At the side of this man of lofty character, who had already made his mark in the world, Princess Elizabeth was to enter her new home. On the 18th of November the young princely pair had left Neuwied. They stopped at Pesth in order to visit the Emperor of Austria, and continued their journey on the 21st amid the enthusiastic cheers of the Roumanians settled at Pesth. A special train brought their Highnesses to Bazias, where the Austrian steamer _Franz Josef_ awaited them. The banner of Roumania waved at the high mast, the sailors manned the oars, and the _Franz Josef_ steamed between the craggy rocks of the Danube towards Roumania. Thus they reached Alt-Orsova. The Czerna, or Black River, here joins its waves to those of the Danube, and forms the boundary between Austria and Roumania. The sentries of the frontier saluted, and the inhabitants of the few slate-roofed houses shouted “Hurrah!” A rocky island, with a half ruined fortress of New Orsova, stands further down the Danube. The garrison presented arms, and three times the flag with a half moon was lowered as a sign of greeting. Opposite New Orsova lies Verzerova, the frontier town of Roumania. The so-called “borderers” had arranged themselves in a long line along the shore. They were dressed in long grey cloaks, and wore sandals, whilst their garments were fastened together with leathern girdles and straps. On the column of Trajan the Datians are represented in the same costume. The rolling of drums, the braying of trumpets, and endless cheers greeted the ship, which was then proceeding at slow speed. The princely pair stood on deck and greeted the boundary of their country and their first subjects. The Danube here winds its way through an immense wilderness. High and almost perpendicular rocks enclose the mighty bed of the river, which has many windings, and becomes narrower as it proceeds. Hardly has the _Franz Josef_ passed the most dangerous of the eddies when the “Iron Gateway” is reached. The banks of the river are opener here, and not so much shut in by the rocks, but the roaring of the foaming waves tell of a dangerously rocky bed which here stretches to the whole breadth of the Danube for a long way. By degrees the country becomes less desolate, the mountains more distant. Rich fields and vineyards abound, and stately groups of houses, with glistening church towers rising above them, become visible.