w IJ^. THE LIBRARY • OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES ^-^v<*r^ _> RECORDS OF TRAVELS IN TURKEY, GREECE, &c. AND OF A CRUISE IN THE BLACK SEA, WITH THE CAPITAN PASHA, IN THE YEARS 1829, 1830, AND 1831. BY ADOLPHUS SLADE, ESQ., LIEUT. R.N. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. IL SECOND EDITION. LONDON: SAUNDERS AND OTLEY, CONDUIT STREET. 1833. B. BEMiLEY, PRINTER OR V.St CONTENTS. CHAPTER XV. Rodosto — Post-horses — Haide-bouroun — Tartars — Ouzoun Kiupri — Lodging' — Marizza — Adrianople — Russian hospital — Arhmaneh — Hass Keuy — Bulgarian village — Philippo- polis — Greek house — Charlatan — Bishop . . 1 CHAPTER XVI. Hadgi Toozoon — Tchapan — Bastinade — Eski Saray — Adra Bey — Mustapha — Cossack Captain — Yeui Saara — General Reuchteurn — Russ Colonel — Selimnia — General Montresor — Poniatowski — Wolk Llanevsky — Russ Army . 4.3 CHAPTER XVH. Kasan Pass — Bach Keuy — Bulgarians — Kasan — Osman Bazar — Jhumha — Schumla — Prince MadatofF — Greek Priest — 818345 VI CONTE?^TS. Koiilevscha — Yeni Bazar — Pasha — Greek Archbishop — Osman Bagar — Mountains — Selimnia — Yamboli — General Tinian — The fair Scherifeh — Adrianople — Plague — Grand Vizir — Luleh Bourgas — Mahmoud Bey — Chorloo — Selybria — Constantinople — Pera ..... 89 CHAPTER XVIII. Selimnia — Yamboli — General Timan — The fair Scherifeh — Adrianople — Plague — Grand Vizir — Luleh Bourgas — Mah- moud Bey — Chorloo — Selybria — Constantinople — Pera 134 CHAPTER XIX. Pera — Carnival — Ambassadors — Dragomans — Adventurers — Mustapha Effendi — Royal Birth — Sultanas — Illumination — Ramazau- — Story Tellers — Bairam — Procession — Review — Sandjack Scheriff 183 CHAPTER XX. OF CONSTANTINOPLE (STAMBOUL). Stamboul — Wall — Breach — Galleys — Charsheys — Bazars — Osmanie — Burnt Column — EskiSaray— Seraskier's Pillar — Panoramic View — Parallel — Hippodrome — Columns — St. Sophia — Cisterns — Menagerie— Women Market — Bath 214 CONTENTS. Vil CHAPTER XXI. CONSTANTINOPLE (continued). Solimanie — Bedlam — Mausoleum — Valens* Aqueduct — Mar- cian's Column — Historic Column — Seven Towers — Golden Gate — Breach — Scutari — Cemetery-Howling Dervishes 251 CHAPTER XXII. On the Osmanleys — the Greeks — the Armenians — the Jews. 286 CHAPTER XXni. On Mussulman Women — Greek Women — Armenian Women — Hebrew Women ...... 314? CHAPTER XXIV. Capitan Pasha — Greek Patriarch — NourreyBey — Passage Boat — Echoes — Rodosto — Adrianople — Kar'agatch — Silk Worms — Mad Dog — Inhumanity — Greeks — Mahmoud Aga — Mosque — Grand Vizir — Bairam Pasha . . 332 CHAPTER XXV. Marizza — Demotica — Bishop — Dungeon — Cossacks — Fera — Bektashes — Enos — Vice Consul — Petition — Mahmoud Bey — Greek beauty — Banquet .... 364 Mil CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXVI. Schooner — Deserters — Samothraki — Ancient Castle — Greek Pirates — Thasco — Mehemet Ali — Mount Athos — Albanian Gardeners — Simenu — Vatopede — Monkish Customs — His- tory of Monte Santo — Cariez — Waivode — Protaton — Kuthe- nisi — Prios — Iphiron — Libraries — Lavra . . 398 CHAPTER XXVII. Fever — Church Scene — Bigotry — Voyage — Gulf of Cassandra — Salonica — Banditti — Earthquake — Chaban — Execution — Pirates — Mr. Wolff — Hebrews — Missionaries — Maronite 437 CHAPTER XXVIII. Tertian Fever — Philanthropy — Hydriote Schooner — Mr.Wolflf — Smyrna — Hotel — " Glorious three days" — Recluse — Swede — Merchants — L'Eurydice — Ourlaq — Gazelle — Eng- lish Frigate — Spezzia — Quarantine — Genoa . . 469 RECORDS OF TRAVELS, CHAPTER XV. Rodosto — Post-horses — Haide-bouroun — Tartars — Ouzoun Kiupri — Lodging — Marizza — Adrianople — Russian hos- pital — Arhmaneh — Hass Keuy — Bulgarian village — Phi- lippopolis — Greek house — Charlatan — Bishop. The commencement of December 1829^ I left Constantinople on a tour over the theatre of war in Roumelia. Mr. Mellish, of the Foreign Office, left it at the same time to return to England^ his duties in the East being terminat- ed. I proposed availing myself of his company as far as Philippopolis : then turning to the right, to traverse the Russian cantonments, and cross the Balkans to Schumla. We got a lift in the Blonde as far as Rodosto, VOL. II. B. POST HORSES. and landed there early one morning with some difficulty^ on account of the surf on the beach. Two hours after^ we were toiling over a hilly, clayey district, whence looking back, we saw our swift conveyance of the preceding day flee- ing towards the Hellespont before the n. e. gale, which was cutting us to the quick. She soon disappeared in the shade of the isle of Marmara. Many were our denunciations during the first day against Turkish post-horses, nondescript animals, which by long practice acquire the difficult art of stumbling in all directions, and picking themselves up again without sustaining any injury. The rider also becomes in a short time an adept at keeping on ; if he do not, he is to be pitied, especially in the winter time, because then, laden with the necessary precau- tion against cold, he feels on the ground like a dismounted cuirassier, and finds it as difficult to regain his seat. In the first place the saddle will probably turn round on the lean carcass of his steed, an accident not easily remedied with benumbed fingers ; in the second place, it may happen that when, after repeated trials, he suc- ceeds in getting his right leg over, the Tartar boot belonging to it remains embedded in a TRAVELLING ANNOYANCES. J strata of mud^ erect as a column^ and filling with snow or any other gift from heaven. But this is only one^ a minor one, of the inconveniences attending Eastern travelling, of which, to avoid repetition, I will give a reasonable list. 1. After making a complaint to a pasha of an inferior officer, with the intention of getting him reprimanded, or, at most, bastinadoed, to have his head brought to you on a wooden dish, with a polite message to know if you are satisfied. 2. Crossing a bridge, to find yourself suddenly projected several yards, and on rising, if your neck be not broken, to see the animal dead lame in consequence of having stepped into an aperture, caused by a vacant plank, and con- cealed by the snow. 3. When six hours from any village, your guide, on whom you may have had occasion to exercise your tongue or whip, takes the sulks and leaves you to find your own way. 4. TravelUng of a dark night, your sumpter horse slips off the path into a ravine, breaks his back, and scrunches your baggage. 5. After a long cold journey, to find the walls of the khan streaming with wet, wherein you get a room with paper windows, and no doors ; B 2 4 TRAVELLING ANNOYANCES. you endeavour to make a fire, but the wood is green, and when at length you have blown it up with your mouth, you are sick and cannot eat pilaff.^ 6. On rising from the floor of a coffee-house where you have rolled all night, to find several holes burnt in your clothes by the embers of the company's pipes. * Some tired traveller left the following descriptive parody- on a shutter of a khan. Thus ever on my weary track I've met with Fortune's angry frown, I never crossed a Turkish hack But it was sure to tumble down. I never, — freezing, stiff, and sore, — Rejoiced to find a shelter won, But when I came to shut the door And paper windows — there were none. I never formed a clever plan Of getting o'er a mountain pass, But when I reached the menzil-han The horses all were out at grass. And now the expectation bright That's cheered me on, the journey through, Of finding supper every night — Oh Handgi ! must I lose that too. TRAVELLING ANNOYANCES. 5 7. On arriving late at a hamlet just occupied by irregular troops^ to have the option of a pig- sty, or the only spare house^ — where the plague happens to be. 8. Crossing a river, to find your horse trying to swim, your guide having missed the ford. To the misery of feeling your nether garments freezing to your skin, you add the reflection that there is not a dry shred in your baggage. Such, and such like, inconveniences will at- tend every man in a few months' travelling in Turkey, excepting the first, which however has happened. In return he enjoys novelty, and that feeling of complete independence which this kind of life generates. The first evening, after riding nine hours, we halted at a village, Haide-bourounderes. We spread our carpet for the night on the bench of a cafenehy* and obtained a supper of pilaff, ca- bobs, pancakes, and honey, from the adjoining * The coffee houses in Turkey are the resting places of benighted travellers, of houseless pilgrims, of all in short who choose. The poor that sleep on the benches pay nothing, and have the chance of getting a bit of supper from richer occu- pants. This practice of the publicans is extremely credit- able to them. t) A TARTARS APPEARANCE. cabobgi-dukiane (cook's-shop). To this^ by no means bad fare, our tartar added excellent cafe au laity for making which he was celebrated on the road : his name was Veli^ a good specimen of the finest race of men in Turkey^ of whose kind of life to judge fairly_, a stranger at Con- stantinople should go occasionally to Scutari, to see one start for, or return from, a long journey. In the former case, a tartar is the picture of animation, his face transparently clear, just from under the barber's hands; his shining beard and moustaches trimmed to a hair; his high calpack put on with a touch of dandyism, covered by a flowered handkerchief to tie under his chin in case the wind prove high ; his long fur riding cloak, of red or other gay-coloured cloth, with unsewed sleeves brushing his horse's back ; his capacious trousers and huge boots, scrupulously clean ; his brass shovel-stirrups bright as fric- tion can make them; his black, polished leather saddle set off by silver-hilted pistols, and by the amber mouth-piece of his chibouque, — altoge- ther a gay and gallant cavalier. In the latter case, his mother w ould not recognize him : pale, haggard, and dirty, he falls rather than gets off his horse, and throws himself on the ground in A TARIWRS DRESS. / pain, unable even to light a pipe^ — an object of utter distress. Even on a journey_, while fresh horses are preparing, the tartars throw them- selves down^ and can scarcely lift their heads to remount. Tiiey clothe exceedingly, and never alter their dress on the frozen banks of the Danube^ or on the scorching plains of Syria. They usually wear over their shirt a long robe of silk^ a waistcoat of cloth^ a jacket of cloth, a jacket lined with fox's fur, an overall-jacket with open sleeves, at times a pelisse, drawers, shelwar (enormous cloth trousers), woollen leg- gings, and heavy boots. To these must be added, sashes of a bulk and size to us insup- portable, their pistols, ataghan, towels, hand- kerchiefs, tobacco purse, the three last con- tained in his bosom. In short, a mounted tar- tar is a magazine, and the ease with which he supports such a weight reduces our surprise at the Crusaders having been able to bear their armour. The tartars preserve their health by it ; for in Turkey, warm clothing is as ne- cessary in summer as in winter, on account of the frequency of maharia and keen winds. Europeans in these climes get fevers by dres- sing too lightly ; but there is a medium be- tween our clothing and a tartar^s. 8 A TARTARS ENDURANCE. Tartars in their long journeys drink a great deal of brandy and coffee^ and take quantities of snufF. Their chief difficulty consists in keep- ing awake. The surrogee (post-boy) is often obhged to ride by their side to keep them from falling off for the first hour after changing horses^ the half hour which that takes giving them time to get into a deep sleep. The tartars of St. Jean D'Acre are the most esteemed at present in Turkey. They usually perform the journey to Constantinople in twelve days and nights, which, considering that as far as Antiochia it is mountainous, is very quick. There is an elderly tartar now at Constantinople, who used to be employed during the war by the English embassy, to convey letters to Bagdad (en route to India). He often performed it in fourteen days. The same distance was rode once by a tartar in nine days. It appears incredible, when the actual distance is considered — the mountains, the rivers in it, and the total want of roads, and of relays at less intervals than from ten to twenty hours ; but the fact is recorded in tlie archives of the empire.^ * A great feat in riding is performed every year on the return of the caravan from Mecca. When eight days' march A TARTAR S PROFITS. 9 Tartars are well paid. The devlet (govern- ment) tartars in particular make a great deal of money^ since the pasha or other great of- ficer to whom they are sent, makes them pre- sents according to the news. A tartar who takes intelligence to a pasha of a son being born to the Sultan, may expect eight or ten purses : on such occasions three or four tartars go on the same errand, — woe to the horses! it is a race the whole way. They make money also by conveying private letters and remit- tances, in w hich service their fidelity is at all proof; and should any money be lost, it is made up to the owner by the body corporate. from Damascus, the Pasha escorting it sends a Tchoadar mounted on a fleet dromedary with the news to the second Pasha, who commands in Damascus during his absence. His arrival fills the inhabitants with joy, and they com- mence costly preparations to welcome the Hadgis. The bearer of the news is loaded with presents, and, having reposed one night, mounts on horseback to bear letters, an- nouncing the safe return of the caravan, to the Sultan, who rewards him according to the speed he has made. In 1829 he died two hours after his arrival at Constantino- ple. In 1830 he was stopped a day's journey from Damas- cus by Bedouins, and robbed of his letters ; in consequence, he had to send back a servant for others. 10 A TARTARS HABITS. In every pashalick is a regular establish- ment of tartars commanded by a tartar aga, who regulates the journeys. They are every- where greatly considered ; and^ when hard pressed, may command any horses, even to the pasha's, in a town where they pass. Tartars like accompanying travellers and merchants, since they are well remunerated by them, and can carry on a little traffic : more- over, slow travelling and long halts, suit a Turk's love of indolence, which no habits of activity can conquer. When a tartar arrives from a journey, he literally sits down till called upon to mount again. He is a stupid fellow, w^ho, in fifteen or twenty years, does not make a provision for his after-life. Many die in the noviciate, or are obliged to give it up from sickness. Those however, who become inured to the life, enjoy good health, and attain old age. To our journey. — At three a.m., Veli again put before us cafe au lait with toast, by way of breakfast. The hard bench was not provocative of a second nap, and we were on our saddles by four o'clock ; thus early, with the intention of reaching Adrianople that night. But on our BAD LODGINOS. 11 reaching Ouzoun Kiupri at noon, the postmas- ter was busy billeting- a large detachment of troops from Schumla, returning into Asia : as he could not therefore attend to us^ we were de- tained for horses upwards of four hours^ and when we got them their appearance denoted that they were just off a journey. We left the place by a stone bridge of many arches, spanning the wide bed of the narrow river Erkeneh, tributary of the Marizza ; and, after wading three hours through deep mud_, sought shelter from the piercing cold in a Bulgarian hamlet, every house of which had just been occupied by Turkish soldiery, excepting one, where lay a child with a bad fever. This was offered to us, but, deeming filth better than dis- ease, we preferred creeping under an adjoining shed, where a wood fire kept us partly warm, and completely blinded. Our host and hostess, the parents of the sick child, as well as of three sturdy boys, were unremitting in their atten- tions ; they gave us a very good soup, a dish of fried meat (perhaps from the next dead horse), eggs, and in all shewed such a perfect disposi- tion to oblige us, that we gave them a gratifica- tion in the morning with more pleasure than we 12 BANKS OF THE xMARIZZA. would have paid for the accommodation of a hotel. A couple of miles brought us to the Marizza, to a g-ay scene for the sportsman's craft. It was frozen over_, and covered with flights of wild fowl ; and here and there, where the ice was broken by the pressure of a wedged -up boat^ magnificent fish-eagles stood watching for prey. The morning was exhilarating, and our nags, notwithstanding they had passed the night in the snow, trotted cheerily along the bank, which was strewed with dead horses, indices of the march of a Russian column from Demo- tica. Presently our baggage horses, which were frisking and galloping in front without restraint, took it into their heads to cross an arm of the river. I shall not attempt to describe our agony while the passage was effecting, as we expected every moment to see them come up on their sides and go through the ice, when adieu the Cashmere shawls and embroidered garments in my companion's portmanteau. How- ever they not only got over safe, but back too ; Turkish horses having very much the property of cats in keeping on their legs. A bend of the river brought us into the plain MORTALITY AMONG THE RUSSIANS. 13 of Adrianople^ over which we had an unbounded view_, broken only by the four minarets of sultan Selim's mosque^ seen_, from their angular posi- tion respecting us^ in one line^ at twelve miles' distance. We passed several villages, all bear- ing marks of Russian devastation^, and towards noon, by bye-paths, along ditches, through gar- dens and willow plantations, entered the second city of the empire, which till within three weeks had been the head-quarters of Marshal Dieb- itsch. He left it Nov. 20th, having lost by dis- ease 12,000 men since his arrival, August 20th. He might have left it earlier, thereby saving several thousand lives, had he not deemed it necessary to wait for the keys of Giurgewo, which its pasha, Kutchuck Achmet, refused for a long time to deliver up, saying, that he had not been taken, and that he considered the peace as disgraceful, — a peace that might have been made to save the empire, but not to save Constantinople. In the Russian hospital re- mained 8,000 men, not more than 1,500 of whom left it alive : horrible to relate, they died chiefly of absolute want. In that severe winter 1829-30, the streets of Adrianople feet deep in snow, these poor fellows lay on the floor of 14 WRETCHEDNESS OF THE SURVIVORS. the vast wooden barracks (converted into a hospital) without beds or bedding ; although the bazaars would have furnished enough for 20^000 men. On some days they had not even fire to cook their soup, while the icy gales from the Euxine sung through the crevices of their cage (the barracks could be called no other), which was so slight that it vibrated to peoples' foot- steps. It is said that the emperor shed tears, on hearing, in part, of the distresses of his brave, victorious army. He had better have sent roubles. A company of galley slaves never suffered niore cruel neglect than these troops : their diseases arose partly from the water they drank : spirits and whie were dirt cheap at Adrianople; yet, not even a drop was served out per diem. After two pleasant days under the hospitable roof of the English consul, Peter Duveluz, Esq., to whom and to his amiable accomplished lady, all travellers who pass that way are deeply in- debted, we continued our journey. Our road, or rather direction, was along the left bank of the Marizza, over a luxuriant plain with scarce a trace of cultivation, the absence of which marks nearly every part of the rich country FERTILITY OF ROUMELIA. 