Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 4.djvu/578

516  BULGARIA, otherwise known as the vilayet Tuna or province of the Danube (though the two do not absolutely coincide), is a political division of European Turkey, which stretches along the right bank of the Danube from the influx of the Timok to its mouth, and is bounded on the south by the main chain of the Balkan, which separates it from Rumelia. On the east it is washed by the Black Sea, and on the west is conterminous with Servia. Its area is estimated at 32,932 square miles. It may be roughly described as a great table-land, sloping with more or less regularity towards the river, having its surface broken with numerous offshoots and underfalls of the southern mountains, and furrowed by the channels of the many streams to which those heights give rise. By far the larger proportion of the area belongs to the basin of the Danube, which in this part of its course receives from the right the Jibritza, the Ogust, the Shit, the Isker, the Vid, the Osma, the Yantra, the Lorn, and the Kosliashilar. A few streams (mostly small) find their way directly to the Black Sea, the only one of importance being the Kamtchyk. which drains the eastern extremity of the Balkan. In summer many of the smaller streams are almost dried up ; but before harvest is fairly over, the wet season frequently sets in, and in spring again there is an abundant rainfall. Throughout the most of the province the soil is excellent, and if it were properly cultivated would yield the richest crops. As it is, the inhabitants are able not only to supply their own wants, but to furnish a considerable export of agricultural produce. The cereal most abundantly grown is wheat, but Indian corn is also pretty common with the Mussulman farmers. Little hay is made, and turnips are quite unknown. Potatoes are only cultivated by the Tatar settlers in the Dobrudsha. The peach, the apricot, the grape, and many other fruits come to great perfection ; and wine is manufactured in considerable quantities, but in a very careless and rude manner. The buffalo is the animal chiefly used in agricultural labour, though horses are sufficiently common. Cows, pigs, and goats are also kept, and sheep -farming is largely carried on in many parts, but the character of the various stocks is very poor. The mineral wealth of the province is totally neglected, and its rich supplies of timber are often heedlessly wasted. Roads can hardly be said to exist ; for though several have been constructed by enterprizing pashas, they have soon been allowed to fall into total disrepair. A single railway line stretches from Kustendji to Chernavoda on the Danube A considerable amount of traffic, however, is carried on by the river, and the export trade on the Black Sea is of growing importance. The province is politically divided into the sandjaks of Rustchuk, Nissa, Widdin, Tirnova, Sofia, Varna, and Tulcha. Its principal towns are Widdin, Nikopoli, Sistova, Rustchuk, Rassova, and Hirsova along the Danube ; Kustendji, Baltshik, and Varna on the coast ; and Babadagh, Basarjyk, Shumna, Tirnova, Lovatz, and Vratza. The population, which amounts to from two to two and a half millions, is of various elements, and is estimated as follows:—

Bulgarians proper about 1,500,000 Osmanli Turks ,, 500,000 Tatars from 80,000 to 100,000 Circassians ,, 70,000 to 90,000 A.janians 60,000 or 70,000 Eoumanians 35,000 or 40,000 Gipsies 20,000 or 25, 000 Jews about 10,000 Armenians ,, 10,000 Ilussians ,, 10,000 Greeks 7,000 or 8,000 Servians 4,000 or 5,000 Germans, Italians, Arabs, &c say 1,000

The population along the coast is of a very mingled description, the genuine Bulgarian looking down on the Gagaous, as he calls the mongrel race, with no small con tempt. The Tatars are emigrants from the Crimea, who were permitted to leave the Russian empire after the last war. They are industrious and prosperous, but the Cir cassians, who have fied from the Caucasus at the advance of Russia, are for the most part very poor. The Turks, Tatars, Albanians, and Circassians are Mahometans ; the Roumanians, the Armenians, and most of the Russians belong to the Greek Church ; and the Gypsies are part Mahometan, part Christian, and part Pagan.

1em

1em

