CAENIOLA, CROATIA, SLAVONIA. 



65 



waters. The Danube at Belgrad discharges between 282,000 and 353,000 cubic 

 feet of water per second. Its channel being obstructed by rocks, it has not yet 

 completely drained the vast lake which formerly spread between the Alps and the 

 Carpathians. Swamps and marshes still occupy the depressions, and in times of 

 flood the country is inundated for miles. The Save, between Sisek and Belgrad, 

 is ever scooping itself out fresh channels in the alluvial soil, and no sooner has it 

 taken possession of one than it deserts it for another. A river of this kind presents 

 great difficulties to the passage of an army, and we need not, therefore, be surprised 

 at its having become a political boundary. The swamps and quagmires which 

 extend along its banks are almost impassable, and the strategical importance of 

 Brod and Mitrovic, the only places where the banks are high, cannot, therefore, be 

 over-estimated. The territories subject to be inundated by the Save, in Croatia 

 alone, have an area of 200 square miles. The tracts exposed to the same peril on 



Fig. 40. — The Zone of Inundation of the Save. 

 Scale 1 : 1,750,000. 



ij'E.OfP. 



i9°!0' E.OtCr 



Zimf f>/ inundation 



lo the A'o/thct''<ive 



J'loin abave 



tJie ame «/ inundation 



^-^—m^mm^— 20 MilCS. 



J/iUll Cuimtry 



the southern bank are even more extensive. No less than 330 villages, with 

 130,000 inhabitants, are annually threatened by these destructive floods. The 

 population along the river consequently diminishes from year to year, whilst that 

 in the hilly tracts increases rapidly. Marsh fevers are naturally prevalent, and 

 annually decimate the population. The Save, in spite of its great volume, is of 

 very little service to navigation. Above Agram it is used only for floating timber. 

 Below Sisek it is navigated by steamers, but sand-banks are so numerous, and 

 they so frequently shift their position, that the traffic has frequently to be inter- 

 rupted during summer. 



In accordance with the law which governs the administration of the Military 



Frontier, the money obtained by the sale of timber cut in the Government 



forests is to be applied to the " regulation " of the Save, but little appears to have 



been done hitherto to prevent its invading the riparian districts. The only 



76 



