Round About the Carpathians | Page 7

together was a marvel to
me, but it accommodated itself by a kind of snakelike movement, not
characteristic of wheeled vehicles in general. Except for the honour and
glory of driving, I would as lief have walked, and I think have done the
journey nearly as soon; but my friend observed, "It was no good giving
into bad roads down in this part of the world."
At one of the worst turnings we met several bullock-carts filled with
iron pyrites from the copper-smelting. The custom of the drivers of
these carts is to stop at the bottom of a steep bit of hill, and then put
five or six pairs of oxen to draw up one cart. The process is a slow one,
but is better for the oxen. We had great difficulty in passing in safety,
for unluckily at the spot we met them the trees were so thick that they
literally walled up the road, and on the other side there chanced to be a

very uninviting precipice, and of course we had the place of honour.
Soon after this little excitement was over we came upon a fine view of
the Danube, with a long stretch of Servian forests beyond. On we jolted,
till at length New Moldova was reached: this place has
smelting-furnaces, and in the neighbourhood are extensive copper
mines. The district is known as the Banat of Temesvar, an extensive
area of the most fertile land in Europe; rich black soil, capable of
growing any number of crops in succession without dressing. This part
of Hungary supplies the finest white flour, so much esteemed by the
Vienna bakers, and now sought after by the pastrycooks in England.
There was a fair going on at New Moldova, which afforded me an
opportunity of seeing the peasants in their gala dresses. The place is
renowned for its pretty Wallack girls, and I certainly can bear witness
that I saw not a few handsome faces. But what struck me most was the
graceful movements of these damsels: their manner of walking was the
very poetry of motion. I daresay it was the more striking to me because
I had recently come from England, where fashion condemns the
wearers of high-heeled shoes to a rickety waddle! Even here, in these
wilds, fashion maintains a despotic rule. I understand black hair is the
thing at present, so every Wallack maiden dyes her hair to the
regulation colour, though Nature, who never makes a mistake, may
have matched her complexion with auburn locks.
The costume is very pretty and peculiar; it consists of a loose chemise,
a short skirt of homespun, with a double apron front and back, formed
of a very deep thick fringe of various colours. This peculiar garment is
called an obreska; I think it has no counterpart in female fashions
elsewhere. When the under-garment is white and fresh the effect is very
good; but in the case of the very poor, if there are but scanty rags
beneath, then, to speak mildly, the fringe is an inefficient covering. But
to-day every damsel is in her best; and how jauntily she wears the
coloured scarf twisted round her head, which falls in graceful folds!
The Wallacks generally have their bare feet covered, not with boots,
but with thongs of leather, something in the form of a sandal. The
Servian women dress quite differently, wear tight-fitting garments,

richly embroidered when their means permit. The men also figure
largely in embroidery.
In the evening the peasants had a dance on the open space in front of
the czarda, or village inn. Of course we were there to look on. I should
observe that we had arranged to stay the night at Moldova, for the
afternoon had been taken up in visiting a large manufactory for
sulphuric acid in the neighbourhood. The dance which wound up the
day's amusements can be easily described. "Many a youth and many a
maid" form a wide circle with arms interlaced, they move round and
round in a marzurka step to the sound of music. It appeared to me
rather slow and monotonous. I do not know whether the figure breaks
up, leaving each couple more to their own devices; but we left them
still revolving in a circle.
The following morning we were off on our travels again. A short drive
took us to Old Moldova, a village within the Military Frontier,
regularly constructed, with guardhouse and other Government
buildings, facing the Danube. At this point begins the splendid road by
the side of the river, made by the Hungarian Government in 1840. It
reaches as far as Orsova, taking the left bank of the Danube. It would
have been easier to have followed Trajan's lead, and have made the
road on the right bank;