.n« *••• .<>••, ,. V^'tf^ °°*^- % V V^^\^ °o^ ; ^ »&** ^•t^-.V >%2tffc?.% -X.'itt.V v i ; < ft? *£ S^ -•' c^ ci» #' uBj AUSTRIA: HER PEOPLE AND THEIR HOMELANDS WORKS BT THE SAME AUTHOR RELATING TO AUSTRIA PICTURES FROM BOHEMIA LITERARY AND BIOGRAPHICAL STUDIES A FORGOTTEN GREAT ENGLISH- MAN THE CARDINAL'S PAGE THE GLEAMING DAWN- MARK TILLOTSON JOHN WESTACOTT REPORT ON TECHNICAL AND COMMERCIAL EDUCATION IN CENTRAL EUROPE &c. &c. AUSTRIA: HER PEOPLE & THEIR HOMELANDS BY JAMES BAKER, F.R.G.s. F.R.Hist.Soc, KNIGHT OF THE IMPERIAL ORDER FRANCIS JOSEPH I., CORRE- SPONDING MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS MADRID. WITH FORTY -EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS BY DONALD MAXWELL & & & LONDON JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD NEW YORK JOHN LANE COMPANY TORONTO BELL & COCKBURN MCMXIII Gift Publisher JUL 7 »0K-» DBxCd 3-s Turnbuli &" Spears, Printers, Edinburgh TO MY WIFE PREFACE IT is rather a significant fact that in the English Catalogue of Books issued between the years 1836 to 1872 there are only two books noted on Austria, one of these being priced at eighteenpence ; and between the years 1872 to 1889 there are no books issued on the Austrian Empire. That is, in fifty-three years two books are catalogued for English readers upon this great Empire. Since that date there are such books as Whitman's " Story of the Nations," some statistical books, especially Geoffrey Drage's " Austria-Hungary," and one or two light books of travel ; upon separate parts of Austria, such as Bohemia, the Tyrol, the Danube, more books have appeared, but upon Austria as a whole there is a dearth unaccountable of works in the English tongue. For historical and other references I have had to go to the works of Palacky, Ploetz, Mayer, Borovsky, Putzger, etc., and to the local publications in the various provinces and towns, to the Govern- mental statistical works, or to the great work on Austria begun by the Crown Prince Rudolf. To most of these authors and to others I have referred in the body of this work ; but I have relied largely vii Austria on my own note-books, written during numerous journeys since 1873. In this volume I have tried to draw attention to what might be overlooked, rather than to the obvious to all travellers, and so have given sketches of the family life of the peasant and the well-to-do citizen, and sketched the intel- lectual aspirations and amusements of the people, giving cameos of the history in various provinces, as illustrative of the building up of the Empire. One fact will illustrate how little Austria and its nature marvels are known to the English reading public. I asked three well-read men, one an Alpinist, the length of the great chain of mountains, the Carpathians. The first answer was " about fifty miles," the second " about twenty miles," and the Alpinist said " perhaps hundreds of miles " ; but the fact that they swept round Southern and Eastern Austria for the length of over eight hundred miles astonished the three men. Austria is so decentralised an Empire, that one meets with excellent work in Art, Music, Literature and Science, in, to an Englishman, remote towns. The Art, Trade and Science Schools foster invention, often high-souled genius ; and the local reverence for the history of the Homeland produces poets and historians — romancist and dramatist. Throughout Austria, both I and my artist friend, Donald Maxwell, are indebted to so many courteous and kindly hospitable friends, who have enabled us viii Preface to see and know somewhat of the home life in the varied parts of the Empire, and we have been cordially assisted in our work by the Ministry of Railways, of Education, and of the Public Works, and by the officials of towns and provinces ; by town clerks, librarians, curators, and schoolmasters ; but we feel what a small space we have in this volume wherein to attempt to make the English reading public comprehend the intense interest and gloriously varied nature there is to hold and delight one in the Austrian Empire. IX NOTE For the names of places no exact rule has been followed. Locally now in Austria the traveller will find the names of towns given in two, and even three, tongues ; and it is necessary to know the name in the language preponderant in the district, and used in Maps and Guide-books. Frequently the dual name is given, such as the Slav and the Teuton, although the Slav accents have perforce been omitted. CONTENTS I. Introductory . II. Into Austria via the Elbe. Northern and Eastern Bohemia III. The Capital of Bohemia, Prague IV. Southern and Western Bohemia V. Through Silesia to Moravia VI. The Charm of Moravia VII. Galicia and its People VIII. In the High Tatra Mountains . IX. Through Lemberg to the Bukowina X. In the Bukowina . XI. In Imperial Vienna XII. Lower Austria— the Semmering . XIII. Styria (the Steiermark) and Graz XIV. Carniola (Krain)— Ljubljana (Laibach) XV. Carniola, Wochein Feistritz, Veldes, and Adelsberg . XVI. Triest and Istria XVII. Down the Istrian Coast to Dalmatia, to Sebenico xi PAGE 3 8 21 30 43 55 63 69 77 83 91 108 114 125 132 142 149 Austria CHAP. PAGE XVIII. Down the Dalmatian Coast from Sebentco to Cattaro ....... 157 XIX. Through Kustenland, Gorizia (Gorz), and Carinthia (Karnten) .... 180 XX. The Tauern Railway to Bad Gastein . 193 XXI. The Tauern Railway to Salzburg . . 199 XXII. Salzburg and the Salzkammergut . . 206 XXIII. The Salzkammergut 212 XXIV. The Danube — from the Bavarian Frontier to Linz 227 XXV. The Danube from Linz to Vienna . .241 XXVI. The Danube through the Wachau to Krems 259 XXVII. The Danube from Krems to the Austrian Frontier ....... 271 XXVIII. Through the Tyrol from Lake Garda to Trent (Trient or Trento) . . . 277 XXIX. The Tyrol from Trent to Meran and Cortina 285 XXX. Innsbruck and the Arlberg . . . 294 Index 303 xu ILLUSTRATIONS Cattaro ........ Frontispiece I FACING PAGE Tetschen 10 Prague. The Palace, from Prince Furstenburg's Gardens 24 Charles Bridge, Prague 28 Karlstein ......... 30 Tabor 32 Krumau 34 Budweis 36 Prachatic ......... 38 Brunn 52 Krakau 64 Zakopane ......... 70 Cernowitz ........ 84 aspernbrucke, vlenna ...... 96 The Tower of St Stephen's, Vienna . . . 106 Graz 120 Laibach 126 Veldes 136 Trieste — Twilight 142 The Grand Canal, Trieste 144 kovigno, istria 150 The Velibite Mountains 152- Pola 154 Lesina ......... 164 xiii Austria Ragusa FJ ICING PAGE . 168 4 The Walls of Ragusa 170* In the Izonzo Valley 182 Mallnitz . . 198 Salzburg . . 208 Zell am See . 210 Mondsee . . 214 LlNZ .... . 236 In the Stoder Valley . 240' Molk .... . 254/ Aggstein . . 260. DtJRRENSTEIN . 262 Stein .... 264 A Village in Galicia 278 ■ The Scene which Inspired Dante's Inferno — Thi 3 Larini di Marco near Trieste . . 280 A Back Street in Trento 282 ,. Rosengarten, from the Tschaminthal 284 Trafoi 286 SlGMUNDSKRON . 288 Bruneck, in the Pusterthal 290 Croda da Lago .... 292 Innsbruck .... 294/ In the Arlberg Pass 296 ► Hall in Tirol . 