and there the railway runs through or skirts plantations. The chief
plants in this region (and this applies to the plains generally) are
willows, alders, poplars, and tamarinds, but chiefly willows and poplars
amongst the trees and larger plants; maize, wheat, millet, and other
cereals, and a variety of fruits and vegetables which will be spoken of
in connection with the more elevated regions. The first impression which
is made upon the traveller coming from our own beautiful hedgerows and
pastures, or from the richly cultivated plains of Transylvania, is that
agriculture is slovenly and neglected, and that impression is never
wholly lost in whatever direction he may travel; although, as we shall
see presently, the higher zones are much more carefully cultivated.[9]

[Illustration: ROUMANIAN PEASANTS IN WORKING DRESS.]

The peasantry at work in the fields present a novel and interesting
appearance to the stranger, and still more striking are some of their
habitations. The men generally wear a long white coarse linen blouse
with trousers of the same material. The blouse is drawn in at the waist
by a coil of cords or by a belt, and frequently sandals are worn, in
which case the cords fastening them are wound some distance up the leg.
Hats of common felt, cheap cloth, or high cylindrical caps of sheepskin,
complete the external attire. In winter sheepskins take the place of the
coarse linen tunic. There are two types of face to be met with amongst
them, both of which are here depicted. The one has long moustaches and
shaven face; the other type, which is said to resemble the Dacians of
Trajan's Column, has the hair growing all over the face. The latter
appeared to the author to resemble the generality of Russian peasants,
and this view was confirmed by one or two lending observers in the
country.[10]