Wallachia and Moldavia contain about one hundred and fifty thousand gypsies, and make a more profitable use of them than other countries do, by keeping them in a state of regular slavery. The period of their first coming there is not exactly ascertained; but there is every reason to believe it dates with the irruption of the gypsies from Germany in the fifteenth century; and they are mentioned in some manuscripts, possessed by Wallachian and Moldavian convents, evidently written towards that period. They are remarkable, as every where else, for their brown complexion; their bodily constitution is strong, and they are so hardened from constant exposure to all the rigours of the weather, that they appear fit for any labour and fatigue; but their natural aversion to a life of industry is in general so great, that they prefer all the miseries of indigence, to the enjoyment of comforts that are to be reaped by persevering exertion. The propensity to stealing seems inherent in them, but they do not become thieves with the view of enriching themselves; their thefts never extend beyond trifles. The women have the same complexion, with fine and regular features. They are very well shaped before they become mothers; but soon after they begin to have children, and they are generally very fruitful, their beauty gives way to a disgusting ugliness. Both sexes are slovenly and dirty: the filth and vermin with which their bodies are infected, seem to form a necessary part of their existence, as no consideration can induce them to be cleanly. Most of them are clothed with a few rags, and their children go naked at almost all seasons. They acknowledge no particular religion as their own; neither do they think of following the precepts of any, unless, acting as domestic slaves, they are ordered so to do by their masters. Among themselves they dispense with the religious ceremony of marriage, and although many live together as husbands and wives, they are only bound by the ties of nature. The women are of the most depraved character: none of them follow the regular line of public prostitutes, but at the same time none refuse their favours when the slightest offer of money is made. In both principalities the gypsies are divided into two distinct classes of slaves; the one is composed of those who are the property of government, and the other, of those who belong to private individuals. No regular traffic of them is carried on in the country, neither is it customary to expose to public inspection any who are to be disposed of. Both sales and purchases are conducted in private, and the usual price for one of either sex, is from five to six hundred piasters.