than on dry land. Indeed, the marshy borders of the Danube are
not very healthy, and it is not astonishing that men do not care to make
their homes on these low lands. There are several aquatic towns between
Pesth and the point at which the Drava (or Drau), a noble river, empties
its waters into the Danube. Apatin is an assemblage of huts which appear
to spring from the bosom of the current, but as the steamer approaches
one sees that these huts are built upon piles driven firmly into the
river-bed, and between these singular habitations are other piles upon
which nets are stretched. So the fisherman, without going a hundred
yards from his own door, traps the wily denizens of the Danube, prepares
them for market, and at night goes peacefully to sleep in his rough bed,
lulled by the rushing of the strong current beneath him. I am bound to
confess that the fishermen of Apatin impressed me as being rather
rheumatic, but perhaps this was only a fancy.

Besdan, with its low hills garnished with windmills and its shores lined
with silvery willows, is the only other point of interest, save Mohacz,
before reaching Pesth. Hour after hour the traveller sees the same
panorama of steppes covered with swine, cattle and horses, with
occasional farms--their outbuildings protected against brigands and
future wars by stout walls--and with pools made by inundations of the
impetuous Danube. Mohacz is celebrated for two tremendous battles in the
past, and for a fine cathedral, a railway and a coaling-station at
present. Louis II., king of Hungary, was there undone by Suleiman in
1526; and there, a hundred and fifty years later, did the Turks come to
sorrow by the efforts of the forces under Charles IV. of Lorraine.

[Illustration: BRIDGE OF BUDA-PESTH.]

Just as I was beginning to believe that the slow-going steamer on which
I had embarked my fortunes was held back by enchantment--for we were
half a day ascending the stream from Mohacz--we came in sight of a huge
cliff almost inaccessible from one side, and a few minutes later could
discern the towers of Buda and the mansions of Pesth. While nearing the
landing-place and hastening hither and yon to look after various small
bundles and boxes, I had occasion to address an Hungarian gentleman. In
the course of some conversation which followed I remarked that Pesth
seemed a thriving place, and that one would hardly have expected to find
two such flourishing towns as Vienna and Pesth so near