Book II.
Sect. I.
Moldavia.—Galats.
It was afternoon before we arrived at Galatsa, or Galas[1], the first town in the Government of Moldavia. The Danube is an exceedingly large and deep river; and so broad, that in some places the banks are not seen from one side to the other, and are further apart than an arrow can be shot, or a sound heard. Be tween Matchin and Galats, on the left hand, is the Mahometan town and fortress, called Brailov, which was formerly in the Government of Wallachia, and was afterwards given up to the Moslems. It is the boundary of the Pashalik of Silistria on that side.
We landed at Galats on the afternoon of Monday, the seventeenth of Canon the second. From the first moment we entered the town, they sent to inform the Beg, by a Kalarash, or running messenger; and the Magistrates, and Priests, and the rest of the inhabitants, came to meet our Lord the Patriarch, and took him to the magnificent Church of St. Demetrius; which Vasili, the Beg, had newly built, and given to Athanasius, the Patalaron, Patriarch of Constantinople, whom we have just now mentioned. Upon his going to Constantinople a second time, and becoming Patriarch, the Beg was incensed against him, and gave the
- ↑ Galats is in Moldavia, but nearly touches the frontier of Wallachia: it is situated at the beginning of the broadest and deepest part of the Danube, distant sixty miles from the Black Sea, sixty-five from Yassi, and seventy-two from Buchorest. The river is so far navigable for ships not exceeding three hundred tons burden; but its navigation closes in the month of November: and in severe winters, even this part of the river is completely frozen over for the space of five or six weeks. Galats is the great market for the produce of the two Principalities, and is chiefly inhabited by commercial men. The town and its dependencies are governed by two Deputies of the Prince of Moldavia, called Percalabi (this word in the Archdeacon's manuscript is written Barcalam, برقالام). The number of fixed inhabitants does not exceed seven thousand; but the great concourse of people, occasioned every year by commercial pursuits, gives the town the appearance of being very populous. Galats is a general dépôt for goods of all kinds; but as furs of every quality form a part of the national costume, and are, besides, necessary, from the natural rigour of the climate, they are a main article of its vast importations.
