The crowd and I followed to the _dogana_, close by, where as vigorous a search was made as I have ever had to undergo.
I puzzled the people; my arrival was an unwonted thing, and they felt sure I was a trader of some sort.

Dismissed under suspicion, I allowed the lady to whom I had been introduced to guide me townwards.

Again she bore the portmanteau on her head, and evidently thought it a trifle, but as the climbing road lengthened, and as I myself began to perspire in the warm sunshine, I looked at my attendant with uncomfortable feelings.

It was a long and winding way, but the woman continued to talk and laugh so cheerfully that I tried to forget her toil.

At length we reached a cabin where the _dazio_ (town dues) officer presented himself, and this conscientious person insisted on making a fresh examination of my baggage; again I explained myself, again I was eyed suspiciously; but he released me, and on we went.