In my last, from Vienna, I remarked that I should remain over the 1st
of May jubilee, when all classes feel it incumbent on them to hail the
return of springtime and flowers--and to sip their coffee, drink their
beer, and enjoy themselves according to their means.
The long shady avenues of the Prater are crowded with observers,
regarding the double procession, up and down, of closely hemmed
carriages, with liveried footmen, filled with the beauty and wealth of
the capital, following in the wake of the many gilded and brilliant
court equipages containing the imperial family and ladies of honor,
foreign ambassadors, &c. Within neat inclosures, in summer houses, are
seen the nobility, dining sumptuously, as Royalty also dines here,
on the occasion. But what is more novel, is the Wurstel Prater, on
another avenue, and its novel surroundings. Here are found Punch and
Judy, or Marionettes, flying horses, miniature railroads, with weighing
machines, theatres, boat and revolving swings, panoramas, bands of
music, and scores of recreations for the masses, mostly permanent
establishments for the summer, coffee-houses, with thousands of tables
under the trees; and bread and cheese, sausages, coffee, and light
beer, disappear in marvellous quantities, at short notice, and, strange
to say, in that vast multitude, I only saw one partially drunken man, a
soldier. No fighting, no quarrelling, all harmony, all were in pursuit
of rational amusement, rich and poor, men, women, and children.
The Imperial Steamship Company employ their steamers upon the Danube,
the Save, the Drave, and Theiss, and terminate their line at Galatz,
where the Lloyd line for Constantinople connects. The steamers are
small, but much improved since I was last in this country, being
constructed after American designs.
From Vienna to Presburg, the banks of the river are low, with nothing
of interest, except the battle-ground of Wagram. Presburg is prettily
situated, with delightful environs. A bridge of boats crosses the
river here; I counted twenty-nine boats in passing over to the forest
promenade, which is much resorted to, and contains a summer theatre
and refreshment houses. The town has forty-two thousand inhabitants.
The Cathedral, built in the year 1090, was the crowning place of
the Hungarian kings; it has some remarkable statuary in metal. The
festival of the recently declared dogma, by the Pope, of the immaculate
conception of the Virgin, took place while I was there--which brought
out the ladies in large numbers, and Hungary may boast of the beauty
of her daughters. Upon the summit of the hill overlooking the town,
still stand the royal castle walls, burnt in 1812, and from which a
magnificent view of the city and Danube is obtained.
Descending from Presburg, the river becomes wider; at this place is the
celebrated chain bridge, finished in 1849, and one of the wonders of
the age; it is fifteen hundred feet across.
Komorn, _en route_ between the two cities named, has seventeen
thousand inhabitants, and possesses one of the strongest fortifications
in Europe. In the revolution of 1849, the Hungarians held out for a
long time, and finally gave it up voluntarily.
Gran, lying below, has an equal population, and is the residence of the
Primate of Hungary, Cardinal Rudnay, who has erected a cathedral, which
is not yet finished. From this place the steamer runs between porphyry
rocky shores, whose scenery resembles that of Saxon Switzerland. One of
the striking features of the river scenery is the thousands of water
mills built in boat-form, and occupied, after the ice disappears, for
the grinding of the products of the country. Hungary is rich in wine,
wheat, horses, horned cattle, and sheep. The quantity of wool produced
is enormous--Prince Esterhazy’s estates counting their thousands of
shepherds.
When I travelled through this country before a railroad was suggested,
it was by “Bauer” or Farmer’s Post, in a rude wagon, upon hay seats,
with four raw-boned nags upon the full gallop. I had an opportunity
then of judging of the dependent condition of the serfs. Since that
time they have been made free by the Ex-Emperor, their freedom growing
out of the revolution.
I counted yesterday a procession of three hundred and thirty-five men
and women coming over the bridge, with banners flying, and crucifixes
in the hands of the priests, after a four days’ pilgrimage to Mount
Calvary, which I had seen from the steamer; the chapel is on the
summit of a hill, with different stations in ascending. They came in
singing, and looked pretty well jaded out. The populace stood along the
sidewalk, in masses, to witness the return; they were mostly of the
lower classes, and poorly clad.
Offen, opposite this place, has a population of thirty-two thousand.
It was in possession of the Turks for one hundred and fifty years, at
different times, and in 1684 taken from them; but the traces of its
possession by the Musselmans are still left, particularly in its baths,
which remind one of old Stamboul, from the heavy massive work, columns
and domes; among the number the poor people’s bath costs a kreutzer
(three-quarters of a cent). My guide led me through the dense vapor
produced by the copious supply of flowing water of a high temperature,
and I could scarcely discern an object; but presently figures appear to
the eye, as one passes through the mist: there sits a woman washing her
clothes; another washes her children; then come men and boys, old and
young, diseased and sound, promiscuously thrown together. There were
twenty-nine in all, but the bath is capable of containing one hundred
and fifty.
The idea is certainly repugnant, and discovers a low state of
morals--the blending of the sexes together in a state of nature. With
the perspiration rolling out of every pore, I was glad to make my
escape.
An excursion to the Kaiser Bad (Emperor’s Bath), a few miles by
steamer, gives an opportunity of seeing fashionable invalids, bathing
in, and drinking the waters.
The fortification which commands the summit at Offen, and from which
Pesth was bombarded during the Kossuth war, and which contains the
palaces of the Palatine and castle gardens, is now occupied by the
Erzherzog Albrecht, and is a town in itself; and, from its commanding
position, one has a fine view of the country villages and retreats in
the rear, as also of Pesth and the whole surrounding country. Here
stands a new monument, erected to the memory of General Heutzi and
Oberst Alnoch, and four hundred and eighteen other Austrian officers
and soldiers, who lost their lives in defending the place against
the Hungarians, who occupied the heights in the neighborhood. Many
buildings on both sides of the river still retain the marks of the
cannon and musket balls, and many are entirely destroyed, giving an
idea of the destruction caused by the revolution, and of the ravages of
war.
In Presburg, the Hungarian’s nationality seems to be, in a measure,
absorbed by the German’s. Here, he stands out more in his native form.
The shop signs are chiefly Hungarian, and unintelligible to most
foreigners. The journals are in both languages, German and Magyar. The
officers and troops are from other parts of the Austrian provinces,
while the Hungarian soldiery are sent to Vienna, Lombardy, and other
points. The language is unlike all the other living languages of
Europe, being of Oriental origin, and difficult to acquire.