In winter the frontiers are more safe, and the duty of guarding them is less arduous than in summer. The footmarks in the snow betray the retreat of the robber, and there is no friendly thicket to shelter him: he is therefore not very willing to venture forth amid tempests and intense cold for the sake of a precarious and uncertain gain. On the other hand, the inclemency of the weather renders the service of the frontier posts more severe. Nothing but the iron constitutions of these men could withstand the incessant changes of temperature. One day perhaps a furious north or north-east wind brings snow, covers all the roads and freezes every limb: the next an equally tempestuous south-east, produces a thaw and suddenly inundates the country. The houses, slight and unsubstantial, suffer from both, and the roofs and out-buildings are destroyed by the fury of the storm. Amid these incessant changes, the winter in these elevated regions is unhealthy and destructive. When the storm keeps all inhabitants closely imprisoned in the smoky huts, the frontier-man on duty at his post, frequently receives a visit from a hungry wolf prowling about in quest of prey. Thus engaged in an incessant conflict with a rude nature and savage neighbours, is it surprising that these people should have advanced no farther than a half-civilized state! UNMARRIED FEMALE OF THE DRAGATHAL. The features and dress of the unmarried female of the Dragathal belong to Italy; but the Croat and the Wende are here mingled with the Italian. Language, manners, and costume indicate the intermixture of nations between Trieste and Zeng, and exhibit in visible gradations the transition from one to another. The districts of the regiments of Licca and Ottochacz are intersected by bare, craggy mountains, which form a broken elevated tract not unlike in appearance to the deserts of South Africa. These mountains consist chiefly of chalk, naked and rugged at the top, and bearing lower down a scanty vegetation. The valleys and plains are covered with a thin layer of mould, but are in part as dreary as the mountains which surround them. The elevated situation, the vicinity of the sea, and the want of wood, expose this country to the fury of the tempests and to all the caprices of the weather. For weeks together bleak north and north-east winds prevail; all at once they change to milder, but equally violent gales from the south and south-east. As the temperature suddenly varies with the change of the wind, from the most intense cold to thaw, or a mild day is succeeded by a frosty night, so also the falls of rain or snow are generally sudden and excessive.