12 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 



(9,640 feet), a wicked king converted into stone ; and still farther north the Unters- 

 berg (6,790 feet) looks down upon the vale of Salzburg. In its bowels are hidden 

 palaces, churches, and delicious gardens, and Charlemagne there waits for the 

 arrival of the millennium. 



These limestone Alps increase in height towards the east, in proportion as the 

 summits of the Tauern grow less. Due north of the Venediger and the Great 

 Glockner, where they are drained by the Achen and the Saalach, they are mere 

 foot-hills of the Central Alps ; but in the east, towards the river Enns, the 

 Dachstein (9,794 feet) rises far above the snow-line, and three glaciers descend 

 from its flanks, whilst in the Tauern, due south of it, only a few patches of snow 

 survive the summer. The Dachstein looks down upon a vast plateau covered with 

 stones, and the valley of the Traun separates it from a similar terrace, known as 

 the Todtes Gebirge (Dead Mountains). But when we stand upon one of the 

 summits rising above the plain to the north of these mountains, these scenes of 

 desolation are hidden from us, and the eye ranges over wooded slopes, verdant 

 valleys, and blue lakes scattered over the vast plain, which extends north as 

 far as the mountains of Bohemia. The Schafberg (5,719 feet), which rises 

 boldly to the east of the Atter Lake, quite deserves to be called the Austrian 

 Rigi. 



The mountains which rise beyond the gorge scooped out by the Enns, on its 

 way to the Danube, surpass in height those of the central chain. The Hochschwab 

 (7,480 feet), the Schneeberg (6,790 feet), and other bold pyramids rise far beyond 

 the zone of forests, but their lower slopes and spurs are richly clad with verdure, 

 and upon their foot-hills are perched innumerable towns and villages. From the 

 top of the Hochschwab the eye ranges from the white pyramid of the Glockner to 

 the broad plains of the Danube, w^hich lie spread out beneath us like a map. The 

 sandstone range of the Wienerwald extends from the Schneeberg to the Danube 

 above Vienna. 



Glaciers, Rivers, and Lakes. 



The German Alps only yield to those of Switzerland in the quantity of water 

 which they convey to the rivers of Europe. Their glaciers, known as Ferner, 

 Keese, or Vedrette, cover an area of nearly 40 square miles, but owing to the 

 snow-fall being less, they cannot compare in extent with those of the Monte Rosa 

 or the Oberland. The largest amongst them is now only 7 miles in length ; 

 but the rock scratchings and moraines discovered in the lower valleys, and even in 

 the plains, prove that during the glacial period they were far more formidable. 

 That of the Oetzthal had then a length of 35 miles, and towns like Innsbruck 

 and Salzburg are built upon sites which were formerly covered with ice. 



The glaciers of the Tyrol have been ascertained to shrink and advance at 

 regular intervals. During the latter end of the last century and the beginning of 

 the present one they advanced, covering pastures and old mountain paths. Of late 

 they shrink, at least in the west. The quantity of ice and snow has grown less 

 in the Tyrol, and Pfaundler affirms that between 1866 and 1870 18 feet have 



