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TRANSYLVANIAITS PRODUCTS AND ITS PEOPLECHAPTER IDOWN THE DANUBE.On quitting the station at Vienna to drive to the hotel, all you see impresses you with the idea of a large town. There is a life and activity in the streets, which struck me perhaps all the more on account of my having come from Bavaria. How all has been changed-both city and people- within the last few years ! The new political life they have received seems to have imparted itself to the physical existence of each one; bodily and mentally he moves and breathes more freely. The diversity of character which the various physiognomies present that meet you at every step, also tell of the many nations which here are brought together. What women, especially, pass you in the street! The slim, lithe Hungarian,-a perfect Lamia woman,-with passion-pale check, jet-black hair, and eye in which lurks a latent fire ; the more oriental Wallachian, with softer, sensuous air,-in her style of dress and even in her carriage unlike a dweller in the West; a Moldavian princess, wrapped in a Turkish shawl, her dark, yet clear complexion seeming to mark her as a daughter of the ardent South; and as she glides by majestically like a reigning queen, a glance from her quick eye falls upon you and almost makes you tremble beneath its searching power. And now a Serb marches proudly past, his countenance calm as a Turk's; or a Constantinople merchant sweeps along in his loose robes and snowy turban. There are, too, Greeks, Dalmatians, and Croats, all different in feature : there is no end to the variety. A circumstance showed me how unstable every condition was considered to be in the empire, and how prepared men were for a daily change. On buying a map of Transylvania, I observed to the bookseller that the different divisions of the districts were not marked. "That is no matter," be said, quite gravely ; "in a week perhaps all may be changed. If I were to give you the map you want, before yon reached Transylvania very likely everything might be altered." At present in Austria all is in a transition state : and it is well that it is so, if only each step taken be a remove from the old system to one more adapted to an awaking land, -to one that has begun the great work of regeneration. A day or two after, I started for Belgrade. Some way beyond Vienna we changed our little steamer for a fine large boat, and went down the magnificent river at a good rate.1 And yonder, on a limestone crag, stands a ruined castle : that is the border-fortress and the land we look upon is Hungary, where so much valour and chivalrous feeling has been displayed ; the land, too, of open-handed hospitality, but where also, unfortunately, self-will and vanity and a depreciatory estimate of whatever is not Hungarian have worked, and still work, so much evil.2 We stop for some moments at Presburg, bare and dejected-looking, and take some gipsy soldiers on board, who were being sent home, -most of them as black as Hindoos, and, despite their military training, still showing in their looks that impatience of restraint peculiar to a wild animal. As we proceed further the river is covered with fowl ; ducks, geese, and herons were wheeling in the air or alighting with a whirring commotion on the broad expanse of water.3 By degrees all changes more and more. Our old everyday scenes give way to others, on which men with other looks are moving. The land is flat, like the desert, and the slightest elevation, however far off, is seized and dwelt upon by the wearied eye, glad of any object to beak monotony. The water was low just now, and long banks of sand showed everywhere in the river. Thu broken banks, too, on either side, gave evidence of the power of the stream. There were few villages, and you felt, as you felt, as you went on thus hour after hour, that it was very desolate. The sunlight even could not make the Danube here look cheerful. Now on a long strip of sand in the middle the river stood a solitary white figure, with a boat drawn up on the shoal,-far or near, no human habitation, and the lonely man seemed like a wrecked mariner that had been cast up on this great solitude. The Danube is something magnificent. It produces a strange melancholy feeling, and an awful one of power. It is master here. It rolls on through these vast plains, deluging them at times and tearing away whole tracts with its waves. The American rivers must have a similar character. The Rhine and the Thames are mill-streams in comparison with it. From time to time there is a little life on the shore. Large herds of white oxen plunge into the stream, and brown children, with long black locks hanging over their shoulders, and large linen trousers, bleached by the sun and air to a dazzling