HUNGAEY. 79 



marmots and six or seven chamois were known to exist, but their pursuit having 

 been strictly prohibited, these animals have again multiplied. The wild goat, 

 however, has disappeared from all parts of the Carpathians, and the last wisant 

 was killed in 1775, near Udvharhely. 



The Transylvanian Alps, extending for nearly 200 miles to the north of 

 Wallachia, occupy a far greater area than the Tâtra. At their western extremity, 

 in the Banat, they ramify into numerous branches, and being rich in coal, ores, 

 and mineral springs, these are much better known than the main chain in the 

 east. The main range decreases in height as we travel westward, but at the 

 " Iron Gate," where the river Danube has forced its passage through it, it is still 

 of formidable aspect. 



Farther east the most elevated part of the Transylvanian Alps is pierced by 

 three rivers. The easternmost of these rivers is the Buseo (Bodza), a tributary of 

 the Sereth. Farther west, the Aluta, having drained the ancient lake basins of 

 Csik, Hâromszék, Burzenland, the magnificent valley of Fogaras, and the 

 basin of Hermannstadt, pierces the main range of the Carj)athians about fifteen 

 miles west of the superb summit of the Negoi. The narrow gorge through which 

 it has forced itself a passage is known as the Pass of the Red Tower (1,155 feet). 

 A third river, the Sil (Jiulu), traverses the great mountain range to the west of 

 the Paring (7,997 feet). The gorge through which it flows is exceedingly rugged, 

 and the inhabitants, when they desire to cross from Transylvania into Wallachia, 

 prefer the road over the Vulkan Pass. 



The mountains forming the western boundary of Transylvania were no more 

 able than the Southern Carpathians to resist the pressure of the water pent up in 

 their rear, and wide valleys have been scooped out, through which it emerged 

 into the plain of Hungary, The Szamos escapes in the north, the Swift and the 

 Black Koros in the centre, and the Maros, a fine river rising in the old lake 

 basin of Gyergyo, runs through a broad valley in the south. These valleys divide 

 the mountains of Western Transylvania into separate groups, having distinct names. 

 Sometimes, however, the whole of them are referred to as " Ore Mountains," a 

 name they are fully entitled to on account of their mineral wealth and the 

 diversity of their rocks. Granite, porphyry, schist, sandstone, and limestones, as 

 well as trachyte and lava, enter into their composition. The Detunata, or 

 " Thunder-struck," one of the most remarkable basaltic summits of Europe, rises 

 in their very centre, at the head of the Aranyos, or " Gold Ptiver." The neighbour- 

 hood abounds in metalliferous veins, yielding gold, silver, mercury, iron, and other 

 metals. Pock- salt is not found there, but it is supposed to underlie the bare and 

 dreary-looking hills of Mezoseg, which occupy the centre of Transylvania, between 

 the valleys of the Szamos and the Maros. If these hills were to be removed, we 

 shovdd reach a sheet of rock-salt occupj'ing the whole of this ancient gulf of tlie 

 sea. Six hundred brine springs sufficiently attest the nature of the underlying 

 rocks, and in a few places the salt crops out on the surface. The salt mountain 

 near Parajd, in the upper valley of the Kis Kiikullo, a tributary of the Maros, 

 is twice as large as the famous one of Cardona, in Catalonia. Some years 



