Wff/fff?

(V'r/fi'fVi

presented

to

Gbe Xibrar^
of tbe

{University of Toronto
bs

Professor B.E. Shore

G 1

<0

Pa ton, Andrew Archibald

Servia

Second edition

London, Longman, 1855.

PREFACE.

The

narrative

work speaks

and descriptive portion of

"

In the historical part

for itself.

have consulted

this

with

advantage

Von

Engel's

" Servian RevoluHistory of Servia/' Ranke's

tion/' Possart's

quie

"

Servia,"

d'Europe,"

but

and Ami Boue's " Tur-

took

the

precaution

of

submitting the facts selected to the censorship

of those
accuracy.

on

the

For

knowledgment

spot

best able

this service, I
to

the Servian code;

M.
M.

to

test

their

owe a debt of

ac-

Hadschitch, the framer of

Marinovitch, Secretary of

a2

PREFACE.

IV

the Senate

and Professor John Shafarik, whose

lectures

on Slaavic history,

tiquities,

have obtained unanimous applause.

literature,

and an-

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER

I.

PAGE

Leave Beyrout.

Camp

afloat.

Rhodes. The shores of the

American Presbyterian

clergyman. A Mexican senator. A sermon for

Smyrna. Buyukde're". Sir Stratford Canning. EmMediterranean suitable for the cultivation of the

Moslem

of the

new

arts.

school.

sailors.

bark for Bulgaria

CHAPTER

II.

Varna. Contrast of Northern and Southern provinces of

Turkey. Roustchouk.-^Conversation with Deftendar.

A dandy of the
The Danube. A Bulgarian
Lower Danube. Depart for Widdin
interior.

CHAPTER

15

III.

River steaming. Arrival

Widdin. Jew. Comfortless

khan. Wretched appearance of Widdin. Hussein Pasha.

M. Petronievitch. Steam balloon
at

A3

29

CONTENTS.

VI

CHAPTER

IV.

The Timok. Enter Servia. Brza Palanka.

The Iron Gates. Old and New Orsova.Wallachian
Matron. Semlin. A conversation on language ....

PAGE

Leave Widdin.

CHAPTER
Description

of Belgrade.

36"

V.

Street and street

Coffee-house.
square.

Fortifications.

Cathedral. Large
population.
Baths
Deserted

45

villa.

CHAPTER

VI.

Europeanization of Belgrade. Lighting and paving.

of the
Turkish Pasha. Turkish quarter.
Turkish population. Panorama of Belgrade.Dinner
Inte-

rior

fortress.

party given by the prince

CHAPTER
Return

to

53

VII.

The Danube. Semlin. Wucics

Cathedral solemnity. Subscription

Servia.

Petronievitch.

CHAPTER

VIII.

traveller.

poet.

in-

terior

74

CHAPTER

IX.

Gipsies. Macadamized roads

Journey to Shabatz. Resemblance of manners

A Servian bride.
the middle ages. Palesh.
strel.

65

Milutinovich, the
Bul Tableau de genre. Departure for the

Holman, the blind

garian legend.

and
ball.

to those

of

Blind min83

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER

Vll

X.
PAGE

Shabatz.

A provincial

chancery.

Servian

collector.

De-

Country barber.Turkish quarter.

A provincial dinner. Native soiree

scription of his house.

Self-taught

priest.

93

CHAPTER XI.
History of a renegade. A bishop's house. ProPortrait of Milosh. Bosnia and the
gress of education.

Kaimak.

Bosniacs.

Moslem fanaticism. Death of the collector

CHAPTER

The banat
Enter

108

XII.

Losnitza. Feuds on the

the back-woods. Convent of Tronosha. Greek

Congregation of peasantry. Rustic finery
of Matchva.

frontier.

festival.

CHAPTER

125

XIII.

Romantic sylvan scenery. Patriarchal simplicity of manners.

Krupena. Sokol. extraordinary position.
Wretched town. Alpine scenery. Cool reception. ValIts

140

ley of the Rogatschitza

The Drina.

CHAPTER XIV.
Liubovia. Quarantine station. Derlatcha.

Servian beauty.

A lunatic

priest.

Sorry

quarters.

Murder by brigands

152

CHAPTER XV.
Arrival at

Turkish

Moslems
view

Ushitza. Wretched

vayvode. A Persian
and Christians. Visit

Excellent khan.
Relations of
Bird's eye
the

street.

dervish.

castle.

162

CONTENTS.

Vlll

CHAPTER
Poshega.

The

Morava.

river

XVI.

Arrival

at

Csatsak.

PAGE

Project ascend the Kopaunik.

Ancient cathedral church. Greek mass.
Albanian disorders.
Karanovatz. Emigrant

Viennese doctor.

Visit

to

the bishop.

priest.

Saltmines

174

CHAPTER

XVII.

Enter
First view of the

High Balkan. Convent of Studenitza. Byzantine Archi New

tecture. Phlegmatic monk. Servian

Russian
quarantine.
major

Coronation church of the ancient kings of Servia.

the Highlands.

Valley

of the Ybar.

frontier.

186

CHAPTER XVIII.
Cross the Bosniac frontier. Gipsy encampment. Novibazar
described. Rough reception. Precipitate departure.
Fanaticism

197

CHAPTER

XIX.

Ascent of the Kopaunik. Grand prospect. Descent of

the Kopaunik. Bruss. Involuntary bigamy. Conversation on the Servian character. Krushevatz. Relics of

207

monarchy

CHAPTER XX.

Formation of the Servian monarchy. Contest between the

Latin and Greek Churches. Stephan Dushan. A great

warrior.
sion of

Results

Amurath.

and Amurath.
observations

Knes Lasar. Invaof Kossovo. Death of Lasar

of his victories.

Battle

Fall

of the Servian monarchy.

General
219

CONTENTS.

IX

CHAPTER XXL

PAGE

battue missed.

Proceed

Foreign-Office

Suregee. Tiupria.

to Alexinatz.

Bulgarian frontier. Gipsy

New bridge and macadamized roads

courier.

CHAPTER

229

XXII.

Jovial party. Servian and Austrian

Convent described. Eagles reversed.

Visit to Ravanitza.
jurisdiction.

Bulgarian

240

festivities

CHAPTER

XXIII.

Has preserved middle-age character. RobinWonderful echo. Kindness of the people.

Svilainitza. Posharevatz. Baby giantess

Manasia.

its

son Crusoe.

246

CHAPTER XXIV.

Mysterious waters.Treaty of Passarovitz.The

Rich
castle of Semendria. Relics of the antique. The Brankovitch family. Pancsova. Morrison's
soil.

pills

255

CHAPTER XXV.

Their moral character.

Easter.
Peculiarity of manners.Christmas

Personal appearance of the Servians.

festivities.

The

264

Dodola

CHAPTER XXVI.
Town

Manners half-oriental halfThe public

Merchants and tradesmen. Turkish popula Public writer
Porters. Barbers.

life.

offices.

European.
tion.

Cafe's.

272

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER

XXVII.
PAGE

Journalism.The fine The Lyceum.MineMuseum.Servian Education

ralogical cabinet.
arts.

Poetry.

CHAPTER

279

XXVIII.

Impressions the East.

The palace. Kara Georg ....
of

Preparations for departure.

Prince Alexander.

285

CHAPTER XXIX.
A

memoir

of

290

Kara Georg

CHAPTER XXX.
300

Milosh Obrenovitch

CHAPTER XXXI.

The government. The senate. The minister

Courts
The minister of the
for foreign
Finances
of

The

prince.

affairs.

interior.

justice.

CHAPTER

XXXII.
320

Agriculture and commerce

CHAPTER
The

foreign agents

309

XXXIII.
325

CONTENTS.

XI

CHAPTER XXXIV.
VIENNA IN 1844.
PAGB

Music. The Palladian

Improvements
atres. Sir Robert Gordon. Prince Metternich. Armen

Austrian policy
Dancing. Strauss
in Vienna.

style.

ball

330

CHAPTER XXXV.
Concluding observations on Austria and her prospects.

341

SERVIA.

CHAPTER
Leave Beyrout.

Camp afloat. Rhodes. The shores of the

Mediterranean suitable

Moslem

clergyman.

Smyrna.

I.

of the

new

cultivation of the arts.

for the

school.

American

A sermon

Mexican senator.

Buyukdere. Sir

Presbyterian

Embark

for sailors.

Stratford Canning

for Bulgaria.

have been

have had quite enough of

four years in the East, and feel that

Notwithstanding the azure

tains,
I

feel

European

a blazing

good

for the present.

skies,

bubbling foun-

Mosaic pavements, and fragrant narghiles,

begin to

for

it

fire,

music,

symptoms of

life,

sharp

air,

ennui, and a thirst

and a good

appetite,

well-lighted rooms, female society,

and

the

piquant

vaudevilles

of

LEAVE BEYROUT.

ray ancient friends, Scribe, Bayard, and Melesville.

At length

my

I stand
is

luggage

on the pier of Beyrout, while

being embarked for the Austrian

steamer lying in the roads, which, in the Levantine

slang, has lighted her chibouque,

yon white promontory,

and

is

polluting

cut in the azure

clear

horizon, with a thick black cloud of Wallsend.

bade a hurried adieu

went on board.
its

to

my

and

friends,

The quarter-deck, which

awning day and night, was divided

retained

two

into

compartments, one of which was reserved for

the

promenade of the cabin passengers, the other

for the bivouac of the Turks,

camp

its

rolled

gear,

quarter

up beds,

and

all

a vast

sorts

of

the

family

afloat,

with

water-cans, coffee-pots,

of bread,

stores

and other provisions

East,

tent

making

counterpanes, washing

quilts,

and chibouques, with

fruit,

retained their

habits with amusing minuteness,

larboard

the

who

for

cannot

the voyage.

move without

household paraphernalia, but then

slight addition of furniture

cheese,

and

it

In
its

requires a

utensils to settle

RHODES.

The

for years in a strange place.

settlement of a

European family requires a thousand

and months of

installation,

but then

et ceteras

it is

set in

motion for the new world with a few portmanteaus

and

travelling bags.

Two

days and a half of steaming brought us to

Rhodes.

An

enchanter has waved his

wand

in read-

ing of the wondrous world of the ancients, one

feels a desire to get a

destruction

at

at

Rome

by barbarian hordes.

wards of half

make

peep

this period is

before

its

leap back-

what one seems

to

Rhodes, a perfectly preserved city and

middle ages.

fortress of the

Here has been none

of the Vandalism of Vauban, Cohorn, and those

mechanical-pated fellows, who, with their Dutch

parapets,

dyke-looking

made

such

havoc

of

donjons

and

Here

every variety of mediaeval battlement

is

so perfect

is

picturesque

turrets

in

Europe.
;

the illusion, that one wonders the

warder's horn

should be mute, and the walls

devoid of bowman, knight, and squire.

Two more

delightful days of steaming

b2

among

A MOSLEM OF THE NEW SCHOOL.

the Greek Islands

now

The heat was

followed.

moderate, the motion gentle, the sea was liquid

lapis lazuli,

us,
is

wrought

and the hundred-tinted

their

accustomed

around

islets

spell.

Surely there

something in climate which creates permanent

abodes of art

The Mediterranean, with

its

graphical configuration, excluding from

hydro-

its

great

peninsulas the extremes of heat and cold, seems

destined to nourish the most exquisite sentiment of
the Beautiful.

Those

brilliant or softly

tints invite the palette,

graduated

and the cultivation of the

graces of the mind, shining with

its aesthetic

ray

through lineaments thorough-bred from generation

to generation, invites the sculptor to transfer to

marble, grace of contour and elevation of expression.

But

let

The Germanic

us not envy the balmy South.

or northern element,

ceptible of the beautiful

is

down

the

sus-

more masculine, better

balanced, less in extremes.

that struck

if less

Roman

It

was

this

element

empire, that peoples

America and Australia, and rules India; that

exhausted worlds, and then created new.

The most prominent

individual of the native

AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN CLERGYMAN.

was Arif Effendi, a pious

division of passengers,

Moslem

of the

of brandy

and

new

first,

it

a great horror

was made from wine

own

secondly, because his

;

who had

school,

because

was Jamaica rum

Peter Parley says, "

for, as

favourite beverage

Of

many improvements have taken place

among the Mussulmans, who show a disposition

late years,

to

adopt the best things of their more enlightened

neighbours."

We

had a great deal of conver-

sation during the voyage, for he professed to have

a great admiration of England, and a great dislike

of France

probably

all

owing

rum

to the fact of

coming from Jamaica, and brandy and wine from

Cognac and Bordeaux.

Another individual was a

still

richer character:

an American Presbyterian clergyman, with

bond
"

dilated nostril

You must

lose

and a

terrific

frown.

Canada," said he to

day, abruptly, "ay, and

furi-

Bermuda

me

one

into the bar-

gain."

"

think you had better round off your acqui-

sitions

with a few odd

West

India Islands."

" We have stomach

enough

b3

for that too."

AMERICAN PRESBYTERIAN CLERGYMAN.

6
"

hear you have been to Jerusalem."

" Yes

lost; for I
in

went to recover

my

voice,

which

have one of the largest congregations

Boston."

"

But,

my

good

friend,

you breathe nothing but

war and conquest."

" The fact

is,

war

is as

unavoidable as thunder

and lightning; the atmosphere must be cleared

from time to time."

* Were
you ever a soldier ?"
" No I was in the American
;

day

was

after

navy.

Many

John Bull on the shores of New-

foundland."

"After John Bull?"

"

Yes,

Sir,

energy; give
millstone,

" The

if

sweating after

me

the

him

man who

delight in

will

shoulder a

need be."

capture of Canada, Bermuda, and a few

odd West India Islands, would certainly give

scope for your energy.
bull

"

This would be taking the

by the horns."
Swinging him by the

tail,

The burlesque vigour of

say I."

his illustrations

some-

MEXICAN SENATOR.

One

times ran to anti-climax.

something
graph),

(if I

day, he talked of

recollect right, the electric tele-

moving with the

rapidity of a flash of

lightning, with a pair of spurs clapped into

In spite of

all

it.

this ultra-national bluster,

we

found him to be a very good sort of man, having

nothing of the bear but the skin, and in the test
of the quarantine arrangements, the least selfish
of the party.

Another passenger was an

senator,

who was

good old school.

the essence of politeness of the

Every morning he stood smiling,

how

hat in hand, while he inquired

had

slept.

I shall

each of us

never forget the cholera-like

contortion of horror he displayed,

cal militant

Mexican

elderly

when

the cleri-

(poking his fun at him), declared that

Texas was within the natural boundary of the

State,

and that some morning they would make a

breakfast of the whole question.

One day he passed from

"
is

am

fond of fun/'

politics to religion.

said he,

the sign of a clear conscience.

been spent among

sailors.

b 4

"

think

My

life

it

has

have begun with

SERMON FOR SAILORS.

many a blue jacket hail-fellow-well-met in my
own rough way, and have ended in weaning him
None

from wicked courses.

When

gion for me.

man whose

I see

of your gloomy

religion

makes him melancholy, and averse from

1 tell

him

The

god must be

his

my

reli-

gaiety,

devil."

originality of this gentleman's intellect and

manners, led
inquiry

and

by a recent

subsequently to make further

I find

one of his sermons reported

traveller,

made

oratory

me

who,

after stating that his

a deep impression on the congre-

gation of the Sailors' chapel in Boston,

who

with their eyes, ears, and mouths open, as

if spell-

bound

in listening to him, thus continues

describes a ship at sea,

Heaven, when the

'

'

Rocks ahead !'

Ay, ay,

sir,'

'

man

bound
at

for

was the answer

tack.

'

the out-look sung out,

The

mate gave

He

the port of

the head sung out,

the ship obeyed,

But

in

more, the lead indicated a shoal.

!'

"

Port the helm/ cried the mate.

and stood upon a

ahead

sat

his opinion

The man on

Sandbreaks and breakers

was now

captain

two minutes

but

sail

called,

and the

where they could,

SERMON FOR SAILORS.

the lead and the eye showed nothing but dangers

all

around,

sand

banks,

rocks,

and dangerous coasts.

them

clearly

lay

sible to

no doubt about

but they
reach

it

all

there

its

sunken

chart showed

latitude

out, that

sung

My friends, it was

it.

The

reefs,

enough where the port of Heaven

there was

gitude

coral

was no

it

and lon-

was impos-

way to get to
who blew up that

fair

the devil

sand-bank, and sunk those rocks, and set the coral

insects to

work

his object

was

to prevent that

ship from ever getting to Heaven, to wreck

its

it

on

way, and to make prize of the whole crew for

slaves for ever.

But just

as every soul

was seized

with consternation, and almost in despair, a tight

little

schooner hove in sight; she was cruizing

about, with one Jesus, a pilot, on board.

The

captain hailed him, and he answered that he

knew

a fair

way

to the port in question.

He

pointed

out to them an opening in the rocks, which the

largest ship

might beat through, with a channel

so deep, that the lead could never reach to the

bottom, and the passage was land-locked the whole

way, so that the wind might veer round to every

b 5

SMYRNA.

10

point in the compass, and blow hurricanes from

them

all,

and yet

it

could never raise a dangerous

What

sea in that channel.

distressed ship do,

when Jesus showed them

and gave them

chart,

laughed

at him,

He

face.

course,

the bearings?

all

and threw

find a channel

his chart

his

They

back in

his

where they could not

and on they

Impossible;

did the crew of that

sailed

in

their

own

and every one of them perished."

At Smyrna,

I signalized

my

return to the land

of the Franks, by ordering a beef-steak, and a

bottle of porter,

and bespeaking the paper from a

gentleman in drab leggings, who had come from

Manchester to look

after the affairs

of a com-

mercial house, in which he or his employers were

involved.

He wondered

that

Ottoman empire should be

so

a hotel

in

the

unlike one in

" If the inns down

Europe, and asked me,

in the

country were as good as this."

As

for Constantinople, I refer all readers to the

industry and accuracy of Mr. White,

justly

have

Oriental

terminated

his

epistolary phrase,

who might

volumes with the

"What more

can I

BUYUKDERE.
Mr. White

write ?"
lancer,

is

11

not a mere sentence ba-

but belongs to the guild of bona

fide

Oriental travellers.

In summer,
I

On

Buyukdere.

who

led

on the Bosphorus

is

and

caique,

rowed

up

me

met

his

fairy

to a beautiful little kiosk,

on

me

abode of four small rooms, which

embraced a view
Maggiore

to

the prince of

the extremity of a garden, and there installed

in

so

the threshold of the villa of the

embassy,

attaches,

Pera
a

into

jumped

British

all

like that of Isola Bella

on Lake

here books, the piano, the narghile, and

the parterre of flowers, relieved the drudgery of

his Eastern diplomacy.

and Mr.

at the other
I

week of

delightful repose.
libitum, the

The

gentle-

the embassy being overwhelmed with

of

business.

villa,

Mr.

end of the garden.

mornings were occupied ad

served

the other attaches, lived in a house

here spent a

men

Lord

in

At
the

four o'clock dinner was usually

airy vestibule

of

the

embassy

and with the occasional accession of other

members of the diplomatic corps

b6

we

usually

12

SIR

STRATFORD CANNING.

A couple

formed a large party.

sunset a caique, which from

its

of hours before
size

might have

been the galley of a doge, was in waiting, and

Lady C
wooded

sometimes took us to a favourite

hill

or bower-grown creek in the Para-

dise-like environs, while a small musical party in

the evening terminated each day.

attaches of the Russian

embassy,

One

of the

M. F

is

the favorite dilettante of Buyukdere; he has one

of the finest voices

reminded

me

ever heard, and frequently

of the easy

humour and sonorous

profundity of Lablache.

Before embarking the reader on the Black Sea,

I

cannot forbear a single remark on the distin-

guished

individual

who

has

so

long

and

so

worthily represented Great Britain at the Otto-

man

Porte.

Sir Stratford

Canning

is

certainly

unpopular

with the extreme fanatical party, and with

those economists

who

all

are for killing the goose to

get at the golden eggs

but the real interests of

the Turkish nation never had a firmer support.

The

chief difficulty in the case of this race

is

STRATFORD CANNING.

SIR

13

While

the impossibility of fusion with others.

they decrease in number, the Rayahs increase in

wealth, in numbers, and in intelligence.

The Russians
St.

are the Orientals of Europe, but

German town.

is

Petersburg

German
and

industry corrects the old Muscovite sloth

The immigrant

cunning.

offices, for

highest

strangers rise to the

the crown employs

counterpoise on the old nobility

them

as a

as burgher in-

corporations were used by the kings of three centuries ago.

No
lems

similar

possible

one course therefore

those

is

process

who wish

upheld

to

see

strenuous

the

Mos-

with

remains

open

for

Ottoman Empire

insistance

on

the

Porte

treating the Rayah population with justice and

moderation.
real

in

and true

this

case

principle,

The

interests of

interests of the
identical.

humanity, and the

Ottoman Empire, are

Guided by

sound

which completely reconciles the policy

of Great Britain with the highest

tical

this

morality,

Sir Stratford

sued his career with an

maxims of

poli-

Canning has pur-

all-sifting intelligence, a

ARRIVAL AT VARNA.

14

vigour of character and judgment, an indifference

to

temporary repulses, and a

popularity,

which has

sacrifice of personal

called forth the respect

and

involuntary admiration of parties the most op-

posed to his views.

I

embarked on board a steamer,

skirted the

western coast of the Black Sea, and landed on the

following morning in Varna.

CHAPTER

Varna.

Contrast of Northern

II.

and Southern Provinces of

Turkey. Roustchouk. Conversation with Deftendar.

The Danube. A Bulgarian interior. A dandy of the
Lower Danube. Depart for Widdin.

All

my

Bulgaria

hail,

No

sooner had I secured

quarters and deposited

sought the main

delightfully

street, in

my

baggage, than

order to catch the

keen impression which a new region

stamps on the mind.

How

different

are

the

features

of Slaavic

Turkey, from those of the Arabic provinces in

which

so

long resided.

The

flat

roofs,

the

measured pace of the camel, the half-naked negro,

the uncouth Bedouin, the cloudless heavens, the

VARNA.

16

tawny

earth,

exchanged

and the meagre apology

for ricketty

tiling, laid in

for turf, are

wooden houses with coarse

such a way as to eschew the mono-

tony of straight lines

gons drawn by

strings of primitive

buffaloes,

wag-

and driven by Bulgarians

with black woolly caps, real genuine grass growing

on the downs outside the

blast from the Black Sea,

my

more

rattling

more welcome than

the balmy spices of Arabia, for

that I was once

and a

walls,

reminded

it

Europe, and must

in

costume to her ruder

all

me

befit

This was indeed

airs.

the north of the Balkan, and I must needs pull

out

my

pea-jacket.

How

waves, clouds, and grey skies

me

those winds,

I relished

They reminded

of English nature and Dutch

The Nore,

art.

the Downs, the Frith of Forth, and sundry dor-

mant Backhuysens, re-awoke

The moral

interest too

was

to

my

fancy.

different.

In Egypt

or Syria, where whole cycles of civilization

entombed, we interrogate the past ; here

garia the past

is

nothing, and

we

in

lie

Bul-

vainly interro-

gate the future.

The

interior of

Varna has a very

fair

bazaar

VARNA.

17

not covered as in Constantinople and other large

The

towns, but well furnished.

severely in the Russian

never recovered

private dwellings

The town

are generally miserable.

suffered so

war of 1828, that

former prosperity.

its

also

been twice nearly

that,

notwithstanding

all

its

commercial importance,

it

has

It

has

burnt since then

historical, military,
it

has at present

more than 20,000 inhabitants.

The

town underwent a thorough repair

so

and

little

walls of the

in the spring

and summer of 1843.

The majority

of

the

inhabitants

are

Turks,

and even the native Bulgarians here speak Turkish better than their

garian here told

me

national language.

own

language.

One Bul-

that be could not speak the

Now

in the west of Bulgaria,

on the borders of Servia, the Turks speak Bulgarian better than Turkish.

From Varna

to

Roustchouk

is

three days' jour-

ney, the latter half of the road being agreeably

diversified

many

with wood, corn, and pasture

of the fields inclosed.

and

Just at sunset,

found myself on the ridge of the

last

undulation

18

ROUSTCHOUK.

of the slope of Bulgaria, and again greeted the

ever-noble valley of the Danube.
before

me

Roustchouk lay

hitherward, and beyond the river, the

rich flat lands of Wallachia stretched

to the

away

north.

As

approached the town,

a fortress of vast extent

but as

from the heights from which

appeared to
south.
ity,

want strength

The ramparts were

but rusty,

old,

I perceived

if

it is

it

to be

commanded

was descending,

it

approached from the

built with great solid-

dismounted cannon, obliterated

embrasures, and palisades rotten from exposure

to the weather,

showed that

must undergo a considerable

to stand a siege
repair.

The

it

aspect

we rumbled down

of the place did not improve as

the street, lined with houses one story high, and

here and there a

little

mosque, with a shabby

wooden minaret crowned with

conical tin tops

like the extinguishers of candles.

I

put up at the khan.

furniture

My room

was without

but, being lately whitewashed, and duly

swept out under

laid with the best

my own
mat

superintendence, and

in the

khan, on which

THE DEFTENDAR.
placed

my

bed and carpets, the addition of a cou-

and a deal table, made

ple of rush-bottomed chairs

it

19

habitable,

which was

all I

to stay only a few days.

desired, as I intended

was supplied with a

most miserable dinner; and,

my

to

horror, the

stewed meat was sprinkled with cinnamon.

wine was bad, and the water

are

worse, for there

still

no springs at Roustchouk, and they use Da-

nube water,

filtered

through a jar of a porous

sandstone found in the neighbourhood.

this

The

A jar of

kind stands in every house, but even when

filtered in this

On

way

it is

far

from good.

hearing that the Deftendar spoke English

perfectly,

and had long resided

in

England,

I felt

a curiosity to see him, and accordingly presented

myself

at the

Konak, and was shown

of the Deftendar.

I pulled aside a

to the divan

pendent curtain,

and entered a room of large dimensions, faded

decorations,

and a broad red divan, the cushions

of which were considerably the worse for wear.

Such was the bureau of the Deftendar Effendi,

who

sat

surrounded with papers, and the imple-

ments of writing.

He was

man

apparently of

THE DEFTENDAR.

20
fifty-five

years of age, slightly inclining to corpu-

lence, with

a very short neck, surmounted

large features, coarsely chiselled

by

but not devoid

of a certain intelligence in his eye, and dignity in

general

He

effect.

spoke English with a correct

accent, but slowly, occasionally

member

stopping to re-

a word; thus showing that his English

was not imperfect from want of knowledge, but

He was

rusty from want of practice.

Turk, and had been

mercial

agent of

for

an Egyptian

eight years

Mohammed AH

the com-

at Malta,

and

had, moreover, visited the principal countries of

Europe.
I

my

then took a series of short and rapid whiffs of

pipe while

bethought

of treating the subject of

me

my

of the best

visit,

manner

and then

said,

"that few orientals could draw a distinction be-

tween

politics

and geography but that with a man

;

of his calibre and experience, I was safe from misinterpretation

for a
for

that

was

collecting the materials

work on the Danubian provinces, and

that

any information which he might give me, con-

sistently with the exigencies of his official position,

THE DEFTEXDAR.
I

should

much

feel

least likely to

the object of

indebted, as

21
I

thought

was

be misunderstood by stating clearly

my

journey to the authorities, while

information derived from the fountain-head was

the most valuable."

The Deftendar,
said,

"

remark

after

suspect that
in

commending my openness,
will find

you

the pashalic of

very

little

It

Silistria.

an

is

agricultural country,

and the majority of the

habitants are Turks.

The Rayahs

able,

and pay very few

empire, which
of Silistria.

is

is

considering the

taxes,

You may

not a province of the Ottoman

and then, a rude Turk appro-

priates to himself a Bulgarian girl

vernment cannot be responsible

the

province

We
;

scoundrels at

rest

better governed than the pashalic

Now

dual excesses.

in-

are very peace-

agricultural wealth of the country.

assured that there

to

but the go-

for these indivi-

have no malcontents within

but

there

Braila,

tranquillity of Bulgaria

are

who wish
:

few
to

Hetarist

disturb

the

but the Wallachian go-

vernment has taken measures to prevent them

from

carrying

their

projects

into

execution."

THE DANUBE.

22

After some further

topics, I took

my

on

conversation

indifferent

leave.

The succeeding days were devoted

reconnoissance of the place

but

to a general

must say that

Roustchouk, although capital of the pashalic of

Silistria,

and containing

inhabitants, pleased
size that I

had seen

me

thirty or forty
less

than any town of

in the East.

The

and badly paved, without a

dirty

bazaar or cafe to

kill

time

thousand

in,

its

streets are

single

good

or a single respect-

able edifice of any description to look

at.

The

redeeming resource was the promenade on the

banks of the Danube, which has here attained

almost

its full

volume, and uniting the waters of

Alp, Carpathian, and Balkan, rushes impatiently

to the

Euxine.

At length the day of departure came. The

attendant had just removed the tumbler of coffee,
tossing the fragments of toast into the court-yard,

an operation which appeared to have a magnetic

effect

with

on the
his

bills

of the poultry;

accustomed

plate as a basis to

my

impropriety,

and then,
placed

the

me

that

hookah, telling

AN INVITATION.

23

a Bulgarian Christian, wished to

speak

with me.

u Let him walk

delightful whiff;

dow

in," said I, as I took the first

and

darkening the win-

that looked out on the verandah, gave

me

a Fugitive look of recognition, and then entering

and making

his

manner, asked

me

salutation
to eat

a kindly hearty

in

my

mid-day meal with

him.

"
I

Indeed," quoth

"
I,

accept your invitation.

have not gone to pay

because
his

my

good

offices;

but

am

anxious to

acquaintance of the people, so

of

my

to

the

the Bey,

remain here too short a time to need

When

visit to

am

make

the

your guest."

the hour arrived, I adjusted the tassel

fez,

put on

Christian

my

great coat,

quarter

and proceeded

where, after various

turnings and windings, I at length arrived at a

high wooden gateway, new and unpainted.

An

uncouth tuning of

savoury

me

fare,

fiddles,

the odour of

and a hearty laugh from within, told

that I had no further to go

for all these gates

are so like each other, one never

knows a house

A BULGARIAN INTERIOR.

24
till

On

after close observation.

entering I passed

over a plat of grass, and piercing a wooden tene-

ment by a dark passage, found myself in a

three-

sided court, where several persons were sitting on

rush-bottomed chairs.

F
his,

came forward, took both

and then presented me
I

being seated,

to the

my

hands

company.

in

On

exchanged salutations, and then

looked round, and perceived that the three sides

of the court were composed of rambling wooden

tenements

the fourth was a

garden in which

little

a few flowers were cultivated.

The

elders sat, the youngers stood at a dis-

tance; so respectful
eastern world.

The

is

youth

first

to age in all this

in the former

figure

group was the father of our host

the acrid hu-

mours of extreme age had crimsoned

and

his

head shook from side

attempted to
his seat.

rise to salute

The

fragile delicate

to

me, but

Her

chin, were exquisitely chiselled,

smooth and white

as

side,
I

as

he

held him to

was a model of

wife of our host

beauty.

his eye-lids,

nose, mouth,

and

and her skin was

alabaster; but the eye-lid

DANDY OF THE LOWER DANUBE.

drooped

the skin

the eye

was

hung

fire,

slightly blue,

25

and under each orb

but so blending with

the paleness of the rest of the

as rather

face,

to give distinctness to the character of beauty,

than to

from the general

detract

second child hung on her

left

Her

effect.

arm, and a certain

graceful negligence in the plaits of her hair and

the arrangement of her bosom, showed that the

cares of the

young mother had superseded the

nicety of the coquette.

The only other person

of remark, was a Frank.

in the

company worthy

His surtout was of cloth

of second or third quality, but profusely braided.

His stock appeared

mond

to strangle him,

and a

dia-

breast-pin was stuck in a shirt of texture

one degree removed from

as I afterwards learned,

sail-cloth.

His blood,

was so crossed by Greek,

Tsinsar, and Wallachian varieties, that

it

would

have puzzled the united genealogists of Europe

to tell his breed

gled
for

subdivision

French

Grecaille.

in

and

his language

of that

the

dialect

fashionable

was a man-

which passes
centres

of the

DANDY OF THE LOWER DANUBE.

26

Exquisite.

"

vous

etes

Quangt

venie,

Mon-

sieur ?"

Author.

"

y a huit jours."

II

Exquisite (looking at a large ring on his fore

finger).
ci

"Ce

sont de bons diables dans ce pays-

mais tout est un po barbare."

"Assez barbare,"
exquisite's

said

as

I,

were in the

nails

saw that the

deepest

possible

mourning.
Exquisite.

Author.

"

Exquisite.

" Avez vous ete a Boukarest ?"

Non

"Ah

maintenant

est

Author.

je

comme

wous

assire

que Boukarest

Paris et Londres "

" Avez-vous vu Paris et Londres ?"

Exquisite.
fois

pas encore."

"

Non mais

Boukarest vaut cent

Galatz et Braila."

During

this

playing ; the

colloquy,

first fiddle

the

was

gipsy music was

really not

bad

and

the nonchalant rogue-humour of his countenance

did not belie his alliance to that large family,

which has produced " so many blackguards, but

never a single blockhead."

Dinner was now announced.

'a

wife,

A BULGARIAN DINNER.

27

relieved of her child, acted as first waitress.

fare consisted

mostly of varieties of fowl, with a

pilaff of rice, in the

good

Turkish manner,

all

decidedly

but the wine rather sweet and muddy.

When
me

The

asked for a glass of water,

in a little

bowl of

had just dashed

into

and

was handed

which mine hostess

silver,

a jar of filtered lymph.

Dinner concluded, the party

himself,

it

rose,

each crossing

reciting a short formula of prayer

meanwhile a youthful relation of the house stood

with the washing-basin and soap turret poised on
his left

hand, while with the right he poured

on

hands water from a slender-spouted

my

Behind him

ewer.

stood

the

a clean towel with a tiny

web

running across

its

extremities,

hostess

holding

of silver thread

and on

my

right

stood the ex-diners with sleeves tucked up,

in

tin

all

a row, waiting their turn at the wash-hand

basin.

After smoking a chibouque, I took

for I

my

had promised to spend the afternoon

leave

in the

house of a Swiss, who, along with the agent of

the steam-boat

company and a

c2

third individual,

DEPARTURE.

28

made up

the

sum

total of the resident

Franko-

Levantines in Roustchouk.

gun

fired in the

evening warned

the steamer had arrived

on for Servia,

embarked

and, anxious
forthwith.

me
to

that

push

CHAPTER

III.

Arrival Widdin. Jew. Comfortless

Wretched appearance of Widdin. Hussein
Pasha. M. Petronievitch. Steam Balloon.

River Steaming.

at

Khan.

River steaming
best of

all

makes you
before

is,

according to

my

Steam

sorts of locomotion.
sick,

and the voyage

is

you have gained your sea

and

at

sea

generally over
legs

and your

In mail or stage you have no

land appetite.
sickness

notions, the

see

the country,

but

you

are

squeezed sideways by helpless corpulence, and in

by two

front cooped into uneasiness

tistical

knees and

nels, cuts,

As

toes.

and viaducts

see the country, but

pairs of ego-

for locomotives, tun-

this is not travelling to

arrival

c 3

without seeing

it.

ARRIVAL AT WIDDIN.

30

This eighth wonder of the world, so admirably

adapted for business,

is

the despair of picturesque

well as post-horse, chaise,

tourists,

as

letters.

Our

distinguished

cathedral

from

and gig

towns, instead of being

afar

their

by

cloud-capt

towers, are only recognizable at their respective

and

of

by the pyramids

stations

ham

gooseberry tarts

sandwiches being at one place

lower, and at another at the

at the

upper, end of an

" refreshment room."

apartment marked
in river

steaming you walk the deck,

ther and the scenery be good

if

if

Now

the wea-

the reverse, you

lounge below, read, write, or play

and then the

meals are arranged with Germanic ingenuity for

killing time

On

and the

digestive organs.

the second day the boat arrived at Widdin,

and the agent of the steam packet company, an

old Jew,

came on board.

stepped across the

plank and accompanied him to a large white house

opposite the landing-place.
a group of Israel's children

On

entering, I

in the midst

saw
of a

deadly combat of sale and purchase, bawling at

the top

of their voices in most villanous Cas-

A JEW.
tilian

all

were

and shabbily dressed.

filthy

agent having mentioned

a broad-lipped

31

who

was

to the group,

young man with a German mutze

surmounting his oriental costume, stepped

ward with a confident

voice addressed

me

air,

and

for-

in a thick guttural

an unknown tongue.

in

when the agent

looked about for an answer,

me

The

told

in Turkish that he spoke English.

Jew.

"You

English gentleman,

and not

sir,

know English."
Author. " I have to apologize for not recognizing the accents of

my

native country."

"
Jew. u Bring goods wid you, sir ?
Author. " No, I am not a merchant.

Pray can

you get me a lodging ?"

Jew. " Get you as

mush room you

Author. " Have you been

Jew.

"

Been

in

in

London,

like, sir."

England?"
Amsterdam,

and

Hamburgh."

We

now

arrived at the wide folding gates of

the khan, which to be sure had abundance of

space for travellers, but the misery and

every apartment disgusted me.

c 4

filth

of

One had broken

WIDDIN.

32

windows, another a broken

floor,

third was

covered with half an inch of dust, and the weather

outside was cold

and rainy

so I shrugged

up

my

shoulders and asked to be conducted to another

khan.

There

was somewhat better

new room

got into a

When

the

for I

leading out of a cafe where

the charcoal burned freely and

ment.

off,

warmed

room was washed out

the apartI

thought

myself fortunate, so dreary and deserted had the

other khan appeared to me.
I

now took

a walk through the bazaars, but

found the place altogether miserable, being some-

what

less village-like

so nicely

than Roustchouk.

Lying

on the bank of the Danube, which here

makes such

map with

beautiful curves,

capital letters,

it

and marked on the

ought (such was

my

notion) to be a place having at least one wellbuilt

raglio,

and well-stocked bazaar, a handsome

and some good-looking mosques.

of the sort.
is

The Konak

an old barrack.

Passavan Oglou

is

The

Nothing

or palace of the Pasha

seraglio of the

in ruins,

looking house in the place

se-

is

famous

and the only decent

the

new

office

of the

HUSSEIN PASHA.

33

Steam Navigation Company, which

is

on the

Danube.
I

Being Ramadan,
during the day

could not see the pasha

M.

but in the evening,

Petronie-

vitch, the exiled leader of the Servian National

me

party, introduced

to

Hussein Pasha, the once

This cele-

terrible destroyer of the Janissaries.

brated character appeared to be verging on eighty,

and, afflicted with gout, was sitting in the corner
of the divan at his ease, in the old Turkish ample

The white

costume.

beard, the dress of the pasha,

the rich but faded carpet which covered the floor,

the roof of elaborate but dingy

were

all in

perfect keeping,

of two thick

from the

wax

floor,

wooden arabesque,

and the dubious

candles rising two or three feet

but seemed to bring out the

me

picture,

which carried

least, to

the pashas of the old school.

smoked

crystal.

plied

narghile

M.

back, a generation at

of dark red

Hussein

Bohemian cut

Petronievitch and myself were sup-

with pipes

which

were

more profusely

mounted with diamonds, than any

before

light

smoked;

for

Hussein Pasha
c 5

is

had ever

beyond

all

STEAM BALLOON.

34

comparison the wealthiest

man

in the

Ottoman

empire.
After talking over the last news from Constantinople,

he asked

me what

thought of the pro-

jected steam balloon, which, from

its

being of a

marvellous nature, appears to have caused a great

deal of talk

the Turks.

among

faith in its success

I expressed little

on which he ordered an

at-

tendant to bring him a drawing of a locomotive

balloon steered

by

flags

and

all sorts

of fancies.

" Will not this revolutionize the

globe ?" said the
"
pasha ; to which I replied, C'est le premier pas
qui coute ;" there

India

to

mile
I

if

no doubt of an

they get over the

first

aerial

voyage

quarter of a

V
returned

his house,

is

to

sup with

M.

Petronievitch at

and we had a great deal of conversa-

Hussein Pasha has since retired from Widdin, where

he made the greater part of his fortune, for he was engaged

in

immense

agricultural

and commercial speculations; he

was succeeded by Mustapha Nourri Pasha, formerly

vate secretary to Sultan
large fortune, as

Mahommud, who

merchant and ship-owner.

has also

pri-

made a

M. PETRONIEVITCH.

35

tion relative to the history, laws, manners, cus-

toms, and politics of Servia

but as

subsequently

obtained accurate notions of that country by personal observation,

it

is

not necessary on the pre-

sent occasion to return to our conversation.

c6

CHAPTER

The

IV.

Enter Servia Brza Pa

Iron Gates.
Old and New Orsova. Wallachian Matron. Semlin. A Conversation on
Language.

Leave

lanka.

Widdin

Timok.

The

left Widdin

for the Servian frontier, in a car

of the country, with a couple of horses, the ground

being gently undulated, but the mountains to the

south were at a considerable distance.
right, agreeable glimpses of the

themselves from time to time.

arrived

at the

Timok, the

Servia from Bulgaria.

place was

house

On

our

Danube presented
In six hours we

river

The only

that separates

habitation in the

a log-house for the Turkish custom-

officer.

We

were more than an hour in

getting our equipage across the ferry, for the long

ENTER SERVIA.

37

drought had so reduced the water, that the boat

was unable to meet the usual landing-place by

least four feet of steep

the horses attempt to

embankment
mount

spring was followed by a

horse sunk
the

jammed

in

in vain did

the acclivity

relapse,

at

and

every

at last one

between the ferry boat and

bank ; so that we were obliged

to loose the

harness, send the horses on shore, and drag the

dirty car as
slope.

At

along the
lazaretto,

we

best could

last

up the half dried muddy

we succeeded, and a smart

Danube brought us

to

the

trot

Servian

which was a new symmetrical building,

the promenade of which, on the Danube, showed

an attempt at a sort of pleasure-ground.

I

ing

entered at sunset, and next morning on show-

my tongue

to the doctor,

one piastre (twopence) was

myself in motion.
rise

to the west,

became broken

and paying a

free,

fee of

and again put

Lofty mountains seemed to

and the cultivated plain now

into small ridges, partly covered

with forest trees.

The ploughing oxen now

came rarer ; but herds of swine, grubbing

and the roots of bushes, showed that

be-

at acorns

was chang-

BRZA PALANKA.

38

ing the scene, and making the acquaintance not

only of a

new

country, but of a

new

The

people.

peasants, instead of having woolly caps and frieze

clothes as in Bulgaria,

all

wore the red

fez,

and

were dressed mostly in blue cloth ; some of those

in the villages

wore black glazed caps; and in

general the race appeared to be physically stronger

and nobler than that which

had

The Bul-

left.

garians seemed to be a set of silent serfs, deserving

(when not roused by some unusual circumstance)

rather the

name

of machines than of

Servian fellows seemed lazier, but

all

men

these

possessed a

manliness of address and demeanour, which cannot be discovered in the Bulgarian.

Brza Palanka,

at

which we now

arrived,

is

the

only Danubian port which the Servians possess,

below the Iron Gates; consequently, the only one

which

is

in

uninterrupted communication with

Galatz and the sea.

with

salt,

small Sicilian vessel, laden

passed into the Black Sea, and actually

ascended the Danube to this point, which

a few hours of the Hungarian frontier.

is

within

As we

approached the Iron Gates, the valley became a

OLD AND NEW ORSOVA.

mere gorge, with barely room
rumbling through a cavernous

came

in sight of the

New

old.

and

for the road,

fortification, we

Austro-Hungarian

soon

frontier.

