Hungary 00 Stok

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HUNGARY
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THE BRIDAL VEIL
HUNGARY
PAINTED BY
ADRIAN & MARIANNE STOKES

DESCRIBED BY
ADRIAN STOKES
^
LONDON
ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK
1909
2^
TO
DR.
BOROMISZA TIBOR
(BISHOP OF SZATMAR)
THIS BOOK
WITH APOLOGIES FOR

IS
ITS
SHORTCOMINGS
RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
BY THE AUTHORS
INTRODUCTION
Hungary
less
is
frequented by foreign visitors
than other great countries of Europe
charms beyond most
ment
in
many
fascination of
its
has
In spite of modern develop-
directions
of bygone times
still, it
still
peoples
the
clings
romantic glamour
about
it,
and the
peculiar to them.
is
Various races inhabit the land, but the Magyars

proud, intelhgent, and
The
of vitality
full
entire population
dominate
about 20 millions, of
is
which, approximately, 9 are Magyars
Rumanians
Though these
3,
2,
Germans
races
are
and
much
1,
5,
Slavs
various others.
interspersed,
the
have become the home
richly fertile central plains
of the Magyars
it.
Slavs occupy outlying parts of
the country, and Croatia
and
mountains to the east and south-east; Germans,
;
Rumanians,
hills
the lower slopes of the great Carpathians, a large

part of Transylvania, and the neighbourhood of
vii
INTRODUCTION
viii
Lower
Styria and
Gipsies and
Austria.
met with nearly everywhere.

The landscape is of great variety.
Jews are
to be
Vast
plains,
bathed in hazy sunlight, where great rivers glide
on
way
their
rushing
to
streams
the
East
lovely
wooded
lakes
sombre
from which grim mountains rear

shoulders in the clear
air,
hills
their
and
forests,
huge grey
are all to be found
and dotted about may be seen
figures that recall
the illustrations in an old-world Bible.
Hungarians are sensitive regarding the lack of
knowledge they believe prevalent
in other countries
concerning themselves and their civilization, and

pleased
when
acquainted with the following facts
Hungary
A.D. 1001,
is
himself to be
a foreigner proves
:
now, and has been since the year
an independent sovereign State and a
kingdom.
His Majesty the Emperor Franz Joseph, whose

dominions
Bohemia,
include
Styria,
Upper and Lower Austria,

Carinthia,
Tyrol,
etc.,
is
not
Emperor, but King, of Hungary.
And
their
familiarity
with a few salient points in
most interesting history would
still
more
gratify them.
The Magyars, under Arpad, made
their
first
INTRODUCTION
ix
appearance in Central Europe in the ninth century,
about the year a.d. 896.
The
cruel
rapacity
during their incursions in
Litany
horsemen
fierce
Germany and
Italy
was
new clause was added to the

Ab Ungarorum nos defendas jaculis.'
so terrible that
'
those
of
Their power was broken by Otho the Great,
German Emperor,
in a battle near the River
Lech,
in Bavaria, in 955.
Christianity
was introduced under Prince Geisa
(972-995).
In the year 1001 Stephen L, the
first
King,
succeeded his father, and was crowned by solemn

sanction of
him the
Pope
title
Sylvester
II.,
who
conferred on
'Apostolic King,' and sent him the
famous crown which has been used at the coronation of all succeeding Kings.
Stephen was
canonized
in
1083,
and
is
the
patron saint of Hungary.
By
the end of the eleventh century Croatia and
Dalmatia had been added to the dominions of the

crown, to which Croatia has ever since belonged.
In the twelfth century colonies of Saxons were
introduced into Transylvania and the Zips country
by Geisa IL (1141-1162).
The freedoms and liberties of the Magyars were
b
INTRODUCTION
confirmed by a great charter, the
Andrew II., in 1222, only seven

our own Magna Charta.
The dynasty of Arpad became
of
death of Andreas
by
III.,
1301,
'
Golden Bull
years later than
extinct on the
and was followed
various elective Kings.
The
first
of a long series of battles between the
Magyars and the Turks took place about the year

1366, on the Danube, near the Iron Gates.
Maty as (Mathias Corvinus), son of the

great warrior Hunyady Janos, defeated the Turks,
and also the Emperor Frederick, and seized
Hollos
Vienna in 1485.
House of Anjou, was killed in

the great defeat of the Magyars by the Turks
at Mohacs in 1526, and with him fell the flower
Louis
II.,
of the
of the Hungarian aristocracy.
Ferdinand of Austria, a Habsburg, and brother

of the
Emperor Charles
crown of what was
left
V.,
next
claimed
the
of the Hungarian kingdom,
as brother-in-law of Louis.
large
number of
nobles supported him, but another party chose as
King, John Zapolya, and a contest divided the
country for years.
Zapolya appealed
who
for help to
overran the country.
Sultan Soliman,
INTRODUCTION
xi
During the life of John Zapolya's son, Hungary

was divided between the Magyars, the Austrians,
and the Turks, into three
parts.
became Emperor, inheritbut,

ing the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia
later, many Magyar nobles elected Bethlen Gabor
In 1619 Ferdinand
II.
of Transylvania
to
be
King.
their
Frederick's
persecution of the Protestants led Bethlen to unite
with the Bohemians against him.
At
White Mountain, Bohemian
the battle of the
independence was
lost,
his
He
succeeded
was
Rakoczi,
who
and Bethlen was forced to
claim to the throne of Hungary.
renounce
by the
entered
France and Sweden.
into
celebrated
negotiations
with
The Turks, however,
vaded Transylvania, and Rakoczi was
The
George
greatest advance of the Turks
in-
killed.
was marked
by their siege of Vienna in 1683, after which, overpowered by the Imperial forces and Magyars
combined, they were rapidly driven back beyond
the Save and the Danube.
During the times of trouble and confusion

covered by the preceding events the Magyars
never slackened in their brave struggle for national
and
religious liberty.
Servians helped in the successful wars against the

b 2
INTRODUCTION
xii
Turks, and colonies of them were invited to settle

in
Hungary.
Transylvania was added to the Austrian crown.
An
insurrection immediately broke out, led
by the
popular hero Francis Rakoczi.
In 1707 the Diet of Hungary deposed Joseph
I.,
but though Rakoczi was practically ruler of the

country, he was not offered the crown.
Joseph
I.
was
acknowledged
1711
in
King,
while he agreed to restore the ancient rights of
Hungary.
The next King, Charles VI., recognized the

electoral rights of the Magyar magnates, but
secured the succession of his daughter by Pragmatic
Sanction.
Nevertheless, the
accession
of
Maria Theresa was opposed by Bavaria, Prussia,
and France.
She appealed
for help to the
whose loyalty secured her the throne.
became the Emperor Francis
Magyars,
Her husband
II.
Maria Theresa was ever grateful to her Hungarian subjects, and delighted to receive the great
Magyar nobles
Joseph
which had
to be
II.
at her
(1780
little
Court in Vienna.
-
1790)
success in
introduced
Hungary.
crowned with the crown of
St.
He
reforms
refused
Stephen, and
declared that the proper function of the Diet was to
INTRODUCTION
deliberate
xiii
on matters submitted by him.
This led
to a great Nationalist revival.
In the Napoleonic wars the Hungarians

tinguished
themselves
Napoleon, after
and
engaged,
whereêr
his entry into
dis-
Vieima, tried vainly
them from their allegiance to the

Habsburgs, promising them a national King.
The Magyar language was for the first time used
in the Hungarian Diet, in 1825, by Count Stephen
Szecheny. A national academy and theatre were
founded at the same date.
Joseph II. had attempted to make German
to
seduce
the national
language, and
employed
Government
officers
Francis II.
(1792-1835) instituted
Austrian
throughout the country

a
system
and
of
absolutism without more success.
The national opposition culminated in the revoluOnly with

tion of 1848, led by Louis Kossuth.
the help of Russia was the republic overthrown
in 1849.
unhappy wars of
1859 and 1866 led to better feeling, and a party,
headed by Francis Deak, brought about reconciliation with Austria and the famous Ausgleich of
In
1867,
the
present
which
system.
is
the
reign
the
foundation
of
the
present
INTRODUCTION
xiv
I
am
indebted for
above shght
many
of the details in the
historical sketch to
of Europe,' by Archibald
'
The Whirlpool
Colquhoun and Ethel
to which
Colquhoun (Harper and Brothers),
admirable and concise work I would refer any
readers interested in the origin, history, and politics
of the various nationalities comprised in the dual
monarchy of Austria- Hungary.
The high
tide
of
Hungarian greatness
was
reached during the reign of Louis the Great (Nagy

Lajos)
1342-1382.
His rule extended from the
North Sea to the Black Sea, and from the Black

Sea to the Adriatic.
It
was to
this period
the poet Petofi referred
when he sang
'
Oh nagy
volt hajdan a
magyar
Nagy volt hatalma, birtoka

Magyar tenger vizeben hunyt
Ejszak, kelet a del hulldcs
el
illaga.'
(Oh, great was once the Hungarian,
Great were his power and possessions

In the waves of Hungarian seas
Sank the
stars of North, East,
and South.)
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER
Introduction
I.
II.
III.
vii
From Austria to Orsova

From Orsova to the Tatra
....
....
25
Vazsecz (a Slovak Village), and a Parliamentary

Election
46
IV. Vazsecz, Lucsivna-Furdo, and a Little Sport
.....
V. Hungarian Gipsies
69
95
Magyar Cathedral Town]
111
VII. Kalocsa, and across Croatia to Fiume
142
VI. Kalocsa
[a
VIII. Zsdjar
IX.
Banffy-Hunyad
X. Desze, Some
......
Other
Places,
and a Salt-mine
XI. EsTERGOM (Gran), Budapest, and Bacs

XII. Transylvania, the
210
244
Great Puszta of Hortobagy
AND Lake Balaton

Index
163
191
.....
........
285
317
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
1.
The
2.
The Danube from Esztergom (Gran)
Bridal Veil
Frontispiece
.... ...
FACING PAGE
3.
4.
5.
A
A
A
Hungarian Baby
Backwater of the Danube
4
8
12
16
Little Slovak
8.
The Danube at Orsova

A Young Slovak
The Lake of Csorba in June
9.
In Church at Vazsecz
32
Pines in the Tatra
6.
7.
20
24
28
...
13.
Slovak
14.
17.
Road in the Carpathians

Descended from a Brigand Chief
View from our Windows in Vazsecz
Misko
SQ
40
44
48
52
18.
Krivan, seen from near Vazsecz
5Q
60
64
68
19.
21.
Slovak Girl in Sunday

At Vazsecz
An Engaged Couple
22.
Menguszfalva
10.
11.
Child with Fowl, Tatra
12.
Birches at Lucsivna-Fiirdo
15.
l6.
20.
2.S.
24.
Women
at Prayer, Vazsecz
Attire
72
76
80
84
....
.....
Young Girl of Menguszfalva going to Church

The Carpathian Mountains from Lues ivna- Fiirdc
.
XVll
88
92
XVlll
.....100
FACING PAGE
25. Slovak
26.
Woman
singing a
Hymn
Mill near Vazsecz
27.
Mother and Child
28.
29.
A Gipsy Home
Woman of Kalocsa
30.
On
31.
32.
34.
Swine at their Bath, near Kalocsa

Market Girl, Kalocsa
A Convent Moat
35.
The Confirmation Wreat
33.
Menguszfalva
at
96
Work-day Dress
the Waste Lands near Kalocsa
Paprika-Seller, Kalocsa
48. Cottages
on the Outskirts of Banffy-Hunyad

.
5}.
52.
The
53.
57.
Hay-time in Transylvania
Peasant Woman in her Guba, Kisbanya
The Cathedral and Square, Szatmar
A Shepherd-boy of Felsobanya
The Rumanian Church at Desze
58.
A Woman
Garlic-Seller
of Desze
I60
.164
.172
.176
.180
184
188
......192
......
Banffy-Hunyad
Magyar Shepherds, near Banffy-Hunyad
Interior at
I68
of the Harvesters, Banffy-Hunyad
49. Sunset in the Hills of Transylvania
56.
144
.148
.152
156
Upper Hungary
The Belle of Zsdjar
The Schoolmaster's Wife, Zsdjar
A Magyar Cottage at Banffy-Hunyad
The Queen
120
124
.140
Cottage at Zsdjar
46. Harvest-time in Transylvania
54.
II6
42. Hay-time,
55.
Wild Strawberries
50.
41.
47.
112
136
.
45.
132
40.
44.
128
39.
43.
....
Prayer for the Dead

The Return from Church, Zsdjar
Young Girl of Zsdjar in Sunday Clothes
38.
108
in
36. Cottage at Kalocsa
37.
.104
I96
200
204
208
212
2l6
220
224
228
XIX
FACING PACK
59.
60.
61.
62.
Rumanian Homestead at Desze

Group in a Rumanian Religious Procession, Desze
Streams in East Hungary
Rumanian Children bringing Water to be Blessed
the Greek Church, Desze
....
....
.....
232
236
240
in
66.
Desze
The Basilica of Esztergom (Gran) from the Danube
Cross embroidered on a Chasuble
The Houses of Parliament and Margit Bridge, Buda
67.
63. All Souls' Day,

64.
65.
pest
........
.....
....
.....
68.
Rumanian Church
A Rumanian Maiden
69.
70.
Rumanian Cottages in Transylvania

A Rumanian Invalid
The River Maros, and the Hill of the Maiden
71.
72.
73.
in Transylvania
Gipsy's Castle, Transylvania
'
Segesvar (Schafsburg)
'
on the Puszta of Hortobagy

Young Magyar Csikos on the Great Puszta of
74. Cattle
75.
'
'
Hortobagy
.......
Sketch-Map
at
end of volume
244
248
252
256
260
264
268
272
276
280
284
288
296
304
HUNGARY
CHAPTER
FROM AUSTRIA TO ORSOVA
As
our steamer gently throbbed
its
way down
the
broad and gleaming reaches of the Danube, it

intruded on a vast stillness. For miles and miles
there was no sign of
human
Low
habitation.
wooded banks, clothed with poplar and willow, lay,

fold beyond fold, dusty-grey in the quivering heat.
A cormorant, splashing up the bright water as it
flapped hastily away, was the only living thing to
be seen, save a heron, standing slim and
stiff
by the
entrance to a backwater, or a small white seagull,
hovering in the opalescent light of the
mellow
sitting in the
softness
pervaded
summer
everything
as,
shade of the awning, in the cool
we approached the
Hungary, the land we had
breeze caused by our motion,
borders of
day.
Hungary
HUNGARY
dreamed of
as a
home
of romance, where, long ago,
mighty horsemen, with ghttering arms and fierce

moustachios, came in from the East where the
Fata Morgana still hung over distant horizons, and
;
herds of wild horses galloped on limitless plains.
Faint hnes of distant
hills at last
appeared, and a
rocky promontory crowned with the ruins of an

ancient
fortress,
middle of the
Deveny, the
which, boldly jutting into the
river,
seemed to block our way, was
frontier.
The landscape then became more varied

smooth river flowed among tree -covered
the
hills
hundreds of red and white cattle stood in groups in

the shallows, and here and there a floating flourmill
was moored near the
shore.
A fisherman, like
Pauvre Pecheur' of the Luxembourg, stood

motionless by his net.
From the forepart of the vessel, somewhere down
below, strains of weird music soon drew us nearer
to listen.
A Gipsy band had come on board, and
They had no awning,
market-girls, gaily dressed.
the sun was blazing, and the small lower deck was
encumbered with teeming baskets of vegetables and
the
fruit
'
but
how
the maids
were dancing
two to the
round and round, with swaying hips, in and
wild delight, two small steps to the

right,
with
left,

out
the baskets in the sunlight and the
among
shadow.
The dance was a Csdi'dds, the

They all left before long, at a
we had
first
little
seen.
landing-stage
leading to a village, where a small white church,
with pointed spire of gi'ey shingles, and lightcoloured cottages, nestled in the shade of acaciatrees
and barelegged
on the sandy
children, in red skirts, played
slopes.
We soon came to Pozsony (Pressburg) once the

capital
of
and coronation-place of the Habsburg Kings
Hungary
which
is
dominated by the ruins of a
square, barrack-like castle, gaunt
town looked bright

close by.
and ugly.
The
chimneys
in spite of tall factory
On the coronation hill near the river stands
the spirited equestrian statue of Maria Theresa,
with a Magyar hero on foot at each side of her, by

Fadrusz, an artist
It
is
who
unfortunately died young.
renowned throughout Hungary
as a
work of
the highest promise.
The
great river
wound on among
and again we passed a
village or a
Komarom, Radvany
sometimes a
hills.
town
Now
Gonyo,
little
tower
peeped up behind a dyke.

In the
warm
light of afternoon
before us the colossal
dome
we saw
of the
far
away
Basilica
12
of
HUNGARY
Esztergom (Gran), and no building that

except St. Peter's at
know,
Rome, when seen from afar,
gives such an impression of

it
Standing as
it
which
line of
does high above the
Hungary,
the
mounscale.
river, a palace
houses along the base of the rocks on
it is built, it
Esztergom
Even
looked insignificant and out of
tains behind
and a
size.
is
loses little
on nearer approach.
the seat of the Prince- Primate of
lord
of
many
possessions
and
vast
estates.
On
dome
when we had steamed away, the

loomed against the sky, immense, when
looking back
still
other buildings had faded out of sight.
We
touched at Visegrad, a
mountain where
Kings of the eleventh century resided, and now

ruined walls around
site
its
barren peak alone
mark the
of what was called an earthly paradise.
clustering round
its
foot looked
Villas
gay among the
trees.
The glow
of a golden sunset was behind the
purple mountains before
through level
down on
we
them to pass again

away before us, low
left
plains, and, far
the horizon, a faint dun-coloured haze
told of the presence of a great city.
The charm of that approach to Budapest by river

The
late on a summer evening was indescribable.
THE DANUBE FROM ESZTERGOM
(GRAN)

Danube
divided into two arms, which, reuniting,
formed a long, low
Again
island.
it
divided close
round the beautiful Margaret

noble trees, its pleasure-grounds
to the city, flowing
Island
and
its
Young men
pavilions.
landed in the gloom of overhanging
silently by, or
The
foliage.
sky, full of gentle gradations,
charged with the
behind us
falling,
united
swinging
last
an
Again out
skimmed
in outriggers
warm
light
from the afterglow
all-pervading light which, softly
all
things in one great harmony.
in the broad river
lines,
was
bridges, with long,
swept from side to side
lights
the pale bright lights of electricity, mingled with
the
warmer ones of gas

and
sparkled,
us.
On
our
their
left
in
rows and in
reflections
clusters,
streamed towards
were the chimneys, domes, and
on our right, the hills and

Busy little steamers, with glow-
pinnacles of Pest;
palaces of Buda.
ing lamps of various colours, dashed about in

directions
On
on the
all
silver water.
we were met by friends, and taken

to their pleasant home in Buda.
We have been many times to Budapest, but
the impression made on us by our first arrival can
landing
never be effaced.
One
other journey to the capital remains clearly
HUNGARY
my
in
We
memory.
were coming from Berlin,
and in the corridor of the sleeping-car

acquaintance of a young
made
Magyar gentleman
the
return-
ing after a stay of some years in the United States

of America.
He
first
addressed
me when
the train
stopped at a Hungarian station, calling excitedly

'
There
is
such a beautifully pretty
crowd
at the bar.
lovely
is
Do come
girl serving
and look
Is she
the
not
she not fresh and pretty V
The ice thus broken, he talked in a long stream

of more or less interesting information about himself and America, interrupted here and there by
the exclamations,
my
I love
little
my little country How

country
He was a linguist
'
I love
!'
could speak seven languages
what was passing

and a violinist.
describe
train
On
*
at the other side of the
meeting him again in the morning, he said
Shall
to
a journalist could
my
we have some music ? I will introduce you

wives
and we entered his compartment,
;'
where he opened a case containing two lovely

violins.
At
first
he played whatever
asked
for,
but
soon I was forgotten, and he played on and on

rapturous things, as one inspired
heart to his beloved land.
pouring out
his
When
train
it
was time to prepare
It wajs
art.
still
under the
merely a request that
it
Will you grant
If I can, certainly,' I replied,
of his
for leaving the
he suddenly stopped playing and said
have a favour to ask of you.

'
spell
would
write a letter to him, for publication in newspapers,
saying
that
if
golf-links
were
established
Hungary, they would form an attraction
in
for English
visitors.
Our first visit to Budapest was a short one.

The sun blazed down all day long, and we were
unaccustomed to the
high up in
heat.
From
Buda the outlook over
in the early
river
and town
morning was certainly entrancing
museums were being rearranged

and we longed for the country.
the
We
our windows
visited
but
or dismantled,
the thirteenth- century church
of
one of the few historical buildings

remaining and the Royal Palace, which to the
great grief of the loyal Magyars who built
St.
Matyas
it
so seldom occupied.
We paused in wonder
is
before
sculptured groups, quite new, that seemed inspired
by the
spirit
of a Byron or a Walter Scott.
We ate ices at the shop of a confectioner, reputed

in Pest to be the best in the world,
and drove,
in
the fastest cab I can remember, to a restaurant in
HUNGARY
a park, kept by the same person
The
most expensive.
which may be the
rigid rules of society include
this restaurant in the short list of places
of fashion
Of
here.
may
appear.
course
we
'
where
we
Of
course
go
there,' are
can't
ladies
can't
go
remarks
we have sometimes overheard, without being able

to find a reason for the unwritten law.
Many ladies were

and how lovely
Where
in the garden
in their delicate
in the capitals of
when we arrived,
summer clothes
Europe would you
find
such pure comple.xions, such beauty of feature and

of hair, such graceful figures,
more
perfect breeding
combined with winning manners, or more con-
summate
taste
in
dress
The
type
prevailing
was neither brunette nor blonde, but somewhere

between the two.
The men were extremely smart and
dressed in
the latest cosmopolitan fashion.
We
were taken to
whose studios
on a famous
call
in a small park are
sculptor,
among
several
given by the State to artists of distinction
then
we
and
started for the heart of the country.
A year or two before we went to Hungary, while

staying at a watering-place in South Tyrol, we, at
different
times,
made
the
ripened later into friendship
acquaintance
which
of two people.
One
A HUNGARIAN BABY

was a lady of high
known
be
these pages as
in
other, a dignitary of the

shall
find
much
paint in their country
to
shall
the
Grafin';
Catholic Church,
'
the
both were sure
interest
and
us
to
and both invited us to
them.
Our
was to the Grafin and her daughter

We left there one fine hot morning
first visit
in Budapest.
in
Roman
Both were Hungarians
should
visit
'the
who
be called, until he became a Bishop,
Prelate.'
we
birth,
aristocratic
June
in
a crowded train, and an uneventful
journey of about four hours, across the plains

southwards, brought us to Kalocsa.
The Prelate was at the station, and we drove in

two ramshackle open cabs for a mile or so, over a
paved but very dusty road, to his
by the Cathedral
a house of two
fine old
house hard
stories, pale
yellow
ochre in colour, with a great roof of brown-grey

tiles.
of the
In a niche over the doorway was a picture
Madonna, and above that the arms of the
archbishopric in stucco.
The main doors were thrown
open, and
the
smiling sister of the Prelate appeared, followed by
a bevy of bright handmaidens.
While we were
ceiving the warmest of welcomes the maids
re-
made
dash for our luggage, which they handled with con2
HUNGARY
10
summate
ease.
and
colours,
dressed in light, strong
their short skirts, supported
less petticoats
from
They were
hemmed
by count-
with red, sloped out wide

Their heads were neat and
their trim waists.
small, strings of beads encircled their necks,
and
they were barefooted.
The rooms on the first floor, opening from a

hall hung with old portraits, were en suite.
Ours
adjoined the dining-room
beyond that was the
main salon leading to the private apartments of

the Prelate. Downstairs an archway for carriages
divided the house into two parts.
On one side
lived the Prelate's sister, and on the other were
kitchens and the servants' quarters.
was
large
Everything
and handsome without being luxurious.
The midday dinner was announced soon after

our arrival, and we sat down for the first time to a
typically
Hungarian
table.
Hungarian food
Though
know
cooking.
had to
is
eat, I
excellent,
and
so
is
the
do not remember what we
that
some of the
dishes
must
have been flavoured with paprika, for without that
no meal
is
complete
and that by each
was another containing paprika

on the white
at the
tablecloth.
salt-cellar
a pretty red
note
Several decanters stood
corners of the table, and whenever our

were
glasses
filled
from one
before being put back in
be a hospitable
way
Two
place.
took
this to
more would be
drink,
how
howforth-
their bare feet
it
on
floor.
the red pepper of Hungaryand Gipsy
music are two of its chief minor

is
maidservants waited on us, and
the polished parquet
pepper
itself refilled
or an indication that,
was strange to hear the pat of

Paprika
was
of hiding from guests
much they had drunk,

ever much they might
coming.
its
it
11
on every
table,
of nearly everything.
It
and
is
is
institutions.
This
used in the cooking
believed
by the peasants
to be a prophylactic against fever.
In former days, when wide stretches of marshland bordered

valent
now
it
all
is
the great rivers, fever was prerare.
and paprika, have done
Drainage and damming,

their work.
But, though paprika and Gipsy music are distinctive institutions, there
than these
for
it,
hospitality.
is
another far greater
The Magyars are renowned
and with what justice
will be apparent to
anyone who follows our fortunes through
Long ago
before
this book.
the time of railways
when
each country house was separated by hours from

the next, strangers from the outer world were
gladly entertained.
Each home produced
in
22
abund-
HUNGARY
12
ance
that
all
Now, under
it
needed, so the tax was not great.
altered circumstances, the
custom then
firmly established remains unshaken.
Kalocsa
is
situated in a fertile plain a few miles
from the Danube, on a

ceptible except
bishopric
one
from a
eminence imper-
slight
distance.
It
is
an arch-
of the oldest and most important
in the country.
An
Archbishop of Kalocsa in the year 1001
brought the Hungarian crown from

present from
When we
and
died,
sale,
Dons
Most of the
had already been disposed of to
by
number of the higher
who had come

Soldatich,
to bid for religious
their
In manner they reminded
of an English University
modern
favourite
me
of the
highly cultivated
men, with good round incomes, whose happy

it is
the
from Budapest, but we had the pleasure
ecclesiastics,
painter.
we were taken by
in the Palace.
of being introduced to a
pictures
King Stephen.
had not yet been appointed.
to which
was going on
objects of interest
dealers
II. to
as
arrived an Archbishop had recently
his successor
Meanwhile a
Prelate,
Pope Sylvester
Rome
to live in refined leisure, surrounded
lot
by many
of the good things of this world, in the hope of
even better ones to come.
A BACKWATER OF THE DANUBE

The Church
in
Hungary is
Princes, with
are
13
Its Bishops
wealthy.
revenues in several cases five
York
times greater than those of Canterbury or
while the Canons of the Cathedrals cannot be considered poor on from
500
and
to 5,000 a year,
lodgings found.
We
had scarcely returned to our rooms when
a parcel arrived.
and almost
It
priceless
late Archbishop,
proved to be a bottle of aged
Tokay, from the
cellars of
the
which a Canon, seeing that the
Prelate had guests, sent over for our delectation.
No name
It
is
is
more often taken
on every wine
list,
seldom seen but on royal

too sweet
closer
more
like a
acquaintance
delicacy.
than Tokay.
though the wine

tables.
At
first it
itself is
seemed
syrup than a wine
revealed
have tasted
in vain
it
qualities
but
of
rare
on other occasions
each time with increased appreciation
and
agree with Hungarians in considering
it
can
to be a
king of wines.
Kalocsa resembles most towns of the Alfold, or
Great Plain, with ten to twenty thousand inhabitants.
low,
It has
two or three
comfortable
looking
long, broad streets of
houses
washed
yellow or grey, with here and there a
new
light
bank, or
a school, that aspires to a second, or even a third.
HUNGARY
14
From
main streets stray off others

in irregular fashion, unpaved and uneven.
Here
the peasants live. Each whitewashed house has
story.
these
its
gable end to the road, and reaches far back into
its
yard, in which
the eaves
is
is
generally a draw-well.
often a blue band, about
stencilled with
scarlet, orange,
two
Below
feet broad,
and white
fruit
and
Along the bottom of

the walls is a plain blue stripe, somewhat narrower.
The stencilling is done by women, and many of the
flowers,
and green
leaves.
Some
patterns are charming.
houses have yellow
bands instead of blue, indicating that Gipsies
The blue denotes
there.
live
that the occupiers are of
Slavonic origin.
Magyar peasants honour
their
womenkind and
are proud of them, preferring, as far as possible, to
do the heavy field-work themselves, while their

wives and daughters keep the
home
in order,
and
Another admirable
trait is their kindness to animals, with which
horses especially they live on the best of terms.
themselves clean and neat.
The high
street of Kalocsa
At one end is the

building with
Palace
and
is
nearly a mile long.
an eighteenth-century
the
towers and close to
Cathedral
two
tall
it
the other end reaches to the open country,
for the last quarter of a mile,
on market-days,

peasant
the
women from
ground
fruit,
before
15
neighbouring villages
their
vegetables, and
on
Geese, fowls,
wares.
crockery
sit
lie
about in the
sun on the dusty pavement, combining with the

strong colours of the people in a blaze of colour.
Often an outer
skirt
turned up as drapery over a
is
seated woman's head.
who come
them.
Brighter
still
to buy, or the servants
Light
emerald
pink,
are the people
who accompany
green,
vermilion,
black, canary-yellow, and white shine out in vivid
contrast with the
seated
market - people
German
dialect
shadows.
cast
are
'
Many
Schwabs,'
of the
speaking
sadly deteriorated during the
centuries since their people left the land of their

origin.
We stayed but two
days at Kalocsa.
market scene, and a vision of the
That gay
stately figure of
the Prelate reaching up to cull a flower in his rosegarden, are the two pictures remaining most clearly
in
my
mind.
Our plan was, after making a rapid journey

down the Danube and through Transylvania, to
spend the hot months July and August in the
High Tatra, and return in the autumn to the place
which pleased us best. The Tatra, however, was
the great inducement for our summer stay in the
HUNGARY
16
We
country.
mountains,
had heard of lakes high up
among snowy peaks
in the
or dark forests,
and had read a prospectus issued by the SleepingCar Company which owns hotels there declaring
that the wild scenery of the great Carpathians far
exceeds in beauty that of Switzerland, and

to be compared with the
of the Himalayas.
only
is
most stupendous regions
Naturally,
we were
anxious to
get there.
We
skipped that part of the
Danube between
Kalocsa and Zimony, to save time, and because
was
it
is
said to be uninteresting.
since, at various times,
have seen
under
many
much
effects.
it
of
It
and always, attractive with that wistful
all,
charm peculiar to great rivers.

From noon till ten o'clock at night we journeyed,
ever over green plains, by the express on its way
to Constantinople, hoping to join the steamer at
eleven
but
at
eleven
it
had not
diffused moonlight a soft drizzle
was
arrived.
In
falling,
and
the water lapped against the piles of the landing-
We noticed a sign-board giving four names
stage.
for the
which
place
Zimony, Semlin, and two others
have forgotten.
A neighbouring cafe tempted us out of the
rain,
and a musical machine, on the penny-in-the-slot
A LITTLE SLOVAK

principle, played to us
longer,
we about two
till,
17
unable to bear
o'clock
any-
it
faced the weather
No
one could give information concerning

the steamer, but at three the lights on its masts
again.
appeared, and
We
soon hove alongside.
it
lay off Belgrade, which
daylight,
and before we awoke
left it far
behind.
land
there
We
is
close by, until
in the
had not been incUned to
was not very long
it
morning had
tragic
since
events had directed the attention of the whole
world to Servia
been
allowed
and,
to
do
should not have
in
fact,
so
without
special
pass-
ports.
Two
harmless Germans
who landed from
the
next steamer were submitted to the indignity of

being stripped by the police in search for seditious
pamphlets, which they were suspected of introducing, though their papers were in perfect order.
We
saw them afterwards
at Orsova,
still
unable to
control their righteous wrath.
Zimony
is
town on the right

A journey of ten hours down-
the last Hungarian
bank of the Danube.

stream divides
it
from Orsova, the
Hungary on the left.

The River Save,
or
last
Sau, which
belonging to
for
distance separates the southern borders of
long
Hungary
3
HUNGARY
18
from Bosnia and Servia, enters the Danube between
Zimony and Belgrade.

When we went on deck
was very broad
river
shore to shore
but
towards ten o'clock,
in
more
the morning the
than a mile from
near Bazias, where
we
arrived
narrowed somewhat before
it
flowing through the South Carpathian Mountains.
From
along the
Orsova,
there to
mountains, and close to the
river,
base of the
runs the famous
Szechenyi road, which was opened in 1837.
We
many
passed below great mountains bored with

caves.
The peasant
some of these venomous
folk believe that
flies
from
emerge, which poison
their cattle in the spring-time.
Pointed rocks mid-stream, villages

the
Servian side
and
mainly
a few ruined
forts,
on
here
added variety to the scene.
By noon we were
rapids, the
hidden
threading our
way among
water for several miles breaking over
reefs.
Next came the most magnificent reach of the

whole great river, the Gorge of Kazan. The
Danube had shrunk to the width of two hundred
yards,
or
less,
but flowed seventy yards deep.
Splendid perpendicular
side
up
clifls
to the forests above.
sprang high on each
19
Until the Szechenyi road was blasted out of

solid rock, the
for ages
gorge had been impassable by land
but there are traces on the Servian
side,
by
just above high- water mark, of a road built
In places where the rocks were especially
Trajan.
steep
overhanging the
river.
supports of this are
At
way was constructed

The holes made for the
covered wooden
still
to be seen.
the end of the pass, set in the rock and
protected by masonry,
memorating the
first
is
Roman
com-
tablet
Dacian war and the com-
pletion of the road in a.d. 103.
From
there on to Orsova the scenery gradually
tamed down. The high mountains

distance and gentle hills sloped to the
retired to a
river's edge.
In the long hours on the steamer there was
Some of them
Hungary every-
time to consider early impressions.
were
these.
thing
is
There
is
room
in
spacious, the houses are unusually far apart,
low, and cover
much ground
and immense
culti-
vated plains, without fences, stretch away to the

horizon like the sea
the
summer atmosphere
is
hazy, full of diffused light, and the sky only becomes
blue high up towards the zenith.

the
blue
Blue Danube
'
'
The Danube
of our dancing days
is
not
pale cafe-au-lait colour, streaked with silver,
32
HUxNGARY
20
describes
better
it
the colouring in general
is
soft
and harmonious, except that of the maize, which

this season
And
is
is
at
a hard green with metallic reflections.
then, the pleasant feeling that to be English
to be liked
Those who have
lived in
many
European countries will appreciate this rare exThroughout the whole country, as we
perience.
found later, we are esteemed and admired and,
;
I hope, not only because
We
we
are so seldom seen.
were already struck by the natural good
manners of people of
their pride of race,
kinds,
all
and
and had noted
their fear that,
owing to
by
foreigners
misrepresentation, they are considered

to
be
There
barbarians.
nothing whatever
is
barbaric about them, except, perhaps, a love of
splendour, which
The
occasions.
may run
is
seldom uncurbed but on great
taste of the
to jewellery
commercial
and showy clothes
classes
but so
it
does elsewhere.
In that year
it
was 1905
satisfaction because the
there was intense
German word
of
was used in the Hungarian Army, and

about which, if true, were enough to
people.
We
inquire our
were advised
way
in
should not be answered
command
stories flew
irritate
any
Budapest not to
in
German,
dis-
as
rather
most
likely
in English,
we
which
THE DANUBE AT ORSOVA
We even heard of
comparatively few understood.

ladies
21
who, on entering shops, were greeted
Austrian fashion
with
the words
Hand,' and immediately turned and
What we
in the
Kuss
Ich
'
die
left.
found most remarkable about Orsova
(pronounced Orshova) was the striking mixture of

races there
that
of
curling
Gipsies,
the
to
grape
their
dark as niggers, a bloom as
on
them, their long locks
shoulders,
and the
rags they
wore, always like draperies, never clothes
ohve-
complexioned Rumanians, in the neat costume

of their country
swarthy red-capped Turks, big-
framed and muscular
and Magyars,
most
Several officers and their
part fair and handsome.
families dined at the hotel,
not without surprise
for the
and
my wife observed
that the ladies in
this
remote
corner were so dressed in the very latest fashions

that they might have entered a fashionable
drawing-room without
differing in
any
London
detail
from
other ladies there.
The
caviare of Orsova
is
renowned,
is
considered
the best to be obtained in Hungary, and generally

costs twice
as
much
as
the Russian.
ordered some, with lemon and a
onion
in
as
my
is
our custom
ear begging
me
little
We
had
chopped
when a waiter whispered
to forgo the onion, because
HUNGARY
22
when
that was eaten with his caviare, the landlord
always
By
the
left
room
dudgeon.
in
the inn door and
hanging about on the
quays were wily Turks, whose one object was to

persuade strangers to
Ada-Kaleh, a Turkish
visit
island about four miles down-stream.
a bargain with
them
On
the afternoon.
busy
Turkish
Turks
One
street
delight,
and
landing,
etc,
sat cross-legged
who
for
We
started early in
we found
ourselves
were
sold.
Red-fezzed
on benches before them.
with a long white beard was the
led Kossuth to safety over the frontier,
Pretty
after the unsuccessful revolution in 1849.

little
struck
the journey
of open shops, where tobacco,
fine old fellow
guide
much
and back to Orsova
there,
in a
so
girls
in
gaily-coloured
loose
slippers trotted about, their hair

little plaits.
The houses were
trousers
done up
in
and
many
small and dainty,
with windows screened in the Oriental fashion.
Hungarian young couple had arrived shortly

before us, and the lady asked my wife if she would
accompany her on a visit to one of the houses men
not being admitted. While they were away, I
:
chatted with the husband,
who bought a considerable
quantity of tobacco and cigarettes.

to the Tatra, bitte schon.
know it,
You are going
bitte sclion.
It

is
beautiful, magnificent, bitte schon
country in Europe without doubt,
My wife
clean,
23
the grandest
bitte schon.'
found the Turkish house scrupulously
There were
and harmoniously coloured.
divans round the walls, and the hangings and rugs,
The women, with

bunches of roses. The
though inexpensive, were tasteful.

charming
politeness, offered
whole island at that time looked

roses.
like a
We went for a walk across
it
garden of
to the ruins of
a fortress, whose red-brick walls rose out of stagnant

pools,
and then started on our return journey.
The young Hungarians
left at
the same time, both
boats being rowed to the mainland to be overhauled
Custom-house by revenue officers and

there we parted company, my friend's tobacco
at a small
causing trouble
bitte schon.
There were two stalwart
men
to
row and
stood in the stern, with a paddle, to steer

current was rapid, and they
way
though
We
therefore
made but
a third
but the
small head-
they certainly pulled like Turks.
went
to the shore,
and a towline was
With many bumpings and much frantic

shouting we covered but half a mile before it was
dark, and we then had reached a high quay, along
produced.
The agility
boarded them and
which several steamers were moored.

with which the
man with the
line
HUNGARY
24
skipped round their masts and funnels could not be
However, the quay passed, our Turks

decided to spare further efforts, and advised us to
go home on foot, only a mile or two by road,'
excelled.
'
they
said.
them the sum agreed upon,
paid
as
they had worked hard, though I believe they had

never expected to be able to take us back to
Orsova.
The young couple were abandoned
at
the Custom-house, on the plea of darkness.
Our walk back led through gloomy avenues of

tall Lombardy poplars, of which there were several
converging to the point, where, in 1849, the Hungarian crown was buried, and remained concealed,
until the coronation of
Hungary
as
King of
in 1867.
During our stay
at
Orsova a gunboat and two
torpedo-boats arrived.
them was
in
Franz Joseph
What
their colour
interested
warm
me most
dark grey
which to an astonishing extent rendered them

almost invisible when looked at from some distance,
against the opposite coast.
Five or six miles below Orsova are the Iron

Gates, where the
1896,
when
Danube was unnavigable
Also near Orsova, among the mountains,
'
Herkules-fiirdo,'
is
The Baths of Hercules,'

but we did not visit it.
popular watering-place,
or
until
engineering operations cleared a passage.
'
A YOUNG SLOVAK
CHAPTER
II
FROM ORSOVA TO THE TATRA
From Orsova
several
our way led by
to Transylvania
valleys,
closed
in
by moderately high
mountains, past Herkules-flirdo, Mehadia, over the

pass Porta Orientalis,
by Karansebes
an Oriental Greek Bishop
to
the
seat of
Lugos, the seat of
a Bishop of the Greek Catholic faith.
dwellings of any kind were to
Very few
be seen on the
whole countryside.
Lugos
is
a surprisingly
modern town, where
all
new buildings, streets, and the bridges

over the Temes which unite its two parts, German
Lugos and Rumanian Lugos and proved unin-
looked
teresting.
There were peasants from neighbouring
villages strolling in the streets
men in long green
mantles, of a colour between that of emeralds and
young grass, which were

The journey onwards
striking.
lay
25
among broad
valleys,
HUNGARY
26
by wide,
hills
sluggish rivers, where the Hnes of distant
were long and graceful, and the colours
We
had to
thought, as
change
we
little
sat in the small open-air restaurant,
trying to while
later
Maros lUye, and
at
pale.
away
a wait of several hours, that
on we should pay a
to a charming
visit
country-house close by.
There was a gentleman

before
name
it,
though the town has been
stadt, for the last
day
in the train that
we reached Nagyszeben
the Magyars
as
called
seven hundred years
polite to us in several trifling matters,
Hermannwho was
but boiled
over in anger on the mere mention of the word

Austria.
He
possible for us to live at
we
passed,
would be quite imvarious charming vilagles
told us that
it
and recommended us an hotel
at
Her-
mannstadt, and to order Holzteller-fleisch there

speciality of Transylvania.
The
inn proved good
enough, and the Holzteller-fleisch to be excellent

beefsteak, served
on a
circular slab of
wood about
eight inches in diameter and an inch thick.
Hermannstadt
by Hungarian
is
an old German town, modified
innovations.
In former days
it
was
sometimes the capital of Transylvania, and was the
home
of one of the earliest Saxon colonies.
stands on a
hill
by the small River
It
Zibin, and the

ruins of
its
ancient walls and towers
are
interest
27
still exist.
Of
Rathaus, built in 1558, and the
its
Protestant church, with a roof of many-coloured

tiles,
dating from the fifteenth century.
Inside are
a bronze baptismal font in the form of a chalice,
dated 1438, and on the wall of the choir a painting
by Johann von Rosenau of the Crucifixion, 1445.

In a modern part of the church have been gathered
together the carved tombstones of Saxon Counts
and Burgermeisters.
The Brukenthal Palace
contains a collection of
1,250 paintings, formed by a Baron
who was Governor

from 1777.
Brukenthal,
of Transylvania for ten years
For the most
part,
though they bear
the usual great names, they are but poor things.
In striking contrast to the

paintings
rest are
three small
Jan van Eyck and two Memlings,
gems of the purest water.

The inhabitants of Hermannstadt appeared
to
be ordinary Germans, such as are to be seen in any
German town.
Certainly, in the streets
we saw
some picturesque peasants, but on inquiry were

told they came from the villages where we had
been persuaded
live.
it
This town
mended
to us
was quite impossible
is
for us
to
one that was especially recom-
not by the Prelate or the Grafin, but

42
HUNGARY
28
by other Hungarian friends, whose enthusiasm over

Transylvania knew no bounds. Still, the unwelcome
question would sometimes present itself: Why
come so far for a German town, when many, more
quaint and historically interesting, are to be found
nearer
We
home
saw what was to be seen
and spent the afternoon,
in
low
in the
morning,
spirits,
resting in
we
could watch
wash
their horses
the shade of willow-trees, whence
some nearly naked

in a
muddy
sunlit soldiers
stream.
Our next journey was

capital of the country
Latin name.
after its
to
Kolosvar,
which we
call
Hungarians
now
the
Transylvania,
call it
Erdely
Germans, Siebenblirgen.
In the
earliest
times of which there are records
Transylvania formed part of the kingdom of Dacia.
Next
it
From
that date
Roman
was a
no -man's -land
it
appears to have been a sort of
until
where
province (a.d. 105-274).
the
end of the
eleventh
Huns, Goths, etc.,

wandered and strove. It was conquered by King
Ladislas I. (1078-1095), and united to Hungary.
century
King Geisa
II.
Magyars,
(1141-1162), to populate the
land, invited settlers
from Central Germany, who
have ever since been called Saxons.
They founded
THE LAKE OF CSORBA
IN
JUNE

many towns which
flourish
still
29
Hermannstadt,
and
King Andreas II.

(1204-1235) conferred on them the rights they
Schassburg,
Bistritz,
still
etc.
enjoy.
Mongols and Turks ravaged the country at

intervals from 1240 till 1420.
Hunyadi Janos, who died in 1465, was successful
in uniting the various nationalities in a spirit of
common
patriotism.
After the great defeat of the Hungarians by the
Turks
Mohacs, 1526, Transylvania became an
at
autonomous
Among
its
under the sovereignty of Turkey.
State,
elected Princes Bethlen
Gabor was the
most conspicuous.
At
the peace
of Karlowitz, 1699, the Turks
Emperor
equality.
The
resigned their sovereign rights, and the
Leopold
established
I.
Saxons were
Magyars and
for the
religious
most part Lutherans
Szeklers,
the
Catholics, Unitarians, or
Calvinists.
Rakdczy
led a rebellion (1704-1710), which
unsuccessful, and Maria Theresa
made
was
the country
into an Archduchy.
In
1867 Transylvania was
Hungary.
that
It
country.
forms the
Its
finally
south-east
population
is
united
to
portion of
about two and
HUNGARY
30
composed of Magyars, Szeklers,

Saxons, and Rumanians, the latter numbering
a million and a half.
There are also many
a half millions,
Armenians, Ruthenians, Jews, Gipsies, Slovaks,

Bulgarians, Servians, and Greeks.
Kolosvar (German, Klausenburg), by the River
Szamos,
whom
some
contains
50,000
but 2,000 are Saxons
excuse for
its
thus there
Magyarized name than
with several other towns.

place, with
many good
It
of
inhabitants,
is
is
more
the case
a pleasant, friendly
is
houses, the aristocracy of the
province assembling there, in the winter months,
Most of the people one

those in London or Paris,
rather than in Budapest.
meets are dressed
and quite
in
like
the latest mode.
these, are to be seen surprising
In contrast to
groups of peasants
and Gipsies, who appear to have been left by the

Middle Ages, or to have stepped out of pictures
by Breughel. There are the usual public buildings
and a University,
also a
in the birthplace of
charming
little
Matthias Corvinus
museum
containing
Hungarian wood-carvings, embroideries, pottery,

etc.
fine
In the centre of a very large square

fourteenth-century Church of
and on the south side of
this
St.
is
the
Michael,
modern bronze
equestrian statue of Matthias Corvinus, with four

warriors grouped around the pedestal,
It
by Fadrusz.
every respect finer than the statue of
in
is
31
Maria Theresa at Poszony (Pressburg), which looks

well from the river, but seen from any other point
is
unsatisfactory.
We
an
called at
for the information of
office
strangers, to ask advice as to our future travels.

