Midst the Wild Carpathians

Forests Everywhere - painting by Tatiana Iliina 

"...Before us lies the valley of the Drave, one of those endless
wildernesses where even the wild beast loses its way. Forests
everywhere, maples and aspens a thousand years old, with their roots
under water; magnificent morasses the surface of which is covered, not
with reeds and water-lilies, but with gigantic trees, from the dependent
branches of which the vivifying waters force fresh roots. Here the swan
builds her nest; here too dwell the royal heron, the blind crow, the
golden plover..."

 -Maurus Jokai, Midst the Wild Carpathians, 1894 (English ed.)