Added to the pressure of accumulated expenses, Hungary has had a succession of bad harvests—­she has been passing through the seven lean years.  The last season has shown, however, a decided improvement, so we may hope the bad corner is turned.  I am informed that this year the schedule for unpaid—­viz., arrears of—­taxes is completely wiped off.  Then, again, the income-tax in the space of five years ending 1874 increased from 5,684,000 florins to 27,650,000 florins!

The financial account of the current year is reassuring.  At the sitting of the Hungarian Diet on the 30th October,[20] the minister, in presenting the estimates for 1878, said that in 1876 and 1877 the expenditure had been reduced by L1,250,000.  It was not possible to continue at the same rate, and the net reduction next year would be L360,000.  It is true the deficit of 1877 is L1,600,000, a sufficiently grave sum; but to judge the position fairly it is necessary to look at the budgets of former years.  In 1874, “in consequence of rather too hasty investment of money in railways and other public works,” the deficit was L6,000,700; in 1876 it had fallen to L3,100,000.  The present year, therefore, shows a steady reduction of those ugly figures at the wrong side of the national account.

[Footnote 20:  ‘Hungarian Finances,’ the Times, October 31, 1877.]

CHAPTER XXV.

Copper mine of Balanbanya—­Miners in the wine-shop—­Ride to St Miklos—­Visit to an Armenian family—­Capture of a robber—­Cold ride to the baths of Borsek.

Having expressed a wish to see the copper mine at Balanbanya, which is some five miles from Szent Domokos, my host proposed to drive me over the next morning.  When the morning came the weather looked most unpromising; there was a steady downpour, without any perceptible break in the clouds in any quarter.  I had made up my mind to go, and as after the noonday meal it cleared slightly, we started.  The mud was nearly up to the axletree of our cart.  After driving some time we reached a wild and rather picturesque valley, in which rises the Alt, or, as it is called when it reaches Roumania, the Aluta.  The course of this stream is singularly tortuous, winding about through rocks and defiles, often changing its direction, and finally making a way for itself through the Carpathian range.

As we approached the copper mine it had all the appearance of a volcano, for a heavy cloud of smoke hung over the spot like a canopy.  This mine has been worked for many years; formerly it paid well, but now it is in the hands of a company, who are working at a loss, if I could believe what I was told.

I have repeatedly noticed in Hungary that people commit themselves to works of this kind without the technical knowledge necessary to carry them on successfully.  The necessary capital, too, is generally wanting to bring these mining operations to a successful issue; added to this the managers are often not conspicuous for their honesty.