I
have forgotten
that was given except that the
all
most amiable manager strongly recommended us to

go to sup that evening at a fashionable open-air
restaurant just outside the town, and see the fire-
He
works.
would allow himself the pleasure of

*
joining us, after our

restaurant led
'
meal.
through
fine
mile long, near the small
we were
bid,
avenues, perhaps a
river.
We
supped
as
was supremely pleased with every-
had been an army
officer,
but
now devoted
his life to helping visitors to appreciate his
in a proper spirit.
the
to
and our new acquaintance joined us
He
afterwards.
thing
The road
I recall
but one of
country
his remarks.
few Catherine-wheels, a rocket or two, and
some Roman candles had gone

then,
old
and
unable to contain himself any longer, he
exclaimed
We
off successfully,
'
Nicht wahr,
es ist grossstddtisch
were furnished with an introduction to an
Bohemian painter and
his
English wife,
who
HUNGARY
32
long ago settled in Kolosvar.
Melka
a landscape painter for
found in Mr.
whom
it
was
still
natural to paint in a style in vogue about the middle
of the last century, or

tions
earlier, still
elsewhere generally
observing tradi-
The
lost.
pictures he
showed were well composed, well drawn, low-toned,

without charm of colour, but correct in values, and
painted with considerable sense of style.
To me
they gave real pleasure, recalling as they did the
work of the
last
painters practising
of an old band of landscape
when
first I
went to France.
In the happy days of Prince Rudolf, Crown

Prince of Austria-Hungary, Mr. Melka used to ac-
company
his shooting-parties in the
mountains and make drawings
company, sometimes of
lying side
by
side,
He
same day.
sometimes of the
He
their bag.
productions of many of these.
which had
Transylvanian
showed
re-
One was of five bears,

been shot on the
all
described the scenery up in those
high places as magnificent, and told of lakes which
had been without

duced
trout.
fish until
he and
These have thriven exceedingly, and
take the fly on the rare occasions

to them.
As
his friends intro-
for living there,
when
it
it is
offered
was out of the
question unless one was provided with servants,

horses, tents, provisions, etc., all
brought up from
the lowlands, a day or two's journey away.
IN
CHURCH AT VAZSECZ
He
told us that
it
SS
was impossible to persuade
the peasants in or
about Kolosvar to pose as
models, and that
one began painting Gipsies,
if
they were so unreliable they probably would not

reappear after the
first sitting.
Thus discouraged by Mr. Melka, we decided
to
give up Transylvania, at least for that year, and
renowned Tatra, to the mighty Himalayan heights, the pellucid lakes and wondrous
away
to the
Niagarian
falls,
and the scented
forests of the Tatra.
worked upon that
air
of the pine-
So had our imagination been
this hardly exaggerates
our state
of expectation.
Hungarians, more than any other people with
whom
am
acquainted,
may
be divided into two
who have travelled abroad and seen

little of their own country, and, the majority, who
have seen a little of their own country and nothing
else.
Hence the comparisons of their own with
classes
those
other lands, so frequently heard, are generally misleading,
though made
in the
most perfect good
faith.
It
all
was a long and tedious railway journey,
one night and half the next day.
moonlit rivers and
little
lasting
remember
whitewashed cots with
tall
thatched roofs, dark as sealskin, and here and there

5
HUNGARY
34
an orange light
in a
window, and, behind
toned mountains and the
at last entered the Tatra,
told
its
us
We
had
beautiful Gothic church,
and
wooded with beech and
passed Kassa and
deep-
when we
winding our way among
friendly fellow-passenger
hills richly
all,
stars.
oak.
went on to Tatra Lomnicz, changing at Poprad,

whence one can drive to the wondrous ice-caves
but, unfortunately, we did not
of Dobschauer
;
do
so.
was near Poprad that we had our first view

of the mighty central range of Carpathians, rising
It
grim and grey from a

from east to west
for
level plain.
They
stretch
about thirty miles, and
lesser
chains continue, or run parallel with them.
The
lower
summer
chief
clearings
the
in
southern
for their
resorts of the Tatra lie in
pine-forest
slopes
whole extent.
of
which
the
clothes
great
carriage
the
mountains
road unites
most of them from Barlangliget to the east, by

Tatra Lomnicz, Tatra Flired, and several smaller
places, to the
When we
Lake
of Csorba on the west.
arrived at Tatra
Lomnicz
some time
June the season had not begun, and yet there

was in the air, besides the odour of the pines,
in
something that scented of rank and fashion, and
35
seemed to convey a hint that only the rich were
welcome
there.
began to
It
rain,
and rained incessantly
The Grafin and her
family,
whom we
for days.
expected to
meet, were detained elsewhere, and her charming

villa
remained closed.
We
wandered
in the
wet woods among pine-
trees of ordinary dimensions, in
no way resembling
up and down
the primeval forests of our fancy, and

the central clearing.
Round about
most part belonging to
for the
famous names
this are villas
families
with
bathing establishment with a
shop or two attached, and a large hotel and
its
Near the middle, are a small artificial pond, surrounded by rockery, and a bandstand.
On a bare bluff some hundred yards
removed, and overlooking all, a new Grand Hotel
was receiving its final touches. Most of the
dependencies.
decorations
were
and
all
the furniture
we saw
there
modern taste, and

everything in it had been made in Hungary.
To the North, beyond the encircling forest, great
crags,
in
in
the
most
colour
refined
slaty-grey, patched
with green
below and snow above, soared up to the sad sky.
thin
sprinkling
of guests
accentuated the
emptiness of our hotel, but an excellent Czigany
52
HUNGARY
36
band had already

ciated our
experience of good Gipsy music.
first
The leader soon

and
as often
and we keenly appre-
arrived,
we were
discovered that
happens
drew
interested,
nearer and nearer,
fiddhng the while, his snakelike eye fixed on us
though
as
to fascinate
before the
went
plate
round.
There
cottages
is
or
no
near Tatra Lomnicz; no
village
peasants
painter; but there
is
are
walks
to
delight
the
a racecourse, and golf-links
have been opened since
We
there
we
left.
waited for a long, useless week, going for

into
cleared, but
the
mountains
when
the
weather
found nothing resembling what we
had learnt of the magnificence of the Himalayas.
The
clear lakes lying in stony valleys
were of a
peculiar beauty.
At Tatra F tired there are three settlements,

known in German as Neu Smecks, Alt Smecks, and
Unter Smecks.
Each
composed of a group of
as far as I
villas
remember
was
and a hotel or two.
These were reported to be very expensive and

mainly frequented in the season by Grand-Dukes
and
financiers.
We
hood
saw a famous waterfall
a very pretty
waterfall,
in the neighbour-
but not unlike other
PINES IN
THE TATRA
^^4
^^^^z.

pretty waterfalls in
many another
land, as
37
seemed
it
to me.
We
also
went to Barlangliget, and
visited the
two
curious caves there, winding for an hour or
among
extreme. The
up and down wet wooden

formations weird in the
stalactite
dripping
was repeated from the rocks
from the
trees outside
within.
There are grand
The
steps,
trees
Barlangliget.
at
place itself consists of a group of villas sur-
rounding a large restaurant in the

considerably
season
is
than
higher
shorter,
and
it
Tatra
lies
forest.
Lomnicz
It
;
is
its
on the road leading
to Poland, round the eastern shoulder of the last
great mountain.
In the rain we went down to Kesmark on a
The towns-people
market-day.
origin,
German
most picturesque we had yet
We anxiously inquired where

'
of
but the place was then flooded with Slovak
peasants, the
told
are
Not here
seen.
they lived, only to be
they come from far away.
Hier
sind nur intelligente Leute' (Here are only intelli-
gent
folk).
As usual
in
Hungarian towns, we found
modernity to be the ambition and the pride of the

people, and could not persuade
really interested in peasants
so far behind the times.
them
that
who seemed
we were
to
them
HUNGARY
38
Many Jew
dealers
were
also there,
wearing wet
black coats and locks, sadly out of curl, before

their ears.
There
a quaint
is
wooden church, with
spiral
columns, at Kesmark, dating from the beginning of

the eighteenth century, which
is
well worth seeing.
As it seemed useless to stay on longer under

arrival
was
still
Lake of
we decided, with revived

to move on to Csorba-to
uncertain,
but not excessive hope,

(the
these
and the date of the Grafin's
cheerless conditions,
Csorba),
some 4,500
Our way took
level of the sea.
thence past a few
little stations
feet
above the
us again to Poprad,
to Csorba,
where we
changed to a small funicular railway leading up to
During the journey the views of

mountains were magnificent, but what
our destination.
the stately
interested us
even more were the gaily dressed
Slovak peasants
who scrambled
in
and out of the
train at every halt.
Csorba-to
situated
is
among
patches of snow
mirrored in the
romantic
forests
still
still
green, were
forests,
all
magnificently
and mountains.
Lines and
flecked the heights, and were

waters.
the mountains became a
with the dark
lake,
Against the sunset,
warm plum
colour, and,
plane behind plane of purply
perfectly reflected in the glowing
39
water, save where the evening breeze cut level

silver lines.
At one end
of the lake stands a large hotel, and
by it are the cafe and several villas, under the

same management, where rooms may be taken.
close
The year
of our visit was the last of a popular land-
and the hotel was being greatly enlarged,
lord,
having been taken over
as well as everything
else
near the lake
by the Sleeping-Car Company, whose
chief office
is,
Hungary.
In the glowing prospectus issued by
which
have heard, in Brussels, not in

it,
have already mentioned, trout-fishing was
held out as one of the great attractions of the lake
but notice-boards forbidding fishing stood about,
and
I failed in
my efforts
to obtain a licence at
There were trout enough
cost.
in
the lake
any
;
saw a number that might have weighed from two

to three pounds.
I
remember one
observed concealed
among
distinctly,
He
the rocks.
following a pale blue dragon-fly, and as
which
it
was
dipped
from time to time to the surface of the water, he

rose from the depths towards it in long graceful
curves
and
this
was continued
for
some
little
time.
footpath led round the lake, up and down,
according to the nature of the ground, sometimes
HUNGARY
40
among
over groups of large rocks, sometimes

slightly
removed from the water, and,
by the
water's
employed,
pany
were
trees,
again, close
army of workmen
presume, by the Sleeping-Car
Com-
busily engaged, blasting rocks, felling
making
and
An
edge.
trees
way
broad
as
level
and
uneventful as that which encircles the round pond

in
Kensington.
The deep
lake
is
only separated by a neck of
land about a hundred yards wide from the brow

of the
hill
below.
which descends
There
is
plains, patterned
distant
great
with
down
far
to the plain
outlook thence over
forest, stretching
mountains, which,
into the western light.
tier
beyond
few grey
away
tier,
to
fade
villages stud
the plain, each with a white church-tower, or two.
From
these villages
build the
landlord
new
who
came the work-people
to
parts of the hotel, and our amiable
kissed
my
wife's
meal, murmuring the while
as if
hand before every

it was too good
promised that any one of them she chose should

sit
for her.
Slovak boy of
and sent to our rooms
fifteen
was
selected,
for the afternoon.
The
next day he failed to appear at the time appointed,
but was found hiding in the woods, and brought to

his
uncongenial task an hour
late.
He
promised
CHILD WITH FOWL, TATRA
^
^"^
^^^^B
IÎ^^^B
t_.x^\-
^^BH0(hI^Î
^^^^^^^^^^BjKi^^HpP^'
'Q|
41
come the following morning for a third and last

The landlord, appealed to,
sitting, but did not.
felt his honour involved, with the result that two
to
afterwards a loud
hours
announced the
who was
knocking at our door

gendarme, in uniform,
arrival of a
discovered
by his collar.
Models being so
holding
model
the truant
firmly
we determined
useless,
difficult to
obtain in Csorba-to,
to explore the villages
everyone
said, as it
was quite impossible
However, we
for civilized beings to stay there.
had
tried the
Lomnicz,
finding
highly
recommended
from
places,
Pearl of the Tatra,' onwards, without
what we sought, and
felt inclined
the bit in our teeth and break
vention on our
On
down below
own
to take
away from
con-
account.
learning our intention, the landlord
kindly gave us an introduction to three

living
in
the village
most
ladies
of Vazsecz, and there
went on the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul.
we
We
arrived during service in the Calvinist church, and
waited about to see the people leave.

did
we
they
could hardly believe our eyes, so strange
and charming were they.

or
When
Tibet,
appeared.
nothing
more
Had we
been in China
surprising
The women and
girls,
could
tall
and
6
have
slim,
HUNGARY
42
wore
short, clinging,
many-pleated skirts
generally
of indigo colour, with a pale yellow pattern on
them
which
reached just below their knees
boots, black or white
bright bodices
puffed-out white linen sleeves.
top
and hugely
Their pretty caps
were hidden under gaily coloured handkerchiefs,
round
their necks
were multitudes of beads, and
each carried a large prayer-book with metal clasps
and a
nosegay of scented herbs.
little
in groups,
and then,
amused that we should look

like timid animals, ran
wore white
felt
short jackets
enormous brown leather

These were doubled
felt,
belts
in front,
prayer-books, tobacco,
black
They stood
etc.
away.
Vazsecz
The men
studded with
brass.
forming a pocket for

Their hats were of
low and broad-brimmed.
quiet, gentle persons

?
them,
and trousers and
We next presented our introduction to

ladies
at
we
asked them. "
the simple rejoinder.
the three
Could we stay
Why not We do,"

?
at
was
They mentioned some of the
drawbacks of the place, and told how they had
tried
and vegetables, but every scrap was

The youngest of
stolen long before it was ripe.
to
grow
fruit
them volunteered
to take us to the inn to interview
the landlady, and see what we thought of her accom-
modation.

The
main
inn,
43
kept by Frau Deutsch, stood in the
street.
It
was
built of bare logs,
had a high-
pitched roof, and was larger and uglier than the
neighbouring houses, which were light and dainty,
and each had two
little
stripes of bright colour,
We
windows, surrounded by
towards the
street.
entered through a rough bar, where
stood drinking
spirits.
Next came an eating-room
for peasants, rudely furnished,
parlour, with
two beds
in
it,
and beyond that the

and a table covered
with a soiled white tablecloth.
garments hung from

reigned supreme.
men
Skirts
nails in the walls,
and other
and untidiness
We then thought that this room
and a kitchen opening from
it
completed the estab-
lishment.
Having ordered
lunch, and
still
accompanied by
we strolled about the village, and

more and more were we tempted to stay and paint
our amiable guide,
But our meal was execrable

Thin soup,
followed by ragout of hard mutton, with a strong
there.
taste of sheep's wool,
and coarse bread, were
all
that
was provided, and the spoons and forks were far

from clean, until we had ourselves attended to
them. The young Jewess, a niece of our hostess,
who
waited on
us,
allowed us to feel that
we were
rather in the way.
62
HUNGARY
44
Before leaving, however, Frau Deutsch assured
my
wife that
she
if
would do her best

then
we
We
hotel
came to stay for a few days, she

to make her comfortable and
;
returned to Csorba-to.
had been there a
was nearly empty, but
fine noisy
first
the
the weather im-
as
proved more guests arrived to
was
At
fortnight.
stay,
and when
it
crowds swarmed up by the funicular
They overran
railway for the day.
the woods, and
screamed and splashed, in vermilion iron boats,

about the beautiful
When
any peace.
There was no longer
lake.
working out of doors
variably discovered and watched.
was
in-
In the crowded
restaurant overworked waiters flung food before

us,
and could not stay
for orders,
and the Gipsy
band was loud and bad.
About two hours from Csorba-to by an easy

mountain path
level.
is
It Ues beautifully situated
tains, its steep
trout
among
the
moun-
rocky shores clothed with pines,
small restaurant
many
another lake, on about the same
in
is
there,
the
from which
clear
water
may
but
be seen
fishing
is
forbidden.
Besides
forest,
for
following
marked paths through the
we sometimes ventured
some peak that attracted
to
us.
make
a bee-line
This invariably
BIRCHES AT LUCSIVNA-FURDO

among
us
led
krumholz, or
proved an insuperable
is
creeping
barrier, for to get
45
fir,
which
through
it
one of the most fatiguing things imaginable.
On
during these excursions
several occasions
came
we
and game-birds resembling
across roe-deer,
our black game, but somewhat larger.
In the Tatra the
air is
Clearly defined clouds
fresh
move
and invigorating.
across blue skies
by
day, and at sunset the great mountain formations
stand sharply silhouetted against an intense
The
scent of pines
To many
serrated
much
is
everywhere.
of us pine-forests,
edges,
and
light.
with their long
individual trees,
each very
unsymby the dwellers in Central and

Southern Europe they are beloved. For them
they mean health and holidays. As the seaside
and salt sea-breezes have from childhood been
resembling
pathetic,
the rest,
are
at
first
but
to us, so for
them
delicious air of
mountain
are pine-clad slopes
and the
regions.
In the hot Hungarian summer crowds come up

to the Tatra from the sultry towns.
if,
refreshed and happy, they think
place in the world
What wonder
it
the finest
CHAPTER
VAZSECZ
(a
SLOVAK
III
AND A
VILLAGE)
PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION
Two women came up
the
mountain-side
from
Vazsecz, several times a week, with eggs, and
my
wife arranged to return with them, they carrying
her painting materials and other effects sufficient

for a short stay.
the brow of a
I enviously
hill as
watched them from
they descended a tiny path
winding through woods and across
clearings.
thunderstorm came on with drenching showers, but

still
they persevered, small dots far below me, until
they were finally lost
When
among dark
trees.
next the egg-sellers came they brought
word that my wife was far more comfortable than

she had anticipated, and that if I wished to come
with the luggage everything could be arranged for
a stay of some duration.
This was good news indeed.

46
few days
later
VAZSECZ AND A PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION

1
47
packed up with feelings of glee rare during that
and went down
oft-repeated operation,
in gladness
to the Slovak nest.
Vazsecz was
one of the
many
Carpathian brigands, and
We
told about them.
last
resorts
stories
of
are
the
still
heard from an old gentle-
some ten miles away,

how in his youth carriages were often held up and
robbed on the highway, and how he himself on
one occasion owed his escape to the fieetness of
his horses.
But all that belongs to the past.
Throughout Hungary the traveller is now as safe
as in any country in the world, though wandering
man, whose country-house
is
Gipsies have an evil reputation.
The Grafin, regarding all the peoples

except Magyars, as
strongly urged
travels,
me
apt
to
of Hungary,
be dangerous, had
carry a revolver on
to
and the Prelate
also
thought
our
this advisable
on the pusztas on account of dogs, which are often

and very savage.
large
I did
not procure one, and
during the greater part of four years spent in
many
parts of
Hungary
never needed one.

The
village for
even the most outlandish
which
was bound was reputed
the most lawless in those parts, and

that
when
flocks
it
was
said
were driven by night along the
HUNGARY
48
highroad which
emerged
Be
us
at the other side
they
it,
never
complete in number.
may, nothing was ever stolen from

nor did we suffer from any intended rudeness
this as
;
through
passes
it
during the whole of our stay there.
Half a mile away

Vagfalva
the
meaning
'
Magyarized
village
great tributaries
name
Vazsecz
of
by the Vag,' which is one of the

of the Danube, though but a
trout stream here, near
was met
the railway-station called
is
its
source.
at the station
by
my
wife,
accom-
panied by a sturdy handmaiden from the inn,
who
usually acted as postman, taking letters to
and
from the
trains.
She folded a large white cloth
around half of our luggage, and bringing the

corners over her shoulders and across her chest,
hoisted on to her back a load
sufficient
to
try
the strength of a mule, and lightly accompanied

us to our quarters.
There was a large room there
whose existence we had not suspected on our first

the beds
visit.
It was clean and well furnished
;
were excellent, and
Seldom occupied,
finer linen I
save
when
have never
a
felt.
Parliamentary
candidate came to canvass or an envoy of the
Government to take notes, it had become a

room for the treasures of Frau Deutsch.
store-
Our
SLOVAK
WOMEN AT
PRAYER, VAZSECZ

first
recalling
lodgings was
struggle
English
wardrobes for our
own
many
to
49
a similar scene in
room
obtain
In
effects.
this
the
in
we were
and a simple meal, surprisingly
at length victorious,
well cooked, was
served for our landlady could

cook well enough when anything was at hand
worthy of her art.
Now, amid
delightfully dressed peasants in their
quaint village, and with pleasant country backed
by blue mountains
to be in a fair
add to
my
close at hand,
way
to start
we seemed
work
at last
To
in earnest.
happiness, the wife of the Notary
mighty hunter and a man of means, who rented the

shooting and fishing of the
absent electioneering
when
doubtless be able to procure

all
had it not been that the

speak
all
me
fish in
she said he would

a regular licence.
The
was not to go quite smoothly.
language difficulty was the

nearly
but was then
gave me permission to
the river until his return,
But
district,
itself,
and
village inns of Hungary,
and
first
to present
the village shops, are kept by Jews,
German among
themselves,
we
who
could neither
have remained in Vazsecz nor in several places where
we
subsequently
language been
Had
stayed.
sufficient for
have made an effort to learn
the Hungarian
our purpose,
it,
we
even though
should
having
7
HUNGARY
50
no relationship with, or likeness

languages
every word
to,
other European
must be acquired by
of unaided memory but to communi-
sheer effort
of
it
cate directly with
the people
all
who
knowledge of many strange tongues

less
on leaving the country
learn
them seemed an
As
interested us
almost use-
was necessary, and to
insuperable task.
the Slovaks of Vazsecz speak a Slavonic
language,
No Jew
it
was necessary to
find
an interpreter.
with spare time could be found, but fortu-
young schoolmistress was discovered who

could speak German, and agreed, during the summer
nately a
my
holidays, to help
These,
sitters.
Of
discipline
when
found, were wild and restless.
they had no notion, and in art their
highest flights
photography.
wife to secure and talk to her
of imagination were
They could not understand, and
resented, having to stay
My
had
own
I sat
difficult,
still
so long.
troubles began out of doors, for hardly
down when
a crowd
surrounded by a
three deep,
bounded by
many
of
whom
collected.
circle of
human
It
is
beings
inspect from the front,
to concentrate attention, or even to see the view

I feel sure
they had no wish to disturb me, but they
For the women and children I was the latest

sensation, and one whose novelty never wore off.
did.
51
The men kept away, perhaps thinking my occupation

unworthy of their notice. Often
retreat, I had to abandon many a subject
effeminate and
forced to
which
should have loved to paint.
Then Frau Deutsch came to the rescue only to

make matters worse. She sent round the Heiducky
or village bailiff, with his drum, to make a public
That the
announcement somewhat to this effect
English painter was employed by the State, and
must not be approached or interfered with when at
:
work, subject to the gravest pains and penalties.'
Evidently no one believed this, and the only result

was that the Heiduck got tipsy, and remained so
until his fees
He
were exhausted.
himself that he could not find

little
never so far lost
me out, lurch into my
crowd, seize on someone, generally a poor and
defenceless
girl,
and, to
my
great regret, push her
He
rudely to the other side of the road.

then,
by
signs,
demand
further
payment
would
for his
annoying attentions.
Partly to escape, partly because
sport, I
sometimes went
fishing.
it is
my favourite
Solitude by mur-
muring water has often brought peace to a fisherman, and, after my hustling, it was a very keen
delight to explore an
right size for casting
unknown stream
^just
the
testing the gravelly runs and

72
HUNGARY
52
deep,
flats,
The
pools.
still
river
wound through
grassy-
where Gipsy children tended geese, on among
groves of trees
poplarand willow near a secluded
farm, and then far
down
a narrow valley.
never
returned empty-handed, and sometimes brought a

fair
basket of trout and grayling, running up to a
pound
in weight,
our scanty
which made a welcome addition to
A few four and five pounders were
fare.
said to be in the water, but they never rose to

fly,
and
saw no sign of them.
they must have offered
who
Gipsies,
my
If they ever existed,
irresistible
temptation to the
could have sold them in the watering-
places for a high price.
Meanwhile
my
wife
as we could find nothing in
the nature of a studio was painting in a small

Catholic church, where service was held but once a
fortnight
placed
visiting priest.
at her disposition.
it
He
had most kindly
Children collected and
day peering through each keyhole and

but fled when the door was opened, and did
remained
crevice,
by a
all
no harm.
I either
painted from our windows or went far
harvesting called but Gipsies to the

land and so things gradually settled down.
afield
all
till
But an
election
were coming.
was
The
at hand,
first
and
symptom
stirring times
of
them
arrived
A ROAD IN THE CARPATHIANS

Peasant
woman
carrying her baby in the basket

on her back.
form of a telegram from
early one morning, in the
an agent
'
5B
Prepare dinner for ten to-morrow, noon.'
Only at ten o'clock did our landlady discover that

No
this had been despatched the previous day.
time was to be lost in two hours the guests would
be there, and next to nothing was in the house
Frau Deutsch was a clever woman, a woman of
;
resource,
who
rose to the occasion with the spirit of
her race.
It
was hay-time, and every able-bodied
Slovak, man,
woman, and
She started
at
once,
child,
had
left
the village.
with a maidservant, on a
raiding expedition to her neighbours' yards, and ere
long had wrung the necks of a dozen of their
The astutest poacher among the

Gipsies was summoned, and the order given, Trout
plumpest fowls.
'
for ten within
an hour.'
At twelve o'clock the company assembled
dinner
was ready, and Frau Deutsch came up smiling, as if

nothing unusual had happened.
The following Sunday we drove to Vychodna, a
neighbouring
village, in a springless cart, the seat
of which, slung from the sides by leather straps,
swung
perilously
changed
its
side to side
when
the horse
pace or the road was uneven.
The costumed
start,
from
villagers
turned out to see us
forming rows, in which red, black, and white
HUNGARY
54
predominated
church
for the dark dresses they
removed on
carefully
are
home, and the under-skirts are
become
'
carriage
folk,'
wear at
return
their
We
red.
and had evidently
had
risen
in popular estimation
Our
driver
was a
one in Vazsecz
tall,
and
handsome Pole
could speak a
of which he was inordinately proud,
appeared
On
himself.
white
in
be
to
of
all
felt
and
short
sheepskin
first
jump
in
was readily given
whither
Richter,
we were
before long
my
or
jackets,
;
he
but they,
referred to us for permission
and
mounted
One of them
then
beside the Pole on the front seat.
the
indeed, he
overtaking two huge peasants clad
better mannered,
was
as,
only
French,
connected with
things
stopped and invited them to
which
the
little
of Vychodna,
magistrate,
bent, the other his friend
and
wife was engaged in animated
conversation with them, undeterred by the fact
word of
Their simple politeness and
that literally neither side understood a
what the other
said.
natural good-breeding were such as
times
we have some-
met with elsewhere among genuine
self-
respecting peasants.
Our road
led over low, bare
hills,
then through
pine-woods watered by sparkling streams.
The
one long main street of neat
village consisted of
little
houses, with a few short straggling branches.
had a church
It
55
middle and an inn at each
in the
Our Pole drove through it,

groups of peasants who seemed
end.
skilfully avoid-
ing
to be the worse
and pulled up before a low whitewashed
for drink,
inn, the last building before the
open country was
reached.
Had we known
that canvassing and treating,
in connection with the
swing,
full
we
coming
should
another occasion for our
thought
have
Being
in
chosen
there,
we
wise to stroll into the country and view
it
Vychodna from
visit.
were
election,
doubtless
a distance.
waggonette with a canvas cover passed us
at a rapid
pace,
and the
men occupying
six
it
stared at us curiously.
On
returning to the village
we were
by an excited peasant, who, shouting

Miklos
name
(the
!'
of the
accosted
'
Miklds
county town), and
pointing to a group of gentlemen higher up the

village street,
When we
who had
of
seemed anxious to lead us to them.
approached
we
recognized the people
lately passed us in the carriage,
them advanced
curtly, first in
and one
to meet us, asking somewhat
Hungarian, then in French,
if
he
HUNGARY
56
might venture to inquire the nature of the business

which brought us there. Resenting this, though
we were in
with whose customs we were
fully conscious that
was
a foreign country
unacquainted,
hesitating what to reply when he introduced himself by name, and then presented a
still
statesman whose
friend, the brother of a
knew.
name
This gentleman spoke English perfectly,
and we were soon on the best of terms. The

whole party seemed relieved on learning what
we
were,
as,
seeing strangers in the place, they
had supposed we were there

friendly,
Tatra.
good
are
'
You have
seeing
our
all
had hardly
making an
left
been in the
Good
country.
them, with the intention
home, when another
early start for
excited peasant pounced
upon
us,
and
insisted
conducting us to the inn where we had

cart.
became
!'
We
of
Yôu
saying,
the interest of
Indeed, they
their political opponents.
most
in
Presumably he
noticed
business with
the gentlemen
and
concluded
therefore
that
left
on
our
we had no
we had
we must be
just
left,
searching
for the headquarters of the opposite party.
He
ushered us into a small, dimly lighted room and
then
retired, pleased
with his
own acumen.
DESCENDED FROM A BRIGAND CHIEF
we
Seating ourselves at a table,
and wine from the landlord, an
57
ordered bread
intelligent
young
we
two men
Jew, who appeared surprised to find us where

were.
Near to
in the
uniform of
joined by a
a gun,
another table, sat
us, at
foresters,
and these were soon
young gentleman in a shooting
when whispered
conversation
accompanied by glances
the foresters then
left,
suit
with
took place,
One
in our direction.
of
but returned immediately,
ushering in a large peasant in white,

fully held his broad black hat in
who
his
respect-
hand, and
demeanour suggested that he disAs he filled up nearly half the

liked being seen.
whose
furtive
apartment, however,
conscious
of
suggested
conspiracy,
his
we
could
presence.
help being
The whole
scene
we were becoming
More whispers
The peasant
keenly curious.
and
received a handful of cigars and
and then
not
sidled
out,
some small
coins
but only to return with
another white giant, whose stolid appearance was

relieved
by small beadlike black
able to see in
Money and
and he
left.
stagy one
all
eyes,
directions at once.
cigars
which seemed
Again whispers
were handed to the new-comer,
Entered another conspirator, a really
He
posed in dramatic attitudes
feet
wide apart, knees bent, head screwed over shoulder,

8
HUNGARY
58
eyes
strained,
and brows contracted
changed feet, turned
his
and frowned, peering
then
he
head over the other shoulder
at nothing.
he
I noticed that
money and fewer cigars than the others.

Before long all left the room except one of the
received less
foresters, and, finding
presently asked
bribing electors
sans gene
I replied
When
'
;
'
;
it
him what was going

?
is
Oh
yes,
'
Were they
on.
said he, with perfect
done everywhere.'
it
'
Quite
undoubtedly
so,'
is.'
our Polish driver appeared his manner

his eyes
were inflamed, but he
to drive us rapidly
and without accident
village,
though certainly taking many
Men in need
of support were leaning against
through the
risks.
'
directly or indirectly
was excited and
managed
he could speak German,
everything available
costume
were
women in no
out in crowds
and
distinctive
sitting in the
dust were scores of half-naked children, laughing,

crying, or throwing stones at one another.
A tribe
of urchins followed us far on our way, begging for

farthings and cheering the candidate
whose partisans
they thought wê were.
The drink
effect
the Pole had consumed had a curious
on him.
Pointing with his whip, he
first indi-
cated the boundary dividing the parishes of Vychodna
and Vazsecz, then explained that Vazsecz reached
much farther into

and
finally
the mountains than
we
59
could see,
announced that nearly the whole of
belonged to him.
When
it
the large potato-fields
near our village were reached, he tapped his chest,

repeating in a tone of sad self-satisfaction the words
'
All mine
all
mine.'
A small black three-months-
old foal, with a bell at
us
all
neck, had accompanied
its
the time, sometimes cantering by
in the shafts,
mother
its
sometimes lagging behind, and then
The Pole demanded

payment very largely in excess of the sum agreed
upon for his services, and we last saw him still
overtaking us at a gallop.
disputing with our landlady, in whose hands
we
Frau Deutsch was true to

the end paid what was just.
and
the matter.
About
I
this
us,
left
in
time the Notary, whose acquaintance
had not yet made, sent word that he was too
busy to come to see
me
I fished in his river,
and hoped
join his shooting-parties

over.
Not taking the
when
should be able to
the election was
latter part of this
very seriously, however,
my
that he was delighted that
message
neglected to send for
gun, which was lying with other baggage in
Vienna.
Next came
a letter announcing the arrival of the
Grafin at Tatra Lomnicz, inviting us to spend a
82
HUNGARY
60
day with
and promising a drive to a place
her,
which she beheved would prove of great interest.

We went, and what a change we found from the
dreary Lomnicz of our
at
height
its
first visit
The
all
and well-bred
exquisitely dressed
people were everywhere to be

played, and
The season was
seen
the band
looked bright and happy.
drive took us to Zsdjar, a straggling village
near the frontier of Poland
but as
we
the following year, I will not describe
stayed there
it
now.
was night when we again reached Vazsecz.

The full moon, an orange disc, was half-way up
It
a deep blue sky, and
its
soft light fell
dusty road and the double line of

with high-peaked
roofs.
It
was
little
reflected
on the
houses
from a
shallow stream running down one side of the street,
and from the brass instruments of musicians who

were
sitting
on our inn
steps.
Before the door
young men and maidens were dancing. Now

and again a youth took two of the trim, closeskirted, bare-legged girls by the waist, and whirled
round and round with them,
first in
one direction,
then the other, until they could turn no more.

Inside,
all
where
free
drinks were being served to
comers, the bar and neighbouring
filled
with a surging crowd.
How
room were
should
we get
VIEW FROM OUR WINDOWS
IN VAZSECZ

in
The
street,
61
house, of only one story towards the
reached
down
at the
back to a waste ground
with a shallow stream running through
Im-
it.
mediately below our bedroom was the cowhouse, as

I
when awakened by the

early-morning milking. Help came in
had learned the
sounds of
first
day,
form of the sturdy maidservant, who, taking us
round to the back of the
inn, introduced us to the
cowhouse, reared an ordinary ladder in one corner

of
it,
and pushed open a small trap-door opening

our room.
into
During the
preceding the election
we
of
rest
frequently
time
the
came and
went that way.
At
last
the great day arrived.
take place at St. Miklos
Polling was to
town
Michael), chief
(St.
of Lip to county, a place with about five thousand

inhabitants,
known
in
Hungarian
style as
Liptd
Szt. Miklos.
Two hundred men
from remote villages had
at Vazsecz, to be ready for
were
fine,
an early
train.
slept
They
well-grown, clean-shaven fellows, wearing
armless sheepskin jackets, with the wool inside
the outside leather being richly embroidered in

beautiful patterns of
and
many
collars of their linen shirts
embroidered
in
red.
The sleeves
were more simply
colours.
Each man,
besides
free
HUNGARY
62
quarters and food and drink at discretion, was

so I
was told
to
receive ten kronen (about eight
shillings) for his day.
'
Who
asked Frau Deutsch.
'
Oh, the
and though
this
pays for
State,' said
answer seemed to
all this
me
she
absurd, I
never could get more definite information.
Each party ran special trains for its supporters,

and the two sides were kept severely apart all day.
The ordinary trains, however, were not interfered
with, so, accompanied by the wife of the Notary
and Frau Rosa Deutsch in festal attire, we went
to St. Miklos too.
Carriages of
all
kinds were clattering each way,
and streams of people flowed towards the town
modern -looking
prosperous
features
distinctive
approaching
number of
it,
that
we were
soldiers
without
any
remember.
On
place,
can
by the great
and policemen we saw. There
were also many young
surprised
men with
red or green bands
the colours of the respective candidateson their

arms.
It
was necessary to procure a pass
to enter the town.
in order
This was politely refused us,
but the influence of our landlady worked wonders
on a cordon of
through, and
soldiers,
which opened and
we made our way unmolested
town-hall, which stood in a large square.
let
us
to the
Across the
63
square was drawn a double line of soldiers dividing

in close
Gipsy or brass bands,
the two parties.
proximity, were playing everywhere different tunes,
After a
while peasants, waving banners, danced.
time
we
tried to cross to the opposition,
stopped by
who we
that
officers
soldiers, until a
gentleman, on learning
We found
were, passed us through them.
number
and
of smartly
civilians,
on the other
gentlemen,
dressed
were standing
side, so, to
but were
group
in a
escape further interroga-
we soon returned whence we had come.

were
half-seas over,
Already many peasants,
tion,
'
'
dancing, embracing, and romping, and the ladies

preferred to retire, leaving
tall
me
alone in the crowd.
grim man, nearly drunk, who spoke only
a Slav language, wished to
know why
was
there,
and, not understanding me, seemed anxious to pick

a quarrel,
when
his attention.
man
exciting events near us attracted
On
the shoulders of the crowd a
and round hat was borne along
in a grey suit
to an accompaniment of frantic cheering.
What
Why, a
'
has he done V I asked the nearest Jew.
'
big Russian has been trying to shake the loyalty
man
of one of X.'s supporters, and the grey
slapped his
face.'
saw the big Russian
in a white yachting-cap
'
being
seriously
'
has
a giant
mobbed
HUNGARY
64
then soldiers and policemen closed around.
In-
furiated
gentlemen rushed up, gesticulating and
shouting
Arrest him
no right to be here
me, advising
moment
me
is
Panslav
He
has
Then a gentleman spoke
!'
to
He
to
keep wideawake, as at any
the soldiers
might have to
the
clear
square.
The shops
hotels
were, of course,
all
closed, but the
were crowded, and at the door of each played
a band, while crowds of peasants crushed in and

out, or strained for bundles of cigars, held aloft
by
half-suffocated agents.
peasant, white with fury and
wet with
perspi-
ration, struggled in the clutches of two canvassers.

'
What
is
has he done V
I again
asked a Jew.
drunk and wants to go over to the other
He
He
party.
has been paid for his vote,' was the reply.
Towards noon the heat became intense. Noise

and dancing continued unabated, and the smell of
I joined the ladies at a
drink became sickening.
whose
place appointed, when Frau Deutsch
scheme, it appeared afterwards, had been to obtain
a free meal
From
led us to the best hotel.
a balcony, overlooking a courtyard full of
peasants devouring a generous dinner served on
many
deal tables,
we
observed the proceedings.
MISKO
Men
only, as voters,
65
were seated, but they gave
the food with which they were served to their
wives standing by,
secreted
it,
and then they
This was repeated over and over
called for more.
again,
who
and only excited our amusement
we saw some women

and even
said he,
it
but when
coolly adding knives, forks,
plates, to their
to tell a head-waiter
hidden
store, I felt obliged
what was going
does not matter.
on.
Oh,'
We are always paid
a liberal allowance for theft.'
The Notary's
and
found
companion
wife had left us early in the day
it
that,
hard to convince our remaining
we
even on election-day,
to obtain food under false pretences.
quite honest generally
all
seemed
objected
To
fair at
her
such a
time, and she would have obtained orders
for us
to dine as helpers in the great fight.
Having
eaten,
we
said
good-bye to our landlady,
and hoped to be able to explore the town, but

found that every street was barred by soldiers,
with orders to
object of this
let
no one by without a
was to prevent the
pass.
fights
The
which
would surely have ensued if members of the rival

We appealed to an officer, who
parties had met.
most courteously enabled us to leave the town,
9
HUNGARY
66
same time on no account to
telling us at the
try to
return.
We went
a
walk by the Vag
for a
considerable
various kinds
river
where
here
beautiful
and undulating
hills
already
trees
of
clothed with
ripening corn combined with the water and distant
mountains in forming landscape of a very charming

kind.
I
draw a
veil over the scenes
awaiting us at and
near the railway-station.
On
the
line,
and Vazsecz,
about half-way between
lies
St.
Miklds
Kiraly-Lehota, where the
White
Vag and the Black Vag meet, and here lives in

summer the famous sculptor whose acquaintance we
had made in Budapest.
It
was
his birthplace,
and
a grateful King has presented him with the land
on which he was born,
as a
do these things well
Hungary
visited him,
in
token of esteem.
They
We had already
and been pressed to come again,
having a free afternoon before
and walked up towards

grounds were
tall
were surprised to
spiked
us,
we
his house.
wooden
left
so,
the train
Around the
palings,
and we
them bolted and

on was also fastened,
find the door in
Another door farther

but, again farther, a pathway led round the garden
We found the sculptor.
to the back of the house.
barred.

and their
his wife,
Enghsh
the
flag
fair Httle
67
daughter at home, and
was immediately hoisted
in
our
honour.
We
grounds, and had tea
loitered about the
under the
trees,
when Mr. S
and humour, told how
life
had chaffed a trainload of

through
to
his
in
as usual, full of
the morning he
his political adversaries
speaking-trumpet as they were about
and
start,
how
they had
sent
threatening
messages in return.
Shortly after this I went with a half-brother of
the sculptor's,
flies,
lived hard by, to see his trout-
and hear about the great trout he had
not with
the
who
name
flies,
but with a small soft
of which I do not know.
killed
fish as bait,
One
trout,
taken where the two Vags meet, had weighed

over twelve pounds.
On my
ladies
had
return to Mr. S
left
him.
They
found that the
had, indeed, been sent
away, and he was sitting with a repeating
rifle
and an axe beside him. A train

from St. Miklds had just arrived, and a yelling
crowd was coming up the road towards us. For
across his knees
a time things looked nasty, as the drunken
charged the stout palings
gone
for
any
mob
but they were too
sort of organized attack,
far
and tumbled
92
HUNGARY
68
over one another in confusion.
Then
band came
up, and they seemed to forget their evil intentions,
and, cheering and singing, soon staggered away.
We reached Vazsecz by an evening train without

misadventure, and only on the following day learnt
that our Notary had been attacked at St. Miklds,
his carriage overturned,
and he himself stabbed in
the hand with which he successfully endeavoured

to protect his head.
KRIVAN, SEEN FROM NEAR VAZSECZ
CHAPTER
AND A LITTLE SPORT
VAZSECZ, LUCSIVNA-FURDO,
The Notary
IV
of Vazsecz, in Lipto county,
Hungary, was King
A strong man, he ruled
there.
the wild people of that place.
bowed
before
him and the
Upper
The
magistrates
lawless trembled.
It
was
not yet forgotten how, on his arrival twenty-six

years before, he had laid
thieves,
one with each hand, and knocked their
They had broken
heads together.
killed
an ox, and then, finding
remove whole, were caught

in two.
hold of two powerful
The Notary was
into a farm,
too heavy to
it
in the act of cutting it
a Magyar.
In appear-
ance he somewhat resembled Cecil Rhodes, in spite

of a suddenly retreating forehead, which sometimes
reminded one of a
Not long
after the election
was successful
me
tiger.
I received a
which
his
side
note from him, inviting
to join a shooting-party
69
in
on the following day.
HUNGARY
70
If I could come, a carriage
dawn and
take
me
to Krivan
the great Carpathians
would
for
me
at
the most westerly of
where
would have assembled.
call
the other shooters
I replied that
my gun
was
not with me, that I had no cartridges, but that

otherwise I should have accepted his invitation with
the greatest pleasure.

at
once returned
provided
It
'
A short answer to this was
Gun and
carriage will
cartridges
will
be
call.'
was a wild and stormy morning, and low clouds
flew rapidly along, dropping occasional showers,
when, well wrapped' up, I settled myself in a long, low

cart on some sheaves of straw, among great hampers
of good things.
Two peasants, in thick white clothes
and the usual broad-brimmed hats and broad brown

leather belts with clasps of brass, accompanied me.
We drove for
outlying parts
two hours over moorland or through

of the gloomy pine-forest, and then
saw before us a glowing

six feet high, and,
with about as
bonfire,
with flames leaping
grouped around
many
it,
a dozen men,
black-and-tan hounds.
The Notary received me cordially, and each

member of the party came forward in turn to
shake hands and tell me his name and what he
was.
One of them was the son-in-law of the
successful Parliamentary candidate,
and the shoot
VAZSECZ AND LUCSIVNA-FURDO

They
71
spoke
had been arranged
in his honour.
German
Hungarian, so when, after saying
my
as well as
name,
had repeated
'
all
Maler, aus London,'
We
the ceremony of introduction was complete.
were eight guns, with
six or
seven attendants, whose
duties were various.
One
drive had taken place
before
with no result except a wetting, and
on
arrival,
we soon moved
for the next.
The Notary
yards apart,
a
my
tall
placed us from one to two hundred
my
stand being some
fifty
yards from
dark pine-wood and near a clump of young
trees.
These afforded
little
cover,
and when
noticed, in the line close by, a small natural pit
among
rocks,
where
mother-wit prompted
found
later that the
could
me
to go
conceal
down
myself,
into
guns often remained
it.
in the
open, quite motionless of course, trusting that the
would not see them.

