536 
W A L A 
these favoured tracks, the country appears deserted, and 
hardly ever discovers a trace of European culture. 
The agricultural products of Walachia consist chiefly of 
wheat, millet, maize, beans, and pease. Vines and fruits 
of various kinds are abundant here; but the chief wealth of 
this, as of other countries rich by nature, and little improved 
by industry, consists in its pasture, which feeds numerous 
herds of cattle and sheep. The horses are, in general, of a 
good breed: in some of the forests in the most uncultivated 
parts of the province, they are found in a wild state, as in 
America. Game of all kinds is found in prodigious quanti¬ 
ties. Poultry and the domestic animals are similar to those 
of Britain; bees are much more numerous. Of mineral pro¬ 
ducts, the principal are salt and saltpetre. A little gold is 
occasionally found in the sands of the rivers. 
Of manufactures, Walachia is almost entirely destitute. 
The principal exports are horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, wool, 
leather, tallow, butter, wax, honey, flax, hemp, salt, and 
saltpetre. In return, it imports various manufactures, in 
particular woollens and hardware; also groceries. 
In religion, the Walachians are followers of the Greek 
church; but the population of the province is very mixed, 
comprising not only gypsies, but a number of descend¬ 
ants of Bulgarians and Rascians. The Walachians of the 
higher class have a predilection for the Italian language; 
and a few of them send their sons for education to Padua; 
but the majority are.satisfied with the seminary at Bucharest, 
where they acquire some knowledge of religion, or rather 
of its outward ceremonies; also an acquaintance with Italian. 
French is little studied, and German is known only to mer¬ 
cantile men, who find it necessary to keep up a correspon¬ 
dence with that country. Of the liberal arts, surgery alone 
is followed with success, but the knowledge of it is usually 
acquired at Vienna, or in Italy. The sciences in general are 
so little known, that the Walachian lar^uage contains hardly 
a word expressive of a scientific icleSaj On the other hand, 
the moral character of the WalachfttBf.fs by no means un¬ 
favourable, presenting the hospitality, the frankness, and the 
other virtues of an agricultural people. The regiments raised 
in this country, if irregular in look and discipline, are by 
no means deficient in courage; and, in general, the quali¬ 
ties in the national character that are unpleasant or repulsive, 
are to be ascribed to no other cause than their miserable go¬ 
vernment. Emigration from this country has long been ex¬ 
pedient, in consequence of the insecurity of property; and 
no small part of the population of Transylvania and Molda¬ 
via are of Walachian origin. 
This province was unknown in authentic history, until 
its invasion and conquest by the Romans, in the reign of 
Trajan. That prince sent hither several colonies, who cul¬ 
tivated tracks of land, and built, in prescribed situations, 
towns and villages. On the decline of the empire, Walachia 
shared the fate of other frontier provinces, being alternately 
in possession of the Greek emperors and barbarians. The 
9lh century is said to have been the era of their embracing 
the doctrines of the Greek church; while the early part of 
the 12th is given as the date of the foundation of Bucharest, 
the capital, and of some smaller towns. In the 13th and 
14th centuries, Walachia was in some degree subject to Hun¬ 
gary. In the beginning of the 15th, the Turks penetrating 
in this direction, long before they accomplished the con¬ 
quest of Constantinople, laid waste the country, and sub¬ 
jected it to a tribute. Since then, Walachia has been in a 
state of half subjection to the Porte, Austria, and subse¬ 
quently Russia, having interfered, to assure to the inhabi¬ 
tants the enjoyment of a share of independence. They are 
governed, not directly by the Porte, like the interior pro¬ 
vinces of Turkey, but by a hospodar or prince, who is al¬ 
ways of the Greek religion, and in general of a Greek family 
of rank. He obtains his appointment by purchase, anil 
generally keeps it by paying to the Turkish government an 
annual tribute of about 80,000/ sterling. He holds his so¬ 
vereignty by a firman of the grand seignor, and is liable to 
be deposed (which in Turkey, in general, implies the loss 
C H» I A. 
of life) at the will of the Ottoman court. The precarious 
tenure of his power, and the almost total want of law in this 
country, is the cause of heavy exactions. With these, how¬ 
ever, as far as regards the mode of levy, the Turks are not 
chargeable, Walachia being, like Moldavia, independent as 
to internal regulation. The Boyards or landholders are ex¬ 
empted from direct taxes. These fall on the peasants, me¬ 
chanics, and lower classes generally. 
