128 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 



the beholder by its isolatioa and its steep declivities, and the luxuriant forests 

 which cover its lower slopes present a charming contrast to the stunted vegeta- 

 tion and verdant pastures of its summits. In summer these pastures are the home of 

 herdsmen, who perfume the butter and cheese they make with aromatic herbs. The 

 Giant Mountains do not yield subterranean treasures, and the inhabitants employ 

 themselves in various domestic industries. They are Germans, and geographically, 

 as well as by legendary lore, the Giant Mountains belong to Germany rather 

 than to Bohemia. A labyrinth of mountains, surmounted by the granitic crest of 

 the Adlergebirge, connects the Giant Mountains with the Sudetes, culminating in 

 the pyramidal Schneeberg (4,648 feet) and the venerable summit of the Altvater 

 (4,880 feet). Various passes lead across the Sudetes. To the west of Gratz a 

 wide gap connects the upper tributaries of the Neisse with those of the Elbe, 

 and Prussia, fully recognising the strategical importance of this " gate " of 

 Bohemia, has taken care to secure its possession. Another depression, lying only 

 960 feet above the sea, separates the Sudetes from the Carpathians, thus opening 

 a passage into Moravia, defended by the fortress of Olmutz. 



The fourth side of the great Bohemian quadrilateral is not formed by a 

 mountain range, but by a height of land covered with towns and villages, and con- 

 stituting no well-defined boundary between Moravia and Bohemia. This accounts 

 for the two countries named being peopled by men of the same race, and having, in 

 most cases, shared the same political destinies. Thus, although Bohemia slopes to 

 the north and is drained into the German Ocean, it forms, politically and geographi- 

 cally, a portion of the basin of the Danube, and it is the Erzgebirge and the 

 Sudetes, and not the height of land between the Danube and the Elbe, which 

 form the true dividing line between the north and the south of Central 

 Europe. 



The interior of Bohemia is frequently said to form a " basin," and looking to 

 the ram.parts of crystalline mountains which encompass the country, this descrip- 

 tion is in a certain measure admissible. In reality the country consists rather of 

 a succession of terraces, decreasing in height as we proceed to the north. These 

 terraces are formed of sedimentary rocks successively deposited upon the slopes of 

 mountains of primitive formation, and they have been ravined by the numerous 

 rivers which intersect them. In the very centre of this Bohemian basin rise 

 the Silurian hills of Hrbeny and Brdo, whose palaeontology has been studied 

 with such success by M. Barrande, and which abound in mineral treasures. 

 Farther north isolated basaltic cones rise in the midst of the sedimentary forma- 

 tion. The Mittelgebirge, on both sides of the Elbe, is altogether composed of 

 volcanic rocks. There are regularly shaped cones rising to a height of 2,600 feet, 

 piled-up masses of scorice, and sheets and streams of lava. The old castles, chapels, 

 and hermitages which crown the summits of many of these cones enhance the 

 beauty of the scenery. The decomposed lava at the foot of these hills is of 

 exceeding fertility, and every village is embowered in a forest of fruit trees. The 

 mineral springs which rise in this part of the country prove that subterranean 

 agencies are not yet quite exhausted. Amongst these springs are those of Teplitz, 



