38.—LADY OF BUCHAREST.
Towns are rare in Walachia, the country being still far in arrear of the surrounding civilization, in consequence of its political subordination to Turkey, and its bad internal organization. The country of the Danube, indeed, has practically but one large town, that is, Bucharest. There are thus, in this land, no centres from whence light could emanate; it is in an incomplete state of civilization, which can be improved only by an internal revolution, or by the collision which, sooner or later, must come, of its powerful adjacent empires.
39.—WALACHIAN WOMAN.
“However,” says Malte-Brun, “nature seems to await human industry with open arms; there are few regions upon which she has lavished her gifts as she has here. The finest river in Europe bathes the southern frontier of these provinces, and opens a way into fertile Hungary, and the whole Austrian empire, offering, moreover, a communication between Europe and Asia, by the Black Sea; but this is all in vain, for hardly a single vessel glides over its waves. Its rocks, its shoals, the Turkish garrisons on its banks, and above all, the plague, inspire fear. Other fine rivers flow from the summit of the Carpathian mountains, and fall into the Danube; but they serve only to supply fish during Lent, and, being left to themselves, menace the surrounding country, which, if better regulated, they would fertilize. The Aluta, Jalovitza, and Ardschis, are navigated only by flat-bottomed boats. Immense marshes encumber the low parts of Walachia, and their exhalations produce a continuance of bilious fevers. The most superb forests, in which splendid oaks grow side by side with beeches, pines, and firs, cover not only the mountains, but many of the large islands in the Danube. These, instead of being used in the construction of fleets, merely furnish the wood used in paving the streets or roads; for idleness and ignorance find no means of raising the blocks of granite and marble, of which the Carpathians offer such abundance. The summit of Mount Boutchez attains a height of more than six thousand feet, and all the mineral wealth of Transylvania seems to take its origin in Upper Walachia. Copper mines have been opened at Baya di Roma, and iron mines in the district of Gersy, one especially in the neighbourhood of Zigarescht, where a bed of rocks presents the phenomenon of an almost continual igneous fermentation.
40.—NOBLE BOSNIAK MUSSULMAN.
“The Aluta and other rivers bring down nuggets of gold, which are collected by the Bohemians, or Ziguans, and which indicate the presence of mines as rich as those of Transylvania; but no one thinks of looking for them. Only the salt quarries are worked, among which that of Okna Teleago furnishes 150,000 cwt. per annum. The climate, notwithstanding two months of hard winter and two months of excessive heat, is more favourable to health and agriculture than that of any of the adjacent countries. The pastures, filled with aromatic plants, supply nourishment even to the herds of neighbouring provinces, and could support even more than these. The wool of their sheep has already attained considerable value. It is estimated that Walachia contains two and a half millions of sheep, which are of three-fold variety—the zigay, with short and fine wool; the zaskam, with long coarse wool; the tatare, which forms a mean between the two foregoing varieties. Horses and oxen are exported. Fields of maize, wheat, and barley; forests of apple, plum, and cherry trees; melons and cabbages, excellent, although enormous, bear witness to the productive nature of the soil. Many of its wines sparkle with a generous fire, and with care might be brought to equal the well-known Hungarian vintages. A thousand other natural advantages are found there, but they are of little avail to a people without energy or enlightenment.”