whiteness, play about or stand and shout as we pass; or a fragile cart, with three horses abreast,-thin, long creatures,-dashes over the plain, and there is a merry hubbub of voices and gay laughter, as the smart Hungarian youth flourishes his whip and screams to his nimble team. And now we land two bright-faced ladies, and a light carriage-and-four is there with their husbands or brother ; and there are glad hearty greetings, and we can just see them, as we steam away, dashing along over the Pusta to regain their Hungarian home. Where some tributary stream enters the Danube, a steamer is waiting to take passengers up the river. How lonely and sad all looks, not a living soul to be seen on that vessel's decks ! One might think it were stranded there and all on board had perished. Except Pesth and Gran and Peterwardein, there is not much to be seen; but still for a European, for one who has not seen the rivers of America, it is worth while to come down here by boat, that he may behold the mighty stream and be witness of its power, and see how it lords it over everything around. Our boat was filled with most picturesque groups- Serbs, Dalmatians, gipsy soldiers, and Wallack women in rich and varied costume. Some, in snow-while linen, were lying on a mat asleep, partly covered by a coarse carpet of Turkish web and sober colour. Here a Servian gentleman, with his greaves and Turkish trousers, and in the shawl round his waist two long Oriental-looking pistols ; and there a group of long-bearded men seated on the deck on their outspread carpet, smoking and talking together. The poorest among them had an air of quiet dignity. Whether it was their arms which gave evidence of power, or their fine forms and handsome countenances, or the character which the turban imparted, that produced this effect, I know not, but it was impossible to stand face to face with one of them and not acknowledge that was there. On board, however, were one or two with a sinister air ; and had we met in a forest, the long knife would, I think, have been soon unsheathed, unless my quicker hand had shown the revolver ready for instant use. Until lately the Servians ,were always called "Ratzen" (the a pronounced long, "Ratzen), just as the present Rumains (Romänen) were, till the other day, called Wallacks. Not long since both were a wild horde, without a trace of civilization; but since that malignant epidemic, the "nationality fever," has raged in Europe, both have changed their old appellation, and the word "Ratzen" is now considered by every Servian as an insult. At last, in the distance a hill is perceptible, and on its sides and top are walls and houses and pointed towers. Yonder lies Belgrade. We stop at Semlin. How disappointing ! I walked into the town prepared for new costumes and new sights, but all is provokingly old-fashioned ; and the answer of the maid of the inn when she heard me call, "Was schaffen Sie ?" was quite overwhelming. They were the very words of a Munich Kellnerin. Beware of Semlin, ye travellers ! It has a bad reputation for honesty, and deserves it well. If disappointed with Semlin, the visit to Belgrade repaid me for my waiting. Our boat took two barges in tow down the river to the fortress, and there sat and walked about soldiers of the Sultan-real Turkish men- in their bright uniform. One sat on his carpet on deck, with turban on, quietly smoking his chibouk,-a bearded turbaned Turk ! What a pleasure it was to look at him and feel that here at last was something was essentially of the East, and that a new world was beginning to open before me ! It is no doubt an event in a man's life to be for the first time in love, but it is no leas so when for the first time he sees a genuine live Turk upon Eastern ground. We approach the fortress, and there are troops of soldiers moving about, other fishing, and some squatting down to see us Christians pass. Here and there, one above the other, at their different posts, stand the sentinels, mostly in Turkish dress, but some few in Frank uniform. And now we are at the landing-place, and a troop of Servians come on board for the baggage, and each placing a sort of saddle low down upon his back, stoops while his comrades load him like a beast of burden. Box upon box and packing-case upon packing-case, and trunks are piled up, and he stands still the while, mute as a camel; and when the enormous pile is complete and a rope thrown over all, he is told to jog on. And he does jog on, bent downwards and with a strange waddling gait. Some of these men are small thin fellows, who must, you think, be crushed by the superincumbent weight. And standing about are other men, all in white; and some with sandals on and highly-coloured leggings, and in their broad girdles pistol and formidable knife. Belgrade