Try Cracow and the Carpathians, etc

Chapter I

Preliminary preparations— The start — Ostend — Its Digne and bathers — The sca is properly blessed — Thirty miles of pear trees — Cologne — Berlin — The returning heroes — Unter den Linden — The Zoological Gardens — The Aquarium — The Emperor and his G enerals — Breslau — *YVe eat land lobsters — Polish politics-— The burnt theatre 1

Chapter II

The Silesian black country — We cross the frontier into Galicia — The Polish Jew — The good-looking Jewess — Cracow — A poor night's rest — The bells, &o. — The Cloth Hall — We change our hotel — Satisfy the police — Soldiers bathing in the Vistula — Kosciusko and his mound — Splendid panorama — Austrian and Russian politics — Tumbledown fortifications 2G

Chapter III

The soldier's funeral —The Jews' quarter — The Jew in Warsaw — The ancient castle — The military hospital — The cathedral — St. Stanislaus — Sobieski — The royal vault — The Wieliczka salt mines — We descend " en costume " — The chapel — The Salt Lake — The dancing saloon — We make ready for the mountains — Leave Cracow by diligence— Cows help us CONTENTS. IV PAGE 74

Chapter IV

Neumarkt— Good fishing— The Polish fly-fisher— The Ruthenian peasant girl — We drink tea a la Russe — The hay wagon and its peculiarities — We ford our first river guided by a friendly peasant, and survive our second with the help of many more — Nearing the mountains — The village of Zakopani— Its beautiful valley— Our guide — The Koscieliszker Thai charcoal burners — The Tatra range — The Fireflies

Chapter V

The Ironworks at Zakopani — The workmen — A terrific thunderstorm — The Alpine flower garden —Trout fishing — One of the party comes to grief — Female labour — We visit the Bad with the dreadful name — Terror of Juvenile resident .-Ascent of the Magura Spitze — The caverns — The Lammergeier— The magnificent spring 93

Chapter VI

The double wedding of the Polish mountaineers — How we were invited — The parish priest passing rich on £20 a-year — Obliged to carry lighted candles of no mean size — The Warsaw refugee — The wedding feast — We make preparations to continue our journey, and start under favourable auspices, which soon pale— Eukowina — We ford the Bialka, not without risk, and arrive in Hungary — A different people — Javorina, and its cleanliness — A thief —Nocturnal expedition — The great Fish lake 110

CHAPTER VIL

We are glad to leave Javorina — Our Sclav Jehu — His antics, and all but reinless steeds — The Zsdjar pass — The Kotliner Thai — Kasmark — The delights of a clean hotel — The rifle trophy — The church, how the lightning treated it — The old castle — We start in a real carriage for Schmeks — y PAGE CONTENTS. Through prosperous Zippland — The different races — We travel along the southern side of the Carpathians — First impressions of Schmeks — Its mineral spring . . . 1 38

Chapter VIII

Pleasant Schmeks — Its domestic arrangements, and its delicious baths — Hungarian gamblers — A quiet Sunday — The Belle Vue — We enjoy the beauties of the Kohlbacher Thai, and make much use of the mountain ponies — The trout — The waterfall — The shooting expedition — The buck escapes — The gentle bear — The Hungarian skittle alley — The Gipsies — The all-important Czardas — Our Boots — Fly-fishing near Schlagendorf — Expeditions to the mountain . . .154

Chapter IX

The Felker Thai— Horse-flesh is cheap — Granite peaks and Felker lake — Its refuge — Alpine flower-garden — The marmot, or mountain rat — We see many winter-houses already commenced — We play at " Tombola," and lose — The lost one — Up the Schlagendorf Spitze — What I saw there — Hungarian friendliness — Their views of England — The robbers' stories — Toad stools and jumping frogs — Five little lakes 17G

Chapter X

The village of Schlagendorf — Fete day at Schmeks — The fight between the Sclaves and Germans — Sunday evening fireworks — Ascent of the Lomner Spitze — Its difficulties — We rest on the Kamm — Janos, the guide — We bid adieu to Schmeks, and take a return carriage — Poprad — Our sleepy Sclav driver and sleepier steeds— We discover the watershed of Upper Hungary — Mutton at last at Belansko — ,- Sclav villages — St. Miklos— The valley of the Waag— Rosenberg VI CONTENTS. PAGE

