HUNGAEY. 75 



east, whilst to the west of Lake Balaton their direction is from north to south. A 

 similar parallelism of the valleys has been observed throughout the triangular 

 district bounded by Lake Balaton, the Brave, and the Danube. 



This parallelism is due, no doubt, to the agency of water, but not to rivers, as 

 in the case of most valleys. If we were to restore the vast lake which formerly 

 occupied the plain of Hungary, the mountain ranges would rise above it as elon- 

 gated islands. If we then destroyed the retaining barrier, the lake would drain 

 rapidly, the retiring water furrowing its bottom in a direction perpendicular to its 

 centre. On a miniature scale this phenomenon may be witnessed by draining a 

 tank, the bottom of which is covered with mud. 



The hémicycle of mountains known since the days of Ptolemy as the Carpathians* 

 stretches as a continuous rampart for a distance of 900 miles. It completely shuts 

 in Hungary from the north-west to the east and south, separating it from Moravia, 



Fig. 47. — Porta Hungarica. 

 Scale 1 : 186,000. 



^^_^_^ 1 4." y.") K ofl^^7^s 



Galicia, the Bukowina, and Bumania. Apart from the few difficult passes which 

 lead across it, there are but two roads which enable Hungary freely to communi- 

 cate with the west and the east, viz. the "Porta Hungarica," near Pressburg, and 

 the famous " Iron Gate " of Orsova. These are the only natural outlets which 

 place the plain of Hungary in free communication with the outer world. The 

 influence exercised by this mountain ramj)art upon the migration of peo2:»les and 

 upon their destinies has therefore been naturally great. 



The Carpathians are uniform in their general features, if we compare them 

 with the Western Alps, but their mountain masses and secondary chains nevertheless 

 present much variety of detail. They begin nearly opposite the last spurs of the 

 Alps, below the confluence of the Danube and the Mora va (March). Their first 

 summit, the Thebner Kegel (1,683 feet), is the culminating point of a detached 

 range. To the north of a depression through which runs the railway from Vienna 

 * Fiom Khrebet, a Slav word signifying mountain range. 



