AUSTRIA. 



AUSTRIA. 



730 



of some 50,000, above four-fifths of the whole Austrian stock. The 

 mules of Illyria and the Tyrol are larger, stronger, and handsomer 

 than the ordinary race, and as swift as a fleet horse. 



Of horned cattle the choicest breeds are reared iu Hungary, 

 Transsy Ivania, Lombardy, and Styria ; those of the first two countries 

 are remarkable for their size and handsome horns, as well as the 

 quantity and quality of their flesh ; the Lombardy cattle appear to be 

 a cross of the Swiss and Hungarian breeds, and are of handsome size 

 and strong make ; the Styrian breeds are the same large, long-bodied, 

 crumpled-horned, short-legged race as the Carinthian and Croatian. 

 Buffaloes are bred in parts of the south of Hungary, as well as in 

 Transsylvania and Slavonia, where they are used for the purposes of 

 draught. 



The breeding of sheep as we have seen is very much more followed 

 in Hungary and Transsylvania than hi any other part of the Austrian 

 dominions. In the western and southern parts of Hungary the breed 

 has been improved by crossing it with Merinos, and now yields very 

 fine wool. Galicia has much increased its flocks during the last fifty 

 years, and greatly improved them by mixing them with Merinos. In 

 Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, the Lower Ens, the east of Lombardy, and 

 the Vt netian territory a good deal of attention has been paid to the 

 improvement of stock, and hi many places an excellent quality of wool is 

 obtained. On the whole, Austria does not however produce as much 

 wool as the consumption of her manufacturers requires. We should 

 add, that there are five distinct races of sheep bred in Austria the 

 Hungarian, also called the Zackelschaaf, which we have just described, 

 the common curly-coated sheep, the improved breed, the Paduan, and 

 the pure Spanish or Merino species. 



The rearing of goats is carried to so great an extent in some parts 

 that no other animal food is eaten at certain periods of the year. 

 Their number may be estimated at 800,000 or 900,000. They are 

 principally bred in the mountainous districts of Austria and Lom- 

 bardy, and good cheese is made from their milk in the Tyrol and 

 Bohemia. 



Swine are kept in large herds throughout almost every province of 

 Austria, particularly in Hungary. They are mostly kept in the 

 vicinity of forests of oaks and beeches, at a distance from dwelling 

 places, being driven into marshes and upon heaths in summer, where 

 they feed on roots, snakes, and other reptiles, and into forests or 

 other feeding grounds in the beginning of October. The markets of 

 Debreczinand Oedenburg, in Hungary, are unquestionably the largest 

 markets for swine and lard in all Europe ; it is said indeed that " a 

 Hungarian would die without lard, as surely as a German without 

 coffee." In the north-western parts of Hungary, too, poultry is bred 

 in such large quantities that- one can scarcely pass from village to 

 village without encountering flock upon flock of fowls, ducks, geese, 

 and turkeys. The same may be said of the districts around the 

 Austrian metropolis, and indeed more or less of every province within 

 convenient reach of large towns. The Tyrol is celebrated for rearing 

 canary birds, of which between 30001. and 40001. in value are annually 

 sold. Game of all kinds is plentiful in most parts, and on the list of 

 wild animals we find the bear, lynx, wolf, fox, martin, chamois-goat, 

 otter, and land-tortoise. 



The streams of the Austrian empire abound in fish. The sturgeon 

 is found in the Lower Danube and frequently in the Theiss, and some 

 are often caught that weigh 1500 Ibs. Next to the sturgeon is the 

 pike, the largest of which are at times 40 Ibs. iu weight ; but scarcely 

 one species out of the numerous fresh-water varieties which exist in 

 other parts of Europe is wanting. We must however mention the 

 pearl-bearing muscle which inhabits the rivulets of Hungary, the 

 Archduchy, and Bohemia, and of which the finest are taken in the 

 Vatava, where a regular pearl fishery is carried on, and hi the Moldau, 

 Hz, Belika, and Kesselbach. 