298 XIV AUSTRIA : HER PEOPLE AND THEIR HOMELANDS AUSTRIA CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY AUSTRIA as an Empire contains every type of Nature glory that Europe has to offer, and such varied races of humanity dwell within her borders that the student of history and ethnology is overwhelmed with dramatic incident and varied intensity of contrast. And yet how little known is Austria to English readers. Of all that vast Empire, teeming with de- lightful beauty and exciting glories, certain points are known to the British traveller and diplomatist : the capitals such as Vienna, Prague, and Cracow, are known at least by name, although in sending a wire lately to Prague at a big English post office, I was given the German rate, and on doubting the price, was asked if it was not in Germany ! The glorious rivers of Austria, the Danube, Moldau or Vltava, to give its Bohemian name, and Elbe, are also known by name, but how few English are there who have wandered up the wild and intensely romantic ravines or klamms or grunds of the Elbe and Moldau, or halted on the famous historic spots on the Danube, 3 Austria amidst the romantic hills overshadowing the beauteous wide sweeps of that mighty flood. The Danube ! That is sung of in the Niebelungen Lied, in Undine, and many legends and stories ; that has witnessed such heroic scenes in both mediaeval and modern times. Austria's lesser rivers issue from mountain gorges that climb up to rugged, serrated mountain peaks far above the snow line, and from glacier heights they leap down to mirrored lakes that exceed in varied romantic beauty of both form and colour the better- known lakes of Italy or Switzerland. The clusters of emerald and turquoise gems that lie amidst the mountains at Ischl and at St Wolfgang, at Veldes and Wochein-Feistritz, and in the Tyrol, have a wondrous, varied charm that is ever enticing and beauteous. The railways that penetrate these mountain fastnesses are marvels of engineering skill that excite the expert in such details. There is also the sea-coast of Austria, down the Adriatic, combining the colour of Italy with the soft, grey elusiveness of the Grecian isles. The towns upon its shores are full of wondrous monuments of past glories, under Roman and Venetian rule ; whilst the peoples of mingled Eastern and Western types, now living amidst these monuments, still retain much of their picturesque costume, and old habits of life and speech. The towns of Austria vary from the almost perfect mediaeval walled town, with its watchman patrolling around its gates and walls and towers, to the most modern city, built entirely upon new ideas, a city without a slum ; and the capitals of the various kingdoms and provinces, that make up this varied 4 Introductory Empire, have in their splendid modern development preserved much of their historic glory. The peasantry are yet full of mediaeval custom, and their costume in many spots is brilliant in colour and quaint in style ; but these same peasants are keenly alive to the scientific learning of the day, their know- ledge gained under the very interesting and remark- able system of education adopted in Austria. The student of history, archaeology, or ethnology will find hints in this volume of as yet untrodden fields of research. Vast libraries, or the archives of small towns, contain light upon our own history, when it has been linked, as it so often has been, with that of Austria ; and the lover of romance can lave in a per- fect sea of strange, weird legend, or historic fact yet stranger, and more weird and horrible, linked with the castles, abbeys, and monasteries that cluster so thickly on the hills and river banks, and yield so much to the lover of architecture, history, or folklore. Not only in the ruins, or in the castles, that per- chance for a thousand years have been inhabited, are preserved historic mementoes of the past, but in the palatial or tiny museums that are lovingly tended in city and townlet all over Austria. Art treasures, pictures, missals, books, armour, glass, domestic objects, needlework, all the past life is illustrated and jealously guarded. In the matter of climate the traveller has enormous variety, from the mountain range of the Riesengebirge in the north, where the " snow men " even in May clothe the hills in white, to the soft, luxurious, southern air at Ragusa on the Adriatic, where summer ever smiles, and palms and roses flourish. 5 Austria And the student in botany or geology has a vast variety of Nature's handiwork before him, sometimes embracing most unusual if not unique examples. To the sportsman, the fisherman, and huntsman, Austria and her rivers, lakes, and forests offer big opportunities, for not only is Nature prolific with fish and game, but Austria in this, as in so many other things, takes care that the latest science assists Nature. In winter, sport of ski-ing and skating, and toboggan- ing or luging, as the French call it, can be revelled in on the mountain heights in glorious sunshine. There are two things by which Austria has con- quered the world, her music, and her industrial methods. Her music in the days of Mozart and Haydn lit the intellectual world with its beauty, and to-day her composers, Dvofak, Strauss, Smetana, and her musicians, be they German or Slav, command the reverence and respect of all lovers of music. One great work has been done in Austria, in all her dominions, by her remarkable educational system that decentralises, and yet in the end centralises, the highest types of scientific and technical education, enabling genius wherever found to advance and assist the nation ; and thus it is that Austrian products, her artistic creations, and domestic furniture are seen in every home in the western world, and her land is tilled with scientific knowledge, so that an Irish journalist who had travelled with the author through Bohemia, wrote : " There is only one thing they cannot grow, and that is weeds." With such a vast outlook over such an Empire, so full of varied and intense interests, where the people 6 Introductory of many races, speaking varied tongues, are all pressing forward in national and industrial life, how in one volume give such an impression of the whole as to induce the reader to go to Austria, and there study and enjoy the glories and beauty of her Empire ? But such is the aim of both artist and writer in this volume, and may that object be successfully attained. CHAPTER II INTO AUSTRIA VIA THE ELBE. NORTHERN AND EASTERN BOHEMIA FOR the traveller from England there are two especial gates of entry into Austria, through France and over that most picturesque of railways, the Arlberg, to the pleasant town of Innsbruck, lying amidst the snowy Alps, or via the Hook of Holland to Dresden, and up through the rocky palisades of the Elbe to cross the frontier, afoot or riding, amidst the forests of Saxon Switzerland, or at the frontier railway town of Bodenbach on the Elbe. It is by this latter route we commence our tour and study of Austria. There are of course other routes to Dresden, via Flushing, Ostend, or Calais, and Austria can also be entered by railways at such a point as Eger, for those going direct to Marienbad or Carlsbad, but this district we shall quickly reach also by the Dresden route. Perhaps the most pleasantly picturesque way to enter Austria is to travel up from Dresden, by the comfortable and well-found Elbe saloon steamers, to disembark at Schandau, the last important German halting-place, send on the luggage to Herrenskretchen, and walk (or ride : ponies may be hired) a most de- lightful four and a half hours walk through the forest- clad mountains to this first Bohemian town. 8 Northern and Eastern Bohemia The frontier is crossed between the height of the Grosse Winterberg and the strange, massive, natural arch of the Prebischthor, which is in Austria. Standing on this strange and giddy outlook point, the traveller will begin to glean some faint idea of the picturesque, varied beauty of the kingdom of Bohemia, one of the richest jewels in the Austrian Imperial Crown. A vast territory lies around of mountain peak and dark forest upland, and in the valleys lie the pictur- esque, prosperous villages, surrounded by meadow and fruit orchards, and cornland watered by in- numerable streams that give fertility to the soil, and are often used as motive power for industrial work. In descending from this aerial outlook, one of the most