Round About the Carpathians Part 11

As far as the buildings are concerned, Kronstadt has much the air of an old-fas.h.i.+oned German town. As you pa.s.s along the streets you get a peep now and then of picturesque interior courtyards, seen through the wide-arched doorways. These courts are mostly surrounded by an open arcade. Generally in the centre of each is set a large green tub holding an oleander-tree. This gives rather an Oriental appearance to these interiors. The East and West are here mixed up together most curiously.

Amongst the fair-haired, blue-eyed Saxons are dusky Armenians and black-ringleted Jews, wearing strange garments. By the way, the merchants of these two races have ousted the Saxon trader from the field; commerce is almost completely in their hands.

The market-day at Kronstadt is a most curious and interesting sight. The country-people come in, sitting in their long waggons, drawn by four horses abreast, they themselves dressed in cloaks of snow-white sheepskins, or richly-embroidered white leather coats lined with black fur. The head-gear too is very comely, and very dissimilar; for there are flat fur caps--like an exaggerated Glengarry--and peaked hats, and drum-shaped hats for the girls, while the close-twisted white kerchief denotes the matron. The Wallack maiden is adorned by her dowry of coins hanging over head and shoulders, and with braids of plaited black hair--mingled, I am afraid, with tow, if the truth must be spoken.

Kronstadt is rather a considerable place; the population is stated to be 27,766, composed of Saxons, Szeklers, and Wallacks, who have each their separate quarter. It is most beautifully situated, quite amongst the mountains; in fact it is 2000 feet above the sea-level. The Saxon part of the town is built in the opening of a richly-wooded valley. The approach from the vale beyond--the Burzenland, of which I have spoken before--is guarded by a singular isolated rock, a spur of the mountain-chain. This natural defence is crowned by a fortress, which forms a very picturesque feature in the landscape. Formerly the town was completely surrounded by walls, curtained on the hillside, reminding one of Lucern's "coronal of towers." In the "brave days of old" the trade-guilds were severally allotted their forts for the defence of the town--no holiday task for volunteers, as in our "right little, tight little island."

Though the dangers of the frontier are by no means a thing of the past, the town walls and the towers are mainly in ruins, overgrown with wild vines and other luxuriant vegetation. As no guidebook exists to tell one what one ought to see, and where one ought to go, I had all the pleasure of poking about and coming upon surprises. I was not aware that the church at Kronstadt is about the finest specimen of fourteenth-century Gothic in Transylvania, ranking second only to the Cathedral of Kashau in Upper Hungary.

My first walk was to the Kapellenburg, a hill which rises abruptly from the very walls of the town. An hour's climb through a shady zigzag brought me to the summit. From thence I could see the "seven villages"

which, according to some persons, gave the German name to the province, Siebenburgen, "seven towns." The level Burzenland looked almost like a green lake; beyond it the chain of the Carpathian takes a bend, forming the frontier of Roumania. The highest point seen from thence is the Schulerberg, upwards of 8000 feet, and a little farther off the Konigstein, and the Butschrtsch, the latter reaching 9526 feet. Hardly less picturesque is the view from the Castle Hill. Quite separated from the rest of the town is the quarter inhabited by the Szeklers. This people const.i.tute one of four princ.i.p.al races inhabiting Transylvania.

They are of Turanian origin, like the Magyars, but apparently an older branch of the family. When the Magyars overran Pannonia in the tenth century, under the heads.h.i.+p of the great Arpad, they appear to have found the Szeklers already in possession of part of the vast Carpathian horseshoe--that part known to us as the Transylvanian frontier of Moldavia. They claim to have come hither as early as the fourth century.

It is known that an earlier wave of the Turanians had swept over Europe before the incoming of the Magyars, and the so-called Szeklers were probably a tribe or remnant of this invasion, the date of which, however, is wrapped in no little obscurity.

This is certain, that they have preserved their independence throughout all these ages in a very remarkable manner. "They are all 'n.o.ble,'" says Mr b.o.n.e.r, "and proudly and steadfastly adhere to and uphold their old rights and privileges, such as right of limiting and of pasture. They had their own judges, and acknowledged the authority of none beside.

