PART II.

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[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL OF CURTEA D'ARDGES.]

ROUMANIA

PAST AND PRESENT

BY

JAMES SAMUELSON

_Of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-Law_

ILLUSTRATED WITH MAPS (BY E. WELLER), PORTRAITS, AUTOTYPE

AND OTHER FULL-PAGE PLATES, AND NUMEROUS PLANS

AND WOODCUTS (BY G. PEARSON), CHIEFLY FROM

PHOTOGRAPHS BY F. DUSCHEK, BUCAREST

_Post Tenebras Lux_

LONDON

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.

1882

_All rights reserved_

PREFACE.

There is no country in Europe which at the present time possesses

greater interest for Englishmen than does the Kingdom of Roumania, and

there is none with whose present state and past history, nay, with whose

very geographical position, they are less familiar.

Only about nine years since Consul-General Green, the British

representative there, reported to his Government as follows: 'Ignorance

seems to extend even to the geographical position of Bucharest. It is

not surprising that letters directed to the Roumanian capital should

sometimes travel to India in search of Bokhara, but there can be no

excuse for the issue of a writ of summons by one of the superior law

courts of the British metropolis, directed to Bucharest in the Kingdom

of Egypt, as I have known to happen.' The reader may perhaps attribute

such mistakes as these to our insular ignorance of geography, or to the

fact that the proverbial blindness of justice prevented her from

consulting the map before issuing her process; but the fact remains,

that notwithstanding the occurrence of a great war subsequent to the

date above specified, which completely changed the map of Europe,

wherein Roumania took a very prominent part and England assisted at the

settlement, there are few intelligent readers in this country who could

say off-hand where precisely Roumania is situated.

And yet, as already remarked, the country possesses an absorbing

interest for us as a nation. Placed, to a large extent through English

instrumentality, as an independent kingdom, of daily increasing

influence, between Russia and Turkey, for whom she served for centuries

as a bone of contention, she is now a formidable barrier against the

aggressions of the stronger power upon her weaker neighbour, and it is

satisfactory to reflect that, so far, the blood and money of England

have not flowed in vain. Then, again, the question of the free

navigation of the great stream that serves as her southern boundary is

at present occupying the serious consideration of many leading European

statesmen, and the solution of the Danubian difficulty will materially

affect our trade with the whole of Eastern Europe; whilst the peaceable

creation of a peasant proprietary in Roumania about sixteen years since,

and the advantages which have accrued to her from this social and

political reform, present features of peculiar interest for those who

favour the establishment of a similar class of landholders in Ireland.

In treating of these two questions, I have laboured under the great

disadvantage of not being able to follow current events. It is

understood that the Danubian difficulty will be settled on the plan,

referred to in the text, suggested by Austria for her own advantage,

with certain modifications, having for their object the limitation of

her preponderance. My readers will be able to judge for themselves,

after reading the brief review of the question, and the references to

our own commercial relations with the countries bordering on the Danube

in the third and fifth chapters, whether such a settlement is likely to

be final. For myself I cannot believe that any solution will be

permanently satisfactory which interferes with the jurisdiction of

Roumania in her own waters.

As to the land question, it calls up some awkward reflections when its

history is contrasted with recent and passing events in Ireland. So long

as the conquerors in Roumania endeavoured to solve the problem, their

efforts were unavailing. At the Convention of Balta-Liman between

Russia and Turkey, where 'coercion' was coupled with 'remedial

measures,' an ineffectual attempt was made to ameliorate the wretched

condition of the peasantry on the old lines of feudalism; but it was not

until the country became autonomous and the legitimate representatives

of the people took the matter in hand, that an efficient remedy was

applied. Then, as the reader will find detailed in the following

pages,[1] more than four hundred thousand heads of families amongst the

peasantry came into peaceful possession of a large proportion of the

land on equitable terms; and whilst the industrious agriculturist is now

daily acquiring a more considerable interest in the soil, the landlords,

who were merely drawing a revenue from the labour expended upon it by

others, are gradually disappearing. That the prosperity and stability of

the country have increased through the change is shown in many ways, but

more especially by the enhanced value of Roumanian Government

securities, of which I have been able to append a short statement in

contrast with those of Russia and Turkey.[2]

What has occurred and is passing in Ireland the reader need not be told

here. Possibly the consideration of the Roumanian land question may have

given a bias to my views on the whole subject, and the excited state of

the public mind causes me to hesitate in the expression of an opinion

which may appear to be dogmatic. Still, looking at all the

circumstances--at the partial resemblance between the former condition

of Roumania and the present state of Ireland, at the past history of

Irish reforms (such as the abolition of the Irish Church), at the rising

land agitation on this side of the Channel, and at the recent

recommendation of the Canadian Parliament that autonomy should be

extended to Ireland--I have been able to arrive at no other conclusion

than that the measures at present before Parliament may bring temporary

relief to the peasantry, and temporary, nay let us hope permanent

pacification, but that the question will be reopened, coupled probably

with that of 'Home Rule,' and that at no distant period.

There are many other circumstances which warrant us in seeking to obtain

a better knowledge of Roumania, but these were the chief considerations

which induced me last year to visit the country and some of its leading

institutions, and to collect the materials which I now venture in the

following pages to lay before my readers.

No one knows so well as I do how imperfectly my task has been performed,

nor the difficulties with which it has been surrounded, and there are

one or two matters of which I should like to unburden myself to the

reader. He will probably enquire why I have put the cart before the

horse, giving a sketch of the present condition of the country before

treating of its past history. The answer is that it was not originally

my intention to deal with the latter at any length; but when I came to

read and study the works which have appeared on the subject in French

and German (of which a tolerably full list is appended to this

treatise), so many topics of interest presented themselves for the

historical student that I determined to publish a connected history of

the country, however imperfect it might be, from the earliest times down

to the present day. And in this I was further encouraged by the fact

that the attempt has not yet been made in English, excepting in a very

perfunctory manner in Consul Wilkinson's work, published by Longmans in

1820, which is now quite out of date. That such a review of Roumanian

history, condensed as it necessarily is, was sure to be considered very

dry by many readers, seemed to be certain; I therefore placed it after

the description of the country as it exists to-day, and for those

readers the perusal of the last chapter of that part of the work,

dealing with the notabilities of the day, will probably suffice. But I

believe that some matters relating to the Roman conquest of Dacia, the

character and movements of the barbarians (of which I have prepared and

appended a tabular statement), the subsequent history of the country,

its struggles for freedom, and the condition of the inhabitants at

various periods, will be new to the general student of history and

sociology, and if my share has been badly done, it need not prevent him

from prosecuting enquiries, for which he will find ample materials in

the works of the continental writers to whom I have referred. As regards

the controverted questions of the descent of the modern Roumanians and

the foundation of the Principalities, I would direct his attention more

especially to the recent publications of Roesler and Pic, the first an

Austrian and the second a Slav writer, where he will find those subjects

fully and warmly debated.

The only other matter on which I desire to give an explanation is my

reason for not entering more minutely into what is called 'the Eastern

Question,' nor attempting, as other authors have done, to predict the

future relations of Roumania in regard to it. An American humourist has

said, 'Never prophesy unless you know,' and many a writer on Roumania

must wish that he had refrained from dealing with probabilities, or from

prognosticating the coining events of history. The future of the East

depends upon a variety of divergent considerations: upon the relations

of the Government of Russia with its people; the course of events in the

newly acquired provinces of Austria, and the delicate relations between

Austria and Hungary; the future action of the Prince and people of

Bulgaria, the former of whom is at present under Russian influence; upon

the growing power and influence of Greece; and, lastly, upon the

possible, but not probable, regeneration of Turkey. And without speaking

for others, I should feel it presumptuous, under the circumstances, to

deal in prophecies.

As to the best policy for Great Britain, however, that is perfectly

clear, and may be summed up in a short sentence. It is to facilitate, by

pacific means, the solution of every difficulty and problem as it

arises, and wherever it is possible, through our influence, to support

and encourage constitutional government against autocracy and despotism.

This we can do with great advantage in our relations with Roumania, and

it will be a source of much gratification to me if the information which

I have here attempted to disseminate should have the slightest tendency

in that direction.

JAMES SAMUELSON.

CLAUGHTON, BIRKENHEAD:

_April 20, 1882._

[Footnote 1: Chapter vi. and Appendix IV.]

[Footnote 2: P. 270, _note_.]

CONTENTS.

PART I.

_ROUMANIA, TO-DAY._

CHAPTER PAGE

I. GEOGRAPHICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE 3

II. GEOGRAPHICAL--ARCHAEOLOGICAL 20

III. THE NAVIGATION OF THE DANUBE 30

IV. TOPOGRAPHICAL, ETC. 36

V. TOPOGRAPHICAL--COMMERCIAL 67

VI. AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL--THE PEASANT PROPRIETARY 74

VII. EDUCATIONAL--ETHNOGRAPHICAL 88

VIII. JUDICIAL AND PENAL 100

PART II.

_HISTORICAL._

IX. FROM THE GETAE (ABOUT 335 B.C.) TO THE CLOSE OF THE ROMAN

DOMINATION IN DACIA (ABOUT A.D. 274) 115

X. FROM THE EVACUATION OF DACIA BY AURELIAN (ABOUT 274

A.D.) TO THE END OF THE BARBARIAN RULE (ABOUT THE

CLOSE OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY) 138

XI. FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE PRINCIPALITIES, BETWEEN

THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRTEENTH AND OF THE FOURTEENTH

CENTURIES, TO THE ACCESSION OF MICHAEL THE BRAVE,

A.D. 1593 161

XII. THE TIMES AND CAREER OF MICHAEL THE BRAVE 170

XIII. FROM THE DEATH OF MICHAEL THE BRAVE (A.D. 1601) TO

THE DEPOSITION OF PRINCE COUZA (A.D. 1866) 199

XIV. FROM THE DEPOSITION OF PRINCE COUZA (1866) TO THE

CORONATION OF KING CHARLES (1881) 233

XV. PRESENT ROUMANIAN LEADERS AND THEIR POLICY 258

APPENDICES.

APPENDIX

I. MOVEMENTS AND SETTLEMENTS OF NATIONALITIES AND

BARBARIAN TRIBES 272-3

II. THE 'CAPITULATIONS' 274

III. THE ROUMANIAN CONSTITUTION 275

IV. THE PEASANT PROPRIETARY OF ROUMANIA 277

V. LIST OF WORKS (WITH REFERENCES TO TEXT) 278

CLASSIFIED INDEX 281

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

_AUTOTYPE PLATES._

CATHEDRAL OF CURTEA D'ARDGES _Photograph by Duschek_ _Frontispiece_

VIEW OF BUCAREST " " _To face p. 40_

PORTRAIT OF QUEEN ELISABETH OF ROUMANIA IN _After Duschek_ " 258

THE NATIONAL COSTUME

_WOODCUTS IN TEXT._

[Engraved by G. PEARSON.]

PAGE

ROUMANIAN PEASANTS IN WORKING DRESS _Photograph by Duschek_ 7

PEASANTS AT A WELL " " " 8

SUBTERRANEAN DWELLINGS WITH PEASANTS " " " 10

ENTRANCE TO CARPATHIAN VILLAGE " " " 12

MEN AND WOMEN ROAD-MAKING " " " 13

TERMINAL PIER OF TRAJAN'S BRIDGE ON _Sketch by Author_ 21

ROUMANIAN SHORE

TERMINAL PIER OF TRAJAN'S BRIDGE ON SERVIAN SIDE " " " 24

PLAN OF BUCAREST _Reduced from Original by Prof. Zamphirolu_ 37

MONK AND NUN _After Duschek_ 39

FRUITSELLER OF BUCAREST " " 48

GIPSY FLOWER-SELLER " " 49

GIPSY MUSICIANS " " 52

ROUMANIAN GIRL " " 53

GIPSY WOMAN " " 53

TRACERY ON SHIELD ON THE EXTERIOR OF _Copied from Reissenberger_ 60

THE CATHEDRAL OF CURTEA D'ARDGES

THE SAME--ANOTHER PATTERN " " " 61

AT THE CABARET ON A HOLIDAY _After Duschek_ 73

ROUMANIAN PLOUGHSHARE _Sketch by Author_ 75

THE HORA, NATIONAL DANCE OF ROUMANIA _After Duschek_ 98

SECTION OF THE TELEGA PENAL SALT MINE _Reduced by Author from Plan 107

of M. d'Istrati, Engineer of

the Mine_

SALT MOUND IN FLOOR OF MINE _Sketch by Author_ 110

DACIAN WARRIOR (_initial letter_) _From Piranese's Etchings of 115

reliefs on Trojan's Column_

TRAJAN ADDRESSING HIS ARMY " " " 126

DACIANS SETTING FIRE TO THEIR CAPITAL " " " 129

DACIAN TROPHIES " " " 137

EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF MICHAEL THE BRAVE AT BUCAREST _After Duschek_ 177

STATUE OF MICHAEL CANTACUZENE IN THE COLTZA HOSPITAL " " 200

(_initial letter_)

DEFENCES OF PLEVNA 244

PRINCE (NOW KING) CHARLES _Photograph by Duschek 251

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, BEFORE PLEVNA taken on the spot_

PORTRAIT, WITH AUTOGRAPH, OF M.C.A. ROSETTI _After Duschek_ 264

PORTRAIT OF M. BRATIANO " " 265

_MAPS._

[Drawn and lithographed, with aid of Author's notes, by E. WELLER.]

GEOGRAPHICAL MAP OF ROUMANIA _To face p. 3_

HISTORICAL MAP OF ROUMANIA _After Kiepert, &c._ 115

_Errata._

Page 45, note, _for_ p. 202 _read_ initial letter, p. 200.

" 64, note 1, " 7209 " 7029.

" 162, line 19, " west " east.

" 165, " 22, " Bajazet II. " Bajazet I.

PART I.

ROUMANIA, TO-DAY.

We love

The king who loves the law, respects his bounds,

And reigns content within them; him we serve

Truly and with delight who leaves us free.

COWPER.

There virtue reigns as queen in royal throne,

And giveth laws alone.

The which the base affections do obey,

And yield their services unto her will.

SPENSER.

[Illustration: Physical Map of ROUMANIA]

CHAPTER I.

GEOGRAPHICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE.

Limits, dimensions, and population of Roumania--Comparison with

England--Configuration of the surface--Altitudes of

towns--Mountains--Appearance of the country--The region of the

plains--Plants and agricultural condition--The peasantry--Female

navvies--Costumes--Wells--Subterranean dwellings--Marsh

fever--Travelling, past and present--Zone of the hills--Plants,

flowers, fruits, and cereals--Cheap fruits--Improved

dwellings--Wages of labourers--Petroleum

wells--Rock-salt--Mines--The Carpathians--Character of the

scenery--Alpine trees and plants--Sinaia--The King's summer

residence--The monastery--Conveniences for visitors, baths,

&c.--Occupations of visitors--Beautiful scenery--The new

palace--The King and Queen--Geology of Roumania--Scanty

details--The chief deposits and their

localities--Minerals--Salt--Petroleum--Lignite--Ozokerit--

Haematite--Undeveloped mineral wealth.

I.

The kingdom of Roumania is situated between 22 deg. 29' and 29 deg. 42' east of

Greenwich, and between 43 deg. 37' and 48 deg. 13' north of the equator. Its

general boundaries are, on the _east_ and _south_, the Pruth and the

Danube, with the exception of the Dobrudscha south of the latter river,

at its embouchures, and on the _west_ and _north_ by the Carpathian

mountains, along whose heights the boundary line runs. The limit which

separates it from Bulgaria, on the south-east leaves the Danube just

east of Silistria, and runs irregularly in a south-easterly direction

until it reaches the Black Sea, about nine miles and a half south of

Mangalia. (North-east of this line runs the Roumanian Railway from

Cernavoda to Constanta or Kustendjie, and south-west of it the Bulgarian

line from Rustchuk to Varna.) The kingdom presents the form of an

irregular blunted crescent, and it is very difficult to speak of its

'length' and 'breadth;' but so far as we are able to estimate its

dimensions they are as follows:--A straight line drawn from Verciorova,

the boundary on the west at the 'Iron Gates' of the Danube, to the

Sulina mouth of the same river on the east, is about 358 miles; and

another from the boundary near Predeal in the Carpathians, on the line

of railway from Ploiesti to Kronstadt, Transylvania, to the southernmost

limit below Mangalia on the Black Sea, is about 188 miles.[3]

The approximate area of Roumania is 49,250 square miles, and when it is

added that the area of England and Wales is nearly 51,000 square miles,

the reader will be able to form an estimate of the extent of the

country.[4] But having made this comparison, let us carry it a step

further. According to the latest estimates of the population there are

about 5,376,000 inhabitants in Roumania against 25,968,286 (according to

last year's census) in England and Wales; in other words, with an area

equal to that of England, Roumania has about one-fifth of its

population, or about the same as Ireland.[5]

The general configuration of the surface of the country may be described

as an irregular inclined plane sloping down from the summits of the

Carpathians to the northern or left bank of the Danube, and it is

traversed by numerous watercourses taking their rise in the mountains

and falling into the great river, which render it well adapted for every

kind of agricultural industry. The character of the gradients will be

best understood by a reference to the map, with the aid of the following

few figures. The towns of Galatz and Braila or Ibrail, situated on the

Danube, are fifteen metres above the sea-level, a metre being, as the

reader doubtless knows, equal to 1.095, or as nearly as possible 1-1/10

yard. At Bucarest, the capital, which is thirty or forty miles inland,

the land rises to a height of seventy-seven metres;[6] still further

inland, where the elevation from the plain to the hill country becomes

perceptible, the town of Ploiesti is 141 metres above the sea, whilst

Tirgovistea and Iasi (Jassy), each receding further into the hills,

stand respectively at altitudes of 262 and 318 metres, the last-named

city (the former capital of Moldavia) reaching therefore a height of

over 1,000 feet above the sea-level. Or again, the plain which stretches

along the whole extent of the southern part of the country may be said

to occupy, roughly speaking, about a third; then comes a region of hills

rising to a height of about 1,500 feet; and beyond these the Carpathian

range, forming, as it were, a great rampart to the north and east,

reckons amongst its eight or nine hundred peaks many that rise to a

height of 6,000 to 9,000 feet above the sea-level. The highest of those

summits is either Pionul (in Moldavia) or Caraiman, near Sinaia

(Wallachia), the summer residence of the Court, which are nearly 9,000

feet high; the latter is easily accessible, even to ladies if they are

fair climbers, and affords a magnificent view of the surrounding

scenery.[7] The aspect of the country, as the traveller moves inland

from the Danube to the heights of the Carpathians, is very striking; and

as the writer travelled at one time or another along the greater part

of the river, both by land and water, and from the bank at Giurgevo to

the frontier in the mountains, a brief account of his impressions and

observations may be found more interesting than a mere dry geographical

description of the different zones.[8]

[Footnote 3: The mode in which we ascertained these measurements was by

comparing four, independently made. One was by Mr. Weller, the artist of

our maps; the second by the author, being the average of four or five

maps; the third by an English official friend in Roumania, who has all

the best maps at his disposal; and the fourth from Baedeker. Designating

these respectively as _a_, _b_, _c_, and _d_, we obtained the following

very approximate results:--

From Verciorova to the Sulina From Predeal to boundary S. of

mouth. Mangalia.

_a_ 355 miles _a_ 185 miles

_b_ 356 " _b_ 188 "

_c_ 358 " _c_ 189 "

_d_ 360 " _d_ 190 "

From Fife-Cookson's map, in his work _With the Armies of the Balkans_,

the measurements respectively are 355 and 186 miles.]

[Footnote 4: The area is obtained by a somewhat similar process to the

linear measurements, excepting that here we have been obliged to employ

figures from various works (notably that of M. Aurelian and the Reports

of Consul Vivian and of the Roumanian Geographical Society), and to take

into consideration the exchange of Bessarabia for the Dobrudscha, which

has not been done by Roumanian writers since that alteration was made.

The _Gotha Almanack_ of 1881 gives the area as 129,947 square kilos.]

[Footnote 5: There has been no census in Roumania since 1859-60, when

the population is said to have been 4,424,961; now it is set down as

above, and efforts have been made to analyse this estimate and to

classify the population according to nationalities and religion. It is,

however, quite impossible to do so with accuracy; indeed the census of

Galatz taken last year shows that the whole can hardly be regarded as

approximate. What we know is that _about_ 4,600,000 of the population

are Roumanians and of the Orthodox Greek faith; probably 400,000 are

Jews, 200,000 gipsies, and the rest Germans, Szeklers, Servians and

Bulgarians, Hungarians, Armenians, Russians, Greeks, Turks, French,

English, Swiss, &c.]

[Footnote 6: Prince Jon Ghika says 87 metres.]

[Footnote 7: According to various works and maps, the heights of the

mountain summits differ. In his work, _Terra Nostra_, edition of 1880,

M. Aurelian gives the height of Pionul as 2,720.1 metres, or about 8,934

English feet, and that of Caraiman as 2,650.2 metres, or 8,705 feet; but

some of the maps give measurements differing from these.]

[Footnote 8: Fuller details concerning the soil and agricultural

productions will be found in the chapter devoted to those subjects.]

II.

The appearance of the plain on leaving the flat monotonous banks of the

Danube is anything but prepossessing. Although the land begins to rise

almost immediately, the surrounding scenery is flat and arid. The soil,

which is black or dark grey, is chiefly argillo-siliceous, and the plain

is overrun with coarse grass, weeds, and stunted shrubs, diversified by

fields of maize, patches of yellow gourds, and kitchen vegetables. Here

and there the railway runs through or skirts plantations. The chief

plants in this region (and this applies to the plains generally) are

willows, alders, poplars, and tamarinds, but chiefly willows and poplars

amongst the trees and larger plants; maize, wheat, millet, and other

cereals, and a variety of fruits and vegetables which will be spoken of

in connection with the more elevated regions. The first impression which

is made upon the traveller coming from our own beautiful hedgerows and

pastures, or from the richly cultivated plains of Transylvania, is that

agriculture is slovenly and neglected, and that impression is never

wholly lost in whatever direction he may travel; although, as we shall

see presently, the higher zones are much more carefully cultivated.[9]

[Illustration: ROUMANIAN PEASANTS IN WORKING DRESS.]

The peasantry at work in the fields present a novel and interesting

appearance to the stranger, and still more striking are some of their

habitations. The men generally wear a long white coarse linen blouse

with trousers of the same material. The blouse is drawn in at the waist

by a coil of cords or by a belt, and frequently sandals are worn, in

which case the cords fastening them are wound some distance up the leg.

Hats of common felt, cheap cloth, or high cylindrical caps of sheepskin,

complete the external attire. In winter sheepskins take the place of the

coarse linen tunic. There are two types of face to be met with amongst

them, both of which are here depicted. The one has long moustaches and

shaven face; the other type, which is said to resemble the Dacians of

Trajan's Column, has the hair growing all over the face. The latter

appeared to the author to resemble the generality of Russian peasants,

and this view was confirmed by one or two lending observers in the

country.[10]

[Illustration: PEASANTS AT A WELL.]

The women, as in many other continental countries, are the chief workers

in the fields, and they are said to be much more industrious than the

men. They are not alone engaged in agricultural pursuits, but perform

the work of navvies, making roads, and along with the men digging

railway embankments. They usually wear a kerchief rather gracefully

folded over the head and under the chin; the upper part of the body is

clothed in a loose-fitting jacket or bodice, sometimes white, but often

of very bright showy material, and the lower limbs are covered with a

skirt which is usually of a darker colour than the jacket; but this is

also frequently made of a bright-coloured fabric. This is their

every-day dress, and thus habited the men work with square-bladed spades

resembling our own, whilst those of the women have handles as long as a

broomstick and bent spade-or heart-shaped blades. The gala or holiday

dresses of the peasantry are very handsome, each district having its

own peculiar costume, but of these we will say a few words hereafter.

Sometimes, as one walks or drives through the country, he may see the

peasants gossiping at the well, which is a hole dug in the ground and

fenced in with planks, the bucket being raised and lowered by means of a

very primitive contrivance. This consists of a horizontal tree-trunk

swinging upon another tall vertical one forked at the top; a chain

depends from one end of the horizontal beam or bar, to which the bucket

is attached, whilst the other end is counterpoised by means of stones.

