y a man, who leaped out from behind a rock,
seized the horses, and with a powerful grasp brought them down on their
haunches. F---- had the reins, so I jumped down and made straight at the
fellow, revolver in hand. I imagine he did not expect to find us armed,
or he found us literally too many for him, but diving into the bushes,
he was gone even quicker than he came.

We had hardly got the horses into full trot again, when we noticed two
cartloads of Wallacks driving side by side on in front of us. When we
came up they would not let us pass, and continued this little game for
more than ten minutes, notwithstanding all our expostulations. They were
driving much slower than ourselves, and F---- began to lose patience; so
holding the horses well in hand, he told me to fire off my revolver in
the air. After this they thought proper to draw aside, but even then
leaving us so little room that we risked our necks in passing them in a
very awkward corner. I was told afterwards by the postmaster of
Karansebes that a diligence had fallen over the precipice at this very
place, only a very short time before, owing to the Wallack drivers
purposely obstructing the road. Such are the Wallacks--I beg their
pardon, Roumanians!

When we got to Terregova, we were glad to find quite a decent inn, the
Wilder Mann, kept by civil people. After supper we had a chat with our
hostess, who being a regular gossip, was very pleased to tell us a lot
of stories about the wild character of the country-people. She was very
sorry that the frontier was no longer under the Austrian military rule,
for, she said, having been accustomed to the strict military system so
long, the Wallacks, now they have more liberty, have become utterly
lawless, and exceedingly troublesome to their German neighbours. She
added that the _gendarmes_, who were supposed to keep order in the
district, were far too few to be of any real use. She complained
bitterly against the Wallacks for firing the forests, and they had
become much worse since '48. "In fact the time will come," she said,
"when wood will be scarce, and then everybody will suffer; but they
don't think, and they don't care, and just lay their hands on anything."

The Government certainly ought to look to the preservation of the
forests, and above all they ought to make the law respected amongst a
population which is so little advanced in civilisation as to be
indifferent to the first principles of order. The Wall