“ The Tatars, a peaceable, industrious race, are chiefly found in the neighbourhood of Varna and Silistria; they were introduced as colonists by the Turkish government in 1861. They may be reckoned at 12,000. The gipsies, who are scattered in considerable numbers throughout the country, came into Bulgaria in the 14th century. They are for the most part Moslems, and retain their ancient Indian speech. They live in the utmost poverty, occupy separate cantonments in the villages, and are treated as outcasts by the rest of the population. ”

“ Owing to the shelter afforded by the Balkans against hot southerly winds, the summer heat in this region is not unbearable; its maximum is 99°. The high tableland of Sofia is generally covered with snow in the winter months; it enjoys, however, a somewhat more equable climate than the northern district, the maximum temperature being 86°, the minimum 2°; the air is bracing, and the summer nights are cool and fresh. In the eastern districts the proximity of the sea moderates the extremes of heat and cold; the sea is occasionally frozen at Varna. ”

“ The valleys of the Maritza and Arda are occupied by a mixed population consisting of Bulgarians, Greeks and Turks; the principal Greek colonies are in Stanimaka, Kavakly and Philippopolis. The origin of the peculiar Shôp tribe which inhabits the mountain tracts of Sofia, Breznik and Radomir is a mystery. The Shôps are conceivably a remnant of the aboriginal race which remained undisturbed in its mountain home during the Slavonic and Bulgarian incursions: they cling with much tenacity to their distinctive customs, apparel and dialect. ”

“ A great number of small distilleries exist throughout the country; there are breweries in all the principal towns, tanneries at Sevlievo, Varna, &c., numerous corn-mills worked by water and steam, and sawmills, turned by the mountain torrents, in the Balkans and Rhodope. A certain amount of foreign capital has been invested in industrial enterprises; the most notable are sugar-refineries in the neighbourhood of Sofia and Philippopolis, and a cotton-spinning mill at Varna, on which an English company has expended about £60,000. ”

“ Education.—No educational system existed in many of the rural districts before 1878; the peasantry was sunk in ignorance, and the older generation remained totally illiterate. In the towns the schools were under the superintendence of the Greek clergy, and Greek was the language of instruction. The first Bulgarian school was opened at Gabrovo in 1835 by the patriots Aprilov and Neophyt Rilski. After the Crimean War, Bulgarian schools began to appear in the villages of the Balkans and the south-eastern districts. The children of the wealthier class were generally educated abroad. ”

“ Wolves are very numerous, and in winter commit great depredations even in the larger country towns and villages; in hard weather they have been known to approach the outskirts of Sofia. The government offers a reward for the destruction of both these animals. The roe deer is found in all the forests, the red deer is less common; the chamois haunts the higher regions of the Rilska Planina, Rhodope and the Balkans. The jackal (Canis aureus) appears in the district of Burgas ”

“ The climate is healthy, especially in the mountainous districts. Malarial fever prevails in the valley of the Maritza, in the low-lying regions of the Black Sea coast, and even in the upland plain of Sofia, owing to neglect of drainage. The mean annual rainfall is 25.59 in. (Gabrovo, 41.73; Sofia, 27.68; Varna, 18.50) .
Fauna.—Few special features are noticeable in the Bulgarian fauna. Bears are still abundant in the higher mountain districts, especially in the Rilska Planina and Rhodope; the Bulgarian bear is small and of brown colour, like that of the Carpathians. ”

“ There are no canals, and inland navigation is confined to the Danube. The Austrian Donaudampschiffahrtsgesellschaft and the Russian Gagarine steamship company compete for the river traffic; the grain trade is largely served by steamers belonging to Greek merchants. The coasting trade on the Black Sea is carried on by a Bulgarian steamship company; the steamers of the Austrian Lloyd, and other foreign companies call at Varna, and occasionally at Burgas. ”

“ The Slavonic type is far less pronounced than among the kindred races; the Ugrian or Finnish cast of features occasionally asserts itself in the central Balkans. The face is generally oval, the nose straight, the jaw somewhat heavy. The men, as a rule, are rather below middle height, compactly built, and, among the peasantry, very muscular; the women are generally deficient in beauty and rapidly grow old. The upper class, the so-called intelligenzia, is physically very inferior to the rural population. ”

“ The large tchifliks, or farms, formerly belonging to Turkish landowners, have been divided among the peasants. The rural proprietors enjoy the right of pasturing their cattle on the common lands belonging to each village, and of cutting wood in the state forests. They live in a condition of rude comfort, and poverty is practically unknown, except in the towns. A peculiarly interesting feature in Bulgarian agricultural life is the zadruga, or house-community, a patriarchal institution apparently dating from prehistoric times. ”

“ In the districts extending from the Balkans to the Danube, which are exposed to the bitter north wind, the winter cold is intense, and the river, notwithstanding the volume and rapidity of its current, is frequently frozen over ”

“ The coast-line is exposed to violent north-east winds, and the Black Sea, the πόντος ἄξεινος or “inhospitable sea” of the Greeks, maintains its evil reputation for storms. The sheltered plain of Eastern Rumelia possesses a comparatively warm climate; spring begins six weeks earlier than elsewhere in Bulgaria, and the vegetation is that of southern Europe. In general the Bulgarian winter is short and severe ”

“ The government has made great efforts and incurred heavy expenditure for the spread of education; the satisfactory results obtained are largely due to the keen desire for learning which exists among the people. ”

