Note 85 — Chapter XLIII

Bessarabia now includes nine districts, the capitals of which, beginning from the south, are Ismael, Ackerman, Kahoul, Bender, Kichinev, Orgeiev, Beltz, Soroka, and Khotin. Kichinev is the capital of the government; it was formerly a poor borough on the Bouik, a little river that falls into the Dniestr; the preference was given it on account of its central position. Its population is now 42,636, of whom from 15,000 to 18,000 are Jews. It is to the administration of Lieutenant-general Fœderof that the town owes the numerous embellishments, and the principal public edifices it presents to the traveller's view.