Like their ancestors the Huns, they loved fighting, and were the best soldiers that Bem had in his army. They guarded the frontier, and guarded it well, of their own free-will; but they would not be compelled to do so, and the very circ.u.mstance that Austria, when the border system was established, obliged them to furnish a contingent of one infantry and two hussar regiments sufficed to alienate their regard."[17] In another place Mr b.o.n.e.r says, "The Szekler soldier, I was told, was 'excessive,' which means extreme, in all he did."

In the view of recent events, it may be worth while to recall to mind a few particulars of General Bem's campaign in Transylvania. In no part of Hungary was the war of independence waged with so much bitterness as down here on these border-lands. The Saxons and the Wallacks were bitterly opposed to the Magyars; and on the 12th of May, in the eventful '48, a popular meeting was held at Kronstadt, where they protested vehemently against union with Hungary, and swore allegiance to the Emperor of Austria. Upon this the Szeklers flew to arms--on the side of the Magyars, of course; throughout their history they have always made common cause with them. In the autumn of the same year, Joseph Bem, a native of Galicia, who had fought under Marshal Davoust, later with Macdonald at the siege of Hamburg, arid had also taken part in the Polish insurrection of 1830, attached himself to the Hungarian cause. He had formed a body of troops from the wrecks and remnants of other corps, and soon by his admirable tactics succeeded on two occasions in beating the Austrians at the very outset of his campaign; the latter of these victories was near Dees, to the north of Klausenburg, where he defeated General Wardener. The winter of that terrible year wore on. In Transylvania it was not merely keeping back the common enemy, the invader of the soil, but it was a case where the foes were of the same towns.h.i.+p, and the nearest neighbours confronted each other on opposite ranks.

The Austrians meanwhile had called in the Russians to aid them in crus.h.i.+ng the Hungarians; and at the time it was believed that the Saxons of Transylvania had instigated this measure. It is easy to understand how the Russians would be hated along with their allies; it was a desperate struggle, and well fought out by Magyars and Szeklers, ably handled by General Bem. Herrmannstadt and Kronstadt both fell into his hands, after a vigorous defence by the Austro-Russian garrisons; in fact, by the middle of March '49, the whole of Transylvania, with the exception of Karlsburg and Deva, was held by the troops of this fortunate general. But, as we all know, the Hungarian arms were not so successful elsewhere, and the end of that struggle was approaching, which was to find its saddest hour at Villagos on the 13th of August, when the Hungarians were cajoled into laying down their arms before the Russians!

The rest of the miserable story had better not be dwelt upon. Much has changed in these few years. Now a Hapsburg recognises the privilege of mercy amongst his kingly attributes. The last words of Maximilian, the ill-fated Emperor of Mexico, were, "Let my blood be the last shed as an offering for my country." Since then capital punishment has become of rare occurrence in Austria; and remembering his brother's death, the Emperor, it is said, can hardly be induced to sign a death-warrant!

[Footnote 17: b.o.n.e.r's Transylvania, p. 624.]

CHAPTER XX.

The Tomoscher Pa.s.s--Projected railway from Kronstadt to Bucharest--Visit to the cavalry barracks at Rosenau--Terzburg Pa.s.s--Dr Daubeny on the extinct volcanoes of Hungary--Professor Judd on mineral deposits.

Kronstadt is a capital place as headquarters for any one who desires to explore the neighbouring country. One of my first expeditions was to Sinia, a small bath-place in the Tomoscher Pa.s.s, just over the borders--in fact in Roumania. Here Prince Charles has a charming chateau, and there are besides several ambitious Swiss cottages belonging to the wealthy grandees of Roumania. My object was not so much to see the little place, as it was to explore this pa.s.s of the Carpathians, now so familiar to newspaper correspondents and others since the Russo-Turkish war began.

As I mentioned before, a railway is projected from Kronstadt through this pa.s.s, which will meet the Lemberg and Bucharest line at Ployesti, that station being less than two hours from the Roumanian capital. Up to the present hour not a sod of this railway has been turned; but curiously enough, with only two or three exceptions, all the "war maps"

have made the capital mistake of marking it down as a _completed_ line.

In the autumn of 1875, when I was there, the levels had been taken and the course marked down; if it is ever really carried out, it will be one of the most beautiful railway drives in Europe. It is a most important link in the railway system of Eastern Europe. The Danube route is frequently, indeed periodically, closed by the winter's ice, and sometimes by the drought of summer, in which case the traveller who wants to get to Roumania must take the train from Buda-Pest to Kronstadt, and thence by road through the Tomoscher Pa.s.s to Ployesti.