is worth all you see between it and Vienna, from the perfect novelty of everything. The population is very mixed, but still quite unlike what is met with in Western Europe. The water-carriers, the curious arrangements of the shops,-all told of life belonging to East. The dress of the Servian women is extremely beautiful, and that of a group of ladies returning to Belgrade in the evening was rich and costly beyond description. As a necklace they wore a row of ducats overlapping each other like the buttons on the peasants' coats in Bavaria, and in their dark hair were rings and gold coin. One wore a light purple silk skirt with large flowers, while her jacket, open partly in front with a bodice beneath, was of the palest blue satin trimmed with silver. A long scarf loosely knotted was wound round her waist, and hung down on one side. A rich silk kerchief was crossed over the bosom, and under it a covering of most delicate lawn. On the head was a roll of purple velvet, and intertwined with it were thick braids of hair, so arranged that the whole formed a sort of natural diadem. In front was a large button of pearls, and on both sides also. Another had a jacket of dark red-brown velvet embroidered with gold, and her jet-black hair showed beneath a Turkish fez. I met these lovely laughing Belgrade girls as I was returning to Semlin; they came just in time to gladden my eyes with their beauty. As it was necessary to have permission to enter the citadel, I went to the police to get the necessary paper. After waiting an immense time I learned that the officer was asleep, and his men were afraid to wake him. This was unfortunate, as there was little time to lose on account of the steamer's departure. But as he was only in the next room I did my best to disturb him by walking heavily about the floor, upsetting chairs, and opening and shutting the door. At last he shuffled in, half asleep and evidently in a very bad humour, but he gave me the paper. The dirt of such a police-office is hardly to be described. The men, too, a fine strong race, look begrimed and unwashed, and their Frank uniform becomes them much less than their owe native costume. A very intelligent Turkish artillery officer was good enough to accompany me round the fortress. He had been long in Vicuna, and in order to make himself well acquainted with the different branches of military service, had served for a time in an infantry and cavalry regiment, as well as in the artillery. We saw the men of a Turkish Jäger regiment at drill ; and really nothing could be more picturesque. There was a theatrical look in their mode of exercise, swinging their rifle dexterously round their head, and other unnecessary evolutions ; but it was a pretty sight. A Zouave could hardly show more activity than these men displayed; and it was evident they enjoyed what they were about and thought it good fun. And what splendid fellows they were ! And what heads! All were broad-shouldered and strong, and not in our own regiment of Guards might be seen finer specimens of humanity. I went among them afterwards, when they were at their evening meal, and they were merry and laughing,-not taciturn as Turks are invariably represented to be. The Jäger were from Constantinople; the gunners from Anatolia; and my friendly cicerone was from the Dardanelles. The major was an Arab, as dark as a Bedouin, but with an intelligent warrior countenance. When all was over, came the parade; the music was cheerful and the tunes were very like the Scotch, the shrill fifes furthering the resemblance. At the end, there was a prayer for the Sultan, every one saluting ; then came a flourish, and the men were dismissed. The Turks hate the Servians with utmost intensity. They do not associate with them ; and though now at peace, are still always prepared against sudden attack. Every redoubt is each night guarded by twenty-five men with a trumpeter ; for without this precaution the garrison feel they world not be safe. At drill, as in the field, the word of command is replaced by a trumpet signal. As there are many, the difference between them cannot always be strongly marked, and hence they are liable to be misunderstood. Once indeed, during a battle in Montenegro, owing to a mistake of the trumpeter, seven battalions were destroyed. The streets of Belgrade were literally strewn with, grapes ; and men were everywhere carrying basketfuls about for sale. At the villages we stopped at on our journey further it was the same ; and at Semendria, a Servian village, I bought an oka (2.5 lb.) of luscious fruit for somewhat less than a penny. Our boat, too, was laden with piles of it, covered with bloom.4 At Basiasch, a railroad leads to Temesvar. It was fair-time there, and I saw Wallachian men and women for the fires time. In