Orsova, one of the few remaining retreats

of the Turks in Servia,

with

39

its frail

is

built

on an

island,

and

houses of yawning rafters looks very

Old Orsova, opposite which we now

rived, looked quite new,

ar-

and bore the true German

type of formal white-washed houses, and high

sharp ridged roofs, which called up forthwith the

image of a dining-hall, where, punctually as the

village-clock strikes

the hour of twelve, a fair-

haired, fat, red-faced landlord, serves

the rindfleisch,

the zitspeise, and

dishes of the holy

Roman

up the soup,

all

the

other

empire to the Platz

Major, the Haupt-zoll-amt director, the Kanzlei

director, the Concepist, the Protocollist,

and hoc

genus omne.
After a night passed in the quarantine, I re-

moved

to the inn,

and punctually

as the clock

struck half past twelve, the very party

gination

my

ima-

conjured up, assembled to discuss the

mehlspeise in the stencilled parlour of the Hirsch.

WALLACHIAN MATRON.

40

Favoured by the most beautiful weather,

The

started in a sort of caleche for Dreucova.

new macadamized road was

excellent

as a bowling-green,

and only a

lively

as

smooth

companion

was wanting to complete the exhilaration of

my

spirits.

My

fellow-traveller

fair

was

an enormously

stout Wallachian matron, on her

to see her daughter,

education

at

way

who was then

to Vienna,

receiving her

boarding-school.

spoke no

Wallachian, she spoke nothing but Wallachian

so our conversation

ing to

was carried on by

make myself understood

Italian,

my

attempt-

alternately

by the

and the Spanish forms of Latin.

" Una

bella

campagna," said

I,

as

we drove out

Orsova.

"

Bella,

bella ?

"

said

puzzled.

So

lady,

evidently

I said,

"Ah!

the

" Hermosa"

formosa; formosa prate," repeated the

lady, evidently understanding that I

meant

a fine

country.

" Deunde venut ?"

Whence have you come ?

FINESCENERY.
"

41

Constantinopolis ;" and so on

posing that
plying

me

we understood each

we went, sup-

other, she sup-

with new forms of bastard Latin words,

and adding with a smile, Romani, or Wallachian,

as the language

by themselves.

and people of Wallachia are called

It is

worthy of remark, that the

Wallachians and a small people in Switzerland,

are the only descendants of the

Romans,

that

still

designate their language as that of the ancient

mistress of the world.

As

I rolled along,

the fascinations of nature got

the better of my gallantry

and then dropped,

for

the discourse flagged,

found myself

midst of the noblest river scenery

in the

had ever

beheld, certainly far surpassing that of the Rhine,

and Upper Danube.

To

the gloom and grandeur

of natural portals, formed of lofty precipitous

rocks, succeeds the

open smiling

valley, the ver-

dant meadows, and the distant wooded

all

the soft and varied hues of autumn.

hills,

with

Here we

appear to be driving up the avenues of an English

park

sinks sheer
yonder, where the mountain

into the river, the road

must

find

its

way along

42

SEMLIN".

an open gallery, with a roof weighing millions of

from the mountain above.

tons, projecting

After sunset

we

arrived at Dreucova, and next

morning went on board the steamer, which conveyed

me up

town of Semlin
banks of the

Danube

the

to Semlin.

The lower

from the exhalations on the

is,

river, frightfully insalubrious,

but the

cemetery enjoys a high and airy situation.

people in the

town

The

die off with great rapidity;

but, to compensate for this, the dead are said to

be in a highly satisfactory state of preservation.

The

once so bad, have greatly im-

inns here,

proved ; but mine host,

recent visits, always

zum Golden Lowen, on my

managed

to give a very

dinner, including two sorts of savoury game.

collect

on a former

and found

in

the

visit,

good
I re-

going to another inn,

dining-room

an

individual,

whose ruddy nose, and good-humoured nerveless

smile, denoted a

grape,

and

rapidity.

seitel

fondness for the juice of the

after

seitel

disappeared with

By-the-bye, old father

Danube

is

as

well entitled to be represented with a perriwig of

grapes as his brother the Rhine.

Hungary

in

DIALOGUE ON LANGUAGE.

merry bacchanalian climate.

general, has a right

Schiller or

Symian wine

of latitude as Claret,

and a

line

43

in the

is

Oedenburger

same
as

parallel

Burgundy,

run westwards from Tokay would almost

touch the vineyards of Champagne.

Csaplovich

remarks in his quaint w ay, that the four principal

r

wines of Hungary are cultivated

principal nations in

it.

That

is

by the four

to say, the Sla-

vonians cultivate the Schiller, Germans the Oeden-

burger and Ruster, Magyars and Wallachians the

Good

Menesher.
wine.

But

Schiller

is

the best Syrmian

must return from

the guest of the Adler.

On

this digression to

hearing that

was an

Englishman, he expressed a wish to hear as much

of England as possible, and appeared thunderstruck,

when

I told

him

that

London had

nearly

two millions of inhabitants, being four hundred

thousand more than the population of the whole
of the Banat. This individual had of course learned
five

languages with his mother's milk, and there-

fore thought that the inhabitants of such a country

as

England must know ten

at least.

him that the majority of the people

When
in

I told

England

DIALOGUE ON LANGUAGE.

44

knew nothing but English, he

contemptuously,

"O

you

told

said,

me

somewhat

the fair side of

the English character: but you did not

that the people

was so ignorant."

me

tell

He then

good-

humouredly warned me against practising on

credulity.

how unnecessary

pointed out

languages were for England

itself;

his

other

but that

all

languages could be learned in London.

" Can Wallachian be learned in London ?"

"

have

my

doubts about Wallachian, but"

w Can
Magyar be learned in London ?"
"I
not."
suspect

" Can Servian be learnt

"

I confess,

in

London ?"

don't think

London teaches Servian

" There
again, you

but"

that any body in

travellers are always

statements unfounded on
three leading languages,

fact.

have mentioned

and nobody

knows anything about them."

making

in

your

city

CHAPTER

V.

Streets and Street

Population. Cathedral. Large Square. Coffee-house.

Description of Belgrade.

Fortifications.

Deserted Villa. Baths.

Through

the courtesy and attention of Mr. Con-

sul-general

Fonblanque and the numerous friends

of

M.

Petronievitch, I was, in the course of a few

days, as familiar with

all

the principal objects and

individuals in Belgrade, as if I had resided

months

in the city.

The

fare of a boat

Austrian rowers

English
that

is

from Semlin to Belgrade by

is five

zwanzigers, or about 3s. 6d.

and the time occupied

to say,

is

half an hour,

twenty minutes for the descent of

the Danube, and about ten minutes for the ascent

BELGRADE.

46

On

of the Save.

at the confluence,

we perceived the

of the two rivers, the

its

brown,

much

muddy

clearer.

Danube

distinct line

faithfully retaining

character, while the Save

We

now had

view of the fortress opposite.

slightly

low point of land

arrival at the

elevated above

much

is

closer

Large embrasures,
edge, were

the water's

intended for guns of great calibre

but above, a

gallimaufry of grass-grown and moss-covered fortifications

were

crowned by

ricketty,

red-tiled

houses, and looking very unlike the magnificent

towers in the last scene of the Siege of Belgrade,

at

Drury Lane.

Just within the banks of the

Save were some of the large boats which trade

on the river; the new ones as curiously carved,

some of those one

painted, and even gilded, as

sees at

They have no deck

Dort and Rotterdam.

for a ridge of rafters covers the goods,

boatmen move about on ledges

The

fortress

at the

and the

gunwale.

of Belgrade, jutting out exactly

at the point of confluence of the rivers, has the

town behind
ter, slopes

it.

down

The

Servian, or principal quar-

to the Save

the Turkish quarter

STREET POPULATION.
Danube.

to the

sea-turtle, the

47

might compare Belgrade to a

head of which

is

represented by

the fortress, the back of the neck

by the

espla-

nade or Kalai Meidan, the right flank by the

Turkish quarter, the
ridge of the back

by the Servian, and the

left

by the

street

running from the

esplanade to the gate of Constantinople.

We

landed at the
or

turtle,

at

left side

quay of the Servian quarter,

the

The sloping bank

which runs along the Save.

was paved with stones

edifice with

of our imaginary

and above was a

large

an arcade, one end of which served

as the custom-house, the

other as the Austrian

consulate.

The population was

Turks were

selling fruit

lem and Christian

latter

To

with short

the

left

the

fez's

diversified.
;

Shabby old

and boatmen, both Mosformer with turbans, the

were

waiting for a fare.

was a Turkish guard-house,

at a gate

leading to the esplanade, with as smart a row of

burnished muskets
within this gate

is

as

one could

expect.

All

under the jurisdiction of the

Turkish Pasha of the fortress

all

without the gate

*0

BELGRADE.

in question,

under the government of the Ser-

is

vian Prefect of Belgrade.

We
quite

now turned

in the Turkish fashion,

knocked

rafters
if

the

into a curious old street, built

first

carelessly together,

and looking as

strong gust of wind would send them

smack over the water

Hungary without

into

formality of a quarantine

were

and composed of

but

with

garnished

smartly

many

the

of the shops

clothes,

haber-

dashery, and trinkets, mostly from Bohemia and

Moravia

and

in

some

saw large blocks of

rock-salt.

Notwithstanding the rigmarole construction of

the quarter on the water's edge, (save and except
at the custom-house,)

in the

town

it is

the most busy quarter

here are the places of business of the

principal merchants in the place.

This class

is

generally of the Tsinsar nation, as the descend-

ants of the
called;

their

Roman

colonists

language

is

in

Macedonia are

a corrupt Latin,

and

resembles the Wallachian dialect very closely.

We

now ascended by

upper town.

a steep

The most prominent

street

to

the

object in the

LARGE SQUARE.
first

open space we came to

new and
fusely

the cathedral, a

large but tasteless structure, with a pro-

gilt bell-tower,

and the walls of the

large paintings of

be too

is

49

critical

in the

Russian manner;

interior are

covered with

But one must not

no merit.

a kindling of intellectual energy

ever seems, in most countries, to precede excellence in the imitative arts,

which

of those

latter,

too often

ruder and nobler

survives

the ruins

qualities

which assure the vigorous existence of

states or provinces.

In the centre of the town

which forms a sort of

line of

the crescent and the cross.

several large

structed

demarcation between

On

the

one

side,

senators, in the Ger-

with flaring

new white

bright green shutter-blinds.

is

an open square,

and good houses have been con-

by the wealthiest

man manner,

is

On

walls

and

the other side

a mosque, and dead old garden walls, with

walnut trees
behind them.

and Levantine roofs peeping up

Look on

have the type of

all

this picture,

and you

domestic architecture lying

between you and the snow-fenced huts of Lap-

COFFEE-HOUSE.

50
land

your eyes over the way, and imagina-

cast

south with

lightly to the sweet

tion wings

its

and fragrance-

myrtles, citrons, marbled steeps

bearing gales.

Beside the mosque

house, which

Moslem by

is

the

new Turkish

coffee-

kept by an Arab by nation and a

is

religion,

One

but born at Lucknow.

day, in asking for the mollah of the mosque,

who

had gone

to Bosnia, I entered into conversation

with him

but on learning that

man he

was an English-

fought shy, being, like most Indian Mos-

lems when travelling in Turkey, ashamed of their

sovereign being a protected ally of a Frank go-

vernment.
I

now

entered the region of gardens and

villas,

which, previous to the revolution of Kara Georg,

was

down
by

occupied

principally

a shady lane

a rotten

of which
five years.

my

by Turks.

attention

moss-grown garden door,

with Colonel

at the sight

leaped backwards for four or

memory
Here

Passing

was arrested

had spent a happy forenoon

,

and the physician of the

former Pasha, an old Hanoverian, who, as surgeon

DESERTED VILLA.
to a British regiment

51

had gone through

fatigues of the Peninsular war.

all

the

pushed open

the door, and there, completely secluded from the

bustle of the town,

and the view of the stranger,

grew the vegetation as luxuriant as

with

its

ever, relieving

dark green frame the clear white of the

numerous domes and minarets of the Turkish

quarter,
filled

and

and the broad-bosomed Danube which

up the

stable,

centre of the picture

but the house

which had resounded with the good-

humoured laugh of the master, and the neighing

of the well-fed

weak

little

stud

(for horse-flesh

was the

of our Esculapius), were tenantless,

side

ruinous, and silent.

interval

at

Pasha.

The doctor had died

in the

Widdin, in the service of Hussein

mechanically withdrew, abstracted from

external nature

by the "memory of joys

that

were past, pleasant and mournful to the soul."

I

then took a Turkish bath ; but the inferiority

of those in Belgrade to similar luxuries in Constantinople,

Damascus, and Cairo, was strikingly

apparent on entering.
ture were

of the

The

commonest

d2

and the

furni-

description.

The

edifice

52

BATHS.

floors of the interior of brick instead of marble,

and the plaster and the cement of the walls

The atmosphere

a most defective state.

in

in the

drying room was so cold from the want of proper

windows and doors, that

catch a catarrh.

The

was

afraid lest I should

Oriental bath,

when paved

with fine grained marbles, and well appointed in

the departments of linen, sherbet, and narghile,
is

a great luxury

but the bath

altogether detestable.

at Belgrade

was

In the midst of the drying

business a violent dispute broke out between the

proprietor
styled

and an Arnaout,

when

lawless Arnaouts arrive

a village, after eating

of the poultry-yard, they

the

the former

a cokoshary, or hen-eater, another term

for a robber; for

in

whom

up

half the contents

demand

shape of compensation for

tear of their teeth while

a tribute

the

wear

in

and

consuming the provisions

they have forcibly exacted.

CHAPTER

VI.

Lighting and Paving. InteTurkish Pasha. Turkish Quarter.

Panorama of Belgrade. Dinner

Population.

Europeanization of Belgrade.
rior of the Fortress

Turkish

party given by the Prince.

The

melancholy

numerous

traces

soon effaced

and

the

of

desolation

Belgrade.

was

Turkey was

in

Here

all

at the period of

was

life

first

1839, quite an oriental town; but

now

haughty

throws

experienced in surveying the

my

activity.

visit, in

at

into

It

parvenu
the

spire

shade

the

of

cathedral

the

minarets

mosques, graceful even in decay.

of

Many

bazaar-shops have been fronted and glazed.

oriental dress has

become much rarer

d3

the

of the

The

and houses

STATE OF BELGRADE.

54

German

several stories high, in the

But

springing up everywhere.
is

particulars Belgrade

mud and
is

wet weather to pay

coming home up

impossible.

Belgrade, from

expense ; as even

at a very small

no coal in Servia, there

Moldava, which

is

is

its

there be
it

at

on the Danube between Belis

above the Iron Gates.

make

much

if

abundance of

grade and Orsova; that

so

to the

be most easily lighted with gas,

elevation, could

and

and

at night all locomotion with-

out a lantern

were

it

Barradalighting

It is impossible in

a couple of visits without

ankles in

two important

as oriental as if

situated on the Tigris or

paving.

in

fashion, are

to reproach

my

to say, considerably

remark, not

this

Servian

friends with

backwardness, but to stimulate them to

all easily

practicable improvements.

One day

accompanied M. de Fonblanque on

a visit to the

Pasha

in

the citadel, which

we

reached by crossing the glacis or neck of land

that connects

the castle with the town.

This

in the
place forms the pleasantest evening lounge
vicinity of Belgrade

for

on the one

side

is

an

00

ASTUTENESS OF MILOSH.

the Turkish town, and the

extensive view of

Danube wending
the other
street

is

upon

sloping

away

its

way down

the Save,
street,

its

to Semendria

steep

and the

on

bank piled with

hills

beyond them

to the Bosniac frontier.

The ramparts

are in

good condition

and the

on entering,
object that strikes a stranger

first

are six iron spikes,

on which, in the time of the

revolution, the heads of Servians used to be

first

Milosh once saved his own head from

stuck.

elevation

this

During

by

his

Turks

in 1814, (or

had large pecuniary transactions with

the Pasha, for he was the

medium through whom

the people paid their tribute.

from

astuteness.

characteristic

his alliance with the

1815,) he

five spikes as

Five heads grinned

he entered the

castle,

and he

comprehended that the sixth was reserved

him

the last head set

up being

for

that of Glavash,

a leader, who, like himself, was then supporting

the government

make

so he immediately took care to

the Pasha understand that he was about to

set out

money

on a tour in the country, to

for the vizierial strong-box.

d 4

raise

some

u Peh
eiu,"

INTERIOR OF THE FORTRESS.

56

Soliman Pasha, thinking to catch him next

said

time,

and get the money

same time

at the

so

Milosh was allowed to depart ; but knowing that

he returned spike the sixth would not wait

if

long for

head, he at once raised the district of

its

Rudnick, and ended the

been begun under much

by the more

We

terrible

war which had

less favourable auspices,

valiant but less astute

Kara Georg.

passed a second draw-bridge, and found

ourselves in the interior of the fortress.

A large

square was formed by ruinous buildings.

Exten-

sive barracks

the

were windowless and tenantless, but

mosque and the Pasha's Konak were

order.

We

in

good

were ushered into an audience-room

of great extent, with a low carved roof and some

old-fashioned furniture, the divan

being in the

corner,

and the windows looking over the precipice

to the

Danube below.

who commanded
fifty-five,

at the battle of Nezib,

and a gentleman

me

me

about

that he

my

in air

was about

and manner,

In course of conversation

with a grey beard.

he told

Hafiz Pasha, the same

was a Circassian.

travels

He

and with reference

asked

to Syria

HAFIZ PASHA.
said,

"Land

57

operations through Kurdistan against

Mehemet

Ali

were

attack

sea,

while a land force should

by

a diversion

absurd.

by Antioch, but

an

suggested

make

was opposed."

After the usual pipes and coffee

we took our

leave.

Hafiz Pasha's political relations are necessarily

of a very restricted character, as he rules only the

few Turks remaining in Servia; that

is

to say,

a few thousands in Belgrade and Ushitza, a few

hundreds in Shabatz Sokol and the island of Or-

He

sova.

represents the suzerainety of the Porte

over the Christian population, without having any

thing to do with the details of administration.

His income,
of

three

Pasha,

if

like that of other

tails,

8000J.

is

mushirs or pashas

per

annum.

Hafiz

not a successful general, was at

all

events a brave and honourable man, and his character

One
on

of his

my

made him highly respected.

predecessors, who was at Belgrade

for justice

first

visit

another stamp,

who

sold

there in 1839, was a

the

man

of

notorious Youssouf Pasha,

Varna during the Russian war.

d 5

The

58

HAFIZ PASHA.

re-employment of such an individual

teristic illustration

As my

first

a charac-

is

of Eastern manners.

stay at Belgrade extended to be-

tween two and three months,

of Hafiz Pasha,

who has

saw a good deal

a great taste for geo-

graphy, and seemed to be always studying at the

maps.

He seemed

to think that nothing

would

be so useful to Turkey as good roads, made

to

run from the principal ports of Asia Minor up

to

the depots of the interior, so as to connect Sivas,

Tokat, Angora, Konieh, Kaiserieh, &c. with Samsoun, Tersoos, and other ports.

He wittily reversed

" El

taryk" (companion-

the proverb

ship
el

rafyk som

makes secure

roads)

el

by saying,

" el

taryk som

rafyk" (good roads increase passenger

At the Bairam

traffic).

reception, the Pasha wore his

great nishau of diamonds.

a blue uniform with

Prince Alexander wore

gold

epaulettes,

aigrette of brilliants in his fez.

and an

His predecessor,

Michael, on such occasions, wore a cocked hat,

which used

to give offence, as the fez

by the Turks indispensable

suzerainety of the Porte.

is

considered

to a recognition of the

TURKISH QUARTER.
Being Bairam,

was induced

59

to saunter into

the Turkish quarter of the town, where

the

all

handsome holyday dresses of the old

wore

fashion,

being mostly of crimson cloth, edged with gold

lace.

My

cicerone, a Servian, pointed out those

shops belonging to the sultan,

the letter

f,

intended, I suppose, for mulk or im-

perial property.

came

marked with

still

We

then turned to the

into a singular looking street,

left,

and

composed of

the ruins of ornamented houses in the imposing,

but too elaborate style of architecture, which was

in

vogue in Vienna, during the

Sixth,

of Charles the

life

and which was a corruption of the

Louis Quatorze.

de

These buildings were halfway

up concealed from view by common

shops.

style

old bazaar

This was the " Lange Gasse," or main

street of the

German town during

the Austrian

occupation of twenty-two years, from 1717 to

Most of

these

great solidity, and

many

1739.

ments that distinguish

the palace of Prince

houses were built with

still

have the stucco orna-

this style.

Eugene

complete, but the court-yard

d6

The

walls of

are

still

standing

is

filled

up with

TURKISH POPULATION.

60

rubbishy at least six feet high, and what were

formerly the rooms of the ground-floor have be-

come almost
"

cellars.

The

Princeps Konak."

day,

edifice is called to this

This mixture of the

coarse, but picturesque features of oriental

life,

with the dilapidated stateliness of palaces in the

style of

the

of

full-bottom-wigged Vanbrughs

Austria, has the oddest effect imaginable.

The Turks remaining

in Belgrade have mostly

sunk into poverty, and occupy themselves

pally

The

with

water-carrying,

making good

building ground
expensive.

per

annum

is

of

now

up

their position,

houses
in

some

and

compared with the

which

shops

by
for

situations very

Mr. Fonblanque pays

for his rooms,

&c.

wood-splitting,

better class latterly kept

sales

princi-

is

1001. sterling

a great deal,

rates of house-rent in

Hungary

just over the water.

One
in

day, I ascended the spire of the cathedral,

order to have a view of the city and environs.

Belgrade, containing only 35,000 inhabitants, can-

not boast of looking very like a metropolis

but

the environs contain the materials of a good pan-

PANORAMA OF BELGRADE.
orama.

Looking westward, we

winding

its

the Servian shore

is

the

see

way from the woods

61

of Topshider;

abrupt, the Austrian

subject to inundation

Save,

flat,

and

the prospect on the north-

west being closed in by the dim dark line of the

"Wooded Mountain," which

Frusca Gora, or

forms the backbone of Slavonia, and

is

the high

wooded region between the Save and the Drave.

Northwards, are the spires of Semlin, rising up

from the Danube, which here resumes

course

its

easterly

while south and east stretch the Turkish

which

quarter,

have been describing.

There are no formal levees or receptions at the

palace of Prince Alexander, except on his
fete

Once

day.

own

or twice a year he entertains at

dinner the Pasha, the ministers, and the foreign

consuls-general.

one or two

One

In the winter, the prince gives

balls.

of the former species of entertainments

took place during

prince's

invitation.

my

stay,

and

received the

At the appointed

day,

found the avenue to the residence thronged with

people

who were

listening to the

band that played

DINNER PARTY

62

in the court-yard

the stairs, was led

who seemed

and on arriving

by an

officer in

of

a blue uniform,

to direct the ceremonies of the day,

which

into the saloon, in

Belgrade, paid

my respects

might be pronounced the

had, on

my

arrival in

to the prince,

which

fac simile of the drawing-

room of a Hungarian nobleman

inlaid

at the top

the parquet was

and polished, the chairs and

sofas covered

with crimson and white satin damask, which

is

an unusual luxury in these regions, the roof admirably painted in

Vienna

style.

subdued colours,

High white

in

the best

porcelain

urn-like

stoves heated the suite of rooms.

The company had

that picturesque variety of

character and costume which every traveller delights in.

The

prince, a muscular middle sized

dark compiexioned man, of about

a serious composed
uniform.

The

air,

thirty-five,

with

wore a plain blue military

princess and her dames de com-

pagnie wore the graceful native Servian costume.

The Pasha wore

Iftihar

in the

the

Nizam

dress,

and the Nishan

Baron Lieven, the Russian Commissioner,

uniform of a general, glittered with innu-

GIVEN BY THE PRINCE.

merable orders

63

Colonel Philippovich, a

man

Austria.
distinguished talents, represented
in

archbishop,

black velvet

his

cap,

of

The

a large

enamelled cross hanging by a massive gold chain

from his neck,

sat in stately isolation;

six feet four inches

and the

high Garashanin, minister of

the interior, conversed with Stojan Simitch, the

in
president of the senate, one of the few Servians

high

office,

who

retains his old

Turkish costume,

and has a frame that reminds one of the Farnese

Then what

Hercules.
Servian,
all in full

We

medley of languages;

German, Russian, Turkish, and French,

buzz

proceeded to the dining-room, where the

cuisine

ner.

was

in every respect in the

When

German man-

the dessert appeared, the prince rose

with a creaming glass of champagne in his hand,

and proposed the health of the sultan, acknowledged by the pasha

and

then,

after

pause, the health of Czar Nicolay

a short

Paulovitch,

acknowledged by Baron Lieven; then came the

health of other crowned heads.

now

Baron Lieven

rose and proposed the health of the Prince.

DINNER PARTY.

64

The Pasha and

the Princess were toasted in turn

and then M. Wastchenko, the Russian

consul

general rose, and in animated terms, drank to the

prosperity of Servia.

commenced

at

The

entertainment, which

one o'clock, was prolonged to an

advanced period of the afternoon, and closed with

coffee, liqueurs,

room

and chibouques

in the drawing-

the princess and the ladies having pre-

viously withdrawn to the private apartments.

My time
up with

during the rest of the year was taken

political, statistical,

and historical

inquiries,

the results of which will be found condensed at

the termination of the narrative part of this work.

CHAPTER

Return

to

Servia.

VII.

The Danube. Semlin. Wucics

Cathedral Solemnity. Subscription

and Petronievitch.
Ball.

After an

absence of six months in England,

returned to the Danube.

offered

and

Vienna and

Pesth

no attractions in the month of August,

I felt

impatient to put in execution

my

long

cherished project of travelling through the most

romantic woodlands of Servia.

at the

first

Suppose

me

then

streak of dawn, in the beginning of

August, 1844, hurrying after the large wheelbarrow

which

carries the luggage of the

temporary guests

of the Queen of England at Pesth to the steamer

lying just below the long bridge of boats that con-

THE DANUBE.

66

nects the quiet sombre bureaucratic Ofen with the

noisy, bustling, movement-loving

has sprung up as

it

signal

is

which

city,

were by enchantment on

the opposite side of the water.

the

new

given for starting

crimson-peaked Bloxberg

on board

I step

the

and

lofty

the vine-clad

hill

that

produces the fiery Ofener wine, and the long

and graceful quay, form,

as

it

were, a fine peri-

strephic panorama, as the vessel wheels round,

and, prow downwards,

commences her voyage

for

the vast and curious East, while the Danubian

tourist bids a dizzy farewell to this last

centre of

European

civilization.

snug

We hurry

little

down-

wards towards the frontiers of Turkey, but nature

smiles not.

We have on our

left

the dreary steppe

of central Hungary, and on our right the low

distant hills of Baranya.

Danube
Theben.

Alas

of Passau, and Lintz,

this is not the

and Molk, and

But now the Drave pours her broad

waters into the great artery.

The

right shore

soon becomes somewhat bolder, and agreeably

wooded

hills

enliven the prospect.

mountain chain

is

the

This

little

celebrated Frusca Gora,

WUCICS AND PETRONIEVITCH.

67

the stronghold of the Servian language, literature,

and nationality on the Austrian side of the

Save.

Wucics

and

Petronievitch, the two pillars of the party of

Kara

few

after

days

my

arrival,

Georgevitch, the reigning prince, and the oppo-

nents of the ousted Obrenovitch family, returned

from banishment in consequence of communications that

had passed between the British and

Russian governments.

made

Great preparations were

to receive the popular favourites.

One morning

was attracted

to the

window,

and saw an immense flock of sheep slowly paraded

along, their heads being decorated with ribbons,

followed by oxen, with large citrons stuck on the

tips of their horns.

One vender
all

of shawls and carpets had covered

the front of his shop with his gaudy wares,

in order to

do honour to the

the same time to attract the

patriots,

and

at

attention of pur-

chasers.

The

tolling of the cathedral bell

announced the

approach of the procession, which was preceded

CATHEDRAL SOLEMNITY.

68

train of rustic cavaliers, noble, vigor-

by a long

Standing at the balcony, we

ous-looking men.

missed the sight of the heroes of the day,

had gone round by other

went

to the cathedral,

persons

in

where

all

therefore,

the principal

were assembled.

Servia

man, with grey,

We,

streets.

who

filmy, lack-lustre eyes,

One

old

pendant

jaws, and white beard, was pointed out to

me

as a centenarian witness of this national manifestation.

The grand
veils

screen,

which

in the

Greek churches

the sanctuary from the vulgar gaze, was

hung with

rich silks,

and on a raised platform,

covered with carpets, stood the archbishop, a

dignified high-priest-looking figure, with crosier
in hand, surrounded

embroidered robes.

by

his deacons in superbly

The huzzas

of the populace

grew louder as the procession approached the

cathedral, a loud

and prolonged buzz of excited

attention accompanied the opening of the grand

central portal,

and Wucics and Petronievitch,

grey with the dust with which the immense cavalcade had besprinkled them, came forward, kissed

WUCICS AND PETRONIEVITCH.

69

the cross and gospels, which the archbishop pre-

sented to them, and, kneeling down, returned

On

thanks for their safe restoration.

their legs, the archbishop

of the

and began a

platform,

scribing the grief the

at

their

return,

nation

discourse

had experienced

and the hope that they would ever keep

all

matters of state,

that in their duties to the state they

never

de-

departure, the universal joy for their

peace and union in view in

and

regaining

advanced to the edge

their

forget

responsibility to

the

must

Most

High.

Wucics, dressed in the coarse

frieze jacket

and

boots of a Servian peasant, heard with a reverential inclination

discourse

of the head the elegantly polished

the

of

gold-bedizened

prelate,

but

nought relaxed one single muscle of that adamantine visage

the finer but more luminous features

of Petronievitch were

evidently under the con-

trol of a less

will.

powerful

At

certain passages

of the discourse, his intelligent eye was mois-

tened with tears.

Two

deacons then prayed sue-

FIREWORKS.

70

cessively for the Sultan, the

Emperor of

Russia,

and the prince.

And now
heart, a

uprose from every tongue, and every

hymn

for the longevity of

Wucics and

" The solemn

Petronievitch.
song for many days"
is

the expressive

This

hymn

the obscure

and so

is

title

of this

so old that

dawn of

its

sublime

chant.

origin is

lost in

Christianity in the

East,

massive, so nobly simple, as to be be-

yond the ravages of

time,

and the caprices of

convention.

The procession then returned, the band playing

the Wucics march, to the houses of the two heroes
of the day.

We

dined ; and just as dessert appeared the

whiz of a rocket announced the commencement of

fire- works.

As most of us had seen

the splendid

bouquet of rockets, which, during the

July,

amuse the

Parisians,

we

fetes

of

entertained slender

with an illumination
expectations of being pleased
at Belgrade.

On

going out, however, the scene

proved highly interesting.

In the grand square

SERVIAN BALL.
were two columns a
lamps.

One

71

la Vicentina,

side of the square

covered with

was illuminated

with the word Wucics, and the other with the

word Avram

At

in colossal letters.

of the evening the

a later period

downs were covered with

fires

roasting innumerable sheep and oxen, a custom

which seems

in all countries to

accompany popu-

lar rejoicing.
I

had never seen a Servian

the arrival of

me

but

Wucics and Petronievitch procured

the opportunity of witnessing an entertainment

The

of this description.
the

full-dress ball,

new Konak,

built

the ball-room, which,

as the phrase goes,

principal apartment in

by prince Michael, was

by eight

by

all

o'clock,

was

filled,

" the rank and fashion"

Senators of the old school, in their

of Belgrade.

benishes and shalwars, and senators of the

school in pantaloons and

stiff cravats.

As

new

Servia

has become, morally speaking, Europe's youngest

daughter, this

is all

very well: but I must ever

think that in the article of dress this innovation

is

not an improvement.

Servia will

hope that the

ladies of

never reject their graceful national

SERVIAN BALL.

72

costume

for the shifting

waists of

European

No
is

modes and compressed

capitals.

head-dress, that

have seen

in

the Levant,

better calculated to set off beauty than that of

From

the ladies of Servia.

they suspend a gold

tassel,

a small Greek fez

which contrasts with

the black and glossy hair, which

and

flat

write,

down

memory

the temple.

piques

me

is

laid

smooth

Even now, while

with the graceful toss

of the head, and the rustle of the yellow satin

gown

of the sister of

the

princess,

admitted to be the handsomest

who was

woman

in the

room, and with her tunic of crimson velvet embroidered in gold, and faced with sable, would

have been, in her

strictly

queen of any fancy

Wucics

indigenous costume, the

ball in old

Europe.

and Petronievitch were of course re-

ceived with shouts

and clapping of hands, and

took the seats prepared for them at the upper end

of the hall.

The Servian

national dance

was then

of cotillion in alternate
performed, being a species

quick and slow movements.

I

need not repeat the other events of the even-

SERVIAN BALL.

how forms and

ing;

view

how

73

features were passed in re-

the jewelled, smooth-skinned, doll-like

beauties usurped

the admiration of the minute,

and how the indefinably sympathetic

air

of less

pretentious belles prolonged their magnetic sway

to the close of the night.

CHAPTER

VIII.

Milutinovich, the Poet.

Holman, the Blind Traveller.
Tableau de genre. Departure for
Bulgarian Legend.

the Interior.

Belgrade,
is

much

unlike other towns on the Danube,

less visited

by Europeans,

since the intro-

duction of steam navigation, than it was previously.

Servia used to be the porte cochere of the East

and most
lively

travellers,

both before and since the

Lady Mary Wortley Montague, took

the

high road to Constantinople by Belgrade, Sofia,

Philippopoli,

and Adrianople.

No mere

tourist

would now-a-days think of undertaking the

tiguing ride

across

fa-

European Turkey, when he

can whizz past Widdin and Roustchouk, and even

cut off the grand tongue at the

mouth

of the

HOLMAN, THE BLIND TRAVELLER.

75

Danube, by going in an omnibus from Czernovoda

to

Kustendgi; consequently the arrival of an

English traveller from the interior,

is

somewhat

rare occurrence.

One day

was going out

saw a strange

figure,

with a long white beard and

a Spanish cap,

mounted on a sorry

once recognized

it

to

and

at the gateway,

horse,

and

at

be that of Holman, the blind

traveller.

How

"

"

I last

do you do, Mr. Holman ?" said

know

I.

that voice welL"

saw you

in

Aleppo," said

and he

at

once named me.

I

then got him off his horse, and into quarters.

This singular individual had just come through

the most dangerous parts of Bosnia in perfect
safety; a feat
easily

which a blind man can perform more

than one

for all

who

enjoys the most perfect vision;

compassionate and assist a fellow-creature

in this deplorable plight.

Next day

took Mr.

Holman through

and described to him the

the town,

lions of Belgrade

and

taking a walk on the esplanade, I turned his face

e2

HOLMAN, THE BLIND TRAVELLER.

76

to the cardinal points of the

compass, successively

explaining the objects lying in each direction,

and, after answering a few of his cross questions,

know

the blind traveller seemed to

as

much

of

Belgrade as was possible for a person in his

condition.

He

related to

me, that since our meeting

at

Aleppo, he had visited Damascus and other eastern

cities j

had

and

at length, after

sundry adventures,

arrived on the Adriatic, and visited the Vla-

who had

dika of Montenegro,
reception.

He

given him a good

then proceeded through Herzego-

vina and Bosnia to

Seraievo,

where he passed

three days, and he informed

me

that from Seraievo

to the frontiers of Servia

was nearly

all forest,

with here and there the skeletons of robbers hung

up

in chains.

Mr. Holman subsequently went, as

stood, to Wallachia

Having delayed

under-

and Transylvania.

my

departure for the interior,

in order to witness the national festivities, nothing

remained but the purgatory of preparation, the

squabbling about the hire of horses, the purchase

PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE.

77

of odds and ends for convenience on the road,

for

no such thing

as a canteen

a Turkish Araba ; but as this

is

hiring

should have

most picturesque regions,

sight of the

or been compelled to take

and leaving

at

practicable only

on the regularly constructed roads,

horses,

be had

Some persons recommended my

Belgrade.

lost the

to

is

my

my

chance of getting

baggage behind. To avoid

this inconvenience, I resolved to

perform the whole

journey on horseback.

The government showed me every

attention,

and orders were sent by the minister of the

rior

to

governors, vice-governors, and em-

all

ployes, enjoining
assistance,

tion I

inte-

them

to furnish

me

with every

and communicate whatever informa-

might desire

to which, as the reader will

see in the sequel, the fullest effect

was given by

those individuals.

On

the day of departure, a tap was heard at

the door, and enter

Another tap

who

is

Holman

at the door,

to bid

me

good-bye.

and enter Milutinovich,

the best of the living poets of Servia, and

has been

sometimes

called

e 3

the Ossian of the

THE POET MILUTINOVICH.

78

As

Balkan.

Homer

for

other

his

pseudonyme,

**

the

of a hundred sieges," that must have

been invented by Mr. George Robins, the Demosthenes of " one hundred rostra." The
reading

public in Servia is not yet large

a

man

of letters to live solely

enough
his

by

to enable

works

so

our bard has a situation in the ministry of public

One

instruction.

of

positions

of the most remarkable com-

Milutinovich

young surgeon, who,

difficulties,

expended

sum which he had

to

is

an address to a
the poet from

relieve

in the printing of his

destined for his

poems

own support

at a university, in order to obtain his

degree.

Now,

it

may

not be generally

of the oldest legends of Bulgaria

known

" The
the

that of

is

Lasar," which runs somewhat thus

that one

" Poor

day departed, and the stranger came, as

moon

on the

rose

said the poor

silver

snow.

Lasar to the stranger;

Welcome/
c

Luibitza,

and prepare the supper/

" Luibitza answered * The forest is
wide, and

light the faggot,

the lighted faggot burns bright, but where

supper

Have we not

is

fasted since yesterday

the
?'

BULGARIAN LEGEND.

79

" Shame and confusion smote the heart of

poor
Lasar.
'
" ' Art thou a
Bulgarian/ said the stranger, and

food before thy guest ?'

settest not

" Poor Lasar looked

in the

cupboard, and looked

nor crumb, nor onion, were found

in the garret,

Shame and confusion smote

in either.

the heart

of poor Lasar.

" c Here

is fat

and

fair flesh/ said

the stranger,

pointing to Janko, the curly-haired boy. Luibitza

shrieked and
it

'

fell.

Never/

said Lasar,

'

shall

be said that a Bulgarian was wanting to his

guest/

He

seized a hatchet,

tered as a lamb.

Ah, who can describe the sup-

per of the stranger

" Lasar

fell

and Janko was slaugh-

into a

deep

sleep,

and

he heard the stranger cry aloud,

for I

am

the Lord thy

untarnished.

Bulgaria

is

stored to

life,

"

Long

God;

'

at

midnight

Arise, Lasar,

the hospitality of

Thy son Janko

and thy stores are

is

re-

filled/

lived the rich Lasar, the fair Luibitza.

and the curly-haired Janko."

e 4

MILUTINOVICH.

80

Milutinovich, in his address to the youthful

surgeon, compares his transcendent generosity to

the sacrifice

made by Lasar

tasteful legend I
I

in the wild

and

dis-

have here given.

introduced the poet and the traveller to each

other,

and explained

peculiarities.

their respective merits

and

Poor old Milutinovich, who looked

on his own journey to Montenegro as a memorable feat,

was awe-struck when

mentioned the

innumerable countries in the four quarters of the

world which had been visited by the blind

He

veller.

tra-

immediately recollected of having read

an account of him in the Augsburg Gazette, and

with a reverential simplicity begged
to

him

his desire

consented with a

vancing as
lifted

if

to

kiss

smile,

his

me

beard.

to

convey

Holman

and Milutinovich, ad-

he were about to worship a

deity,

the peak of white hairs from the beard of

the aged stranger, pressed

them

to his lips,

and

prayed aloud that he might return to his home in

safety.

In old Europe, Milutinovich would have been

TABLEAU DE GENRE.
called

an actor but his deportment,

;

originality,

had

also

the

81

if it

had the

simplicity of

childish

nature.

When the hour of departure arrived, I

descended

court yard, which would have furnished

to the

good materials

for a

de genre, a lofty,

tableau

well built, German-looking house, rising on three

surrounded a most rudely paved court,

sides,

which was inclosed on the fourth by

and

not one-third the

hay-loft,

Various

rest.

figures,

a stable

height of the

mustachioed far niente looking

in

wrapped cap-a-pie

dressing gowns,

lolled out of the first floor corridor,

and smoked

their chibouques with unusual activity, while the

ground

floor

women and

was occupied by German washer-

their soap-suds

being festooned with shirts

up

to dry,

toes

and drawers hung

and stockings, with apertures

and heels

Loud

three of the arcades

at the

for the free circulation of the air.

exclamations, and the sound of the click

of balls, proceeded from the

large archway, on

which a cafe opened.

In the midst of the yard

stood our horses, which, with their heavily padded

e 5

DEPARTURE.

82

and high cantelled Turkish saddles, somewhat

a la Wouvermans, were held by Fonblanque's
robust Pandour in his crimson jacket and white
fustanella.

My man

whip, and off

Paul gave a smack of the

we cantered

woodlands of Servia.

for the highlands

and

CHAPTER

IX.

Resemblance of Manners to those of

Palesh. A Servian Bride. Blind
Macadamized Road.

Journey to Shabatz.
the Middle Ages.
Minstrel.

The

G3

psies.

immediate object of

Shabatz, the second

situated further
is

my

town

in

first

journey was

Servia,

which

up the Save than Belgrade, and

thus close upon the frontier of Bosnia.

We

consequently had the river on our right hand

the way.
tains,

is

After five hours' travelling, the

which hung back as long as we were

all

mounin the

now approached, and draped

looked down on the winding Save

vicinity of Belgrade,
in forest green,

and the pinguid

flats

Just before the sun

set,

of the Slavonian frontier.

we wound by
e 6

a circuitous

FEUDAL MANNERS.

84

road to an eminence which projected promontory

Three rude crosses

like into the river's course.

were

planted

on

steep,

not unworthy the

columnar harmony of Grecian marble.

When

it

was quite dark, we arrived

Colubara, and

passed the

at the

ferry which, during

the long Servian revolution, was always considered

a post of importance,

as

commanding a com-

munication between Shabatz and the

old

man accompanied

his native place

on the

us,

who was

capital.

An

returning to

frontiers of Bosnia, having

gone to welcome Wucics and Petronievitch.

amused me by asking me " if the king of

He

my

country lived in a strong castle ?" I answered,

"
No, we have a queen, whose strength is in the
love of

all

her subjects."

Indeed,

sible to travel in the interior of

it

is

impos-

Turkey without

having the mind perpetually carried back to the

middle ages by a thousand quaint remarks and
circumstances, inseparable from the moral and
political constitution of a half civilized

federal empire. For, in nearly all the

parts of Turkey, the

and quasi-

mountainous

power of the government

is

SUPPER AT PALESH.

85

almost nominal, and even up to a very recent period

the position of the

Dere Beys savoured strongly of

feudalism.

We
like a

arrived at Palesh, the

new

khan of which looked

coffee-shop in a Turkish bazaar, and I

thought that we should have a sorry night's quarters;

but mine host, leading the way with a candle

a ladder, and though a trap-door, put us into a

up

clean newly-carpeted room, and in an hour the

boy entered with Turkish wash-hand apparatus

and

after

ablution the

khan keeper produced

supper, consisting of soup, which contained so

much lemon juice,

scarcely eat

it

that,

without a wry

face, I

could

boiled lamb, from which the soup

had been made, and then a stew of the same with

Tomata

sauce.

bed was then spread out on

the floor a la turque, which was rather hard; but

as the sheets

were snowy white,

reckoned myself

very lucky.
I

must say that there

is

a degree of cleanliness

within doors, which I had been led to consider

as

somewhat foreign

lations.

to the habits of Slaavic

popu-

The lady of the Austrian consul-general

A SERVIAN BRIDE.

