CS1 



DANUBE. 



DANUBE. 



OS2 



The great marshy Lake Menzaleh begins two or three miles east 

 of Damietta, and extends about 40 miles in length to near ancient 

 Pelusium. It communicates with the sea by several mouths, and 

 with the Damietta branch of the Nile by canals. The fishery of 

 Lake Menzaleh is very productive ; various kinds of water-fowl are 

 also caught upon it. 



DANUBE (in German Donau) is the second of European rivers, 

 being inferior only to the Volga. The root-syllable (Dan or Don) of 

 the name means ' water ;' and this is probably the case also with the 

 root-syllable of liter, which is said to be the Celtic name of the river. 

 Its course is about 1770 miles, and the surface drained by it and its 

 numerous tributaries probably exceeds 300,000 square miles. 



In its long course from west to east it traverses nearly twenty-two 

 degrees of longitude (from 8 10' to 30 E. long.) ; the most northern 

 part of its basin falls only a little north of 50" N. lat., and the most 

 southern does not reach 42 N. lat. But though the countries 

 drained by it do not extend over eight degrees of latitude, they differ 

 greatly in climate and productions, a circumstance owing to the 

 different elevation of the three great plains which are traversed by 

 this river. The most western, the plain of Bavaria, is between 1100 

 and 1200 feet above the level of the sea ; the central plain, or that of 

 Hungary, about 300 feet, and the lower plain, or that of Wallachia, 

 from '.he Iron-Gate to its mouth, probably less than 100 feet. 



The Danube rises from two springs, the Brig or Brigach and the 

 Brege, on the eastern declivity of the Black Forest, in Baden, about 

 24 miles from the Rhine, near the point 48 6' N. lat., 8 9' E. long., 

 at an elevation of 2850 feet above the sea. The waters of the two 

 springs unite and form a mountain torrent. A third stream, origi- 

 nating in a spring in the palace garden of Donaueshingen, joins the 

 infant river, which henceforth takes the name of Donau. Its general 

 course at first is to the east, but afterwards it declines to the north- 

 east, in which direction it continues till it reaches Katisbou. From 

 this place to Efferding, some miles west of Linz, it runs south-east by 

 east, and from Efferding its general course is east. At Ulm, where it 

 is joined by the Iller from the south, the river becomes navigable for 

 large barges ; its surface is here 1 255 feet above the level of the sea, and 

 at Donau worth, where it enters the plain of Bavaria, 1160 feet. Before 

 it enters that plain it runs for the most part of its course along the 

 southern base of the dry and sterile table-land called the Rauhe Alp, 

 which rises to an elevation of 2000 feet and upwards above its level, 

 and contributes to it only a few rivulets. On the south numerous 

 offsets from the Alps approach the river, forming hills of moderate 

 elevation with gentle declivities, and inclosing charming valleys of 

 great fertility. The affluents which descend from these valleys to 

 the Danube are numerous. 



The Danube runs through the Bavarian plain from Donauworth to 

 Passau, changing nearly in the middle of its course from north-east 

 to south-east. At Ingolstadt it is 1140 feet, at Ratisbon 1050 feet, 

 and at Passau 800 feet above the level of the sea. That portion 

 which lies south of the river is an extensive plain, which reaches to 

 the very foot of the Alps, and on which comparatively few hills and 

 rocks are dispersed. It is traversed in a diagonal line by the Isar, 

 which rises in the northern districts of Tyrol, and runs north-east to 

 the Danube, which it joins between Ratisbon and Passau. Timber 

 and fire-wood are floated down the Isar. On the eastern boundary of 

 the plain runs the Inn, which has been noticed under AUSTRIA (vol. 

 i. col. 719). The plain north of the Danube has a much more uneven 

 surface, rising frequently into gentle hills, which however nowhere 

 attain the height of mountains. This plain extends beyond the 

 boundary of the basin of the Danube, to the very banks of the Mayn, 

 and even to the north of this river. Across this plain runs the 

 Lndwigs Canal, which joins the Danube to the Mayn, and is noticed 

 under BAVARIA (vol. i. coL 936). Besides the Altmuhl this plain is 

 traversed by the Naab and the Regen, two other considerable affluents 

 of the Danube. 



The third part of the upper course of the Danube is that between 

 Passau and Pressburg. At Linz its surface is 650 feet, at Vienna 

 421 feet, and at its entrance into Hungary 417 feet above the level 

 of the Black Sea. Through all this distance it runs between the 

 steep offsets of the Bohmer Wald, and the northern ranges of the 

 Alps of Salzburg and Styria, which here in some places attain a great 

 elevation (from 3000 to 5000 feet). The level country on the banks 

 of the river is of small extent, except as we approach Vienna, where 

 the mountains recede so far as to leave a considerable plain on both 

 banks. In this part of its course the Danube receives the Traun, the 

 En, and the Morava [AUSTRIA, vol. i. col. 719], and divides in several 

 place* so as to form islands, especially above and below Linz, and in 

 the neighbourhood of Vienna. But the current of the river here, as 

 well as in the Bavarian plain, is so rapid that it can be navigated by 

 barge* only downwards : the barges must be tracked up the river. 

 b ha* no rapids, but several dangerous whirlpools. The regular 

 ten navigation of the river commences at Linz ; but steamers also 

 ply up to Ratisbon, and even to Donauworth. 



