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 hospita