Vienna possesses the advantage of being traversed in all directions by subterraneous canals, which run into the Danube, and into which all the impurities of the city are carried by regular drains and sewers. It is well lighted at night, when a horse and foot patrole are employed to protect the lives and properties of the citizens, a duty in which they are ably seconded by the fire-watch, chiefly consisting of invalid soldiers, who are not capable of active military service. Armed with long staves, they walk through the streets of Vienna, crying the hour, and at twelve o’clock adding, _put out your fires and shut your doors!_ A hat of tin slouched behind and turned up before, covers the head, and that the wearer may be known again, it is marked with a particular number or letters. In this manner it is easy to ascertain any individual who may have neglected his duty or exceeded his orders. A loose drab coat is also marked by a number. Pantaloons, boots or gaiters according to the season, a leathern apron, and a leathern bucket, slung behind to be ready in case of fire, complete the costume of one of these watchmen. The inhabitants of the villages surrounding Vienna have nearly the same manners and costume as those of the capital following similar professions. The remark is equally applicable to the people of Upper Austria. Among the peasantry in both, the men universally wear low broad-brimmed hats, as a protection both from rain and sun, and a kind of half-boots. The breeches, usually of a dark colour, are suspended by coloured braces put on over the waistcoat, and a broad belt encircles the waist. A jacket of dark-coloured cloth covers all; a black handkerchief is worn round the neck, and the stockings are blue, a colour for which these people appear to have a predilection. The handkerchief which covers the head and over which the hat is put, is a peculiarity in the costume of the women of these provinces. CHAPTER VI. STYRIA. COSTUME OF THE INHABITANTS--THE JOANNÆUM AT GRATZ. In Styria the costume of both sexes is singular. The head-dress of the women of its capital, Grätz, and the neighbouring villages, such as maid-servants and daughters of inferior tradesmen or small farmers, generally consists of a cap of heavy gold lace, in the shape of a helmet, not unlike that worn by women of the same class in Vienna. In their forms these caps vary a little, the sides being frequently very broad, and opening wide backward almost in the manner of a butterfly’s wings. The gold is often richly varied with alternate stripes of embossed silver lace, or with embroidered figures: others wear a cap of the same form, made of black silk and lace, while others again have the black silk richly worked with flowers.