FORESTRY IN HUNGARY. 63 



is very much denuded of trees, apparently owing to excessive 

 grazing, but some planting work is going on in places. At Anina 

 we were received by M. Schmidt, the Company's chief engineer, 

 who treated us with great courtesy and kindness. He took us 

 over the ii'on-woi'ks, where we saw the manufacture of cast-iron 

 columns, rolled iron bars, wire, and nails. Some very pretty 

 ornamental ware of the same metal was also being made, and a 

 specimen of it was presented to us. 



The locality is rich in both coal and iron, and also in a bitu- 

 minous schist, yielding, on distillation, an oil from which petro- 

 leum and paraffin, to the amount of 1800 tons per annum, are 

 manufactured at Oravicza. 



We quitted Anina next day by train, passing through a beau- 

 tiful beech forest, succeeded by an open country, which has 

 evidently sufi'ered very much from over-gi'azing, the red soil on 

 the hillsides being completely exposed in the neighbourhood of 

 the villages. The scenery up to Oravicza is very beautiful ; but 

 beyond this we crossed a cultivated plain, producing, in addition 

 to grain crops, which were being harvested by the peasants in 

 their white dresses, a great quantity of maize, and some potatoes 

 and vines. We then travelled by way of Jam and Jassenova to 

 Bazias, where we passed the night. 



On the morning of the 2 ■2d we went on board one of the 

 Danube boats, and steamed down to Orsova. On our left were 

 the spurs of the Eastern Carpathians, and on our right the Servian 

 hills. The wide river is here very rapid and muddy, and there 

 is a great deal of traffic on it, many steamers and boats of all 

 kinds, including " dugouts," being seen. There were also some 

 floating mills. The low Servian hills are, as a rule, well wooded ; 

 but on the Hungarian side, where the general aspect is southerly, 

 the forests are confined to the higher levels, the lower slopes 

 being occupied by villages and fields. After passing down several 

 rapids, we entered the beautiful defile of Kasan, where we saw, 

 on the right bank, the remains of Trajan's road, cut out of the 

 base of the clifis. His inscription on the rock is still legible. 

 This is the finest part of the lower Danube, the scenery being 

 equal to, or even surpassing, the best parts of the Rhine between 

 Coblenz and Bingen. 



On leaving Orsova, we drove a distance of 16 miles, up the 

 valley of the Czerna, in which there are some magnificent poplars, 

 to the Baths of Hercules, where, after dining at the Kursaal, we 