There is a diligence service twice daily, occupying fourteen hours or thereabouts, dependent, of course, on the state of the roads, which can be very bad--inconceivably bad. For the sake of the excursion I took a place in the _postwagen_ one day as far as Sinia, where there is a modern hotel and very tolerable quarters. The scenery of the pa.s.s is very romantic. In places the road winds round the face of the precipice, and far below is a deep sunless glen, through which the mountain torrent rushes noisily over its rocky bed; at other times you skirt the stream with its green margin of meadow--a pastoral oasis amidst the wild grandeur of bare limestone peaks and snowy summits. The autumnal colouring on the hanging woods of oak and beech was something more brilliant than I ever remember to have seen; the effect of being oneself in shadow and seeing the glory of the sunlight on the foliage of the other side of the defile, was most striking. Above this ruby mountain rose other heights with a girdle of dark fir, and higher still were visible yet loftier peaks, clothed in the dazzling whiteness of fresh-fallen snow. In the Southern Carpathians there is no region of perpetual snow, but the higher summits are generally snow-clad late in the spring and very early in the autumn. I was told there is good bear-hunting in this district.

While at Kronstadt I made the acquaintance of some Austrian officers quartered in the neighbourhood. They kindly invited me to the cavalry barracks at Rosenau, and accordingly I went over for a few days. The barracks were built by the people of the village, or rather small town, of Rosenau; for they were obliged by law to quarter the military, and to avoid the inconvenience of having soldiers billeted upon them they constructed a suitable building. The cavalry horses were nearly all in a bad plight when I was there, for they had an epidemic of influenza amongst them; but we found a couple of nags to scramble about with, and made some pleasant excursions. One of our rides was to a place called "The Desolate Path," a singularly wild bit of scenery, and curiously in contrast to the rich fertility of Rosenau and its immediate neighbourhood. This pretty little market town lies at the foot of a hill, which is crowned with a romantic ruin, one of the seven burgher fortresses built by the Saxon immigrants. There is a remarkably pretty walk from the village to the "Odenweg," a romantic ravine, with beautiful hanging woods and castellated rocks disposed about in every sort of fantastic form. It reminded me somewhat of some parts of the Odenwald near Heidelberg. Very likely the wild and mysterious character of the spot led the German settlers to a.s.sociate with it the name of Oden.

We also rode over the Terzburg Pa.s.s. The picturesque castle which gives its name to this pa.s.s is situated on an isolated rock, admirably calculated for defence in the old days. It belonged once upon a time to the Teutonic Knights, who held it on condition of defending the frontier; but they became so intolerable to the burghers of Kronstadt, that these informed their sovereign that they preferred being their own defenders, and thus the castle and nine villages were given over to the town. The Germans who had left their own Rhine country for the sake of getting away from the robber knights were not anxious for that special mediaeval inst.i.tution to accompany them in their flitting, we may be sure. The democratic character of the laws and customs of the Germans of Transylvania is a very curious and interesting study; in not a few instances these people have antic.i.p.ated by some centuries the liberal ideas of Western Europe in our own day.

After returning from the visit to my military friends at Rosenau, I was told I must not omit to make some excursions to the celebrated mineral watering-places of Transylvania. The chief baths in this locality are Elopatak and Tusnad. The first named is four hours' drive from Kronstadt. The waters contain a great deal of protoxide of iron, stronger even than those of Schwalbach, which they resemble. Tusnad, I was told, is pleasantly situated on the river Aluta, an excellent stream for fis.h.i.+ng. The post goes daily in eight hours from Kronstadt. The season is very short, being over in August. Tusnad is said to contain one hundred springs of different kinds of water. I am not a water-totaller, so I did not taste all of them when I visited the place later on; but undoubtedly alum, iodine, and iron do severally impregnate the various springs.

I remembered reading long ago Dr Daubeny's work on "Volcanoes," in which he says that Hungary is one of the most remarkable countries in Europe for the scale on which volcanic operation has taken place. There are, it is stated, seven well-marked mountain groups of volcanic rocks, and two of these are in Transylvania. The most interesting in many respects is the chain of hills separating Szeklerland from Transylvania Proper. It is within this district that most of the mineral springs are found.

