THE DESTRUCTION OF SZEGEDIN. 35 



Count Szechenyi in 1846, that the work of regu- 

 lating the Theiss was seriously commenced. The 

 system gone upon was firstly to endeavour to 

 straighten the course of the meandering stream, 

 whose turns and twists may be compared to the 

 wriggling of a snake, or endless repetitions of the 

 letter S : the Avin dings alone spread over 611 kilo- 

 metres. Canals were cut from one bend to an- 

 other 108 canals in all which reduced the 

 windings by no less than 480 kilometres. These 

 operations have been spread over a number of years, 

 but it has been seen fit to discontinue the works 

 for the last two or three years. It must be borne 

 in mind that the regulation was commenced at the 

 upper reaches of the river that is, shortly after its 

 entrance on the plain. Now the canals that were 

 cut were not so deep, and not nearly so wide, as the 

 original bed of the stream ; but the current being 

 led off to the shortest cut, the result is that in sum- 

 mer the old bed is nearly dry, and as the greater flow 

 of water brings down an immense increase of detritus, 

 these channels get more and more filled up. The 

 canals, however, are not of sufficient size to keep in 

 flood-waters in the spring time, and to remedy this 

 difficulty, strong dikes have been constructed at 

 enormous expense along both banks of the river. 

 These dikes are built right up against the summer 

 or low-water mark ; the consequence is, that when 

 the river rises there is actually no room for the water, 



