FROM THE CAPITAL OF THE BANNAT, TO THE GOLD AND SILVER Bad air of the Bannat-Komlos-Aspect of the Country-Mohsin- the Bad air of the Komlos. the Town-Schemnitz-College of Mines-Chemical Laboratory- CHAP. IV. IT was not to be expected that we should pass through such a morbid atmosphere as this of Temeswar, without experiencing some of the effects of its bad air; for where the inhabitants cannot secure themselves from the attacks of fever, strangers are almost sure to become its victims. We were all more or less affected by it; but the servants, probably from being less attentive to their diet, were seized with such violent paroxysms, during the first part of our journey, that after leaving the town, we could only proceed three posts, (May 6,) as far as Komlos. Here a calf was killed, at the door of our chamber; and within the same hour part of it was served for our dinner. In this country, as in Flanders, the traveller has no sooner quitted one place of relay, than he sees the church belonging to the next, during his whole route. These straight roads in the Bannat are excellent, and the post-horses are generally good. The prospect exhibits immense pastures, with herds grazing; cows, sheep, and horses; or wide fields, without inclosures, covered with corn. Various aquatic fowls frequent the plains; among which we saw storks with red legs and bills. The Hungarian dress, commonly Aspect of the called called Hessian in England, consisting of pantaloons, with military half-boots to which spurs are fastened, is so universal, that it is worn both by boys and men. The remains of small Roman tumuli, used as marks of distance along the old Roman roads, are as common here as in Turkey. At Komlos we were amused by seeing a party of Walachians, in a group, seated upon the ground, playing with cards, noisy and quarrelsome; offering, together with their language, strong proofs of their resemblance to other descendants of the Romans, in Italy, who are constantly thus occupied in all the principal towns of that country. A disposition for gaming cannot well be considered as a national characteristic; because it is found in every country, however barbarous or enlightened: yet there are some tribes more universally distinguished by this vice than others; as the wild Irish, and wilder Calmucks. Gaming is perhaps unknown among the Turks, who are nevertheless fond of amusements which exercise the understanding without gratifying avarice. The real truth is, that although youth and liberality have been considered as the excitements of a passion for play, the disposition is always an indication of selfishness; therefore barbarous nations will be found the most addicted to gambling. May 7.-Campaign country, and good roads, as before, to Moksin; a place remarkable only for its beautiful Greek church, which would be exhibited as a curiosity even in London. Thence to Kanitsha, where we crossed the river Theiss, the western boundary of the Bannat. By the side of this river, the mercury in Fahrenheit's thermometer, at CHAP. IV. Moksin. noon, CHAP. IV. River noon, stood at 61°. The Theiss is the TIBISCUS of Ptolemy, and the TIBESIS of Herodotus. By Latin authors it was termed PATISSUS'. It rises in a mountain called Kalkberg, in the county of Maromarus, upon the confines of Transylvania and Russia; whence it traverses all UPPER HUNGARY westward: afterwards, flowing from north to south, and receiving many tributary streams, especially the Marisus, before its junction with the Danube, it falls into that river, near to Belgrade. Such is the astonishing quantity of the fishes taken in this river, that a thousand carp have been sold for less than four shillings of our money: indeed it has sometimes happened, that the fishermen, wanting purchasers, have either fattened hogs with them, or cast them again into the water. This marvellous fecundity has been attributed to the communication which the waters of the country have with the salt mines'. Certainly there is no part of the world so productive in this respect. The Bedrac, which falls into the Tibiscus near to Tokay, is, in summer, so full of fishes, that the inhabitants say it is then swelled by their prodigious number: and, with regard to the Tibiscus, a saying is current in the country, that "it contains two parts of (1)Dacis, ut ait (Plinius), pulsis ad Patissum amnem, quem ego detractâ primâ syllabâ Tissum, vel ut nunc vulgò vocant Tizam, accipio." De admirandis Hungariæ Aquis, G. VVherner, apud Rer. Hung. Script. p. 594. Francof. 1600. (2) Hist. et Déscript. du Roy. de Hongrie, liv. i. p. 30. Paris, 1688. (3) "On attribue cette grande fertilité à la communication qu'ont ces eaux avec les mines de sel," &c. Le Royaume de la Hongrie, p. 94. à Cologne, 1686. See also Sam bucus, de Reb. Hungar. apud Bonfinium, p. 760. Francof. 1581. of water and one of fishes." It antiently separated DACIA from the land of the JAZYGES METANASTÆ, who still retain the name of Jaz, and a different language from that of the Hungarians. Having quitted the Bannat, we proceeded through Horgos, over sandy roads, to Segedin; a wretched dirty straggling town, with a small fortress. The inn here, called the Gulden Adler, was filthy and detestable; the mistress of it being drunk and insolent. There had been a fair, which was now concluded. We saw nothing that was good in Segedin, excepting its bread; and this was of an excellent quality. It served, during the wars with the Turks, as did many more obscure towns of Hungary, to intercept the Turkish armies in their progress towards the rest of Europe; which caused the country to be denominated, by Christian nations, the shield and impregnable bulwark of CHRISTIANITY o. Saturday, May 8.- We found the roads. so much improved, that we diminished the number of our horses; hiring only four for our carriage, and three to convey the baggage. All the country between Segedin and Ketschemet, (4) This saying is given by Galeot. Martius, in his elegant little tract De Dictis et Factis Matthiæ, printed at Frankfort in 1600. (cap. 6.) Tibiscum, quem Titiam vocant, non valdè latum, sed profundum, qui adeò piscosus est, ut fama sit apud accolas, duas illius fluvii partes esse aquas, tertiam vero pisces." (5) "Porrò extat nunc quoque Jazygum natio inter HUNGAROS, quos ipsi voce decurtatâ Jaz vocant, ac retinent iidem etiamnum linguam suam avitam et peculiarem, Hungaricæ dissimilam." Georgio VVhernero, ubi suprà. (6) "Velut DEI Opt. Max. hominumque consensu et arbitrio, Hungaria facta est clypeus et arx CHRISTIANITATIS inexpugnabilis." Lansio, Orat. pro Hungaria, p. 588. CHAP, IV. Segedin. |