Austria-Hungary . The island of Worth splits the channel into has a ridge of rock on the north side and thisrises in contrast to the base of soft white sand whichforms a silver strand when the current is notswollen unduly. The chief pinnacle is of courseadorned by the inevitable ruin, and this is furthersignalised by a large crucifix, at sight of which thepeasants cross themselves. The tremendous task of cutting or blowing awaymasses of rock from the river channel took abouteight years, and during the winter the workmenoccupied Worth Island. The Horse-Shoe water-course, built of freesto
Austria-Hungary . The island of Worth splits the channel into has a ridge of rock on the north side and thisrises in contrast to the base of soft white sand whichforms a silver strand when the current is notswollen unduly. The chief pinnacle is of courseadorned by the inevitable ruin, and this is furthersignalised by a large crucifix, at sight of which thepeasants cross themselves. The tremendous task of cutting or blowing awaymasses of rock from the river channel took abouteight years, and during the winter the workmenoccupied Worth Island. The Horse-Shoe water-course, built of freestone, skirting the north side ofthe island, was planned by the engineer Liske, andthe great undertaking was completed by blowing offtons of the Kellerrock, a length measuring over 160feet. The second terror, the Wirbel, has now alto-gether disappeared. It was a whirlpool occasionedby the meeting of the two streams which flowedfast around a long tongue of rock 18 feet orso above water normally and 150 yards long by a. RUMANIAN CHILDREN BRINGING WATER TO HE RLESSED IN THEGREEK CHURCH, DESZE THE AUSTRIAN DANUBE 89 third as broad. This was less than three-quartersof a mile below the Strubel, and boats and raftsjust recovered from the one had to plunge into theeddies and whirlpools of the other at very greatrisk of being swamped altogether. The cause wasin reality simple enough and easily to be under-stood, being that one stream came up againstthe impetuous force of the other almost at rightangles, but the peasant mind, revelling in the super-natural, invested it with all the mystery of theunknown, and strange tales of weird wraiths risingfrom unfathomable depths added to the terrors ofthe passage, and the great circles of the eddyingwater, reaching sometimes to 50 feet in circum-ference, were looked upon as a kind of trap peopledby sirens. This was hardly wonderful, as at timesthe inside vortex was 5 feet deep like a funnel orcup. The railway which we met at Linz took acurve to the s
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidaustriahunga, bookyear1915
