"Magyarland," volume 2 (of 2)

"Magyarland," volume 2 (of 2) by Nina Elizabeth Mazuchelli is a travel narrative written in the late 19th century. It follows the author and her companion with their fiery, resourceful guide András across Hungary and its frontiers, mixing lively incident with history, ethnography, and landscape. The journey moves from the Lower Danube’s Roman traces to Transylvanian baths, mountain passes, and the Alföld, portraying Magyars, Wallachs, and other peoples in vivid, on-the-spot scenes. The opening of the book finds the travellers crossing into Roumania at Szörény amid strict passport checks, beggars, and a comic-violent spat that András settles with a whip before they visit the site of Trajan’s Bridge at Turnu Severin and move on to Orsova. They explore the Kroncapelle where the Crown of St. Stephen was hidden, the island-fortress of New Orsova still occupied by Turks, and reflect on Kossuth’s exile before a rough ascent above the Danube—she riding an improvised “chair” saddle—among shepherds, eagles, and stupendous crags. After market-day scenes and Trajan’s Tablet in the Kasan Pass, a furious three-horse dash up the Czerna valley leads to Mehadia’s Hercules Baths, their sulphurous springs, Roman relics, and a swirl of visitors; a Wallach girl’s refusal to sell her woven girdle underscores peasant pride. A night train across the Banát brings a political exchange with a sorrowful old Magyar, then Temesvár’s polyglot bustle and the story of the Banát’s transformation.

"Magyarland," volume 2 (of 2), by Nina Elizabeth Mazuchelli. Republished by OpenStories from Project Gutenberg eBook #78675.