Some of the wells are worked with a windlass and fly-wheel, but the one

just described frequently attracts the traveller's notice.

More primitive even than the wells are some of the peasants' houses in

the plains, if the hovels which serve as habitations can be so

dignified. A large hole, somewhat resembling in shape an old-fashioned

saw-pit, but of course of greater dimensions, is dug deep into the

ground. This is lined with clay, if necessary, and from the ground or

immediately above it a roof is formed of branches and twigs, in the

centre of which a hole is left for the issue of smoke. Sometimes a

primitive doorway forms the entrance, and the people descend either by

steps or an inclined plane, whilst at the opposite end a window is

inserted. Occasionally, but not always, a small drain is cut round these

semi-subterranean dwellings, which, as already stated, are chiefly to be

found on the plains, for the purpose of carrying off surface water. It

is hardly necessary to say that in these underground cells men, women,

and children live together higgledy-piggledy, and that the result of

such an existence is widespread disease. Marsh fever is one of the most

prevalent and malignant maladies of the plains; there is hardly a family

(and the families of the peasantry are very numerous) in which one or

more children have not been carried off by this fever. Still there are

those who maintain that the subterranean houses are not unhealthy, and

they are not necessarily an indication of poverty. Such hovels, it is

said, were first constructed in order that they might escape the

observation of those bands of marauders, first of one nation, then of

another, who have at various times overrun and pillaged the fair

Danubian territory; that they were originally surrounded by trees which

have been cut down for firewood; and that the spirit of conservatism,

causes many peasants, otherwise well-to-do, to prefer these underground

dwellings to the cottages of modern construction which constitute the

villages of the higher lands. This seems a plausible explanation of

their presence; but in a country which is largely cultivated, as we

shall hear, by a peasant proprietary, such a primitive mode of

existence, worthy of the days when the barbarians ravaged Roumanian

territory, is not likely long to continue.

[Illustration: SUBTERRANEAN DWELLINGS WITH PEASANTS.]

So far as the peasantry are concerned, they are a fine healthy body of

men and women, and we shall have an opportunity further on of enquiring

into their habits and condition.

After travelling inland in imagination for the best part of a day--for a

Roumanian railway train does not emulate the 'Flying Dutchman' in

rapidity, although it is a considerable advance upon the old mode of

progression when a dozen horses were often requisite to drag a single

carriage along the muddy roads--and having left the city of Bucarest

with its many cupolas and spires behind us for the present, we approach

the second, more elevated tract of country.[11]

As the distance from the Danube increases, we enter upon a much more

diversified and smiling landscape, and almost every plant growth of the

sub-tropical and temperate zones is to be found there. Amongst trees the

oak, elm, and beech are the most conspicuous; but besides these the

maple, sycamore, mountain ash, lime, horse-chestnut, acacia; and of

fruit trees, the walnut, hazel nut, plum, medlar, cherry, apple, pear,

and vine are frequent. Fields of maize are interspersed with beds of

bright yellow gourds. Wheat, oats, millet, and other cereals are common,

and, in the gardens, roses, geraniums, verbenas, asters, mignonette, and

a great variety of other well-known flowers of the temperate zone, add

beauty and variety to the scene. Indeed, so far as natural productions

are concerned, this part of Roumania leaves nothing to be desired, and

that these blessings of the soil are as plentiful as they are good is to

be found in the cheapness of the fruits offered for sale. Little baskets

containing twenty or thirty fine purple plums may be had for a penny,

and beautiful peaches or large bunches of fine grapes, of natural growth

of course, are purchasable at a proportionately low price. Neither of

the latter fruits is equal to those forced in our houses, but they are

well-flavoured and tender.

And so, too, the peasantry and their habitations wear the appearance of

comfort and prosperity. No more subterranean dwellings, but, in place

thereof, villages consisting of habitations which resemble more or less

the cottages and chalets of Switzerland and the Tyrol, although they are

not generally so well built nor yet so picturesque. They are usually

constructed of wood, bricks, and plaster, and are well whitewashed,

their roofs consisting of little wooden or baked clay tiles or slates,

and they have every convenience belonging to such dwellings. The

roadside cabarets, or public-houses, are often very picturesque, the

roof being frequently ornamented with festoons of vines indicative of

the creature comforts dispensed within.

[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO CARPATHIAN VILLAGE.]

As we enter into the hill country, groups of peasants, men and women,

may be seen on the roads and railways, keeping them in order, cutting

banks and repairing bridges, and the women working with the

peculiar-shaped long spades of which mention has already been made.

[Illustration: MEN AND WOMEN ROAD-MAKING.]

The wages of such labourers, it may be remarked in passing, are, for

men, 2f. 50c., and for women 1f. 50c., respectively per day. Here, too,

we begin to have indications of something besides agricultural industry.

The smell of petroleum assails the olfactory organs, and we often see

carts drawn by oxen or buffaloes, containing one or more barrels of the

mineral oil; whilst on the hills are to be seen the rude wooden

structures which cover the wells, and roads or tramways along which the

oil is carried into the valley below. As we advance further into the

mountains, evidences of another mineral treasure present themselves.

This is rock-salt, of which cartloads may be seen moving to the railway

stations or piled up in various places. This valuable mineral in no way

resembles our rock-salt, and the large blocks might easily be mistaken

for granite or rough unpolished marble. The appearance and mode of

working one of the great mines of the country will be described

hereafter; and the chief localities in which salt and petroleum are

raised will be found on our geographical map. The principal salt mines

are the _Doftana_ (Prahova) near Campina, _Poiana_, and _Slanic_

(Prahova), _Ocnele_ Mari (Ramnicu), _Targu Ocna_ (Bacau). The chief

petroleum wells are also near Campina, at _Colibasu_, _Pacuri_,

_Doftanet_, _Telega_ &c., _Moineste_, &c., (Bacau). There are refineries

at Tirgovistea, Peatra. Ploiesti, &c.

[Footnote 9: The Roumanians recognise that a great part of the country

is much neglected, and that weeds are allowed to grow to the detriment

of agriculture. The _Independance Roumaine_, September 13 [25], 1881,

had a strong article on the subject.]

[Footnote 10: We do not intend to discuss this question, which is so

interesting to Roumanians, but we cannot help drawing attention to

Paget's remarks on the subject. He says, in one of his headings,

'Wallacks of Dacian, not Roman origin;' then (p. 112) lie gives woodcuts

of two heads with moustache only (sketched without any reference to the

question), and somewhat resembling our cut, and leaves his readers to

compare them with the figures on Trajan's Column. He says that he feels

satisfied they will agree with his view. They do not, however, in the

least resemble either the Romans with bare, or the Dacians with bearded

faces, on the column, and throw no light whatever upon the vexed

question. The general opinion of persons who have observed the peasantry

is that those of the mountain districts afford, in their type of face,

habits, and some words, the best illustrations in support of the

Daco-Roman hypothesis.]

[Footnote 11: Wilkinson's account of travelling in his day (1820) is

worth quoting. 'The mode of travelling,' he says, 'in the two

principalities is so expeditious that in this respect it is not equalled

in any other country. Their post establishments are well organised;

there are post-houses in all directions, and they are abundantly

provided with horses. Every idea of comfort must, however, be set aside

by those who are willing to conform themselves to the common method of

riding post. A kind of vehicle is given which is not unlike a very small

crate of earthenware fastened to four small wheels by means of wooden

pegs, and altogether not higher than a common wheelbarrow. It is filled

with straw, and the traveller sits in the middle of it, keeping the

upper part of his body in an erect position, and finding great

difficulty to cram his legs within. Four horses are attached to it by

cords, which form the whole harness, and driven by one postilion on

horseback, they set off at full speed and neither stop nor slacken their

pace until they reach the next post-house. Within the distance of half a

mile from it, the postilion gives warning of his approach by a repeated

and great cracking of his whip, so that by the time of arrival another

cart is got ready to receive the traveller' (p. 93). (This is still the

system in practice in some parts of Russia, and the author travelled in

this fashion, in the winter of 1849-50, from St. Petersburg to the

Prussian frontier.) Fifty years later matters seem to have retrograded

in Roumania, for Kunisch, an amusing German writer, describes his

journey from Giurgevo to Bucarest, now effected in two or three hours by

rail, which it then took him twenty-four hours to accomplish, at first

with sixteen horses and four postilions, and during the later stages

with eighteen and twenty-two horses. (_Reisebilder_, pp. 73-81. Berlin:

Effert and Lindtner.)]

III.

But we must dwell no longer in this realm of fruitfulness, and must pass

on to the alpine regions beyond. In so doing we change our altitude much

more rapidly than heretofore, and as we travel through the ascending

valleys into the pine-clad rocks and mountains it is difficult to know

with what European highlands to draw a comparison. 'Is it Wales?' the

English reader will naturally enquire. 'No, for the mountains are too

sharp and rocky, and yet not nearly so barren as those of our

principality.' 'Are we in the Pyrenees?' Certainly not; the vegetation

is not so rich, few waterfalls are visible, and there is a slovenly

appearance about the clayey or sandy surface, reddened here and there by

ferruginous streamlets, and covered with weedy-looking brushwood which

is quite at variance with the sloping gardens of the sunny south of

France. Is the scenery Dolomitic? In a sense it is. The summits of the

mountains are often very jagged, Rosszaehne or horses' teeth, as they are

called, but they are dark grey and not white or yellow as the Dolomites.

The trees are the same as in other alpine lands, firs, pines, larch, and

birch growing thickly to a height of about 5,000 or 6,000 feet above the

sea-level; then come grass and alpine flowers, and finally the rough

jagged summit. Whatever region it may resemble, and perhaps its nearest

analogues are the wilder portions of the Bavarian Alps or the less

rugged parts of the Tyrol, it is lovely and romantic, and needs only to

be visited by a few Western tourists to become an extension of the

playground of Europe; for, in combination with beautiful scenery, there

are charming costumes, primitive manners, and some interesting phases

of Oriental life. And should his way lead him to Sinaia, the summer

residence of the Court, and the sanatorium to which the people of

Bucarest resort, not as yet in too great numbers, the visitor will

readily admit that there are few spots in Europe better calculated to

afford rest and refreshment to the wearied mind.[12]

Sinaia presents many attractions for the tourist. Nestling on the slopes

of hills at the junction of three valleys, and immediately surrounded by

mountains which vary in height from 3,000 to 8,000 or 9,000 feet above

the sea-level, and are easily accessible to an ordinary mountaineer, it

consists of a fine old monastery, the temporary residence of the Court,

two good old-fashioned hotels, and a large number of pretty villas, the

property of wealthy landed proprietors, officials, and merchants of

Bucarest. There is a casino, or reading-room, and small concert hall, a

beautiful bathing establishment, and a garden in which a military band

discourses lively and lovely music every evening within hearing of the

guests whilst they are at dinner under verandahs in front of the hotels.

The monastery is situated upon a high hill approached from the valley

below by sloping walks and drives, and it consists of two large

curtilages surrounded by low dwellings, which were formerly (and are

still to some extent) occupied by monks, and now serve as the residences

of the Court and its attendants. The two curtilages are really one

divided across the centre, and in each division is a small Byzantine

church, in which the service of the Orthodox Greek faith is conducted.

At the further extremity of the convent are the apartments of the King

and Queen, and it is hardly necessary to add that everything is done to

render this old building suitable for the abode of royalty.[13] At the

side of the monastery is a verdant plateau, from which there is a

beautiful view, and whereon the peasantry, as well as many officers and

ladies of the Court, may be seen, usually on Sunday afternoon, dancing

the national dances of the country, and more particularly the national

dance, the 'Hora,' of which some account will be given hereafter. Behind

the monastery a small valley penetrates into the mountains. This valley

is, in reality, an extensive wood, containing some magnificent forest

trees and replete with ferns and wild flowers, whilst through the centre

of it a river rushes headlong, forming, as it descends, three beautiful

cascades, the last or highest being surmounted by a towering rock, to

ascend which, alone, is a good morning's healthful enjoyment. Behind

this rock rise the Carpathian peaks, Caraiman, Verful, &c., and from the

summits of these, which may be reached in two or three hours, it is said

that on a clear day the distant Balkans are visible across the Danube.

But if Sinaia, with its surroundings, is beautiful to-day, what will it

be in the future? Close to the railway station, on a conspicuous

eminence, a magnificent hotel is in course of erection to meet the wants

of the increasing number of visitors. At present the King only

possesses, besides his temporary residence in the monastery, a small

chalet known as the 'Pavilion de Chasse,' situated in the woods behind

the monastery. Although this is externally an unassuming little villa,

the interior is beautifully decorated with carved oak, and is furnished

with exquisite articles of the same material, and generally with a taste

for which the first lady of the land is so widely reputed. But the King

is also erecting, in a favoured situation close at hand, a beautiful

summer palace, which will command a magnificent view of the surrounding

scenery; and there he and his Queen will no doubt continue, as they do

in their temporary residence, to dispense a generous hospitality to

visitors, and to secure goodwill and popularity amongst their

subjects.[14]

But we must apologise for this digression, and return to our general

survey.

[Footnote 12: Sinaia may be visited either from Bucarest or

Transylvania. If from Bucarest, the traveller may go by the railway from

Vienna to that city in about thirty hours, and forward to Sinaia in

about four hours more, or he may land at Giurgevo either on his way from

Constantinople by Varna and Rustchuk, or from the steamer down the

Danube from Pesth. If he approaches by Transylvania, it is from

Kronstadt, which is only a couple of hours from Sinaia. Although a visit

to Sinaia only is here described, as being the most easily accessible to

ordinary travellers, there are many beautiful tours to be made in the

Carpathians, and some of the more hardy of the young Roumanians who have

visited Western Europe assured the author that the outlying districts of

the Carpathians afford features of interest to pedestrians which are not

to be found in any of our known mountain districts.]

[Footnote 13: The monastery of Sinaia was founded by the Grand Spathar

Michael Cantacuzene, brother of Voivode Sherban Cantacuzene, in the year

1695.]

[Footnote 14: It is curious to note, in passing, that of about 400 men

who were at work on this palace last year, 150 were Germans, and nearly

all the rest were Italians.]

IV.

In speaking of the appearance of the surface it has been mentioned that

it is sandy or clayey, and it may be useful now to say a few words

concerning the geological formations of the country. Little has been

done by the native geologists in this direction, and the knowledge which

we possess is derived from the observations of a few foreigners who have

published works dealing incidentally with this region.[15] The whole of

Roumania may be said to form the northern portion of the basin of the

Lower Danube. In Bulgaria, on the southern side of the river, where the

banks often rise to a height of 300 or 400 feet, there are distinct

traces of the miocene formation; but there, as on the northern banks,

before the hills are reached, there is a wide plain of loess, tertiary

alluvial deposit. On the northern or Roumanian bank, beginning close to

the Iron Gates in the west, and extending to the eastern embouchures of

the Danube, in fact over the whole zone of the plain already referred

to, this alluvial deposit is found, and at the foot of the Carpathians

it sometimes attains the depth of from 150 to 300 feet, and imparts to

the country a neglected desert appearance where the surface is not

richly wooded or agriculturally clothed in green. The second zone--that

is to say, the lower hills and mountains--is chiefly of miocene

formation; but beneath this, and showing itself at the surface in

various parts, are strata of what Lyell calls 'a subordinate member of

that vast deposit of sandstone and shale which is provincially called

"flysch," and which is believed to form part of the Eocene series.'[16]

In this region, which is called by the Roumanians the region of vines,

are to be found marl, sandstone, chalk, and gypsum, with rock-salt,

petroleum, and lignite. The last-named is an important product of the

country, being used along with wood on the railways, and in brick and

lime kilns.

The southern slopes of the Carpathians consist of various older

strata--secondary, primary, and metamorphic--and the rocks of which they

are composed are limestone, marble, schist (mica-schist and slate), and

gneiss. On the summits are found conglomerates formed of quartz,

limestone, and sandstone.

To this meagre and superficial outline of the geological formations of

the country we have only to add that the inclination of the strata is

generally downwards in the direction of the Danube, and that they are

often contorted in a very remarkable manner.[17]

We have already spoken of the deposits of salt, petroleum, and lignite,

and in association with the second is found the substance known as

ozokerit or fossil wax. This is a brownish-yellow translucent

crystalline hydrocarbon, which softens with the warmth of the hand, and

burns with a bright light. It has never been industrially applied,

excepting in small quantities by the peasantry, who themselves fabricate

rude candles from it; but this is owing rather to want of enterprise

than to scarcity of the deposit. Anthracite, too, is present in various

places, but it is not worked. Of the existence of iron there is no doubt

whatever. Not only are there indications of it in the ferruginous

brooks and springs, but it has been found in association with coal in

various parts of the country.[18] Specimens of haematite have several

times been submitted to analysis, but the results were very

unsatisfactory. One sample tested by M. Hanon gave only 35.5 per cent.,

and another by Dr. Bernath yielded 40 per cent., of metallic iron. That

gold has been found and was worked in the Carpathians as far back as the

Dacian age is well known; and, according to modern writers, cobalt,

sulphur, arsenic, copper,[19] and lead are also present in different

districts, but the workable minerals of Roumania are at present limited

to salt, petroleum, and lignite; and, looking to the importance of the

subject, it is much to be regretted that the Government does not take

the same means to instruct the population in practical geology and

mineralogy as are employed to disseminate agricultural knowledge at the

excellent institution to which reference will be made hereafter. If the

people are only allowed to develop their industries in peace, it will no

doubt soon become apparent that the strata are charged with considerable

stores of mineral wealth.

[Footnote 15: The chief are R.F. Peters (_Die Donau und ihr Gebiet_.

Leipzig: Brockhaus, 1876. Cap. xii. p. 313), Fuchs, Bernath, and D.T.

Ansted. There have also been isolated memoirs published by Roumanians,

but, so far as we could ascertain, no systematic work is extant. The

best general works, touching also on geology, are those of Aurelian and

Obedenare.]

[Footnote 16: _Principles of Geology_, vol. i. p. 209.]

[Footnote 17: We believe this is really all that is known of the general

stratification, and although little that is positive has been revealed,

writers have made up for the deficiency by any amount of negative

description. Such writers as Aurelian and Obedenare simply deplore the

paucity of information, whilst Fuchs, an able and industrious geologist,

says: 'It is difficult to describe the country because there are such

vast tracts which have a character of despairing monotony; because

fossils are rare and badly preserved, if not entirely wanting; and the

different elevations present exactly similar petrographic appearances;'

in fact, he says that the prominent data are wanting to enable a

geologist to make a classification of the various strata.]

[Footnote 18: See Obedenare, 16-19. Also Cantacuzeno, _Cenni sulla

Romania_, Bucarest, 1875; and Ansted.]

[Footnote 19: Copper exists at Baia d'Arana.]

CHAPTER II.

GEOGRAPHICAL--ARCHAEOLOGICAL.

The river system of Roumania--The 'beautiful blue

Danube'--Appearance of the Lower Danube comparable to the Humber or

Mississippi--Floating mills--The Danube in the Kazan Pass--Grand

scenery--The 'Iron Gates,' misconceptions concerning them--Their

true character--Archaeological remains--Trajan's road--His

tablet--His bridge at Turnu-Severin--Its construction and

history--The tributaries of the Danube and towns upon them--The

fishes of the Roumanian rivers--Lakes--Mineral waters of Balta

Alba--Roman roads--Bridge of Constantine--Roman streets, houses,

temples--Statue of Commodus--Gothic and prehistoric

remains--Climate--Great extremes of heat and cold--Beautiful

autumn--Rainfall-Comparison with other countries--Russian

winds--Sudden daily alternations--Comparison of the country

generally with other European states--Resume of its productions,

resources, and attractions for visitors.

I.

The river system of Roumania constitutes one of the most remarkable

features in its geography, has played an important part in its past

history, and promises to exercise a powerful influence on its industrial

and political future. This system comprises the great main artery, the

Danube, with numerous confluents which take their rise in the

Carpathians, and, rushing at first in torrents, then How as sluggish,

often as half-dry streams, across the country before they empty

themselves into the parent river.

The 'beautiful blue Danube' has been so bepraised that to a traveller

who visits it for its scenic attractions it is likely to prove a bitter

disappointment. It is not blue, although during certain seasons it is

said to have a blue tinge, but a great part of the way from Vienna to

the defile of Kazan, and the whole distance from Orsova to the Black

Sea, it resembles in colour and appearance our river Humber, and we have

heard American travellers compare it to the Mississippi. For hours and

hours at a time it flows between perfectly flat banks, on which nothing

is visible but reeds and willow bushes. The surface of the river is

enlivened by innumerable floating water-mills, which lie at anchor

either in midstream or close to the banks, and obtain their motive power

from the rapidly flowing current. These are used for grinding the maize

and other cereals of the country. Here and there a small town or

fortification presents itself on either bank. On the Bulgarian side are

the towns of Vidin, Nicopolis, Sistova, and Rustchuk, with their domes

and minarets, and idle laughing crowds of gazers, either men

picturesquely clad, or women sitting perched, on the rocks, and looking

like so many sacks of floor all in a row. These certainly break the

monotony of the great stream, but the general appearance of the river

from Verciorova, where it begins to bathe the Roumanian shore, to its

mouth at Sulina is one long flat reach, higher, as we have already said,

on the Bulgarian than on the Roumanian side.

[Illustration: TERMINAL PIER OF TRAJAN'S BRIDGE ON ROUMANIAN SHORE.

(FROM A SKETCH BY THE AUTHOR.)]

But although that is the stretch of the river which comes strictly

within the scope of our survey, there is another portion, lying

immediately above it, that well merits a passing notice, more especially

as we know that it played an important part in the Roman conquest and

the subsequent colonisation of ancient Roumania. There is perhaps no

river scenery in Europe to equal, and certainly none which excels, that

part of the Danube stretching for about seventy-five miles from

Bazias--the terminus of a branch of the railway from Vienna to

Verciorova--to the so-called 'Iron Gates.' It is here that the river

cuts its way through the Carpathians, and whilst along its general

course it varies in width from half a mile to three miles or more, in

the Kazan Pass, a defile having on either side perpendicular rocks of

1,000 to 2,000 feet in height, it narrows in some parts to about 116

yards, and possesses a depth of thirty fathoms. The banks closely

resemble those of a fine Norwegian fiord, rising more or less

precipitously, and being covered with pines and other alpine trees, and

occasionally, as in Norway or even in Scotland, the steamer appears to

be crossing a long mountain-locked lake. At the lower end of this reach

of the Danube are what the metaphor-loving Ottomans first called the

'Iron Gates,' and they no doubt found them an insurmountable barrier to

their western progress up the river. Considerable misapprehension,

however--which is certainly not removed by the accounts of modern

writers, who have apparently copied from one another without visiting

them--exists concerning these same 'Iron Gates.' Some of the writers

referred to speak of 'rocks which form cascades 140 metres' (or about

460 feet) high, 'and which present serious obstacles to navigation.'

Where these cascades are we were not able to discover. The fact is that

the whole descent of the river throughout this portion does not exceed

twenty feet, and where it issues from the outliers of the Carpathians

the banks slope more gently than higher up, and the summits are simply

high hills. The 'Iron Gates' themselves consist of innumerable rocks in

the bed of the river. Here and there they appear above the surface, but

generally they are a little below it, and they break up the whole

surface for a considerable distance into waves and eddies, through which

only narrow passages admit of navigation, insomuch that in certain

states of the river the passengers and cargoes of the large steamers

have to be transferred to smaller boats above, and retransferred to the

larger class of steamers below, the 'Iron Gates.'

II.

But by far the most distinctive, and for us the most interesting,

features of the Danube about here, are its historical reminiscences.

Almost the whole way from Golubatz (Rom. Cuppae) to Orsova, there are

traces on the right (southern) bank of the remarkable road constructed

by Trajan (and probably his predecessors) for his expedition into Dacia,

and at one place opposite to Gradina is a noted tablet inserted in the

rock to commemorate the completion of the road. This tablet has been the

subject of much controversy, and it bears the following inscription:--

IMP. CAESAR. DIVI. NERVAE. F. NERVA. TRAJANUS. AUG. GERM. PONTIE.

MAXIMUS. TRIB. POT. IIII. PATER. PATRIAE.[20]

The Servian peasants, however, have little respect for heroes--at least,

for ancient ones--and the barbarians of seventeen or eighteen centuries

appear to have lighted their fires and cooked their 'mamaliga'[21]

against the tablet until it presents the appearance of a blackened mass.

