The practice of employing gypsy slaves in various departments of the household, particularly in the kitchen, is universal in both principalities; but although the expense saved by it is considerable in houses where a great number of servants must be kept, the inconvenience is much greater, though not felt. The kitchens of the Boyars are, from the filthy habits of the cooks, and the inattention of the masters, not less disgusting than the common receptacles of swine. The incurable propensity to vice, and the laziness of these servants, occasion incessant trouble and vexation. Almost at every house punishments are instituted for them, the most severe of which is the bastinado applied to the naked soles of the feet: it is performed by another gypsy, under the inspection of the superintendent, and frequently under that of the master or mistress. The ladies of quality, however young and beautiful, do not show much delicate reluctance in similar instances of authority. The secondary punishment consists in passing the culprit’s head through a kind of iron helmet, with two immense horns of the same metal, and locking it under the chin in such a manner as to render it extremely troublesome to the bearer, and to prevent him from eating or drinking, as long as he keeps it on. It is, however, certain, that the gypsy servants can neither be kept in proper order without punishment, nor be made to go through any long work without the stimulus of stripes. The private owners have not the power of death over them; but it has happened sometimes, that some unfortunate wretch has been beaten to death, and neither the government nor the public took notice of the circumstance. It is under the care of these depraved servants, that the children of Boyars are brought up. The women of the higher ranks not being in the habit of nursing their infants, place them in the hands of gypsy wet-nurses, whose mode of life exposes them incessantly to diseases which must prove most prejudicial to the quality of their milk, and whose bad nourishment and dirty habits, must otherwise affect the constitution of the children. Notwithstanding that the gypsies form here so necessary a part of the community, they are held in the greatest contempt by the other inhabitants, who, indeed, treat them little better than brutes; and the insulting epithet of ‘thief,’ or any equivalent, would sooner be put up with than that of ‘gypsy.’ The public executioners for any kind of punishment are chosen from that class alone; but as their office is merely momentary, the unfortunate beings condemned always suffer considerably more from their inexperience and incapacity.