spite of the heat, many had on their heavy- sheepskins. There was a strange mixture of different nationalities, and altogether it was a wild barbaric scene. The bright colours of the costumes made it gay, and among these the black dresses of the Swabian peasants looked very sombre. These people, despite their long sojourn in the land, speak their patois as broadly as though they still were living in the Black Forest. Their neatness and cleanliness contrasted strongly with the dirt and half-civilized condition of the other peasantry. There are two facts in natural history that perhaps are worth recording. The finest pigs it is possible to see anywhere are to be found in Hungary, and are called the Palatine breed. Round as they are, they do not grow unwieldy like our English swine. Nor is the fat the same ; it is hard and firm, like that of the wild boar. They are covered with a fine curling hair, and are quite an exception to the ordinary disgusting animal of the same species. Their food, too, is not unsavoury ; some handfuls of maize are flung before them, and, as they crunch each golden grain, one almost feels inclined to eat some with them. The other result of my observation is that Temesvar fleas exceed in size any that I have ever yet seen. They must be the survivors of that time when "there were giants in the land." Owing to the long drought, the suffering in Hungary and the Banat was dreadful. All was dried up, and there was no herbage for cattle, no food for men.5 The cattle could not be sold at any price, for there was no one to buy them, though four florins was gladly accepted for a full-grown ox. And in order try and save something, the peasant killed his sheep and threw them to the pigs, that they at least might for awhile have something to eat. Thatch five years old was pulled from the roof and given as folder. Horses were driven forth to seek a living for themselves ; if they survived and were found again, so much the better; but if they wandered away or were taken possession of by any passer-by it mattered not either. The whole Banat, the granary of Austria, usually so fertile and abounding in corn, now more resembled the floor of a room than ploughed fields or pasture-land; and a marsh lying between Temesvar and Basiasch, 50,000 Joch6 in extent, always filled with myriads of wildfowl, was this year completely dried up; a circumstance that had not been known since Trajan's time. In the evening, at supper, I had a foretaste of what I was later to become familiar with on my travels through Transylvania,-of that deep inimical feeling which everything emanating from Vienna calls forth in Hungary. My inquiries addressed to some gentlemen at table, showed them I was a stranger ; and, after answering them, they said in an irritated tone, "But what do you come here or ? there is nothing worth seeing in the land. What can you care to know anything about us, half civilized, half barbarians, as we are ?" -"There is much to see that is very interesting," I replied ; "both land and people are so ; at least for an Englishman." "Oh, Englishman!" one of them suddenly exclaimed; "Oh, if you are an Englishman it's all right;" and from that moment, his whole manner, as well as his tune, was changed. He told others who I was, and all were eager to give me information as to the country I was going to, and even some words of introduction to different persons there. It was impossible to be more friendly or obliging. For "die Leute dort oden" ("the people yonder") in Vienna, namely, by which the Government was meant, he had only words of bitterness. I spoke of Kossuth. "Kossuth is a dead man," said one who, as I afterwards learned, was an active politician. He laughed at the thought of his ever playing a part again. Later, on renewing the subject, the laconic answer given me was, "I have already told you Kossuth is a dead man," and that seemed to be considered as making further talk about him unnecessary. Of Kossuth, one of the most influential Hungarian noblemen, one of the best patriots, spoke to me later as follows :-"His oratory was extraordinary, his manner and his personal appearance most winning. He was an excellent speaker, and an admirable newspaper-article writer; but that was all. Such qualities, however, are not sufficient to qualify a man for a statesman; and he was no statesman. He was, as every one knows, no soldier either. But he was very vain, and moreover he was governed by his wife; who, by the bye, was a very ugly, but very ambitious woman. Now there have been great musicians, philosophers, poets, painters, who were ruled by their wives; but history, I believe, cannot show us one name of a great statesman completely under womanly jurisdiction. This ambition of his wife, his subjection to her will, and his own