Of the road itself we shall speak hereafter at some length in connection

with Trajan's expedition, but a few words concerning his bridge at

Turnu-Severin may still be added. All that remains visible to the

traveller to-day are the two terminal piers, of which sketches are here

given; but between those piers the bridge spanned the river, and a very

low state of the water discloses the tops of several other piers still

standing. In speaking of one bridge we have taken rather a liberty with

the facts, for it is now pretty generally admitted that there were

really two structures. Further down the river is a small island which,

in former times, is said to have extended to where the remains of the

bridge are found, and upon this tongue of land the ends of the sections

starting from either shore rested. The land is supposed either to have

sunk or to have been washed away by the current.[22] The bridge, to

which further reference will be made in our historical sketch, was built

after the plans of Apollodorus, the architect of Trajan's Column at

Rome. It was commenced about 103 A.D., and probably consisted of twenty

piers, each 150 Roman feet high and 60 feet broad, and the distance

between the two terminal piers on the banks is about 3,900 English feet.

The piers were of stone, but the upper part of the bridge was wood. In

the northern pier the stone consists of rubble, or artificial

conglomerate composed of small roundish stones and cement, and this was

probably cast into blocks, but the one on the right (southern) bank is

of hewn stone. On the northern side there is an old wall running up

from the pier to the ruins of a tower which was evidently connected with

the bridge.

[Illustration: TERMINAL PIER ON SERVIAN SIDE. (FROM A SKETCH BY THE

AUTHOR.)]

But it would be better that we should reserve any further remarks

concerning the archaeological relics of Roumania, and also some

observations of immediate interest in connection with the Danube, until

we have completed a brief account of the water system of the country.

Between the 'Iron Gates' and its three embouchures, namely, the Khilia,

Sulina, and St. George's mouths, of which only the second is navigable

by large vessels, the Danube stretches fora distance of about 650

miles,[23] and receives in its course numerous tributaries, whereof the

following are the principal on the Roumanian side. The Pruth is the most

important. It forms the boundary between Roumania and Bessarabia

(Russia), and is navigable by small grain-carrying vessels. Next in

importance historically is the _Sereth_, which divided Moldavia from

Wallachia, and the remaining rivers of any moment are the _Oltu_, on

which are situated the towns of Rimnic and Slatina; the _Jalomitza_,

watering Tirgovistea, one of the ancient capitals, and receiving as an

affluent the _Prahova_, which takes its rise near Sinaia. The last-named

is a very interesting river, for in the vicinity of either bank are to

be found the petroleum wells or salt mines. Then there is the _Ardges_,

which flows past the little city of the same name and the town of

Pitesti, and receives the _Dambovitza_, on which the capital, Bucarest,

is situated. In these rivers are to be found in their due seasons many

species of fish, and as fishing is but little preserved they furnish

good sport. The most important kinds used for the table in Roumania are

two or three varieties of sturgeon, trout (small but sweet), herrings,

salmon, shad, pike, and carp, also perch, roach, barbel, tench, &c.

Roumania is not a lake country, and the largest lakes, called Baltas,

are found in the plains near the Danube, whilst amongst the inland

lakes, which are few in number and importance, that of Balta Alba, in

the district of Romnicu Sarat, possesses strong mineral properties, in

which chloride of sodium and carbonate and sulphate of soda

preponderate. Its waters are used for baths, and are said to cure

certain forms of scrofula, rheumatism, neuralgia, and other germane

maladies. Besides Balta Alba, Roumania possesses several other sources

of mineral waters.

[Footnote 20: Paget, vol. ii. p. 44. Dierauer, p. 73, who adds several

more disjointed or isolated letters.]

[Footnote 21: A dish made from maize.]

[Footnote 22: Paget, vol. ii. p. 58. Tocilesco, Plate VII. In the

illustrations there given the number of piers varies, but in both cases

the intermediate island is shown.]

[Footnote 23: The estimates vary from 630 to 650, but these do not make

full allowance for all the windings of the river.]

III.

Returning now to the 'Iron Gates' of the Danube, the portal, as it were,

by which we enter the country, we find in connection with the great

bridge, and also starting from other parts of the Danube, remains of

Roman roads, to one or two of which reference has already been made; and

in the neighbourhood of these, again, evidences of permanent Roman

occupation. One road, west of the Iron Gates, has been named in

connection with Trajan's route. It commenced at Uj Palanka, and ran in a

north-easterly direction to Temeswar (Rom. Tibiscum), and thence to the

ancient capital of Dacia, Sarmizegethusa (modern Varhely), whence it is

believed to have been continued to the Transylvanian slopes of the

Carpathians bordering on Moldavia. This road, which, along with all the

other remains here referred to, will be found in our historical map, was

not situated in what is now Roumania. It was joined by another starting

from Orsova, which followed the valley of the Czerna, passed the modern

baths of Mehadia (Rom. Ad Mediam), and joined the first road at

Temeswar. A third, still more to the eastward, commenced at the Bridge

of Trajan at Turnu-Severin, and traces have been found which lead to the

belief that it must have crossed Wallachia in more than one direction

and have passed through the 'Rothenthurm' pass in the Carpathians,

whilst a fourth road, with which it was probably connected, started from

the vicinity of the bridge of Constantine, near Turnu-Magurele, and is

traceable in a north-westerly direction towards the Carpathians. Other

roads have been distinctly made out in these mountains connecting

Hermannstadt, Karlsburg, Schaessburg, &c. The road on the southern bank

of the lower Danube ran along the whole course of the river, and has

been followed to the neighbourhood of Galatz; whilst in the Dobrudscha

there are still the remains of two Roman walls, one on either side of

the line of railway from Cernavoda on the Danube to Constanta (formerly

Kustendjie) on the Black Sea. As to the other archaeological remains,

they are even more numerous and better defined than the roads. At

Turnu-Magurele, close by, there are traces of a second bridge across the

Danube, known as that of Constantine, and believed to have been

constructed by that emperor. In the same neighbourhood, at Celeiu, there

have been found several interesting Roman remains, ruins of buildings in

which the colouring is still visible on the walls, and a statue of

Commodus with an inscription. At Recika, near the modern town of

Caracal, close to the river Oltu in the district of Romanati, there are

also remains of streets and houses with inscriptions; and at Slaveni,

close by, are the remains of a temple of Mithras. Again, at Ciglena or

Tiglina, near Galatz, there is an old Roman encampment; at Vodastra, not

far from Celeiu (already referred to), still older prehistoric remains

have been found, whilst at Petrosa and Buzeu, on the line of railway

between Bucarest and Galatz, Gothic and other antiquities have been

discovered.[24] Interesting but more recent relics are to be seen at

Campu-Lung, the first capital of Wallachia. At Curtea d'Ardges, the

second (that is subsequent) capital, is a beautiful cathedral, which

will be more fully described hereafter; and Tirgovistea, the third

capital, from which the seat of government was removed to Bucarest, also

presents some interesting historical remains.

[Footnote 24: We are indebted for many of those details to M. Tocilesco,

whose beautifully illustrated work, _Dacia_, &c. (Bucarest: Tipografia

Academiei Romane, 1880), contains a vast amount of information

concerning Dacian and other antiquities.]

IV.

Before proceeding to deal with a subject in connection with the

geographical position of Roumania, which has special interest for

Englishmen, a few words may be found interesting in regard to its

exceptional and variable climate.

Both the winters and summers are very trying and severe; spring is so

short as to be almost non-existent, but this is compensated for by the

long autumn, a genial season which often lasts from the middle of

September to the end of November. In summer the thermometer often

reaches 90 deg. to 95 deg. Fahrenheit in the shade, whilst in winter it

frequently falls to zero, but the annual average is about 57 deg.

Fahrenheit. Bain is not nearly so frequent as with us, and it seldom

lasts long. Comparisons have been made between Roumania and other

countries which show that whilst in England we have on the average 172

rainy days in the year, there are in Western France 152, in Germany 141,

and in Roumania only 74. Snowstorms are not frequent, there being on the

average only twelve days of snow in the year. The most trying

characteristic of the climate, however, is the cold cutting easterly

wind which sweeps over the steppes of Asiatic Russia, and often causes

life to be almost intolerable in the Roumanian plains; and another

unpleasant feature is the sudden change from heat to cold between noon

and evening during the later months of the year.

Looking generally at the physiography of Roumania, however, it will be

seen that whilst it covers an extent of country considerably in excess

of some of the small but prosperous independent States of Europe, it has

great advantages which they do not possess. Less rugged and mountainous

than Switzerland, and not so uniformly flat as Holland, its scenery

partakes of the character of both these countries. Guarded on the north

and west by the Carpathian range, and commanding the whole length of the

Danube in the south, its political position (to which further reference

will be made presently) renders it safer than Belgium, or perhaps even

than Denmark. Its soil is capable of producing, either spontaneously or

with a slight expenditure of labour, every requirement of the human

race, whether of necessity or of luxury. The grape, the peach, the

tobacco plant thrive in the open air. Its extensive forests contain most

descriptions of timber, whilst very fine salt and petroleum amongst its

mineral treasures are already worked, and there is little doubt from

the researches of chemists and metallurgists that coal, iron, sulphur,

copper, and even the precious metals are safely stored beneath the

surface. All these valuable natural productions may be readily conveyed

down the slopes of its mountains or across the plains, by short and easy

routes by land and water, to the larger watercourse which places it in

communication with the outer world; and as to the obstacles offered by

the 'Iron Gates' to the navigation of the upper Danube, these are soon

likely to disappear in an age when dynamite effects such vast

revolutions in the industrial history of nations. Add to these facts

that Roumania offers a rich field for the fisherman, that its alpine

districts are beautiful and easy of access, and that its antiquities

cannot fail to attract the attention of archaeologists; and we see

already from this brief and very superficial geographical survey that it

encloses within its boundaries the promise of a brilliant future. And

now let us turn from the natural capacities of the country to the works

and ways of man.

CHAPTER III.

THE NAVIGATION OF THE DANUBE.

The Danube--Its importance to Roumania--To Great

Britain--Statistics of British and foreign vessels trading

there--Nature of the freight--Cereals--Our imports thence compared

with those from other states--Importance of Roumania as a

maize-grower--Effect of the Russo-Turkish war on Danubian

trade--The Danubian Commission--Its history--Austria and

Roumania--The Callimaki-Catargi despatches--Alleged pretensions and

designs of Austria--Necessity for the neutrality of the

Danube--Pending negotiations.

There is perhaps no question of greater real moment to the newly erected

kingdom than the free navigation of the Danube; for whether its

possessions are limited on the southern boundary by that river, or

whether at some future time they should extend beyond it, the reader

cannot fail to see from what has preceded that the Danube is the great

artery through which, so to speak, the industrial life-blood of the

nation circulates. But if it be a matter of primary importance to

Roumania, it is hardly less so to ourselves. The greater part of the

external trade of the countries bordering on the Danube which passes in

and out of the Sulina mouth, the only navigable embouchure, is carried

on in British bottoms, as the following figures will show:--

_Tonnage entering and leaving the Danube in 1880._

____________________________________________________________________

| | | | | | | |

| |Steamers|Tonnage| Sailing |Tonnage|Total| Total |

| | | | Ships | |Ships|Tonnage|

| |________|_______|________ |_______|_____|_______|

| | | | | | | |

|British flag | 479 |408,492| 15 | 4,214| 494|412,706|

|All other nations| 242 |150,536|1,526[25]|238,312|1,768|384,848|

| |________|_______|_________|_______|_____|_______|

| | | | | | | |

| Total | 721 |559,028| 1,541 |238,526|2,262|797,554|

|_________________|________|_______|_________|_______|_____|_______|

Thus it will be seen that the carrying trade of Great Britain to and

from the Danube amounts to nearly 30,000 tons more than that of all

other nations put together. And now as regards the nature of the goods

carried. They consist outwards (from Roumania, &c.) of cereals, and

inwards of a great variety of manufactured goods. Of the former

5,394,729 quarters were exported in 1879; and it may be said generally

that Roumania receives in return almost every article of consumption in

the way of manufactured productions, and notably from this country

cottons and cotton yarn, woollens, coals, and iron.

In any year of scarcity our importations of feeding stuffs from the

Danube would become a most important factor, for in 1881 the Board of

Trade returns show the following comparative importations:--

_Imports of Cereals in 1880._

Cwts.

From United States 68,138,992

" Russia 12,830,851

" Canada 9,455,076

" India 6,458,100

" Roumania 4,355,344

All other countries, including Egypt, which is considered by no means

unimportant as a grain-producing country, sent us less cereals than

Roumania; and when we look at one species of grain, namely, maize, which

is considered equal to what is known as American mixed, and is capable

of being much more largely cultivated than at present, we find Roumania

third on the list; indeed, for some reason or other, her exports fell

off very materially last year, for in 1879 she ranked second:--

_Imports of Maize in 1880._

Cwts.

From United States 31,087,773

" Canada 3,322,327

" Roumania 1,764,482

We shall have to touch on this branch of the subject again; but if the

reader wishes to satisfy himself of the great importance to this country

of unrestricted trade on the Danube, he has only to refer to the annual

returns of the Board of Trade, and he will find that in 1876, when the

ports were closed in consequence of the last Russo-Turkish war, our

trade practically ceased, and that it has hardly yet recovered from the

effects of the stoppage.

Indeed, the question of Danubian navigation has been for some time past

recognised as one of European importance, and after the Crimean war,

when the great Powers took away from Russia a small portion of

Bessarabia abutting upon the embouchures of the Danube, an International

Commission was appointed, consisting of representatives of those Powers

and of Roumania, whose duty it was to maintain the neutrality and the

free navigation of the Danube at its entrance, for which purpose they

were authorised to levy tolls and construct works. Subsequently the term

of this commission was renewed for twelve years from 1871 (until next

year therefore), and the neutrality of works existing at the expiration

of the treaty was declared permanent. By the Treaty of San Stefano (Art.

xii.) and the subsequent Congress of Berlin, 1878, all fortresses on the

Danube were ordered to be dismantled, and men-of-war, with the exception

of guard-ships, were excluded. The rights, obligations, and prerogatives

of the International Commission were maintained intact, and (at the

Berlin Congress) its jurisdiction was extended to the Iron Gates.

This is everything of historical note that has, until quite recently,

been published with authority on the subject, but to those who are

interested either commercially or politically it has been well known

that the commission was not working smoothly, and that differences had

arisen between Austria and Roumania concerning their respective

jurisdiction. This first found public utterance in the Roumanian speech

from the throne last year, when the King said that his Government was

prepared to defend its rights to control the navigation of the Danube in

Roumanian waters, or words to that effect. What followed is contemporary

history. Austria, regarding this as an affront intended for herself,

threatened to withdraw her ambassador, and Roumania apologised. In the

meantime, however, M. Callimaki-Catargi, a former Minister of Roumania

in Paris and London, published in an unauthorised manner a long

correspondence between the Roumanian Foreign Secretary and himself,

which contained a statement of the Danubian difficulty that had been

handed to Lord Granville. It was circulated largely in France and

Roumania, and is interesting in relation to future events.[26] According

to M. Catargi, Austria has endeavoured, almost since the establishment

of the commission, to resist its action where she supposed such action

trenched upon _her_ interests and jurisdiction, whilst, on the other

hand, she has been aggressive upon the rights of her neighbours. It

appears from his statement that when it was attempted to form a

'Riverside Commission' to take the place of the original European

Commission, and keep the whole course of the Danube clear (a very

desirable object, as the reader will have seen from our description of

the Iron Gates), Austria objected to any interference with her

jurisdiction over that part of the Danube which flowed through her

territory. But when more recently the commission appointed a

sub-committee to study the lower Danube, and to report to it with such

recommendations as would ensure the carrying out of the project in its

integrity, it was found that some unseen influence had been at work to

change and pervert the entire constitution and objects of the

commission.

The report was made, but it was found quite inappropriate to the desired

end, as it ignored the freedom of the navigation, the question of the

coasting trade, &c.; whilst, on the other hand, it proposed a 'mixed

commission, which was to be an executive committee, not at all

contemplated by the Treaty of Berlin, and which brought to light

pretensions of a new order.'

Those pretensions were an attempt on the part of one power, namely,

Austria, to dominate the whole course of the river. The Executive

Commission was to consist of four members, representing Austria, Servia,

Roumania, and Bulgaria, and the Austrian commissioner was to preside and

to have a casting vote. Servia has a very small interest in the river,

as her territory extends only a few miles below the Iron Gates, and it

is essential to her very existence to remain on friendly terms with her

powerful neighbour, so that 'it results that Austria, who is already

mistress of the upper Danube, would obtain further privileges and a

veritable supremacy over the remainder of its course.'

M. Catargi goes on to tell Earl Granville 'that if Austria succeeded in

securing her domination she would throw every obstacle in the way of the

importation of the products of the Western nations into the great basin

of the Danube in order to secure the monopoly of her own.'[27]

This is the present condition of the Danubian question, and we have

reason to believe that negotiations are proceeding which are intended to

pave the way for a settlement next year. From what we know of those who

represent British interests in the matter, we feel satisfied that those

interests will be carefully guarded; but this must not prevent us from

bearing in mind international principles and rights everywhere

recognised as equitable, and which we feel confident will not be lost

sight of in the negotiations. Roumania is the most deeply interested;

she has a perfect right to the executive control of the navigation of

the Danube in her own waters, subject to her engagements with the

Powers. The contention put forward more or less officially by Austria,

that if this right were conceded to Roumania the other riparian Powers

might claim the same privilege, is answered by the simple statement that

such right is theirs already, as much as it is the right of Austria to

control the navigation of the Danube at Pesth or Vienna, of Germany to

regulate that of the Rhine at Cologne, or Belgium at Rotterdam. So far

as England is concerned, it needed not the revelations of M. Catargi to

acquaint us with the fact that Austria will do as she has done, namely,

attempted to limit our trade in the basin of the Danube; and our

interests and those of Roumania are therefore identical.

But it is to be hoped that passing events in that part of Europe will

cure Austria of her aggressive tendencies, and that she will not assume

the same attitude towards the Powers as she did towards her weaker

neighbour. She will gain more by co-operating loyally with her to

improve the navigation of the lower Danube than by striving either

openly or secretly to secure a predominance which she could not

permanently maintain even if her present efforts were successful.

[Footnote 25: Chiefly Greek and Turkish.]

[Footnote 26: The correspondence, which extends from June 23 to

September 5, 1880, and is chiefly telegraphic, was published in the

supplement to the _Independance Roumaine_, Bucarest, December 6 [18],

1881.]

[Footnote 27: After this despatch follows one from M. Bratiano, the

Roumanian Secretary of State, finding fault with M. Calargi for his

unfriendly tone towards Austria, and here is his edifying reply on that

point. 'Let me satisfy you (_vous rassurer_) as to the consequences that

might arise from the handing in of this document. Written on paper

without any mark, deprived of every official or individual character,

bearing no signature, this historical _resume_ of the phases through

which the question has passed cannot compromise anyone.' This is one of

the men who make history, and to whom the lives and interests of the

million are confided!]

CHAPTER IV.

TOPOGRAPHICAL, ETC.

The chief cities of Roumania--The capital, Bucarest--Ignorance

concerning it--Conflicting accounts--Its true character--The 'sweet

waters of the Dambovitza'--Dimensions of Bucarest--External

aspect--The Chaussee, the ladies' mile of Bucarest--Streets, shops,

and houses--The Academy--Its collections--Coins--Dacian, Roman, and

other antiquities--Excellent physical laboratory--Professor

Bacologlu--The Coltza laboratory--Dr. Bernath--The Cismegiu

Garden--Shabby courts of justice--Other

buildings--Churches--Railway stations--Fine hospitals--Dr.

Davila--The Colentina Hospital--The 'police des moeurs' and the

morality of Bucarest--The 'Philanthropic' Hospital--The

'Coltza'--Its museums--Life in Bucarest--Hotels--The upper

classes--Places of amusement--Cost of land and houses for different

classes--Wages of artisans; of gipsies--Habits of the

working-classes--Cost of living, food, clothing, &c.--Native

costumes made by the peasantry--Their beauty and variety--The

poorest class--Mamaliga--The gipsies--Their origin and

history--Their slavery--Wilkinson's account of them in his

day--Their emancipation and present condition--Laoutari or

musicians--Their other occupations--Their religion--Fusion with the

native Roumanians--Striking contrast between gipsies and

natives--Lipovans--Roumanian love of bright colours--Pictorial

advertisements--Amusing signboards--Absence of intellectual

entertainments and occupations--Want of exchange and market

buildings--Great advances since 1857--Edgar Quinet's account of

Roumania in his day--'The Roumanian Company for erecting Public

Edifices'--Funerals--Octroi duties--Their onerous character--A few

words on the Jews--Bitter journalistic attacks upon them--Curtea

d'Ardges--Its beautiful cathedral--The exterior--Fine tracery and

ornaments--The interior--Legendary history--Negru Voda and

Manole--Poem of Manole--Entombs his wife alive in the

foundation--His fate--True history--Neagu Bassarab, its

founder--John Radul--Quaint and interesting tablets concerning its

history down to 1804--Subsequent history and present

condition--(Note: Brief history of Christianity in

Roumania--Atheism and indifference to religion).

I.

The chief cities or towns in Roumania are Bucarest, the capital, in the

district of Ilfovu; Jassy or Iasi, the old capital of Moldavia, in that

of the same name; Galatz or Galati, in Covurluiu; Curtea d'Ardges, in

the district of that name; Braila or Ibrail, Craiova, Botosani,

Ploiesti, and Pitesti. We have not named them exactly in the order of

their size, as it is our intention to give some details of the first

four only.

[Illustration: PLAN OF BUCAREST, WITH THE MAIN STREETS AND BUILDINGS.

(_Reduced from Plan by Professor Zamphirolu._)

1. Filaret Railway Station.

2. Tirgovistea Railway Station.

3. Metropolitan Cathedral.

4. Palace.

5. National Theatre.

6. Council of Ministers.

7. Academy.

8. British Embassy.

9. Post and Telegraph Offices.

10. Church, Radu Voda.

11. Ministry of Finance.

12. Summer Palace (Cotroceni).

13. Asyle Helene.

14. Coltza Hospital.

15. Colentina Hospital.

16. Bank of Roumania.]

Of the capital, Bucarest, the reader will here find a general plan, in

case he should at any time visit the city. To give any lengthened

account of it, however, would be a mistake; for such a description would

certainly be inaccurate a few years hence, as the city is undergoing

great change and improvement from day to day. Still it is the heart of

Roumania, the centre from which all progress emanates; and whilst we

shall refer to some of its more valuable institutions when we come to

deal with national and social questions of general importance, we

propose to dwell upon it for a brief space.

Some of the questions that are asked concerning Bucarest, even by

persons who believe themselves well-informed, are highly amusing. One

friend, who is really a well-read man, asked us shortly after our visit

whether it was not a great continuous 'Mabille,' and he looked very

incredulous when we told him that, although we had walked through and

through it, and had carefully looked at all the posters announcing

amusements in various places, we had no recollection of seeing a

dancing-garden amongst them, and that we believed none existed. Another

friend, a highly educated professional man, was not quite sure whether

Bucarest was north or south of the Danube; but it was a place, he knew,

where the chief occupation was gambling. There may be some little truth

in the latter statement, but gaming-tables are forbidden, and he need

not go so far from home as that to see the law evaded.

But it is no wonder that strangers are puzzled to form a correct

conception of Bucarest, and their perplexity is not likely to be

relieved if they read the descriptions that have been given of the city

and its inhabitants from time to time. Some writers have described it as

an assemblage of dilapidated houses standing in unpaved streets. Its

upper classes are represented as very polite depraved ladies and

gentlemen, including a large proportion of the former who have been

divorced three or four times, and are in the habit of entertaining

simultaneously all their _ci-devant_ husbands in the presence and with

the sanction of the 'man in possession.' The lower classes comprise

half-naked gipsies of both sexes, with a considerable sprinkling of

priests or 'popes,' eating bread and onions or mamaliga (the maize

pudding of the masses), or lounging on the doorsteps of the houses, or

sauntering along the unpaved streets in charge of a lean pig. According

to such writers the chief occupation of the Bucarester is getting

divorced or being buried in state. Then there is the romantic school of

authors who represent it as a city of palaces standing in their own

grounds, with numerous beautiful Byzantine churches, pleasure-gardens in

which plays are performed, or where the Laoutari or minstrels (gipsy

bands) play wild and stirring music all day long. There are charming

Roumanian belles, with flashing eyes and the sweetest of voices;

dark-eyed gipsies, chaste as Diana and as fleet of foot; grave boyards,

stately Turks (of whom, by the way, we never saw one whilst we were on

Roumanian ground, although there were plenty, very much married indeed,

on the Danube steamers); reverend abbots, with long black robes and

flowing white beards; and nuns in unique costumes of dark cloth, with

caps and hoods resembling a crusader's helmet. The truth, as usual, lies

between these two opposite extremes.

