THE LAND OF CONTRAST : AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 



1203 



This division includes the Tatra Moun- 

 tains of southern Galicia and northern 

 Hungary. These splendid mountains, 

 though of far less mean altitude, are in 

 no wise second in grandeur of scenery to 

 the Alps or other far-famed mountain 

 regions. The Tatra Mountains, or High 

 Tatra, as they are commonly called, are 

 noted for the magnificent beauty of their 

 mountain lakes, found in great frequency 

 nestling in deep hollows between the steep 

 and jagged granite peaks. To these little 

 bodies of clear cold glacial water, held in 

 Nature's palm away up among the clouds, 

 the significant name "eyes of the sea" has 

 been given. 



The Tatra Mountains are deeply for- 

 ested with gigantic firs. Through their 

 almost virgin wilderness well-built stage 

 roads lead by easy grades to the centers 

 of population and points of particular 

 interest. On these highways the chief 

 traffic is carried on in crude native 

 wagons, of which the furka, a wicker 

 basket body set without springs upon a 

 wooden bed of the simplest design, is 

 nsed for passengers. 



BOHEMIA AND PRAGUE 



Bohemia (German Bohmen, a perver- 

 sion of Boheim) derives its name from 

 the Boii, a race of Celts, whose occupa- 

 tion dates back many centuries. They 

 were driven out by a savage horde called 

 the Marcomanni, whom the Slavonic race 

 in turn expelled. The Slavonic peoples 

 still predominate in Bohemia, although 

 there are certain vast and prosperous sec- 

 tions, largely under the influence of the 

 German Austrians as distinguished from 

 the Czechish or Bohemian, which make 

 up what is called Deutsch Bohmen, Ger- 

 man Bohemia. 



Bohemia's beautiful capital and chief 

 city, Prague, is the second city of Aus- 

 tria. It is splendidly located on both 

 Thanks of the Moldau River, and lies about 

 150 miles northwest of Vienna. The city 

 •dates back to the ninth century, when 

 it is supposed to have been founded by 

 the Princess Libussa. Like all mediaeval 

 cities, it was once surrounded by walls 

 l3ut few traces of which now remain, busy 

 and beautiful streets having taken their 



places, just as the Rings have been built 

 on the site of the old walls of Vienna. 

 Enough of the old walls and bastions of 

 Prague still stand, however, to give an 

 idea of their architecture and extent. 



But Bohemia is perhaps best known 

 for her baths, the most noted of which, 

 Carlsbad, is four hours from Prague by 

 rail. 



Perhaps no better testimonial to the 

 efficacy of the Carlsbad waters needs be 

 offered than is to be found in the fact that 

 over 65,000 ailing people visit the springs 

 annually to take the cure by drinking 

 and bathing, not to mention over 170,000 

 casual visitors and tourists. 



GAIvICIA, WHERE THE POEES LIVE 



Galicia and the Bukowina, the ex- 

 treme northeast provinces of the Aus- 

 trian Empire, are bounded on the south 

 by Hungary and Transylvania and on 

 the north by Russia. Many mountains 

 and great forests overrun the region, 

 which is one of the wildest in Europe. 

 Here a primitive people, descendants of 

 the proud Polish Kings, live a decadent, 

 backward existence, pursuing farming 

 and herding for a scant livelihood. 



They clothe themselves in suits of 

 blanketing and furs, fashioned at home, 

 with which to withstand the long and 

 rigorous winters. They wear their hair 

 long, live in rude slab board and log 

 huts, and altogether strangely resemble 

 the North American Indian in his semi- 

 civilized life today in the American 

 Northwest. 



By one of those curious anomalies of 

 which the Austrian Empire is full, Ga- 

 licia, which has the most backward peo- 

 ple, enjoys a larger measure of self-gov- 

 ernment than any province of the Em- 

 pire, being practically autonomous. 

 This is the more extraordinary when it 

 is recognized that nearly half the in- 

 habitants are Poles — members of a na- 

 tion who have steadily refused to be 

 governed by outsiders and yet abso- 

 lutely incapable of governing themselves. 

 Perhaps the governmental success of 

 Galicia is due to the fact that the Poles 

 have found a rallying point in opposi- 

 tion to their Ruthenian neighbors, who 

 are in everyway their opposites. 



