The chain of Carpathian mountains which separates the two principalities from the Austrian dominions, abounds in a variety of minerals. Gold, silver, quicksilver, iron, copper, pitch, sulphur, and coals, are to be traced in many places; but although there is strong reason to believe they exist in abundance, no attempt is made to render them available, and this neglect is attributed to various motives, some of which would appear sufficiently justifiable.[23] The inhabitants maintain, that to undertake a work of a similar magnitude, the employment of a considerable capital and of a great number of men would be requisite, and consequently the country would have to support many heavy burthens long before it would begin to reap any advantage from their intended object; and that even after consenting to any necessary sacrifices, as the fruits of them would only serve to benefit the coffers of the Grand Signior, it is thought prudent to abstain altogether from creating so powerful an attraction to the leaders of the system of rapacity already too prevalent in the country.
On another hand, it is supposed that the precarious position of the Greek Hospodars, who live under the incessant apprehension of sudden recall and disgrace, induces them to bestow their whole attention to such resources only as are most immediately within their reach, and to neglect any plan that merely offers a remote prospect of gain.
The Porte then seems to be the only party much interested in this affair, as the only one capable of setting it properly on foot, and reaping a lasting advantage. Yet the Turks evince the same indifference, and political reasons are given in explanation, which, however, are by no means satisfactory; for surely no such considerations could prevent them from availing themselves of treasures which they have certainly assumed in every way the right of calling their own.
From all these conjectures, however, this conclusion can be drawn,—that as long as the principalities remain under Turkish influence, their mineralogic riches will be buried in obscurity and oblivion. The rivers Dimbovitza and Argis, taking their sources in the Carpathians, and crossing Wallachia to fall into the Danube, carry along a considerable quantity of grains of gold. The gypsies that belong to government are employed in picking them out of the sand when the waters are low; and they are allowed to pay their tribute partly from the fruits of this labour.
The trade of Wallachia and Moldavia, notwithstanding that it labours under a variety of restrictions and partial prohibitions, is one of their most important sources of opulence. Its details are little known, and less noticed beyond the neighbouring countries, although they are by no means deserving of inattention.
Of the common productions of the soil, the most abundant is wheat, of which the two principalities are supposed to give an annual return of ten millions of killows,[24] although hardly one-sixth part of their extensive and fertile plains is cultivated, and that a certain space of this is sown by Indian corn, barley, and hemp.
The other productions, proportionably important in a commercial point of view, are the bees-wax, honey, butter, cheese, hides, timber, staves, and ship-masts of all sizes and descriptions; and an annual supply of five hundred thousand hare-skins, six hundred thousand okes[25] of yellow-berries, and forty thousand kintals[26] of sheep’s wool.
The three last-mentioned articles are alone perfectly free of exportation; the remainder are kept at the disposal of the Turkish government; and it is only in times of abundance, after the usual supplies have been fixed upon for the granaries and arsenal of Constantinople, that leave can be obtained to employ in foreign trade any portion of them. The exportation of wheat alone is considered as under a permanent prohibition; it is not in the power of the Hospodars to suffer any of it to be taken out of the country on private speculation; they must be authorised so to do by Ferman, a permit which is never granted to Rayahs, and very seldom to other Europeans, as the foreign ministers accredited at the Porte, aware of the difficulty of obtaining it, and the value that the Ottoman government would set in the gift of it, prefer abstaining altogether from applications on the subject, more especially as their success would only be profitable to some individuals, without being productive of any permanent good to the trade at large.
The quality of the Wallachian wheat is inferior, but it is far from being bad; that of Moldavia is better, and not differing much from the Polish wheat. Their ordinary price stands between 2 and 2½ piasters per killow. As an article of general trade, the charges upon it from the Danube to Constantinople, would hardly amount to one piaster more. The Turkish government send their own ships every year to transport their share of it, which is each time fixed at 1,500,000 killows, as well as the other articles necessary to their use, the quantity of which is not fixed, though generally very considerable.
The Moldavian timber is far better than that of Wallachia; it is of the finest oak, and perfectly well calculated for the construction of vessels. A great number of ships in the Turkish fleet are built of it, and fitted out with masts and ropes of Moldavian growth and origin. In the two provinces, these articles are sold at the lowest possible prices, and indeed the same thing may be said of all the prohibited articles; which, restricted as they are, from the monopoly arrogated by the Porte, have but little demand, except for the local consumption.
The hare-skins commonly stand at 35 paras[27] each, in large purchases, and the yellow-berries may be had at 40 or 45 paras per oke. The usual method of securing any quantity of these two articles at the lowest prices, is by bespeaking them at the different villages, and paying something in advance; the villagers engaged in such contracts never fail to fulfil them in proper time.
The hare-skins are of the first quality, but the yellow-berries are inferior to those of Smyrna, and only demanded when the crops in Asia Minor have proved deficient.
The sheep’s wool is considered to be very good: cleaned and washed, it is sold at about 60 paras per oke, or 66 piasters per kintal, when in its original state, it is offered at 35 to 40 paras.
The principalities abound also in cattle and poultry of all descriptions. Every year they supply Constantinople with 250,000 sheep, and 3000 horses. They send, besides, a great number of these, and oxen, into the surrounding provinces, where they are usually sold at great profit.
All the productions and commodities that are employed for the exigencies of the Ottoman capital, are bought by the local government for about one-fourth of the prices current in the market, and one-sixth of their value in Turkey. They are paid for by a deduction from the common tribute, and, sometimes, by an extraordinary imposition of an amount equal to their cost.
