THE LAND OF THE MAGYAR.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 132, 4 June 1914, Page 7

THE LAND OF THE MAGYAR.

j TOURING IN LITTLE-KNOWN LANDS. A NEW ZEALAJTDER'S EXPERIENCE. ■ BACK IN" THE MIDDLE .\<.E>. i 'Hy MALCOLM ROSS. F.R.0.5.) j i I. 'eaiili— I after twenty tliou-aml miles of : travel, that ha-d eorunienced at the Anti- : poiles. and Stefan and Slei'v. ,vho were 'to he my ciimpaniotis. after league* upon leagues of journeying- ill many landsStefan was a bright, clever, generous , young Hungarian, impulsive ami lethargic by turns. lie wa- a tremendous

patriot, and as we advanced into t hi heart of Hungary 1 >=avv him quickly becoming mure and more the t.vpiea Magyar, proud of th" traditions an history ~f his country. an' l , with at evor-iricrea-iiig pus>i,.n' t"-,r tl thtio graphy of hi- ra.-c. Vet he wa- not . narrow pat-iot. for he knew, and evei admitted, the Si'nortc.unings. a- well athe virtues, of his people. A Magyai melody or a Hungarian dish would pro time a reverie or a reniinUeence. or perchance. I>,,t.h. («iy an.l sad by turnip common with other- of his race. In seemed to have ninth in common wit' tho-e Gaels r.f Ireland of whan-, om reads in the "Ballad of the Whit. lior.se." that they were gay whpn they

held the sword: sad when they held t c harpAnd all their song- net" -ad when, after a lony day - travel, nitirl" nine, tint a ligar. I was sleeping throtigl the third at-l ~t a. Magyar drama that I could not understand. I got a dig in th, ribs and heard my friend excitedly stij, ing t.. tnc: 'Wake up. man. Wake up! '101 l are mi»ing something that splendid—the very soul of the nation!" And when, after some blinking .'I I hi eyes. I was able once more to gel ill. stage in focus. I saw a ha.nd.-ome yoinu .officer and a more hantl.-omc yuunjj woman dancing to the stirring niu-u.- >>l the "I .sardas." she wa- a former lover and he had broken : l.c b.uin.Ls of dts cipline and neglected his dirty with I hfruard outside the castle wall-, in or.lei to meet her again. Faster and faster went the niii.-i,-. till, in a. wild, ei-state whirl, they were careering round tin ballroom, yet. he. with all the 'ray al.an don of tne moment, was dancing in hisorrow. knowing full weli that nn the morrow lie would lie stripped nf hi.dpcorations and deprived of his sword. t>Thcr> nn the stage had joined in thp wild revef. but he. the gayest and mad dest of them all. wa- the saddest ol th<-:n aii. The audiep.ee looked and lisrtpnpd. ten.-c in their sympathy- and their interest in the M-rnr. And just in front of mc w ,v- a beautiful, dark haired Hungarian girl following tierhvthinic movement nf the dance with a. subdued swaying of her whole body She. too. like my friend, had felt t lv magic nf it in her blood, for the Magy n woman cannot, .my more I.Man tin Magyar num. withstand the thrill of Liv t-iri-itni.-taticc.-. An I. indeed, il v. a-- a

