Round About the Carpathians | Page 8

but there were political reasons for deciding
otherwise. The Hungarian Government, as a matter of course, would
only construct this great work within their own territory: the other side
of the river is Servian. The engineering difficulties in making this road
were very great, but they have been everywhere overcome, and the
result is a splendid piece of work.
Arriving at the Danube, we took a steamboat that would land us in
Milanovacz in Servia. The scenery here is magnificent; we were now in
the defile of Kasan. The waters of the mighty river are contracted
within a narrow gorge, which in fact cleaves asunder the Carpathian
range for a space of more than fifty miles. The limestone rock forms a
precipitous wall on either side, rising in some places to an altitude of
more than two thousand feet sheer from the water's edge. The scenery
of this wonderful pass is very varied; the bare rock with its vertical

precipice gives place to a disturbed broken mass of cliff and scaur,
flung about in every sort of fantastic form, or towering aloft like the
ruined ramparts of some Titan's castle. Over all this a luxuriant
vegetation has thrown a veil of exceeding beauty.
The fact of the Danube forcing its way through the Carpathian chain in
this remarkable manner is a very interesting problem to the geologists,
and deserves more careful investigation at their hands than perhaps it
has yet received. They seem pretty well agreed in saying that there
must have been a time when the waters were bayed back, and when the
vast Hungarian plain was an inland sea or great lake.
Professor Hull, in a recent paper on the subject,[2] states the fact of the
plains of Hungary being "overspread by sands, gravels, and a kind of
mud called loess, or by alluvial deposits underlaid by fresh-water
limestones, which may be considered as having been formed beneath
an inland lake, during different periods of repletion or partial
exhaustion, dating downwards from the Miocene period."
The Professor goes on to say that "at intervals along the skirts of the
Carpathians, and in more central detached situations, volcanoes seem to
have been in active operation, vomiting forth masses of trachytic and
basaltic lava, which were sometimes mingled with the deposits forming
under the waters of the lakes. The connection of these great sheets of
water with these active volcanic eruptions in Hungary has been pointed
out by the late Dr. Daubeny. The gorge of Kasan, and the ridge about
700 feet above the present surface of the stream, appear to have once
barred the passage of the river. At this time the waters must have been
pent up several hundred feet above the present surface, and thus have
been thrown back on the plains of Hungary. It was only necessary that
the barrier should be cut through in order to lay dry these plains by
draining the lakes. This was probably effected by the ordinary process
of river excavation, and partly by the formation of underground
channels scooped out amongst the limestone rocks of the gorge. These
two modes of excavation acting together may have hastened the
lowering of the channel and the drainage of the plains above
considerably; nevertheless the time required for such a work must have

been extended, and it would appear that while the great inland lakes
were being drained, the volcanic fires were languishing, and ultimately
became extinct. Hungary thus presents us with phenomena analogous
to those which are to be found in the volcanic district of Central
France." It is a significant fact that even at the present day the waters of
the Platten See and other lakes and swamps are diminishing, showing
that the draining process is still going on.
The extent of the great lake of prehistoric times is forcibly brought
before us by the fact that the Alföld, or great plain of Hungary,
comprises an area of 37,400 square miles! Here is found the Tiefland,
or deep land, so wonderfully fertile that the cultivator need only scratch
the soil to prepare it for his crop.
As it only took us four hours by steamer to go from Alt Moldova to
Milanovacz, we calculated that we might reach Maidenpek, our
destination in Servia, the same day by borrowing a few hours from the
night, as an Irishman would say. However, it turned out that there was
so much bargaining and dawdling about at Milanovacz before we could
settle on a conveyance that we did not get away till six o'clock--too late
a great deal, considering the rough drive we had before us. Immediately
after starting we began to wind our way up the mountain. The views
were splendid. The Danube at this part again spreads out, having the
appearance of a lake something