romantic ravines in ail Austria can be traversed, the Edmunds Klamm; these klamms, or defiles, or gorges, to give them an English title, are characteristic of the mountain passes in many parts of Austria ; and in this Northern Bohemia lie also the fantastic and even grotesque mighty rock formations that have been dubbed " Rock towns." The two greatest of these strange Titanic groups of weird rocks lie in the extreme north of Bohemia on the borders of Prussian Silesia ; Adersbach, and Weckelsdorf . These forma- tions were supposed to be enchanted towns turned into stone, so like are the vast rock piles to man's fortifications. But beyond the great line of masses of rock, isolated piers start up and are formed into grotesque shapes of varied forms, men and women, animals, etc., and at their base are caverns and narrow passages that are awe-inspiring and weirdly strange. _The first time we saw Edmunds Klamm was in 9 Austria early spring, and we dropped down into the narrow defile after a walk from the little town of Herren- skretchen to the village of Johnsdorf. Often since then have I pierced into these silent mountain recesses, beautiful at all seasons, but even in autumn never more lovely than on this day of spring, when the sombre pines that sprang from every rock ledge con- trasted with the delicate, fresh, young green leaves of the birch ; the winter's torrents were still frozen, and hung in crystal light-blue and white cascades over the grey, towering rocks ; and these rocks were lit up with great splashes of sulphur-hued lichen, whilst overhead, above the mighty precipitous palisades, was the soft, clear blue sky in brilliant sunshine. Down through the gorge, rushes and hurtles, and foams onward the little river Kamnitz, rushing down rapids and over falls, but all at once it reaches a deeply worn bed, and all is still : and one can take a boat, and in absolute silence float on down the stream until another waterfall is reached, and the boat must be abandoned. A pleasant walk leads on through a gorge that re- minds one of the Lyn Valley in Devon, or the Wye and its upper reaches, and yet here there is a vastness, and touches of colour not present in Welsh or Devon scenery. Then again a boat can be taken, and save in dry seasons the rapids of the little Kamnitz can be shot, down to the romantic village of Herrenskretchen on the broad Elbe. This is as it were but a thumb-nail sketch of a marvellously beautiful scene, about which one could paint many pictures ; but our vast subject and limited space enforce condensation, and this picture of Edmunds Klamm pleads to the reader to imagine 10 I ETSi Northern and Eastern Bohemia hundreds of such scenes as this in Bohemia, and in other parts of Austria, where her mountain streams carve out a beauty of varied charm in their course to Danube, or Elbe, or Moldau, or to her mountain lakes. The Elbe from Herrenskretchen to Leitmeritz or Litomerice is full of beauty and interest. At Tetschen a diversion can be made from the river, and the rail- way utilised for excursions into a part of Bohemia that is crowded with strange scenery, and castles perched in romantic positions amidst mysterious rocky fastnesses. The railway climbs slowly the hills until Tannen- berg is reached, one of the highest points ; and then one can drop down by various routes either to the plateaus surrounded by the Iser Mountains or still farther onward, either by motor or carriage or rail, to Reichen- berg and Turnov (Turnau) and Trautenau, from whence a view of the Giant Mountains is gained. In this district, wherein lie these towns, there are wonders of Nature and beauties of scenery, and historic castles and quaint towns that would pleasantly occupy months of travel. And herein lie also busy industries such as glass, ceramics, weaving, jewellery; and educational establishments for the development of these industries that will detain the enthusiast in artistic development many a day. At Reichenberg is the oldest weaving school in Europe, splendidly equipped, and an excellent industrial museum. At Turnov a jewellery school of extremely high order, and deeply interesting ; at Trautenau an agricultural school, and in this district also are the remarkable castles of Burgstein or Sloup, a great castle scooped ii Austria out of an isolated standstone rock ; the historic, picturesque fortress of Bezdez or Bosig, the castles of the Wallenstein family, and the Roll ruin from whence such a vast view can be had of this romantic district, and a score of other castles, many still in- habited, others picturesque ruins. Not a volume but a pile of volumes might be written upon the legend and history and architecture of the castles of Bohemia. The whole of Bohemia is dotted with these strongholds, and some of the most characteristic are in this northern section of the country, although all Bohemia teems with them. The castle of Friedland, the erstwhile home of Wallenstein, is exceptionally well placed ; built around a basaltic mountain cone, now with extensive, handsome halls full of art and history treasures. The first building was a strong tower at the summit of the cone, and to-day the dungeons of the castle are at the summit, but embedded in the solid basalt. The date on this tower is 1014, and its fitful, fierce history can be traced until to-day. Perhaps the weirdest of all these castles is that of Burgstein or Sloup near Haida. This was an isolated mass of sandstone left in a plainland and rising some 200 feet above the level. On its summit now flourish pine trees and other vegetation. But enter at its base, and by a narrow and V-shaped stair- case, just wide enough for one person at a time to ascend, all the rooms, and armoury, and chapel, and stables of a castle can be entered ; all scooped out of the solid rock. Around this impregnable fortress was a lake, and the only approach was defended by a drawbridge ; and from this stronghold sallied forth 12 Northern and Eastern Bohemia the robber baron who held it, and ravaged the country around. In its Hunger tower when opened were found relics of humanity, and inscriptions carved on the walls, and drawings of loaves of bread, the chalice, the Husite's sign; roses, death's-heads and crosses, a woman with a child, and a line of strokes, perhaps the tally of days of some poor, starving wretch, maimed but not killed when thrown down. These Hunger towers are always a part of all the mediseval castles in Central Europe. Another castle, not so weird, but of more imposing dimensions, is that of Bosig or Bezdez. Here is a great Hunger tower, never yet opened ; the walls are 15 feet in thickness. Another tall tower above, on the summit of the rocky ridge the castle walls enclose, commands a magnificent expanse of view, and the chapel is a charming example of fourteenth- century work. At one of the trefoil-headed windows were two niches that had both been walled up ; on opening them a skeleton was found walled into the one, the other was empty ; the awful problem of these two niches is full of strange, dramatic possi- bilities, and such problems are everywhere to be met with in these fascinating ruins, or still inhabited castles of Bohemia. In the volume " Pictures from Bohemia " I have sketched many of them, and developed some of them in my novels. In this district there is also the peculiarly strange type of scenery known as the Rock towns — wild labyrinths of gigantic rocks towering in the strangest of forms to the varied heights of hundreds of feet, even up to 600 feet. Some of the principal of these are near Jicin and Turnov. and from the latter place the 13 Austria castles of Waldstein and Gros and Klein Skal can be visited. The range of the Giant Mountains affords