t 1 lit il ttl.lt even the more phlogliuit i. At-..0.1. now thoroughly aroti.-.-d to th- j setting "f the -telle, the -strange in lisle, j ami the stirring; dance, felt hi- pulses quickening. It wa- thU stranjre nitv , lure in the moods of my friend that marie him so interesting in tlie-e .jour- | nerings off tbe beaten track in the land of "the Magyar, lie could be as re freshimp as .' bright -print: nmrning. or a.- ' pen.-ive as the gutherin}; doom : but he , was never in what he culled "a bud j tinjotl" for long, nnd mostly it was Ihe . spring sunshine that illumined our way.-. " Stefv w-.i-s the wife of Stefan, but she | wa.- not Hungarian. Nile wa- a \ l-ti-nes.', young an.l good-looking, with a play of feat ure and .-harm ■•< manner | siicii -a- are to be found ill -, many j well-bred Au.-triari women—a blending of mental and physical radiance thai i-, the despair ~f the photographer, and which even the painter .-annol iran-fer to canva.- unload he ha.- in him son).; touch of th.- .senilis of the creator "1 the "Mona Lisa"—not that in t.h" ease t of Stefy there wa- any stipjreatron ol the -Lnscrutable smile." but rather a frank and honest joyousmess and a dt lifrht in all these new surroundings and, adventures that crowded so quickly! about, and upon v.-. You may see the typ.- 1 . if you watch oui in your afternoon stroll at the fashionable hour, in that gay throng of humanity, which. clothed in fiiiltie-sly cut dresses ami .bright unifirnis. parade- in the Karnt-i nersl rasse and the Irraben just before it js time to go lo dinner. Xo one, surely not even ti hushand. eoiild ever say a harsh word lo Stefy—Stefy with the laughing eye.-. Stelaai could -peak seven languages — including Hindustani -and Stely could make herself underst.m.l in live: but afor mc I could ..niv -peak mv own. ami that indifferently well. \n I n.-Kher Sl.-fy nor I could speak Hungarian. We knpw that -kerem" nicatu p!ei-c and "ni'iii" ii". and "igen" ye-. We were aNo aware of th" very important la.-t that "kosxnnom" mean! ;hank y.ui. anil reni.-nili.-r.sl ~n ...ca-sion that "pent/ail" wa..- theiliekel office, anil thai if we sail •-p.rfisma.sz kerem" we should gei ..ur. luggage! And we could < ~vii: up lo i.,-n? and a.-k for "mellaohris." vvhi.-h meant Iml wtitler. Tlli-s las!, perhaps.' we remr-mbercl best of all. for r.Slen the, weather vras cold. Necessity i- not only, the mill her of invention, .she i- a teacher i of languages as well: and I believe that' even an Bnglkdiman might learn Hungarian if he were shut up in Knli.z-var or Marmaros Sziget for a -ufTieienlly j lengthy period of y.-ars! But the reader. must remember tha.-t t.he linotype cannot put th.- proper accent on thescj wor.l-. and they are nor pmnounepd as tlipv are herp w.rrt.ten down. In one, column of a Hungarian new-paper f counted nn fewer it bin LIS a.-cent-. It. , wa- perhaps not surprising, therefore.' that neither tlve bright am) "Ikn-ming Stefv nor the phlegmatic Angol made no i effort to become -proficient in tue lan-1 of the Magyar. Flint Stefan made 1 amends for all our shortt-omings in this I yesjnee-t. and in tnanv a town and village rhey told hira that he spokp a purer Hungarian than they. This matter of languages—Stefan talking to the Hungarim.- tn Hungarian, his wife talking to him tn F.ngii-h and German, and I talking t.i the tan ■■■' them in Ensrlish caused many a man and woman off the beaten track of | travpl to wonder what on parth kind of trif) wp were! I becamp known as "The Ajigol." some-times as "Thar. Angol" which did not stonnd unite so respectful —and, generally, it teas thounrht that Stefy was an ' Vngoless" ana my. sistea-^