86
in

Belgrade told

me

that she

was struck with the

propriety of the dwellings of the poor, as contrasted with those

resided for

Germany

is

Galicia,

where she

had

years; and every traveller in

struck with

between the

exists
in

many

in

the

villages of

difference

which

Bohemia and those

Saxony, and other adjacent German provinces.

From

Palesh

we

started with fine weather for

Skela, through a beautifully

wooded park, some

fields

being here and there inclosed with wattling.

Skela

is

new

ferry

on the Save, to

facilitate the

communication with Austria.

Near here

are redoubts,

where Kara Georg,

the father of the reigning prince, held out during

the disasters of 1813, until

all

women and

the

children were transferred in safety to the Austrian

territory.

in

Here we met a very pretty

answer to the salute of

my

bent herself almost to the earth.

reason, I was told that she

custom compels,

humble

We

girl,

who,

fellow-travellers,

On

was a

asking the

bride,

for a stated period, to

whom

make

this

reverence.

then came to the Skela, and seeing a large

A COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE.

house within an enclosure,

and was told that

it

87

asked what

it

(primiritelnj sud,) a court of first instance, in

cases are decided

expense to the

by the

litigants,

all

sition to the

which

village elders, without

and beyond which

suits

There

are seldom carried to the higher courts.

throughout

was,

was the reconciliation-house,

is

the interior of Servia a stout oppo-

nascent lawyer class in Belgrade.

have been more than once amused on hearing an

advocate, greedy of practice, style this laudable

economy and

patriarchal simplicity

aversion from civilization."

we

As

"Avarice and

it

began to rain

entered a tavern, and ordered a fowl to be

roasted, as the soup

not to

my

and stews of yester-even were

A booby, with idiocy marked

taste.

his countenance,

was lounging about the door,

and when our mid-day meal was done

the

man

brandy

to give

is

him a

called.

He

ordered

glass of slivovitsa, as

plum

then came forward, trem-

bling, as if about to receive sentence of death,

taking off his greasy fez, said,

prince Kara

on

Georgovich,

and

"

and enlightenment of the nation."

drink to our

to

and

the progress
I

looked with

A BLIND MINSTREL.

88

astonishment at the torn, wretched habiliments of

idiot

this

He was

swineherd.

too

stupid to

entertain these sentiments himself; but this trifling

circumstance was the feather which indicated

the wind blew.

The

Servians are

how

by no means a

nation of talkers; they are a serious people; and

the determination to rise were not in the

the people,

would not be on the

it

if

minds of

lips

of the

baboon-visaged oaf of an insignificant hamlet.

The

make

rain

now began

the most of

it,

to

pour in torrents, so to

we ordered another magnum

of strong red wine, and procured from the neigh-

bourhood a blind
reputation.

fiddler,

who had

acquired a local

His instrument, the favourite one of

Servia, is styled a goosely, being a testudo-formed

viol

vian

no doubt a

relic

monarchy derived

of the

of the antique, for the Serall its arts

Lower Empire. But

ment, in spite of the

from the Greeks

the musical entertain-

magnum

of wine, and the

traveller
jovial challenges of our fellow

Drina, threw

The

me

from the

into a species of melancholy.

voice of the minstrel,

and the tone of the

instrument, were soft and melodious, but so pro-

THE MINSTREL'S SONG.

89

foundly plaintive as to be painful.

The song

described the struggle of

Osman

Michael, a Servian chief, and, as

to

Bairactar with

it

was explained

me, called up successive images of a war of ex-

termination, with

its

pyramids of ghastly trunkless

heads, and fields of charcoal, to

some peaceful

village,

mark the

site

amid the blaze of which

inhabitants had wandered to an eternal

home

of
its

in

the snows and trackless woods of the Balkan.

When

looked out of the tavern window the

dense vapours and torrents of rain did not elevate

my spirits;
strel I

and when

I cast

my

eyes on the min-

saw a peasant, whose robust frame might

have supported a large family, reduced by the

privation of sight, to

strumming on a

waste his best years in

monotonous

viol

for

few

piastres.
I

flung

him a

gratuity,

and begged

him

to

desist.

After

musing an hour,

horses, although

it still

again ordered the

rained,

and

set forth, the

road being close to the river, at one part of which

a fleet of decked boats were moored.

perceived

90

GIPSIES.

that tfcey were

all

navigated by Bosniac Moslems,

one of whom, smoking his pipe under cover, wore

the green turban of a Shereef;

they were

all

loaded with raw produce, intended for sale at

Belgrade or Semlin.

The

rain

wretched
fire

we took

with

khan,

floor,

it

best could

in a large circle; the

recognizable, not

but from their

traits

and

smoke

and back

front

round

sat

former being

at

The

most part

separated from the

gipsies

fought bravely

Kara Georg, and are

settled,

although politically

rest of the

community, and

under their own responsible head

but, as

in other countries, they prefer horse dealing

smith's

As
I

work

there

once

being finer than those of the

against the Turks under

for the

only from their darker skins,

Servian peasantry.

living

by the

Gipsies and Servian peasants

doors.

now

mud

in

shelter

of logs blazing in the centre, the

escaping as

it

increasing,

and

to other trades.

was no chance of the storm abating,

resolved to pass the night here on discovering

that there

was a separate room, which our host

BEAUTIFUL SCENERY.
said

he

order of travellers
I

had recourse

the

unlocked, for

occasionally

expense

to

91
the

tyetter

but as there was no bed,

my

carpet and

pillow,

for

had deterred me

of Uebergewicht

from bringing a canteen and camp bed from

England.

Next morning, on waking, the sweet chirp of

echoed in the adjoining woods,

a bird, gently

announced that the storm had ceased, and nature

resumed her wonted calm.

to

the

door,

On

arising, I

went

and the unclouded effulgence of

dawn bursting through

the dripping boughs and

seemed

realize

the

golden tree of the garden of the Abbassides.

The

leaves,

rain-bespangled

to

road from this point to Shabatz was one continuous avenue of stately oaks
of sylvan architecture;
rising to views of the

sky,

nature's noblest order

at

some

places,

gently

winding Save, with sun,

and freshening breeze to quicken the sensa-

tions, or falling into the dell,

darkly pellucid,

where the stream

murmured under

the

sombre

foliage.

The

road, as

we approached Shabatz, proved

to

92

MACADAMIZED ROAD.

be macadamized in a certain fashion

trench was dug on each

and a half high,

side

interlaced

deep

stakes about a foot

with wicker-work,

were stuck into the ground within the trench,

and the road was then

filled

up with

gravel.

CHAPTER

Shabatz.

Native

Servian Collector.
Country Barber. Turkish
A Provincial Dinner.

Provincial Chancery.

Description of his
Quarter.

X.

House.

Self-taught

Priest.

Soire'e.

entered Shabatz by

a wide street, paved in

some places with wood. The bazaars

and Shabatz looks

like a

good town

are all open,

in Bulgaria.

saw very few shops with glazed fronts and counters

in the
I

European manner.

alighted

attached to

it

at the principal

just such a cafe and billiard table

as one sees in country

odd

khan, which had

towns

to see the Servians,

who

in

Hungary.

here

all

How

wear the old

Turkish costume, except the turban

immersed

SHABATZ.

94

in the tactics of carambolage, skipping

and un-orientally around the

table,

most gaily

then balancing

themselves on one leg, enveloped in enormous

inexpressibles, bending low,

and cocking the eye

to catch the choicest bits.

Surrendering our horses to the care of the

khan keeper,

ment house,

to present

proceeded to the konak, or govern-

my

letters.

This proved

to be a large building, in the style of Constantinople, which, with its line of

kiosk-fashioned

rooms,

bow windows, and

surmounted with pro-

jecting roofs, might have passed muster on the

Bosphorus.

On

entering, I

was ushered into the

office

the collector, to await his arrival, and, at a

of

first

glance, might have supposed myself in a formal

Austrian kanzley.

There were the

flat

desks, the strong boxes,

and the shelves of coarse foolscap ; but a

pile of

long chibouques, and a young man, with a slight

Northumbrian burr, and Servian

that I

The

dress,

showed

was on the right bank of the Save.

collector

now made

his

appearance, a

SERVIAN COLLECTOR.

95

roundly-built, serious, burgomaster-looking per-

sonage,

who appeared

portraits

as if one of

Vander Heist's

had stepped out of the canvass, so closely

does the present Servian dress resemble that of

Holland, in the seventeenth century, in

all

but

the hat.

Having read the

he cleared his throat

letter,

with a loud hem, and then said with great deli"

Ilia Garashanin informs me
beration,

Gospody

that having seen

to see Servia,

many

and that

countries,
I

am

to

you

also wish

show you what-

ever you desire to see, and obey whatever

choose to

command

and now you are

Go

while you remain here.

my

guest

you, Simo, to the

khan," continued the collector, addressing a

momk
with

or pandour, who,

his

armed

hands crossed

at

hope," added

he,

you

the door,

will

Shabatz; but you must not be

still

"and

get

my house.

be pleased with
critical, for

we

are

a rude people."

Author.
that

tall

to the teeth, stood

the gentleman's baggage taken to

"

you

is

"Childhood must precede manhood;

the order of nature."

SERVIAN COLLECTOR.

96
Collector.

"Ay,

painful; Servia, as

ay, our birth

you

was slow, and

say, is yet a child."

Author. " Yes, but a stout, chubby, healthy

child."

gleam of

collector's

satisfaction

produced a thaw of the

ice-bound visage, and, descending to

the street, I accompanied

him

until

a house two stories high, which

we

we

arrived at

entered by a

wide new wooden gate, and then mounting a

scrupulously clean, were shown into his

case,

principal room,

which was surrounded by a divan

Turque ; but

la

stair-

it

had no

carpet, so

straight in with our boots on.

of drawers

was

in

we went

German

chest

one corner ; the walls were plain

white-washed, and so was a stove about six feet

high

the only ornament of the

room was a small

Some

snake moulding in the centre of the roof.

oak chairs were ranged along the lower end of

the room, and a table stood in the middle, co-

vered with a

German

Pesth and Ofen

linen

cloth,

representing

the Bloxberg being thrice as

lofty as the reality, the genius of the artist

set

it

in the clouds.

The steamer had

having
a

prow

SERVIAN BARBER.
like a

Roman

galley, a stern

97

like

a royal yacht,

and even the steam from the chimney described

graceful volutes, with academic observance of the
line of beauty.

" We are

somewhat rude and un-European

still

in Shabatz," said

name

the
f?

in

Gospody Ninitch,

which the collector

Indeed," quoth

" there
divan,

is

I,

no

such was

rejoiced.

sitting at

room

for

ease on the

my

for criticism.

The

Turks now-a-days take some things from Europe

but Europe might do worse than adopt the divan

more extensively;
traveller

"

the greatest of

it is

me, to an arriving

for, believe

luxuries."

all

Here the servants entered with chibouques.

" that no one would
I
said
certainly think,"

smoke a

cigar

" And no
could

sit

he,

who could smoke

man would

sit

a chibouque."

on an oak chair who

on a divan:" so the Gospody smiled and

transferred his

ample person

to the

still

ampler

divan.

The barber now entered

departure
paratus

for in the hurry of

had forgotten part of

but

it

was evident that

my
I

toilette

was the
F

apfirst

SERVIAN BARBER.

98

Frank who had ever been under his razor;

his operations were finished,

and began
if

comb

to

my

he seized

for

my

when

comb,

whiskers backwards, as

they had formed part of a Mussulman's beard.

When
the

thought

was done with him,

conversation, but was

speedily

resumed

interrupted

by something

like

a loud box on the ear, and,

turning round

my

head, perceived that the cause

of this sensation was the barber having, in his

finishing touch, stuck an ivory ear-pick against

but, calling for a wash-hand basin,

my tympanum;
I

begged to be relieved from

trations

all

further minis-

so putting half a zwanziger on the face

of the round pocket mirror which he proffered to

"
me, he departed with a
S'Bogom,"

or,

" God be

with you."

The

collector

now accompanied me on a walk

through the Servian town, and emerging on a

wide space, we discovered the fortress of Shabatz,

which

Turks

is

the

live,

quarter in which the remaining

presenting a line of irregular trenches,

of battered appearance, scarcely raised above the

level of the

surrounding country.

The space

be-

THE CADI.

99

tween the town and the fortress

is

called the

Shabatzko Polje, and in the time of the

war was the scene of

Save overflows

in

combats.

fierce

spring,

When

the

generally under

is

it

civil

water.

Crossing a ruinous wooden bridge over a wet

ditch,

we saw

a rusty unserviceable brass cannon,

which vain-gloriously assumed the prerogative of

commanding the

entrance.

of four bastions, connected

To

the

by a

left,

a citadel

curtain,

was

all

but a ruin.

As we

entered, a cafe, with bare walls

few shabby Turks smoking in

it,

and a

completed, along

with the dirty street, a picture characteristic of

the fallen fortunes of Islam in Servia.

" There comes the

cadi," said the
and

collector,

looked out for at least one individual with

turban of fine texture, decent robes, and venerable

appearance

but a

man

of gigantic stature, and

rude aspect, wearing a grey peasant's turban,

welcomed us with undignified

lowed him down the
ing

the

mud

street,

on pieces

f2

cordiality.

We

and sometimes
of

fol-

cross-

wood, sometimes

TURKISH QUARTER.

100
"

putting one's foot in

it,"

we reached

a savage-

looking timber kiosk, and, mounting a ladder,

seated ourselves on the

window

There flowed the Save

ness

ledge.

in all its peaceful

looking out of the window,

smooth-

perceived that

the high rampart, on which the kiosk was constructed,

was

built at a distance of thirty or forty

yards from the water, and that the intervening

space was covered with

boats, hauled

up high

and dry, and animated with the process of building and repairing the barges employed in the
river trade.

The

was a species of
time,

we were

kiosk, in which
cafe,

and

we were presented

it

sitting,

being Ramadan

with

sherbet

by a

kahwagi, who, to judge by his look, was a eunuch.

I

was afterwards told that the Turks remaining

in the fortified

town are so poor, that they had

not a decent room to show

A Turk,

about

fifty

me

into.

years of age,

now

entered.

His habiliments were somewhere between decent

and shabby genteel, and

his voice

and manners

had that distinguished gentleness which wins

because

it feels

its

way.

This was the Disdar

THE DISDAR AGA.

Aga, the
place

had

101

of the wealthy Turks of the

last relic

for before the Servian revolution

twenty thousand Osmanlis

its

Shabatz

and a

tract

of gardens on the other side of the Polje, was

pointed out as having been covered with the

of the wealthy, which were

villas

subsequently

burnt down.

Our

conversation was restricted to a few general

observations, as other persons were present, but

the Disdar

Aga promised
I

following day.

Seraievo \

"

sire

is

was asked

much

ardently to see

The

the

had been

in

of Seraievo, that

But

it.

am

de-

afraid of the

capital of Bosnia, a large

often called the

'In

if

me on

answered in the negative, but added,

have heard so

Haiducks

on

to call

this part of

rebels, are called

and beautiful

city,

which

Damascus of the North.

in

Turkey

Haiducks

Europe robbers,

as well as

like the caterans of the

High-

lands of Scotland, they were merely held to be persons at

war with the authority

patriots, rebels,

mon term

and

in the Servian

and robbers, were confounded

of Haiducks.

f3

revolution,
in the

com-

DISCUSSION ON SERAIEVO.

102

"And

Cadi.

with

mer.

not without reason; for Seraievo,

its delicious

gardens, must be seen in sum-

In winter the roads are

free

from haiducks,

because they cannot hold out in the snow: but

then Seraievo, having lost the verdure and foliage

environs, ceases to be attractive, except in

of

its

its

bazaars, for they are without an equal."

Author.

"

always thought that the

finest

bazaar of Turkey in Europe, was that of Adrianople."

Cadi.

"Ay, but not equal

you see the Bosniacs,

to Seraievo;

when

in their cleanly apparel

and splendid arms walking down the bazaar, you

might think yourself in the
then

all

serai of a

sultan

the esnafs are in their divisions like

regiments of Nizam."

The Disdar Aga now accompanied me

gate,

and bidding me

to ,the

farewell, with graceful ur-

banity, re-entered the bastioned miniature citadel

in

which he

lived almost alone.

The

this individual is singular: his family

pieces in the dreadful scenes of 1806

mere boy,he found himself a prisoner

history of

was cut
and,

to

when

in the Servian

LUKA LASAREVITCH.

103

Being thus without protectors, he was

camp.

adopted by

Luka

Lasarevitch, the valiant lieute-

nant of Kara Georg, and baptized as a Christian

with the name of John, but having been reclaimed

by the Turks on the re-conquest of Servia

he returned to the

We

now

the same

town

faith of his fathers.

returned into the town, and there sat

Luka

Lasarevitch,

now

Going home,
and Luka were
he,

wounds on

asked the collector

still

friends.

" To

Aga

looks

if

the

Aga

this very day,"

upon Luka

and Luka looks upon the Aga as

who have

his son."

account must appear very curious.

Aga was

as

by the Turks,

as highly respected
for

his

re-

as his father,

lived in other parts of

the

an

his body.

"notwithstanding the difference of

ligion, the

those

a merchant and

councillor, at the door of his warehouse,

octogenarian, with thirteen

said

in 1813,

To

Turkey this
found that

by the Christians

strictly

honourable

character.

We

now

paid a

the Arch-priest, Iowan

visit to

Paulovitch, a self-taught ecclesiastic

which he received us was

filled

f 4

the

room

in

with books, mostly

A SELF-TAUGHT PRIEST.

104

Servian; but
translations.

among them German

On asking him if he had heard any
I

perceived

thing of English literature, he showed

tions into

German

secular clergy marry;

it

The Greek

and

came out that

in the course of converhis son

was one of the

young Servians sent by the government

mining-engineering, at Schemnitz, in

The Church of the Apostles

in

which he

marked that

officiates,
it

was

St.

The reason of

this

is,

Hungary.

built in 1828.

had only a wooden

no belfry existing

to study

Peter and St. Paul,

which had been afterwards erected

yard

transla-

of Shakspeare, Young's Night

Thoughts, and a novel of Bulwer.

sation

me

in

that,

bell

tower,

in the

church

the building

up

re-

itself.

to the period

mentioned, the Servians were unaccustomed to

have bells sounded.

Our

host provided most ample fare for sup-

per, preceded

by a

glass of slivovitsa.

We

began

with soup, rendered slightly acid with lemon juice,

then came fowl, stewed with turnips and sugar.

This was followed by pudding of almonds,

and pancake.

raisins,

Roast capon brought up the

rear.

THE NATCHALNIK.

105

white wine of the country was served during

we had

supper, but along with dessert

a good red

wine of Negotin, served in Bohemian coloured

I

glasses.

have been thus minute on the subject

of food, for the dinners

I ate at

count as Servian, having been

Belgrade
all in

do not

German

the

fashion.

The

wife of the collector sat at dinner, but at

the foot of the table

that of

women

in

Servia

midway

between the

Europe and the con-

of

precedence

graceful

a position characteristic of

temptuous exclusion of the East.

After hand- washing,

and while pipes and

we returned

to the divan,

were handed round,

coffee

a noise in the court yard denoted a visiter, and a

middle-aged man, with embroidered clothes, and

silver-mounted pistols in his girdle, entered.

was the Natchalnik, or

come from
his visit

under
dandy.

his

own

local

village,

governor,

two hours

This

who had

off,

to

pay

he was accompanied by the two captains

his

command, one of whom was a

His ample girdle was

military

richly embroi-

dered, out of which projected silver-mounted old

f 5

THE NATCHALNIK

106

His crimson shaksheers were

fashioned pistols.

also richly embroidered,

flowered

cambric

and the corner of a

pocket

handkerchief showed

His companion wore a

itself at his breast.

gilt

differ-

ent aspect, with large features, dusky in tint as

those of a gipsy, and dressed in plain coarse blue
clothes.

He was

presented to

me

as a

had grown from boyhood to manhood

man who

to the tune

of the whistling bullets of Kara Georg and his

Turkish opponents.

After the usual salutations,

the Natchalnik began

"

We have

heard that Gospody Wellington has

received from the English nation an estate for his

distinguished services."

Author. "That

took place a great

Natch. "

is

true;

many

What

but the presentation

years ago."

the age of

is

Gospody Welling-

ton?"
Author. " About seventy-five.

He was

1769, the year in which Napoleon and

med

Ali

first

saw the

This seemed to
party.

born in

Moham-

light."

awaken the

interest

of

the

INQUIRES AFTER WELLINGTON.

The roughly-clad trooper drew

107

in his chair,

and

leaning his elbow on his knees, opened wide a

pair of expectant eyes

the Natchalnik, after a

long puff of his pipe, said, with some magisterial

" That was a moment when nature had

decision,

her sleeves tucked up.

must

think our Kara Georg

have been born about that time."

also

"Is Gospody Wellington

Natch.

still

in ser-

vice ?"

Author. " Yes

Natch. " Well,
sons' sons,

may

he

is

God

commander-in-chief."

grant that his sons, and his

render as great services to the

nation."

Our

conversation was prolonged to a late hour

in the evening, in

which a variety of anecdotes

were related of the ingenious methods employed

by Milosh

Mine

to

fill

his coffers as rapidly as possible.

host, taking a candle, then led

me

to

my

bedroom, a small carpeted apartment, with a Ger-

man bed

the coverlet was of green satin, quilted,

and the sheets were clean and fragrant ; and

observed, that they were striped with an alternate

fine

and coarse woof.

f 6

CHAPTER

XI.

A Bishop's house.
History of a Renegade.
Progress of Education. Portrait of Milosh. Bosnia and

Kaimak.

the Bosniacs.

Moslem

Fanaticism.

Death

of the Col-

lector.

The

fatigues of travelling procured

sleep.

I rose refreshed,

divan.

The

me

a sound

and proceeded into the

hostess then

came forward, and be-

fore I could perceive, or prevent her object, she

kissed

"

my

hand.

" Kako

How have you slept ?

se spavali

Dobro ?"

hope you are refreshed,"

and other kindly inquiries followed on, while she

took from the hand of an attendant a silver salver,

on which was a glass of

slivovitsa, a plate of rose

marmalade, and a large Bohemian cut crystal

globular goblet of water, the contents of which,

KAIMAK.

109

along with a chibouque, were the prelude to break-

which consisted of

fast,

stead of milk

we had

kish clotted cream

I

and

coffee

toast,

and

in-

rich boiled kaimak, as Tur-

is called.

have always been surprised to find that this

undoubted luxury, which

town

be found

is to

in Turkey, should be

in every

unknown throughout

the greater part of Europe.

After comfortably

smoking another chibouque, and chatting about

Shabatz and the Shabatzians, the collector in-

formed

me

that the time was

come

for returning

the visit of the Natchalnik, and paying that of the

Bishop.

The Natchalnik

received us in the

Konak

of

Gospody Iefrem, the brother of Milosh, and our

interview was in no respect different from a usual

Turkish
the

visit.

sun

We

an hour

then descended to the street

before

meridian

its

shone

brightly, but the centre of the broad street

very muddy, from the late rain

steps with

some

care, until

nity of the bridge,

when

we

so

was

we picked our

arrived in the vici-

I perceived the

eunuch-

looking coffee-keeper navigating the slough, ac-

A RENEGADE.

110

companied by a Mussulman
shawl turban.

"Here

is

make your acquaintance,"

"

heard you were paying

in

a red checked

man

that wishes to

Eunuch-face.

said
visits

yesterday in the

Turkish quarter," said the strange

me.

figure, saluting

returned the salute, and addressed him

in Arabic;

accent.

he answered in a strong Egyptian

However, as the depth of the surrounding

mud, and the

glare of the sun, rendered a further

we postponed

colloquy somewhat inconvenient,

our meeting until the evening.

the Bishop,

was doing

On

our way to

asked the collector what that

man

there.

Collector.

"His

history

yesterday saw a Turk,

returned to

is

a singular one.

who was

Islamism.

This

baptized, and then

is

a Servian,

turned Turk thirty years ago, and

be a Christian again.

He

You

who

now wishes

to

has passed most of

that time in the distant parts of Turkey, and has

children

come

to

grown up and

me

secretly,

a Christian again
kill

him."

settled

and declares

but he

is

there.

He

has

his desire to be

afraid the

Turks

will

A RENEGADE.

Ill

Author. "

Has he been long here ?"

Collector.

"

Two

the Turkish town

He went

months.

and having incurred

picions, he left them,

first

into

their sus-

and has now taken up

his

quarters in the khan, with a couple of horses and

a servant."

Author. "

What

does he do ?"

Collector.

"

pretends to be a doctor, and

He

cures the people

siderable

sum

but he generally exacts a con-

before prescribing, and he has had

disputes with people

who

say that they are not

healed so quickly as they expect/'

Author. "

Do you think

he

is

sincere in wishing

to be a Christian again ?"

Collector.

of a

" God knows.

man who

What

can one think

has changed his religion, but that

no dependence can be placed on him ?

The Turks

are shy of him."

We had

now arrived

at the

house of the Bishop,

and were shown into a well-carpeted room,

in

the old Turkish style, with the roof gilded and

painted

in

dark

colours,

and an un-artistlike

panorama of Constantinople running round the

THE BISHOP.

112

seated myself on an old-fashioned,

cornice.

wide, comfortable divan, with richly embroidered,

somewhat

but
off

my

faded cushions,

shoes, tucked

my

and, throwing

legs comfortably

under

me.

" This
house,"
old Shabatz
class

said the collector, "

furniture here;

You

see

this

no German

me whether you

tell

prefer the

style, or the

European."
"
Author.
In warm weather give

this kind,

one can

a relic of

most of the other houses of

were burnt down.

Turkish

is

where the sun

loll

at ease,

is

me

room of

excluded, and where

and smoke a narghile

in winter I like to see a blazing fire,

and

but

to hear

the music of a tea-urn."

The Bishop now

entered, and

the door to meet him.

of the
sized

company

kissed his

man, of about

continued

ill

we advanced

to

bowed

low, and the rest

hand

he was a middle

sixty,

but

frail

from long-

health, dressed in a furred pelisse,

a dark blue body robe, and Greek ecclesiastical

cap of velvet, while from a chain hung round

his

neck was suspended the gold

cross, distinctive

THE BISHOP.

113

The usual refreshments of

of his rank.

sweetmeats, &c. were brought

in,

coffee,

not by servants,

but by ecclesiastical novices.

Bishop.

"

"

Author.

think I have seen you before ?"

Indeed, you have

met your

verence at the house of Gospody

re-

Bel-

Ilia in

grade."
Bishop.

"

Ay, ay," (trying to recollect

memory sometimes

me

fails

you stay long

Author. " I remained

I assure

nievitch.

to witness the cathedral

Wucics and Petro-

return of

the

for

my

my
Did

illness.

Belgrade ?"

at

service

since

"
;)

you

was struck with the

solemnity of the scene, and the deportment of the

archbishop.

As

do not understand enough of

Servian, his speech

for word,

and

it

was translated to

me

seems to

four requisites of an orator,

sence, a pleasing voice,

me word

that he has the

a commanding pre-

good thoughts, and good

language."

We
Bishop
rities

then talked of education, on which the

" The civil and ecclesiastical authosaid,

go hand in hand

in the

work.

When

was

THE BISHOP.

114
a

young man, a great proportion of the youth

could neither read nor write

thanks to our sys-

tem of national education, in a few years the

peasantry will

all read.

those inhabitants
are

all

who

learning

In the towns the sons of

are in easy circumstances,

German,

history,

and other

branches preparatory to the course of the

nasium of Belgrade, which

is

the

Gym-

germ of a

university."

Author. " 1 hope

the middle ages did

Bishop.

with us

"

it

will prosper

much

the Slaavs of

for science

you times

I assure

are greatly

changed

the general desire for education surprises

and delights me."

We

now took our

leave of the Bishop,

and on

our way homewards called at a house which contained portraits of

Kara Georg, Milosh, Michael,

Alexander, and other personages

in Servian history.

The

first

who have

was much amused

figured

with that

University in Europe was that of Prague.

was established some years before the University of

if I

recollect right.

It

Paris,

THE AGA.

115

of Milosh, which was painted in

without chiaro scuro

and even

holes,

altogether

oil,

but his decorations, button

a large

mole on

his

cheek,

were done with the most painful minuteness.

hand he held a

his left

scribed

on which was

scroll,

or Constitution, his right

Ustav,

was partly doubled a

la finger

post

it

In
in-

hand

pointed

significantly to the said scroll, the fore-finger being

adorned with a large diamond ring.

On
the

arriving at the collector's house, I found

awaiting me.

Aga

with great interest.

This

now

inspired

of a once wealthy and

steeped in poverty, as a sort

of master of Ravenswood in a Wolf's crag.

first

he was

bland

learning that I
society in

had

and ceremonious

At

but on

lived long in the interior of

Damascus and Aleppo, and

the interest with

me

looked upon him, residing

in his lone tower, the last

powerful race

man

finding that

which he inspired me was

real

and not assumed, he became expansive without

lapsing into familiarity, and told

which

would place

me

his sad tale,

at the service of the gentle

reader, could I forget the

stronger allegiance I

DECAY OF THE TURKS.

116

owe

to the unsolicited confidence of

an unfortunate

stranger.

When

spoke of the renegade, he pretended

know whom

not to

slight unconscious

him

meant; but

wink of

As he was

saw, by a

his eye, that

too well, he wished to see

of him.

knowing

and hear no more

rising to take leave, a step

heard creaking on the

and on turning

stairs,

direction of the door, I

was

in the

saw the red and white

checked turban of the renegade emerging from the

banister

but no sooner did he perceive the Aga,

turning round again,

than,

checked turban out of

When

the

down went

the red

sight.

Aga was gone, the

collector gave

me

a significant look, and, knocking the ashes out of

his pipe into a plate

on the

floor, said,

times, changed times, poor fellow

"

Changed

his salary

is

only 250 piastres a month, and his relations used

to

be

little

in the

kings in Shabatz

but the other fellows

Turkish quarter, although so wretchedly

poor that they have scarcely bread to

eat, are as

proud and insolent as ever."

Author.

"What

is

the reason of that?"

BOSNIAC MOSLEMS.
" Because

Collector.

where there

frontier,

they are so near the Bosniac

is

a large

Moslem popula-

of Shabatz pay no taxes,

The Moslems

tion.

117

government or the

either to the Servian

sultan,

accounted Redif, or Militia, for which

for they are

they receive a ducat a year from the sultan, as

a returning fee.

The

Christian peasants here are

very rich; some of them have ten and twenty

thousand ducats buried under the earth; but these

impoverished Bosniacs in the fortress are as proud

and insolent
Author.

as ever."

"

You

say Bosniacs

Are they not

Turks ?"
Collector.

Aga and

"

No, the only Turks here are the

the Cadi

descendants of

who on

all

the rest are Bosniacs, the

men of our own

race and language,

the Turkish invasion accepted Islamism,

but retained the language, and

many

Christian

customs, such as saints' days, Christian names,

and

most cases monogamy."

Author. " That is
curious
in

very

as they are not full

then, perhaps,

Moslems, they may be more

tolerant of Christians."

SAKAL.

118

" The
very

Collector.

The Bosniac

reverse.

Christians are not half so well off as the Bulga-

who have

rians,

The

to deal with the

will

arch-priest

he will be able

to

be here

tiful

country

to

dinner,

and

you some

account of

But Bosnia

is

give

the Bosniac Christians.

Turks.

real

how do you

a beau-

intend to proceed from

here?"
"

Author.

intend

to

go

Vallievo

to

and

Ushitza."
Collector.

"

He

that leaves Servia without see-

ing Sokol, has seen nothing."

Author

"What

is

to be seen at

Sokol?"

" The most wonderful

Collector.
place in the
world, a perfect eagle's eyrie.
castle built

Author.
there

so I

whole town and

on the capital of a column of rock."

" But I did not
contemplate going

must change

my

route

took no

you

will first

letters for that quarter."

Collector.

" Leave

all

that to

me

go to Losnitza, on the banks of the Drina, and

I will

despatch a messenger to-night, apprising

the authorities of your approach.

When you

have

THE RENEGADE RETURNS.

seen Sokol, you will admit that

it

119

was worth the

journey."

The renegade having seen the Aga

now came

to

pay

and the normal good-

his visit,

him

nature of the collector procured

When we

welcome.

were

clear off,

left alone,

a tolerant

the renegade

began by abusing the Moslems in the fortress as

u I could not live an hour
a set of scoundrels.
longer

now

among such

khan with

in the

you

as

my

" and

am

servant and a couple of

you must come and

horses, where

give

rascals," said he,

see me.

I will

good a pipe of Djebel tobacco as ever

you smoked."
Author. "

on

You must

excuse me,

travels to-morrow.

my

must

You were

in

set out

Egypt,

I believe."

Renegade.

"

was long there

and a married daughter, are

my

in

two

sons,

Cairo to this

day."

Author. "

Renegade.

taught

my

practise

it

What do
"

sons

My
all I

in the old

they do ?"

daughter

know
way."

is

married, and

of medicine, and they

THE RENEGADE.

120

Author. " Where did you study ?"

"
Renegade (tossing his head and smiling). Here,

and there, and everywhere.

but

am no Hekim

have an ointment that heals

Bashi

bruises

all

and

sores in an incredibly short space of time."

He

gave a most unsatisfactory account of his

return to Turkey in Europe

Bosnia, or

first to

Herzegovina, where he was, or pretended to be,

physician to HusrefF
to Seraievo.

Mehmed

When we

of Belgrade, he said, "

does not

know me

spoke of Hafiz Pasha,

I

know him

I recollect

and Diarbecr before the

had

Pasha, and then

him

well,

but he

at

Carpout

battle of Nisib,

when he

thirty or forty pashas

under him.

He

shoot at a mark, or ride, with the youngest

could

man

in

the army."

The

collector

now

re-entered with the Natchal-

nik and his captains, and the renegade took his

leave,

him

I regretting that I

had not seen more of

for a true recital of his adventures

made an amusing
" Here

is

the

must have

chapter.
captain,

who

is

to

escort

you

to Ushitza," said the Natchalnik, pointing to a

THE NATCHALNIK.

man

muscular
safe

t(

his left.

at

121

He

take you

will

and sound."

Author. "

he

I see

rather have

him

an enemy.

He

a stout fellow.

is

for a friend than

would

meet him as

has the face of an honest man,

too."

Natchalnik.

custody, as

if

"

warrant you as safe in his

you were

in that of

Gospody Wel-

lington."

Author. "
the

in

You may

rest assured that if I were

Duke

custody of the

should not reckon myself very

offices is

Queen

of Wellington,

One

safe.

to take care of a tower, in

locks

up

traitorous

subjects.

of his

which the

Did you

never hear of the Tower of London ?"

Natchalnik.

"

No

all

we know

of

London

is

the wonderful bridge that goes under the water,

where an army can pass from one side to the

other, while

the

fleet

lies

anchored over their

heads."

The Natchalnik now bid me

my

farewell,

and

gave

rendezvous to the captain for next morning.

During the discussion of dinner, the arch-priest

G

MOSLEM FANATICISM.

122

gave us an illustration of Bosniac fanaticism

A few
to

months ago a church

was about

at Belina

be opened, which had been a

full

year in course

of building, by virtue of a Firman of the Sultan

the

Moslems murmuring, but doing nothing.

When

finished, the

but two hours

Bishop went to consecrate

after sunset,

an immense

mob

it

of

Moslems, armed with pickaxes and shovels, rased

it

to the ground, having first taken the Cross

Gospels and

thrown them into a

latrina.

and

The

Bishop complained to the Mutsellim, who imprisoned one or two of them, exacted a
he put in his

own

pocket, and let

fine,

which

them out next

day; the ruins of the Church remain in statu quo.

The
that

collector

now produced some famous

wine,

We

were

had been eleven years

unusually merry, and

I

felt

as

if I

years, for

"

humbug"

fell

had been

in bottle.

into toasts
his

and speeches.

intimate friend for

he had not one atom of Levantine

in his composition.

Poor

fellow, little

did he think, that in a few short weeks from this

period his blood would flow as freely as the wine

which he poured into

my

cup.

PARTTNG WITH THE COLLECTOR.

Next morning, on awaking,
in a bustle

the house was

the sun shone brightly on the green

satin coverlet of

announced the
ing

all

123

my

bed, and a tap at the door

collector,

who

entered in his dress-

the apparatus of brandy and sweet-

gown with

meats, and joined his favourable augury to mine

for the day's
journey.

"You

will

have a rare journey," said the col-

" the
country

a garden, the weather

lector

clear,

and neither hot nor

get to Bosnia,

is

cold.

The

more beautiful

the

is

nearer you

is

the land-

scape."

We
my

each drank a thimbleful of slivovitsa, he to

prosperous journey, while I proposed health

and long life

" I'homme

to

him

propose,

fast,

bade

et

but, as the sequel showed,

Dieu dispose."

Madame

Ninitch

After break-

adieu,

and de-

scended to the court-yard, where two carriages of

the collector awaited us, our horses being attached

behind.

And now
collector.

At

an eternal farewell to the worthy

this time a conspiracy

by the Obrenowitch

faction,

g2

was organized

through the emigrants

DEATH OF THE COLLECTOR.

124

residing in

Hungary.

They

secretly furnished

themselves with thirty-four or thirty-five hussar

uniforms at Pesth, bought horses, and having

bribed the Austrian frontier guard, passed the

Save with a trumpeter about a month

and entering Shabatz, stated that a revo-

period,
lution

after this

had broken out

at Belgrade, that prince

Kara Georgevitch was murdered, and Michael

proclaimed, with the support of the cabinets of

Europe
what

The

affrighted

to believe,

inhabitants

knew

not

and allowed the detachment

to

ride through the town. Arrived at the government-

house, the collector issued from the porch, to ask

what they wanted, and received

pistol-shot,

The

for

answer a

which stretched him dead on the

spot.

hussars

subsequently

attempted to raise the country, but,

failing in this,

soi-disant

were nearly

all

Austrian

taken and executed.

CHAPTER

The Banat
tier.

Losnitza. Feuds on the FronBack-woods. Convent of Tronosha.

Congregation of Peasantry. Rustic

of Matchva.

Enter the

Greek

XII.

Festival.

Finery.

Through

the richest land, forming part of the

ancient banat of Matchva, which was in the earlier

periods of Servian

and Hungarian history so

often a source of conflict

proached distant grey

and contention, we ap-

hills,

which gradually rose

from the horizon, and, losing their indistinctness,

revealed a chain so charmingly accidented, that I

quickened
region.

my

pace, as if about to enter a fairy

Thick turf covered the pasture lands

old oak and

the tender

g3

the

sapling diversified the

LOSNITZA.

126

Some

plain.

delicate

hung on the

clouds

and

lilac

fawn

horizon, whose

forming a har-

tints,

monizing contrast with the deep deep blue of the

heavens, showed the transparency of the

atmo-

and brought healthful elevation of

spirits.

sphere,

Even the brutes bespoke the harmony of creation;

for,

singular to say,

we saw

on the backs of swine

several crows perched

Towards evening, we entered a region of

tages

and

among gardens

by bushes,

verdant fences, with the rural quiet

liness of

lighted

the

inclosed

an English village in the

up by an

little

trees,

and clean-

last century,

Having crossed

Italian sunset.

bridge, a pandour,

cot-

who was

under

sitting

the willows, rose, came forward, and, touching

his hat, presented the Natchalnik's compliments,

and

said that

his house.

he was instructed to conduct

Losnitza

is

situated

dulation of the Gutchevo

tains

we had

leaving the

all

day kept

town on our

secluded path, which

ten minutes

on the

last

range, as the
in

to

un-

moun-

view were called. So

left,

we

wound up

we dismounted

me

at a

struck into a

the

hill,

and

in

house having the

NATCHALNIK OF LOSNITZA.
air

of a Turkish

villa,

127

which overlooked the sur-

rounding country, and was entered by an enclosed

court-yard with high walls.

The Natchalnik
tall

gaunt

figure,

Bosniac frontier

of Losnitza was a grey-headed

who spoke

is

very

little

but as the

subject to troubles he had been

selected for his great personal courage, for he

had

served under Kara Georg from 1804 \

Natchalnik. " It

is

not an easy matter to keep

things straight; the population on this side

is all

organized, so as to concentrate eight thousand

men

The Bosniacs

in a few hours.

as the

are

all

armed

two populations detest each other

and

cordially,

and are separated only by the Drina, the public

tranquillity often incurs great

ever a crisis

is

at

hand

danger

but when-

mount my horse and

Serviais divided into seventeen provinces, each governed

by a Natchalnik, whose duty it is to keep order and report
to the minister of war and interior.
He has of course no
control over the legal courts of law attached to each provincial

government

each province

is

he has a Cashier and a Secretary, and

divided into Cantons (Sres), over each of

rules.
The average population of a pro50,000 souls, and there are generally three Cantons

which a captain
vince

is

in a province,

which are governed by captains.

G 4

A DISPUTE SETTLED.

128

Mahmoud Pasha

to

go

affair

is

at

and the

Zwornik;

generally quietly settled with a cup of

coffee."

Author. " Ay, ay

ing of a

little

Arabs

as the

tobacco

saves the burning of a

What

great deal of powder.

say, the burn-

is

the population of

Zwornik ?"
Natchalnik. " About twelve or fifteen thousand

the place has fallen off;

thirty

and

forty

Author. "

thousand souls."

Have you had any

Natchalnik. " Why, yes

on the Servian side

men

is

on the

but Little Zwornik

also held

by Moslems. Not

of Little Zwornik wished to ex-

tend their domain

in a

is

disputes lately ?"

Great Zwornik

Bosniac side of the Drina;

long ago the

had formerly between

it

but

men

planted six hundred

wood, and then rode down alone and warned

them

off.

They

as soon as they

treated

saw the

me

six

contemptuously

admitted

but

hundred men issuing

from the wood they gave up the point

moud Pasha

and Mah-

was right; but he had

been afraid to risk his popularity by preventive

measures/'

THE DRINA.
The

selamlik of the Natchalnik was comfort-

ably carpeted and

up, but

no trace of

to be seen.

The rooms

fitted

European furniture was

of the collector at Shabatz

vicinity to Austria;
natives.

and

129

still

smacked of the

but here we were with the

Dinner was preceded by cheese, onions,

slivovitsa as a rinfresco,

and our beds were

improvised in the Turkish manner by mattrasses,

sheets,

and

on the divans.

coverlets, laid

never have a worse bed

May

'
!

Next morning, on waking,

went into the kiosk

to enjoy the cool fresh air, the incipient sunshine,

and the noble prospect; the banat of Matchva

which we had yesterday traversed, stretched away
to the westward,

yellow

an ocean of verdure and ripe

fruits.

" Where

" Look

is

the Drina

said I to our host.

the steep gardens and

much fewer

line

there flows the Drina, hid

Whether from the climate

are certainly

and

"

"
downwards," said he ; you see that

of poplars and willows

from view

wooded

hills

or superior cleanliness, there

fleas in

saw other vermin only once.

G 5

Servia than in Turkey

THE TOWN DOCTOR.

130
that

other bank are in

abruptly rise from the

Bosnia."

The town doctor now

entered, a middle-aged

man, who had been partly educated

and consequently spoke
his salary

Italian

in Dalmatia,

he told us that

was j640 a year ; and that

in consequence

of the extreme cheapness of provisions he

managed

he could on the

to live as well in this place as

Adriatic for treble the sum.

Other persons, mostly employes, now came

see us,

and we descended

to the town.

was open and paved with stone

extreme cleanliness,

it

from those one sees

in Bulgaria

moved
is

to Bosnia

Up

The bazaar

but except

was not in the

of Turkey in Europe.
lived in Losnitza

and other parts

1835 many Turks

to

mosque

used as a grain magazine.

its

least different

but at that time they

the

to

still

all

re-

remains, and

A mud

fort

crowns

the eminence, having been thrown

up during the

wars of Kara Georg, and might

be serviceable

still

in case of hostile operations.

