70 



AUSTRIA-HUNGAEY. 



ground, but no pay, except when serving beyond the frontiers of the country. A 

 chain of sentinels extended along the whole of the Turkish frontier, the men 

 occupying small huts perched on the top of masonry pillars, or csardaks, so as to 

 be beyond the reach of the floods. 



The natural fertility of the country is great, and Croatian Mesopotamia will 

 become one of the granaries of Europe as soon as improved methods of agriculture 

 have been introduced. Sericulture and viticulture are making progress, but the 

 country does not as yet even produce sufficient corn for its own consumption. 

 Syrmia, at the foot of the Fruska Gora, is one of its most fertile districts. It 

 abounds in fruit trees and vineyards, and its gently undulating hills and mild 

 climate render it one of the most delightful districts of the monarchy. 



Fiff. 44. — A View in the Military Frontier. 



Carniola and the Triune kingdom are by no means distinguished for their 

 mineral wealth. The only mine of world-wide repute is that of Idria, in Carniola, 

 which for a long time enjoyed with Almaden, in Spain, the monopoly of supplying 

 the world with mercury. It still yields about 320 tons a year, and is far from being 

 exhausted. Foimerly only criminals were employed in it. The miners and 

 woodmen of Idria are in the habit of eating arsenic, which evidently agrees with 

 them, for many amongst them live to a very advanced age. 



Iron ores are found in the valley of the Feistritz, in Carniola, and on the 

 eastern slope of the plateau of Croatia ; zinc and lead in the upper valley of the 

 Save ; sulphur near Radoboj ; copper at Samobor ; lignite and coal at Glogovac 

 and in other localities. These mineral resources are capable of great development. 