A horn was blown half a mile away at the other
side of the wood, two couple of hounds were
unleashed and soon gave tongue, and then the
hunted animals, in their
fright,
excitement began.
Ere long
was attracted by something moving
in
wood a hundred yards above me. Quietly it

came a few paces, and then remained stock-still
the
HUNGARY
72
another pace or two, again a pause
and so on, until
saw against the intense darkness between the treetrunks, without apparent modelKng, and looking as
I
flat as
though cut out of cardboard, a
fine
roe-buck
summer coat. Nearer, ever nearer,

came the hounds. The buck stepped down the edge
of the wood till opposite my place of concealment,
in his light red
then suddenly broke away, and, leaping over the

stones and undergrowth between us,
came on
to his
fate.
The guest
of the day, a rubicund and jovial
Judge, was on
my
left.
Presently I heard him
shoot twice, and then a second buck, going like

the wind, flashed between
first
barrel
had no
me
My
and the wood.
but the second, aimed
effect,
him head over heels, and

The Judge rushed up with out-
well in front, bowled
he lay dead.
me
stretched hand to clasp mine, and thank
having stopped
going when
seen
his quarry,
I fired
him when about
As
and ask
if it
was
for
still
it
had
to shoot, doubled back,
and
a matter of fact,
only offered a long shot from behind, which could
have
had no
effect
but to accelerate
its
pace.
However, some shot were found near its hindquarters, and at the end of the day he carried
it
off in
triumph to Budapest.
SLOVAK GIRL
IN
SUNDAY ATTIRE

The
was
drive
Beaters and hounds drew
over.
guns assembled round a
near, the
73
fire,
and hearty
Then
hamper
was opened, wine and mineral waters were handed
compHments were paid

round, cigars
lit,
to me.
and one or other of the company-
Hungarian hunting songs,
started snatches of old
the rest forming a chorus.
After each drive, and whenever

a short rest or consultation, a
made by
the
They
beaters.
we stopped
fire
all
was
for
at once
smoked pipes
with small clay bowls closed with metal lids and

stuffed
with
strong
which
tobacco,
previously moistened with
saliva
and
embers of the
tobacco was
was
said to
fire
among
lit
to roast,
it
rolled
up
of
the glowing
and afterwards the
in the usual way.
make
had
The heads
tight in the palms of their hands.
the pipes were then thrust
they
This method
burn more slowly and taste
stronger than any other known.
Several outlying parts of the forest were driven,
and a few hares
fell
before
we
arrived at the shed
where luncheon was prepared, but not yet cooked.
village schoolmaster
was appointed cook, and
soon had a large iron pot suspended over a wood

fire.
We
began our
cold dainties
feast
with
many
kinds of
wine and waters circulated

10
freely,
HUNGARY
74
and
the
length
at
iron
pot disgorged a tasty
gulyas, red with paprika.
Then speech-making began,

Notary spoke
first,
The
Hungarian.
in
the late election and patriotism
was told, his theme. He

waxed most eloquent and warm, and what he
said was evidently moving, for a tear stood in
general
in
being,
but
every eye
Judge spoke
mine.
last,
Several
returning thanks, I take
ur (Englishman) must be
another asked me,
'
Yes,' said
replied.
deer,
'
'
or
initiated, said one,
'
'
never shot roe-deer, red-
bear,
Hungary V
in
'Then, Scotland does not count,' they

together.
'
'
We
Anything to
shall
oblige,'
time that [they were

in
all
have
to
to give
him
it
'
all
initiate
No.'
cried
you.'
knowing by this
good fellows. For ages
said
I,
Hungary, when a novice scored
in the chase,
and
Have you ever shot roe-deer

I.
Where V
In Scotland,'
You have
wild-boar,
it.
The Angol-
Attention was next turned to me.
before V
and the
spoke,
was the custom
his first success
for his
companions
three cuts each across the back with
their ramrods.
In these days ramrods, being no
longer used, are replaced by anything that comes

to hand.
My
first
buck was
laid out
on the
grass,
and
75
was instructed to lie down on my front and place

my head upon it. This I did, but becoming aware
that the Notary was standing over me, leaning on
an axe with a long, thick
shaft, I
jumped
up,
objecting to the use of an implement with which
my
However,
I read in his face that he had no such intention, and
resumed my ignominious position on his begging me
he could easily have broken
Speaking in German, he proclaimed
to trust him.
me
spine.
a hunter worthy to be one of themselves, then
me three
axe.
No one
tapped
times gently with the handle of
his
else
touched me, except the
florid
young Judge, who perhaps accustomed to inflict

punishment, or maybe deriving some secret satisfaction in
eye
'
gave
chastising
me
me
having
for
one sharp stroke with a
'
wiped
stick.
whole company then formed a ring and

salute over
my
to arise, and
prostrate body.
we
all
his
The
fired a
was then invited
drank bumpers to future good-
fortune.
The day had

clouds,
greatly improved, and the rain-
dispersing,
disclosed
bright blue sky,
flecked here and there with white.
We
had been
gradually working upwards since the morning, and

in the afternoon
The
air
was
were
delicious
far
up the mountain-side.
the long dead grass, already
102
HUNGARY
76
made walking easy
dry,
below were great views
over forest and wide-spreading plain, and above,
high peaks, with changing blue shadows cast by the
The horns and
clouds.
and music
line
when a
also
made music,
passed down the long
the hounds
was the signal

was over. Four descending
drive
clearly whistled, I heard
it first
above me, then ever clearer as
faint
it
lives
far
for
me
that day.
roe-deer were found, but only does
had to be spared
away
approached.
There was no more luck in store
Many
and
notes,
whose
came within range.
It
was
hard to distinguish them from bucks, and a keen

disappointment, after waiting long, to
what they were.
On
discover
a slope covered with wild
raspberries traces of a bear were found,
and red-
Near
the summits were many chamois, but that was
beyond our march.
When evening came, and we were still far
deer were said to have also passed that way.
higher up the mountain than at luncheon-time, I
was told that the Judge had already gone with his
booty, and that no one else dreamed of returning
home until the following day, or perhaps the day
after that.
remain
'
my
till
It
was taken
for
granted that I would
the shooting was over.
wife will be anxious
and
'
But,' I said,
have brought
AT VAZSECZ
77
nothing with me, not even a toothbrush
was understood, the second only
objection
first
The
!'
Jew had come up

make a bargain with
raised a smile.
from Vazsecz to
about his hay, and was
my
the
way
the Notary
persistently hanging
still
about in the hope of concluding

to take a note back to
all
He
it.
was able
wife that night, and did
so for a consideration.
All day
we had
away on the
save far
kind,
seen no dwelling-place of any
and
plain below,
wondered how we should pass the
At
night.
length
store
after
we came to a large hut built to

the mowing until it was needed in
the farms
was
burning
In
below.
merrily,
the
centre
and round the
log-fire
sides
branches were thickly strewn.
open to the sky.

gentleman
To add
to
hay
the tips of pine-
One end
my
of
it
was
surprise, a spruce
in a black frock-coat, looking as if
he
had just come from the City of London, was in

possession.
He was accompanied by a Slovak
peasant with a bag of
ing,
and though
of their search
They were
prospect-
I accidentally discovered the object
which proved successful
be indiscreet to reveal
The
tools.
it
would
it.
spoils of the chase, six or seven
a few hares, were laid in a
roe-buck and
row before our
shelter,
HUNGARY
78
and
after supper rugs
were spread over the pine-
when each with his feet towards the fire,

down to sleep with that pleasant feeling of
branches,
we
lay
fatigue
air.
which only comes from exercise
In the middle of the night
bitterly cold.
in the
awoke.
Through the open gable
open
It
saw
was
stars
sparkling in a clear dark sky, and crouching on the

floor in the
duty
it
glowing
was to
pile
firelight a
peasant boy, whose
on logs throughout the night.
Thirteen people lay asleep, like the spokes of a

wheel, with the
when
fire as
again awoke, a
head of each peasant.
In the morning,
the hub.
woman was
I never
sitting
by the
knew how they got
why they came. The following day and

night in many respects very much resembled the
first, and on the third day we returned to Vazsecz,
there or
unwashed, but in high good
spirits.
The Hungarian word furdb

seems to occur here of
to the
fiirdo,
itself.
meaning
It
is
names of watering-places,
usually affixed
as in Lucsivna-
a place near birch-woods, which
from the
train
and decided to
morning, and liked
it
visit.
so well that
we had
We
had
seen
We went one
we made
ments to stay there on leaving Vazsecz.
was not yet to
bath
arrange-
But that
be.
called
on the Lutheran clergyman
at
79
Vazsecz, and sat on the sofa of state in his best

parlour while his wife, with the usual hospitality,
offered cigars
and wine.
One day he came

parishioners
sent from
to tell us that
some of
peasants
America
who had emigrated had

sum of money to pay for the
erection of a painted crucifix
The wooden
the cemetery.
his old
by the highroad near

cross,
with
its
screen
would cost half the money the

remainder was to pay for the figure and the skull
and crossbones, which were to be cut out of thin
With polite diffidence, the clergyman
iron plates.
asked if we would associate ourselves with the good
and
its
railings,
work by designing and painting the

for the small
sum
available
a request
iron shapes
we
readily
complied with.
We thought
it
would be easy to
some good picture of the

Master, and to copy
it,
find a print of
Crucifixion
by an Old
with variations of our own.
But we were at a Jewish inn in a Slovak village,

where Old Masters were unknown. Though it
proved far more difficult than we had anticipated
to draw the Sacred Figure in such a manner as to
inspire reverence,
we
eventually produced a cartoon
cut out of sheets of brown paper pinned together

with which the good
clergyman professed
little
HUNGARY
80
He
himself to be highly pleased.
went
off with
worker
in the
rolled
intending to take
it,
county town.
it
never heard of more.
begun over
When
them
Our work
intelligent
it
was
had to be
again.
the iron plates at length arrived,
to
when he
and
it,
all
up and
to an iron-
But, alas
the train at St. Miklds he forgot
left
it
have
we found
been admirably cut by a most
workman, and the painting was
at
once
begun.
We gave the figure

first
several coats of oil paint, the
one being light grey, hardly varied.
Even
at
the earliest stage Frau Deutsch expressed lively

admiration.
'
Such beautiful work
How
ent from other crosses on the countryside
when
differ-
!'
But
the last painting, with anatomical markings,
was complete, I believe her enthusiasm was

She was evidently bitterly hurt as I
genuine.
etc.,
was myself
the
work
when
all
afterwards
my
wife smeared
over with horrible streaky varnish,
procured from the village shop, and said to be

necessary for
The
in
skull
protection from the weather.
and crossbones, which we painted
tempera, to avoid delay caused by the slow
drying of
It
its
is
oil colours,
were
also heavily varnished.
devoutly to be hoped that they have not.
AN ENGAGED COUPLE
Misko and Maruska,'
at
Menguszfalva.

as
long since slipped off their iron
suspect,
81
ground.
We
if I
first
stayed on for seven weeks at Vazsecz, and
dwell on that
unconventional
in
details
of
it
my memory
because
visit it is
it
surroundings,
was our
and
the
remain more clearly impressed on

than
much
that
came
The
later.
food was almost tolerable, the beds were good,
and we had brought indiarubber baths with us.

What mattered it if there was glass in the door
between our
room and
that
our
of
through which she spied to see
landlady
we were
if
up,
or allowed her Slovak friends to watch us paint,

their long, thin noses flattened the while against
the panes and their greasy black hair falling on

their sallow faces
Still,
on having a curtain, and though

and old when
it
to be clean.
On
we
before long
this
did insist
was ragged
came, Frau Deutsch considered
it
the point of cleanliness I could
never bring myself to trust her.
She too often
appeared with tousled hair and dribbled apron.
How
pleasingly different was the spotless appear-
ance of the Slovak
girl
who
burst into our
room
each morning without knocking, her feet bare,

her neck glistening with beads, and in her hands
wooden
pails full of sparkling
water
Every day
11
HUNGARY
82
it
seemed a fresh surprise
for her that
we
could not
speak the language with which she was familiar,
and she would show two rows of exquisitely white

teeth in smiles which seemed to express pity
combined with wonder.
Among my
wife's
models was a boy named
Misko a dear little fellow nine or ten years old.

Babyhood seemed still to linger about his eyes and
mouth, but in spirit he was a labourer and a
politician, as the red feather in his hat
proclaimed
Misko was amiable when not asked to sit.

He underwent the martyrdom of posing twice,
but nothing would induce him to come again.
him.
He
willingly consented, however, to be our guide
for four or five miles over the hills to the
Vag, where we were going for a day's

a
gallant
cavalier
little
he
was
to
walk
and offered
over,
culty on her path.
him a
share
quietly at a
his
own
At
diffi-
of our cold chicken, he remained
little
distance until he had
He
wife found
unwrapped
and a thick piece
then cut the best part out of the
middle of the bacon and came to
My
every
when we had given
food, consisting of bread
of bacon.
and
for
his help at
lunch,
fishing,
He spread
my wife
branches and leaves in wet places
Black
it
offer it to us.
a joy to be with him, and I

was
able
proceed with
to
my
fishing
83
without
feehng that she was neglected.
Many more
remember about Vazsecz

we went to fish for crayfish in
things do I
how, for instance,
a small stream, with liver for bait stuck in cleft

sticks,
and caught forty on one afternoon
how
Frau Deutsch cleaned them and put them alive

into boiling water, and how good they were
how, when
was working
home, children,
at
nearly naked, played and screamed
all
through
the sultry days in and about the stream below
our windows, and made
threw at one another
on their backs
and
them
left
mud
balls,
how mothers
in baskets,
which they
carried babies
enveloped in white cloths,
in corners of fields in the shade of
umbrellas while they were at work.
Slovak children are early

selves.
itself
At
left to shift for
the age of one a Slovak baby
roughly plumped
down on
them-
may
find
a stone before the
house, and left alone, with nothing on but a tiny

I
observed from our windows an infant
who was
thus treated, and wondered what would
shirt.
happen next.
try his legs,
Very soon he thought it was time to

but found it by no means easy to get
on to them.
After several ineffectual attempts his
perseverance was rewarded, and then a
spirit
112
of
HUNGARY
84
adventure took possession of the
man.
little
Off
he started with uncertain steps from stone to stone,

until at length he reached the streamlet
source of
joy to ducks and urchins
where women sometimes
washed
sometimes threw whatever
their crockery,
refuse they
feet
had to dispose
When his
of.
little
bare
touched the water, an expression of joy spread
down
over his face, and then he suddenly sat
How
enchanting were his next discoveries
came a cork bobbing up and down
in
it.
Here
in the ripples
there gleamed a bit of tin through the semi-opaque

water.
Next he found
clutching
with
it
his
half a broken bottle, and,
tender fingers, played long
with the dangerous toy, without cutting himself.
he dropped
Then, losing interest in
it,
out of the water, and
made
could.
Was
through so
cry, or
On
was
it
for
home
meeting
as best
he
a feeling of relief on passing safely
many strange adventures

it
struggled
it,
that
made him
the cold discomfort of his wet shirt
his
mother, he flung his arms round
her knees and sobbed aloud, as though a prodigal
had returned.
Sometimes we saw babies playing in the dust,

quite naked save for gorgeous caps, which glittered
with
silver
Before
and gold and ribbons of many

leaving
Vazsecz,
will
colours.
add that no
MENGUSZFALVA
85
Magyars lived there, except the Notary, his family

and his clerk, and perhaps the three ladies to whom
we went on the first day; but they lived in such
complete retirement that we saw no more of them.
The Slovaks appeared to us to be finely grown and
some
instances by the execrable spirits they bought from
the Jews. The costume they all wore was peculiar
to their village, and one of the most remarkable,
and at the same time becoming, that we have ever
naturally intelligent people, sadly
damaged
in
seen.
The remaining
inhabitants were a few untidy
Jews, entirely devoted to money-making, and a few

Gipsies,
who
also did little honest work,
poverty and squalor.
These
but lived in
last wôuld disappoint
anyone inclined to associate romance with
their
race.
From
called in
or Vagfalva, the station

Hungarianto Lucsivna-fiirdo
but
Vazsecz
is
short journey
two
places
as
by
The
rail,
but
how
different
is
were the
one, a dusty village, lying bare to
the sun, with hardly a tree for a mile around
it,
was
inhabited by people in the costume of the Middle
Ages.
villas,
The other consisted of a number of small

embowered among trees, and set here and
there in the green grass of an undulating park.
It
HUNGARY
86
was frequented
chiefly
by Magyars of the
sional class, with their wives
and
profes-
families.
Already the short holiday season was drawing
to a close.
few dainty young
ladies in white,
attended by young gentlemen in flannels, were
still
to be seen in groups, while children with nets chased

butterflies
we had
had
but
many
of the happy-looking families
noticed on the occasion of our flying
visit
left.
Everything at Lucsivna-furdo
country round
it
belonged to a
and much of the

fine old
named Szakmary, whose family has

centuries in a large house some two
near Lucsivna village.
derived so
much
In
benefit
his
gentleman
resided for
miles away,
youth Mr. Szakmary
from water-cures that he
determined to set up, as soon as he was

establishment on his
own
estate for
able,
an
the benefit
And, accordingly, about five-and-twenty

years ago Lucsivna-fiirdo was built, with baths
of many kinds, and specialist doctors diagnosed
and prescribed there. 1 believe for some years
of others.
it
flourished exceedingly, but the opening of
many
Hungary, embodying the
latest
similar places in
discoveries
and developments, led to
its
partial
decline.
When we
went there, there were no
doctors,
and
87
only the simplest kind of baths remained in use.

Invalids no longer came, but people who were fond
of the
place
returned
year after
year, forming
together a friendly and informal society.
We
were given rooms
in a little villa
about a
quarter of a mile from the central house, which
contained the general dining-rooms and the verandas
where people used to take

I
coffee
and smoke.
sometimes saw an old gentleman go past our
windows with
his
gun.
He
lived in a villa
formal fish-pond, and had rented
it
by the
every year since
the place was started.
Of
course,
no shooting was allowed
for
some
distance from the villas, with the result that the

woods near them had become a sort of sanctuary
known to the deer, which we frequently saw browsing

in the
open or galloping across the glades.
Old Mr. Szakmary

during the season
lived
when
and presided at the Flirdo
guests were there, but spent
the remainder of the year at the old family mansion.
Shady drives united the two places. A son named

Adoryan (Adrian) managed the estates and occupied
some of the rooms in the old house, the walls of
which were closely covered with weapons and
trophies of the chase.
When
after a
time
we had made
the acquaintance
HUNGARY
88
of some of the guests, as well as of the ruling family,
became known that I was fond of fishing and

shooting, the old gentleman most kindly invited me
to go fishing in the small river which flowed through
and
it
his estates.
known
This caused some surprise, as he had been
frequently to refuse permission, never to ofler
it
before.
to
me
as
understood
it
to be a kindness
shown
an Englishman in Hungary, and was glad
to be able to bring plenty of trout for the table d'hote.
Then Mr. Adoryan

was to be a party
had long since
me
invited
in a
There
to shoot.
few days, and
my own gun
arrived.
The appointed day came the guests assembled.

One, who had come from a distance, was a Colonel,
;
in a smart green shooting-suit
a sprightly tuft at the back of
Captain in dark green,
who
and green hat with

it
another, a
young
rode a white charger and
was attended by an orderly. He was recovering

from a wound, and wore the bullet which had
recently passed through his body attached to his
watch-chain.
Then
there was the old gentleman I
had seen pottering about with
two or three
relatives
his gun.
He
and
of the Szakmary family
completed our number.
long farmer's cart of curious construction
awaited
us.
It
had rows of spokes sloping out
YOUNG GIRL OF MENGUSZFALVA

GOING TO CHURCH
VAZSECZ AND LUCSIVNA-FUKDO
89
from a narrow bottom, covered with straw, to the

top
These spokes were just wide enough
rails.
apart for one of us to
sit
between each pair of them.
We took our places in two lines, back to back

horses
We
low stone
the
and away we
started, their bells jingled,
rattled.
passed the Szakmary house, a large
surrounded
building,
with well-kept
gardens and grounds, and made on for steep
hills
wooded with beech and oak trees about a

mile beyond it and there we met the beaters and
hounds. The head-keeper did not much resemble
thickly
the important person
home
who
occupies a similar position
He
was a wild man, dressed in thick

white felt. His boots, each made of one piece,
turned up and laced across the instep and around
the ankle, were sharply pointed at the toes. The
at
down, came also to a point in front, and

nose was long and pointed.
With it he could
hat, turned
his
smell
game
wood.
especially
wild-boar
on
His small grey eyes sparkled
entering a
like jewels,
and the way he got over the ground was wonderful.
Around
his shoulders
was slung a large cow's horn,
with which he frequently played,
'
Too-hoo, hoo-
hoo, too-hoo.'
There were half a dozen hounds, of a breed
unknown
to me.
In colour black and tan, they

12
HUNGARY
90
were small, but they worked admirably,
some of
the eight or ten beaters,
as did also
whom
were
Gipsies.
We
wood
and
were given our stands round about a small
man disappeared with his followers,
the wild
Then from
for a long time stillness reigned.
the distance came the sound of the horn,
hoo-hoo, too-hoo,'
Immediately
by a long
after that there
silence.
When
was a
gun, and
Too-hoo,
medium size had

that nothing
shot, followed
the shooters were called
we found
together at the end of the drive,
wild-sow of
'
and soon a hound gave tongue.
that a
fallen to the Colonel's
else
had been seen by
anyone.
In that part of the country shooting

in winter,
when
from higher
the cold has driven
places, so this success
much joy, coming as

At another drive
large oak, near
is
only good
game down
was hailed with

attempt.
it
did at the
stood in the shadow of a
first
some huge grey rocks handsomely
patterned with dark moss.
was a steep slope
Forty yards before
covered with young
interspersed with tall dark
firs.
me
beech-trees,
The midday sun
blazed down, and not a sound was to be heard save
when
a fir-cone dropped with a light thud on the
dry ground, until presently
heard the musi(5 of

the hounds and the horn over the
and then
rustling
nearer,
of leaves.
into the open,
towards the
in
far side of the rocks
near which
moving more and more

a few moments he expired.
I confess to a feeling of
have
killed roe, for
him
was
full in
lying on his
fell,
back, his feet
gentle
leisurely fashion
well forward, 1 shot
the neck, near the head, and he
in
before me,
splendid roe-buck sprang
and galloped
Aiming
standing.
hill
coming ever nearer
91
feebly, until
compunction whenever
though
in the instances
noted
here the shooting was well done, in some others
unfortunately was not.

in the eyes of
There
wounded
is
it
a pathetic appeal
or dying roe-deer, which
haunts one for long, and makes one loath to slay

such graceful and defenceless animals.
The
shoots at Lucsivna were planned for but half
the day.
At
that
first
one nothing more
fell
except
a few hares, but several times roe- deer sped rapidly
through the trees near

could see
When
and the
us,
and vanished before we
buck was among them.

our cart came, we mounted
if
officer
it
as before,
on the white horse trotted by us
through the beech-woods to the inn at Lucsivna

village,
in
where we consumed bottled
ale
and
cigars
honour of our successful morning, and many
122
HUNGARY
92
stories
were
which
told,
nearing home, with the
not understand.
game
up before us in
announce our happy
the cart, a shot was fired to

return, and,
were
all
to
On
I did
piled
conclude the entertainment,
we
photographed, with the wild sow, the buck,
and the hares
laid
out before
us.
Several pleasant mornings, similar to that one,
were passed at Lucsivna during our
stay,
which
some glade among

the woods, when we toasted bacon and mushrooms
and the beaters their pipes.
Strange as it may seem, the charm of that kind
generally ended round a
of shooting
any game
largely to be found in the long waits
is
which occur
after
is
fire in
one has been placed and before
Alone in lovely
complete stillness, and forced to
likely to
surroundings in
be seen.
remain almost motionless, one observes.
It
may
be the exquisite edge of a mountain, or the exact

relation of
its
distant purple to a turquoise sky,
or the clouds, or the trees, or
any of a thousand
things, on which the mind, undirected, will dwell.

It
may
be but a twig in the foreground, which
compels admiration by the beauty of

the delicate attachment of
variety of
is
its
to study
colours
and enjoy
its leaves,
its
growth,
or the subtle
but something there always
pod bursts open
in the
THE CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS FROM

LUCSIVNA-FURDO

sun
far above,
sweeps in wide
95
an eagle with outstretched wings

out of sight.
circles
The sound of
distant
horn and hound having
called to attention, the faintest cracking of branch
or rustle
of leaves
perhaps there
is
is
keenly noticed, and then
a shot, far
off,
to excite curiosity,
followed soon after by others.
come
one's
time, and
way one hopes

when the signal
If nothing
better
for
is
given
has
luck next
in a spirit of
good-fellowship joins the assembled guns near an

already crackling
For us the
fire.
chief attractions in the neighbourhood
were
Lucsivna-flirdo
of
Menguszfalva and
silver-birch
the
pretty
village
of
most amiable people, the

woods, and the towering mountains
its
beyond them.
One morning we
received the pleasant news that
the Prelate proposed to pay a short
visit to
Lucsivna
day or two, and great was our joy when he

stepped from the train and walked up with us
for a
through the woods to the rooms prepared for him.
The
dignity of his presence was such that in
general other people appeared to be of comparative
unimportance
but when
the Prelate
met
Mr. Szakmary, there were present two splendid

types of
Magyar manhood
the
Churchman and
HUNGARY
94
the
in
man
of the world.
They were soon
interested
one another, and frequently engaged in animated
amused us
remember that
each of them had previously told us that it was
characteristic of Hungarian politeness that Magyars
never converse in their own tongue in the company
conversation.
of guests
It
to
who do not understand
consciously, but so intense
is
it
nor do they
their love of race
and country that when questions affecting these

are
discussed, all else
is
forgotten by the most
scrupulously polite, and they lapse naturally into

their
own
tongue.
was a delight to us to stroll among the

beautiful woods with the Prelate and listen to
his words.
man of vast experience, who had
It
much, he was tolerant of the opinions

of others and lenient in his judgments.
Soon after his departure we, too, packed up and
set off, via Budapest, for Kalocsa, where we were
travelled
to spend the autumn.
CHAPTER V
HUNGARIAN
The word
'
Gipsy
'
GIPSIES
Hungarian,
(in
Czigdny)
is
associated in the minds of most of us with romance

and mysterious the Gipsies of
and mystery
;
Hungary
still
remain, though to a great extent
the romance of their existence has faded away.
They may no more wander at their own sweet

will where the long arm of the law cannot reach
them their musicians seem now as well pleased to
;
play the last waltz from Vienna as the entrancing
music they have long made their own.
and squalor describes the condition of
many, who
instead
we imagine
for
them
of the free
live in
life
mud
Beggary
far
in the
too
woods
hovels, even in
holes in banks, and eke out a miserable existence
by begging or petty theft.

Some combine a special kind of handicraft, such
as cutting out wooden troughs or other farm
95
HUNGARY
96
utensils,
with wandering
the land
be thieves
but their thieving
and most are

is
said to
of an ignominious
of horse-stealing, and of
gallops across whole counties, are gone for
All of them, except the
ever.
are
few do ordinary work on
are poachers,
The brave days
kind.
mad
many
The women and
picturesque.
carriage
is
men
sometimes,
girls,
whose
often magnificent, are generally hand-
some, and have an instinctive knack of so wearing
when
the most commonplace garments that
from a distance these appear to
seen
be, not clothes, but
This peculiarity must have
Oriental draperies.
been handed down through countless generations.

It
is
believed
by some
authorities that Gipsies are
descended from the Pariahs of India, a conquered

race
who were
persecuted and ill-used for ages,
were allowed to worship no gods, and believed in

none, as none helped them.
Nowadays they change
their
nominal religion on
crossing a frontier, being naturally anxious to avoid

religious
persecution in any form, and quite in-
different as to
they conform
unrestrained.
seem anxious
ladder.
what
to, so
sect
Christian or
long as their liberty
is
heathen
otherwise
Except the musicians, no Gipsies

to leave the lower rungs of the social
Their children, like aU others, are obliged
SLOVAK WOMAN SINGING A HYMN
HUNGARIAN
GIPSIES
to go to school, but parents
by law
sending them
if
97
would avoid
they dared.
While walking with a schoolmaster we once

came upon three boys with violins who, under the
shade of a large
mingly.
pupils,
replied
school
were playing quite char-
Our companion told us they were his

and when asked if they learned readily,
'
tree,
Gipsy children learn nothing at
they will not learn, and do
tell if this is
not.'
all at
cannot
a general experience, but incline to
the belief that they could learn anything
if
they
would.
In
the holidays,
especially
near any piece of
water, youngsters are to be seen playing about,
nearly
or
quite
naked.
Their
swarthy bodies
are remarkably well formed and well nourished,

their black eyes sparkle, their white teeth shine.
I
have a vivid recollection of one
fellow,
little
with nothing on but a black pot-hat,
who
forded
a wide and rapid stream, which reached in the
middle up to
painting.
his armpits,
When
and then watched
me
he dried, there was a bloom on
his coppery skin like that of a grape.
He
was the
best-dressed male Gipsy I ever saw
The ordinary wandering
Gipsies resemble those
to be found in other countries, both in their
13
own
HUNGARY
98
appearance and that of their belongings.
Here are
the same
same dilapidated caravans,

patched tents, the same dark-eyed, active-looking
men and women and swarm of children of all
the same aged horses and knowing dogs
ages
to be seen the
and
in the gloamingthe same
fires,
them
ing black pots suspended over
with simmer-
in the
smoke,
which so excited us when we were young.

Hungarian Gipsies are remarkably hardy.
They
can endure more intense heat and bitterer cold

than any other race in the country
days without food, and
more than anyone
Hungary
parts of
in the farms Gipsies
without
ill- effect,
and
can go for
when occasion offerseat
else.
that
when
beg
for
have heard in
many
fowls die of sickness
them and
eat
them
also that they are frequently
suspected of having previously poisoned them.
On
quite good authority I was also informed that cases

are
known when
culosis,
pigs which have died of tuber-
and been buried
as
unfit for food,
have
been dug up by these people and made the occasion

of a gala feast, with no evil consequences.
Magyar
friend,
Central Hungary, told
by
foxes,
who
preserves pheasants in
me that, being much
plagued
and there being no hounds in the neigh-
bourhood, he instructed his keepers to shoot crows.
HUNGARIAN
GIPSIES
99
put strychnine in them, and leave them about

Shortly after this was done
for the foxes to eat.
came upon a Gipsy
a keeper going his rounds
encampment, where the crows, which had been

His
gathered, were being cooked for supper.
remonstrances were of no
brought
avail,
and only when he
and both, armed with guns,
his master,
had threatened to shoot, were the birds given up.
My
friend said that,
keeper's conduct,
to be
on the
though he approved of
on the ground that
safe side,
it
his
was better
he did not himself think the
crows would have done the Gipsies any harm
As
beggars their insistence exceeds that of any
others,
except,
perhaps,
chests
them
unkempt
much-
on
Irish
A troupe of
frequented tourist routes.

children with
the
half-naked
hanging on their bare
hair
and draggled rags pinned anyhow about

will follow a stranger
who
passes
settlement, continually repeating the
by
their
same whining
prayer for alms, for any distance, until at last

threats being of
them
no
avail
in
desperation he pays
to go away.
There are many
villages
where Gipsies are not
allowed to live on account of their habits of picking
and stealing and
dirtiness,
but hard by them they
often form squalid colonies.
The
adults do
132
odd
HUNGARY
100
and seem to have no
jobs,
in brickfields
if
dislike for regular
any are near, and the children
they can escape from school
work
when
tend geese or waylay
strangers, as described above.
Attempts have frequently been made to improve

their lot
according
Archduke Joseph
century
to our ideas
in the latter
gentleman,
me
Court at that time, told
once went to
visit a
built a house,
and found them
The Archduke
stay.
whom
he had
living in a cabin
also built a
their life pleasant there
Family
for
Archduke
floor of the principal
exclusively for Gipsies, and did
make
who was much
that the
Gipsy family
which they had erected on the
room
part of the last
but they were almost invariably followed
by disappointment.
at
notably by the
model
all
village
he could to
but they would not
after family stole
away, and
it
was
soon deserted.
Gipsy musicians are now famous throughout

the world.
Every town, almost every
Hungary has
at least
village, in
one Czigany band.
In the
large towns they are regularly engaged to play

in hotels
are
sent
and restaurants
for
on
all
festal
in smaller ones they
occasions, and,
when
not otherwise engaged, are to be seen hanging
about inn -doors or gliding
silently,
snake -like,
A MILL NEAR VAZSECZ
HUNGARIAN
GIPSIES
through dining-rooms, to spy

are
make
they know the
enough guests
In
playing remunerative.
present to
villages
if
101
birthdays and feast-days in
every family prosperous enough to pay them, and

regularly appear
on such
Sometimes a guest
occasions.
at a country inn sends for the
The
Gipsy band to entertain him.

violin will then
and, with
The guest
approach quite near to
subtle
will
follow
servility,
stop
him
humming
moods.
his
all
ruthlessly
his patron,
when he
is
and direct him what to
tired of a certain piece,
play, often
leader with his
a tune,
which
taken up by the Gipsy and
his
is
immediately
companions with
the most perfect ease.
Nearly everything seems to depend on the leader.
On
returning once to
Budapest we were
the
annoyed
Hotel Metropole at
to
find
band
the
what we remembered it to have been

on former visits. It was playing operetta tunes
in a very ordinary way, and was noisy.
All at
once as if by magic it entirely changed
the
touching strains of old Hungarian melodies wailed
and throbbed through the hall, and people at the
inferior to
dining-tables
The
stayed their conversation to
explanation
Marsza
was
that
the veteran
famous Czigany player
of
listen.
Banda
the
old
HUNGARY
102
school
had come
in,
taken his place at the head
of his band, and infused

I
it
with his
own
spirit.
have already referred to a habit of the leading
player of singhng out someone present

a lady
and
frequently
He
playing especially to her.
mark every change of her
will
expression, with extra-
ordinary delicacy of perception, playing accordingly

all
from grave to gay.
things,
At
the conclusion of a piece there
the plate, however,
is
is
no applause
handed round two or three
times in the course of an evening, by one or other

of the musicians, and an opportunity
thus given
is
of marking one's appreciation in a practical manner.
The Gipsy who
receives contributions
is
too proud
to thank.
There are many

others
showering
understood
how
to
stories of rich
work upon
anything of the kind.

it
has,
suspect,
and
who have
gold on musicians
excite their generosity, but
of
young men
their feelings
we
and
never witnessed
Such loose gold
by now passed
or
most
into hands
know better how to guard it.

Even in villages, when the Czigany
that
come
to
dressed.
much
in
play, they are
musicians
smartly, even foppishly,
Neat dinner jackets and black ties are

favour, and a lavish display of white cuffs
HUNGARIAN
and high
collars
is
GIPSIES
never lacking
103
their shoes are
shiny and pointed, and they also affect rings and

chains,
it is
live
and
All this
cigarettes.
wonderful when
is
remembered that most of these gifted people

and feed in the same quarters as others of their
race.
They always play without notes, and generally

do not know them.
Somewhere about the year 1850 while they
were
still
enveloped in a
readily accorded at that period
romance, so
of
halo
the
Abbe Franz
wrote a book Des Bohemiens
Liszt
Musique en Hongiie, from which
et
de
leur
have translated
the following extracts
Europe in the fourteenth

century no one knows whence so quietly, so
imperceptibly, that they seemed to come out of
the earth. They had no Saga, no Bible. Music
was the expression of the genius of this people,
distributed over many lands, mixing with no other
'
Gipsies
arrived in
race,
without record of the past or hope of future
glory.
With
astonishing obstinacy they refused
to participate in the
or to receive
blood.
their
This
type,
happy
lot of
favoured nations,
among them one drop

last trait is
which,
of foreign
proved by the purity of
according
to
contemporary
HUNGARY
104
descriptions of the
what
first
to arrive,
was then exactly
remains to-day.
it
In the midst of spohation, of sufferings without
name, they never produced

or happy apostates.
been found those
illustrious
renegades
Among them
have never
own
people, who,
who deny
their
having abdicated their shame, disavowed them, and
from
fled
(This appears to refer to the Jews, with
bought.'
whom
*
hunger to enjoy a prosperity thus
their
Liszt compares Gipsies at great length.)
The Gipsy
race rejects the despotism of every
asks nothing from
law,
maintains
the earth but
individuality
its
with Nature.
life,
and
by constant intercourse
Its indifference for all
men
is
pro-
found, except in so far as they procure the means
of
civilized
man
poultry-yard
it is
horse.
might a fox
as
it
at the farmer
had devastated.
inoffensive
design to
'
It laughs at the superiority of
subsistence.
its
at least,
it
He
Its needs satisfied,
has no premeditated
do injury en masse aux
Gipsy needs
whose
masses,
liberty like that of the wild
cannot understand
how
a roof, how-
ever beautiful, can be preferred to forest vaults.
Authority, law, rule, precept, principle, obligation,

duty, are to him notions and things insupportable.
Possessing neither Bible nor Testament of any sort.
MOTHER AND CHILD AT MENGUSZFALVA
HUNGARIAN
he sees no necessity to bend
comprehension of abstract
GIPSIES
105
his inteUigence to the
ideas,
and
lets it rust in
the circle of instinct.

'
He
is
contented
to
live
way
enchants him, giving
in
the
to a small
sun,
which
number of
primitive and elementary passions, and allowing
no
conventional virtue to trouble this liberty of soul,

this
freedom of morals, which he places above
all
the advantages which the slightest repression of his

appetites
might obtain.
To command and to obey are to him equally

odious.
To possess and to owe are two verbs non'
existent in his language.
thought, the
tie
Effect, consequence, fore-
of the past to the future, are not
only repugnant to him, but incomprehensible.

the only aim he has
organs with
all
is
As
constantly to delight his
the enjoyments they find in Nature,
he arrives at the absolute liberty of
to be
through
absolute indifference for to have,
would analyze Czigany music, decompose

it, dissect it, dismember it, in order to judge its
composition and compare it with ours, it would be
necessary first to mention what distinguishes it
from our own music. In the first place should be
'
put
If one
its
system of modulation, based on a sort of
total negation of all
system in
this respect.
14
HUNGARY
106
'
Gipsies no
more admit dogmas,
music than elsewhere.
discipline, in their
good,
all
is
laws, rules,
permitted, provided that
it
All
is
pleases
them.
'
Their art being for them neither a science to be
nor a trade to practise, nor an agility
learnt,
(as
that of the conjurer), nor a sorcery for which one
can receive the formula as a receipt
them an
art being for
elevated language, a mystical song clear
to the initiated, they use
it
according to their needs,
and allow themselves to be influenced
in their
mode
of expression by no external considerations.

'
They have invented
their
own
their music, invented
use, in order to speak to themselves
sing themselves, to themselves

selves the
logues.
for
it
;
to
to hold with them-
most intimate, the most touching, mono-
How could
they have introduced principles
and conventions, they who admit them nowhere ?

They have a primitive gavime and language, and
have never shown a
sincere, a religious respect,
for the preservation of

'
to
one and the other.
They submit music

none concerning the
to
no precept
sider
call
above
relations of tones.
mediate modulations are so
one can even
but
little
them extremely
all,
Inter-
obligatory that
rare,
and con-
them, when they do occur, as a modern
HUNGARIAN
corruption
as
GIPSIES
an effacement, an
107
obliteration, of
Chords of transition
the original type.
with
are,
few exceptions, completely omitted
in the
attack of one tone after another,
when
brusque
it
is
the
genuine Czigany music that one hears.

'Before
these
mortale the spirit of our
salto
ordinary musicians
is
bewildered and aghast.
Some-
times intimidated, always impressed and embarrassed, they are
beautiful
*
if it
tempted to cry
was good
''
It
would be very
!"
Perhaps some Hungarian experts, learned in
these matters,
be inclined to ask
will
why we
attribute so especially to Gipsies this music,
they
the
possession
Magyars
;
take
why we
pride in as a national
adjudge the honour of
vention exclusively to
those
considered to be merely
its
we would honour
which
who
in-
are generally
executants,
more than
declaimers of poetry of which
they were not the authors.

'
profound, a conclusive dissertation on this
question
is difficult,
for
it
inductions, the materials
can only be founded on
and
facts collected being
of a nature extremely vague and inconclusive.

'
had
In other days nearly every hamlet of Hungary

its
moved
troup of Czigany musicians, which only

in a certain district,
and earned there enough
142
HUNGARY
108
to provide for the season spent in forests and camps.
There were more or
less celebrated
times whole counties were
ones
some-
known and renowned
for the excellence of their artists (virtuoses);
grand
most
pay, and
seigneurs had orchestras in their
a keen spirit of rivalry existed as to
who
should
retain the best.

*
The Czigany
art
was thus spread throughout
the land like a flourishing vegetation.
population was, so to say, enfolded by

real pleasure, a national taste.
great and small
participated
the same degree

orchestras,
in
same
for the
who now delighted
now charmed and touched
All
it
All the
;
it
was a
rich and poor,
and enjoyed
artists,
it
to
the same
Prince and Magnate,
the people, playing with
the same brio, the same poetry, for peasants dancing

in the barns as they did where,
under gilded
ceilings,
great ladies reclined.
The most distinguished bands received handsome

annual payment from the Magnates, but they never
*
engaged themselves beyond a limited period of the

year
after
which they dispersed, either separately
or in groups, to considerable towns or the smallest

villages, to live there in the
Gipsies.
famous
Very
as to
rarely
same condition
as other
were bands or individuals so
be sent for from
far
away.
A GIPSY
HOME
HUNGARIAN
Beyond a few
'
we
discovered
trace of vocal music

their
109
and some warlike songs,
ballads
among
GIPSIES
the Hungarian Gipsies no
worthy of
women have good
attention.
Few
of
Too much exposed

much accustomed to
voices.
to atmospheric changes, too
by wild dances and the cries

exciting them, too much fatigued by the weight of
children, whom they carry on their backs the whole
day like the savages of America, the freshness of
drink, too soon tired
their timbre
is
often lost.
Now, from the nomads they were, the Gipsy

artists have become commercial travellers. Instead
'
of going with their tribe

carried in a dusty cart
folded
tent and caldron
they travel
by
train
from
one capital to another, formed into a society to

faii'e les affaires,
*
Since they have inhaled a
new musical atmo-
sphere, their art has ceased to be a joy for them,
but become rather a trade

this
hunger
since they have learned
for gain, this passion for lucre proper
to great commercial centres, infinitely
more corrupt
and more corrupting than the habit of stealing
when
exercised with a sort of primitive naivete,
they have become devoted, like
many
others, to
the monster of speculation, seek reputation only

to
make money, and
forget in this cult
hideous
HUNGARY
110
when
it is
the artist
who abandons
himself to
it
art, for cupidity.'
Whether
or
no Liszt was right
in ascribing
Gipsy
music to Czigany rather than to Magyar composers,

he himself, in the concluding paragraph of
his
book,
showed himself to be contented with the thought

at
that,
thus
'
all
events,
it
is
Hungarian.
wrote
Hungary, then, can with
own
He
this art, nourished
justice claim as her
on her corn and her wine,
ripened in her sunlight and her shadow, acclaimed
by her admiration, embellished and ennobled thanks

to her predilections and her protection, and so
woven together with her customs that
combined with the most intimate, the sweetest, memories

of every Hungarian.
it
figures
country
among
and
its
Even
it
is
as a glorious conquest,
the highest distinctions of our
memory
should be placed, like a
precious jewel, on one of the points of our ancient
and superb crown.'
CHAPTER
KALOCSA
Of
the
VI
A MAGYAR CATHEDRAL TOWN
many towns we saw
during several periods
amounting in all to more than three years

which we spent in Hungary, we learnt to know
none so well as we did Kalocsa. Invited first by
the Prelate,
left,
we
often returned, even after he had
and were always most kindly received by
the immerous friends and acquaintances

gradually
made
there.
For the sake of
we had
brevity, I
will not treat these visits separately.
The Cathedral
is
I presumealways
important object in a Cathedral town

Kalocsa
is
no exception to
this rule.
It
the most
and that of
dominates
everything, and can be seen from afar across the

level
country.
Renaissance
pressive.
work,
is
Built in the eighteenth-century
style, it is correct
The
without being im-
interior contains
highly ornate,
some
and has
111
fine stucco
been recently
HUNGARY
112
redecorated in a florid manner

is
while the exterior
plastered and toned with a light yellow-ochre
colour.
The west
a certain grace in
details,
which
end, with
its
two
tall
towers, has
proportions, and also in
appealed
to
me more
its
more
the
became with it.

On Sundays and holidays the Cathedral is crowded
for High Mass, which is celebrated with great pomp.
familiar I
Men
take their places to the right,
women
farmers' daughters, servants,

costume stand or kneel everywhere in the
left
girls
The
in
etc.,
reason for this last arrangement
wear so many
skirts
Sunday allowance
fifteen to
that
is
twenty-one
is
they could not possibly

sit
We were at one time allowed
they did.
aisles.
that they
get in between the seats, and could not

if
to the
down
the use
of a chamber resembling a private box, with curved
windows towards the church, which was high

up on one side of the chancel, whence we could
glass
follow the
attracting
elaborate
attention
services,
or
retire
without
when a sermon which we
could not understand was to be preached.
On
fine days,
Cathedral,
it
when
forms a
the congregation leaves the

brilliant spectacle.
The
old
people seem to melt away unnoticed, or serve but

as a foil for the young.
The young men invariably
WOMAN
DRESS
OF KALOCSA IN WORK-DAY
KALOCSA: A
MAGYAR CATHEDRAL TOWN US

though
dress in black,
their short velvet jackets
worked border of
crimson flowers and green leaves, and they always
wear top-boots. Active, compact-looking fellows,
and clean-shaven all but their moustaches, there is
something about them suggestive of the circus.
But they, again, serve but as a foil for the maids
have
sometimes
discreetly
the gaily-dressed, the finely-moving maids

in colour
can outvie golden and
silver
who
pheasants
strutting in the sun.
Hard by
the
Cathedral stand the iron gates,
surmounted by a Cardinal's hat
whence the
roses, leads
drive, passing
up
in the
same metal,
through a garden of
to the great doors of the palace of
the Archbishop.
The
palace, built about the
Cathedral,
is
same date
as the
a large pleasant-looking, light-coloured
building, with
two
Along
retiring wings.
run two rows of windows, sixteen
its
in each,
front
and
it
has a large grey roof.
Inside are a chapel, innumer-
able reception-rooms
and guest-chambers, a dining-
hall,
etc.,
all
handsomely furnished, and an im-
portant library containing
One
of the rooms
is
many
rare old books.
especially charming.
entirely panelled with a hard, polished,
beautifully inlaid
wood
of a deep
It is
and most
brown
15
colour.
HUNGARY
114
At
the back of the palace the gardens and
wooded
grounds of large extent are always open to the

public,
and reach down to the dyke, which, entirely
encircKng the town, protects
it
in case of flood.
Near the Cathedral and the Palace are a few

irregular open spaces planted with trees, and round
about them stand the simple large old houses of
the higher clergy.
From
Street,
group of buildings lead the High
this
which
nearly a mile long, and a shorter
is
road, at right angles to
When we
it,
arrived for the
only paved roads in the
to the railway-station.
first
time these were the
district,
but one was in
some
the material was
course of construction to Hoyos, a village

eight miles
off.
For
this
all
brought in barges to the nearest place on the
Danube, four miles away, and then

a temporary light railway.
There
in trucks over
is
this part of the country, so the cost of

is
extremely heavy.
When
no stone
in
road-making
an artesian well was
bored to a depth of 400 yards at the Kalocsa

Seminary, no stone of any kind was met with.
It
is
Alfold,
supposed that where the great plain, or
now
is,
there was once a vast lake,
whose
waters at length broke through the mountains at

the Iron Gates near Orsova.
The
alluvial deposits
KALOCSA: A
MAGYAR CATHEDRAL TOWN
115
by many great rivers formed

the ground which now produces some of the finest
brought into
this lake
crops in the world.
In Kalocsa there are

tions
many
educational institu-
seminaries, training-schools, a
for the sons of aristocratic
convent schools for
girls,
Jesuit college
and wealthy
and schools
families,
for middle-
class boys, besides the usual national schools for
There are
the comparatively poor.
also courts of
law, banks, and the offices needed in the administra-
the great estates of the Archbishopric.
tion of
Naturally, then, there are
many
interesting
and
refined people in the town, besides the dignitaries
of the Church
whom
have mentioned in another
chapter.
The
first
of these whose acquaintance
we made
was a Professor, Principal of the training-school

for schoolmasters
man
of universal interests and
knowledge, and an accomplished musician.
On coming down
the Tatra
from the mountain
some fourteen hours by
we took rooms in
the house of a
rail
districts of
to Kalocsa,
man who combined
the duties of clerk in the town-hall with rope-
making
artist
at
home.
could
speak
Both he and
German
his son
a young
but his kindly wife
took the greatest care of us without being able
152
HUNGARY
116
we
was here the

Professor called on us, introduced by the son, and
pressed us to show him our work. A few days
later he returned to ask if we would allow a few of
to understand anything
to see
his friends
Then
they came.
said.
It
what we had shown to him.

