CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS, or Keapacks, the eastern wing of the great central mountain system of Europe. They lie between 44° 30' and 49° 40' N. lat., and 17° and 26° E. long., enclosing Transylvania and Hungary, and form a curve 800 miles long, the concavity of which is towards the south-west. The south-eastern extremity of the curve is at Orsova on the Turkish frontier, where the Danube separates it from the northern spurs of the Balkan or Haemus range. The western extremity is at Presburg in Hungary, on the same river. The breadth of the Carpathian Mountains is between 100 and 200 miles. They form the main water-shed between the northern seas and the Black Sea. The valley of the March divides them from the Silesian and Moravian chains; the valley of the Lower Danube, from the system of the Alps. They are almost entirely in Austrian territory. The chief divisions are the Little Carpathians on the west, between the Waag and the March; to the east of these, the Jablunka Mountains; then the Western Carpathians, or Carpathians proper; and lastly, the East Carpathians to the south-east of Transylvania. The Western Carpathians include the groups of the Tatra, Lomnitz, and Bisztra. Of these the highest is the Tatra, some of the peaks of which are free from snow only one month in the year. The Gerlsdorfer Spitze, the loftiest point, has an altitude of 8685 feet. On the northern side are some small glaciers, which, however, hardly deserve the name. It is here that the mountain lakes, or “eyes of the sea” are found, in deep hollows between the steep and jagged granitic peaks. The main ridge of the Carpathians running east from the Tatra is called the Waldgebirge, the highest points of which are 2800 feet above sea-level. The Tatra and adjoining groups have a very important ...