15 contained between the Balkans, the Macedonian mountains, the Black Sea, and the Propontis ; a tract unequalled in the world for natural ad- vantages, possessing a soil capable of produc- ing, almost without labour, nearly all the fruits of the earth, with internal navigation for trans- sporting them. The Marizza and the Toondja intersect it, one from the n.w. and the other from the north, and uniting at Adrianople, flow into the port of Enos ; a dozen minor streams, capable of being rendered navigable for barges, are tributary to them. With such resources, Roumelia, if cultivated, would become the granary of Italy, whereas Constantinople de- pends on Odessa for daily bread. The burial grounds, choked with weeds and underwood, constantly occurring in every traveller's route, far remote from habitations, are eloquent testi- monials of the continued depopulation. I have often asked my guides, while passing one, con- cerning its origin, or the name of the town that gave it inhabitants. " Kim bilir," (who knows) — or "Allah bilir," (God knows), was ever the careless answer, — an expressioli in the mouth of a Turk which means that the subject it refers to is considered by him as being either above 16 DEPOPULATION OF ROUMELIA. man's understandings eras beyond all date. The living, too, are far apart : a town every fifty miles, and a village every ten miles, is close, and horse- men meeting on the highway regard each other as objects of curiosity. The causes of this de- population are to be found in the pernicious government of the Ottomans, too evident to be mistaken, but among them 1 cannot reckon polygamy as one ; for in Turkey, as in all other countries, there is a plurality of women sufficient for the few men who are able or will- ling to have a large assortment of such delicate ware. A reason may be assigned in the seclusion of the Mohammedan women, which, by keeping young people from falling in love, prevents marriages among the lovver classes. A poor devil, with head and heart free, thinks twice before doubling his embarrassments. Our route, as on the other side of Adrianople, was thickly strewed with Russian cavalry horses which fell, exhausted by fatigue, in the severe march of the army to the northward a few weeks since. We perceived at the same time the truth of the adage, ^^it is a bad wind that blows nobody good," in every high-fed cur that thrust his head out of the interior of a carcass to bark CANINE INSTINCT. 17 at US. Very regular was tlie discipline among these ungracious animals. Three were attach- ed to each horse ; one gorged inside while two watched outside; and they guarded their pro- perty with great rancour, violently attacking any other dog that dared to approach it^ though only with the humble intention of smelling. The instinct of the dogs in Turkey is so re- markable as to warrant the belief that an emi- gration of them took place from Constantinople* * The dogs of Constantinople belong" to everybody and to nobody, the streets are their homes ; their appearance is between a wolf and a jackal. It is astonishing how they continue their species, exposed to a rigorous winter and the casualties of a large city. They are littered and reared in the streets. In the summer several die of thirst, but none have ever been known to go mad. Though a worrying nui- sance to walkers, their general utility is obvious, for as the Turks throw the leavings of their kitchens out-of-doors, the streets would very soon be impassable but for the scavenger- like propensities of the dogs and the storks, assisted occasion- ally by vultures. As they subsist entirely on charity, and what they pick up, instinct teaches them the necessity of a division of labour; and therefore, in the same manner as a well-regulated society of beggars, has separate walks for its members, they divide the city and its suburbs into districts. Were a dog found in a strange quarter he would infallibly be torn in pieces by the resident dogs ; and so well are they aware of this, that no argument, not even a bone of roast m^at, will VOL. II. C 18 EBEBJIK. after the war, in consequence of its becoming" known that the line of the Russian march was supplied with horse-flesh. It is certain that a sensible diminution of those animals took place in Stamboul about that period. Might not a vulture have conveyed the news to his fellow- labourers in a field of battle's gleanings? At the village of Mustapha Pasha we crossed on a stone bridge to the right bank of the Ma- rizza, and entered on an execrable route^ which kept our horses in a labouring walk. That night we slept at Ebebjik, in a Turkish cafeneh, induce a dog to follow a person beyond his district ; a singular and authenticated fact. We caressed, for experiment, one of these animals whose post, with many others, was near the Mevlevi Khan ; we daily fed him till he became fat and sleek, and carried his tail high, and was no longer to be recognized for his former self. With his physical, his moral qualities improved. He lost his currishness ; and when his patrons approached, expressed gratitude by licking their hands, &c. ; yet he would never follow them beyond an imaginary limit, either way, where he would stop, wag his tail, and look wist- fully after them till they were out of sight, then return to his post. Once only I saw him overstep his limit : he was very hungry, and we were alluring him with tempting food ; but be had not exceeded twenty yards when he recollected him- self, and ran hastily back. I cannot say if any order of pre- cedency is observed in gaining the best stations, as near a butcher's shop, or a khan. CAUTION 1 OR TRAVELLERS. 19 the heat of which proved extremely unpleasant for the first half hour^ after having been ex- posed the whole day to severe cold ; from 28" to 72° is a sudden change. Howe\ er, I recom- niend every traveller in the winter^ to pass the nights in the cafenehs in preference to accept- ing the quarters his firman entitles him to_, and he will travel all over Turkey, sleeping always on the boards, without catching a cold^ or feel- ing a pain in a limb : whereas^ if he put up in a chilly wooden house, he will have both in a week. The healthiness of this practice I affirm from experience, and support by the practice of the Russian peasantry, who, on coming in from their out-door labour, their beards masses of ice_, strip and lie over a large oven till they break out in perspiration. They never have rheumatism, the scouro^e of the lower classes in Eno^land. The next morning, in three hours, we reached Arhmaneh, a village, with signs of former im- portance, shown in a vast burial-ground, and a large khan of curious construction, with a cupola d la Chinoise, built, we are told, above 200 years since, by Sci Ayoush, Grand Vizir of Amu- rath. In those times, when wars with Germany were common, all this track must have been of c 2 ?0 ARHMANEH. great resort, requiring spacious khans and cemeteries. We left it by a stone bridge, over a rivulet, and having surmounted with toil a boggy upland, wound along the sides of a picturesque and rocky glen, at the bottom of which lay a frozen stream, tributary of the Marizza ; a little further on, we passed some water-mills and some fine flocks of sheep and goats, the first evident signs of returning confidence that we had seen. It came dark while we were yet a considerable dis- tance from Hass Keuy, where we were to pass the night, and the tracks being obliterated by the snow, we much feared not being able to find it : but, after retracing our steps, and winding in the same circles several times with increasing impatience and ill humour, the welcome bark of dogs, more delightful music at that moment than an opera overture, directed us. "Some use, these animals, after all," we said on alighting at a very good khan, of which the khandgi, being a friend of our tartar, Veli, invited us fo take up our lodging with him. The offer was gladly ac- cepted, for his apartment was rugged, and on jone side of it an enormous chimney was blazing with nearly a cart load of wood. There were SLEEPING IN A KHAN. 21 other comforts^, too, attending this arrangement. In the first place, we had room to expand our limbs, and to enjoy ewers of water, and clean towels : in the next place, our supper was more reclierche than usual, though our host did not partake of it, he having already supped. He was a particularly handsome man, with the most perfect beard I ever witnessed ; it would have been a crime to cut it off. He sat on a little carpet on one side of the fire, we spread ours on the other side, and Veli completed the square. Thus we smoked and sipped coffee till sleep wooed us, when, arranging pillows of what there were, we lay down in the same relative position. The servants crept into the area, their heels into the fire, the crackling of which was soon varied by sundry toned snores. It is pleasant, rather than otherwise, thus travelling, not to be able to undress ; one is always ready to sleep or to rise. Whether the horses are announced at two a. m. or two p. m., it is the same thing, the servants are always up, coffee is prepared in a minute, and the chibouque as soon replenished : stand up and give a good shake, your toilet is done ; draw on your Tartar boots, and throw your capote around you, you 22 SLEEPING IN A KHAN. can face the bleak n.e. : and^ regarding the cleanliness of this mode of proceeding, when you halt for a day or two, take a Turkish bath, a process able to purify years of filth, and leave the subject cleaner than ever. When daylight broke, the two mosques of Hass Keuy were long behind us. Our road this day was more interesting ; occasionally through a low range of hills we saw Mount Rhodope, be- fore us the Balkans, and the plains to the east- ward were studded with isolated hills, singu- larly shaped, certainly not artificial, and not quite small enough for aerolites. After riding eight hours and passing three Christian villages, we stopped at a fourth to bait, with little ex- pectation however of finding any thing, as the country between Adrianople and Philippopolis had been, the last three months, the foraging scenes of Cossacks from the former, and of Al- banians from the latter, to supply their respec- tive armies. =* We were mistaken. The Bul- * When Turkish troops are on the march, the Christian villages suffer much less from them than the Turkish villages, since their wine and their pigs are sacred from plunder. Any traveller in Turkey, in the track of troops, must have ob- BULGARIAN COTTAGE. 23 garian cottage where we alighted was clean and comfortable, though the floor was mud and the walls plaster : a cheerful fire was sparkling, by which, spreading a clean rug beside it, the matron invited us to sit. She then prepared us a repast of fried eggs and toast, with milk and wine, alleging Lent as a reason for not giv- ing us a slice of pork. Her sons and husband were out at work, but her daughters were with her ; two very pretty girls, loaded with silver bracelets and buckles, with their long hair braid- ed — quite the national costume. The plenty visible astonished us, as it well might, consider- ing what I above observed ; it could only be accounted for by the talent possessed by the villagers throughout Turkey, of hiding every thing instantaneously on the approach of a ma- rauding party, and changing an air of comfort into one of utter misery. Of this art we had a specimen the same evening to our cost. We had intended sleeping at Philippopolis, but soon found that that would be very difficult, on served this. In the former he will be sure of getting- a slice of pork and a jug of wine. In the latter he must often con- tent himself with a draught from the fountain. 24 THE VILLAGERS TALENTS account of the jaded state of our horses. We therefore drew up at a small hamlet of three or four houses, half unroofed, on the road side, to make a shift till morning; but this habitation, wretched as it was, was already occupied by a pasha, with a large suite, en route from Schumla to Adrianople, His selictar, an Albanian youth, splendidly dressed, one of the handsomest I ever saw, even of that handsome race, came out and informed us there was no room, at the same time, begged us, in his master's name, to alight and take coffee : but, as the sun was al- ready on the mountains, and the temperature several degrees below freezing, we declined the civility, and proceeded towards a village which, we were told, lay two miles off the high road. Its pillars of smoke guided us from a distance ; all at once they vanished, and when we arrived at their bases, the village was de- serted ; not a human form or voice was seen or heard, not a dog growled, or pig grunted. Yet there were certain signs of recent habitation, even supposing that our eyes had been deceived about the smoke. Where were the bipeds ? — Far from understanding the cause, we were about retiring, after losing half an hour in look- AT COUNT 1:KF KITING WANT. -'5 ing- for somebody, doubtful where to go, when it struck us that it lay in our Turkish costume, by which we Had been taken for part of the pasha's retinue in the neighbouring hamlet, come to collect provender for their own and their master's supper. Veli knew this reason before, but his pride kept him silent. We re- turned to the charge, anxious to redeem our credit, as well as to get out of the cold, and hoped to succeed by knocking at every door and telling who we were. We spoke to the stones. Veil soon got into a terrible passion at being so slighted. He swore by Allah, by Mohammed, by his father's beard, by his own head, and threatened the bastinade on man^ woman and child — in vain : and thus we miofht have continued till morning — we soothing, he swearing — had not a slight wreath of smoke, escaping from a half-stitled fire, betrayed the inmates of one cottage, who then yielded to Yeli's direct imprecations — he swore he would set fire to the house — and opened the door. What a scene ! men, women and children, half smothered and grim with smoke — the first sa- laaming, the second scolding, the last squall- ing, turned out to know our will, and swear, in 26 VELl's PHILOSOPHY. their turn^ by the Virgin and all the Apostles^ that they had not heard us till that moment ; that^ poor innocent people, they had been fast asleep ! A cow, dogs, pigs, and poultry followed them out of the smoke. Presently came up the kiaja, and the tchorbagi of the village, protest- ing to the truth of the same lie, that our worihy presence was only that minute known. Veli waxed more wroth, was about to lay club-law^ on the one, and told the other he would get him decapitated. " God is great ! is this the way to treat two bejzades travelling with our lord's firmans under ??2^ protection ? Please God, I will tell the pasha of Philippopolis to morrow, the grand vizir when I see him, the Eltchi when I return to Pera, and " he would have gone on for an hour had we not stopped him. We saw that if we staid, there would be nothing but hot water on both sides, and we feared that Veli, though really very good natured, might get outrageous ; so we remounted, and rode two hours further, to a menzil-khan (post-house). The little cafeneh belonging to it was crowded to excess, and we were about to be rejected, when two Turks very civilly turned out into the stable, and gave us their places. Veli also FIRST VIEW OF PilllJlM'OPOLIS. '21 took up his lodging with the horses, and made himself quite comfortable, as indeed a Turk always does in every situation^ — equally con- tented, apparently on a divan, with lamb and pilaff, or under a shed with onions and nuts. He got a pan of charcoal beside him, smoked his pipe, and curled his mustaches, and looked as pleased as though nothing had occurred for a week to cross his temper. We passed an indifferent night, as may be supposed, sharing a bench eight feet by four, with five others. But any thought of the annoyance vanished when the first view of Philippopolis burst on us as we rode from the khan in the morning, enlivened by an atmo- sphere buoyant as angePs spirits, and so clear that the outlining of the mountain scenery was traced on the blue sky as delicately as though done with a fine pencil. We were approaching the N.w. angle of the vast plain of Roumelia, still so vast that our prospect was bounded to the south and the east by the horizon : to the north, hoary - headed Haemus met us in his greatest elevation, thence drooping towards the Euxine ; and Rhodope's clustered brows and picturesque peaks, merging with the clouds in 28 PHILIPPOP(^LIS. the s.vv., was our western limit. These two ranges nearly unite^ and form " the iron portals of Trajan/' which as viewed from our direction were exceedingly g-rand^ appearing- the entrance to a mighty avenue of mountains leading into Servia^ its extremity lost in haze. Before us^ at the distance of two miles and a half^ in the way of the "iron portals/' apparently at their threshold,, defining by comparison their dimen- sions — a point for the mind to rest on^ and thence grasp the surrounding objects — rose from the earth a finely carved insulated rock^ cleft by an earthquake in three crags^ and frowning over the waste of snow^ like a volcanic island over the ocean. The Marizza^ silver-striping the plain as far as the eye could reach, gleaming among clusters of snow heaps, which in spring would turn out to be villages, wound by it; and resting at its base, washed by the river, or clinging up its eastern side, was the city of Philippopolis. The minarets of twenty mosques, springing like needles in the frosted air, added grace to the picture, while ruins, crowning the highest crag, gave it the finishing touch of antiquity. Having staid some minutes to admire the scene, we continued, over the site of the pasha TURKISH CAMP. 29 of Scutari's camp, disturbing legions of dogs and vultures, harmoniously raking together. We passed the entombed remains of 5000 of his Albanians, who died there in the space of three months, and entered the city through the great cemetery, which, from its enormous headstones, might be aptly termed the Giants' Cemetery. The streets were saddle deep in mud, and misery was prevalent. In one corner lay an Arab tainted with plague, covered with a rug, and abandoned to his fate, simply because he was an Arab.