off some pieces and carried them home, when he
found that they burned like coal; in fact he had discovered a coal mine!
Those were simple-minded days, for instead of running off with these
valuable cinders under his arm, fixing on an influential chairman and a
board of directors for his new company, this good man did nothing but
talk occasionally of the black rock that he had seen when fishing. Many
years elapsed before any advantage was taken of this valuable discovery.
At length a more careful search was made, and it proved that coal
existed there in abundance! In 1867 mining was commenced on a large
scale by the Kronstaeder Company. The next year a town was already
growing up in the neighbourhood of the mines, and increased in a most
surprising manner. In 1870 the railway was opened from Petroseny to
Piski, on the main line from Arad. The growth of the place, however,
received a check in the financial crisis of 1873.

The town itself is in no way remarkable, being a mere collection of
dwellings for the accommodation of the miners and the employes; but the
scenery in the neighbourhood is simply magnificent. In approaching
Petroseny the railway rises one foot in forty, no inconsiderable
gradient.

The coal-fields are partly in the hands of Government, and partly owned
by the before-named Kronstaeder Company. Between these separate interests
there is not much accord. The Kronstaeders say that Government has not
behaved fairly or openly, but has secured to itself so many "claims" as
to damage considerably the prospects of the private speculators.

While at Petroseny, I heard great complaints against the Government for
selling coal at such a low price that they must actually work at a
loss. The Kronstaeder Verein say they are prevented in this way from
making their fair profits, as they are obliged to sell down to the
others. It would appear to be a suicidal policy for the pockets of the
tax-payers to be mulcted for the sake of securing a prospective monopoly
and the ruin of a private enterprise. As it stands it is a pretty
quarrel.

Writing in 1862, Professor Ansted says: "The coal of Hungary is of
almost all geological ages, and though none is first-rate in point of
quality, a large proportion is excellent fuel. The coals most valued at
the present moment in Hungary are those of the _Secondary_ and _not_ of
the _Palaeozoic_ period. But the great body of coal is very much newer;
it is _Tertiary_, and till lately was