Untrodden Paths in Roumania. By Mrs. Walker. (Chapman and Hall.)—Mrs.
Walker has done good service to her fellow- countrymen, and still more to her fellow-countrywomen, who run up and down the earth, and are always seeking for fresh places to run up and down in, by opening up the almost unknown Car- pathians and the beautiful scenery and architecture to be found there. How it is the Alpine Club have not made the Carpathians, with summits of 8,000 and 9,000 feet, known to the travelling public, we do not know, especially as the Carpathian scenery appears to possess that highest attribute of good scenery, according, we believe, to Dr. Johnson, a good hotel in the foreground. The hotels are the monasteries, and the monasteries of Roumania, like those of England in olden times, are situated in the most lovely and romantic spots. Nowhere else in Europe can the monastic system be seen at work so well, though even in Roumania these retreats are shorn of their former grandeur. But at Agapia Nunnery there is a community of 400. Niamtz, formally a fortress as well as a monastery, reckoned 1,000 inhabitants, had stabling for 300 horses, and a guest-hall for 100 diners, and even now con- tains 376 members ; and Secu, high up on the mountains, numbers still 60 monks. When we remember that Westminster Abbey in its palmy days did not exceed this latter number, it may be imagined that these great foundations have architectural glories to show which, set as they are in a country more beautiful than that of Bolton or Tintern, are well worth a visit. The roads appear to be somewhat rough, and occasionally the accommoda- tion ; but on the whole, Mrs. Walker and her friends seem to have fared remarkably well.
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