Thus harmoniously is the soil of Hungary varied by mountains, valleys, plains, and high plateaus, and gratefully watered by rivers and lakes; and if we but add that the country lies between the forty-fourth and fiftieth degrees of northern latitude, that is, in the most favorable part of the temperate zone, we may readily infer the superiority of the climatic conditions prevailing there. There is, of course, great variety of climate. The winter is raw and cold in the Carpathian regions; spring sets in later, winter comes earlier, and the cold sometimes reaches -22° F. In the hilly and level country the climate is much more genial, the summers hotter, and storms of more frequent occurrence. Wheat, grapes, and maize do not ripen in the regions of the higher Carpathians, whilst the Alföld produces the best and finest wheat, and even rice. The air is most genial on the shores of the Adriatic, and here are grown the fruits of Southern Europe. The climate, as a general thing, is dry, especially in the Alföld, where trees are rare.
Such is the topography and climate of the country which, lying in the central portion of Middle Europe, stretches between Moravia, Silesia, Galicia, Bukovina, Roumania, Servia, Bosnia, the Adriatic Sea, Istria, Carinthia, Styria, and Austria. It covers an area of 125,000 square miles, and has a population of nearly sixteen millions.
Politically the country is divided into three parts, namely: Hungary proper (including the formerly detached Transylvania), the city and territory of Fiume, and Croatia and Slavonia. Dalmatia, too, ought to belong under the old laws to the country, but, for a long time already, it has owned the supremacy of Austria.
BUDA-PESTH.
Buda-Pesth is the capital of the entire kingdom. Situated on both banks of the majestic Danube, here spanned by three beautiful bridges, amongst them the famous suspension bridge, it is one of the finest cities of Europe. It has nearly 400,000 inhabitants, and is the centre of Hungary’s political, cultural, industrial, and commercial life. Fine public and private buildings, some of them beautiful specimens of architectural art, adorn the city, and it boasts wide thoroughfares, among which the delightful Corso along the left bank of the Danube, and the Andrássy Út (Road) leading to the city park, where the national exhibition of 1885 was located, deserve especial mention. The finest and largest cities, besides Buda-Pesth, are: Presburg (Pozsony), on the left bank of the Danube, formerly the seat of the Hungarian Diet; Comorn (Komárom), on the Danube, too, celebrated for its grand fortifications; Stuhlweissenburg (Székesfejérvár), once the capital of Hungary; Raab (Györ); Oedenburg (Soprony); Veszprém, one of the oldest cities; Erlau (Eger), renowned for its excellent wine; Szeged, the metropolis of the Alföld and one of the largest cities, which in 1879 was almost entirely destroyed by the overflowing of the Theiss, but has since been rebuilt, more beautifully than before, after the latest European pattern; Kassa, the finest city in Upper Hungary; Miskolcz; Debreczen, one of the most remarkable cities of the Hungarian Alföld and the seat of a considerable industry; Grosswardein (Nagy-Várad), the scene of many important historical events; Arad, Temesvár, and Carlsburg (Gyulafejérvár), all fortified cities memorable in history; Klausenburg (Kolozsvár), the capital of the former principality of Transylvania; the flourishing Transylvanian towns of Kronstadt (Brassó) and Hermannstadt (Szeben), inhabited for the most part by the descendants of Saxons; Fiume, the seaport on the Adriatic; Agram (Zágráb), the capital of Croatia, a beautiful city, which, however, was greatly damaged in 1880 by a terrible earthquake; and Eszék, the most prominent of the Slavonian towns.
COACHMAN.