Chapter XI

Juvenile Sclaves fishing — The pass of Strescno — The ruined castles — We hurry to Sillein — The noisy revellers — The last of Keating— Railway again — Examination of youth at the station — The Jablunka pass — Moravia— Oderberg and its restaurant — The wounded officer — The fortress of Olmutz— Its holy mountain, and sacred picture — Austrian music — We attend the grand review— Reach Prague, and English faces and comforts 216

Chapter XII

The Hradschin at Prague — The celebrated bridge — We visit the old synagogue, and wonder at the ancient burying-ground — The baby heap —We take the rail to Aussig, and embark on the Elbe — The Saxon Switzerland — The royal palace — First view of Dresden — Peculiar English travellers — Leipsic — Poniatowski's grave — We break down in the Hartz mountains — Dusseldorf — The Rhine bridge — Antwerp — The Baron Osy — Home again 232 ArPENDix LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGC fording the donajec IN POLAND .... Frontispiece OUR CARPATHIAN GUIDE Yirjncttc Title MOONLIGHT TRAVELLING IN POLAND 71 A FISHING CATASTROPHE IOO A CARPATHIAN WEDDING 117 HUNGARIAN VILLAGES 158 HUNGARIAN GirsV SCENE 208 MAP At the End. TKY CKACOW AND THE CAEPATHIANS.

Chapter I

Preliminary preparations — The start — Ostend — Its Digue and bathers — The sea is properly blessed — Thirty miles of pear trees — Cologne — Berlin — The returning heroes — Unter den Linden — The Zoological Gardens— The Aquarium — The Emperor and his Generals — Breslau — We eat land lobsters — Polish politics — The burnt theatre. Again the holiday season has arrived, and many symptoms warn the brain-worker that a resting time must come. He is unusually irritable and snappish, put out by the smallest trifles. Wakeful nights have taken the place of peaceful repose — his appetite fails — and lastly, the top of his head will feel like a huge hot potato, in spite of every attempt to cool it with the palm of his icy hand. Away then from English scenes, air and food ! Lock up books, papers, ledgers and letters !

Fling to the winds that dearly cherished scheme and hobby : that b pet morsel of literary production, over which you have racked your aching head the last ten days — and if you object to "Try Lapland," as many have done, from dread or dislike of the frequent voyages, come with us and try the Carpathians instead ! the small streak of silvery sea is not difficult to cross. Once more, on the lst of July 1871, we start for an unknown land, armed with our usual amount of luggage, thirty pounds' weight each. A bundle of wraps, lady's handbag, fishing rod and tackle, and Mr. Solomon's well known travelling barometer. Alas ! another article has to be added this time, more's the pity ! — a passport ! — but we shy at the French visa, 8s. each, and no end of bother, and therefore discard the route by Calais or Boulogne, and choose the London passage to Ostend, by which the boats are larger and far preferable to those from Dover, the sea very little longer, and the expense very much less.

So after many barometrical observations and calcu lations, as to moon, &c. behold us once more out ward bound ! pacing the deck of the stout old tubby paddle, the " Holland," as she steams away from St. Katharine's wharf, with weather middling, and wind gusty, blowiDg in fitful starts from every quarter ; and, we, poor creatures ! anticipating the worst. Every one knows the passengers on a short trip steamer. There is the newly-married couple, attentive and affectionate ; the stout mama from her shop for a time, bustling about with a brace of grandly dressed daughters ; the retiring German governess, going home for her summer holiday ; paterfamilias, blandly smiling on his troop and their numerous boxes ; the dandy young man ; and the young old man ; with many a nondesCript creature, from the shabbily clothed countess to the fashionable dressmaker, all scattered about promiscuously, with a few Belgians to complete the party.