One was a tall young priest who
edited the Kalocsa weekly newspaper.

eulogistic article appeared in
were made
The glamour
it,
highly
and our reputations
of the Prelate's protec-
tion being over us, our position as persons of the
highest respectability was also soon established.
Our modest
lodgings (none
more magnificent
were obtainable had we desired them) were situated

at the
farthest
least
fashionable end of the
from the Cathedral
and
town
that
not far from
some sandy stretches of waste ground which formed

one of the most fascinating painting-grounds I have
There were many shallow pools of
ever known.
water on them, and willows and
tall
spreading
which composed in an endless variety of

The sandy ground was fine in
tone, and the scanty vegetation on it just right.
The sunsets and their reflections were often mag-
poplars,
interesting forms.
nificent.
Unfortunately,
season, but
whenever
go and sketch there.
it
was an extremely wet
could venture out I used to
We were told afterwards that
ON THE WASTE LANDS NEAR KALOCSA
KALOCSA: A
many
people who, from afar
thought
was
off,
Even
crazy.
saw
the
me
at
117
work
who
Prelate,
walked with us to see the motives
my
after
owti
heart which I had found, shook his head and smiled
incredulously
for
no one but pigs and the boys
who herded them had
ever been
that dreary place before
known
to loiter in
It was gratifpng for us when, later

work was shown, to find how heartily
ances might be led by
it
to look
the
it
was
new acquamt-
and to think that our
admired,
on,
more
at places
and things hitherto considered to be beneath
their
notice.
Several schoolboys also lodged at the ropemaker's,
rooms farther up the court than ours. They

were nice boys, always very well behaved and pohte
in
to us.
We
two played
used to pity them

\'iolins,
for,
though one or
beyond that they seemed to
have no sort of recreation.
It
was sad to
see
them
on half-holidays hanging about the front-door
for
hours at a time, ^\4th comrades from neighbouring

lodgings
and to think how much healthy enjoy-
ment they might have had if opportunity had been

afforded them of playing some of our now muchdecried EngHsh games.
For some reason best known to himself, the
HUNGARY
118
whose house we were very often entertained, did not introduce us to the principal laymen
of Kalocsa but we became acquainted with them
Prelate, at
who was
through the Professor,
a great favourite
everywhere.
Foremost
in
our
memories
is
the
Diocesan
Engineer- Architect, whose house formed a rendez-
vous for a group of
men
embodjring the intellectual
He
was a bachelor, a
vegetarian, a practical believer in Dr. Jager and in
MetchnikofF's milk-cure in fact, was quite up to
date in fads, and withal was one of the kindest and
attainment of the town.
most amiable of men.
rooms lay about

architectural reviews and the newest Hungarian
illustrated periodicals, after the manner of The
In
his
and on the bookshelves were to be found,

side by side with lives of poets and painters, etc.,
many books of reference. Thus, when any point
Studio
arose in discussion which could not be satisfactorily

settled in the first resort
by the Professor, a
visit
was invariably paid to the encyclopaedia of the

Engineer.
The
house, covering a good deal of ground, was
one story high.
It faced the
under a double row of

sat
in
the dusk of
High
trees, a
Street, where,
party of us often
summer evenings with the
KALOCSA: A
Engineer and

his
mother
119
each new-comer having
been invited to go through the garden into the

house and choose a wicker chair for himself. On
those occasions there was a noteworthy absence of
mere
gossip.
wide
fields,
The conversation would
drift
over
and not infrequently dwell on the
ancient power and glory of
Hungary
for
all
present
were patriots pur sang.
There are no exceptions to the rules of pronunciation in the
Magyar language,
so the irregularity
of our English spelling and pronunciation seemed
The Engineer had
worthy of remark.
years before
remembered
long quotations from Dickens, which he would
tried to teach himself English,
and
still
repeat for the, bewilderment of his friends.
We
once had the advantage of hearing them, but,
beyond the
fact that
door-nail,' little
was
who
under a French
Scrooge was as dead as a
intelligible to us.
a legend current of a
our friends,
'
man
in Kalocsa,
There was
known
to
studied English for three years
modern languages.
it fluently, he went
on his travels, and soon came across some people
he took to be English. Anxious to air his newly
When
teacher of
able to read
and write
acquired knowledge, he addressed them, and they

replied
but not one word did either understand.
HUNGARY
120
French was
men
tried,
The EngUsh-
with more success.
then explained that they thought he had been
talking Hungarian, and he confessed that, though
from
their appearance
English,
he concluded they must be
when they spoke he thought they were
Scandinavians.
This having been related, an opportunity was

afforded to the Professor.
'
illustration of the difficulty,
'
may
name
spell his
" Dickens."
" Boz,"
I believe
" Babylon," and calling
Sometimes
Haynald
few
stories
friend
years
was
this
it
still
He
pronounced
is
!'
were told of a famous Cardinal
Munkacsy
who
been Archbishop of
respects a giând seigneur, his
One
revered.
the stories
of
was once persuaded to preside
a general meeting of ladies

lives to philanthropical
Hungary.
it
" Cairo "
of Liszt and
all
memory was
and
you are capable of writing
previously had
In
Kalocsa.
Why,' he said, in
in England a man
work
Eager and excited
who devoted
at
their
in various parts of
in their
endeavours
to further the particular interests they represented,
they soon ceased to observe the ordinary rules of

debate.
The
great Cardinal slowly arose and rang
his bell.
When
he,
advisable, in the interest of the cause
'
it is
silence
was
restored,
'
Ladies,' said
you
A PAPRIKA-SELLER, KALOCSA
KALOCSA: A
have at heart, that not more than
all
five of
121
you
speak at once.'
The dear
who was
lady
old
the
Engineer's
mother sometimes spoke of bygone times. In her

youth she lived in a small county town in South
Hungary.
now
No
railways were there then
four lines meet
and
she described
where
how
her
parents would take their whole family away in a

large covered cart on a visit to relations, travelling
often eight or ten hours a day for
There were seats
days.
two or three
in front for the elders,
but
the back part of the cart was thickly strewn with

straw, in which the younger children used to play
or
lie
asleep in comfort.
The whole journey was
when
the roads were not too
a pleasant outing
heavy.
Several of the
set
men
belonging to the Engineer's
always went for their morning walk, from
8.30 to 9 o'clock,
and nowhere
else.
up and down the High
Many
Street,
others took the air there
same time, and endless were the raisings

of hats and the greetings, Aldszolgdja, Arcos';
at the
'
Aldszolgdja, Ferencz' (*Your obedient servant,
Your obedient servant, Frank '). There

was much stopping, too, to chat with friends, or
when the talk among themselves became absorbing.
Arcos
';
'
16
HUNGARY
122
promenade was repeated, from

but was then less popular, owing to
In the evening
6.30 to 7.30,
this
the competing attractions of the casino.
When
joined in these walks (the Engineer was
most pressing
as to their necessity for the preserva-
an interesting topic was generally
tion of health),
started for
my
benefit.
was
told, for instance^
something of Hungary's famous authors
Sandor
first),
(in
Hungarian the surname
the great lyric poet,
near Kalocsa
is
of Petofi
always placed
who was born at
Kiskuros,
of the beauty of his verse and the
depth of his feeling
of his love of country, especially
of his native plains
and of
his
mysterious dis-
appearance at a battle, in defence of his country's

rights, in 1849.
His body was never found, and
whether he was
killed during the fight, or perished
slowly afterwards in a Siberian prison, has never
been ascertained.
Hungary
poet Arany
in
Mor
is
The
is
the best beloved poet
next to him, perhaps, comes the epic
Janos.
Of
writers of romance, Jokai
easily first in popular estimation.
casino, or club, occupied in winter a set
rooms on the
High
Petofi
Street
first floor
of
of the principal hotel, in the
but in summer
it
was
installed in a
large house and garden a few hundred yards distant
from the Cathedral.
Amongst
the
members
of the
KALOCSA: A
club were some clergymen and
any position
meet on more or
who
attractions
of the
but a very long and an extremely

Instead of the usual slight groove
difficult one.
bowl down,
had a long hog's back, composed
it
So
of hard earth, kept in perfect order.
was
it
to
knock down
nine that a
all
was appointed, whose duty

roll
name
of honour the
The person
this feat.
and
for
so
it
difficult
Skittle
King
was to write on a
of anyone
who
achieved
honoured was expected
King the best cigar availthe company a cask of beer or bottles
to order for the

able,
summer
This was no ordinary
its skittle-alley.
skittle-alley,
lead honourable
equal terms.
less
the chief
of
casino was
to
superior by Divine right
the rest of the world,
One
few of the
In Hungary, as in Austria,
the aristocrats keep apart
lives,
the laymen of
all
in the town, including a
principal shopkeepers.
but
123
'
Skittle
'
of wine until they were satisfied.

It
was here
how to count in Hungarian

boy who set up the skittles, or
I learnt
as far as nine, the
the players, always calling out the
had
fallen
negy, four
eight
egy, one
6t,
five
kilencz, nine.
Never
kettb,
hat, six
It
two
;
het,
number
hdrorti,
seven
that
three
nyolcz,
was no easy matter.
shall I forget the roar of
Kilencz which
162
HUNGARY
lU
went up when, on the
summer
visit, I,
whole nine
last
day but one of a long
for the first time,
bowled over the
had been revolving
in
my mind
various excuses for ordering wine for the players
my
on
and wondering which would be
last day,
most acceptable.
Here it was, indeed, not an
excuse, but a duty
It may be added that only
in
once
each season was a skittle-player expected
to pay for his glory.
!
When
painting on
we took
after
my
lodgings
favourite wastes, soon
the
at
rope-maker's,
sometimes saw a hare, sometimes heard partridges
Very soon
calling in neighbouring fields.
the Professor
if
he thought that, in return for a
moderate payment,
for
an occasional
asked
I could obtain the right to
stroll
my
with
taken out in the Tatra was
He
gun.
still
The
go
licence
good, and I was
would
Just then there was no
see what could be done.
Archbishop, and no one knew who would be the
next but two of the most important people in the
service of the archbishopric were the chief Head-
longing for exercise.
replied that he
Forester and the chief Steward, both friends of the

Professor,
that
and to them he presently applied
was the origin of many very
for me.
and
delightful days
SWINE AT THEIR BATH, NEAR KALOCSA
HH
KALOCSA: A
The shooting
Kalocsa was
was
in the
immediate neighbourhood of
and that
let to clubs,
difficult to
at a distance
reach on account of the deplorable
state of the roads after continued rain
the Head-Forester,
whom I will
to me,
when
but both
German
generally named
call
Waldmeister, as he was thus
title,
125
by
his
me
and the Steward promised to remember
occasion arose.
My
excursion was with a Clerk of the
first
Steward's, to a puszta, near a railway- station, where
he was sent on business.
and nearly
little
dog,
game
it
as bare, as a
;
but as
The land was as flat,

table, and we killed but
I shot neither the
was considered
safe
Clerk nor his
soon to give
me
another
invitation.
Early one morning the Waldmeister, accompanied
by the Head- Forester immediately below him

rank, called for
me
in a light but very strong
in
open
four-wheeled carriage, drawn by a pair of the finest

horses from the Palace.
less strong, or
we
The
Had
the carriage been
the horses less spirited and powerful,
should never have arrived at our destination

drive that followed beggars description.
hardly clear of the town
we began
through mud, and the straining,

ing pass
belief.
When
to flounder
jolting,
and jerk-
Later on things got even worse
HUNGARY
126
the carriage sank to

their bellies
its axles,
the horses nearly to
the coachman urged and coaxed, but
never whipped, his willing horses, and frequently

let
them
rest
huge
then, with a
effort,
for a time again pulled forward.
unusually wet autumn, and

places that season
took two
It
hours to travel seven miles, for
we were
was a quite
it
except
at
various
never saw such roads before
or since.
We had been invited to a large puszta, belonging

to the Chapter of the Cathedral, for
in
German
as
form of sport
JKrm */^tZ (literally,

I believe to
and suitable only to
game cannot
what
is
known
'circle hunt'), a
be unknown in England,
fiat,
open countries where
otherwise easily be brought to the
gun.
Our
host, the occupier of the puszta, very
much
resembled what used to be called in England a

yeoman farmer,' or in some places a gentleman
farmer,' both in build, features, and general get-up.
'
Box-cloth leggings, with the buttons well in front,

riding-breeches, cap
man was
About
all
were correct
and a sturdy
he.
the farm everything was spacious and
suggested plenty.
It
was up-to-date
the Waldmeister told me.
It
was
in all respects,
lit
throughout
KALOCSA: A
by
electricity,
127
and narrow-gauge railway-lines con-
nected the various great buildings.
The farmer ushered us

where a handsome lady
the dining-room,
into
his wife
was
dispensing
a light luncheon, or second breakfast, to a
of guests
who had
number
Eleven
already arrived.
men
stood up and, one by one, introduced themselves

to
me
they
all
knew
other companion.
and
brewer,
Kalocsa
the
who
Among them
son
the
who
Fur and
gathering.
were
relations
thus came
were the
vet, a
an ironmonger, from
of
rest
beyond that they were

family,
Waldrneister and his
the
have forgotten
and friends of the
together in an
leather
annual
had much to do with
the picturesqueness of their appearance.
about
Outside
mostly boys
distinctive
fifty
beaters
were assembled.
some
There was nothing
about them or their clothes
have come from anywhere.
men, but
they might
Each boy
carried a
long stick and a white linen bag with food for the
day.
On
our joining them the whole party moved
away together, and what happened then was

two of the guns who knew the country
started,
one to the
a few beaters
right,
one to the
left,
this
well
each with
then another gun, with three or
four beaters, followed each of them, and so on
HUNGARY
128
walked
The
whole party had spread out.
until the
leaders
and when they met, a
in large semicircles,
about three-quarters of a mile in diameter
circle
had been formed,
guns stopped at
as the other
regular intervals, with the beaters spaced between
The order was passed
them.
towards the centre of the
to advance slowly
Almost imme-
circle.
diately flocks of wild geese got up, formed into

lines
shot.
and wedges, and passed over us well out of

Now and then a covey of partridges came
over, dropping one or
through
break
to
tried
two on the way, and hares
back.
closed
nearer
still
together,
it
Some
line.
either shot or
As we advanced we
turned
saw
thin
them were
succeeded, but most of
difficult for
our
became
gradually
increasingly
anything to get away, and
we soon
hundreds of yards away from us
hares which
it
the
had been the main object of our
manoeuvre to circumvent. They seemed bewildered
some would race
to the right,
everywhere they found
men
gathered in the centre.
When
ground obscured
would make
for
their
it,
some to the
Then they
left,
fore-
a small rise in the
view of the enemy some
only to meet with disappoint-
ment on reaching the

once before me. Over
Such a hillock was

came a hare, a long red
top.
it
MARKET
GIRL,
KALOCSA
KALOCSA: A
came down
stretch,
at full
Kke a racehorse it
straight towards me,
back
hare, ears flat with the
then turned a double somersault in the
air,
Before there was time to reload
still.
barrel,
129
and
my
lay-
first
another hare, a large light- coloured one,
sped across in front of
me
at full speed, only to
turn head over heels and slide through the wet
'KirdlyT (King) cried a beater near me,

and that was the brightest
beside himself with joy
grass.
moment
of
When
yards
day.
the circle was reduced to a width of 300
we
allowed
my
and we were
halted, the beaters ran in,
only to
shoot
For a few
outwards.
None of us
shot with more than one gun, and many hares
happily escaped to enjoy their own lives, and help
minutes there was quite a
fusillade.
us to enjoy ours on future occasions.
Three rings were made that day, and then, about

three o'clock,
Oh,
shades
Wardle,
we
of
returned to the farm for dinner.
Pickwick, and
most
hope you were present at that
hospitable
feast
In a large comfortably furnished dining-room
we
took our places at a long table laden with cakse,

fruit,
and
A\dne,
which looked
as if
it
had been
prepared for an old-fashioned wedding breakfast.
The only lady
present was
our
Hostess,
17
who
HUNGARY
130
presided at one end of the table
at the other sat
our Host, while in the middle of one of the sides
was our Host's
father.
This stout old gentleman was
always addressed as Bdcsi (pronounced Bartchy),

a term meaning uncle, which
when
a person addresses a
with
whom
Nhii
(aunt)
Good
he
is
is
is
man
frequently used
older than himself
on familiar terms.
The word
similarly used to an elder lady.
feeling prevailed,
and
also
amount of
for a considerable
good manners
etiquette
is
always
observed at a Hungarian meal.
There was much

fun and much laughter, but the language spoken
being Hungarian, I missed
The dinner was
all
the points.
served thus
came an
First
excellent soup, then boiled beef with vegetables,
and then a sweet dish or pudding.
'
How
sensible,'
I said to myself, 'to give such a homely, simple
dinner in a farm
pudding disposed
handed round
!'
of,
But not
a bit of
it
The
veal cooked with paprika
was
came baked
then
after that
fish,
fowls, then ices, then cheese, then dessert
and
all
the time wine flowed as freely as water from a

spring.
Of course, many
toasts
were proposed, and we
all
drank to each other separately and collectively

not out of empty glasses, as
is
usual after big
KALOCSA A MAGYAR CATHEDRAL TOWN
131
but generously
dinners at home,
each
bumper
The evening was now drawing
time
and
in,
the
Waldmeister, anxious lest darkness should overtake

us on our difficult
proposed that
we
way
for the
should start
moon
rose late
We
home.
for
performed a usual after-dinner ceremony by going
up
to the pretty lady
who had
presided with
grace and kissing her hand, and then

bye, shaking hands cordially with
If our
the party.
of the
moon
we
all
much
bade goodthe rest of
boon companions took advantage
to return to their homes, or stayed
till
daylight on the morrow, 1 never heard.
These Kreis Jagden take place in November and
December, when the crops have been all garnered

and the maize-stalks cut down. On an estate
Danube, twenty miles from Kalocsa,

800 hares were shot in one day, and I have heard
across the
of 2,000
being killed at another place.
Where
these great shoots are held the hares are always
spared during the earlier part of the season, except
When
a few required for the table.
shooting in October, for instance,

told to shoot
two hares
to take
partridge-
we were
away with
each
us,
but
no more.
The word
puszta,
several
times
used
172
above,
HUNGARY
132
literally'means desolate.
Originally
it
was applied
town or village, where horses

and cattle were driven, and where the herdsmen
remained, often for months at a time, without
to pastures, far from
A few such places exist
returning home.
there
is
and
one of great extent where we stayed, and
about which I
name,
still,
shall
have to
as I understand,
large farm
now
is
later on.
tell
also given to
The
any
standing alone in the plains, and
is
applied indiscriminately either to the buildings or
the land.
There are
villages,
in
but
especially in
it
Hungary
is
countless
peculiarity
mountainous
towns
and
of the country,
districts,
that farms and
other buildings are not dotted about everywhere
between them,
west, where
side
as in
neighbouring countries to the
by every green patch on
a mountain-
a white house, and on every knoll a church.
is
Farmers whose land lies many miles distant

from Kalocsa, and who have homes in the villages
nearest to
it,
possess
also
which they consider to be
come
there for
'
houses in the town,
their headquarters,
week-ends or when work

'
and
is slack.
and similar customs elsewhere, probably arose

when the depredations of the Turks drove people
This,
to congregate together for safety.
A CONVENT MOAT

:
Among
133
the attractions of Kalocsa for young
people of the farmer class were Sunday afternoon
dances at several modest inns in outlying parts of

the town.
We looked at one through open doors
a blaze of bright colours, whirling through tobacco-
smoke, to the wildly inspiriting tunes of Gipsy

Unfortunately, the young
dance-music.
men had
a habit of carrying long knives in their top-boots,
when maddened by jealousy or rivalry for the

favours of the young women, used them only too
and,
freely.
Several bad cases of stabbing occurred, one
and Sunday dancing
is
using knives to settle quarrels
is
at least ending in death,
now forbidden.
The habit of
the only unmanly thing I ever heard attributed to
Magyars, and that,

for I
trust, is
seldom heard of
it
not widely spread,
anywhere
else.
There was to be a wedding at the vineyard

belonging to the Cathedral Chapter, and the Prelate,
who
yielded to entreaties that he would be
present at the feast, invited us to go with him.
He
had watched over the growth of the vineyard
from the
first,
and was revered and beloved
neighbourhood.
Some
fifteen or
in the
twenty years ago
phylloxera ravaged the vines throughout Hungary,
but they are
now
as flourishing as ever.
The
vine-
HUNGARY
134
yard to which
we went
one of the
experiments in growing Hungarian
first
vines on very Hght sandy

light, palatable,
is
and
number of vineyards
was, I beheve, started as
soil.
The wine produced

intoxicating,
little
of this description
and the
is
rapidly
increasing wherever possible.

It
out.
was a bright October morning when we set

Half an hour by train landed us at Keczel,
from which place we drove rapidly to the vineyard
about
an hour's distance away.
commotion,
for
it
There
all
was
was the daughter of the manager
who had been married
that morning, and she and
the bridegroom had just returned from church.
We
inspected the large, perfectly-kept vineyard
and the
cellars,
where great
barrels stood in rows,
and were then summoned to the house.
we
When
entered the large bare hall with two tables
running the entire length of
and thirty guests
were
it,
where a hundred
already assembled, the
band struck up the Hungarian national hymn,

and the bride's father came and kissed our hands.
We were escorted
close to
to the top of one of the tables,
where the bride and bridegroom and a few
of their nearest relations, of both sexes, were seated.
For the
rest,
the
Presently the
men and women sat apart.

best man entered from the
far
end
KALOCSA: A MAGYAR CATHEDRAL
TOWN
135
young men,
They all wore
of the room, followed by five other
each bearing a large bowl of soup.
neat black velvet jackets and top-boots

best
man
but the
had, in addition, a bunch of flowers in his
buttonhole, tied with a pink silk bow, from which

fell
His hair
broad streamers.
in little black curls,
across
was dressed
which were plastered down
When
forehead.
his
in front
he had approached
to within a few paces of the bride, he and
comrades, one behind the other,

the tureens
man
still
recited,
caustic verses
stopped, with
all
and then the best

sing-song fashion, humorous or
in their hands,
in
which had been composed
occasion, describing the food he held,

its
uses.
also,
for
No
his
its
for the
origin
and
doubt he alluded to other matters
much
there was
giggling and laughter,
though he himself never even smiled. This quaint

ceremony was repeated with every course.
The behaviour
of
all
present
that
day was
charming, and though wine circulated freely, and

the people seemed bright and gay, nothing happened
to which even the
ception.
It
is,
fastidious could take ex-
indeed, always delightful to see, and
be in the company
of the
most
of, real
women were
Magyar
Some
and when the
peasants.
very attractive,
dancing began they were fascinating, swinging and
HUNGARY
186
swaying in their many
skirts
full
of go, but never
vulgar.
On
our return journey through the sand-hills
passed Gipsy encampments, where, against the
we
fire-
hght, graceful forms of children were silhouetted
hooded by
in the villages, the small houses, well
high heather
roofs,
looked milky -white
the
in
gathering dusk.
Our
The
winter.
The
take
visit
first
to
leaves
Kalocsa lasted on into the

fell
the
mud
froze.
Waldmeistej' had frequently promised to
me
for a short day's shooting in
some woods
down the Danube, when the roads

became hard. One morning, in a slight snowstorm,
which, however, soon cleared away, we started. A
a few miles
nephew of the TTaldmeister, a medical student,

was on the box by the coachman the Waldmeister
;
and
I seated ourselves
behind them, half buried in
rugs and furs, and then the jolting began, the most
excruciating jolting, six or eight miles of
we
reached the great dyke along the
the
way
it,
until
river.
On
admired the rich red wine colour of
deep festoons of paprika pods which hung beneath

the thatched roofs of each white farmhouse.
The dyke
is
by
gates by
usually blocked, at intervals,
padlocked bars which can be opened like
THE COxNFIRMATION WREATH
137
who have
the few privileged persons
such was, of course, the Waldmeiste?^
One
keys.
but the key
was not now needed, as in time of frost, when no

harm can be done by traffic, the way along the
dyke
is
We
opened
had
two or
still
three,
for
all.
many miles to travel, and had gone

when round a bend in the dyke,
which farther on was hidden by enormous
we saw coming towards

with maize-stalks.
down
for
us two waggons laden high
There was no room to pass
turn was impossible.

steeply
trees,
On
twenty
to
one side the bank sloped
feet
other, towards
on the
two
What was
the river, a small extra dyke, four feet high and

feet broad at the top,
to be done
culty
at first
way out
could see no
but our chief was a
though
hit
had been added.
man
of the
diffi-
of resource, and
somewhat nonplussed, he speedily
on the only possible
plan.
Our
horses were
unharnessed, led to a place where the earth of the
downward
possible,
slope, being
though
difficult,
coaxed down to the

then
lifted
somewhat broken, afforded

foothold,
field
and then cleverly
below.
We
the carriage and placed
the top of the small upper dyke.
four
men
on
The waggons
it
astride
passed, their loads brushing the carriage
all
the waggoners received
and soon
'
wigging
';
18
along
HUNGARY
138
we resumed our
journey, none the worse for our
efforts.
Driving
down
at last
from the dyke, we passed
through woods and young plantations, and came

to the house of an Under-Forester, situated in a
forest glade close to the
A Forester
Danube.
come
across the river to join us
for, all
had
the out-
lying places on the estate being connected with
was easy to make such

the beaters were ready, and we at
Kalocsa by telephone,
arrangements
it
once moved off to the plantations.
My
stand was in a pathway, twenty yards from
wood at which a man was working, but

he stopped work and hid himself on my arrival.
Hardly had the beaters entered the wood when I
a heap of
saw, indistinctly, something which I thought must
though seemed too long and moved

smoothly glide very rapidly through the
be a hare
too
it
thin stems towards the wood-pile.
shoot
it
as
not appear.
what
crossed the open drive
it
it,
do not know.
not a sound in the undergrowth.
gone
few moments
before me, appeared, as

fox.
saw
but
it
to
did
Whether the woodman moved,
checked
else
meant
it
clearly,
if
later,
There was
Where had
only five
by magic, the
looking at
me
or
it
paces
face of a
through the
KALOCSA: A
139
brushwood bright black eyes, nose, ears all keen.

and
I ought to have fired, but it was so close
;
some
feeling brought
never hunted
though
also influenced me.
While
happened.
from home
motionless face,
it
I still
have
Then a wonder
looked intently on that
slowly faded out and vanished
Not a twig moved, not a
leaf rustled,
but the fox
was gone
There was general disappointment that no foxes
had been found, as the beat had been arranged
especially in
hope of destroying one or two which
had done much damage, and were believed to

be in that cover.
had prevented
I
me
My
ignorance of the language
from knowing
never told the story of
We
had a
capital,
my fox
though
this in time,
till
all
and
now.
too short, day
afterwards.
The arrangements were admirably
carried out,
and plenty of hares and not a few
partridges
were
driven
forward.
remember
being impressed by the noiselessness of the flight of
some owls. Half a dozen were put up quite near

me, and circled about in a dazed fashion, without
any perceptible sound being caused by their wings.
It was a second uncanny experience
!
As we
sun
set
drove
home along
the dyke, a wintry red
behind the woods on the far side of the
182
HUNGARY
140
came while we were
great river, and darkness
The
from home.
far
brought, as
carriage lamps
we expected
to
still
had not been
return by daylight,
was therefore necessary to go to the nearest

farm and borrow a stable lantern, which the
student held up from his place on the box, on the
and
it
We
top of a stick six feet long.
we
preferred the risks of a cut
all
agreed that
home across
country,
over anything there might happen to be in the
way, to another bumping along the rutty roads

such as
was
we had
experienced in the morning.
weird
drive
over
frozen
That
slightly
fields
sprinkled with snow, which were only visible for
a few yards before
Sometimes a trench, which
us.
had to be circumvented, brought us up sharp
sometimes most grotesque willow-trunks, coming

within range of the lantern light, seemed to peer
moment out of the darkness but all

time we saw the Cathedral, like a beacon,
at us for a
the
faintly
electric
lit
gleaming
lights
in
the
distance.
The strong
on the square, themselves unseen,
up the towers and produced this effect.

When, much shaken, we had pulled up before
my
lodgings,
If
you
please, a
hare,'
were the
parting words of the Waldmeister as he drew one
out of the box along with some birds, and handed
COTTAGE AT KALOCSA
^^^
'
.
%
1
s pp
JU^
î"
:;!'
i1
'^^^Wi
,i
.^
^Âl
>
KALOCSA: A
them
to
me

for so
much
141
English had he secretly
learned in honour of the occasion.
At
Kalocsa
all
through the long winter nights
the waking might hear, at intervals, a low, melan-
For some time this

interested us, but by day we forgot to ask what it
meant. It was caused by the watchmen, who, in
huge sheep's- wool mantles, paraded the town, and
choly, long-sustained note.
whistled thus sadly to prove that they were not

asleep.
CHAPTER
KALOCSA,
When,
VII
AND ACROSS CROATIA TO FIUME

new Archbishop came
after a while, a
reside at Kalocsa,
many
high functions were held
member
a Bishop,
left
of the Chapter, on being
for another See,
For
promotions and other changes were made.

instance, a
to
made
and thus one of
the highest stalls in the Cathedral became vacant.
With
all
the greatest possible ceremony and formality
those occupying lower stalls were
and no one of them looked
moved
displeased.
up,
Corre-
sponding advantages of a temporal character accompanied this sedate move.
We
lived at that time
by way
of change
on
the road to the railway-station, about half a mile
from the Palace.

as studio, of
My wife had been given the use,
an empty dormitory at the smaller
seminary, which she could approach by a back-
door
without
disturbing
142
anybody
one
of
the
KALOCSA, AND ACROSS CROATIA TO EIUME

countless acts of friendly consideration
from both the clergy and
worked
many
in
laity
and
we
143
received
I generally
some small woods near a dyke, where
ecclesiastical
gentlemen, alone or in parties,
One
took their evening walk.
of the most con-
was the Secretary of the Archbishop,
stant of these
and he never passed without stopping to see how
my
picture
many of the
had been educated at Rome, where he
was getting
other priests,
had acquired a taste
He,
on.
for art
like
taste, indeed, like
some High Church clergymen at home,

mainly interested in saints and symbols but my
efforts at landscape painting seeming to him better
than none, he spoke of them to the Archbishop,
on whom we had already called to pay our
that of
respects.
One day
the Secretary
came
to us to say that
we
were requested by His Grace to bring our works for
on the following Sunday morning, at

and were invited to stay for dinner after-
his inspection
12.30,
wards.
There was something feudal about
this,
which, though to us unusual, was not unattractive.
With noon next Sunday came a smart brougham,

and pair of bays in glittering harness, for ourselves
and two manservants, in white gloves, for our
pictures,
which were quite
small.
HUNGARY
144
The
and a number of
Prelate, the Secretary,
forming the Court, were in one of the
priests
reception-rooms
when we
arrived,
and
all
helped in
arranging the pictures in the light most becoming
When
to them.
that was done the Archbishop
was informed of it, and he presently entered. It

is the custom
for Catholics, on being received
by him,
to
to
the
kiss
bend the knee

on
ring
slightly
right
his
of deference to authority.
and attempt
hand, in token
I observed,
however,
he lowered his hand with

movement, and did not allow this actually to be
a deprecatory
that
done.
When
friendly
to
my
comments, the Archbishop offered
wife, and, followed
by the
to the great hall where dinner
repast
was
sumptuous, but
noticing that the Archbishop

dignitaries of the
Church
such occasions there
leads the conversation
though he
listens
is
no
and
his
arm
rest of us, led her
The
was served.
could
not help
like all the great
have met
himself gave
ascetic,
temperance.
frivolity.
His Grace
an example of extreme, almost
On
many
our pictures had been reviewed with
is
deferred to
by
all,
with the utmost amiability to
what all have to say.

Far otherwise was
it
when we picnicked with
PRAYER FOR THE DEAD
^^^^^
KALOCSA, AND ACROSS CROATIA TO FIUME
145
party of the younger clergy, at the vineyard of the

parish priest
called
honour of our
late
Then
with them.
Boer Tanya (Boer Farm)
enemies
or supped informally
gaiety and laughter, wine and
song, held sway, and they
all
behaved
like
happy,
without a care in the
schoolboys,
light-hearted
in
world.
One
of the most distinguished
was an aged Jesuit
priest,
who
men
in Kalocsa
lived,
and had
on the top of the

Great Seminary in the High Street. He was an
astronomer, and his observations were devoted
lived for years, alone in a tower
principally to the sun,
He
mena.
its
spots
and other pheno-
showed us many drawings he had made
of them.
The owner
in the town,
choir.
them.
of our lodgings held
and
his wife still
some small post
sang in the Cathedral
They had three fair daughters

The eldest helped her mother
living with
to
mind the
home, the second was a certificated schoolmistress,

and the third was working hard with the object of
becoming one.
There was yet another
girl,
who
boarded in the house and studied for the same

examinations.
Those
two
students
separable, and, either in the house or

roses
were
in-
among
the
and vines of the garden, continually read or

19
HUNGARY
146
repeated the same lessons aloud together, from
morning
until night.
we
Often on hot summer nights
The
little
German
parents spoke
daughters hardly at
give us
all,
fairly well,
and yet they contrived to
which we were
memory and
expected to be able to commit to
Fo, head
repeat at the next lesson.

foot
were to
sun
7iap,
learn,
moon how
hold,
and how easy to forget
first
pronounce the
letters, or
the alphabet.
as soft
s,
sz as
nj,
is
Or, again,
cs as tch,
gy
hard
What we
s.
would take long to

tall,
very
much
combinations of
pronounced
laid
on
how
to
letters,
of
fair girl
as sh in English, z
as dj, cz as
relate.
hard they
and, most important,
syllable,
hand
kez,
they taught us that weight must always be

the
the
exercises in Hungarian, generally con-
sisting of a list of simple words,
lab,
together
veranda at the back of the
in the vine-covered
house.
all sat
z, ly
as
Ij,
ny
as
heard about accents
The
who combined
schoolmistress, a
gentleness with
dignity of manner, was most gifted as a
teacher,
and was always kind and obliging,
as,
indeed, were the whole family.
One morning, on awaking, we
No
believe our ears.
the
room next
could
hardly
sound of voices came from
to ours
nor,
more
faintly,
from

those farther removed
and
in the
garden
147
was
all
The long-looked-for day of the final examination had come at last

And not long afterwards came a night when we
still.
were awakened by what seemed to us

sweetest music that ever
and low,
fell
on mortal
fell
seemed
breathe of
to
love despondent.
told of delight
And,
Soft
ear.
sighing of wind in the
waves on a distant
pine-forest,
it
and
rose
it
strains of the
shore.
And
love
in
love
then
doubt,
again, taking courage,
entreating,
it
caressing, rapturously
exultant.
The Gipsies sent by who knows whom had

come in the dead of night to play a serenade for
:
the
girls
had passed.
The Danube near Kalocsa

mild and enervating are the
and
autumn
scarcely fan
large
as
which
flourish luxuriantly
forest
oaks,
is
broad and smooth
airs
its
and other
that in
shores.
trees
summer
Willows
still
taller
by the grass-grown dyke

reeds, grasses, cultivated plain, and hazy distance
all things there are mellowed by one pervading
influence, and nowhere is there a harsh note.
When,
still
beyond the
till
intensely brilliant,
river, its
the level horizon
is
the
sun
sets
powerful rays uninterrupted

reached, the effects of colour
192
HUNGARY
148
among
reflect
the trees, and reed-bordered pools which
them, are magical.
But the mosquitoes

They plague, though they
cannot wound, more than those of Venice, and
!
make painting in those lovely places

Here and there along the river
of
small
flour
form
in
mills,
Noah's ark of the nursery
and sombre.
to
avoid
frozen
drifting ice
in
ice,
the
for
January and
is
irregular
group
resembling
the
but in colour grey
Danube
is
generally
Sometimes
February.
blocked in front, and then piled up

masses to
pressure from behind

living
floats a
In winter they are hauled on land
the
in
misery.
on opposite
immense height by
an
thus
it
happens that people
sides of the river,
who
for the
rest of the year are near neighbours separated only
by a few minutes' row, often cannot
visit
each
other in winter without undertaking a journey by
When
train lasting eight or ten hours.
a bridge
is
completed at Baja, thirty miles below Kalocsa
which was in course of construction when we were

there
this
inconvenience will be greatly remedied.
Again, sixty miles below Baja there
is
a railway
Gombos, where the whole train runs on

but I believe it
to barges and is drawn across
cannot be worked during the cold season. I have
ferry at
THE RETURN FROM CHURCH, ZSDJAR

heard some
that
little
grumbling from people who think
was unnecessary to build
it
bridges at Budapest,
when
nearly two hundred miles
they are
all
at
149
as
many
as five
there was not one for
down
the
Danube
but
heart proud of their magnificent
capital.
Enormous numbers of wild geese frequent the

and find safety on the wide
plains
raucous note
may
be heard while they are
away, the beating of their

thread in the distance.
Their
still
far
wings when they are
They appear
high overhead.
river.
like a thin
waving
As they approach, however,
be found that they are formed like a
it
will usually
or several V's, with sides of unequal length, the
individual birds
They
are
extraordinarily
approach, though
nearly
is
being two or three feet apart.
when
wary and
in carts
come within shooting
said that if
difficult
of
we have sometimes
distance of them.
It
one cares to have a hole dug near
water in a lonesome place, and has then patience to

wait in
it till
protruding,
evening with no more than the head
some shooting may be
had.
Storks also frequent the country round Kalocsa,
and build nests on chimneys
town, where
young ones may often be seen

waiting to be fed. They sweep over the
their long-legged
standing,
in the
HUNGARY
150
houses with long, low sailing

flapping
their
flight,
hardly ever
from the damp meadows
wings,
where they have been slowly striding about,
up long red shanks, and giving an
occasional peck
They
with long red beaks as they go.
August, having
in
first
lifting
all
leave
assembled like swallows
but they choose a large open space over which to
wheel together preparatory to their long
No
one ever injures them.
they bring babies
No
older people, luck.
I did
book.
At one time
topic.
High Street,
them interested
it
was
my
cheque-
was incomprehensible to them that
It
at
in the
never did so without finding
new
we were
not join our friends during
morning or evening walks
their
in a
children believe
long time ever elapsed while
Kalocsa when
and
The
flight.
should be trusted with one in which I could write
any sum
I liked
and
all
my
explanations were in
vain.
Once, on returning after a long absence,
them, and
many
other people, to be wearing
found
little
red tulips with green leaves, in enamel, pinned on

or underneath the lapels of their coats
glasses
from which they drank
is
and the
their beer at the
same flower. The

the national emblem, and this new habit
hotel were ornamented with the

tulip

betokened that those
selves to support
who wore
Hungarian
it
151
pledged them-
industries
by never
buying anything that had been made abroad if

things of the same kind were produced at home.
An
had been carried on
agitation
for the abolition
two portions of the dual

monarchy, and the imposition of duties on manufactured articles coming from the Austrian Empire,
of free trade between the
with a view to the encouragement of industrial

enterprise
have
little
knowledge.
tulips for a time,
ment when
it
and joined in the general amuse-
was whispered
that their pretty badges

in
But of such matters I

Our friends wore their
Hungary.
in
Bohemia and
perhaps
untruly
had been themselves made
sold in Vienna.
Besides the Engineer and the Professor, one of

those
had
who took
retired
from the management of
and come to
and
regular walks was a landowner
live in the
learned to
know
the aristocratic
town.
gentleman.
hospitable
a refined
class,
He
At
Magyar
who
his property,
was a kindly
his
house
we
family, not of
and to appreciate the perfec-
Hungarian housekeeping, the perfection of

Hungarian food.
tion of
Then there was a Judge, or Justice of the Peace,

whose mind dwelt much in the past, and who had
HUNGARY
152
When
the history of his country by heart.
any
place was mentioned that Hes between the Adriatic
me by
and the North Sea, he invariably took
buttonhole, saying in a sepulchral voice

hat das audi %u
Ungarn gehbrt
'
'
the
Einmal
(Once that
also
belonged to Hungary).
And, among
of the bank,
was the respectable cashier

who cashed my cheques by order of
others,
but could never overcome
his chiefs,
that there was something
his suspicion
wrong about
my
cheque-
book.
The Engineer had an
Assistant
who was
related
to the Steward on a \2iVge pitszta belonging to the

archbishopric, situated about an hour's drive
Kalocsa when the roads were good
as,
from
indeed,
they generally were, except during the wet autumn

of our
year
first
and
we
frequently went there
together to shoot in the maize-fields.
All those
who
held good appointments from the
Archbishop might send to the Palace stables for

carriages
when they
required
and were often allowed them

their
own
carriages,
account.
them
in his service,
for expeditions
on
There were many of these
but I noticed that they varied in smart-
ness with the rank of the applicant.
The Engineer
himself wôuld not have been happy in the chariot
YOUNG GIRL OF ZSDJAR

CLOTHES
IN
SUNDAY

in
his Assistant
which
Sunday morning
On
were overjoyed to
in the fall of the year.
we were always most
arriving
welcome
most hospitable puszta on many a
drive to that
fine
and
153
made
cordially
a light lunch was immediately served
or two or three, according to the

party was brought round, and then,
another carriage
size of the
with dogs and guns,
we drove
country to the place chosen for shooting.
we walked up
quails
our
through
was eight or ten

four
game
hares,
open
across the
Generally
partridges,
the maize, which in
some
and
places
feet high, in others only three or
and trying work
it
was on a hot day.
But
when a carriage, bringing

wine and mineral waters, met us at the far end
of a large field, and relieved us of the game we
the reward was great
were carrying.
On
great
occasions,
when
the Steward
had
come out from Kalocsa, and a large enough

number of guns were present, driving was practised
in this way.
A strip of
half a mile long,
yards wide
at
maize was chosen, perhaps
and from two to three hundred
one end of
this
were posted
all
the
guns but two; and at the other, two horsemen,

one on each side of the maize, with a stout cord
drawn between them.
The two remaining guns

20
HUNGARY
154
riders.
When
was ready the party with the cord
started,
stood a short distance before the

all
and the rustling of
game
forward.
If,
on the maize drove the
it
however, anything went wrong
and the cord stopped, even

hares
doubled
when
five
back.
for
an instant,
recall
one
many
such drive,
of us were standing on a road which
passed along one end of the maize that was being
Nothing whatever came towards us until

the cord was within a hundred yards, and I began
worked.
to think the whole affair
came
was a
fiasco.
on, relentless, with a loud
dried leaves
and then, with a
Steadily
rustling of the
burst, the partridges
got up, hundreds of them, and broke away in

directions, while for a
legs.
drive
It
us, or
ran almost between
was bewildering, and the bag
was ridiculously
all
few moments hares darted
about on the road before

our
it
small, considering
for that
how
well
some of the party generally shot.

I remember another time when things happened
quite differently, and we had far more success.
From
the
moment when
the cord until
all
was
the horsemen started with
over, hardly a
minute passed
without someone getting a shot, even though the

best
came
at the end.
When shooting was
over came the good dinner
155
the preparation of which had been superintended
by the handsome lady of the house herself

accompanied by much clinking of glasses, when
we drank the usual toasts and then the respectful
;
we thanked them
and the drive home in the
for the good cheer
twilight, under avenues where many hawks came
kissing of the ladies' hands, as
;
and up through the woods at the back
to roost,
How
of the Palace.
pleasant
was
it all
In olden times the Danube, on
through the
plains,
its
way south
turned aside, described the form
of a horseshoe, and then resumed
its
original course.
Modern engineers have cut a channel connecting

the two ends of this figure, and the river now flows
through it. The old river-bed, a series of lagoons,
encloses an estate where hves a gentleman
who
devotes his time to shooting, and whose wife
is
said to shoot almost as well as he does.

It holds
an enormous amount of game
partridges, hares,
pheasants,
and many kinds of wildfowl,
well as red-deer and wild-boar.
Its richly
as
wooded
landscape, romantic in character, suggests remoteness.

