inted books. Throughout the island,
except in this convent and in the town of Veglia, the Slav liturgy,
granted by Pope John VIII. (872-882), is in use.

[Illustration: THE HARBOUR OF BESCA NOVA

_To face page 176_]

The usual route to Castel Muschio and Veglia is from Fiume, but one of
our visits was made from Arbe to Besca Nova, a most picturesque and
equally evil-smelling port, sheltered by widely stretching rocky points
(one of which bears the appropriate name of Punta Scoglia), which rise
to mountainous masses behind the little town, with a modern cemetery
chapel on one of the lower spurs. The houses straggle round the curve of
the shore, with groups of trees here and there, and little creeks
running up into the land, crossed by narrow bridges; the streets, mere
alleys often, scarcely permitting two persons to pass each other, rise
to a church round which they cluster more thickly. At this end of the
town the houses cling to the side of the hill above and below the
street, and are approached by steps which descend to the front, though
there are also doors on the street level convenient for elopements, and
wonderful great chimneys of great originality and variety. There were a
good many boats in the harbour, and we had an excellent opportunity of
seeing it from all points of view, for the pier at which the steamer
stops is at one horn of the bay, and it is a walk of a quarter of an
hour to the indifferent inn. We asked a couple of gentlemen who were
coming out if we could get anything to eat there, and they replied: "Oh
yes, if you go at once." We found, however, that we must order what we
wanted and wait until it was cooked, so we left the civil _padrona_ to
her labours, and immediately were mobbed by a crowd of children to whom
strangers were a godsend. A gendarme approached and asked for our
credentials, but, being satisfied that we were not dangerous, offered to
assist us in any way he could, and we found that the children
disappeared for a time. I made inquiries of him as to a couple of
pictures ascribed to Vivarini and Basaiti, which I understood were
in the town, but he knew nothing about them. The Vivarini is a Madonna
enthroned with two child angels at her feet, with three saints on either
side of her and angels holding the baldacchino.

[Illustration: THE MAIN STREET, BESCA NOVA

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On our return to the inn the question of a carriage to Veglia engaged
our attention. There was an of