BUKOREST AND TIRGOVIST, THE CAPITALS OF WALLACHIA.—YASSI, THE CAPITAL OF
MOLDAVIA.—A DESCRIPTION OF THEM.—MODE OF TRAVELLING.—BREED OF HORSES.
Bukorest, the present capital of Wallachia, is an extensive dirty town,
situated on a low and marshy ground, and containing eighty thousand
inhabitants, three hundred and sixty-six churches, twenty monasteries,
and thirty large _hanns_ or caravanserays.
About four hundred years back it was but a small village, belonging to a
person called _Bukor_, from whom it derived its name, and retains it to
the present day. By degrees it became a town, and it continued
increasing, until it surpassed the former capital, Tirgovist, in size.
The Voïvode, Constantine Bessarabba, made it in 1698, the permanent seat
of government; abandoning with all his nobles the city of Tirgovist,
most delightfully situated further in the interior, having on one side a
beautiful range of hills, and the other a very fine and extensive plain.
The Greek princes having continued to reside at Bukorest, probably on
account of its being nearer to the Turks, Tirgovist was by degrees
deserted by the remaining part of its inhabitants, and it is now reduced
to a mere village. It contains many ruins of ancient edifices, amongst
which those of the Voïvodes’ palace are the most conspicuous. The river
Dimbovitza runs alongside of it.
Yassi,the capital of Moldavia, is a smaller but better-built town,
containing many elegant houses built in the most modern style of
European architecture, forty thousand inhabitants, and seventy churches.
One part of it stands upon a fine hill, and the other is situated in a
valley. The prince’s palace is the most extensive edifice in the whole
town, and is surrounded by gardens and yards. It is furnished in a style
which is half Oriental and half European, and has room enough to lodge
conveniently more than a thousand people.
The palace of Bukorest was formerly a large building, standing on an
eminence at one extremity of the town, and commanding a full view of it.
In 1813 it was accidentally burnt down, and it has not been rebuilt. The
late prince had, since that time, resided in two private houses joined
into one.
Both capitals occupy a great extent of ground, the houses being separate
from each other, and surrounded by yards or gardens, and trees. All the
buildings are made of brick, and their walls, outside as well as within,
are plastered and whitewashed. Tiles are seldom used, and the roofs are
generally covered with wood.
The streets of the two capitals, and indeed of all the provincial towns,
are, without exception, paved with thick pieces of timber, thrown
across, and made tight to each other. In some, the surface is made
smooth and even, whilst in others, the logs of wood are almost left in
their natural state. In the rainy seasons they are constantly covered
over with a deep liquid mud, and in the summer, with a thick black dust,
which the least wind renders excessively injurious to the eyes and
lungs; besides these great inconveniences, a complete renewal, at least
once in every six years, is absolutely necessary.
At Bukorest, under the wooden pavements, to which the natives give the
more appropriate name of _bridges_, there are large kennels, which
receive the filth of the houses, and are meant to convey it to the river
Dimbovitza, which runs through the town. Hardly any care is taken to
keep the different passages open, and the accumulation of dirty
substances frequently stops them up; in this state they sometimes remain
for months in the hot season, during which they produce the most noxious
exhalations, and occasion fevers of a putrid and malignant
nature,—diseases to which the natural position of the town must alone
dispose a great part of the inhabitants.
It has been long supposed, and it is still considered impossible to pave
the streets with stone, not so much on account of the scarcity of the
material, as owing to the ground being of a soft clay, which offers no
hold to it. This idea, very prevalent among the natives, is certainly
erroneous, and there cannot exist a more convincing proof of it, than
the stone pavements constructed by Trajan and the Romans, which have so
firmly withstood the destructive hand of time.
From a certain distance, and on elevated ground, the city of Bukorest
offers itself to the view with great advantage; the mixture of the
houses and trees give it a peculiar beauty; but it is like the fine
scenery of a theatre which charms the distant eye, and on being
approached is found to be a coarse daub.
As late as thirty years back, the Boyars were in the habit of visiting
each other, and going to court on horseback, and the women of the most
opulent only, went in coaches. Within that period, the fashion of riding
in coaches has so increased, and it is now so universal, that no person
of either sex, who has claims to respectability, can pass the gates of
his house otherwise than in a coach, even in the finest weather. The
Boyars consider it derogatory to their dignity to make use of their
legs, and leave to the mob the vulgar practice of walking. The
consequence is, that the streets, about seven or eight yards wide, are
always full of carriages, and frequent accidents happen to the
unfortunate pedestrians.
The kind of carriage most in use, is the German calèche; and the Boyars
have introduced the fashion of having theirs ornamented in the most
gaudy manner; but as they do not so much regard the beauty of the horses
and harness, nor the dress of the coachman, it is very common to meet in
the streets a carriage glittering with gold, drawn by a pair of
miserable hacks, and driven by a gypsy in rags.
There are many coachmakers, both at Bukorest and at Yassi; but the
carriages sent from Vienna are preferred to theirs, and much higher
prices are paid for them. The Boyars are indifferent as to their
solidity, and buy any old vehicle that is made up to deceive the eye,
and is offered as new; fine ornaments being the only quality in
estimation, every twelve or eighteen months they are obliged to purchase
a new carriage. On another hand, their own inattention, and the lazy,
slovenly, and careless habits of their coachmen, render this annual
expense indispensable.
No coaches of any kind are to be hired, so that travellers, and other
non-residents, must submit to the necessity of going on foot. Private
lodgings are also seldom to be had, and it was but very lately that a
public hotel was set up at Bukorest, which, being well furnished, and
provided with every requisite commodity, has become very useful to
travellers. A German is the proprietor and director of it.
The mode of travelling in the two principalities is so expeditious, that
in this respect it is not equalled in any other country. Their post
establishments are well organized; 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 a vehicle is
given, which is not unlike a very small crate for earthenware, fastened
to four small wheels, by the means of wooden pegs, and altogether not
higher than a common wheel-barrow. It is filled with straw, and the
traveller sits in the middle of it, keeping the upper part of his body
in an erect posture, 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.
The Boyars, and other people of respectability in the country, travel in
their own carriages, and at their own pace. In winter, as the snow lies
about two months on the ground, sledges are generally used, as well in
town as in the country.
The Wallachian breed of horses is of a peculiar kind. Their stature is
very small, and they have no spirit; but they are strong, active, and
capable of enduring great fatigue. Those of Moldavia differ only in
being a little larger in size. Some of the richest people have their
horses sent them from Russia and Hungary; but they are merely meant for
their coaches, as, from an aversion to every exercise that occasions the
least fatigue, hardly any of them ride on horseback. Handsome
saddle-horses, consequently, are seldom seen in the country; the prince
is the only person who keeps any; but they are chiefly used by his
Albanians, or body-guard.