Happily, however, the weather cleared a little as the morning advanced,
and further desertions were arrested.

At length the whole party got off in sundry _leiterwagen_, a vehicle
which has no counterpart in England, and the literal rendering of a
ladder-waggon hardly conveys the proper notion of the thing itself. This
long cart, it is needless to say, is without springs; but it has the
faculty of accommodating itself to the inequalities of the road in a
marvellous manner. It has, moreover, a snake-like vertebræ, and even
twists itself when necessary.

My guns never came after all, and I was obliged to borrow. The one lent
me had one barrel smooth-bore, the other rifled.

We drove for some distance along the Hatszeg highroad, then turned off
to the right. Continuing our course for some time, we came to the pretty
little village of Mörül, where we breakfasted. It was quite the cleanest
and neatest Wallack settlement that I had seen at all. It is celebrated
for the beauty of its women. Several very pretty girls in their
picturesque costume were gathered round the village well, engaged in
filling their classical-shaped pitchers. Every movement of their arms
was grace itself. The action was not from the elbow, but from the
shoulder, whereby one sees the arm extended in the curved line of
beauty, instead of sticking out at a sharp angle, as with us Western
races.

The weather had improved considerably. Our breakfast, for which we
halted on the further outskirts of the village, was very agreeably
discussed amidst much general good-humour. The peasants regarded us with
frank undisguised curiosity, coming round to watch our proceedings.