elebit Mountains, with their summits hidden in the clouds, blushed a
beautiful warm rose colour, while Arbe and the nearer island of
Pervicchio which shelters the harbour, rather more orange in colour,
contrasted with the pale sapphire of the sea, each increasing the
brilliancy of the other. The shadowed valley at our feet, with mill,
stream, and dark trees, enhanced the brightness of the distance and of
the final glow upon Besca Nova, where the curve of its houses embraced
the bay with chains of orange and cream colour.

A solitary horseman passed us while we were surmounting the stony waste
through which the higher portion of the road winds, a greyish and
reddish variegated marble used in buildings in the island, and just at
the summit we met the diligence on its way to Besca. The sunset was
superb, the glow of the sky reflected in the sea, with Cherso dark
against it and the shores of Veglia laid out below us, showing Ponte
and the Convent of Cassione, and Veglia beyond almost hidden in trees.
As we descended the long slope the colour faded from the sky, and long
before we reached the town of Veglia nothing could be discerned but the
silhouettes of branch and leaf against the sky.

[Illustration: CHIMNEYS AT BESCA NOVA

_To face page 178_]

XV

OSSERO AND CHERSO

On one of our journeys we went by boat from Trieste to Lussin Piccolo,
stopping only at Pola. It was just before Easter, and many sailors from
the fleet were going home for a holiday. The quay was crowded with
passengers, and a queerly shaped engine, belching forth thick smoke,
with train attached, was drawn up behind them. This we thought a fair
subject for a snap-shot, but the production of the camera attracted the
attention of a policeman who would not be satisfied until it was put
away, though the arsenal was behind us. The sailors swarmed on board and
filled the whole fore part of the boat--fine-looking fellows for the
most part, and very good-humoured. Their kits were done up in
handkerchiefs with the map of Europe printed on them in red, blue, or
buff. They were full of jokes, and were, in fact, just like a lot of big
schoolboys. Some of them gathered in a ring and sang in parts for some
time; the music sounded better a little way off than near. There were
also Montenegrins on board who had been working on some railway in
course of construction. One of them had two pairs of corduroy trousers
on, the upper whitish, the under the usual br