In its middle course the Danube first traverses the Lesser Hun- 

 garian plain. At Freiburg it is 401 feet, and at Buda, which lies in 

 the Great Hungarian plain, 348 feet above the sea. In its course 

 through the lesser plain the current of the river is still rapid, though 

 much diminished. It divides into numerous branches, which inclose 



islands, among which the largest is the island of ScMM, which is 

 upwards of 50 miles long, and from four to nine miles across. As 

 the adjacent country consists of very soft alluvial soil, the river 

 frequently changes its course. In this plain the Danube is increased 

 by the waters of the Leitha and Raab from the south, and the Waag 

 and Gran from the north. 



Between Gran and \Vaitzen the river flows between two mountain 

 ridges. That on the south is the northern extremity of Mount 

 Bakony, and on the north an offset of the Carpathians, called the 

 Neograd range. At Waitzon it issues from the mountain defile, and 

 changes its eastern into a southern course. In this direction it flows 

 with a slow current and numerous windings through the greater plain 

 of Hungary for nearly three degrees of latitude, till it meets, after its 

 junction with the Drave, the Sirmian range, or Mount Werdnik, which 

 again deflects it towards the east. It then skirts the Hungarian plain 

 on the south, dividing it from the hilly Slavonia and Servia, till it 

 arrives near Moldova, where it again passes through a mountain valley. 

 During its course through the Hungarian plain its waters are increased 

 by those of the Sarvitz, Drave, and Save from the west, and Theiss 

 and Temes from the north. [AUSTRIA, vol. i., cols. 720, 721.J At 

 Buda its surface is 348 feet, at Zambor 272 feet, and at Moldova 

 probably not much more than 200 feet above the level of the Black 

 Sea. Its average breadth between Waitzen and the mouth of the 

 Drave is 600 yards, and its depth varies from 5 to 20 feet. 



The mountain valley of the Demir Kapi (the Iron Gate) is formed 

 on the north by the Banat range, an offset of the Transylvanian Car- 

 pathians, and on the south by a lateral range of Mount Balkan : it 

 extends from Moldova in the Banat to Tcherniz in Wallachia. In 

 entering this narrow valley the rapidity of the river gradually increases. 

 About four miles below New Orsova, is the Demir Kapi, where a ledge 

 of rocks runs across the bed of the river, over which the water rushes 

 with great noise, producing below it a number of dangerous whirl- 

 pools. Vessels drawing not more than 24 feet could not until lately 

 descend it except in time of floods ; but by blasting the rocks a chan- 

 nel has been cut by which steamers now ply from Vienna to Galatz 

 without a portage as formerly. Before these improvements in the bed 

 of the river were accomplished, passengers and luggage were sent down 

 the rapids in cutters, or conveyed by a good road from the station 

 of Dreukova to Orsova, where they were shipped in another steamer 

 on the Lower Danube. At the Demir Kapi the Danube leaves the 

 Austrian dominions and enters Turkey. A few miles lower down it 

 issues from the valley, the country to the north sinks down to a flat, 

 and the current of the river becomes slow and gentle. 



On the mountains and hills which inclose the valley of the Demir 

 Kapi on both sides are some Roman antiquities, the most interesting 

 of which are the ledges and shelves that supported the Via Trajana 

 on the Servian side of the defile, and the inscription on the rocky wall 

 of the same side in honour of Trajan. The limestone rocks on each 

 side of the defile abound in caves and fissures in which the gnats and 

 mosquitoes, the scourges of this part of the Danube, take refuge in 

 cold or wet weather. The remains of the bridge built by Trajan 

 over the Danube are a short distance below the rapids of the Demir 

 Kapi. 



Along the lower course of the Danube the country on the south 

 below the Demir Kapi by degrees sinks into a flat plain : ea^t of 

 Silistria it presents nearly a level surface with some swamps. The 

 country to the north is the great level of the Wallachian plain, which 

 near the river is low and generally marshy, while the right bank is 

 comparatively high and bold. In this tract the river first runs nearly 

 south from Tchernitz to below Widdin, then turns to the east and 

 continues in that direction to about 30 miles from the Black Sea, where 

 it suddenly bends to the north near Rasova. In this direction it runs 

 upwards of 100 miles to the junction with the Sereth, and hence again 

 eastward to its mouth. In this part of its course the river frequently 

 divides, and forms numerous large islands, especially below Silistria. Its 

 width, where it is not divided by islands, is between 1500 and 2000 

 yards, and its average depth being above 20 feet, it is navigable by 

 vessels of considerable burden. From the north it receives the Aluta, 

 or Alt, Sereth, and Pruth, which rise in the eastern Carpathians 

 [AUSTRIA, vol. i. col. 721], and from the south the Morava, which is 

 formed by two large rivers, the western and eastern Morava, which 

 drain a great portion of the northern declivity of the Balkan 

 Mountains. 



After having been joined by the Pruth, the Danube divides into 

 several branches, forming a number of deltoid islands, and flows into 

 the Black Sea by seven mouths, of which the principal are the Kilia, 

 the Sulina, and the Gheorghievskoi (St. George's, which forms the 

 boundary between Turkey and Russia in this part). Besides these 

 outlets a small branch from the St. George mouth communicates with 

 the lake Rassein in the north of the Dobrudscha in Bulgaria, and this 

 lake has two outlets (Jalova and Portitcha) into the Black Sea, which 

 are sometimes called mouths of the Danube. Round the embouchure 

 of the river vast quantities of mud brought down by the stream have 

 accumulated and formed banks ; and it is only by constantly raking 

 the mud deposited on its bottom that the Sulina or principal channel 

 is kept practicable for shipping. When easterly winds continue for 

 some time, the depth of water on the bar of the Suliua mouth dimi- 

 nishes rapidly, the increased resistance of the sea against a diminished 