Again we admired old Greenwich, sighed over deserted Woolwich, smelt Crossness, which ought to have an Eau like Cologne, passed dreamily on to Gravesend, Sheerness and Southend, and with a steady pace reached the Nore and found the " briny " tranquil as Virginia Water. A lovely moon lighted us through the piles of the Ostend breakwater, and after the usual rocket had been fired to ascertain that the passage was clear (for it is a nasty narrow little place to enter), we drew up at the port to be bulbed by our ancient enemies, the passport inspectors. None but the ladies were allowed to go on shore without first descending into the cabin to show their passports and receive a ticket to be given up on landing. B Then came the Douane inspection. Huddled together in a very dirty room at 1 a. m. for such an object does not improve the temper ! especially as our tormentors were particularly offensive, dragging out each article from our tightly packed little portmanteaus, as if a leader of the French Commune were lying perdu in every boot.

This over, we must run the gauntlet of all the touters outside, jumping at last into the bus of our hotel and waiting another half-hour for the rest of the passengers before we started. We then and there registered a vow to have nothing more to do with hotel busses, and ever after took a carriage to ourselves, our light baggage enabling us always to arrive first at the hotel andget the pick of the rooms. Safely housed in the Hotel d'Allemagne, we con gratulated ourselves on being free at last from the babel of Flemish porters and drivers, though tlie shrieking and trumpeting of railway trains all night greatly interfered with our rest, and caused us to register vow number two, never again to choose a resting-place near the station. Ostend may well be proud of its Digue, as the long breakwater is called.

It is in fact a sea-wall, forming a promenade superior to anything in England, running for half a mile along the open sea and protecting the town of Ostend from further encroachments. There is a fort at one end to keep off intruders, though they could easily shell the town without any danger to them selves, from ships opposite the other extremity. The sands at the base of the sea-wall stretch out a con siderable distance at low water, and are quite as extensive as those at Scarborough, and at the same time harder and drier. The bathing, too, affords much more amusement and seems to be more universal. Whole families may be seen flocking down all the morning, with the usual bundle of bathing dresses under their arms. Man and wife dressed in a more or less becoming costume, solemnly descend the steps of the same bathing machine, and hand-in-hand advance into the water, joining the throng of gaily dressed bathers of both sexes ; their varied dresses of blue, mauve, green and scarlet forming quite a pretty picture from the shore.

The men look as if in cricketing costume and the ladies like small Zouaves. Very few attempt to swim or float, the}* content themselves with bobbing up and down and round and round in circles, as if dancing the Mulberry Bush, occasionally diversifying the pas time by splashing the water in the face of some unfortunate individual whom they have selected as a victim. It was a pleasant contrast to see an English boy dash into the sea diving under, or breasting a wave, as he swam steadily out as far as the boundary boat. This is moored at the extremity of the bathing ground, with a red flag flying at each end of it, and occupied by two men ready to give prompt assistance if necessary, and also to warn all truant bathers to keep within the spot marked out by long posts fixed upright in the sand Great care is taken by the authorities to prevent accidents ; and besides the above named precaution, a professional swimmer perambulates the beach clothed in bright scarlet from top to toe, and provided with a large cork jacket.

There is also a fixed bathing-machine in the rear, marked " Medical," and fitted up with every requisite for the recovery of the half-drowned. No doubt many valuable lives would be saved, if we took as much pains at our seaside watering-places. We were fortunate in one respect, namely, that the day we were resting in Ostend, July 2nd, was the one devoted to the annual custom of blessing the sea, by showing it the sacred wafer, and by offering up prayers that it may perform many cures on the invalids, who flock here in great numbers at this season. At daybreak, the numerous excursion trains began to arrive, discharging their varied loads in quick succession. One train bears a posse of gaping villagers, who, with open mouths, peculiar costumes, and great bundles, rush pell-mell out of the station, anxious to secure a good position for the spectacle ; the next, a detachment of soldiers, very small baggy-legged young men, marching or rather staggering along after a couple of discordant buglers.

