dant proof; even in my hurried inspection I saw
many a sculptured stone and fragment of fluted column doing duty as the
support of a wretched Wallack shanty. Another evidence of the Roman
occupation of the country occurs in the case of certain plants now found
growing wild, which are exotic to the soil. This, I am told, occurs in a
marked manner at Thorda, which was known to be a Roman colony. The
plants, it may be presumed, were brought thither by the Roman
legionaries. The most picturesque bit of Roman antiquity is the Temple
at Demsus, within a short drive of Varhely. It is on a small eminence
overlooking a cluster of Wallack dwellings, and has long been used as a
church by these people.

The Hatszeg Valley, which comprehends the district I am now describing,
is the pride of Transylvania, not less for its fertility than for its
beauty. It has the appearance of having been filled in former geological
ages by the waters of a widespread lake.

It was a lovely afternoon, but very hot, when I rode into the little
town of Hatszeg. Everywhere is to be seen evidence of the careful
cultivation of the maize and other crops. Numerous villages dot the
plain and cluster amidst the thickly-wooded hillsides. And now we come
upon the railway system again, which has stretched out its feelers into
the wilds of the Southern Carpathians. The railroad enters Transylvania
by two routes. The main line is from Buda-Pest to Grosswardein, and so
on by Klausenburg--the Magyar capital--to the present terminus of
Kronstadt, one of the chief towns of the Saxon immigrants. This includes
a branch to Maros Vasarhely. It is proposed to carry this line over a
pass in the Carpathians to Bucharest. The second line of railway
entering Transylvania starts from Arad, and terminates at Herrmannstadt,
the Saxon capital, having a branch to the mineral district of Petroseny.

It will be seen from the above that this "odd corner of Europe," as
Transylvania has been called, is fairly well off for iron roads; and
considering how short a time some portions of them have been opened,
they have already borne good fruit in developing the resources of the
country.

[Footnote 12: Martin Diosy, Esq.]

CHAPTER XIII.

Hungarian hospitality--Wallack laziness--Fishing--"Settled
gipsies"--Anecdote--Old _regime_--Fire--Old Roman bath--The
avifauna of Transylvania--Fly-fishing.

I had brought with me from London a letter of introduction to a
Hung