A great portion of Eastern Servia has been occupied by Wallachians, who were invited to the country after the war of independence, when vast districts had been depopulated. These new settlers, being more prolific than their neighbours, gradually gain upon the Servians, and already some of their colonies are met with on the western bank of the Morava. Many Servian villages have become Wallachian as far as language can make them so. It is a strange fact that these Rumanian colonists should prosper in Servia, whilst Servian colonists from Hungary and Slavonia do not. Zinzares, or Southern Wallachians, are met with in most towns, where they work as masons, carpenters, and bricklayers. Bulgarians have settled in the valleys of the Timok and Morava, in the south-east. They are highly esteemed for their industry, and quickly assimilate with the Servians. Near Alexinatz there is a small colony of Albanians, whilst Tsigani, or gipsies, are met with in all parts of the country. They profess to be Christians, and one of their principal occupations is the manufacture of bricks. The Spanish Jews, so numerous formerly at Belgrad, have most of them retired to Semlin, their places being filled by German and Hungarian Jews.[56] Taken as a whole, Servia was a prosperous country before the recent war. The population has increased rapidly since the declaration of independence, but is not nearly as dense yet as in the neighbouring plains of Hungary or Wallachia. Scarcely one-eighth of the area is under cultivation, and agricultural operations are for the most part carried on in the rudest manner. Excepting in the most fertile valleys, such as that of the Lower Timok, the fields are allowed to lie fallow every second year. The exports of Servia clearly exhibit the rudimentary condition of its agriculture, for they consist principally of lean pigs, which find their way in thousands to the markets of Germany, and of cattle. The peasant of Servia derives most of his revenue from the sale of these animals. Within the last few years he has also exported some wheat to the markets of Western Europe. If it were not for the Bulgarian labourers who annually flock to the country in search of field-work, Servia would not produce sufficient corn for its own consumption.[57] {178}