vanity, caused him to commit a moat grievous error. He thought it would be a very fine thing for him take and enter triumphantly the capital of Hungary ; and his wife cherished with delight the thought of holding her court there. So when Görgei had beaten the Austrians, Waitzen, by which the army under Weldon was retreat to Presburg, Görgei, who was pursuing in order to harass and destroy it, was suddenly ordered by Kossuth to turn back and lay siege to Ofen. Now, the Austrians, under Hentzi, were here in sufficient force to occupy Gorgei some weeks ;7 and, meanwhile, the retreating army not only got off in safety, but time was gained in Vienna to acquire fresh strength and devise new plans and operations. What Görgei ought to have done was to march at once against the Austrian frontier. When Bem heard of Kossuth's order, lie could hardly believe , it possible for a man to commit so monstrous a stupidity, and was beside himself with vexation. When Ofen was at last taken, three weeks were again lost without doing anything. But this was not Görgei's fault. Kossuth , however, had occasionally `gute Einfälle' (a happy thought). One such was, when Windischgrätz was advancing upon Pesth, and there was no means of resisting the attack, in force, his advising that the Chamber should retreat to Debreczin. This was a wise and admirable move. Had the Austrians arrived and had all been made prisoners, there would have been an end of the whole affair. As it was, Görgei caused a diversion, and held Windischgrätz in check. Time was thus gained. The roads were bad, the rail then was only finished a pert of the way, and no advance was made on Debreczin, In the spring, the Hungarians advanced and were successful. "That Kossuth was no statesman he showed by promulgating the cessation of allegiance to the Austrian Emperor. He was warned not to do it; and in the Parliament were many-they were the minority, it is true, but a minority of the best and wisest and calmest men-who opposed the act with all their might. But he was not to be stopped, and this most foolish act was committed. An Englishman came to him-not sent from England, but from a Hungarian in Paris-to bring the warning. He was first at Ofen when be associated with the Austrians, and afterwards he went to Debreczin to carry the writing to Kossuth. He had it concealed in a button. But Kossuth was not to be counselled, and he proclaimed the renunciation of allegiance. "With the people Kossuth was most popular, and he had great influence over them. With the calmer and more intelligent he had not this influence. These knew that good speeches and good newspaper articles are not the only things wanted in a leader. That he was sincere and well-intentioned there is no reason to doubt. He was not strict; on the contrary he was lax in his discipline, and if he lied been severer some few might perhaps have suffered more, but the cause altogether-the great body of the nation-would have greatly gained. He had not the power of imposing by his presence. One very great fault in him was than he never could set himself a boundary beyond which he was not to go,-never fix a limit to his wishes. He had no determined and settled aim, kept continually in view as a fixed goal to be attained; but he was for ever wanting more and more. He would never have been satisfied; but when the prescribed aim had been attained, he world again have demanded more and more and still more, always going further and further. And that certainly is not statesmanlike." I asked if my informant thought the revolution world have broken out if Kossuth had not stirred up men's minds and roused them to opposition. The answer was,- "But for him I hardly think matters would have gone so far. You may see how little thought there was of rebellion, and how moderate the demands of the Landstag were by the " representations" which, only three days before the revolution broke out, were sent to Vienna to be laid before the Emperor. When you rend them, you will hardly think it possible that a revolution could so soon follow." This perfectly coincides with other accounts which I have every reason to accept as authentic. The revolution broke out, no one well knew how. It was brought about by a concatenation of chance and quite unforeseen circumstances. It had not been meditated; but when once they found themselves in a state of rebellion, all stuck to the flag which was raised, and went on through thick and thin. Kossuth strove eagerly to inflame men's minds, thinking that from out the mass some one would arise to become the leader. That he should fill that post never entered into his calculations. Perhaps he felt himself unfitted for it, as indeed he was; and knew that his great strength, that all his strength, lay in his eloquence. Returning to