In the Southern Carpathians there is no region of
perpetual snow, but the higher summits are generally snow-clad late in
the spring and very early in the autumn. I was told there is good
bear-hunting in this district.
While at Kronstadt I made the acquaintance of some Austrian officers
quartered in the neighbourhood. They kindly invited me to the cavalry
barracks at Rosenau, and accordingly I went over for a few days. The
barracks were built by the people of the village, or rather small town,
of Rosenau; for they were obliged by law to quarter the military, and to
avoid the inconvenience of having soldiers billeted upon them they
constructed a suitable building. The cavalry horses were nearly all in a
bad plight when I was there, for they had an epidemic of influenza
amongst them; but we found a couple of nags to scramble about with, and
made some pleasant excursions. One of our rides was to a place called
"The Desolate Path," a singularly wild bit of scenery, and curiously in
contrast to the rich fertility of Rosenau and its immediate
neighbourhood. This pretty little market town lies at the foot of a
hill, which is crowned with a romantic ruin, one of the seven burgher
fortresses built by the Saxon immigrants. There is a remarkably pretty
walk from the village to the "Odenweg," a romantic ravine, with
beautiful hanging woods and castellated rocks disposed about in every
sort of fantastic form.
Pages:
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192