717 



AUSTRIA. 



AUSTRIA. 



718 



easterly chain running beyond Rosenberg on the Moldau and sepa- 

 rating Bohemia from tie Archduchy, and also into a southerly chain 

 which terminates on the left bank of the Danube at Linz. The 

 principal chain of the Bbhmerwald is between HO and 120 miles in 

 length, and its average breadth about 20 miles ; its general features 

 are those of a wild, gloomy, thickly -wooded, and precipitous region, 

 full of mountain torrents and valleys. The highest elevations on the 

 side of Bohemia, in the districts of Klattau, Prachin, and Budweis, 

 are the Drey-Sessel Mountain which is 3798 feet, and the Kubani which 

 is 4218 feet high. It is rich in metals and minerals, and that portion 

 of it which lies within the Archduchy of Austria exchanges its original 

 name for that of the Karlsberge, or Saarergebirge. The principal 

 rivers which spring from the Bbhmerwald are the Naab, Regen, 

 Beraun, Vottova or Ottova, and Moldau. 



The last of this long succession of Austrian highlands is that other 

 range of the Hercynian chain by which Moravia is separated from 

 Bohemia, whence it has derived the name of the Moravian Mountains 

 (Mahrisch-Gebirge). At their south-western extremity they unite 

 with the offsets of the Bbhmerwald-Gebirge, in the neighbourhood of 

 spread towards Mblk on the Danube, and direct their course 

 north -eastward, forming the line of frontier between Bohemia and 

 Moravia, until they form a junction with the Glatzer-Gebirge of the 

 Sudetach chain, as already described. 



The great plains will be more fully noticed when we come to speak 

 of the soil and products of the Austrian empire. 



Hydrography, Communications, <tc. The only sea-coast which this 

 great empire possesses is on the Adriatic, the waters of which, so far 

 as the Austrian dominions are concerned, extend from the Punto di 

 Goro along the eastern territory of Venice, the western, southern, and 

 eastern frontiers of the Government of Triest in Illyria, the Kiistenland, 

 or maritime district, of Hungary and Austrian Croatia, and the 

 western limits of Dalmatia to their most southerly extremity. In 

 describing this line, the Adriatic not only makes four considerable 

 bays or inlets the Lagunes of Venice, the Gulfs of Venice and 

 Fiume or Quarnero, and the Bay of Cattaro but forms several narrow 

 straits called canals, between the islands and mainland in its north- 

 eastern parts ; such are the Morlakian Canal on the coast of Dalmatia, 

 the canals of Pago, Zara, di Mezzo, Solta, Trau, Brazza, Curgola, 

 Narenta, and others. 