* We threw him money, but I believe it would have been more charity to have given him poison. After one or two wrong turnings, we reached the pasha's seraglio, where we were to show our firmans in order to obtain quarters. His Excellency was sitting at an open window admiring his horses, which, saddled and * " He is an Arab to my sight." I saw an illustration of this verse at Buyukdere in the case of a drowned man, whom the surgeon of the Blonde failed of recovering because the people round were dilatory in getting warm water and clothing. " Shame," I exclai ned, " thus to let a countryman perish." ** Countryman !" answered an old Osmanley, taking the pipe from his mouth, " Arab der" (he is an Arab). 30 HIGH SPIRIT OF A LADY. bridled to the number of sixty, were being paraded by the grooms round the court. He sent an officer to conduct us to a principal Greek house in the upper part of the town. To our astonishment a scene awaited us similar with that of the preceding evening, though we had taken the precaution to give our costume a Christian-like air by changing our fezes for foraging caps. The lady of the mansion, seeing only the Turks with us, barricaded her doors, and from an upper window refused us admit- tance, saying that her house had already had more than its share of Turks quartered on it, and that they might go elsewhere this time. The officer was too proud to explain ; he in- sisted that the door should be opened, or he would force it. A large crowd in consequence assembled, and various opinions were given by one and the other, according as the spokesman was Mussulman or Christian. We cut the matter short by addressing the fair keeper of the fortress, and desiring her to look out of the window at us. She did so, and uttered an ex- clamation of joy. The doors were immediately opened, and she came with all her servants to welcome us, and to make apologies for the delay i^ DISCONTENT. 31 occasioned by her ignorance of our being Franks, What a triumph ! Veli was so ashamed at this second adventure^ that he did not get over it all day. The house which had fallen to our lot, was excellent, spacious and well furnished, be- longing to a merchant engaged in trade at Vienna, where he then was. Notwithstanding the complaints of his wife about having had a party of Albanians quartered on her, an evil shared in common with every other inhabitant, Mussulman as well as Christian, it seemed to us that her guests must have conducted themselves extremely well, since they had injured nothing. But Philippopolis* being in the great thorough- fare to Servia, and to Bosnia, and to Upper Albania, and therefore often exposed to the passage of troops, the inhabitants are very sore * This city has about 22,000 inhabitants. One-third are Mussulmans; the remainder Greeks, excepting- a few Arme- nians and Jews. It has extensive manufactures of soap and leather. Rice is the great product of the country. Its climate is mild, being sheltered by the Balkan from the Black Sea winds. The Marizza rarely freezes near it. At Adrianople, on the contrary, it freezes every winter, often as far down as Enos. The fig and the cypress come to perfection at Philip- popolis, which they do not at Adrianople. 32 A pasha's promises. on this subject^ as on an old grievance ; each considers himself particularly imposed on in the distribution of billets^ and endeavours to throw the burthen off himself on to another. They flattered themsJves that they had escaped the immediate evils of the war; but the Arnaout un- deceived them ; he came and encamped as in a hostile country. The sultan^ alarmed at his long continuance after the war, repeatedly ordered him to lead his army back. Mustapha pleaded that he had no money to pay his men. '^ Pay them," replied the sultan, "by levying contri- butions on the town and villages " To do this, however, the pasha did not require an order, as he had already predisposed that as his own per- quisite. His demand on the treasury of Con- stantinople was another thing ; and, in order to succeed, he quartered his army, about 20,000 men, on the town, when the severity of the winter obliged him to strike his tents. He re- mained there twenty days ; during which he received a sum of money from Constantinople, and this, though not equal to his expectations, added to the murmurs of his men to return to their hills, proved conclusive. He eased the Philippopolitans of their loose cash, then wished RUSSIAN PROMISES, S3 them good morning ; and did the same on his way home^ by Tartar Bazardjik and Sophia.=*^ We were visited by the principal Greek in- habitants, to w hom tlie arrival of Franks was (as in every town) a joyful occurrence, as thereby they obtain news. They asked many questions about the Morea, and when they were satisfied of its certain independence, broke out into en- thusiastic eulogiums of England and France. Their praises were thrown away on us, as we were well aware that they would be turned into expressions of hatred, were we their mas- ters. We further gratified their pride by shew- ing them a passport and some coins of Capo d'Istria, which so exalted them that tiiey began handling our arms with boyish delight. One comely young man buckled on a sabre, drew it several times with increasing satisfaction, and made a pass or two at the wainscoting. Had there been a cat in the room, he would certainly have tried his valour on it. They spoke bitterly * I have already mentioned this chieftain. In the summer of 1830 he broke into open rebellion, in consequence of the sultan requiring him to submit to his reform. The Grand Vizir routed his forces, and he fled back to vScutari. VOL. II, D 34 RUSSIAN PROIMISES. of the conduct of the Russians, in having pro- claimed that they came to take possession of the country ; receiving", in consequence, every as- sistance from the Greek inhabitants, and aban- doning them afterwards to the warrantable distrust of the Osmanleys. We told them that they should have known by that time the nature of Russia's promises_, which ever made Grecian blood flow solely for her own interest. " True/' they answered ; " sixty years of fatal experi- ence should have taught us the truth ; but hope is ever new^ and this time even the Osman- leys thought that the fair-haired Muscovites were come to rule over the country. Instead, they leave us, and the emperor shews his pity for our false position by obliging the sultan to pay a large indemnity which must come in great part from the pockets of his Christian subjects." This touch at the emperor was just ; but the weight of the indemnity fell equally, if not more heavy, upon the Mussul- mans, since the sultan feared to oppress the Greeks too openly, when he saw that Europe took so lively an interest in their welfare. Some of the Greeks here spoke German to- lerably, —a lai guage more for an European SPANISH LANGUAGE. 3/) traveller^ wlio may be puzzled though talking- half-a-dozen. The most useful European lan- guage in Turkey is Spanish. All the Jews talk it, impurely certainly, but quite well enough for interpretation ; their Spanish, as it is, is their household language, Hebrew being considered classical. Moreover, Spanish is the chief ingredient of the lingua Franca. At our levee assisted a charlatan, soi disant Hekim Bashi of the city. He spoke French very well, though not a Frenchman, having served I'Empereur (as Commissary's fiTteenth clerk, I suppose). At the peace he sought means of livelihood at Algiers, but not finding any there, came to Constantinople, where, with others, he established a brewery. That speculation failed ; according to him, from the bad taste of the Mussulmans in prefer- ring their boza; according to others, from the laxative qualities of his beer. Finally, — the usual refuge for destitute Franks in Tur key, — he styled himself M.D. and settled in Philippopolis ; where, to commence fair, he took a Greek wife. He stated his name to be Smidth, of Dutch extraction ; but before our dinner was over, at which he remained D 2 36 AN ADVENTURER. to assist^ half per invite, half per hanging on, his affection for us so wonderfully increased, that he vowed he was born in Eng-land. His name was a witness in his favour. He was useful as a ciceroni, and served to amuse me after the departure of my friend Mellish the next day, for Tartar Bazardjik, on his route to Belgrade. I remained longer, in hopes of procuring a tartar to accompany me to Schumla ; but, as my intended route lay through the Russian cantonments, the pasha told me it could not be. A yasakgi, however, should escort me, he said, as far as the lines, when the Cossacks would take charge of me. In the mean time I saw what was to be seen in and about the city, and, for variety, got good humouredly pelted once with snow-balls by Turkish school-boys. Two Roman gates still existed, and my ciceroni showed off, he thought, his antiquarian lore by pointing out to me a house as Philip's of Macedon. I did not think it worth while to lower his con- sequence by telling him the error he commit- ted. The Mussulmans inhabited the lower part of the city, the Christians the upper part, ac- cording to the usual practice in Turkish towns. LION*^ OF THE CITY. 37 in order to prevent the latter from holding- communication with the enemy in case of a siege. Piiilippopolis is subject to earthquakes ; yet^ on the highest crag, almost inaccessi- ble, were three cannons, for the ostensible purpose of commanding the place in case of an insurrection. In theory they answered the end proposed ; in practice they could not have been sufficiently depressed to touch a single house. A fine view, scarcely ever seen by one of the natives, rewarded my trouble of «climbinof to them. These cannons were considered as the palladium of the liberties of the city, and when the sultan sent orders to have them transported to Schumla, at the com- mencement of the war, the inhabitants refused to part with them. On another commanding- spot was a large clock, an indulgence enjoyed by the Christians in nearly all the towns of northern European Turkey. Standing by this very clock, the charlatan, who had hitherto ate with me, asked me to dine with him. I unwit- tingly accepted the invitation, not reflecting on the uncertainty of pot-luck with a man whose features were given to length. I histantly saw my mistake, for he grew troubled, having only 38 CHARLATAN'S INVlTATlOxN. made the invitation to have it refused. How- ever^ the deed was done^ and we descended the rock in silence ; he probably meditating how to avoid the impending exposure^ I consoling myself with the prospect of seeing his menage, which as yet had been as secluded from me as though it were a harem. We soon reached the house, lifted up the latch without speaking, hit my head against the low door-way, and in the little parlour surprised his lady, who, starting up, displeased at our abrupt intrusion, opened her ruby lips in the act of levelling Ionic slang at her lord, but, on seeing a perfect stranger, smoothed them into a smile, and disappeared to arrange her toilet. Another professor was in the room : after a formal introduction. Charlatan whispered contemptuously, "He is also a tailor." " Proof of talent," I replied. " By no means," continued Charlatan ; " do not imagine that because he calls himself a doctor, he knows any thing of our abstruse science : a grave air and the Hekim's cap impose on any Turk." I sat down on the sofa, after a time gnawing with hunger, for I had been running about all day, and the sun had already given the mountain snow a vermilion tinge. Charlatan seeing me POT-LICK 39 fixed^ became fidgety : he brought me a chi- bouque, and a half-torn Journal de Medicine, containing an article on the digestive organs, — no chance I thought of exercising mine. I dis- cussed the tobacco leisurely, and the book page by page, but still no signs of eating, not even a napkin. I began to think that I had committed a real error, and how to extricate myself with- out offending good breeding, when Charlatan relieved my suspense by confessing que - ce n'etait pas sa faute, mais — sacre careme — la maudite religion Grecque ne permettait pas de manger de la viande que deux cent jours de Tan . . . enfin il n-y-avait rien a manger. I thought as much ; and was debating what to do next, when, at that awkward moment, two servants came in bearing trays covered with good things ; gifts of a fair Asmodeus, my kind hostess, who not seeing me return to dinner, conjectured that I had gone chez Mr. Smidth: she also conjectured the denouement there ; and therefore, without any apologies — certainly never less necessary — sent this seasonable reinforcement to his kitchen. This quite changed the face of affairs, from despondency to confidence. Mr. Smidth had been too long 40 AGREEABLE CAROUSE. in France not to be able to take it as an excellent joke^ as it really was^ and did the honours of the table a merveille. After dinner his brother quack discreetly vanished; his pretty wife then threw aside her Grecian re- serve, sang- sweet airs^ and talked agreeable nonsense all the evenings while her worse half g-ot d — d d — k on my cognac. When I left him at midnight, a bey's domestic was over his prostrate form, endeavouring to rouse him into consciousness that he might go and see the bey's chiid^ supposed to be dying, if not already dead. I did not leave Philippopolis without visiting the archbishop (Niceforas). He rebuked me for not having made his house my home, and his chaplain expressed surprise that I could not translate a chapter of ancient Greek fur him out of a book which he shewed me, and which he could not do himself. Our conversation soon turned on the usual topic, the distresses of the Greeks, the manner in which they were placed and insulted. It was certainly ludicrous to sit in the company of portly priests, on elegant silk divans, smoking from porcelain narghilers, sipping coffee from China cups with filagreed AKCHBISH(JP'.S DIVAN. 44 silver saucers^ and talk of misery ;— knowing also the undeniable fact that the best house in every Turkish town, after the g-overnor*s, be- longs to a Greek ; that the Greek men are universally well - dressed, the Greek women richly ornamented ; and that the Greek mer- chants journey with a luxury to which few Osmanleys pretend. But it is the fashion to paint the Greeks wretched : they made their own story, and Philhellenism amplified it. The archbishop told me that he had three hun- dred villages in his diocese, which was one of the most extensive in Turkey. I do not sup- pose that he was proportionally rich ; for the Greeks, though extremely bigoted and devoted to their clergy, pay them very ill. It is true that Mahomet II. established a tariff in their favour; but it soon fell into disuse, and the Greek clergy have naturally been averse to making the Porte arbiters on one subject, lest it should take it as a precedent for interfering on others. In addition to their spiritual func- tions, the Greek bishops have alwa}s been judges in causes between Greek and Greek, unless the litigants preferred Turkish justice, which, strange as it may seem, often happened. 42 OTTOMAN TOLERANCE. The more we examine the conduct of the early Ottoman conquerors, the more we are convinced that religious tolerance is the rock on which they split in Europe. They should either have extirpated the Greek religion, which has ever been a cancer to the Mussulman power, as they could have done, or they should have made its professors dependent on the govern- ment for salaries, whereby they would have ceased to have cared so much for the affection of the people. Amurath II. adopted the former plan in Albania. He succeeded ; the Christians that are now there are later settlers. After all, conversion by the sword, though it sound very horrid, is as good as any other way, certainly more efficacious. There may be doubts of the sincerity of the forced proselytes, but their children are certain to be born in the faith ; ajid this assurance in the converters, of saving generations in future, counterbalances the in- justice of making one generation forswear itself. CHAPTER XVI. Hadgi Toozoon — Tchapan — Bastinade — Eski Saray — Adra Bey — Mustapha — Cossack Captain — Yeni Saara — General Reuchteurn — Russ Colonel — Selimnia — General Montresor — Poniatowsky — Wolk Llanevsky — Russ Army. The next morning", Hadgi Toozoon (yasakgi), destined by the pasha to act for me as a tartar, came to my house with horses. The weather was beautiful, I therefore took leave of my fair hostess and her fairer daughter, who had suc- ceeded in dismissing the gazelle-like shyness which made her conceal herself the first day, and left the city at a gallop. Hadgi Toozoon was a merry fellow, too merry, f(»r he frequently applied a spirit flask to his lips, — a very unbe- coming practice for one who had visited Mecca : I suppose he thought that that duty, per- formed, was absolution for sins to come as well 44 DEXTEROUS HORSEMANSHIP. as for sins past. A short way from Philippo- polis we stopped to admire some Osmanleys imitating the jerreed game. Couching their pistols in the absence of reeds^ they galloped and whirled on the sheet ice with as much confidence as though on grass. One horse at length failed in recovering himself after a fear- ful slide^ and indicated a tremendous fall. The rider no-ways daunted^ used his reins and stir- rups with great address^ eliciting universal ap- probation^ till finding all his efforts of no use • — go he must, he fired his pistol in the air, that it might hurt no one^ jumped nimbly off^ and with his hands eased the animal down on its side : it was an admirable specimen of horse- manship. In crossing the river, a Uttle farther on, we made a mistake and got up to the swimming mark — all the Hadgi^s fault ; and in conse- quence, wet — my baggage soaked — we arrived late at Tchapan, a large Bulgarian village. The good people of the house assigned me by the ayan, received the stranger with pleasure, for he was now entering a part of the country where his religion was a bond of friendship, so different from the Greek inhabited cities, now, SERVILITY. 45 as ever, focuses of religious intolerance. Two Osmanleys were seated by the fire-place : they rose and salaamed me, repeating the Russian word dobree ; then took my wet clothes, and brought me wine. 1 thought I was dreaming, to receive such unpaid civilities from true be- lievers, of no mean condition either, to judge by their muslin turbans and silver-hilted arms. The enigma was explained on the entrance of Hadgi Toozoon, who had remained outside to look ta*the horses. They asked him if Effendi was not a great Russian. He replied in the negative that Effendi was only an Englishman. I could not refraui from smiling at their mistake, at the same time disgusted at their servility to a race they should rather have trampled on than courted. They repeated the question to make sure, and then, ashamed of having exposed their meanness, slunk away, and did not return. After an excellent supper, the pilaff seasoned to a grain of pepper, I laid down to sleep, wrapped in my host's fur pelisse, while my things were drying ; but my eyes were soon re-opened by an altercation in which the Hadgi's voice predominated. He had been Christian enough, during my short nap, to get 46 SETTLING A DISPUTE. intoxicated ; and was now^ Turk-like^ endea- vouring to turn my host and his two daughters into the street^ where the snow was falling deep. Jumping up, T pulled him away from the door, which was already half open, shut it, and placed my back against if. He began swearing ; and the good people, fearing that ill consequences would ensue, begged that I would let them go out, to restore quiet. I could not thus repay their hospitality, nor, had I been so inclined, should I have had time, for the Hadgi speedily settled the dispute by drawing out a pistol. He presented it at me, and — it flashed in the pan. This sobered him ; at the same time my surrogee, crouched in a corner, jumped up and assisted me to take bis remaining arms from him. He offered no resistance ; on the contrary, was all penitence. He reflected that according to the Turkish law he was liable to death for what he had done, and he begged forgiveness. I did not think it right to let him off'; so in the morning took him before the ayan, who, with great civi- lity, had him seized up in my presence, and fifty blows applied to the soles of his feet. He bore the severe pain very well ; and when over. AN AMBLING PACE. 47 slid away on his breech, for he could not walk.