[Illustration: MONK AND NUN.]

Bucarest, or Bucuresci, 'the city of joy,' as it is called by the

Roumanians, is a large, irregular, straggling city of about 175,000

inhabitants, situated on a dirty little stream called the Dambovitza (as

already stated, a tributary of the Ardges), concerning which some very

famous verses have been written, proclaiming its waters to be so sweet

that any one who drinks of them never desires to leave Bucarest. What

its retentive properties may have been in former times we are not able

to say, but we can quite imagine any person who ventures to drink of

the water being incapable of leaving the city for ever afterwards.

However, the prosaic authorities are not greatly impressed by their

national poetry in this instance. The river is being 'canalised,' or

confined within stone embankments, and there is a plentiful supply of

_apa dulce_ from another source, which exercises no controlling

influence whatever upon the movements of the drinker. The greatest

length of the city as the crow flies is about 3-1/10 miles, and its

greatest breadth somewhat less, but many of the outlying parts resemble

country roads rather than streets. Viewed from a distance, or from the

hill upon which the metropolitan church stands, it has a most

picturesque appearance, consisting of a vast number of churches, chiefly

Byzantine, only a few of which are visible in our photograph, and many

good-sized buildings. But what gives a peculiar charm to the city is

that all these buildings appear to be placed in one vast garden, for

there is hardly a single one without some trees in its immediate

vicinity, and many of the larger houses really stand in gardens of

considerable extent. This, too, is the cause of the city covering so

large a space in proportion to the number of its inhabitants. It is

built with perplexing irregularity, as will be seen even from our

superficial plan, where only the main streets are given; but the

intermediate spaces are filled with narrow, crooked, and ill-paved

streets and lanes, their most disagreeable feature being that, in

consequence of the soft yielding nature of the subsoil, the pavement

gives way, and soon becomes inconveniently undulating. There are,

however, several broad well-paved streets,[28] the chief being the Podu

Mogosoi, as it is still called, although after the fall of Plevna it

received the more dignified appellation of the Strada Victoriei; it runs

through the centre of the city from an incipient boulevard--which

promises one of these days to metamorphose the whole place--to a park or

garden of considerable extent, where it is further continued through an

alley of trees known as the Chaussee. This is the favourite drive of

the Bucaresters, and at stated hours a rapid succession of vehicles

pours out from various parts of the city to see and to be seen. These

birjas, as the little open carriages (resembling a small _caleche_) are

called, contain the moat motley assemblage of sight-seers--ambassadors,

state officials, and well-to-do citizens of both sexes in European

dress; ladies of more humble rank in the national costume;[29] gipsies

and poor workmen and women, who, one might imagine, would be better on

foot, half-clad, and very considerably unwashed. In or about the Strada

Victoriei are many of the principal buildings--the national theatre, the

King's palace (a very modest structure at present undergoing

improvements), the Ministry of Finance, and some fine hotels. The shops,

which are mostly kept by Germans and French-men, are of a fair kind,

though not equal to those of Vienna, Paris, or indeed of many smaller

continental capitals.[30] The houses here, and everywhere in Bucarest,

are built of brick, plastered white, and often very tastefully decorated

externally with figures or foliage in terra cotta; but it is the

cracking and falling off of this external coating, which occurs more

readily in a place subject to great changes of temperature than in more

equable temperate climes, that imparts to Bucarest the dilapidated

appearance so often referred to by writers. This blemish is, however,

likely soon to disappear; for the rise of a wealthy middle and trading

class, and the general increase of prosperity, will lead to the

substitution of stone buildings for what can only be regarded as

temporary structures.

[Illustration: BUCAREST.

(FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY FRANZ DUSCHEK.)]

Besides the 'Victoriei,' there are several other very good streets, one

of which is the Lipscanii, which derives its name from the Leipzig

traders who formerly lived there, and it is still only a shop street.

There are some small squares with central gardens, but the finest

thoroughfare promises to be the Boulevard, which it is intended to carry

round the city by connecting it with the wider roads. On this boulevard

stands the Academy, a large classical building with a fine facade of

columns; and in a square opposite is the bronze equestrian statue of

Michael the Brave, engraved in the second part of this treatise.

[Footnote 28: The middle pavement is composed of a very hard kind of

brick called 'basalt,' which is very solid and durable.]

[Footnote 29: The national costume is worn by Indies of high position in

the country, and on state occasions, but not as ordinary citizens'

dress; see the Queen's portrait, Chap. XV.]

[Footnote 30: It may be mentioned for the reader's guidance that French

or German will serve him almost anywhere in Roumania.]

II.

The Academy is the centre of intellectual life in Bucarest. Temporarily

the Senate meets there, but it also harbours many other institutions.

First there is the National Library, with a collection of 30,000

volumes, most ably managed by M. Tocilesco, who is at the same time a

well-known author, and professor of ancient history at the University.

Through his acquaintance with the literature of most European nations,

his own historical and ethnological attainments, and his readiness to

put these as well as the treasures of the library at the disposal of

strangers, this gentleman cannot fail to raise his country in the

estimation of those who pay it a visit. He is also the curator of the

fine Archaeological Museum in the same building, which is very valuable

to historians. It contains a complete series of Roumanian coins

presented to the Academy by M. Stourdza; many Dacian, Roman, Greek,

Egyptian, and Syrian relics; along with a smaller collection from the

bronze, stone, and iron ages. Some of the Daco-Roman monuments and

sarcophagi, found near the Oltu, have a special historical interest, and

many of the more valuable objects, such as arms and ornaments of gold,

bear runic inscriptions. Coming down to a later period, there are

Albanian arms and costumes, mediaeval vestments and ornaments of the

clergy, a magnificent carved oak screen of the seventeenth century,

probably one of the finest in existence, and numerous other objects of

interest to the antiquary.[31]

The natural history collection is poor, although local types are well

represented; the gallery of paintings is small and good, the subjects

being chiefly historical, with the addition of portraits of Heliade and

other national heroes. The classes of the University meet here, but,

with one exception, the appliances for higher scientific education are

very inferior. That exception is the physical laboratory, which would

reflect credit upon any public institution. It is contained in three or

four large rooms, and comprises every modern physical appliance

carefully protected from injury. Most of the instruments, which are of

the first order, are made by Secretau of Paris, and a small engine and a

Siemens-Halske magneto-electric machine were in course of erection

during our visit. The selection of instruments and the order which

pervades the whole bear practical testimony to the accomplishments of

Professor M. Emanuel Bacologlu, of whose teaching power and wide-spread

knowledge we heard nothing but praise on every side. The chemical

laboratory is nothing more than a popular lecture hall, poor and

disorderly in its arrangements, and quite unworthy of a national

institution. On the other hand there is a small but perfect chemical

laboratory in the Coltza Hospital close by, where the lecturers, Dr.

Davila and his able assistant Dr. Bernath, give excellent instruction to

the young medical students of the city. This is, however, far too small

for its object, and we hope that the 'era of peace,' referred to in the

speech from the throne last year, will enable the State to give greater

efficiency to the instruction and appliances of the city. In any case,

there is one practicable means of attaining this end which wilt be

pointed out when we come to speak of the general education of the

people.

[Footnote 31: Engravings of most of the objects here referred to will be

found in M. Tocilesco's book, which, through his kindness, the writer

has been enabled to deposit in the British Museum Library.]

III.

Under the same roof the geographical and other learned societies meet.

But we have said enough of this building, and must now pass on to a few

more prominent edifices in the city. Besides the Chaussee and its

surroundings, there is another large park or pleasure-garden in the

centre of the city, called the Cismegiu, which contains ornamental

waters, flower-beds, and fine alleys of trees, and is a favourite resort

of the humbler classes. In the immediate vicinity of this garden stand

the Courts of Justice, and the greatest service we can render to the

people of Bucarest is to advise visitors to give them a wide berth, or

at least to content themselves with a look at the exterior. The interior

of some portions at least vies, in filth and disorder, with the meanest

of our police courts. The Government buildings are of a much higher

order, and that of the Ministerial Council is very spacious and well

furnished. None of the numerous churches of Bucarest are really fine,

excepting in their external appearance, which is often very picturesque.

They are all built of brick and plastered, many roofed with metal, and

the paintings in them are very inferior, however interesting some of

them may be historically. The finest is the cathedral, or metropolitan

church, which stands upon a commanding eminence not far from the

boulevard, and beside it are two poor buildings, in one of which the

metropolitan resides, whilst in the other the Chamber of Deputies meets.

The church is comparatively recent, having been erected in 1656 and

restored in 1859.

Bucarest has two railway stations, both situated at some distance from

the centre of the city. One is the terminus of the railway from

Giurgevo, situated on the Danube about two hours' ride distant; the

other of the lines to Verciorova, Pesth, and Vienna, westward; Predeal

and Kronstadt, Transylvania, to the north; and Galatz, Jassy, and Odessa

to the north-east and east. Passengers going to Constantinople travel by

rail to Giurgevo, where they cross the Danube to Rustchuk, and thence

proceed again by rail through Bulgaria to Varna, and on by steamer to

Constantinople; but a line is in progress from Bucarest which will take

them to the Black Sea through the Dobrudscha, namely, from Cernavoda to

Constanta (Kustendjie), thence to the capital of Turkey by steamer.

Returning once more to the consideration of the public buildings, we

have to refer to the hospitals, which are admirably managed by the

'Eforia Spitalelor,' the hospital board, as we should call it, and by

its Director-General, Dr. Davila, whose work one encounters continually

in Bucarest. There are seven hospitals or infirmaries, of which three

at least are well worth a visit. The Colentina hospital makes up 200

beds, 130 for women and 70 for men. The wards are roomy, well ventilated

and warmed, and the beds and bedding clean and comfortable. (The same

cannot, however, be said of certain other arrangements.) There are ten

women nurses, and we heard complaints of a want of volunteers there and

elsewhere, which detracts from the humanitarian character of the work.

To the hospital a dispensary is attached, where from January 1 to

September 8 last year, 10,791 persons had been relieved. A very

repulsive feature in this hospital is the ward containing forty or fifty

unfortunate women under the surveillance of the so-called 'Police des

Moeurs,' who are very solicitous about the health of a few of these

miserable creatures that live in a wretched lane in the city, whilst

they allow the traffic to be carried on in some places as openly as it

is in the Strand or Haymarket. Another hospital, which to the

uninitiated is far more attractive than the Colentina, is the

Philanthropic, a beautiful building of recent construction, containing

wide passages and very fine wards, and admirably fitted up with baths

and all modern conveniences. The third is situated close to the academy,

and is called the Coltza hospital. This was originally a monastery, at

the entrance of which a statue, already referred to, has been erected to

Michael Cantacuzene, the founder,[32] and it is said to have been

converted into a hospital in 1715.

This may be called the students' hospital, for here is not only the

little chemical laboratory of Dr. Bernath, but also dissecting rooms,

amphitheatre, and anatomical museum. Of the latter, indeed, there are

several, osteological, physiological, &c., and they reflect great credit

upon the gentlemen who have formed them under almost insuperable

difficulties. There are several other important buildings in or near

Bucarest. Two of these, the Agricultural College and the Asyle Helene in

the outskirts, will receive a special description hereafter; but in the

city itself there are, besides those already named, the National Bank,

some of the monasteries devoted to philanthropic purposes, and three or

four hotels, where travellers may live with great comfort and luxury at

an extravagant cost.[33]

[Footnote 32: See p. 202. A high tower attached to it is said to have

been built by the soldiers of Charles XII. of Sweden.]

[Footnote 33: The principal hotels are the 'Grand Hotel du Boulevard'

(on the boulevard), the Hotel 'Brofft,' 'Hugues,' 'Imperial,' 'Mano,'

&c. The cost of a room varies from six to ten francs per day, and of

board about the same. Wine is very dear, varying from three francs for

the native wines up to twenty francs for fine French descriptions. All

these matters are, however, undergoing change from year to year.]

IV.

Whilst we are speaking on this subject it may not be uninteresting to

add a few words on the mode and cost of living generally. The upper

classes, and such middle classes as exist, are remarkably hospitable and

social; they live in great comfort, and some of them in luxury, which we

fear is not always warranted by their revenues. The style of living is

Franco-German, in fact pretty much the same as in St. Petersburg. Many

people dine regularly at the large hotels, especially in those which

have open-air conveniences for that purpose during the summer months.

The theatres are well frequented, and in summer the favourite resort is

an open-air theatre of varieties near the St. George's Garden, where

native as well as French plays are performed, and where the songs of

'Erin and Albion,' sung by natives of these shores, are well

appreciated. Here may be seen grave diplomats sitting side by side with

the _bourgeoisie_, and the only objectionable feature is the doubtful

character of certain of the plays, which resemble some that are from

time to time performed at our English theatres; both have a common

origin, and would be better left in the place of their conception, that

boasted centre of civilisation, Paris.

Whilst the upper and middle classes in Bucarest live in the style of

many large continental cities, and often in great luxury, the poorer

population are by no means so badly circumstanced as some writers have

represented. A great many of the higher class of artisans occupy their

own houses. Land is comparatively cheap, and a workman may procure a

cottage with a couple of parlours, a small kitchen, and a little garden,

for about 3,000 francs, or 125L. The cost of a residence in the best

part of the city where land is comparatively dear, with six rooms,

stable, and garden, averages 80,000 francs, or 3,200L., land varying in

value in the city from two to twelve francs per square yard.

Much of the rougher work is done by gipsies, but the better class of

Roumanian artisans, such as carpenters, joiners, painters, tin workers

(who cover the roofs of buildings), receive from five to seven francs

per day, working from sunrise to sunset, with two hours for meals, or on

an average twelve hours per day. Italians and Germans, of whom many are

employed, receive one or two francs more than natives, whilst engineers

and fitters are paid eight to ten francs per day. A great deal of time

is lost in Roumania through feasts and holidays, of which there are,

including Sundays, over a hundred in the year. During this time not only

is there no production, but time spent in idleness leads to the same

demoralising waste there as elsewhere. The working classes are seen

hanging about wine-shops, as they congregate about public-houses here;

and, although it is a very rare thing to see people drunk in the

streets, many are heavy drinkers, consuming large quantities of rachin

(grain-spirit) and sour wine.[34]

The cost of living is moderate. Dark bread varies from 1_d._ to

1-1/2_d._ per lb., white from 1-1/2_d._ to 2_d._, almost as dear,

therefore, as with us. Roumania is essentially a stock breeding country,

and whilst butcher's meat varies from 4_d._ to 5_d._, mutton costs 3_d._

to 3-1/2_d._ per lb. Common wine is 3_d._ to 4_d._ per pint; fruits of

all kinds are very cheap, and afford an article of luxury to almost

every class of the population. Tobacco is dear, owing to the monopoly.

We believe there was an attempted revolution over the tobacco question

in 1805, which, had to be put down by military force. All kinds of

clothing for the poorer classes are imported, and a suit of best clothes

costs about thirty francs, a pair of boots eleven to twelve francs. This

does not, however, apply to the country. There the women, besides doing

field work and managing the household, make _all_ the clothes, the men's

as well as their own; and by that is meant that they spin, weave, and

make up the garments. The custom, already referred to, of wearing the

national costume by ladies in the country and on state occasions in

Bucarest, gives very lucrative employment to the native women, and such

costumes are exposed for sale in the shops of the capital at prices

varying from 6_l._ or 7_l._ to anything the wearer likes to pay. Many of

these costumes testify to the exquisite taste of the females by whom

they are made; for the combination of silk, wool, and thread, and the

beautiful lace-work, the effect of which is heightened by diminutive

spangles of gilt and silver, cannot fail to challenge admiration. These

costumes are, however, better adapted for young girls than for ladies of

a maturer age.

[Illustration: FRUIT-SELLER OF BUCAREST.]

Not only the women, but the men also, wear much livelier descriptions of

dress than we are accustomed to in the west of Europe; and whilst the

frilled unmentionables of some of them would excite ridicule amongst our

hardy operatives, the brocaded vests of others would perhaps be regarded

by them with envy.

[Illustration: GIPSY FLOWER-SELLER.]

The preceding remarks concerning the working classes do not, however,

apply to common labourers. These are chiefly gipsies, hundreds of whom,

men, women, and children, may be seen carrying bricks and mortar, and

performing every kind of drudgery, for which they receive about one or

two francs per day. If they are engaged upon the erection of a building,

they work, cook, and sleep in it; otherwise they find shelter where they

are able. They are frequently half-naked, the children sometimes

completely so; and their chief, if not their only food, which they eat

in common with all the poorest classes, is mamaliga, or maize-meal

boiled and flavoured with a little salt. This is sold at about 2_d._ for

3 lbs., but its price depends upon the maize crop.

[Footnote 34: It is not so much a question in Roumania of time actually

lost; for if we add the longer working hours on the one hand, and deduct

the Saturday half-holiday of our operatives, probably there will not be

found to be much difference; but it is the recurrence of feast-days and

holidays at irregular intervals, as is the case in those trades in

England where men go off 'on the spree' for a day or two at slated or

unstated periods. In Romania this is, in its way universal.]

V.

As to the gipsies themselves, concerning whom our readers will no doubt

have heard a great deal in connection with this country, they formed,

until recently, a nation within a nation, and even now they speak a

language of their own, and to some extent stand aloof from the remaining

population. They are the same people variously named Bohemians by the

French, Zigenner by the Germans, Gitanos in Spain, Tschinghenneh by the

Turks, and Tsigani by the Roumanians, who look upon them pretty much as

the white man regards the negro, between whose nature and that of the

Roumanian gipsy there is much that is analogous. That they are of Hindoo

origin few doubt, for their language has great affinity to the Sanscrit;

and when they first entered Roumania, probably early in the fifteenth

century, they were simply a race of wandering barbarians, a later

arrival, who were soon enslaved by the boyards. Many of them followed

the occupation of gold-washers in the Carpathians, and part if not all

the product of their labour fell to the portion of the wives of the

Voivodes; indeed, according to some writers, a considerable number were

slaves, whom the princess or her officials did not hesitate to sell,

maltreat, or even put to death with impunity.

[Illustration: GIPSY MUSICIANS.]

Wilkinson has given us anything but a flattering description of them in

his day (1820). The Principalities, he says, contained about 150,000 of

them, and 'they make a more profitable use of them than other countries

do by keeping them in a state of regular slavery.' They were able to

undergo constant exposure to the rigours of the weather, and were fit

for any labour or fatigue, but their natural indolence caused them to

prefer all the miseries of indigence to the enjoyment of comforts that

are to be reaped from industry. They were thieves from choice, but 'not

with a view of enriching themselves, and their thefts never extend

beyond trifles.'[35] The women were well-shaped before they began to

have children; both sexes slovenly and dirty in the extreme. An account

of their habits in the coarse language of the historian would be unfit

for our readers' perusal. There was no regular traffic in them, 'both

purchases and sales being conducted in private, and the usual price for

one of either sex was from five to six hundred piastres.' He says the

Government owned 80,000, consequently more than one-half of them, and

they were 'suffered to stroll about the country, provided they bound

themselves not to leave it, and to pay an annual tribute of the value of

forty piastres each man above the age of fifteen.' They lived in tents

near the large towns, and seem only to have worked as much as was

requisite to keep body and soul together. But, he adds, 'they possess a

natural facility and quickness in acquiring the knowledge of the arts,'

and musical performance was their forte. They were also employed as

slaves in the households of the boyards, especially in the kitchens,

which they made 'not less disgusting than the receptacles of swine.'

They were bastinadoed, often in the presence of the master or mistress,

and 'the ladies of quality, however young and beautiful, do not show

much delicate reluctance in similar instances of authority.' Other

punishments, some very inhuman, were inflicted; and although the owners

had no power of life or death over them, if the latter were the result

of too severe beating 'neither the Government nor the public took notice

of the circumstance.' Not only was it 'under the care of these depraved

servants that the boyards were brought up,' but as the women of the

higher classes were not in the habit of nursing their infants, they

placed them in the hands of gipsy wet-nurses, who imparted to them their

diseases, and no doubt influenced the morals of their after-life.[36]

Although the gipsies were nominally freed in 1848, their condition

remained unchanged after the revolution was suppressed, and it was not

until 1854 that they were permanently liberated. To-day there are

nominally 200,000 of them in Roumania, and until recently they were

divided, or divided themselves, into distinct castes following various

occupations. The highest of these were the Laoutari, or musicians, who

generally perform in bands consisting of four or five men each. These

usually play upon one or two violins, a mandoline, and the Pandean

pipes. Their music is wild and plaintive, giving the impression from a

distance that two or three bagpipes are being played. They have the

credit of being very good musicians, and of being able to perform

national airs from the ear alone. Some of them have risen to the

position of acknowledged composers, and indeed, for that matter, many

individuals amongst the gipsy race occupy comparatively high posts in

other departments of human intelligence.

[Illustration: ROUMANIAN GIRL.]

[Illustration: GIPSY.]

Another section are workers in metal, such as tinkers and

brass-founders; a third work in wood, and perform various duties

connected with the building trade; but a large proportion are still

vagabonds and thieves, who infest the country, and are a nuisance to the

honest peasants and labourers. The last-named class profess no religion

and obey no law, excepting the criminal law when they are forced. The

settled part of the gipsy community belong to the national Church; the

women are chaste as against the Roumanians, but their morality is said

to be very lax amongst themselves. It is, however, hardly fair to speak

in these general terms of the gipsy race at present. As already stated,

many of them occupy very honourable positions in society; and some years

since a German writer predicted what is now taking place, namely, a

fusion of the gipsies with the Roumanians.[37] We were informed by a

learned philologist in Bucarest that this process is rapidly going on;

the castes are not so clearly defined; intermarriages with Roumanians

are of daily occurrence; many of the gipsies do not even know their own

language; and their number is rapidly diminishing. Intellectually they

are talented, but lazy. Many of the men, and still more of the women,

are very handsome. Although every gradation of shade is to be found

amongst their faces, pretty much as one sees in the negro race in the

United States, the features of the Roumanian gipsies are generally

well-formed Indo-European. Nothing is more striking than to see two

women pass each other, or walking side by side: the one a Roumanian,

fair, florid, and blue-eyed, the other a gipsy with a skin as black as a

sloe, jet-black hair, and black eyes, and yet the features similar in

both cases, and each woman in her way handsome.[38]

Many stories have been related concerning the gipsies, and their

character has often been invested with romance; but we cannot afford

them more space, and we are loth to give _any_ to another class of

beings whom one sees in Roumania, namely, the self-mutilated sect of

Lipovans, well known to persons who are, or rather were formerly,

acquainted with Russia, out of which country they were driven when they

took up their abode in Roumania. They are chiefly hackney-carriage

drivers, and wear the Russian dress, consisting of a long cloth coat

bound at the waist by a belt, and a round peaked cap. We were informed

that the police are making efforts to get hold of the leaders of this

sect, which is undoubtedly a blot upon the civilisation of any country

in which its members are to be found.

[Footnote 35: Raicewich gives a similar account of them in 1789.]

[Footnote 36: Wilkinson, pp. 168-176.]

[Footnote 37: 'Und da sie ein sehr schoener Volksstamm sind, und

andrerseits die uebrige Bevoelkerung sie darchans nicht zurueckstoesst, so

sicht nichts entgegen dass sie in einer ziemlich nahen Zukunft mit der

Masse der roumaenischen Bevoelkerung verschmelzen.'--Petermann's

Mittheilungen, Ergaenzungsheft 4, 8. 12. Gotha: J. Perthes.]

[Footnote 38: There are two types of gipsies, the one Indo-European, the

other of an African cast.]

VI.

