against her imaginary tormentors knew no bounds; at others, she would grow touchingly plaintive on the subject of her wrongs.  That she was a nuisance, I am fain to confess; but the treatment she experienced at the hands of her Dalmatian countrymen was inconsiderate in the extreme.  One who professed himself an advocate for sudden shocks, put his theory into practice by stealing quietly behind his patient, and cutting short her lugubrious perorations with a deluge of salt water.  This was repeated several times, but no arguments would induce her to allow her wet clothes to be removed, so it would not be surprising if this gentleman had succeeded in ‘stopping her tongue’ beyond his expectations.  The only other lady was young and rather pretty, but dismally sentimental.  She doated on roses, was enamoured of camelias, and loved the moon and the stars, and in fact everything in this world or out of it.  In vain I tried to persuade her that her cough betrayed pulmonary symptoms, and that night air in the Adriatic was injurious to the complexion.

The man-kind on board included an Austrian officer of engineers, a French Consul, and a Dalmatian professor.  Besides the above, there was an Italian patriot, whose devotion to the ‘Kingmaker’ displayed itself in a somewhat eccentric fashion.  With much mystery, he showed me a portrait of Garibaldi, secreted in a watchkey seal, while his waistcoat buttons and shirt studs contained heads of those generals who served in the campaign of the Two Sicilies.  It was rather a novel kind of hero-worship, though, I fear, likely to be little appreciated by him who inspired the thought.

September 1.—­Landed at Zara at 6.30 A.M., and passed a few hours in wandering over the town and ramparts.  These last are by no means formidable, and convey very little idea of the importance which was attached to the city in the time of the Venetian Republic.  The garrison is small, and, as is the case throughout Dalmatia, the soldiers are of Italian origin.  The Duomo is worthy of a visit; while the antiquarian may find many objects of interest indicative of the several phases of Zarantine history.  Here, in a partially obliterated inscription, he may trace mementos of Imperial Rome; there, the Campanile of Santa Maria tells of the dominion of Croatian kings; while the winged lion ever reminds him of the glory of the Great Republic, its triumphs, its losses, and its fall.  On leaving we were loudly cheered by the inhabitants, who had collected in large numbers on the shore.  A few hours’ run brought us abreast of Fort St. Nicholas, and ten minutes later we dropped anchor in the harbour of Sebenico.  Here the delight of the people at our arrival was somewhat overwhelming.  It vented itself in an