SECRETARY'S REPORT. 345 



disturbances of which wc heard so iiiuch a few years ago, or 

 whether it has always been so, 1 cannot say. 



But the bell rings, and off we go. How like a bird the nar- 

 row, sharp-prowed boat shoots down the river ! Here we come 

 again alongside the sandy plains, and see again immense herds 

 of cattle, and horses, sorry-looking jades, for the most part, 

 and large flocks of sheep, occasionally, but not so often as the 

 cattle and horses. The pastures are evidently over-stocked. 

 Now and then there is an animal among them almost black, 

 and then a red one in a herd, but generally the whitish-gray. 

 The farming is from " bad to indifferent," or only " fairish to 

 middling" for a long stretch. Much of the land is apparently 

 in cultivation, but they run the grain crops into the ground, 

 without intervening with green crops often enough. A proper 

 rotation would bring up the farming of this section, but no 

 land will 'bear a wheat or corn crop forever, without getting 

 tired of it. They might double the produce by sticking in a 

 turnip crop, or ruta-bagas or mangolds oftener, and get an 

 immense amount of " stuff" for the cattle. Poor creatures, 

 how they feel this drought. 



As we approach Pesth the scenery becomes far more 

 picturesque and beautiful. Indeed soon after passing Gran, 

 the ecclesiastical metropolis of Hungary, the river w^nds 

 through high hills, beautiful forest-clad valleys, between slopes 

 covered with vineyards, and sometimes through deep gorges 

 with high, steep sides. The soil is better than during the 

 earlier part of the day, and the whole aspect of the country, so 

 far as seen from the deck of the steamer, more interesting. I 

 am told that some of the land, when first ploughed up, will 

 produce from thirty to forty bushels of wheat to the acre ; but 

 I do not suppose, with the bad farming which is generally 

 prevalent even here, that more than twenty or twenty-five 

 bushels are got on an average. 



It was just after dark when we arrived at Pesth, and passed 

 under the truly magnificent new bridge w^hich spans the 

 Danube, here fifteen hundred feet wide, wonderful for its 

 length, its solidity and the beauty of its architecture. Here is 

 a broad and beautiful quay along the noble river, and every 

 thing has the appearance of life and activity natural enough on 



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