Before going to Sokol the Natchalnik persuaded

me

to take a

Highland ramble into the Gutchevo

BRILLIANT CAVALCADE.
range, and

first

visit

131

Tronosha, a large convent

three hours off in the woods,

which was

the following day the rendezvous of

rounding peasantry,

in their

to be

all

on

the sur-

holyday dresses, in

order to celebrate the festival of consecration.

At the appointed hour our host appeared, having

donned

his best clothes,

gold embroidery.

which were covered with

His sabre and

pistols

were no

less rich

and curious, and he mounted a horse

worth at

least sixty or seventy

pounds

sterling.

Several other notables of Losnitza, similarly broid-

ered and accoutred, and

horses,

mounted on caracoling

accompanied us ; and we formed a caval-

cade that would have astonished even Mr. Batty.

Ascending rapidly, we were soon

lost in

the

woods, catching only now and then a view of the

golden plain through the dark green oaks and
pines.

For

party dashed

full

up

most majestic
unrelieved

three hours our brilliant

hill

and down

dale,

through the
gaze but

forests, delightful to the

by a patch of

cultivation,

rably profitless to the commonwealth,

to a height covered with loose rocks

g6

little

and mise-

till

we came

and pasture.

CONVENT AT TRONOSHA.

132
" There

Tronosha," said the Natchalnik, pulling

is

up, and pointing to a tapering white spire and

slender column of blue
cul-de-sac

smoke that

formed by the opposite

the woods

we had

rose from a

hills,

traversed, wore such a shaggy

and umbrageous drapery, that with a

" Si
I could
alibi

quam in

slight trans-

lupus essem, nollem

exclaim,

position,

which, like

Servid lupus esse

!"

steep descent

brought us to some meadows on which cows were

grazing by the side of a rapid stream, and

I felt

the open space a relief after the gloom of the

endless forest.

Crossing the stream, we struck into the sylvan

cul-de-sac,
edifice

and

arrived in a few minutes at an

with strong walls, towers, and posterns, that

looked more like a secluded and

fortified

manor-

house in the seventeenth century than a convent;

for in

more troubled

times, such establishments,

though tolerated by the old Turkish government,

were often subject to

the

unwelcome

visits

of

minor marauders.

fine jolly old

monk, with

welcomed the Natchalnik

a powerful voice,

at the gate,

and putting

SUPERIOR OF THE CONVENT.

hand on

his

his left breast, said to

doche Gospody

"

(Welcome, master

We then, according to

me,

133
" Dobro

!)

the custom of the country,

went into the chapel, and, kneeling down, said our

I remarked,

thanksgiving for safe arrival.

on

taking a turn through the chapel and examining

it

minutely, that the pictures were

Byzantine style
to

all in

the old

crimson-faced saints looking up

golden skies.

Crossing the court,

looked about me, and per-

ceived that the cloister was a gallery, with

beams supporting the

stone, at one part of

in

running round three

roof,

sides of the building, the

basement being built in

which a hollowed

tree

shoved

an aperture formed a spout for a stream of

clear cool water.

The Igoumen,

ascended to the gallery.

aged man, with a new

He was

silk

secluded spot, and taking

a sort of

seat

prominent part of the

staircase

which

a sleek middle-

gown, and seemed out

of his wits with delight at

to

or superior, re-

wooden

ceived us at the foot of the

me

wooden

my

arrival in

me by

this

the hand led

of honour placed in a
gallery,

which seemed

to

CONVENT AT TRONOSHA.

132
" There

is

Tronosha," said the Natchalnik, pulling

up, and pointing to a tapering white spire and

smoke that

slender column of blue

cul-de-sac

the woods

formed by the opposite

we had

rose from a

hills,

traversed, wore such a shaggy

and umbrageous drapery, that with a

" Si
I could
alibi

slight trans-

lupus essem, nollem

exclaim,

position,

which, like

quain in Servid lupus esse

\"

steep descent

brought us to some meadows on which cows were

grazing by the side of a rapid stream, and I

felt

the open space a relief after the gloom of the

endless forest.

Crossing the stream, we struck into the sylvan

cul-de-sac,
edifice

and

arrived in a few minutes at an

with strong walls, towers, and posterns, that

looked more like a secluded and

fortified

manor-

house in the seventeenth century than a convent ;

for in

more troubled

times, such establishments,

though tolerated by the old Turkish government,

were often subject to

the

unwelcome

visits

of

minor marauders.

fine jolly old

monk, with a powerful

welcomed the Natchalnik

at the gate,

voice,

and putting

SUPERIOR OF THE CONVENT.

hand on

his

his left breast, said to

doche Gospody

"

(Welcome, master

me,

133
" Dobro

!)

We then, according to the custom of the country,

went

down, said our

into the chapel, and, kneeling

thanksgiving for safe arrival.

remarked, on

taking a turn through the chapel and examining

it

minutely, that the pictures were

Byzantine style
to

all in

the old

crimson-faced saints looking up

golden skies.
Crossing the court,

looked about me, and per-

ceived that the cloister was a gallery, with

beams supporting the

stone, at one part of

in

running round three

roof,

sides of the building, the

basement being built in

which a hollowed

tree

shoved

an aperture formed a spout for a stream of

clear cool water.

The Igoumen,

ascended to the gallery.

aged man, with a new

of his wits

He was

silk

a sort of

seat

prominent part of the

staircase

which

a sleek middle-

gown, and seemed out

with delight at

secluded spot, and taking

to

or superior, re-

wooden

ceived us at the foot of the

me

wooden

my

me by

arrival in

this

the hand led

of honour placed in a
gallery,

which seemed

to

VILLAGE FESTIVITY.

136

The sheep were by

effect.

lying in fragments,

this time cut up,

and

around which the supper

Other peasants

parties were seated cross-legged.

danced slowly, in a circle, to the drone of the somniferous Servian bagpipe.

When

went to bed, the assembled peasantry

were in the

full tide

of merriment, but without

The only person somewhat the worse

excess.

of

the bottle was the threadbare priest with the gal-

lows look.
I fell asleep

with a low confused

murmur

of

droning bagpipes, jingling drinking cups, occasional laughter,

know not what

and other

noises.

absurdities

dreamed,

suddenly a solemn

voices gently interswelling chorus of countless

my

rupted
light,

slumbers

the

room was

filled

with

and the sun on high was beginning to

in the wainscot,
begild an irregular parallelogram

when

clothes.

started

up, and hastily drew on some

Going out

to the makad,

perceived

of merry-making peasants
yesterday's assembly

quadrupled in number, and

all

dressed in their

knees down
holyday costume, thickset on their

MORNING WORSHIP.

137

the avenue to the church, and following a noble

old

hymn.

sprang out of the postern, and, help-

ing myself with the grasp of trunks of trees, and

bared roots and bushes, clambered up one of the

sides of the hollow,

and attaining a

down with wonder and

looked

The whole

singular scene.

clear space,

pleasure on the

pit of this theatre of

verdure appeared covered with a carpet of white

and crimson,

for

such were the prevailing colours

When

of the rustic costumes.

thought of the

trackless solitude of the sylvan ridges

round me,

seemed to witness one of the early communions of

Christianity, in those ages
to the

Olympic

deities in

praise to the true

God

when

incense ascended

gorgeous temples, while

rose from the haunts of

the wolf, the lonely cavern, or the subterranean

vault.

When
dresses

church service was over

more minutely.

women was

examined the

The upper

tunic of the

a species of surtout of undyed cloth,

bordered with a design of red cloth of a finer description.

The

stockings in colour and texture

resembled those of Persia, but were generally em-

GOOD FEELING OF THE PEASANTRY.

138

broidered at the ankle with gold and silver thread.

we descended, accom-

After the mid-day meal

The

panied by the monks.

yard was

silent

and empty.

dispersed already ?"

On

nothing.

The

lately

crowded court-

"What/'

said

I,

"all

superior smiled, and said

going out of the gate, I paused in a

The whole assembled

state of slight emotion.

peasantry were marshalled in two rows, and standing uncovered in solemn silence, so as to
living

avenue to the bridge.

The Igoumen then

sure

make

my visit

publicly expressed the plea-

had given

to the people,

name thanked me, and wished me

and

in their

a prosperous

journey, repeating a phrase I had heard before:

" God be
praised that Servia has at length seen
the day that strangers

know
I

the people

took off

come from

afar to see

!"

my

fez,

and

said,

"Do

Father Igoumen, what has given

pleasure in the course of

"
Iff.

Author.
santry,

and

my

you know,

me

the most

visit ?"

can scarcely guess."

" I have seen a

large assembly of pea-

and not a

trace of poverty, vice, or misery;

DEPARTURE.

139

the best proof that both the civil and ecclesiastical

authorities

do their duty."

The Igoumen, smiling with

short speech to the people.

satisfaction,

mounted

the convent bells began to toll as I

made

my horse
waved

hand to the assembly, and " Sretnj poot !"

(a

a
;

my

pros-

perous journey!) burst from a thousand tongues.

The scene was

refrain a tear.

so

moving that

Clapping spurs to

tered over the bridge

bridle

till

could scarcely

my

and gave him

horse

can-

his will of the

the steepness of the ascent compelled a

slower pace.

CHAPTER

XIII.

Patriarchal simplicity of man Krupena. Sokol. extraordinary

Wretched town. Alpine scenery. Cool reception.

Romantic sylvan scenery.

ners.

Its

position.

Valley of the Rogatschitza.

Words

fail

me to

describe the beauty of the road

The heights and

from Tronosha to Krupena.

distances,

without being alpine in reality, were

sufficiently so to

an eye unpractised in measuring

scenery of the highest class

but in

enchantments nature had revelled

The gloom of the oak

forest

in

all

the softer

prodigality.

was relieved and

broken by a hundred plantations of every variety

of tree that the climate would bear, and every hue,

from the sombre evergreen to the early suspicions

of the yellow leaf of autumn.

Even the tops of

SIMPLICITY OF MANNERS.
the mountains were free from

141

sterility, for

they

were capped with green as bright, with trees as

and with pasture

lofty,

as rich, as that of the

valleys below.

The

people, too, were very different from the

inhabitants of Belgrade, where political intrigue,

and want of the confidence which

sincerity inspires,

But the men of the

paralyze social intercourse.

back-woods, neither poor nor barbarous, delighted

me by

the patriarchal simplicity of their manners,

and the poetic

in

originality of their language.

gayer moments

comedy of

seemed

nature, in which

his peculiarities,

the

affectations

Even

to witness the sweet

man

is

ludicrous from

but " is not yet ridiculous from

and

assumptions

of

artificial

life."

Half-way to Krupena we reposed

where the carpets were

pipe.

A curious

laid out

at a brook,

and we smoked a

illustration occurred here of the

abundance of wood

in Servia.

A boy,

after leading

a horse into the brook, tugged the halter and led

the unwilling horse out of the stream again. u Let

-

him

drink, let

him drink

his

fill,"

said a

woman

MILITARY RECEPTION.

142

" if

every thing else must be paid with gold, at

wood and water

least

cost nothing."

Mounting our horses

six troopers

of

tain

again,

we were met

by-

bearing the compliments of the cap-

Krupena, who was

awaiting us with

twenty-two or three irregular cavalry on an eminence.

We

both dismounted and went through

the ceremony of public complimenting, both evi-

dently enjoying the fun

trious stranger,
I

reception.

and

so I took

visit

of an

illus-

the formality of a military

perceived in a

captain, although a
fuss

he the

good

moment

fellow,

that

this

was fond of a little

him by the hand, made a turn

across the grass, cast a nonchalant look on his

troop,

and condescended

of their martial bearing.

tion

they were
fairly
little

and

to express

men

approbait

is

that

of rude and energetic aspect, very

mounted.

After patronizing

further chat and compliment

perceived

my

True

Krupena

a mile, in the middle of a

him with

we remounted

at the distance of
little

and there bare of vegetation.

about

plain surrounded

by gardens but the neighbouring

;

hills

were here

a house-painter's story.

Some

of the troopers in front sang a sort of

chorus, and
horse,

now and then

would

a fellow to

ride a la djereed,

ing a dart, would

us,

143

show

off his

and instead of fling-

fire his pistols.

Others joined

and our party was swelled to a considerable

cavalcade as

we entered

peasants were drawn

the village, where the

up

in

a row to receive

me.
Their captain then led the way up the stairs of
his

house to a chardak, or wooden balcony, on

which was a

table laid out with

elders of the village

some conversation
melon on the

now came

separately,

The

and had

the priest on entering laid a

table, a usual

civility in this part

flowers.

method of showing

of the country.

One

of the

man from Montenegro,

He related
house-painter.

attendant crowd was a

who

said he

that

he was employed by

was a

Mahmoud

Pasha, of

Zwornik, to paint one of the rooms in his house;

when he had

half accomplished his task, the dis-

pute about the domain of Little Zwornik arose,

on which he and his companion, a German, were

thrown into prison, being accused of being a

AN ENTERTAINMENT.

144

Servian captain in disguise.

They were

quently liberated, but shot at

through the leg of the narrator.

subse-

the ball going

This

is

another

instance of the intense hatred the Servians and

the Bosniac

Moslems bear

to each other.

It

must

be remarked, that the Christians, in relating a

tale,

usually

The

make

last dish

the most of

it.

of our dinner was a roast lamb,

served on a large circular wooden board, the head

being

split in twain,

and

pyramid of dismembered
jovial evening, in
freely,

on the top of the

laid

parts.

We

had another

which the wine-cup was plied

but not to an extravagant excess, and the

usual toasts and speeches were drunk and made.

Even

in returning to rest, I

had not yet done

with the pleasing testimonies of welcome.

entering the bed-chamber, I found

many

On
fresh

and fragrant flowers inserted in the chinks of the

wainscot.

Krupena was

originally exclusively a

Moslem

town, and a part of the old bazaar remains.

original inhabitants,

who escaped

either to Sokol or into Bosnia.

The

the sword, went

The

hodgia, or

SOKOL.

145

Moslem schoolmaster, being on some business

Krupena, came in the morning
dress

was nearly

from the knee.

all

He

in white,

told

Sokol had a curious

lately lost a son, a

me

His

to see us.

and

at

his legs bare

that the

Vayvode of

mental malady.

Having

daughter, and a grandson, he

when

his servant en-

tered with a pipe, he imagined he

saw his children

could no longer smoke, for

burning

in the tobacco.

the

During

day we

whole

toiled

upwards,

woods and wilds of a character more

through

rocky than that of the previous day, and on attaining the ridge of the

Gutchevo range,

down with astonishment on

lying at

our

feet,

looked

Sokol, which, though

was yet perched on a lone fan-

which exactly suited the description

of the collector of Shabatz, " a city and castle

tastic crag,

built
it

on the capital of a column of rock." Beyond

was a range of mountains further

further on,

and another.

was long

Bosnia

another outline, and then another,

I at

once

felt

that, as a tourist, I

had broken fresh ground, that

of grandeur

in

unknown

since I

was seeing scenes

to the English public.

had sketched.

It

instinctively

A SORRY CUSHION.

146
seized

my book,

but threw

it

away

yielding to the rapture of the

my eyes

to

mount

in despair, and,

moment, allowed

step after step of this enchanted

Alpine ladder.

We

now, by a narrow, steep, and winding path

cut on the face of a precipice, descended to Sokol,

and passing through a rotting wooden bazaar,

entered a wretched khan, and ascending a sort
of staircase, were

mustabahs

shown

a greasy old cushion, with the flock

protruding through

me, but
board

I,

room with dusty

into a

its

cover,

was

laid

down

for

with polite excuses, preferred the bare

to this

The more

odious flea-hive.

clined the cushion, the

khan-keeper that

de-

more pressing became the

should carry away with

some reminiscence of Sokol.

me

Finding that his

upholstery was not appreciated, the khan-keeper

went
to

to the other

make

time,

all

end of the apartment, and began

fire for coffee

the fires were

people were asleep.

Disdar Aga.

citadel,

and pay him a

have no idea

for this being

out,

Ramadan

and most of the

Meanwhile the captain sent

for the

"You

offered

visit,

how

to

go into the

but the captain

said,

sensitive these people

A CROSS-GRAINED TURK.
are

even now they are forming

all sorts

jectures as to the object of your visit

them

therefore, take

to alarm them.

the Disdar

will be here

by the temper he
and the extent

is in,

to

of con-

we must,

own way,

quietly in their

and do nothing

Aga

147

In a few minutes

you can then judge,

of the length of your stay,

which you wish to carry your

curiosity."
I

admitted that the captain was speaking sense,

and waited patiently

the

till

Aga made

his appear-

ance.

Footsteps were heard on the staircase, and the

Mutsellim

entered,

years of age,

when

called

who looked

from a sound

it

cross, as

before putting

if
it

forty-five

most men

His

sleep.

and looked as

as a wool-bag,

a shawl into

about

Turk,

fez

are

was round

he had stuffed

on,

and

his face

and eyes had something of the old Mongol or

Tartar look.

He was accompanied by

who was very proud and

a Bosniac,

insolent in his

demean-

" I have
our. After the usual compliments, I said,
seen some countries and
rious as Sokol.

the interior, not

I left

cities,

but no place so cu-

Belgrade on a tour through

knowing of

h2

its

existence.

Other-

ADMITTANCE REFUSED

148

wise I would have asked letters of Hafiz Pasha to

you

for,

country having advised

of Servia,

But

Pasha there.

letter to the

its

me

intending to go to Nish, he gave

me

the people of this

not to miss the wonder

have come, seduced by the account of

beauty, not doubting of your good reception

of strangers

:"

on which

took out the

letter

of Hafiz Pasha, the direction of which he read,

and then he

said, in a

husky voice which became

his cross look,

"

do not understand your speech

you must

have seen Belgrade,

As

temptible.

impossible

for

for the

is

is

there

nothing to be seen."

is

and even

you

citadel,

it

is

with the Disdar Aga,

and he

asleep,

if

find Sokol con-

your seeing the

key

if

you were

to get in,

After some further conversation, in the course

of which

attempt

"

to

saw that

it

would be better not

catch the Tartar,"' I restricted

self to taking a survey of the town.

our walk in the same

we

entered,

to

my-

Continuing

direction as that

by which

we completed the threading of the

bazaar, which was truly abominable, and arrived

at the

gate of the citadel, which was open

so

TO THE CITADEL.

149

that the story of the

key and the slumbers of the

Disdar Aga was

fudge.

all

looked

There are no new works, and

not enter.

a castle such as those one sees

but

its

it is

on the Rhine

extraordinary position renders

nable in

but did

in,

it

for

country impracticable

impregartillery.

Although blockaded in the time of the Revolution,

and the Moslem garrison reduced

seven men,

it

never was taken by the Servians

although Belgrade, Ushitza, and

castles,

had

castle is a

walls

all

finest stone

Close to the

imaginable

is

The Mutsellim opened

around.

the other

wood, with a minaret of

in

mosque

and showed

door,

all

fallen into their hands.

wood, although the

abundance

to only

me

the

interior,

in

the

with blank

and a faded carpet, opposite the Moharrem.

He would

not allow

evidently

afraid

me

to

would

go up the minaret,
peep

over into the

castle.

Retracing our steps

perceived a needle-shaped

rock that overlooked the abyss under the fortress,

so taking off

my

boots, I

tained the pinnacle

scrambled up and

but the view was so

that, afraid of getting dizzy, I

h 3

at-

fearful,

turned to descend,

A SUSPICIOUS MUTSELLIM.

150
but found
ascent

it

much more dangerous

at length

by the

affair

than the

assistance of Paul I got

down to the Mutsellim, who was sitting impatiently

on a piece of rock, wondering
able Englishman.

"

built,

me

know

of engineering ?" said he,

out of hearing

understand your object.

you have been making

Bosnia

on which the citadel

above the level of the valley below.

What do

taking

unaccount-

asked him what he supposed

to be the height of the rock

was

at the

what

"
:

confess I do not

hear that on the road

inquiries as to the state of

interest can

England have

in raising

disturbances in that country ?"

" The same

interest that she has in producing

political disorder in

moon.

In some

one of the provinces of the

semi-barbarous

Hungary, people confound

with political intrigue.

provinces of

political

In Aleppo, too,

geography
I

recollect

standing at the Bab-el-Nasr, attempting to spell

out an inscription recording

was grossly insulted and

neer)

but you seem a

its

called a

man

erection,

Mehendis

and

(engi-

of more sense and

discernment."

"

Well, you are evidently not a chapkun. There

THE DESCENT FROM SOKOL.

is

nothing more to be seen in Sokol.

151

Had

it

not

been Ramadan we should have treated you better,

be your intentions good or bad.
pleasant journey

and

if

you wish

wish you a
to arrive at

Liubovia before night-fall the sooner you set out

the better, for the roads are not safe after dark."

We

now descended by paths

like staircases cut

in the rocks to the valley below.

Paul dismounted

in a fright

my

from his horse, and led her down

but

long practice of riding in the Druse country

had given me an easy

indifference to roads that

would have appalled me before

When we

got a

little

my residence there.

way along the valley,

looked

back, and the view from below was, in a different

style, as

remarkable as that from above.

looked like a

little castle

Sokol

of Edinburgh placed in

the clouds, and a precipice on the other side of

the valley presented a perpendicular stature of not
less

than

five

hundred

feet.

few hours' travelling through the narrow

valley of the Bogatschitza brought us to the

bank

of the Drina, where, leaving the up-heaved

monu-

ments of a chaotic world, we bade adieu

to the

Tremendous, and again saluted the Beautiful.

h 4

CHAPTER

The

Drina.

Liubovia. Quarantine
A lunatic

Servian beauty.

Murder by

The

Save

is

it

priest.

is

the largest tributary of the Danube,

is

the largest tributary of the Save,

not navigable

no

river scenery,

how-

can possibly be prettier than that of the

ever,

Drina
Linz

Derlatcha.
Sorry quarters.

Station.

brigands.

and the Drina

but

XIV.

as in the case of the

to Vienna, the river

Upper Danube from

winds between precipi-

tous banks tufted with wood, but

the thrilling

it

was tame

enchantments of Sokol.

alter

At one

Roman causeway ran along. the river, and

we were told that a Roman bridge crossed a tribu-

place a

tary of the Drina in this neighbourhood, which to

this

day bears the name of Latinski Tiupria, or

Latin bridge.

LIUBOVIA.

At Liubovia the

153

receded, and the valley

hills

was about half a mile wide, consisting of

meadow

fine

land with thinly scattered oaks, athwart

which the evening sun poured

its

golden floods,

suggesting pleasing images of abundance without

effort.

This part of Servia

will, so scant

is it

a wilderness, if

is

you

of inhabitants, so free from any

thing like inclosures, or

gardens, or gardeners

fields,

and yet

farms, labourers,
it

is,

and looks a

garden in one place, a trim English lawn and

"
park in another you almost say to yourself, The
:

man

or house cannot be far off

what lovely and

extensive grounds, where can the hall or castle be

hid

?"

Liubovia

is

the quarantine station on the high

road from Belgrade to Seraievo.

A line of buildings,

parlatorio,

magazines, and lodging-houses, faced

the river.

The

director

would

fain

have

me

pass

the night, but the captain of Derlatcha had re-

On my

return from Servia, I found that the author of

Eothen had recorded a

similar impression derived from the

Tartar journey on the high road from Belgrade towards

Constantinople

but the remark

is

much more

the sylvan beauty of the interior of Servia.

applicable to

ROMANTIC JOURNEY.

154

ceived notice of our advent, and

to

push on, and rested only

we were

for coffee

obliged

and

pipes.

The

director

was a Servian from the Austrian

side

of the

Danube, and spoke German.

told

me

He

that three thousand individuals per an-

num performed quarantine, passing

from Bosnia to

Sokol and Belgrade, and that the principal imports

were hides, chesnuts, zinc, and iron manufactures

from the town of Seraievo.

of the river was a

tinued along the Drina,

chill pallor

the opposite bank

wooden Bosniac guard-house.

Remounting our horses

by the

On

after sunset,

now dubiously

we con-

illuminated

of the rising moon, while

hill

and dale resounded with the songs of our men.

No sooner had

one finished an old metrical legend

of the days of Stephan the powerful and Lasar

the good, than another began a lay of Kara Georg,
the

"William Tell" of these mountains.

times

were

when we came
fired off; at

a peasant,

good echo the

who came running

pistols

one place the noise had aroused

the road crying out,

advancing

to a

Some-

"

across the grass to

good men, the night

go no further, but tarry with

is

me

the stranger will have a plain supper and a hard

DERLATCHA.

155

We

couch, but a hearty welcome."

for his proffer,

but held on.

At about ten
wood, and

thanked him

after

o'clock

we

entered a thick dark

an ascent of a quarter of an hour

emerged upon a

fine

open lawn

in front of a large

house with lights gleaming in the windows.

ripple of the

saw

it

at

The

Drina was no longer audible, but we

some distance below

polished steel.

As we

us, like a cuirass of

entered the inclosure

found the house in a bustle.

strong corpulent

man

The

we

captain, a tall

of about forty years of age,

came forward and welcomed me.

almost despaired of your coming to-night,"
said he " for on this ticklish frontier it is always
ff

safer to terminate one's

journey by sunset.

The

rogues pass so easily from one side of the water

to the other, that

it is

difficult to clear

the country

of them."

He

then led

me

into the

house, and

going

through a passage, entered a square room of larger

dimensions than

is

usual in the rural parts of

A good Turkey carpet

covered the upper

part of the room, which was

fenced round by

Servia.

cushions placed against the wall, but not raised

h6

A SERVIAN BEAUTY.

156

above the level of the

The

floor.

wall of the

lower end of the room had a row of strong wooden

pegs, on which were

hung

the hereditary

and

holyday clothes of the family, for males and

fe-

Furs, velvets, gold embroidery, and silver

males.

mounted Bosniac

pistols,

guns, and carbines ela-

borately ornamented.

The

captain,

who appeared to be

man, now presented

and somewhat

jolly sort of

me

who came from

to his wife,

a plain, simple,

the Austrian side

of the Save, and spoke German.

She seemed,

and indeed was, a trim methodical housewife,

as

the order of her domestic arrangements clearly

showed.

Another female,

whom

afterwards

learned to be the wife of an individual

neighbourhood who
attention.

when

of the

was absent, attracted

Her age was about

my

four and twenty,

the lines of thinking begin to mingle with

those of early youth.

In

fact,

from her

saw that she would soon be passata

too were

by no means

tint I

her features

classical or regular,

and

yet she had unquestionably some of that super-

human charm which Raphael sometimes

infused

into his female figures, as in the St. Cecilia.

As

THE CAPTAIN'S FATHER.

repeated and prolonged

I
1

had seen no eyes

in

my

who reminded me

highest characteristic of expression

disguised enough

was

to

her with delight

fill

childish, as if

the

in

presence of a traveller from an

seemed

that

felt

gaze,

Belgrade like those of the

beauty of the Drina,

scarcely

157

of the

"a

spirit

flesh."

The

unknown country
;

and her wonder

had come from some

distant

constellation in the firmament.

Next day, the

appearance.
at Palesh,

my
at

father of the captain

The same

old

man,

whom

and who had asked me,

if

fine weather, the

principal apartments being

his

had met

the king of

country lived in a strong castle ?"

mid-day by

made

We

dined

windows of the

thrown open, so as

to

have the view of the valley, which was here nearly

but with broken ground.

as wide as at Liubovia,

For the

first

dined, not

round a

at

sofra,

we

time since leaving

Belgrade

an European

but squatted

table,

a foot high, in the Eastern manner,

although we ate with knives and forks.

cookery was excellent

a dish

The

of stewed lamb

being worthy of any table in the world.

Our

host, the captain, never having seen

Ush-

BASHEVITZA.

158

itza,

offered

accompany me

to

so

thither;

started early in the afternoon, having the

still

on our

and Bosniac

right,

and pretty

to time visible,

but

hope somewhat cleaner than Sokol.

Drina

from time

villages,

to look at,

we

should

On

arrival

at Bashevitza the elders of the village stood in a

row

to receive us close to the house of conciliation.

mosque near

I perceived a

this place,

and asked

if

a
was employed for any purpose.
No," said
"
the captain,
it is
empty. The Turks prayed in
it

own

after their

it,

their's

and ours

fashion, to that

God who

and the house of God should not

be made a grain magazine, as in

many

Turkish villages scattered throughout

At

this place a

is

other

Servia."

number of wild ducks were visible,

perched on rocks in the Drina, but were very shy ;

men

get within shot,

gun being an

old Turkish one,

only once did one of our

which missed
like

his

most of the arms

in this country,

which are

sometimes as dangerous to the marksman as to

the mark.

Towards evening we quitted the lovely Drina,

which, a

little

higher up, is no longer the boundary

between Servia and Bosnia, being entirely within

A LUNATIC PRIEST.

159

the latter frontier, and entered the vale of Rogats-

watered by a river of that name, which was

chitza,

crossed

by an ancient Servian bridge, with pointed

arches

of admirable

The

proportions.

village

where we passed the night was newly

settled, the

main

a sign that

street

being covered with

few houses or

traffic exist

a hovel; but while

for us, I sat

down with

in the

board,

little

The khan was

out,

and prepared

the captain on a shop-

bazaar,

A priest, with

served.

here.

was swept

it

turf,

where

coffee

was

an emaciated visage, sore

and a distracted look, came up, and wished

eyes,

me good

evening,

of grievances.

and began a lengthened

tale

asked the khan-keeper who he

was, and received for answer that he was a Greek

priest

from Bosnia, who had hoarded some money,

and had been squeezed by the Moslem tyrant of

his

village,

ejaculations,
if

which drove him

mingled with sighs,

mad.
fell

Confused

from him, as

he supposed his story to be universally known.

" Sit
" and tell me
said

down, good man,"

your

tale, for I

before.

Tell

it

am

a stranger,

I,

and never heard

it

me, beginning with the beginning,

and ending with the end/'

MELANCHOLY STORY.

160

"

the copious tears,

Bosnia

in

ing

God

Momkes

took

so

face,

money

much

were useless.

my

yielded

peace and

One day

all

dollars, to preserve

my

my

his

My

appeals for

was thrown

and received 617 strokes on

strength of

up

thank-

I lived, received

hid.

before him.

my

praying for courage to hold out.

618th stroke
I

me

justice

down on my

and

me

but Ali Kiahya, where

mercy and

soles,

was once the happiest man

having given

information that I had

wiping

priest,

the sun never rose without

for

happiness

the

said

"Bogami Gospody,"

my

At the

mind and body failed,

money, seven hundred

life.

For a whole year

drank not a drop of wine, nothing but brandy,

brandy, brandy."

Here the
wrung, but
I

priest
I

was

sobbed aloud.
in

no condition

My

heart was

to assist

him; so

bade him be of good cheer, and look on his

misfortune as a gloomy avenue to happier and

brighter days.

We

slept

on hay, put under our carpets and

pillows, this being the first

time since leaving

Belgrade that we did not sleep

in sheets.

next day ascended the Rogatschitza river to

We
its

ROAD TO USHITZA.
source,

161

and then, by a long ascent through pines

and rocks, attained the parting of the waters'.

Leaving the basin of the Drina, we descended to
that of the
to

Morava by a

beautifully

the

rich

inhabitants

of Ushitza, and the Servian villages

neighbourhood.

the road
learn.

which are

meadows,

day a debatable ground for the Moslem

to this

is

The

it is

From

but by

paved,

here to

whom we

Ushitza

could not

stones were not large enough to war-

rant the belief of

and

or

we came

which are called

meadows,

Ushitkza Luka,

in the

steep road, until

its

probably a

being a

relic

Roman

causeway,

of the Servian empire.

After seeing Ushitza, the captain, who accompanied me,

returned to his family, at Derlatcha, and, I lament to say,
that at this place he was attacked by the robbers, who, in

summer, lurk

in the thick

captain galloped
spot.

off,

woods on the two

frontiers.

The

but his two servants were killed on the

CHAPTER XV.

Arrival at Ushitza. Wretched streets. Excellent

Khan.

Turkish Vayvode.
A Persian Dervish. Relations of
Moslems and Christians. Visit the Castle. Bird's eye

Before
of

it

entering Ushitza

we had

from a gentle eminence.

style of the

church

a fair prospect
castle, in the

middle ages, mosque minarets, and a

spire, rose

above other objects

each me-

morializing the three distinct periods of Servian

history

the old feudal monarchy, the Turkish

occupation, and the

new

principality.

We

entered

the bazaars, which were rotting and ruinous, the

air infected
hills,

and

with the loathsome vapours of dung-

their putrescent carcases, tanpits with

green hides, horns, and

offal:

here and there a

163

USHITZA.
hideous old rat showed

its

head

at

some

crevice

in the boards, to complete the picture of impurity

and desolation.
Strange to say, after this ordeal we put up at

an excellent khan, the best we had seen in Servia,

being a mixture of the

German Wirthshaus, and

the Italian osteria, kept

by

a Dalmatian,

who had
His

years at Scutari in Albania.

lived twelve

upper room was very neatly furnished and new

carpeted.

In the afternoon we went to pay a

visit to

the

Vayvode, who lived among gardens in the upper

Arrived

town, out of the stench of the bazaars.

house we mounted a few ruined steps, and

at the

passing through a

shown

paling, were

where

little

coffee

garden fenced with wooden

into a little carpeted kiosk,

and pipes were presented, but not

partaken of by the Turks present,

Ramadan. The Vayvode was an

it

elderly

being

man, with

a white turban and a green benish, having

eyes,
civil

and a

still

slight hesitation in his speech

weak
;

but

and good-natured, without any of the absurd

suspicions of the Mutsellim of Sokol.

granted

me

He

at

once

permission to see the castle, with the

164

USHITZA.

remark,

" Your

harm.

Belgrade castle

seeing

can do us no good and no

it

like a bazaar,

is

can go out and in that likes."

In the course of

conversation he told us that Ushitza

cipal remaining
their

Servia;

thousand

five

any one

is

the prin-

Moslems

settlement of the

number here amounting

to

in

three

hundred, while there are only

six

hundred Servians, making altogether a population

of somewhat

more than four thousand

The Vayvode himself spoke Turkish on

sion
(the

but the usual language at Sokol

same

We

souls.

this occais

Bosniac

as Servian).

now

took our leave of the Vayvode, and

continued ascending the same

composed of

street,

low one-storied houses, covered with irregular tiles,

and inclosed with high wooden palings to secure

as

much

The
built

privacy as

the

harems.

and on

a terrace

possible for

palings and gardens ceased

on an open space stood a mosque, sur-

rounded by a few

trees

not cypresses, for the

climate scarce allows of them, but those of the

forests

we had

to fragments,

passed.

The

and remained

of the revolution. Close by,

portico
as

is

it

was shattered

was

at the close

a Turbieh or saint's

A PERSIAN DERVISH.
tomb, but nobody could

what period
Within a

it

was

little

tell

me

to

165

whom

or at

erected.

inclosed

garden

espied a

strangely dressed figure, a dark-coloured Dervish,

with long glossy black hair.

who had

Persian,

travelled all

Without the conical hat of

would have made a
brigand

He

fine

proved to be a
over the

East.

his order, the Dervish

study for a Neapolitan

but his manners were easy, and his con-

versation plausible, like those of his countrymen,

as wide a contrast to the silent hauteur

which form

of the Turk, and the rude fanaticism of the Bosniac, as can well be

imagined.

withered baboon-looking
dress,

now made

His servant, a

little fellow,

his appearance

in the

same

and presented

coffee.

Author. "

Who

would have expected

Persian on the borders of Bosnia?

to see a

You Der-

vishes are great travellers."

Dervish.

"You

Ingleez travel a great deal more;

not content with Frengistan, you go to Hind, and

Sind, and
1

This

is

Yemen \ The

first

Englishman

I ever

a phrase, and had no relation to the occupation

of Sind or Aden.

THE MUEZZIN.

166

saw, was at Meshed, (south-east of the Caspian,)

and now

meet you in Roumelly."

Author. " Do you intend to go back ?"
Dervish. " I am in the hands of Allah Talaa.
I

These good Bosniacs here have

house, and given

and

I love

me

am

They

love me,

this

anxious to see the mosque, and

mount the minaret

know

enters

me

them."

Author. "

not

this garden.

built

if it

be permitted, but

the custom of the place.

mosques

in

Constantinople,

do

Frank

Cairo,

and

Aleppo."
Dervish. "

You

are mistaken

the mosques of

Aleppo are shut to Franks."

Author. " Pardon me; Franks are excluded from
the

mosque of Zekerieh

in Aleppo, but not

from

the Osmanieh, and the Adelieh."

Dervish. " There
will

make no

is

the Muezzin

kissed the
versation

dare say he

difficulty."

The Muezzin, anxious

no scruple

for his backshish,

made

and now some Moslems entered, and

hand of the Dervish.

When

became general, one of them

a low tone, that he gave

all

the con-

told me, in

that he got in charity,

VIEW FROM THE MINARET.

and was much
flowers,

liked.

The Dervish cut some

and presented each of us with one.

The Muezzin now looked

gave

167

me

at his watch,

and

a wink, expressive of the approach of the

time for evening prayer; so

followed

him

into

the church, which had bare white-washed walls

with nothing to
hand, he led

remark

me up

and then taking

my

the dark and dismal spiral

staircase to the top of the minaret

on emerging

on the balcony of which, we had a general view of

the town and environs.

Ushitza

lies

mountains.

in

The

a narrow valley surrounded by

Dietina, a tributary of the

rava, traverses the town,

elegantly proportioned,

The

bridges.

and

is

Mo-

crossed by two

but somewhat ruinous,

principal object in the landscape

is

the castle, built on a picturesque jagged eminence,

separated from the precipitous mountains to the

south only by a deep gully, through which the

Dietina struggles into the valley.
of the

art

nearly as

it

The

stagnation

of war in Turkey has preserved

must have been some centuries

In Europe, feudal castles are complete ruins

it

ago.
;

in

a country such as this, where contests are of a

the vayvode's

168

visit.

guerilla character, they are neglected, but neither

destroyed nor

totally

space in the valley

is

whole

Servian

streets

itself,

which stood

revolution, have

turned into orchards. The general view

enough

centre

occupied by the town

which shows great gaps

here before the

The

abandoned.

is

been

pleasing

for the castle, although not so picturesque

as that of Sokol, affords fine materials for a pic-

ture

but the white-washed Servian church, the

fac simile of every

one in Hungary, rather detracts

from the external interest of the view.

In the evening the Vayvode sent a message by
his pandour, to say that he

would pay me a

visit

along with the Agas of the town, who, six in

number, shortly afterwards came.

evening, they had no objection to

It

being

smoke

now

and

as

they sat round the room they related wondrous

things of Ushitza towards the close of the last
century, which being the entrepot between Servia

and Bosnia, had a great

trade,

and contained then

twelve thousand houses, or about sixty thousand

inhabitants
in the

so

easily accounted for the gaps

middle of the town.

The Vayvode com-

plained bitterly of the inconveniencies to which

COMPLAINTS AGAINST QUARANTINE.

the quarantine subjected

them

169

in restricting the

communication with the neighbouring pro-

free

vince

but he admitted that the

late substitution

of a quarantine of twenty-four hours, for one of

days as formerly, was a great alleviation ;

" is a hin" but even
this," added the Vayvode,

ten

when

drance:

there was no quarantine, Ushitza

was every Monday frequented by thousands of

whom

Bosniacs,

even twenty-four hours' quaran-

tine deter."
I

asked him

or Arabic,

if

and

the people understood Turkish

if

He

preaching was held.

an-

swered, that only he and a few of the Agas understood Turkish,

read man,

that

who

in Arabic, as is

said

the Mollah was a deeplythe prayers in the

customary every where

mosque
but that

there

was no preaching, since the people only

knew

their prayers in Arabic, but could not un-

derstand a sermon, and spoke nothing but Bosniac.

think that somebody told

or preaching,
Seraievo.

on

is

But

me

that Vaaz,

held in the Bosniac language at

my memory

fails

me

in certainty

this point.

After a pleasant chat of about an hour they

NATCHALNIK OF

170

Our beds

went away.

"

Mr. Pepys

USIIITZA.

were, as the ingenious

good, but lousy."

says,

Next day, the Servian Natchalnik, who, on

had been absent

arrival,

came

a middle-aged man, with

most perfect

Topola with the prince,

at

me he was

to see

self-possession, polite without fami-

or effort to please

liarity

my

he had more of the

manner of a Moslem grandee, than of a Christian

subject of the Sultan.

Natchalnik. " Believe me, the people are

pleased that

it is

country ;

Europe
that

we

men

are

Author.

of learning travel through the

God and

now making

st

we

a sign that

thank

Servia

there can be no

much

is

are not forgotten in

the European powers,

progress."

certainly

spectacle

making progress

more

delightful to a,

than that of a hopeful

rightly constituted mind,

young nation approaching

vians

are

Ushitza.

in
I

its

puberty.

considerable

hope you

live

You

Ser-

minority here in

on good terms with the

Moslems."
Natchalnik. " Yes, on tolerable terms

old ones,

who remember

but the

the former abject posi-

tion of the Christians, cannot reconcile themselves

THE CASTLE.

riding on horseback through the bazaars,

my

to

171

and get angry when the Servians sing

or

fire off

in the

woods,

muskets during a rejoicing."

The Vayvode now

arrived with a large

company

of Moslems, and we proceeded on foot to see the

our road being mostly through those gar-

castle,

dens, on which the old

town

stood,

and following

the side of the river, to the spot where the high

banks almost close

in, so as to

We

form a gorge.

ascended a winding path, and entered the gate,

which formed the outlet of a long, gloomy, and

solidly built passage.

A group
we

of armed militia

tacle of

houses,

received us as

and on regaining the daylight within

entered,

the walls,

men

we saw nothing but the usual

crumbling crenellated towers, abandoned

rotten

planks,

mounted brass guns.

and unserviceable

The doujou,

or keep,

dis-

was

on a detached rock, connected by an old

built

wooden
heavy

bridge.

nails,

The

gate was strengthened with

and closed by a couple of enormous

old fashioned padlocks.

The Vayvode gave us a

hint not to ask a sight of the interior,

that

spec-

it

was only opened

by

stating

at the period of inspec-

i2

TURKISH SUPERSTITION.

172

The bridge

tion of the Imperial

Commissioner.

which overlooked the

romantic gorge, the

rocks

here rising precipitately from both sides of the

Dietina,

seemed the favourite lounge of the

rison, for a little kiosk of

knocked up

carpets were laid out

invited us to repose a

pipes and
I

gar-

rude planks had been

little after

the Vayvode

our steep ascent

coffee were produced.

remarked that the

must have

castle

suffered

severely in the revolution.

" This
very place/*

said the

Vayvode,

" was the

The Turks had

scene of the severest conflict.

So

twenty-one guns, and the Servians seven.

many were

killed,

bank was

that that

filled

up

with dead bodies."

"

remember

it

well," said a toothless, lisping

old Turk, with bare

stuck in a pair of

brown

legs,

new red shining

and large
slippers

feet

" that

oval tower has not been opened for a long time.

any one were to go

If
off

by an

in, his

invisible hangiar."

head would be cut

I

smiled, but was

immediately assured by several by-standers that

it

was a positive

additions,

all

fact

Our

party, swelled

well armed, that

made

by

fresh

us look like

VIEW OF USHITZA.
a large

body of Haiducks going on a marauding

expedition,

now

opposite to that
toil

to

173

up the

hill

issued

by

by which

a gate in the castle,

entered, and began to

that overlooks Ushitza, in order

have a bird's-eye view of the whole town and

valley.

On

our way up, the Natchalnik told me,

that although long resident here, he had never

seen the interior of the castle, and that I was the

first

Christian to

whom

its

gates had been opened

since the revolution.

