The Tomahawk., 1916-11-16

VICE have the Russians threat
ened invasion of that vast eX-
panse of golden cortland, the
| great Hungarian plain, and
again it was imperiled by the Rou-
manians. Debreczen, Arad, Temesvar,
Szegedin-the important centers of the
plain-all lie in the path of the armies
that might sweep down upon Buda-
pest from the Carpathians and from
the Roumanian frontier, writes j. M.
Dodington in Country Life. Debrec-
zen, that most Oriental-lOOking OF
towns, with it's flat-rOofed houses in
closing a large, open square across
which the women stroll, yelled in east
ern fashion. Debreczen, which has
known battles and sieges innumerable,
which was famous as the seat of KOS
suth's short-lived parliament; Arad, Il
rather commonplace town on the
banks of the River Maros, celebrated
throughout Hungary for it's delicious
| fish of varied species; Temesvar, the
| capital of the Banat, essentially mod
ern, noisy with electric cars and bril-
liant with electric lights; Szegedin,
even more stirring and up-to-date than
! Temesvar, with manufactures Of car
pets and friezes, of ropes and sail
! cloth, which render it prosperous ex-
| ceedingly.
But all, ancient or modern are CEN
tiers Of the enormous grain trade which
was growing greater every day, as far
spreading stretches of plain were be-
ing cleared Of scrub, vast swamps
drained and turned into ripping corn
fields. Roads were being made, rail
ways projected, in every direction.
| There is an end to such activities
now. One begins to hope that the Hor-
tobagy plain, the happy hunting-ground
| Of spOrtsmen, native and foreign, will
| be left in all it's wild charm, safe for
many years to come, from civilizations
| prOsaic hand.
Where Vast Herds ROAM.
The great Hortobagy plain lies west
| of DebrecZen and extends to the TlsZa
| river. 1t is vast, uncultivated pral-
| rie land over which roam countless
| herds Of cattle, horses, sheep, swine,
| watched over by brown-skinned guard
| ians whose rank varies according to
| their avocatiOnS and is most tenacious
| ly kept. Thus that most exalted OF
| nristOcrats, the csikOs, guardian OF
that noblest of animals, the horse, dis
| dams all intercourse with him VINO
stands upon the next rung OF the So
| cial ladder, the gulyas or cattleman.
| In his turn the gulyas regards with the
utmost contempt the shepherd-juhasz
while the juhasZ turns with scorn
| from that member Of the lowest or
! castles, the kOnduS or swineherd.
The work of all consists in day and
night watching over their animals, but
more especially in the case of the
gulyas-the watering of the herds IS
their hardest task. The drawing up
| of bucketfuls Of water from deep-sunk
wells for thousands of heads of cattle
is no light job. 1t would be an impos-
sible one during the scOrching heat or
summer, were it not for the small
| lakes and ponds which dot the
plain, and also for the HOrtobagy riv-
er, which flows through it from north
| to south and whose waters never fall.
There is another fairly big river, the
Arkos, but it dries up during the hot
season. In it's waters there are, natur-
ally, found none of the fish which are
so abundant in the HortObagy.
The cskos Of the great plain are
very fine hOrsemen. In the War Of In
dependence, 1S4S-49, they Joined the
bands of the dreaded Alexander Roz-
sa and pursued the fleeing Austrians,
throwing their Iassoes from great
distance and tearing the foe from his
saddle, to lie at their mercy Oh the
ground.
Paradise for Sportsmen.
The recdy margins Of the Hortobagy
river abound with snipe and mallard,
but it is among the creeks and lake
lets of the northern part of the great
plain, when the autumn rains cause
them to overflow and unite in shallow
seas, that the sportsman finds his par
adise. There, during October and No
yember, the wild geese are found in mil
lions. The sodden meadows are coy
cred by their innumerable f1ocks, as
if by snowdrifts. When they rise they
obscure the sunlight, and the noise
of their wings is like the rush of q
mighty whirlwind. In bitches, in pits
dug by the rivers brink, defiant OF
rheumatic pangs, the gunner hides,
and tremendous is the toll he takes. II
is a most exciting sport, and one is
almost inclined to agree with the ma