splendor of the water excursion, he struck across the
country in a north-east direction, by the way of Lemberg, some six
hundred miles, to intercept the flotilla and join the party on the
river. But the water of the river suddenly fell, and some hundred miles
above Kherson, the flotilla ran upon a sand bar and could not be forced
over. The empress, who was apprised of the approach of the emperor, too
proud to be found in such a situation, hastily abandoned the flotilla,
and taking the carriages which they had with them, drove to meet Joseph.
The two imperial suites were soon united, and they swept on, a
glittering cavalcade, to Kherson. Joseph and Catharine rode in a
carriage together, where they had ample opportunity of talking over all
their plans of mutual aggrandizement. As no one was permitted to listen
to their conversations, their decisions can only be guessed at.

They entered the city of Kherson, then containing about sixty thousand
inhabitants, surrounded by all the magnificence which Russian and
Austrian opulence could exhibit. A triumphal arch spanned the gate, upon
which was inscribed in letters of gold, "The road to Byzantium." Four
days were passed here in revelry. The party then entered the Crimea, and
continued their journey as far as Sevastopol, where the empress was
delighted to find, within its capacious harbor, many Russian frigates at
anchor. Immense sums were expended in furnishing entertainments by the
way. At Batcheseria, where the two sovereigns occupied the ancient
palace of the khans, they looked out upon a mountain in a blaze of
illumination, and apparently pouring lava floods from its artificial
volcanic crater.

Joseph returned to Vienna, and immediately there was war--Austria and
Russia against Turkey. Joseph was anxious to secure the provinces of
Bosnia, Servia, Moldavia and Wallachia, and to extend his empire to the
Dneister. With great vigor he made his preparations, and an army of two
hundred thousand men, with two thousand pieces of artillery, were
speedily on the march down the Danube. Catharine was equally energetic
in her preparations, and all the north of Europe seemed to be on the
march for the overthrow of the Ottoman empire.

Proverbially fickle are the fortunes of war. Joseph commenced the siege
of Belgrade with high hopes. He was ignominiously defeated, and his
troops were driven, utterly routed, into Hungary, pursued by the Turks,
who spread ruin and devastation widely ar