a series of pleasant excursions, the highest point, the Schnee- koppe, often cannot be ascended in the spring because of the snow. I remember once in the second week in May intending to ascend it, but on our awaking in the little town at the foot of the mountain all was white around us, and the porter at the inn told us it had " Kolossal geschneit heute fruh." It had snowed colossally early in the morning, and tramping through half-melting snow is not possible. But at other times of the year the ascent is quite simple. The height is just upon 5300 feet, and the view from the summit is an immense and glorious one. It is on the frontier of Germany and Austria, and the view comprises vast stretches of both Empires. The network of railway that links up all parts of Bohemia will quickly run us down from Hohenelbe from whence the Giant Mountain excursions can be made, or from Trautenau to the central plainlands of Bohemia ; but the roads are good, and I have run easily at fifty miles an hour over them in an automobile, and driven hundreds of miles in pair-horsed carriages, that can be hired at low rates in most of the towns. One of the great pleasures, keenly enjoyed by all in these towns is music. At Jicin we heard a remarkable orchestra, and a mixed-voice choir, all amateurs of every grade of society in the town : their rendering of choice music was excellent. At Jicin we are within easy driving or motoring distance of a district that has been dubbed the Bohemian Paradise ; and truly it is full of great 14 Northern and Eastern Bohemia natural beauty, of strange hill form ; vast, grotesque rock formations, lovely valleys and river gorges and meadows, and fruit lands that are richly cultivated. It embraces the mysterious ruins of the old castle of the Wallensteins, known as Waldstein, and the still more strange castle of Gros Skal with its horrible rock dungeons and subterranean passages ; and near here is the town of Turnov (Turnau) that has much besides its jewellery school to induce a halt. The district is famous also for its precious stones, especi- ally the rich-hued Bohemian garnet. Two places especially interesting are Rotstein, with its wonderful masses of gigantic rocks, and the little town of Rovensko, where they boast of having an arrange- ment for the bells unique in Europe. The bells, in a tower, are hung mouth upwards, and are let go and rung by men's feet on treadles ; but there is a some- what similar arrangement at East Bergholt near Dedham in England, only here the bells are on the ground in the churchyard, and not in a tower. We heard some good music at this small town, and the school children sing well. The strangest of all the castles in this district, so packed full of natural beauty and historic interest, is that of the defiant Trosky — two castles perched on two lofty peaks, once opponents, then linked with a great wall, and to-day a most imposing ruin that dominates the whole country for a hundred miles over the plainland. A good ending to a tour in this district can be made at Jung Bunzlau, or Mlada Boleslav, as the Cechs call it. Not only is the district we have been sketching full of natural beauty and industrial interest, but histori- 15 Austria cally it is important — both in mediaeval times, when the lords of its numerous castles, the Waldsteins and Rosenbergs and others, played important parts in European history ; and in the Prussian campaign of 1866, Jicin and Trautenau, Sadowa, and the Rock town of Prokov, were the scenes of bloody conflicts and decisive battles. Before running into Prague, the capital of Bohemia, there are some points of interest in Eastern Bohemia that cannot be omitted from any book on Austria. The town of Kutna Hora, or Kuttenberg, to give the German name, is full of mediaeval monuments, recalling the important role that this town played as second city, and money-chest of the kingdom of Bohemia in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In many parts of Austria there is much material for the lover of folklore and legend, and for the historical romancist ; and in Bohemia especially are the legends connected with the castles, and the history highly dramatic, and here in Kutna Hora are buildings that recall a terrible past, when religious wars were carried on with savage intensity, and yet a period when architecture and other arts flourished. The great Church of St Barbara, a superb example of fourteenth- and early fifteenth-century architecture, contains some most remarkable monuments, and the other churches and civic buildings in and around the town, some dating back to the twelfth century, all tell of a great past history ; and not far from the town, overshadowing the little village of Kank, is a hill, the Kahlenberg, that recalls vividly the terrors of the Hussite period. Here was the silver mine of St Martin's, and in 16 Northern and Eastern Bohemia Palacky's History is given a vivid description of the man-hunts which were adopted for catching the heretics, who were burnt or beheaded, until the executioner became so wearied and the prisoners so numerous, that they were leashed together in groups, driven to the pit's mouth, and the first one or two driven over, and these pulled all the others over, and thus they were hurled to the bottom of the mine, which was about 300 feet deep. History states that no less than 5496 men and women were hurled down this one shaft. The reliquary or bone house chapel at Sedlec, not far off, gives awful evidence of the murderous work of this Wiclif period. There are many points of interest and historic towns in this eastern part of Bohemia, and in the life of "A forgotten Great Englishman," and in the novels, " The Gleaming Dawn " and the " Cardinals' Page," I have given the history and somewhat of the romance of this period, when Bohemia and England were intimately linked together : when Anne of Bohemia, the wife of Richard the Second of England, lived at Bristol Castle and received the dues of Bristol and Southampton as part of her dowry, and many Bohemians were resident in England. Not far by train from Kutna Hora is a town most prettily situated on the Elbe, the historic Podiebrad. The castle still stands, though much altered, where the great King George of Podiebrad was born. Prince Hohenlohe now resides there, and it was from here that the famous Hohenlohe memoirs went forth to the world. This town, so famous in past ages, has lately renewed its life by the discovery of valuable medicinal waters, and Prince Hohenlohe has estab- B 17 Austria lished a Spa, since acquired by the town, that is attracting many to the old and interesting town. In all these towns there is a social and family life that is very homely, but full of pleasant culture. In the upper professional and official circles and the well-to-do intellectual tradesmen who mingle together, there is always a love of literature or history, and, above all, of music. Let me sketch two homes, one of a well-known doctor, the other of a learned imperial councillor. In the first, I met at dinner the principal chemist of the town and the Protestant pastor, both learned men : the chemist, a good historian and learned antiquary ; the pastor, a clever linguist and a great patriot. The doctor's house was full of artistic treasures, books, pictures and sculpture ; his wife and daughters were notable housekeepers, priding themselves on their table, loaded with their own delicious productions. The ladies, as is the custom in most Slav houses, and many Teuton, wait on their guests ; but after dinner, whilst looking over some missals and historic treasures, we heard delightful music in another room, and quitting our books, we went in to see Madam at the piano, joining