THE DESTRUCTION OF SZEGEDIN. 47 



1856, it was stipulated that Austria should be em- 

 powered to remove these obstacles to the free naviga- 

 tion of the Danube. The question was again brought 

 forward at the Conference in London in 1871. A 

 plan, forming the basis of operations, was drawn up 

 by the American engineer, M'Alpin, with the assist- 

 ance of Austrian and Hungarian engineers, whereby 

 it was proposed to blast the rocks, and so form a 

 navigable channel through the defile of Kazan. A 

 commission sat at Orsova, and perhaps is still sitting, 

 for the works of peace incubate but slowly. Little 

 or nothing has been done since the time of Trajan 

 to improve this important water-way the natural 

 road for the commerce of half the continent and 

 now we are well on in the nineteenth century ! A 

 great flood, working dire destruction, may act xise- 

 fully as a stimulant to the memory. 



Postscript. Since writing the above, an interesting 

 pamphlet, ' Ueber die Ursachen der Katastrophe von 

 Szegedin,' has reached my hands. It is written by 

 Major Stephanovich, whose name I have already 

 quoted. The opinion of this distinguished engineer 

 is, that the main cause of the Szegedin disaster must 

 be attributed to the deficient channel for the outfall 

 of the Danube waters at the Iron Gates. He asserts 

 most emphatically that " not only the Avellbeing, but 

 the existence even of Hungary, is concerned in remov- 

 ing the obstructions in the defile of Plocsa and Kazan." 



