haken there; and the repeated nod is seen
in almost every other passing landaulet. Not a heart seems sad; not a
brow appears to be clouded with care.
Such--or something like the foregoing--is the scene which usually passes
on a Sunday evening--perhaps six months out of the twelve--upon the
famous Prater at Vienna; while the tolling bell of St. Stephen's tower,
about nine o'clock--and the groups of visitors hurrying back, to get
home before the gates of the city are shut against them--usually
conclude the scene just described.
[Footnote A: From "A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour."
published in 1821.]
[Footnote B: Marie Louise, second wife of Napoleon, and their son, the
King of Rome.]
VI
HUNGARY
A GLANCE AT THE COUNTRY[A]
BY H. TORNAI DE KOEVER
Hungary consists of Hungary proper, with Transylvania (which had
independent rule at one time), Croatia and Slavonia (which have been
added), and the town of Fiume on the shores of the Adriatic Sea.
The lowlands are exceedingly beautiful in the northeast and west, where
the great mountain, peaks rise into the clear blue sky or are hidden by
big white clouds, but no beauty can be compared to the young green
waving corn or the ripe ears when swaying gently in the breeze. One sees
miles and miles of corn, with only a tree here and there to mark the
distances, and one can not help comparing the landscape to a green sea,
for the wind makes long silky waves, which make the field appear to rise
and fall like the ocean. In the heat of midday the mirage, or, as the
Hungarians call it, "Delibab," appears and shows wonderful rivers,
villages, cool green woods--all floating in the air. Sometimes one sees
hundreds of white oxen and church towers, and, to make the picture still
more confusing and wonderful, it is all seen upside down. This, the
richest part of the country, is situated between the rivers Danube and
Theiss, and runs right down to the borders of Servia. Two thirds of
Hungary consist of mountainous districts, but one third has the richest
soil in Europe.
Great rivers run through the heart of the country, giving it the
fertility which is its great source of wealth. The great lowlands, or
"Alfoeld," as the Magyars call them, are surrounded by a chain of
mountains whose heights are nearly equal to some Alpine districts. There
are three principal mountain ranges--the Tatra, Matra, and Fatra--and
four principal rivers--the Danube,
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