The Roumanians are very fond of bright colours, and one of the

peculiarities which strike the visitor to Bucarest is the hues of the

women's dresses, sometimes, but not always, as tasteful as they are

brilliant. Another feature is the love of the pictorial art in

connection with the advertisements of tradespeople. Amongst many

examples of this, in various vocations, is the frequent recurrence of

signboards, representing a lady reposing in her bed after an interesting

event, whilst the nurse (who thus advertises her profession) is holding

up a beautiful infant in her arms for the admiration of its parent and

the general public. The amusements of the working classes, and for that

matter of all classes, are by no means of the highest order. The

Roumanians love music, and many are accomplished musicians. The national

theatre is well attended by the middle classes during the season, so are

the _cafes chantants_ by the lower orders; but there is no intellectual

enjoyment as in Western countries, no popular lectures nor

entertainments, no societies for mutual improvement for any class of the

community. If one enquires what learned societies there are, he may

probably receive, as we did, a long list of them, bearing imposing

names, and many said to publish 'Transactions' (_Zeitschrift_); but

enquire a little further, and you will find that this society has been

defunct for so many years, and that one never met--that this

'Zeitschrift' was published once, but not a second time, and so on. The

Geographical Society has done some good work. In 1875 they published a

report through their secretary, M. Cantacuzeno, which contains a great

deal of valuable information concerning Roumania; but unfortunately, as

in the case of all Roumanian statistical records, this differs in many

cases from the statements of other 'authorities,' and cannot be accepted

as entirely trustworthy.

These remarks, however, are not applicable to the researches and

publications, in transactions and reviews, by savants such as Hasdeu,

Aurelian, Tocilesco, Bacologlu, Prince Jon Ghika, Cogalniceanu, and many

others. These are, however, entirely out of the reach of the multitude,

who stand greatly in need of popular instruction, a fact which has been

recognised by the Queen, who is not only doing all in her power to

popularise information by means of simple publications, but we believe

made an effort, hitherto ineffectual, to introduce a system of popular

lectures.

In another respect the city is behind the age, and that is in its

commercial arrangements. Although there are large transactions in raw

produce, in the manufactures of all nations, in stocks and shares, there

is no public Exchange, no Stock Market, no Corn Exchange, all the

business being transacted by ambulating brokers. But if the reader knew

in what condition the country was before the Crimean war, he would

marvel, not at the absence of such institutions, but that there should

be any need of them. In his work on the Roumanians published in 1857,

Edgar Quinet suggests as the means of their regeneration after so many

years of oppression 'a bank,' 'an institution of credit,' and railways,

of which there were at that time none in existence.[39] Now there are

banks, credit institutions, railways between most of the important

centres, and others in progress. In fact, it is no exaggeration to say

that the progress which has been effected in this country in twenty-five

years has in other European States necessitated one or two centuries;

and this is a circumstance of which most writers on the country have

lost sight in their criticisms. For the purpose of erecting suitable

buildings for trade, and for public bodies generally, a corporation has

recently been started which calls itself the 'Roumanian Company for

building Public Works.' Its capital is ten millions of francs, and

Prince Demetrius Ghika, President of the Senate, is the chairman, with

an unexceptionable board of directors, and no doubt the next five or ten

years will witness changes and improvements as rapid as those which have

occurred in the immediate past.

Much, perhaps too much, has been written concerning Roumanian funerals.

That they are showy, almost to irreverence, and that the exposure of the

face of the corpse in its glazed coffin is repulsive, there can be no

doubt, but they are not one whit worse than the lugubrious processions

with their 'arrangements' in black and feathers which are still to be

seen in England; and there, as here, it is to be hoped that with

improving national taste these exhibitions will be discontinued.

Very different, however, is the old-fashioned system of octroi, of which

the poorer classes complain bitterly, still in vogue not only in

Bucarest but in all the other large towns of Roumania, and the still

more iniquitous poll-tax. The latter amounts to eighteen francs per

head, and is levied on rich and poor alike. It is, however, needless to

say more on that subject; for the 'Romanul,' a daily journal, owned by

M. Rosetti, and published by him whilst he was Home Secretary (August

27, 1881), contained a most effective leading article against the tax,

from which it is clear that its injustice is recognised in the highest

quarters. As to the octroi system, it is bad beyond all conception. A

municipal tax, sometimes of so much per 100 kilos (4 to 44 francs), at

others _ad valorem_, or again upon each article, is levied upon almost

everything required by the inhabitants as it is brought into the city,

from food, clothing, and the necessaries of life, to such luxuries as

wine, artificial flowers, and carriages. And what aggravates the evils

of the system is that the municipality farms these duties to men

(usually Jews) who evade the authorised schedule by giving credit to

needy persons and then compelling them to pay exorbitant rates of

interest (if it can be so called) for the accommodation they receive. It

is for such practices as these, resulting in part from the want of good

government combined with the improvidence of the people, and from the

readiness of the Jews to turn these and similar circumstances to

favourable account, that the latter have been subjected to persecution

which formerly took the shape of violence and outrage, and which is now

confined to bitter invective and national ill-will.

The Jews, said 'Romania Libera' (a very inappropriate title for the

exponent of such views), are masters of the trade of the country and

poison everything economically. Joint-stock establishments are

recommended by it for the sale of clothes, shoes, and linen. The

Government must regard it as its sacred duty to foster this movement

with all its influence. 'The Jews need have no apprehensions. We will

not pitch them into the Danube, nor requite them with a Sicilian Vesper

as they deserve. Preventive economical regulations are much more

effective than the above-named measures.'[40] It is needless to remark

what a pernicious influence such an article as this would have upon an

excitable people who had been the victims of usury and oppression; and

whilst no language is sufficiently strong to apply to the perpetrators

of such outrages upon the Jews as have disgraced the Eastern nations who

have been guilty of them, Englishmen should hesitate before they fix the

blame upon the government of any country in which they occur. The Jews

are the chief traders in Roumania, and if they are exorbitant and

usurious the way to meet them is by competition and enterprise on the

part of the native traders, not by invective and abuse.

[Footnote 39: _Oeuvres completes_, vol. vii. p. 97.]

[Footnote 40: This article appeared in, and the extract was copied from,

the journal in question by the writer whilst he was in Bucarest, but he

omitted to copy the date.]

VII.

Before passing to the consideration of one or two other Roumanian towns

which will necessitate a reference to the trade of the country, we will

devote a few pages to the description of one of the most interesting

localities, or rather of a building therein, which is generally

considered its most noteworthy historical relic, and that is the church

or cathedral of Curtea d'Ardges.

The small city of Curtea d'Ardges, which contains one or two good old

churches, is situated on the river of the same name, a few hours' drive

from the station of Pitesti on the Bucarest and Verciorova (Vienna)

Railway; it is the seat of a bishop, and is one of the oldest towns in

Roumania. It is said to have been founded by Radu Negru, which is

tantamount to saying that its foundation is lost in obscurity. In its

immediate vicinity is a monastery containing a most beautiful cathedral,

around which cluster many interesting historical associations, and

whereof we propose to give a brief description.[41] It is of the

Byzantine order, but the architect has employed in its decoration a

large amount of Moorish or arabesque ornament, and the whole building

resembles a beautiful large mausoleum. The stone with which the

cathedral is faced has usually been called marble, but it is a whitish

grey limestone somewhat resembling lithographic stone,[42] which is very

easily workable with the chisel, but hardens on exposure to the air. We

have said it is faced with this stone, that is externally, for the

internal face of the building is of brick plastered for the reception of

paintings. The church is of an irregular form, being composed of a

square block, behind which is a large polygonal annexe; the whole is

raised upon a pediment seven feet in height, and the portal, which is

Moorish, is approached by twelve marble steps, said to symbolise the

twelve tribes of Israel. From the square main portion of the church a

large dome rises in the centre, and two smaller cupolas in front, whilst

a secondary dome which is larger and higher than the central one

surmounts the annexe behind. The domes and cupolas constitute the

summits of what are called by architects 'tambours;' the tambours of the

cupolas are round, that of the central dome octagonal, and that of the

hinder secondary one pentagonal. From all the domes alike there spring

inverted pear-shaped stones, each bearing a cross which consists of an

upright rod traversed horizontally by three smaller ones; the crosses

bear balls and chains, and symbolise the Trinity. On the ground,

opposite the portal, and within the stone balustrade which surrounds the

church, there is an exquisite little open structure resembling a shrine.

This consists of four plain Arabic pillars supporting a series of

mouldings which form a square cornice, and crowned with a dome,

pear-shaped ornament, and cross, precisely as in the cupolas of the

church itself. The windows in the body of the church and on the tambours

of the domes are very narrow, and those on the tambours or cylinders of

the smaller cupolas are curved and slope obliquely at an angle of

seventy degrees, which gives the spectator the impression that they are

leaning, somewhat in the same manner as the well-known spire at

Chesterfield. The ornamentation on the outside surpasses all powers of

description. It comprises a large corded moulding, about halfway

between the pediment and the cornice, passing right round the main

building; and circular shields above this moulding, which, along with

the windows, are decorated with the most exquisite tracery, wherein

flowers (chiefly lilies), leaves, and convoluted bands play a

conspicuous part. Everywhere, on the cornices, tambours, and balconies,

chaste wreaths and crowns of lilies add beauty and lightness to the

fabric, and give to the whole the appearance of a fairy structure.

[Illustration: TRACERY ON EXTERNAL SHIELD.]

Within, the building is less interesting; it is dimly lighted by the

narrow windows, artificial light being furnished by means of numerous

candelabra during divine service. The secondary dome is supported by

twelve Arabic pillars, and the walls and domes are decorated with

frescoes of the orthodox kind--the Saviour, Virgin, and Apostles, with

scenes from the Old and New Testament, also with portraits of princes

and bishops of the See. The length of the building inside is about 76

Vienna feet, the greatest breadth 41 feet. The height of the two domes

is 86 feet and 81 feet respectively, and of the smaller cupolas 66 feet.

If the architecture and ornamentation of the cathedral are beautiful,

the historical records which it contains are even more interesting. It

is true that great uncertainty hangs over these, as over all other

Roumanian chronicles, but certain facts in connection with the building

and its history are well established.

[Illustration: TRACERY ON EXTERNAL SHIELD.]

Its archives have been carried off by the invaders who, from time to

time, sacked and plundered its valuable treasures; but several

inscriptions inside and outside of the church, some of which are in the

Servian and old Slavonian language, and others in Roumanian, throw light

upon its history and construction.

First, however, we must inflict upon our readers a little legendary

lore, which, although it illustrates the uncertainty of the early

history of the country, will give them a glimpse of the national thought

and feeling in the past. According to tradition the cathedral was

founded by 'Neagu Voda,' of whom we shall speak hereafter; and it is

said that whilst he was a hostage at Constantinople he built a

magnificent mosque for the Sultan, who allowed him to take away to his

own country the surplus materials, and that from these he constructed

the cathedral after his own designs. A still wilder legend makes one

Manoll or Manole the architect, and it is said that he had several

master-masons associated with him in the work, but that the efforts of

the combined masons failed to raise the building. Neagu Voda had

commanded them on pain of death to proceed with it, when Manole, to save

their lives, proposed that they should follow the old custom (legendary

let us hope) of building up a woman in the foundation; and it was

decided that the woman who first made her appearance with the provisions

for her husband on the following day should be the victim. They all

swore to keep the fact secret from their wives; but Manole was the only

one who kept his word, and consequently his wife Utza was the first to

appear.

'He took her by the hand at once

And led her to the building,

Then pointed out where she should stand,

And he began to build:

"Be, my beloved, without fear."

She did not interrupt his discourse.

'The other masons in astonishment

All look at him with terror,

And all stand at a distance,

For they dare not venture near;

When he softly speaks to her,

And with haste builds her up.

'"This joke is not good,

Manole, my beloved;

Reflect that I am a mother,

And that I am bringing up your son."

But Manole still jokes

And hastens as much as he can.

'Up to her breast he had built up,

And she sweetly sings to him;

The strong wall bruised her,

And she swims in tears,

But when he had finished,

The wall more than overtopped her.

'This was the remedy:

And the wall was able to stand;

And after this the monastery

Ceased to fall any more;

The wind, the earthquake do not shake it.

Utza within the wall upholds it.'

Thus far the poet;[43] but the legend does not end there. The boasts of

the masons were so arrogant after the cathedral was completed that

Radul, or Neagu (for he is called by both names), gave orders for the

scaffolding to be removed, and left them to die of hunger on the roof.

Manole and his companions sought to save themselves by constructing

parachutes of light wood, but as each attempted to descend he was dashed

to the ground and turned into stone. Manole himself was the last to make

the attempt, but when he approached the parapet he was horror-struck at

hearing the plaint of his wife as he had heard it when he was building

her up in the foundation, and, losing all sense and power, he fell to

the ground. From the spot where he fell dead a spring of clear water

gushed forth, and a fountain which was erected there is still known as

Manoll's.

And now to pass from fiction to fact. According to the inscription upon

a tablet outside of the church, it was founded by Neagu Bassarab, a

prince of Wallachia, to whom we shall refer hereafter in our historical

sketch. He is reported to have been very pious and patriotic, to have

founded many monasteries and restored the cathedral of Tirgovistea. He

died about A.D. 1520, and was buried in the church at Ardges.[44] He

did not, however, live to complete the cathedral, for another tablet

within the church says that John Radul, or Radul d'Affumaz, to whom

reference will also be made in our historical summary, caused the

paintings to be executed in 1526.[45]

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the church was desecrated

and plundered by ruthless invaders, Christians (Hungarians) as well as

Mohammedans, who carried off its treasures, which are said to have been

of great value. In 1681, however, Prince Serban Cantacuzene, of whose

good deeds we shall speak hereafter, completely restored the cathedral,

as appears from the Roumanian inscription on a tablet outside near the

portal. This inscription is quaint and interesting, and deserves a place

in any work professing to deal with the history of the country. After a

number of deeply pious and moral reflections it goes on to say:--

'Therefore Nyagoe Voivode Beserab, of happy memory, the great

grandfather of my wife on the mother's side, who was a pious and

God-fearing man, when he was invested with the government of

Wallachia, did, amongst many other good deeds, cause to be erected

a large and splendid monastery in this town of Argesia, along with

the other cloister buildings in the vicinity, for the worship of

God and in honour of his sainted mother; which monastery, as it may

readily lie imagined from the high wages paid to the workmen

engaged in its erection, must have been a very costly undertaking.

After a considerable period the foundation and steps began to give

way, either through some error of the builders or owing to the damp

caused by long-continued rains which loosened the stones. About

that time I, Johann Scherban Kantakosino Beserab Voivode, in the

name of God, was entrusted with the government of my ancestors. As

soon as I became acquainted with the dilapidation of the monastery,

I at once resolved to restore the building of my ancestors in order

that the memory of that famous prince (Nyagoe) might not be

forgotten, and I sent our boyard Dona Pepano as superintendent with

numerous workmen, and thereupon restored the whole building where

it had suffered damage, and bolted with iron the stones which had

loosened, that they might thus continue to hold together, and then

I further determined to endow the sacred monastery with the income

from the hill[46] of Menesti, near Ardges, to hold and enjoy its

entire revenues. These shall be in support of the holy monastery

and in eternal remembrance of us and our ancestors.

'In the year 7190, the 26th August.

'This happened under the Metropolitan Kyr Theodosius.'

At the close of the eighteenth century Ardges was constituted a

bishopric, and at the beginning of the present, Bishop Joseph was at

great pains to renew and restore several portions of the cathedral. The

inscription commemorating this event is brief:--

'To the glory of the Holy Trinity, to the glory and praise of the

Holy Virgin Mary the Mother of God, this church was restored where

it was injured by the rain. Where, however, the colour was only

obliterated, it was repainted; at the instigation of Joseph the

first Bishop of Ardges, in whose time also other work was done,

under the Metropolitan Dositheos and Prince Constantine Ypsilanti.

The superintendent of the work was Meletin (of the Monastery). In

the year 1804, 25th October.'

Besides having suffered at the hands of barbarians of various nations,

this beautiful fabric has from time to time been injured by earthquakes;

but it has survived all these calamities, and has been frequently

repaired, restored, and beautified since the beginning of this century.

The property and incomes of monasteries have been largely applied to

secular purposes, and amongst those whose resources have been much

curtailed is that of Ardges. It is to be hoped, however, that, either

through State support or private benevolence, this beautiful monument of

mediaeval art and valuable historical record may not again be allowed to

fall into decay, but may long remain what it is at present, undoubtedly

the gem of Roumania.[47]

[Footnote 41: An excellent monograph, beautifully illustrated, of this

cathedral was published by Ludwig Reissenberger (Braumueller, Vienna,

1860), to which we refer the reader for further details concerning it.

Our two woodcuts showing the tracery are copied from that work, but the

autotype plate is from a photograph by Duschek.]

[Footnote 42: Reissenberger calls it 'Grobkalk.' Similar stone is found

in the neighbourhood.]

[Footnote 43: There are several versions of the legend. In some the

prince is called Negru Voda, in others Negoije Voda, and in others again

Radu Negru. The poem has been translated by Hon. H. Stanley, _Roumanian

Anthology_, p. 215 (Hertford: Stephen Austin), an expensive and

beautifully illuminated drawing-room book, containing some Roumanian

poems in the vernacular, and others translated into English.]

[Footnote 44: The date on the tablet is 7209. This is Anno Mundi,

according to the chronology of at least a section of the Byzantine

Church, Christ having been born, after that reckoning, 5509 years after

the creation of the world. (See Brown's _Vulgar Errors_ and Smith's

_Dictionary of the Bible_.) Engel says Neagu reigned from 1511 to 1520.

Vaillant says he died in 1518.]

[Footnote 45: 7035 (A.M.) is the date on the tablet.]

[Footnote 46: Vineyard?]

[Footnote 47: As reference has been made from time to time to Roumanian

ecclesiastics, the following brief particulars may not be uninteresting.

Christianity was introduced into the provinces bordering on the Danube

at a very early date. According to A. de Gerando (_Siebenbuergen und

seine Einwohner_, p. 211, Lorck, Leipzig, 1845), a MS. was found in

Hungary, bearing a cross and the date 274 A.D.; and in 325

A.D. a Bishop Theophilus was spoken of amongst the Goths. In

370 A.D. Athanaric, the Gothic king, persecuted and put many

Christians to death. In 527 A.D. the Christian churches of

Roumania (as then constituted) were taken in charge by the metropolitan

of the Greek Church. But it was not until 865 A.D. that the

Bulgarians and the native population associated with them were actually

converted to Christianity (Lauriani, p. 29). About that time intrigues

existed between the heads of the Eastern and Western Churches for the

possession of the headship in these countries, but the influence of the

former predominated. About 860 A.D. a Slavonian liturgy was

introduced into the churches, and, notwithstanding the denunciations and

embassies of the Roman Pontiff, a separation occurred about 880 A.D.,

and the Roumanians joined the Orthodox Greek Church. Of the negotiations

between Innocent III. and Johannitz, King of the Second

Wallacho-Bulgarian monarchy, we shall speak hereafter, and although

after that time the Papal power was in the ascendant in Wallachia and

Moldavia amongst the princes and nobles, the people always leaned to the

Greek rite, and at length, in 1440, the metropolitan of Moldavia

succeeded (Romish writers say by a religious _coup d'etat_) in making

the Greek Church dominant. In the middle of the seventeenth century the

most important Roman Catholic bishopries were suppressed, and down to

the present time the Greek Church has been the state religion, and it is

professed by nearly the whole nation; even the King, who was formerly a

Roman Catholic, now conforms to the faith. Of the secularisation of the

monasteries and other religious movements we shall speak in Part II, and

it is only necessary to add that at present there are two metropolitans

or archbishops, six bishops with dioceses and several without; in 1876

there were 9,800 secular priests, 1,700 monks and 2,270 nuns, 6,550

churches and 173 monasteries and nunneries. The priests or 'popes' marry

and follow secular occupations in the country; in the towns they are

'non-productive' so far as labour is concerned. The services of the

Greek Church are not impressive; but although much has been written

concerning their superstition, the Roumanians do not differ greatly from

the people of other Catholic countries in that respect. There is great

indifference to religion, if not absolute atheism, amongst the higher

classes, which no doubt results from the great ignorance of the

priesthood. The thing most to be regretted, however, is that whilst

there are thousands of 'religieuses,' as they are called, in the

country, all the nurses in its excellent hospitals should be paid

servants, and the Church does nothing whatever towards maintaining the

efficiency of those institutions.]

CHAPTER V.

TOPOGRAPHICAL--COMMERCIAL.

Tramways in Bucarest--Other efforts at improvement--Galatz--Its

position on the Danube--Quays, streets, buildings, &c.--Importance

as a seaport--Languages requisite for trading there--Almost entire

absence of English firms--Reports of the Consul-General, Mr. Percy

Sanderson--The quality of British manufactures--(Note: The author's

experience)--Causes of preference for foreign over British

manufactures--Commercial treaties--Austrian pressure to the

detriment of Great Britain--Statistics of our import and export

trade with Roumania--Infancy of her manufacturing

industries--Difficulties hitherto existing--War and uncertainty of

investments--The new port of Constanta (Kustendjie)--Other

Roumanian towns--Jassy--Its position and institutions--(Note:

Conflicting estimates of its population)--Ibrail, Craiova,

Ploiesti, &c.

If many of the streets of Bucarest are badly paved and the city

imperfectly sewered, it is at least striving hard to keep pace with

other European towns in regard to modern conveniences. Its main streets

are well lighted with gas, and it boasts a good line of tramways round

and through various parts of the city. But when we come to consider what

is now the second town of importance in Roumania, Galatz, we have to

step back a few decades before we can realise its condition. It is

situated on the left bank of the Danube about ninety miles from the

Sulina mouth, and to the east of it is Lake Bratish, which is only

separated from the great river by a strip of marshy land. On the whole

it is more regularly built than Bucarest, and for about a mile along the

river's bank the business portion extends, with its quays for ships

discharging, ships loading, foreign agencies, timber yards, and railway

loading and discharging berths. In the town itself there is nothing of

interest to strangers. The streets are in a condition alternating

between mud over your knees and dust over your ankles, imperfectly if at

all drained, and lighted with oil lamps, of which one in every three is

usually put into requisition. There are some good-sized public

buildings, including the Prefecture, some hospitals, two of which, one

called St. Spiridion, and another built during the Russo-Turkish war,

were a great boon to the wounded of all the armies. There is also a

cathedral, such as it is, and several Greek churches, one of which is

said to contain the remains of Mazeppa; a synagogue or two, and a few

other places of worship. Then there is a 'park' and a garden, and

altogether Galatz resembles Bucarest on a small scale, and without its

improvements. The chief boast of the place seems to be a constant

water-supply, which is, however, so regulated that whilst one

householder is watering his garden his neighbour cannot perform the same

operation, but must wait patiently until he has finished; and finally

there are, as a matter of course, a good many brick houses, some of one

story and some of two, in which dwell a very kindly and hospitable set

of inmates.

The importance of Galatz as a seaport is, however, quite another matter.

Although this country transacts a very considerable trade with it, there

are very few English houses or agencies there, the chief business being

carried on by German, Italian, Greek, and French firms; and not only

those languages, but also Turkish and Bulgarian, are requisite for

trading purposes.

The chief commodities exported to England are, as already stated, maize

and barley, and the chief importations from this country are cotton

yarn, cottons, woollens, machinery, hardware, cutlery, dry stuffs,

spices, tea and sugar, but besides those there is hardly an article used

by a civilised community which is not supplied to Roumania from this

country. In two admirable reports published in 1877 and 1878, our

Consul-General in Roumania, Mr. Percy Sanderson, has reviewed the trade

between the two nations, and he gives some rather significant hints to

'fair traders,' that is to say not in the refined sense in which the

term has been recently employed, but in its good old-fashioned

signification of honest dealers. 'It cannot be said,' he remarks, 'that

the bulk of the goods imported from Great Britain forms by any means a

fair sample of its produce and manufactures,' and 'there is already a

tendency amongst the well-to-do classes to purchase French or Austrian

manufactures when they are prepared to pay a high price for a really

good article, although the same goods might possibly be furnished them

from Great Britain at a lower rate.'[48] But Consul Sanderson gives

another reason for the preference shown for foreign as distinguished

from English manufactures. It is that the local trade is chiefly carried

on by natives of those countries from which the articles preferred are

imported, 'whilst there is not a single shop in Galatz kept by an

Englishman--it seems doubtful whether there be one in the whole of

Roumania.' And there is still a third reason, to which he only refers

incidentally, but we question whether it is not the most cogent of all.

