HUNGAEY. 



87 



the Hungarian side being looked upon as one of the marvels of modern engineer- 

 ing. A famous Roman inscription recalls the glories of Trajan, who " vanquished 

 the mountains and the river." 



Below Orsova and its fortified island the river, here nearly a mile in width, is 

 obstructed by reefs. This locality is known as the " Iron Gate." Less wild in 

 aspect than the gorge of Kasan — for here no steep cliffs form the banks — the Iron 

 Gate is nevertheless the most dangerous part of the Danube, and hundreds of 

 vessels, including many steamers, have been wrecked there. In 1846 the first 

 steamer successfully breasted these rapids, a feat only possible between March and 

 July. The Danubian Steam Navigation Company virtually maintains two inde- 

 pendent flotillas, one on the Upper, the other on the Lower Danube, comrauni- 



Fig. 56. — Lake Balaton. 

 Scale 1 : 680,000. 



10 Miles. 



cation between both being kept up by a few steamers of special construction, or by 

 road.* 



It is a disgrace to Austria that this obsticle to the free navigation of the 

 noblest river of Europe should not have been removed long ago. Hardly any- 

 thing has been done since the days of Tz-ajan to render these rapids less dangerous ; 

 and it is only now, and in virtue of the treaty recently signed at Berlin, that 

 Austria and Servia have undertaken to accomplish this great work of freeing 

 the Danube. 



The Danube has not yet completely drained the plains of Hungary, for a few lakes 



remain behind, the largest being that of Balaton, spoken of as the " Hungarian 



* Average level of the Danube at the Hungarian Gate, 433 feet above the sea ; at the Iron Gate, 

 12^ feet; total fall of the Danube in 593 miles, 305 feet. Delivery at the Iron Gate, 360,900 cubic feet 

 per second. 