her son, who is a master of the violin, in a duet. So do the Bohemian ladies combine, and enjoy, the dual life of the careful housekeeper and the artist. In the imperial councillor's home the wife was proud of her confections for the table, and loved to see her guests enjoy the products of her culinary skill, and after handing round delicious coffee, she sat down to the piano and played a song of her husband's transla- tion from the English, set to music by herself, and 18 Northern and Eastern Bohemia then rambled away into masterly rendered excerpts from their own Cech masters, Dvorak, Smetana, and, on being asked, some of Wagner. Another example of the outcome of Bohemian edu- cation in homelife was vividly presented at Domazlice (Taus), where during a luncheon the guests were waited upon by a bevy of very handsome girls, all de- lightfully dressed in white and cream-coloured dresses, enriched with elaborate needlework. We were told afterwards the whole luncheon had been prepared and cooked by these ladies, who were daughters of the best families of the district, and that their dresses were entirely their own handiwork : here also we had most excellent music. Of the beauty of the Bohemian women we will quote a German author, writing in 1841, of a popular Slav fete on the Island in the Moldau. He devotes great space to the beauty present : " One lovely face followed each other in quick succession," and after arguing on the probable reason for this beauty, adds, " Be this, however, as it may, Prague is decidedly a very garden of beauty. For the young ladies of 1841, I am ready to give my testimony most unreservedly " ; and continues, " Titian, who studied the faces of lovely women for ninety-six years, and who, while at the Court of Charles V., spent five years in Germany, tells us, it was among the ladies of Prague that he found his ideal of a beautiful female head. If we go back beyond the times of Titian, we have the declaration of Charles IV. that Prague was a hortus deliciarum." I was fortunate once to be at a famous Slav fete with Walter Crane on this same island. All the elite of Bohemian Society were there, dressed in the 19 Austria picturesque Slav costumes, and my artist friend and I agreed with Titian's dictum. The outcome of the athletic drill of the Bohemians was evidenced not long since in London, by the pres- ence there of a Cech team of athletes from Bohemia, who carried off the International Challenge Shield for Physical Drill, and their performance elicited high praise from the sporting and athletic journals in England, it being stated that drill to these Bohemians was not exercise but a religion ; the whole team seemed animated by one soul. This drill can be seen in many towns, but at its best in Prague, the capital, that we are about to enter. 20 CHAPTER III THE CAPITAL OF BOHEMIA, PRAGUE THE one thing that at once arrests the attention in travelling in Bohemia, and, in fact, throughout Austria, is the intense cultivation of every scrap of land, be it mountain or plain, and the quick industry of the in- habitants. In running into Prague from either point of the compass this is very noteworthy, and upon arriving in Prague one at once sees the city is very much alive. This famous old city, with a tremendous history, Zlata Praha, Golden Prague, as the Slavs so love to call it, is being, or rather has been, transformed during the last twenty years. The crooked, nauseous, dirty streets through which one twisted and wandered thirty years ago have nearly all disappeared, much to the benefit and health of the inhabitants, but all the principal historic buildings have been preserved. One still enters the inner town by that magnificent monument of mediaeval times, the historic Powder Tower, and a narrow street, with historic buildings on either hand and a picturesque market place just away to the left, leads one into the Ring, the very heart of the city ; with the Tyn Church on the eastern side, and the Town Hall with its great balcony and little Gothic chapel, and famous clock tower on the western side, and rising in the centre the great 21 Austria monument to their national hero, John Hus, that is to be unveiled in 1915, the five hundredth anni- versary of his being burnt at Constance. What change works the whirligig of time. In Prague a Roman Catholic priest quietly stated to the author that he should not be surprised if Hus were canonised as a Saint, like Joan of Arc. Standing in this Ring or Grand Place of Prague, those who know the fascinating history of the city will be able to recall many a passionate, turbulent, intensely patriotic scene enacted here, when perhaps the streets around were blocked by the chains now hanging in the adjoining Town Hall. Prague really consists of four ancient towns, known as the Old Town, the New Town, and the Little Town, and the Vyschrad, with the two outlying portions of the Hradschin and the Josephstown. To these have been added the modern independent towns of Karlin, Smichov, Vinohrady, and Zizkov. The oldest part of the city, is the Vyschrad, the ancient acropolis of Prague, but the Hradschin, on the other bank of the Vltava, or Moldau, is said to have been founded about 752 a.d. by the Princess Libussa, who married Premysl, the ancestor of all the Bohemian rulers until the fourteenth century ; from that date until the battle of the White Mountain in 1620 the history of the city is full of dramatic incident, the two most exciting periods being when Prague was intimately linked with England by the giving and receiving a queen — by the giving of Queen Anne to Richard the Second, and by receiving as Queen, Elizabeth, the princess who became the mother of Prince Rupert, the famous 22 The Capital of Bohemia, Prague General, Admiral, Scientist, of our Commonwealth period. As we stand before the Council Chamber and Town Hall, dating back to 1338, we can see by the fine new streets that radiate from this centre, how energetic and advanced are the Prague rulers of to-day. A broad street leads us into the Josephtown or ancient Ghetto, where is left the synagogue, built about 1212, and the old Jewish Town Hall, and the strange old Jewish burying ground, with numerous crowded tombs going far back into the centuries. In this quarter now are the handsome Rudolphinum or Picture Gallery, and the Museum of Industrial Art, wherein is housed perhaps the most remarkable collection of glass in the world, almost complete as regards the marvellously beautiful examples of Bohemian glass, but it also contains a wondrously remarkable and beautiful series of the glass of other lands. Not far off is the Clementinum, with the University Library, wherein are the MSS. of Wyclif and Luther, and this takes us round to the front of the famous tower so noted for its architecture, leading us on to the renowned bridge, the Karluv Most, i.e. Charles Bridge. On this bridge, with its lines of statues, has been enacted some of the most stirring and terrible scenes in Prague history, and to-day it is the spot that the student and traveller haunts. Here one can look up and down the Vltava's broad flood, up to the Cathedral of St Vitus and the Royal Palace of the Hradcany and back to the towers and domes of the New and Old Towns, and away down to the dark steep rock overhanging the river, on which is the Vyschrad, 23 Austria or castle, with its old churches near by, the kernel, or rather stem, whence all this beauty and strange romantic patriotic life has sprung. We cross the bridge and note the various interest- ing groups of statues on either hand, and enter the Little Town or Mala Strana, where we are in the midst of the palaces of the great nobles of Bohemia, and where steep, picturesque streets