1936 On the Continent

warding off the aggressive efforts of the Germans, 60,000 Czech legionaries conquered and held the whole territory of Asia from the Urals to Vladivostok. It was then that they showed their attachment to culture and learning. They were too far from their own country to have a regular supply of books, and in order to satisfy their craving to read they began to print and publish periodicals, including an excellent daily which had a circulation of many thousands. The Czechs are great musicians, and soon every regiment had not only its band and its choirs, but also a full orchestra which played Beethoven no less than Dvoák. They also set up half a dozen theatres and also sculptors’ studios in which they designed and carved monuments for the graves of their fallen comrades. They also had their own film studio, and they organised courses in languages, trades andhandicrafts, as well as lectures on various subjects by way of preparation for university work. They even had their own bank which is still in existence. By these activities they showed that they were representatives of a highly developed nation which was entitled to take a free and independent share in the destinies of Europe. This it was granted by the terms of the Peace Treaty of Versailles, and here, for the time being, ends the five-act drama of a nation.
The Landscape
    When shaping the landscape of Czechoslovakia, nature set about the task gently, as if to show that even with a light touch it is possible to create beauty.
    Nature did not give Czechoslovakia either a sea or any big water-courses. On the other hand, she made up for this deficiency by the gift of many streams which have their source in the mountains of the country. Hundreds of rivulets rush down through gorges and valleys and join suddenly to form rivers. In the small plains these rivers have ample room to form picturesque nooks and corners. and these backwaters are delightful places in which to rest. Of these rivers only the Vltava and the Elbe are navigable for steamers, and only one side of the fairway of the Danube belongs to Czechoslovakia. Most of the rivers and streams, however, are used for rafting timber from the mountains, and they offer unlimited pleasure to those who love rowing, fishing or bathing.
    Although, too, there are no lakes of any considerable size in Czechoslovakia, in southern and northern Bohemia you will find large artificial fish-ponds on the sites of former swamps which are now surrounded by stretches of peat, woods and hills. The mountains in the region known as the Sumava or Bohemian Forest contain a number of lovely dark lakes, while in the Tatras, at an enormous height, there are also several beautiful lakes of varying sizes which are poetically known as “Eyes of the Ocean.” Here it may be mentioned that Czechoslovakia has rivers and lakes also deep below the ground where for hours at a time you can drift in boats through dark caves, with shining nets and curtains of stalactites hanging overhead and the subterranean stillness broken only by the endless sound of dripping water.
    In the same way, when shaping the mountain ranges of Czechoslovakia, nature did not let loose that violent strength which resulted in the Alps or the Pyrenees. She made only one effort on this scale, and that was when she produced the High Tatras. They attain a height of 8,000 feet, but they are crowded into a comparatively small area, so that they form an amazing wild medley of peaks and chasms which is a wonderland for mountaineers. The rest of the mountains extend in vast ranges, mostly along the frontiers. They are covered with old forests through whose fragrant shade you can ramble for days at a time. In winter the mountains are covered with snow to a considerable depth, and some of them, such as the Krkonoše with its broad plateaux, are admirably adapted for winter sports. Each of these mountain ranges, the Sumava, Krušné hory, Jeseniky, Beskydy, Fatra, Karpaty, Tatras, etc., varies in character, and possesses its own special attractive features, so that no two holidays in them are alike. But whichever of them you choose you may be sure of spending happy days there, whether you set out on a walking tour or go fishing for trout in a mountain stream.
The Carpathians
    The largest of these mountain ranges is that of the Carpathians on the eastern border of the Republic. This is a mountain range of the most primitive type, still covered with dense forests with an abundance of wild