. The earth and its inhabitants ... Geography. 82 AUSTEIA-HUNGART. Fig. qI.—The Dkave axd the Danube. 5 30 E Ot P tion and reconstruction are ever at work. At one point the current undermines the banks, and sweeps away the débris, which it deposits again lower down. Islands, which in course of time become covered with willows and poplars, are formed in one part of the river, and washed away in the other. Shallow channels ramify in all directions, and we wonder how the pilots can pick their way in this labyrinth. The houses on the banks are hardly visible amongst the trees which surround them,
. The earth and its inhabitants ... Geography. 82 AUSTEIA-HUNGART. Fig. qI.—The Dkave axd the Danube. 5 30 E Ot P tion and reconstruction are ever at work. At one point the current undermines the banks, and sweeps away the débris, which it deposits again lower down. Islands, which in course of time become covered with willows and poplars, are formed in one part of the river, and washed away in the other. Shallow channels ramify in all directions, and we wonder how the pilots can pick their way in this labyrinth. The houses on the banks are hardly visible amongst the trees which surround them, and sometimes, when we approach clusters of floating mills anchored in the stream, we fancy that the river population is more numerous than that of the land. Large herds of cattle are seen to wander over the marsh lands bordering upon the river, swarms of aquatic birds rise from cane - brakes, and swallows build their nests where the banks are steep. Immediately after having passed through the Hungarian Gate, be- tween the Alps and the Carpathians, the Danube divides into numerous branches, forming a labyrinth of islands collectively known as Schiitt in German, andCzallokoz in Magyar, the latter name signifying "deceitful island," probably with reference to the changes perpetually going on. These islands are an ancient lake delta of the river, and between the mouth of the Vag and the fortress of Komarom (Comorn), at their lower end, they cover an area of COO square miles. Below Comorn the Danube once more flows in a single bed, and then engages in the narrow gorge formed by the mountains of Pilis and NoOTad (Novio:rad). This de- file, which connects the plain of Pressburg with the great plain of Hungary, is historically of considerable importance. Here, on a promontory, rise the ruined towers of Visegrad, a for- tress in which was kept the crown of St. Stephen ; there, too, rose the magnificent palace of Matthias Corvinus. Buda-Pest, the twin capital of all Hungary
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade18, booksubjectgeography, bookyear1883