Before we proceed to any remarks on the import trade, it is necessary we should say a few words on the town and harbour of Galatz, which may be called the seaport of the two principalities.
Galatz is in Moldavia, but nearly touches the frontier of Wallachia: it is situated at the beginning of the broadest and deepest part of the Danube, distant sixty miles from the Black Sea, sixty-five from Yassi, and seventy-two from Bukorest. The river is so far very navigable for ships not exceeding three hundred tons burthen. Its principal entrance from the sea is not very easy to make, owing to the islands which divide it into three great channels, two of which are very shallow and dangerous. But ships bound hither take pilots on board, and with this precaution, very few accidents take place, particularly in the fine season.
The navigation of the Danube closes in the month of November; and in the severest winters, even this part of the river is completely frozen over for the space of five or six weeks. In the month of March, ships begin to make their appearance again, and as they have not the inconveniency of a tide against them, they are enabled to come up close to the wharfs, and to remain there until their business is finished.
Galatz is the great market for the produce of the two principalities, and the only landing-place for some principal articles of importation. Having all the resources of a seaport, it is apparently a very flourishing town. Its market is always well stocked with the productions of the interior. The timber, masts, and staves are conveyed to it along the small rivers, that come from various parts of the country, and fall into the Danube nearest to it. There are public granaries for the wheat, and a great number of large warehouses, belonging to private merchants, for all articles. It is chiefly inhabited by commercial men, who, notwithstanding the rigour of the prohibitive measures, often find the means of exporting some quantity of wheat, and other contraband articles; but their principal trade is that of importation. The town and its dependencies are governed by two deputies of the Prince of Moldavia, called Percalabi. The number of the fixed inhabitants does not exceed seven thousand, but the great concourse of people occasioned every year by commercial pursuits, gives it the appearance of being very populous, and all the bustle of a place of great trade. The presence, in particular, of a great number of commercial vessels, increases considerably that appearance.
Although Galatz is the general depôt for many goods of importation, it is not the principal market for them: they are conveyed to those of Bukorest and Yassi. Coffee, sugar, pepper, rum, lemons, oranges, and foreign wines, are the principal articles of this description. The local consumption of the first, in both provinces, is calculated at 800,000 okes every year; of the second, 900,000 okes; and of the third 35,000 okes; that of the others is merely eventual. Their importation, however, surpasses this quantity, and might be still carried to a greater extent, as the provinces of Galicia, Boukovina, Transylvania, Temesvar, and Servia are partly supplied with those articles by the markets of Bukorest, Yassi, and Galatz.
The general system of this import trade is ill contrived, and it is subject to many inconveniencies. The purchasers have recourse to the markets of Smyrna and Constantinople, where, of course, they buy at high prices. The goods, which have already paid custom-house duty in Turkey, are taxed with a new duty of the same kind, of three per cent., on being landed or brought into the principalities, as well as with other charges of an arbitrary nature, which amount to as much more. The latter are not, indeed, established by the local governments, but merely exacted by their officers, and as they are tolerated, they become unavoidable, unless the proprietors of the goods happen to be subjects of European courts, and as such, receive protection and assistance from the consuls residing in the country.
Wallachia and Moldavia are at present supplied by Germany with all kinds of cotton and woollen manufactures and hardware, either by land or by the Danube.
The plain and printed calicoes, the chintz, glass and earthenware, brought to their markets, are, without exception, German; but they are called English, and as such sold at higher prices than they would fetch were their origin made known.
The consumption of the woollen cloths is very extensive; that of the superfine qualities alone is valued at 200,000l. sterling every year. Some French cloths are brought into the country, but as their prices are considerably higher than those of Germany, they do not meet with much demand. French cambrics and English muslins are always profitable articles to speculators, and never remain long on hand.
As furs of all kinds form a part of the national costume, and are, besides necessary, owing to the natural rigour of the climate, they are an article of vast importation. Russia supplies the principalities with it, and takes in return brandy and wine, and imperial ducats.
Most of the merchants carrying on trade in these countries, are natives, or Greeks. Some have been naturalised in Russia or in Austria, and receive protection from those powers; an advantage which is of no small consequence to their affairs. Of late years, some natives of the Ionian islands have began to trade in the principalities, and the English flag, borne by their vessels, is now frequently displayed on the Danube.
Some overland expeditions of goods coming from Smyrna, are now and then made by way of Enos and Adrianople; but they are attended with risk and difficulty; besides which, the amount of charges surpasses by eight per cent. those incurred by way of Galatz.
The natural richness, and the various resources of Wallachia and Moldavia, are such, that if those countries could enjoy the important advantages of a regular government and a wise administration, under which industry and agriculture should receive their due encouragement, the trade of exports laid open, the commercial intercourse with foreign nations set upon a proper footing, and finally, the mines explored, they would in a short time become the most populous and most flourishing provinces of Europe. The harbour of Galatz would soon stand in rivalship with all the ports of the Black Sea, not excepting Odessa.
The fertility of the soil is such as to procure nourishment for ten times the number of the present population, and leave wherewith to supply other countries besides; the common return of cultivation being sixteen-fold, and in more favourable seasons, twenty-five.
Nature has furnished them with every possible means of becoming prosperous; men have ever proved themselves the determined enemies of their prosperity.