The rearing of the silkworm, though not wholly neglected in other 

 parts of the south of Austria, is nowhere carried on to such an extent 

 as in the territory of Lombardy and Venice, where it was introduced 

 from the two Sicilies by the emperor Charles V. The exports of 

 spun, raw, and waste silk average upwards of 5,000,000 Ibs., while 

 little short of 2,000,000 Ibs. are retained for home consumption. 



Bees are also an object of much attention in Hungary, Galicia, and 

 Transsylvania; and numbers of those who derive an income from 

 their productions possess apiaries of 150 or 200 hives. The leech is 

 an article of considerable trade between Austria and France. 



In Mineral Production! Austria surpasses every other country in 

 Europe. With the exception of platinum, it would be difficult to 

 name any metal which it does not possess. The richest of its gold- 

 mines are in Transsylvania, in which no less than forty are worked, 

 the most productive being at Voriischpatack, Szalathna, Fazebay, and 

 Nagy-Ag. The gold obtained in Hungary is partly found in a pure 

 state, but most commonly extracted from silver ore, and even at times 

 from copper ore : the mines of Lower Hungary produce about 20,000 

 ounces yearly, and those in the north-western districts about 5200. 

 The total quantity of gold produced in 1847 was in Austria 1037 

 ounces, in Hungary 32,443 ounces, and in Transsylvania 34,480 ounces. 

 Hungary possesses the richest of the silver-mines, iu which the moun- 

 tains about Schemnitz and Nagy-Bunya most abound. The other 

 parts of Austria which produce this metal are Transylvania, Bohemia, 

 particularly the mines at Przibaum, in the circle of Beraun; the 



Buckowine, from the lead-mines near Kirlibaba ; Styria ; Galicia ; and 

 Salzburg and the Tyrol. The total quantity of silver obtained in 

 1847 was in Hungary 700,212 ounces, in Transsylvania 80,634 ounces, 

 and in other parts of the Austrian dominions 285,752 ounces. No 

 part of the empire either is eo rich in copper ore, or yields so large a 

 supply of the metal as Hungary : its most productive works are in the 

 mining district of Schmollnitz, or Szomolnok, where they employ 

 between 7000 and 8000 hands, and yield full two-thirds of the supply 

 from that kingdom. The ' cement water,' which the Zips brings down 

 to Schmblluitz, and of which instances again occur near Neusohl in 

 northern, and at Jaszka in south-western Hungary, is too remarkable 

 to be passed over without notice. The rivers in these parts are 

 saturated with sulphate of copper, which is precipitated on all iron 

 thrown into them ; in this way some 1600 cwt. of copper are extracted 

 from them every year. Lead is much more abundant than copper, 

 and above one-fourth of the quantity obtained is from the Bleyberg 

 (Lead Mountain), Konigsberg, and other mines in Cariuthia. The 

 Hungarian are next in value ; and to these may be added the mines of 

 Bohemia, Transjylvania, Salzburg, and the Buckowine ; a small quan- 

 tity is obtained from Dalmatia, Istria, and the maritime districts. 

 Iron is a metal of which almost inexhaustible resources exist, though, 

 on account of the dearness of fuel, they have not been turned to such 

 extensive use as they would be in a country in which coal was more 

 abundant. The total quantity of pig-iron produced in 1846 was 

 136,591 tons. Of this quantity nearly more than one-half is derived 

 from Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola alone. The Styriau iron, as well 

 as that of Carinthia, which was known among the Romans by the 

 name of ' Noric Iron," is in general placed for its excellence on a par 

 with the Swedish. In the Huttenberg, Cariuthia possesses one of the 

 oldest, and at the same time one of the richest iron mines in Europe. 

