I seated myself at a solitary table on a dais, slightly raised above the pavement. The board before me was covered with a coarse linen cloth heavily fringed with blue, whilst the viands were served in a number of glazed white earthenware platters of elegant form, the appointments in general reminding me of meals eaten years ago in old-fashioned hostelries of the Romagna. Of the dinner itself I need not say more than that the meats, though unfamiliar, were quite palatable, as was also the rough red wine which was served abundantly throughout the meal. To my relief I found that knives, spoons and forks were in use, and that the drinking vessels and some of the dishes were of glass. After a dessert of strange but delicious fruits, and many species of nuts, a crystal goblet of the most elaborate workmanship was set before me and filled with a rather thick sweet red wine, apparently a kind of muscadel. I had sat down ravenous, and in due course I rose from table satisfied, at which movement on my part every person in the room likewise stood erect and remained so standing till I had passed through the doorway. From the banqueting hall, guided by Hiridia, I proceeded to my sleeping apartment, wherein I found a low square bed of some richly carved dark-coloured wood. A long open gallery occupied one side of this room, and thither I hastened to obtain a glimpse of the outer world. It was a lovely warm starry night, but without moonlight, so that I could only discern my surroundings very dimly. I was able, however, to perceive that this gallery was situated at a considerable height above the sea, whose expanse I could just distinguish in the far distance, and that below me and around me there lay a large city built on steep hillsides descending to the shore. Falling waters made a pleasant murmur in my ears; a faint hum of human activity arose from the city beneath; the shrill cries and chirrups of insects and night birds were clearly audible at intervals. There was nothing unearthly in these darkened surroundings, and yet I knew I stood alone in a fresh world of mystery and wonder, and how vehemently I longed, as I paced that colonnade, for the sun to rise so as to make manifest the scene that was now all but hidden from my impatient gaze! Hiridia stood beside me, and I think he tried to participate in and sympathise with the thoughts that were agitating my mind, for he often pointed into the gloom and made remarks which were of course, as yet, unintelligible to me. Long did I continue thus to stare and speculate, and indeed it was only out of consideration for poor Hiridia's many yawns and signs of weariness, vainly suppressed, that I finally turned with reluctance from the balcony and prepared for a night's sleep. IV