I
paid two short visits there, the
taken by the
season.
first
time being
Waldmeister, out of the shooting
A good
house has
now been
built,
202
but at
HUNGARY
156
number of smaller buildings were used

bedrooms, some as kitchens, etc., and one
that time a
some
as
as
Over the diningtable, hanging by chains from the ceiling, was a

broad oval band of iron designed by the owner,
which formed a candelabra, striking, if somewhat
the largest
a dining-room.
At one end
barbaric, in style.
of the white room,
hung with arms and
antlers, was a minstrels' gallery,

on which were arranged brass hunting-horns, and
The
other spiral instruments of the same metal.
gramophone behind them, which played hunting

tunes after dinner, was out of sight.
On my second visit we went out for wild-boar,
but failed to find any, though they were known to
be in the part of the forest we went to. A gale of
wind was blowing, and the tree-tops, waving about,
made a great noise. It was said to be impossible
in
these conditions to drive the beasts with the
few beaters who had been got together

notice, so
we adjourned
at short
to land under cultivation,
and devoted ourselves to shooting pheasants and

partridges for the rest of the day.
One day
place,
the lady and
happening
to
gentleman from
be in Kalocsa, were good
enough to take supper with us
we were
this
at the hotel,
where
joined by the Waldmeister and a friend
A COTTAGE AT ZSDJAR
The
of theirs.
supper
came
Gipsies
there being no
Then our
danced.
and
to play,
other guests present
friend took the vioHn
157
after
we
from the
Hungarian
leading Gipsy and played and sang
music, the Gipsies accompanying him.
One song that he sang with much
We had
typically Hungarian.
my
and
it,
touching.
'
felt
English,' he replied
sang
him to
sure must be
think
several times heard
asked
wife
words, which she
pathos seemed
her
the
beautiful
and
tell
can turn the refrain into
and these are the words he
'
For the running
And
horses,
the pretty wifies.
Oh! what
Pity grow
'
have translated
old.**
it,'
whispered his wife to the
ear of mine.
Among
other things,
we remember our
with the Prelate before he
appointment
evening, and
as
Bishop of ...
all
great teeming
left
around
plain,
cloud towered up.
and
flat
was a sultry
away beyond the
Some were
against the light.
Kalocsa on his
masses
colour, fading into silvery greys
walk
It
us, far
huge
last
lit
of
a
cumulus
warm
rose
others told dark
Beneath them
all light-
HUNGARY
158
ning played, and the booming of distant thunder
towards us from
rolled
five separate storms.
And we remember
the trim and tidy maids,
swinging their skirts as they tripped to and from

the artesian wells, whose greeting was the Latin
word Servus
And
cans.
like a voice
whom we met
Dicsertesek a Jezus Krisztus
Jesus Christ)
'
on country
'
(Beloved be
to which we had learnt the response
Mind
orokke,
ammen (For
We
always
left
'
amen).
it is
we
shall
never go there again.
many
all eternity,
Kalocsa with regret, and
sad for us to think that in
mentioned,
came
there was another greeting, which
from the past when timidly spoken by
school - children
little
roads
as they passed each other with their
all
probability
Besides the persons
have
others were courteous and kind
to us in a great variety of ways.
We
shall
never
forget them.
On
way
several occasions
to Fiume.
morning, and
we
crossed Croatia on the
Our train left Budapest early in the

landed us at
if we went through
our destination in about thirteen hours.

first five
After the
hours of our journey, which lay through a
country that appeared to be prospering, but had no

very distinctive features, and by towns that looked
159
modern or modernized, we crossed the River Drava,

Drave, or Drau (according to the language preferred),
and
entered
the
Two hours' more
Croatia.
rolling
of
travelling took us to the
by Croatians Zagreb,
capital of the country, called
by Hungarians Zagnib, and by the

kind Agram.
woodlands
It lies not far
rest of
man-
from the River Szava,
Save, or Sau, which, flowing far to the eastward,

enters the
Danube
at the place
Agram, according
we
call
Belgrade.
to Mr. Baedeker, in the year
1903 had 61,000 inhabitants, of
whom
4,250 were
Germans and 2,800 Hungarians. It was last

destroyed on November 9, 1880 by earthquake.
Behind the city, which is composed of two parts,
united by a short and steep funicular railway,
range of mountains
before
it,
an undulating
is
plain,
clothed with woods and forests, and watered by

several fine rivers.
We
stayed at
Agram
for a day,
and admired
the fine Gothic Cathedral, which has been rebuilt

since the
close,
disaster.
The
last
Cathedral stood in
surrounded by great walls, with round
towers at the angles, which withstood the shocks of
earthquake in 1880.
of
workmen
We were sorry to see a swarm
busily pulling
down
the last two of
them, in order that the view of the new
edifice
HUNGARY
160
should not be obstructed.

survived
is
the
very perfect
Gothic Church of
Near
Another building which
St.
Mark,
thirteenth -centuryin the
upper town.
church a promenade runs along the front
this
of the town, where the band plays, and whence

there are fine views over
wooded
Croatia does not form part of
though
its
it
belongs to Hungary.
landscape.
Hungary
proper,
It has a Diet of
own, and also sends members to the Central
Parliament.
much
The
chief thing that I
remember of
that I was told of the complicated political
relations
between the two countries
is
that
they
are generally strained.
What little we saw of peasant costume, either in

Agram or from the windows of the train, charmed
Several women wore costumes of snow-white
us.
linen, with many pleats, which were scrupulously
On their heads were white, red,
clean and neat.
or orange handkerchiefs, finely draped, and their
and jackets were handsomely embroidered.

The rest of the journey is, for the most part,
very beautiful, particularly where the train follows
sleeves
the course of a river (the Kulpa, I believe), which,
with here and there a shallow

deeply embedded
and
fall,
among smooth and
again for the last
winds about
shapely
hills
hour before reaching Fiume.
WILD STRAWBERRIES

Unfortunately,
it
was
of the journey that
when
161
so dark during the last part
we
could not enjoy
but
we each
returning by early morning trains,
time thought the views of winding
it
and
coast
stretching away into the luminous sea as

as the eye could reach as lovely as any we
islands
far
had ever
seen.
Fiume, 385 miles from Budapest, and separated

from the rest of Hungary by the whole width of
Croatia,
the only Hungarian seaport.
is
population of
many
was
40,000,
It has a
and has flourished under
different rulers since ancient times,
called Tarsatica.
Only
united with Hungary.
It
in
1870 was
much
many
Europe.
of picturesque boats and glancing
full
waters, quays and breakwaters, motley crowds

piles of
it
it finally
resembles
other ports on the southern coasts of
Harbours
when
and
merchandise about newly-arrived steamers,
broad fronts of glaring houses, hotels, and caf^s
where people
all
seemed
There
its
is
sit
not
antiquity
at little
round tables
in the street
familiar to us.
much
at
Fiume
an unimportant
that reminds of
Roman
arch, said
Emperor
Claudius II., being nearly all that remains. The
town can boast some fine modern buildings, how-
to have been erected in honour of the
21
HUNGARY
162
ever,
is
and the celebrated Whitehead torpedo
situated there.
winding road
leads
place of pilgrimage where

'
Blessed
House
Holy Land. In the old

Madonna
sweet name
'
occupies the
site,
there
which,
Loreto,'
up from Fiume to a
by the
of Loreto
reposed for a while after
of
factory-
is
is
'
its
credulous
the
believed to have
long flight from the
church, called by the

del
Mare,'
a picture of
according
to
that
*
now
Our Lady
legend,
was
painted by St. Luke.
Many
pious
Hungarians come to Fiume, the
object of their pilgrimage being, I suspect, not this
holy mount
by the
last
expanse of open sea remaining to the Magyar
race.
but, rather, to worship
CHAPTER
VIII
ZSDJAR
may possibly be remembered that, when in

Tatra, we went one day to Tatra-Lomnicz in
It
the
the
height of the season, and the Grafin then took us

for a drive to a
Slovak
consequences, I will
now
my
wife,
drive,
and
its
describe.
In a comfortable landau
a lady friend,
That
village.
and
we
I
started
up
the Grafin,
the road which,
rounding the flank of the Carpathians, leads to

Poland.
The Grafin's daughter, unfortunately, was unable

to accompany us, having only just returned from a
lively ball in a country-house,
which had been kept
up all through one night until nine in the morning

had begun again in the evening, and been continued
until 3 a.m. next
day
a fact
mention as a not
unusual instance of Magyar vitality and endurance.
The day was grey and
overcast,
168
and
21
could not
2
HUNGARY
164
bring myself even to express the raptures I was
expected to
feel
while passing through that some-
what grim mountain
Through a thick
forest of moderate-sized pines, relieved only by
notice-boards telling that trespassing was forbidden,
the road led on until we came to the stately woods
scenery.
of Barlangliget.
Many
It
is
nice-looking people strolled about there.
not a fashionable place, but one where the
fairly well-to-do
spend their summer holidays, and
the difference in
appearance of such people in
Hungary from those in some neighbouring countries

is marked.
They are very tastefully, if simply,
dressed
The
there
fat
and
is
well-bred
formless
figures
air
about them.
which
annually
invade Austria, from the North, hung with operaglasses
and
skirts
that are looped up, revealing
white -stockinged ankles and elastic-sided boots
and the no
less
sturdy gentlemen in shirt-sleeves,
with perspiring faces and hobnailed enormities,
who accompany them,
are as yet almost
unknown
Barlangliget onwards the road
mounted
here.
From
rapidly,
it
the
heart.
and a brawling stream flowed down beside

first
thing, so far, to get at all near
my
Great grey mountains reared up on our
HAY-TIME, UPPER
HUNGARY
ZSDJAR
wooded
smaller ones, or
left;
right.
No
seen until,
165
were on the
hills,
farms or other buildings were to be

after two hours' driving, we approached
the long straggling line of widely-separated houses,
extending for three miles, which
and
is
called Zsdjar,
situated near the top of the pass.
Many
of the grey-roofed log-houses, with red-
lined windows, were set far back
amid
is
narrow
starved-looking
two or three were
close
from the road,

In places
fields.
together
in
others,
nearly a quarter of a mile divided them.
road was
pollarded
hilly,
and a few spindly willows
grew
beside
it.
Meadows
sloped
The
not
down
two hundred yards away, and

beyond that steep pine -covered slopes rose up
All was tiiste,
again to bare dark mountains.
to a sm.all river
and green, and grey.

It was a Sunday morning, and we had proceeded
far
through the deserted place before a crowd of
people, returning from church, began to top the

hill
on the road before
us.
As
they came on the
Only once
have I been affected quite in the same way, and
that was in the days of the Grosvenor Gallery by a
decorative painting by Hornel and Henry, comeffect
they produced
was
startling.
posed in strange bold shapes of emerald green, gold,
HUNGARY
166
vermilion and white, with a scanty allowance of
secondary colours to relieve them.
On
their heads the
women
of Zsdjar wore hand-
kerchiefs, red, orange, or green
embroidery
bodices
in
their
broad
bands
were
sleeves
gold and silver
sparkled
of
on
whitest
their
linen,
embroidered with pale crimson at the shoulders

their skirts
green.
were
scarlet,
and
They wore black
their aprons black or
top-boots, ornamented
on
young girls walking in

These girls went bareheaded
the heels, as did also the

a separate group.
save for a plaque of tomato- coloured satin which
was fastened to the knot of
hair at the back,
and
developed into three streamers that passed under

the waistband and reached almost to the heels.
Their smooth dark hair was drawn tightly back and
brushed or oiled down, so that not a single wave

existed over
any brow.
silver braid also
On
gleamed
their bodices gold
but in
many
and
instances
the effect was tempered by a thin white gauze

veil
drawn
tightly
round the shoulders.
The
rest
of their apparel resembled that of their mothers,
except that their skirts were sometimes white.
The men wore low black

waistcoats of sheepskin,
hats with red ribbons
the wool turned inside,
and the outside leather embroidered
all
over with
ZSDJAR
crimson and scarlet
with red lines
167
flannel-coloured felt trousers,
down
the seams
and shoes of
soft
turned up and laced across the insteps.
leather,
Nothing was shabby, not a thing torn or untidy,

in the
whole crowd we passed.
My wife
was enchanted
coute que coute,
we were
the Griifin decided that,
to paint at Zsdjar
and
privately determined to do nothing of the kind,
unless reasonably
We
drove on to the church, which, with the
Priest's
house and small school, formed an isolated
group near the
far
The aged Parish

us,
good quarters could be found.
but while
roe-deer,
end of the scattered
Priest
village.
was too unwell to receive
stayed in the court admiring a tame
endeavoured to captivate a
the ladies
young curate, who appeared to them to be a handsome and intelligent young gentleman.
They learnt that a small and very primitive inn
near the middle of the village had been opened
that day for the
first
time, and that there
a dance in honour of the occasion.
we went
there, as our only
Bread, eggs, and
little
was to be
About midday
hope of obtaining lunch.
sausages were to be had, but
the sausages were of such a dubious appearance

that none of us ventured to eat them.
pricked one with
my
When
fork, a thin red fluid ran all
HUNGARY
168
over the plate.
No
thought we would not stay
at Zsdjar, in spite of the Grafin's evident conviction
that the
(in
my
artists in pursuit
to support
case
sent
of
of the peasant should be enough
them otherwise
The Notary and

for,
enthusiasm
mythical)
unfed.
the schoolmaster had both been
and presently
arrived, the latter
accom-
panied by his very pretty bride in peasant dress,
who seemed
to be twenty, though she was but
sixteen years old.
She obstinately refused to allow
the Baroness to take a photograph of her, and thus
foreshadowed
paint.
difficulty
in
The Notary, who was
tive, told
models
obtaining
friendly
to
and talka-
us that his house at the lower end of
the village was too large for him, that he would be
prepared to take lodgers the following year, and
We
urged us most warmly to come ourselves.
thereupon agreed to postpone our sojourn until then,
and promised to write to him before we came.

Early in the afternoon dancing began with a
Csardds.
Half a dozen Gipsy
huge double-bass
swarthy
warmed
furious.
against
sat
on a
the
white
fiddlers
one with a
raised bench, looking

wall,
to their work, the fun
and,
became
The Notary was anxious
that
they
as
fast
we
and
should
see dances peculiar to the district, but the Gipsies
THE BELLE OF ZSDJAR
ZSDJAR
169
know the music. A bright peasant-boy,

who did know it, then brought his fiddle and,
did not
them with the

One dance was started by six
seating himself beside them, led

greatest
spirit.
young men, who with short, quick steps circled

round the room and burst into loud snatches of
song,
when
the spirit
down suddenly and
moved them,
or squatted
beat the floor two or three
Then they called out the

and danced away with them
times with their hands.

girls
of their choice,
without stopping until the music ceased.
Another dance began, and before it had finished

the fascinating curate joined the crowd of onlookers.
Four young men stood opposite to four others

keeping time to the music, danced about
girl,
in
and out among these men, or where she would,
while a man, also dancing, followed her until, with

a scream, she allowed herself to be caught.
this couple
Then
waltzed about, and the others, in turn,
did as they had done.
Our
join
it
else, to
carriage
was waiting, and when we went to
on the conclusion of the dance, everyone

our surprise, also
left
the house.
They
all
had prayer-books with them, and we learnt that the

curate had
come
finding us so
to lead his flock to church, but
much
interested,
on
had considerately
22
HUNGARY
170
waited until
crowd
we had
followed
seen enough.
him
The whole
gay-
afternoon service, and
to
were to be continued as soon as Benediction was over.

festivities
The aged Parish
Priest
was loved by
his people,
and exercised a good influence among them. He

had persuaded all the men to give up their habit of
drinking
spirits
to
the very great advantage of
everyone, except the Jews
inn at each end of Zsdjar
who kept
a miserable
but he wisely allowed
moderate drinking of wine or
beer to go un-
reproached.
Brandwein, or cheap
peasants.
two
At
litres in
Vazsecz
many
the curse of Slovak
man would
an evening, with the worst
himself and his family
drink
results to
though there were excep-
was pointed out by our landlady, Frau
tions, as
Deutsch
spirit, is
herself
an interested party
when
she
showed us the shepherd who always drank more

than anyone else when he returned home at
the end of each week. He was over eighty, as
straight as an arrow, and as active as a man of
twenty.
When
the following year
came round, we wrote
from Kalocsa to the Notary of Zsdjar, to ask
was prepared to receive
us,
if
he
but no answer was
ZSDJAR
returned.
We
171
wrote to the curate, and again no
answer came.
We asked the Prelate to write for us
to the curate,
and he did
Then the Waldmeister
effect.
you will
find
somewhere
but with no more
so,
said
to live
'
Go there, and
the kind of people
you have written to always put off answering

But before following his advice
until to-morrow.'
we made one more effort to gain information.
Having discovered the name of the

Priest,
from
we wrote
to him.
his death-bed, in a
understood a hotel
He
immediately replied
trembling hand, that he
had been built which was
arranged to receive families, where
we
all
sought.
We
sick Parish
we should
find
wrote to the landlord of the
whose name the good Priest had mentioned,

and waited but no answer was vouchsafed. Then
hotel,
we
started for Zsdjar.
We
went to the nearest place to it on the

railway, a picturesque little town called SzepesBela, where there is a poor inn
where several of
the houses at one end of the main street are
ornamented with charming designs in stucco,
dating from the Empire period and where we had
;
krumholz baths in a quaint old bathing establish-
ment hidden among

town.
trees half a mile
Branches of krumholz, or creeping
from the
fir
which
222
HUNGARY
172
forms such an insuperable barrier on mountainsides
were steeped in boiling water until
as
brown
in
English inns.
as
what used
to be called
'
it
became
half-and-half
The aromatic hot water was
then brought in large tubs slung on poles by two

sturdy bare-armed handmaidens, and tilted over
into deep
so
wooden
baths.
We
agreed afterwards
we had seldom enjoyed anything
that
of the kind
much.
was a drive of eight or ten miles up to
It
Barlangliget, where
luggage.
sack,
we
we
slept
and deposited our
Then, burdened only with a light knapset off
on foot to solve the mystery of the
silence of Zsdjar.
One
of the
first
houses
we came
to at the end of
our long walk was that of the Notary, and he was

at
home.
manner
He received
as that in
preceding year.
had.
Why
which he had talked to us the
Had
he received our letter
had he not answered
always meant
He
us in the same very friendly
to.
Was
his
it ?
He
He
had
house ready for us
had always meant to get
it
ready, but had
discovered that an unpleasant odour in some of

the rooms was due to a fungus growing between
the logs of which the house was built, and was
thinking of having
it
removed.
When
that was
THE SCHOOLMASTER'S
WIFE, ZSDJAR
l^
ZSDJAR
he would take
done, perhaps
another year.
He
how about
new
There
the
family hotel
walked on
'
perhaps,
What
mean
you saw the peasants dancing
We
lodgers
We regretted.
regretted.
none, unless you
is
173
But
hotel
the place where
last year.'
for a couple of miles to that
haunt of revelry, which appeared to be just as we
had
left
The
it.
Had
landlord was at home.
he
received our letter about the rooms prepared for

families
He
He
had.
Why had he not answered
had always meant
to,
A rare
could not write.
in that country, he
was a
but
do him a good
difficult
Thus he came
Christian.
priests,
who had
we
The
at the house of the Parish Priest.
home.
Why
Had
he received our
had he not answered
Had
meant
to.
Prelate
who was
reply
it,
He
it
letter
He
arrived
curate was
?
He
had.
had always
he received the letter from the
much annoyed
had, and had always
at receiving
meant
no
to answer
but could not overcome the embarrassment he
should have
felt
in doing
so.
He
then told us
some time previously the old Priest, and all

belongings, had been removed to another house,
that
his
tried
turn.
Continuing our walk for half a mile,
at
it ?
he
among landlords
exception
under the protection of the

to
was
it
HUNGARY
174
and he himself had been appointed in his place

but that as this appointment had not yet been
by the highest
definitely confirmed
had not furnished the house.
ashamed
to
tell
He
authority, he
had
really felt
the Prelate that he was not in
a position to offer hospitality to anyone recom-
mended by him.
Then the mother was summoned, who kept
house, and
we had
He
would be
happy to take us as paying guests there were two
large rooms at our disposition, but there was no
furniture for them.
She did not wish us to come
a consultation.
;
at all
certainly not, unless
we brought
a servant.
She had already too much work to get through

\^dth her small staff.
After
much
the part of
discussion and
my
wife,
paint in the place,
go to the family
'
it
much
persuasion on
who was most
anxious to
was decided that we should
hotel,' for a
few days, the Priest
should go to Kesmark and hire furniture, and his
mother should try to get an extra
The two days and

will not soon
it
servant.
nights spent in that bleak inn
be forgotten.
Besides back premises,
contained a bare bar-room where carters drank as
they stopped to rest their horses on the long, dreary

road
and a smaller room opening from
it,
about
ZSDJAR
175
twelve feet square and equally bare, which was
more distinguished guests. Upstairs

the two best bedrooms were small and narrow,
their rough walls and arched ceilings were distempered a crude blue, and each of them conreserved for
tained a small bed, a deal chair, and a small iron
washstand with a tiny basin in
and
nothing
large
room with
else.
it
very clean
all
They were entered from a
We
a bed in each corner.
our twô beds crowded into one
my
little
had
room, as
wife was nervous about remaining alone, and
when we
tried
to go to
sleep the first
night a
drunken man lay stretched near our door.
The anxious landlady

even going so
did
all
she could to please,
far as to bring her
own
tooth-brush,
which she hoped might be of service until our
She could provide no meat, no
luggage arrived.
vegetables,
cheese,
for
and no butter
but there were bread,
and eggs, which she trusted would be enough
our wants
'
until
the day after to-morrow,'
when more ample provisions would be
up from
It was not long before I added some very
a town.
fine trout to this humble menu; and they were
really well cooked by a young woman then paying
a short
this
visit
to the landlady.
person to be our servant.
We
At
sent
tried to
first
engage
she would
HUNGARY
176
then she thought she could not
an interview with the
then
having had
mother at
Priest's
his
house
she declared that nothing on earth should induce

her to go near that place again.
came up. The Priest

had driven down alone to Kesmark to hire it,
cartload of furniture
after
firmly declining
my
wife's offer
pany him, on the ground that

unnecessary
the rooms
to see
When
fatigue.
we were
to
it
it
to accom-
would cause her

was placed in
occupy we were invited
it.
There was a handsome large washstand with
heavy marble top and

crockery
generous
double set of
there was a large dark wardrobe, and a
match
chest of drawers to
there was a stuffed sofa
with a curling carved back; and, besides other

things, there
were two handsome bedsteads, with
high and polished

bedding?'
heads.
we both
cried
'
together.
must see to that,' said the

The terms he had made
articles
which
were
able for himself.
all
We
and
if
the
'My mother
Priest.
at the shop for these
new
were not unfavour-
we
did) for
by the end of that time
as parish priest
is
were to pay two-thirds of
their purchase price (and
hire
But where
two months'
his position
was confirmed, he was to keep the
MAGYAR COTTAGE AT BANFFY-HUNYAD
ZSDJAR
177
payment of the remaining
furniture on
third of
its
value.
smart man,
Slovak
priest,
and
was
thought,
young
that
hoped confiding strangers might
not often come within his grip
but
my
wife long
persisted in her belief that sweet simplicity

trait.
man
many ways
He
even,
a bit of a sportsman.'
had two miles of fishing on the
repeating
to see
rifle,
which he sometimes
was
if it
his
Decidedly, he was a smart young
leading
in
was
all
right
river,
and a
fired in
the air
he had a yellow four-
wheeled dogcart, and an iron-grey horse with a

trick of backing
when
it
ought to be going uphill
and he had the appearance of a well-groomed

curate, fresh
from Oxford, rather than that of a
Roman Catholic
if
at
least
priest in the wilds.
one pair of
when he passed
The bed difficulty was
softer
What wonder
warm brown
eyes
grew
solved by the production
of two long sacks of straw, laced
down
the sides,
and of sheets and blankets borrowed from the

'
family hotel.'
mained
The
servant difficulty
still
re-
and that was never overcome.
Besides the priest and his mother, the house-
named
coachman, named
hold comprised a small maid-of-all-work,
Marouska,
aged
twelve
23
HUNGARY
178
Lukas, aged fourteen

herd,
aged
with
and an undergrown cow-
very gruff
named
voice,
Simek,
ten.
During
all
our
stay
of
nearly two
months'
duration things never ran smoothly for long.
It
was almost impossible to get models. The number

of trials and disappointments my wife survived
Promises broken, days of waiting,
passes belief.
work broken off in the middle when sitters would

come no more, hunting for children hiding in the
corn, room in empty house which she used as
studio in bad weather broken into, and
colours stolen
The people
to what they
Priest at
her
these are but some of them.

did not need money, for, in addition
made
continually reached
The
all
first
at
home, a steady stream of
them from
relations in
tried to help, as he
it
America.
had promised
but soon grew discouraged, and either hid, or
when he thought we were going to ask him

My own troubles were comto speak for us.
paratively small, though when I painted a picture
of the people trooping away after church I had
fled,
to do
it
from observation lasting two or three
and
minutes, as they actually went, once a week
most of the Sundays were wet.

stand for
me
No
in the road or elsewhere.
one would
ZSDJAR
179
Sometimes we were short of food, and had it

not been that the Priest gave me permission to
we might have suffered from

The only meat ever to be had
the stream,
fish in
actual hunger.
was brought
in the post-cart
which came every
but the postman fell out

would
bring no more.
with the Priest, and
The
mother would kill no more fowls, partly because
day from Szepes-Bela
they were getting scarce, but

because
chiefly,
think,
hoped we might be starved into
she
going away.
What
we had were
meals
rooms by the
at the door,
unexpectedly
outer
maid Marouska, who, though

was a willing servant. She never
little
quite uncivilized,
knocked
own
served in our
and often bounced
thus she once found
room enjoying the
pleasures
in
me
most
in
the
of an early
tub, but, instead of retiring instantly, as I expected,
stood looking at
me
with laughter, as
had ever seen
with arms akimbo, and roaring
if I
in her
my
was the funniest thing she

life.
In the evening, when
went
generally found her engaged in fisticuffs with
Simek
to
wash
while
paint-brushes in the kitchen,
Lukas, hard by, encouraged
one, then the other, or occasionally punished

both.
232
first
them
HUNGARY
180
One day the Priest came to us to say that a

girl, who appeared to him to be very beautiful,
had just died
in
circumstances
and that he would like to take

and to paint her if we wished.
us to see
her,
He
down
led us
the village under the saddest
the road to a small barn, where
he stopped, opened the door, and

to us to
made
a sign
In the light which poured in
enter.
through the open doorway, lying on straw which

covered her feet and the lower part of her person,
we saw
young woman.
the figure of a quite
to her, but
more
in
the
shade, an old
crouched down, convulsed with
Close
woman
When,
tears.
at
the Priest's request, a covering was removed which
had veiled the head of the reclining

revealed the face of a beautiful
to be asleep.
it
who seemed
She appeared to be happily dreaming,
with a half-smile on her

It
girl,
figure,
lips.
was the old sad story
unselfish love,
and
treachery, and the penalty paid by the weak.
The unhappy
phosphorus
girl
obtained
from
repented
afterwards
she
mother,
was too
it
had poisoned herself with
late
and when
matches,
and
to
told
all
save her.
to
her
She was
taken to the hospital in the small town where
they were, but
the
doctors could do no
more
HARVEST-TIME IN TRANSYLVANIA
ZSDJAR
181
than advise the mother to take her away to the

village
She went to the
which was her home.
church and made her confession, and then those
two
started out in a small cart
on
their pathetic
When,
journey through the night.
in the early
morning, they had arrived as far as Zsdjar, the
poor
girl felt
she could travel no farther, and her
mother helped her into the barn
A special order
to
came that the
die.
burial should take
place in consecrated ground, as the girl had confessed
We
and
make
tried to
attended
it,
her peace with Heaven.
unseen.
Besides the
surpliced
Priest and his acolytes, only the mother, broken
down with
as
though
and a few
silent grief,
their hearts
at those last sad rites.
vermilion,
black
women
sobbing
would break, were present
The
colours of their clothes
and white
told
strongly on
the vivid green of the churchyard, and the bright
sun shone as
seldom shone up in that desolate
it
place.
Humbled by
the thought of the importance
had attached to our own
little
troubles,
we
we
returned
to our work.
The church was an unpretentious
building, with
a low square tower, whitewashed walls, and a roof

of grey shingles.
A hundred
yards
away was the
HUNGARY
182
house in which we hved.
substantial
stone
formed one
side of a small courtyard,
surrounded,
the
for
rest,
with
It
which was
and
outhouses,
wooden doorway carefully barred and locked at night.

Not far from
these two, but higher up the hill, was the schoolentered through a great
house, where the schoolmaster should have been

living with
things
The
summer.
parents
run
not
did
peasant
pretty
his
of which I
the time
wife
write
was
it
smoothly
had
But
empty;
bride.
Zsdjar
at
gone
back
for
that
her
to
the master had disappeared, no one
at
knew
whither.
The width
of a field or two separated this group
of buildings from the highroad.
some
place,
It
was a lone-
and seemed even gruesome, when we
were shown a stout oak chest
in the sacristy
which a
pieces, forty years
priest
was hacked to
ago, as he tried to defend from robbers the
church treasure
it
contained.
on
modest
The gashes made
their axes may be seen on it still.

At Mass on Sunday mornings the church was
crowded.
Young men and boys kept together
by
near the door
were
filled
to the right of the aisle the seats
with men, to the
while in the
aisle
itself
left
with
women
young married women,
ZSDJAR
183
dressed in special finery, stood
most charming of
all
about.
were the young
But the
rows
girls in
They were all dressed

alike, and when they bent down together at the
solemn parts of the service, they formed some of
near the chancel steps.
the most graceful and beautiful groups
we have
ever seen.
One Sunday morning,

loitering about
ance was
an
watching the people

endless
approached by a
well
dressed,
sailor's
both
after church, as
tall,
delight
whose appearus
to
we
were
He was
slim gentleman.
excepting
that
we were
he wore a
straw
hat and brown canvas shoes, which struck
my
wife and
me
as being inappropriate, as
the weather was very uncertain.
He
introduced
himself as a Pole, spoke both French and

fluently,
and discoursed
at length
German
on language and
costume, but carefully avoided satisfying our curiosity as to

staying.
asked
if
where he had come from or where he was

He inquired which rooms we occupied,
we were
satisfied
clung to us until
it
with the attendance, and
was time
for
dinner.
We
should certainly have invited him to share our
meal but that
happened to be one of the very

lean periods, and there was hardly anything to eat.
We
it
therefore said good-bye, and left
him
politely
HUNGARY
184
bowing and expressing the pleasure he had

making our acquaintance.
All things come to an end, even a
though
I often felt that it
visit
never would
in
to Zsdjar
and our
arrived.
The autumn had set in
and
cold
wet, and that day the wind roared down
last
day there
the valley, the rain
We were
and very many

when,
about
evidently
Pole
fell in sheets.
busily engaged packing the few useful

useless things
five
much
we
the
o'clock,
travel about with,
mother,
Priest's
That
came to say
you one Sunday a few weeks
agitated,
who spoke
to
ago has been here since ten o'clock
this
'
morning.
My son gave him dinner, and

he has been drinking wine all the afternoon. Why
has he come in this weather
Who can he be
I
am
afraid of
him
What
she had
left
looking
much
upset.
of the Pole, and had

to ask for
am frightened
Soon after
our sitting-room the Priest came in,
can he want
my
He
said
he could not get rid
now come
to us, at his request,
visiting-card,
went to London
he could
the Priest to say
my
!'
so that
call
in
on me.
true,
though
reason for not searching for one was that

the
man was
begged
cards were packed and that I
had not one handy, which was

if
case he
an adventurer,
it
my
I feared,
might be used
THE QUEEN OF THE HARVESTERS,

BANFFY-HUNYAD
ZSDJAR
185
means for preying on some of our Hungarian

Hardly had the Priest retired, when in
friends.
as a
He
burst the Pole himself to enforce his request.
looked
all
about the room, and, going to the door of
the bedroom, peered in there.
was so strange,
give
my London
him
With
paper.
away.
I could
He
Though
his
conduct
not in the end refuse to
address written on a scrap of
that he seemed satisfied, and
went
was
dark,
stayed on in the house until
it
and then departed through the pouring rain,

the straw hat and canvas shoes with which
familiar,
still
in
we were
but without overcoat or umbrella.
Next entered
little
Simek, the cowherd, dripping
wet, to say in husky tones,
The man who just went
away met two other men hiding behind the shrine

on the road, and they have been talking there
For Heaven's sake,' cried the
for some time.'
Priest's mother, 'put out the lamp.
They may
shoot you through the windows.' I could think of
*
no reason why they should wish to shoot
us, so
the
we had got rid

of the Priest, his mother, and Simek, we quietly went
lamp was
left
burning, and, as soon as
on with our packing. We were to leave at five in

the morning, and much remained to be done.
Our rooms were on the ground-floor, but the
windows, which looked on to a paddock six feet
24
HUNGARY
186
The
below, were defended by stout iron bars.
doors of the rooms were soUd, and the locks were

strong.
Outside
the
rain
and
continued,
windows long branches, dimly
lighted,
near
our
swayed about
in the wind.
Presently I heard an unusual sound at one of the
windows, and inquired of

anything.
my
wife
Yes,' she replied,
'
if
she had heard
have several times
heard a faint noise at the window near me, but did

not mention
it,
thinking
it
might possibly be only
went rapidly to my window, and

something outside moved away from it. It seemed
Then
fancy.'
to
me
that
bird, or it
it
might be the wings of a light-coloured
might be hands which unclasped the bars
on my approach. My next thought was

Master Simek who was something of a wag
been trying to frighten us
and the
Priest's
so I
mother
had
went into the
But he seemed
kitchen to chide him.
that
surprised,
said that neither
Simek,
nor Lukas, had been out of the room for some

time.
On
went
became really anxious, and

the yard, where he fired two shots from
that the Priest

into
his rifle, in order
concern
know
that
to
let
anyone
we were armed.
whom
it
might
Then he
sent
ZSDJAR
187
men
Liikas to the nearest farm for two
and sleep
in the kitchen
looked, when, in
brown
and
come
to
they
fine fellows
white clothes and broad
their
they came in barefooted out of the
hats,
rain,
wet axes gleaming in the lamplight. They

were sent on a tour round the premises, which
they made, lantern in hand, without discovering
their
anything suspicious.
We then
some
and
retired to rest,
my
time when
little
had been asleep
woke me
wife
to say
that she had distinctly, several times, heard a sound
that
outside, like
There
it
was
after a pause,
doubt about
made by hammer and
heard
Tick
it,
too
tick
Click
click
click
chisel.
Then,
There was no
it.
We had promised the Priest to wake him at once

if
anything unusual happened, so
door and told him what
we
he appeared in pyjamas,
rifle
heard the noise
ticktick
Tick
They
heard.
tick
went to his
In two minutes
I
in hand.
Then
Pause.
click
he, too,
Tick
are breaking into the back
kitchen, where the wine
is.
From
there they will
come through the kitchen,' he cried, and, wild with

fright, he fired two bullets in the direction whence
he thought the sounds proceeded.
He
then sent
the peasants for a second tour of the place, and
242
HUNGARY
188
away promised to accompany us

with his rifle when we started down the lonely pass
before daybreak on the morrow.
Once arrived at
while they were
Barlangliget, he thought
we
should be
safe.
But the peasants returned, having discovered

nothing,
and
intervals,
went on
what
the
caused
sounds,
though
Then suddenly
them,
and,
though
longer
at
I
at
found out
my
first
announcement was treated with incredulity and

contempt,
it
was soon found to be
corner of the
room
There had been no
In a
correct.
there was a tall tiled stove.

fire in it
that day, but on the
other side of the wall there had been a large

in the kitchen.
when
tiles
it
This had
warmed
fire
the stove, and
subsequently cooled, the contraction of the
caused the sounds which had deceived
us.
Perhaps there had been an unusually large
fire in
the kitchen that day, on account of the bad weather
made such
perhaps our stove had
night without being listened to
know what
noises
cannot
every
tell
was that came to our

windows, but I don't believe it was the poor wet
Perhaps it was something that had been
Pole.
blown from the trees a little owl, or other baby
nor do I
it
bird.
When we
started
on our journey
in the early
COTTAGES ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF

BANFFY-HUNYAD
Buffaloes drawing a cart.
ZSDJAR
189
accompany us. I think,

even, that he hardly liked getting up to wish us
twilight, the Priest did not
good-bye.
In
the
general,
Hungary looked new

than once
we
towns
;
saw
and, indeed,
we were more
until we became warysent to places
said to be
most
interesting, only to find that
municipal buildings,
new banks, new schools,
in course of construction, electric

lighting,
throughout
were their chief
trams and
streets
electric
But there
attractions.
were places that well repaid a
new
and of these
visit,
one was Locse, (German, Leutschau), chief town of

the Zips country, near to the Tatra.
called the
'
though the
ambitious
has a
Nuremberg of Hungary
comparison suggested
is
too
Sometimes
'
it
very fine thirteenth-century Gothic church and a

picturesque town-hall, which stand close together
in
an open place, surrounded by houses in
cases old
some
carved
rare
and charming.
excellent early
stalls,
things
Inside the church are
German
and in the
many
altar-pieces
sacristy
and
we saw
finely
several
which we remembered having seen
before at the 1900 Paris Exhibition.
Kassa
(German,
Kaschau),
stopped after leaving Zsdjar,
is
where
we
also
an important town
HUNGARY
190
with nearly 40,000 inhabitants.

finest
It possesses the
Gothic cathedral in Hungary, a noble building
which has recently been most admirably restored.
We
besides objects menbooks several medieval
found in the interior
tioned
in
the
guide
German images of exceptional beauty.

While we were at dinner in the large
room of the excellent hotel we stayed at,
men
dininggentle-
in evening dress kept passing through
disappearing by a door at the far end.
it
and
This con-
we watched them with

Though dressed in the
tinued for a long time, and

ever-increasing
interest.
conventional manner, there was something special
and yet indefinable about
their appearance
recalled the romantic period of 1848.
banquet was held in an adjoining room,
after
made by one
that
political
which
two leading statesmen, and from just inside the door we had the
pleasure of admiring the eloquence of Count
speeches were
or
Andrassy, though, unfortunately,
understand a word of what he
we
said.
could
not
CHAPTER IX
BANFF Y-H UN YAD
Banffy-Hunyad
is
town
in Transylvania, seven
hours by express train eastwards from Budapest.
We
went there because the people
Rumanian
are celebrated for
costume, and the country
is
Magyar
and
the beauty of their

pretty.
In several
beautifully and richly illustrated books which
we
saw in Hungary, this district was largely drawn

on and not merely on account of its fine Magyar
people and their handsome clothes, but also for its
wood-carving and embroidery.
We trespass but
little on the ground they covered.
;
When
our train arrived, about ten o'clock on a
dark night, and

horda
(porter),
we
called out, as usual,
half
dozen
ragged
scrambled up the carriage steps for

luggage.
tickets,
No
Horda,
urchins
our
hand
one was at the gate to take our
and no one was
at
191
hand who could speak
HUNGARY
19^
We left
word of anything but Hungarian.
heavy luggage to take care of

put the
rest of
itself,
the small boys
our things into an open cab, and,
having pronounced the one word Szdlloda

wê
our
were rattled away.
In ten minutes
(hotel),
we drew up
before the door of a spacious but shabby-looking
where a game of billiards was being played,

and untidy people sat about at small tables. The
waiters could not speak German, but a Jew soon
came forward to interpret for us. If we would
cafe,
we could have a
room and all we required.
wait a
little,
shown through dim
clean double-bedded
Presently
we were
up stairways, and along

a balcony, to our room, where an exceedingly
pretty young woman, in a muslin dressing-gown,
with winning manners made us welcome. The
room was large enough, the beds were good, but
as
courts,
we have frequently found
in other
to be the case in hotels
small Hungarian towns
there
was no
wardrobe, no chest of drawers, no cupboard, and
While we
not even a peg to hang anything on.
were
still
endeavouring to persuade the lightly-clad
chambermaid
to bring a plentiful supply of water
under protest from the

continually asked.
accompanying Jew, who
Fur was ? (what
young Magyar made
for
his appearance.
?)
an
It
irate
was
his
SUNSET
IN
THE HILLS OF TRANSYLVANIA
BANFFY-HUNYAD
room, he
his
He
said.
had occupied
193
it
for eight days,
things had been removed without
his consent,
However, his anger

cooled when he learned that we had no hand in the
matter, and he ended by bidding us pleasantly
and he refused to give
'
Good-night
'
it
up.
before he retired to the tiny closet
him to sleep
Before the next night we were moved to a
which was the only available place

in.
for
comfortable and well-furnished room, which had
become vacant
but
we soon found
exquisitely clean house in the
main
lodgings in an
road,
where a
who could
own tongue made us
good Magyar lady and her servants

talk in nothing but their
as
comfortable as possible.
The day
after our arrival
was market-day, and
the open place by which the hotel was situated
was crowded with people and aglow with
colour.
We made our way among booths and
loaded
with fine
mass
fruit
stalls
and vegetables, through a seething
of picturesque
peasants,
and reached the
Protestant church, standing, surrounded by trees,
on
raised
ground
in
one corner of the large square.
The Magyars at BanfFy-Hunyad were Calvinists

the Rumanians (or Wallachs) belonged to some
form of the Greek
faith.
The church we had come to was broad and white,

25
HUNGARY
194
with a great dark grey roof, a low tower, and a
spire,
which was surrounded by four smaller ones at the

angles.
The
wooden
ceiling,
was somewhat bare except the

which was divided into panels
inside
decorated with painted patterns believed to be of
Magyar
origin.
Part of the floor was up, a crypt
having recently been discovered containing tombs
and other things dating from Catholic times.

