THE DESTRUCTION OF SZEGEDIN. 5 



speaking, the plain is enclosed on three sides by the 

 Carpathian Mountains, with the Danube for a boun- 

 dary on the fourth side. In prehistoric times, this 

 part of the world was far different in aspect ; what is 

 now the richest grain-producing district in Europe, 

 was in former times the bed of an inland sea or series 

 of great lakes. These plains, overspread by sand, 

 gravel, and by a kind of rich mud, or by alluvial 

 deposits underlain by fresh-water limestones, " may 

 be considered as having been formed," says Professor 

 Hull, "beneath the waters of a great lake during 

 different periods of repletion or partial exhaustion, 

 dating downwards from the Miocene period. It is 

 also necessary to recall the fact that the only issue 

 which the Danube and the tributary waters of all the 

 Hungarian rivers now find in the magnificent gorge of 

 Kazan, was in the prehistoric period barred by an 

 unbroken mountain-chain. " The waters seem to have 

 been pent up several hundred feet above the present 

 surface, and thus thrown back on the plains of 

 Hungary." M. Reclus says, " Les defiles par lesquels 

 le Danube, grossi de la Tisza (Theiss), de la Temes, 

 et de la Save, s'echappe de la plaine hongroise a 

 travers le mur transversal des Carpates, offrent un 

 aspect des plus grandioses." Later on we shall have 

 occasion to refer to this question of the exit of the 

 Hungarian waters. 



In recalling the drame geoloyique, we must take 

 into account the interesting fact that the inland sea 



