A Visit to the Holy Land, Egypt, and Italy | Page 7

is nothing to be seen but the inn just
mentioned and a barrack for soldiers. We were here shewn the vessel
which was wrecked, with passengers on board, in 1839, in a journey up
the Danube. Eight persons who happened to be in the cabin lost their
lives, and those only who were on deck were saved.
March 28th.
Early in the morning we embarked on board the Tunte, a vessel
furnished with a cabin. The bed of the Danube is here more and more
hemmed in by mountains and rocks, so that in some places it is not
above eighty fathoms broad, and glides with redoubled swiftness
towards its goal, the Pontus Euxinus or Black Sea.
On account of the falls which it is necessary to pass, between Drenkova
and Fetislav, the steamer must be changed for a small sailing vessel.
The voyage down the stream could indeed be accomplished without

danger, but the return would be attended with many difficulties. The
steamers, therefore, remain behind at Drenkova, and passengers are
conveyed down the river in barks, and upwards (since the accident of
1839) in good commodious carriages.
To-day the cold was quite as severe as it had been yesterday so that but
for the politeness of a fellow-passenger, who lent me his bunda (great
Hungarian fur), I should have been compelled to remain in the little
cabin, and should thus have missed the most interesting points of the
Danube. As it was, however, I wrapped myself from head to foot in the
fur cloak, took my seat on a bench outside the cabin, and had full
leisure to store my memory with a succession of lovely scenery,
presenting almost the appearance of a series of lake views, which
continued equally picturesque until we had almost reached Alt-Orsova.
A couple of miles below Drenkova, near Islas, the sailors suddenly
cried, "The first fall!" I looked up in a fever of expectation. The water
was rising in small waves, the stream ran somewhat faster, and a slight
rushing sound was to be heard. If I had not been told that the Danube
forms a waterfall here, I should certainly never have suspected it to be
the case. Between Lenz and Krems I did not find either the rocks or the
power of the stream much more formidable. We had, however, a high
tide, a circumstance which diminishes both the danger of the journey
and the sublimity of the view. The numerous rocky points, peering
threateningly forth at low tide, among which the steersman must pick
his way with great care, were all hidden from our sight. We glided
safely over them, and in about twenty minutes had left the first fall
behind us. The two succeeding falls are less considerable.
On the Austro-Wallachian side a road extends over a distance of
fourteen to sixteen miles, frequently strengthened with masonry, and at
some points hewn out of the solid rock. In the midst of this road, on a
high wall of rock, we see the celebrated "Veteran Cave," one of the
most impregnable points on the banks of the Danube. It is surrounded
by redoubts, and is admirably calculated to command the passage of the
river. This cave is said to be sufficiently spacious to contain 500 men.
So far back as the time of the Romans it was already used as a point of

defence for the Danube. Some five miles below it we notice the
"Trajan's Tablet," hewn out of a protruding rock.
On the Turco-Servian side the masses of rock jut out so far into the
stream, that no room is left for a footway. Here the famous Trajan's
Road once existed. No traces of this work remain, save that the
traveller notices, for fifteen or twenty miles, holes cut here and there in
the rock. In these holes strong trunks of trees were fastened; these
supported the planks of which the road is said to have been formed.
At eleven in the forenoon we reached Alt-Orsova, the last Austrian
town on the military frontier of Banata or Wallachia. We were obliged
to remain here for half a day.
The town has rather a pretty effect, being composed mostly of new
houses. The house belonging to the steamboat company is particularly
remarkable. It is not, however, devoted to the accommodation of
travellers, as at Drenkova. Here, as at Presburg and Pesth, each
passenger is required to pay for his night's expenses,--an arrangement
which I could not help finding somewhat strange, inasmuch as every
passenger is made to pay twice; namely, for his place on the steamer
and for his room in the inn.
It was Sunday when we arrived, and I saw many people proceeding to
church. The peasants are dressed tolerably neatly and well. Both men
and women wear