The interior government of Walachia is regulated by a 
council, composed of the principal Boyards, who assemble 
once or twice a week, and to whom appeals lie from all in¬ 
ferior and local tribunals. Their powers, however, are not 
conclusive, being controuled by the Hospodar, whose pre¬ 
rogative being undefined, admits occasionally of a great 
latitude. He has not, however, any military establishment 
of consequence, except an Albanian guard. It is since the 
beginning of the present century, and since the late addi¬ 
tions to the power of Russia, that the interference of the 
Czar has become direct in regard to Walachian and Molda¬ 
vian politics. The ostensible ground is community of reli¬ 
gion and faith: the real motive, a desire to cultivate popu¬ 
larity with those of the subjects of the Porte, whose aid may 
now be so instrumental in driving the Turks out of Europe. 
WALACHIA, Little, a district of Sclavonia, extending 
from the town of Pogek to the borders of Croatia. It takes 
its name from a colony of Walachians, long since settled in 
it, and is in general level, and highly fertile. Its pastures 
contain numerous herds of cattle, but a large proportion of 
it is in forest land, containing bears and other animals, 
which, in the west of Europe, are known only in wild and 
mountainous districts, such as the recesses of the Pyrenees. 
WAL2EUS (John), a celebrated anatomist, was born in 
1604, near Middleburg, in Zealand, and studied physic at 
Leyden, where he graduated in 1631. In 1632 he was nomi¬ 
nated a medical professor extraordinary, and in 1648 he 
obtained a chair in ordinary. His practice was extensive, 
and his academical duties numerous; and yet he employed 
himself much in the dissection of living animals, and was 
enabled to illustrate the functions of digestion, the distribu¬ 
tion of the chyle, and the action of the heart. He first taught 
publicly the Harveian doctrine of the circulation of the 
blood; though from jealousy of the honour of the inventor, 
he was disposed to announce vestiges of the fact which he 
discovered in the writings of the ancients. He died at Ley¬ 
den in 1649. His Anatomical Observations, which are 
reckoned excellent, are contained in “ Epistolae duse de Motu 
Chyli et Sanguinis ad T. Bartholinum,” Lugd. B. 1641. 
Haller. Eloy. 
WALAFR1DUS, surnamed Strabo, or Strabus, from 
a squint in his eyes, was born in Swabia in 807, and edu¬ 
cated in the monastery of Reichenau, whence he proceeded 
to Fulda, to receive further instruction from Rabanus. 
After his return to his monastery he became director of its 
school, and very much contributed to its reputation. Being 
sent on an embassy by king Louis to his brother Charles the 
Bald, he died in the year 849. Of his works, which are 
numerous, those most worthy of notice are his “ Glosso or- 
dinaria,” or short observations on the whole text of the 
Bible, chiefly derived from the exposition of Rabanus, and 
annexed to many editions of the Vulgate, printed in the 
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; “ De Exordiis et Incre¬ 
ments Rerum Ecclesiasticarum “ De Vita beati Galli 
Confessoris, lib. ii.;” “ Vita Otmari Abbasis S. Galli 
“ Poemata,” among which are, “ Hortulus,” or a descrip^ 
tion of the garden which he cultivated, with its herbs and 
flowers, and their medical use. Gen. Bion-. 
WALAJA, or Abadnagur, a town of the south of In¬ 
dia, province of the Carnatic, situated on the northern side 
of the Palar river; Lat. 12. 40. N. long. 78. 5. E. 
WALAKA, a province of Abyssinia, situated immedi¬ 
ately to the north of Upper Shoa, which it separates from 
Central Abyssinia. It consists of a low, unwholesome, 
though fertile track, between the two rivers Geshen and 
Samba. 
WALBECK, 