These volcanic rocks are of undoubted Tertiary origin, say the geologists. The whole range is for the most part composed of various kinds of trachytic conglomerate. "From the midst of these vast tufaceous deposits, the tops of the hills, composed of trachyte, a rock which forms all the loftiest eminences, here and there emerge.... The trachyte is ordinarily reddish, greyish, or blackish; it mostly contains mica. In the southern parts, as near Csik Szereda, the trachyte encloses large ma.s.ses, sometimes forming even small hillocks, of that variety of which millstones are made, having quartz crystals disseminated through it, and in general indurated by silicious matter in so fine a state of division that the parts are nearly invisible. The latter substance seems to be the result of a kind of sublimation which took place at the moment of the formation of the trachyte.... Distinct craters are only seen at the southern extremity of the chain. One of the finest observed by Dr Bone was to the south of Tusnad. It was of great size and well characterised, surrounded by pretty steep and lofty hills composed of trachyte. The bottom of the hollow was full of water. The ground near has a very strong sulphureous odour. A mile to the SSE. direction from this point there are on the tableland two large and distinct _maars_ like those of the Eifel--that is to say, old craters, which have been lakes, and are now covered with a thick coat of marsh plants. The cattle dare not graze upon them for fear of sinking in. Some miles farther in the same direction is the well-known hill of Budoshegy (or hill of bad smell), a trachytic mountain, near the summit of which is a distinct rent, exhaling very hot sulphureous vapours.... The craters here described have thrown out a vast quant.i.ty of pumice, which now forms a deposit of greater or less thickness along the Aluta and the Marosch from Tusnad to Toplitza. Impressions of plants and some silicious wood are likewise to be found in it."[18]

Since Dr Daubeny's time there have been many observers over the same ground, the most distinguished being the Hungarian geologist Szabo, professor at the University of Buda-Pest. A countryman of our own has also taken up the subject of the ancient volcanoes of Hungary, and has recently published a paper on the subject. Professor Judd has confined his remarks princ.i.p.ally to the Schemnitz district in the north of Hungary. But the following pa.s.sage refers to the general character of the formation. Professor Judd says:[19] "The most interesting fact with regard to the const.i.tution of these Hungarian lavas, which in the central parts of their ma.s.ses are often found to a.s.sume a very coa.r.s.ely crystalline and almost granitic character, while their outer portions present a strikingly scoriaceous or slaggy appearance, remains to be noticed. It is, that though the predominant felspar in them is always of the basic type, yet they not unfrequently contain _free quartz_, sometimes in very large proportion. This free quartz is in some cases found to const.i.tute large irregular crystalline grains in the ma.s.s, just like those of the ordinary orthoclase quartz-trachytes; but at other times its presence can only be detected by the microscope in thin sections. These quartziferous andesites were by Stache, who first clearly pointed out their true character, styled 'Dacites,' from the circ.u.mstance of their prevalence in Transylvania (the ancient Dacia)."

In concluding this highly instructive and interesting memoir of the volcanic rocks of Hungary, Professor Judd says: "The mineral veins of Hungary and Transylvania, with their rich deposits of gold and silver, cannot be of older date than the Miocene, while some of them are certainly more recent than the Pliocene. Hence these deposits of ore must all have been formed at a later period than the clays and sands on which London stands; while in some cases they appear to be of even younger date than the gravelly beds of our crags!"

For any one who desires to geologise in Hungary and Transylvania there is abundant a.s.sistance to be obtained in the maps which have been issued by the Imperial Geological Inst.i.tute of Vienna, under the successive direction of Haidinger and Von Hauer. "These are geologically-coloured copies of the whole of the 165 sheets of the military map of the empire; and these have been accompanied by most valuable memoirs on the different districts, published in the well-known 'Jahrbuch' of the Inst.i.tute. Franz von Hauer has further completed a reduction of these large-scale maps to a general map consisting of twelve sheets, with a memoir descriptive of each, and has finally in his most valuable and useful work, 'Die Geologie und ihre Anwendung auf die Kenntniss der Bodenbeschaffenheit der Osterrungar. Monarchie,' which is accompanied by a single-sheet map of the whole country, summarised in a most able manner the entire ma.s.s of information hitherto obtained concerning the geology of the empire."

I have given this pa.s.sage from Mr Judd's paper because there exists a good deal of misapprehension amongst English travellers as to what has really been done with regard to the geological survey of Austro-Hungary.

[Footnote 18: A Description of Active and Extinct Volcanoes, by C.

Daubeny, p. 133. 1848.]