for not even she could stpeak to her husband in his own language! Stefan thpy- thought had been engaged to show us the country and act as interpreter! We had many a laugh over this puzzle our-elves ".- we proceeded ~n ..ti r pilgrimage to places where 'the villagers had never seen an Englishman, and beyond the bounds of travel where even an American tourist was a rara a v i-. If you ar.- in kalv I lie 1.c.-; route ;,. the Land of the Magyar lies acres, the water. „f the blue Adriatic. Hill r: iwitii infinite regret that one clambers from the gondola "ti !., the steamer, j and see liistori-ai. crumbling, beautiful i Venice quieklv fading from view. The | early morning -u n l,„rni--he- v. ,„ gold a dome above the (.'rami (anal, and the ; warn, tint i- reflated. .. tone lower, in 1 the rippling water. A gondolier, with ; short, jerky, yet graceful pu-hes at his j I.la le. oo mP - down the canal, and in the mi,bile „f bis .-rat; are some milk tins •that a].-,, ,-atrh the gold .«!' early morning and red,.-; a bight-like splash of ;in :h" near foreground. Out little -tciier s aireadv under way. and on,. jr.ues ;',„■ ,;,e | u ',i time "P"' I -If llue»t Mew- of Venice \ Ptuee from th.. ~„,] ~f ihe ii r ., n d i'anal Die Square ~-• st. Marco, the w.mdeifui ral-a.-e „f ;h- |>~._r( 1. . ~,e ts.wering i"ampaniie, th„ ntirro.v waterwav-. the historic bridge-, an.l .1 hundred other thing* ' lr '' lu,u :' I >mp memorip-. Looking back on the left. ,„,,. -„,... the number of shoals of the Dead Lagoon at low water. and beyorvi them th- vvallcl island hurving grotintl n' the ,-;•-.. A* Wp steamed out a black trad ■ ..' smoke from the funnel of the Hep-dim wa,- wafte.i across tl'i- l-lc of the dead: a few gondolas •'oited gracefully pa-t; and a hirge. with a -a,: of dull white, red ~,,,1 vellnw. 0.1 winch wa - painted ~ badly ir.um h.-arl pierced with .111 arrow. Iloated in ou th" l.ridae an I drift.,l la/.Hy to b.-r ■ m.."nii2s. i-'.r a few Meeting 'iiiini.it.e-. palace and .10n,,. .11, I -;,.,.- and alway* the 1 impanile. like . graceful bird, t ll! her ,- mi' inion- remained to hoi 1 the gaze. t.-; ! at length we were 111 the ..pen sea and Venice -0,,11 became a smudge nf uaterv grey mi the !i"ri/,,n. T weul mt,. a little -m..kmg h-11l [hove 1 the companion th it joined i: with tie tiny -il.'.'ii. and. "ii .1 -.ft leather-.-iush i"ii, 1 sett. c. - .ugh 1 '~, make up -nine arrear,. of sleep. A; table d'hote there war. a Label ~f tongues one hear I Italian, Ucrman. Ati-trian. l-ren. h and . Hungarian. I,„. no wr.l ..I Knglish. fat and bald headed, vvh.. a-ke'l f.ir ; " vine": a -.veil I'avoitre I Krendi woman of about :i."i. dark, with -aghtlv rou-je-1 ■ cheek* and li|«-; with her a pretty fair haired, prey-eyed girl: an Vi-trian ,-r.uple newiv married, he tail and brown : h.L.reti. she tall and fair, with the clear ! \ll-,tnan skill; and a dark, middle-aged j-lew and hi- _v o.ing wile, who rte.l knew it-he had a- pretty .tn ankle a- ever a.rtisr chiselled. r'o r our "four lira sixty" »> got quite a good luncheon, an I ; when we came 1,11 ,|e. k again, ju-t befor" I one o'clock, there, right in front of us-.

I seemed I o be the \us! r ilian .na-t.a.s it tirea: Australian Right! Rut it was really the coast of l-'.ria. and. astern.

I the ancient \ropen-um or Rubin-urn. now finie.l for ; '- h i/el nuts and its wine. And perhaps it was the wine nf this place | that the prb-t and I I, id taken with our nteai. fur liore war. still the pleasant 1 p., i- ;he l.e-t in all l-r.ria. The stone (cathedra!, frnm which its hill look.- nn ihe aiiai.-n: i-!ands and out aero- the 1 rippling water, of the blue xdriatic. j Cis.-a. a here. 111 the seventh century. , they made the' famous purple dyes, has i lain for some thirteen eenturie- now j sunken in the sea. ic-ir the present lighthouse. We enme to the llrinnia.il Isle-, ■and enter the water- wherein in LW7 iliie ice's- , lefe-.it. .1 tn- Venetian I lied : and v." .-an -till see the great 'stone t|ii.i rrit,- r.-rot. hing ao: n-- a whole 1 island 5.,„ ciinlama from which were i hewn the stones of Venice. Pola lies on the hill-ide at the end of Its little bay. Iflll.l there we see tin Austrian licet. dark coloured -hips, drawn up in two line- like greyhounds held in leash. The , Austrian-, in making this the lioa<U-|uar tor- nf I h< i- n.i vv . have taken ! heir cue from \ ipnleon. In a 1-ttv wiiiie we hue r-uin !,-,! tlie n.-.r of to.- 1-tri.i.u Peninsula, and are .r i ca.ming en uilr n«.rt In. a.rd cnitr-e for l-iunic. the port ..f ltun;'-rv. istria is now mi n-ir left, and a our right i- '■ Croatia and the 11-aluiatain coast, with a great archipelago -.'retching south ward as far a- Cet'mje. in 'Montenegro, Tn the-e sea-, early iii the hist ,-einury. i the Briti-h Fleet fought tiie Fren.h- SSO I English with lofi L'uns defeating 2AOO French and lt.ali.ui- with guns. The I-'reiiili Admiral wa.- slain, and three : frigates and otic corvette nf th" enemy ! struck their ,-nl'iiirs. l.is-a. for a time under our tlag. became an emporium for Brilish commerce, and the merchants waved far iii connection with the smuggling of the good- nf Manchester. P.ir ininghani. an.l Leeyls acrosj ihe Da.lma.tiaii frontier and through Rosnia into Germany. .'.head ~t ii- now lies th,- famed Quarnero. across which the Lora enme-. o.easiona.lly. howling from the north ea-l. Mam a -aiim- ha- gone down before it..- terrible f..r,-c and even the