Basiasch, the steamer took me on to Moldova. Here were groups of women sitting in the street with their distaffs, on which were large masses of snow-white wool, brown gipsy children, resembling Indians, holding out their little hands for money, and Wallacks, in white frieze dresses, idling in the sun. But the most picturesque sight of all was the duck of our boat. There were Basnicks on board, tall magnificent fellows, each to an artist wellnigh worth his weight in silver. One had on a crimson turban, wildly wreathed round his tread. His profile was perfect, his eye full of command and fire. A faded weather-beaten loose coat, bordered with sheepskin, hung over his shoulders; but on him it had the air of a royal mantle. His jacket was of coarse brown frieze, bordered with yellow; round his waist, from a broad girdle, hung pistols, knife, and cartouche; about his legs were yellowish wrappings, and on his feet red shoes. I never had see so magnificent a creature. Here, too, were Turks; and yonder Servians in all their bravery. There was also a Turkish woman among tile passengers, her whole face covered with a white cloth and a narrow slit to peep through. Yet if I but looked at her she put down her head most angrily; and once when, she moved, she from a distance beckoned for me to get out of the way, that she might not be polluted by my neighbourhood as passed. She was a young wife of fifteen, and cried and complained loudly that the men looked at her; yet one might as well have looked at a stone or a post, so little resemblance had the ball of white linen to a human countenance. Once she fetched her husband because a man in the cabin had passed near her. But, as usual, all the women were against her, and scolded and laughed at her for her wilfulness. Indeed, she seemed a headstrong spoiled child. Nothing could be more ungraceful than her movements ; she shuffled along in a strange, awkward manner, and, long as her drapery was, I could see that her feet, thrust into large slippers, were turned inwards like a duck's. Every one, Englishman, German, or Hungarian, with whom I spoke of the Turks, was unanimous in bearing testimony to their honesty and truthfulness. The Montenegrins, on the other hand, are acknowledged to be the greatest rascals possible. At Moldova are large stores of corn, and though it is there much exposed not a grain is ever stolen. Towards evening the Turks spread their carpets, and <----17 --> depositing their slippers beside it, reclined there to smoke the water-pipe. How rich their shawl turbans looked, with the long ends hanging Over their shoulders! And ventures or of Jessica. He was in a long blue-and -white striped gown, and over it a black coat trimmed with blue and lilac, and bordered with fur. The blue sleeves of an undercoat showed beneath the roomy ones of the upper garment, and also in part the striped sleeves of the gown. A red scarf was round his waist, on his legs were black greaves, and his fine old Israelitish head was covered with a fez. He wore pendent at his belt a leathern case for papers, or writing materials, or money; and in it perhaps was the cruel bond signed by poor Antonio. At Orsova we land. Here are troops of Wallacks waiting patiently with their carts to be hired to take the baggage lower down the river, as there are shallows where a heavily-laden boat could not pass. The place is alive with our arrival; heaps of merchandise are lying about, passengers of all nations waiting to go on, carts are being piled up with bales and trunks, and the inhabitants, their long black hair hanging over their thick dresses, are looking on at the busy scene. How commerce and industry completely change everything ! Some distance further on is Severin, where ten years ago there were but six houses standing ; now it is a large place with good shops, full of life, and with a busy trade. And here at this once miserable assemblage of huts is now a large inn, and offices of the steam company, and a post-office and warehouses and civilization. And what crinolines are to be seen moving about amid squalor and poverty! Their dimensions, too, are enormous,- looking most ridiculous in their juxtaposition to the Wallack women with their one white simple garment. The bustle increases, there is an entanglement of carts, a hubbub of many languages, and the piled-up baggage-waggons begin to move. It occurred to me that the scene at Suez, after the steamer's arrival, preparatory to crossing the Desert, must be very like this. I drove a good way down the river, which beyond Orsova has on either side low flat banks. Large reefs intercept the passage, and the water frets and eddies among the obstructing rocks. Higher up, between Basiasch and Orsova, the stream is confined in a narrow channel ; the hillsides are