t savours of the Oriental.
They know not the meaning of the homely adage which tells a man to "cut
his coat according to his cloth."

Added to the pressure of accumulated expenses, Hungary has had a
succession of bad harvests--she has been passing through the seven lean
years. The last season has shown, however, a decided improvement, so we
may hope the bad corner is turned. I am informed that this year the
schedule for unpaid--viz., arrears of--taxes is completely wiped off.
Then, again, the income-tax in the space of five years ending 1874
increased from 5,684,000 florins to 27,650,000 florins!

The financial account of the current year is reassuring. At the sitting
of the Hungarian Diet on the 30th October,[20] the minister, in
presenting the estimates for 1878, said that in 1876 and 1877 the
expenditure had been reduced by L1,250,000. It was not possible to
continue at the same rate, and the net reduction next year would be
L360,000. It is true the deficit of 1877 is L1,600,000, a sufficiently
grave sum; but to judge the position fairly it is necessary to look at
the budgets of former years. In 1874, "in consequence of rather too
hasty investment of money in railways and other public works," the
deficit was L6,000,700; in 1876 it had fallen to L3,100,000. The present
year, therefore, shows a steady reduction of those ugly figures at the
wrong side of the national account.

[Footnote 20: 'Hungarian Finances,' the Times, October 31, 1877.]

CHAPTER XXV.

Copper mine of Balanbanya--Miners in the wine-shop--Ride to St
Miklos--Visit to an Armenian family--Capture of a robber--Cold ride
to the baths of Borsek.

Having expressed a wish to see the copper mine at Balanbanya, which is
some five miles from Szent Domokos, my host proposed to drive me over
the next morning. When the morning came the weather looked most
unpromising; there was a steady downpour, without any perceptible break
in the clouds in any quarter. I had made up my mind to go, and as after
the noonday meal it cleared slightly, we started. The mud was nearly up
to the axletree of our cart. After driving some time we reached a wild
and rather picturesque valley, in which rises the Alt, or, as it is
called when it reaches Roumania, the Aluta. The course of this stream is
singularly tortuous, winding about through rocks and defiles, often
changing its direction, and finally making a way for itself through the
Carpathian range.

As