The springs which yield iron and carbonic acid are much used for drinking.  There are also some primitive arrangements for bathing near by.  A square hole is cut in the ground; this is boarded round, and a simple wooden shed, like a gigantic dish-cover, is put over it.  Here again my guide said that miraculous cures are wrought annually.  It is a wonder that anybody is left with an ache or a pain in a country which has such wonderful waters.  I think my guide thought I was a doctor, who was searching for a new health-resort, and he was quite ready to do his share of the puffing.

On Mount Buedos itself, in other parts than the cave, there occurs a good deal of sulphur; specimens are often found distributed which are very rich indeed.  The place certainly deserves a thorough exploration, with a view to utilising the sulphur deposits; but it is so overgrown with vegetation that the search would involve considerable trouble and expense.

There is a fine view from Mount Buedos towards Moldavia.  I was fortunate in having good lights and shades, and therefore enjoyed the prospect most thoroughly.  I should like to have remained longer on the summit, but not being prepared for camping out it was not possible; so very reluctantly we set about returning.

My guide led me back to Bueksad by another route, a rough road, with deep ruts and big stones that must make driving in any vehicle, except for the honour and glory of it, a very doubtful blessing.  But bad roads never do seem to matter in Hungary.  Everybody drives everywhere; they would drive over a glacier if they had one.  Occasionally we came upon some charming bits of forest scenery.  The trees were grand, especially the beech; they were of greater girth than any I had yet seen in Transylvania.  I noticed many mineral springs by the roadside; one could distinguish them by the deposit of oxide of iron on the stones near by.

When I got back to Bueksad, I found the bailiff waiting to tell me that Count M——­ and Baron A——­ desired their compliments, and would be pleased to see me at Tusnad, if I would go over there.  I had no introduction to these noblemen, and mention the invitation as an instance of Hungarian hospitality.  They had simply heard that an Englishman was travelling about the country.

I rode over to Tusnad the following day, and found it, as I had been led to expect, a very picturesque little place, a number of Swiss cottages dropped down in the clearing of the forest, with a good “restauration,” built by Count M——­ himself.  When I was there the season was over; but I am told that it is full of fashionables in June and July, and that the waters have an increasing reputation.  My attention was drawn to the singular fact of two springs bubbling up within six feet of each other, which are proved by chemical analysis to be distinctly different in composition.  I fancy Count M——­ was much amused at the fact of an English gentleman travelling about alone on horseback, without any servants or other impedimenta.  I remember a friend of mine telling me that once in Italy, when he declined to hire a carriage from a peasant at a perfectly exorbitant price, and said he preferred walking, the fellow called after him, saying, “We all know you English are mad enough for anything!”