might be given to the fisheries, which are at
present pursued rather as an amusement than
an occupation.

In the neighbourhood of Varna, amateur
sportsmen find some roebucks, and great
quantities of hares. Wild ducks and geese
are found in the lakes and ponds; and
buzzards and blackbirds are not uncommon in
the woods. Snipe, and partridge, and quail
are rare. The environs of Varna, which the
sportsmen constantly visit, are picturesque.
Along the road that leads to Balzic,
vineyards producing excellent grapes are met
with. The wines, however, though excellent
to drink, will not keep. In the month of
July they begin to turn sour. The Varniotes,
in fact, though potent drinkers, have made
little progress in the art of manufacturing
wine. Most persons are possessors of a small
orchard, in which are grown cherries, quinces,
pears, prunes, peaches, pomegranates, nuts,
and walnuts. Black and white mulberry
trees grow well, but their fruit is worth
nothing. In the orchards which possess a
spring of water, a portion is generally laid out
as a kitchen garden, where are cultivated
dark-green water-melons, common melons,
pumpkins, cucumbers, beans, peas, onions,
garlic, rosemary, marjoram, spinnach,
artichokes, and most of the vegetables known
in Europe. In their midst rose-trees and
wall-flowers often show themselves. Along
the fortifications, and in the fields near the
town, abundance of the camomile plant, of
poppies, of marshmallows, and wild violets
grow; and here and there great expanses
of thistles cover tracts that were formerly
cultivated.

As a seaport Varna might soon rival
Odessa if it had fair play. Placed on
one of the bays that indent the western
shore of the Black Sea, near the point at
which the Balkan range terminates in a
promontory, the port, or rather the road,
although not protected from the east and
south-east winds, is amply sheltered from
north and north-east winds, the most
dangerous that prevail in the Black Sea. The
entrance of the bay is picturesque, for the
two capes that form it and leave a passage
of four miles and a half wide, are steep
and rocky. Further in, the shores sink,
and become quite level in the neighbourhood
of the city. It has been proposed to
make a cutting, in order to connect the port
with the lake of Denna, in which case it
would become the safest refuge for vessels,
and the most important point in the Black
Sea. When the present Sultan visited Varna
in eighteen hundred and forty-seven, the plan
was laid before him; but he seems to have
been discouraged by the enormous estimates
of some Turkish engineers. The cutting
would only be a mile long, and there already
exists a little stream called by the natives
Derse, which turns several mills.
Occasionally boats are taken up from the sea for
a pleasure party on the lake. Along the
banks of the Derse groups of women are
constantly seen washing wool and carpets in the
running water. It would only be necessary
to deepen the channel that already exists,
and an enormous fleet might find refuge, in
all weathers, in an inner basin completely
protected.

Even as it is, the port of Varna is visited
by a great number of vessels. Two years
ago there were four hundred and thirty, one
only of which was English. The year after
there were only two hundred and seventy-two,
of which eight were English; but last year
there was a great increase. The Austrian
steamers put in at Varna twice a week, on
their way to and fro between Constantinople
and Galatz. They carry all kinds of
merchandise, even cages of poultry, which
cover the deck from end to end, to the great
inconvenience of passengers. It is calculated
that two hundred thousand fowls, and fifty
million eggs are annually exported. In the
year eighteen hundred and forty-seven, in
which commerce was remarkably active, the
value of the articles exported from Varna
was about six hundred thousand pounds;
two-thirds of which sum were employed in
the purchase of wheat and barley. The
import trade, moreover, is by no means
insignificant.

From these facts it is evident that Varna is
a most important point. It is the maritime
capital of Bulgaria, just as Routchuk is the
Danubian capital. There has long existed a
project for uniting these two cities by a
railway; and it is possible that in better
times this project may effectually be carried
out, especially as between the months of
November and April the navigation of the
Danube ceases altogether. Many foreign
consuls have recently been established at
Varna. In eighteen hundred and forty-
seven, for the first time, a representative of
English commercial and political interests
was sent there in the person of Mr. Neale,
the gentleman whose recent departure has
introduced Varna into the foreign news of the
English journals. Lately, as in most other
important towns of the Levant, almost the
first object that strikes the eye when one
approaches the place is a series of flagstaffs,
indicating that all Europe is present there by
its agents.

The corn trade is destined to make the
fortune of Varna. It is only recently that
the Bulgarians have obtained permission to
export corn direct to foreign countries.
Within a dozen years, a great many fortunes
have been made by Greeks and lonians sent
there as agents for commercial houses at
Constantinople. M. Vréto, the last Greek
consul at Varna, informs us that the greater
number have made fortunes by taking
advantage of the ignorance of the poor
Bulgarian peasantry, who come down with
their caravans to Varna to sell wheat. His