* 1 offered him his backscheish : he took it, and said, oughrola (bon voyage). This incident ra- ther tired me of Turkish guards; after all they are of no great service to a traveller, except in getting on tired horses, at which they are unrivalled. Beasts apparently unable to crawl for ten minutes longer, they induce by the magic of their whip and voice into a hobbling canter; not very agreeable certainly, but very valuable when the minarets of the nearest vil- lage are gleaming in the setting sun, yet two hours distant. Besides this talent they have, in common with all Turks, the happy knack of making any horse go in a sort of amble, called chack-bin ; it is very easy, and a horse covers with it four and a half miles an hour. In vain the Frank changes horses with his tartar or his surrogee, he remains the last ; while flog- ging and spurring, obliged occasionally to trot, * The operation is performed by two chavasses armed with long white sticks, thick as a man's thumb. 1 he sticks are chang-ed every twenty blows. The sufferer often faints before the fiftieth blow — the punishment goes on. He reco- vers, to faint again and again till the dase is administered. Five hundred strokes are next to deaih. 48 EXCELLENT LANDLORD. to overtake them,, they jog on without effort, smoking" their pipes, and the ditference of fa- tigue in man and horse at the end of the day, is evident. It can only be obtained by riding with large Turkish shovel-stirrups, an equable titillation of which kept up in the horse's flanks produces the chack-bin. We always ride on European saddles ; therefore we fail ; one's heel is not enough, and a spur is too much, — le juste milieu lies in the shovel-stirrups. The Hadgi being thus disposed of, I left Tchapan, and entered a highly cultivated tract, called the Garden of Ronmelia, renowned for its flowers and its fruits, and its wines. It ex- tends along the foot of the Balkans forty miles. The cultivatitrs are Bulgarians, who make a good thing by sending their roses to Adrianople, where the best attar is distilled. The air of prosperity was quite refreshing, and the con- tented appearance of the peasantry, who sa- luted me as I rode quietly through their vine- yards and rose plantations— the former planted low and shrubby, as in France — shewed me that they were under a wise master, one who knew that the interests of the landlord and of the tenants are inseparable. This enlightened ANTI-RUSSIAN FEELING. 49 Osmanley, Hadgi Fay ret Effendi, was avail of the neighbouring town of Eski Saara^ and hered'tary possessor of large estates. Fortu- nately, his retired situation, off tlie great roads, had hitherto preserved him from the sultan's reforming rage ; and still more fortunately, the Russians did not come far enough to make his people revolt, consume their produce, and then abandon them. I saw him that evening, when I reached Eski Saara. He received me very politely ; and a dazzling white beard, of un- usual luxuriance, added greatly to the respect I already entertained for him. He made some demur about providing me with horses to pro- ceed the next day to the Russian outposts, about twelve miles distant ; his attendants also evinced considerable uneasiness, as it was ne- cessary that one should accompany me, in order to ensure the horses being permitted to return. Tn the mean time, he assigned me excellent quarters in a Bulgarian house. I had scarcely supped, when several of the notables came in to visit me. As usual, in all Bulgarian places, the conversation turned on the ill conduct of the Russians, who had excited their country- men to rebel with false promises, and were now VOL. II. E 50 sultan's unpopulauity. about to abandon them ; having got every thing out of them they could, and impoverished them. This was the language held where the Russians had not been, and I had soon occasion to know that it was considerably sLort of the truth. Later in the evening an Osmanley, a friend of the house, came in. He sat down as humble as a Raya, and took the chibouque, immediately presented to him, begging me to take a few whiffs from it first, by way of good fellowship. He then asked me if Mussulmans would be allowed to reside in the Morea? "Certainly," I told him, " but under the Greeks." At this he sighed. " 1 lived there fourteen years, and left two children when I quitted it in the suite of Kourshid Pasha. 1 love the country, and should wish to return to it : will the Greek government," he added, " allow us to enjoy our religion?" — "Assuredly," I said. "Ah!" he continued, " this is no country now for us ; we are the prey to suspicion. Our sultan is now as much hated as he should be loved." Having heard the same expressions of dislike to the sultan elsewhere, I was not surprised at what this man said. DISCO NT KNT. 51 It was noon the following day, before I re- ceived any intelligence from the ayan about my progressing. I was going to him^ when one of his officers^ an old gentleman named Mustapha, came and intimated to me most sulkily^ with no more words than were barely necessary^ that he was to take me to Yeni Saara. " Good/' I said ; " let lis go." This quiet Turkish reply set his tongue going. " Let us go !" he repealed emphatically, and then went on grumbling about Franks, and about Moscofs^ — about what business they had there, — why they could not go another road, — why they travelled at all, — why they could not stay at home, — et cetera. I saw it was no use to interfere, so I let his bile work off, which it did in about an hour, when he fetched some good horses from the ayau's own stables. We had not ridden above two hours and a half, in perfect silence, when Mustapha pulled up at a wretched village, Adra Bey, and pro- posed alighting to take a pipe. I agreed, to please him, though wishing to push on, as the Russian lines were not above two miles farther. We had not half consumed our peace-offering when ray baggage was brought in. I looked at E 2 62 AN ALTERCATION. Mustapha — Mustapha looked at me. " What is this ?" I said : " We sleep here/' he replied. " Sleep here ! " I exclaimed, looking at the wretched habitation, which, as the village had been sacked by Cossacks, was stripped to the very doors. " Yes : here, we will give you a good supper." " You old impostor,'' I said, " is this why we dismounted — Why do we not go on — what shall I do here ? " " Do ! sit down and smoke your pipe." I began to get warm, particularly as I remembered the trim- ming he had given me at Eski Saara ; and I gave him, in consequence, my whole vocabu- lary of abuse, — a man never talks a language so well as when he is m a rage or m love, — and finished by swearing by the prophets and saints of both religions, that I would go on. " God is great," said Mustapha; '^ we will not leave this place to-day." " Please God," I replied, ^^ we will reach Yeni Saara to-night." " Bakalum " (we will see), said Mustapiia, and resumed his pipe. It reqnires a person to have been in an altercation with an Osmanley, exposed to his common-place replies, intermixed with the re- gular proportion of inshallahs, masliallahs, and bakalums, to understand the complete rage AN LXPLANATION. 53 which it g-enerates. Menacing* to take him by the beard, I cried, ^ You stay where you like, / will go on. Surrog-ee, bring- out the horses." But the surrogee, instead of obeying me, looked for further orders from his superior; who qui- etly said : " Leave them alone ; the beyzade is mad." This quite transported me ; my hand me- chanically rested on my sash — which trifling ac- tion had the effect of disturbing the equanimity of my tormentor, and of restoring mine. He changed his tone, and coming up to me, begged that I would wait till the morning, as he was sickly, and did not like passing the night among strangers He was an old man, and that was enough. Moreover, I could not help esteem- ing what I now saw to be his real motive, a dislike to be with the Russians more than possible. The next morning, having no temptation on the hard floor to be indolent, we were on horse- back betimes, and jogging on, a market-woman's sort of a trot, our heads buried in our capotes, soon reached a wild common, where our reverie was disturbed by four strange looking fellows, on rough horses, with long ragged lances, and uncouth beards, who addressed us in a language 54 COSSACK CAPTAIN. of which I had not any idea — Cossack. Getting no answer, they conducted us to a small village in the middle of the common, where their cap- tain was quartered,, with 100 irregular Cossacks, — disagreeable acquaintances to make on a high road. He was shaved, and therefore more Christian-like than his men. He invited me into his apartment, slighting my companion ; but as I considered Mustapha now under my protection, I took him with me. It was rich to be! old his superlative air of disdain as he threw himself down in one corner and lit his chibouque in the clouds from which he soon shrouded him- self from his hateful hosts. The captain and I could do no more than bow and look interesting at each other ; for though he knew the Rus- sian in addition to his own language, I did not. We telegraphed to no purpose, mutually con- vinced of each other's stupidity. The only two signs iiitelligible to me were, that I could not continue my journey, and an invitation to eat : to the latter I agreed. He produced some salt pork and some vile rum, for breakfast ; in dis- cussing which dainties, we made use of the same knife, the same platter, and the same cup : Mustapha all the time regarding us with holy HIS IGNORANCE. 55 horror^ and deeming us probably as swinish as the swine before us. At length a Bulgarian was found who could talk Russian as well as Turkish, and we com- menced business ; but our path was strewed with difficulties. In the first place the captain was not quite aware that there was a country named England ; and my passport, being hi French, was of no service in supporting my word that there was. There might be, he said ; but — he had heard of France and Germany ; but — he had never heard of England, — that England in whose sway the sun never sets ! Alas my country ! I thought, is it possible that thy name — ^familiar where the Arab wanders, the Indian scalps, the African gambols, the caimibal feasts: — thy fame — rivalling that of Rome and Carthage combined — has not reached the banks of the Don ! Are there individuals iff- norant of that glorious isle — abode of freedom, marvel of history, mother of empires— whose en- sign floats triumphant on every wave, — whose conquests are graven on every shore, — whose language connects distant worlds ! I was never more astonished. The captain, however, con- sented to wave the question of my nationality : 56 EFFECT OF AN UNIFORM. the g-eneral^ lie said^ would be able to read my passport, and that would do^ — but I could not prosecute my journey without being disarmed, as he had strict orders not to permit any stran- ger to enter the lines armed. He added, that my sword and pistols should be forwarded to Selimnia, where they would be delivered to me on my arrival. This arrangement I opposed ; not that I cared about parting with my incum- brances, but I was an English officer; and in explainnig this reason for ray objection, I turned up the cufF of my capote, and showed the buttons of a half uniform, which I wore. All Russian subjects have an instinctive respect, mingled with fear, for uniforms ; nor was my captain an exception. His address instantly increased ten-fold in civility, and lie begged that I would at least allow the Cossacks, who were to escort me to Yeni Saara, the head quar- ters of his general, a few miles off, to carry my arras, instead of sending them to Selimnia. This mode, which he intended as compliraentary, appeared to me infinitely worse, as it would be like conducting rae as a prisoner, not escorting me, and I absolutely refused to agree to it. The captain was exceedingly embarrassed : he mustapha's chaghin. 57 did not like to turn me back ; nor did he like to let me proceed armed, in opposition to his orders. I ventured to assure him that such an order could not apply to Franks, and that I would justify him to his general, who would certainly be displeased on knowing* that any of his officers had deprived me of my sword. He saw the justice of my observation, as well as my obstinacy, and retired to deliberate with his snbalterns. Mustapha, who had been an at- tentive listener to our conversation, now rose. "Very good," he said, " do not give them up." Poor fellow ! he thought that if I kept my arms he should be allowed to retain his, and his spirits greatly revived. In an hour the captain re- turned to us, and said that I might proceed in my own way ; in the interval he had sent de- spatches to Selimnia, and to Yeni Saara, to ac- quaint the respective generals of what had taken place. Now came a scene. Mustapha was peremptorily ordered to give up his arms. " No," he replied, " the beyzade keeps his : I will keep mine." His reasoning was inetlectual ; nor could I intercede in his behalf, though I sincerely felt for him, thus compelled at his age to part with his beloved weapons. It would 58 GENERAL REUCHTEURN be necessary to have worn the same ataghan and the same pistols for twenty years or more — to have slept beside them, to have regarded them daily with pride — to appreciate his an- guish. He drew them slowly from his sash, one after the other, as lingeringly as a mother parting from her babes, and dropped them one by one on the straw palliasse, muttering " dogs !" The unfeeling Cossacks laughed at him. In an hour we reached Yeni Saara. General Reuchteurn was at dinner ; who dared to disturb him? no one that T could find ; on the contrary I was desired to kick my heels in the court till he had done. I did so for about ten minutes ; when calculating the time that might elapse in eating, and in drinking, and in gaming, I put myself in the train of a dish, and gained the room where he v, as at table with a dozen officers. All jumped up at the strange apparition, and stared at my still more strange appearance, in a costume half European, half Asiatic. I ex- plained in a few words, and in another minute found mvself seated at the o^eneral's rio-ht hand, with a plate of excellent soup, Russian patties, and a bottle of French wine before me, — luxuries AND COMPANY. 69 as agreeable as unexpected. My adventure at the outpost amused, and also surprised tliein ; for the Cossacks were not fellows to disobey orders. However, the general said that he was very glad it had so turned out ; adding that the order was only intended to apply to the natives, though no exception had been made in favour of Franks, it not being supposed that any would come in that direction. I put in a good word for Mustapha, who was accordingly desired to make himself at home. But the old geJitleman would not accept of any civilities : he got an assurance that his arms should be restored to him at the outpost, then wished me well and started. The general and his two aids-de-camp spoke French fluently, an accomplishment not possessed by ^.lie rest of ti.e company. lie was pleased with my arrival, in order to gain infor- mation of the affairs of the world, of which he was two months in arrear ; not even a Peters- burgh Gazette, scanty as it is, often reached this sequestered spot; even then it could not give much information. — " Is this account true ?" said an officer to me, afterwards, putting one into my hands, containhig a summary of the victories obtained over the Turks in the cam- 60 Bl'LLETIN-S. paign of 1829. It concluded by stating", that the pasha of Scutari had advanced with his Albanian army to Demotica, by which move- ment he surrounded and put the Russian army in a most critical position, whence it was only extricated by the address of Diebitsch, who compelled the pasha to abandon his advantage and retire. " True General/' I replied ; " why do you ask me ? — you, who were at Adrianople, must know as well as I that the Pasha of Scu- tari never came beyond Philippopolis, one hun- dred miles from Demotica." " So I imagined," he answered; "you see how they impose on the ignorant. This bulletin is already bel'eved throughout Russia^ and will be soon believed in this very army." In the same manner it is certain that half the bulletins were fabricated and credited. Was not General Berthier's his- tory of Napoleon's Syrian campaign (the most flagrant tissue of falsehoods ever published under an honourable name) firmly believed by the whole world, except the English, till sub- sequent memoirs exposed it? The general invited me to spread my carpet in his own room, where was^a stove~a ^luxury introduced by the Russians into all their quar- GOOD FELLOWSHIP. 61 iers, and fully valued by any one who lias been doomed to shiver through the night in a strag- gling, wooden, long - passaged, rattling - win- dowed, no-doored seraglio: and thus, — the general on a sofa, myself on a shake- down of straw beside him, • — w^e became as good com- rades in a few hours as though we had been ac- quainted for years ; to which also, a predispo- sition existed on his part, owing to his admi- ration for the English nation, evinced in the choice of his aids-de-camp, who were both of English extraction. Captain O'Connor, and Cap- tain Levitt. The servants brought us pipes after we had lain down, by way of opiates ; and on awaking in the mornins: the same unmeanino; countenance was peering at me with another long pipe, ready to thrust into my mouth. The general was already arousing himself by a similar ap- pliance. Though I had been sometime in the East, I was not so great an adept at smoking as to relish it so late and so early. The ex- cessive drinkinof of the Russians was likewise trying to my politeness ; but the weather being cold, I stood it pretty well, — the more obli- gatory on me, as we also have a name for hard 62 PECULIARITIES. drinking, a name which is now certainly incor- rect. Their filthy in which Ihey rival the Jews, is a much more peculiar national trait. What I saw in their cantonments is perfectly inde- scribable. General Reuchteurn's establishment was one of the cleanest^, inasmuch as he had a hair brush and a wash-hand basin^ and some towels ; yet he only made use of one room for every thing, — eating and sleeping — having fifty rooms at his disposal^ the state of some of which iiidicated too clearly that his people were above the common decencies of mankind ; not from want of conveniences^ since in that respect the Turks are as sirupulous as we are. The general opened a door to show me a handsome saloon, as he said. He hastily shut it^ ex- claiming, " Disgusting/'—'^ ditto," I. No per- son changed his linen, at least so I judged from appearances, and from the circumstance of being informed, on desiring to ha/e mine washed, that such a thing was out of the ques- tion. This def^ect alone brought the Russians into great disrepute with the Christians of Turkey, who, in the virtue of cleanliness, imi- tate their Mussulman -masters. The general at the same tin.e was a perfect gentleman, with REGIMENT OF LANCERS. 