The

old Vayvode, notwithstanding his

cumbrous

robes, climbed as briskly as any of us to the de-

tached fort on the peak of the

looked
I

down on Ushitza and

was disappointed

being too

hill,

all its

whence we

environs

but

in the prospect, the objects

much below

the level of the eye.

The

landscape was spotty. Ushitza, instead of appearing a town, looked like a straggling assemblage

of cottages and gardens.

The

below the bridge, looking to the

i3

best view
castle.

is

that

CHAPTER

XVI.

The river Morava.

Arrival at Csatsak.
A
Poshega.
Viennese Doctor. Project to ascend the Kopaunik.
Visit the Bishop.
Ancient Cathedral Church.
Greek

Mass.

Karanovatz. Emigrant
Mines.

orders.

On

Albanian

Dis-

Salt

leaving Ushitza, the Natchalnik accompanied

me with

a cavalcade of twenty or thirty Christians,

a few miles out of the town.

beautiful

and

Priest.

after

The afternoon was

the road lay through hilly ground,

two hours' riding, we saw Poshega

the middle of a wide level plain

ing to which, we crossed the

in

after descend-

Scrapesh by an

elegant bridge of sixteen arches, and entering the

village,

Poshega

put up
is

the

at

a miserable khan, although

embryo of a town symmetrically

and geometrically

laid out.

Twelve years ago a

POSHEGA.

Turk wounded

175

a Servian in the streets of Ushitza,

matter.

The

Servian pulled out a pistol, and shot the

Turk

in

some

a quarrel about

trifling

dead on the spot. Both nations seized their arms,

and rushing out of the houses, a bloody

took place, several being

The

now

left

affray

dead on the spot.

Servians, feeling their numerical inferiority,

transplanted themselves to the

of Poshega, which

is

little

hamlet

in a finer plain than that

of Ushitza; but the colony does not appear to

prosper, for

most of the Servians

have since

returned to Ushitza.

Poshega, from remnants of a nobler architecture,

must have been a Roman colony.

church a stone

is

At the new

built into the wall, having the

fragment of an inscription

AVIA. GENT
IL FLA/I SPR
and various other stones are to be seen, one with
a figure sculptured on

it.

Continuing our way down the rich valley of the

Morava, which

is

here several miles wide, and

i

176

CSATSAK.

might contain ten times the present population,

we

arrived at Csatsak, which

proved to be as

symmetrically laid out as Poshega.

Csatsak

and new, but the old Turkish town has

appeared, and the
foetus.

new Servian Csatsak

The plan on which

are constructed,

is

all

is

new

these

old

is

dis-

still

places

simple, and consists of a

cir-

cular or square market place, with bazaar shops

the Turkish

in

manner,

diverging from them.

and

straight

khan, and

at the

put up

streets

then went to the Natchalnik's house to deliver

my

letter.

Going through green

length stopped at a high

wooden

lanes,

Entering,

ourselves on a smooth carpet of turf,

and opposite a pretty rural cottage, somewhat

the style of a citizen's

London.

villa in the

The Natchalnik was not

was gracefully represented by

fair

his

in

environs of

at

home, but

young

specimen of the beauty of Csatsak

sently the

at

paling, over-

topped with rose and other bushes.

we found

we

Deputy and the Judge came

wife, a

and preto see us.

dark complexioned, good-natured looking man,

between thirty and

European

air,

forty,

German

now

entered, with an

trowsers

and waistcoat,

DOCTOR AND JUDGE.

" There comes the

but a Turkish riding cloak.

and the

doctor," said the lady,

Turkish

figure with the

announced

thus

cloak

riding

177

him-

self:
Doctor. "

bin

a'

Wiener."

Author. " Gratulire

dass

Doctor. " Glaub'ns mir,

Author. " V

iss

a' lustige

Stadt."

lust'ger als Csatsak."

glaub's."

The Judge, a

and

sedate, elderly,

me what

pulent man, asked

and intended

to pursue.

particulars of

my

slightly cor-

route I had pursued,

informed him of the

journey, and added that I in-

tended to follow the valley of the Morava to its

confluence with the Danube. " The
folks

good

of Belgrade do not travel for their pleasure, and

could give

me

chalked out

little

my

information

therefore, I have

route from the

study of the

map."
" You have
gone out of your way to see Sokol,"
"
said he ;
you may as well extend your tour to

You

Novibazaar, and the Kopaunik.

maps

go

will see

to the

all

are fond of

peak of the Kopaunik, and you

Servia rolled out

Bosnia to Bulgaria,

and
i

before

from

the

you from
Balkan to

BISHOP OF CSATSAK.

178
the

Danube

not a map, or a copy, but the

original."

" The
temptation

made up

We

is

irresistible.

is

to follow your advice."

now went

in a body,

the Bishop of Csatsak,

house in the place

slight

My mind

and paid our

who

visit to

in the finest

lives

a large well-built

on a

villa,

The

eminence within a grassy inclosure.

Bishop received us in an open kiosk, on the

floor, fitted

manding a

all

fine

plain of the

first

round with cushions, and comview of the

Morava.

The

hills

which inclose the

thick

woods and the

precipitous rocks, which impart rugged beauty to

the valley of the Drina, are here

unknown

the

eye wanders over a rich yellow champaign, to

hills

which were too distant

details,

to present distinct

but vaguely grey and beautiful

transparent

atmosphere

of

in the

Servian

early

autumn.

The Bishop was

a
militant,

a fine specimen of the

stout fiery

man

Church

of sixty, in

furred robes, and a black velvet cap.

full-

His ener-

getic denunciations of the lawless appropriations

of Milosh, had for

many

years procured

him the

THE NATCHALNIK.

179

enmity of that remarkable individual

now

but he was

in the full tide of popularity.

His questions referred principally to the

and

of parties in England,

could not help

thinking that his philosophy must

something

like that of the

have been

American parson in the

who thought

quarantine at Smyrna,

state

that fierce

combats and contests were as necessary to clear

the moral atmosphere, as thunder and lightning
to purify the visible heavens.

We

now took

leave

of the Bishop, and went homewards, for there

had been several candidates

but

for entertaining

decided for the jovial doctor,

who

me

lived in

the house that was formerly occupied by Jovan

Obrenovitch, the youngest and favourite brother

of Milosh.

Next morning,

as early as six o'clock, I

was

aroused by the announcement that the Natchalnik

had returned from the country, and was waiting

to see

me.

On

rising, I

found him to be a

plain,

simple Servian of the old school; he informed

me

that this being a

saint's

would not commence mass

* What?"
thought

Bishop

was

arrived.

until I

I to myself,
i

day, the

" does the

Bishop

THE CATHEDRAL.

180

think that these obstreperous Britons are

the Greek religion."

should not go

"
;

The doctor thought

for," said he,

may do

Greek mass or a Hungarian law-suit

to

of

that

" whoever wishes

to exercise the virtue of patience

Natchalnik decided for going

all

and

I,

so in a

But the

!"

always ready

conform to the custom of the country, accom-

panied him.

The

cathedral church was a most ancient edifice

of Byzantine architecture, which had been

first

church, and then a mosque, and then a church

again.

The honeycombs and

in the corners, as well as a

floor,
its

stalactite

ornaments

marble stone in the

adorned with geometrical arabesques, showed

services to Islamism.

Crucifixion,

But the

pictures of the

and the figures of the

minded me that

The Bishop,

was

priests, re-

in a Christian temple.

in pontificalibus,

was dressed

in

a crimson velvet and white satin dress, embroi-

dered in gold, which had cost

and

300

as he sat in his chair, with mitre

crosier in hand, looked, with his white

at

Vienna

on head, and

bushy beard,

an imposing representative of spiritual authority.

Sometimes he softened, and looked bland,

as if

A GREEK MASS.
it

181

would not have been beneath him

to grant

absolution to an emperor.

A priest

was consecrated on the occasion; but

the service was so long,

half,)

two hours and a

(full

was fatigued with the endless bow-

that I

ings and motions,

and thought more than once

of the benevolent wish of the doctor, to see

me

preserved from a Greek mass and a Hungarian

law-suit
sive,

but the singing was good, simple, mas-

and antique

in colouring.

wax

the service, thin

the

At the

close of

tapers were presented to

congregation, which each of them lighted.

After which they advanced and kissed the Cross

and

Gospels, which were

minute

silver

and gold

The prolonged

and when

smiled,

and

said,

filagree

service

petite;

"

covered with

work.

had given me a good ap-

returned to the doctor, he

am

sure you are ready for

your cafe, au lait"

" I confess it was rather
langweilig."
" Take
advice for the
and

my

most

future,

steer clear

of a Greek mass, or a Hungarian law-suit."

We now
whom we

went

to take farewell of the Bishop,

found, as yesterday, in the kiosk, with

ANECDOTE OF THE BISHOP.

18.2

a fresh set of fur robes,

ever, with a large

and looking

as superb as

and splendid ring on

his fore-

finger.

" If
you had not come during a
he, with as

expected

growled

as could be

good-humoured a smile

from so formidable a personage, "

would have given you a dinner.

know,

fast/'

but

fight well at sea;

The

English, I

do not know

if

they

like salt fish."

story

is

related of this Bishop, that

on the

occasion of some former traveller rising to depart,

he asked, " Are your pistols in good order ?"

On

the traveller answering in the affirmative,

the

Bishop rejoined,

my

blessing

"

Well,

now you may

depart with

!"

Csatsak, although the seat of a Bishop and a

Natchalnik,

is

only a village, and

is

insignificant

when one thinks of the magnificent plain in which

At every step I made in this country
it stands.
I

thought of the noble

field

which

it

offers

for

a system of colonization congenial to the feelings,

and subservient

to the interests of the

present

occupants.

We

now journeyed

to

Karanovatz, where we

HOSPITALITY AT KARANOVATZ.
and proceeded

arrived after sunset,

up a paved

in the

we saw on our

till

street,

183

left

dark

a cafe,

with lights gleaming through the windows, and a

crowd of people, some

An

ping their coffee.

inside,

some

individual,

outside, sip-

who announced

himself as the captain of Karanovatz, stepped for-

ward, accompanied by others, and conducted

me

down on

his

Scarcely had I sat

to his house.

divan

when two handmaidens

them bearing a
"

entered, one of

large basin in her hand.

"
guest," said the captain,

My

This house

fatigued with your ride.

Suppose

home

yourself at

you must be
is

your's.

in the country

beyond

the
sea."
1
said

"What,"
"

supper already

to a

"

I,
!

looking to the handmaidens,

You

have divined

my

arrival

minute."

we must put you at your

supper time it is warm water."
Oh, no

ease before

"

Nothing can be more welcome to a

traveller."

So the handmaidens advanced, and while one

pulled off
divan,

my

my

socks, I lolling luxuriously on the

and smoking

my

pipe, the other

feet with water, tepid to a degree,

washed

and then

EMIGRANT PRIEST.

184
dried them.

With

these agreeable sensations

still

soothing me, coffee was brought by the lady of

the house, on a very pretty service

and

could

not help admitting that there was less roughing in

Servian travel than I expected.
After supper, the parish priest came

middle-

in, a

aged man.
Author.
at

"Do you remember

the Turkish period

Karanovatz ?"
"

Priest.

native place

No
is

many

lately.

My

Wuchitern, on the borders of a

large lake in the

with

came here only

High Balkan

but, in

common

of the Christian inhabitants,

was

obliged to emigrate last year."

Author. " For what reason ?"

Priest.

twenty

"

horde of Albanians, from

thousand

in

Pashalic of Scodra

number,

fifteen to

burst from the

upon the peaceful inhabitants

of the Pashalic of Vrania, committing the greatest

horrors, burning

down

villages,

and putting the

inhabitants to the torture, in order to get money,

and .dishonouring

The Porte

all

the

women.

handsomest

sent a large force, disarmed the rascals,

and sent the leaders

to the galleys

but

and

my

SALT MONOPOLY.

185

people find ourselves so well here that

little

we

feel

temptation to return."

The grand

exploit in the

life

of our host was a

caravan journey to Saloniki, where he had the

satisfaction of seeing the sea, a circumstance

which

distinguished him, not only from the good folks of

Karanovatz, but from most of his countrymen in

general.
**

People that

their salt

near the sea," said he, " get

cheap enough ; but that

When

Servia.

in

live

the

Kopaunik

salt in

not the case

Baron Herder made

ploration of the stones

he discovered

is

his

and mountains of

ex-

Servia,

abundance somewhere near

but Milosh,

who

at that

time had

the monopoly of the importation of Wallachian

in his

salt

own

hands, begged him to keep the

place secret, for fear his

a diminution.
for foreign salt,

own

doors

own

profits

would

suffer

Thus we must pay a large price

when we have plenty of it at our

Next day, we walked about Caranovatz.

It is

symmetrically built like Csatsak, but better paved

and
3

cleaner.
have since heard that the Servian

salt is to

be worked.

CHAPTER

XVII.

Coronation Church of the ancient Kings of Servia. Enter

view of the

of
Convent
Studenitza.
Byzantine ArchiHigh
tecture. Phlegmatic Monk. Servian Frontier. New
Quarantine. Russian Major.
the Highlands. Valley of the Ybar.

First

Balkan.

We

again started after mid-day, with the captain

and

his

dows,

momkes, and, proceeding through meaarrived

at

Zhitchka Jicha.

This

is

an

ancient Servian convent, of Byzantine architecture,

where seven kings of Servia were crowned, a door

being broken into the wall for the entrance of each
sovereign,

and

It is situated

river

Ybar

built

up again on

his departure.

on a rising ground, just where the

enters the plain of Karanovatz.

environs are beautiful.

The

hills are

The

of moderate

ENTER THE HIGHLANDS.

187

with verdure and foliage; only

height, covered

campaniles were wanting to the illusion of

being in

my

somewhere about Verona or Vi-

Italy,

cenza, where the

picturesque undulations of

last

the Alps meet the bountiful alluvia of the Po.

we

Quitting the valley of the Morava,

southwards into the highlands.

struck

Here the scene

changed ; the valley of the Ybar became narrow,

the vegetation scanty ; and, at evening,
at a tent

made

for us with

elders of Magletch, a hamlet

came with an

arrived

of thick matted branches of trees,

which had been strewn

The

we

fresh

hay.

an hour

offer of their services, in case

off,

they

were wanted.

The sun

set;

and a bright crackling

withered branches of pine, mingling

the rays of the

moon

its

fire

light with

in the clear chill of a Sep-

tember evening, threw a wild

and

unworldly

pallor over the sterile scene of our bivouac,

the uncouth figures of the elders.

me

of

They

and

offered

a supper; but contenting myself with a roasted

head of Indian corn, and rolling

pea jacket about me,

my

I fell asleep

cloak and

but

felt so

cold that, at two o'clock, I roused the encamp-

VIEW OP THE HIGH BALKAN.

188

ment, sounded to horse, and, in a few minutes,

was again mounting the steep paths that lead

to

Studenitza.

Day

gradually dawned, and the scene became

wilder and wilder

not a chalet was to be seen, for

the ruined castle of Magletch on

betokened nothing of humanity.

its

lone crag,

Tall cedars re-

placed the oak and the beech, the scanty herbage

was covered with

murmured

hoar-frost.

clear brooks

down

the unshaded gullies,

line of sterile

peaks to the South,

chillingly

and a grand

The

showed me that

of the Balkan.

All on a sudden I found the path

was approaching the back-bone

overlooking a valley, with a few cocks of hay on a

narrow meadow; and another turn of the road

showed me the

lines of a

a graceful dome, sheltered in a

chilling winter

blasts of

edifice

with

wood from

the

Byzantine

this

highland

region.

Descending, and crossing the stream, we now proceeded up to the eminence on which the convent

was placed, and

turrets,

perceived thick walls and stout

which bade a sturdy defiance

intentions, except such as

artillery.

to all hostile

might be supported by

189

CONVENT OF STUDENITZA.

On dismounting and entering the wicket, I

found

one side of which

myself in an extensive court,

was formed by a newly

cloister;

the

other

by

houses with wooden

built

crescent-shaped

a line of irregular out-

stairs,

chardacks and other

of Turkish
picturesque but fragile appendages

domestic architecture.

Between these pigeon-holes and the new substantial,

but mean-looking

side rose the

cloister,

on the other

church of polished white marble, a

splendid specimen of pure Byzantine architecture,

if I

dare apply such an adjective to that fantastic

middle manner, which succeeded to the style of

the fourth century, and was subsequently re-cast

by Christians and Moslems

the Gothic and Saracenic

into

what

are called

l
.

Ingenious treatises have been written on the origin of

; but it seems

the Gothic and Saracenic styles of architecture

me impossible to contemplate many Byzantine edifices

without feeling persuaded that this manner is the parent of
both. Taking the Lower Empire for the point of departure,
to

the Christian style spread north to the Baltic and westwards

to the Atlantic.

Saint Stephen's in Vienna, standing half

way between Byzantium and Wisby, has a Byzantine facade

and a Gothic tower. The Saracenic style followed the
Moslem conquests round by the southern

coasts

of the

PHLEGMATIC MONK.

190

A fat,

feeble-voiced, lymphatic-faced Superior,

leaning on a long
versation

was

staff,

on one

all

thank you,) was

(I

After reposing a

received us

all

"

side, for

but the con-

Blayodarim"

that I could get out of him.

little

came out

in the parlour, I

to view the church again,

and expressed

my

plea-

sure at seeing so fair an edifice in the midst of

such a wilderness.

The Superior
first at

slowly raised his eyebrows, looked

the church, then at me, and relapsed into

a frowning interrogative stupor

rekindling as

if

he had comprehended

"
Blagodarim"
ing, added

shrewd young man, from a

now came forward

my

country

" But there

"a

great

(I

my

mean-

thank you).

village a

"Very

if

few miles

A
off,

there were any convents

few," said

are," said the

many

suddenly

just as the Superior's courage

pricked him on to ask

in

at last,

I.

young pert Servian,

schools and colleges where useful

sciences are taught to the young,

and

hospitals,

where active physicians cure diseases."

Mediterranean to Morocco and Andaloss.

Thus both the

northern and the eastern styles met each other,

and then

in Spain,

first in Sicily

both having started from Constantinople.

THE CHURCH.

191

This was meant as a cut to the reverend Farniente.

He

looked blank, but evidently wanted the

boldness and ingenuity to frame an answer to this

At

redoubtable innovator.
to help

"
to

him out of the dilemma.

"

should be sorry/' said

happen

I,

to this convent.

of Servia

it

hope

honourably kept up to a
"
am
Blaffodarim,

if

It is

monument

ing and beautiful

dom

me

he gaped at

last

any thing were

a most interest-

of the ancient king-

be preserved and

will

late period."

obliged to you,)" said the

(I

Superior, pleased at the Gordian knot being loosed,

into his atrophy, without

and then relapsed

moving

a muscle of his countenance.

I

now examined

the church

showed that

architecture

The

from the Turks.

it

the details of the

had suffered severely

curiously twisted pillars of

the outer door were sadly chipped, while noseless

angels,

and

fearfully mutilated lions

inner portal.

Passing through a vestibule, we saw

the remains of the font, which

magnificent

guarded the

and

must have been

covered with a cupola,

the

stumps of the white marble columns which support

it

are

still

visible

high on the wall

is

TOMB OF

192

of sculpture,

piece

SIMEON.

ST.

supposed to represent

St.

George.

Entering the church,

tomb of
beside
it,

it

St.

saw on the right the

Simeon, the sainted king of Servia

hung

his banner with the half-moon on

the insignium of the South Slavonic nation

from the dawn of heraldry.

Near the

altar

was

the body of his son, St. Stephen, the patron saint

of Servia.

Those who accompanied us paid

little

attention to the architecture of the church, but

burst into raptures

wood

of the screen,

at

the sight of the carved

which had been most minutely

and elaborately cut by Tsinsars,

(as

the Macedo-

nian Latins are called to this day).

Close to the church

ing inscription

"
I,

is

a chapel with the follow-

Stephen Urosh,

servant

of

God, great

grandson of Saint Simeon and son of the great

king Urosh, king of

all

the Servian lands and

coasts, built this temple in

honour of the holy and

Whoever

just

Joachim and Anna, 1314.

this

temple of Christ be accursed of God and of

me

destroys

a sinner."

in
Thirty-five churches in this district, mostly

THE IRON GATE.

attest the

ruins,

193

Neman

piety of the

The convent of Studenitza was

end of the twelfth century, by the

The

dynasty.

The new

burnt down by the Turks.

In fact

monument

served at

it is

first

of the

of the convent was

old cloister

built in 1839.

dynasty.

built towards the

cloister

was

a wonder that so fine

as the church should have been pre-

all.

There

is

a total want of arable land in this

part of Servia, and the pasture

abundant

but the Ybar

is

the

is

neither good nor

most celebrated of

the streams of Servia for large quantities of trout.

all

Next day we continued our route

direct South,

through scenery of the same rugged and

description as that
hither.

How

we had passed on

different

sterile

the

way

from the velvet verdure

and woodland music of the Gutchevo and the

Drina

At one place on the bank of the Ybar,

there was

room

for only a led horse,

sage cut in the rock.

of

we

Demir Kapu,
arrived

at

Raska, which

is

This place bears the name

or Iron Gate.
the

by a pas-

frontier

situated at

In the evening

quarantine, called

two hours' distance

from Novibazar.

DIRECTOR OF THE QUARANTINE.

194

In the midst of an amphitheatre of

tute of vegetation,

which appeared low from the

must have been high enough

valley, although they

above the level of the

one

as

find

may

hills desti-

sea,

in

was such a busy scene

the back

settlements

of

Eastern Russia. Within an extensive inclosure of

high palings was a heterogeneous mass of new
buildings,

some unfinished, and resounding with

the saw, the plane, and the hatchet

possession

others in

of the employes in their uniforms

others again devoted to the safe keeping of the

well-armed caravans, which bring their cordovans,

oils,

and cottons, from Saloniki, through Mace-

donia,

and

over the Balkan, to the

gates

of

Belgrade.

On

dismounting, the Director, a thin elderly

man, with a modest and pleasing manner,

me

in

German

that he

side of the Save,

was

a native of the Austrian

and had been attached

quarantine at Semlin; that

quarantine

service,

government, and

this

new

point.

to the

he had joined the

with the permission of his

after

establishments, was

told

having directed various other

now occupied

in organizing

A POLISH RUSSIAN OFFICER.

The

dinner a very
boiled fowl

the

of

traiteur

fair

quarantine gave us for

pillaff,

and

as well as roast

and going outside

front of the finished buildings, I

195

to our bench, in

began to smoke.

and rather genteel-looking man,

slightly built

with a braided surtout, and a piece of ribbon at

his button-hole,

was

sitting

on the step of the

me good evening
him who he was, and he

next door, and wished

in

man.

told

asked

that he was a Pole,

and had been a major

Ger-

me

Russian service, but was compelled to quit

in the
it

in

consequence of a duel.
I

asked him

condition
I

am

he was content with his present

and he answered, " Indeed, I am not

if

perfectly miserable,

and sometimes think of

returning to Russia, coute qui coute.

My salary

.20 sterling a year, and every thing

for there is

and
I

village,

but an

dear here

settlement

is

artificial

have neither books nor European society.

can hold out pretty well now, for the weather

fine

but

snow
,

no

We

is

is

assure

you that

on the ground,

now

took a turn

it

in winter,

exhausts

down

my

when

is

the

patience."

the inclosure to his

house, which was the ground-floor of the guard-

k2

KINDNESS OF THE DIRECTOR.

196
house.

Here was a bed on wooden boards,

single chair

and

table,

without any other furni-

ture.

The

me

Director, obliging me,

in his

own

made up

house, since the only resource at

the traiteufs would have been

and

pillow.

a bed for

my own

carpet

CHAPTER

XVIII.

Gipsy Encampment. Novi

Reception. Precipitate Depar-

Cross the Bosniac Frontier.

bazar described
ture.

Rough

Fanaticism.

Next

day we were

order to pay a
obviate the

all

afoot at an early hour, in

visit to

Novibazar.

In order to

performance of quarantine on our

return, I took

an

officer

of the

establishment,

and a couple of men, with me, who in the Levant

are called Guardiani

but here the German word

Ueber-reiter, or over-rider,

We

was adopted.

continued along the river Raska for about

an hour, and then descried a line of wooden

palings going

up

hill

angles with the course

and down

we were

dale,

at

right

holding. This was

the frontier of the principality of Servia, and here

k3

GIPSY ENCAMPMENT.

198

began the direct

rule

Pashalic of Bosnia.

Sultan and

of the

the

At the guard-house half

dozen Momkes, with old fashioned Albanian guns,

presented arms.
After half an hour's riding, the valley became

and we passed through meadow lands,

wider,

cultivated

turbans

by Moslem Bosniacs
and two hours

in

their white

further, entered a fertile

circular plain, about a mile

and a half in diameter,

surrounded by low

which

look,

in the

hills,

had a chalky

midst of which rose the minarets

and bastions of the town and

Numerous gipsy

castle of Novibazar.

tents covered the plain,

and

at

one of them, a withered old gipsy woman, with

white dishevelled hair hanging
of her burnt

umber

face,

down on each

cried

side

out in a rage,

" See how the

Royal Servian people now-a-days
have the audacity to enter Novibazar on horseback," alluding to the ancient custom of Christians

not being permitted to ride on horseback in a

town \

On

a
entering, I perceived the houses to be of

Most of the

gipsies here profess Islamism.

NOVIBAZAR.
most forbidding aspect, being

199
built of

mud, with

only a base of bricks, extending about three feet

None

from the ground.

glazed

being the

this

first

Europe that

Turkey

in

plight.

The

of the windows were

town of
had seen

this part of

in

such a

over-rider stopped at a large stable-

looking building, which was the khan of the place.

Near the door were some bare wooden benches,

on which some Moslems, including the khan-

The horses were foddered

keeper, were reposing.

at the other extremity,

middle of the

We

doors.

floor,

now

in the

We

burned in the

the smoke escaping by the

Youssouf Bey,

word was brought back that he

harem.

now

castle,

fire

sent our letter to

the governor, but

was

and a

sallied forth to

view the town.

The

on a

slight

which occupies the centre,

is

eminence, and flanked with eight bastions;

tains

no regular troops, but merely some

or militia.

Besides

mosque, there
place.

Some

is

one small well-built

con-

it

redif,

stone

nothing else to remark in the

of the bazaar shops seemed tolerably

well furnished

but the place

k 4

is,

on the whole,

THE PRISON.

200

miserable and filthy in the extreme.

number of mosques

is

The

total

seventeen.

The afternoon being now advanced,

went to

upon the Mutsellim. His konak was

situated

in a solitary street, close to the fields.

Going

call

through an archway, we found ourselves in the

court of a house of two stories.

The ground-floor

was the prison, with small windows and grated

wooden

Above was an open

bars.

corridor,

which the apartments of the Bey opened.

on

Two

rusty, old fashioned cannons were in the middle

Two

of the court.

woman, detained
cells.

wretched-looking men, and a

for theft, occupied one of the

They asked us

if

we knew where some-

body, with an unpronounceable name, had gone.

But not having had the honour of knowing

any body of the light-fingered profession, we
could give no

satisfactory

information on the

subject.

The Momke, whom we had asked

governor,

now

after the

re-descended the rickety steps, and

announced that the Bey was

still

asleep;

so 1

walked out, but in the course of our ramble learned

THE CEMETERY.
that he

was

fanatics

in

afraid to see us,

the town

for,

201

on account of the

from the immediate

vicinity of this place to Servia,

the

inhabitants

entertain a stronger hatred of Christians than

is

usual in the other parts of Turkey, where com-

merce, and the presence of Frank influences, cause

appearances to be respected.

But the people here

recollected only of one party of

Franks ever

visit-

ing the town \

We

now sauntered

and seeing

its

elevation to

into the fields

the cemetery, which promised from

good general view of the town, we

afford a

as-

cended, and were sorry to see so really pleasing a

situation

The
town

abused by

castle

filth,

indolence, and barbarism.

was on the elevated centre of the

and the town sloping on

all

sides

down

to

the gardens, was as nearly as possible in the centre

of the plain.

When we

had

sufficiently

examined

the carved stone kaouks and turbans on the

stones,

we re-descended towards

savage-looking Bosniac

now

started

tomb

the town.

up from be-

hind a low outhouse, and trembling with rage and

presume Messrs. Boue and party.

202

INSULTING RECEPTION.

fanaticism began to abuse us

spies

"
:

Giaours, kafirs,

know what you have come

Do you

for.

expect to see your cross planted some day on the

castle

The
takes

"
old story, thought I to myself; the fellow

me

for a military engineer, exhausting the

resources of

my

art in a plan for the reduction of

the redoubtable fortress and city of Novibazar.

"Take

how you

care

gentleman," said

insult

an honourable

the over-rider ; " we will complain

to the Bey."

"

What do we

care for the

Bey ?" said the

fellow,

laughing in the exuberance of his impudence.

now

stopped, looked

him

in the face,

full

asked him coolly what he wanted.

" I will show
that when

you get

you

bazaar," and then he suddenly bolted

and

into the

down

a lane

out of sight.

short distance,

"

who had been hanging on

Christian,

advise

came up and

you

resistance,

to take yourself out of the dust

as quickly as possible.
state of alarm

said

at

The whole town

and unless you

something serious

is

in a

are prepared for

may happen

for the

PRECIPITATE DEPARTURE.
fellows here are

203

wild Arnaouts, and do not

all

understand travelling Franks."

u Your advice
you

for the hint,

Had
I

is

a good one

and

am

attend to

I will

it."

there been a Pasha or consul in the place,

would have got the fellow punished

lence

obliged to

for his inso-

but knowing that our small party was no

match

for

armed

and that there was

fanatics,

nothing more to be seen in the place, we avoided

the bazaar, and went round

our khan

bill

',

by a

side street, paid

and, mounting our horses, trotted

rapidly out of the town, for fear of a stray shot

but the over-rider on getting clear of the suburbs

instead of relaxing got into a gallop.

"
and

Halt," cried
fairly

I,

" we are clear of the

out of town

;"

rascals,

and coming up to the

eminence crowned with the Giurgeve Stupovi, on

which was a church, said

to

have been built by

Stephen Dushan the Powerful,

cend, and got

some Bosniacs

resolved to as-

the over-rider to go so far; but

in a

menacing gestures.
1

warned us

field

The

over-rider said,

The Austrian zwanziger goes here

piastres

in Servia

it

goes for

five.

k6

off

for

only

with

"For
three

204

A SERVIAN VICE-CONSUL.

God's sake

let

to Novibazar

Not

us go straight home.

my

be taken."

may

life

the poor fellow into

wishing to bring

trouble, I gave

up

If I go back

the project, and returned to the

quarantine.

Novibazar, which

is

about ten hours

from the territory of Montenegro,

that distance from Scutari,
in the Pashalic of Bosnia.

niac language
rating

all

southward

the Pashalic

and

thrice

politically speaking,

The Servian

or Bos-

ceases to be the preponde-

here

language, and

stretches

is,

distant

the Albanian
to

Epirus.

of Scutari,

begins

and

But through

Servian

is

much

spoken.

Colonel Hodges, her Britannic Majesty's

consul-general in
activity
sire to

and

Servia, a gentleman

intelligence,

first

of great

from the laudable de-

procure the establishment

of an entre-

pot for British manufactures in the interior, got

a certain chieftain of a clan Vassoevitch,
British vice-consul

at

Novibazar.

named

From

this

man's influence, there can be no doubt that had

he stuck to trade he might have proved useful
but, inflated with vanity, he

irritated the fana-

NOVIBAZAB HOSPITALITY.
ticism of the Bosniacs,

Christian

little

setting himself

by

house was burned to the ground.

soevitch clan have from

up

As a necessary

potentate.

sequence, he was obliged to fly for his

his

205

life,

as a

con-

and

The Vas-

time immemorial occu-

pied certain mountains near Novibazar, and pretend, or pretended, to complete independence of

the Porte, like the Montenegrines.

While

returned to the quarantine, and dis-

mounted, the Director, to

related
said,

"

whom

our adventure, came

What do you

the over-rider

up laughing, and

think of the rites of Novi-

bazar hospitality ?"

Author. "

More honoured

in the breach than in

the observance, as our national poet would have

said."

Director.

"

know

well

enough what you

mean."
Bystander.
fellows to

day they

you
will

" The cause of the hatred of these

is,

that

they fear that some fine

be under Christian rule.

pleased to see the like of you

thren on the other side

may

here.

We
Our

are

bre-

derive a glimmering

hope of liberation from the circumstance."

206

POLITICS TO BE AVOIDED.

Author. "

My government is

best terms with the

which such hopes

is

my

at present

on the

Porte:

the readiness with

arise in the

minds of the people,

motive for avoiding

political conversations

with Rayahs on those dangerous topics."

CHAPTER

XIX.

Grand Prospect. Descent of

Conver

Bruss.
Involuntary Bigamy.
Kopaunik.
sation on the Servian character. Krushevatz. Relics of

Ascent of the Kopaunik.

the

the Servian monarchy.

middle-aged, showily dressed man, presented

who was

himself as the captain

the top of the Kopaunik.

to

conduct

me

His clerk was a

to

fat,

knock-kneed, lubberly-looking fellow, with a red

face, a short neck, a

low forehead, and bushy eye-

brows and mustachios, as

wegian

to

add

fair as

those of a Nor-

to his droll appearance,

one of his

eyes was bandaged up.

"As
in

sure as I

an apoplexy.

am

alive, that fellow will

What

a figure

go

off

would give

ODD-LOOKING CLERK.

208

something to see that fellow climbing up the

ladder of a steamer from a boat on

a blowy

day."

" Or
dancing to the bagpipe/' said Paul.

The sky was

irresolute,

cloudy, and the captain seemed

whether to advise

ascent or proceed to Banya.

me
The

to

make

the

plethoric one-

eyed clerk, with more regard to his own comfort

than

my

pleasure,

was

persuading the

secretly

captain that the expedition would end in a duck-

"
You,
ing to the skin, and, turning to me, said,
surely,

do not

intend to go up to day, Sir?

Take the advice of those who know the country ?"

"
" this is mere
said
which
Nonsense,"

will clear

the

away

I,

in

Kopaunik now,

an hour.
I

fog,

If I do not ascend

can never do so again."

Plethora then went away to get the director to

lend his advice on the same side

and

after

much

whispering he came back, and announced that

my

horse was unshod, and could not ascend the rocks.

The

director

was amused with the clumsy bustle

of this fellow to save himself a

at length,

good

said

friend,

an

to

little

exercise.

the doubting captain,

Englishman

is

I,

"My

like a Servian,

DINNER ON THE ROAD.

when he

209

takes a resolution he does not change

it.

Pray order the horses."

We

now

crossed the Ybar, and ascending for

hours through open pasture lands, arrived at some

rocks interspersed with stunted

was roasting
had long

ilex,

where a lamb

The meridian sun

for our dinner.

ere this pierced the clouds that

overhung

our departure, and the sight of the lamb com-

grass,

stone.

An

seemed

was

set

down

under the shade of a large boulder

ilex

growing

on

to live

was

soil

of the

visage

A low round table

plethoric clerk.

on the

rubicund

the

irradiated

pletely

visible

its

for

from

its

wits, for not

interstices

an ounce of

Our

subsistence.

its

ride

gave us a sharp appetite, and we did due execution

steadily

up

clerk,

fixing

his eyes

on the piece he had singled out, tucked

his sleeves, as

bone

The

on the lamb.

after

for a

surgical operation,

and

bone was picked, and thrown over

when

the rock; and

all

were

satisfied,

the clerk

was evidently

at the climacteric of his

powers of

mastication.

After reposing a

we

mounted

little,

again

horse.

gentle wind

skimmed the white

straggling

VIEW FROM THE KOPAUNIK.

210

clouds from the blue sky.

grew the

Warmer and warmer

sunlit valleys; wider

prospect as

we

ascended.

and wider grew the

Balkan

rose on the distant horizon.

after

Balkan

Ever and anon

paused and looked round with delight; but before

reaching the summit I tantalized myself with a

few hundred yards of ascent, to treasure the glories

in

store for the pause, the turn,

When,

at length, I stood

and the view.

on the highest peak

the prospect was literally gorgeous.

rolled out at

my

feet.

Servia lay

There was the

field of

Kossovo, where Amurath defeated Lasar and en-

tombed the ancient empire of

Servia.

mused

an instant on this great landmark of European

history,

and following the finger of an old peasant,

who accompanied
Deligrad

us, I looked eastwards,

and saw

the scene of one of the bloodiest fights

that preceded the resurrection

principality.

The Morava

of

Servia as

glistened in

its

wide

valley like a silver thread in a carpet of green,

beyond which the

dark mountains of Rudnik

rose to the north, while the frontiers of Bosnia,

Albania, Macedonia, and Bulgaria walled in the

prospect.

THE DESCENT.
"

who

peasant,
I

Svet.

Nogo

This

211

the whole world," said the

is

stood by me.

myself thought, that

an

if

artist

wished for

a landscape as the scene of Satan taking

up our

Saviour into a high mountain, he could find none

more appropriate than

not lofty

not

The Kopaunik

this.

much above

six

above the level of the

feet

is

thousand English
sea.

But

it

is

so

placed in the Servian basin, that the eye embraces

the whole breadth from Bosnia to Bulgaria, and

very nearly the whole length from Macedonia to

Hungary.
I

him

now thanked

the captain for his trouble, bade

adieu, and, with a guide, descended the north

The

eastern slope of the mountain.

declivity

was

rapid, but thick turf assured us a safe footing.

Towards

we

night-fall

entered a region inter-

spersed with trees, and came to a miserable hamlet

of shepherds, where
a hut.

wattling.

floor,

fain to

put up in

This was the humblest habitation we had

entered in Servia.

and

we were

the

It
fire

was

built of logs of

burned

wood

in the middle of the

smoke of which, finding no vent but the

212

BRUSS.

door, tried our eyes severely, and had covered the

roof with a brilliant

jet.

being laid in a corner,

Hay

low were spread out on

from the

At

fleas.

it;

carpet and pil-

my

but sleep was impossible

length, the sheer fatigue of

combating them threw

me

towards morning into a

slumber; and, on awaking, I looked up, and saw a

couple of armed

embers of the

men

crouching over the glowing

These were the Bolouk Bashi

fire.

and Pandour, sent by the Natchalnik of Krusheconduct us to that town.

vatz, to

now

rose,

and breakfasted on new milk,

mingled with brandy and sugar, no bad substitute

for better fare,

We

and mounted horse.

now descended

the Grashevatzka river to

Bruss, with low hills on each side, covered with

grass,

and

situated

two

partly

wooded.

Bruss

is

prettily

on a rising ground, at the confluence of

tributaries of the

Morava.

It

has a

little

bazaar opening on a lawn, where the captain of

Zhupa had come

to

meet me.

After coffee,

again mounted, and proceeded to Zhupa.

the aspect of the country changed

we

Here

the verdant

RECEPTION AT ZHUPA.
hills

213

became chalky, and covered with vineyards,

which, before the

To

brated.

and some

this

of the empire, were cele-

fall

day tradition points out a cedar

by

vines, planted

Militza, the consort of

Lasar.

The

vine-dressers all stood in a

us.

row

to receive

carpet had been placed under an oak,

the side of the river,

middle of

by

and a round low table in the

was soon covered with soup, sheeps*

it

kidneys, and a fat capon, roasted to a minute,

preceded by onions and cheese, as a rinfresco, and

followed by choice grapes and clotted cream, as a
dessert.

"I

think," said I to the entertainer, as I shook

the crumbs out of

whiff of

my

napkin, and took the

my

"
chibouque, that

if

first

Stephan Dushan's

chief cook were to rise from the grave, he could

not give us better fare."

Captain.
pasture,
fruits,

" God sends us

good provender, good

good flocks and herds, good corn and

and wood and water.

the climate

is

excellent

The land

but we are often

is

rich;

in poli-

tical troubles."

Author. "These recent

affairs are trifles,

and

INVOLUNTARY BIGAMY.

214

you are too young

to recollect the revolution of

Kara Georg."
"

Captain.

Bashi

Yes,

am; but do you see that Bolouk

who accompanied you

hither

a droll illustration of past times.

is

his history is

Simo Slivovats

a brave soldier, but, although a Servian, has two

wives."

Author. " Is he a

"Not

Captain.

Georg he was an

Turk

prisoner a

Moslem ?"

at

In the time of Kara

all.

active guerilla fighter,

called Sidi

and took

Mengia, whose

life

he

In the year 1813, when Servia was tem-

spared.

porarily re- conquered

by the Turks, the same

Sidi

Mengia returned to Zhupa, and said, Where is the

*

brave Servian

who saved my

The Bolouk

life ?'

Bashi being found, he said to him,

you deserve another wife

for

it.'

My

friend,
(

your generosity.'

cannot marry two wives/ said Simo

forbids

'

i
;

my

But the handsomest woman

religion

in the

country being sought out, Sidi Mengia sent a message to the priest of the place, ordering

marry Simo
fused

to the

young woman.

The

him

to

priest re-

but Sidi Mengia sent a second threatening

message

so the priest married the couple.

The

SETTLEMENT OF THE AFFAIR.

two wives

live

215

together to this day in the house

The archbishop,

of Simo at Zhupa.

since the

has repeatedly called on

departure of the Turks,

Simo

to repudiate his second wife

pal obstacle

the

is

second as a sort of

first wife,

sister

who

but the princilooks upon the

under these anomalous

circumstances, Simo was under a sort of excom-

munication, until he

made

ating the second wife,

by the

a fashion of repudifirst

adopting her as

a sister."

The

who was an

captain,

fain have kept

would

me

till

anxious to get to Alexinatz

hill called

modest man,

intelligent

next day ; but

and on

arrival at a

Vrbnitzkobrdo, the vale of the Morava

again opened upon us in

in the midst of

all its

beauty and

fertility,

which lay Krushevatz, which was

the last metropolis of the Servian empire

even

now

nobler

scarce

site for

way between

can fancy picture to

an internal

the

source

capital.

villages.

and

itself

and the mouth of the

ing zones of suburbs, suburban

and

Situated half-

Morava, the plain has breadth enough

fields,

I felt

villas,

for swell-

gardens,

NATCHALNIK OF KRUSHEVATZ.

216
It

was

far

Krushevatz.
lanterns,

in

the night

when we

The Natchalnik was waiting with

my

hand, and

I in

but the Natchalnik

sport wished to kiss tier's;

We still hold to the old national custom, that

Our

host

features

and

the wife kisses the hand of a stranger."

was a

As

and gave us a hearty welcome.

went upstairs his wife kissed

said,"

arrived at

fair-haired

person, a brisk

man, with small

manner and sharp

The

tempered by a slight spice of vanity.

ensemble reminded

me

Natchalnik. "

am

but

intelligence,

tout

of the Berlin character.

afraid that,

to receive such strangers as you,

happy

we

as

we

are

are not suffi-

ceremonies to
ciently acquainted with the proper

be used on the occasion."

Author.

"The

stranger

must conform

to the

usage of the country, not the country to the

standard of the stranger.

Servians as they are in their

in their imitations of
is

will

own

Europe.

more ceremony than

go to Europe you

came here

in the

to see the

nature,

and not

In the East there

West and

be surprised

at the

of ceremonious compliments there."

if

you

absence

NATIONAL CHARACTER.
Natchalnik.

"The

217

people in the interior are a

simple and uncorrupted race

monitor

their only

is

nature."

" That

Author.

true

is

the

European who

judges of the Servians by the intrigues of Belgrade, will form an unfavourable opinion of them;

the mass of the nation, in spite of

sound.

Many

men

of the

at the

its

head of

such as Simitch, Garashanin, &c, are

tegrity
is

faults, is
affairs,

men

of in-

but in the second class at Belgrade, there

a great mixture of rogues."

