Dr. Kubassek János szerk.: A Kárpát-medence természeti értékei (Érd, 2004)
Dr. Péter Rózsa: Robert Townson (1762-1827): a pioneer scientific explorer of the Carpathian Basin
—4827): a, fiioneev scientific expS/o*m)t oftAe '(ocw/iaé/iicin âôaMvi ° Ja negative attitude to Townson's scientific aspirations, and he did not obtained the land that was promised to him in England. Finally, he was regranted the land at Varro Ville, outside Sydney in 1811. Using the scientific methods which proved so uninteresting to his contemporaries, he become a pioneer in vine growing here. He tired to return to Britain several times, but finding his estates impossible to dispose of, he remained there, until his death on 27 June 1827. He left no direct heirs and his Australian archive and library, similarly to his natural history collection left behind in England, seems to have disappeared. TOWNSON'S ROUTE IN HUNGARY s his biography says, although Robert Townson made long tours in several countries throughout Europe, he published a book on the experience obtained in Hungary, only. He gives the reasons in the Preface as it follows: "Though so many tours have appeared of late, Hungary has never been the subject of one of them; it is nevertheless a country, though so circumstanced as to be of little political importance to Britain, worthy of our attention: its constitution, its people, and their manners, and its natural productions, are all remarkable. He prepared himself for his tour in Hungary, It appears from his book that he knew well, among others, works of Mátyás Bél (1684-1749), Ignaz Edler von Born (1742-1791), Johann Ehrenreich von Fichtel (1723-1795), Balthasar Hacquet (1739-1815) and János Mátyás Korabinszky (1740-1811), and stud ied the book by his compatriot, Edward Brown (1644-1708) which was published more than one century earlier. Leaving Vienna for Hungary, Robert Townson crossed the Hungarian-Austrian border on 5 1 ' 1 May 1793, and returned to the imperial capital in the middle of October that year. The first station of his tour in Hungary was Sopron. Here he met Count Ferenc Széchenyi (1754-1820), the man who later founded the National Museum of Hungary, and they visited together the palace of Prince Esterházy in Eszterháza, and the count's palace in Nagycenk. Townson made a short description of the coal deposit at Brennbergbánya, too. Passing through Győr, Komárom, Tata, Esztergom and Visegrád, he went to Pest-Buda. He made a long account for the town. Description of O 16\9 o