63 a frank and chivalrous character^ that made him adored in the army, and allowed him to discourse with me on the late campaign, with an openness I was little prepared to expect. But then he was not a Russian. He was a native of Courland, brought up with principles of freedom which enabled him to disting-uisli between rational government and military despotism. He mounted me on a fine Arabian^ a present from Mustapha Pasha of Scutari (presents by- the-by wliich were iiksome to the Russian offi- cers^ since they felt obliged to return others equal in value), and we rode to a neighbouring village to review a regiment of Lancers. The horses were recovering from their late star- vation ; but the men bore the impress of the Adrianople fever, and appeared fitter for a hos- pital than for service. The colonel (a native Russian) detained us to dinner. It was a com- plete Russian military one, spread out in the colonel's sleephig-room, which was heated to the temperature of an oven. He, professing to be unwell, reclined on his bed, smoking a meers- chaum ; while we, that is, the general, Captain O'Connor, and myself, sat down to the table ; 64 SINGULAR ATTENDANCE. on which, to do justice to our host's hospitality, was plenty of good things, with variety of wines and spirits. Two officers of the regiment — a captain and lieutenant, waited on us. I was perfectly scandalized, and when one of them came to help me to wine, rose to make room for him at the table. He bowed. The general then requested them to be seated; but as their colonel did not second him, they excused them- selves and remained standing. We returned home in a kibitka drawn by four little Tartar horses, wiiich equipage was the greatest curi- os' ty that I had seen on the Turkish plains, beinor so much at variance with the native arabas. The general seemed to think that our dinner re- quired explanation, aiid (old me that colonels had that kind of power over their officers, without subjection to interference from higher authority; — that formerly, it was quite the thing thus to do honour to a general, however he, if civilized, might dislike it ; but that now it was never seen, except in the case of a rude boor like the Colonel in question. " Fortunately," he added, " few of the superior officers are Russians, therefore the practice is fast dis- appearing. — At my table you see, on the con- VIGILANCE. 65 trary, non-commissioned officers sit down with me." This was a fact, in the case of a young man whose parents had been exiled, and who was in consequence brought up at a mihtary colony. Though debarred from ever getting a commission, his worthy general made his situa- tion as light as possible, and treated him as a gentleman. Our team nearly upset us over a rude bridge without parapets, and indeed kept us rather nervous the whole way, galloping over the roadless plain which encircles Yeni Saara. From its tall belfry, as we drew near, a Bulgarian gave a signal, and instantly two Cossacks dashed out at speed past us towards some persons at a distance, who turned out to be only peasants coming from work. This vigilance was observed in consequence of a rumour, quite unfounded, and purposely set afloat, in order to excuse rigour, that the Mussulmans in the district were preparing for a rising. On alighting at the house, we saw an example of the incorrigible drunkenness of the lower class of Russians, in the person of the Maitre d'Hotel. We had been talking on the subject that morning, in consequence of his having been incapable the preceding evening of VOL. IL F 66 DRUNKENNESS. fulfilling- his duties. " It is no use/ observed the general, "having him licked, he has al- ready received more blows than would suffice to dust a carpet manufactory ; yet he is never sober one twenty -four hours, nor do I think it possible to keep him so : however, let us try, for curiosity ; we will lock every thing up, and leave orders that he is not to go out, nor any one to come to him." — Detto, fatto ; — not- withstanding which we found him stretched in a state of glorious insensibility. " Astonish- ing !" we said ; the General at the same time being half pleased at the truth of his prediction, although totally unable to make out by what miracle he had got the liquor. An hour after- terwards I missed a bottle of cognac from my saddle bags. The next morning, on being ques- tioned, he swore that he had not swallowed a drop, and appealed to the state of the cup- boards, to the sentries, in support of the truth that he had only been in a sound sleep. Of course 1 said not a word about the secret, for fear of the unmerciful drubbing that the fellow w^ould have had. We attended the auction of a deceased colo- nel's effects, among which I remarked twelve FIKLD SPORTS. 67 horses and two carriages. The former, partly Russian, partly Asiatic, sold well, particularly the Russian, as being better qualified for sup- porting fatigue. Russian superior officers (the inferior are wretchedly off) have not great emo- luments in specie, but in attendants and horses they are princely.*' General Reuchteurn's stud consisted of about twenty horses. One day we devoted to sporting : we coursed some hours with four Angora greyhounds, with indifferent success, owing to a fog ; then dis- mounting, proceeded with our guns into the covered country, where, however, notwith- standing the exertions of a party in beating for game, we did not meet with much better luck; there were too many sportsmen about. Shooting was as much a business as an amuse- ment, and parties of soldiers were continually occupied at it to supply the officers' tables. * The most lucrative post in the army is that of colonel, as he clothes and provisions his regiment, often to the detriment of the men. Many flagrant cases I heard from good authority, not worth while mentioning. It is said that the emperor is about, if he can, to abolish this perni- cious system. It is time. Tiie Russian soldier is much to be pitied. F 2 68 A DIFFICULT FORD. there being- little besides game to eat. Scarcely a head of cattle^ or a sheep^ was left in Rou- melia, a fact, which shewed the destitution of that rich country ; that it had little more than sufficient for the ordinary inhabitants^ since a small army eat every thing up in a few months. I would willingly have accepted my host^s invitation to prolong my stay ; military life on a war footing was pleasant to one who had never seen it,, though sufficiently disagreeable to the actors, to judge by their grumbling; but the season was fast advancing, and might render the mountain passes difficult : so therefore, after three days, I pricked over the plain for Selim- nia, twenty miles distant. Tlie swollen state of the Toondja detained us a long time on its right bank searching for a ford, and when we found one all the address of the Cossacks with me was scarcely sufficient to get us safely over, the stream being so rapid that it was necessary for them to plant their lances in the bottom in order to stem it, keeping me above them in one line. The pitch darkness, therefore, when we reached the cluster of hills in which the town is situated, caused us infinite trouble in finding our road ; it made us nearly tumble down one A FLOODED TOWN. OU precipice, stumble up another, and run against sundry walls and trees, till, at last, the Cos- sacks, with all their mole-like qualities, con- fessed themselves puzzled, and dismounted to feel the way with their lances. At length we reached the suburb, where, however, far from ending them, our difficulties multiplied ; the natural streams, running through every street, were increased, by the heavy rain falling, to rivers ; not a light nor a person was to be discerned ; and the din of numerous cascades drowned cur halloes. A sentry or two whom we floundered against could give us no informa- tion regarding the direction of the government- house. '' They are Russians,'^^ muttered the Cossacks. In this manner we wandered up- wards of an hour, without the slightest prospect of gaining a clue to the labyrinth, when we met a Cossack, who instantly put us in the right road. The governor, General Montresor, re- ceived me with singular kindness. Having sent in word, to his request that I would come into his presence, that I was drenched, and would rather shift first, he came out exclaiming, "Whoever heard of a sailor standing on cere- mony — come in, mine is the only warm room 70 AGREEABLE RECEPTION. in the house." I required no pressing; and the officers of his staff shewed^ by their welcome, that the intrusion of a stranger, wet and dirty, was not annoying. Two soldiers laid hold of me per order. In one minute they divested me of my clothing ; it was no use being shy : and in another I found myself wrapped m a fur pelisse, my feet thrust into fur boots, sipping a glass of exquisite tea, for the preparation of which an urn was hissing on the table, and in the discussion of it, mellowed with rum, the party was engaged at my entrance. Such an introduction is worth years of common acquaint- ance, and by the time that tea was replaced by supper we were intimate. To Englishmen the subjects of despotic governments open freely. I have observed it everywhere. They have faith in us; we speak our minds, and the example is contagious ; for frankness is the most conge- nial disposition of the soul, and the more win- ning the rarer it is encountered. Jt is a perfect treat in countries where thought is chained on certain subjects, to hear a man talk as unre- servedly of his own government as of any other. Who has not felt this in passing from Italy into France ? EATING AND DRINKING. 71 My new friends were naturally inquisitive about Constantinople^ and as they were also unacquainted with the events of the busy world during the last three months, my arrival afforded them considerable gratification. We did not leave the supper table till three a. m. I then stretched myself on a heap of carpets by the side of the stove^ never out day or nighty keep- ing the room at the comfortable temperature of 70% and slept till seven^ when cafe mi lait was brought in to aid our waking. At ten we breakfasted a lafourchette, wetting our appetites with raki. Dinner was served at two o'clock, preceded as usual by raki and spiced patties. Tea-punch occupied us from eight till half- past ten^, and then supper closed the labours of the day. I never saw so much eating and drinking, and thought that Russian digestive organs, to be able to undergo such work every day, must be differently constructed from ours. The ignorance of the officers, as I observed above, of every thing passing out of the pale of their cantonments, was not surprising, consider- ing the total want of all means of information in them -, but their questions, relative to their own army, perfectly astonished me. I thought 72 TWO ARTILLERY OFFICERS. they were joking- when Ihey asked me about the strength_, the state of regiments; the exist- ence of officers,, &c. By no means ; kept in per- fect ignorance about subjects on which I, as a traveller, could not avoid being conversant, they knew not in one station of their army what was passing at another, and the death of a general officer would scarcely have transpired ten miles off. The estafettes carried no private letters ; certainly none would be written for the inspec- tion of the Commander-in-Chief. At the cap- ture of Adrianople, 1829, two arlillery officers met, who had served together in the same bat- tery at the battle of Borodino, 1812; each believed that the other had been killed there, till this accidental meeting undeceived them. A slifirht want of an armv list.* * To further shew the mis-information of Russian officers — Count Oiloff, talking of the practicability of taking the castles of the Dardanelles in the rear, told Sir R. Gordon at Pera, ihat, some days after the cessation of hostilities, a foraging- party of Cossacks stormed one of them, and drove the garrison out; but was hastily dislodged by an explo- sion of gunpowder, which killed some of the party. The incorrectaess of ti;is statement is authentic. The same action was, however, related to me by General Montresor, but on a different scene — near Selybiia. He added MARSHAL DIEBITSCH. 73 The opinion that I gathered generally of Diebitsch, making certain allowance for the bias which men always have for a commander who has led them to victory, although by blunder- ing, was not favourable to his military talents. We are apt to look only to results. He was universally blamed for carelessness of the lives of his men, sacrificing tliem in unhealthy en- campments, wearing them by fatiguing reviews and long marches, and not checking the disl.o- nesty of the Commissariat department. These, coming from Russian officers, who are all more or less guilty of neglecting their men, were heavy charges against him. His decision in crossing the Balkans against the opinions of all the generals, they dwelt on with rapture. Yet that, having taken place after hostilities had ceased, the party was punished, pro forma, but rewarded for gallantry with Crosses of St. George. This also was wrong, as 1 can vouch by the warrant)^ of my eyes and ears. That some- thing of the kind took place, is probable ; but where, is uncertain and inconsequential. It shews how little credit should be given to the statement of Russian oliicers, unless they are eyewitnesses of what they relate. Here are two Generals giving opposite reports of the same affair, which, though trifling, was made much of, and cited on every occa- sion as a proof of Russian bravery. 74 MARSHAL DIEBITSCH. this firmness he carried hito things ot* no mo- ment ; it was therefore often injurious : e. g. the day fixed on for the march of the army from Adrianople to its winter quarters was terrible ; cold and wet ; on which the generals of divi- sion waited on the Marshal to know if the movement could not be deferred till the fol- lowing day_, when the storm might cease. " My orders are given/' he replied^ " march !" In consequence, one third of the already exhaust- ed horses were left on the road during the first twenty-four hours. He was very hard with his officers^ not keep- ing liis cane at times from their shoulders, or caring about degrading them to the ranks ; the latter punishment only to be understood by those who know the wretched condition of a Russian soldier. At Adrianople, Prince who had been a major only a month befiDre, was seen carrying a musquet. He was a bon-vivant, often exaggerated into a glutton, and, not a drunkard, but a muddler; propensities, added to a Sancho Panza figure, which rendered a sudden death probable any day. Withal, he had an amiable quality. The emperor, after the peace, sent him a snufF- box, with his MARSHAL DIEIilTSCH. 75 (Diebitsch's) portrait on it. The likeness was flattering ; observing which, he said, " I must send this to my wife, to let her see how the campaign has improved me." "She has no need of it/' said the gentleman who related this anecdote to me, " to think him handsome, for she loves him." He was then at Bourgas ; I did not proceed to it, though I had had the intention, on perceiving that it would not be agreeable. Indeed, the Marshal's dislike of the English was previously known to me, and, had shewn itself at Adrianople by great want of attention towards Lord Dunlo and Major Keppel, who staid there about a month. It was yet further manifested, as 1 shall have occasion to relate. But, independent of his personal attraction, I had no occasion to visit Bourgas, Selimnia being, from its position and superior accommodations, the chi'^f quarters of the army. The number of soldiers in the streets made it exceedingly annoying for an English officer to walk about them. My hand might as well have been tied to my cap. No sooner does a Russian private catch a glimpse of an officer, though a quarter of a mile off, than he draws 76 COSSACKS. up, uiiboiinets_, raining- or snowing, as may be, and remains statue-like till he passes. It was intimated to me that touching my hat was unne- cessary. I understood the hint ; the comparison thereby drawn might have been prejudicial : it proved very advantageous to me, and caused the men to regard me with pleasure. Nearly all the artillery, best part of a Russian army, was at Selimnia ; among which the Cossack brigade was distinguished for neatness and ce- lerity of movement. In everything the Cossacks were superior to the other troops, which could only be accounted for by their energies being unbent by that equalizing machine of mental depression — Russian discipline. Ever fertile in resources — whether exploring roads, cutting off convoys, gaining information, finding water, &c. the army, of which they may be termed the eyes, could not march without them ; and part of the disasters of the campaign of 1828 was ascribed to the experiment, then made for the first time, of giving the outpost duty to the troops of the line — an experiment not repeated. The Staff Corps was there, engaged in reducing p'ans of the country, which were executed in a beautiful style, and with won- FRENCH LANGUAGE. 