Natchalnik. "

know

the

common

people well

they are laborious, grateful, and obedient; they

bear ill-usage for a time, but in the end get impatient,

and

are with difficulty appeased.

When

or any other governor say to one of the people,

'Brother, this or that

must be

done,' he crosses his

hands on his breast, and says,

be done

It shall

but he takes particular notice of what

whether
fail,

woe

this

perform what

betide me.

hence their

;'

and

part.

If I

The Obrenovitch party

forgot

is

my

fall."

Next day we went

Servian royalty.

due on

I do,

to look

at the

remains of

shattered gateway and ruined

ANCIENT SERVIAN PALACE.

218

now remain

walls, are all that

Knes Lasar Czar Serbski

sive palace of

chapel

is

of the once exten-

as perfect as

it

was when

centre of the imperial quadrangle.

monument
style

it

It is a curious

of the period, in a Byzantine sort of

but not for a moment to be compared in

of the doors

is

Above one

carved the double eagle, the insig-

The

great solidity of this edifice

to the

Turks as an arsenal ; hence

nium of empire.
recommended
careful

vernor

but the

occupied the

beauty to the church of Studenitza.

its

it

The

preservation.

had the Vandalism

exterior, so that at a distance

Within

parish church.

and bad painting

is

whitewash the

to
it

Servian go-

late

looks like a vulgar

a great deal of gilding

pity that the late governor did

not whitewash the inside instead of the out.

Natchalnik told me, that

fine

bricks were

tesselation applied

under the whitewash

disposed in

between the stones.

The

diamond

figures

This antique principle of

by the Byzantines

to perpen-

dicular walls,

and occasionally adopted and varied

ad

by the Saracens,

infinitum

illustrated

in

the upper

palace of Venice.

is

exterior

magnificently
of

the

ducal

CHAPTER XX.

Formation of the Servian Monarchy. Contest between the

A Great
Latin and Greek Churches. Stephan Dushan.

sion

and

Results of Victories. Knes Lasar. Invaof Amurath. Battle of Kossovo. Death of Lasar
Amurath. Fall of the Servian Monarchy. General

Warrior.

his

Observations.

cannot

feudal

present what I have to

say on the

monarchy of Servia more appropriately

than in connexion with the architectural monu-

ments of the period.

The

Servians,

known in Europe from the seventh

century, at which period they migrated from the

Carpathians to the Danube, were in the twelfth

century divided into petty states.
"

Le premier Roi

fut

un soldat heureux."

l2

NEMAN STEPHAN

220

Neman

the First,

Novibazar,

first

palities into a

who

I.

lived near the present

cemented these scattered princi-

He assumed

united monarchy.

the

double eagle as the insignium of his dignity, and

considered the archangel Michael as the patron

He was

saint of his family.

ning in

politics,

a splendid

brave in battle, cun-

and the convent of Studenitza

monument of his

he died, and was buried

is

Here

love of the arts.

in 1195.

Servia and Bosnia were, at this remote period,

the debatable

Rome and
at that

between the churches of

Constantinople, so divided was opinion

now

time even in Servia Proper, where

Roman

that

territory

Catholic

community

is

two out of the three sons of

not to be found,
this prince

were

inclined to the Latin ritual.

Stephan, the son of Neman, ultimately held

by the Greek Church, and was crowned by

his

brother Sava, Greek Archbishop of Servia.

The

that " he was led

to the

Chronicles of Daniel
altar,

anointed with

tell

oil,

clad in purple, and the

archbishop, placing the crown on his head, cried

aloud three times,

'

Long

live

Stephan the

first

crowned King and Autocrat of Servia/ on which

STEPHAN DUSHAN.
the assembled

all
'

nogo

lieto !'

221

magnates and people

(many years

cried,

!)"

The Servian kingdom was gradually extended

under his

and attained

successors,

climax

its

under Stephan Dushan, surnamed the Powerful,

who
of

was, according to
stature

tall

He

sence.

all

contemporary accounts,

and a commanding kingly pre-

began his reign

in the year 1336,

in the course of the four following

ran nearly the whole of what

in

Europe

is

now

and

years, over-

called

Turkey

and having besieged the Emperor An-

dronicus in Thessalonica, compelled him to cede

Albania and Macedonia.

Prisrend, in the former

province, was selected as the capital

honorary charges and

the

pompous

frivolous ceremonial of the

Greek emperors were introduced

at his court,

and

the short-lived national order of the Knights of

St.

Stephan was instituted by him

He

then turned his arms northwards, and de-

feated Louis of

He was
the

in 1346.

Hungary

in several

engagements.

preparing to invade Thrace, and attempt

conquest of Constantinople,

in

eighty thousand men, but death cut

the midst of his career.

l3

1356, with

him

off in

UROSH

222

The

KNES

brilliant victories of

LASAR.

Stephan Dushan were

a misfortune to Christendom.

Greek empire, the

They

bulwark of Europe,

last feeble

and paved the way

shattered the

for those ultimate successes

of the Asiatic conquerors, which a timely union of

strength might have prevented.

was the

little

Napoleon of

but did not consolidate

his

day

he conquered,

and his scourging wars

insufficiently balanced

were

Stephan Dushan

by the advantage

of

the code of laws to which he gave his name.

His son Urosh, being a weak and incapable

prince,

was murdered by one of the generals of

the army, and thus ended the

after

Neman

dynasty,

having subsisted 212 years, and produced

eight kings and two emperors.

The crown now

devolved on Knes, or Prince Lasar, a connexion

of the house of

but

is

Neman, who was crowned

more generally

called

Knes Lasar.

the ancient rulers of the country, his

Czar,

Of

memory

all
is

held the dearest by the Servians of the present

day.

He

appears to have been a pious and gene-

rous prince, and at the same time to have been

a brave but unsuccessful general.

Amurath, the Ottoman Sultan, who had already

INVASION OF AMURATH.
taken

Roumelia, south of the

all

resolved to

pass

Servia Proper;

Balkan,

to

secretly offered the

make

crown

now-

and invade

these mountains,

but,

223

of success,

Wuk

Brankovich,

to

sure

a Servian chief, as a reward for his treachery to

Lasar.

Wuk

caught at the

bait,

and when the armies

accused

were in sight of each other,

Milosh

Kobilich,the son-in-law of Lasar, of being a traitor.

On

the night before the battle, Lasar assembled

all

the knights and nobles to decide the matter

Wuk

between
silver
said,

Lasar then took a

cup of wine, handed it over to Milosh, and

" Take this
cup of wine from my hand and

drink

Milosh drank

it."

fidelity,

and

puting.
is

and Milosh.

said,

"

To-morrow

Now

there

I will

in

it,

is

token of his

no time

prove that

a calumniator, and that I

am

my

for dis-

accuser

a faithful subject

of my prince and father-in-law."

Milosh then embraced the plan of assassinating

Amurath

in his tent,

and taking with him two

stout youths, secretly left the Servian

camp, and

presented himself at the Turkish lines, with his

lance reversed, as a sign of desertion.

l4

Arrived at

224

DEATH OF AMU RATH AND LASAR.

the tent of Amurath, he knelt down, and, pretend-

ing to kiss the hand of the Sultan, drew forth his

dagger, and stabbed

wound Amurath
Ottomans not

him

died.

in the

body, from which

Hence the usage of the

to permit strangers to approach the

Sultan, otherwise than with their arms held by

attendants.

The

of Kossovo then took

celebrated battle

The wing commanded by Wuk gave way,

he being the first to retreat. The division com-

place.

manded by Lasar held

fast for

some time, and,

at

length, yielded to the superior force of the Turks.

Lasar himself

lost his life in the battle,

and thus

ended the Servian monarchy on the 15th of June,

1389.

The

state of Servia, previous to its subjugation

by the Turks, appears

to have

been strikingly

analogous to that of the other feudal monarchies

of Europe

the revenue being derived mostly

from crown lands, the military service of the

nobles being considered an equivalent for

tenure of their possessions.

the

Society consisted

of ecclesiastics, nobles, knights, gentlemen, and

peasants.

citizen class

seldom or never figures

CODE OF STEPHAN DUSIIAX.

on the scene.

Its

225

merchants were foreigners,

Byzantines, Venetians, or Ragusans, and history

speaks of no Bruges or Augsburg in Servia, Bosnia, or

The

Albania.
religion of the state

church

was that of the

oriental

the secular head of which was not the

patriarch of Constantinople

but, as

now

is

case in Russia, the emperor himself, assisted

the

by a

synod, at the head of which was the patriarch of

Servia and

The

its

dependencies.
of the code of Stephan Du" Care must be taken of the

first article

shan runs thus

Christian religion, the holy churches,

vents,

and the

ecclesiastics."

And

reference to the Latin heresy, as

the

con-

elsewhere, with
it

was

called,

" the Orthodox Czar" was bound to use the

most vigorous means for

who

its

extirpation

those

resisted were to be put to death.

At the death of a

noble, his arms belonged

right to the Czar; but his dresses, gold

plate, precious stones,

male children,

whom

and

and

by

silver

gilt girdles fell to his

failing,

to

the daughters.

If a noble insulted another noble, he

paid a fine
if a

gentleman insulted a noble, he was flogged.

l5

CODE OF STEPHAN DUSHAN.

226

The

were called " dressers in white

laity

hence one must conclude that

dresses were used

light

:"

coloured

by the people, and black by

Beards were worn and held sacred

the clergy.

plucking the beard of a noble was punished by

the loss of the right hand.

Rape was punished with

the

man;

cutting off the nose of

the girl received at the same time a

third of the man's fortune, as

Seduction,
piated
half a

if

not followed by marriage, was ex-

by a pound of

pound

of gold,

circumstances

a compensation.

gold,

if

if

the party were rich;

the party were in mediocre

and cutting

off the nose

if

the

party were poor.

If a

she

woman's husband were absent

must wait ten years

at the wars,

for his return, or for

news of him. If she got sure news of his death, she

must wait a year before marrying

again.

Other-

wise a second marriage was considered adultery.

Great protection was afforded to friendly merchants,

who were mostly

manors were enjoined

and were responsible

All lords of

Venetians.

to give

them

hospitality,

for losses sustained

bery within their jurisdiction.

The

by rob-

lessees of the

MUMMY

OF KNES LASAR.

227

gold and silver mines of Servia, as well as the

workmen

of the state mint, were also Venetians

and on looking through Professor Shafarik's

found

lection, I

col-

the coins closely resembling in

all

die those of Venice.

to the

Saint Stephan

seen giving

is

king of the day the banner of Servia, in the

same way

as Saint

Mark

gives the banner of the

republic of Venice to the Doge, as seen on the

old coins of that state.

The process of embalming was

perfection, for the

Lasar

mummy

some years ago

grimage

to

made a

is

pil-

Vrdnik, a retired

monastery in the Frusca Gora, where his

my

Knes

of the canonized

to be seen to this day.

is

carried to high

mum-

preserved with the most religious care, in

the church, exposed to the atmosphere.

course, shrunk, shrivelled,
colour,

It

is,

of

and of a dark brown

bedecked with an antique

embroidered

mantle, said to be the same worn at the battle of

Kossovo.

most

The

fingers

costly rings,

were covered

no doubt

It appears that the

with the

since added.

Roman

the dead, (probably preserved

practice of burning

by the

Tsinsars, the

descendants of the colonists in Macedonia,) was

l6

228

LITERATURE.

not uncommon, for any village in which such an

act took place

was subject to

If there be

Andalusia, and

and Thor

may

till

Moslems
if

fine.

in secret to this

there were worshippers of

lately

in

day

on the shores of the

Odin

Baltic,

not some secret votaries of Jupiter and Mars

have lingered among the recesses of the Balkan,

for centuries after Christianity

over Europe

had shed

its

light

The Servian monarchy having terminated more

than half a century before the invention of printing,

and most of the manuscripts of the period

having been destroyed, or dispersed during the

long Turkish occupation, very

little

is

known

of

the literature of this period except the annals of

Servia,

by Archbishop Daniel, the

script of

of

which

Mount

Slaavic,

is

Athos.

now

now

original

in the Hiliendar

manu-

monastery

The language used was

the old

a dead language, but used to this

day as the vehicle of divine service

in all Greco-

Slaavic communities from the Adriatic to the ut-

most confines of Russia, and the parent of

the

modern

varieties of the

Slaavic languages.

all

Southern and Eastern

CHAPTER

XXI.

Proceed to Alexinatz. Foreign- Office

Bulgarian
Gipsey Suregee. Tiupria.

Battue missed.
Courier.

frontier.

New bridge and macadamized road.

The

Natchalnik was the Nimrod of his

and had made arrangements

to treat

me

district,

to a

grand

hunt of bears and boars on the Jastrabatz, with a

couple of hundred peasants to beat the woods
the rain
spoiled,

poured, the wind blew,

and

the

hills,

but

sport was

missed glorious materials for a

Snyders in print.
the element

my

Thankful was

I,

however, that

had spared me during the journey

and that we were

the bad weather.

day

in

in

snug quarters during

later I

should have been

caught in the peasant's chimneyless-hut at the

foot of the Balkan,
it

in earnest.

and then should have roughed

PROCEED TO ALEXINATZ.

230

When

the weather

settled,

was

in

again

motion, ascending that branch of the Morava

There was nothing

which comes from Nissa.

to

remark

in this part of Servia,

which proved

to

be the least interesting part of our route, being

wanting as well in boldness

of outline

as in

luxuriant vegetation.

On

approaching a khan, at a short distance

from Alexinatz,

I perceived

whom

an individual

guessed to be the captain of the place, along with

This

a Britannic-looking figure in a Polish frock.

was Captain

new

a queen's messenger of the

school.

While we were drinking a cup of

coffee,

Turkish Bin Bashi came upon his way to Belgrade

from the army of Roumelia

at

Kalkendel ; he told

us that the Pasha of Nish had gone with

all his

force to Procupli to disarm the Arnaouts.

naturally took out the

cupli

map

to learn

where Pro-

was ; on which the Bin Bashi asked

was a military engineer

death of

me !"

* That

so nobody but

very

boy

me

will

if I

be the

military engineers

are permitted to look at maps.

For a month

had seen or heard nothing of

FOREIGN-OFFICE MESSENGER.
and

Europe

Europeans

Csatsak, and his sage

except the doctor at

maxims about Greek masses

and Hungarian

law-suits.

of the captain,

who was an

an abundance of fresh

made

I therefore

intelligent

prize

man, with

political chit-chat,

and ends of scandal from Paddington

and from Pall-mall

231

and odds

to the

Bank,

to Parliament-street, brimful

of extracts and essences of Athenaeums, UnitedServices,

and

Foreign-Office
butlers

and

other

hebdomadals.
were

messengers

valets of

Formerly
the

cast-off

secretaries of state.

For

some time back they have been taken from the

half-pay

list

and the educated

two can boast of very

classes.

fair literary

One

attainments;

and a man who once a year spends a few weeks

all

or

in

the principal capitals of Europe, from Madrid

to St. Petersburg

picks

up

and Constantinople, necessarily

a great knowledge of the world.

British messengers post

out

from

The

London

to

Semlin, where they leave their carriages, ride across

to Alexinatz

on the Bulgarian

frontier,

whence the

despatches are carried by a Tartar to Constantinople, via Philippopoli

On

and Adrianople.

arriving at Alexinatz, a

good English dinner

AN ENGLISH DINNER.

232

awaited us at the konak of the queen's messenger.

It

seemed so odd, and yet was so very comfort-

able, to

brown

have roast beef, plum pudding, sherry,

stout, Stilton

and other insular

cheese,

There was,

groceries at the foot of the Balkan.

moreover, a small library, with which the temporary occupants of the konak killed the month's
interval

between

Next day

arrival

and departure.

I visited

the quarantine buildings

with the inspector ; they are

in the Austrian

who purge their

all

new, and erected

The number

manner.
quarantine

is

of those

about fourteen thou-

sand individuals per annum, being mostly Bulga-

who wander

rians

and place

and

into

Servia at harvest time,

at the disposal of the

somewhat

indolent

humble and laborious

haughty, warlike,

Servians

services.

their

A village

more

of three

hundred houses, a church, and a national school,

have sprung up within the
point.

last

few years

at this

The imports from Roumelia and Bul-

garia are mostly Cordovan leather

Austrian

manufactures,

which

the exports,

pass

through

Servia.

When the new macadamized road

from Belgrade

TIUPRIA.

233
be no doubt

to this point is finished, there can

The

that the trade will increase.

possible effect

of which

is,

that the British manufactures, which

sold

at

the fairs of Transbalkan Bulgaria,

are

may be

After

subject to greater competition.

spending a few days at Alexinatz,

I started

post horses for Tiupria, as the horse

had been so severely

galled, that I

with

had ridden

was obliged

to

send him to Belgrade.

Tiupria, being on the high road across Servia,

has a large khan, at which

put up.

had ob-

served armed guards at the entrance of the town,

and

felt at

rooms of the khan being uninhabitable,

with

my

letter of introduction to the

and

sat

down

a parlour at the

in

I sent

in

Paul

Natchalnik,

the khan kitchen, which was

same time ; an apartment, with a

brick floor, one side of which was fitted

a broad

The

a loss to account for the cause.

wooden bench

every respect

up with

(the bare boards being

preferable

in

cushions, as one has a better

such

cases

to

chance of clean-

liness).

The

other side of the

apartment was

like a

hedge alehouse in England, with a long table

GIPSY MOSLEM.

234

and moveable benches.

Several Servians sat here

drinking coffee and smoking

wine.

others

drinking

The Cahwagi was standing with

on, at a

little

his apron

charcoal furnace, stirring his small

cream came.

coffee-pot until the

ordered some

wine for myself, as well as the Suregee, but the

" I do not drink wine." I now looked
latter
said,

him

and saw that he was of a very

in the face,

dark complexion

for I

had made the

last stage

and had not remarked him.

after sunset,

Author. " Are you a Chingany (gipsy) ?"

Gipsy.

"Yes."

Author. "

Now

I recollect

here are Moslems;

most of the

gipsies

how do you show your

ad-

herence to Islamism ?"

Gipsy.

"

go regularly to mosque, and say

my

prayers."

Author. "
Gipsy.

with
I

my

What

language do you speak ?"

" In business Turkish or Servian

but

family Chingany."

now asked

the Cahwagi the cause of the

guards being posted in the streets; and he told

of the attempt at Shabatz,
in

by disguised

me

hussars,

which the worthy collector met his death.

Paul

NATCHALNIK OF TIUPRIA.
not returning,

I felt impatient,

me

that he

and wondered what

At length he returned, and

had become of him.

told

235

had been taken

in the streets as

a suspicious character, without a lantern, carried

to the guard-house,

whom

Natchalnik, to

from

whom

and then to the house of the

now

he

he presented the

and

letter,

returned, with a pandour, and

a message to come immediately.

The Natchalnik met us half-way with the

and reproached me

terns,

ing at his house.

went

to

bed

in

sorts of arms.
pistols,

for not at

lan-

once descend-

Being now fatigued,

soon

an apartment hung round with

all

There were Albanian guns, Bosniac

Vienna fowling-pieces, and

Damascus and Khorassan

all

manner of

blades.

Next morning, on awaking,

looked out at

my

window, and found myself in a species of kiosk,

which hung over the Morava, now no longer a

mountain stream, but a broad and almost navigable river.

flat,

The

lands on the opposite side were

but well cultivated, and two bridges, an old

and a new one, spanned the

name

river.

Hence the

Tiupria, from the Turkish keupri (bridge,)

MEANS OF DEFENCE.

236

high road from Belgrade to Constan-

for here the

tinople crosses the Morava.

The Natchalnik, a

now

dered man,

entered, and, saluting

me how

old friend, asked

Author. "

My

muscular, broad-shoul-

tall,

me

ride gave

without excessive fatigue.

are, for

you

my

life.

need not ask you

are the picture of health

my

strong in

me

tells

an

a sharp exercise,

and herculean strength."

Natchalnik. " I was
and then nature

like

I slept.

thank you, never better in

yesterday's

how you

me

that I

am

day, but

now

considerably

on the wrong side of my climacteric."

Author. " Pray tell me what is the reason of
this

accumulation of arms.

never slept with

such ample means of defence within

my

reach,

quite an arsenal."

Natchalnik. "

You

have no doubt heard of the

attempt of the Obrenovitch faction at Shabatz.

We

are under

any thing
but
to

am

take

no

here,

an old

apprehension of their doing

for

soldier,

precautions,

have

they

no

and deem

partizans

even

when

it

prudent

appearances

NARROW

ESCAPE.

237

do not seem to demand them very imperiously.

I

wish the rascals would show face in this quarto

just

ter,

Our

rusty.

our

prevent

arms

from

getting

greatest loss is that of Ninitch, the

collector.

Author.

any

man

made

fellow.

knew him

it

plank

He

on me:

were but yesternight that

him

toasted
life,

it

which,

other wishes of mine, was not destined

many

be

as well as

can know another in a few days.

bumper, and wished him long

in a

to

Poor

a most favourable impression

seems as

like

*?

How

fulfilled.

that

little

separates

us

we think of
from

the

the

frail

ocean

of

eternity !"

Natchalnik. "

was once, myself, very near the

other world, having entered as a volunteer in the

Russian army that crossed the Balkan in 1828.

burned a mosque in defiance of the orders of

Marshal Diebitch

was
shot

tried
:

that I

by a

the consequence was that

court-martial,

and condemned

to

be

but on putting in a petition, and stating

had done so through ignorance, and

complishment of a vow of vengeance,

and brother having been

killed

in ac-

my

father

by the Turks

in the

THE DOCTOR.

238
war of

liberation, seven of

'

our houses

having

been burned at the same time, Marshal Diebitch

on reading the petition pardoned me."

The doctor of
little

man

the place

been

service,

a very

He

informed

me

that he

had

years a surgeon in the Austrian

many

On my

navy.

entered

with a pale complexion, and a black

braided surtout.
for

now

asking him

he answered,

"

how he

Very well ;

for

liked that

we

rarely

go out to the Mediterranean; our home-ports,

Venice and Trieste, are agreeable, and our usual
station in the

pleasant.
frigates of

more

Levant

is

Smyrna, which

The Austrian
moderate

friendly

is

size,

the officers live in a

and comfortable way than

were of heavier metal.

equally

vessels being generally

But were

if

they

not a surgeon,

should prefer the wider sphere of distinction

which colonial and trans-oceanic

opens to the British naval

life

officer

and incident

for I, myself,

once made a voyage to the Brazils."

We

now went

to see the

handsome new bridge

in course of construction over the

1

Houses or horses

rapidity, the

word

is

my

Morava.

The

notes having been written with

indistinct.

GAXG OF CONVICTS.
architect, a certain

239

Baron Cordon, who had been

bred a military engineer, happened to be there at

the time, and obligingly explained the details.

At

every step I see the immense advantages which

this

country derives from

a material point of view

its vicinity to

Austria in

and yet the Austrian and

Servian governments seem perpetually involved in

the most inexplicable squabbles.
fellows

who had been compromised

cessful attempts of last year

gang of poor
in the

unsuc-

by the Cbrenovitch

party, were working in chains,

road.

macadamizing the

CHAPTER

Visit to

Jovial party. Servian and Austrian

Convent described. Eagles reversed.

Ravanilza.

jnrisdiction.

Bulgarian

The

XXII.

festivities.

Natchalnik having got up a party, we pro-

ceeded in light cars of the country to Ravanitza,

a convent

two or three hours

off in the

The country was

to the eastward.

mountains

gently undu-

and mostly inclosed, the roads

lating, cultivated,

not bad, and the ensemble such as English landscapes were represented to be half a century ago.

When we
lost in

approached Ravanitza we were again

the forest.

mountain-rill, the

Ascending by the

side of a

woods opened, and the convent

rose in an amphitheatre at the foot of an abrupt

rocky mountain

a pleasing spot,

but wanting the

rjpfc^f

JOVIAL PARTY.
grandeur and beauty of the

241

on the Bosniac

sites

frontier.

The

superior was

"

man.

tall,

expected you long ago,"

Archbishop advised

me

middle-aged
said he " the

polite,

of your arrival

but we

thought something might have happened, or that

you had missed us."

" I
prolonged

limits of

my

my

tour," said

"
I,

beyond the

The circumstance

original project.

of this convent having been the burial-place of

Knes

Lasar, was a sufficient motive for

account missing a sight of

The

superior

now

on no

it."

led us into

where a long table had been

for

my

the refectory,

laid out for

dinner,

with the number of Tiuprians, as well as the

monks

of this convent, and some from the neigh-

bouring convent of Manasia, we mustered a very

numerous and very gay

excellent
jovial

and

The wine was

could not help thinking with the

Abbot of Quimper
"

party.

Quand nos joyeux

Se font des

Tout

le

le jour,

Devient un

verres

matin,

mes

freres,

festin."

THE HYMN " FOR MANY YEARS."

242

By

dint of interlarding

my

discourse with sun-

dry apophthegms of Bacon, and

Rochefoucaud,

stale

paradoxes of

passed current throughout Servia

considerably above

my

real value;

so after the

usual toasts due to the powers that be, the superior

my

proposed
Before

had

the beautiful

health in a very

long harangue.

time to reply, the party broke into

hymn for longevity, which I had heard

pealing in the cathedral of Belgrade for the return

of Wucics and
that I was

Petronievitch.

assured them

unworthy of such an honour, but could

not help remarking that this

hymn

"for

many

years" immediately after the drinking of a health,

was one of the most striking and beautiful customs

I

had noticed

in Servia.

very curious discussion arose after dinner,

relative

to the

different

Austria, and Austrians

when

in Austria, are

latter in Servia,

consul.

footing of Servians in
in

Servia.

The former

under the Austrian law

the

under the jurisdiction of their own

Being appealed

to,

explained that in

former times the Ottoman Sultans easily permitted

consular jurisdiction in Turkey, without stipulating

corresponding privileges for their

own

subjects

CHURCH AT RAVANITZA.

243

Christendom, and particularly Austria, was

for

considered

Bar El Harb,

war, in which

it

was

or perpetually the seat of

illegal

for subjects of the

Sultan to reside.

In the afternoon we made a survey of the convent and church, which were built by

Knes

Lasar,

and surrounded by a wall and seven towers.

The church,
scription,

is

like all the other edifices of this de-

Byzantine

but being built of stone,

wants the refinement which shone in the sculptures and

marbles of Studenitza.

remarked,

however, that the cupolas were admirably pro-

Be-

portioned and most harmoniously disposed.

fore entering I looked

above the door, and per-

ceived that the double eagles carved

there are

Instead of having body to body, and

reversed.

wings and beaks pointed outwards, as in the arms

of Austria and Russia, the bodies are separated,

and beak looks inward

On

entering

one of which

to beak.

we were shown the different vessels,

is

a splendid cup, presented

by Peter

the Great, and several of the same description

from the empress Catharine, some in gold,

and

steel

silver,

others in gold, silver, and bronze.

244

FAVOURITE SPRING.

The body of Knes Lasar,

some time

hid,

was buried here

1684, at which period

till

having been for

after

it

Virdnik in Syrmium, where

in 1394,

remained

was taken over

it

to

remains to this

day.

In the cool of the evening the superior took

a spring

to

of

clear

delicious water,

from rocks environed with

large

dashed

crystal goblet,

lymph, and presented

fell

it

trees.

The

to me.

gushing

boy with a

into

it

the clear
superior

into eulogy of his favourite Valclusa,

drank not only

this

and

but several glasses, with

cumstantial criticisms on

its

me

cir-

excellence; so that

the superior seemed delighted at

my

having ren-

dered such ample justice to the water he so

loudly

Entre nous,

praised.

and the

toasts that

the

excellence of his wine,

we had drunk

to the health of

innumerable loyal and virtuous individuals, rendered

me

a greater amateur of water-bibbing than

usual.

After some time

we

returned, and saw a lamb

roasting for supper in the open air

dug

in

below

a hole being

the earth, chopped vine-twigs are burnt

it,

the crimson glow of which soon roasts

EVENING FESTIVITY.

245

the lamb, and imparts a particular fragrance to

the flesh.

After supper

we went out

in the

mild

dark evening to a mount, where a bonfire blazed

and glared on the high square tower of the convent,

and cushions were

coffee.

laid for

chibouques and

The not unpleasing drone of bagpipes

resounded through the woods, and a number of

Bulgarians executed their national dance in a
circle,

taking hold of each other's girdle, and

keeping time with the greatest exactness.

m3

CHAPTER

XXIII.

Robinmiddle-age character.
preserved

son Crusoe.
Wonderful Echo. Kindness of the people.

Posharevatz. Baby Giantess.

Manasia

Has

its

Svilainitza.

Next

day, accompanied

by the

tion of the party of yesterday,

doctor,

and a por-

we proceeded

to

the convent of Manasia, five hours off; our jour-

ney being mostly through

wretched roads.

forests,

with the most

Sometimes we had to

cross

streams of considerable depth ; at other places the

arching over head, almost

oaks,
light

at length,

excluded the

on doubling a precipitous pro-

montory of rock, a wide open valley burst upon

us, at the extremity of

which we saw the donjons

and crenellated towers of a perfect feudal

surrounding and

fencing in the

castle

domes of an

FEUDAL CHARACTER.
antique church.

Again

247

say, that

who

those

wish to see the castellated monuments of the

middle ages just as they were

must come

to

this

left

by the

builders,

With us

country.

in

old

Europe, they are either modernized or in ruins,

and

many of them

in

every tower and gate reflects

the taste of a separate period ;

some

edifices

show-

ing a grotesque progress from Gothic to Italian,

and from

Italian to

Roman a

la

Louis Quinze

.-

a succession which corresponds with the portraits

within doors, which begin with coats of mail, or

padded
buckles.
"

and end with bag-wigs and shoe-

velvet,

But

here, at Manasia,

The battle towers, the donjon keep,

The loophole grates, where captives weep.
The flanking walls that round it sweep,
In yellow lustre shone

"

and we were quietly carried back to the year of

our Lord 1400
built

for this castle

by Stephan, Despot of

Knes Lasar.
Czar of

all

and church were

Servia, the son of

Stephan, instead of being "the

the Servian lands and coasts," became

a mere- hospodar,

who must do

his masters, the Turks.

m 4

as he

was bid by

ROBINSON CRUSOE.

248

Manasia being

entirely secluded

from the world,

the monastic establishment was of a humbler and

simpler nature than that of Ravanitza, and the

monks, good honest men, but mere peasants

in

cowls.

After dinner, a strong broad-faced monk,

I

recognized as having been of the

Ravanitza, called for a

whom

company

bumper, and began

at

in a

solemn matter-of-fact way, the following speech

"

You

are a great traveller in our eyes

us ever went further than Syrmium.

traveller of

for

The

none of
greatest

your country that we know of was

that wonderful navigator,

Robinson Crusoe, of

York, who, poor man, met with many and great

difficulties,

but at length, by the blessing of God,

was restored

to his native country, his family,

his friends.

We

trust

that

and

the Almighty will

guard over you, and that you

will never, in the

course of your voyages and travels, be thrown

like

him on a

desert island

your health, and long

toast

was drunk,

life

and now we drink

to you."

When

the

thanked the company, but

added that from the revolutions

in locomotion, I

ran a far greater chance now-a-days of being

SVILAINITZA.

249

blown out of a steam-boat, or smashed

to pieces

on a railway.

From

the rocks above Manasia

most remarkable echoes

is

ever heard

one of the
at the dis-

tance of sixty or seventy yards from one of the

towers the slightest whisper

is

rendered with the

most amusing exactness.

From Manasia we went

to

Miliva, where the

peasantry were standing in a row, by the side of a

rustic tent,

made of branches

of trees.

Grapes,

roast fowl, &c. were laid out for us; but thanking

them

for their proffered hospitality,

From

we passed

on.

this place the road to Svilainitza is level,

the country

fertile,

and more populous than we

had seen any where

in

else

Servia.

At some

the villagers had prepared bouquets

places

at

another place a school, of fifty or sixty children,

was drawn up in the

street,

and sang a hymn of

welcome.

At

Svilainitza the people

would not allow

me

to

go any further; and we were conducted to the

chateau of
Servia.

M.

This

Ressavatz, the wealthiest

villa

is

man

the fac simile of the

in

new

ones in the banat of Temesvav, having the rooms

POSHAREVATZ.

250

papered, a luxury in Servia, where the most of

the rooms,

even in good

houses,

are

merely

size-coloured.
Svilainitza is remarkable, as the only place in

Servia where silk

is

cultivated to any extent, the

Ressavatz family having paid especial attention to

In

it.

fact, Svilainitza

From

Svilainitza,

means the place of

we next morning

Posharevatz, or Passarovitz,

by an

silk.

started for

excellent

adamized road, through a country richly

vated and interspersed with lofty oaks.
at

macculti-

I arrived

mid-day, and was taken to the house of

M.

Tutsakovitch, the president of the court of appeal,

who had expected us on the preceding evening.

He was quite a man of the world, having studied
jurisprudence in the Austrian Universities.

The

outer chamber, or hall of his house, was ranged

with shining pewter plates in the olden manner,

and

man

his best

room was furnished

in the best Ger-

style.

In a few minutes

M.

Ressavatz, the Natchalnik,

came, a serious but friendly man, with an eye that

bespoke an expansive intellect

"
" This
Ressavatz qua,
part of Servia," said I, is

GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
Ressavatz

la.

We

night slept at your bro-

last

house, at Svilainitza, which

ther's

251

the only

is

chateau I have seen in Servia; and to-day the

rapid and agreeable journey I

made

hither

was

am

told,

The Natchalnik bowed, and the president

said,

due to the macadamized road, which,

you were the means of constructing."

" This road
originated entirely with

who went through

M.

Ressavatz,

a world of trouble before he

could get the peasantry of the intervening villages

Great was the

lend their assistance.

to

opposition to the novelty

are

all

first

but now the people

delighted at being able to drive in win-

ter without sinking

to their horses' knees in

up

mud."

We

now proceeded

buildings, which are

to view the

government

new, and

good order,

all

in

being somewhat more extensive than those

where

for

Posharevatz, besides having ninety

thousand inhabitants in
ment,

is

Nahie

original

else-

own

its

nahie

or govern-

a sort of judicial capital for Eastern Servia.

is

a Turkish word,

word means

"

and meant " district."

direction?

and the point of the compass."

and

is

The

applied to winds,

252

The

BILLIARDS.
principal edifice

is

a barrack, but the regular

troops were at this time

president showed

me

Shabatz.

at

all

through the court of appeal.

Most of the apartments were occupied with

and

up with

fitted

The

shelves for

clerks,

registers.

The

court of justice was an apartment larger than the

rest,

without a raised bench, having merely a long

table, covered with a

which was a

crucifix

of oaths, and the

green cloth, at one end of

and Gospels,

seats

for the taking

president and

for the

assessors.

We

then went to the billiard-room with the

Natchalnik, and played a couple of games, both

of which I

lost,

although the Natchalnik, from

sheer politeness, played badly

and

at sunset

we

returned to the president's house, where a large

We

party was assembled to dinner.

journed

the

to

where, as the
to

creep

over

of

chill

apartment,

autumn was beginning

we found

us,

and the president

that

inner

comfortable

then ad-

having

blazing

fire;

made some punch,

showed profound acquaintance

with the

jurisprudence of conviviality, the best amateurs

of Posharevatz

sang

their

best

songs,

which

BABY GIANTESS.

me somewhat,

pleased

been broken into the habits of the Servian

ally

Being pressed myself to sing an English

muse.
national

"

had gradu-

ears

my

for

253

song,

their

gratified

curiosity

with

God save the Queen," and " Rule Britannia,"

explaining that these two

songs contained the

essence of English nationality

the one expres-

sive of

our unbounded loyalty, the other of our

equally

unbounded ocean dominion.

President. "

You

have been visiting the rocks

and mountains of Servia

but there

curiosity in this neighbourhood,

more wonderful.

is

a natural

which

Have you heard

is

much

of the baby

giantess ?"

Author. " Yes,

was

six feet high,

have.

was told that a child

and a perfect woman."

President. " No, a child of two years and three

months
years,

is

as big as other children of six or seven

and her womanhood such as

is

usual in

girls of sixteen."

Author. " It

is

almost incredible."

President. " Well,

with your

town."

own

you may convince yourself

eyes, before

you

leave this blessed

BABY GIANTESS.

254

The Natchalnik then

called a

Momke, and gave

At

orders for the child to be brought next day.

the appointed hour the father and mother

with the child.

higher than
Its

its

It

came

was indeed a baby giantess,

brother,

who was

six years of age.

hands were thick and strong, the

flesh

plump,

and the mammae most prominently developed.

Seeing the room

filled

with people,

it

began to

cry,

but its attention being diverted by a nodding mandarin of stucco provided for the purpose, the nurse

enabled us to verify

all

the president had said.

This phenomenon was born the 29th of June, 1842,

old style, and the lunar influences were in operation

on the tenth month

after birth.

to the president, that if the father

remarked

had more avarice

than decency, he might go to Europe, and return

with his weight in gold.

CHAPTER XXIV.

Mysterious Waters. Treaty of Passarovitz.

The Castle of Semendria. Relics of the Antique. The
Brankovitch Family. Pancsova. Morrison's

Rich

Soil.

Pills.

The

soil at

greasy

Posharevatz

humus being from

feet thick,

is

remarkably

fifteen to twenty-five

and consequently able

noblest forest trees.

rich, the

to nourish the

In the Banat, which

is

the

granary of the Austrian empire, trees grow well

for fifteen, twenty, or twenty-five years,
die away.

The cause of

although rich,

is

this

is,

and then

that the earth,

only from three to six feet thick,

with sand or cold clay below

thus as soon as the

roots descend to the substrata, in

which they find

POSHAREWATZ.

256

no nourishment, rottenness appears on the top

branches, and gradually descends.

At Krushevitza, not very

a cave,

is

which

is,

am

into the basin of

culty,

flows at intervals,

far

from Pasharevatz,

told, entered

with

which water gradually

and then disappears,

doctor of the place

(a

diffi-

as the

Saxon) told me, with an

extraordinary noise resembling the molar rumble

of railway travelling.
nitza, or the

This spring

is

called Potai-

mysterious waters.

Posharevatz, miscalled Passarowitz,

cally

remarkable,

Eugene,

in

as

the

is histori-

place where

Prince

1718, after his brilliant victories of

the previous year, including the capture of Bel-

grade, signed, with the Turks, the treaty which

gave back to the house of Austria not only the

whole of Hungary, but added great part of Servia

and

Little Wallachia, as far as the Aluta.

this period

With

began the Austrian rule in Servia,

French fashioned Lange Gasse

of Belgrade rose amid the " swelling domes and

and

at this time the

pointed
1

minarets of

In Servian, Belgrade
"

poetically,

is

the

white

eagle's

nest ."

called Beograd, " white city

white eagle's nest."

;*'

SEMENDRIA.

257

Several quaint incidents had recalled this period

during

For instance,

tour.

my

at

Manasia,

rudely engraven on the church wall,

Wolfgang

saw

Zastoff,

Kaiserlicher Forst-Meister im Maidan.

Die

Semendria

is

Aug. 1721.

three hours' ride from Posharevatz

the

country

is

populous, and well culti-

fertile,

Innumerable

vated.

by the sun of a

massive turrets, mellowed

clear

autumn, and

wide rolling waters, announced

the shores of the Danube.

of those

fabled

and every where

the road crosses the Morava,

from

rising

approach to

my

seemed entering one

which the

strong holds, with

early Italian artists adorned their landscapes.

If

Semendria be not the most picturesque of the

Servian castles of the elder period,

by

far the

colossal.

shorn of
the

most extensive of them.

The rampart next

its fair

modern

the

art of war.

certainly
it

Nay,

is

Danube has been

proportions, so as to

Looking

from one of the three land

castle

it is

make

at

sides,

it

suit

Semendria

you have a

of Ercole di Ferrara; looking at

it

from

THE FORTRESS.

258

the water, you have the boulevard of a

Van

der

Meulen.

The Natchalnik accompanied me

in a visit to

the fortress, protected from accident

by a couple
of soldiers
like that

for the castle of

Semendria

is

still,

of Shabatz, in the hands of a few Turkish

spahis and their families.

The news from Shabatz

having produced a slight ferment, we found several

armed Moslems

at the gate

but they did not

allow the Servians to pass, with the exception of

" This

the Natchalnik and another man.

said

he ; "

never

knew them

to

is

new/'

be so wary and

We now found ourselves within

fortress.
A shabby wooden cafe

suspicious before."
the walls of the

was opposite to us ; a mosque of the same material

rose with

its

worm-eaten carpentry to our

The

cadi, a

and

signified that

chardak,

pompous vulgar

we might

but from

old

man, now met

us,

as well repose at his

inhospitality

gave us neither pipes nor

right.

coffee.

or fanaticism,

His worship

was so proud, that he scarcely deigned to speak.

The Disdar Aga,

personage,

a somewhat more approximative

now entered

the tottering chardak, (the

carpenters of Semendria seem to have emigrated

ROMAN ANTIQUITIES.

259

en masse,) and proffered himself as Cicerone of the

castle.

Mean and abominable

of garden ground,

The

of Semendria.

appeared the

further

and massive towers

we walked

the nobler

dotage of old feudal

last relic of the

In one of the towers next the

Servia.

Roman

a sculptured

figure points to a

a female

sits

the antique

One

tombstone.

Danube
graceful

sarcophagus, close to which

in tears

of

patches

the space inclosed

up

the gorgeous ramparts

by

is

filled

with

huts,

in a word, a

remnant of

harmony which

that

away, but swells on

not

dies

the finer organs of per-

ception.

"

Eski, Eski.

Very

old," said the Disdar Aga,

who accompanied me.

" It
"

is

Roman,"

Roumgi ?"

"

said

I.

said he, thinking I

No, Latinski," said a

usually given to

As

at

Roman

third,

which ,is the name

remains.

Sokol and Ushitza,

to enter the inner citadel

meant Greek.

was not permitted

'

so,

think that a traveller ought to see

returning to the

all

that he can

but,

of course, has no right to feel surprised at being excluded

from

citadels.

SEMENDRIA.

260
gate,

where we were rejoined by the

went

to the fourth tower,

on the

boul Kapu, and looking up,

and forming part of the

which was

left

of the Stam-

we saw

inserted

wall, a large stone,

cut, in basso rilievo, a figure of

reposing on a bull.

we

soldiers,

Here was no

on

Europa

fragile grace, as

in the other figure; a few simple lines

bespoke

the careless hardihood of antique art.

The

castle of

Semendria was built in 1432, by

who succeeded

the Brankovitch,

Knes Lasar

as despots, or native rulers of Servia,

under the Turks

enormous

the family of

pile

and the construction of

was permitted by

this

their masters, un-

der the pretext of the strengthening of Servia

against the Hungarians.

The

last

of these despots

of Servia was George Brankovitch, the historian,

who passed

over to Austria, was raised to the

dignity of a count; and after being kept

years as a state

prisoner,

many

suspected of secret

correspondence with the Turks, died at Eger, in

The

Bohemia, in 1711.
line is

now

One

family

is

extinct

legitimate Brankovitch

2
.

of the representatives of the ancient imperial

the Earl of Devon, for Urosh the Great married

Helen of Courtenay.

morrisox's pills.
Leaving the
alnik's house.

fortress,
I

we returned

such delicious

fruit

"Groja Smederevsko"
Servia,

to the

was struck with the

and flavour of the grapes here

tasted

261

and ought

to

size,

Natchbeauty,

have no where

of this

description.

are celebrated through

make

all

excellent wine.

The road from Semendria

to Belgrade

skirts

Danube, across which one sees the plains of

the

the Banat and military frontier.

The only

place

of any consequence on that side of the river

Pancsova, the sight of which reminded

me

is

of a

conversation I had there some years ago.

