UNMARRIED FEMALE of GLINA.
WOMAN OF DUBITZA.
False tresses, hanging down low and covered with a handkerchief, give a peculiar character to the head-dress of the women in the environs of Dubitza. The apron is fastened on by a belt decorated with coins; the wide, open sleeves of the chemise are neatly bordered with embroidery, and over it is worn a long open jacket.
The river Unna here forms the boundary between the Turkish and Austrian empires. The decayed fortress of Dubitza itself, on the right bank of that river, belongs to the former. Nature has rendered the valley watered by the Unna one of the most fertile and delightful of the abodes of man. The hills gently rise on each bank of the river, which has a strong navigable current, and vegetation finds a rich soil to their very tops. The climate too is mild; but man is the only obstacle to the improvement of these advantages. The Turks and Turkish subjects in this valley have long been reckoned the most pestilent disturbers of the tranquillity of their neighbours. Being eternally at variance among themselves, it is not surprising that they should annoy the inhabitants of the Austrian frontiers.
SLAVONIA.
In many parts of the Banal frontier the country and its inhabitants strongly remind the spectator of the upper regimental districts, but the scene is totally changed on entering Slavonia. These frontiers are marked by great rivers and by sandy and muddy marsh-land. Here the husbandman does not dread the fury of tempests, but the inundation of waters. The genial warmth of a climate more than mild produces a profusion of the finest fruits. The soil supplies man with abundance of corn and wine, and animals with rich herbage. The very forests support besides various species of game hundreds of thousands of monstrous swine, great numbers of which are sent to the capital, and thus contribute not only to the subsistence but to the opulence of the inhabitants. The river Save, which forms the Southern boundary of the country, and facilitates commercial communication, protects the Slavonian from the incursions of his predatory neighbours better than fortifications and sentinels. What nature affords and industry acquires, he therefore enjoys in peace and security. He is in consequence much more civilized and assiduous than his neighbours on the Western frontiers; his dress is neater, his food and implements are superior, his cattle are better treated and better fed; in short every thing about him denotes greater affluence.
For the sake of greater security, and to accelerate civilization, the scattered houses were collected into villages upon the road. The inhabitants now enjoy in peace the benefit of this regulation; and the traveller blesses that power, which commanded the roads to be planted with trees which, while they afford him a refreshing shade from the intense heat, supply the inhabitants with food for the lucrative silk-worm.
Attempts have been made in other parts of Hungary to rear this insect, and with considerable success, owing to the encouragement afforded by government. The greatest yearly produce was in 1801, when the royal silk-establishments yielded about eighteen thousand pounds weight, and those of private individuals about three thousand. By far the greater part comes from the military frontiers.