ABSTRACT
The Irishman Michael J. Quin was one of the first Western authors whose account of a journey on the Danube became a bestseller. As mentioned in Chapter 4, Quin embarked on board a DDSG steamer in Budapest in September 1834, on his way from Paris to Istanbul. After several days sailing across the Hungarian plains, the approach of the Iron Gates gorge brought a pleasing change of landscape. The passengers arrived at Moldova Nouă on September 29, but the exceptionally low level of the river (“not six inches of water, nor even three”) prevented their being transferred by wherry to Orșova as planned. The steamer’s cargo was to be transported overland, while the travelers themselves had to choose between continuing down the river in the “rough flat-bottomed boat” of a local fisherman and going on foot “over horrible mountain roads.” The DDSG agent, an Italian, assured them that if they went with the fisherman, they would arrive in Orșova in eight hours at the most. 1