The major of the town,

less

boxes of Morrison's

that he

had not begun

The consumption of
almost surpassed
sickly or

after
pills,

to take

these

belief.

swallowing countdied in the belief

them soon enough.

drugs at that time

There was scarcely a

hypochondriac person, from the Hill of

Presburg to the Iron Gates, who had not taken

large quantities of them.

Being curious to know

the cause of this extensive consumption, I asked

for

an explanation.

" You must

" that
know," said an individual,
the Anglo-mania

is

no where stronger than

in

LUDICROUS MISTAKE.

262

Whatever comes from

this part of the world.

England, be
pills,

Congreve rockets, or vegetable

it

must needs be

indebted to his high

perfect.

Dr. Morrison

office for the

sumption of his drugs.

is

enormous con-

It is clear that the presi-

man

dent of the British College must be a

in the

enjoyment of the esteem of the government and

the faculty of medicine

and

his title is a passport

to his pills in foreign countries."

I

laughed heartily, and explained

British

of Health,

College

that

the

and the College of

Physicians, were not identical.

The road from

no particular

this point to Belgrade presents

interest.

Half an hour from the

city I crossed the celebrated trenches of

Laudohn; and rumbling through

Marshal

a long cavernous

gateway, called the Stamboul Kapousi, or gate of

Constantinople, again found myself in Belgrade,

thankful for the past, and congratulating myself

on the circumstances of
state of patriarchal

tures of
flat

which

will

my

trip.

had seen a

manners, the prominent

fea-

be at no distant time rolled

and smooth, by the pressure of old Europe,

and the

salient angles of

which

will

disappear

RETURN TO BELGRADE.

263

through the agency of the hotel and the stagecoach, with

facilities

arrive

its

bevy of

tourists,

who, with greater

for seeing the beauties

of nature, will

and depart, shrouded from the mass of

the people,

by the mercenaries

beaten tracks of the traveller.

that

hang on the

CHAPTER XXV.

Their Moral Charac Christmas

Personal Appearance of the Servians.

ter.

Peculiarities

of Manners.

Festivities.

Easter. The Dodola.

The

Servians are a remarkably

race of

men

in form

tall

and robust

and feature they bespeak

strength of body and energy of mind: but one

seldom sees that thorough-bred look, which, so

frequently found in the poorest peasants of Italy

and Greece, shows that the descendants of the

most

polite of the ancients, although disinherited

of dominion, have not lost the corporeal attributes

of nobility.

But the women of Servia

very pretty.

In body they are not so well shaped

as the
fine,

Greek women

the

hair

think

but their complexions are

generally black

and

glossy,

and

POSITION OF FEMALES IN SOCIETY.

their head-dress particularly graceful.

265

Not being

addicted to the bath, like other eastern

women,

they prolong their beauty beyond the average

climacteric

and

their houses, with

rooms opening

on a court-yard and small garden, are favourable

to health

and beauty.

the elements as the

up within four

They

men

walls, like

are not exposed to

nor are they cooped

many

without a sufficient circulation of

Through
is

all

eastern

women,

air.

the interior of Servia, the female

reckoned an inferior being, and

fit

only to be

the plaything of youth and the nurse of old age.

This peculiarity of manners has not sprung from

of Turkish

the four centuries

occupation,

but

appears to have been inherent in old Slaavic manners,

and such

as

we read

few generations ago

is

now

little

but as the European standard

rapidly adopted at Belgrade, there can be

doubt that

time, spread over

The

of in Russia, a very

it

will thence, in the course of

all

Servia.

character of the Servian closely resembles

that of the Scottish

Highlander.
battle, highly hospitable

He

is

brave in

delights in simple and

MORAL CHARACTER.

266
plaintive

music

arid poetry, his favourite instru-

ments being the bagpipe and

the Greek he shows

little

unlike the Bulgarian, he

tural operations.

Scottish Celtic

fiddle

but unlike

aptitude for trade

is

and

very lazy in agricul-

All this corresponds with the

character; and without absolute

dishonesty, a certain low cunning in the prosecution of his material interests completes the parallel.

The

old customs of Servia are rapidly disap-

pearing under the pressure of laws and European

institutions.

Many

of these could not have ex-

isted except in a society in

right.

One

of these was the

which might made

vow

of eternal bro-

therhood and friendship between two individuals

a treaty offensive and defensive, to assist each

other in the difficult passages of

is

considered

sacred

and

the custom

desuetude.

it

Fre-

are found in

But now that regular

guarantees for the security of

exist,

This bond

indissoluble.

quently remarkable instances of

the wars of Kara Georg.

life.

life

and property

appears to have fallen into

These confederacies

in the dual state,

ABDUCTION OF FEMALES.

267

as in Servia, or multiple, as in the clan system of

Scotland and Albania, are always strongest in turbulent times and regions \

Another of the old customs

sufficiently

of

characteristic

young man would

its

Servia was

lawless

common.

Abduction of females was

a

of

state.

Sometimes

collect a party of his

com-

panions, break into a village, and carry off a

To

maiden.

prevent re-capture they generally

went into the woods, where the nuptial knot was

tied

by a

Then commenced

priest nolens volens.

the negotiation for a reconciliation with the parents,

which was generally successful

had been the

stances the female

young man, and the other

as in

many

in-

secret lover of the

villagers

used to add

their persuasion, in order to bring about a pacific

solution.

But

a legal affair of
it

the relations of the girl

if

the young

it,

was by her own

and

if

she

made

ation took place

made

woman was asked

will that she

if

was taken away

the admission then a reconciliif not,

those concerned in the

The most perfect confederacy of this description is that

of the Druses, which has stood the test of
eight centuries,
1

and

in its secret
organization

attained

is

by freemasonry.

n2

complete beyond any thing

THE HAIDUCKS.

268

abduction were fined.

this

Kara Georg put a stop

to

the author of an

by proclamation, punishing

abduction with death, the priest with dismissal,

and the

assistants with the bastinado.

The Haiducks, or outlawed

the

first

who during

quarter of the present century infested

the woods
of the

robbers,

of

Servia,

resembled

the Caterans

Highlands of Scotland, being as much

rebels as robbers,

and imagined that

in setting

authority at defiance they were not acting dis-

honourably, but combating for a principle of in-

dependence. They robbed only the rich Moslems,

and were often

Thus

generous to the poor.

robbery and rebellion being confounded, the term

Haiduck

is

not

considered

several old Servians have

and

me

that

opprobrious

confessed to

they had been Haiducks in their youth.

sure that the adventures of a Servian

might form the materials of a

There are many Haiducks

stirring

still

am

Rob Roy
Romance.

in Bosnia,

Herze-

govina, and on the western Balkan; but the race in

Servia

is

extinct,

the few robbers

west of Servia.

and plunder

who now

is

infest

the only object of

the woods in the

CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES.
Such
peared

are

customs that have just disap-

the

but many national peculiarities

At Christmas,

main.

down

he returns home, which

as soon as

still

re-

for instance, every peasant

goes to the woods, and cuts

light,

269

young oak ;

is

in the twi-

he says to the assembled family, " A happy

Christmas eve to the house ; " on which a male of

the family scatters a

answers,

"

God be

gracious to you, our

nuts and a

little

happy and

The housewife then

honoured father."

young oak on the

grain on the ground and

little

fire,

to

straw,

lays the

which are thrown a few

and the evening ends

in

merriment.

Next day,

after divine

service, the family as-

semble around the dinner table, each bearing a

and they say aloud, "Christ

lighted candle;

born

let

us honour Christ and his birth."

usual Christmas drink

honey.

They have

This personage

is

is

also the

hot wine

On

suing year.

he

is

is

born

born
!"

!"

The

mixed with

custom of First Foot*

selected beforehand, under the

idea that he will bring luck with

" Christ

is

him

for the en-

Foot says,
and receives for answer, " Yes,

entering the

First

while the First Foot scatters a few

n3

270

EASTER.

He

grains of corn on the floor.

up the wood on the

stirs

fire,

then advances and

so that

it

crackles

and emits sparks ; on which the First Foot

" As
so

many

many

cattle, so

many

horses,

goats, so

many

many bee

He

sparks so

says,

hives,

many sheep, so many boars, so

and so much luck and prosperity."

then throws a

little

money

into the ashes, or

hangs some hemp on the door; and Christmas

ends with presents and

At

Easter,

festivities.

they amuse themselves with the

of breaking hard-boiled eggs, having

game

first

examined those of an opponent to see that they

are not filled with wax.

From

this time until

Ascension day the common formula of greeting is

" Christ has arisen !" to which answer is
made,
" Yes he has
arisen or ascended \" And on
truly

the

second

Monday

dead relations are

One
Servia

of the
is

after

Easter the graves of

visited.

most extraordinary customs of

that of the Dodola.

When

a long drought

has taken place, a handsome young

stripped,

and so dressed up with

she then, in

is

grass, flowers,

cabbage and other leaves, that her face

visible

woman

is

scarcely

company with several girls of

THE DODOLA.

271

twelve or fifteen years of age, goes from house to

house singing a song, the burden of which

wish for

rain.

tress of the

to

throw a

also to be

It is

then the custom of the mis-

house at which the Dodola

little

is

water on her.

kept up in

the

is

This custom used

Servian districts of

Hungary, but has been forbidden by the

n4

stopped

priests.

CHAPTER XXVI.

Town

The public

life.

Manners half-Oriental

offices.

half-

European. Merchants and Tradesmen. Turkish population.

Porters. Barbers. Cafes. Public Writer.

On

passing from the country to the town the

politician views with interest the transitional state

of society:

nothing
thing
a

is

but

student of manners finds

salient, picturesque, or

verging to

young man

he does

the

he

in

tells

German

remarkable

routine.

If

every

you meet

any department, and ask what

you that he

is

a Concepist or

Protocollist.

In the public

offices,

the paper

is,

as in Ger-

many, atrociously coarse, being something

like that

with which parcels are wrapped up in England

and sand

is

used instead of blotting paper.

They

PUBLIC OFFICES.

commence business
and go on

o'clock,

body goes

to the

273

early in the morning, at eight

till

twelve, at which hour every

mid- day meal.

They commence

again at four o'clock, and terminate at seven, which

is

the hour of supper.

The reason

almost every body takes a

The

public offices

of this

is,

that

siesta.

throughout the interior of

Servia are plain houses, with white-washed walls,

deal desks, shelves,

recently

built,

and presses, but having been

have generally a respectable ap-

The Chancery of

pearance.

State

and Senate

house are also quite new constructions, close to

the palace; but
transacts

in the

country, a Natchalnik

a great deal of business

in

his

own

house.
Servia contains within itself the forms of the

East and the West, as separately and distinctly

as possible.

See a Natchalnik in the back woods

squatted on his divan, with his enormous trowsers,

smoking

his pipe,

and listening to the contents

of a paper, which his secretary, crouching and

kneeling on the carpet, reads to him, and you

have the Bey, the Kaimacam, or the Mutsellim

before you.

See

M.

Petronievitch scribbling in

N 5

MERCHANTS AND TRADESMEN.

274

and you have the Furstlicher Haus-

his cabinet,

Hqf- Staats- und Conferenz-Minister of the meridian of Saxe or Hesse.

Servia being an agricultural country, and not

possessing a sea-port, there does not exist an

influential, mercantile,

or capitalist class per

se.

Greeks, Jews, and Tsinsars, form a considerable

proportion of those engaged in the foreign trade
is

it

to be

remarked that most of

this class are

secret adherents of the Obrenovitch party, while

the wealthy native Servians support

Kara George-

vitch.

In Belgrade, the best tradesmen are Germans,

or Servians,

Pesth, or

who have

learned their business at

Temeswar ; but nearly

all

the retailers

are Servians.

Having treated
nery of Oriental

life,

in

my

Damascus and Aleppo,

in
I

so fully the aspects

work on
it is

should say here any thing of

and customs.
all

The Turks

and machi-

native society

not necessary that

Moslem manners

in Belgrade are nearly

of a very poor class, and follow the humblest

occupations.

The

river navigation causes

hands to be employed

in boating

and

it

many
always

TURKISH POPULATION.

me

seemed to
on the

that the proportion of the turbans

exceeded that of the Christian short

Most of the

fez.

are

river

Turks

in

porters on the quay of Belgrade

turbans, which

their

landing-place, on

town warrants.

Moslem population

From

the

of the

the circumstance of trucks

unknown

nearly

gives

from Semlin, a more

arrival

Oriental look than the

being

275

in

this

country,

these

Turkish porters carry weights that would astonish an Englishman, and

balancing

and

show great address

in

heavy weights among

dividing

them.

Most of the barbers

in Belgrade are Turks,

and

have that superior dexterity which distinguishes

their craft in the east.

barbers; but the

I

There are also Christian

Moslems

are in greater force.

never saw any Servian shave himself; nearly

all

resort

barbers,

to
in

the barber.

Even the

of the

imitation

Christian

Oriental

fashion,

shave the straggling edges of the eye-brows, and

with pincers tug out

the

small

hairs

of the

nostrils.

The

native cafes are nearly

all

kept by Moslems;

one, as I have stated elsewhere,

by an Arab, born

n 6

276
in

&C.

BOATMEN, PORTERS,

Oude

in India; another

by a Jew, which

frequented by the children of Israel, and

see the

very

once went in to smoke a narghile, and

dirty.

is

is

but made

place,

Several Jews,

escape forthwith.

my

who spoke Spanish

to each other,

were playing backgammon on a raised bench, and

seemed
"

to

have in their furs and dresses that

et

malproprete profonde

Custine

tells

huileuse" which

M.

de

us characterizes the dirt of the north

as contrasted with that of the southern nations.

The

of the

cafe

perfectly clean

Indian,

and new.

Moslem boatmen,
Christians and

all

to these, there

is

quarter,

on the contrary, was

porters,

barbers, &c. serve

and sundry.

But

in addition

a sort of bazaar in the Turkish

occupied by tradespeople,

who

subsist

almost exclusively by the wants of their co-religionists living in the quarter, as well as of the

Turkish garrison in the

this class

writer,

who

who had

fortress.

The only one

frequented me, was the public

several assistants

he was not a

native of Belgrade, but a Bulgarian

Ternovo.

of

He drew up

Turk from

petitions to the

due form, and, moreover, engraved

Pasha

in

seals very

SERVIAN PROVERBS.
His

neatly.

277

when not engaged

assistants,

in either

of these occupations, copied Korans for sale.

own handwriting was

all

His

and he knew

excellent,

the styles, Arab, Deewanee, Persian, Reka, &c.

What

keeps him mostly in

mind, was the

my

delight with which he entered into,

the proverbs at the end of

M.

and

illustrated,

Joubert's gram-

mar, which the secretary of the Russian Consul-

Some

general had lent him.

of the proverbs are

so applicable to Oriental manners, that

hope the

reader will excuse the digression.

" Kiss the hand thou hast not been able to

cut."

" Hide
thy friend's name from thine enemy."
" Eat and drink with
thy friend never buy and
;

sell

with him."

" This
liver she

"

Of

is

a fast day, said the cat, seeing the

could not get at."

three things

one

Power,

gold, or quit

the town."

" The candle does not

light its base."
" The
orphan cuts his own navel-string," &c.

The

rural population of Servia

advance slowly, but each

tion to

come,

will,

must

necessarily

five years, for

have

little

a genera-

doubt, alter

278

PROSPECTS OF SERVIA.

much

rela-

Let the

lines

the aspect of the town population, as

tively as the five that are by-gone.

now

of railway

in progress

from Belgium to

Hungary be completed, and Belgrade may again

become a stage in the high road to the East. A
line

with
is

by the
its

valleys of the

large towns, Philippopoli

certainly

than

Morava and the Maritsa,

many

doubt of

its

not more
that are

and Adrianople,

and absurd

chimerical

now

projected.

Who

can

ultimate accomplishment, in spite of

the alternate precipitancy and prostration of enterprise?

Meanwhile imagination

loses itself in

attempting to picture the altered face of affairs

in these secluded regions,

operation

when

subjected to the

of a revolution, which

posterity will

pronounce to be greater than those which made

the fifteenth century the morning of the just ter-

minated period of

civilization.

CHAPTER XXVII.

Journalism. The Fine Arts. The Lyceum.

Museum. Servian Education.
Mineralogical

Poetry.

cabinet.

In the whole range of the Slaavic family there

is

no nation possessing so extensive a collection of

excellent popular poetry.

The romantic beauty

of the region which they inhabit, the

a wild mythology, which, in

its

relics

of

general featuresj

has some resemblance to that of Greece and Scandinavia,

tion,

the adventurous character of the popula-

the vicissitudes

of guerilla warfare, and a

hundred picturesque incidents which are

the muses

when war

is

carried on

by standing armies, are

all

which, for musical sweetness,

lost to

on a large

scale

given in a dialect,
is

to other Slavonic

280

JOURNALISM.

tongues what the Italian

Western Europe

The journalism
a certain

M.

to the languages of

is

1
.

of Servia began at Vienna; and

Davidovitch was for

interpreter of

Europe

to

his

many

less

enlightened

countrymen.

The journal which he

now published

at Pesth,

letters.

and printed

years the

edited

is

in Cyrillian

There were in 1843 two newspapers

at

Belgrade, the State Gazette and the Courier; but

the latter has since been dropped, the editor hav-

ing vainly attempted to get

in the Servian districts of

its

circulation allowed

remunerating

speculation;

Simonovitch,

who was bred

is

now

Many

Hungary.

were smuggled over in boats, but

it

copies

was an un-

and the

editor,

M.

a Hungarian advocate,

professor of law in the

Yankee

Lyceum.

hyperbole was nothing to the high flying of this

gentleman. In one number,
''These are the reasons

I recollect

why

all

the passage,

the

people of

To those who take an interest in this subject, I have

"
great pleasure in recommending a perusal of Servian Popu1

lar

Poetry," (London,

but the

1827,) translated by Dr. Bowling;

introductory matter, having

twenty years ago,

is,

been written nearly

of course, far from being abreast of the

present state of information on the subjects of which

it

treats.

SERVIAN ANNUAL.
Servia,

young and

281

and poor, danced and

old, rich

shouted for joy, when the Lord gave them as

Kara

a Prince a son of the never-to-be-forgotten

Georg."

Croatian newspaper, containing often

very interesting information on Bosnia,

lished at

the

The

Cyrillian letters.

news of the

avoids

reflections

all

An

interior

which

article,

minus

and

instead of

and

exterior,

but

on the policy of Russia or

an English publication,
translation

Roman

in

State Gazette of Belgrade

gives the

powers

pub-

Agram, the language being the same as

Servian, but printed

Austria.

is

wrote on Servia for

was reproduced

in

the allusions to these two

all

think that,

considering the de-

pendent position of Servia, abstinence from such

discussions

is

dictated

The "Golubitza,"

by the soundest
or Dove,

prose and verse, neatly

the

in

got up in imitation of

German Taschenbucher, and

the

policy.

a miscellany

edited by

only annual in Servia.

Hadschitch,

is

imitation of

more populous

also a "Literary
Society/'

cities,

M.
In

Belgrade has

for the formation of

a complete dictionary of the language, and the

encouragement of popular

literature.

could not

282

FINE ARTS.

help smiling

at

the

thirteenth

which determines that the

society,

represent an uncultivated

field,

of the

statute
seal

should

with the rising

sun shining on a monument, on which the arms

of Servia are carved.

The
in

fine arts are necessarily at a

Servia.

The

useful being so

ornamental scarcely exists at

all.

very low ebb

imperfect, the

The

pictures

in the churches are mostly in the Byzantine

ner, in

which deep browns and dark reds are

relieved with

characterized
in

man-

gilding,

while the

subjects

by such extravagancies

as

German

the pictures of the early

a school which undoubtedly took

its

are

one sees
painters,

rise

from

the importations of Byzantine pictures at Venice,

and

their expedition thence across the Alps.

At

present everything artistic in Servia bears a coarse

German

impress, such as for instance the pictures

in the cathedral of Belgrade.

Thus has
evolutions.

civilization

The

performed one of her great

light that set

on the Thracian

Bosphorus rose in the opposite direction from the

land of the once barbarous Hermans, and
feebly re-illumines the

modern

Servia.

now

THE LYCEUM.

is

283

One

of the most hopeful institutions of Belgrade

the

Lyceum, or germ of a

proud to

are

call

university, as they

One day

it.

went

to see

along with Professor Shafarik, and looked over

it,

the mineralogical collection

made

in Servia,

by

Baron Herder, which included rich specimens of

silver,

copper, and lead ore, as well as marble,

white as that of Carrara.

The Studenitza marble

slightly grey, but takes a

is

good

polish.

coal specimens were imperfectly petrified,

bad

The

and of

quality, the progress of ignition being very

slow.

Servia

is

otherwise rich in minerals; but

it

lamentable to see such vast wealth dormant,

is

since

none of the mines are worked.

We then went to
little

an apartment decorated

ball-room, which

of antiquities.

German

is

what

is

called the cabinet

noble bronze head, lying on the

stove, in the corner of the

room, a hand-

some Roman lamp and some antique

all

that could be

but there

is

like a

coins, were

shown of the ancient Moesia;

fair collection

of Byzantine and

Servian coins, the latter struck in the Venetian

manner, and resembling old sequins.

parchment document, which extended to

EDUCATION.

284

twice the length of a man, was

now

unrolled, and

proved to be a patent of Stephan Urosh, the father

of Stephan Dushan, endowing the great convent
of Dechani, in Albania.
collection

is

the

first

Another curiosity

banner of Kara Georg, which

the Servians consider as a national

in red silk,

in the

relic.

and bears the emblem of the

It

is

cross,

with the inscription " Jesus Christ conquers."

We

then went to the professor's room, which

was furnished with the newest Russ, Bohemian,

and other Slaavic publications, and

after a short

conversation visited the classes then sitting.

end of education
minence
Slaavic

Greek

is

and

literature,

&c.

Latin and

admitted to have been the keys to

polite literature,

ago; but so

Servia being practical, pro-

given to geometry, natural philosophy,

history
are

in

The

some two centuries and a half

many lofty and noble chambers having

been opened since then, and routine having no

existence in Servia, her youth are not destined to

spend a quarter of a
ries

of humanity.

lifetime in the

mere nurse-

CHAPTER

XXVIII.

Impressions of the East.

Prince Alexander.
The Palace. Kara Georg.
for

Preparations

The gloom

of

Departure.

November now darkens

the scene;

the yellow leaves sweep round the groves of the

Topshider,

and an

Frusca Gora,

ruffling

turbid waves, bids

to indite

land ho

Some
blanque,

my

occasional

last

the

me begone

Danube
;

do not

tial

from the
with

so I take

memoranda, and then

red

up pen

for

Eng-

pleasant parties were given by

and

his

colleagues;

have freely made Dutch pictures

I

blast

feel at
liberty to

M. Fon-

but although
of the "

natives,"

be equally circumstan-

with the inexhaustible wit and good

humour

IMPRESSIONS OF THE EAST.

286

of our hospitable Consul-general.

have pre-

served only a scrap of a conversation which passed

at the dinner table of Colonel

Danilefsky, the

Russian agent, which shows the various impres-

Franks in the East.

sions of

A. B. C. D. discovered.
A. "
I

Of

all

the places I have seen in the east,

certainly prefer Constantinople.

its

Not so much for

beauty ; since habit reconciles one to almost

any scene.

But because one can there command

those minor European com-

number of

a greater

which make up the aggregate of human

forts,

happiness."

B. "
I

am

not precisely of your

look back to

sure,

my

and would

winter there.

way of thinking.

residence at Cairo with plea-

like well

enough

to

spend another

The Turkish houses here

rable barracks, cold in winter,

are mise-

and unprotected

from the sun in summer."

C.

" The word East

to the

certainly

more applicable

Arab than the Turkish countries."

D. "
that

is

it

have seen only Constantinople, and think

deserves

have said of

it."

all

that

Byron and Anastasius

THE PRINCE.

287

afraid that A. has received his

im-

VISIT TO

"

C.

am

pressions of the East from Central Asia, which

somewhat barbarous country."

A. " Pardonnez-moi. The

valley of the

is

is

Oxus

well cultivated, but the houses are none of the

best."

B. "

I give

my

voice for Cairo.

of curious details, as well in

its street

resources

population

its

"

C.

architecture, as in

to say nothing of

other

its

pleasant promenades, and the occa-

sional society of

ilfaut aimer la

its

It is a city full

men

of taste and letters

mais

"
chaleur'

Well, then,

Cairo, the spring of

we

will

take the winter of

Damascus, and the summer

of the Bosphorus."

M.
who

Petronievitch took

has got into his

me

new

to see the Prince,

residence outside the

Constantinople gate, which looks like one of the

villas

one sees in the environs of Vienna.

centre of the parterre

is

In the

a figure with a trident,

which represents the Morava, the national

of Servia, and

near Grotzka.

is

in reality a

Roman

statue found

The usual allowance of

sentry-boxes, and striped palisades

river

sentries,

stood at the

288

VISIT TO

we were shown

entrance, and
half in the
style.

THE PRINCE.
into an apartment,

German, and half

Oriental

in the

The divan cover was embroidered with gold

thread.

The Prince now

entered,

and received me with

an easy self-possession that showed no trace of

the reserve and timidity which foreigners

marked
"

had

re-

a year before.

New

honours

Like our strange garments, cleave not to their mould

But with the aid of use."

"

Prince.

expected

We

Topola.
santry,

to

have

seen

at

you

had a large assemblage of the pea-

and an

ecclesiastical festival,

such as they

are celebrated in Servia."

Author.

had

"Your

known

highness

may

that, I should not

At Tronosha

saw a similar

rest assured that

have

failed to go.

festival,

firmly convinced that no peasantry in

freer

and

am

Europe

is

from want."

principle

"Every beginning is difficult; our

must be, Endeavour and Progress.'

Were you

pleased with your tour ?"

Prince.

Author. "

think that your Highness has one of

PORTRAIT OF KARA GEORG.

289

the most romantic principalities in Europe. With-

out the grandeur of the Alps, Servia has more

than the beauty of the Apennines."

Prince. " The country is beautiful, but

wish

to see agriculture prosper."

Author. " I

am happy

to hear that

had a great name

ness's father

will

advancement in the

arts of civilization

be the Kara

be distinguished by rapid

hope that your rule

will

your high-

as a soldier

that

you

Georg of peace."

This led to a conversation relative to the late

Kara Georg
another

and the prince

apartment,

father, the duplicate of

rising, led

where the

me

into

of his

portrait

one painted for the emperor

Alexander, hung from the wall.

He was

repre-

sented in the Turkish dress, and wore his pistols

in his girdle; the countenance expressed not only
intelligence but a certain refinement,

would scarcely expect

which one

in a warrior peasant

his contemporaries agree in representing

but

all

him

to

have possessed an inherent superiority and nobility

of nature, which in any station would have raised

him above

his equals.

CHAPTER XXIX.

The

Turkish

Memoir

of Kara Georg.

conquest

was followed

the

by

gradual dispersion or disappearance of the native

nobility of Servia, the last of

whom,

the Bran-

kovitch, lived as despots in the castle of

up

dria,

tury

to the beginning of the eighteenth cen-

so that at this

moment

representative of the old stock

The

is

scarcely a single
to be

found

sphere of the Eastern and

Western churches, were

in a state of religious in-

difference, although nominally Catholic

The
;

'.

nobility of Bosnia, occupying the middle

region between the

Servia

Semen-

last

of the Brankovitch line

and

in

wrote a history of
is to be

but the most valuable portion of the matter

found in Raitch, a subsequent historical writer.

MEMOIR OF KARA GEORG.

291

order to preserve their lands and influence, ac-

cepted Islamism en masse

they and the Albanians

being the only instances, in

all

the wars of the

Moslems, of a European nobility embracing the

Mohamedan

faith in a

body.

Chance might have

given the Bosniacs a leader of energy and military talents.

In that case, these men, instead of

now wearing turbans

might,

pumps

and

frizzed
;

in their

grim feudal

castles,

perfumed, be waltzing in

and Shakespear and Mozart might now

be delighting the citizens assembled in the Theatre

Royal Seraievo

The period preceding

the

second

siege

of

Vienna was the spring-tide of Islam conquest.

Hun-

After this event, in 1684, began the ebb.

gary was lost to the Porte, and six years afterwards

thirty-seven thousand Servian families emigrated
into that

kingdom ;

this first led the

tact with the civilization of

Germany

way
:

to con-

and

in the

attendance on the Austrian schools by the youth

of the Servian nation during the eighteenth century, were

sown the seeds of the now budding

civilization of the principality.

Servia Proper, for a short time wrested from

o2

OUTRAGES OF THE DAHIS.

292

the Porte by the victories of Prince Eugene, again

became

a part of the dominions of the Sultan.

But a turbulent

militia

overawed the government

Pasvan Oglou

and tyrannized over the Rayahs.

and

his

bands

at

Widdin were,

end of

at the

century, in open revolt against the Porte.

chiefs

had followed

his

example

and

last

Other

for the first

time the Divan thought of associating Christian

Rayahs with the

spahis, to put

who had organized

of brigandage

down

these rebels,

a system which savoured more

than of government.

They

fre-

quently used the holiday dresses of the peasants

as horse-cloths, interrupted the divine

service of

the Christian Rayahs, and gratified their licentious

appetites unrestrained.

The
called,

Dahis,

as

these

resolved

to

anticipate

struggle by a
Christians.

brigand-chiefs

the

were

approaching

massacre of the most influential

This atrocious massacre was carried

out with indescribable horrors.

In the dead of

the night a party of Dahis Cavasses would sur-

round a house, drive open gates and doors with

sledge-hammers

the

awakened

and

affrighted

inmates would rush to the windows, and seeing

RESISTANCE OF KARA GEORG.

the court-yard

filled

men with dark

with armed

women and

lanterns, the shrieks of

added to the confusion

293

children were

and the unhappy father

was often murdered with the half-naked females of

his family clinging

The

save him.

with

silent

to

his

neck, but unable to

rest of the population looked

stupefaction

but

Kara Georg, a

about the year 1767,

peasant, born at Topola

getting timely information that his

the

list

on

name was

in

of the doomed, fled into the woods, and

gradually organized a formidable armed force.

His
the

were

efforts

name of

every where successful.

In

the Porte he combated the Dahis,

who had usurped

local authority, in defiance of the

Pasha of Belgrade.

The Divan,

little

anticipating

the ultimate issue of the struggle in Servia, was

at first delighted at the success

of Kara Georg

but soon saw with consternation that the rising

of the Servian peasants grew into a formidable
rebellion,

and ordered the Pashas of Bosnia and

Scodra to assemble
invade Servia.

all their

Between

disposable forces, and

forty

and

fifty

thousand

Bosniacs burst into Servia on the west, in the

o3

BATTLE OF SHABATZ.

294

spring of 1806, cutting to pieces

to receive

who

all

refused

Turkish authority.

Kara Georg undauntedly met the storm

amazing rapidity he marched
Servia, cut

into the west of

in detail several detached bodies of

up

much

Turks, being here

favoured by the broken

ground, and put to death several village-elders

had submitted
to

Shabatz

to

them.

The Turks then

and Kara Georg

seven thousand foot and

in all nine

at the

is

who

retired

head of only

two thousand horse,

thousand men, took up a position

an hour's distance, and threw up trenches.

following

with

the account which

Wuk

at

The

Stephanovitch

gives of this engagement.

"The Turks demanded

the delivery of the

The Servians answered, 'Come

Servian arms.

On

and take them.'

two successive mornings the

Turks came out of Shabatz and stormed the breast-

work which the Servians had thrown up, but

without

the Servians

but we

They then

effect.
'
:

You have

will try

it

sent this message to

held good for two days

again with

all

our force, and

then see whether we give up the country to

DEFEAT OF THE TURKS.

we

the Drina, or whether

drive

295
to

you

Semen-

dria.'

" In the
night before the decisive battle (August,
1806,)

Kara Georg sent

wood, with orders to

his cavalry

fall

round into a

on the enemy's flank as

as soon as the first shot should be fired.

" To the
infantry within the breastworks he gave
orders that they should not

fire

until the

were so close that every shot might

Turks

tell.

By

break of day the Seraskierwwith his whole army

poured out of his camp

Beys of Bosnia bearing

at Shabatz, the bravest

their banners in the van.

The Servians waited patiently

and then opening
standard-bearers

fire

fell,

came

close,

did deadly execution.

The

until they

confusion ensued, and the

Servian cavalry issuing from the

wood

at the

same

time that Kara Georg passed the breastworks at

the head of the infantry, the defence was changed
into an attack

complete.

The

and the rout of the Turks was

Seraskier

Kullin was killed, as

well as Sinan Pasha, and several other chiefs.

rest of the

and

all

The

Turkish army was cut up in the woods,

the country as far as the Drina evacuated

by them.
o 4

BELGRADE TAKEN.

296

The Porte saw with

failure

of

astonishment the total

schemes

its

the re-conquest

for

Servia, resolved to temporize,

them

a local

but previous to the

agreement withdrew

fortresses

to allow

and national government with a

duction of tribute
of the

and agreed

going

re-

ratification

consent to the

hands of Christian

the

into

its

of

Rayahs on which Kara Georg resolved

;

to seize

Belgrade by stratagem.
Before daybreak on
1806, a Greek Albanian

been in the Turkish

well,

but

now

companied by

12th of December,

the

named Konda, who had

service,

and knew Belgrade

fought in the Christian ranks, acsix Servians,

passed the ditch and

palisades that surrounded the city of Belgrade, at

a point between two posts so as not to be seen,

and proceeding

to

one of the gates,

guard, which defended

fell

itself well.

upon the

Four of the

Servians were killed; but the Turks being at length

overpowered,

Konda

and the

two

remaining

Servians broke open the gate with an axe,

which a corps of Servians rushed

in.

on

The Turks

being attracted to this point, Kara Georg passed

the

ditch

at

another place with a large force.

GUERILLA WARFARE.

297

After a sanguinary engagement in the streets, and

the conflagration of

of which

the

for

Turks took refuge

The

houses, the windows

served as embrasures to

declared

victory

many

Christians,

and

the

in the citadel.

now

Servians,

the Turks,

in possession of the town,

resolved to starve the Turks out of the fortress ;

and having occupied a

flat

island at the confluence

of the Save and the Danube, were enabled to

intercept their provisions;

embarked

capitulated and

The succeeding

on which the Pasha

for

Widdin.

years were passed in the vicis-

situdes of a guerilla warfare, neither party obtain-

ing any marked success

and an auxiliary corps

of Russians assisted in preventing the Turks from

making the re-conquest of

Servia.

Baron, subsequently Marshal Diebitch, on a

confidential mission

ment

in

Servia

writes as follows

"

from the Russian govern-

during the years

:

George Petrovitch, to
The

is

original

government, and
interesting,

it is

1810, 1811,

now

whom

the Turks have

in the possession of the

was permitted to peruse

too long for insertion.

o 5

it

Servian

but although

CHARACTER OF KARA GEORG.

298

given the surname of Kara or Black,

portant

His

character.

greatness of mind, which

is

an im-

countenance shows a
is

not to be mistaken

and when we take into consideration the times,

circumstances, and the impossibility of his having
received an education,
a

we must admit

that he has

mind of a masculine and commanding

The imputation

of cruelty and bloodthirstiness

appears to be unjust.

When

the country was with-

out the shadow of a constitution, and

commanded an unorganized and

tion,

order.

uncultivated na-

he was compelled to be severe

vacillate or relax his discipline

are courts of law,

and

when he

he dared not

but now that there

legal forms,

he hands every

case over to the regular tribunals.

" He has
in his

are

very

manners

little

to say for himself,

but his judgments in

and is rude
civil affairs

promptly and soundly formed, and to great

address he joins unwearied industry.

there

is

As

a soldier,

but one opinion of his talents, bravery, and

enduring firmness."

Kara Georg was now a Russian

general,

lieutenant-

and exercised an almost unlimited power

in Servia; the revolution, after a struggle of eight

VENGEANCE OF THE TURKS.

years, appeared to be successful, but the

299

momen-

tous events then passing in Europe, completely

Russia in 1812, on

altered the aspect of affairs.

the approach of the countless legions of Napoleon,

precipitately concluded the treaty of Bucharest,

the eighth article of which formally assured a

separate administration to the Servians.

Next

year, however,

was

fatal to

Kara Georg.

In 1813, the vigour of the Ottoman empire, undivided by exertions for the prosecution of the

now

Russian war, was

subjugation of Servia.
the

nation

to

seize

his

companions

in

concentrated on the re-

general panic seemed

and

Kara

Georg

and

arms sought a retreat on the

Austrian territory, and thence passed into Wallachia.

impaled

In 1814, three hundred Christians were

at

Belgrade by the Pasha, and every

valley in Servia

presented the spectacle of in-

furiated Turkish spahis, avenging

on the Servians

the blood, exile, and confiscation of the ten pre-

ceding years.

06

CHAPTER XXX.

Milosh Obrenovitch.

At

this period

Milosh Obrenovitch appears pro-

minently on the political

in herding the

youth

He

tapis.

spent his

famed swine of Servia

and

during the revolution was employed by Kara

Georg

to

watch the passes of the Balkan,

lest the

Servians should be taken aback by troops from

He now saw

Albania and Bosnia.

able conjuncture

had come

for his

that a favour-

advancement

from the position of chieftain to that of chief; he

therefore lost

no time

in

making terms with the

Turks, offering to collect the tribute, to serve

them

faithfully,

and to aid them

gation of the people

in the re-subju-

he was, therefore, loaded

MILOSH OBRENOVITCH.

301

with caresses by the Turks as a faithful subject

His

of the Porte.

were at once accepted

offers

and he now displayed singular

extirpation of
still

all

activity

in the

the other popular chiefs,

who

held out in the woods and fastnesses, and

sent their heads to the Pasha

tion of Glavash,

who was,

the government, showed

but the decapita-

like himself,

that

supporting

when he had accom-

own turn

plished the ends of Soliman Pasha, his

would come

he therefore

described in page 55,

vinced that

it

made

employed the ruse

his escape, and, con-

was impossible ever

come

to

to

terms with Soliman Pasha, raised the standard of

open

revolt.

The

people,

grown desperate through

the ill-treatment of the spahis,

responded to his call,

who had

and rose

returned,

in a body.

The

scenes of 1804-5-6, were about to be renewed;

but the Porte quickly made up

with Milosh,

its

who behaved, during

mind
this

to treat

campaign,

with great bravery, and was generally successful.

Milosh consequently came to Belgrade, made his

submission, in the

name of the

nation, to

Ma-

rashly Ali Pasha, the governor of Belgrade, and

was reinstated

as tribute-collector for the Porte

DEATH OF KARA GEORG.

302

and the war of mutual extermination was ended

by the Turks

pulated in the eighth

the

all

retaining

article

castles, as

sti-

of the treaty of

Bucharest.

Many

of the chiefs, impatient at the speedy

submission of Milosh, wished to fight the matter

out,

and Kara Georg,

in order to give effect to

their plans, landed in Servia.

Milosh pretended

to be friendly to his designs, but secretly betrayed

his place of

men broke

concealment to the governor, whose

into the cottage

put him to death.

where he

Thus ended

unfortunate Kara Georg,

who

slept,

and
and

the brave

was, no doubt, a

rebel against his sovereign, the Sultan, and, ac-

cording to Turkish law, deserving of death

this base act of treachery,

who was

but

on the part of Milosh,

not the less a rebel,

is

justly considered

as a stain on his character.

M. Boue, who made

the acquaintance of Milosh

in 1836, gives a short account of him.

Milosh rose early to the sound of military

music, and then went to his open gallery, where

he smoked a pipe, and entered on the business of

the day.

Although able neither

to read, write, nor

ANECDOTES OP MILOSH.

and correct

name, he could dictate

his

sign

303

despatches; and in the evening he caused the

articles in the
tionnel,

Journal des Debats, the Constitu-

and the Augsburg Gazette,

to be translated

to him.

The Belgrade

chief of police

Milosh by the boldness

having offended

of his language, and

having joined the detractors of the prince at a

critical

moment, although he owed everything

him, Milosh ordered his head to be struck

to

off.

Fortunately his brother Prince Ievren met the

people charged with the bloody commission

blamed them, and wished

knowing that the

his

way

to hinder the deed

police director

to Belgrade from Posharevatz,

to return

thus arrived at Belgrade,

overwhelmed with reproaches

and

where he

another way, saying they had missed him.

director

he

was already on

had been staying, he asked the momkes

police

The
was

by Milosh, and

pardoned.

A
his

young man having refused

cast-off mistresses, he was

M. Boue,

Editor

:"

this

to

enlisted

in giving this anecdote, calls

is

a mistake.

marry one of
in

the

him " Newspaper

304

ANECDOTES OF MILOSH.

army, but

after

some months submitted

to

his

fate.

He

used to raise to places, in the Turkish

fashion,

studies
colonel.

men who were unprepared by their

for them.
One of his cooks became a
Another

andrew.

had

colonel

been a merry-

Having once received a good medical

advice from his butler, he told

him that nature

intended him for a doctor, and sent him to study

medicine under Dr. Cunibert.

"When

Milosh sent his meat to market,

all

other sales were stopped, until he had sold off his

own

at a higher price than that current,

ground of the meat being

"The

on the

better."

prince considered

all

land in Servia to

belong to him, and perpetually wished to appropriate

any property that seemed better than

own, fixing his own

price,

his

which was sometimes

below the value, which the proprietor dared not

refuse to take, whatever labour

on

it.

At Kragujevatz, he prevented the com-

pletion of the house of

some

had been bestowed

statues of wood,

M.

Raditchevitch, because

and ornaments, which were

not to be found in his

own

palace, were in the

DESPOTISM OF MILOSH.

An almanack

plan.

portrait of his niece

to

305

having been printed, with a

Auka, he caused

all

the copies

be given back by the subscribers, and the

portraits cut out."

There can be no doubt,

that, after the miserable

end of Kara Georg, and the violent revolutionary

wars, an unlimited dictatorship was the best regi-

men

Milosh was,

for the restoration of order.

therefore,

years at the head of affairs

many

Servia before

of

symptoms of opposition appeared.

Allowances are certainly to be made for him

he

had seen no government but the old Turkish

regime, and had no notion of any other

way of

governing but by decapitation and confiscation.

But

this system,

prince

which was

all

of the fifteenth century,

patience of the

new

generation,

very well for a

exhausted

many

were bred at the Austrian universities.

seeking for democratic institutions,
Servia

is

totally

unfit,

remove

whom

Without
for

they loudly

written laws, which should

of

the

life

which

demanded
and pro-

perty from the domain of individual caprice, and

which, without affecting the suzerainty of the

Porte, should bring Servia within the sphere of

RISE OF

306

European

making

THE NATIONAL PARTY.

They murmured

institutions.

at

Milosh

a colossal fortune out of the administration

of the principality, while he rendered no account

of his intromissions, either to the Sultan or to

the people, and seized lands and houses merely

because he took a fancy to them

Hence

arose

the national party in Servia, which included nearly

the opulent and educated classes

all

surprising, since his rule

which

not

is

was so stringent that he

would allow no carriage but

the streets of Belgrade

his

own

to be seen in

and, on his

fall,

so

many

orders were sent to the coach-makers of Pesth,

that trade

The

was brisk

for all the

summer.

details of the debates of the period

exhaust the reader's patience.

would

I shall, therefore,

once proceed to the summing up.

at

very true that the present Prince of Servia does not

he
possess anything like the power which Milosh wielded
cannot hang a man up at the first pear-tree but it is a misIt is

take on the part of the liberals of France and England, to

suppose that the revolutions which expelled Milosh and

Michael were democratic.

side

down

There has been no turning upand in the absence of a

of the social pyramid

hereditary aristocracy, the wealthiest and most influential

persons in Servia,such as Ressavatz, Simitch, Garashanin, &c.

support Alexander Kara Georgevitch.

SUMMARY.
1st.

307

In the nine years' revolt of Kara Georg

nearly the whole sedentary Turkish population

disappeared from Servia, and the Ottoman power

became, according to their own expression, assassiz (foundationless).

