s per square yard.

Much of the rougher work is done by gipsies, but the better class of
Roumanian artisans, such as carpenters, joiners, painters, tin workers
(who cover the roofs of buildings), receive from five to seven francs
per day, working from sunrise to sunset, with two hours for meals, or on
an average twelve hours per day. Italians and Germans, of whom many are
employed, receive one or two francs more than natives, whilst engineers
and fitters are paid eight to ten francs per day. A great deal of time
is lost in Roumania through feasts and holidays, of which there are,
including Sundays, over a hundred in the year. During this time not only
is there no production, but time spent in idleness leads to the same
demoralising waste there as elsewhere. The working classes are seen
hanging about wine-shops, as they congregate about public-houses here;
and, although it is a very rare thing to see people drunk in the
streets, many are heavy drinkers, consuming large quantities of rachin
(grain-spirit) and sour wine.[34]

The cost of living is moderate. Dark bread varies from 1_d._ to
1-1/2_d._ per lb., white from 1-1/2_d._ to 2_d._, almost as dear,
therefore, as with us. Roumania is essentially a stock breeding country,
and whilst butcher's meat varies from 4_d._ to 5_d._, mutton costs 3_d._
to 3-1/2_d._ per lb. Common wine is 3_d._ to 4_d._ per pint; fruits of
all kinds are very cheap, and afford an article of luxury to almost
every class of the population. Tobacco is dear, owing to the monopoly.
We believe there was an attempted revolution over the tobacco question
in 1805, which, had to be put down by military force. All kinds of
clothing for the poorer classes are imported, and a suit of best clothes
costs about thirty francs, a pair of boots eleven to twelve francs. This
does not, however, apply to the country. There the women, besides doing
field work and managing the household, make _all_ the clothes, the men's
as well as their own; and by that is meant that they spin, weave, and
make up the garments. The custom, already referred to, of wearing the
national costume by ladies in the country and on state occasions in
Bucarest, gives very lucrative employment to the native women, and such
costumes are exposed for sale in the shops of the capital at prices
varying from 6_l._ or 7_l._ to anything the wearer likes to pay. Many of
these costumes testify to the exquisite taste of the females by whom
they are made; for