The elder women wore linen cloths bound about their heads with a grace which would have suited the draping of a statue; the long ends of the scarf being secured behind the ear, and forming deep folds that looked, at a short distance, as though they were hewn in marble; and above this drapery, rows of coins were disposed, helmet-wise, in such profusion that, as the sunlight glanced upon them, they were perfectly dazzling. Nor did the matrons dispense with the gaudy knots of flowers so general among their younger countrywomen; and the gay effect of a group of Servian females may consequently be imagined. Some among them were tolerably pretty; nearly all had fine bright black eyes, and they were universally erect and finely made; with a step and carriage at once firm and graceful. Ranged along the road stood the line of bullock-waggons, intended for the transport of our luggage; and beside them a nondescript carriage of wicker-work drawn by two gray horses, for the accommodation of such of the party as preferred driving to walking. We were, however, some time before we were fairly _en route_; and still longer before any one felt inclined to forego the pleasure of wandering through the long grass that bordered the edge of the plain, through which wound the road leading to Orsova. For a brief interval we lost sight of the river, and continued to advance along the rude path, scaring the wild birds from their resting-places among the stunted branches of the dwarf oaks and beeches that clothed it; or thredding along the boundaries of the wide patches of Indian corn which had been redeemed from the waste. But as the day advanced, the heat became so great as to render any further progress on foot too fatiguing to be pleasurable; and four of our party accordingly taking possession of the carriage, we started at a brisk pace along the smooth and easy road; and after a precipitous descent, down which the horses galloped at a pace infinitely more speedy than safe, we found ourselves once more on the shore of the Danube, where it is separated in the centre by a long bar of sand, terminating in a small island of rock, now cumbered with the remnants of a ruined fortress. Twenty minutes more brought us to the _Porte de Fer_; which does not, however, extend all across the river, as there is a sufficient width of sand left free of all rock, on the Servian side, to render the formation of a canal sufficiently extensive to ensure the safe passage of moderately sized vessels extremely easy. Nothing in nature can be more lovely than the landscape at this point of the river; it is shut in on all sides by majestic rocks overgrown with forest trees; and tenanted by the wild boar, the wolf, and the bear. Eagles soar above their pinnacles; and singing birds make the air vocal at their base; while beneath them rushes the chafed and angry river, foaming and roaring over the line of rock that impedes the accustomed onward flow of its waters.