not make out what was up at first, but looking out I saw the stokers, pokers, and engine-driver all calmly enjoying their pipes, seated on the footboard on the shady side of the train!  Some one or two people remarked that the officials in this part of the world were lazy fellows, but the passengers generally appeared in no great hurry, and after a while the train moved on again.  At several places on the line we passed luggage trains waiting on the siding for their turn to be sent on to Buda-Pest.  In many of these open trucks we noticed a considerable number of those fine Podolian oxen, common in these parts, and lots of woolly-haired pigs, that look for all the world like sheep at a distance.

The effect of tapping these out-lying districts is already producing its natural result; the cultivator finds a ready market for his produce, and the value of land is rising, and “must rise in Hungary,” says Professor Wrightson in his report on the agriculture of the Austro-Hungarian empire.[23]

In approaching Debreczin we noticed frequent instances of the efflorescence of soda-salts upon the surface of the soil.  This occurrence greatly impairs the fertility of some parts of the Alfoeld.  Land drainage would probably cure this evil, but I do not fancy any serious experiments have been tried.  Skill and labour have not yet been brought to bear on the greater part of the land in Hungary.  It is a country where a vast deal has yet to be done, and such are the prejudices of the common people that improvements cannot be introduced at once and without some caution; in fact, the material conditions of the country itself and the climate necessitate considerable experience on the part of any foreigner who may settle in Hungary and think to import new fashions in agriculture.

Stopping at Debreczin only long enough to get a little supper at the station restaurant, we pursued our journey through the night.  I do not imagine that we lost much that was worthy of note owing to the darkness, for the line continues to traverse a sanely plain utterly devoid of good scenery.  Towards morning we passed two important towns—­namely, Nagy Karoly and Szathmar.  The hitter is the seat of a Catholic bishop, and has no less than 19,000 inhabitants—­a good-sized place for Hungary.  In 1711 the peace between the Austrians and Rakoczy was signed in this town.  Not far from here are the celebrated gold, silver, and lead mines of Nagy Banya.

We arrived at the junction station of Kiraly-haza early in the morning, and there learned the agreeable news that we must wait ten hours, though only a few miles from our destination.  From this place there is a line to Satoralja-Uihely, a junction on the main line between Buda-Pest and Lemberg.  The town of Kiraly-haza is situated in a wide valley bounded by high mountains.  The plain is left far behind, and we are once more under the shadow of the Carpathians.  The heat of the day was intense, and there was not much in the immediate neighbourhood to tempt us out in the broiling sun, so we just got through the time as best we could.  The food was very bad and the wine execrable, an adulterated mixture not worthy of the name.  This is a rare occurrence in Hungary, and it ought not to have been the case here, for there are good vineyards close to the town.