The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1877-07-12


The district known a. the Dobrud.
sha, upon which the attention of the
whole world In now centred by reason
or the Russian invasion, Is the terri
tory embraced between the Black Sea
and the Danube below the point where
the course ,. of the great river changes
Ir0m east to north. It contains about
7,oOO square miles, and has the char
acter throughout by far the greater
part OF Its extent OF an unduiating.
treeiees prairie, elevated from 100 to 400
feet above the sea level. The narts
which do not come under this general
description are the portion known IA
the Delliorman, between Pagardiek
and the Danube, and the extreme
northern district Of Baba-Dagh, in
which Matchin and Tultchs are situ-
ated. Below the rich soil of the prairie
lies deep alluvial deposit, quite stone
less, and often 100 or more feet In
depth. This rests on q bed of loose
limestone, which must be pierced by
wells before water IL found.
The inhabitants entirely depend on
the numerous wells-with their high
wooden levers, when the depth il not
great, or. with their horse-worked
drums when this Is greater-for the
supply OF themselves and their cattle
with water. The villages are, conse-
quently, everywhere situated In the
lower fluctuations of the plain. On
the Black Sea coast, and especially In
the neighborhood Of Mangalia, Kus-
tendje, and the Danube mouth to the
north, there are lakes at intervals ad-
joining the sea, only separated from it
by narrow strip Of sand. Some of
these lakes are brackisll, but others
yield livelihood to communities of
big-limbed, fair-haired Cossack fisher
men, who. since the days of the con-
guest or the Ukraine, have here
followed there hi reditary occupation
under the protection Of the Crescent.
On the Danube side, and notably be-
tween BassOva and Hirsova, several
long narrow inlets occur, ranging in
breadth from q quarter Of mile to q
mile wide, and extending, as In the
case Of the Karasou or Tchernavoda
backwater, as far inland as twenty
miles. These, when the Danube Is
high, are filled with water, and are
emptied when 1t recedes, thus Offering
at one period ofthe year the appearance
OF deep, navigable, permanent, and not
unpicturesque lakes, and at another of
partially drained, reed-g rown marshes,
Astounding in an infinite variety of all
kinds Of wild fowl. from the stately
swan and pelican to the humble teal.
The Inhabitants of the Dohrudsha
present one of the most singular con-
fusions of natiOnalities to be found in
the whole Turkish Empire. In this
district tribe of NOgal Tartars, ban
ished from the Crimea for their SYM
pathy with the allies during the war,
lead q semi nomadic existence under
hereditary Khan, subject to the au-
thority OF the Sultan. In the extreme
northeastern section is q prosperous
enian Tartars Of the sect known as
"Old Believers" who settled there at
the close of last century.
Along the southern bank Of the
Danube in the northern end of the
district are number of villages built
by some thousands of German colonists
who preferred to emigrate from their
old home In Bessabaria to submission
to Russian oppression, and who have
become quite wealthy and prosperous
under Turkish rule. A Polish colony,
q group of some thousands Of Arabs, q
portion of the 400, 900 Circassians who
were settled in Bulgaria in 1864, sew
eral wandering tribes of Ziganes or
gypsies, and finally the individual
representatives of every people Of Eu-
rope and Asia, who, from a spirit of
speculation or In search of occupation,
have fiocked to the port of Sulina,
complete this species of chronological
congress established in the Dobrudsha.
The best months for campaigning in
the Dolrudsha are May and June, as
the marshes and springs are then not
yet dried up; so that water can be OBJ
tanned from them, and they do not
produce miasmatic exhalations as dur
ing the heat of summer.