reaches 90° to 95° Fahrenheit in the shade, whilst in winter it
frequently falls to zero, but the annual average is about 57°
Fahrenheit. Bain is not nearly so frequent as with us, and it seldom
lasts long. Comparisons have been made between Roumania and other
countries which show that whilst in England we have on the average 172
rainy days in the year, there are in Western France 152, in Germany 141,
and in Roumania only 74. Snowstorms are not frequent, there being on the
average only twelve days of snow in the year. The most trying
characteristic of the climate, however, is the cold cutting easterly
wind which sweeps over the steppes of Asiatic Russia, and often causes
life to be almost intolerable in the Roumanian plains; and another
unpleasant feature is the sudden change from heat to cold between noon
and evening during the later months of the year.

Looking generally at the physiography of Roumania, however, it will be
seen that whilst it covers an extent of country considerably in excess
of some of the small but prosperous independent States of Europe, it has
great advantages which they do not possess. Less rugged and mountainous
than Switzerland, and not so uniformly flat as Holland, its scenery
partakes of the character of both these countries. Guarded on the north
and west by the Carpathian range, and commanding the whole length of the
Danube in the south, its political position (to which further reference
will be made presently) renders it safer than Belgium, or perhaps even
than Denmark. Its soil is capable of producing, either spontaneously or
with a slight expenditure of labour, every requirement of the human
race, whether of necessity or of luxury. The grape, the peach, the
tobacco plant thrive in the open air. Its extensive forests contain most
descriptions of timber, whilst very fine salt and petroleum amongst its
mineral treasures are already worked, and there is little doubt from
the researches of chemists and metallurgists that coal, iron, sulphur,