arian gentleman residing near Hatszeg, and finding his place was not
far off, I rode over to see him the evening of my arrival.

I had merely intended to make a call, but Herr von B----, with true
Hungarian hospitality, insisted that I should stay at his house as long
as I remained in the neighbourhood.

"What! allow a stranger to remain at the inn?--impossible!" he said with
resolute kindness.

It was in vain that I made any attempt to plead that I felt it was
trespassing too much on his hospitality. His answer was very decided. He
put the key of the stable which held my horse in his pocket, and turning
to one of his people he gave orders that my things should be brought
hither from the Hatszeg inn.

I was soon quite at home with my new friends, a young married couple,
whose _menage_, though very simple, was thoroughly refined and
agreeable. As it was my first visit to a Hungarian house, I found many
things to interest me. Several of the dishes at table were novelties,
the variety consisting more in the cooking than in the materials; for
instance, we had maize dressed in a dozen different ways. It was
generally eaten as a sort of pudding at breakfast, at which meal there
was also an unfailing dish of water-melons. Of course we had _paprika
handl_ (chicken with red pepper), and _gulyas_, a sort of improved Irish
stew; and gipsy's meat, also very good, besides excellent soups and many
nameless delicacies in the way of sweets.

All Hungarian men are great smokers, but as a rule the ladies do not
smoke; there are some exceptions, but it is considered "fast" to do so.

The peasants in the Hatszeg Valley are all Wallacks, and as lazy a set
as can well be imagined; in fact, judging by their homes, they are in a
lower condition than those of the Banat. So much is laziness the normal
state with these people that I think they must regard hard work as a
sort of recreation. Their wants are so limited that there is no
inducement to work for gain. What have they to work for beyond the
necessary quantity of maize, _slivovitz_, and tobacco? Their women make
nearly all the clothes. Wages of course are high--that is the trouble
throughout the country. If the Wallack could be raised out of the moral
swamp of his present existence he might do something, but he must first
feel the need of what civilisation has to offer him.

The village of Rea, where I was staying, is about the wildest-looking
place one can well imagine in Europe. T