DAN'DBE (Ger. Donuti, Hung. Duna, Lat. Da 11111:11( s, °Church Slay. Dunarti, Dungy; con nected with 01IG. foreign). The second of European rivers, interior only to the Volga. It has its origin in the Brege and Brigach. two mountain streams rising in the eastern part at the Black Forest, in Baden, at an elevation of 2850 feet above sea-level, in latitude 48° 6' N., and in longitude 8° 9' E. (Slap: Europe, E 4). The total length of the Danube is about 1800 miles. The area which it drains is estimated at about 300,000 square miles, comprising countries dif fering widely in climate and productions, includ ing southern Germany. a great part of Austria Hungary, Bosnia. Servia. Bulgaria. and Ru mania. The Danube is joined in its course by sixty navigable rivers, whose waters, with those of many lesser streams. it conveys into the Black Sea. From its source it flows in an easterly and then in a northeasterly direction through Baden, Hohenzollern, Wurttemberg. and Bavaria. Pass ing Ulm. near which it receives the 111er. and at which point the river becomes navigable for small steamboats, it receives from the south the Lech and flows past ingolstadt and Regensburg (Ratisbon). between which two towns it is joined by the Altmiihl from the left; then, altering its course to the southeast, it receives the waters of the Isar and the Inn ft-out the south, the latter joining it at Passau. It then traverses Upper and Lower Austria from west to east, passing Linz and Vienna. and about 40 miles beyond the latter city it enters Hungary near the town of Pressburg. Between Passau and Pressburg it receives from the south the and from the north the March. in a country rich in mineral:. well peopled, and highly cultivated. Below Press burg it divides, inclosing the low-lying islands called the Great and Little Schtitt. Between Pressburg and Budapest, in which part of its course it passes the famous fortress of Komorn and the town of Gran (Esztergoml. it receives from the north the \Vaag. the Nentra. the Gran, and the Eipel, and front the south the Raab. A few miles above Budapest it turn: directly south and enters the great Ihingarian plain. in which it is forcing new channel: and silting up old ones. sometimes sweeping away towns, or eapricionsly removing its channel to a distance of several miles from those formerly upon its banks. Here it remives from the west the Drave. After this the river turn: toward the southeast, and, joined by the waters of the Theis!, from the north and the Save from the west, .weep, past Belgrade. forming the boundary between Servia and Hungary. and receiving the :Morava front the south. From Belgrade to Orsova. where it reacher the borders of Wallachia, the Danube pursue: an easterly course.
Leaving Gisova. the Danube p:tsses the famous 'iron Gate.' where the river formerly rushed over a broad plat(alt of rock 1400 yards wide. This rapid. which was followed by a series of whirlpools, eddies, and shallow falls, formed an effectual bar to the upward progress of vessels. no craft drawing more than two and ene-half feet of water being able to pass it. In 1847-49. however, the obstruction formed by the 'Iron Gate' was to some extent removed by blasting,. and since then further improve ments have been made in this part of the course, the Austrian Government in 1890 having begun tvorks for making the river constantly navigable at this point. The new passage was formally opened September 27, 1896. For a short distance below this the river flows south between Wallachia and Servia, and then, turn ing eastward. traverses a vast plain, in which it forms the boundary between Wallachia and Bulgaria. From the Carpathians it receives the shil and the .kluta and Veda, and from the Balkan Mountains the I:ker. the osma. and the Yantra. by these rivers and by numer ous lesser streams. it progresses 01.4)1101 a poor ly cultivated and thinly peopled but fertile dis trict, occasionally broadening like a sea. as at Hirsova. and encircling many islands. After being joined by the Sereth and the Pruth front the north, and about 50 miles front the Black Sea. it divides into several forming a great delta with an area of about 4000 square miles. The principal channel-mouth is the ,sulina. through which the greater number of ships pass. This has been deepened by means of jetties, so as to admit vessels of 20 feet draught. The other principal months are the Kilia and Saint George. which, although useless for navigation, discharge a large proportion of the water. The Danube is the chief natural highway for central European commerce. Communication has been established between it and the Rhine Ity the construction of the Ludwigs-Kanal, in Bavaria, connecting the Altmiihl with the Regnitz, an affluent of the Slain. At the Peace of Paris in 1856 the navi gation of the Danube was declared free to all nations, and its management was intrusted to two commissions, one representing the European Powers, another named by the States on the banks of the river. At the Berlin Congress of 1878 it was stipulated that no ships of war should navigate the below the •1ron G t Within the last thirty years the Austrian Gov ernment has executed great works for the im provement of the navigation of the river at Vienna, and for the regulation of its flow. so as to avert disastrous inundations. The Danube steam Navigation Company has done muelt to increase the commerce.