more
important directions. In other places I noted the Bulgarian's passion
for a good road; and the roads in his own country were excellent. The
road-making instinct is a great proof of a stable sense of civilisation.

[Illustration: AN OLD STREET IN PHILIPPOPOLIS]

The Bulgarian railways are, with the quays at the ports, the property of
the State, and are managed by a General Board of State Railways and
Ports. There are over 3000 railway servants fourteen lines traversing
the country east to west and north to south, and some seventy-two
railway stations. Both Varna and Bourgas are connected by railway with
the main lines. The lines have been constructed very cheaply (about
L7500 a mile) considering the nature of the country which they traverse.
They may be said to be profitable to the State since they return about
2-1/2 per cent interest on their cost of construction, despite the fact
that they give many concessions to encourage local industries.

The postal, telegraphic, and telephonic facilities in Bulgaria are quite
equal to the average of Europe. There are about 200 post offices, about
7000 miles of telegraph wires, and 600 miles of long-distance telephone.
The postal and telegraph administration yields a small surplus to the
treasury.

As to the trade of Bulgaria the present is a difficult time to
calculate its value, but before the war the imports were of an annual
value of about L4,000,000, and the exports of an annual value of about
L4,500,000. The chief import trade is from Austria. England, Turkey, and
Germany then follow in that order. The chief markets for Bulgarian
exports are Turkey, England, Germany, and Austria. The chief financial
institution of the country is the Bulgarian National Bank, which is a
State institution, 87 per cent of its profits going to the Bulgarian
Government. There are also State savings banks which are much favoured
by the thrifty peasantry, there being about 30,000 depositors.

The monetary units which have been adopted by Bulgaria are the _lev_
(having the value of one franc) and the _stotinka_ (centime), being the
hundredth part of a _lev_. For some years after the creation of the
Principality, the Government found it impossible to introduce any
national coins. It had to permit the circulation of all kinds of foreign
money--Servian, Roumanian, Russian, etc. In 1881 the Government put into
circulation two million francs of Bulgarian copper money, but these, as
well as the t