The Hungarian sheep are very beautiful, especially those with forked horns, of which none arc reared in any other country, except on Mount Ida, and in some of the islands in the Archipelago. Their wool, however, which is long and hairy, is used only in fabricating coarse stuffs, which are worn by the peasants. In 1773, the Austrian govern ment attempted to improve the wool of the native sheep, by the introduction of Spanish tarn;; but it was long 'A fore this practice became general. At present, however, many of the nobles possess immense flocks of the improved breed, and draw from the sale of their wool a considerable revenue. Some of these flocks produce annually about 1500 quintals of wool, worth 274,000 florins. Flocks of every description pass the winter in the open fields. The shepherds, whom they call juhasz, are very little removed from savages. They burrow under ground with their dogs, and, except a boy or two, who assist them and bring their fowl from the village, and the merchants who in the begin ning of summer come to make purchases, they seldom see a human face. Yet, retired as they are from the world, they arc fond of ornaments in their dress ; and though their 'clothes are of the coarsest description, and besmeared with grease, they trim their hats with ribbands various co lours, and have their leathern girdle•. thick studded with bright metal buttons.
As bacon is a favourite dish with the Hungarians, they rear an immense quantity of hogs ; and the head of a fami ly, who had not a piece of fat pm k on his table at Christmas, would be regarded as a very bad economist. The con sumption of this animal in the country is so great, that they have none of their own to spare for exportation ; but they carry on a lucrative traffic, by buying them in Turkey, and selling them to their neighbours. According to the Com mercial Tables, they annually purchased in Turkey to the amount of 5 31 ,973 florins, which they sold for 895,337 florins.
Among the animals of this country may also be mention ed a race of shepherds' dogs, of a white colour and noble size, and also a breed of immense mastiffs. Bees and silk orms forum considerable branches of industry in this coun try, and it abounds also in poultry and game. Fish are so abundant in Hungary, that they form an important branch of industry and commerce; and sturgeons, salmons, pikes, carps, perches, &c. are to be found in all the principal rivers. In 1803, they were exported to Austria to the amount of 98,230 florins.
Hungary abounds in minerals of every description, gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, mercury, cobalt, antimony, salt, slate, &c. which, in their exploration and manufacture, af ford employment to a great proportion of its inhabitants. Native gold is found in the beds of many of the rivers ; and in the Koeroes, pieces of the size of a nut are picked up by the inhabitants of the Bannat, who upon an average ga ther to the amount of 900 ducats. In general, however, it is extracted from the auriferous sand, which is not only taken from the channels of the rivers, but also from their banks, and from pits in the adjacent ground. In these pits, which are generally about four feet deep, the first stratum consists of vegetable mould ; the second of loam, and an alluvial deposit of pebbles ; the third, of the auriferous sand and pebbles ; and the fourth of slate, clay, marl, and coal. The washing of the auriferous sand is prac tised by the gypsies, who, from long experience, are so expert that hardly a particle of gold escapes them. The operation is very simple, and is performedlby means of a plank of lime-tree six feet in length, and about three in breadth, with grooves or furrows cut across. This plank is placed
at an angle of about 45 degrees, and at the upper end is a trough where the auriferous sand is put. The sand is then washed down the sloping of the board by plenty of water, when the gold dust falls into the higher grooves, and is af den, which overspread nearly nine millions of acres. In the district of the frontier regiment of Walachia, the forests cover 465,362 acres,and a [ford employment and profit to many of the inhabitants. In 1802,there were drawn from these woods the following articles, which will give the reader some idea of their value and importance.
terwards scraped or brushed oM Sometimes the p1:1 k is covered with woollen cloth, to which the gold adhe, es , or, when they cannot obtain cloth, they' substitute a fleece in its place. Many thousands of florins of gold are produced in this manner.
The great emporium of the precious metals, however, arc the mines, which surpass in richness those of any other country in Europe. The most valuable are those of Schemnitz in the county of Hont, and of Cremnitz in the county of Barsch. In these mines, the gold is always found united with silver ; and they estimate the value of the ores, by calculating that one quintal (cwt.) of ore yields so many lotos of silver, and one mark of silver contains so many deniers of gold. At Schemnitz the metallic veins extend north and south, running parallel to each other ; and their inclination or dipping from west to cast is at an angle of about 60°. There are six principal veins, besides many smaller ramifications.
The first on the west is called Theresa-scizadt, at an average about two fathoms wide. The matrix of the we is principally clay and red ferruginous jasper or sinople, every where traversed by small veins and cry stall of quartz; and the ore itself is tor the most part lead. About 120 fathoms eastward is the Hospital vein, which is much broader, being 22 fathoms wide, although not pure through out this width. It contains many foreign substances be longing to the mountain in which it lies. Both these veins lie near the surface; they arc very rich, and were the earliest discovered. The third vein is called Oberbiber stohln. It differs essentially in its nature from the others, the matrix of the ore being clay, but without any sinop/e ; and containing a great deal of lime, and a small portion or quartz. The next is Johan-schadt, about a hundred fa thoms from Oberbibe•-stohln, and containing the same ores. They both lie about one thousand fathoms deep. The fifth is that of Stephano•schadt, which may be considered as an assemblage of several contiguous parallel veins, reaching to the breadth of eight fathoms. At present it is the most famous of all the mines of Schemmtz, and is wrought upon a more magnificent scale than any of the others ; the galleries being better constructed, and the machinery of greater magnitude. The last is the Green stohln vein, where the matrix of the ore is schistus, indu rated clay, and pyrites. It is the last which has been dis covered at Schenmitz, and is hardly known. The aver age value of the Schemnitz ores is thus rated: a quintal (cwt.) of the ore contains from five to ten lotos of silver ; and one mark of the silver, from three to six deniers of gold. '['his, however, is liable to very considerable variation, for one quintal of the ore of the Oberbiber-stohln vein has been known to yield 2200 lotos of pure silver, after its separation from the gold.