Let me say what the poor soldier has to carry. His rifle, of course, then a ponderous knapsack with his cloak rolled round it, and fastened behind this, a large cooking-kettle ; at his left side hang his sword, bayonet, and knife, each having a separate case and sling ; at his right, a large water-bottle, and I must not forget a hatchet strapped on to the bottom of his knapsack ; if he falls, he must be like a turtle on his back. He marches with a true " Grecian Bend," panting at every step, and as for running, it is out of the question, he could only glide gently along. "La Benediction de la Mer," is no ordinary affair. Not only do all the people from the surrounding country attend, but a procession is carefully arranged, and dresses and scenery prepared weeks beforehand. It was a lovely day, the sun shining brightly as we entered the market-place, and found all the eccle siastical authorities marshalling their followers ready for a start.

Soldiers lined the streets to keep the way clear ; and we took up our position at a corner, past which the whole procession must defile. It seemed to be made up of various religious bodies and fraternities, interspersed with schools of boys and girls. Flowers had been strewn along the streets for them to walk on. One old woman dressed in white muslin, carrying some holy picture, wore a tinsel crown on her head, with six or eight festoons of flowers suspended from it, the ends borne aloft by children with gauzy wings to represent angels. The effect of the various parties as they walked along in their coloured dresses was extremely pretty. First came an order of young girls in white and blue, another in white and red, like shepherdesses, with pastoral hats ; then a number of little boys in white and green, and a group of acolytes clothed in scarlet and white lace, bearing banners and lilies, and life-sized figures of saints under huge gilt canopies.

These were followed by grown-up women all in white, representing different virgins, the principal one per sonating the Virgin Mary herself, with a long white satiu train borne by three others. A large image of the Virgin, also under a glittering canopy, was carried by priests at the head of this party ; and a band of music brought up the rear, escorting figures of favourite saints in tawdry wood-work, as large as life and hideous to behold. Their honoured bearers were surrounded by priests and saintly men, young and old, of the most devout mien and behaviour, who frequently relieved them of their burden, for these saints were of no slight weight, and a trestle was always at hand upon which to place them during a halt. The host itself was borne by an intelligent looking old priest, in gorgeous costume, walking slowly along under a baldacchino, his eyes never leaving the sacred treasure, which he carried in both hands.

Acolyte boys swung their censers before him, and attendant priests guarded him on either side. Every now and then a halt was called, and prayers were chanted by a band of chorister-boys, the bass supplied by four men in the background, who blew loudly through brazen instruments. At such a time, when everyone was expected to fall on their knees, there were but few among the crowd who responded to the call, and they principally peasant women from the country and children. Sad to relate, during one of the pauses, when the signal was given for all to kneel, an unfortunate chorister-boy near us, dressed in a long white surplice, found himself encum bered with a large bun, which he had purchased on the sly from an old lady who perambulated the skirts of the procession with a basket of these tempting delica cies.

What was he to do ? Both hands must be folded in prayer, and down on his knees he must go. Happy thought ! Tuck the bun (equal in size to three English ones,) under his chin, and the devotional droop of the head secures it in that position. The effect was marred, however, by his anxious glances towards the close-cropped ecclesiastic in charge of his detachment. We were happy to see he escaped detection. On the sea-wall a wooden altar had been erected facing the sea, and after the whole procession had filed by it, the head priest mounted the steps, the others arranging themselves at the base and chanting prayers. The host was elevated three times before the people, and then the officiating priest carried it round and per formed the same ceremony for the sea ; minute guns from the fort at the harbour bringing the ceremony to a close.

By this time the clouds hadjbeen gathering around, and rain began to fall, soon coming down in a perfect deluge. Few of the unfortunate excursionists were provided with umbrellas, and many a smart bonnet and new coat must have fallen a victim to the elements. One elderly spectator from the country came plodding down the centre of the street, the rain pouring off his bare pate, not overwell thatched, while he carried his new tall black hat under his arm, carefully wrapped up in a red pocket-handkerchief. Next morning we took the new route to Cologne via Louvain. Along each side of this railway for fifteen miles, there runs a hedge of pear trees. They are trained on a fence made of iron posts standing four feet out of the ground, and six feet apart. These support three lines of iron wire, a foot above each other, the lowest a foot from the ground.