lead up to the Royal Castle and the cathedral. One of the best views of this noble group of buildings is from the Furstenberg Gardens, looking up to the long lines of the great palace, wherein is the great hall of 1484, and from a window of this Royal Palace the Imperial Councillors were thrown in 1618, bring- ing about the disastrous thirty years' war, and leading on to the almost complete extinction of the Slav power in Bohemia for more than two centuries. There is a great deal to hold the traveller in this part of Prague. Close by is the palace of the Wallensteins, and also the Parliament House of the kingdom of Bohemia, and many another palace of the Bohemian nobles. Throughout Austria the traveller will quickly note the keen rivalry of the varied races that united form the great Austrian Empire. This rivalry, which at first sight seems to constitute a weakness, is really an immense power, for the keen emulation and the struggle for supremacy has enforced advancement on all lines, and throughout Austria many of the most famous institutions, museums, art galleries, schools, technical institutions, chambers of commerce, and savings banks are due largely to this race rivalry. The sons, aye, and daughters of one race will not per- 24 The Capital of Bohemia, Prague mit a move onward of another race without striving, not only to come abreast of that movement, but to advance further in the science, art, culture, and movement of the time. Nowhere is this valuable rivalry more keenly exercised than in Bohemia, and the remarkable educational institutions, the art galleries, and the Ethnographical, Art Trade, National and Naprstek's Museums, and the delicately and artistically decorated Cech Theatre, all give evidence of the intense vitality and culture of the Slavs in Bohemia ; and the fact that the entries of names in the schools for the October session of 1911, the Cech children num- bered 20,518, whilst the Germans only numbered 1632, suggests that it is with the Cechs that the future of Prague lies. The brilliant costumes of the Cechs and their customs and folklore can well be studied in the Naprstek's Museum. M. Vojta Naprstek and Mrs Naprstek were remarkable people, and having made a modest sum in America returned to Prague with two objects : to advance the cause of Bohemia and collect all relics of her life and history, and to make England and English writers better known to Bohemians. In his life- time M. Naprstek made an extraordinary collection, and now this has developed into one of the most remarkable folks' museum in Europe. In 1841 a German author, who travelled far over Central Europe and Russia, wrote five volumes upon his travels, and these were in a condensed form, published in one volume in English ; this was one of the two books that appeared upon Austria in England between the years 1835 and 1889, being dated, London 25 Austria 1843. The author, a Herr J. G. Kohl, a pleasant writer and shrewd observer, gleaned much informa- tion from all the peoples of the Austrian Empire, and great was his delight at the scenery and art treasures in Bohemia, and the energy of the Bohemian excites his wonder, for he writes — " Not only over the administration of their own country, but over the whole Empire, the Bohemians exercise great influence, owing to the important posts to which they have raised themselves by their ability and official aptitude." And of the pictures and treasures, he says, " To give an account of the picture galleries, libraries, and museums collected at the various castles of the Bohemian nobles, would, no doubt, be a highly interesting occupation, but would, at the same time, be found an herculean labour." What would he say to-day of the public museums and galleries. The curator of an English museum, studying museums in Europe, stated that the great National Museum at Prague was far more advanced and worthy of note than museums in Dresden, Berlin, Leipzig or Hamburg. In other parts of Austria it will be seen that other races, the Teuton and the Pole, are equally alive and keen for a cultured advancement and development of their kingdom or province, and thus the whole Empire has made tremendous strides ahead during the last quarter of a century. I remember Prague when it was apparently a wholly German city ; to-day the traveller will quickly see that it is a Slav city, but the Germans, although only about 6 per cent, of the population, have their theatre and schools, and the historic university, founded in 26 The Capital of Bohemia, Prague 1384, has nearly 2000 German students against about 4500 Cech students. The great technical school is also thus divided, having nearly a thousand German students to about 3000 Cechs. From the height whereon stands the cathedral and Royal Palace some delightful walks can be had, and, above all, the Strahov monastery should be visited with its valuable library housed in a beautiful home. Then not far off, through a lovely park which fol- lows for a time the famous Hunger Wall, the Petrin height can be reached, whence is a most wonder- ful view of the whole of the city ; all her domes and towers, and cupolas and the quaint " tent " towers, so characteristic of Prague, are far beneath, and the broad stream of the Ultava with its historic Charles Bridge and the newer bridges. Then the walk can be continued still through a well laid out park, until at the foot of the hill the gardens are reached, wherein is situated the excellently planned Ethnographical Museum. Wherein, as it were in life, by well dressed models in the various rich costumes, the home life of the people of the various districts at various epochs may be studied. Prague is of course famous for its music : the home of Smetana and Dvorak, Kubelik, and Sevcik his famous master, and on the Sophia Island in the summer and at various halls, and at the theatres in the winter, there is ample opportunity of hearing excellent orchestras and some of the renowned bands of the Austrian army. The little steamers that run to the various villages up the river, give pleasant opportunity for excursions 2^ Austria near Prague. Great works are being carried out for developing the navigation of the Ultava, and soon, by a great lock and dam improvement, boats will be able to come direct from Hamburg to Prague via the Elbe. One of the pleasantest excursions on these small boats is up to St John's, and this river trip gives a good view of the dark grey rock on which stands the Vyschrad, the high castle whereon was built the first ruler's residence of Prague, that ruler known to legend as the father of Libussa. The later castle that played so fierce a part in the Husite wars is gone. The oldest buildings now left on this rocky height are two churches, one the romanesque chapel of St Martin, the other the church of St Peter and Paul, wherein is an interesting picture of the Vyschrad, as it was in earlier days, with walls and domes and buildings, all now disappeared. Perhaps still more interesting in this district is the Karlov church, built in 1350 by Charles IV. ; its octagonal dome is said to be the largest Gothic dome, and it is of graceful proportions. Prague and its adjoining towns give excellent examples of that problem of modern life, town planning. In the parent city slums have been swept away and beautiful streets have arisen on their sites ; but Vinohrady, at the east of Prague, is an example of an entirely modern town, housing some 80,000 inhabitants without a slum. Town Hall, cathedral, theatres, schools, two delightfully laid out parks, all have been built during the last few years upon the site of the Royal vineyards, hence the name, Vinohrady. The streets are broad and lined with accacia trees, and the poor live in the upper or 28 i.. • The Capital of Bohemia, Prague lower parts of the houses, and thus get the same outlook as their richer brethren, and the in- habitants point with pride to the fact that all the work on their public buildings, including the fine wood carving and brass work in the cathedral, has been done by the workmen of the town. When asked why they did not use other trees than accacia, the retort was, " You forget our bee industry." Thus does Prague interest the student of the pro- blems of to-day by her advanced work in education, in music, in commercial vigour, and by her remark- able museums ; and the student of the past, by her preservation of her famous monuments and her fierce dramatic history, but to give such a sketch of Prague and its history in a few pages, that will hint to the reader of all that will fascinate, is almost an im- possibility ; yet such a task in this volume will continually occur, for so many of the towns in the Austrian Empire hold one by their present-day beauty, and their historic past history. 