Continuing our walk down a broad road,
we
were attracted by the well-kept white houses with

little
windows and heavy
doorways to the yards.
roofs,
Many
and the roofed
of the door-posts
were carved in charming patterns, peculiar to the

district, in
We
which the
tulip played a leading role.
were several times invited to enter by well-
to-do farmers
who saw
that
we were
strangers,
were friendly and at the same time

were
also their wives
We found
in
dignified, as
and daughters.
the interiors of the houses to be kept
most perfect
of cleanliness.
and
order,
The
and that they were patterns
walls were lavishly
hung with
brightly coloured plates and rows of decorative
earthenware jugs,
many
of which were very old.
The beds were loaded up
to
the ceilings with
mattresses and pillows with deep bands of rich red
embroidery, and in nearly every room there was a
BANFFY-HUNYAD
gi*een-tiled stove.
The women opened for
gaily decorated chests
evidence
which
and
the
the
showed us
silks
especially pleased us
us heavy,
much in
clothes, among
tulip again
their fine
many - pleated
embroidered with
195
aprons,
often
scarlet,
of various bright colours,
but everything was in good
taste.
on out of the town to where we

saw before us a vast expanse of sunny landscape,
reaching away to a low line of distant blue moun-
Our way
tains.
hill
The
led
harvest was at
its
On
height.
every
were countless corn-stooks, and close before us
threshing on a large scale was in progress.
Waggons
laden with corn, drawn by black buffaloes, ap-
swarms of bright people

loose buffaloes strolled where
proached from every side
were busily
at
work
they would, or crowded deep into a

the
humming
of machines
filled
the
muddy pond
air,
and every-
thing told of peace and plenty.
Returning by another road, we came upon a
young woman
sitting
sewing by her cottage door.
At our request she showed us in, and we bought from

her a pretty apron, like those we had previously so
much admired. Then other girls from neighbouring
cottages, in the friendliest manner, brought their
embroideries, and one of
them went a
considerable
252
HUNGARY
196
distance for a wreath,

tinsel
flowers,
women on
her
money
certain
in
taken to please
accept
such
or
crown, of pearls and
is
worn by the young
as
When
occasions.
offered
the trouble she had
return
for
us, she
very delicately refused to
it.
Soon
after
we
those amiable maidens,
left
we
sought refuge from a shower in the one-roomed

cottage of a poor widow.
herself
But, though poor, she
and her modest dwelling were scrupulously
clean and neat.
The floor, the walls, the bed
corner, the large red stove,
crockery,
all
and she agreed to

her
sit
one
and the shining rows of
looked well cared
great friends with this
in
My wife
for.
woman, by means
and to be painted
made
of signs,
as
we saw
first.
We
were greatly impressed by the refinement
and dignity of the Magyar people we met that

morning.
Their manners could not possibly have
been better or more charming.
Our
stay of several weeks
passed away
pleasantly,
Banify-Hunyad
at
though not without the
usual difficulty in obtaining models
for
busiest time of the harvest season, and
it
all
was the
available
The Grafin
sent
us an introduction to a lady and gentleman
who
hands were at work in the
fields.
INTERIOR AT RANFFY-HUNYAD
bINFFY-HUNYAD
look great interest in
home
made a collection of handsome
197
and had
industries,'
peasant embroideries,
wood-carvings, and painted pottery, which they
showed
They
us.
also invited us to several meals,
but as neither of them could speak any language
but their own,
we
when other
except
could not converse with them

guests were present to interpret.
That was the only instance we met with where

Hungarians
speak at
in
a good social position could not
two or three languages.
least
Their
motive in refusing to learn foreign tongues had

been,
we were
told, a
had proudly thought
purely patriotic one.
their
own
should be
They
sufficient.
Several of the great ladies of Transylvania have
formed a society
for the
tection of the beautiful
various kinds, which

in the country
is
encouragement and pro-
and
traditional work, of
done by the poorer
and, indeed,
classes
it is
well worth pre-
we made
to villages in the
serving.
Among
the excursions
neighbourhood of Banffy-Hunyad, those to Korosfo
and Magyar-Bikal pleased us
We
rolling
drove for
five miles
downs, and when
we
best.
to Korosfo over rich
arrived
many
people
were leaving the white church, situated on a high
mound
of grass and light ochre- coloured broken
HUNGARY
198
The afternoon sun

they came down the path,
ground.
fell
full
on them
as
a glory of ruby red,
vermilion, purest white and golden yellow, relieved
by
black.
And
it
was not alone
their colours that
They were fine, well-grown Magyar

young men and women, perfectly dressed in the
costume of their own home. The crimson topcharmed.
boots of the girls were especially dainty and fascinating.
When we
we were taken
possession of by a neat old woman, who led us up
through the descending crowd, the men in it
lifting their hats to us as they passed.
Somewhat
blinded by the sun, we entered the church without
left
our
carriage,
noticing that a service was
still
going on, and
should have retired on becoming aware of
had
it
not our guide encouraged us in a loud voice to look
about
us.
sermon was being preached by a
young people who
young clergyman
to
part of the nave
but when the parson noticed
one
filled
us,
he stopped and came down from the pulpit to
we
introduce himself, and remain with us while
admired the ceiling, which was divided
by beams
into squares, painted in patterns very similar to
those
we had
guage
difficulty precluding
seen in BanfFy-Hunyad.
much
The
lan-
conversation,
we
BANFFY-HUNYAD
soon bowed ourselves out, and
his discourse to the
little
him
left
to continue
young men and maidens, who,
in separate divisions,
during the
199
had remained quietly seated
scene.
Our aged guide next took us
to visit several
scrupulously clean houses, where, in addition to
rows of crockery,
broidered linen
walls.
At
last
many
handsomely em-
strips of
hung from the
rafters or against the
we persuaded
her to take us to her
own abode and show
us the old embroideries
understood she possessed.
Her
friends
we
and neigh-
some newly
carved boxes and small table-tops, the designs on
which seemed to us rather thin. The embroidered
patterns on the linen, especially the very old ones,
were, on the contrary, rich and altogether admirable.
They were invariably worked either in indigo or a
red somewhat resembling the colour of paprika.
When we had gladly made a few small purchases,
surrounded by an ever-growing crowd of clean and
friendly people of all ages
from decrepit old men
to toddling babies our guide and hostess produced
bours came also with
theirs, as well as
a large loaf of bread, butter, excellent bacon, and

glasses of pure white buffalo milk,
from which she
pressed us to partake, out of pure kindness and
without any thought of receiving payment.
HUNGARY
200
We
made our way back
to the carriage
by
picturesque thatched barns, pretty groups of white
and the famiUar hooded gateways with

richly carved posts.
The designs in which again
the tuhp was often present were in many cases
cottages,
painted,
and
where
the
colours
had
become
weather-worn, they were most harmonious and

pleasing.
The women and
girls
wished us good-bye, or
your hand), while the

men raised their hats as we went and when I had
said
Kezet csokolom
'
(I kiss
rolled a cigarette, a
match.
man
Such kindness,
speak their language, as
me
to strike a
foreigners
unable to
ran after
to
we
received from everyone
that afternoon seemed to us remarkable indeed
and we should have liked to be able to return to

pass a few days at Korosfo, had there been an inn
of any kind in the village.
doctor on
whom we
had ventured to
call,
because we heard his wife spoke English, and would

like opportunities of practising
afternoon over some
hills
it,
drove us one
to Magyar-Bikal.
The
road for nearly the whole distance was bordered by

orchards in which the trees bent
weight of their
fruit.
We
down under
the
pulled up at the house
of the Calvinist clergyman, where
we found
a large
MAGYAR SHEPHERDS, NEAR

BANFFY-HUNYAD
BANFFY-HUNYAD
201
family and several friends assembled in honour of
Instead of
the birthday of the parson's eldest son.
we
allowing us to go away, as
insisted that
we must
proposed, they
all
join their party, or at least
return for the festivities
when we had
seen what
interested us in the village.
old fruit-trees
them.
carved
even the graveyard was
The graves were marked by
wooden
among
place was almost buried
The whole
posts,
heads,
Where young
full
of
upright
about a foot wide, with curiously

of gravestones or crosses.
instead
girls
flag
was attached
top
of
each
tall,
fine
post,
were buried a rod bearing a
in a slanting direction to the
the flag being composed of
aprons or handkerchiefs they had worn.
There was nothing noteworthy about the church
which was soon to be destroyed to make way

wood
dating from
a larger one except
for
ceiling,
its
the seventeenth century.
had
seen,
square,
beautiful
directors
This, like the others
was divided into
which
of
panels, about four feet
were painted with
patterns.
We
museum
we
were
in
and
that
the
told
Budapest wished to
acquire the best preserved portion of
from the church, but close to

belfry with a tapering spire.
delicate
it,
It
it.
Separate
was a wooden
was pointed out

26
HUNGARY
202
to us, as of interest, that the squared logs of which

this
tower was composed had been hewed with
axes, not
The
sa^\Ti.
village schoolmaster
had revived the
art of
wood-carving among the peasants, and he showed

us tables, chairs, and boxes cut by
Hungarian
them
in
old
designs.
Great pains are
now taken
to
hunt out and
preserve, or reproduce,
any ancient
artistic
produc-
tions of the Magyars.
That there
are not
more of
these
is
said to be
and the
due to the ravages of the Turks,
fact that all
through the Middle Ages,
and even the Renaissance period, Hungarians were

engaged
in war,
and had no time to develop in
other directions.
The Rumanians
at
BanfFy-Hunyad are of a
lower grade than the Magyars.
most
them,
part,
They
farm servants or labourers, and
who have no
fixed
and
many
of
work with
worldly goods in the sacks which are slung
over their shoulders.

soil
the
employment, may be seen,
picturesque figures, going in search of

all their
are, for
far
its
They seem
to belong to the
labours.
One Saturday we noticed in the distance a crowd

of Rumanian women coming towards the town.
They were singing, or chanting, in a strange
BANFFY-HUNYAD
203
mournful way, and at their head was a young
woman crowned
with corn
for
the harvest was
We
over where they had been at work.
them
to a large farmhouse,
wife
inviting
us
to
painted
brightly
enter,
chests,
we
green
again
admired
stoves,
flowery
earthenware, and embroidered hangings,

I'he lady presented
and-span.
followed
and on the farmer's
my
spick-
all
wife with the
crown of wheat-ears, and arranged that
its
wearer
should come to be painted the following day.
From
our open window on the main road there
was always something interesting or amusing to be

seen. I often enjoyed watching the happy return of
the pigs in the evening, after their day in the country
with the swineherds.
First,
contented grunts were
away then a pig would gallop by,

followed by two or three others close upon his
heels then there was an interval and after that,
to be heard far
pigs, single, or in groups, passed for ten

all
sorts of
squeaked,
pigs
tall,
pigs
that grunted,
thin pigs,
pigs with curly hair
all
broad,
fat
minutes
pigs
pigs,
that
little
hurried by with a kind of
galloping trot, and each turned sharp in at his
own door without

Then
taking any notice of the
rest.
stream of snarling black buffaloes
perhaps two hundred of them
would slowly come

262
HUNGARY
204
from the other
direction, their
their grey horns
heads protruded,
which grow back close to their
necks giving them a vicious appearance, hke that

of a horse with turned-back ears.
are enormously strong
two of them
be able to pull a load that
The cows
yielded
These animals
six horses
are said to
cannot move.
give only half the quantity of milk
by ordinary domestic cows, but
double the
price.
It
so white that
is
it
it
brings
looks like
liquid plaster of Paris.
Being unable to sleep one early morning,

determined
the
before
to
dawn
in
The hour was
3.30
to
everything
that vague light which precedes
the stars were
outside,
we were accustomed
time when
begin our day.
was bathed
what went on
observe
still
bright in the sky. and
waning moon dipped towards the horizon. All

was still.
Before long warm lights gleamed faintly here
a
and there
in
whitewashed cottages over the way.
Cocks crowed
A door
away
voices
was
in the distance.
opened, and a
in the twilight.
;
tall
peasant strode rapidly
heard the sound of low
footsteps approached, passed, and
all
again
still.
The dawn approached,
rose
and gold swimming
THE GARLIC-SELLER
*^.
.a;.^;.,.;*
>
BANFFY-HUNYAD
over
all
things in the east
205
to the west, opal
and
blue.
The sound
too-to
and
of a horn at four o'clock
too-to,
the cracking of whips heralded the
Many
approach of a herd of buffaloes.
yard-doors
were thrown open, and from each of them emerged
two or three
beasts
sped with parting lashes to
join the procession which wâs slowly slouching
and
for
several
by
minutes belated buffaloes were
whipped up and hurried
after
Then again
them.
there was quietness for a time.
Four Wallachs, in long white cloaks and nether

garments bound round from the shoes up with
thongs of leather, came out from next door to us,
still munching their early meal, and strode off.
A powerful Magyar in a felt hat, dark blue
jacket, short white
trousers
or
divided skirts
reaching below the knees, and polished black topboots, pressed
on a forgotten buffalo
and then
for a time nothing passed, until a herd of long-
horned white oxen came, driven by a Wallach

in
turned-down straw hat and flannel -coloured
clothes of thick hanging
felt.
Carriage bells jingled in

carriage appeared
drawn by a
the distance,
pair of
which trotted smartly along the road.
brown
and a
horses,
Their driver
HUNGARY
W6
was arrayed
behind him
light
brown
a coat of light
leather
master proudly reclined with folded
his
arms and an
The
in
air
of vast importance.
grew stronger; the only sound
to be
heard was the chirping of sparrows.
party
of
reapers
with
scythes
on
their
shoulders, points upwards, strolled along, accom-
women
panied by
Rumanians each wearing two
small rugs, orange or striped purple, fastened to

their waists,
one hanging in
front, the other behind.
Their white shirt-sleeves were embroidered with

black at the shoulders and wrists
leather vests,
chiefs,
and on
they wore loose
their heads black handker-
which were knotted
at the
back of their necks.
Four white oxen with deep-toned bells were

driven by and then I fell asleep.
At 5.30 I was awakened by the loud blowing of
a brass horn.
The sun was up, and an army of
pigs was passing in a cloud of sunlit dust not
;
merrily as at night, but slowly, with unwilling

steps.
and
From
later,
every door their ranks were swelled,
unpunctual pigs were driven after them.
The sound
of the horn died
away towards the open
country.
Ducks quacked, cows lowed, and maids swept

out the court opposite.
BANFFV-HUNYAD
Several
Wallach
empty buifalo-waggons
peasants
sitting
on
207
passed,
with
front
rails,
their
smoking.
Next came
their
way
gay
tribe of
Magyar maidens on
Their sleeves were
to the harvest-fields.
snowy white, then- sldi'ts were brilliant red most

some went bareof them wore wide straw hats
footed, and some stepped along in tall high-heeled
They passed on towards
boots of crimson leather.
:
the sun. and disappeared in a cloud of dust raised
by a second herd of
Two
s^^'ine
which was approachmg.
boys, ^Wth gi'eat cow-horns slung on their
backs, and long-lashed whips, drove their unwilling
away do^^^l the road.

The common light of day had come, and
pigs
down
up
for another doze before it
I lay
was time to get
for breakfast.
On
Smidays the
^lagyâr
people
of
Banffy-
Hmiyad were magnificently di-essed the women

so much so that my A\ife was not much tempted
to paint them.
much
to be
like ladies
They appeared
bedizened for a fancy-dress ball
really picturesque,
that this
to her to be too
book was
though had she knowTi
to be illustrated, they should
not have been omitted.
The men wore
thick white felt overcoats, hea\'ily
HUNGARY
208
embroidered with black, without putting their arms
round black hats
through the sleeves
trousers, very short
and loose
peculiar
custom of the
white linen
and black top-boots.
women was
that of
turning up the black outer skirt to the waist in

front, in
such a
way
that a broad band of lining
showed, orange or vermilion, as
it
sloped
down
to
their heels at the back.
The matrons we saw
sitting together in
wore dark handkerchiefs on
heads
their
church
dark
leather vests, richly embroidered with black
white, or claret, green and black
outer
and
black pleated
with broad band embroidered with
skirts,
black below the waist
aprons of rich colours
black top-boots with remarkably small
and
feet.
The young unmarried women wore on
their
heads pdrtas, or wreaths of imitation pearls and
ruby
from which four long bright ribbons
tinsel,
worked in many colours

bright pleated aprons, often tomato or flame colour
white skirts and dainty crimson leather top-boots
descended
cloth vests,
with high heels.
hung
Two
long ribbons, blue or
from their necks almost to the ground
scarlet,
;
their
hung
in a long plait, ending in a silken cord with two
Under each left arm
tassels, either brown or red.
sleeves
were of whitest
linen,
and
their hair
HAY-TIME IN TRANSYLVANIA
BANFFY-HUNYAD
209
a brightly coloured shawl was held, which reached
down
to the
bottom of the
skirts.
There was a high-bred look about
Magyar
all
these
The men were tall, straight, and

the young women tall and slender,
people.
small-headed
with small hands and
feet.
Their manners were
incomparable.
When
children or
they always
kissed
mine
kissed
too,
came to my wife,
her hand.
They frequently
young
and those
and gentle feeling of
their
girls
soft lips left a
sweet
youth and freshness.
27
CHAPTER X
AND A SALT-MINE
DESZE, SOME OTHER PLACES,
Leaving England one year
late in
May, we went
to Budapest, and thence on to pay a visit to the
Bishop of ^ ^ ^ ^ (formerly
last
the Prelate
East of Hungary.
diocese in the
during the
'
')
at his
remember,
portion of that journey, the graceful
acacia-trees in full flower
and
their delicious scent,
through which we passed for hours at a time.
We
found the Bishop's secretary waiting for us
on the platform, wearing a long black cassock and

a low top-hat, and attended by a footman in pale
blue livery with white cordings, a crimson
shaped somewhat like a
and top-boots.
carriage
and pair
fez,
with a
silk
silver
cap
band,
Outside the station were a smart

for us
The coachman wore

footman's, except that
and a cab
pale
his
with a high cockade.

210
blue
for our luggage.

livery,
like
the
cap was of black fur
DESZE,
The
OTHER PLACES, AND A SALT-MINE
5211
Palace, built in the form of a square, fronted
the street,
its
gardens and shady grounds being at
Our
drew up under an archway

inside the building, and we were ceremoniously
conducted by the secretary and several menservants up broad flights of low stone stairs and
the back.
carriage
along a Hght corridor to the apartments reserved

for guests.
Where was
the
smiling
merry handmaidens of other days
We had proceeded half
and where the
sister,
!
through the special meal
which had been prepared when the folding-doors

of the dining-room were thrown open, and
we saw
the Bishop coming towards us over soft carpets
through a long
bowing low
as
he approached.
welcomed
hands, he
under the
rooms, the servants
line of lofty
us,
Holding out both
and we
rooms,
furnished
visit
which were simply,
sometimes he visited us
once more
and charm.
spell of his great dignity
Sometimes we were allowed to
own
fell
him
in his
even sparely,
in ours,
and on
such occasions the old relations of friendly familiarity
were continued
deferential
but at meals, when several
or silent priests
there was invariably a certain
were always present,
amount of
constraint.
Hungarian Bishops are great personages,
272
for not
HUNGARY
212
only are they very wealthy, but they have seats in

the
House of Lords,
and, I beUeve, take precedence
of everyone else in their respective
appointment by the Pope has to be
Their
sees.
ratified
by the
King of Hungary before they are duly elected.

A Hungarian professor, who could speak a little
Enghsh, once remarked to us
Our Bishops are
Princes
Princes
When they go to Rome,
Cardinals call on them, and hold out their hands
'
for
money
money
Italy
not,
beggars beggars
men
as in
And
our priests are gentle-
and some other
countries,
!'
We
greatly enjoyed the Bishop's hospitality for
a few days, and then set out to find painting

quarters for the summer.
We
went to Maramaros-Sziget, a considerable

town on the Tisza (German, Theis), which to us, as
artists, was uninteresting, and then on by rail to
Korosmezo, close to the
country
we
The
frontier of Galicia.
passed through
Switzerland of Hungary,' but
often
is
it
really
called
more
the
closely
resembles parts of Scotland or Wales.
When we
was cold and wet.

Only one small shabby open cab was available,
and the best seat in that, under the hood, had been
arrived the weather
already taken
The country was
bleak, the inn far
PEASANT
WOMAN
IN
KISBANYA
HER GUBA
DESZE,
OTHER PLACES, AND A SALT-MINE nS
away, and we found that the
one
good
fairly
bedroom in it had been secured by two gentlemen

who came by our train. Beyond the road by
which the inn stood a half-empty river flowed,
water thick with reddish
mud
its
and unattractive-
looking Jews in long black kaftans, with curls
hanging down their cheeks, walked about disputing
The
in the rain.
dreariness of everything could not
well be surpassed.
We
cooked
were
in
still
trying to eat the horrid supper
goose-fat which our
Hebrew
landlady
had provided, when one of the gentlemen entered

His object was to
from the other room.
who and what we

enough
were, and 1 wish
find out
we had had
spirit left to try to
mystify him.
When
we were
artists in search
of the
he learnt that
only
picturesque he seemed greatly relieved, and

I suppose, wê
if,
as
sank in his estimation, he was polite
On my saying to him as a
random shot in return, You have come about the
oil-wells
he almost staggered back. He was a
enough not to show
it.
?'
prosperous-looking Hungarian Jew, lately returned
from America
his
friend,
American, of a not
They had come over
uncommon
in
and pleasant
a tall
business
quest of
oil,
type.
and had
frequently broken their journey and travelled by
HUNGARY
214
circuitous routes across
Hungary
in order to avoid
being tracked.
On
the Galician side of the mountains forming
the frontier great quantities of

to be
oil
are found.
It
is
hoped that the Hungarian slopes may prove
equally rich.
We
left
the next day, but not before
we had
enjoyed the excitement of seeing the river flooded,
and the
rafts
come tearing down, steered in front

worked on wooden pins. In spite of
by long oars
the bad weather the mountainous landscape we saw
during a long morning walk was very beautiful, and
an old Greek church we visited most picturesque
but the peasants had
little
charm, and the place
was swarming with Galician Jews. The costume

of the Ruthenians was new to us.
The women's
dress somewhat resembled that of Rumanians
the men wore thick red trousers, tight round the
;
ankles.
My wife,
by way of making conversation, asked
the landlady
istic
features,
if
her servant,
was
also
who
lacked character-
a Jewess.
'
Yes, she
is,'
you were
to leave about Zucker, Gold, und susse Mandeln
[sugar, gold, and sweet almonds], she would not
was the answer
touch them.'
'
and so honest that
if
There seemed to be something almost
DESZE,
OTHER PLACES, AND A SALT-MLNE

about the conception of
Biblical
which caused
me
to
make
admixture
this
a note of
215
it.
There are several watering-places with mineral
Hungary, where, doubtless, happy
springs in East
and healthy holidays

society
but
we
may
be passed in agreeable
avoided them as useless for the
we had
would be very
unfair to infer from our experiences that no pleasant
purpose
in view,
and
it
quarters are to be found in that part of the country.
After Korosmezo
tried
Nagy-Banya
a town
but
failed to find
anything
we
frequented by painters
particularly characteristic or
it
charming there, though
was founded by a Saxon colony
century and
its
in the eleventh
mines have been worked from time
immemorial.
We
then went to Felso-Banya, half an hour by
up
train
valley leading
the
into
Carpathian
Mountains at the foot of which Nagy-Banya

It
is
smaller than the latter place and
lies.
much more
picturesque, though the streams, in which stamps
were pounding, were

mines.
One
attentive
by
refuse
from the
of the chief magistrates was most
to
us
enough and
its
streets
defiled
the
inn,
if
simple,
was good
landlord was very obliging; the
and groups of buildings by the
seemed paintable
so that at
first
square
we thought
of
HUNGARY
'216
making a prolonged stay there. But the model

difficulty, combined with the fact that the soiled
much
state of the river destroyed
of the beauty
of subjects I should have chosen to paint, caused

us soon to change our minds, and
to go
still
My
we determined
farther afield.
wife one day captured a small Wallachian
shepherd boy, a dear
little
fellow,
who, with the
consent of his father, came most willingly to be
Two
drawn.
sittings
were arranged
money
the
for,
But
to be paid on the conclusion of the second.

after the first
he disappeared, and
people went in search of him
as
though
far as
was never seen or heard of any more.

is
only one instance from
From Felso-Banya we
many
several
we know,
And
this
of a similar kind.
drove several times to Kis-
Banya (Banya means mine, and the words Nagy,

Felso,
tively),
Kis
Great,
Upper, and Small
respec-
along a stream that doubtless once has
which
sparkled, and through perfect hill scenery
resembled Devonshire and Wales.
we came
to a gold-mine belonging to a
company, where the

the
little
About halfway
tasteful
French
house of the engineers,
bridges and dainty summer-houses in the
gardens, and the general aspect of brightness,

vivid recollections of far-away France.
awoke
the cathedral and square,

szatmAr
DESZE,
At Kis-Banya we
and, finding
opened
readily
many rude
drove to the Greek church,
locked, called on the priest,
it
The
for us.
it
217
who
interior contained
paintings Byzantine in character, and,
hefore the sanctuary, the customary
wooden screen
divided by carved framework into painted panels.
The
priest
was a Rumanian knowing
dozen words of German, but
seemed easy
We
garian.
most a
at
Latin language
his
after the hopeless difficulty of
talked with
him
in
broken
Hun-
Italian,
German, and the few words of Latin that remain

to us,
all
combined, with complete success.
He
Rumanian
farms, but insisted that we should first come to
break bread with him at his own house.
We found the houses of the farmers we visited
kindly offered to take us to see several
to be picturesque and clean.
Outside they were
white, or light blue, with small

in dark
wood, and
the
older ones
rich dark-coloured thatch
rooms
were
high
roofs of
which in shape resembled
candle-extinguishers with blunted

principal
windows framed
tips.
Inside, the
hung round with towels
with red embroidered ends, and over these were
rows of jugs and plates of rough earthenware,
most decorative and charming
in
colour.
The
clean white tablecloths spread on the tables were
28
HUNGARY
218
embroidered in the centres, and richly round the

borders,
variety.
with red Rumanian
Some
handsome, and
of the
women were
the
one,
patterns
wife
my
of
remarkably
of
the
wife
if
magistrate, agreed to
sit
for
return to paint her.
At
that time
great
peasant
she could
many
of
them
were weaving the great goat's-hair mantles, which,
when worn,
give
of Polar bears.
them very much the appearance

For the rest, their costume was
composed of red aprons, white skirts, and handkerchiefs on their heads which were generally red.
Most of the men were engaged

also
in the mines,
but
found time to attend their land.
Leaving our heavy luggage behind, we
from Felso-Banya one morning

without
springs,
for
in
set
an open
long journey
over
out
cart,
the
mountains, hoping to find some place that pleased

us on the way; the thoughtful landlord having
previously begged us not to give large tips to his
servants, as they
were not used to
receive,
and did
not deserve, them.

It
first
was a long pull of three hours
by the
among
oak
steep
side of a rushing stream,

hills
and then up
covered with forests of beech and
to the top of the
arrived,
for the horses
pass,
where we had already
having climbed by short cuts through the
DESZE,
There we rested for a while, and picnicked
trees.
in a grassy glade,
enjoying the delicious mountain
under a clear summer sky.
air
219
But soon clouds
began to gather ominously, and we heard the faint

growling of distant thunder.
The descending road was good, and we rattled

and jolted merrily down it for an hour or more
the clouds closing overhead, the thunder growing
ever louder
with
we
its
to
first village,
surroundings, delighted us so
decided,
if possible,
discovered later,
who
Kracsfalo, the
to stay there.
we had gone
to the
which,
much
If,
that
as
Greek
we
priest
some distance from the road, he

would have been glad to take us in, and his wife
would have cared for us but the only rooms we
lived
at
found were
to
in a little bright
Jewish
inspecting
my
While
shopkeeper.
them
green house belonging
noticed
wife was
crow
grey-backed
hung by its feet from the top of a pole to frighten

birds away from the garden.
It must have been
there for a long time, as it had but life enough
left
occasionally to
wings.
driver
succeeded
struggle and feebly flap

in
go and put an end to
afterwards
it
its
making our Rumanian

its
misery
but
would have taken much to induce
us to stay in that house, even
if
the rooms had
282
HUNGARY
220
been clean, which they were not, or the untidy
woman had
not asked an exorbitant rent for them,
w^hich she did.
Continuing our journey, we came to another
named Desze, which looked almost
village,
enticing as Kracsfalo.
as
large house stood at the
top of a court which was open towards the road,
and a young
man was
him and asked him
walking across
to help us.
it.
He
1 hailed
told us the
house belonged to the Notary, and that he himself
The Notary had gone

but the Clerk thought that we
was Vice-Notary, or Clerk.
away
for a
few days,
might possibly be able to arrange to have meals

with him and his family
somewhere
He
find
rooms
took us up a rough stony lane to the
and
which was unused, as
went on himself
who had the keys.

that we should rent
etc.,
we could
else to sleep in.
school-house
time
if
it
for the
In the end
it
little
was holiday-
Greek priest,
was arranged
the place, furnished with beds,
provided anyone could be found to cook for
us, or if
we
could arrange by letter to board with
the Notary.
We had still a level drive of twenty miles

us
to
Maramaros
sleep for the night
Sziget,
and
before
where we intended to
had not proceeded
far
on
A SHEPHERD-BOY OF FELSOBANYA
DESZE,
our
way when
gathering
221
the storm which had been long
broke
over
us
Hghtning, venomous and
streaks
in
forked
of
deafening crackUng of
thunder echoed by the mountains, and a perfect

deluge of
For a time
rain.
was
it
terrible.
No
we reached the first

we were wet through,
shelter was at hand, and before
miserable inn on the road
the bottom of the cart resembled a leaking boat,
and the driver looked very much
drowned
It was a miserable cartload that drew up
rat.
before the principal hotel in Maramaros Sziget that
evening, and went dripping through the place to
like a
their beds
The next day

took us
none
a railway journey of a few hours
the worse for our wetting
back to
comfortable quarters at the Bishop's Palace.
During that second

ance of a number of
we made the acquaintyoung men whose love of
visit
England and English literature had induced them

to form themselves into a small club for the study
of our language.
They were much troubled by
the difficulties of pronunciation
but books to guide them
having
and
accompany us on our walks and

as
it
is
spoken at home.
wanderings
through
nothing
were eager to
to hear English
(In the course of our
Hungary we came
across
HUNGARY
J222
similar
several
societies,
formed
for
the
same
purpose.)
One day
I
there was a dinner-party at the Palace.
was introduced to
my
neighbours in Hungarian,
without understanding what
about their rank,
etc.
was doubtless told
but from
his
important
appearance, and the fact that purple relieved the
black of his clothes, I took one of
them
to be a
priest of high position in the Catholic Church.
great was
my
amazement when,
conversation, he simply
sieben
I
had
'
Orthodox'
(I
to
still
Hungary
in
*
Knaben
have seven
and
Ich habe
'
sons).
two
into
Greek Church
sections,
The
'United.'
the
the
United
a compromise between the Greek and
section
is
Roman
Churches.
It
is
recognized by the
Catholic Pope, though marriage

clergy and the vulgar tongue
services.
me
that the
learn
divided
is
in the course of
to
said
And
My
new
is
is
Roman
allowed to
used in
its
its
church
acquaintance was a clergyman
of the United Greek Church.
We
the
afterwards found villages where priests of
Roman
Catholic and United Greek religions
lived in close friendship,
and
at
one place, Sugatag,
they used the same church for alternate services.
In due course
having heard that we should find
DESZE,
the
school-house
furnished,
sufficiently
223
that
German-speaking servant had been found, and that
we
we
could have our meals at the Notary's house

set
out for Desze, by the same route as before.
Surrounded by a crowd of Rumanian
we
arrived
villagers,
one afternoon, at the time we had
announced, before the
school
httle
the horses
having bravely pulled our load of baggage up the
But we could not get
steep and stony lane.
The garden door was
locked, and
in.
no one was about.
Presently the eldest son of the Notary, with his
gun, was seen coming
He
down through an
orchard.
introduced himself, volunteered to go for the
Greek
priest, and, after a time,
They
and the schoolmaster.

find that nothing
returned with him
let
us
in,
but only to
whatever had been prepared for
us except one small
wooden
bedstead, without any
bedding, which was placed in a corner of the largest

of the bare rooms.
I
we had
think the terms
priest,
agreed on with the
though modest, must have seemed to him
too good to be true, and that he never allowed

himself to believe that
However,
in
we were
an incredibly short space of time
things were got
more
men all helped
servants
really coming.
or less into order.
The
three
came down laden from the
HUNGARY
224
house
priest's
and Rosa
'
'
the middle-aged woman
who spoke German was engaged to wait on us.

We then went down to the Notary's for supper, a
quarter of a mile from our new home.
The Notary, an Armenian
of considerable pro-
was a man of excitable temperament and

thoroughly good heart. His wife, a Magyar, was
typically a mother.
Both their families had been
ennobled in the seventeenth century as might be
learnt from coats of arms and inscriptions in the
perty,
drawing-room.
When we made
their children
of
were at home,
wooden
which
our
all ages,
appearance eleven of
from two to twenty-one
and clustered round the
flight of
which led into the house, and on
steps
their father
meerschaum
first
pipe.
was seated smoking a long

They were all friendly, and
while they took us into the dining-room the eldest
son played a noisy march on a cymbal in the
The
hall.
was soon loaded with large quantities of

wholesome food, and excellent wine was served
table
together with a mineral water, with a strong smell
of sulphur, which at
selves to drink.
first
we
could not bring our-
Our meal was
nearly over before
the mother appeared, as she preferred to cook her-
though she had plenty of servantsand never
self
THE RUMANIAN CHURCH AT DESZE

Gyorgy
in the foreground.
DESZE,
sat
down
225
was satisfied.
they would, and when
to eat until everyone at table
Children came and went as
most of them had disappeared we heard again the

cymbal, and also the sound of young voices singing
simple Rumanian and Magyar songs. Out of compliment
to
us
as
foreigners
when
we
joined
them they immediately struck up Die Wacht am

Then
Rhein, the only foreign song they knew
the Vice-Notary came and joined in the singing,
!
and the Notary brought
and maid-servants
his flute,
bore in trays with wine and other drinks.
Not wishing
festivities
stopped
as
it is
to intrude longer on these family
we proposed
us,
saying
to-night
'
Stay, stay
and
it
but the Notary
retiring,
it
will
not often be
then transpired that
it
was
the feast of Whit-Monday, according to the Greeks.
when we
was time
for us to go, as his wife must be fatigued, She is
never tired,' said the Notary proudly
she is as
Later,
again suggested that
it
strong as a railway-line.'
was
for
when
all
And
so I
'
believe
she
the younger children had gone
to bed, and she had seen that
her motherly instinct was
all
still
was well with them,
unexhausted and she
brought a fox-terrier puppy and nursed that.
When
at last
we
young men, carrying
we went with three

lanterns, to escort us.
One of
did go,
29
HUNGARY
226
them was the schoolmaster, who had arranged himself a nest
and
among
slept there
went away
the benches in the schoolroom
for
a time.
for a holiday,
But he afterwards
and then we were quite
alone in the house during the nights.
The
first
with the
morning we were awakened by Rosa

and that was her last act of service
coffee,
went away without a word, and never

came back any more. She was one of those people
who prefer the excitement of odd jobs to regular
employment; though she was to be seen every
to us
for she
Saturday keeping a small shop for a Jew
who
would not himself make money on that day.

Thus left servantless, we did not know what to
do the inhabitants of Desze being all either
Rumanian peasants with little or no notion of
cleanliness, or Jews who kept drinking-dens and
were not prepossessing, to say the
least.
But there was a bright Rumanian boy named
who was devoted
Gyorgy, aged eleven,
to
the
schoolmaster, and was always hanging about the

little trellis
vine-grown porch of the school-house.
Hearing of our
to
be
our
difficulty,
servant,
he came and volunteered
was
engaged, and
remembrance of Desze, Gyorgy

figure.
He
only
knew
his
is
in
our
the outstanding
own language and
the
DESZE,
227
few words of Hungarian which he had learned at

school, but he was so intelligent that in a short
time
could anticipate
he
our every wish.
On
Sundays he was always spotless in a loose white

linen shirt which fell outside broad short trousers
of the same material
and a small
his waist,
brim, that was
all
and beyond a strap round

felt
hat with turned-down
he ever wore except a guba, or
wet weather but by the end

week he was generally a grimy little person.
Until about Wednesday he was considered clean
enough to make the beds, which he did, imitating
exactly the movements he had observed in my wife,
goat's-hair overcoat, in
of the
as
he tucked in the sheets or tapped down the
pillows.
would
From
lie
five
o'clock in the
waiting in the
the Notary's
for
our
little
morning he
porch until sent to
breakfast,
with which he
always brought a glass jug of fresh water from a

well.
He
shoes,
swept out the rooms, and made the beds
brought water for the baths, cleaned the
when he was allowed

work, set up
my
to.
easel
He
then took
me
out to
and umbrella, and arranged
my
box before he returned to

render similar services to my wife. He came to
tell us when it was time to go back for dinner,
the colours neatly in
brought our coffee in the afternoon, and took us
292
HUNGARY
228
out to work again in the evening,
we
or, if
allowed,
accompanied us on our walks, on which occasions

he would
jump about
hands with
glee
at
or turn cart-wheels on his
having
nothing
to
carry.
Gyorgy remained true to us to the end.

The country in which Desze lay was hilly, and
in the distance was to be seen a spur of the Carpathians with Mount Gutin as its main feature.
Maize grew in many of the fields, willows and tall
poplars bordered the highroad, and orchards sur-
Below the
rounded the thatched white cottages.

village
about
river flowed
a quarter of a mile
by
and
island copse
mill,
charming
sometimes
streaming over rocks and stones. This was spanned
by a primitive bridge, some fifty feet

long, which was composed of one tree-trunk that
divided into two branches two-thirds of the way
across.
It had no sort of handrail, nor had the
shorter log which sloped steeply up from the island
to the top of a huge rock on the far side.
For us
to the island
it
was a giddy adventure to
ing and curling underneath
cross, the
water rush-
but the peasants went
over with perfect ease and confidence, and Gyorgy
was fond of dancing

seeing
my wife's
in
the middle.
hesitation to
make
One
day,
the attempt, a
son of the Notary led her to a broad place higher
WOMAN
OF DESZE
DESZE,
up the
229
where the water reached no higher
river
than the knees, and then gallantly took off his
wade
boots for her to
own
while he, barefooted,
in,
helped her over the sharp stones and carried her
dry shoes.
A favourite resort of the Notary's children was a

bench before the house of the gendarme, where
sometimes joined them
to be
seen
buffaloes,
for
after
calves,
women and
besides men,
passed by there
everything
oxen, cows,
we
work to see what was

pigs,
dogs,
children in
geese,
Rumanian
costume.
Each woman wore a long white garment of

coarse linen and two thick aprons, in colour
reddish -purple,
with
horizontal
which hung down, one
in front,
orange
one behind,
stripes,
fitting
The shoes, of one piece of

were turned up and pointed and laced
closely to the loins.

leather,
across the instep, the laces continuing
round the
The
head-dress
linen bands
protecting the legs.
was a handkerchief, generally black.

The men,
whose hair was very long and black, were dressed
in white linen
the shirts short and loose, the
trousers tight about the hips
ankles
broad
and shoes
brown
and loose about the
leather belts, small felt hats,
like those of the
women.
HUNGARY
230
Our
first
We were
favourable.
of
impressions
these
people
were
taken by the sweet looks of
the children and the gentle manners of their elders.
But soon we found that we were looked at askance,

and our work was considered to be unholy by an
ever-increasing number of them.
When with the
help of the Notary's father-in-law as interpreter
my wife
asked a charming young
she replied, looking
much
time, I could not.'
And
girl to sit for her,
scared
'
again, the
were talking to a peasant
woman
bility of painting her little
boy
Even if I had
same day, they
about the possi-
and she was quite
willing that this should be done until a crippled
hobbled by, saying
On
christ.'
'
Don't, don't
man
they are Anti-
hearing that she hid the boy in the
folds of her dress, and, with a terrified expression
on her
face, hurried
him away.
Sometimes we
met her afterwards on the road with her child, and

she always concealed him when we came near.
A number of Jewish families lived in Desze, and
looked untidy
Friday.
all
the week,
They then
which were coloured
till
sunset-time on
repaired to their houses

light blue outside
to light
candles and perform their devotions, as one could
not help noticing
windows.
when
passing their uncurtained
The men would then
gird on their long
231
black kaftans, and, crowned with broad caps or
rolls
DESZE,
of reddish-brown fur, assemble at their
On
synagogue.
arrayed in
One
night, I
when
Saturdays most of the
all their
day, after
glory,
on
we had been
was painting
sat,
by the school
room and
in the orchard
my
wife's
Hastening
'His
'Yes, Southport, in England.'

?'
women
at the place a fort-
caught the words, spoken in German
name
cottage
their front-door steps.
I heard strange voices in
mother's
little
How
old V
father's, his
found the table
in, I
strewn with documents, and the Vice- Notary doing

his best,
with his scanty knowledge of German, to
interrogate
my wife
about ourselves and our
Turning to me, he asked politely but firmly

papers have you V
passport
?'
No.'
'
'
None,' said
told
him
I.
'
my
affairs.
'
What
Not even a
pocket was
picked when going on to the boat at Queenborough,
on
my way
with the rest
Hungary, and the passport went

and that, as in all my wanderings I
to
;
had never been asked to show one,

it
necessary to delay
my
I did
not think
journey to get another.
But surely,' he replied, you must have something

All I could find in my
to show who you are V
'
'
portmanteau
season-ticket
that
to
looked at
an
all
exhibition
Academy, and an old game
official
at
licence.
was,
Royal
Note was
the
HUNGARY
232
taken of these, but they were considered unsatis-
was then put through the long hst of

questions my wife had already answered, my
factory.
answers were checked with hers, as though to find

out
if
we had been
untruthful
and that was the
only part of the performance I really resented.

'
Name and surname
name
of
father
what age ? where born ?

name of mother V etc., were
words written in duplicate and
?
and my
by
attested
my signature.
replied to,
Vice-Notary to refer
,
who would be
then advised the
his chiefs to the
Bishop of
any further
in-
the Stuhlrichter
(a
able to give
formation that might be desired.
We
were
informed
had heard that we were
species of Judge)
and had sent from
district,
away,
that
for
instant
Probably he thought
Sziget,
information
it
in his
twenty miles
concerning
us.
a suspicious circumstance
that foreign visitors should stay anywhere but in
the expensive hotels of the Tatra, or other smart
And
watering-places.
yet tourists are generally
was often asked why so few

You are not prepared for them,' was the
came.
Your country is most beautiful
natural reply.
and interesting, and so are your people, but you
wished
for,
and
have comparatively few inns
fit
to live
in.
Go
to
A RUMANIAN HOMESTEAD AT DESZE
DESZE,
OTHER PLACES,
AxND
A SALT-MINE
233
on your borders, or Tyrol, a little farther

removed, and you will find in every village a clean
inn with good beds and excellent food of a simple
kind, where you get a pleasant welcome and your
Styria,
bill
is
modest.
Here
village inns in
which
it
is
do not exist at all or are, too

and dirty. Those in the small
possible to live either
frequently, ill-kept
towns are generally not much better
and yet the
pride of their landlords allows nothing less than a
high scale of charges.'
We
found the hotels and inns of Styria, which
were near to the frontier of Hungary, to be crowded

with Hungarians during the summer season and
;
nearly
their
all
of those people would prefer to remain in
own country
if
be had at a moderate
similar
accommodation was to
rate.
In a village not very
far
from Desze lived a
Greek priest, who was renowned for his learning,

and whose favourite pursuit was the study of foreign
When we had finished the books we
languages.
took with us
but, having
we asked
the Notary to lend us some
none that we could read, he advised us
to apply to this priest, adding that he had several
times expressed the wish to

I called
make our
acquaintance.
on him, accompanied by two of the sons of
the Notary, and
we were shown
into a comfortably
30
HUNGARY
234
furnished
and
heat,
rich
room which was darkened

which the hangings,
in
and dark
When
in colour.
he bade us welcome in German.
to keep out the

sofas, etc.,
were
the priest appeared
He told me that
he
could read English fairly well but had never heard

it
spoken, and that, though he was so old as to have
been a priest
for sixteen
Englishman he had ever
years, I
He
seen.
was the
had a
first
library
apart from the house where he locked himself in and
answered no summons.
One
day, with the help of
dictionaries,
he read English, the next French, the
next
and he often asked
Italian,
Why
do not you
other people V
his fellow-priests
also study the great thoughts of
was much impressed
in spite of
the fact, that, for so studious a linguist, his
German
was weak. And then his wife came in with wine

and cakes, and, when our glasses were filled, the
priest rose and proposed a toast in the following
Drinken wir a la sante du Roi Edouard.
words
:
Er
ist
'
a gallant man.'
If the
sentiment was sound indeed
form was
(That
is
faulty, the
but one of
we met with of the wish to do

honour to His Majesty, who, when Prince of Wales,
won the hearts of the people of Hungary.
many
On
instances
further acquaintance 1 found the priest to be
a simple well-meaning man, with
more heart than
DESZE,
235
whose extraordinary hobby it was to live

immersed in the elementary grammars of the
brains,
French, German, Hungarian, Slavonic, Latin, and
Rumanian was
languages.
English
his
native
tongue.
He
took
me
the yard
in
but
the
to his library
to
a modest
little
shed
what books he could lend

loaded with dusty works on
see
shelves,
religion, did not look promising.
After searching
he produced the English book which
long,
he
considered the most interesting he had to offer,

and, opening
Dog
me
showed
the
title
The
'
Little
Flora, with her Silver Bell.'
When
we
it,
told
he returned
him
my call a short time afterwards
that, at Desze,
Antichrist, and asked
him
story of his
no rain
own
for a long
time
and the peasants were
away
for a day,
villagers
tower.
seemed doubtful of
and related the following
us,
people
Two
years ago there was
everything was parched,
in despair.
and on
believed to be
to use his influence to
He
dispel that superstition.
being able to help
we were
The
priest
went
his return learnt that the
had removed the
bell
from the church
In great anxiety, he summoned some of
them, and asked the meaning of their conduct.
With
sullen looks they replied that they
had given
302
HUNGARY
236
the
money to buy the
bell,
that
belonged to them
it
to do with as they would, and that
what they had
done their forefathers had done with church bells

before them.
There exists an old superstition that
to bring rain in a dry season
down
to take
it
is
only necessary
the church bell and sink
it
in the
This had been done, and no sooner had
river.
the bell sunk in the water than, strange to say,

it
began to
crowd
The
rain.
effect
may
be
imagined
in
five
minutes,
stopped
on the assembled
However, the
rain
and though the
bell
remained concealed for four days in a deep pool,

not
The high clergy and

of the county town were summoned,
another
magistrates
drop
and only with

the missing bell
fell.
was the whereabouts of

discovered, and the authority of the
their aid
priest upheld.
A steam
saw-mill was built at Kracsfalo, and
engines and machinery

place
the
first
ever seen in the
were for a time regarded with awe.
weeks before our
arrival,
its
on the day when
Three
it
began
to work, several of the older people had disappeared
from the
village,
and gone to hide
in the
woods
beyond Sugatag, ten miles away, because, they

said,
the mill could not start until a live
had been thrust into the machines
for
them
man
to eat
GROUP
RUMANIAN RELIGIOUS
PROCESSION, DESZE
IN A
DESZE,
237
When we
saw it, it was working capitally, and

giving employment to many industrious people.
In Hungary salt is a monopoly of the State.
Some
of the
salt-mines
principal
were
county of Maramaros, where we were
in
the
living,
and
we visited one, the Gdbor-bdnya, or Gabriel Mine,

at Akna Sugatag, a few miles from Desze.
Having donned blue blouses and old
we
a
entered a
youth
as
both
attendant,
along railway-lines
in
in
with
down
wonder
lamps,
We
and
walked
a tunnel but dimly seen,
at the entrance to a vast hall
the centre of which a bonfire blazed in our
honour.
grand and most solemn temple
appeared to be
Egyptian,
Haggard
She to dwell as the firelight gleamed

enormous walls, or died away in the gloom
imagined
its
it
or perhaps belonging
to those mysterious lands where Rider
on
hats,
with an engineer as guide and
lift,
descended 400 feet into the mine.
and stood
felt
'
'
of deep recesses.
The
colour of the walls and
was
sombre
giant
buttresses
of
grey,
lined
strange designs by dark strata
into
salt
greenish-
which, flowing sometimes horizontally, sometimes
downwards
tions,
in
long curves
and weird convolu-
gave an appearance of preciousness
marble.
as
of
HUNGARY
238
A roll-call was
proceeding in a remote corner
the echoing voices sounding strange and unnatural
and
on its conclusion one of the men knelt

down and repeated a prayer before a holy picture
lit
The
with candles.
others remained seated, but
When
stopped smoking and removed their hats.
the prayer was ended the candles were blown out,
and the men dispersed to
their work, each carry-
ing a metal lamp shaped like a sauce-boat, with

the flame at the
a foot
long.
and held by an iron stem

one was engaged unless he
lip,
No
could speak Hungarian

at
work
in
short hours
hence nearly
all
mines were Magyars.
the
from
4 a.m. to 10 a.m.
those
In the
when work
was carried on, the amount of salt required could

be produced, and the miners had afterwards time
to
work
We
at trades or in the fields.
were shown the complete working of the
salt as far as it
On
was done down below.
the
floor a flat slab, fifteen feet long, eight feet wide,
and about one and a half

with pickaxes, except
from which the
Twenty -one
iron
last
along
slab
was cut round
one exposed edge
had
been
removed.
wedges were fixed along the
bottom of the exposed

men, with
feet deep,
side,
and ten half-naked
heavy sledge-hammers, stood
above
DESZE,
them
in a
row on the
slab of salt.
239
Then, keeping
make music, each man swinghammer first on the head of the
time, they began to
ing
down
wedge
his
to
his
left,
then on that to his
right.
After every twenty blows there was a halt
way
and
work continued, until at last the

clang of the hammers was followed by the booming
in this
the
of a subterranean echo, denoting that the whole
block was loose from the ground.
then jumped
down, and, carrying
hurried off through
the
The miners
lamps,
their
semi-darkness
to their
own special jobs.

The next operation was performed with
small
sharp picks, with thin and very pliable handles
With such an
slab we had seen
which were eighteen inches long.

instrument a miner attacked the
loosened, and in a very short time had cut a long
from one end of
strip
it.
This he proceeded to
divide into cubes measuring about eighteen inches,
knocking off the worthless parts and chipping each

piece with a dot
Some
and a
line
his
mark.
special
of the cubes were as clear as crystal
were of a pale transparent olive-green
some
colour
and others, again, containing earth or other impurities,
slab
were opaque and dark.
When
the whole
had been thus dealt with, the squares were
HUNGARY
240
sent in trucks to the
lifts,
and further processes
were carried on above.
We
admired
several
and ascended
corridors,
a chapel in the solid
smaller
wooden stairs to
where Mass was said
flights
salt,
and long
halls
of
once a year.
Altar, crucifix, steps, vaulted
and
were cut out of
floor,
all
clear,
roof
transparent
salt.
Our
We
we
two months.
stay at Desze extended over
bathed in the river and walked on the
wooden churches whose
visited
hills
were painted in tempera with primitive pictures
we attended
walls inside
;
a christening in a priest's kitchen, and
a peasant wedding in his church
and went
after-
wards, with the music, to a dance outside the
house of the newly-married couple, and a feast

within
of
it
bread
which consisted of formal rows of loaves

with
flowers
planted
in
wine -bottles between, while other
them, and
loaves
hung
suspended by garlands of leaves from the low

ceiling.
The
bashful bride, in one corner, wept or
hid her face, as was the custom.
We
found a
poacher with his hand blown off by dynamite (he
had been
in the act of placing
would almost
it
in the river),
certainly have bled to death
who
had not
one of the Notary's guests known how to stanch
STREAMS
IN
EAST HUNGARY
DESZE,
his
wound
and we often
sat in the evenings
the Notary's wooden steps, which
view over roUing

river to
241
prairies
on
commanded
extending beyond the
mud-
the mountains, and watched the
crusted buffalo cows as they plucked last mouthfuls
of mulberry leaves from the trees in the court
below us before they were driven to their sheds

for the night.
The party at the Notary's steadily increased.