Sticks are tied in a slanting direction between the two first wires to support the tender shoots of the young trees. They all looked well and thriving. What will be the amount of fruit upon these thirty miles of trees ? Every traveller must be struck by the fertility of the country. Crops of rye-grass, buck-wheat, barley, hops and potatoes, crowded upon each other, testifying also to the industry of the people. Yet the captain of our steamer told me that the same cargo, which would take him the whole day to unload at Ostend, he could discharge in London in three hours, simply because the En-dish worked so much harder than the Belgians. Cologne was already full ; no beds at the Hotel du Nord, but we fortunately found a high back-room at the " Hollande." The Kolnites had not yet recovered from the war festivities, and were shrieking and howling all night.

Up early next morning, and off by the Hanover express to Berlin. The train shaky, as there had not been time to repair the permanent way since the war, and tedious to boot, for convoys full of happy returning soldiers and Landwehr occupied every siding, and pre vented our getting on at the usual pace. At one station we saw a valiant warrior wreathed from top to toe in a flowery garland ; it passed round his neck, under one arm, and reached to his heels. We did not hear to what great exploit he owed this mark of distinction, but he was a hero in the eyes of the young damsel, whb had not only decorated him with the conqueror's laurels, but now hung tenderly on his arm in loving admiration, and plied him with " Baierische Bier." The foreign luggage-vans are very superior to ours in size, and when used for the transport of troops are fitted up with wooden benches.

Forty men are stowed away in each van, and no small squeeze must it be, as their arms and kits must go in as well. At Potsdam we stop]3ed opposite one of these mili tary trains ornamented with flowers and evergreens. The men said they were travelling back from France to be quartered in Konigsberg, not far from the Russian frontier. They had already been four days and four nights on their journey unable to lie down, but seemed perfectly contented and happy. The officers were better off, occupying first-class carriages ; each had his towel hanging to dry over the top of his own partition. The soldiers looked twice the weight of the brave " Beige," and had about half the things to carry that he had. The country, as we neared Berlin, was flat and monotonous, and although we craned our heads out of the carriage window, nothing could be seen of the city till we drove, or rather crawled, down the " Unter den Linden," in one of the slowest of the slow Berlin cabs.

To the stranger, Berlin is almost all "Unter den Linden," and " Unter den Linden " is Berlin ; but I think every one must be disappointed, as we were, at sight of the two rows of wretched looking lime trees, of all ages and sizes — a dreadful scratch pack — scarcely a thriving one to be seen, and many dead and dying branches disfiguring the best of them. I suppose most of my readers are well acquainted with Berlin, and all know that the far-famed "Unter den Linden" runs through the centre of the town, extending from the palace to the Brandenburg gate, a distance of one mile. They will also remember this heavy gateway in the style of the Propylean art at Athens, surmounted by a chariot of victory drawn by four horses, once taken by Napoleon to Paris, but afterwards restored again. Rauch's bronze statue of Frederick the Great, probably the finest military monument in Europe, can never fail to strike the traveller with admiration, while the beautiful bridge, adorned by its eight marble statues, seems worthier of a better object than spanning the dirty httle river Spree, which at this spot is barely fifty yards broad.

Of course we visited the Museum, that fine Grecian building exactly opposite to the royal palace ; the latter huddled away in a corner, gives but a poor idea of the grandeur it really possesses. Guide-books will give the best information as to the valuable collection of pictures and statuary in the Museum, and as this is not a guide-book we will descend the imposing flight of steps, adorned on either side by two magnificent bronzes, — the Amazon group, by Kiss, and the Lion Combat, by Wolff — and passing to the plateau below, admire the splendid granite basin, cut out of a single boulder, upwards of twenty feet in diameter. Outside the Brandenburg gate lies the beautiful Thier-garten, which is nothing more than a large wood of birch, beech, aud oak, with plenty of alder and under wood, and here and there an unpleasant stagnant pond.