“ The community sometimes includes a priest, whose fees for baptisms, &c., augment the common fund. The national aptitude for combination is also displayed in the associations of market gardeners (gradinarski druzhini, taifi) , who in the spring leave their native districts for the purpose of cultivating gardens in the neighbourhood of some town, either in Bulgaria or abroad, returning in the autumn, when they divide the profits of the enterprise; the number of persons annually thus engaged probably exceeds 10,000. ”

“ The government has endeavoured to stimulate the home industry by ordering all persons in its employment to wear the native cloth, and the army is supplied almost exclusively by the factories at Sliven. ”

“ The domestic animals are the same as in the other countries of south-eastern Europe; the fierce shaggy grey sheep-dog leaves a lasting impression on most travellers in the interior. Fowls, especially turkeys, are everywhere abundant, and great numbers of geese may be seen in the Moslem villages. ”

“ Almost all the villages now possess “national” (narodni) primary schools, maintained by the communes with the aid of a state subvention and supervised by departmental and district inspectors. The state also assists a large number of Turkish primary schools. The penalties for non-attendance are not very rigidly enforced, and it has been found necessary to close the schools in the rural districts during the summer, the children being required for labour in the fields. ”

“ The plough is of a primeval type, rotation of crops is only partially practised, and the use of manure is almost unknown. The government has sedulously endeavoured to introduce more enlightened methods and ideas by the establishment of agricultural schools, the appointment of itinerant professors and inspectors, the distribution of better kinds of seeds, improved implements, &c. Efforts have been made to improve the breeds of native cattle and horses, and stallions have been introduced from Hungary and distributed throughout the country. ”

“ Cotton is grown in the southern districts of Eastern Rumelia.
Peasant proprietorship is universal, the small freeholds averaging about 18 acres each. There are scarcely any large estates owned by individuals, but some of the monasteries possess considerable domains. ”

“ The peasants are industrious, peaceable and orderly; the vendetta, as it exists in Albania, Montenegro and Macedonia, and the use of the knife in quarrels, so common in southern Europe, are alike unknown. The tranquillity of rural life has, unfortunately, been invaded by the intrigues of political agitators, and bloodshed is not uncommon at elections. All classes practise thrift bordering on parsimony, and any display of wealth is generally resented. The standard of sexual morality is high, especially in the rural districts ”

“ Each conscript serves two years in the infantry and subsequently eight years in the active reserve, or three years in the other corps and six years in the active reserve; he is then liable to seven years’ service in the reserve army and finally passes into the opltchenïe. The Bulgarian peasant makes an admirable soldier—courageous, obedient, persevering, and inured to hardship; the officers are painstaking and devoted to their duties. ”

“ Marriage ceremonies are elaborate and protracted, as is the case in most primitive communities; elopements are frequent, but usually take place with the consent of the parents on both sides, in order to avoid the expense of a regular wedding. ”

“ Infant mortality is high, especially among the peasants. As the less healthy infants rarely survive, the adult population is in general robust, hardy and long-lived. The census of January 1901 gives 2719 persons of 100 years and upwards. Young men, as a rule, marry betore the age of twenty-five, girls before eighteen. The number of illegitimate births is inconsiderable, averaging only 0.12 of the total. The population according to sex in 1901 is given as 1,909,567 males and 1,834,716 females, or 51 males to 49 females. ”

“ The completion of the important line Radomir-Sofia-Shumen (November 1899) opened up the rich agricultural district between the Balkans and the Danube and connected Varna with the capital. Branches to Samovit and Rustchuk establish connexion with the Rumanian railway system on the opposite side of the river. It was hoped, with the consent of the Turkish government, to extend the line Sofia-Radomir-Kiustendil to Uskub, and thus to secure a direct route to Salonica and the Aegean. Road communication is still in an unsatisfactory condition. ”

“ The number of goats in the country tends to decline, a relatively high tax being imposed on these animals owing to the injury they inflict on young trees. The average price of oxen is £5 each, draught oxen £12 the pair, buffaloes £14 the pair, cows £2, horses £6, sheep, 7s., goats 5s., each. ”

“ According to the constitution of Trnovo, voted by the Assembly of Notables on the 29th of April 1879, revised by the Grand Sobranye on the 27th of May 1893, and modified by the proclamation of a Bulgarian kingdom on the 5th of October 1908, the royal dignity descends in the direct male line. The king must profess the Orthodox faith, only the first elected sovereign and his immediate heir being released from this obligation. The legislative power is vested in the king in conjunction with the national assembly ”

“ The Sobranye is elected by manhood suffrage, in the proportion of 1 to 20,000 of the population, for a term of five years. Every Bulgarian citizen who can read and write and has completed his thirtieth year is eligible as a deputy. ”

“ The American institution of Robert College on the Bosporus rendered an invaluable service to the newly created state by providing it with a number of well-educated young men fitted for positions of responsibility. ”

“ At the same date the army was locally distributed in nine divisional areas with headquarters at Sofia, Philippopolis, Sliven, Shumla, Rustchuk, Vratza, Plevna, Stara-Zagora and Dupnitza, the divisional area being subdivided into four districts, from each of which one regiment of four battalions was recruited and completed with reservists. In case of mobilization each of the nine areas would furnish 20,106 men (16,000 infantry, 1200 artillery, 1000 engineers, 300 divisional cavalry and 1606 transport and hospital services, &c.) ”

“ Armenians, 14,581; other nationalities, 30,451. The Bulgarian inhabitants of the Peninsula beyond the limits of the principality may, perhaps, be estimated at 1,500,000 or 1,600,000, and the grand total of the race possibly reaches 5,500,000. ”