The Austrian territory, with regard to lakes and inland waters, 

 will bear a comparison with most countries in Europe, particularly in 

 its southern and eastern provinces. The Flatten See, or as the natives 

 call it Lake Balaton (from a Slavonian word implying dirt or mud), 

 is in the south-west of Hungary, about 60 miles south of Komorn on 

 the Danube. Its surface occupies an area of 504 square miles, 

 including its swampy borders ; and it receives the Szala, and upwards 

 of forty streams and rivulets. About 70 miles to the north-west of 

 the Flatten See lies the Neusiedler See, which the Hungarians term 

 Fertoe, an unnavigable lake, which contains 120 square miles of 

 surface, and is at least 60 miles in circumference. The incrustations 

 of salt, soda, and vitriol which are found along its sides, render its 

 water unfit for use. The Griiner See, or Green Lake, is a small lake 

 on the Tatra Mountains, in the northern circle of Liptau, in Hungary, 

 the water of which has a green appearance, but proves to be pure and 

 transparent when drawn out. Numerous smaller lakes and swamps 

 are scattered as we have before observed over the Hungarian soil ; the 

 most remarkable of these are the Palitsh and White lakes, which are 

 impregnated with natron, and are situated between Theresianopel and 

 the right bank of the Theiss. The adjacent principality of Transsyl- 

 vania is scarcely less abundantly supplied with lakes ; they are of 

 considerable depth, mostly situated on the plateaus of high mountains, 

 and are seldom known to have any outlets. The inhabitants are 

 accustomed to term them Eyes of the Sea. The Tsheger, or Hudnsa 

 See, which has an area of 63 square miles, is 1 4 miles in length, and 

 lies in the north-east circle of Doboka, is the largest of the Transsyl- 

 vanian lakes. Compared with its extent however there is no province 

 in the empire which is richer in lakes than that of the Upper Ens, in 

 the Archduchy of Austria. The most considerable among them are 

 the Attcr See, or Kammer Lake, which the Atter, or Ascha, unites 

 with the Man See, or Mond See (Lake of the Moon), the latter being 

 7 miles long and 5 miles broad ; immediately east of the Atter See, 

 the Gemund, or Traun See, through which the Traun flows from the 

 Hall-stiidter See, which receives the small streams Ischel, Gosa, and 

 Ftid.jrbach ; the lakes Waller, Matt, Alben, or St. Wolfgang's, and 

 Irr, or Zeller. The neighbouring province of Styria has no large 

 lakes ; but Illyria, particularly the mountain districts of Carinthia 

 and Carniola, abounds in them. The most extensive are the Worth 

 See, sometimes called the Lake of Klagenfurt, about 2 miles distant 

 from that town; it is 11 miles long, has a superficies of 28 square 

 mil.'-, and is very rich in fish ; and the lakes Miihlstiidt and Ossiach, 

 in the circle of Villach. But none are so remarkable as the Czirknitze 

 in the circle of Adelsberg, which is surrounded on all sides by 

 limestone heights, and occupies a surface of 63 square miles : it con- 

 tains eighteen subterranean cavities, or reservoirs, through which its 

 waters at times disappear, and again flow in. In this basin are three 

 liill.-i, which, when the water fills it, become so many islands, and on 

 l> of the largest of which, called Vorneck, lies the: villni" <>( 

 Ottok. Eight streams and rivulets run into this lake, and nine 



villages and twenty churches are seated on ite margin. In Austrian 

 Croatia, besides the Tsuntratz there are eight lakes among the 

 Capella Mountains, to the south of Carlstadt, called the Pillwitzer 

 Seen, the waters of which descend over magnificent falls from the 

 uppermost basin to the lowest. 



Dalmatia too is full of lakes, of which we may mention in the 

 north-west, that of Novigrad, through which the Zernianja flows; 

 lakes Narin, Kadin, and Vrana, south of Zara ; the Trocklian, which 

 receives the Kerka before it falls into the Bay of Sebenico ; and the 

 Rostol, Prelosaz, and Veliki Jesero, which lie more inland. Many of 

 the Dalmatian lakes however frequently become dry from want both 

 of rain and springs, which are rare, owing to the calcareous character 

 of this province. 



