HUNGAEY. 



81 



Rivers and Lakes. 



Hungary and Transylvania abound in rivers. The annual rainfall through- 

 out these countries averages 26 inches, besides which the Danube conveys to 

 them an immense volume of water gathered in its upper basin. Tor 620 

 miles that river winds through the plains of Hungary, and amongst the 

 numerous tributaries which join it from all directions there are several of 

 great size. 



There is only one river in all Hungary, viz. the Poprad, a tributary of the 

 Vistula, fed by the snows of the Tâtra, which does not belong to the basin of the 

 Danube. Three rivers of Transylvania, viz. the Sil, the Aluta, and the Bodza 

 (B usee), join the Lower Danube; all others effect their junction with that river 



Fig. 50. — The Defile of Visegrvd 

 Scale 1 : 375,000. 



E ot Gr 



. 5 Miles. 



above the Iron Gate of Orsova. Politically this convergence of the rivers is a great 

 advantage, but not commercially. The Danube is the only water highway which 

 connects the plains of the Magyars with foreign countries, and even that only imper- 

 fectl}', as long as the rocks obstructing the free passage through the Iron Gate 

 have not been removed. How much greater would be the commercial importance 

 of the Danube if, instead of flowing into the inhospitable Euxine, it took its 

 course into the Adriatic ! But what would then have become of the Magyars ? 

 Brought into contact with a superior civilisation, and mingling more intimately 

 with other nations, would they have maintained their language and political 

 existence ? 



The Danvibe, within the boundaries of Hungary, is a great river. Except 

 where hemmed in by hills, its banks are undefined, and the agencies of destruc- 