precipitous, the scene is sombre and wild, and vultures, scared from their crags, wheeled high above us as we passed. Some distance below Orsova, a few steps from the roadside, is the spot where in 1853 the crown of Hungary was found. It had disappeared during the revolution, and not a clue could be obtained that might tell what had become of it. Four years it had lain there with the other insignia buried in the earth, when at last an Austrian officer, by an ingenious combination of circumstances and cunning deductions therefrom, -so at least it was reported, hit upon the spot where it lay concealed. Wonderful, certainly, had it been true. Even Edgar Poe's scrutinizing power and art of combining facts and eliciting evidence would have failed here to bring about a discovery. Without treachery how would it have been possible to find in the whole empire just the very sod underneath which the iron chest was concealed? The truth is, the spot was betrayed by Kossuth's secretary for 20,000 ducats. A small chapel marks the place. It is in low ground, covered with alders and willows; but these have been cleared away immediately round the building, and the plot of ground prettily laid out. In the centre of the chapel, four or five deep, is an excavation, walled round and guarded by a railing. At the bottom lies a marble slab, on which the crown, a globe and sceptre are chiseled. This is the exact spot where the chest with the insignia was raised. Here all along the frontier, short distance apart, are the stations of the "Grenzer;' sometimes, where an officer has his post, they are well-built houses of stone, but generally mere simple cottages, sufficiently large for five or six men. Before the dwelling rises a high pole swathed with straw and resinous wood, to be set fire to in case of need. The men at the next station see the blaze and hasten there with assistance, or they light their pole, and thus in a moment the lurid light streams forth for miles, and the whole line of frontier sees the signal and is in arms. No one is allowed to cross from the Servian side. Whoever attempts it is fired upon, should he not obey the warning and desist. These "Grenzer" are well-organized troops, though in reality but a sort of militia. Their excellent arms, which they take home with them when not on service, are furnished by the Government. Each man comes for his week of frontier duty in his usual dress, with sandals like the other peasantry, his sole uniform being a loose coarse linen undress coat, worn by the Austrian soldiers. When his certain number of days' service is over, he returns to his family. Each man receives a small annual sum as pay, besides enjoying many privileges, which from the very first were specially accorded these frontier regiments. Their existence form a contingent of many thousand hardy men, well-drilled and armed, at any hour or a moment's notice. They form an army in reserve, always ready and maintained at a trifling cost. A strip so-called "frontier" is not, as I supposed, a mere narrow strip of land between two territories ; but forms rather a large broad district wholly under military rule. For civilians there is civil law, but it is administered, like all beside, by military authorities. There is no denying that the whole organization is admirable for the aim in view, though for trade or industry nothing is done. Nowhere are the roads so excellently kept, or the bridges in such thorough repair, the buildings so neat, the dwelling-houses so substantial, as on a military "frontier." There is order in everything. As there are Government schools for the population, the people speak good German, and stand much higher as regards culture than the inhabitants of the other villages not under frontier jurisdiction. As an instance of the extent of such "Grenze" territory it may be stated that the Romanen Banat Regiment, which means the district where the men forming it are enlisted, has ninety villages, hamlets, and market towns pertaining to it, and possesses as its own 300,000 Joch of forest. Strangely enough, this large tract does not bring in sufficient to pay the salaries of the foresters. This is partly owing to mismanagement, and arises partly from want of means of transport to places where the timber would be available.
Though in certain matters great advantages have been gained by
the order and method developed under military superintendence,
special technical departments are undoubtedly imperfectly
administrated. That of the woods and forests is one. A major or a
captain cannot be expected to know much about woodcraft, and the
management as conducted by him, is on a par with the amount of
such knowledge. Red-tapery exercises here, as in England, its
baneful influence.
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