78 AUSTEIA-HUNGAEY. 



and other mines have attracted a denser population. Vast forests still cover 

 the country, and although the mountains are anything but rugged, it is rarely 

 visited. 



Beyond the Pass of Vcretske, known also as the " Gate of the Magyars," 

 probably because through it they first debouched upon the plain of Hungary, the 

 Carpathians gradually increase in height, granite reappears, the Pop Ivan attains 

 a heio-ht of 6,318 feet, reaching far beyond the zone of forests, and for the first 

 rime we observe polished rock surfaces, old moraines, and other evidence of a 

 glacial epoch. Hydrographically this mountain mass is of greater importance 

 than the Tâtra, for four rivers, the Tisza (Theiss), the Szamos, the golden 

 Bistritza, and the white Czeremosz, rise upon it and flow towards the cardinal 

 points of the compass. Spurs, ramifying from this " knot," enclose between them the 

 mountain citadels of Western Hungary, viz, Marmaros, on the Upper Theiss, 

 and Transylvania. Amongst the mountains which rise in this part of the chain 

 that of Pietross (7,240 feet) is the most elevated. It is clad with forests and 

 pastures, and its extremities terminate in tower-like peaks. 



The semicircular range of the Eastern Carpathians forms the eastern citadel of 

 Western Europe. It looks down upon the half- Asiatic plains of Sarmatia, and has 

 turned aside many a host of invaders. It bounds the table-land of Transylvania, 

 which slopes down towards the plain of Hungary, and is named with reference to 

 the vast forests which cover a great part of it. Easy of access from the west, 

 Transylvania presents steep and rugged slopes towards the east and south. It is 

 thus a great natural stronghold, and its geographical features account for the 

 relative independence enjoyed by its inhabitants whilst the surrounding regions 

 were held by the Turks. 



The Carpathians, to the south of Marmaros, gradually swerve round in the 

 direction of the meridians. They maintain an average height of from 4,000 to 

 6,000 feet. The table-land of Hargita, with its deep valleys and dome-shaped 

 summits,* abuts upon the Carpathians on the west. Farther south they are 

 separated by magnificent plains, the beds of ancient lakes, from the mountains 

 filling the interior of the country. These well-cultivated plains are surrounded by 

 steep, forest-clad mountains, and appear to be designed by nature as the homes of 

 independent communities. 



To the south of the plain of Hâromszék the range abruptly turns to the west. 

 This southern range is known as the Transylvanian Alps, and its summits, of 

 which the IN^egoi (8,340 feet) is the highest, yield but little to those of the Tâtra. 

 Like this latter, it is composed of cjystalline rocks. In its aspects it is more 

 forbidding and majestic. Looked at from the plain of Fogaras, intersected by the 

 beautiful Aluta, we might indeed fancy ourselves in the presence of the Swiss Alps, 

 if it were not for the small extent of meadows and the absence of glaciers. Bears 

 are still common in these little-visited mountains, and herds of chamois as well as 

 marmots are met with. In the Tâtra wild animals are far more scarce, although 

 bears still occasionally invade the herds and oat-fields. In 1865 only five families of 

 * The Nagy Hargita has a height of 5,713 feet. 