First came a son from college with a comrade who
was to stay with him during the holidays then a
young engineer, friend of the eldest son, on a visit
;
which was to
sister
last for
it
and next, the
stay of a fortnight.
How
or
we never knew. If somethere was much noise at meals, we got used

as at first I thought we never should.
where they
to
weeks
of the Notary's v^fe with her husband and
son, for a shorter
times
six
all
slept
Everyone was most kind and
young
men being always ready to jump up and wait on
us.
When the weather grew hot the children
came to table with very little on, but what
attentive, the
garments they wore were fresh and clean
some of them would come
and
to say good-night in
their little white nightgowns, while others rushed
about, barelegged, with one shoe off and the other
31
HUNGARY
242
Gulo, Josko, Ilonka,
Istvan,
on.
Lulu, Soltan,
Margit, Ladsi,
Gabor, and the pup Franco

After each repast pretty
Bandi,
we
little
Lajos,
Berti,
baby
the
hked them
all.
Margit brought
to her father his long -stemmed pipe, and held
and
a light for
it
inclined, she
came on
sometimes,
when
to us to curtsy
she felt
and to
kiss
our hands.
There was
father
who
one more person
still
the
mother's
turned up occasionally for a day or
In the summer a theatrical company played
two.
at Sziget, and he preferred to be there
fancy also that the

holidays
and I
at the Notary's during the
life
may have been
little
too
much
for
him
but during the rest of the year he lived with
daughter at Desze.
occupation,
gentle old
who never seemed
have any about him,
man
to read a
his
with no
book or
wondered how he passed the
long cold winter months, and one day asked him.
He
told
me
when the weather was fine, he

gun over the snow to the orchard
that,
strolled with his
a mile away where the hares nibbled the bark of

the young trees
played cards.
also,'
he
replied,
which the
left
and
that,
Patience V
*
when
I
it
was bad, he
suggested.
'
That
but generally some game in
hand can play against the
right.'
DESZE,
Seeing that
when
the
left
could you,
was amused, he continued

hand loses, I address it thus,
left
hand, be so stupid
If
played so-and-so, you would have won.
pay a
forfeit,
And
you must pay
shrewdly suspect
overtook the right hand
'*
And
How
you had
You must
for a glass of beer."
that
it
'
243
when misfortune
was addressed
very same fashion.
312
in the
CHAPTER XI
ESZTERGOM (GRAN), BUDAPEST, AND BACS
When, for
the second time,
we
enjoyed the smooth
and reposeful journey from Vienna to Budapest by

river,
we stopped
at
Esztergom furnished with an
introduction to the President of the ecclesiastical
seminary there.
The
first
evening, stroUing in the outskirts of
we were
by sounds
of distant Czigany music and though, on leaving
Hungary the previous year, we had heard so much
the town,
irresistibly attracted
;
often
of an inferior kind
tired of
it,
we soon found
as
to feel
somewhat
ourselves listening with
renewed pleasure to a band
in the orchard of a
small auberge.
After a night spent in an hotel reported to be

good, but really
stayed at
we
in
like
so
many
others
we have
a state of decadence and neglect,
called at the seminary, a large apricot-coloured

244
RUMANIAN CHILDREN BRINGING WATER

TO BE BLESSED IN THE GREEK CHURCH,
DESZE
ESZTERGOM
(GRAN), BUDAPEST,
down
halfway
building
Cathedral
is
245
on which
the
hill
the main object of our visit
built,
obtain
being to
the
AND BAGS
to
access
the
famous treasure
stored in the precincts of the Cathedral, and,
draw what we most admired
possible, permission to
in
if
it.
The Dean
handsome state apartments, with much ceremony, and soon produced

two large volumes containing pictures of Hungarian
antiquities,
at
*
which he considered to be the rarest
Calvary,'
thirds
through which he proceeded to hunt,
haphazard, and then page by page, for a
first
gem
received us in
of the
Esztergom
Volume
of
had
I.
When
collection.
been
looked
slowly
through without finding what he sought,

tured, dififidently, to say that
to refer to the index
but,
the tedious search went on.
volume, I
ignored,
from the
repeated
the
my
ven-
remark unheeded,
Well
into the second
observation,
was again
could
reflection that the spiritual director of
souls
receive
Dean looked
was more accustomed to give

advice.
at
me, a
The
faint
last
page turned,
but very humorous
twinkle in the corners of his eyes, saying,
we
might be expedient
and derived what consolation
a hundred
than to
my
it
two-
will consult the index'
and we
'
Now
immediately
HUNGARY
246
were
The
friends.
an hour had been
We learnt
the
in
that
we
was soon found, but
lost.
that the treasure might only be seen
presence
it
was
Bishop whose time
of a
and that
precious,
picture
was considered expedient
should copy illustrations in books, rather
than work from
the
We
originals.
had
long
ceased from wondering at ignorance of practical
among the learned, and remembered

Enghsh Judge who came to sit for his portrait,
bringing with him a copy of Vanity Fair
in
art matters
the
'
which
his
'
had appeared
likeness
in
order that
wig and gown might be painted from that.

A promise was given that the Bishop in charge
should
be asked to meet us on the following
we
left
while the dinner-bell was
clanging in the court.
The Dean had expressed
morning, and
regret that he could not invite a lady to dine in
the refectory, but said he would be glad
could both be his guests in the afternoon,
we
when
if
he and two or three professors intended making
an excursion down the river to a place where we
among
could
stroll
by the
river's brink.
At
stage,
the woods, and sup together
the time appointed
and found three
we
arrived at a landing-
priests
in
black shading
ESZTERGOM
under
themselves
AND BAGS
(GRAN), BUDAPEST,
three
247
They
grey umbrellas.
one of
the other of dogmatic theology.
The afternoon was broiling that week
were the Dean and two professors
history,
Esztergom was one of the hottest

and we were
all
remember
glad to leave the
at
little
steamer
and wander among shady glens that might have

been in Devonshire, lacking only the sound of
running water in the hollows.
The Dean, whose
ceremonious attitude of the morning had been
somewhat
awe-inspiring,
dropped the
last
trace
became delightful
History, a bright, kindly man, was charming
from the first while Theology made private exof
and, wdthout loss of dignity,
it
;
cursions
up
hills,
for the sake of the views,
returned as rigid as he
Our path
many
left.
led us to the
Love,' where
picnics,
and
we found
'
Well
'
or
Fountain of
the unmistakable signs of
and from a small brass pipe
set in
a rock a tiny stream of water trickled to the waste
papers below.
we
all
Who
began
it
cannot say, but
joined in a very hearty laugh.
And
a merry party
we were
at supper in the
twilight under spreading oak-trees
by the flowing
all except Theology, who never quite thawed.

The Dean, brimming over with humour, told
river
HUNGARY
248
stories
and
History,
who was an
musician, having found a piano in an
hard by, played Hungarian music
admirable
empty room
full
of
fire
and
pathos.
One
of the stories that amused us
though most
depended on the excellent mimicry

with which it was accompanied was this
Two
of
its
effect
solemn and very aged monks, who were staying

one of the
at
met
many
immersed
in the bath,
each
one
in
The ceremony
their beards.
tion over
watering-places of Hungary,
warm
water up to
of mutual introduc-
having mentioned
his
name and
Are you from the

The other, turning
diocese of Gyulafehervar ?'
his head in a leisurely manner from side to side,
rank
asked the other
snapped out emphatically
There was
continued
fehervar V
answer
With
'
Nem
/'
(No).
and then the
first
Are you from the diocese of SzekesTo the same slow movement came the
'
Nem
/'
a pause between each question, the in-
Nagy varad V
Are
'
'
silence for a time,
quirer continued
'
you
'
'
Are you from the
Nem
diocese of
/'
from
the
diocese
of
Kalocsa V
'Nemf
'
Are you from the
diocese of Szatmar-Nemeti V
ALL SOULS' DAY, DESZE
ESZTERGOM
(GRAN), BUDAPEST,
Then, slowly moving
his
AND BAGS
249
head up and down, the
questioned gently answered, 'IgenP (Yes).
There was a long
silence before the first speaker
resumed the conversation, asking:

you ask me where I come from V
inquisitive,'
'Why
'
do not
never was
was the deliberate reply of the
other,
who, on passing soon afterwards our friend the
with
Dean
out
before I
On
whom
he was acquainted
The bath-master
went
way
the
told
me
all
mumbled
about him
in.'
to the boat the
Dean sang
in a
low
voice, in dialect, the quaint folk-songs of Styria,
the
home
of
my wife, to
her great delight, generally
breaking off in the middle in an almost inaudible

chuckle.
Next morning,
in
an apartment adjoining the
sacristy of the Cathedral, a
Bishop in purple and
most kindly showed, and related to us the
lace
history
of,
precious objects contained in glass cases
in the centre of the
ments hung
room, and sumptuous vest-
in presses near the walls.
Those who
remember the splendid collection which was so

well shown in the Hungarian Pavilion in the Rue
des
Nations at the 1900 Paris Exhibition
may
some of the gold chalices ornamented with

enamels, pearls and precious stones, ancient gold
recall
32
HUNGARY
250
and
pendants of beautiful design
silver crosses, or
holding stones and pearls of great price, which were

sent there from Esztergom.
We
were especially
by heads representing Christ and the

Blessed Virgin, dating from the thirteenth century,
attracted
which were embroidered

of nearly
life-size
and by the jewelled gold cross
which has been held

when, at
and were
in high relief
aloft
his coronation,
by every Magyar King
he swore to respect the
ancient Constitution of Hungary.
The Calvary
for the picture of
so long in vain the previous
day
which we sought
was rather more
than two feet high, of solid gold, and designed in

three stages each of a different style
Byzantine,
Gothic, and early Italian Renaissance.
enamel figures,
The small
illustrating scenes at the Crucifixion,
were exquisite, and the whole was richly orna-
mented with gems,
pearls
and enamels.
It
was
executed in Florence in the early part of the

fifteenth century.
This precious obj ect accompanied
King Matthias Corvinus wherever he went during

his adventurous career, was afterwards deposited
by one of
his successors, as security for a loan, in
1494, and has never since been removed
from
Esztergom except during the occupation of that

place
by the Turks.
ESZTERGOM
(GRAN), BUDAPEST,
AND BAGS
251
The art of enamelling was taught in Hungary

by Italian masters during the fifteenth century
and that combination of goldsmiths' work with
;
enamels and jewels, which seems
Magyar,
so peculiarly
really of Italian origin.
is
Among many
we admired
sumptuously decorated vestments
handsome set in black and gold

which are only worn at Mass on the death of King,
Queen, or Primate but the greatest treasure was
a
a chasuble
on the back of which a
cross, nearly
three feet long, with figures of saints in high
was embroidered
in coloured silks
number of small
relief,
and a countless
This was given to the
pearls.
The
church, about 1500, by Ladislaus Zalemere.
arms
at the foot of the cross
family
Gutkeled,
Bathorys,
who
from
were those of the
which
descended
the
were at one time rulers of Tran-
sylvania.
Though we might not remain alone

treasure chamber, nor could
from the glass

have
cases, the
this beautiful
days painting
it.
Bishop was persuaded to
where
waxed
art taken to a
my
Bishops and
interested, often visited her,
gressed so
the
any object be removed
work of
close to the sacristy,
in
and
room
wife spent several

priests,
as the
becoming
work
their admiration, until at last
322
pro-
one
HUNGARY
252
them exclaimed
Edward will buy it
of
worthy of the
The
great
'
'
It
is
a deliciously medieval notion,
situation.
Cathedral
or
generally called at Esztergom

struction having been
on
completion
to
as
it
was
modern,
its
con-
Basilica,
begun
is
in 1820,
and carried
by three successive Prince-
Primates.
The
impression
that the original
dignified
interior
conveyed the
one
of
intentions
had been thoroughly carried out

its
columns and pilasters were of grey marble,
architect
walls,
ornamented with gold, and

were respectable
none
King
so perfect, perhaps
finer
its
nothing
were obtainable
painted altar-pieces
more.
:
for
it
But, doubtless,
takes a long line
of Popes and Princes, vying with each other in

magnificence, to evolve a Michael Angelo or a
Raphael.
When, on
to see
it
a hot day in June,
though
to admit the heat
was
still
so
we
first
the great doors were
the
chilling
went
open
all
cold inside the Cathedral
that
we dared not
enter,
but remained among the gigantic columns of the

portico looking
in.
In the Palace of the Primate there was a

lection
many named after the most

Masters but most of them were of
of pictures
famous Old
col-
THE
BASILICA OF ESZTERGOM (GRAN)
THE DANUBE
FROM
ESZTERGOM
(GRAN), BUDAPEST,
There was
doubtful authenticity.
AND BAGS
253
also a collection
of illuminated manuscripts in the library, to which
we
failed to gain admission.
The
seminarists dispersed for their long vacation
during our
visit,
and thus we were able to enjoy a
farewell luncheon with the hospitable
own
The chasuble was
rooms.
Dean
in his
formally returned to
proper place in the presence of a Bishop, and
its
we then bade
and continued our journey to

Budapest very sensible of the kindness that had
been shown to
adieu,
us.
Esztergom was a residence of Magyar Kings
The Latin name
until 1241.
the
German
Budapest
is
through
daring
it,
was Strigonium;
modern city, which

not only by a unique
a magnificent
is
on
it
Gran.
commands admiration
situation
for
the
Danube which winds

but by
Pest from Buda
noble
dividing
architecture,
sometimes imposing, some-
by exquisite colour and tone

pecuUar to itself; by an indefinable suggestion of
the Orient in many features and, not least, by
times
fantastic
up-to-date elegance, and the beauty of
its
people.
Less than half a century ago Pest was
more than
a sleepy county
little
town composed mainly
HUNGARY
^54
of low houses and dusty roads, on one side of

the river, connected by a bridge of boats with the
some baths and a few
palace,
on the
forts,
forming Buda
The ambition and energy
other.
of the
population during the last forty years have been
Now
astounding.
you
ornate buildings of
all
courts, bourse, basilica,

etc.
which
period
have
all
find
will
kinds
in
Pest great
parliament,
museums,
law-
opera, theatres,
been built during that short
and splendid
and
streets of shops, hotels,
houses, where the hurrying of busy people, the

clatter
of hoofs on
stone
pavements,
loud clanging of tram-bells, suggest as

as could possibly be desired.
span the river
seven
and the
much
hundred yards broad
Buda, to new Government
offices,
besides all these there
industrial quarter
Unfortunately,
is,
to
elegant terraces,
and a newly-built palace which crowns the
And
life
Five superb bridges
to the north, a
hills.
new
joy and pride of many beholders.
its
innumerable
tall
chimneys pour
out volumes of smoke over Margit-Sziget (Margaret

Island)
surely one of
the most beautiful suburbs
that any city ever possessed.
Roman
colony
capital of the province
Lower
In ancient times Buda was a
named Aquincum,
Pannonia
as
remains of
Roman
amphitheatre,
AND BAGS
(GRAN), BUDAPEST,
ESZTERGOM
baths, mosaics, etc.,
still
King Bela IV.
attest.
which remained
built a royal castle there, in 1247,
residence
of
Magyar Kings
'255
the
after
until
crushing defeat of Hungarians by Turks at the

battle of IMohacs
siege to
and took
Sultan Soliman laid
1526.
in
in 1541,
it
the possession of the Turks
and
remained in
it
1686,
till
when Hun-
garians and Germans, united, succeeded in driving
them
out.
German town
Mongolian invasion of 1241, when it was
Pest was a thriving
but
it
did not regain
its
comparatively unimportant
at
in 1867.
destroyed
and was
prosperity,
Austro-Hungarian Ausgleich
before the
time
the
still
of the
In 1872 Buda, Pest, and Kobanya were united,
forming
Budapest,
the
capital
and
intellectual
centre of Hungary, and the royal residence of the
King.
With
the exception of Vienna,
it
is
now
the most important town of Austria- Hungary.
The population numbers little

of
whom
than a million,
the great majority are either Magyars
or Magyarized
Jews,
less
who have
but at
least a quarter of
them
are
acquired preponderating power in
the press and finance of the country.
To be Magyar means
to be proud, high-spirited,
handsome, and generous.
Unfortunately,
all
too
HUNGARY
^56
few belonging to the pure race remain; but
it is
admirable that their type should be the ideal one
throughout
the
Countless
land.
with
families
names that were German, Tschec, or Slav, have

changed them, and believed that after the change
they belonged to a superior people. A man,
evidently of foreign extraction, will then
seen
I
an
with
!'
air
that
conveys the
noble, chivalrous, and brave.'
'
is
generally easy for Jews to translate their
literally,
Many
'Wolf
has
equivalent),
become
'
we
and
some Mr. Steiner who changed

'Sello' (Nymph).
Our own
We
found
that, if
we
many
Farkas
met
his
(the
'
hand-
name
to
We
other tourists.
did not write beforehand to
engage rooms, the hotel chosen was
full
when we
had heard that everything was more
expensive than in other

to be untrue.
streets
names
experiences of Budapest were, for the
part, similar to those of
arrived.
It
but sometimes they adopt fancy names.
Hungarian
most
have
done) tap his chest and proudly proclaim,
it
am Magyar
meaning, 1 am
'
(I
We
cities,
and we found that
found the people we met in
and tramways extraordinarily courteous to
us, as strangers,
and often ready to guide us
as critical corners
on our way.
We
as far
admired their
CROSS EMBROIDERED ON A CHASUBLE

In the treasure of Esztergom.
ESZTERGOM
(GRAN), BUDAPEST,
fine bearing, the style
but never
and cared -for appearance of
manners
their
any
servile in
257
dignified,
Even
class.
polite,
the hotel
had more distinction of manner than
waiters
usual
and
dress,
their
AND BAGS
but we found that this
vantages, for
it
is
had
is
disad-
its
the custom of the country to
them
tip at least three of
after the simplest meal,
and the third part of the amount generally given

elsewhere seemed too little to offer to one who
could
move
attentive.
that
no
like a
We
more
gentleman and had been most
learnt
is
came
On
to,
'
time
if
we were
and politely spoke in
My
preferred that of Hungary.
are right,' he admitted
one occasion a friendly
favour of Austrian cooking.
And
after
to our table to ask
being properly attended
much
natives, however,
and
expected,
hardened our hearts.

landlord
from the
there
is
wife said she

'
more
that remark applies equally to
things Hungarian, and people
Perhaps you
there
life
many
is
in
!'
it
other
more
life
them than in most.

We went to the Houses of Parliament, which
we found to be most sumptuous. Gilded Gothic
in
corridors
and antechambers with
floors
and walls
of delicate marble (quarried in Hungary, our guide
informed
us),
elaborate electric -light stands, rich
33
HUNGARY
258
blood-red carpets, and romantic paintings of
Hun-
garian castles and other scenes famous in history,
helped to produce the
The House
effect.
of Lords
and the House of Commons were ahke, the
members being arranged
for
in
seats
horseshoe form,
with high throne or pulpit for Speaker or President.
Not
far
away stand the Courts of Law, a remark-
ably fine Renaissance building in the form of a
The
quadrangle.
columns,
etc.,
staircase
the quad
are
entered one of the
and magnificent.
rich
High Courts during
We
a sitting
very handsome chamber panelled with dark
wood, where three Judges, in ordinary

sat
the
of rare and varied marbles, and the
general design,
inside
clothes,
behind a long table at one end of which a
lawyer,
case.
seated,
was reading the statement of a
Other lawyers
sat at desks or various places
about the room, and a few rows of seats were

reserved for the public.
named
splendid avenue or boulevard
Count Andrassy
part of
its
which
is
after
lined for the greater
extent by the detached houses of the
wealthy, leads, as does the electric railway beneath

it,
to the charming
which a shallow lake
famous
castle built
town
park, in the centre of
reflects a
reproduction of the
by Hunyady Janos
in
Tran-
ESZTERGOM
sylvania.
(GRAN), BUDAPEST,
Museum, which
other portions, or wings
is
completed by two
one
Romanesque, the
The Museum
other Renaissance in style.
everything possible that
is
Hungarian agriculture
and
259
This Gothic building forms part of the
Agricultural
to
AND BACS
among
also contains,
of interest or importance
field,
drawn on
forest being
contains
others,
garden, vineyard,
for this purpose.
It
an excellent natural
history collection, with special reference to hunting
and
and the development of breed
fishing
domestic
animals.
room occupy
is
library
and reading-
part of one of the wings.
objects within are well
the exterior
free
probably
and
in
All the
and
tastefully shown,
finer, artistically,
than that
museum of the kind in Europe.

On leaving the Museum we met our friend
sculptor, whom we had last seen on the day of
of any other
St.
Miklds election.
in the grounds,
the King
bronze figure
and
the
His statue of Karoly Ferencz,
was to be unveiled
on the
uncovered for
the
think,
by
morrow but he caused it to be

us, and we very much admired the
of a Magyar gentleman in an easy
lifelike attitude
on a black marble
seat.
During the time covered by most of our

to Budapest a grand
new
classical
Museum
visits
of Fine
Arts was in course of construction, and change
332
HUNGARY
^60
were proceeding in the older ones preparatory

to the removal, or exchange, of their contents.
How many
cannot
doors I
we made to their
no one we met knew
errands
fruitless
for
tell,
which of them were
still
open to the public, or
We remember vividly, however, the collec-
when.
tion of superbly wrought jewelled chains, swords,
and other ornaments worn by the Magnates on
we saw
great occasions, which
There
many
is
in
one of them.
Museum of Arts and Crafts, containing
beautiful objects arranged with great
skill,
we found most interesting and attractive.

When, at last, the new Museum of Fine Arts
was approaching completion, we were allowed to
which
go to
tion,
see the pictures there.
but not of the
first
It
we thought most worthy
a good collec-
rank as compared with
Among
those of other capitals.
is
the pictures which
of remark were several
small pictures of the Sienese school, and a fresco
head by Giotto
Gentile Bellini
Spain and
portrait
heads of Philip
Mary Tudor, by Antonio Moro
Jewish Rabbi with book and candle

of the Rembrandts
della
of
II.
;
a fine
head of a young man, by Albrecht Diirer
Piazza
by
a portrait of Cornaro Katalin,
the smallest
Bridge over the Arno, and
Signoria,
by Canaletto
a life-size
THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT AND

MARGIT BRIDGE, BUDAPEST
ESZTERGOM
AND BAGS
(GRAN), BUDAPEST,
261
half-length figure of a girl in black, with broad
by Jan Vermeer and a portrait of

a lady by Goya, which is probably one of the
white
collar,
finest in existence.
Besides
as
usual in wôrks
is
by that artist abounding in directness of painting

and character, it has also rare and beautiful qualities
so
The Early English school now

fashion at home and abroad is well
of colour.
much
the
represented by characteristic portraits by Reynolds,
Gainsborough, Lawrence, Raeburn, and Hoppner,
and by small examples of Constable and Morland.

In the modern section there are a considerable
number of good pictures by British painters, most

of them men who are more frequently considered
to be prophets abroad than in their
In Hungary there
who
5,000
medal
two
has
year
and
is
own
a Minister of Fine Arts,
and they spend some
assistants,
on
modern
art.
small
gold
medal
medal
Senator.
carries
with
it
the
life
gold
awârded
The
large
distinction
of
Senators buy for the State, and decide
on the award of medals in future

is
large
are
annually in the principal exhibition.
gold
country.
in the
Hungarian
years.
There
State, even in regard to
art matters
Munkacsy
is
the most famous of
modern Hun-
HUNGARY
garian painters.
Museum not
Several of his pictures are in the
of the very best
the country there
throughout
hardly a house that does not
is
some of
contain reproductions of
original
but
name was Lieb Mihaly (Michael
he was born at Munkacs, where
manager of a
On
salt-mine.
his
His
his works.
his
Lieb), and
father
father's
was
death,
while he was quite young, he was apprenticed to
and painted chests which
a carpenter in Arad,
the peasants Hked to have gaily decorated with
conventional tulips,
At
etc.
the age of fourteen
he was impressed by a portrait of the novelist
which
Jokai,
painted
sent
saw
in
work
to
and then
his
and
uncle
in the studio of a local artist.
That honest man kept him

pupil,
shop window,
from memory so well that
it
him
he
said
for a year or
two
as
he could teach him nothing
more than he had already learnt. The Government granted him a stipendium which enabled
him to go to study in Munich, where he soon
won a brilliant reputation and later on he moved
;
to
in
Paris,
successful
collapse,
At
many
which
career
after
city,
ended
in
many
weakened
years,
intellect,
and death.
the
annual
exhibitions
highly talented
and
there
are
always
accomplished works
(GRAN), BUDAPEST,
ESZTERGOM
by Hungarian
Paris or
painters, in
Munich
is
AND BAGS
263
which the influence of
generally
both in execution
felt,
and choice of subject. As yet, however as far as

we could observe no distinctly national school has
developed, and painters seem too chary of attacking
what
is
most
characteristic
own wonderful
land.
or beautiful
whose
Laszlo,
in their
has
ability
already earned a European reputation,
is
the lead-
ing portrait painter.
One Sunday afternoon, during our second

to Budapest, we entered an electric tram-car
which the names conveyed
they were
difficult to
little
pronounce
visit
on
to us except that
meaning to travel
The conductor spoke

by it wherever
Hungarian only, and we failed to make him understand that we did not wish to go anywhere in
particular, until two young gentlemen interpreted
They were faultlessly dressed in light grey
for us.
The elder one was very
suits and new gloves.
it
attentive,
and
interest to us
went.
pointed out the chief objects of
on our way.
He advised
us to alight
near the Elizabeth Bridge to look at a church with

a beautiful Gothic chancel.
he would accompany
visit
churches
us to
';
us,
he
If
we would
said,
For
allow
him
I also like to
and afterwards he would conduct
the Basilica, showing us on the
way
the
HUNGARY
264
buildings he admired most in that quarter of Pest.
His brother was sent home to say why he did not

return,
and we
set
out under his escort.
He
very pohte, well educated, and self-possessed

only seventeen he told us, thinking
later
and
streets
and
should be
In the church he informed us which
surprised.
were the
we
was
Gothic portions, and which were
earliest
Then, in the broad new
less satisfactory.
and squares, he pointed out elaborate banks
and other buildings, and the new Post-Office,

which he considered to be
He
in the Secession style.
could not accustom himself to Secession, or
approve of
it,
either in architecture or painting
but the Renaissance
Basilica,
which had only just
been completed, would, he trusted, be found to be

an admirable example of that more appropriate
style of art.
fine exterior,
We agreed
in his appreciation of its
without criticism, and entered while
afternoon service was taking place.

space under the
dome
alone and singing
young
singing with
glorious voice that

tion.
we
girl
In the clear
was standing
such a clear and
stood spell-bound in admira-
Evidently unconscious that she was attract-
ing attention, she continued during the musical part

of the service, and then, having drawn a shawl over
her head, became lost in the departing crowd.
A RUMANIAN
CHURCH
IN
TRANSYLVANIA
(GRAN), BUDAPEST,
ESZTERGOM
AND BAGS
9.65
Before seeing us into a tram our young friend

promised,
if possible,
to join us at supper
and
who played at our hotel but

go home and ask for permission, for
to the famous Gipsy
he must
*
My
first
mother
listen
very
is
be too thankful for
strict,'
it.'
he
said,
He came
and
cannot
to supper,
and
asked us sometimes to send him picture postcards
on our
Most unfortunately, we
travels.
card and were unable to do
so.
We
lost
his
hope he has
forgiven our apparent neglect.
The numerous bathing establishments of Budapest form
a distinguishing feature of
Several of those on the
Buda
the
city.
side of the river
possess natural springs of such a high temperature
that the water has to be cooled before passing into
the baths.
by our
We chose one we knew to be frequented
friends,
and were
loitering
about in the
grounds when the manager approached

heard that
we were English
having
and said that he would
be happy to show us what was to be seen.
saw Turkish
baths,
electric
baths,
mud
We
baths,
swimming baths, etc., and were then told that, if

we would say which kind we preferred, it should be
prepared for
us.
When we
emerged from our
respective chambers, having enjoyed

in
green- tiled basins to which
warm
baths
we descended by
34
HUNGARY
266
flights of steps,
we
tried to discharge our debt
but
the attendants refused to take money, saying that

the director would like to see us in the bureau
before
we
He
left.
hoped we had found our baths
payment
have had English guests, and
agreeable, but waived the question of
was honoured to
would be happy to guide us to the steamer which
was to take us back to Pest. He did so, and even
accompanied us to the door of our hotel but on our

;
begging him to join us at our meal, he politely

excused himself.
There are a vast number of mineral springs in
Hungary whose waters have

properties.
in
Their analysis
is
which they are supplied,
various
medicinal
printed on the bottles
for the
enlightenment
of their consumers, or the encouragement of the
Here
timid.
is
list
of waters taken from the card
of a restaurant where
Selters,
Soda,
Giesshiibler,
Parader,
Salvator,
Margitszigeter,
zeker,
we
often dined
Luhi-Margit,
Biliner,
Malnaser,
Mohaer,
Krondorfer, Bors-
Szolyvater,
Artesischer,
Kristali.
Of
first
the five great bridges over the Danube, the
was designed by an English engineer named
by an English firm the second,

and fourth, were constructed by Frenchmen
Clark, and built

third,
ESZTERGOM
(GRAN), BUDAPEST,
AND BAGS
or Germans, and the fifth was entirely the
Hungarians,
all
the materials for
it
267
work of
having been
produced in the country.

Feeling diffident of our
an eminent architect at
own opinion, we wrote to

home who had recently
paid a flying visit to Budapest
to ask
if
he would
agree with us in describing the street architecture as

*
Commercial
the
into
replied
Renaissance,''
with occasional
Art Nouveau and

follows
as
Secession styles.
He
" Commercial Renaissance "
'
flights
would aptly describe most of the buildings of Pest

during the period from 1860 to 1890, but some of
them
are designed
a scholarly manner.
in quite
Since then the influence of the French school has
been
felt, as
works
in the
Bourse and some other modern
also (modified
the Agricultural
Museum,
considerable merit in
'
The Palace
site,
at
by the
its
national traditions) in
a building possessing
proportions and massing.
Buda owes much
to
its
admirable
to which, however, the lines of the plan are
good grouping and
skilfully adapted, resulting in
sky-line.
Much
of the detail
particularly the screens, steps,
deserves notice
and terraces to the
gardens.
*
The Parliament House
composition translated
is
into
really a Renaissance
Gothic, without the
342
HUNGARY
268
feeling for the genius
of that style that would
make such a translation tolerable.

Some of the most modern shops express
alone
'
their
purpose in a distinctive and rational manner.'

It
was unfortunate
that, except during
our
first
who had homes

and we had thus
short visit to Budapest, our friends
there were
little
life
invariably absent,
opportunity of observing intimate Hungarian

in
the capital
but
several introductions
of which
One
we were
of
we were provided with

men, two
distinguished
able to present.
them was
the famous patriot

of Commerce.
to
to Kossuth Ferencz
son
of
who was at that time Minister
He
is
himself an artist of consider-
able accomplishment, both as sculptor and painter,
and most kindly gave information about various

places, particularly
wards found
The
Lake Balaton, which we
after-
useful.
other was to
the
famous
Oriental scholar Professor Vambery.

gratifying to
traveller
It
hear the old gentleman
and
was most
with
the
and enthusiasm of a young man, though

not without an astute criticism now and again
freshness
speak in praise of England, and in recognition of

the kindness and appreciation he had received there.
We usually made the Hotel Metropole our head-
A RUMANIAN MAIDEN'
ESZTERGOM
(GRAN), BUDAPEST,
quarters, having
gone there at
AND BAGS
first
^69
on account of
led
by the famous Banda

Marsza which was particularly good, and afterwards because we became attached to it, owing to
the
Czigany music
the attention
hotel,
are
we
received.
It
is
not a fashionable
and some of the rooms towards the
noisy,
excellent.
but the
restaurant
is
in
The manager, who had
England, always
looked
after
us
street
way
every
lived long in
with
especial
care on account of the regard which he, like so
many
it
Hungarians, has for our country, and
would be ungrateful were we not to
I feel
him
offer
this little tribute of recognition.
The
opera, theatres,
and music-halls,
as far as
our ignorance of the language allowed us to judge,

closely resembled those of other capitals.
At one
time a kinematograph showed scenes
from hfe in the Bacska, a thriving agricultural

district
South
in
customs are
of
my own
still
Hungary,
observed.
where
I
will
many
relate
old
some
adventures in that part of the country,
at the close of the very rainy
autumn of our
first
year in Hungary.
The Waldmeister of the Archbishopric of Kalocsa

and Bacs invited me to accompany him for a few
HUNGARY
270
we
days at Bacs, where

that
par
is
could shoot in a district
Magyar.
excellence
was glad to
accept his invitation, and, having received written
how
instructions
to get there, agreed to
meet him
Zombor, where his train was due to arrive before

Only be on the platform at 3.30 p.m. next
mine.
at
'
Sunday, December 3
were
It
leave
the rest to me,'
all
his parting injunctions.
was a
bitterly cold
day when
journey, and I was not sorry
I started
when
my
on
the station-
master at Kis Koros, the junction for the main

line,
invited
offered
made
me
me
warm myself
to
at his
fire,
and
the choice of two kinds of liqueur
in his village.
few hours by express train over a russet-
coloured plain broken by the undulations of low

sand-hills
brought
me
to Szabadka, a large
important modern town, where
and saw, besides handsome broad

markable new
villas
glaring
examples of misdirected
and
had long to wait,

streets,
some
re-
and highly coloured
effort at originality.
Resuming the journey,
found myself alone with
a gentleman and his extremely pretty niece
whom
he was bringing home from school for the Christmas

hohdays.
pleasantly
They talked English, and the time passed

until we arrived at Zombor, where I
ESZTERGOM
AND BAGS
(GRAN), BUDAPEST,
my
expected to meet
friend
271
but the Waldmeister
was nowhere to be seen
The hordar
(porter),
whom
was proud to be
my kit-bag,
able to call in his mother-tongue, seized

rug,
and gun, and was elbowing
his
way
rapidly
through the crush of passengers towards

hotel omnibuses outside the gate,
him by
my arm
slipping
unintelligible
through
stopped
We wasted
his.
words on one another, but when the
crowd had dispersed he went
who soon came

Can
when
some
for the stationmaster,
up inquiring
briskly
Where
German,
in
you going to V
Ich weiss es nicht (I do not know) was the only
reply I was able to give for there was then no
station at Bacs, and we were to sleep at another
place the name of which I had not heard.
*
be of service
are
'
'
Noticing the stationmaster's look of surprise,
added
he
'
;
where
am
is
waiting for a friend.'
he coming from V
to say: 'Ich weiss es nicht'

his heels,
he gave
me
up.
And
So,'
said
again I had
Abruptly turning on
My luggage
was placed
against a wall, and the shades of a winter night

closed around me.
Several lines meet at Zombor, and out of the
darkness the ruby lights, usual at a junction, cast

their reflections
on the polished
rails.
At
intervals
HUNGARY
272
a train arrived, discharged a few passengers, and

puffed
away
into the darkness
then
all
again was
Like Casabianca on the burning deck I

obeyed orders and for three long hours, and more,
still.
But
paced that chilly platform.
at last
an engine
steamed by, and, before the train had stopped, the

door of a
first-class
carriage
was thrown open.
In a blue cloud of tobacco smoke, a confusion

of
brown
leather coat
and fur rug crowned by a
green hat ornamented with rare plumes wildly
me
jump
The Waldmeister had

arrived at last
He warmly welcomed me, and
I was soon snugly ensconced among the fur-lined
beckoned
to
in.
overcoats,
cases,
game-bags, travelling-bags, cartridge-
and guns which strewed the
accident had caused the
delay, but
seats.
An
a telegram
had been despatched, so that when we alighted
we were met by an open
carriage
and pair of
horses which took us at a spanking pace over
the paved road leading to the
man who was
to be our host
home
of the gentle-
large one -storied
house near the middle of a small town.
Mr. X. was Hungarian, a landed proprietor and
Member
of Parliament
his wife
was Rumanian,
handsome and accomplished. At supper which,

out of compliment to me, had quite an English
GIPSY'S CASTLE,
TRANSYLVANIA
ESZTERGOM
AND BAGS
(GRAN), BUDAPEST,
character
the
perfectly,
and
lady spoke French and
seemed to prefer
German language
in
which
English
to
either
tried
to
273
the
converse
with her husband.
In middle-class families generally, but especially

in the Bacska,
it
present to propose
is
the custom
when
many toasts, and
it is
churlish for
anyone to drink without
his glass to
another person,
the compliment.
who
Thus, when the
will
guests are
considered
first
raising
then return
lady had retired,
we drank to our wives, to our countries, to our

friends, to
one another,
last toast to
me
etc.,
Szent Janos
(St.
John), which was
and which comes when nothing
new
to
else
can be thought
then,
and finished with a
of.
Escorted to our sleeping
apartment through great rooms hung with what
seemed to be ancient
tapestry, but
which proved
morning to be but modern imitation, we

sought that repose needed to prepare us for an
early start on the morrow.
in the
During the earlier part of the evening I learnt

that there were five young children in the family,
and that Mrs. X. had caused to be sent from Paris
a charming
little
girl,
aged ten, to play and talk
with them so that they might early acquire a
good French
accent.
She told
me
that on the
35
HUNGARY
274
was
child's arrival she

girl
distressed to find that the
had not been taught to say her prayers, and
had never heard of the Virgin Mary.

In the morning
we
said
good-bye to our very
kind hosts, kissed the lady's hand, and started on
our cross-country travels in a strong open carriage

to stand the strain of
fit
muddy
Paved
roads.
roads are rare in that stoneless region, and, as the
autumn had been
so wet, a pair of stout horses
they could do to drag us along.
all
we
stopped,
when
mud
way saw
little
which had been removed from those
of other vehicles.
barriers, the
intervals
the wheels were quite clogged
up, and here and there along the
heaps of
At
had
In places, where there were no
road broadened out to
many
times
its
normal width, each fresh driver having trespassed

a
little
farther
on a neighbouring
field
in search
of solid ground.
slow drive of two hours brought us to the
Round about a small white

men and boys, beaters, armed
outskirts of a village.
cottage a crowd of
with
sticks,
stood in groups
and
slightly
from them another group, sportsmanlike

ance, with guns.
the gentleman
The
first
to
Over-Forester of Bacs.
latter
removed
in appear-
walked towards
us,
greet proving to be the
The
rest,
who were
under-
ESZlÊRGOM (GRAN), BUDAPEST, AND BAGS

foresters
and keepers, were
all
2T5
so smartly dressed
that neither on this, nor on future occasions, could

I
make any guess
as to the respective
rank of such
by the degree of vehemence with

which they were reproved by the Waldmeister
on evidence of neglect or stupidity. Fifty-two
people save
of them, in various parts of the great estates,
were under
his
was law, and he
For them
direction.
them hear
let
like to record that his courtesy to
To be
a Forester a
through
he
is
me
college,
but as
supposed the
all
little
never
and,
considered socially equal to a

;
but
should
failed.
young man must have passed
an agricultural
university
of a
wrongly
home of
cottage to be the
who had
believe,
member
was new to me,
the very magnificent being

us.
it
word
his
just received
A well-built man of some thirty years, he wore
a round fur cap resembhng beaver, a yellow leather

riding-breeches, green
fur-lined jacket, box-cloth
putties
round
boots.
He
eye,
his
lower
legs,
was a very good
and brown shooting
shot,
had a
clear grey
an upturned moustache, and much importance
of manner.
The beaters were
sent on, and after
had been discussed indoors by

ances and their chief,
we
all
some business
my new
started in
two
acquaintcarriages
352
HUNGARY
276
for a forest
about an hour's distance away.
We
was
much, but that possibly we
told not to expect
might shoot a
stag.
saw no
some
stags, only
tall
grey stands,
or perches, from which they have been shot in
bygone days
and grand old
forest trees, chiefly
whose mossy trunks were reflected in pools

of water which filled every hollow of the bare
ground.
Several drives were made, but nothing
oaks,
come forward except a few

was too wet, and
it
large plantations of
hares.
was decided to
young
The forest
move on to
oaks, full of dead grass,
which afforded excellent cover.
The very
first
showed that we might well have spent the

whole of our short day there. Covey after covey
of partridges came over, and hares broke out in
drive
all
directions
but, alas
it
was soon time to go.
We
had a long journey before
was
first
to be discussed.
us,
and a meal
This was served in a
small farmhouse, admirably clean and tidy, as the
homes of the true Magyars invariably are, the

main feature being an excellent paprikas, or stew
of fowls with a gravy
as it was, the
made
red with paprika.
dogs outside devoured the bones
greedily, causing one of the

'
It
Hot
was a mild one to-day.
company to remark
Not long ago we had
RUMANIAN COTTAGES
IN
TRANSYLVANIA
ESZTERGOM
(GRAN), BUDAPEST,
when
a papiîkas so strong that
277
the remains were
offered to the dogs they barked at
Towards evening we
AND BAGS
them
!'
started for the old
town
of Bacs, once a place of considerable importance,
with 15,000 inhabitants, but

one-third of that number.
now containing only

Our way led through
the forest, the road being so soft as to be impossible
for
said to be,
traffic.
'
Bottomless
'
the
mud was
and the horses wallowed through
it,
sinking at times almost to the belly.
Their desperate efforts on such occasions often
was told that no ordinary

traveller could have hired them from the farmers,
for love or money, after so much rain.
overstrain them, and I
We
on
drove
in
the
one carriage
twilight,
behind the other, through the great

shallow
pools
till,
about
until
'
bee-line
we came
'
for
into
it,
we reached
which we were to
the town.
The
quivered as
leading carriage went
if it
would break
and was bravely pulled up on the

driver
white
whom
felt
All went well
to a broad ditch, half full of water,
only dimly to be seen.
down
and
nightfall,
the borders of a plain across
make
trees
had admired
in two,
far side.
in the daylight in his
overcoat with black fur collar and
cap of Astrakhan
Our
thinking he
saw a
tall
safer place a
HUNGARY
278
to the
little
left,
plunged
his horses in
but the
point of the pole bored deep into the opposite
bank, and
went
when
in the
the great hoist was given, snap
middle
and
gathering darkness of a
wide, wide puszta,
where
it
there were we, in the
December
night,
and miles
miles
on the
from any-
Torrents of ferocious language descended on the
head
our unhappy coachman
of
We
decided what next to do.
the carriage besides the driver
before
it
was
had been three
the
in
Waldmeister,
a tiny old land-agent with bristling grey hair and

fiery nose,
whom we
had picked up somewhere, and
The Waldmeister and
I.
crowded into the
carriage, leaving the little old

his
way
as
borrow a
best he
cart,
first
gentleman to make
could to the nearest farm,
and follow with the luggage.
long half-hour brought us safely to the abode
of the occupier of the land, a group of large buildings forming a square

stables,
etc.,
made up
of house, granaries,
each separated from the next by a
distance of about a hundred yards
a precaution in
Through these we noiselessly made

our way lest, on discovery, we should be forced
to partake of hospitality from which it would be
and before long saw
difficult to make our escape
case of
fire.
ESZTERGOM
glimmering
we
(GRAN), BUDAPEST,
AND BAGS
in the distance the lights of Bacs,
279
which
reached without further misadventure.
After stopping for a short time at the casino, or

club,
where the JValdmeister was greeted by many-
old friends
him,
who were
evidently delighted to see
we went on to the house of the Head-Forester,
and took up our abode
in
an annexe composed of
business offices and a suite of white rooms reserved

for visitors.
number
The house itself,
of handsomely furnished sitting-rooms,
and was very

had
different
from the lowly cot where
met our Host.
first
of one story, contained
We
were entertained in
true Hungarian fashion, and nothing could exceed
the amiability of our Hostess or the delicacy of the
good cheer
for
which she
felt responsible.
The following morning we set out to shoot in

young oak plantations of great extent but the
way there
Three good horses, abreast, struggled
through the mud, while our small carriage swayed
heavily from side to side.
cottages standing
Past thatched white
among yellow
reeds and pools
of water, past the enormous ruins of a red-brick

fortress,
for
our brave steeds, stopping
breath, at
last
now and then
succeeded in drawing us on
to comparatively dry land, where, ignoring roads,
we
could
make
straight for our destination.
HUNGARY
280
At
we came
last
to the place
where the party
was to assemble, a farm only to be approached on

foot over a floating-bridge, fifty yards wide, composed of bundles of maize-stalks lashed together,
which swayed perilously
Though no
as
we
crossed them.
great quantity of
game was found, the
bag included roe-deer, pheasants, partridges, woodand
cocks,
hares.
On
one occasion, when
was
next gun to the Waldmeister, the beaters called

out Cokos, or
something of the kind, meaning
came
pheasant, and a fine cock-pheasant
sailing
high over the trees straight towards him.

raised his
ately,
gun
at the right
and the bird
fell
moment,
fired
immedi-
with a thud dead at his
A moment later a woodcock followed
He
feet.
precisely the
same course, the same accurate process was repeated,

and it fell close beside the pheasant.
At three o'clock the shooting was over and we
returned to the
farm by the floating-bridge to
enjoy a paprikas, that time
made
of hare.
The
farmhouse, which sparkled with cleanliness, was

well furnished and tenanted
by Magyar
peasants,
the simple courtesy of whose manners could not
be surpassed.
Our
carriage
return journey was

as
we had used
made
in
the
in
the
same
morning, but
A RUMANIAN INVALID
ESZTERGOM
AND BAGS
(GRAN), BUDAPEST,
281
with four horses abreast, and even for them
was a hard
it
task.
evening
In the
we went
the
to
casino, the
Wald7neister to play a favourite card -game called
Taroc, and
but
in a
to
amuse myself
as best I could
soon got tired of looking at newspapers
language
noticed a
did not understand, and having
asked
billiard-table,
play with me.
It
anyone would
if
proved to be, for me, one of
those days which occur to most players of games
when everything seems

one's form.
Several
easy and one plays above
men
accepted
my
challenge,
and some were sent from the card-tables to go

and vanquish the Angol-ur (Englishman)
beat
them
all,
and thus aroused
in
them
but
a spirit of
revenge which they indulged later on.

