We had to comply. Soon afterwards our caravan was proceeding in the opposite direction down a gradual slope of the mountain into the wooded valley. At first the road led again only through dense thickets, but lower down we were surrounded by a regular leafy forest. Riding was pleasant through the deep hollow, above which on both sides an irregular array of beech, elm, ash, sycamore and other trees, covered with a clinging abundance of various creeping plants, with a thick undergrowth of thorn-bushes, laurel, flowering azaleas and manifold other shrubs, scattered by the wind lay slantwise across the hollow, and from them hung almost to the road way tangled creepers of ivy and honeysuckle, of wild hops and vine; in these spots we had to dismount from our horses and lead them by the bridle under these natural bridges, during which process strips of the tangled green fabric frequently got caught in the saddles. From the dim thicket above the hollow peeped forth many flowers, some of which were truly magnificent, with their large, glowing and many-colored eyes, and also upon the roadway among the ruts tall irises stretched forth their blue or yellow blossoms.
At the foot of the slope the forest opened out before us and disclosed to us a glimpse into the long narrow valley. We were afforded a view of unusually luxuriant vegetation. From both sides along the slope of the picturesque heights extended the shaggy fresh green of the forest down to the bottom, which was completely hidden in an incredible abundance of water-plants. I had never before seen leaves of such a girth and such a height. A very wide area was covered here by circular expanses of foliage which could easily have been used as umbrellas, and all the bottom of the valley, including the invisible stream in its midst, was thicky bespread with these green discs, among which projected the jagged leaves of some other species of plants, attaining almost the height of a grown man. It was as if beneath us in long and serried ranks an army of elves were marching through the valley in that military formation known to the ancients as a “Testudo”; from above I could see nothing but circular green shields and between them jutting green lances.
We rode on through this valley along a rarely frequented road which twined past the edge of the forest and here and there twisted into it. Although there was no trace of human habitation or of grazing herds to be seen anywhere, our journey proceeded nevertheless in the midst of ever-changing and absorbing views. The forest itself around which we ambled, was a perpetual source of delight to our eyes; the most expert of gardeners could not have contrived to form from the various trees, shrubs and creeping plants such manifold and picturesque arrangements of which this grove was composed. Those who are familiar only with the appearance afforded by the foliage in the woods of Central Europe—drab, mossy tree-trunks and green clouds delicately woven from just a few leafy shapes which are generally mingled only in the immediate vicinity of separate tree-tops and easily distinguishable summits,—cannot form any proper idea of this. Here the various trees show the greatest fondness for gathering together in close clusters of rankly intertwined branches and in unchecked entanglements of leafage most varied in shape; there below, one trunk fervidly clings to the other, yonder a vine-stem twists around a third one in huge coils like a boa constrictor; up yonder, leaves large and small, with plain edges and clipped into various patterns, of dark and light green, with coppery and silvery glitter, are woven into a picturesque chaos, amid which diverse tinges of greenish twilight effectively alternate with the fiery gleam of the sui.—And everywhere the wild vine trails with its peculiar charm. As you gaze at such an arrangement, there flits across your mind the thought of a swarm of priests and priestesses of Bacchus, mingling with joyous intoxication in a dancing cluster, around which the loosened vine garlands picturesquely beckon and flutter from the thyrsi, tresses and shoulders.
It was a ride through a park such as no magnate in our country could have procured. At every bend in the zigzag path I was astonished by the fresh and pleasing conjunctions of the forest upon one side, and upon the other by a new and beautiful outlook on to the varegiate green tree-tops, amid which from time to time a glimpse could be caught of the valley at the sides with the bluish silhouette of the mountains in the background.
Our party rode slowly, feasting their eyes upon the sight of this natural beauty, and expanding their lungs with the pure aid which was sheer lustre and fragrance. Insects hummed around the blossoms, in the bright blue sky a bird of prey wheeled here and there, some where beside the path there was a noisy splash in the water; doubtless a water-turtle, scared by the trotting of our horses. We were silent; only Duňaska twittered from time to time snatches of some half melancholy, half merry folk-song,