77 derfiil precision in the details ; as far as a casual observation would allow me to judge, for I was barely permitted to look at them, much less to take down a note. What absurd jealousy ! as if the possession or non-possession of plans can influence an army which is strong enough to invade an enemy's country. Several superior officers were also there, on leave from the differ- ent quarters, and daily crowded the general's table. About a dozen generally sat down, all proper men, and able to speak French. This circumstance may seem too trivial for remark, but in Russia it is a strong sign of a gen leman. Few who are ignorant of it advance. If you see a very old Russian officer in the back ground, be sure he cannot speak French. At Yamboli I had the honour one evening of play- ing at whist with three generals, the senior of whom was very young ; the others, double his age, spoke nothing but Russian, and that I was told was the reason of their ill luck. The dis- tinction, therefore, is more than elegant. Rus- sian military etiquette is well known as gra- duating in its scale all social precedency; the ensign being placed befv)re the greatest noble, if not military, or wearing milifary orders; and 78 MILTTARY ETIQUETTE. a family which suffers three generations to pass without having one of its members in the army, loses caste. A plain English gentleman,, there- fore (may be^ an M.P., with wealth to buy a principality^) may find himself scurvily treated^ out of St. Petersburgh, if he do not assume a military title. In ray case^ General Montresor — but then it must be recollected that he is a Pole — disregarded my rank and gave me the stranger's prerogative — his right hand ; except one day that Major dined with us. Not knowing his importance^ I was surprised to find myself placed according to my rank ; never- theless I eat with as good an appetite^ and found him a very good fellow. After dinner I w^as let into the secret^ by being told^ as an apology, not at all required, that he was one of Marshal Diebitsch's aids-de-camp ; at the same time was further informed that it was not prudent to slight such gentlemen. Among the favoured guests was Captain Po- niatowsky, coushi of the prince of Ister cele- brity, and brother of one of the richest subjects of the emperor ; otherwise, by no means re- markable. Also, another Pole, Captain Wolk Llanevsky, of the Lancers ; a delightful young A POET. 79 nian^ quite a treasure where he was. He had been in the Imperial Guard, and was re- nowned at St. Petersburgh for his good looks, his talents, and a host of et ceteras ; but he marred his prospects on that grand military stage by writing verses on his commanding of- ficer. They created a sensation, were univer- sally read, admired (might have been imitated), and there the effect would have stopped, for General , not to increase the ridicule, wisely inclined to say nothing about them, in hopes that they would be forgotten after a but- terfly progress : but, unfortunately, the satire included his lady,— a Potiphar, who had found a Joseph in the author. To have remained quiet under this would have proved her more or less than woman. She interested the empress in her behalf, who spoke to the emperor ; she incited her patient husband, who then made it a serious affair. Veterans declared that such license, if tolerated, would prove subversive of military discipline ; young officers, who envied Llanevsky his bonnes for tunes , thought he might employ himself more advantageously than in criticising his superiors, i. e. that he would be better in Siberia, and all together induced the 80 A LIBERAL. emperor to mark his displeasure by removing the poet from the guard. Elsewhere this did him no harm. At Selimnia he was feted by all ranks, and was an inmate of the general's house, though not on his staff. He was enthusiastic about Scott and Byron— who is not? "Do not call him Scott/' said he to me one day.— " What then ?"— " Walter Scott ; scot in Rus- sian, means ass."— "Then/' I replied, "you should change your nom dcimP Amiable Llanevsky ! he was sadly ennuied in a Turkish town, without his favourite resources, love and lite- rature ; with few persons to speak to possessed of any ideas beyond army regulations, and so forth. He was the libercd of our set, and gladly took advantage of my presence to in- dulge in the rare topics, freedom and consti- tutions. General Montresor always humoured him ; for he (the general) was a good fellow, though an Ultra-Czarist, defending ukases, con- scription laws, and all the abominations of des- potism. He would not understand the bless- ing cf being an English gentleman. " What are your advantages," he said, one day, " com- pared with mine ? with my general's uniform on, I o^o from one end of Russia to the other, treated PHILOSOPHY. 81 as a prince ; every noble is flattered if I make his house ray home ; every peasant is glad to put his shoulder to my carriage-wheel; every lady is proud of my attentions." — "True/' I replied^ " but the duration of such enjoyments does not depend on yourself. A stroke of the emperor's pen may tear the epaulettes from your shoulders^ subject your back to the cane, send you to Siberia ; on the faith of a vile su- borner^ your name may be branded, your family degraded, your estates given to a courtesan ; — and all without your being able to say a word in your defence." — " Hold ! " he cried ; then, after a pause, " Mais, que voulez vous^ we are brought up in this life, and get used to it: if we have a bright side of a picture to look on, why need we care about the reverse ? " There was philosophy in what he said — and only phi- losophy, for it was easy to discover that his heart belied his lips ; that though he spoke thus before a stranger — through amour propre — ' he thought otherwise. Could he avoid doing so, man of talent and a Pole as he was ! Every class of officers was disgusted with their mili- tary life, which they described to me as unre- mittingly irksome ; leave of absence was out of VOL. II. G 62 CAUSES OF MORTALITY the question. An officer from Finland might be for fifteen years in Bessarabia^ and vice versa. In a general view also^ they talked to me of the army as of an evil of uncommon magnitude ; — too numerous for the population of Russia, and too expensive for her resources, although the expense, proportionately, is scarcely one- twentieth that of an English army. The con- demnation of a million of men to celibacy completely arrests the population of the coun- try. I do not mean to say that Russia has a milUon of men under arms, but the continued conscription necessary to supply the deficiency of about 50,000 men who die annually on the average (leaving the killed out of the question) makes it up. This frightful mortality is not the consequence of any pre-disposition to die, still less, of hard drinking, the Russian soldier having only one shilling and sixpence a-month pay, with rations of bread and salt, but from want of cleanliness, of necessaries, and princi- pally of good food, which renders them unable to support long fatigue ; also from the absence of medical men and medicine, by which shght dis- orders prove fatal. Of the latter defect, the fol- lowing circumstance is a valid proof. General IN A RrssiAN ARMY. "83 Montresor's brother^ a yonng- officer of Lancers, was residing in his house at the tinie I was, on sick leave from his reg-iment at Aidos. He was wasting away from the effects of the Adrianople fever, although it was evide;it that proper treatment would restore him in a few weeks. The General was greatly distressed, he being his only brother, and imparted his un- easiness to me one day, concluding by saying, " There is not a doctor in the army." All in my power to do I did, which was to note down the young man's case, and to offer to lay the same before a medical person at Pera on my return. It was gratefully accepted : but what a state of things ! The army at that time south of the Balkans was 15,000 strong, yet one of its superior generals was obliged to depend on the casualty of a traveller returning to Constanti- nople (an uncertain journey, which might be delayed by accidents), to get a few medicines for his brother.* The penury of the Russian government renders its armies quickly ineffi- * Dr. Capponi, of the Blonde, prescribed for him on my return to Pera. I directly forwarded the necessary medi- cines, and two months after had the satisfaction of knowing- that young Montresor had perfectly recovered. But alas ! G 2 84 DESIGNS OF RUSSIA cieiit in countries not civilized^ where they must depend on their own resources. We have seen how the army that reached Adrianople suffered from the common casualties of heat and rain in a fine temperate climate ; yet there are people who think seriously of a Russian army being capable^ even now, of marching to India. Russia may in time grow to India, and will do so easily, if we allow her to continue extending her Persian frontier ; but at present, if 200,000 men left her frontiers, not 2000 would reach ours. The Russian officers^ with all their boasting of what they had done, and what they could do, treated this as visionary, at least for the next twenty or thirty years. By that time they hoped to have Persia organized, and cultivated, and intersected with roads ; the Per- sians their vassals, and their resources their's : an amalgamation of interests, which will be facilitated by the lukewarmness of the Persians touching religion. The death of the Schah, too, by lighting civil war among his sons, will give Russia a pretext for occupying Persia, in order to place Abbas Mirza, to whom she has gua- his restorer had himself paid the debt of nature — was then merged in the deep Bosphorus. ON PEKSJA. 85 ranteed it, on the musiiud. Will not Abbas Mirza be her humble vassal ? Will she with- draw her troops? They related to me that the Emperor Paul^ when inclined to second Napo- leon in his designs against England^ actually ordered PlatofF to march to India with 50^000 Cossacks. Platoff prepared to obey, as he w ould have done an order to march to a hotter place ; but at the end of three days it got among his men where they were going — to some unknown hot place, at an unknown distance. They accord- ingly mutinied; not agalnsi their leader, but against their destination, and would not proceed a step beyond Astrachan. Platoff finding his authority ineffectual, dispatched a courier to the emperor with the intelligence, and waited with some anxiety fur the answer ; but he was shortly relieved by the arrival of another courier, cry- ing, "Long live Alexander." The madman's death put an end to this mad freak. Before, however, the obstacles of clime and distance, which now screen Hindostan from the basilisk gaze of Russia's ambition, be overcome, and she be enabled to plant military colonies on the right bank of the Indus, let us hope that her greatness will be reduced by the same 86 ABJECT CONDITION instrument which raised it— the army. When we consider how it is raised ; that the conscripts are, in all cases, obliged to be marked, in many instances shackled, to ensure their joining- their regiments, when they bid an eternal farewell to home and happiness ; — that their term of service is twenty-three years (which few sur- vive), during which they exist under the worst of treatment — worse than that which negroes endured when their drivers wielded the lash un- checked by responsibility — we are only sur- prised that the half of it does not commit suicide, not that the whole does not revolt. Hitherto this unnatural state of things has been cemented by the blindest ignorance among the soldiers of their comparative unhappy situation. But it cannot last long. If one spark of intel- ligence fall among them, a flame will burst out unquenchable : it will flee from Kampt- schatka to the Euxine ; illumine the mines of Siberia, dazzle the palaces of Moscow, and end in a terrible explosion, the effect of which must he the destruction of their despots, and so total a disorganization of the state that a century will not suffice to reconsolidate it. As it is, not a \ear passes without there beino- a mutinv in OF RUSSIAN SOLDIERS. 87 some reg-iriient or otlier^ carefully concealed from the rest of the army^, and from the world. Conscription^ in the present state of Con- tinental Europe^ is a necessary evil^ which in France and Germany is modified by its short duration^ by mild discipline, and by the pro- spect held out to soldiers of becoming officers. In Russia no soldier can emerge from the ranks, and every officer has the power of infficting cor- poral chastisement for the slightest misdemea- nour ; as, for example, a cornet's or an ensign^s servant has not dried his master's boots, or cleaned his pipe, he is sent to the town-major to request a beating. The man himself, as I have witnessed, bears the message. The ma- jor accedes, and places him between two Cos- sacks, who lay on with their terrible whips, like flails, ad lihituni. From such treatment the Cossacks, being ruled by their own laws and privileges, are free ; and it is to their exemp- tion from the general discipline of the army that I attribute their beinof ang-els of intelli- gence compared with the soldiers of the line, " not one of whom," observed a general to me, " is worth his salt until he has received 500 88 RUSSIAN DISCIPLINE. coups de baton ; right or wrongs he must have them^ the sooner the better." I could not avoid observing, that this very indiscriminate chastisement might be the cause of his stupi- dity. " Bagatelle/' he replied jokingly ; "these are English ideas : such will not do with us ; we should have rebellion in a week. Sans les coups de baton, they would not stand les coups de fusilP How mortifying to human pride to think_, that a stick can produce the effect of honour and patriotism ! CHAPTER XVII. Kasan Pass — Bach Keuy — Bulg-arians — Kasan — Osman Bazar — Jhumha — Schumla — Prince MadatofF — Greek Priest — Koulevscha — Yeni Bazar — Pasha — Greek Arch- bishop — Osman Bazar — Mountains — Selimnia — Yam- boli — General Timan — The fair Scherifeh — Adrianople — Plague — Grand Vizir — Luleh Boiirgas — Mahraoud Bey — Chorloo — Selybria — Constantinople — Pera. To be taken for a bore in society, and cut, is bad ; to be taken for a boar on the mountains and shot, is worse. News that the latter had taken place in the person of a Russian corporal, was brought to General Montresor the morning of Dec. 30th, 1829, the very morning I had fixed on for crossing the mountains. He care- lessly commented on it, and informed me that the same outrage had been committed several times by Bulgarian banditti. In one case the a^sassui had been taken ; he stated in his 90 COSSACK ESCORT. defence^ that while hunting- he mistook the rust- ling of the leaves made by a man for that of a wild animal, and fired in consequence. It was not an agreeable tale for me ; still less so as the general made no offer of an escort^ and as the case stood I would not ask for one. In fine^ I took leave and started with a Bulgarian sur- rogee for the Kasan pass^ vainly endeavouring to hit upon some reason to account for the ge- neral's carelessness of my life, after the great civility he had shewn to me ; but before reach- ing the mouth of the pass, about three miles from the town, three Cossacks overtook us with a note from him, stating that he had given them orders to escort me as far as Kasan, where they should be reheved by an equal number from the party stationed there, concluding by a compli- ment on the English as travellers. Thus accom- panied, I began to ascend the narrow precipitous path with greater confidence. Well it was that they were with me, otherwise I could not have overcome the natural obstacles of the way, which, being little frequented, was no better than a goat path ; and which were augmented by the snow, lodged on the woods above and around us, being flaked so violently in our DIFFICULT PATH. 91 faces by a high wuid, as nearly to blind us. Presently the headmost Cossack stopped,, and began jargoning with those behind; the cause of which lay in the path before us for about twelve yards, being an inclined plane of ice, made so by the water, oozing out of the high bank, and freezing by contact with the open air till it formed a contiguous slope with the precipice, some hundred feet deep, on our right. To cross this seemed utterly impossible: my feet, I knew, would not keep on it ; nor did it appear probable that the horses, with all the cat-like qualities of theirs, would be cleverer. After a short consultation, the Cossacks dismounted. Two set about picking up the ice with their lances, while the other tore up some sacking and bound the horses' feet with it, by way of rough shoeing; and thus sagaciously prepared, we proceeded cautiously, letting our animals go first, in order to have the first chance of a roll, and supporting ourselves alternately with the lances. It w as nervous work. Soon afterwards we gained the summit of the first ridge, whence we led our horses down a rocky ravine, or more properly speaking leapt from crag to crag, to the small village of Icheri, neur the source of 92 ILL TREATMENT the little Xamptchik. We then climbed another precipitous hill with severe toil^ crossed a se- cond valley^ saddle deep in snow^ requiring the utmost exercise of whip and spur to avoid stick- ing- in^ and two hours after dark succeeded in finding Bach Keuy, a large Bulgarian village, nominally six hours' distance from Selimnia_, but which had cost us ten hours to reach. I alight- ed at the tchorbagi's house, where a comforta- ble room soon restored me to animation, which the sudden decrease of the temperature had nearly suspended. The thermometer in the morn- ing at Selimnia, had marked 28", here it was at 16° ; even my Cossacks said it was cold, and were glad to thaw their icicled mustaches, which, by the by, had a very pretty effect. Till midnight I had to sustain the company of the notables of the place. An Englishman at any time would have been a curiosity to them, and now his visit was doubly gratifying, as they had grief to express, and counsel to ask. Out- side the lines, as I have before observed, the expressions of the Bulgarians against the Rus- sians were strong : here, as in Selimnia, they were bitter, in proportion to the evil they had received for good. Their complaints were OF TrIE BULGARIANS. 