29 CHAPTER IV SOUTHERN AND WESTERN BOHEMIA IN running south of Prague by motor, or train, one is quickly amidst the hills and in pictur- esque scenery. Throughout Bohemia, in the hill and mountain districts, there are always romantic castles perched on craggy summits, or hid cunningly in rocky clefts ; these are perhaps more numerous in North Bohemia, but about twenty miles south of Prague is the most remarkable castle in all Bohemia, the royal treasure castle of Karlstein. I first saw this castle before it was restored, when the noble ruin and fine frescoes were covered with dust and debris, and great stone shot some two feet in diameter, lay about in the ruins, recalling the dramatic sieges of the fifteenth century. To-day this castle with its palace and three remarkable chapels, its halls and historical frescoes, has been carefully restored, so that one wanders in a vast range of buildings, much as they were when Charles IV. built them in the middle of the fifteenth century. Once on riding up to this castle we were met with the piercing cry, " Keep far from the castle, keep away from the castle, that you avoid danger of death." This, in Bohemian, was continually repeated through a speaking horn; it was the cry of the Middle Ages re-echoing in the twentieth century. We were being made to feel the dramatic fierceness of by- 30 KARLS'I I IN Southern and Western Bohemia gone days. Aye, and one can go further back than into mediaeval times, back into the pre-Christian era, still preserved in popular customs. A picturesque and curious sight is to be seen on Walpurgis night, the last day of April, when witches' fires must be burnt and a great noise made ; for the witches are defeated on this night, and cattle and homestead are safe for the year from their attacks. No weirder sight is possible than to see on the Bohemian hills, as I once saw on the hills around this castle, these witch-fires gleaming on every height, burning besoms dipped in pitch being hurled flaming through the air, and the whole night filled with loud cries and shouts, and loud noises of all descriptions, to frighten the witches ; for the next village may endow you with their witches, unless you make more noise. So may we live again in prehistoric times in this Central Europe. If castles are more numerous in the north, brilliant costume is more prevalent in the south of Bohemia, and the towns are as interesting. The town of Tabor, founded by Zizka, perched on its rocky height above the Jordan Lake with its walls and old watch towers and gateways, is a spot to linger in, and as everywhere in Austria one can live at one moment in mediaeval times, and at the next be in the centre of the latest scientific developments. Here, in Tabor, is a great agricultural school, teaching the very latest discoveries in field, forest and garden work. If we run farther south, at Budweis, we are ap- proaching the Bohemian forest mountains, and are in a perfect network of picturesque scenery, great castles and towns, that for those who linger near 3i Austria them give forth secrets of history and race feuds, and on Sundays and feast days especially, show a popula- tion eager in their patriotism and religion. The railroad from Budweis to Linz has been called the grandmother of all the railways of Europe ; at first it was a horse railroad, and it was stated that the levels were so difficult steam would never be used upon it. An excellent example of the minute care and assiduity to neglect no detail and no source of know- ledge, by the State, the Commune, and in some cases by the nobles, is to be seen near Budweis. Not far off is the great pile of modern building, the castle of Frauenberg, built somewhat after Windsor. But near this is the old castle or Jagdschloss, and this has been turned into a most perfect forestry exhibition. In the courtyard were sections of giant pines 295 and 450 years old, and as we entered the house, most varied were the exhibits — every bird, animal, fish, reptile and insect, and every tree, plant, egg, to be found in the Schwarzenberg territory. Stags, eagles, boars, waterfowl, divers, storks, locusts, beetles, butterflies, all classed and arranged from the egg to full growth, or from baby animal to grandest example of full strength. All the furniture was of built-up forestry. Candelabra of horns and tusks, chairs and lounges, and tables of skins and claws. Examples of all the woods, including those used for resonant instruments, violins, guitars, etc. Strange examples of abnormal animals, every species of what an English hunter styles vermin. Enormous and most exact geological books of the century. 32 Southern and Western Bohemia Collections of the minerals and early implements of the stone and bronze ages, and some fine examples of early pottery ; one great urn of black ware, eighteen inches across. In fact, so much was there to delight in and study here, that we regretted we had not given a whole day to the Jagdschloss. The castellan showed us with pride the last bear shot in the Bohmerwald on November 14, 1857. But the educational value of such a collection is beyond calculation, so scientifically yet so charmingly and artistically and amusingly arranged, for the comic element was not omitted. The greatest of the castles of Prince Schwarzenberg, the descendant of the fighting powerful Rosenbergs of the Middle Ages, is at Krumau, or Krumlov, to give the Cech spelling, a vast pile of buildings on a rocky peak over the seething Vltava. When Herr Kohl visited this castle in 1841 and said he wished to see as much as possible of the place, the officer to whom he spoke asked how many weeks he intended to devote to the inspection ; and weeks it would take to understand the vast castle of Krumau, and especially to learn its history and legends. Prince Schwarzenberg has still his own army in the historic blue and white uniform, and the legends clinging to the castle, such as that of the White Lady, are numerous. The forerunners of the Schwarzen- bergs, the Rosenbergs, were a defiant dominant race, and a certain Henry of Rosenberg made three magis- trates, who came to advance a claim against him, eat the documents they brought, seals and all, and then set them free, whereupon he set the dogs after them. c 33 Austria I once, in calling alone at the castle, had an experi- ence of these great boar hounds leaping around me, in their rough play, until they were called off by the daughter of the Seneschal of the castle. I have utilised this castle in " The Cardinal's Page." Herr Kohl says, "A moderately fertile writer might find material here for twenty romances." Near Krumau, to the south, is the historic