FORESTRY IN HUNGARY. 39 



there is a large reservoir, covering an area of 16 acres, and having 

 a depth at the dam of 42 feet. It contains over 14,000,000 cubic 

 feet of water. We descended the shafts in order to see the sluice 

 gates. They and the galleries weaken the dam at the part where 

 the pressure of the water has the greatest force, and it is a pity that 

 the galleries cannot be dispensed with. The two extremities of the 

 dam are constructed of earth, with a wall of clay inside it and a 

 rough stone facing on the upper side ; but the central portion is 

 made of wooden frames filled with stones, the slope towards the 

 water being faced with timbers. The joints between these are 

 closed by battens, secured with a peculiarly-shaped double nail, 

 which grasps and fastens them down very closely. The escape 

 channel is constructed to carry rafts, so that when the reservoir is 

 full, timber can be floated from higher up the valley over its surface 

 and thence down country. The stream, which is here only a few 

 yards wide, has a fall of about 6 in 100, and looks like a small 

 Highland trout-stream, numerous stones standing up in its bed ; 

 but when flushed by means of the water in the reservoir it can carry 

 rafts of large timber. Before going in to dinner we went to look 

 at the forest at the back of the house. "Wherever windfalls had 

 occurred there was excellent natural reproduction, and in a place 

 where the young poles had grown up to a height of about 25 feet 

 some thinnings had been made, the felled stems being left on the 

 ground, as they are not saleable. Deeper in the forest there appeared 

 to be a dense crop of pure spruce, standing so close together as 

 almost to exclude the light of day. The altitude of the reservoir 

 is 2900 feet. The thermometer is said to descend during the 

 winter to 20° below zero, Fahrenheit. But in 1879-80, which was 

 an exceptionally cold year, it went down much lower. 



BUSTYAHAZA. 



Leaving the house the next morning on horseback, we followed 

 the forest road, beside the stream, leading up the valley. At first 

 our route lay through a forest of pure spruce, which clothes the 

 hills in dense masses on either side ; but further on we met with 

 the mountain-ash, the maple (Acer jxseudo-platanus), the willow 

 (Salix caprea), and higher still, in the marshy ground, the alder 

 (Alnus alpina). The scenery was lovely, and the path was covered 

 with the tracks of red deer, which abound in these forests, the 

 shooting being reserved for the royal family. Arrived at the head 

 of the Tisza valley, we crossed the ridge (3946 feet) into the valley 



