90 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 



some of them raised by human hands, to serve as places of refuge. This uni- 

 formity, so distressing to a stranger, delights the native, who throughout this 

 vast region meets with the familiar scenery of the place of his birth. 



The forests which formerly covered a portion of the plain of Pannonla have for 

 the most part disappeared. Until recently hardly a tree was to be seen in the 

 central portion of the Alfold, and only dried cow-dung was available as fuel. At 

 the present time the planting of trees is being proceeded with vigorously, and the 

 aspect of the country is thus being modified. But there still remain vast tracts 

 impregnated with salt, which resist all attempts at cultivation, and are available 

 only as pasture-grounds. These pastures, together with cultivated patches far 

 away from villages, constitute the veritable Pu-^zta sung by Petofi and other 

 Magyar poets. This Puszta is a dead level, covered with grass and herbage, and 

 abounding in muddy pools, the haunts of aquatic birds. There are no rivers, but 

 after heavy rains these pools grow larger and larger, until they coalesce. In 

 summer they often dry up completely, and the herdsmen then find it difficult to 

 procure sufficient water for their beasts. Natron lakes are numerous, more 

 especially between Debreczen and Nagy-Varad, and there are also a few saltpetre 

 ponds. 



The Puszta, until quite recently, was a Lmd of herds and flocks, tended by 

 nomad herdsmen, and although cultivation has made much progress, large 

 stretches of pasture-land may still be seen. Troops of horses pasture in battle 

 array, herds of oxen are scattered over the plain, but it is the buffalo reclining 

 in some swamp which appears to be the master of it. Now and then we see a 

 stork or a long-shanked crane. We might almost fancy ourselves in a virgin 

 land, far away from the haunts of civilisation, and the wild horseman racing over 

 the plain does not contribute towards dispelling this illusion. 



Climate and Flora. 



Until recently a steppe by aspect, the Puszta still preserves that character as to 

 its climate. Its mean temperature is not only somewhat lower than under the 

 same latitude in Western Europe, but the changes from cold to heat are more 

 sudden. It is not rare for the thermometer to rise or fall 40" within a few 

 hours, and in midsummer we may find ourselves exposed to an icy-cold wind, 

 whilst many days in December remind us of spring. The general march of the 

 seasons appears to be less regular than in Western Europe. Rains and droughts 

 succeed each other without apparent cause, and storms of great violence occa- 

 sionally whirl up the dust or drive before them the snow. 



Of course, in a country so considerable in extent, we meet with many varieties 

 in the climate. In Transylvania each valley may be said to have a climate of its 

 own, and that of the Upper Aluta is exposed even to a southerly wind, resembling 

 the fohn, which enters through the gap of the Eed Tower. Hungary, upon the 

 whole, has a well-defined continental climate. The so-called Hungarian fever, 

 which has repeatedly decimated invading hosts, and carries off many emigrants. 