monastery of Hohenfurth, and the castle of Rosenberg, with its treasures of glass and pictures ; and, if one drives north from Krumau by pleasant good roads, the mediaeval town of Prachatic is reached. Here the double gateway with its tower and fres- coed front, and the old walls and churches, carry one back in the ages ; and when the Ring or central square of the town is entered, the frescoed and Sgraffitoed walls of many of the houses assist the illusion ; at night especially one can re-people the town with the fierce combatants who fought for Pope or freedom, and captured and recaptured the town in mediaeval days. From this old town it is a pleasant walk by the little river Blanic, out to the deep, green sloped valley, wherein lies the small town of Husinec, the birthplace of John Hus. On his house are the words, in Cech, " Mistr Jan Hus nar 8 Cervna 1369," and throughout this district, as indeed throughout Bohemia, the reverence for this hero of the fourteenth century is very pronounced. The curious fact being that it is the Roman Catholic population, which is Slav, that holds Hus in honour, the Protestant or Teutonic people being apathetic in regard to John Hus, although their own hero, Luther, was so deeply indebted to him. 34 Southern and Western Bohemia In such a little town in England it would be difficult to get good music, but here in Husinec (by the way not even mentioned in Baedeker's Austria), on going into the village inn on one visit, I saw a violin and flute on the table, and at a funeral the singing was excellent and a good band was there. On another occasion we heard an excellent orchestra and a string quartette of English girls, the Misses Lucas, who were pupils of Sevcik ; a remarkable concert of classical music played in a superbly masterly fashion ; would'that in all our English small towns and villages we could get such music. From Husinec the mountain district of the Bohemian Forest is easily gained by road or rail, and some delightful excursions can be made in this district of the Sumava. Up through the dark forests with the glorious scent of the pines, to famous points of view, or to such picturesque spots as the Black Lake, that can be reached from Eisenstein or from Spitzberg, a lake lying in a great circular wall of rocky heights, surrounded with dark fir-clad slopes, very like the volcanic lakes in the Eiffel Mountains. . From the heights around one can look across to the Bavarian Mountains, and the whole district is full of unsullied natural beauty. Somewhat to the north, at the foot of the mountains, in a vast fertile plain, lies the town of Domazlice or Taus. The great, tall watch-tower proclaims it a frontier town, and around it lived, and still live, a fine race of folk known as the Chods, the frontier watchers and guard, who had special privileges and in mediaeval days were answer- able to the king alone. 35 Austria To-day, it is a wondrously picturesque sight to see these people in their blaze of colour, both men and women in picturesque dress. A few years since at a peasant's dance, some English writers thought an operatic scene had been arranged for their amuse- ment, but it was only a fair day, and to the pipes a crowd of peasants were dancing. On Sundays all go to the church, the women-folk in their brilliant colours, carrying in one hand their prayer book, and in the other a clean handkerchief. The districts from whence the peasants come can be told by the colours worn, and from the deep reds, and rich low-toned colours of this district, we pass on to the brilliant colours worn around Plzen or Pilsen, the famous brewery town. But Pilsen is far more than a brewery town, here are also many important works, including the large Skoda establishment, where locomotives, and other machines, and the great guns are turned out for the Austrian navy. The Sokol Athletic Society here is very active, having a good club house, and the Pilsen male voice choir is one of the most perfect in Europe ; their part- singing, into which they throw all the Slav fire and yet render the pianissimo passages with delicate and exquisite tone, is a delightful treat to the musician, and at the theatre at Pilsen I once saw King Lear rendered, both scenically and dramatically, with wonderful power and beauty. A visit to the town brewery is decidedly in- teresting, and the great hall, utilised for hospitality to famous groups of visitors, is worthy a visit for its decorations ; while from a scientific point of 36 Southern and Western Bohemia view the brewery is a revelation even to the general visitor. The effect of this excellent light beer and good wine upon a lover of whisky was well exemplified by the exclamation of a Scotch journalist, who had been making a tour through Bohemia, and whose in- variable habit it was to carry his native drink with him. When asked how he liked the beer and the wine, " Eh, mon," he exclaimed, " the whisky's had nae chance." Rapidly we have to sketch in the various char- acteristics of the parts of this complex Empire of Austria. But we must not quit Bohemia without a word upon its great health resorts, so well known throughout the world, and Marienbad is easily reached by rail from Pilsen, passing through the quaint little town of Mies, near which, in a pictur- esque hill-country, lies the ruin of the Castle of Guten- stein, where Burian of Gutenstein held Peter Payne, the " Forgotten great Englishman," prisoner, whilst he wrote to the Pope and to King Henry VI. of England, striving to get a high price for his important prisoner, but neither Pope nor King would pay the price Johann Burian afterwards obtained from the Bohemian Wyclifites, viz. : two hundred schock of Groschen (a schock was sixty), five schock being the ordinary ransom for a man. Here at Gutenstein we are amidst the hills that increase in height as we near Marienbad, where the mountains rise to about 2,000 to 3,000 feet, and the walks and excursions in the deep pine forests that clothe the hills are full of solemn beauty. ^Marienbad is a juvenile bathing and health resort 37 Austria compared to its more famous neighbour Carlsbad, only- making its name early in the nineteenth century ; but, thanks especially to the visits of King Edward VII., it has developed immensely, and is a charmingly built and well-organised health resort. The crisp mountain air and scent of the pines, especially in the early spring, being delightful. The pretty park with promenades and lakes, and the Ferdinand and Kreuz Wells are crowded with fashionable patients in the season. I once entered Marienbad in April, when every place was shut, and intense cold and snow prevailed, but now a winter-season for sports is established. Marienbad lies in a corner, as it were, between the Erzgebirge and the Bohmerwald, so that from here sorties may be made into both the mountain ranges, and the roads are good for motoring. Carlsbad goes much further back in history than Marienbad, and the story that the springs were dis- covered, and the town founded by Carl IV. in the fourteenth century is not just to its antiquity, for it was known two centuries earlier, but its famous waters have secured to it an increasing fame, and to-day the town on the banks of the tumultuous rush- ing Tepl with its fifteen wells is the resort of patients and pleasure seekers from every part of the world, and the student of peculiar character can be well occupied in a stroll up the tree- sheltered and shop- bordered promenades of the New and Old Meadows (Neue and Alte Wiese). The special diseases cured here are gout, diabetes, and liver complaints, and the waters are generally good for stomach complaints. \ Another health resort in this western portion of 38 fc Uor«rt.« M«»-