Return to Fienna. 123 



gious duties neglected. They attend to all such improvements 

 in cultivation, generally, as may be suggested in the modes 

 of rearing cattle, in models of the different implements for 

 plowing, of which there is a complete assortment on the estab- 

 lishment. Every department of the school appeared to he well 

 adapted and conducted ; what is essential to be known is taught, 

 and nothing further. In the gardens are collections of various 

 kinds of kitchen vegetables, cereal plants, fruit and timber trees; 

 utility being the object to which every thing is directed. There 

 is also a small botanical garden. 



The lake Balaton (Flatten Sec. Germ.) is the largest in 

 Hungary. Its greatest length, from S.W. to N.E., is about 16 

 leagues ; its greatest breadth, which is at its eastern extremity, is 

 about three leagues, It grows wider and narrower at various points 

 successively, and, at the point of Tihany, is not above half a league 

 in breadth. In many parts it is bordered with very extensive 

 marshes : the total surface, including the latter, is estimated at 

 66 square leagues. The lake is fed by a number of mall streams, 

 that descend from the mountains, and especially by the river 

 Szala, which rises in the most western part of Hungary, The 

 quantity of water supplied by the streams is but small, compared 

 with the surface of the lake, and there does not appear to be 

 an outlet, unless the little river of Sio be such, which we find in 

 the middle of the southern bank. The lake abounds in fishes ; 

 the most remarkable, or that which is most in request, is the Fo- 

 gacs, a kind of perch, the best eating fresh-water fish that I ever 

 tasted. It is highly valued in Hungary and Germany, and occa- 

 sionally exported to considerable distances ; according to report, 

 it is found only in the lake of Balaton. On the banks which I 

 traversed, I observed swans, ducks, drakes, and molluscae, such 

 as we have in our ponds. The adjacent marshes swarm with 

 water-fowl. The bottom of these marshes is commonly covered 

 with turf, of which use would doubtless be made, were wood less 

 common. It is in use, however, in several places, and especially 

 for various manufactures. It appears that iron, mixed with slime, 

 is often found in the marshes. In the country of Balaton, gene- 

 rally, there is an ample field for researches to the naturalist, it 

 being a most interesting part of Hungary. 



L made but two mineralogical excursions from (Edenburg, 

 but I could not refrain from taking a survey of the famous 

 chateau of Eszterhazi, which had been much spoken of, as a 

 princely and magnificent structure, and which has cost immense 

 sums. It is, doubtless, the grandest and most spacious in 

 Hungary ; it stands about four leagues east of (Edenburg, on 

 the borders of the lake Neusiedel, but the locality, in a flat and 

 marshy tract, is not well chosen. The palace itself may be 



