of a lateral valley. As we drove out of Orsova we passed a lot of
Wallack huts forming a kind of suburb. These huts are built of wattles
stuccoed with mud, always having on one side of the dwelling a space
enclosed by stockades some ten feet high; this is a necessary protection
for their animals against the depredations of wolves and bears, which
abound here.

Leaving this village we continued our way through the Cserna Valley,
which has few signs of cultivation beyond the orchards and vineyards
that climb up the hillsides of the narrow ravine. On our left we passed
a ruined aqueduct of Turkish origin, eleven arches still remaining. As
we proceeded, the valley narrowed considerably, and the scenery became
more wild and striking. Here vegetation is in its richest profusion; the
parasitical plants are surpassingly graceful, wreathing themselves over
rocks and trees.

Mehadia, or more strictly, Hercules-Bad, is the most fashionable bath in
Hungary. The village of Mehedia must not be confounded with it, for it
lies at a distance of six miles thence. The situation of Hercules-Bad is
extremely romantic. Above the narrow rocky valley rise bare limestone
peaks, girdled with rich forests of every variety of foliage. There are
two kinds of springs, the sulphurous and the saline. The Hercules source
bursts out from a cleft of the rock in such an immense volume that it is
said to yield 5000 cubic feet in an hour. The water has to be cooled
before it is used, the natural heat being as much as 131° Fahrenheit.
Its efficacy is said to be so great that the patient while in the bath
"feels the evil being boiled out of him"! Some of the visitors had not
yet had their turn of cooking, I suppose, or if they had been boiled,
were rather underdone, for I met a good many gouty and rheumatic
patients still in the hobbling condition.