On inquiry I found that once a-week the authorities send
round to see if there are any dogs at large without the regulation
tax-collar. If any such vagabonds are found they are consigned to the
covered cart, and are forthwith shot. This excellent arrangement has the
effect of keeping down the number of dogs; besides, there is the
safeguard attendant upon the responsibility of ownership. The funny part
of the matter is that the tax-paying dogs are not the least alarmed at
the appearance of the whipper-in, but join with great show of public
spirit in denouncing the collarless vagrants.
Klausenburg has not the picturesque situation of Kronstadt, but it is a
pleasant clean-looking town, with wide streets diverging from the Platz,
where stands the Cathedral, completed by Matthias Corvinus, son of
Hunyadi. This famous king, always called "the Just," was born at
Klausenburg in 1443.
As Herrmannstadt and Kronstadt are chiefly inhabited by Saxon
immigrants, and Maros Vasarhely is the central place of the Szeklers, so
may Klausenburg, or rather Kolozsvar, as it is rightly named, be
considered the Magyar capital of Transylvania.
The gaieties of the winter season had not commenced when I was there,
but I understand the world amuses itself immensely. The nobles come in
from their remote chateaux to their houses, or apartments, as it may be,
in town, and then the ball is set going.
There is a good theatre in Klausenburg.
Pages:
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257