The soil is so rich in decayed vegetable
matter as to be almost black, and now grows excellent crops of tobacco
and Indian corn. The country north-east of Tokay is certainly the most
picturesque side, there is more foliage, and there is also water.
The first time I drove through Bodrog-Keresztur, which is on this side,
I thought that, notwithstanding the pretty country, I had never seen so
desolate a place. The town was once famed for its markets, but the
railways have changed all this; almost every other house is a ruin, and
large trees may be seen growing between the walls.
In the last century a company of Russian soldiers were stationed here
for the purpose of buying Tokay wine for the Russian Court.
One of the prettiest little places in the Hegyalia is Erdoe-Benye; it is
off the main road, right in amongst the hills. It boasts the largest
wine-cellar in the whole district; it has twenty-two ramifications at
two different levels, the whole being cut out of the solid rock; it is
more like a subterranean labyrinth than a cellar. This place was
formerly the property of the renowned family of Rakoczy, who played no
mean part in Hungarian history. Not far from Erdoe-Benye are
mineral-water baths, romantically situated in the oak-forest.
Saros Patak and Uihely are the two most noteworthy towns in the
north-eastern side of the Tokay triangle. The first named has a
Calvinist college of some considerable reputation, a library of 24,000
volumes, a printing-press, and a botanical garden.
Pages:
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319