Of the several lakes in the Italian dominions of Austria there are 

 two of which the property is shared with neighbouring states : the 

 Lago Maggiore, or Lake of Locarno, on the north-western borders of 

 Lombardy, stretches southward from the Swiss canton of Ticino ; its 

 south-western and southern extremity borders on Piedmont, and 

 nearly the whole of its eastern banks on the government of Milan as 

 low as Sesto Calende. It is above 45 miles in length, and from 4J 

 miles to 7 miles in breadth. The other lake, the Lago di Lugano, or 

 di Laviso, is connected with Lago Maggiore by the Tresa ; the 

 larger portion of this lake is in the canton of Ticino ; it is nearly 

 25 miles long, has an average breadth of about 5 miles, and on the 

 Lombardy side upwards of 40 rivulets flow into it. The remaining 

 lakes of importance in this quarter are situated wholly within the 

 Austrian territory : they are the Lago di Como, which lies a little to 

 the east of the Lago di Lugano, in the north-western part of 

 Lombardy. Its length is about 33 miles, but its breadth is nowhere 

 more than 2 miles. Beyond Bellagio, where it divides into two 

 arms, the eastern is more commonly called the Lago di Lecco. Besides 

 the Adda, which runs through it, 195 small rivers aiid streams 

 fall into it. The Lago di Garda, the largest lake in Italy and the 

 most important for its traffic, is politically intersected by a portion of 

 the boundary line between Lombardy and the Venetian territory. It 

 covers a surface of upwards of 290 square miles, runs parallel with the 

 Adige from Riva to Peschiera, west of Verona, for a length of nearly 

 35 miles, and has a breadth varying from about 5 miles to 14 miles; 

 it is deep enough to be navigated by large vessels, is traversed 

 by the Mincio, and receives the waters of the Sarca and several 

 minor streams. 



To this enumeration lakes Iseo, which lies north-west of Brescia, 

 and is traversed in its whole length of 19 miles by the Oglio ; 

 Idro, to the east of the Iseo, 7 miles long, through which the 

 Chiese flows ; and d'Alleghe, of the same length, in the delegation of 

 Vicenza, may be added. 



The adjoining earldom of the Tyrol and Voralberg has numerous 

 lakes, but they are of limited size ; the largest, called the Achen 

 See, in the circle of the Vale of the Lower Inn, does not exceed 5 

 miles in length. The northern extremity of the Lago di Garda, and 

 the south-eastern part of the Boden See, or Lake of Constanz, are 

 likewise comprehended within the Tyrolese borders. 



In closing this summary of the principal inland seas and lakes which 

 lie scattered over the Austrian dominions, we must not omit the mul- 

 titude of sheets of water to which the Bohemians, Galicians, and 

 Moravians give the name of seen, or lakes, though neither from their 

 extent nor any other characteristic is this an appropriate term. 

 Bohemia especially, besides the Teschmitz, Plockensteiuer, and Rum- 

 mer Seen, in the respective circles of Klattau, Budweis, and Saatz, 

 possesses so great an abundance of these sheets of water, or teiche, 

 that they were estimated 50 years ago at upwards of 20,000, and 

 the extent of soil which they covered at 189,600 acres. The Ezeperka 

 near Pardubicze in the circle of Chrudim is one of the largest, and 

 contains several finely-wooded islands. Of late years however the num- 

 ber has been much reduced, and the soil recovered has been brought 

 under cultivation. In Galicia there are said to be nearly 3900 of 

 these sheets of water ; and in the Moravian circle of Zuaim alone, 

 nearly 500. 



The lagunes, or swamps, which are formed along the coast of the 

 Adriatic in the passage of the alpine rivers into that basin, are divided 

 into five distinct systems, each appertaining to one of those five rivers. 

 One of them, the Lagune of Venice, stretches from Broudolo to the 

 mouth of the Piave, and is defended against the inroads of the 

 Adriatic by a dam, partly formed by nature and partly by art. Where 

 the waters are qufescent they are termed 'dead,' and where they are 

 in motion, ' living' lagunes. 



The empire of Austria belongs, to a greater or less extent, to four 

 of the great river systems of Europe those of the Euxiue, Baltic, 

 North Sea, and Mediterranean. The Danube enters the western part 

 of Austria at Passau, on the borders of Bavaria, and flowing in a 

 general east by south direction past Linz, Vienna, and Presburg, turns 

 round at Waitzen, in the heart of Hungary, and has a southerly course 

 till it is joined by the Drave near the village of Almas, to the east of 

 Esseg or Eszeck, the capital of Slavonia. Here it takes a general 

 south-eastern direction, and washing the walls of Peterwardein and 

 Semlin meets and receives the Save at Belgrade : from this point 

 it continues its tortuous course eastward between the Austrian and 

 Turkish dominions until it reaches Orsova, below which it enters 



