Our Own Bread

There were obviously no wheat crops prepared by the colonists at the time of first settling Arzis. According to the 1848 chronicle, the Czarist government had initially supplied flour to them. But by the time this letter is written, the first crops seem to be yielding enough flour so the residents could make their "own bread." How good this German staple food must have tasted, made from crops these eager colonists grew by their sweat of their own brow!

The Roof Over Their Heads

As for housing, the writer explains that Arzis colonists had been living in basic shelters (called "Buden" in German—the word for huts, cabins or shacks). These homes were made (as the 1848 chronicle explains) with "stakes, shrubs and beams" supplied by the crown, and mud and clay from the land. But as in many of the colonies, the Arzis settlers were building larger stone homes.

The letter writer says, "we have a very fine stone quarry." However, this quarry is likely not in Arzis, because the 1848 chronicle said that quarries are not found on the local steppes and hills. "Needed stones are hewn from the Brienner area" (i.e. from around the German colony of Brienne), 2-3 km away.

Very Pleased. So Far

Again, the writer tries to give the impression that all is well: "In short, we are very pleased." And, compared to life in Poland and the interim two years in Moldavian villages, it surely was better. Perhaps the sicknesses and fevers that killed many of the immigrants of Arzis during the first 10 years, as thel848 chronicle stresses, had not yet begun in earnest.

It's Not a Wilderness

It seems a bit out of context for the writer to suddenly mention neighboring towns where the Arzis colonists went to trade. Why would someone in Poland want to know them all by name? My guess is that the writer wants to leave a very strong impression that Bessarabia at this time was not a wilderness. Anyone settling there would be able to buy and sell items in bigger towns nearby. The colonists were not living in a wilderness, though the steppes around them were still relatively empty. Seeming to add force to this anti-wilderness argument, the writer emphasizes in the next sentence that there are already more than a dozen established German colonies.