THE CARPATHIANS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13957, 17 July 1909, Page 3

THE CARPATHIANS.

A WILD AND RUGGED RANGE. (By the Walking Parson.) Sehalkhaz, Kasthau (Hungary), May 7. The city of Cracow was once the chief town of Poland, until the Polish King Sigismund 111. changed the capital to Warsaw. To-day Croeow is known hecause it contains more Jews than any other city in the world, nad Crocow was visited by me because it was the best starting point for the Carpathian mountains. Like all places in Austria, it is very dear. You pay for every meal as you get it, so that you are not frightened by a large hotel bill at -the end of your visit. This is one comfort, and about the only comfort to be found.

That being so, it was no hardship to turn my back on the city, and take to the roads again. It poured with rain, but that you must expect in a mountainous dis'tricfl, and gradually the Carpathians came in sight. I had plenty to occupy my mind, for every place had a Polish name, and 1 hud to find out the Polish pronunciation. I don't know whether the Poles Jiave rules of pronunciation, but how was I to guess that a place spelt Charhowka was pronounced Harboofka? But perseverance overcame most things, and ,1 found mvsolf in time at Zakopane. GROUNDLESS ALARMS. All the world just now seems to be going in for the open-air cure, and Zakopane is" full of sanatoria. My landlord was a ,'lttle in doubt as to what could he the matter with me, and wondered what course of treatment I needed. 1 soon disabused his mind by tolling him I had not come i in.search of health—thank God, "I had that; but I had come to cross the. Carpathian mountains. He looked grave. Did 1 know the dangers of .snowstorms, and that the sides of the mountains were like going down an ice slope? Did I know that boars and bisons were kept on the mountains by different sporting clulis, and at times they were awkward creatures to meet:-' Above all, did I know the enormous distance between the side we were on and the other side of the mountain, and had I a sleeping bag, for I should have to spend a night in the open air? He further told me that only a few weeks before a young man had been killed in a snowslide. Of course every landlord wants to keep you afc his hotel as long as possible, but I was fortunate enough to fall in with a Russina gentleman who had lived many years in England, and who was then living in Zakopane, and he gave me advice. A man who spoke five languages, and sat all day in a nal'e talking to any who might chance to look in, was bound to have something to say, and what lie said was disinterested.

Ho had met with a professor from Belfast University, who had studied the ornithology of the mountains. Among other things tin's professor had found was that there were eight kinds of eagles that were not found elseAvhere in Europe. Ho had met with a general only a week or two since, who had gone up the mountains with his two daughters, and had been met by two hears. The sequel was rather tame, for though the girls ran away, the hears ran away too, faster than the girls, perhaps at the sight of the gallant general. Besides the bears, the bisons were very wild. In addition to the above risks, there was another. The winter had been very severe, and many bridges had been washed away, and, by myself, ho was sure, that 1 should never find my way over the mountain streams which abounded.

Before starting I determined to do a little exploration on my own account, and walked the first few miles of the road. Nothing could he better marked, and the telegraph wires ran by the side. I met a peasant on the road, and asked 'him it it was the way to Poprad (.the first town on the other side), and how far was it away. He replied it was the right road, and it would take me six hours. 1 asked if the telegraph wires ran all the way, and he said they did. 1 then asked him the crucial question, if he had ever been there himself, and he had to answer No.

i Tin: balance of evidence was against my attempting the pass alone, so, consequently, I hired a guide, who brought an indescribable vehicle which he called a little waggon, in which to put the knapsack, and in which one might drive on the level. There was just a gleam of sunshine the moment we started to show me what :1 treat might be in store, for me, but the clouds. quickly gathered again. Ko much rain must wash away the snow, I thought, forgetful that what was rain on the level was snow on the heights. So I found at the end of five miles or so, and not only was tehro snow, but it was wet and soft, and I could go but slowly. "Sly guide pointed me out a short cut: which would save me a mile or so, while hi! and the little waggon vent round by the road. Xow, my Russian friend' had said to me. " lieware of your guide. You will have to pay beforehand, and I have heard of them giving the traveller the slip and returning home." Ko 1 determined to stick to the little waggon. Km- two hours we continued climbing and descending, and then 1

saw how unreliable one piece of information bad been, for' we left the road with the milestones and telegraph wires ami took another. Soon after I saw in the distance two fully-armed gendarmes, with rifles and bayonets fixed, one of whom held up his hand for 11-3 to stop. They had

' a long conversation with my guide in Polish, and then examined the little wagon. I learnt afterwards that they ■thought I might bo after sport on the mountains, and expected to find guns liidden away. Finding nothing but my knapsack, they let use go on. It set me wondering why two fully-armed men patrolled tne mountains. Were there such desperate characters to be reckoned-with? At last I heard the soil ids of a mill, and before long I came upon a sawmill, where the only industry possible in the' mountains, nrr.eiy, the timber trade, was being carried on. Near by was a Gasthaus, where the workmen could refresh' themselves, and I was not sorry that the guide called a halt. DOWN INTO HUNGARY.

Away we went- again, and I saw how:true part of the information given me had been, for . several of the bridges were broken, and I never could have found my own way across the endless streams. Need I add, there was no one about to direct me. And now the highest point of the Pass remained to be negotiated. The woods were dense on both sides, and where a clearing had been made, young trees had been planted in their places. Those who will have to carry out the afforestation of England might take a few lessons from the Carpathians. One drawback to a woodman's life remains to be stated. "How much do these men earn?" I asked my guide. "About twentypence a day," he answered. _ Ten shillings a week to life upon in the dearest country in Europe I

A curiously-coloured post stood at the top of the pass, and told us wo were in Hungary. What was more, the woods ceased as if by magic, and we were on the Hungarian P.ushta. i cannot describe it better than by saying it has the appearance of a vast wilderness of grass. Down the mountain side we sped as fast as our feet would carry us. We soon left the snow behind. We had need to hasten for the first house where a bed could be obtained was still miles away. The shooting boxes of the Hungarian nobility could be seen on the high Tatra, which seemed to show we were.returning to civilised parts. It was getting dark when we entered Tatra ITured (the baths of Tatra), and knocking at the door of a bath-house I was told they had a bed to spare.

It was a curious scene at the din-ner-table that night. The place was full of consumptives, and each of the guests sat for some time with a thermometer in the mouth, to take the temperature before eating. Whether the result was satisfactory or not I cannot say, but though the meal was of the simplest, only consisting of veal ."id macaroni, nobodv ate anything they simply toyed "> with their food, drank water (wine was not allowed), and made jokeS about their complaints. "Nobody," did I say? Yes, there was one whoin modesty forbids me to mention who ate dinner enough for all. A. N. COOPER.