Through this wood is cut in every direction enticing ■drives, walks, and rides, and you may walk for miles in the hottest day of summer and never see the sun. Its outskirts are bounded by handsome villas, with pretty little gardens in front, only requiring a lawn mower to make them perfect. At the extreme end lie the Zoological Gardens, well worth a visit, not so much from the value of the collection itself, as for the very tasty and picturesque manner in which the habitations of the different animals are arranged. We noticed the new Lion House especially. Five of these noble beasts were pacing up and down in an immense iron cage, so constructed as to stand out from the brick building in which they slept, like a bay window, giving them almost the appearance of being at liberty in the grounds.

The Berlin Aquarium has long been celebrated, and is the model upon which the grand one at Brighton is being constructed. It is situated in the centre of Unter den Linden, and contains a number of birds and reptiles, as well as of fishes, mollusks, et cetera. The first corridor is lined with glass cases with sandy bottoms, where dwell snakes, vipers, lizards, and such like. The thermometer inside marked 82°. In one may be seen a number of bright green lizards, running about as lively as crickets ; in the next, a collection of vipers, twenty or thirty of them, coiled in a knot round each other on the top of a small tree inside their case : they amuse themselves by putting out their fangs ready for a dart. Larger snakes follow, with several frogs hopping about in happy innocence of their danger, jumping from the back of one snake to the back of another, and not caring a fig for their deadly enemy.

We saw one of these monsters remove a pensive frog from his path, by giving him a gentle butt with his nose, and tossing him on one side. Then came rattlesnakes, most of them asleep, and a hungry looking puff adder, into whose den an attendant had just dropped a poor guinea pig from the top ; it shivered with fright and cowered in a corner of the cage. As this did not arouse the adder, the man took a long pole and made the poor little creature run up and down. The adder opened his eyes and raised his head for a moment, stedfastly beholding his victim, but could not be per suaded to take any trouble about him, and before we left both adder and guinea-pig had quietly composed themselves to sleep. Further on was the collection of birds, gathered together in high wire cages : they looked in good health, all had trees kept nice and clean by varnish ing, a gravel walk, clear water, and green chick weed.

Many were buildingnests of all sizes and shapes. The aquatic birds were provided with a sham seashore, sand, rocks and all, but in spite of this they looked rather miserable, and were in consequence some what quarrelsome ; two of them with long legs and ruffs round their necks, had a cock fight on a small stone just standing out of the water. The weaker one gave way at the third round and fled into the water, leaving his antagonist the sole possessor of the little island. fr The fish and Crustacea were on a lower story in a cavern, the only light coming through the water in which they lived. There were several fine specimens of crabs and lobsters. While we were looking at one of the former, he caught a passing tadpole, whieh he held fast in his mouth, pulled off the tail with his claws, threw it away, and then quietly devoured the head and body, much in the same way as some people eat shrimps.

Both water and air are continually flowing into each tank ; the latter has the appearance of spray. The fish were very healthy, especially the sea-water fish, and had but little of that white fungus outside their scales which used to make some of the fish in the Paris Exhibition so unpleasant to look at. Sea anemones, too, were in wonderful beauty ; and what a variety of colour and form they displayed ! Besides all these wonders of the deep, we saw croco diles, alligators, bats, &c. Even a chimpanzee found a home in this unique aquarium. It took three hours to go through the whole collection, and although in a confined space, there was no un pleasant smell. We enjoyed this exhibition beyond c anything; and if the Brighton one be only as good, it is sure to prove a great attraction to the town. .

Berlin has every appearance of being one of the most prosperous and rising cities on the Continent. It has already doubled its population in the last thirty years, and its prosperity is shown, not only in the increased number of its streets and the total absence of all beggars, but in each of the principal thoroughfares the older and smaller houses are being pulled down to make way for handsomer and more imposing edifices. It had scarcely yet recovered from the great excitement caused by the reception of the victorious troops, when shoals of visitors only found food and shelter in the surrounding villages. The triumphal arches were still standing. On a public building opposite our hotel (du Nord) were coloured frescoes (executed in three days), capitally painted portraits of the Crown Prince and his principal generals, a plaster bust of the Emperor himself occupying the centre niche.