It
was arranged
shooting that
for
the third and last day's
we should walk up
partridges, going
by a
field-path, as the
to the place of rendezvous
We
road was too bad for driving.

a
started after
hearty breakfast, the Waldmeister, the
Forester, and
I,
Head-
but we were soon forced to stop at
the house of the small old gentleman
whom we
behind on the puszta when the pole broke.
had
left
He
had been watching
for
us,
had prepared a
dainty meal, and would be broken-hearted
36
if
we
HUNGARY
282
did not partake of
it
so perforce
down
again and do what
goose
liver, his
we
we must
sit
could with his roasted
schnaps, and his wine.
That day we walked for many hours, six or

eight of us, backwards and forwards, wheeling to
the right, wheeling to the
of
many kinds
left,
over the remains
There were great numbers
of crops.
of partridges, but so wild that they continually rose
out of shot, and our bag was poor.
The
birds
should have been driven, but beaters were not
On
way back to Bacs

was invited by one of the company to take
steam-bath at his house a new experience, and
available that day.
the
tempting one after our long walk.
We
undressed
and,
having
donned
bathing
garments, entered together a dark chamber

of steam that
water which
came up through gurgling
we heard but
could not
full
boiling
see.
An
attendant then vigorously massaged our limbs, and
we next went down
into tepid baths to cool before
standing under showers of cold water.
That night there was a fish paprikas at the

casino, followed by many other good things.
Wine flowed, and was always drunk with some
little
ceremony that was explained to me.
Any
breach of etiquette, or ignorance of the rules, had
ESZTERGOM
AND BAGS
(GRAN), BUDAPEST,
283
by drinking extra wine. After

supper I noticed that I was receiving marked
attention, and that one after another of the guests
singled me out to empty a glass with him
and
to be paid
for
when
the party,
a plot to
I,
occurred to
it
victims at the billiard-
more assiduous than the
table were even
By
my
observed that
make me
me
rest of
that they had formed
drink more than I should.
skilfully diverting attention at crucial
moments
from that time, contrived to pour, undetected,
glass after glass
when
upon the uncarpeted
floor
Janos
at last, all standing, the toast of Szent
was given
1.
But
stop,'
guests were about to leave the table

people, perhaps Szent Janos
to his wife.'
Bravo
drunk with
all
had daughters,'
!'
the Blonde!'
separating
Bravo
*
bravo
Bravo
we drank
have had bright red
And
continued,
!
you gallant
was married
and
honour.
I
'
Here's
That
to his wife
here's
also to the
the
And
And
one
was
'
to
the Brunette.'
the Blonde.'
is
may have
they
so
the
as
said,
:
Angol-ur, bravo
truly Magyar,' they cried
Brunette
no one was
as the signal for departure
more sober than
thus
before
who might
hair.
Bacs at that time was an island in a sea of
mud, from which escape was
difficult.
Is
362
it
to
284
HUNGARY
be wondered at
if
at times to feasting
its
well-to-do inhabitants
fell
There had been a farmer's wedding shortly before

wê arrived,
and
details
consumed during the

part of the Alfold.
were given
me
festivities in that,
I neglected to
but they were somewhat
as
the richest,
make
notes,
dozen
follows
oxen, a score of calves, thirty swine,
fifty sheep,
more eggs than were ever

one time anywhere else.
a thousand fowls, and

fresh at
of what was
THE RIVER MAROS, AND THE HILL OF

THE MAIDEN
'
'
CHAPTER
XII
TRANSYLVANIA, THE GREAT PUSZTA OF HORTOBAGY,
AND LAKE BALATON

It was
autumn when we
left
Kolosvar, the capital
of Transylvania, to stay at the country-house of

a
nobleman who was one of the
largest
landed
proprietors in the country.
Our journey
very
beautiful
one
lay
for
several hours along the winding course of the River
Samos.
Mountains and
hills,
with purple shadows,
already showed signs of the turn of the leaf; the

maize, tufted with feathery tops of
warm
become a tender
air
russet
and the
grey, had
was charged
with diffused sunlight which was reflected from the

shining water.
Now
to a
where, below the wheel, there was
little mill,
and again a slanting
dam
led
for a space a rushing stream that soon dispersed

self in reaches
as a mirror.
it-
smooth and apparently motionless
Black buffaloes stood in the water

285
HUxNGARY
286
but their heads immersed
and
on
the sandy islets. The bridges were of timber, and
sometimes we saw a peasant paddling a dug-out
often
all
cattle
canoe.
In the villages the buildings were white-
walled
and
excepting
thatched,
little
wooden
churches, with tapering spires, which were grey
and
many
at the stations
as those to
a fine
On
people looked as smart
be seen at Marlow or Maidenhead on
summer
day.
leaving the train
we were
driven through a
pretty village, where the people were Rumanians,
and on through a green park well wooded with

trees of
many kinds,
or
to a large square bufF-coloured
Hungary
with a broad round tower at each angle. Our
Host and Hostess whom we then met for the first
time came from the garden, where they had been
house
castel as it
would be
called in
entertaining friends, to receive us.
His Excellency was a

remarkably handsome
features,
tall
man
active-looking and
with finely -chiselled
and that courtly perfection of manner
which, in some subtle way, conveys to the least
important of guests that they are regarded with the
same consideration
as those of far higher rank
position in the world.
The Baronin was
and
a beautiful
lady of middle age, most gracious and winning, who,
TRANSYLVANIA
like her
and
287
husband, had a dehcate taste
hterature
and unfailing tact which enabled her to
art,
guide the
affairs
of her large household with the
lightest of reins.
Besides the
separated from
castel,
it
many
guest-chambers, three of
allotted to us.
Breakfast was brought
tained a chapel and
which were
there was a long building,
by a space of lawns, which con-
hour we chose, a carriage and pair was always
at the
at our disposition to take us wherever
work
our
or to see the romantic country,
we wished to
and we made
appearance at the midday meal.
first
At
luncheon there were usually other guests, and
remember one when there was a large party, and

the whole company joined in conversation, with
equal ease, in four different languages, but always
changed
into that
it
out of politeness to
from table the young

curtsied,
when
from Hungarian
ladies
and kissed her
us.
it
had slipped
When we
arose
went to the Baronin,
hand a most
graceful and
pretty custom.
As a young man His Excellency was among those

who hunted in the high mountains of Transylvania
with Crown Prince Rudolf and the, then. Prince of
Wales
sonages.
but he talked
He was
little
of such exalted per-
always interesting when he could
HUNGARY
288
be persuaded to relate hunting adventures, or to
When
speak on any subject.

bears,
remember the
questioned about
vividness with which
he
described the intensely wicked expression of hate
and
evil intention in the eyes of a
wounded bear
which stood up and charged, until only
them
separated
poor
I
beast,'
*
;
but
paces
was better armed than
he concluded.
knew who had
five
lately
he,
mentioned a gentleman
gone up into those same
regions, twelve years in succession, without seeing
a bear alive, though
many
been more fortunate.
For
of his companions had

instance, he
had invited
a friend unaccustomed to big-game shooting to
accompany him, and four bears two full-grown

and two young ones passed close to his friend,
who was so overawed that he dared not shoot.
Our Host said that was very easy to understand. A
relative of his, an officer and a hardened sportsman,
had once for some reason inexplicable to himself
failed to shoot at one great bear that approached
On
him.
being rallied afterwards by his comrades
camp his temper was aroused, and he addressed

I admit that for a moment I lost my
them thus
in
nerve
but
to fight
if
you
you doubt
in duel,
my courage, I am
prepared
one after another, with any
arms and under any conditions you
may
choose.'
SEGESVAk (SCHAFSBURG)'
TRANSYLVANIA
One
289
day, on the conclusion of a beautiful walk
where from a
hill-top
we saw
eleven ranges of
and mountains one behind the other

to the house of an old keeper,
his service for
two
twenty
years,
hills
he took
who had been
and there showed
skulls of very large bears
me
in
me
which the keeper
had been instructed to shoot because they had

taken to raiding farms.
and then
by and waited
he wounded
his wife
of
them
killed a
The keeper climbed up
retired.
tree close
One
He
it.
until
it
returned,
cow
into a
when
then returned home, armed
with a gun, and the two together bravely
tracked the animal, and found
it
dead.
His Excellency related the following ghost story
When
uncle
his
sternest veracity
man
was
was quartered near a

said
to
appear.
The
of few words and the
army, his regiment
in the
castle at
officers
which a ghost was

requested that
all
they might be allowed to sleep in turn in the
haunted chamber.
Several of them, including the
uncle in question, saw a figure shrouded in white

pass through the room.
it,
asking:
anything
?'
At last an officer addressed
Why do you come here

'
Dig
Do you desire
thirty paces northwards
from the
eastern tower,' clearly replied the mysterious visitor.
The
following day
men were
set to
work, and dis-
37
HUNGARY
290
covered the skeleton of a young
woman
with hands
chained together and skull placed near the
These remains were buried

with the usual
rites,
feet.
in a Christian cemetery,
and the ghost never afterwards
appeared.
And,
girls
again, he told of a marriage
market
which takes place every year, on
Day, in a mountain village

Banffy-Hunyad.
Rumanian
day's
peasants
for
St. Peter's
from
ride
who wish
to
marry come great distances over the mountains

from remote places where they have few opportunities of meeting other young people the girls
;
He
being always under the care of elder women.
rode up
one year with the old painter whose
acquaintance
we made
the proceedings.
and observed
in Kolosvar,
A girl, standing with her mother,
was approached by a young man conversation

took place, and blushing on the part of the
the youth produced three florins and
maiden
;
held
them out
to her;
she hesitated and seemed
to refuse them, on which he put
pocket
he then took out four
them back
florins
in his
the girl
opened a yellow handkerchief to receive them,

folded them up, and put them into her pocket.
She
wâs
then engaged to be married, and
changed her mind must return the money.
if
she
His
TRANSYLVANIA
291
Excellency said he wanted to go and offer her ten
what would happen, but the painter,

much alarmed, dissuaded him from doing so.
Two years in succession, during the early autumn,
florins to see
we enjoyed
staying in
country houses
and
that
it
most
that the
great
own
will, in all probability,
land
ever being able to
separating
for
from our
prevent us from
on a parched and
was a Gipsy settlement which had
hillside,
existed
it
visit it again.
About a mile from the

bare
of
a sad thought for us
is
distance
delightful
castel,
Irregular
centuries.
distinguishable from the
hardly
hovels
surrounding clay, their
features were, a few upright posts thatched with
reeds forming a scanty porch, or an old stove-pipe
protruding from a bare mound.
Coloured gar-
ments were hung here and there to dry, swine

and buffaloes wallowed in a shallow stream below
the
and
hill,
lithe
according to age and
The
sunlight.
more
sex moved
people
Gipsies
there
we had seen, especially

who went naked brown
faces
one,
less
about in the
the very young

little
clad,
were the cleanest

ones,
people with merry
and well -formed limbs.
who
or
One
quite small
could hardly walk, yielded to his already
developed
instinct
by
cleverly
stealing
a strap
372
HUNGARY
292
which
my
wife had
on the ground before her
left
was brought back by his mother before

we left. A boy of nine years wore his only gar-
but
it
ment, a
that
it
shirt, in
such a way, with one arm
looked like
classical drapery,
and
my
free,
wife
began to make a study from him.
The next day

he could not at first be found, and when he came
did not know what had become of his shirt.
He
was posing without any, his beautiful young figure
looking like an exquisite bronze, when his mother
arrived, bringing a chemise belonging to his sister,
and
insisted in clothing
him
in that
feeling of propriety, but because
We
sun would do him harm.
names, but the only one I can
one belonging to a
perfect
girl
teeth Lingora
not from any

she feared the
heard some of their

recall
is
the pretty
with flashing eyes and
Flori.
By way
of paying
rent for the ground they occupied, the Gipsies kept
the park drives in order; and though they
came
and went as they would, they were never known

to steal anything on the property.
During our last summer in Transylvania we also

stayed at a charming country house not very far
from Deva chief town of Hunyad county. It
was a low building with two wings. The garden
front, which was almost covered with creepers and
TRANSYLVANIA
was bordered with beds of bright
to lawns sloping
down
293
flowers, looked
on
and
to the River Maros,
the groves of well-grown trees that bordered them.
The main
portion of the building was composed of
a series of handsomely furnished and lofty salons,
opening from one another

wings, and the kitchens,
apart.
Shooting,
bridge, all
had
bedrooms occupied the
etc.,
fishing,
were in a building
even
driving,
riding,
their respective votaries
and
life
Hungarian houses we had the pleasure of

knowing very much resembled that in English
in the
country homes.
The River Maros, where we saw it, was broad,

rapid, and sinuous. Green trees grew along its banks,
and, beyond them, blue or purple
to the skyline.
The
village
is
related
gave variety
highest of those was
known
Maiden,' and the following
as 'the Hill of the
legend
hills
concerning
on the opposite
it
At
side of the
a certain
river
people
were given up to dancing, and the dancing led
much to be
them to amend
to licence
induce
deplored.
their
ways
Nothing could
until the Devil
himself appeared in their midst, seized one of the
gayest of the young

of
all,
flew
women, and,
away with her
to
in
the sight
the top of the
mountain, whence she never returned.
From
that
HUNGARY
294
day to
this
no one has ventured to dance
in that
place.
A far prettier
story was told in connection with
the ruined castle of Malomviz, at the foot of the
mountains near Hatszeg, where we were taken for

a picnic.
Once upon
a time a
young Count
lived
there with his Countess, and they loved each other
very much, and were very happy until the Count
was taken prisoner by the Turks.

broken down with
days and nights.
her,
grief, cried all
At
and told her that
consolation.
in
last
Then
the lady,
through the long
an angel appeared to
work only would she
So she began to
spin,
and
find
as time
One night she

went on she became happier.
dreamt that all she had spun turned to gold, and
that a butterfly carried her golden thread far away
over forest and mountain, and settled on a heavy
door with a great lock. The door opened and her
husband appeared, and, following the golden thread,
seemed to approach ever nearer. Suddenly she felt
someone put hands on her eyes, and when she
opened them he stood before her.
Close by the thriving town of Deva there is a
high conical hill, on the top of which are the ruins
of a fortress which was destroyed in the troublous
times 1848-49.
It was occupied by Hungarian
TRANSYLVANIA
when
soldiers,
its
magazines were secretly mined by
An
the Austrians.
295
Austrian soldier
lit
the fuse
leading to them, and returned to Deva, unaware

that at the
same time
his wife
and child had carried
up food to the Hungarians. There was a terrific

explosion, and soldiers, woman, and child were
blown to atoms. The unhappy Austrian was so
by the awful
immediately went mad.
horrified
In
effect
neighbourhood several true
that
whose ancestors
families,
of his act that he
Rumania, are now
lived
settled
for
among
centuries
the
They were encouraged by the
return
their
own
in
Rumanian
peasants.
to
Magyar
State to
country, where they have
We
prospered exceedingly.
found them to have
retained the characteristics of their race, and to be

as
manners and the costume they

any Magyars we had seen.
charming
wore
as
Among
in
the
towns
Transylvania,
of
Brasso
(Kronstadt), in the south-eastern extremity of the
recommended
to us.
among mountains where
several
country, was always highly

It
is
finely situated
valleys meet,
and
is
an important industrial and
commercial centre, with

inhabitants.
century,
its
nearly
Founded by Saxons
German
forty
thousand
in the thirteenth
character was, for the most
HUNGARY
296
which occurred in the seventeenth.

remain a few very picturesque old
part, lost in a fire
There
still
houses in the outskirts of the town, and a grand old
church
known as the
blackened by the
fire
'
Black Church
which was
but the main streets appear
and the principal buildings to
to be quite modern,
have been built but yesterday.

of the
'
Outside the choir
Black Church are statues of the twelve
Apostles
much damaged
by
and Protestants
fire
and, in a porch, the remains of a beautiful

of the
Madonna and
fresco
Child attended by two angels.
most interesting feature of the
interior
is
many
the
great
number of ancient
them
Persian, which are of very beautiful and rich
tone,
and hang over the backs of the pews.
Oriental rugs,
There are several pleasant summer
resorts
the neighbourhood of Brassd, where pretty

lie
embowered among the
which clothe the
when making
trees
foothills.
of
in
villas
and grassy slopes
We
were surprised,
excursions, to find that in a district
which has been German
for seven centuries the
tramway-conductors, and even the station-masters,

could speak only Hungarian, and that the names
of such thoroughly
German
places as Neustadt and
Rosenau should have been changed,

guides, to the
much less
in the railway
simple ones Kerestenyfalva
CATTLE ON THE PUSZTA OF HORTOBAGY
TRANSYLVANIA
We
and Barczarozenyd.
Rosenau
297
climbed the
formal and rich
German
near
hill
village,
with
red-roofed houses, very different from the untidy
and irregular ones inhabited by Rumanians
same
district
in the
and at the top found the ruins of an
old fort, where
we
rested
among
wild thyme, and
delighted in fresh breezes and the light and shade
playing over the far-reaching landscape before us.
The prettiest and quaintest of the German towns

we saw in the country was Segesvar (Schafsburg).
was founded long ago by Saxons, and
It
retains
very
features
many
of
tiled towers, pinnacles, etc.
as a pleasant surprise
hill,
brings
We
picturesque
its
them
when
still
medieval
which appear
the train, rounding a
into view.
Armenian
town Erzsebetvaros, having been attracted by a
stayed there, and then at the
fortified
Sards
Gothic church in the neighbouring
but
sketching
rain, unfortunately,
village,
prevented us from
it.
Churches, dating from the thirteenth century,

built
by
on eminences by the Saxons and surrounded
walls and turrets for defence, are characteristic
of Transylvania.
On
leaving Transylvania
we went
to bid farewell
to our ever kind and protecting friend the Bishop,
38
HUNGARY
298
and then on to the great puszta of Central Hungary,

which remains a vast tract of
five
hundred square miles
The puszta
in extent.
of Hortobagy belongs to the impor-
often called in Hungary
Rome but
situated at some
tant
town of Debreczen
the
Calvinist
distance from
level grazing-land
is
it,
about an hour and a half by slow
train.
The
Bishop's secretary had written to
recommend
who called
Burgermeister
us to the care of a friend in Debreczen,
soon after our arrival to say that the
would be glad
to see us
at the town-hall.
We
accordingly went there, and a Senator kindly inter-
as the JBurgervieister
language with the result that
preted
spoke no foreign
rooms adjoining a
csdrdd (country inn) in the centre of the puszta
were placed at our
disposal,
and a young lawyer
was deputed to conduct us there on the morrow.

On the following morning he arrived before our
hotel with one of the town carriages, the coachman
in blue
and gold
livery,
and we drove
in state to
the railway-station, saluted at every turn by dust-
men and
other servants of the Corporation.
When we
left
the train
we were taken
springless carriage with seats slung
in
on straps along
a sandy road to the well-known, but very primitive,.
HORTOBAGY
csdrdd, where
we were
299
more than a
one half of it was
to stay for
week.
an inn
for the entertainment of csikos (horseherds)
large low building,
and gulyds (cowherds), and the other contained
rooms occasionally used
for business purposes, or
by guests of the town of Debreczen when invited

to shoot wildfowl or
which
is
Morgana
see the Fâta
to
often visible thence in fine weather.
Strangers are sometimes taken to Hortobagy,
where
etc.
all
are
things
herds, customs, costumes,
cscirdd,
reputed to be purely Magyar, as they
have been for ages
more than one
and
it is
thrilling
not improbable that
romance of the puszta
which we have read was founded on the experience

of half a day there.
We were given the use of

waited on by a clever
Terka (Theresa), aged
little
a spacious room, were
Magyar maid named
fifteen,
and obtained our
meals, such as they were, from the landlady in the

csdrdd.
The
first
afternoon
we drove out with
the lawyer
over the vast plain, which, level as a calm sea,
extended
all
around
us.
Our
track was hardly
discernible in the sandy soil tufted with short sun-
burnt grass.
Two
or three small light- coloured
huts, each with a tall draw-well near
it,
could be
382
HUNGARY
300
seen far
away
clumps of
in
the distance, and a few low
wide apart,
trees,
like ships
out of sight
of land.
When,
at length,
we saw
a herd of brown horses
and, turning aside, approached
it,
we found
it
to
consist of about fifty animals
under the charge of a
young
whom my
csikos,
wârds painted.
aged thirteen,
wife after-
His dress was composed of a jacket
and short divided
skirts
of light blue linen; a
short mantle, which had once been white, and

sparsely embroidered
with red patterns
was
and a
broad brown
felt
hat with one side turned up.
His
feet
were
legs
and
bare.
He
was holding a
bay horse by a cord when we came up, but

immediately drew it to him, sprang or climbed on
large
to
its
bare back, and, flourishing his long-lashed
whip, galloped away after some horses which had

strayed.
in perfect
A born horseman, he and his mount were

When,
sympathy.
a day or
two
later,
he came a distance of four miles to be painted, and
dismounted before the csdrdd, he patted
waved
his hand,
and
it
galloped
away
his horse,
to rejoin the
herd.
We
drove on for miles, passing flocks of sheep
and long-cloaked juhdsz (shepherds) on the way,

to three wells, close together, where many hundred
HORTOBAGY
301
white cattle with long grey horns had come to

drink from troughs
filled for
them by the gulyds.
Several csikos were also there, one wearing an old
white
felt
overcoat embroidered with faded green,
by an
ornamented strap, the sleeves having been sewn up
(Hunat the wrists so as to form long pockets.
which
was
fastened
across
chest
his
garian peasants seldom or never put their arms in
He
the sleeves of their overcoats or mantles.)
rode with a perfect
seat,
Roman Emperor, and
worthy of the statue of a
soon raced
off,
cracking his
For
whip, to some horses he was driving away.

the
rest,
he was dressed
like the
boy we had
first
seen.
As we
returned homewards the sun sank red in
a glowing haze, and on the
brown
plain, far
away,
a carriage with five horses appeared but a tiny
speck surrounded by a cloud of golden dust.
The wide puszta

charm
it
exercises
ocean, and yet
fascinated us.
is,
The mysterious
in kind, similar to that of the
is all its
own.
In October the general colour of the land had

turned
to varied
tones of
modified by cooler reflections

violet
warm
ochre
fading
subtly
to a line of
on the horizon which led into a sky of
almost the same colour, until high up, where
it
HUNGARY
302
became
From
was
bluer, with
eleven
till
warm
one o'clock the Fata Morgana
clearly to be seen,
at other times
rising
above
it,
clouds softly defined.
were
woods and buildings which

invisible
below the horizon
and seeming to be
reflected in a
lagoon.
still
We made several studies out

we
on the puszta, and
work a herd of white cattle, in the

middle distance, would move slowly over the plain.
A little later they were nowhere to be seen, but in
another direction two mounted csikos and several
hundred brown horses had appeared. Wild geese
as
sat at
a long bent towards the centre in an acute

angle passed overhead, and we heard distinctly the
line
whirring of their wings.
If
we watched them,
or
continued working for a time, and then remembered

the horses, they too had vanished
else,
yet somewhere
instead of them, a shepherd, a flock of sheep,
and two white dogs had come into view.
Again
having been absorbed in our work for a while
we
if
looked around no living thing wâs to be seen
as far as the eye could reach
only the dry puszta,
a pool or streak of silver water, and, over
all,
the
immense palpitating sky.

The cscirdd, and the station for mounted police
close by it, are the only dwelling-houses on the
HORTOBAGY
part of the puszta
we
explored except the group of
buildings, a mile away, occupied
surgeon.
303
by the veterinary
The lawyer, before returning to Debreczen,
introduced us to him, and he spared himself no pains
models
in trying to obtain
with his
aid,
for
my
wife
but even
though everyone knew and respected
him, that proved to be an almost unsurmountable

task.
He
accompanied us one afternoon on a long

drive to a tanya, or cowherds' hut, and described
the habits of the men.
Four
or five of
them
share
the use of a tanya, in which each keeps a small
wooden
chest and other property
but they do not
They wear heavy cloaks of sheepskins

with the wool left on them six or eight whole
which close
fleeces being required to make one
sleep in
it.
round the neck and reach to the ground.

it
rains the
and stands, waterproof, leaning on
hat,
At
cowherd turns down the brim of
night he simply
and
lies
his felt
his stick.
himself up in his cloak,
on the bare ground wherever he may
happen to be
wool
rolls
When
inside.
in cold weather having turned the
The
fleece
of a small black lamb
hangs down from the back of the neck by way of

ornament.
Near to a tanya there
is
always a vasalo (open-
HUNGARY
304
air kitchen, in
signifies),
tall reeds,
plan like a flat-iron, which the word
formed of a close wind-proof fence of

about eight feet high, which are bound
The
together by three horizontal bands.
floor is
of brick, with a hollow place in the centre where

a
fire is
always kept smouldering, the fuel used
Three
being dried cow-dung.
from the
feet
fire
arm
pan used when
a short upright post with a long horizontal

revolves in a socket.
The pot
or
cooking hangs from the arm, which

the
fire.
low round
table,
around
it.
brought
fits, is
and small wooden
at meal-times,
stools are placed
turned above
with a hole in the
centre into which the bowl of food
from the tanya
is
Everything
kept
is
scrupulously tidy and clean.
Continuing our way over the
plain,
a series of low mounds, similar in

in regular order
said
and were
they
are
observed
and disposed
They
about half a mile apart.
were ten or twelve

sides,
size,
we
flat
feet high, with gently sloping
on the
supposed
top.
Our companion
to have been
lookout
places in the time of the Turkish invasions

I think
but
that cannot be the true explanation of
their origin.
For a time four large rough-coated w^hite dogs

seemed anxious to devour us, and followed the
A YOUNG MAGYAR CSIKOS ON THE GREAT

PUSZTA OF HORTOBAGY
HORTOBAGY
carriage barking
and showing
dachshund had come with
305
A small
their fangs.
us,
and
it
cleverly ran
along under the pole, quite close to the horses'

hoofs, to escape
from them.
It
is
never safe for
anyone to walk on the puszta without a long stout

stick.
We
put up, near a pond, a large flock of grey

until
we were
almost within shooting distance of them.
Curlews
wild geese which
had remained
flew over us formed into equilateral triangles
enclosed planes being

birds,
filled
the
with regularly spaced
perhaps two hundred in each
and buzzards,
wild duck, and plover were occasionally to be seen.
was delightful to watch the flight of the birds.

Sometimes they would wheel in flocks which
became dark along one edge, then changed to a
It
thin even film, disappeared,

different
into sight in a
form, and finally faded away.
like the tail of a kite,
varied density low
At
came
length
several csikos
waved
down
we came
Others,
in a long ribbon of
in the distant sky.
to a second tanya,
were guarding a large herd of
where
horses.
Except that some of them wore top-boots, the

mounted men were dressed as the others we had
seen, though their toned white felt mantles were
even more richly embroidered, in the usual places,
39
HUNGARY
^06
with scarlet and crimson broken with violet and
The
green.
tops of their short whip-handles were
ornamented with rosettes of red

also the
were
leather, as
upper parts of the long thongs made of
perfectly plaited strips
of thin leather.
lasso
was wound round the neck of each of the horses

they rode, and one of the csikos dismounted to
show us
square of flannel,
were hung from

his right
down
was simply a doubled

without a girth, and the stirrups
saddle.
his
arm
it.
It
To remount,
the csikos flung
well over the horse's back to hold
the flannel on the
put
his left toe
and sprang up with perfect
into the stirrup,
Probably no
ofl'-side,
finer
horsemen
ease.
exist in the
world
than the csikos on the great puszta of Hortobagy.
They, the gulyds, and the juhdsz remain there
where no
home,
for
women ever come

many months at
strict Calvinists,
and
without
a time.
returning
They
their morals are said to
are
be
above reproach.
The
horses,
are nearly all
which show a good deal of breed,
brown or bay, and
are formed into
herds often numbering from six to seven hundred.
Hungarian
horses, in
interest, are
with Arpad
which the State takes great
descended from those that came in
and with the
Turks, crossed with
HORTOBAGY
Arabs.
307
Prince of Transylvania introduced the
blood of showy Spanish horses
poor stayers
but
was weeded
it
proved a
failure,
and
and the stock
thoroughbreds were
English
out.
high-steppers
then crossed with the Hungarian breed, with the

best possible results.
cattle on the
numbers as many as fourteen or
fifteen hundred head.
The cows are not milked
as on an aim in Austria, or Tyrol, where many
herd
puszta
of long-horned white
often
cattle are gathered together
their milk.
but
the calves drink
A cheese-farm was at one time started
under a qualified master, and excellent cheese was

produced
people
but
knew
it
of,
was not advertised and few

or bought it, and after three
years the experiment was abandoned.
Many
of the
young
cattle
have never been
handled by man, and the Veterinary Surgeon told

of the extreme difficulty he had in treating
when
ill.
Two-thirds of the puszta
is
capable of cultiva-
tion, though on one-third the soil
and there are two
who own
cattle
different views
it
as
them
parties
in
is
Debreczen
and those who do not

as
too poor
those
who hold
to the expediency of leaving
it is.
392
HUNGARY
808
Near to the csdrdd there
a fine stone bridge,
is
with nine arches, over water which

a river until
away
It curves
fowl of
we had
many
passed around one end of
for miles,
kinds
my
seldom
and
come
sometimes strolled along

with
we thought was
in the evening wild-
to
its
it.
it
in thousands.
banks in the twilight
gun, but there was no sort of cover, and

fired a shot.
The good
Vet. occasionally
came
and
to see us,
described the green glories of the puszta in spring
and early summer, and told how on a summer day

he saw the bridge from a great distance, when
Fata Morgana
tiers
it
appeared to be composed of four
of arches, one above the other.
One sunny morning, towards
my
as
the end of our stay,
young csiMs model on

the puszta, and though it was October a lark
began to sing in the sky. They both looked up to
wife was painting her
it
then their eyes met, and in the proud expression
of his clear blue eyes she read that he would like

to say
Yes,
it is
good to be here
'
and
so
it
was.
On
leaving Hortobagy
we
spent a day or two at
Debreczen, drove in the beautiful woods there, and
saw the large church where,
in 1849,
Kossuth pro-
claimed the deposition of the Habsburg dynasty
BALATON
a
proclamation which
effective
been
possibly might have
had not the Czar of Russia sent an army
of two hundred thousand
her
309
men
to help Austria in
straits.
We
then started for Lake Balaton with the
exception of one or two lakes in Russia, the largest

of Europe's inland seas
the
way
there, to say
but stopped at Kalocsa on
good-bye to our kind
friends.
them whither we were bound,

one of the younger priests, to whom we had become
Having mentioned
much
villa
attached, at once pressed us to occupy a
by the lake belonging to an intimate

which was then untenanted.
his,
no
to
refusal
and
at once wrote to
friend of
He
would take
his
friend,
who
would be ready
for us, and that the station-master and his wife,
who had the keys and lived close by, would provide
telegraphed in reply that the
villa
our meals.
So are things done

it is
largely
owing to
in
Hungary
little
and
it
may
be
this extraordinary hospitality
of the better-class people that
and inns are
many country
used, and
little
hotels
prepared to
receive visitors of their kind.
We broke our journey at Kaposvar, another town

where the old order has made way
every building of any pretension
for the
is
quite
new and
modern
HUNGARY
310
many, indeed, being

in the
builders and then went on to the
still
hands of the
villa
been lent to
set
us, at
which had
The sun
Szemes, on the lake.
beyond deep-toned mountains, and the
glories
of a peaceful evening sky were reflected in
waters as
Our
we
first
arrived.
villas
and we had the place to

still
The
days by the lake were enchanting.
season was over, the
trees
still
were closed and deserted,

ourselves.
Slender birch-
held a few golden leaves, the grass was
dead, and pure sands shelved, with graceful curves,
For half a mile the water

gradually deepened till it became the colour of
into the shallow sea.
chrysoprase
hills
lay
softened lines of red plum-coloured
beyond
From time
it,
and above was a cloudless
to time wild
duck flew by
us,
sky.
and wild
geese overhead.
For three days the weather remained perfect,

and the sun set each night a glowing red ball
beyond the distant waters of the lake but then a
;
change came.
we observed
One morning while we were
painting
a close bank of clouds, with firmly
defined edge, approaching from the north

the
wind blew ominously, and the shallow waters on
;
the nearer shore became patterned with small white

breakers.
In the afternoon
it
snowed a
little,
but
BALATON
though the next day was
drifted away,
311
and the sun shone
went to work
clouds had
cold, the
When
for a while.
was astonished to see that the

breakers did not move.
They were frozen, and
ice reached out for a hundred yards from land.
I
steamer towed a row of fishing-barges to the
deep water on the opposite coast, ten miles away,
whence they drifted with nets to

Towards evening, under a leaden sky,
men
in oilskins
and beating
themselves warm.
The
have
all
shore.
saw
fisher-
wading through grey water about
their stranded boats,
renowned
our
fish
for its excellence,
their
arms to keep
caught in Balaton
is
but the fishing rights
been bought up by one or two large com-
who send the catch

and when we were there
panies,
to the best markets

it
was impossible to
obtain any fish near the lake.
The next night was
a wild
one
the
wind
howled and whistled round the house, and when

the pointsman brought coffee to our
the morning, he
came
covered with snow.
in
like
bedroom
in
Father Christmas,
Outside, partridges
sought
shelter in the garden.
The
station-master and his wife were the kindest
and best of people, the

excellent and
fare
they provided was
most admirably cooked, and
their
HUNGARY
312
first
wish was that
it.
They had no
a pug-dog which
They
entered.
we
should partake plentifully of
children, but
were devoted to
always barked at us when
told us
that
when they had
we
to
as
we should see on the

next occasion and that when a passenger train
drew up he always ran out to see who had
scold
him, he wept
arrived
but
in
ijuietly
if
his
a luggage train came, he remained
bed
for
the
whistled
trains
in
ways when at some distance from the

and he could thus distinguish them. One
different
station,
day he mistook the station-master, who entered

with us, for me, and barked at him furiously, with
He
at once
stove,
and we
the result that he was soundly rated.

retired to his
presently
bed in a corner by the
observed
tears
black eyes and falling
When
his mistress
gathering in his
down
his
ugly
little
large
face.
came and, gathering him
in
her arms tried to console him, he not only con-
tinued to shed bitter tears but wiped them
with the backs of his paws

then the
The
first
away
the right one and
left.
station-master was our guide during several
excursions to the fashionable places on that most

exquisite of lakes
then
deserted, but
which must
be gay and delightful when frequented by the
BALATON
cream of Magyar families
and
young
painters in a village
shore.
Charming young
they were trying to
live
313
a colony of
to
some miles from the
fellows, full of enthusiasm,
over again the old days of
Barbizon, and to paint in the very latest French
manner.
From
Szemes, on our
way
to
Budapest,
we
journeyed long over sunlit snow by the shores

of lovely Balaton,
and then by a smaller
lake,
bordered with dead reeds which cast blue shadows
on the
ice.
Pozsony (Pressburg), on the Danube, was the

last
most
Hungarian
attractive
town we stayed in. It is a

place, more Austrian than Hun-
garian in the style of
its
and the
architecture,
stamp of the great days of Maria Theresa

still clearly set upon it.
When, with
is
we began our journey away

from the country where so much had been done, by
so many friends, to make us happy, the landscape
we passed through seemed to be in sympathy
with
It
us.
dim windows
sorrow,
was of that sad kind
where
half- thawed
seen
snow, in ragged
patches, partially covers sodden earth

trees
bend before a cold wind
distance
is
lost in
through
where bare
where
all
in the
grey mist, and clouds of white
40
HUNGARY
314
steam from the engine sweep low before they

disappear.
Hungary most men
In
politicians
but I have not touched on
these pages.
discussed
are patriots,
They have
from
are
all
politics in
recently been brilliantly
various points of view
in
books
by Count Andrassy, Mr Knatchbull-Hugesson,

Scotus Viator,' and Mr. Geoffrey Drage. My
ambition and my wish were but to tell, in simple
language, what we saw and felt ourselves in many
'
parts of the country,
But
having
would
among
people of
like to state before
lived, as
many
kinds.
concluding that
few strangers ever have, among
the different nationalities,
we
ourselves heard no
complaints of their hard treatment by the Magyars.
The
general instruction in schools, where
was given
in their
own tongues
and
if
we
were,
they were
taught Hungarian, that was no hardship, for

evidently an advantage that
all
country should understand one
and
it
is
less
is
inhabitants of a
common
language
natural that the one chosen should be
that of the dominant and most
The
it
numerous
race.
State takes keen paternal interest in count-
matters
forestry,
of
vast
importance
mining, industries, even
the whole country pulsates with
life
agriculture,
and
art,
etc.
and energy.
BALATON
315
Hitherto the generous Magyars have not been

distinguished as a business people
be
feared
may
that,
happy on
of
them
their rich
as
As
We
they cannot be surpassed.
many
but
it
is
to
under modern conditions, they
deteriorate in this respect.
that as
is
agriculturists
earnestly hope
possible will remain
and beautiful land
brave
and splendid people.
We are
on the
artists,
quite avsâre that
fringes of limitless
and
we have
fields
only touched
of interest for
others.
402
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|||"|||""||"|||'|'|'"|iint
MAP ACCOMPANYING
HDNGARY."
BY MR. AND MRS. ADRIAN STOKES.
(A.
AND
C.
BLACK, LONDON.)
minu.MiMiiuiiiiNuiiiinnmir
INDEX
[The references to pictures are printed in
Ada-Kaleh, 22
Agram, 159
Akna
Carpathians,
A Boad
Carpathian
Mountains
in the, 52
from
Lucsivna-Fiirdo 92
Sugatag, 237
Alfold, 13
italics.
Cattle on the Puszta of Horto-
hdgy, 296
Arany Janos, 122
Caviare, 21
Bacska, 269, 277
Chasuble, 251
Baja, 148
Balaton, Lake, 268, 309
Church, 13
Church, Greek, 222
Banffy-Hunyad, 191
Bdnffy-Hunyad, A Magyar Cot-
Confirmation Wreath, 136

Convent Moat, 132
tage at, 176
Cross embroidered on a Chasuble,
256
Bdnffy-Hunyad, Cottages on the

Outskirts of, 188
Bdnffy Hunyad, Interior at,

196
Bdnffy-Hunyad, The Queen of
Csardas, 168
Csikos, 306
Csorba-to, 38
Czigany, 95
the Harvesters, 184
Barlangliget, 37, 164
Dacia, 28
Belgrade, 17, 159
Danube,
Danube,
Bishops, Hungarian, 211
Brandwein, 170
Brasso, 295
Bridal Veil, The, frontispiece
Budapest, 4, 253
Budapest, The Houses of Parliament and Margit Bridge, 260
147, 155
Backwater of
the,
12
Danube at Orsova, The, 20

Danube from Esztergom{Gran), 4
Debreczen, 298
Descended from a Brigand Chief

56
Desze, 220
Desze,
Calvary, The, 250
Carpathians, 16, 34
1, 19,
at,
Desze,
317
A Bumanian Homestead
232
A Woman
of,
228
HUNGARY
318
Day, 248
Grou^ in a Bumcmian
Desze, All Souls^
Desze,
Bumanian Children
ing Water
to be
GreeTi Church,
Desze,
Hospitality, 11
Hungarian Baby, 8
Beligious Procession^ 236

Desze,
Hortobagy, 298
bring-
Hungarian Bishops, 211
Blessed in the
244
The Bumanian Church
Iron Gates, 24
at,
224
Kalocsa,
9,
111
Paprika- Seller, 120

at, 140
Kalocsa Market Girl, 128
Kalocsa,
Deva, 292
Deveny, 2
Dobschauer, 34
Drava, 159
Kalocsa, Cottage
Kalocsa,
Woman
of,
in Work-
day Dress, 112
Engaged Couple, Any 80

Erzsebetvaros, 297
Esztergom, 4, 244
Esztergom, Basilica of (Gran),
from the Danube, 252
Kalocsa,
On
the
Waste Lands
near, 116
Kassa, 189
Kazan, Gorge
Kesmark, 37
of,
18
Kiraly-Lehota, 66
Felsobanya, 215
Felsobdnya,
Shepherd Boy of
220
Fiume, 161
Kis-Banya, 216
Kis-Bdnya, Peasant
her Guba, 212
Woman
in
Klausenburg, 30
Fiirdo, 78
Kolosvar, 28
Garlic- Seller, 204
Korcismezo, 212
Geese, 148
Kossuth, Ferencz, 268
Gipsies, 95
Kracsfalo, 219
Korosfo, 197
Gipsy Home, 108

Gombos, 148
Gran, 4
Gutin, Mount, 228
Kreis Jagden, 131
Krivan, 70
Krivdn, seen from near Vdzsecz,

68
Kronstadt, 295
Hatszeg, 294
Haynald, Cardinal, 120
Hay-time, Upper Hungary, 164
Hercules, Baths of, 24
Herkules-fiirdo, 24
Hermannstadt, 26
Krumholz, 171
Lake of Csorba in June, 28

Laszlo, 263
Lipto Szt. Miklos, 61

Liszt, Franz, 103
INDEX
319
Loose, 1B9
Puszta, 131, 301
Lucsivna-fiirdo, 85
Prayer for the Dead, I44
Lucsivna-filrdoy Birdies at,
J^Jf,
Lugos, 25
Kosenau, 297
Magyar-Bikal, 197
Rumanian Invalid, 280

Bumanian Maiden, 268
Magyar
A Young, on the
Puszta of Hortobdgy^
Csihbs,
Great
Rumanians, 202
Ruthenians, 214
304
Magyar Shepherds, near BanffyHunyad, 200
St,
Miklos, 61
237
Samos, River, 285
Saros, 297
Salt,
Malomviz, 294
Maramaros, 237
Maramaros-Sziget, 212, 220
Margaret Island, 254
Margit-Sziget, 254
Maros, Kiver, 293
Maros, Biver, and the Hill of
the Maiden,' 284
Marriage market, 290
Menguszfalva, 93
Menguszfalva, 84
Menguszfalva, Mother and Child
at, 104
Menguszfalva, Young Girl going
to Church, 88
Save, 17
Schafsburg, 297
Schwabs, 15
Segesvar, 297
'
Segesvar
'
{Schafsburg), 2S8
Slovak, 37-83
Slovak Girl in Sumday Attire, 72

Slovak, A Little, 16
Slovak, A Young, 24
Slovak Woman singing a Hymn
96
>
Storks, 148
MisTco, 641
Strawberries, 260
Mount Gutin, 228
Streams in East Hungary, 240

Sugatag, 222
Swine at their Bath, near
Kalocsa, 124
Szabadka, 270
Szatmdr, The Cathedral and
SquarCy 216
Munkacsy, 261
Nagy-Banya, 215
Nagyszeben, 26
Orsova, 17, 21
Szava, 159
Paprika, 11
Petofi Sandor, 122
Szechenyi Road, 18
Szemes, 310
Pozsony,
Szepes-Bela, 171
3,
Pressburg,
313
3,
313
Sziget,
232
HUNGARY
Vazsecz, 41-47
Tatra, 15
Tdtra, Child with Fowl, 40
Vdzsecz, 76
Tatra Fiired, 36
Tatra Lomnicz, 34
Vazsecz
Tdtra, Pines in
Temes, 25
the,
In Church
36
Vdzsecz, Slovak
32
WomenatPrayer
48
Tisza, 212
Vdzsecz,
Tokay, 13
dows
Transylvania, 28
Transylva/nia,
at,
Vdzsecz, Mill near, 100
View from our Win-
in, 60
Visegrad, 4
Gipsy's Castle,
Vychodna, 53
272
Transylvania, A
Church in, 264
Bumanian
Zibin, 26
Transylvania, Harvest-time
in,
180
Transylvania^
Transylvania',
Hay -time
Zagreb, 159
in,
Bumanian
Zimony, 17
Zombor, 270
208
Zsdjar, 165
Cot-
Zsdjar,
tages in, 276
Transylvania, Sunset in the Hills

of, 192
Cottage
at,
156
Zsdjar, The Belle of 168

Zsdjar, The Beturn from Church,
148
Zsdjar,
The Schoolmaster* s Wife,
172
Vag, 66
Zsdjar,
Vagfalva, 48
Vambery, Professor, 268
Young Girl in Sunday
Clothes 152
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Described by Mrs. A. Murray Smith
Liege and the Ardennes

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Letters from the Holy
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The Tower
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Painted by Ella Du
Described by Florence
Flowêrs
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Cane
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Described by A. G.
COLOUR
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Gordon Ho.me
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Dales and Fells
Gordon Home
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Forest
Vales and Wolds


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Willingham Rawnsley
The New^
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Painted by J. Hardwickr Lewis

Described by Francis H. Gribble
INIrs.
Tyndale
Bradley
Worcestershire
24
Painted by John Fulleyi ove, R.I.

20 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTKATIONS IN
colour
20 full-page illustrations in col*" ur
Du Cane
and Gardens
Madeira
in
Holmes, K.C.V.O.
London
colour
Painted by George M. Henton

Described by Sir Richard Rivington

Described by Arthur Poyser
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George
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Described by E. T. Cook
Painted by
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Eton from a Backwâter
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16
Man
Isle of
?o full-page illustrations in
,,
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The Rubaiyat of Omar

Khayyam*
Heaton Coopf.k
Ralph Hall Caine
Dion Clayton Calthrop
Painted by H. E.
of Scotland*
Reynold Alleyne
Nicholson, M.A.
Painted by Gordon Home

Described by Cecil Headlam
in
Edited, with notes, by
COLOUR
Ancient Peace
The Heart
24
Edinburgh
24
of


Described by Rosaline Masson
21
Nuremberg
20
Painted by Mima Nixon

Described by Una Silberrad and
Sophie Ls all
Dutch Bulbs and Gardens
ins.
colour 20 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR

Translated by ICnwARD Fitzgerald
By Alfred Austin (Foei f. aureate)
Painted by Gilbert jAMb.s
Painted bj' Agnes Locke
Canterbury
20 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN
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East Flanders
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May Hardvvicke
9x6^
Painted by Arthur George Bell

Described by Mrs. A. G. Bell
Painted by A. Fokestier
Icxt by G. W. T. Omonu
&
Size
Hardwickk Lewis and
Geneva
12
Brabant
J.
Described by Francis Gribble
Abbotsford
)
loixj^ns.
Size
iid.
Painted by William Smith, Jun.

Described by Rev. W. S. Ckockett
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The Upper Engadine
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Described by F.
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24
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Kew Gardens
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Hamilton Hay
Walter Scott
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Painted by W. Biscombe Gardner

Heaton
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The Peak Country
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Painted by E. Harrison
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Painted by J.
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24
Painted by C. E. Hannaford
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24
Painted by James Faed, Junr.

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Snell
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W.
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THE BRIDAL VEIL

ADRIAN & MARIANNE STOKES

WITH APOLOGIES FOR

RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED

frequented by foreign visitors

than other great countries of Europe

charms beyond most

In spite of modern develop-

Various races inhabit the land, but the Magyars

which, approximately, 9 are Magyars

have become the home

richly fertile central plains

Slavs occupy outlying parts of

the country, and Croatia

the lower slopes of the great Carpathians, a large

met with nearly everywhere.

bathed in hazy sunlight, where great rivers glide

from which grim mountains rear

are all to be found

and dotted about may be seen

figures that recall

the illustrations in an old-world Bible.

Hungarians are sensitive regarding the lack of

knowledge they believe prevalent

concerning themselves and their civilization, and

acquainted with the following facts

now, and has been since the year

an independent sovereign State and a

His Majesty the Emperor Franz Joseph, whose

Upper and Lower Austria,

Emperor, but King, of Hungary.

with a few salient points in

most interesting history would

The Magyars, under Arpad, made

appearance in Central Europe in the ninth century,

about the year a.d. 896.

during their incursions in

new clause was added to the

Their power was broken by Otho the Great,

in a battle near the River

was introduced under Prince Geisa

In the year 1001 Stephen L, the

succeeded his father, and was crowned by solemn

'Apostolic King,' and sent him the

patron saint of Hungary.

the end of the eleventh century Croatia and

Dalmatia had been added to the dominions of the

confirmed by a great charter, the

Andrew II., in 1222, only seven

years later than

and was followed

various elective Kings.

of a long series of battles between the

Magyars and the Turks took place about the year

Maty as (Mathias Corvinus), son of the

House of Anjou, was killed in

of the Hungarian aristocracy.

Ferdinand of Austria, a Habsburg, and brother

crown of what was

of the Hungarian kingdom,

nobles supported him, but another party chose as