Whilst continental states, and especially Austria, have shown little

delicacy in exacting favourable treaties of commerce from the Roumanian

Government, England has been at a disadvantage in that respect. We may

be told that we are placed on the most favoured nation footing, but we

were informed at Bucarest by persons occupying high positions, and whose

statements may be trusted implicitly, that, although this is apparently

and nominally the case, it is not so in reality, as the commercial

treaties have been initiated by Austria, and so framed as to give a

preference to her manufactures.[49]

Notwithstanding these drawbacks, however, our exports to Roumania are on

the whole increasing, as witness the following statistics (Board of

Trade, 1881), although there has been a slight falling off in cotton

stuffs on which the tariff is high, and in manufactured iron.

_Total Exports from Great Britain to Roumania._

+----------------------------+----------+----------+----------+

| | 1878. | 1879. | 1880. |

+----------------------------+----------+----------+----------+

| | | | |

|British manufactures | L887,488 | L997,078 |L1,112,761|

|Foreign and colonial produce| 112,987 | 100,354 | 86,501|

| and manufactures | | | |

+----------------------------+----------+----------+----------+

|Total |L1,000,475|L1,097,432|L1,199,262|

+----------------------------+----------+----------+----------+

_Total Imports into Great Britain from Roumania._

+--------------+---------+-----------+-----------+

| | 1878. | 1879. | 1880. |

+--------------+---------+-----------+-----------+

|Maize |L587,635 | L805,788 | L558,745 |

|Barley | 316,402 | 462,622 | 796,808 |

|Other produce | 66,518 | 104,592 | 106,283 |

+--------------+---------+-----------+-----------+

|Total |L970,555 |L1,373,002 |L1,461,836 |

+--------------+---------+-----------+-----------+

The manufacturing industries of Roumania generally are hardly in their

infancy, but at Galatz are to be found a wood factory and sawmills of a

very superior order, owned by Messrs. P. Goetz & Co. They are lighted

with the electric light, and are doing a large and increasing export

trade; indeed last year (1881), as we are informed, a cargo of deals &c.

was shipped from this factory to the Panama Canal Works. There is a very

large flour mill, and also the 'Galatz Soap and Candle Company;' but

this last has not proved a success, inasmuch as the raw products,

including stearine (which is found in Roumania as ozokerit), are all

imported at a cost which interferes with their profitable employment.

Whilst we are dealing with the question of manufactures, we may mention

that besides the petroleum refineries referred to in a former chapter,

there are in Roumania sugar factories at Chitilla and Jassy, match

factories in Bucarest and Jassy, and one cloth factory. Steam mills for

grinding flour abound, and there are water mills for assisting in the

preparation of flannel.

This seems a small beginning, but there is much hope in the future. The

same causes that militated against the prosperity of Roumania in other

respects have rendered the prosecution of national industries an

absolute impossibility. Wilkinson referred at considerable length to

this matter sixty years since. Who would have ventured to invest capital

in mills and factories which were liable to be burned or plundered by

Turks or Russians for strategical or other warlike purposes, or would be

taxed beyond endurance by a suzerain master for the maintenance of his

Constantinople harem and of his needy officials? The soil indeed could

not be carried off, or there would not have been even an agricultural

industry. But the time is not far distant when the advantages of

Roumania as a manufacturing country will become apparent, and when her

native products, coupled with her proximity to the Danube and Black Sea,

will enable her to compete successfully with other nations, especially

with those near neighbours from whom she is at present compelled to draw

her supplies of manufactured commodities.

Her statesmen already recognise these facts, and they are taking steps

accordingly. A new seaport is in course of formation at Constanta

(Kustendjie), which will be connected with Bucarest and the whole of

Roumania through the existing line to Cernavoda, and one in progress to

Bucarest.[50] Besides being useful as a defensive maritime station, this

new port will give an impetus to trade, which will be further stimulated

by the establishment of _entrepots_, hitherto confined to the seaports,

at Bucarest and elsewhere.

But we have devoted sufficient space to Galatz and the nascent

commercial and manufacturing industries of the country, and before

treating of what is by far the most important source of her wealth,

namely, her agricultural resources, we must say a word or two about the

old Moldavian capital, Jassy. This is picturesquely situated at an

altitude of more than 1,000 feet above the sea-level, on the railway

from Pascani (Galatz-Cernowitz) to Kischeneff in Russia. The number of

its inhabitants is uncertain, probably about 75,000, and includes a very

large proportion of Jews, who monopolise the trade and banking business

of the place.[51] It stands upon three eminences, and its principal

streets have been paved by contract with a London firm at a cost of

200,000L.[52] It is lighted with petroleum lamps, and is badly drained

and sewered, but possesses some important buildings, and contains many

fine residences belonging to the landed gentry. Besides a university

where there are some men of considerable attainments, it has a museum,

school of art, various secondary educational establishments, and law

courts, including a court of appeal. A noteworthy circumstance connected

with the inhabitants of Jassy, and which applies equally to the whole of

Roumania, is that the death-rate is persistently lower and the

birth-rate higher amongst the Jews than the Christians, and in fact

there have been periods when the Jewish population was increasing whilst

the remainder was at a standstill.[53] When Jassy ceased to be the

capital of Moldavia, it claimed and was awarded compensation by the

legislature; but, according to the authority just quoted, 'no payment

has ever been or appears likely to be made.'

Next in importance to Galatz as a port is Ibrail, or Braila, also near

the mouth of the Danube; indeed, according to Consul Sanderson, the

exports of the latter exceed those of the former, whilst Galatz imports

much more largely owing to its nearer proximity to the embouchure and to

the fact that the steamers first touch there. The same writer believes

it probable that some day Ibrail will be a more considerable port than

Galatz, but both are likely to be interfered with by the new port of

Constanta. The other large towns, Craiova, the former capital of Little

Wallachia; Ploiesti, a considerable town, with many picturesque

churches, on the line from Bucarest to Kronstadt, and the junction from

whence the railway branches off to Galatz, &c.; Tirgovistea, a former

capital of Wallachia, not situated on the railway; Pitesti, &c., are all

interesting in their way, but not sufficiently so to detain us, and we

must now direct our attention to other phases of Roumanian progress.

[Illustration: AT THE CABARET ON A HOLIDAY.]

[Footnote 48: Consular Reports, Roumania, 1878, pp. 965-966. This

statement applies, we believe, to what was formerly Moldavia rather than

to Wallachia. When we were in Bucarest we saw stalls in the street at

which English note-paper and writing materials (if they were genuine)

were sold; and one day having occasion to buy a pair of scissors we

entered a shop for the purpose, and some very dear ones were shown to

us. On complaining of the price we were told they were English, but that

we could obtain cheap ones of Austrian manufacture at another shop close

by. This we did, and although the scissors were doubtless inferior, it

shows that English goods are liked and command higher prices.]

[Footnote 49: See Consular Report, Roumania, 1878, pp. 966, 968, where

these statements are practically confirmed.]

[Footnote 50: Purchased by the State whilst these remarks were being

written.]

[Footnote 51: Several authors, copying one another as usual without

enquiry, have estimated the population at 90,000, Aurelian having fixed

it at 90,236 in 1866; but when in 1877 our Vice-Consul Bonham enquired

of the Mayor of Jassy, he was told that, although no satisfactory data

exist, 70,000 was nearer the mark. In like manner the population of

Galatz has been set down until lately at 80,000, although an English

gentleman residing there maintained that it should be about 50,000. That

gentleman told us that according to a recent census there turned out to

be only 40,000, but he questioned that result also, inasmuch as the

people do not know the object of such a proceeding and fear to make

returns, and moreover the census was taken at a time when many labourers

and others had left the city for a season.]

[Footnote 52: Vice-Consul Bonham's report, 1877, p. 720.]

[Footnote 53: Ibid. p. 721.]

CHAPTER VI.

AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL--THE PEASANT PROPRIETARY OF ROUMANIA.

Cultivated acreage of Roumania--Comparative estimates of

agricultural products; waste lands, &c.--Nature of soil--Rotation

of crops--Agricultural implements--Old-fashioned ploughs--Improved

machinery--Yield of cereals--Maize, wheat, rye, barley, &c.--(Note:

Report of M. Jooris)--Uncertainty as to yield per

acre--Estimates--Quality and value of Roumanian cereals--Slovenly

cultivation--Cost of raising cereals--Uncertainty of

estimates--Present position of agriculture--Discouragement of

immigration--Competition of the United States--Cattle--Oxen and

buffaloes--Sheep--Wool--Cheese, butter, &c.--Capabilities of the

soil--Tobacco--Cotton--Agricultural education--The Agricultural and

Sylvicultural College of Ferestreu--M. Aurelian--The grounds and

buildings--External arrangements--Experimental growth of trees,

fruits, cereals, &c.--Number of professors and pupils--Internal

arrangements for board--Cost of education--Laboratory and excellent

collections--History of the plough illustrated by models--'Ecole

des Arts et Metiers'--Manufacture of farm requisites--School of

design--The peasantry--Their history--Varieties of tenure prior to

1864--Creation of a peasant proprietary by forced sales of

land--Success of the reform--Subsequent allotment of state

lands--The 'obligations rurales'--The dark side--Fate of

improvident peasants--Forced to sell their

labour--Quasi-servitude--The boyards or landed gentry--Improvidence

and involved condition of many--Pledged

estates--'Fermage'--Purchase of their lands by industrious peasants

and others--Decline of the boyards--Excellent qualities of the

peasantry--Great endurance--Industry of women--Education in

progress--Bright future for the peasantry--Importance of their

prosperity to the State--(Note: Comparative numbers of agricultural

and other classes).

I.

The area of Roumania, as already stated elsewhere, is about 49,252

square miles, and estimates have been made of the cultivated and

uncultivated acreage, which approximate sufficiently to give us a fair

idea of the agricultural condition of the country. According to those

estimates, which were probably made at the period (1864) when the

peasant proprietary was created, about one-fifth is employed for the

growth of cereals, garden products, and vines; rather under one-third

is pasturage and hay; one-sixth forest; and the remaining

nine-thirtieths, or nearly a third of the whole, still remains

uncultivated.[54]

[Illustration: ROUMANIAN PLOUGHSHARE.]

The soil of the country is rarely less than three to four feet in depth,

is easily turned, and, as already stated, it is usually a dark

argillo-siliceous earth, which is so greatly charged with humus

(decaying organic matter) that manure is rarely found necessary. The

rotation of crops is largely practised, usually maize, wheat, then

fallow; but very poor soil, capable of producing only rye, is often

allowed to lie fallow for many years together. Much of the cultivation

is performed with very primitive implements, the ordinary old-fashioned

plough being furnished with a share resembling the broad flattened

lance-head of a harpoon, which penetrates the earth horizontally. Of

late years, however, a constantly increasing number of improved ploughs,

reaping, mowing, and steam threshing machines have come into use. In

1873, according to Consul Vivian's report, there were about 185,000

native ploughs against about 38,000 imported ones; but even then already

there were nearly three times as many steam as there were horse

threshing machines in use, and since that time the employment of all

kinds of improved machinery has been greatly on the increase, and

several large English and American implement makers have agencies in

Roumania.[55] There is little doubt that in the course of a few years

the old-fashioned agricultural implements will disappear altogether; for

the configuration of the surface, which in the plains somewhat resembles

the rolling prairie of the far West, is peculiarly adapted for the use

of modern machinery of every description.

The agricultural industry of the country may be said at present to be

practically confined to the growth of cereals, especially maize, barley,

and wheat, and the rearing of sheep and cattle. The total yield of

cereals of all kinds has been roughly estimated at 15,000,000 quarters,

which is but a very small part of what might be produced; and when we

seek for information concerning the proportions of the different species

of grain, we find nothing but statistics long out of date, and at

variance with each other. The probable proportions are, however (subject

to annual variations), one-half maize, one-third wheat, and the

remaining sixth barley, rye, and millet, whereof the last named is

increasing rapidly.[56] As to the yield per acre, although we have

gathered together all the information that could be obtained, we find it

impossible to fix anything definite; nor is this to be wondered at if we

look at the great differences which exist even in the United States of

America, where the people are ravenous for statistics. On some farms in

Roumania the yield is as low as eight bushels per acre, and if it were

not that the peasants own the soil and perform their own labour, it

would not pay for cultivation; but, on the other hand, we hear of very

large yields on good farms, and notwithstanding these remarks, which

might lead to the opposite conclusion, we are told on good authority

that since the creation of the peasant proprietary the average yield per

acre has considerably increased.

(Although it is impossible to fix anything like a definite yield,

the following figures may serve as a basis of calculation, and they

will at least allow how material has been the general increase in

the production of cereals:--In 1869-70, Vivian gives the yield

(which exceeds that of following years) as 31,264,953 hectolitres.

In 1881 M. Jooris gives it as 45,000,000 hectolitres (one

hectolitre = 2.75 bushels). Taking M. Jooris's estimate as 15-1/2

million quarters and the quantity of land under cultivation _for

cereals_ only as 6,000,000 acres, this would make the average yield

of _all_ cereals a little over twenty bushels per acre; and,

looking at the very large preponderance of maize, barley, oats, and

rye over wheat, that does not appear to be an unreasonable

estimate. Beyond this we shall not venture to go, and if the reader

desires to prosecute the enquiry further he will find ample

materials in the consular reports, the works of various writers on

Roumania, and a series of letters which appeared in the 'Times'

last year from the pen of their Bucarest correspondent; but we must

give him the very judicious and needful counsel which we ourselves

received from a leading statesman of the country who favoured us

with statistics: 'Il faut controler'--check everything.)

Owing to the rough and ready system of cultivation in Roumania, the

maize, which needs no special care, is far better and more highly prized

in this country than the wheat. The latter is worth, on the average,

5_s._ per quarter less than Western States spring wheat, and this is

owing largely to the dirty condition of the seed-wheat used in Roumania;

whilst, on the other hand, the maize is quite equal in quality and value

to American mixed.

If it be difficult to calculate the yield per acre, it is impossible to

give a trustworthy estimate of the cost of raising the various cereals.

Attempts have been made to do so, and so far as they go they are no

doubt accurate. For example, in an article on 'Farming in Roumania,'

which appeared in the 'Times' of July 14, 1881, from the pen of its able

correspondent, there are estimates of the cost of raising and carrying

to market wheat, barley, oats, maize, &c.; but when we state that the

yield of wheat is put down at 18.8 bushels, maize at 22.6 bushels, and

barley at 37.7 bushels per acre, it will be seen by anyone acquainted

with the agriculture of the country that this cannot be used to estimate

the average cost per quarter. However, as it stands, the calculation of

the total cost per _acre_ is as follows:--Wheat, 66.35 francs, or (at

25.10 per 1_l._) 52_s._ 10_d._; barley, 59.70 francs, or 47_s._ 7_d._;

oats, 55.09 francs, or 44_s._ 4_d._; maize, 59.29 francs, or 47_s._

2_d._; and the farmer, who is a large landed proprietor and employs

labour, had evidently devoted more attention to the production of wheat

than to maize, which is not usually the case. We obtained several

estimates whilst in the country, but they differed so widely that it

would not have been fair to strike an average, and all that can be

safely said on the subject is that the conditions of cultivation are

such as to point to constantly increasing production at a diminished

cost per quarter for some time to come, inasmuch as the introduction of

improved machinery will more than compensate for the gradual application

of manure to the soil. There are, however, many obstacles to progress.

For political reasons the Government discourages immigration from other

countries, and therefore the untilled lands will have to be idle until

there is a sufficiently large population to cultivate them. The

Roumanian peasant is very conservative and slow to move, but improved

communication, modern implements, the encouragement given to

agricultural training, and last, but not least, the competition of the

Western States of America, cannot fail to act as impulses to spur him on

to increased exertions.

Next in importance to the growth of cereals comes the rearing of sheep

and cattle; but this is of consequence to the country itself rather than

to Western nations, as the export is comparatively small. The number of

cattle bred in the country does not appear to increase materially.[57]

There are three varieties of oxen, and one peculiar kind of buffalo, of

which there appear to be about one hundred thousand in the country. The

buffaloes are very dark, almost black, with horns lying back upon the

animal's neck, but in other respects they are hardly distinguishable

from ordinary horned cattle. The value of cattle naturally varies in

different parts; oxen are worth from 3_l._ to 10_l._ each, according to

their size and capacity for draught, the greater part of the field

labour being performed by those animals or by buffaloes. Sheep, goats,

and pigs are also reared in large quantities. The wool of the

first-named is used for spinning and weaving, and sheepskins with the

wool left on are worn as winter garments. Cheese is also manufactured

from sheep's milk, and a curious custom in Roumania is to make the

cheese in the form of a long thin cylinder, wrapping bark tightly round

it in the manufacture. From this slices are cut, bark and all, and

served to the guest; this gives the cheese a slight, but not

disagreeable, flavour of bark. Of cheese, wool, butter, and lard,

considerable quantities are exported annually to Transylvania, Bulgaria,

and Turkey.[58] So far as England is concerned, the only other products

besides cereals, which we receive, are small quantities of linseed and

rapeseed; but Roumania produces millet, which is coming into increased

consumption, rye, beans, beetroot, which is converted into sugar in two

existing factories, flax, hemp, and, as we have already said, vines and

every kind of fruit and garden produce. Her soil is capable of growing,

and formerly did produce, very good tobacco; but in this matter she has

shared the fate of Ireland, for the necessity of levying a tax on the

article led to the suppression of its growth in the country; and,

lastly, we were assured by able agriculturists that there is no reason

why there should not also be raised in Roumania a plant which, of all

others, ministers most largely to the comfort of man and the prosperity

of the land of its production, namely, cotton.

[Footnote 54: If the reader refers to various works on the subject,

Aurelian, Obedenare, Consul Vivian's report, &c., he will find what

appear to be distinct though approximate estimates, but they are really

one and the same, in hectares (2.47 acres), pogones (1-1/4 acres), and

acres; and in none of them is the territorial change of 1878 considered.

We received a set of statistics on the subject as relating to 1880,

whilst at Bucarest, but on comparing them with Aurelian's work published

in 1866 we found the same figures there. The following is the

approximate proportion of cultivated land in pogones (1-1/4 acre):--

Cereals, gardens, vines 4,945,708

Pasture and hay 7,693,910

Forests 4,029,947

Uncultivated 7,574,336

__________

Total 25,243,901

]

[Footnote 55: Any of our readers who desire detailed information

concerning the condition of Roumanian agriculture and manufactures will

find it in a report which was furnished to his government last year by

M.J. Jooris, the Belgian Minister at Bucarest. No doubt the Belgian

Government, has published it in pamphlet form; if not it will be found

_in extenso_ in _La Bourse_, Bucarest, July 27, August 2, 9, and 23,

1881.]

[Footnote 56: See Vivian's report, 1875, Obedenare's table (p. 99), and

M. Jooris's report. The last named gives the ratio as--maize 22, wheat

15, barley 7, rye and oats 1.]

[Footnote 57: The _Gotha Almanack_ of 1882 (p. 904), which receives its

information from official sources, gives the exports of cereals and

cattle in 1880 in the proportion of 167 to 12; whilst the _Times_

correspondent (_loc. cit._) gives the proportions for 1872 respectively

as 117 (cereals) against (animals) 19. Obedenare (p. 147) gives the

number of horned cattle in 1860 as 2,751,168 as against 1,886,990 in

1873, a great falling off; but the _Times_ correspondent says there are

now 3,000,000 head in the country.]

[Footnote 58: In 1875 we imported a considerable quantity of wool from

Roumania, but for the last few years the imports are returned as _nil_.

For further details on all these matters the reader is referred to

Aurelian, _Notices_ (chap. v.), Obedenare (chap. v.), British Consular

Reports, Report of M. Jooris, _Times_ correspondence. The figures would

not sufficiently interest our readers to justify their insertion here.]

II.

No doubt the recent appointment of a Minister of Agriculture in Roumania

will impart a considerable stimulus to the most important branch of

national industry, but that is a question of the future. At present the

only important aids to progress are the agricultural schools; for

although there are small autumnal shows of grain and farm products,

there has been only one agricultural exhibition, and that, we believe,

was far from being a success. Committees are, however, formed in fifteen

different districts on a somewhat similar basis to those of our science

and art classes, to provide instruction in farming, and the

fountain-head and centre of those is now the Agricultural and

Sylvicultural College at Ferestreu, about two miles from Bucarest. This

institution is well worth a visit, and the stranger is sure of a cordial

reception from the director, M. Aurelian, to whose published works we

have already made frequent reference. The work is carried on in a

handsome building, which stands in extensive grounds not far from the

termination of the Chaussee, or promenade, mentioned in our description

of Bucarest, and the arrangements and appliances are admirable.

First as to the grounds. These are divided into sections, in which

experiments are proceeding in the growth of every tree or plant which

the Roumanian soil is capable, or is believed to be capable, of

supporting. Besides extensive plots for all kinds of cereals there are

small beds and plantations for named plants, flowers, and vegetables.

Considerable space is devoted to vine-culture, where, besides many other

kinds, we found Californian grapes flourishing; and in addition there

are numerous orchards and collections of fruit trees, the variety of

which testifies to the richness and productiveness of the soil. Apiaries

are not wanting, but no cattle is reared on the grounds.

In the building instruction is given to about 120 pupils living on the

premises, of whom one half devote their time to the study of practical

farming, and the other to the manufacture of implements, for which

there are workshops (_ateliers_) close at hand. There are ten teachers,

of whom six rank as professors. The pupils are nearly all peasants and

_bourgeois_; instruction is gratuitous, and the cost to the State is

about 450 francs per head annually. The admission is by competitive

examination, and for twenty vacancies in the agricultural section there

were last year sixty applicants, whilst in the mechanical school the

number of applications is still greater.

The arrangements for tuition in the interior of the building are quite

on a par with the external ones. There are collections of dried plants,

seeds, sections of wood, &c., and a smaller collection of geological and

zoological examples. In one place the history of the plough is

illustrated by means of models, beginning with the Egyptian, 2000 years

B.C., and going through a long succession; the Greek, 490

B.C., the Roman, the Gallic, the Chinese, the Siamese, the

primitive Roumanian (already noticed), with many others of ancient or

mediaeval times, and ending with a great variety of improved modern

construction. Models of fruits, various products of hemp, and other

vegetable fibres and tissues, and many other objects of interest to tho

agriculturist, are to be found there. The laboratory is good, and the

instruction imparted is of a useful and practical kind. In the 'Ecole

des Arts et Metiers,' the neighbouring workshops, everything is taught

that is requisite for conducting the mechanical part of farm labour.

Implements, wine and cheese presses, maize-separating machines, carts,

and even tables and chairs for the homestead are made by the students

with the aid of excellent machinery. Nor is theoretical training

neglected. Besides being instructed in chemistry, plans and elevations

of stables, granaries, cottages, &c., have to be drawn by the students,

and their work is very ably executed. In fact the parent institution and

its branches are exercising a most important influence on the

agriculture of the country, and no one who has visited the college of

Ferestreu will for a moment feel any doubt as to the great future in

store for Roumania. The only matter of regret is that the funds of the

institution do not fully suffice to meet its requirements; but it is to

be hoped that these will be more liberally supplied than they have been

hitherto by wealthy members of the community, such as the larger landed

proprietors, and that dependence will not have to be placed on State aid

alone. It is through the medium of these institutions that the peasant

will have to acquire such instruction in improved agricultural methods

as shall cause him to discard his old-fashioned notions, and enable him

to secure an adequate return for his labour.

III.

When we come to consider the past history of Roumania, we shall find

that in the earlier periods the peasants were first independent tillers

of the soil; that later on they were enslaved by the boyards, or sold

themselves and their families to secure sustenance; that they were

nominally emancipated from the ownership of the native boyards, only to

be transferred as _scutelnici_ to officials and other favoured nobles;

and that eventually a democratic government and the increasing power of

the people secured for them not only actual liberty but a real ownership

of the soil which they had for centuries tilled for landlords who lived

in idleness.

