HUNGARY. 



107 



houses of Buda-Pest are built of a limestone similar to that employed in Paris. 

 The city grows, not merely because it is the political capital of the coimtry, but 

 more especially on account of its fine geographical position on a navigable river, , 

 in the centre of a network of railroads, and at the gate to the East. The steam- 

 mills grind about 300,000 tons of wheat annually. Buda-Pest is insalubrious, 

 and the death rate is greater there than perhaps in any other city of Eiirope. To 

 some extent this excessive mortality is due to poverty. Thousands are without 

 means to pay for a bed, and in no other town is the number of labourers, servants, 

 and others living from hand to mouth equallj^ great." 



Fig. 67. — Debkeczen. 

 Scale 1 : 232,000. 



. 5 Miles. 



Amongst the public buildings the National Museum is the most important. 

 It is a vast edifice, containing a gallery of paintings, a natural-history museum, 

 a library of 250,000 volumes, and scientific collections of every kind. 



Buda is the seat of the civil and military authorities, and many of its buildings 

 are historically of interest. The tomb of Gull-Baba, the " Father of Roses," in 

 the suburb of Old Buda, is kept in order in accordance with the stipulations of 

 the treaty of Carlovitz, and is occasionally visited by Turkish pilgrims. 



* In 1870 each room was inhabited by three persons, and one-fifth of the inhabitants were either 

 ■without beds or lived in common lodgings. (J. Korosi, iStat. Jahrbuch der Stadt Pest.) 