[Footnote 19: 'On the Ancient Volcano of the District of Schemnitz, Hungary,' Quarterly Journal, Geo. Soc., August 1876.]

CHAPTER XXI.

A ride through Szeklerland--Warnings about robbers--Buksad--A look at the sulphur deposits on Mount Budos--A lonely lake--An invitation to Tusnad.

Feeling curious not only about the geology of the Szeklerland, but interested also in the inhabitants, I resolved to pursue my journey by going through what is called the Csik. I made all my arrangements to start, but wet weather set in, and I remained against my inclination at Kronstadt, for I was impatient now to be moving onwards.

When I was in Hungary Proper they told me that travelling in Transylvania was very dangerous, and that it was a mad notion to think of going about there alone. Now that I was in Transylvania, I was amused at finding myself most seriously warned against the risk of riding alone through the Szeklerland. Every one told some fresh story of the insecurity of the roads. Curiously enough, foreigners get off better than the natives themselves; people of indifferent honesty have been known to say, "One would not rob a stranger." It happened to me that one day when riding along--in this very Szeklerland of ill-repute--I dropped my Scotch plaid, and did not discover my loss till I arrived at the next village, where I was going to sleep. I was much vexed, not thinking for a moment that I should ever see my useful plaid again.

However, before the evening was over, a peasant brought it into the inn, saying he had found it on the road, and it must belong to the Englishman who was travelling about the country. The finder would not accept any reward!

There was a fair in the town the day I left Kronstadt. The field where it is held is right opposite Hotel "No. 1," and the whole place was crowded with country-folks in quaint costumes--spruce, gaily-dressed people mixed up with Wallack cattle-drivers and other picturesque rascals, such as gipsies and Jews, and here and there a Turk, and, more ragged than all, a sprinkling of refugee Bulgarians. Though it was a scene of strange incongruities--a very jumble of races--yet it was by no means a crowd of roughs; on the contrary, the well-dressed, well-to-do element prevailed. The thrifty Saxon was very much there, intent on making a good bargain; the neatly-dressed Szekler walked about holding his head on his shoulders with an air of resolute self-respect--they are unmistakable, are these proud rustics. Many a fair-haired Saxon maiden too tripped along, eyeing askance the peculiar "get-up" of the Englishman as he was about to mount his n.o.ble steed and ride forth into the wilds. If I was amused by the crowd, I believe the crowd was greatly amused at my proceedings. Mine own familiar friend, I verily believe, would have pa.s.sed me by on the other side, I cut so queer a figure. As usual on these occasions, I had sent forward my portmanteau, this time to Maros Vasarhely; but everything else I possessed I carried round about me and my horse somehow, and I am not a man "who wants but little here below."

Besides my _toilette de voyage_, I had my cooking apparatus, a small jar of Liebig's meat, and some compressed tea, and other little odds and ends of comforts. I had also provided myself with some bacon and _slivovitz_ for barter, a couple of bottles of the spirit being turned into a big flask slung alongside of my lesser flask for wine. Nor was this all, for having duly secured my saddle-bags, I had the plaid and mackintosh rolled up neatly and strapped in front of the saddle; then my gun, field-gla.s.s, and roll of three maps were slung across my shoulders.

_Nota bene_ my pockets were full to repletion. In my leathern belt was stuck a revolver, handy, and a bowie-knife not far off.

But the portrait of this Englishman as he appeared to the Kronstadt people on that day is not yet complete. His legs were encased in Hessian boots; his shooting-jacket was somewhat the worse for wear; and his hat, which had been eminently respectable at first starting, had acquired a sort of brigandish air; and to add to the drollery of his general appearance, the excellent little Servian horse he rode was not high enough for a man of his inches.

With my weapons of offence and defence I must have appeared a "caution"

to robbers, and it seems that the business of the fair was suspended to witness my departure. I was profoundly unconscious at the time of the public interest taken in my humble self, but later I heard a very humorous account of the whole proceeding from some relatives who visited Kronstadt about three weeks afterwards. I believe I am held in remembrance in the town as a typical Englishman!

