BESSARABIA, a province of the Ottoman em pire, bounded on the east by the Black Sea and part of Russia, from which it is separated by the Dnies ter; on the south by the Danube ; and on the west and north by Moldavia, from which it is separated by a chain of mountains. The breadth of this pro vince from Akerman to Gretscheny is nearly 170 wersts, and its length from Staraya Gangura, at the • confluence of the Bottisa and Botnitza, is• sixteen .versts. The soil of Bessarabia is in general fertile, if we except a tract of land on the banks of the Danube and the steppe of Otschakov. The soil along the Dniester is in.good cultivation, and supports a con siderable number of orchards. Hemp and flax grow, wild on extensive tracts of land, and the grass is in general seven or eight feet high. Near Tatar Bon nar are some salt water lakes, on the surface of which salt is formed by the heat of the sun. The revenue from this article, which once belonged to the Khan of Crimea, has been drawn by the Pacha of Ismail since the conquest of that country by the Russians. The fruits of this province are large and of the best quality. The cucumbers grow to an immense size. The plumbs of Akerman, the apricots of Ismail, the peaches of Babanda, are much superior to those in the south of Europe ; melons and asparagus grow wild in the fields; and the grapes, which are of three.
kinds, afford a wine of superior quality.
The peasants of Bessarabia live on meal mixed with butter, fat, and milk, which is sometimes rendered . more palatable by a few balls of boiled millet. Their bread is made of barley, and their drink is Braga, a mixtnre of millet-meal and water, which becomes acidulous by fermentation. In every cottage there is a loom on which the women weave linen, a colour ed stuff for gowns, and zi kind of net-work used for veils. In the neighbourhood of Kauscher arc qua ries of granite, of which the Turks form their tomb stones; and in different parts of the province there is a considerable quantity of lapis ollaris. Lizards and tarantula; are found here in great quantities.
This province was but partly subdued by the Ro mans, who had only one colony at Ccelia, now Kilia. Bessarabia is a Sandgiack or government,and the prin cipal Sandgiack, who resides at Bender, has an annual revenue of three thousand pounds sterling. The principal towns are Bender, Ismail, A kerman, Kilia, and Kauscher. Bender is now the capital, though Kauscher was formerly the capital of the part of -Bessarabia which belonged to the Khan of Tartary. (