e globe, thus signifying
his intention of defending the country from any attack whatsoever. Thus
far he has succeeded in doing it, and in keeping on good terms with the
legislative bodies of the country, without whose co-operation he cannot
exercise his supreme authority. These bodies are a chamber of peers,
recruited from the prelates, counts and such aristocrats as sit there by
right of birth, and a second chamber, which is composed of four hundred
and thirteen deputies elected from as many districts for the term of
three years, and thirty-four delegates from the autonomous province of
Croatia-Slavonia. The entrance to the diet is guarded by a
frosty-looking servitor in an extravagant Hungarian uniform, jacket and
hose profusely covered with brilliant braids, and varnished jack-boots.
The deputies when in session are quiet, orderly and dignified, save
when the word "Russian" is pronounced. It is a word which arouses all
their hatred.

Buda-Pesth is about to undergo a formidable series of improvements
notwithstanding the illusions which were dispersed by the _Krach_. One
of the most conspicuous and charming municipal displays in the Paris
Exposition is the group of charts and plans sent from Pesth. The patriot
Deak is to have a colossal monument; the quays are to be rendered more
substantial against inundations than they are at present; and many
massive public edifices are to be erected. The Danube is often unruly,
and once nearly destroyed the city of Pesth, also doing much damage
along the slopes of Buda. If an inundation should come within the next
two or three years millions of florins' worth of property might be swept
away in a single night. The opera, the principal halls of assembly and
the hotels of Pesth will challenge comparison with those of any town of
two hundred thousand population in the world; and the Grand Hotel
Hungaria has few equals in cities of the largest size.

[Illustration: SLAV WOMAN IN PESTH.]

The Hungarians are a handsome race, and the people of Pesth and vicinity
have especial claims to attention for their beauty. The men of the
middle and upper classes are tall, slender, graceful, and their features
are exceedingly regular and pleasing. The women are so renowned that a
description of their charms is scarcely necessary. Beautiful as are the
Viennese ladies in their early youth, they cannot rival their
fellow-subjects of Hungary. The Austrian woman grows fat, matronly and
rather coarse as