Well, to take up the thread of my narrative--like Don Quixote, "I travelled _all_ that day." If any reader can remember Gustave Dore's ill.u.s.tration of the good knight on that occasion, he will have some idea of how the sky looked on this very ride of mine. As evening approached, the settled grey clouds, which had hung overhead like a pall all the afternoon, were driven about by a rough wind, which went on rising steadily. The grim phantom-haunted clouds came closer and closer round about me as darkness grew apace, and now and then the gust brought with it a vicious "spate" of rain. With no immediate prospect of shelter, my position became less and less lively. I had not bargained for a night on the highroad, or lodgings in a dry ditch or under a tree. Indeed those luxuries were not at hand; for trees there were none bordering the road, or in the open fields which stretched away on either side; and as for a _dry_ ditch, I heard the streams gurgling along the watercourses, which were full to overflowing, as well they might be, seeing that it had rained for three days.

My object was to reach the village of Buksad, but where was Buksad now in reference to myself? I had no idea it was such a devil of a way off when I started. I had foolishly omitted to consult the map for myself, and had just relied on what I was told, though I might have remembered how loosely country-people all the world over speak of time and s.p.a.ce.

When at length the darkness had become perplexing--_entre chien et loup_, as the saying is--I met a peasant with a fierce-looking sheep-dog by his side. The brute barked savagely round me as if he meant mischief, and I soon told the peasant if he did not call off his dog directly I would shoot him. He called his dog back, which proved he understood German, so I then asked if I was anywhere near Buksad. To my dismay he informed me that it was a long way off; how long he would not say, for without further parley he strode on, and he and his dog were soon lost to view in the thick misty darkness.

Not a furlong farther, I came suddenly upon a house by the roadside, and a man coming out of the door with a light at the same moment enabled me to see "Vendeglo" on a small signboard. Good-luck: here, then, was an inn, where at least shelter was possible; and shelter was much to be desired, seeing that the rain was now a steady downpour. On making inquiries, I found that I was already in Buksad. The peasant had played off a joke at my expense, or perhaps dealt me a Roland for an Oliver, for threatening to shoot his dog. A _paprika handl_ was soon prepared for me. In all parts of the country where travellers are possible, the invariable reply to a demand for something to eat is the query, "Would the gentleman like _paprika handl_?" and he had better like it, for his chances are small of getting anything else. While I was seeing after my horse, the woman of the inn caught a miserable chicken, which I am sure could have had nothing to regret in this life; and in a marvellously short time the bird was stewed in red pepper, and called _paprika handl_.

I was aware that Count M---- owned a good deal of property in the neighbourhood of Buksad, and as I had a letter of introduction to his bailiff, I set off the next morning to find him. My object in coming to this particular part of the country was princ.i.p.ally to explore that curious place Mount Budos, mentioned by Dr Daubeny and others. I wanted to see for myself what amount of sulphur deposits were really to be found there. Count M----'s bailiff was very ready to be obliging, and he provided me with a guide, and further provided the guide with a horse, so that I had no difficulty in arranging an expedition to the mount of evil smell.

Having arranged the commissariat as usual, I started one fine morning with my guide. We rode for about two hours through a forest of majestic beech-trees, and then came almost suddenly, without any preparation, upon a beautiful mountain lake, called St Anna's Lake. It lies in a hollow; the hills around, forming cup-like sides, are clothed with thick woods down to its very edge. Looking down from above, I saw the green reflection of the foliage penetrating the pellucid water till it met the other heaven reflected below. The effect was very singular, and gave one the idea of a lovely bit of world and sky turned upside down; it produced, moreover, a sort of fascination, as if one must dive down into its luring depths. No human sight or sound disturbed the weird beauty of this lonely spot. I longed at last to break the oppressive silence, and I fired off my revolver. This brought down a perfect volley of echoes, and at the same time, from the highest crags, out flew some half-dozen vultures; they wheeled round for a few moments, then disappeared behind the nearest crest of wood.

My guide soon set about making a fire; and while dinner was being cooked, I bethought me I would have a bath. I took a header from a projecting rock, but I very soon made the best of my way out of the water again. It was icy cold; I hardly ever recollect feeling any water so cold--I suppose because the lake is so much in shadow. After the meal we pushed on to Budos, another two hours of riding; this time through a forest so dense that we could scarcely make our way. At last we reached a path, and this brought us before long to a roughly-constructed log-hut. This, I was told, was the "summer hotel." Further on there were a few more log-huts, the "dependence" of the hotel itself. The bathing season was over, so hosts and guests had alike departed. This must be "roughing it" with a vengeance, I should say; but my guide told me that very "high-born" people came here to be cured.