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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



tivities, Hungary as a nation having lit- 

 the real culture, no manufacturing to 

 speak of, in short, naught but a pastoral 

 existence, outside of its capital city. 

 The rich fertility of the Danubian plains 

 has always made agriculture the natural 

 exertion of the people just as the plains 

 themselves constitute the principal area 

 of the Kingdom. But the life in Buda- 

 pest is compensatory for the dullness 

 that pervades the rest of Hungary. 

 Budapest is Paris, Vienna, and London 

 in one, a combination of the gayeties of 

 the capitals of the world, with a little 

 distinctive Hungarian paprica spice 

 thrown in. 



The "Corso" along the Danube in 

 Pest is the promenade whose group of 

 open-air cafes and restaurants forms 

 the hub of the gay Magyar life. 

 Throughout the city almost every other 

 building houses a cafe, so important a 

 part do these establishments play in 

 the national life. 



There the business man partakes of 

 his early breakfast of- coffee and rolls, 

 there he adjourns from his office on 

 numerous occasions during the day for 

 important business conferences, which 

 are best had according to the semi-ori- 

 ental idea of the Hungarians over a cup 

 of coffee. And after the family dinner, 

 which is almost invariably partaken of 

 in one of the restaurants which are scat- 

 tered through the city and among the 

 parks which surround it, the cafe is 

 again resorted to by the whole family as 

 a last thing before retiring, which is 

 often postponed till early morning, so 

 enthralling are the gypsy music always 

 to be heard in these public places and the 

 other attractions of cafe life. 



mt KINGDOM OF INDEPENDENT SERVIA 



Twenty-four hours by steamer down 

 the river from Budapest is Belgrade, the 

 capital of the Kingdom of Servia. 

 "White Town," as its name signifies, is 

 situated high on the right bank of the 

 Danube where the Save River has its 

 confluence with the mighty stream. Just 

 behind the city are the heights of Mount 

 Avala, crowned by the remains of a 

 citadel, the origin of which is variously 

 credited to Prince Eugene of Austria or 

 some early Serbish noble. 



The chief charms of the city are its 

 superb location, commanding for miles 

 the winding course of the great river 

 through the low Hungarian plains, and 

 the interesting picture which its mar- 

 ket presents, crowded with Servian 

 peasantry in their brightly colored cos- 

 tumes, standing out sharply against the 

 deep shadows of the great trees of the 

 market site. 



Servia is richest as an agricultural 

 land, like all the Danubian countries. 

 No one can survey the sweep of land- 

 scape from Mount Avala without con- 

 ceding its rare farming and grazing pos- 

 sibilities. When Servia is fully de- 

 veloped along these natural lines she 

 will be no mean nation. Indeed, she is 

 not today, having rapidly in recent 

 years forged away from the contemptu- 

 ous appellation of being a nation of 

 swine herds. True, hogs are still a 

 great by-product of the fertile Servian 

 soil, but wheat and corn and tobacco 

 are becoming larger crops each year, 

 and cattle and sheep bigger herds. 



With stability of good government, 

 which seems to be now vouchsafed, the 

 Servian people seem to be entering upon 

 an era of great national prosperity. 



Beginning at Belgrade the Danube 

 forms the boundary between Hungary 

 and Servia ; on the left are the low Hun- 

 garian flats, on the right the highlands 

 of Servia. 



Near where Hungarian and Servian 

 territories end, the river becomes a nar- 

 row gorge as it penetrates a spur of the 

 Carpathians or "Sieben Bergen," as 

 these mountains are locally known. 

 The gorge past the river widens into 

 the semblance of a superb mountain 

 lake of wild romantic grandeur called the 

 Kazan. This and the Iron Gates or 

 Cataracts a short distance below are the 

 picture points of the Danube, and in- 

 deed the scenery here is as fine as any 

 river scenery in Europe. On both sides 

 of the Kazan and the passes leading in 

 and out of it are ingeniously engineered 

 highways hewn out of the solid rock. 

 The older of these highways is on the 

 right-hand side, and is now mostly in 

 ruins. Said to have been built by the 

 Roman Emperor Trajan, a tablet to 