2nd.

The eighth

charest, concluded

remained a dead

article of the treaty

of Bu-

by Russia with the Porte, which

letter,

article in the treaty of

was followed by the

fifth

Akerman, formally securing

the Servians a separate administration.

3rd.

The consummate

skill

with which Milosh

played his fast and loose game with the Porte,

had the same consequences as the above, and

ultimately led to
4th.

The formal

act of the Sultan constituting

Servia a tributary principality to the Porte, in a

Haiti Sherif, of the 22nd November, 1830.

5th.

From

this period,

up

to the

end of 1838,

was the hard struggle between Milosh, seeking

for absolute

power, supported by the peasantry of

Rudnik, his native

as

the heads of

district,

and the "Primates,"

the national party are called,

seeking for a habeas-corpus act and a legislative

assembly.

308

EXPULSION OF MILOSH.

Milosh was
Servia
set

and

aside in

selected
Servia,

in

1838

his son

forcibly

expelled

from

Michael having been likewise

1842, and the

son of Kara Georg

by the sublime Porte and the people of

against the views of Russia, the long-

debated " Servian Question" arose, which received

a satisfactory solution

by the return of Wucics

and Petronievitch, the exiled supports of Kara

Georgevitch, through the mediation of the Earl
of Aberdeen.

CHAPTER XXXI.

The

Prince.

The Government. The Senate. The

The Minister of the

ter for Foreign Affairs.

Courts of Justice.

means son of Kara Georg,

name having been Georg

or son of Peter; this

common

Finances.

Kara Georgevitch
his father's

Minis-

Interior.

Petrovitch,

manner of naming being

to all the southern Slaaves, except the

Croats and Dalmatians.

This

is

the opposite of

the Arabic custom, which confers on a father the

title

of parent of his eldest son, as Abou-Selim,

Abou- Hassan, &c. while

by

his friends

The

his

own name

is

dropped

and family.

Prince's household appointments are about

20,000

sterling, and,

difference

making allowance

of provisions,

servants' wages,

for the

horse

310

M. STOJAN SIMITCH.

keep, &c.

equal to about 50,000 sterling in

is

England, which

sum

not a large

is

for a princi-

pality of the size of Servia.

The
four of

senate consists of twenty-one individuals,

whom

are ministers.

The

senators are not

but are named by the

elected

by the

prince,

and form an oligarchy composed of the

people,

wealthiest and most influential

hold their offices for

thirty-five years,

life

They

persons.

they must be at least

and possess landed property.

The presidency

of the senate

is

an imaginary

dignity; the duties of vice-president being per-

formed

by M. Stojan Simitch, the

figure I have described

grade

and

it

is

on

allowed

my

is

first visit

to Bel-

that he performs his

duties with great sagacity, tact,

He

herculean

and

impartiality.

a Servian of the old school, speaks Servian

and Turkish, but no European language.

The

revolutions of this country have brought to power

many men,
talents,

like

M.

Simitch,

of good natural

and defective education. The rising gene-

ration has

more

instruction,

and has entered the

career of material improvements

but

doubt

if

the present red tape routine will produce a race

M. PETBONIEVITCH.

311

having the shrewdness of their fathers.

forms the

unavoidable

more advanced stage of

If these

accompaniments

society,

of a

circumscribe the

sphere of individual exertion, they possess, on

the other hand, the advantage of rendering the

recurrence of military dictatorship impossible.

M.Petronievitch, the present minister for foreign

and director of the private chancery of the

affairs,

is

Prince,

unquestionably the most remarkable

now

public character

in Servia.

He

passed some

time in a commercial house at Trieste, which gave

him a knowledge of

Italian

ad the bustle of a

sea-port first enlarged his views.

his life
for

Nine years of

were passed at Constantinople as a hostage

the

Servian nation,

guaranteeing the non-

renewal of the revolt

no

slight act of devotion,

when one considers

that

the obligations of the

contracting parties reposed rather on expediency

than on moral principles.

Here he made the

acquaintance of

all

Ottoman

and learned colloquial Turkish

Porte,

perfection.

and

the leading personages at the

Petronievitch

position, but he has a

is

astute

in

by education

good heart and a capa-

cious intellect, and his defects belong not to the

m. wucics.

312

man, but
stances.

he

is

to the

man's education and circum-

without the usual baser counterpart of such

pliant characters,
deficient in

and has never shown himself

Most

moral courage.

in his countenance

and

in his resentments,

Although placable

travellers trace

a resemblance to the busts

portraits of Fox.

His moral character bears

a miniature resemblance to that which history has

ascribed to Macchiavelli.

In the
career,

tortuous

course of a very

political

he has kept the advancement and

and has always

tion of Servia steadily in view,

shown himself regardless of sordid

one of the very few public
the Christian and

men

civiliza-

gain.

in Servia, in

He

whom

Western love of community has

triumphed over the Oriental allegiance to

and

is

this disinterestedness

is,

self,

in spite of his de-

fects, the secret of his popularity.

The commander of the

Wucics, who

man

is

military force

also minister of the

of great personal courage

is

M.

interior, a

and although un-

acquainted with the tactics of European warfare,

said to possess high capacity for the

of an irregular force.

He

command

possesses great energy

STANDING ARMY.

313

of character, and

is free

but he

same time somewhat proud and

is

at the

from the taint of venality;

His predecessor in the ministry of

vindictive.

the interior was

M.

man

Sound

in Servia.

Garashanin, the

Ilia

rising

and un-

practical sense,

impeachable integrity, without a shade of intrigue, distinguish this senator.

many Garashanins
The standing army

Servia have

May

reason of this

is

is

a mere skeleton.

Servia forms part of

obvious.

one great empire, and adjoins two others

fore, the largest disciplined force that

bring into the

could

field,

The

in the

make no impression

there-

she might

event of hostilities,

for offensive objects

while for defensive purposes, the countless

men, taking advantage of the

difficult

rifle-

nature of

the country, are amply sufficient.

Let the Servians thank their stars that their

army

is

the pen
there

a skeleton.

all

Europe

rejoice that

rapidly superseding the

sword; that

exists a council-board, to

which strong

is

now

Let

and weak are equally amenable.

May

this

diplom-

archy ultimately compass the ends of the earth,

314

CRIMINAL CODE.

aud every war be reckoned a

civil

war, an arch-

high-treason against confederate hemispheres

The
in the

and finance

portfolios of justice

are usually

hands of men of business-habits, who mix

in politics.

little

The

courts

law have

of

something of the

promptitude of oriental justice, without

The

grant venality.
small

salaries

fla-

of the judges are

for instance, the president of the appeal

court at Belgrade has the

300

its

sterling per

annum.

miserable

M.

sum

Hadschitch,

of

who

framed the code of laws, has 700 sterling per

annum.

The
The

criminal code

civil

code

is

is

a localized modification of the

The

Code Napoleon.
code was almost

founded on that of Austria.

first

literal,

translation of the latter

and made without

refer-

ence to the manners and historical antecedents of

Servia: some of the blunders in

it

able: Hypotheque was translated as

Apotheke, and

When

made out

were laughif it

had been

to be a depdt of drugs

the translator was asked for the reason of

this extraordinary

prominence of the drug depot

LAWYERS.
subject, he accounted for
skill attained

it

315

by the consummate

by France in medicine and sur-

gery!

small lawyer party

is

beginning in Belgrade,

but they are disliked by the people,

who

prefer

short viva voce procedure, and dislike documents.

It

to

remarked, that when a

is

be in the

own

suit

man

right, he wishes to

when he has

is

supposed

carry

on his

a bad case, he resorts to a

lawyer.

The

ecclesiastical

affairs

of this

department

occupy a considerable portion of the minister's

attention.

In consequence of the wars which Stephan

Dushan, the Servian emperor, carried on against

the Greeks in the fourteenth century, he
the

archbishop

of

Servia

made

independent of the

patriarch of Constantinople, who, in turn, excom-

municated Stephan and his nominee.

This inde-

pendence continued up to the year 1765,

at

which

period, in consequence of the repeated encourage-

ment given by the

against

patriarchs of Servia to revolts

the Turkish authority,

the nation was

again subjected to the immediate spiritual juris-

p2

CASE OF CHURCH PATRONAGE.

316

Wuk

diction of Constantinople.

gives the following anecdote,

Stephanovitch

illustrative

of the

abuses which existed in the selection of the superior clergy

from

revolution,

all

this time,

the

and up

to the Servian

charges being

sold to

the

highest bidder, or given to courtiers, destitute of

religion,

and often of common morality.

In 1797, a Greek priest came to Orsova, complaining that he had not funds sufficient to en-

him

able

to arrive at his destination.

was made

him

for

collection

but instead of going to the

place he pretended to be

over to the island of

in a military

bound

New

capacity, the

for,

he passed

Orsova, and entered,

service of the local

governor, and became a petty chief of irregular

He

Turkish troops.

then became a

and the commandant wishing

salt inspector

to get rid of him,

asked what he could do for him

on which he

begged to be made Archbishop of Belgrade

modest request not

This

being complied with,

the

Turkish commandant sent him to Sofia, with a

recommendation to the Grand Vizier to appoint

him

to that see

filled

up by a

but the vacancy had already been

priest of Nissa,

who had been

in-

FINANCES.
terpreter to the Vizier,

and who no sooner seated

commenced

himself, than he

317

a system of the

most

odious exactions."

In the time of Kara Georg, the Patriarchate of

Constantinople was not recognized, and the Arch-

bishop of Carlo vitz in Hungary was looked up to

as the spiritual head of the nation

but

after the

treaty of Adrianople, the Servian government, on

paying a peppercorn tribute to the Patriarch of

Constantinople, was admitted to have the excludirection

sive

of

its

Archbishop's salary

is

ecclesiastical

The

affairs.

annum, and

800J. per

that

of his three Bishops about half as much.

The

finances of Servia are in

The income, according

to a return

from the finance department,

eight

good condition.

is

in

made

and the expenditure eight hundred and

The

me

round numbers,

hundred and eighty- seven thousand

thousand.

to

dollars,

thirty

greater part of the revenue being

produced by the poresa, which

is

paid by

all

heads of families, from the time of their marriage

to their sixtieth year,
all

and

the adult population

in fact, includes nearly

for,

as

is

the case in

most eastern countries, nearly every man marries

p3

318
early.

GIPSIES.

The bachelors pay

of the other items

in

a separate tax.

Some

the budget are curious

under the head of " Interest of a hundred thousand ducats lent by the government to the people
at six per cent."

we

find a

four hundred dollars.

sum

of fourteen thousand

Not only has

Servia no

public debt, but she lends money. Interest

in Servia

not because there

is

want of

is

high

capital,

but because there are no means of investment.

The consequence

is

that the

immense savings

the peasantry are hoarded in the earth.

of a family dies, or in extremis

and unable to reveal the spot

are annually lost to Servia.

A father
speechless,

thus large sums

The

is

of

favourite specu-

lation in the capital is the building of houses.

The

largest gipsy colonies are to be found on

this part of the

Danube,

and in the Banat.

The

in Servia, in Wallachia,

tax on

the gipsies in

Servia amounts to more than six thousand dollars.

They

are under a separate jurisdiction, but have

the choice of remaining nomade, or settling

in

the latter case they are fiscally classed with the

Servians.

Some

settled

gipsies

but for the most part smiths.

are

Both

peasants,

settled

and

STATE FORE8TS.

nomade

gipsies,

musical

talents.

are

alike

Having

319

remarkable for their

with

fought

bravery during the war of emancipation,

are not so despised in Servia as in

great

they

some other

countries.

For produce of the

very

state forests, appears the

sum

insignificant

twenty-five dollars.

The

of

much

timber as he

likes.

The

budget sounds singularly enough

three

hundred and forty-one

is

allowed to cut

last
:

item in the

two thousand

dollars are set

as the produce of sales of stray cattle,

first

delivered

who makes
them over

up

and

interior of Servia being

so thickly wooded, every Servian

as

hundred

one

down

which are

to the captain of the district,

the seizure publicly, and then hands

to the

judge for

claimant within a given time.

p 4

sale,

if

there be no

CHAPTER XXXII.

Agriculture and Commerce.

Upon

the whole,

it

must be admitted,

that the

peasantry of Servia have drawn a high prize in

the lottery of existence. Abject want and pauper-

ism

is

nearly unknown.

In

fact,

from the great

abundance of excellent land, every

man

with

ordinary industry can support his wife and family,

and have a large surplus.

landlord but
tribute

the Sultan,

The peasant has no

who

receives

a fixed

from the Servian government, and does not

The

interfere with the internal administration.

father of a family,

maximum

after

having contributed a

tax of six dollars per

master of the surplus

annum,

is

sole

so that in fact the taxes are

almost nominal, and the rent a mere peppercorn

321

AGRICULTURE.

the whole amounting on an avarege to about four

shillings

and sixpence per caput per annum.

very small proportion of the whole

Servia

is

Some

cultivated.

others only one eighth

of

soil

say only one sixth,

and even the present mode

of cultivation scarcely differs from that which prevails

of Turkey.

in other parts

obvious

became

if

The reason

present production of

the

insufficient

for

the

is

Servia

subsistence of

the

population, they have only to take in waste lands

and improved processes of agriculture

will

remain

unheeded, until the population begins to press on

the limits of the

summation not

many

means of subsistance

likely to

a con-

be brought about for

generations to come.

Although situated

to the south of

Hungary, the

climate and productions are altogether northern.

I

never saw an olive-tree in Servia, although plen-

tiful in

the corresponding latitudes of France and

Italy (43

44 50)

but both sorts of melons are

abundant, although from want of cultivation not

nearly so good as those of Hungary.

may be

The same

said of all other fruits except the grapes

of Semendria, which I believe are equal to any in

p5

322

AGRICULTURE.
The Servians seem

the world.

very

little

to have in general

much

taste for gardening,

less in fact

than the Turks, in consequence perhaps of the

unsurpassed beauty and luxuriance

The

fruit-tree

mon

in Servia is the

of

nature.

which seems to be the most complum, from which the ordi-

nary brandy of the country

made.

is

Almost

every village has a plantation of this tree in

vicinity.

is

tolerably

abundant in

interior of Servia,

but Belgrade

Vegetables are

some parts of the

very badly supplied.

There seems to be no

kitchen gardens in the environs

Most of the

none.

its

at least I

saw

vegetables as well as milk

come from Semlin.

The
ment.

harvest in August

is

the period of merri-

All Servian peasants assist each other in

getting in the grain as soon as

fee or

ment

ready, without

reward ; the cultivator providing entertainIn the vale of the

for his laborious guests.

Lower Morava, where

more

it is

corn, this

is

not

there

is

sufficient,

less

pasture and

and hired Bulga-

rians assist.

The innumerable swine which

are reared in the

vast forests of the interior, at no expense to the

SWINE.

LEECHES.

323

inhabitants, are the great staple of Servian pro-

and export.

duct

In

districts

where acorns

abound, they fatten to an inconceivable

are first

pushed swimming

substitute for quarantine,

They

across the Save, as a

and then driven to Pesth

and Vienna- by easy stages

tities

size.

quan-

latterly large

have been sent up the Danube in boats

towed by steam.

Another extensive trade

world

is

in leeches.

in

Turkey

the most part uncultivated,

this

part of the

in Europe, being for

is

covered with ponds

and marshes, where leeches are found

In consequence of the extensive use

dance.

made

abun-

in

now

of these reptiles, in preference to the old

practice of the lancet, the price has risen ;

and the

European source being exhausted, Turkey swarms

with Frenchmen engaged in this

traffic.

and Belgrade are the entrepots of

They have a

singular phraseology;

Semlin

this

and

trade.
it

is

"
amusing to hear them talk of their marchandises
mortes."

One company had

established a series

of relays and reservoirs, into which the leeches

were deposited, refreshed, and again put in motion

as the journey for a great distance, without

such refreshment, usually proves

p6

fatal.

STEAM NAVIGATION.

324

The steam

navigation on the

Danube has been

of incalculable benefit to Servia;

it

renders the

principality accessible to the rest of Europe,

Europe

easily accessible to

Servia.

and

The steam

navigation of the Save has likewise given a degree

of animation to these lower regions, which was

little

dreamt of a few years ago.

greatest of
is

all

The Save

is

the

the tributaries of the Danube, and

uninterruptedly navigable for steamers a dis-

tance of two hundred miles.

This river

is

the

natural canal for the connexion of Servia and the

Banat with the Adriatic.

summer

tourists,

It

also offers to

our

on the completion of the Lom-

bard-Venetian railway, an entirely

able route to the East.

By

new and

railroad,

agree-

from Milan

to Venice; by steamer from thence to Trieste;

by land

to Sissek

and the

rest of the

way by

rapid descent of the Save and the Danube.

the

By

the latter route very few turnings and windings

are necessary; for a straight line
to Kustendji

barkation

for

drawn from Milan

on the Black Sea, the point of emConstantinople,

almost

touches

Venice, Trieste, Belgrade, and the Danube.

CHAPTER

XXXIII.

The Foreign Agents.

So much

for the

native

The

government.

reign agents in Belgrade are few in number.

most prominent individual during

my

fo-

The

stay there

was Baron Lieven, a Russian general, who had

been sent there on a special mission by the emperor, to steer the policy of Russia out of the

shoals of the Servian question.

On
a

tall

calling there with

Mr. Fonblanque,

found

military-looking man, between forty and

forty-five years of age.

He

entered at once, and

without mystery, into the subject of his mission,

and concluded by saying that " Servia owed her

BARON LIEVEX.

326

political existence

Russia, which gave

solely to

the latter a moral right of intervention over and

above the stipulations of treaties, to which no other

As

power could pretend."

the public

familiar with the arguments pro

this question,

to

it is

at present

is

already

and contra on

unnecessary to recur

them.

Baron Lieven had

in

the posture of affairs

at

that time a difficult part to play, inasmuch

as

throw

to

powerful party sought

off the

The baron, without

protectorate of Russia.

pos-

sessing an intellect of the highest order, was a

man

of good sound judgment, and in his proceed-

ings showed a great deal of frankness and military

decision, qualities

which attained

his ends in all

probability with greater success than if he had

been endowed

with

that

profound

which we usually attribute

was

to

astuteness

Russians.

This

his fifth mission into the Turkish dominions;

so that,

although not possessing the language,

he was yet well acquainted with the Turkish

character and

Eastern

previous mission had for

affairs
its

in

general.

His

object to announce to

the Sultan that, in accordance with the

stipulations

WASTCHENKO.

M.

of the treaty of the

military

and naval

327

15th of July,

forces

of

1840, the

Emperor of

the

Russia were at the service of his Highness.

Baron Lieven was accompanied

his lady,

to Servia

by

who spoke

a highly talented person,

English admirably; and the evenings spent in his

hospitable house were

reminiscences of

The

my

among

the most agreeable

residence at Belgrade.

stationary Russian consul-general

was M.

Wastchenko, a stout middle-aged gentleman, with

the look

M.

of a well-conditioned alderman.

Wastchenko had been

originally in a commercial

establishment at Odessa; but having acquired a

knowledge of the Turkish language he was

at-

tached to the embassy at Constantinople, and

subsequently nominated Russian consul at Belgrade, under the

cipalities

consul-general

for

the

prin-

of Wallachia and Moldavia; but his

services having

been highly approved by Count

Nesselrode, he was advanced to the rank and pay

of consul-general.

M. Wastchenko

an eminent degree what Swift

possesses in

calls

the alder-

manly, but never to be over estimated quality,

Discretion; he was considered generally a very

COLONEL DANILEFSKY.

328
safe

man.

In

vourite with

fact,

all

a sort of

man who

a fa-

is

chanceries; the quality of such

a mind being rather to avoid complications than

to excite admiration

by

activity in the

M. Wastchenko was most

tongue.

pen or the
thoroughly

acquainted with everything, and every man, in

He

Servia.

spoke the language fluently, and lived

familiarly with the principal persons in Belgrade.

He had
say,

never travelled in Europe, and, strange to

had never been

in St. Petersburg.

The present Russian consul-general in

Colonel Danilefsky, who distinguished
when

Servia

is

himself,

a mere youth, by high scientific attainments

in military colleges of Russia, rose rapidly to a

colonelcy,

and was sent out on a mission

to the

khan of Khiva ; the success of which ensured

his

promotion to the Servian consulate-general, an

important position as regards the

interests

of

Russia.

From
thousand

the circumstance of there

Austrian

subjects

in

being three

Belgrade,

the

consul-general of that power has a mass of real

consular business to transact, while the functions

of the other agents are solely political.

France

MR. FONBLANQUE.

329

has generally an agent of good capacity in Servia,

march of

in consequence of the influence that the

affairs

have on

the principality might

in

general destinies of Turkey in Europe.

Britain was represented

the

Great

by Mr. Consul-general

Fonblanque, a gentleman whose conduct has been

sharply criticized by those
tactics

who suppose

of party in the East are like

England,

all fair

gentlemen that

and above-board

sit

at

home

that the

those in

but

let

those

at ease, experience a

few of the rude tempestuous blasts which

fall

who speak and write

those who will descend to

to the lot of individuals

truths unpalatable to

any device

to

compass a

political object,

and they

would sing another song.

I

now

take leave of Servia, wishing her Prince

and her people every prosperity, and entertaining

the hope that she will wisely limit

all

her future

efforts to the cultivation of the arts of

peace and

civilization.

whence

From Belgrade

crossed to Semlin,

proceeded by steam to Vienna.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

VIENNA IN 1844 \

Dancing. Strauss. Austrian Policy.

Improvements in Vienna. Palladian style. Music. TheArmen

atres.
Sir Robert Gordon.
Prince Metternich.
Ball.

Vienna

has been

more improved and embel-

lished within the last few years than during the

previous quarter of a century.

The Graben and

the Kohlmarket have been joined, and

many

houses have been taken down, and

projecting

replaced by

new tenements, with

the facades put

back, so as to facilitate the thoroughfare.

very

old

lately,

almost every public building

Until

and

This chapter was written in Vienna in the beginning of

but I did not wish to break the current of my obser-

1844

vations on Servia
to England.

by the record of my intervening journey

VIENNA.
private palace in Vienna
style of the last century,

in

Germany wished

to

in his village capital.

the Palladian style

331

was

in the Frenchified

when each

petty prince

have a miniature Versailles

All the

which

new

edifices are in

suitable, not only to

is

the climate, but to the narrow streets, where

Greek architecture would be

want of

lost for

space,

and where the great height of the houses

gives

mass to

this (the Palladian)

style,

without

the necessity of any considerable perspective.

circumstance of
Italian,

many

The

of the architects here being

probably, in some measure, account

may

for the general adoption of this

style.

It is sin-

Vienna possesses

in St. Ste-

gular, that although

phen's one of the most beautiful specimens of

Gothic architecture, not a single edifice in this

taste

of recent date

revival of

is

it

is

to be

seen, although a

noticeable in several other parts

of Germany.

Music

is

one of the necessaries of existence in

Vienna, and the internal consumption

rently as great as ever: there

Mozart or Haydn
for the

is

is

appa-

now-a-days no

to supply imperishable fabrics

markets of the world

but the orchestras

332

Beethoven's music.

are

as

good as

Beethoven catching
not to renew

failed

The

ever.

Eroica of

Sinfonia

my eye in
my homage

a programme, I
to this prince of

sweet and glorious sounds, and was loyally indig-

nant on hearing a fellow-countryman say, that,

though rich

No

harmony, he was poor

in

Beethoven's wealth

embarrass him

he

is

boundless

is

in

melody.

his riches

the sultan of melody

others dally with their beauties

to

while

satiety,

he

wanders from grace to grace, scarce pausing to

Is

enjoy.

it

hear his

possible to

symphonies

without recognizing in them the germs of innu-

merable

modern melodies, the precious metal

which others beat out, wherewith

to plate their

baser compositions, exhaustless materials

for the

use of his successors, like those noble temples

which antiquity has raised

in the East, to

in the sequel, the quarries

from which whole

of lowlier dwellings are constructed

At

the Karnthner

Thor

admirably performed.
really

thought

Royale.

it

cities

heard the Huguenots

Decorations

excepted,

better done than at the

Meyerbeer's

become,

brilliant

and

Academie

original con-

ceptions, in turning the chorus into an oral or-

333

THEATRICALS.
are better

chestra,
ville

realized.

French vaude-

company performed on

the alternate nights.

Jew manager

of the Wieden, and

Carl, the rich

of

proprietor

Leopold- Stadt

the

Theatre,

is

adding largely to his fortune, thanks to the rich

and racy

of Nestroz and Schulz,

drolleries

former of these excellent actors

most successful farce-writer

out

any of

dialogue,

Raimund's

he has

far

and only the

racter,

The

Matthews and Liston of Vienna.

are the

in

is

who

certainly the

Germany. With-

sentimental-humorous
happier

for

eye

untranslatable

cha-

dialect

of

preserved him from foreign play-

Vienna has
wrights.
Sir

Robert Gordon, her Majesty's ambassador,

whose unbounded and truly sumptuous hospitalities are

worthy of his high position, did

the honour to take

ternich's

me

receptions,

chancery of

state,

in

to one of Princess

the apartments

one side of which

is

me

Met-

of the

devoted

to business, the other to the private residence of

the minister.

on the

After passing through a vestibule

first floor,

paved with marble,

Ave entered

a well-lighted saloon of palatial altitude, at the

334

PRINCE METTERNICII.

further end of which sat the

youthful and fasci-

nating princess, in conversation with

TatischefF,

M.

Bailli

de

ex-ambassador of Russia.

There, almost blind and bent double with the

weight of eighty years, sat

the

whilom pro-

foundly sagacious diplomatist, whose accomplished

manners and quick perception of character have

procured him a European reputation.

He

quitted

public business some years ago, but even in retire-

ment Vienna had

is

its

attractions for him.

There

an unaccountable fascination in a residence in

this

capital; those

"

who

long in

become

it

Vindobonensibus Vindobonensiores."

ipsis

Prince Metternich,
tered with

who was busy when we

en-

a group,

examining some views of

me

with that quaker-like sim-

Venice, received
plicity

live

which forms the

last polish

"
gentleman and man of the world ;

of the perfect
les

extremes se

touchent" in manners as in literature

but

for

the riband of the Golden Fleece, which crossed his

breast, there

was nothing

to

remind

me

was conversing with the statesman, who,

that I

after the

armistice of Plesswitz, held the destinies of

Europe

in his hands.

all

After some conversation,

ARMEN BALL.
the prince asked

me

to call

335

upon him on a

certain

forenoon.

of the diplomatic corps were present, one

Most

whom was

of

the amiable and well-known

Mar-

shal Saldanha, who, a few years ago, played so

prominent a part in the

affairs

of Portugal.

The

usual resources of whist and the tea-buffet changed

the conversational circle, and at midnight there

was a general movement

to the Kleine

Redouten

where the Armen Ball had attracted so

Saal,

crowded an assemblage, that more than one archduchess had her share of elbowing.

Strauss was

the long-drawn

impassioned

in

all

his

glory;

breathings of Lanner having ceased for ever, the

dulcet hilarity of his rival

and

his

abounds
spire

music,

when

now

directed

reigns supreme

by

himself,

still

in those exquisite little touches, that in-

hope like the breath of a

May

Strange to say, the intoxicating waltz

is

morning.

gone out

of vogue with the humbler classes of Vienna,

its

natal

soil.

exotics, are

Quadrilles, mazurkas, and other

now danced by every " Stubenmad'l"

in Lerchenfeld, to the exclusion of the national

dance.

AN ANTECHAMBER.

336

On

the third day after this, at the appointed

hour, I waited upon Prince Metternich.

an elderly well-conditioned

antechamber

outer

red-faced usher, in loosely

made

clothes of fine

black cloth, rose from a table, and on

nouncing myself,

" If
you

said,

apartment, and take a

seat, his

large apartment, looking out

:

an

will

my

an-

go into that

Excellency will be

disengaged in a short time."

den of the bastion

In the

now

on the

entered a
little

gar-

officer,

in a fresh

new

stood

motionless

and

white Austrian uniform,

pensive at one of the windows, waiting his turn

with a most formidable

individual in the

moved
most

roll

The

of papers.

other

room was a Hungarian, who

about, sat down, and rose up, with the

restless impatience, twirled his mustachios,

and kept up a most

lively conversation

with a

caged parrot which stood on the table.

Two large pictures, hanging

site

from the wall oppo-

the windows, were a full length portrait of the

emperor

in his robes, the other a picture of St.

John Nepomuck, the patron

saint of

holding an olive branch

hand.

ment, although large,

in his

Bohemia,

The

apart-

was very simply furnished,

PRINCE METTERNICH.

337

but admirably decorated in subdued colours, in

the Italian manner.

great improvement has

taken place in internal decoration in Vienna,

lately

which corresponds with that of external architecture.

were

fitted

few years ago, most large apartments

in the style of

up

Louis XV., which

was worthy of the degenerate nobles and crapulous

financiers for
fact,

whom

it

was invented, and was,

in

a sort of Byzantine of the boudoir, which

succeeded the nobler and simpler manner of the

age of Louis XIV., and tormenting every straight
line

into meretricious curves,

loading caricature
I

ended with over-

itself.

found Prince Metternich in his cabinet, sur-

rounded with book-cases, filled mostly with works

on history,
I

am

statistics,

and geography, and

hope

not committing any indiscretion in saying

that his conversation savoured

stractions of history

and

more of the ab-

political

philosophy than

that of any other practical statesman I

I

do not think that

pliment,

since

M.

am

had

seen.

passing a dubious com-

Guizot, the most eminently

practical of the statesmen

of France,

is

at the

same time the man who has most successfully

PRINCE METTERNICH.

338

illustrated the effects of modifications of political

institutions on the

main current of human happi-

ness.
It

must be admitted that Prince Metternich

has a profound acquaintance with the minutest

sympathies and antipathies of

races

and this

is

the European

all

the quality most needed in the

direction of an empire

which comprises not a

nation, but a congregation

of nations; not co-

hering through sympathy with each other, but

kept together by the arts of statesmanship, and

the

bond of

The

loyalty to the reigning house.

ethnographical

map

of Europe

is

as clear in his

mind's eye as the boot of Italy, the hand of the

Morea, and the shield of the Spanish peninsula

in

those

of a physical geographer.

affirming too

much

to say that in

It

many

is

not

difficult

questions in which the mezzo termine proposed

by Austria has been acceded

powers,

the

solution

has

to

by the other

been due as

much

to the sagacity of the individual, as to the less

ambitious policy which generally

characterizes

Austria.

The

last

time

saw

this distinguished individual

PRINCE METTERNICH.
was

way

in the

to

month of November

England.

339

following,

on

my

venture to give a scrap of

the conversation.

Mett. " The idea of Charlemagne was the for-

mation of a vast

state,

comprising heterogeneous

nations united under one head; but with

genius he was unequal to the task of

its

all his

accom-

Napoleon entertained the same plan

plishment.

with his confederation of the Rhine

systems are ephemeral when power

and the minor

states are looked

is

but

such

centralized,

upon

Austria

ments, and not as principals.

all

as instruis

the only

empire on record that has succeeded under those

circumstances.

The

cabinet of Austria,

when

it

seeks the solution of any internal question, invariably reverses the positions, and hypothetically

puts

itself in

the position of the provincial interest

under consideration.

That

is

the secret of the

prosperity of Austria."

Author.

"I

certainly have been often struck

with the historical

lutions then

fact, that

1830 produced revo-

and subsequently

in France, Belgium,

Poland, Spain, and innumerable smaller

q2

states

PRINCE METTERNTCH.

340.

while in Austria,
tible

elements,

with

not a

all

its

single

reputed combus-

town

or

village

revolted."

Mett.

" That

tangible fact speaks for itself."

CHAPTER XXXV.

Concluding Observations on Austria and her Prospects.

The

of

heterogeneousness

London and

Paris

is

the

is

know not how many

almost

monarchy.

all

of

from the influx of foreigners

but the odd mixture of German,

and

inhabitants

Italian, Slaavic,

other races in Vienna,

generated within the limits of the

Masses, rubbing against each other,

get their asperities smoothed in the contact

but

the characteristics of various nationalities remain

in

Vienna

seem

in considerable strength,

likely soon to disappear

attrition.

and do not

by any process of

honest, goodHungarian proud,

There goes the German

natured, and laborious

the

insolent, lazy, hospitable, generous,

q3

and sincere:

NATIONAL CHARACTER.

342

and the plausible Slaav his

the prospect of seizing,

what others

nature,

How

and enjoy

that labour

by a knowledge of human

attain

curious again,

eye, twinkling with

by slower means.

is

the meeting of nations

In Paris, the Germans

and the English are more numerous than any

other foreigners.

The former

toil,

drudge, save

their littles to

make a

ever they

be at home, are, in Paris, generally

may

meikle.

The

latter,

what-

loungers and consumers of the fruits of the earth.

The Hungarian's errand

money
A. B.,

the Italian's to

is

tor,

is

make it.

is

to

spend

The Hungarian,

legion, or a military

The

Italian,

C. D.,

a musician, or an

scarcely to

man, whiling

amid the excitements of a gay

his furlough

capital.

Vienna

one of the squirearchy of his country,

whose name

away

in

be found an

is

a painter, a sculp-

employe; and there

idle

man among

is

the

twenty thousand of his fellow-countrymen, who

inhabit the metropolis.

The Hungarian
in appearance

with their

nobility, of the higher class, are,

and

habits, completely identified

German brethren; but

it

is

in

the

middle nobility that we recognize the swarthy

THE HUNGARIANS AND BOHEMIANS.

complexion, the haughty
less

air

Germans

and mutually

are mutually

dislike

more or

features,

The Hungarians and

of a Mongolian cast.

native

and

343

proud of each other,

each other.

never

knew

Hungarian who was not

in his heart pleased with

the idea, that the

of

King

Hungary was

also

an

emperor, whose lands, broad and wide, occupied

so large a space in the

map

knew an Austrian

never

of Europe; and

proper,

who was

proud of Hungary and the Hungarians,

of

all

their defects.

not

in spite

The Hungarian of the above

description herds with his fellow-countrymen, and

preserves, to the

foreigner

visits

end of

his stay, his character of

assiduously places of public re-

sort, preferring the theatre

museum

Of

to the

or picture-gallery.

all

men

carry off the

The

and ball-room

living in Vienna, the

palm

relation of

for acuteness

Bohemia

Bohemians

and ingenuity.

to the Austrian empire

has some resemblance to that of Scotland to the

colonies of Britain, in the supply of mariners to

the vessel of state.

The population

of

Bohemia

is

a ninth part of that of the whole empire

dare say that a fourth of the bureaucracy of

but

THE BOHEMIANS.

344
Austria

is

must take

men

Bohemian.

To account

for this,

into consideration the great

we

number of

of sharp intellect, good education, and scanty

fortune, that annually leave that country.

The population of Scotland

that of the United

educated.

John

Bull,

He

is

about a ninth of

The Scot

Kingdom.

is

well

has less loose cash than his brother

and consequently prefers the sweets

of office to the costly incense of the hustings and

How

the senate.

those

few, comparatively speaking, of

who have made themselves

imperial Parliament, from the

time,

how
ros,

illustrious in the

Union

to our

own

came from the north of the Tweed; but

the Malcolms, the Elphinstones, the

Mun-

and the Burns, crowd the records of Indian

statesmanship

The power
of Austria

is

that controls the political tendencies

that of the mass of the bureaucracy

consequently, looking at the proportion of Bohe-

mian

to other

public service,

employes
the

the departments of

in

influence

exercised

by

this

singularly sagacious people, over the destinies of

the monarchy,

may

Kollowrath, the

be duly appreciated.

minister

of the

Count

interior,

and

BARON KUBECK.
Baron Kiibeck, the minister of

345

finance, are both

Bohemians, and thus, next to the Chancellor of

occupy the most important

State,

in the

offices

empire.

The Bohemians

of the middling and poorer

have certainly

classes,

less sincerity

forwardness than their neighbours.

is

and

straight-

An

anecdote

related illustrative of the slyness of the

Bohe-

mians, compared with the simple honesty of the

German, and the candid unscrupulousness of the

Hungarian

During the

late war, three soldiers,

of each of these three nations,

met

in the parlour

of a French inn, over the chimney-piece of which

hung a watch.
f

That

said,
it/

'

am
'

garian.

is

When

they had gone, the

a good watch

wish

German

had bought

did not take it/ said the

sorry

have

it

in

my

Hun-

pocket/ said the Bohe-

mian."

The

rising

man

in the

Baron Kiibeck, who

is

empire

is

the

Bohemian

thoroughly acquainted with

every detail in the economical condition of Austria.

The

down
it

great object of this able financier

the expenses of the empire.

would be unwise

for Austria,

No

is

to cut

doubt that

an inland

state, to

BARON KUBECK.

346

reduce her military expenses

berei

but the

viel-schrei-

might be diminished, and the pruning-hook

might

safely

be applied to the bureaucracy

but

under-current places this region be-

a powerful

He

yond the power of Baron Kubeck.

a free-trader;

also

but here again he meets with a

powerful opposition

a modification of the

the Archdukes are

monopolists,

is

no sooner does he propose

tariff,

filled

than the saloons of

with manufacturers and

who draw such

a terrific picture of

the ruin which they pretend

is

them, that the government, true to

of never doing any thing

avoiding collision

overwhelm

to

its tradition

unpopular, of always

with public opinion, and

of

protecting vested interests, even to the detriment

of the real interest of the

and the old jog-trot

The mass

is

public, draws back

maintained.

of the aristocracy continues as usual

without the slightest

slightest taste

political influence,

for state affairs.

or the

The Count or

Prince of thirty or forty thousand a year,

is

as

contented with his chamberlain's key embroidered

on his coat-skirt, as if he controlled the avenues to

real

power

but the

silent operation of

an import-

LIBERAL INNOVATIONS.
ant change
of

is

in

visible

all

the internal government

national reforms of the

the

347
departments

The

of Austria.

Emperor Joseph were

abrupt and sweeping to be salutary.

too

By good

luck the reaction which they produced being coincident with

the

first

French Revolution, the

firebrands which that great

over

all

monarchical Europe,

Austria.

scattered

explosion

The second French

innocuous in

fell

revolution rather

retarded than accelerated useful

reforms.

that the fear of democracy recedes, an

tion for salutary changes

shows

desire for incorporations

shows

the government

itself

Now

inclina-

every where.

becomes stronger, and

none of

its

quondam

anxiety about public companies and institutions.

The censureship has been

many

liberal

and

newspapers and periodicals, formerly

excluded, are

who knew

greatly relaxed,

now

frequently admitted.

Any

one

Austria some years ago, would be sur-

" Constitu"
Examiner," and
prised to see the

tional" lying on the tables of the Clubs.

desire for the revival of the provincial estates

(Landstande),
persons.

is

entertained

by many

influential

These provincial parliaments existed up

AUSTRIAN HATRED OF NOTORIETY.

348

to the time of the

Emperor Joseph, who, with

his

rage for novelty, and his desire for despotic and

The

centralized power, abolished them.

section

of the aristocracy desirous for this revival

tainly small, but intelligent,

and impatient

They have

sphere of activity.

is

cer-

for a

neither radical nor

democratic principles; they admit that Austria,

from the heterogeneous nature of her population,

is

not adapted for constitutional government; but

maintain that the revival of municipal institutions
is

quite compatible with the present elements of

the monarchy, and that the difficulties presented

by the antagonist

nationalities are best solved

allowing a development of provincial public

restricted to the control of local affairs,

the central government

quite

by

life,

and leaving

unfettered in

its

general foreign and domestic policy.

St. Marc

Girardin remarks, with no less piquancy

of language than accuracy of observation, that

" no
tria

country

is

judged with

less favour

and none troubles herself

presentation.

less

than Aus-

about misre-

Austria carries her repugnance to

publicity so far as even to dislike eulogium. Praise

often offends her as

much

as

blame

for

he that

RAILROADS.
applauds to-day
one's self

up

discussion.

may condemn to-morrow

to set

for praise, is to set one's self

Austria will have none of

worship

political

351

up

for

for her

it,

the religion of silence, and her

is

worship of that goes almost to excess. Her schools

are

worthy of the

highest admiration;

She

nothing about them.

first

is,

after

country in Europe for railways

we hear

England, the
;

and we hear

nothing of them, except by a stray paragraph in

the

Augsburg Gazette.

The

national railroad

scheme of Austria

is

cer-

tainly the most splendid effort of the tout pour

peuple rien par

hitherto seen

but

its class is

stract,

le

peuple system that has been

the scheme

not the

Vienna to Cracow

Dresden

we

the

is

first,

of

first

its class

not the best in the ab-

but the best in an absolute country, where

the spirit of association

If

le

will

is

is

scarcely in embryo.

now but

From

Prague and

a step.

shake hands with Vienna next year.

look southwards, line

upon

line interpose

themselves between Vienna and the Adriatic, but

The

the great

Sommering has been

Trieste

open beyond Gratz, the Styrian

is

The Lombard- Venetian

line

pierced.

line to

capital.

proceeds rapidly, and

PROSPECTS.

352

to be joined to that of Trieste.

is

traveller

Stettin

go, without

may

on the

line for us

is

Baltic.

fail,

In 1847, the

from Milan

But the most

to

interesting

that of Gallicia, in connexion with

that of Silesia.

If prolonged from Czernowitz to

Galatz, along the dead

of Moldavia, the Black

flat

Sea and the German Ocean

will

soun and the Tigris will thus

be joined ; Sam-

be, in all probability,

at no distant day, on the high road to our Indian

empire.

But

to return to Austria

this spectacle of rapid

material improvement, without popular

tion,

commo-

and without the trumpets and alarm-bells of

praise

and blame,

is

satisfactory:

but when we

look to the reverse of the picture, and see the

cumbrous debt, the frequent

endless borrowing,

we think

for great financial reforms,

"

deficits,

and the

the time has

come

as Schiller hath
it

Warum denn nicht mit einem grossen Schritte anfangen,

Da sie mit einerrt grossen Schritte doch enden miissen ?"

THE END.

Gilbert

&

Rivington, Printers,

St.

John's Square, London.

MR. PATON'S

WORK ON

Post 8vo, price 10*.

SYRIA,

6rf.

THE MODERN SYRIANS

OR,

NATIVE SOCIETY IN DAMASCUS, ALEPPO, AND

THE MOUNTAINS OF THE DRUSES.
"

Lebanon and

its

the Druses,

inhabitants, particularly

Damascus, and Aleppo, are his leading subjects. His statements, under the first of these heads, form by far the most
valuable portion of the work, affording, as it does, information
not elsewhere to be found respecting the social condition,
the politics, and the state of religion in a highly interesting
region, our knowledge of which has hitherto been of the
slightest description.

Next

to this, in interest,

is

the account

of Aleppo, which has been less visited by English travellers

than Damascus but even at Damascus, the information of
this writer has considerable novelty, and embraces many
;

points of interest arising from his leisurely sojourn, from his

mixing more than other travellers with the native population,
his ability to converse with them in their own lanHence we have pictures more distinct in their outfacts more positive, and information more real than the

and from
guage.
lines,

passing traveller,

ignorant of the local language, can be

makes larger additions

reasonably expected to exhibit
to the common stock of information concerning Syria, than
any work which could easily be named since Burckhardt's
'

Travels in Syria' appeared." Eclectic Review.

"
Remarkably clever and entertaining." Timet.
"

many of the conversations and reports in this volume,

there seems to us a reality, which European writing and disIn

course often want."

"

I willingly

facilities

over

Spectator.

the fact of your having enjoyed

our modern travellers, for accurately de-

testify to
all

scribing the manners, customs, and statistics of Syria."

Letter of Mr. Consul-General Barker.

For a detailed

analysis, see Athenaeum,

LONDON LONGMAN &

:

CO.,

24th Aug. 1844.

PATERNOSTER-ROW.

'ffmWmffstfifft/sfft