n mentioned that
it is sandy or clayey, and it may be useful now to say a few words
concerning the geological formations of the country. Little has been
done by the native geologists in this direction, and the knowledge which
we possess is derived from the observations of a few foreigners who have
published works dealing incidentally with this region.[15] The whole of
Roumania may be said to form the northern portion of the basin of the
Lower Danube. In Bulgaria, on the southern side of the river, where the
banks often rise to a height of 300 or 400 feet, there are distinct
traces of the miocene formation; but there, as on the northern banks,
before the hills are reached, there is a wide plain of loess, tertiary
alluvial deposit. On the northern or Roumanian bank, beginning close to
the Iron Gates in the west, and extending to the eastern embouchures of
the Danube, in fact over the whole zone of the plain already referred
to, this alluvial deposit is found, and at the foot of the Carpathians
it sometimes attains the depth of from 150 to 300 feet, and imparts to
the country a neglected desert appearance where the surface is not
richly wooded or agriculturally clothed in green. The second zone--that
is to say, the lower hills and mountains--is chiefly of miocene
formation; but beneath this, and showing itself at the surface in
various parts, are strata of what Lyell calls 'a subordinate member of
that vast deposit of sandstone and shale which is provincially called
"flysch," and which is believed to form part of the Eocene series.'[16]
In this region, which is called by the Roumanians the region of vines,
are to be found marl, sandstone, chalk, and gypsum, with rock-salt,
petroleum, and lignite. The last-named is an important product of the
country, being used along with wood on the railways, and in brick and
lime kilns.

The southern slopes of the Carpathians consist of various older
strata--secondary, primary, and metamorphic--and the rocks of which they
are composed are limestone, marble, schist (mica-schist and slate), and
gneiss. On the summits are found conglomerates formed of quartz,
limestone, and sandstone.

To this meagre and superficial outline of the geological formations of
the country we have only to add that the inclination of the strata is
generally downwards in the direction of the Danube, and that they are
often contorted in a very remarkable manner.[17]

We have already spoken of the deposits of salt