It will be interesting, especially during the present attempted land

reforms in Great Britain and Ireland, to state here what has occurred in

Roumania during the last few years, and to consider what further changes

are likely to result from the conversion there of a large portion of the

soil into peasant holdings. Previous to the year 1864 there were three

kinds of tenure in Roumania in which the peasantry were interested. The

soil of the country was practically divided between the boyards and the

State, the former holding by far the larger share. The peasants owned a

small patch of land contiguous to their huts or hovels (many of which

are, as we have already stated, to this day semi-subterranean), and so

much was their undoubted property. But they cultivated the soil on three

different conditions or principles. In Moldavia the boyard allotted a

certain portion of the estate to his peasants for cultivation for their

own use, and in return the latter rendered stipulated services to their

landlord. In Wallachia a portion of the fruits of the soil was given to

the boyard for the right to cultivate a definite quantity of land; and

in the neighbourhood of Bucarest a kind of mixed system prevailed. In

1864, however, the Government practically said to the boyards, 'The

peasantry have been deprived of their right to the soil, but you, having

inherited it, have also a vested interest in it, and your respective

ownerships must now be equitably adjusted.' The peasantry were therefore

put in possession of about one-third of the landed estates at prices,

fixed by the Government, to be paid to the landlords. Those prices were

not always equitable. Table-land which was cultivable was assessed at

the same value as hill-country to the disadvantage of the former.

However, such as it was, the arrangement was carried out. The peasants

of course had no money; therefore the Government paid the boyards,

taking the titles of the land in pledge, and the peasants were bound to

repay the amount to the State in annual instalments. The Government in

turn created a loan, the 'Obligations Rurales,' which were to have been

paid off in 1880, but they were not quite extinguished a year after they

should have been, and a portion of the remaining debt was converted into

a new loan which will expire in 1924. It was, however, only a small

proportion of the original debt, and this fact speaks volumes for the

industry of the peasants.[59] The change did not, however, end there.

About five or six years since _State_ lands were allotted to about

50,000 of the peasants who were too young in 1864 to profit by the

emancipation; and this was done on still more favourable terms, the land

being sold at the old prices of 1864, although it had risen greatly in

value, and the purchase-money repayable in fifteen years. Now, to all

intents and purposes, every peasant is the proprietor of his holding,

and one of the wisest things done by the Roumanian Government was to

pass an act before the expiration of the 'obligations rurales,' which

prevented the alienation of their holdings by the peasantry for a period

of thirty years; otherwise a portion of the land would have fallen to

usurers and harpies who were speculating on being able to secure it when

it came into possession of the nominal proprietor, by advancing loans

upon it, as they do upon that of the improvident landlords.

But this leads us to the dark side of the picture. The industrious

peasantry, who form the large majority, have paid for their allotted

lands, and a great many continue to buy from the indigent boyards. Many

are, however, still embarrassed, and some even in virtual servitude,

this being the result of their own indolence and misconduct. For a large

number of idle or destitute peasant holders, being unable to pledge

their land in consequence of the act just named, are forced to sell

their labour for one, two, or more years in consideration of money

payments by their landlords, such contracts being permitted by the State

and enforced by the local authorities and by custom and public opinion;

that is to say, the breach by a peasant would reduce him to starvation,

as no one would supply him with the necessaries of life. As nearly as we

have been able to ascertain, about one-third of the whole peasantry are

owners of their holdings without hypothecation, are doing well, and

buying up additional land; about the same proportion are in possession

of their holdings, but find it necessary to pledge their labour for one

year, or perhaps a somewhat longer period, whilst the remaining third

are practically serfs on their own farms.[60]

[Footnote 59: For exact particulars of peasant tenure see Appendix IV.]

[Footnote 60: Comparing this statement with the fact that the

'obligations rurales' were almost extinguished in 1880, it is clear that

the embarrassed and idle peasants must be only small holders. The

information was given to us by the gentleman best acquainted with the

history and effect of the land emancipation.]

IV.

Now as to the boyards, or old landed aristocracy. There are many wealthy

landowners, and those who manage their own estates are the most

prosperous. A large proportion, however, contract with sub-tenants to

farm the land for a fixed sum (_fermage_). Amongst these many are poor

and involved. When we were at Bucarest the 'Credit Foncier' held titles

of land to the extent of fifty millions of francs, and that probably

represented about one-third of the whole known mortgages of the country.

Since about 1870, when the rate of wages began to rise in consequence of

the formation of railways and the resulting increase in the demand for

labour, a momentous change has taken place. Improvidence and _fermage_

have sounded the knell of the old landed gentry. Their estates have in

many cases been bought up by the _fermiers_, their sub-tenants; the

peasantry have purchased considerable quantities of land in addition to

that allotted them by the State, and merchants and traders have also

obtained possession of a portion by purchase, thus laying the foundation

of an influential middle class, which at the present time can hardly be

said to exist in the country. The consequences of this change cannot

fail to be the development of agriculture, provident landowners, and the

general prosperity of the entire nation.

We hesitate somewhat to draw any further comparisons between the past

land reforms of Roumania and those in progress in Ireland or impending

in Great Britain; but certain striking contrasts force themselves upon

our attention. In Roumania a _portion_ of the soil was taken from the

boyard at a fixed price and sold to the peasant, without delay or

litigation: the results being, first, an immediate improvement in the

condition of the peasant, and his ultimate independence and prosperity;

secondly, an exposure of the uselessness and helplessness of the

indolent boyard landlord so soon as he was forced to attend to his

duties and pay for his labour; in many cases his rapid decadence and

extinction. For Ireland, under similar conditions, an Act is passed by

which, to some extent in the direct interest of the Irish landlords, and

indirectly for the protection of those in Great Britain, the old

conditions of landlord and tenant are sought to be retained and amended,

or the land to be transferred by sale, involving what are practically

lawsuits with their appeals and all their delays, or an interminable

period (about thirty-five years as against fifteen) for repayment. In

Roumania the _people_, through their parliament, fixed the conditions of

transfer, and the boyards were forced to submit after centuries of

exaction and tyranny; in Britain the Parliament, consisting largely of

landowners and persons opposed to all reforms, and from which the

representatives of the aggrieved parties were almost entirely excluded,

has groped about for a remedy, thwarted and threatened at every step by

an irresponsible body of legislators, who have for the time being

resolved themselves into a trades union of landowners; and masses of the

peasantry have been driven into the roads. What the future result of the

Irish land reform will be it is impossible to predict. We can only hope

for the best.

We have already said that the Roumanian peasant is old-fashioned and

slow to move, but he has also excellent qualities. He possesses great

hardihood and endurance, and will work, not very constantly it is true,

during the hottest weather from five a.m. to eight p.m. with a couple of

hours for meals and rest during the heat of the day. On the other hand

he will face the keenest cold with a bared breast, and is satisfied with

mamaliga as his daily food. As we have already said, the women work

harder even than the men, besides doing a great deal of work at home,

which only Roumanian women are able to perform.[61] The children work

also, beginning often at five years of age, but they attend school

during the winter from October to April. As we shall see presently, the

progress of education is slow; for although there is supposed to be a

school in every village, many of them are closed, and there is a great

want of teachers. Education is, however, progressing steadily, but it

will be a generation or two before every peasant is able to read and

write. As in the town, so in the country, there are a great many fast

days, which the peasants do not, however, always observe. During the

week days they are abstemious, but, although they do not get drunk, they

spend their Sunday in drinking, and one of the greatest curses of the

country has been the substitution of alcohol prepared from grain for the

old plum-spirit which was formerly drunk and which was much less

injurious in its after-effects. All things considered, however, the

future of the peasant is not dark. If he is at all industrious, he owns

his farm, and by sobriety and diligence his possessions are increasing

annually; the gradual spread of elementary and technical instruction, of

which the foundations are firmly laid in the country, will open his eyes

to the advantages which he enjoys; and soon he will appreciate the fact,

already known to all enlightened persons in Roumania, that upon the

labours and exertions of the peasantry depend not only their own

fortunes, but the future progress and prosperity of the fatherland.[62]

[Footnote 61: Besides making clothes for their families, and costumes

for the ladies of the cities, &c., the Roumanian women make beautiful

rugs, mats, and even Carpets of variegated wool.]

[Footnote 62: Nothing shows the importance of the agricultural interest

in Roumania so effectively as an analysis of the occupations of the

people. This is thoroughly trustworthy, as it is computed from the

number of taxpayers, and the following is a table condensed from the

data supplied to us by the authorities at Bucarest:--

Agriculturists 684,168 heads of families

Artisans and labourers 83,061

Traders 30,117

Officials (_fonctionnaires_) 22,811

Professors and teachers 6,066

Medical and legal professions and druggists 995

Artists (meaning probably persons engaged

in the arts) 2,156

Priests, monks, and _religieuses_ 18,452

Various 125,815

-------

Of the total heads of families 973,941, seventy per cent.

therefore are agriculturists.

]

CHAPTER VII.

EDUCATIONAL--ETHNOGRAPHICAL.

Educational laws--Statistics--Cost of instruction to the

State--(Note: Comparison with Great Britain)--- Backward condition

of education--Imperfect state of university instruction--Roumanian

youth in Paris and elsewhere--Impolicy of the system--Pecuniary

loss to the country--Moral drawbacks--Edgar Quinet's

views--Conflicting opinions in Roumania--Need for the encouragement

of home instruction--The Asyle Helene--A remarkable institution for

girls--Its foundation and history--Dr. Davila again--Princess

Elena--Constitution of the school--Classes and subjects

taught--High standard for the training of teachers--Proficiency of

the higher pupils--Marriages from the Asyle--How

negotiated--Wretched payment of state teachers--Other schools and

institutions--A few ethnographical considerations--Descent

illustrated philologically--Latin roots in the Roumanian

language--Examples--Their significance--Magyar roots, indicative of

foreign domination--Examples--Roumanian music, perpetuates the old

days of oppression--Dances--Gerando's description of an historical

dance--(Note: Reference to works on the subject).

I.

Theoretically education in Roumania is everything that can be desired;

practically it is still far otherwise. The Constitution of 1866, article

23, declares that primary instruction shall be compulsory and

gratuitous, and that primary schools shall, by degrees, be established

in every commune.

In 1877-8 there were two universities (Bucarest and Jassy), 96 private

schools, 55 secondary and normal, 26 technical and special; 1,242 boys',

265 girls', and 628 mixed primary schools. The total number of scholars

set down as attending all these institutions was 119,015 (95,765 boys

and 23,250 girls), and the total number of teachers 4,486. The whole

amount of money expended on education in that year, from State,

religious, municipal, district, and commercial sources, was rather over

260,000_l._ In 1881 the total amount set aside by the State for all

purposes of education and _public worship_ during 1882 was 450,000_l._

These figures show, in a population exceeding five millions, 2,412

schools with an average attendance of nearly 50 scholars each, who were

being educated at a cost of about 2_l._ 3_s._ per head, including those

in universities, training, and all schools of every description; but the

actual cost of the children taught in primary schools only was about

1_l._ 8_s._ per head.[63]

We refrain from criticising these figures, for they do not represent the

present state of education. Many of the village schools, we were told on

undoubted authority, are closed, and the attendance at others is largely

increased. Besides collecting the most authentic information, we visited

schools of every kind, some more than once, sometimes alone and

unexpectedly, at others accompanied by persons in authority, normal,

primary, secondary, commercial, and district schools, and the conclusion

arrived at was by no means favourable to the _present_ general state of

education, although there is no doubt that there are many schools, well

conducted by able and zealous teachers, and that the system will become

developed and improved in the course of time. A few facts will suffice

to confirm this statement. In regard to higher education, there are said

to have been in 1878 in the two universities 61 teachers and 508

students. The Roumanian youth do not, however, as a rule receive their

higher education in their own country, and it is computed that from

seven hundred to a thousand of them are always being educated abroad,

and chiefly in Paris. This is not to be wondered at, for there are no

suitable facilities at home, and amongst thoughtful men it is a source

of great anxiety for the future welfare of the country. Looking at the

matter first in a pecuniary light, and taking the lowest estimate, the

cost of educating seven hundred young men such as those who are sent

abroad must be at the least 80,000_l._ or 90,000_l._ annually--we are

sure this is considerably below the mark--whilst the total expenditure

of the two universities in Roumania was, in 1878, about 22,000_l._! If,

instead of sending this large sum of money to Paris and other

educational centres, it were expended at home, it would be the means of

attracting to Roumania a class of teachers very different from many of

those who are at present dignified with the title of professors. This

was the opinion expressed to us by men of sound judgment and

discrimination in the country, and we are not prepared to differ from

them. But there is another and a still graver danger to the country

arising out of the system. To send a youth from home, withdrawing him

from the watchful care of his parents at the most dangerous period of

his life, namely, between the ages of seventeen and twenty-one, is of

itself a doubtful proceeding; to send him to Paris is in many cases

certain ruin. This is not a mere hastily formed opinion, and probably

the expression of it may not find a welcome in every quarter. But it is

historically true. No one has written a more flattering account of the

Roumanians than Edgar Quinet.[64] Writing in 1857, he touches with as

much delicacy as possible upon their defects and shortcomings, and hints

that their vices are copied from the French; and he goes on to say:[65]

'The sons of the boyards come to complete their education with us....

The danger for these young minds, which are exposed without control to

so great a fascination, is that even our vices appear to them to be

sanctioned' (_consacres_). It is true he does not discountenance a

system which brings grist to the mill of the French academical

institutions, but warning them against the pitfalls of Paris life he

says: 'Let them continue to visit us.' Well, they have continued to

visit them for twenty-five years longer, and if the reader would know

the result he must enquire of the Roumanians themselves. No doubt

opinions differ. There are persons whose views are entitled to great

respect, and who approve of this sending of the youth abroad in

preference to letting them obtain an imperfect education at home,

speaking with satisfaction of sacrifices which are made by persons with

straitened means to secure a polite education for their children. On the

other hand the views of professional men and of men of the world largely

predominate in the opposite direction. Omitting what were doubtless

exaggerations, such as that 80 per cent. of the youths who go to Paris

return with a perfect acquaintance with the French language, the

_cancan_, and nothing more, we are assured that a large proportion fail

to derive such an amount of benefit as to justify the outlay; that they

acquire French vices and luxurious habits; and that on their return they

do not hesitate to express their distaste for home and home

occupations.[66] Education abroad, we were told, is incompatible with

true patriotism. As already stated, these views may be exaggerated; but

when the drain upon the country which necessarily results from the

system is borne in mind, and the way in which it militates against the

engagement of suitable instructors in Roumania, it is well worth the

consideration of all true patriots (and the Roumanians pride themselves

upon being so) whether they should not in future encourage their own

educational institutions in preference to those of other countries; and

this we say, notwithstanding the fact that of late years youths have in

some cases been sent to our English universities and public schools

rather than to those of the gay city. In England these considerations

weigh so seriously with the heads of families that the movement is

progressing rapidly for bringing the highest form of education as

closely as possible to the doors of the parents, as witness the recent

establishment of universities and colleges in Manchester, Leeds,

Liverpool, and Wales. And should there be any doubt as to the

feasibility of such a reform, it can be solved without going beyond the

limits of the Roumanian capital, where there is an educational

establishment for girls which is as unique as it is well conducted.

[Footnote 63: _Statistica din Romania_, Ministeriu de Interne,

Bucuresci, 1881 (State Printing Office); and _Gotha Almanack_, 1882. It

may be interesting to compare the outlay in Roumania with that of Great

Britain. Last year our State expenditure was 2,683,958_l._ against about

110,000_l._ in Roumania, for primary instruction only. (See

_Statistica_, pp. 13 and 22: the amount in lei or francs is 3,650,698.)

The population of the United Kingdom is about seven times that of

Roumania, and the average attendance of children in 1880 was 3,155,534.

This gives about 17_s._ per head for _State_ aid, without reference to

school rates, which brings the total cost for each child in Great

Britain to 2_l._ 2_s._ In Roumania it is 1_l._ 8_s._ as above.]

[Footnote 64: _Oeuvres completes_, vol. vi.]

[Footnote 65: Pp. 103 _et seq._]

[Footnote 66: We heard similar complaints in Transylvania.]

II.

The 'Asyle Helene' at Bucarest, although it is nominally a foundling

institution, really presents many educational advantages which are only

to be found in the ladies' colleges of England and the United States. A

large proportion of the scholars are foundlings or orphans; but many pay

for their instruction, and some of the girls are the daughters of

parents of acknowledged position in society. The school was originally

what it still professes to be, an asylum for foundlings, which was

conducted in a private house belonging to Dr. Davila, who is still the

active spirit in the institution. At that time only forty children were

educated in it. In 1862 the Princess Elene Cuza, a lady of great virtue

and benevolence, placed herself at the head of the institution, and in

1869 the present building was erected. If the Agricultural College with

its grounds is to be admired, much more so is the Asyle Helene. It is a

palatial building which stands upon an eminence, is surrounded by

beautiful plantations, and approached by fine avenues, whilst its

educational arrangements are as excellent as the institution is

beneficent. The Queen is its patroness, and she takes great interest in

its success. It accommodates 230 girls from nine to nineteen years of

age, most if not all of whom live in the institution, and twenty little

children who are educated on the 'Froebel system.' The pupils attend

four primary classes, and then proceed either to the five higher girls'

classes, or to a technical school (_atelier_), also in the same

building, whilst a good many are trained as teachers. The ordinary

course of instruction lasts five years, to which one year is added for

the last-named class of scholars. The subjects taught in the four

primary classes are Roumanian language and history, writing, arithmetic,

drawing, music, the elements of physical science, sewing, and

embroidery, whilst the instruction advances further and further until in

the fifth girls' class (the ninth in the school) the girls are taught

Roumanian, French and German literature, universal history and

geography, drawing from nature and models, designs for embroidery,

geometry and perspective, natural history, mineralogy, chemistry, vocal

music, needlework, bookkeeping, &c., and in the highest class of all

(that for teachers) there are added geology, physiology, cosmography,

and Italian, in addition to French and German. The collections and

appliances to facilitate instruction in these subjects are excellent,

consisting of chemical and physical laboratories, a small museum of

natural history, geology, &c., a library, workrooms, an artists' studio,

a theatre where the children give performances and recitations, and a

simple gymnastic apparatus. No doubt many of the pupils limit the range

of subjects in which they try to excel, but what we can vouch for after

twice visiting the school with Dr. Davila, and seeing the pupils at the

Asyle as well as in their summer quarters, a convent in the Carpathians,

is that they are well taught, and that some of them would be a credit to

the most advanced students in any school we have visited. The readiness

with which they answer all questions, whether of a practical or

theoretical nature, in a language which is not their own, is as

surprising as it is creditable. Many of course belong to a humble rank

in life, and their limited intelligence renders them fit only to become

domestic servants, the avocation for which therefore they are trained;

others go out as teachers in State and other schools, whilst several

already referred to become ornaments to the society in which they

afterwards move. All are well fed and clothed, and appeared to be happy

and grateful for their benefits. Many of the girls are married from the

institution, the mode of proceeding being one which is not quite

consonant with our English notions on the subject. A teacher or some

other young man applies to the committee for an introduction to a

suitable girl, and if they are satisfied with his respectability and his

means of maintaining a wife, they ascertain which of the girls desires

to be married, and after the young couple have met twice or three times,

if they like each other a marriage is negotiated (just as in the case of

the royal families of Europe)! The marriage takes place in the Asyle,

the bride receiving her trousseau and a very respectable little dowry,

and the event is always the occasion of great rejoicing, in which Dr.

Davila does not fail to take a prominent part. These marriages, he told

us, have in nearly every case turned out happy ones, far more frequently

in proportion to their number than similar events outside of the

institution.

The teachers in the Asyle Helene are fairly well paid, the higher class

receiving about 50_l._ per annum, board and lodging; but this is by no

means the case with school-teachers generally in Roumania. We closed our

ears to a great many things that savoured of scandal during our visit to

the country, but this was one thing which it was impossible to ignore.

So wretched indeed is the pay of the State teachers that they push on

the children of those parents who give them employment as private tutors

in order to eke out a livelihood, to the neglect of the other scholars.

The Asyle Helene is supported partly by endowments and partly by State

aid, and is managed by a committee. In connection therewith is also a

boys' school at Penteleimon, founded by the Ghika family, and remodelled

by King Charles in 1868, to which a hospital of invalids is attached.

The girls' training school of the State at Bucarest is an admirable

institution, presided over by an accomplished and energetic lady, who

expressed great regret that the want of sufficient funds prevented them

from competing with the Asyle Helene, which is acknowledged to be of a

higher order.

There is also a German 'Realschule' in Bucarest, founded by a benevolent

German, at which the teaching is all that can be desired; but as to the

State normal school for young men intended as country teachers--well, we

refrain from expressing any opinion of our own. A learned friend hinted

something about the application of dynamite to the whole concern; and if

it could be done without injury to human life, perhaps that would be the

best course to adopt.

The one fact in connection with the state of education in Roumania,

however, which forces itself upon our notice, is the question of

teaching the youth of the country at home.

Primary instruction is sure to progress; it rests to a large extent with

the Government, and in the course of time teachers will be forthcoming

to carry out the excellent system in its integrity; but as to applied

science and higher education generally, that depends upon parents

themselves; and, modifying a well-known saying, it resolves itself into

the question of 'Roumanians for Roumania, or Roumanians for France?'

III.

And this reminds us of a matter to which we must make a brief reference,

though it will be more fully treated hereafter, namely, the

ethnographical character of the people of Roumania; for whilst it is

unfortunate that in practical everyday life and in politics they do not

at present rely sufficiently upon their own internal resources, there is

no doubt that theoretically they are very sensitive and proud of their

nationality. To a stranger visiting the country for a brief period this

is the most perplexing question of all; but the perusal of its history,

and a careful consideration of the opinions of well-known writers, bring

into prominence certain facts which cannot fail to be interesting. From

the number of tribes and nationalities by which the country has at

various times been overrun, it is impossible for an unprejudiced thinker

to come to any other conclusion than that, like ourselves, the

Roumanians are a mixed race, although the Latin undoubtedly

predominates; and to the evidence of history may be added that of the

language and customs of the country. The language not only presents a

variety arising out of the domination of the various races, but in some

respects indicates the nature of that domination, and the customs have a

like significance. As a general rule the Roumanian language is derived

from the Latin, but there are many words of Turkish, modern Greek,

Polish, and Hungarian or Magyar origin. Amongst the Latin words are the

names of many localities and towns which have evidently existed since

the Roman period, as witness:--

Latin Roumanian English

Danubius Dunarea Danube

Porata Prutu Pruth

Ardiscus Argesu Ardges

Alutus Oltu Olto

Turris Severi Turnu-Severinu Turn Severin

Nicopolis Nicopolu Nicopolis

Caracalla Caracalu Caracal

Dravus Drava Drave

Carpates Carpati Carpathians

Then, again, amongst common names of things and qualities there are

objects which could not change, such as parts of the body, well-known

animals of all ages, &c., as for example:--

Latin Roumanian English[67]

Aqua Apa Water

Aurum Auru Gold

Ferrum Fer Iron

Barbatus Barbatu A (bearded) man

Caput Cap Head

Manus Mana Hand

Nasus Nas Nose

Vena Vina Vein

Os Os Bone

Oculus Ochiu Eye

Digitus Deget Finger

Pes Picior Foot

Pectus Pept Breast

Canis Cane Dog

Piscis Pesce Fish

Dominus Domnu Lord

Umbra Umbra Shade

Frigidus Frigu Cold

Calidus Caldu Warm

Albus Alb White

Niger Negru Black

Casa Casa A cottage

and so on through the whole vocabulary of common things and attributes.

On the other hand, when we come to examine the words of barbarian

origin, we find that they relate to the character of the dominant race

and their rule over the natives. If we take, for example, the words of

Magyar or Hungarian origin, we find them to denote war, conquest,

mining, taxation, punishment, &c., such as _baia_, mine; _banui_,

repent, rue; _bereu_, a wood; _bicao_, fetters (on the feet); *_bir_,

poll-tax; _birau_, a judge; _bitangu_, wandering about; _bucni_, to

strike; _buzdugany_, war-club; _catanie_, soldiers, soldiers' habits;

_cheltui_, to give or spend lavishly; _fagadau_, drink-shop; _giulus_,

the Reichstag, or national assembly; _hodnogiu_, lieutenant (from _had_,

war); _hotar_, boundary; *_lantiu_, chain; _odorbireu_, headsman;

*_tabara_, camp, war, army; _varda_, watch-house; and so on.[68]

Besides these words and phrases derived from the Latin and barbarian

languages, there are others relating to ecclesiastical matters imported

from the Greek; indeed, an examination of the language is itself an

interesting historical study, and if now we turn to the arts and customs

of the Roumanians, we find the same interesting relations with her past

history.