 The circles of Beraun, Rakonitz, and Pilseu, in Bohemia, are also rich 

 in this metal. The other parts of Austria from which it is obtained 

 are Moravia and Silesia, the Archduchy, Galicia, the Buckowine, 

 Transsylvania, and Hungary, particularly in the circles of Gomor, 

 Liptau, and Sohl, where the best of its iron is produced. The moun- 

 tains of Lombardy lying within the territory of Brescia, Bergamo, 

 Como, and the Valteh'ne also produce a considerable quantity. Tin 

 is only raised in Bohemia, and the quality is good ; but the quantity 

 is comparatively inconsiderable. There is no mine of quicksilver in 

 Europe so rich as the mine at Idria in Carniola, the produce of which 

 has however gradually declined of late years : some quicksilver is also 

 obtained from the Zalathua works in Transsylvania, and from the 

 mines in Bohemia, Hungary, and Carinthia. Calamine and zinc are 

 obtained from the Tyrol, the Archduchy, Styria, and Bohemia ; cobalt 

 from the mines at Dobschau in Hungary, Styria, and Bohemia ; arsenic 

 from Hungary, Transsylvania, Bohemia, and Salzburg ; and antimony 

 from the mines of Rosenau hi Hungary, Transsylvania, the Tyrol, and 

 Bohemia. Chrome is got in the Tyrol, and bismuth and manganese 

 in Bohemia. 



The various species of salt, such as sea and rock-salt, and that 

 made from brine-springs exist in abundance. Rock-salt is abundant 

 on both sides of the Carpathians ; and the celebrated mine of Wieliczka, 

 which has been worked ever since the year 1253, and lies in the north- 

 western part of Galicia, is but an inconsiderable inroad upon a mat-live 

 bed extending for a length of nearly 600 miles along the Carpathians, 

 as far as Okna in Wallachia. The mines and boiling works in the 

 Archduchy of Austria, with those in Styria and the Tyrol, yield a fur- 

 ther very considerable supply ; to which we must add a nearly equal 

 quantity extracted from the mines in Transsylvania and from the rich 

 mines of the circle of Marmaros in Hungary. Bay-salt is supplied 

 from the salt-pits along the coasts of Dalmatia and Istria, and in the 

 maritime districts and Quarneric Islands in the Adriatic. Vitriol is 

 raised almost wholly in Bohemia and Illyria ; alum in Bohemia, 

 Moravia, the Archduchy, and Hungary ; saltpetre in the east of Hun- 

 gary, whence an almost unlimited supply might be obtained ; and 

 soda, which abounds in Hungary, particularly on the moors of 

 Debreczin in the circle of Bihar. The saline morasses of that kingdom 

 likewise furnish an abundant supply of the finest sort of sulphate of 

 soda, or Glauber's salts. 



Although the forests furnish nearly the whole of the fuel which is 

 consumed in the Austrian dominions, there is scarcely a province 

 which is deficient in coal. The quantity annually produced has been 

 very largely increased within the last few years : iu 1847 it amounted 

 to 804,197 tons. Every part of the Austrian dominions possesses 

 more or less native sulphur, but more particularly Galicia, Hungary, 

 Bohemia, and Transsylvania. Mineral tar and oil are chiefly 

 obtained in Galicia and the Buckowine, where the country-people 

 denominate them ' roppa ; ' but they are also produced, though but 

 partially turned to account, in the Archduchy, Hungary, Bohemia, 

 Illyria, and Dalmatia. 



Among precious stones the Bohemian carbuncle and Hungarian 

 opal stand in highest repute. The chalcedony, ruby, emerald, jasper, 

 amethyst, topaz, carnelian, chrysolite, and beryl, as well as what is 

 called the ' marble diamond ' in Hungary, must be added to the list 

 of Austrian precious stones. Marble of every description and variety 

 of colour and vein is raised either in Hungary, Trunssylvania. 

 Bohemia, the Archduchy, Tyrol, Styria, Illyria, Dalmatia, or the 

 Italian possessions of Austria, in which latter the Veronese alone is 