modern -teamsihip ha.- to- battle hard against it- tierce gust-. The islandtiiat smile a; v- ironi the blue of the Adriatic a- ».■ pa-- them l.v are famed in legend and in hl-tnry. there i- ope that I'liir. mentions the Maud of Vegilia. TI,,- Illy nan -na-'s. he tell- us. vver.- v.'t-v n:iin.-roit- here. They were jeonsidererl by the f;.t.nian« a great deb-cai-y. -i. much so th-.tt Huviu- H.irpinti- ! had preserve- ~f them a: hi- villa, where | they were kept for the table. Croatia. 1 Dalmatia. atil Montenegro may vet play 'an important part in the affairs of Europe. Indeed at any day they mayblaze into political prominence, for the 1 Dalmatians and Montenegrins are mem- | her- of tiie great Slavonic nice which mu-t ever hold an important place in : the affairs nt Ka-tern F.uropp. especially it Uu-.-ia. a- -eenis only natural, should one day decide to uphold a great Slavonic Federation. The issue j- ~ne of great importance -o Hungary and Austria, an I may even be m;" . ; ,'i, ,-om.vprn I, 'the P.rir.isii Empire. Awe found, in our journevings throu"h ■ Hungary. Russian emissaries arc not I idle either here or in tlonmania. and it lis quite possible that before many years! have passed the eyes of -he world's diplomatists may lie looking anxiously | towards a srorm centre that may- de- ! : velop in tbis region. As op steam up [ the una- unruffled Qntirnero. .vjth tto ! morp wind than th" little Urged::., u,.----s.'h' ,- making, ihe mind at time.- wan • lei-- from Uie beauty r.f the scene and I when lllriiii.-. ill.- -on .■: ; y~,-!,,'j,. Poly-' , phetntis and Sainton, or Ifyllus. the -on I of Hercules,—one or the other—conquered the country and founded the j Kingdom of Uiyria : or io those days whpn the Argonauts eanae up tie later Lssr l the- Etxsine Sea and descended a..

I mythical valley into the Adriatic, near the Lstrian Peninsula, which they named 'in memory of their route < >r one may ■ endeavour to picture the times when : Jdnmeneus and Ditmiede. tiio-e wauder- ' er.- of Homeric times, came after the Trojan wars —brave wayfarers along the | Dalmatian -holes. Al! that «a.- away; 1.a.-k in the -liiiilis* and mythical past, j I Real history —em- to liegm with tin I Lilmrian. w iiu. after their expulsion from j I A-ia. conquered th.- ,-ountrv and settled : th-re. They became a race of iiar.iv seamen. j wh... subsequently, played a famous part in the sui-ces-e- of the Roman Navy. I 1,, th.- seventh century before ( hri-t a I the eruption or th. Haiti -—none.-.' a! 1 c.tlony of Sicilian llreek.-, from Syracuse.; j Wh'.--tl DiouVaius settle.i oil the island j of l-tsa. which is the same a- the modern jLirtsa. to which. centuries afterwards, the men of Man.-iiet.ter sent I their g,.,,.!.-. Truly time work.- miracle-: ] There are many evidence- of the establishment of other llreek settlements.! both on the island.- and on the mainHand. Much later --:n tiie third century ; before ChrUt tiie lllyrian Kingdom. tin.let- tiie strong sway of Agnui. came I from that time onwards much blood I wa- spilled ill th" t.-n mc t.iat troubled I the lan-l until nine yea's after Christ wa.- b„rn. Then .-a mc I inns, at,.! Buigarians. and Slavonians, ami barbarian | 'cruelties, and rapine. the chronicle of which would til! many books. lint meantime our good ship has nude an '' excellent passage, and having swung I round to one of the quays. I find inyt-elf at Kli.-me. and lan I on Hungarian .-in!. And the lir-l th iv that ' .strike mc in tin- -trangc country r.l I .•"titradit-tion... i- that the city and the I people are more Italian thin 11 nnga ra :,. The porter alio got m, |.|ggag" =n conveyed mc t,, ,|,,. t, ran ||| ~..i |~..| 1s j add re-t-,..| mc n.,t in the \|- r ,.,,- p.|i"ii.' , l"'l 'I' the soft-i- language „f -ifnnv , Italy I " ' ' ! 'T.j be continued.,