conclusive by the Town Council, as the resolution that his scheme ought to be tried was carried by a large majority. The question is well worth study at the present moment, as it will be brought before Parliament very shortly. We have also before us two pamphlets, by Mr. GEORGE WITHERS, on another reform which is now coming to the fore. The one is entitled, The English Language Spelled as Pronounced, with Enlarged Alphabet of Forty Letters, a letter for each distinct element in the Language; and the other, Alphabetic and Spelling Reform, an Educational Necessity. The urgent need of such a reform is proved most conclusively; the best mode of bringing it about is the point where differences of opinion must be expected to arise. It cannot be carried out thoroughly except on some such plan as that advocated by Mr. Withers; and we see no good reason for disturbing our present system of spelling, bad as it unquestionably is (if indeed we can call it a system at all), for the sake of any half measure of reform, which would give little permanent satisfaction, while it would entail quite as much trouble as a more perfect scheme. Free Trade, a Labour Question for Working-men, by JOHN WOOD,‡ is an attempt to show that the principles of Free Trade are altogether fallacious, and fatal to our prosperity as a nation. It is in the form of a dialogue between a working-man and a Free Trade advocate, and the argument is very conveniently made to suit the views of the writer. We would recommend Mr. Wood to study Prof. Stanley Jevons' "Logic," which he can buy for the small sum of one shilling; and when he has, in accordance with that excellent primer, corrected the misused terms and fallacies which he will find on almost every page of his pamphlet, the result of the argument will be altogether different from what it now appears. Is the Soul Immortal? or, A Biblical Analysis of Man,§ by WILLIAM WITHERS, is an essay specially directed against the annihilationists, rationalists, and universalists. Upon the main question we cannot help agreeing with our author; though, even in the ninth chapter, which directly answers the query on the title-page, there are some statements we regard as not proven. The last chapter, on "The corporeal nature of man, its origin and decay," treats of the effect of sin upon the physical body, and is the least satisfactory to our mind. The author seems impatient of arguing with his opponents, and hence is led into making strong assertions which we think cannot be maintained.

* Trübner & Co. † Liverpool: J. Woollard. ‡ Simpkin, Marshall & Co. § F. Davis.

The Argonaut.

WILD BOAR HUNTING IN HUNGARY.

BY ANDREW F. CROSSE.

HE north-eastern part of Hungary is little known by tourists, though the wine of the district, the "Imperial Tokay," has been celebrated since the time of the Council of Trent. I say the Council of Trent advisedly, for though not agreed on other subjects, they were of one opinion as to the excellent quality of the wine brought thither by Draskovics, Bishop of Fünfkirchen, from his vineyards at Tállya near Tokay. The Pope proclaimed it to be nectar, surpassing all other wine, saying with a happy play upon the word, "Summum Pontificum talia vina decent."

The whole of the Tokay district, many miles in extent, is called in Hungarian, the Hegyalja; it is a range of low hills forming the southern spur of that volcanic region composed of Trachyte and Rhyolithe, which beginning at Eperies, south of the Carpathians, extends as far as the town of Tokay, and protrudes into the Alföld, or vast Hungarian plain, a remarkable feature in the physical geography of Central Europe. The atmospheric effects here are often very striking, especially at sunset, for the great plain extending for hundreds of miles, a perfectly flat expanse, has at times the appearance of a sea; the illusion is complete when the level rays of the rising or setting sun play on the illimitable white mist. Here also the parched traveller may sometimes be deceived by the mirage, luring him on to pleasant green pastures, and refreshing pools of

water.

VOL. V.

The most national of Hungarian poets, Petoefi, has written enthusiastically about this monotonous plain, which, curiously enough, has a strange fascination for the natives. Even I, an exile from my faroff English home, have learnt to love the ever-changing tints of its boundless distance; so it is, go where we will on the face of the globe, Nature speaks the same language-is always our own true mother, yielding back sympathy even in the most unfamiliar scenes. The southern slopes of the Hegyalja are covered with vineyards: now it happens that the owners of this valuable property, which is kept in order by infinite care and attention, are greatly annoyed by the regular yearly intrusion of most unwelcome visitors, which are none other than herds of wild boars from the forest; and what is worse, the plague is on the increase. This formidable animal, rough and uncouth in his exterior, has yet as fine a taste for the Tokay vintage as his Holiness Pius IV., and when the grapes are ripening, out they come from the forest, and work sad mischief. Not only do they devour the grapes with unparalleled greediness, but they sometimes plough up the ground, and destroy a whole plot of vineyard, belonging perhaps to some poor peasant, who all his life has saved to get this valued property. I may observe that a large proportion of the Tokay vineyards are held by peasant proprietors; an interesting fact for the political economist, for before 1848, by the law of Hungary, none but a noble could be a landowner.