Of the music of the Laoutari we have already spoken. It is weird and

plaintive, and no one who has listened attentively to the airs played by

some of those bands can have failed to be struck with their 'telling'

character, how they give vent alternately to feelings of joy and sorrow,

of mourning and rejoicing, and, like the music of Poland, &c., call to

mind the conquered condition of the people in the past. As with the

music, so with the dances. A writer, to whom we shall refer later on, M.

Opitz, described the 'Hora,' the national dance of the Roumanians, as

being illustrative of their conquered condition, and a recent acute

observer has left us his impressions on the same subject.

'I remember one dance (says he) of which I forget the name, but

which pleased me exceedingly. After the dancers had gone one or two

paces in pairs in a circle, the men separated from the women. The

latter moved singly round the men, as though they were seeking some

object dear to them. The men then drew together and moved their

feet like marching soldiers; next using their long sticks, they

made irregular springs and uttered loud cries, as though they were

engaged in battle. The women wandered about like shadows. At last

the men with joyful gestures rushed towards them as though they had

found them after great danger, led them back into the circle, and

danced with joy and animation. Here we see how mighty is tradition.

This dance is a complete poem! Who knows of what long-forgotten

incursion of the barbarians it is a reminiscence?'[69]

[Illustration: THE 'HORA,' NATIONAL DANCE OF ROUMANIA.]

From those few illustrations it will be seen how the language and

customs of Roumania are interwoven with her past history. We have but

touched the fringe of the subject; but that it is a fertile source of

interesting study and research we are convinced, and therefore

recommend those who are able to follow it up to give it their

attention.[70]

[Footnote 67: It may be interesting to philologists to consider the

derivations of the English names of these common things, and compare

them with the Roumanian; the preponderance of the Anglo-Saxon element in

the one and the Latin in the other is very apparent.]

[Footnote 68: _Das Magyarische im Romaenischen_, Roesler, Appendix, p.

346. We have been compelled to translate Roesler's German into English

for the significations, and the sense may thus have been changed or

lost; he is therefore not responsible for such errors. The words marked

with an asterisk are the most striking for our purpose, and they are in

constant use in Roumania.]

[Footnote 69: A. de Gerando, _Siebenbuergen und seine Bewohner_, p. 213.

Lorck, Leipsig, 1845.]

[Footnote 70: Most of the works on Roumania deal with the question.

Ozanne (cap. xi.) has a few remarks on the subject; Wilkinson (appendix

iv. p. 201) gives along list of words derived from Latin, Italian,

modern Greek, and Turkish roots, but the Roumanian words are since

changed; Vaillant, Obedenare, Neigebaur, Henke, Pic, Roesler, all treat

the subject more or less fully. The chief authorities in Roumanian are

Hasdeu, Ubicini, and Lauriani.]

CHAPTER VIII.

JUDICIAL AND PENAL.

The jurisprudence of the Constitution--Roumanian courts--The Code

Napoleon--Complaints of patronage--The penal system--Capital

punishment abolished--History and effect of the

abolition--Statistics--The prison system--Abuses--Enumeration of

prisons--Employment of convicts--Ornamental art amongst

them--Objects made by them--Absence of educational

measures--Criminal statistics (and note)--Visit to the

'intermediate' prison of Vakareschti--An old monastery--Description

of the prison--Scene in the court-yard--Untried prisoners in

fetters--Promiscuous intercourse of prisoners--Mischievous

effects--Views of a 'juge d'instruction' concerning the

system--Various classes of prisoners--Lenient treatment of

them--Partial employment--Safeguards against mutiny--Visit to the

penal salt mine of Doftana (or Telega)--Former treatment of

prisoners--A lingering death--Present treatment--Conditions of

penal servitude--Compared with work of our

colliers--Abuses--Descent into the mine--Its condition--Unearthly

sounds and sights--Enormous salt cave--Floor of the cave--Convicts

at work in chains--Mode of excavating and raising salt--Lighting

the mine for visitors--Return to the surface--Visit to the

penitentiary--Its discreditable condition--Alleged frauds upon

convicts--General mild treatment of criminals in

Roumania--Utilisation of convict labour--Comparison of cost and

results of systems in Roumania and England--Favourable to Roumania.

I.

As in the case of education, so, too, in regard to its judicial and

penal system, the Constitution of Roumania contains many admirable

provisions (articles 13, 18, 104, 105, &c.) for the maintenance of right

and the suppression of wrong-doing. Equal rights, ordinary tribunals,

speedy trial by jury, abolition of death punishment, these are the

excellent principles upon which the judicial system is based; but

neither there, nor for that matter in any country, are they completely

put into practice. There is one Court of Cassation with sections, and a

Court of Accounts at Bucarest, Courts of Appeal at Bucarest, Jassy,

Craiova, and Focsany, and minor tribunals in the chief town of each

district. The French Code of Jurisprudence is adopted, with

modifications which would not interest our readers; but the penal

system is somewhat unique, and is well worthy of a closer study and

consideration. Of the miserable accommodation for the exercise of

judicial authority in Bucarest we have already spoken in describing the

capital. Lawsuits are very tedious; whether more so than in England we

are unable to say. Great complaint exists of patronage in the

appointment of judges, most of whom are comparatively young men and

political partisans. This it is proposed to remedy by what would

practically be popular election; whether the cure would be any better

than the disease is questionable. The penal system, as we found it

carried out in Roumania, is mild, utilitarian, and slovenly; and if all

that was told us be true, we fear we must add that it is by no means

free from corruption.

The chief points of interest to Englishmen are the absence of capital

punishment and the substitution of forced labour for life, or for a long

term of years, and the utilisation of penal labour in the salt mines and

elsewhere. Capital punishment ceased _de facto_ in 1852; for although it

was not legally abolished, neither the then ruler, Prince Stirbey, nor

his successor, Prince Couza, who governed the joint Principalities,

would sign a death-warrant. It was legally abrogated in 1865, and the

Constitution of 1866 declares that it cannot be re-established,

excepting for military offences. No increase, but rather a diminution,

of capital crimes has taken place since the change was effected; for

although the population has doubled in the towns, where homicidal crime

is most frequent, the number of offences has not materially increased.

The following figures[71] prove this statement:--

_Total Committals and Convictions for Homicide._

+------+------------+-------------+------+------------+-------------+

| Year | Committals | Convictions | Year | Committals | Convictions |

+------+------------+-------------+------+------------+-------------+

| 1869 | 248 | 185 | 1874 | 258 | 167 |

| 1870 | 249 | 154 | 1875 | 236 | 169 |

| 1871 | 267 | 140 | 1876 | 386 | 250 |

| 1872 | 327 | 204 | 1877 | 307 | 187 |

| 1873 | 455 | 258 | | | |

+------+------------+-------------+------+------------+-------------+

The punishment for murder with malice aforethought is now penal

servitude for life, other phases of homicide five to twenty years, in

both cases mine labour. In cases of infanticide, if the offspring is

illegitimate it ranks as manslaughter. The following is a condensed

summary, with brief comments of our own in parenthesis, of a report on

the prison system which was kindly furnished to us by the Roumanian

Inspector of Prisons, a zealous, well-meaning, and most courteous

official, as are all Roumanian officials.

[Footnote 71: Reports on Laws of Foreign Countries, presented to the

House of Commons, 1881.]

II.

The penitentiaries are divided into two classes, 'preventive' and

'central.' In the central prisons three kinds of punishment exist,

forced labour, confinement called 'reclusion,' and correction. The men

condemned to forced labour work in the mines (in what manner we shall

see presently) during the daytime, and at night they sleep above ground

in the prison. On Sundays and fete-days they do no work. The product of

the labour of the convicts belongs of right to the State, but in order

to encourage the prisoners three-tenths is given to them. (We may at

once say that this is not faithfully carried into practice, as we know

from personal enquiry that many of them are compelled to expend their

earning to secure the common necessaries of life.) Aged and feeble

persons are transferred to the prison of Cozia, where they weave, &c.

The prisoners condemned to 'reclusion' work in tanneries and ropewalks,

as for example in the prison of Margineni, and they are entitled to

four-tenths of the products of their labour. In the correctional prisons

the convicts cultivate the soil, make bricks, &c., and are entitled to

half their wages. In all the prisons the convicts are permitted to

employ their leisure time in making articles of use or ornament from

materials furnished to them by the authorities, which are sold to

visitors, and the State gives them a proportion of the fruits of their

industry. (These articles we found to be beautifully made. They consist

of egg-cups, paper-knives, forks, spoons, &c., carved in wood and

resembling similar objects made in Switzerland and the Black Forest.

One prisoner had made a tobacco-box of dough, painted and decorated it

with artificial flowers of the same material, so that it was not

distinguishable from porcelain; another had forged an axe-blade of

steel, etched the surface and fixed it upon a polished ebony rod with a

terminal spike, forming a miniature ice-axe, and so forth.)

Religious service is provided for the convicts, but so far as we could

learn no educational means whatever, although, according to various

reports which were handed to us, by far the larger proportion of the

prisoners are Roumanians who can neither read nor write.[72]

The total number of persons, men and women, confined in the sixteen

State prisons in Roumania in 1880, _including untried offenders_, was

5,252, or about one per thousand of the whole population. Of these 850

were undergoing forced labour in the mines, and 2,491 were imprisoned

for less serious offences. Only 265 were minors, and about 100 or 150

women. A strange contrast to our criminal statistics. Besides the

inmates of State prisons there were 1,665 persons confined in the

district prisons on January 1, 1881, who had been convicted of minor

offences.

[Footnote 72: In 1874 the Assize Courts had judged in all 1,493 persons

(1,441 men and 52 women). Of these there were:

|Peasants 961|Roumanians 1,394|Above twenty years of age 1,303|

|Artisans 186|All other nations 99|Above sixteen and under twenty 153|

|Traders 54| |Under sixteen 11|

|Officials 60| |Age unknown 26|

|Sundries 232| | |

| | | |

| _____| _____| _____|

| 1,493| 1,493| 1,493|

In looking over the statistics given to us (by authorities) we found

several small errors. In the main, however, they appear to be correct.]

III.

One of the most remarkable phenomena in the eyes of a stranger visiting

Roumania is the application of monastic edifices to lay uses. The

monastery of Sinaia is, for the present at least, a royal palace; the

Coltza Hospital at Bucarest is an old convent. At Brebu (or Bredu), near

Campina, is a monastery apportioned to the Asyle Helene as a holiday

residence for the girls; the State archives are deposited in the

monastery of Prince Michael in Bucarest, which has been set aside as the

residence of the learned philologist Professor Hasdeu, in whose charge

they are placed; and so, too, the 'intermediate' prison of Vakareschti

is a large monastery close to Bucarest, of which the towers are

conspicuously visible as one enters the city by rail from Giurgevo. On

approaching this building, which stands upon a considerable eminence, by

road from the capital, the only feature which attracts attention, and

shows that it is not an ordinary monastery, is the sentinel pacing to

and fro outside, but the moment you enter through the portal its real

character becomes apparent. You find yourself in a large square

curtilage, or, more correctly speaking, an extensive quadrilateral, in

the centre of which stands a church of the usual Byzantine order, the

four sides of the quadrilateral being the old monastery buildings, two

stories high, converted into prisoners' cells and dormitories, kitchen,

a workshop for making paper-backed books (_cartons_), and the quarters

of the prison officials. The scene as one enters the place is a strange

one indeed, and resembles what the Fleet Prison must have been in its

palmy days, with certain very significant modifications. It is the

receptacle of various kinds of prisoners, men and women awaiting trial

and others undergoing short sentences. All those were, on the occasion

of our visit, at large in the court, and some of the first-named who

were accused of homicide were chained at the ankles by order of the

'Juge d'Instruction.' There were about a dozen of them so manacled, and

before we left (the Chief Inspector of Prisons being our guide) these

men complained bitterly of the hardship of being chained when, as they

asserted, they were innocent. All classes of prisoners seemed to

associate without restraint, and although perfect order prevailed, this

freedom of association and conversation must be, and indeed is, most

inexpedient and injurious. Young men new to crime herd together with

hardened criminals, and we were told by a Juge d'Instruction, to whom we

subsequently spoke on the matter, that the free intercourse is greatly

provocative of crime. 'Young fellows,' he said, 'who, when they are

first arraigned, are disposed to admit their guilt and repent, come

before us, after a temporary adjournment of their cases, with quite

another story, evidently prompted by some hardened criminal whom they

have met in the intermediate prison.'

Every class was represented there, from the comparatively well-dressed

swindler and forger to the peasant and half-naked gipsy. The prisoners

appear to be leniently treated, and those who are unconvicted are

permitted to purchase such food as they please. The cells and

dormitories are not very clean, but they are comfortable compared with

those in another prison, to be referred to presently; the ventilation

within doors is good, and the open court has all the advantages of a

healthy convalescent institution. The food appeared very good; certainly

the soup was so, and altogether there could be no complaint on the score

of harsh treatment, although some men were, on sufficient grounds,

placed in solitary confinement. The chief defects are free intercourse

amongst the prisoners, want of cleanliness, the absence of educational

means, and only partial employment of the prisoners, some of whom are

engaged in the book manufactory, whilst the greater proportion lounge

about in idleness. Our guide, the Chief Inspector, expressed great

anxiety for an improved system, and pleaded, as usual, the want of

necessary funds. Although there appeared to be an amount of liberty

inconsistent, as it seemed to us, with prison discipline, all attempts

at mutiny would be easily suppressed if they should arise; for there are

always about ninety soldiers in the barracks, attached to the prison,

and the prisoners are well aware that insubordination would be

immediately quelled and punished. But we have said enough of this rough

and ready mode of dealing with the lighter forms of crime, and must now

ask our readers to accompany us on a somewhat unpleasant though

interesting excursion to one of the establishments where the worst class

of convicts expiate their offences against society--a penal salt mine.

IV.

There are five salt mines in Roumania,[73] two of which are worked by

convicts, and the one we propose to visit is that of Doftana, generally

known as the Telega mine, which is situated at a short distance from

Campina, a station on the railway line, about halfway between Ploiesti

and Sinaia. Before descending into the mine, however, a few particulars

concerning the treatment of the prisoners maybe of interest. These are

men (never women nor young persons) sentenced to penal servitude for a

period of ten years or more, and until the year 1848 they lived, or

rather died a slow death, entirely in the mine. They were compelled to

sleep in their clothes on the floor of rock salt; never saw the light of

day after they had once entered the mine; and whatever might have been

the nominal term of their sentence, disease and their unnatural

surroundings invariably cut short their miserable existence after about

four years' confinement. Now they work in the mine from 8 A.M.

to 4 P.M. in winter, and from 6 A.M. to 6.30

P.M. in summer, and then leaving it, they march to the

penitentiary, about a mile distant. They work in gangs of about six or

seven, and each man is obliged to raise at least 700 kilogrammes (about

14 cwt.) of salt per day. For that quantity they receive, or at least

_they are credited_ with, 30 per cent, of their wages, which are fixed

by tariff, and for all above 700 kilos they get half their wages. These

are reckoned at fourteen centimes per 100 kilos up to 600, and eighteen

centimes per 100 for all above. So far as the actual labour is

concerned, we have no hesitation in saying that it is not nearly so

exhaustive nor painful as that of thousands of our English colliers,

besides being free from the dangers which constantly impend over our

poor miners, but there are some serious and quite unnecessary hardships

inflicted upon the men. One of these is that they get nothing to eat

until noon, and therefore, unless they buy food with their earnings,

they must walk to and from their work and labour for several hours

upon an empty stomach; another is that the benevolent intentions of the

State in regard to the stimulus of remuneration are defeated by the

neglect or dishonesty of certain of the officials. The prisoners now

rarely work out their term. Either their sentences are shortened for

good conduct, or on some special occasions a certain number are pardoned

by royal grace, and we were informed that they rarely die in penal

servitude. And now let us descend into the mine, a proceeding which will

be facilitated in the reader's thoughts if he will kindly take before

him our little plan, which is reduced from the engineer's drawing of a

section actually in use on the spot.

[Illustration: SECTION OF THE TELEGA PENAL SALT MINE.]

The descent is effected on foot through a vertical cylindrical shaft

used for that purpose only, and divided at intervals by platforms which

communicate with one another by good broad wooden staircases. The

visitor is provided with a lighted candle attached to the end of a

stick, which serves at the same time as an excellent test of the purity

or impurity of the air in the mine, for the lower he descends, the more

frequently he will find his light to be extinguished by carbonic acid

gas, arising chiefly from the exhalations of the convicts. There are no

inflammable gases in the mine, and the men work with naked lights. As he

descends ladder or staircase after staircase, the visitor becomes

conscious of the presence of human beings in the mine, for strange

unearthly sounds greet his ear more and more plainly as he approaches

the long gallery which traverses the mine at about 110 feet below the

surface; and this effect is rendered still more weird through the

surrounding darkness, relieved only by the faint light of his candle and

those of his companions. From moment to moment he hears hollow echoes of

the human voice uttered in snatches and accompanied by a continuous

clanking of chains, which makes his blood creep until he has become to

some extent accustomed to the sound. The shaft through which he is

descending is cut and rounded with great precision, first through a

mixture of clay and rock-salt, and then in the solid rock-salt itself.

To render it impervious to water he will find the wall here and there

lined with buffalo hides.[74]

Arrived at the horizontal gallery the visitor passes along it until he

comes to a platform guarded by a fence or railing, and then he finds

himself near the roof of an enormous cave which is probably unlike

anything to be seen elsewhere.

We have been in a good many strange localities, and have witnessed many

impressive scenes both on and under the earth's surface, but we confess

that none has ever been comparable to this one. All is dark excepting

where our candles cast a faint glimmer about our immediate

neighbourhood, and far below we now hear the voices, as well as the

rattling of the convicts' chains, more continuously and distinctly, and

see numerous lights dancing about fitfully in small clusters. Those are

the candles of the convicts who are cutting rock-salt in gangs on the

floor of the cave.[75] Continuing our descent down another flight, or

rather series of flights, of stairs, we at length arrive at that floor

which is about 200 feet from the surface, and there we find ourselves

surrounded by homicides, burglars, and the very dregs of the criminal

ranks of Roumania. There is no guard with us; and, indeed, of what use

would even a small escort be against about two hundred and fifty

desperate ruffians armed with pickaxes if they thought fit to unite in

an assault upon our little party? They have no such intention, however,

and the feeling of the visitor is rather one of pain and sorrow to see

so many able-bodied fellows manacled than of fear in their presence.[76]

The mode in which they get the salt is by cutting an oblong figure in

the floor, deepening this until it resembles a mound, and then cutting

the block thus formed transversely into smaller ones and breaking the

salt out in lumps.

Their work, which is little if at all impeded by their light chains, is

performed with pickaxes; and, as already stated, they raise in this

manner from 700 to 1,400 kilos (14 to 28 cwt.) per day, which is

conveyed to the surface through a special shaft.

[Illustration: SALT MOUND IN FLOOR OF MINE PRIOR TO BREAKING UP.]

The cave is 80 feet high and 400 feet long, and there is another smaller

one at right angles with it, shown by a dotted line upon the plan, and

every part of it, floor, roof, and walls, is of solid rock-salt. A

curious effect is produced by the officials of the mine causing a mass

of lighted tow to be dropped through the shaft used for raising the

salt, whilst the visitors stand below; this partially illuminates the

cave in its descent, and shows its vast proportions. But there is

nothing further to detain us in this great chamber of crime, so we will

again mount the ladders and seek the genial air and sunshine above

ground. The penitentiary in which the convicts are confined after they

leave the mine is about a mile distant, and as we drive thither we pass

small bodies of them trudging along in the same direction and manacled

at their feet. It is a large barrack-like structure, with dirty

dormitories, where the men lie in long rows upon wretched pallets. The

air of these dormitories is foul, and burning resin is used to fumigate

them. One of our companions, a young Roumanian, remarked that during

the day the convicts breathe an atmosphere vitiated by their own

exhalations, whilst at night they are suffocated by the fumes of resin.

Their food is wholesome enough, consisting of mamaliga and soup. For

making the latter the prisoners receive, _theoretically_, meat at the

rate of 100 grammes (3-1/2 ounces) per head; but when we instituted a

diligent search for some, bones only were the result, and one of the

gentlemen observed that the meat was consumed a mile off, meaning at the

quarters of certain officials, whilst the bones fell to the prisoners'

share. However this may be, one fact was admitted, namely, that by some

process of conversion, known only to the initiated, the convict rarely

sees his share of his wages, and certainly receives no more nourishment

than is necessary to keep body and soul together. It is said that they

spend their earnings in luxuries, and probably some may do so; but that

the officials are poorly paid, and that it is difficult to find an

honest one, these are statements we heard on authority which it was

impossible to discredit.

As we have said, however, the rules of the prison are framed with a view

to the welfare of the convicts, with the exception that nothing is done

to educate them. But there are no harsh punishments; if a man misbehaves

himself, his chains are shortened, and very bad conduct is punished with

solitary confinement. The prisoners, we were told, are never whipped nor

otherwise ill-treated; and if it be true that men who are sent there for

robbery are themselves often the victims of plunder at the hands of

officials, the minister who is at the head of the department involved

will no doubt take measures to prevent the continuance of such an

iniquitous example.

And after all there is another phase of this question which must not be

lost sight of when we criticise the institutions of a young nation which

has only just achieved its independence, and whose first step was to

abolish the vindictive capital sentence of 'a life for a life.' The

first law of nature is self-preservation, and Roumania is still obliged

to economise in all departments of the State in order to place her

national police--her army--on a sound footing. It is wonderful how she

is able to conduct her department of justice even as she does. Her

convict labour is so well utilised that it leaves her a handsome profit.

Her total expenditure on all judicial and penal matters in 1880 was

under 170,000_l._ with a population of 5,000,000, whilst with only seven

times that number of inhabitants the Government outlay of Great Britain

in the same year amounted to the enormous sum of 5,922,443_l._, without

reckoning the heavy local burdens for the protection of life and

property. And yet both life and property are certainly as secure in

Roumania as in England, without the halter or the cat, two of the

barbarous expedients for the prevention of crime which are still

employed in our boasted Western civilisation.

[Footnote 73: Obedenare names four, but we believe he has coupled two

neighbouring mines together as one.]

[Footnote 74: This does not, however, keep the water effectually out of

the mine, for, from whatever source, one portion of it was partially

flooded whilst we were there. Some of the prisoners had struck and

refused to enter the shaft, and the chief inspector who had come from

Bucarest to enquire into the cause of the _emeute_ said the men were

justified in their refusal to work, considering the condition of that

part of the mine.]

[Footnote 75: We understand that the mine is to be lighted with the

electric light this year.]

[Footnote 76: A touch of the ludicrous intervened to relieve the painful

feelings we experienced on this occasion. We were standing with the

engineer of the mine watching the men hewing salt, when the latter said

(in German) 'Here are the worst criminals'--meaning in that mine. Not

quite understanding him, we got the undeserved credit of making a joke

by asking,' Here, where we stand?'--meaning in that part of the mine.

The engineer burst into a laugh, which sounded very hollow there, and

then we noticed the _double entendre_, and mutual explanations ensued.]

PART II.

HISTORICAL.

And now

The arena swims around him; he is gone

Ere ceased the inhuman shout which hailed the wretch who won.

He heard it, but he heeded not; his eyes

Were with his heart, and that was far away:

He recked not of the life he lost nor prize,

But where his rude hut by the Danube lay,

_There_ were his young barbarians all at play,

_There_ was their Dacian mother--be their sire,

Butchered to make a Roman holiday.

All this rushed with his blood. Shall he expire,

And unavenged? Arise, ye Goths, and glut your ire!

CHILDE HAROLD'S PILGRIMAGE, iv. 140.

He was more

Than a mere Alexander, and, unstained

With household blood and wine, serenely wore

His sovereign virtues--still we Trajan's name adore.

CHILDE HAROLD'S PILGRIMAGE, iv. 111.

[Illustration: HISTORICAL MAP]