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COSTUME OF THE NOBLES.

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the other, are sure to be sacrificed, it seems to be so nearly the same case as that of the rich and poor with us, that it is hardly worth speaking of.

It would be an unpardonable sin not to give a particular description of the Hungarian uniform ; for, after the language, it is one of the most cherished of the Magyar's nationalisms; and is considered so essential to his rank, that I believe the more ignorant scarcely believed us when we told them, that, as English gentlemen, we had no uniform. It has undergone its changes, however, as well as other things; and its history is almost a type of the people's. In early days it smacked strongly of Turkish taste in the gaiety of its colours, and the quantity of jewels with which it was loaded; during the reign of Joseph it received a most unnatural and Frenchified cut, and the coat and its wearers were very near losing their nationality together: it has now again assumed its antique proportions and original form; and, while all its peculiar beauties are preserved, its uncouth inelegancies have been softened down by the simple and refined taste of the present century. It now consists of the Attilla,

frock-coat, reaching nearly to the knee, with a military collar, and covered in front with gold lace; over this is generally worn, hanging loosely on one shoulder, the Mente, a somewhat larger coat, lined with fur, and with a fur cape. It is generally sus pended by some massive jewelled chain. The tight pantaloons and ancle-boots, with the never-failing

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spurs, form the lower part. The Kalpak, or fur cap, is of innumerable forms, and ornamented by a feather fastened by a rich brooch. The white heron's plume, or aigrette, the rare product of the southern Danube, is the most esteemed. The neck is open, except for a black ribbon loosely passed round it, the ends of which are finished with gold fringe. The sabre is of the shape of the Turkish scimitar : indeed, richly ornamented Damascus blades, the spoils of some unsuccessful Moslem invasion, are very often worn and are highly prized.

The sword-belt is frequently a heavy gold chain, such as our ancient knights wore over their armour. The colours, and in many respects the form, of the Hungarian uniform depend entirely on the taste of the individual, and vary from the simple blue dress of the hussar, with white cotton lace, to the rich stuffs covered with pearls and diamonds of the Prince Eszterházy.

On the whole, I know of no dress so handsome, so manly, and at the same time so convenient. It is only on gala days that gay and embroidered dresses are used; on ordinary occasions, as sittings of the Diet, county meetings, and others in which it is customary to wear uniform, dark colours, with black silk lace,-like that formerly worn by our officers în undress, and trousers, or hessian-boots, are commonly used. Many of the old school wear this dress constantly, while others follow the rest of the world in imitating England; nay, so much is Anglomania

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now the mode, that a fashionable tailor of Pest never dreams of pleasing his customers without assuring them he makes their coats according to the last pattern received from London.

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THE CARPATHIANS.

CHAPTER XV.

THE NORTHERN CARPATHIANS.

The Carpathians.

The Krivan. The Lomnitzer Head. Schmöcks, a Bathing-place. Excursion to the Valleys of the Kahlbach, and Five Lakes. A Country Gentleman of the Old School. Hungarian Freedom compared with English.A Chamois Hunt. A Scene in the Mountains. The Jägers, and their Story of the Bear and the Wood-ranger. - Kesmark and the Tökölys. The Zipser Protestants. Caraffa's Persecutions. Mysterious Adventure at Leutschau.

FROM Presburg, where the Danube enters Hungary, to Orsova, where it leaves it, one unbroken chain of mountains bounds the western, northern, and eastern limits of the kingdom. In this course, two great mountain offsets are formed: one between the north and west portion, extending on the east nearly to the Theiss; the other comprising the whole of Transylvania. In the valley of the Waag we were constantly enclosed between branches of the western chain; at Schemnitz we were in the midst of the western offset; and we are now about to visit the highest part of the northern range, the Tatra.

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On resuming the course of our travels after this digression, I shall at once transport the reader, without pausing to describe the route, from Kremnitz to the foot of the Krivan, a short distance only from Hradek. This Krivan is one of the noblest mountains I ever saw. It is not the absolute elevation of a mountain which impresses the beholder, so much as its position, form, and height, relative to surrounding objects. Though not more than seven thousand eight hundred feet above the level of the sea, the Krivan rises so immediately from the plain, with its conical form and fine rocky summit, and towers so gloriously above all its neighbours, that it gave me a finer idea of a vast mountain than any other I had before seen. We spent the night at Vichodna, a small village at its base, in hopes either of making some arrangements for an ascent the next day, or, what would have been still better, for joining a great chamois hunt, which we had heard was to take place on the mountain in the course of a week. In both respects we were disappointed; the hunt was deferred sine die; and the clouds, which we had so much admired the day before, as they hung lightly round the hoary monarch's head, or occasionally rolled down his sides, leaving the fine peak clear, now so completely obscured the whole mountain, that we could not even get an outline of its form.

Though the middle of August was scarcely past, we began to feel the cold mountain blasts most

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