This ruthless destruction of the vine gardens formed a good casus belli against the wild boars; but I must frankly confess an Englishman's love of sport rarely looks for an excuse when he has a chance of his favourite amusement. It was thus with great satisfaction that, on New Year's Day, I received an invitation from my friend Baron to accompany himself and some friends for a few days wild boar hunting in the interior. This kind of sport in Hungary is not at all like wild boar shooting in the well-stocked parks of Bohernia. In this instance Baron Beust's forests, where we were to shoot, extend over an area of forty square miles, so that it may be supposed the game is not easy to find.

The district, moreover, is hilly, not rising beyond 2,000 feet, but densely covered with wood. I carried a smooth-bore breechloader, charged with the largest buck-shot in one barrel, and with a bullet in the other. In Hungary the forests are usually so thick that one

scarcely ever fires at a long range, and heavy shot at a short distance in a thicket is better than a bullet.

Well, on the appointed day, we started on our expedition. Everyone was wrapped in his bunda, the fur garment of the country, which for driving is worn over the tight-fitting astrakan or other fur coat; the collar, of wolf-skin, stands up higher than the head, so that the individual is almost lost in his enormous wraps. This provision against the cold is very necessary in the severe winters we get over here.

We

The roads were too bad for any ordinary carriage, so we used a springless cart; the ruts had been frozen hard, the jolting was horrible, and each moment threatened to dislocate the wheels of our vehicle, to say nothing of our own joints. After two hours of this work, during which time we had a dozen hair-breadth escapes of an upset, we arrived at the river Bodrog, a tributary of the Theis. here came upon an extensive view of what resembled an inland sea; indeed, thousands of acres of land were under water. The grand old oak trees were submerged knee deep, and from their upper branches hung frozen snow and icicles, producing a fantastic effect, in the fitful gleams of winter sunshine. The overflow of the Theis and its tributaries takes place every year, and unless the flood is exceptionally high, no damage is done, beyond the prevalence of intermittent fever in April and May, when the water recedes.

To a lately imported stranger there are few things more confusing than the Babel of tongues in this country. To give an example, our coachman was a Bohemian, the beaters were nearly all Slovacks, the keepers, or rather foresters (for the game is only of secondary consideration), were regular Magyars-viz. Hungarians by race. It is said that the Hungarian language is here spoken in its greatest purity. The gentlemen of our party spoke together German and French!

It is curious to hear the peasant come out with "Why the Tartar are you doing this?" for an angry expletive. It is a relic of the old troublous times, when the country suffered from the 'frequent depredations of Turks and Tartars. Indeed, it is not so very long ago, for the Tokay district was fearfully harassed by the Turks as late as 1678. The most distant allusion to the "unspeakable Turk" calls up the Eastern Question; involving as it does such serious contin

gencies for Hungary, that it is never out of our thoughts just now. It may be of interest to remark that while the Sclavish population in the southern parts of Hungary are exhibiting very decided Communistic tendencies, the Sclavs in the north are on much better terms with the Magyars. The cause is not far to seek-it is a matter of religion. The Slovacks, inhabiting the north-eastern slopes of the Carpathians, are a tribe belonging to the western division of the great Sclavonic race, and do not belong generally to the Greek Church. They are mostly Roman Catholics, and as such have no fellow-feeling with Russia; some of them indeed in generations past had escaped from religious persecution in Polish Russia. Neither is there any disposition to Panslavism in the Rusniacks, another admixture in the varied races of these parts. They are seceders from the orthodox Greek Church, and have retired from the tyranny of Russia.

A drive of twenty miles had brought us from the Magyar-peopled Hegyalja into an area of Sclaves. The villages, and indeed the towns, throughout Hungary are curious, for the houses are only one story high, and have always their gable ends to the street; the houses of the peasants are nearly always painted, partly blue and partly yellow, which has a very odd effect. Arrived at our destination, we were too hungry to think much of the external architecture, and were glad enough to see preparations for supper in the house where we were to put up. After a courteous greeting of "Adjon Istem," an abbreviation of "God give good day," we sat down to a hospitable table: the national dishes, the gulyás hus and the paprika handl were handed to us. Paprika is a red pepper, grown in the country, and is mixed with every sort of fish, flesh, or fowl. It makes an improved kind of curry, and one gets very fond of it. If attacked by marsh fever, and you are without quinine, a spoonful of paprika mixed with a little red wine is not a bad substitute. The domestics are called "linen servants," from the material of their clothes. The men wear wide linen drawers that look almost like a petticoat, and they are much addicted to going without shoes and stockings. I have seen the butler in a nobleman's chateau without his shoes in the morning; but the same man would not consider himself properly dressed without a lace-trimmed pocket-handkerchief sticking its four corners out of his breast pocket.