A lovely valley succeeded, hemmed in by hills, and dotted over with little villages, seated on the banks of the mountain stream; looking, from the peculiar formation of their small reed-thatched huts, like gigantic apiaries. Every narrow shelf of rock that could be redeemed from the forest, for such the whole line of heights, (gigantic as they were), may literally be called, was in a high state of cultivation. Patches of Indian corn, flourishing vineyards, green pasture lands, and thriving orchards, were to be seen on all sides; while the effects of the flitting light upon the autumn-touched timber were so magical, so various, and so brilliant, that words are inadequate to paint them. Here and there, among stretches of foliage, varying from the faint silvery green of the river-willow, and the white lining of the aspen-leaf, to the bright gold of the decaying beech, and the rich brown of the withering oak, stood out a huge mass of bare calcareous rock; looking like a giant portal closed upon the hidden treasures of the mountain’s heart. And amid all these glorious hills, this jewel-like foliage, and these flashing waters, we travelled on with the speed of lightning, through an avenue of fruit-trees several miles in length. A second stretch of the mountain-road conducted us to a spot where a descent had been made to the bed of the torrent; and here, leaving the direct line to the town of Mahadia, we forded the stream, and struck into a byway, which, traversing a dense wood, led immediately to the Baths. It was but an exchange of beauty. And, as we entered the gorge of two stately mountains draped in forest-foliage, and lifting to the sky their high and leafy heads; and saw the eagles planing above them in majestic security, while flowers bloomed beside our path, and small birds twittered among the branches; while the sound of the shepherd’s reed-pipe came sweeping down into the valley from the giddy heights on which his flock were browsing; and the luxurious cattle standing mid-way in the stream, lowed out their enjoyment to their fellows, as if to lure them from the mountain glades amid which they were wandering; I thought that I had never traversed a country so lovely as this corner of Hungary. I would not have missed that morning landscape for another term of quarantaine! We were quite unprepared for the scene that awaited us at the Baths. The gorge in which they are built is so narrow that the rocks on either side almost overhang the houses; and the torrent rushes brawling along at their base, fed by continual springs. The establishment, which is becoming every year more popular, is on a very large and handsome scale; and the whole aspect of the place is so enchanting, so bright, so calm, and so delightful, that, could we have woven the web of our day to a week’s duration, I am quite sure that not one of our party would have wearied of it.