The Danube from the Black Forest to the Black SeaMillet, Francis Davis
Philosophy
The Danube from the Black Forest to the Black Sea
Millet, Francis Davis
Canoes and canoeing; Danube River; Danube River Valley -- Description and travel; Europe -- Description and travel
last an inviting breeze rippled the water, we forced ourselves away and
sailed down the beautiful reaches among grand hills, our eyes still full
of the kaleidoscopic sparkle of enchanting Esztergom.
Our frisky boats lost the breeze in the narrow, crooked defile below,
and we settled ourselves to a quiet drift under the great ruins of
Visegrád, where villas, bath-houses, and a level road, gay with ladies
and children, marked the little village as the first sybaritic outpost
of Budapest. Preoccupied with the beauties of the scenery, we did not at
first notice the frantic waving of the Union-jack in the hands of some
one on the shore, but we soon turned our bows in the direction of this
unmistakable invitation to land, and were welcomed on shore by an
English gentleman, a summer resident there, who explained that, having
read of our trip in a Vienna newspaper, he and his family had been on
the watch for us for many days. Such hearty hospitality as he offered us
could not be refused, although it was the Delilah to our Samson strength
of purpose, and we went ashore. A party of ladies and gentlemen was
speedily formed, and we made an excursion up the hill, through pleasant
groves and along shady paths, to the ruins of the old castle of the
Hungarian kings, who resided here as early as the eleventh century.
Matthew Corvinus enlarged and improved the castle, and it was long the
chief stronghold of this region. The royal
[Illustration: GRAN (ESZTERGOM)]
crown of Hungary was once concealed in a deep pit cut in the solid rock
under one of the towers, and there are various other notable historical
legends connected with the place. Another castle near the water’s edge,
although it is partially restored, had a sentimental interest for us
because we were informed that it had been intended for the summer
residence of the unfortunate Prince Leopold. The former
commander-in-chief of the Hungarian army in the revolution of 1848,
General Görgei, lives quietly in a pleasant villa high above the river.
Surrounded by his family and busying himself with all sorts of
mechanical operations, to which he is devoted, the old general appears
to have secured the greatest blessing known to man--contentment. The
weight of the forty odd years that have passed since he gave up his
sword has not bowed his straight figure, and his dark eyes still have
the fire of youth in them. At his own request we went to call on him,
and found him, like all the men of Kossuth’s time, enthusiastically fond
of America, and grateful for the sympathetic aid and comfort of the
whole English-speaking race. Lingering long in his company, the summer
twilight stole upon us before we knew it, and warned us to seek a camp.
The tempting offers of hospitality so heartily given, the fascinations
of the people and the place, and the unique charm of society which is
peculiar to Hungary alone, all these and many other delights made it
next to impossible for us to take our leave. But at last we hardened our
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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