93 summed up in a few words. They bad been excited to revolt — deprived of the option of neu- trality, by threats and by assurances tliat the Russians would never leave the country. After having given their all, persons and property, and broken tlieir allegiance to their sovereign, on the faith of such promises, what was the result? They were about to be abandoned by their betrayers, to the just resentment (their own words) of the Osmanleys, to avoid which — unavoidable in their opinion otherwise — they determined to expatriate, to leave their sub- stantial dwellings and fertile fields, for poverty in a stranofe land. I endeavoured to dissuade them from this ruinous step, by pointing out the treatment they would experience in Russia, of which however the state of her army had given them prescience, and by assuring them that the Sultan, in virtue of one of the articles of the peace, had issued a strong firmau to the autho- rities, granting them an entire amnesty. This they could not believe possible. " The Sultan must punish us," they said, " for our revolt. He cannot help it: his religion will oblige him. We have joined liis enemies, we have plundered and killed Mussulmans— can we expect pardon? No 94 THE BALKANS. our only safety is in flight; and though grievous the sacrifice^ we must quit our beloved hills in the train of the Russian army." Knowing full well what their condition would be under the protection of a Russian army ; knowing also that their fears of Ottoman vengeance were groundless^ their cause being the cause of the ambassadors at Pera, I did all in my power to dissuade them from this step ; but in this visit my rhetoric was vain. They were all armed : by way of experiment^ I alluded to it — to their position^ and proposed that rather than fly to certain misery they should^ if the Sultan broke his promise, strike for independence. They shrunk at the idea: the hands used to the plough tremble in grasping the sword ; and had one Osmanley entered the room^ the six Bulgarians present would have saluted him submissively. With a little courage on the part of the mountaineers, a Bulgarian confederacy might have been formed at that period with ease. The Balkans, Switzerland in miniature, have impregnable points ; the valleys are fer- tile, well cultivated, and watered by numerous streams, and the towns and villages teem with a robust population. To the north, Walachia is FLOURISHING TOWN'S. 95 independent of the Porte ; the Albanians may be considered apart ; and to the south, the Cliris- tians are as numerous as the Mussulmans, who, otherwise, would not be eager to assist their unpopular Sultan in a second domestic war. The natural peaceable disposition of the Bul- garians prevented them from seeing their ad- vantages. Hitherto they had lived tranquil, and never till 1829 formed one of the jarring elements of the Ottoman empire. Hence their superior condition, visible in their flourishing towns and abundant fields ; witness Ternova, Gabrowa, Rasgrad, Selimnia, Yamboli, Aidos, &CC., all thickly j eopled, wealthy, and possess- ing manufactories of cloths. They have never had much to do with the Osmanleys, and have been quite free from the intrigues of the Greeks; hence the reason why I could not hear in any place of a Bulgarian having been executed. The circumstance was time out of mind. They may be said to have colonized Roumelia, having extended over the plain to 40 miles south of Adrianople, and taken up the agricultural pur- suits abandoned by the Greeks, who, sharper witted, with more pliable spirits, soon perceived how much more was to be gained in the cities 96 FINE WOMEN. by administering' to the wants of their luxuri- ous masters. Without the Bulgarians, Rou- melia would by this time be quite a desert. The Bulgarian is handsome^ robust, patient, stubborn, and very jealous; with primitive man- ners. The stranger who puts up for the night in a cottage, has the best of every thing, and sleeps on the same floor with father and mother, sons and daughters. The women are tall and beautiful — the finest race that I saw in Turkey — with peculiarly small hands and feet. Their costume is elegant, consisting of a striped ^hift, which covers with- out concealing the bust, fastened round the throat with a heavy gold or silver clasp; a short worked petticoat, and an embroidered pelisse, d la Poloiiai e, confined by a broad ornamental girdle. Their hair is dressed in long braids, and their wrists and waists adorned with solid bracelets and buckles; the poorest have them. Yet these nymphs of the Balkans are household slaves, and are to be seen in the severest wea- ther drawing water at the fountains. No peasantry in the whole world are so well off. The lowest Bulgarian has abundance of every thing; meat, poultry, eggs, milk, rice. RURAL PLENTY. 97 cheese, wine, bread, good clothing, and a warm dwelling, and a horse to ride. It is true he has no newspaper to inflame his passions, nor a knife and fork to eat with, nor a bedstead to lie on, and therefore may be considered by some people an object of pity. A pasha, at any rate, is equally unhappy. Where, then, it may be asked, viewing the above true state- ment, is the tyranny under which the Christian subjects of the Porte are generally supposed to groan? Not among the Bulgarians certainly. I wish that in every country a traveller could pass from one end to the other, and find a good supper and a warm fire in every cottage, as he can in European Turkey, — the result of its being thinly inhabited. For in the same ratio as population adds to a nation's greatness, it subtracts froui its happiness. The soil, when over-occupied, fattens on man ; when under- tenanted, man fattens on the soil : that is, in the former case unremitting labour is requisite to make it yield barely sufficient for the sustenance of numbers; in the latter case, nature requires very little aid to afford plenty for the few. The principal grievance of the Christian peasant in Turkey is the harratch ; oftentimes he can- VOL. II. H 98 ADVANTAGES OF not pay it. What can the collector do ? It is useless distraining his cattle^ for on the plain are others wild. It is useless taking his furni- ture, for there is no vent for it. It is useless ejecting him, for no other occupier will be found for his tenement, every man having al- ready more land than he requires in a country without trade to consume the overplus of his produce. It is still more useless putting him in prison, for money is never gained there. He gives him the bastinado, or not, according as he believes that the man's poverty in specie is real or feigned. A few dozen blows decides the doubt, and he is undisturbed for another year. I venture to say that many a free-born man, who boasts of liberal sentiments, of chartered rights, of equal laws, would gladly compound for his rent with a licking, and, instead of grumbling at his fate, bless heaven that he is not turned out on the high road with his family. At the same time, 1 do not deny that the lower classes in Turkey often suffer grievous oppression under a rascally pasha or aga : but, take their posi- tion in the worst view, distorted by the film of slavery, they never see the most ruthless of tyrants— hunger. Their despots, though armed THE LOWER CLASSES. 99 with whips^ and screws^ and racks_, cannot inflict any torture equal to the pang of a father who hears his children crying for bread, and crying in vain. They nev^er feel this. Their rulers cannot check the fertility of nature ; — cannot prevent the beasts of the field from multiplying ; the trees of the forest from sprouting ; nor the seed thrown on the ground from springing into ear. They may have the mortification of seeing many of their children die when young for want of medical aid ; but they are certain that those who grow up will not be reduced to follow the career of vice — the sons on the highway, the daughters on the pave — for subsistence. They are not tantahzed by the constant sight of en- joyments beyond their reach ; are not tempted by easy modes of conveyance to leave their quiet villages for the fancied pleasures of the capital ; are not made discontented, by reading, with the state of life wherein destiny cast them; and, to sum up the advantages which the poor have in such (barbarous !) countries, it is worthy of remark, that the punishment of death rarelv falls on them. For one poor man who loses his head in Turkey, one hundred rich men lose theirs. How contrary to the practice of highly H 2 100 COMMERCE. civilized states — elysiums for the wealthy, pur- gatories for the indigent — where the hungry and the naked — wretches whose greatest crime was want — are the principal offerings at the shrine of Justice. Far be it from me to decry civilization and commerce. He would indeed be an un- worthy Englishman who under-valued the levers which have raised his country to an unexampled pitch of greatness ; but at the same time v^^e cannot blind ourselves to the fact_, that they cause evil to a great proportion of mankind ; — by creating a thousand fictitious wants^ which beget crimes^ which build prisons and raise scaffolds ; — by unequally distributing wealth, to the great deterioration of social happiness ; — by drawnig away the productions of countries^ in- tended by nature for the support of the natives^ to pamper strangers : vide_, for example, the droves of cattle, sheep, and pigs ; the cargoes of oatmeal, eggs, and flour, daily wheeled from the shores of Erin, while her sons are starving. Without the active agency of commerce, they must remain where they were produced, and per force be eaten there. To resume my tour. — I quitted Bachkeuy early in the morning. From the eminence AN ACCIDENT. lOl above it we looked down into a singular valley, bound in by four steep mountains, whicli in- closed a flat oval area (a coloseum fit to exhibit mammoths in), and in two hours reached Kasan, a town with 5000 inhabitants, beautifully si- tuated in an elevated valley watered by the Kamptchick. Having breakfasted with the tchorbagi, I continued my journey, escorted by three irregular Cossacks, instead of the three regular ones who came with nie from Selimnia. The apparent difference of the two classes is in the beards of the former, which, joined to their wool caps and rough horses, give them disagreeable looks. A rough exterior, however, is no criterion. They were very at- tentive in smoothing the difficulties of the route, which were not few, though their skill could not save ns from a serious accident on an Alpine bridge : our surrogee's horse put his foot into a hole concealed by snow, and precipitated him, fortunately not into the ravine. He escaped with a slight contusion, but the animal was so lamed that we were obliged to leave it. I would fain have had it shot ; but the surrogee covering it with cloths, and making a barrier of snow against the wind, expressed a hope that 102 ENGLISH NEEDLES. it might outlive the night. In fine^ after having lost our way several times^ and almost puzzled my argus-eyed attendants, we reached Osman- bazar^ a Turkish village^ containing 2500 inha- bitants, at the north foot of the mountains. As it was very late, I esteemed myself fortunate in getting a warm room at the khan^ and a good supper, in the course of which the khandgi shewed me some English needles, and asked if they were dear at seven paras (three farthings) each. Considering the place, I thought that cheap. Throughout the country English cut- lery is prized ; a traveller. cannot make a more agreeable present, in a small way, than a pocket knife, or a pair of scissors, even to a great man. The Turkish authorities here recommenced; in consequence my Cossacks left me in the morn- ing to continue my road with the " Faithful." Schumla was ten hours' distance, about forty miles. The first three miles our road lay through a forest : then entering a mountainous tract, we pursued, for three miles further, a defile of a tremendous description. The height and prox- imity of the mountains, which seemed nearly to unite above our heads, obscured the day-light. A SOCIABLE A VAN. 103 and a torrent clashed along- under our feet^ at times covering the entire path_, greatly to the annoyance of a number of soldiers toiling through it on their return from Schumla. The severity of the weather — the thermome- ter at IS""^ with a piercing easter in my teeth — compelled me to stop at Jhumha^ a Turkish •village of 3000 inhabitants^ having only tra- velled about four hours. The Ayan^ at whose house I alighted, welcomed me with great civi- lity^ and in order to thaw my blood plied me with coffee,, which is an excellent expedient, far better than spirits. His three sons were with him — fine lads, between fifteen and twenty, all wearing the turban, a sign that the Sultanas reform had not extended thus far : they were seated. I mention this circumstance as being the only time that I ever saw a son in Turkey sit in the presence of his father ; yet, a distinc- tion was observed ; they were not smoking. He assig-ned me the best Christian house in the vil- lage for quarters — a very good one it was — and in the evening came to sup with me for the sake of drinking ; nor did his presence at all disturb my host, who appeared to be on perfectly good terms with him. In most of these villages great 104 VIEW OF ^CHUMLA. harmony subsists between the Mussulmans and the Christians^ particularly the Bulgarians. My next day's road lay over plains at the foot of the mountains, passing signs of Russian occupation ; that is, ruined villages. Towards noon we turned into the dark pile of hills where Schumla is embosomed, and pursued a dangerous path, from precipice to precipice, from defile to defile, for nearly two hours. A deep ravine then opened before us : five redoubts on the opposite bank, pierced for five, fifteen, fifteen, six, five guns, respectively, flanked this only pass to Schumla from the west ; a narrow path, admitting one at a time. From the redoubt we had, as it were, an aeronautical view of the city, covering the surface of an elliptical valley, shooting out suburbs towards the plain, and up the slopes of the hills, checkered on one side by a large cemetery, by lines and redoubts on the others, and thickly studded with mina- rets, the chief ornaments of Mussulman cities. Having wound, or rather slid down the interior of its semicircular mountauious barrier, I en- tered it with that pleasurable feeling always experienced at finding ourselves, for the first time, in a celebrated place. GOOD FELLOWSHIP. 101 Where can one go without meeting English- men? The Ayan informed me, on saluting him, that two of my compatriots were in the town. I soon found them out, — Captain Ches- ney, R. A., and Mr. Peach, jun., come from Bucharest the day previous. The former I had met some time before at Constantinople ; but whether or no, it would not have required pre- vious acquaintance to be introduced, for in such places countrymen when they meet, though for the first time, are the best of friends ; even Franks of different countries hail each other's presence with joy. Would that this freema- sonry were extended to travellers in civilized Europe ! In a steam-boat, or a diligence, or at a table d'hote, the two greatest strangers are usually Englishmen. We rode together the next day over the works. Schumla, it is needless to repeat, is situated in a cluster of hills, not unaptly com- pared to a horse-shoe, forming an elbow with the line of the Balkans. It fronts in an e. s. e. direction. A ruoof-ed ravine intersects it lono^i- tudinally, and carries the water from mountain torrents far into the plain. A fortified breast- work, with a double ditch, crosses that at right 106 REDOUBTS. angles^ and embraces the whole front by con- aectmg the horns of the shoe. Thence the plani has a slight inclination towards the Kou- levscha hills, very unequal, broken into ravines, and covered with low eminences^ which the Governor, Husseyin, crowned with redoubts to the number of ten. Farther on, the Russians threw up as many in opposition. Some sharp encounters took place in them, on either side, during the war ; the principal one of which, viz. a sortie made by Halil Pasha, August 1828, with a numerous force, against the largest of the enemy's redoubts, commanded by Major General de Wrede, completely succeeded. The whole garrison was put to the sword ; with it the General, — " victim," said the Russian bul- letin, " of his own negligence in defending the post entrusted to him." The assailants were driven out of it in the morning, but not before they had removed six guns and all the ammuni- tion. The strength of Gazi (victorious) Schumla, as the Osmanleys now call it, consisted entirely in its redoubts, as well on the heights to the east and west, as on the plain ; altogether mounting 200 pieces of cannon, — a sufficient number, when backed by 30 or 40,000 men, to keep off any DELHIS. 107 army. But when I got there, not a single can- non remained ; the Russians having, most un- justifiably, caused it to be entirely dismantled. In addition to its military importance, Schumla is one of the principal cities of European Turkey, certainly the most orthodox, on account of its numerical strength in Mussulmans. The popu- lation is about 40,000 ; of which 5000 are Bui- garians, 1000 between Jews and Armenians, the remainder are "Faithful." Every tenth man we met wore a green turban, which shewed that the descendants of the Prophet, though as abandoned a race as any in Turkey, were for- ward in rallying round his standard. Their proud bearing was gratifying to behold after the baseness we had been used to elsewhere. A corp of DelJris particularly attracted our ad- miration. Some of them were deeply scarred, and shouted at us once or twice, as if wishing revenge, " Hayde Moscof," (be off, Russians). A shout in answer that we were English, was enough to insure us instead a welcome expres- sion, since we are well liked by all the Turks, and better known by them than by the Cos- sacks, to judge by my friends near Yeni Saara. Nothing Russian was tolerated in this focus of 108 PRINCE MADATOFF. ancient Mussulman feelings; scarcely the re- mains of Lieutenant-General Prince Madatoff, (buried near the Greek church of the Virgin), who died the same day that the news of the peace arrived^ of wounds received a month pre- vious at the attack of the long redoubt^ an enter- prize, on the part of the Russians, which failed. The Grand Vizir to his credit attended the funeral with his troops, and gave the corpse military honours ; but it was found necessary to place a sentry over the tomb, to preserve it from violation ; a very singular circumstance, and expressive of deep feeling, for Mussulmans are scrupulously respectful of the sanctuaries of the dead, of whatever sect. The Mussulmans of this part of the country are a hardy, robust race. V^e saw the pea- sants who brought in wood from the country, sleeping at night in the streets, with their cattle, round fires, intensely cold as it was ; and the chief amusement of the boys of all ranks consisted in sliding on little sledges dow^n the steep streets, made by the frost, des montagnes Russes, a very dangerous exercise, but indica- tive of good blood in its votaries. A parcel of these young urchins, coming out of school one ORIENTAL CHRISTMAS. 109 day at noon^ pelted me with snowballs. The ayan, who was passhig at a little distance,, saw the lark, and ordered his chavasses to chastise them. Of course I interfered^ taking it as a joke. " Not so^ " he said ; " you are our guest ; in your country I am sure that the boys would not treat me so." I did not dissent, but thought of what might happen, if he were to pass by the Westminster, or the Harrow boys, in snowball time, with his beard and full costume. We joined in the festivities of the Oriental Christmas, January 6th, n. s. The Christians were in great glee. After forty days' fast, a feast is not amiss, and fasting in the Greek religion is literal. I dined with my countrymen, who were quartered on a priest ; my quarters w ere at a respectable Bulgarian's at the other end of the city. We also made a merry day of it, substituting it for our own Christmas, which had passed unkept. While sipping tea-punch in the evening, a beverage which we had learned to relish among the Russians, who take it to excess, the priest (master of the house) re-en- tered. He had been deeply and gaily drink- ing in our company a short time before, — a sufficient quantity we thought to lay him up no RUDE CONDUCT for the niglit. A lowering in his dark eyes, as he took his stand against a clothes-press, fore- boded a storm, for he was a passionate man. His long dishevelled hah% and disordered gar- ments, added wikhiess to his appearance. Pre- sently in a loud voice he ordered us to turn out in the street, bed and baggage ; he would not have his house tainted by pezaveng Franks. Had it been in the summer the proposal would not have been so preposterous ; but the snow, already two feet deep, was faUing, freezing as it fell. Seeing that we made no movement to obey him, he seized the mangal and threw the contents over us ; which malicious mad trick might not only have burnt us, but have easily set fire to his wooden house (a patent way of ejecting us certainly). Gathering up the em- bers, we still remained quiet, hoping that this vent had exhausted him. Not so : after heaping more dirt on us (abusing us), he endeavoured to possess himself of one of the pistols of the party. This was carrying the joke rather too far ; so, fearing that something serious might happen when off our guard, if we let him longer alone, we resolved on turning him out, at the same time reluctant to lay violent hands on one OF A PRIEST. Ill of his calling. In the struggle he was as strong as a lion; bit^ kicked^ and scratched. However, we succeeded without doing him any injury, and tied him with a sash to one of the posts that supported the verandah. We then returned to our punch, much astonished at his conduct, after the uniform kindness he had received from niy friends, since they had been his tenants, and left him to holloa, which he did lustily, and blas- pheme, for half an hour, when, becoming tired, as well as sober, he changed his tone and beg- ged submissively to be cast loose, promising good behaviour. We acceded — gr^eca fede ! He went out, and presently returned with the Turk- ish guard, charging us with wishing to kill him. Its arrival could do us no harm, was amusing as a novelty, might be compared to Christmas men ; but we were sorry on account of the priest, who had thus unwittingly brought a mis- fortune on his own head. Had he not been blinded by passion, he would rationally have re- flected that Franks with firmans, whether right or wrong, would be found to have reason on their side, even were their opponent a Mussul- man, much less a Raya. However, our con- sciences were clear, we having been the aggres- 112 CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD. sed party, and having-, moreover, acted with for- bearance. The captahi of the guard was a par- ticularly gentlemanly man, who combined plea- sure with duty. Having mildly rebuked our accuser for his want of hospitality towards stran- gers (a grave offence in a Mussulman's eyes), he sat down to smoke a pipe with us, and told us all he knew about the war ; not that his informa- tion was very valuable, though a fair specimen of what one generally gets from an Osmanley. Conversing on the sanguinary affair at ouzoim tabia (long redoubt), we asked him how many men were in it? "A million," he replied ; but finding that did not suit us, added, "there might be a thousand or there might be a million, we never keep account; but depend on it there was a world " — a favourite Turkish expression for a great, though indefinite, number. After a couple of hours, he departed with his posse, saying that the affair must go before higher authority, as it related to firmanleys (bearers of firmans). He could not arrange it. The next day the pasha chiaja took cogni- zance of it. He expressed high indignation that the priest should treat guests in so unwor- thy a manner, and proposed taking him before PUMSiiMKNTS. 113 the pasha, that his head might be struck off. Considering the pasha's noted cruelty, such a result might easily have taken place ; but this was not Captain Chesney's (chief prosecutor) intention. "Then," said the chiaja, "on my own authority I will order him 500 strokes on the soles of the feet." Chesney still interposed, and said that he considered a reprimand would be sufficient. The whole divan smiled at this. ^' Shall it be whispered at Constantinople," con- tinued the chiaja, " that our Sultan's friends were ill-treated in our government without satisfaction ? Ma-as Allah I " It was finally set- tled that the priest should have a moderate bastinadoing at the expiration of the Christmas holidays, and pay a fine. To get him off this seemed impossible. The same day. Captain Chesney and Mr. Peach started for Varna, leaving in my hands the priest's cause, which, as delay was granted, was not lost. I know that some writers recom- mend travellers in these countries never to interfere with the Turkish authorities to reduce the punishment of any one of whom they have cause to complain, because the motive is al- ways misunderstood. To the reason 1 agree : VOL. II. I ] 14 ITALIAN DOCTORS. I would also in the advice^ were punishment meted according to the offence. But it depends on the passions of irresponsible officers, on the good or ill humour they may happen to be in^ or the quantity of money to be extracted. Few people would wish a poor devil to have his toes nearly beat off for a trifling insult ; the less to be heeded on account of the ignorance that dictates it. On the outskirts of the city were the ruins of a large powder magazine, which exploded one week before my arrival, by the carelessness of the guards smoking in it : numbers were killed. In the city, miserably lodged, I found two Ita- lian doctors — Sig. Bello and Sig. , who had been engaged by the Yizir at the commence- ment of the war, and had been there the whole of the campaign ; of which, however, they could give me no correct details, not having troubled their heads about it. They informed me that they had little to do in the way of their profes- sion, notwithstanding that Schumla contained two hospitals for the soldiers — to die in. The insuperable repugnance of the Turks — who prefer death to the loss of a limb — to be ope- rated on, kept their instruments from being FIXE GREYHOUND. 115 soiled ; and tliey had no medicines for the prac- tice of the other branch of their art. Unable, therefore^ to be of much service to their em- ployers, they frankly owned that their position, thoug-h unenviable — the usual one of Franks in the Turkish service, the hopes held out to them soon proving false — could not be complain- ed of; nor their slender, ill-paid salaries be con- sidered an inadequate return for their services. Sig". Bello had the finest greyhound I ever saw, of the Macedonian breed. It had belonged to a Bey, who had been killed in a skirmish on the plain, and became the doctor's property by his chancing to meet the animal while returning disconsolate from the field of battle ; he caressed it, and took it home with him. I rode to Koulevscha, the scene of the battle, June the 11th, 1829, between the Grand Vizir and Diebitsch. Of the village not a stone was standing. In lieu of it were two large mounds of earth, deposits of the Russian slain, and a mul- titude of new grave stones, decent memorials of the Turks who fell that day. The respect of Mussulmans for their dead is very pleasing. Near every redoubt on the plain of Schumla, where an affair had taken place, we saw a clus- i 2 116 DEVASTATION. ter of head-stones. From those mementos of fame I proceeded to Yeni Bazar, a place four hours in a direct line from Schumla, where the Ayan had told me I should find quarters if out late. To my inconvenience, war had been there before me ; it was a mass of ruins, without even a dog to bark at a stranger. I therefore retraced my steps by moonlight over the field of battle. In some mud cabins hard by Yeni Bazar, an advanced post of Cossacks was lodged, in great distress for want of necessaries, which they were obliged to draw from Varna, two days' distance. All Bulgaria, they informed me, was in the same state, not a house stand- ing, thus confirming what a Russian officer had before told me : "The Turks did some damage, but we levelled all." The reason of their wan- ton destruction is difficult to understand, espe- cially among people whom they were pleased to call co-religionists, allies, 8cc., but whom they treated worse than serfs. Pravodi, for ex- ample, a Christian place, they levelled to the ground. The adage, "Where the Spahis' hoofs tread, the grass will not grow," may be applied with more reason to the Cossacks. This discouraging account, however, of Bui- EiAlBAiiliAb^MEiNT. 117 garia did not restrain nie^ according to my original intention of crossing tlie Balkans in the track of the Russian army^ from demand- ing horses of the ayan for that journey. The ayan — he was a good fellow — told me, with many expressions of regret at being unable to serve an Englishman, that it was out of his power to grant them through the Russian lines. He referred me to the pasha. The reference was not promising. The chiaja, to whom I then addressed myself, repeated the ayan's tale, but oifered to take my firman to the pasha, and hear what he would say. There was my weak point, and knowing Suleymai/s charac- teristic hatred of Franks, I feared some embar rassment should he read it ; trusting, however, that on seeing the toura (royal stamp) he would conclude that the contents were satisfactorv, and so spare himself the trouble of deciphering its tortuous characters. No such luck. The chiaja presently returned with a short answer, that not only could I have no horses in the di- rection 1 was going, but that I had no claim to have horses at all. On this, finding 1 had made a mistake, I sent in my compliments to the pasha, and begged to see him, thinking to be 118 PASHA S DIVAN. able to explain away the informality. After some delay, a capidgi ushered me into the audience hall, in one corner of which, on the divan, a stout man about fifty, with twinkhng grey eyes, reclined, robed in furs. Some scribes and pages were near him, and twenty or thirty armed attendants occupied the lower part of the hall. I made my salaam, and inquired after his Excellency's health, which, to judge from his rubicund visage, was fortified with forbidden potions. " Otour^ hakalum,''^ was the reply ; which means, ^sit down and let us see your business.' Pipes and coffee were brought. ^ What do you want ? My chiaja has told you that there are no horses." " Precisely what I require ; to proceed to Bourgas." " What are you doing here ? " " Curiosity brought me." " By what right ? '* "The right of an Englishman travelling under the Sultan's protection." He twirled his moustaches, and took a long whiff. " Schumla is not written in your firman." CONVERSATION. 119 " The want of the name is a mistake. In my EngUsh firman (passport) it is written." "I know nothing of your English firman; the Sultan's is my law. You have no business in Sehuaila. I shall tlierefore give you horses to-morrow mornings and a guard to conduct you, by the way of Ternova, to Adrianople." That was not my intention ; but seeing that the pasha was wroth^ I, too, made a dense cloud before replying, and then said : " My being here is in consequence of the good intel- ligence existing between our governments. I am not a suspicious person : I am not a Rus- sian (as he thought I was) ; my conduct is open to observation. I thank you for your offer of horses to Ternova^ but decline it^ as I intend leaving Schumla in the opposite direction. I hope you will furnish me with the means of so doing. I consider myself under your pro- tection." "Allah Kierim ! I have nothing to do with you : you have no firman for Schumla ; there- fore_, I repeat, to-morrow morning, I shall send you away with a guard." "I trust your Excellency will not use force, for with my own consent I shall not go." He did not reply for some moments, but 1"20 A SCRAPE. smoked deeper ; then repeated his words, and finished by saying " Dedim" (I have spoken) : "you shall not stay at Schumla." This provoking language made me forget myself. Any one who knows the contemptuous force of "dedim/' in a Turk's mouth, will under- stand me. " If then," I exclaimed, "that is of no service," taking my firman from my pocket, and throwing it carelessly before me, " I will write to Constantinople for one that may be ; I will wait here till it arrives." Had a thunder- bolt fallen in the room, it would not have made a much greater sensation than did this trivial (in appearance) action. The pasha laid down his chibouque, his eyes sparkling with fury, and his numerous followers raised themselves from their reverential attitude with a start that made their arms ring. An infidel thus treat the Sultan's firman, in the pasha^'s presence too ! the whole peril of my situation instantly rushed upon me ; but I knew enough of the Turkish character to guide me. I remained as if totallv unconcerned, as if unaware of havino* committed even a breach of etiquette, though the minute whicli elapsed in dead silence ap- peared an age ; nor could 1 help glancing for the slight sign of the hand that was to doom AN ALLUSION. 121 my neck to the ataghan, or my feet to the bas- tinade. At length Suleyman^ smothering his anger, motioned to an attendant, who picked up the firman and gave it me I again breath- ed, and to his reiteration that I should go the next morning to Ternova, said, "Am I to con- sider myself a prisoner ; I, an Englishman, whose sovereign is the ally of your sovereign?" " IVo;" he replied, after a pause, " you may go when and where you please: recollect, however, that I give you no assistance If brigands kill you, it is not my fault. I have offered you horses one way ; you know best." His allusion to brigands was not to be misunderstood. I had nothing more to say, so took my leave, but did not feel my head quite steady till the files of attendants, collected in the gallery to see the audacious stranger pass, were out of sight. 1 was exceedingly out of humour, as may be supposed, both with the pasha and myself; and that, — instead of gaining wisdom from my narrow escape on other subjects, — made me add folly to folly by way of being revenged on him, or on fate, the same thing — one error in this life is ever the stepping stone to another. I prosecuted a delicate adventure which, if dis- 122 CAUTION TO TRAVELLER?. covered^ would have given Suleyman a legal claim to my life^ vi'hich be certainly would not have neglected^ denying me the privilege of the usual saving clause on such denouements^ had I been inclined to profit by it. I endeavoured also to get some one to let or sell me horses, that I might go my own way in despite of the pasha, trusting to get a Cossack escort. His fiat however was known, and I might as well have tried to have made horses as to hire them. This bother was occasioned by the negligence of the dragoman at Pera, in not seeing that my firman was properly worded. Travellers cannot be too particular in that respect ; for though the Turkish authorities are usually very civil to Franks, seldom looking at their firmans, an animal like Suleyman sometimes occurs ; and having the power, may exercise it, of sending one back some hundreds of miles. From Bag- dad it would not be agreeable. On visiting the Greek Archbishop, I was glad to find that my further intercession with the chiaja had saved the priest. " It is fortunate," he said to me, " that the pasha knew nothing of the affair, or he would have brought evil on his head." He then observed, that he was DISCONTENT OF A GREEK. 123 aware that our delicacy prevented us from horse- whipping him, but that we ought to have done it_, since a priest who gets drunk was not enti- tled to regard. Alas ! in that case few of the Greek clergy would escape the bastinado. The archbishop was a native of Myconi, which is- land he had quitted twenty-five years previous. As was to be expected^ he amused me with a violent tirade against the Turks— his own silken- robed person, and his well-furnished house was a silent reply — and expatiated on the happi- ness of living with even 7iotlimg in independent Greece. He treated these two subjects so af- fectingly and eloquently, that 1 really felt for him, and settled in my mind the means of re- moving him from slavery to freedom ; not recol- lecting at the moment that any man in Turkey has full power of locomotion, there being no police or sanatory regulations to interrupt him. "If," I began, "you will consent to abandon your flock, I can get you to Greece with ease." "How?" " You will dress as a Frank, and pass off as my secretary or my dragoman — the thing is easy." " I do not think so." 124 VALUATION OF LIBERTY. "You must cut off* your beard, in order to effect a disguise." " My beard !" stroking it with as much aff'ec- tion as though he were a mollah. " A bishop without a beard ! — scaiidah" "With one, you will be discovered." " Then I will remain." He said this with a sigh, that seemed to say, " any sacrifice rather this," and knowing that the Greek values that patriarchal appendage nearly as much as the Osmanley, 1 thought it would be too harsh to insist on ; the more so, as we might hide it by means of a high cravat. This difficulty being thus put aside, I proposed that we should start the next day but one. He did not appear eager, but said, " You will take my money with us." " Certainly. Is there much ?" " A good sum," " Have it then reaiy packed." " You will also take my furniture ?" " Furniture ! What do you mean ? " " My bed, my chests, my tables, my sofas, my all." "You are joking: there is enough to load twenty horses." CLEVER T; RIC. 1-^5 "Tluuik God, tliere is." " It is impossible to take it. Tn tlie fir9apev \povo Kaivoiroui /jiavovifX 224 LIBERAL-MINDED SULTAN. It was SO much damaged by the great fire of 1779, that to prevent it from falUng asmider, it was fomid necessary to bind the shaft with eight rings of iron ; and, more especially to preserve it from damage by a shnilar cause, the sultan ordered the lower part to be fortified with a strong work of masonry, and prohibited houses from abutting against it. The rings and the stone work have a bad effect ; at the same time our gratitude is due to Selim III. for having preserved so interesting a monument. It is called by the natives the burnt column. Not far from it on the same elevation is the EsKi Saray, a large walled space containing a palace in w hich Mahomet II. resided before the g-reat seraoflio was built. It then was appropriated for the re- ception of the women of the deceased sultan, and of the old maids, who are now superseded by a regiment of the Nizam Dgeditt. In the middle of it rises a lofty, ill-formed, white co- lumn 100 feet high, with a spiral staircase lead- ing to the sununit, around which is a gallery. It is named the Seraskier's tower, since that officer, in his capacity of Governor of the city, stations himself on it to observe the progress of insurrections, or of incendiarism. PICTY. 225 Tlie stranger turns it to a inor^ agreeable pur- pose ; he surveys from it a panorama that words cannot describe. The aqueduct of Valens, the seven towers^ Saint Sophia, the seraglio's domes, the Propontis, — circlet of beauty studJeJ with ocean gems, — Mount Olympus, the gloomy grand cemetery, the wide flowing Bosphoru s, the golden horn, covered with caiques gliding like silver fish, are a few only of the features beneath him. Long may he look before being able to trace any plan in the dense mass of habitations that cover the hills, and fill the valleys, so thickly planted, and so widely spread, that the countless mosques, and public baths, and numerous khans, besides the charsheys (of a moderate city's dimensions), are scarcely noticed for the space they occupy ; although in other respects they attract attention, for no one can look at the seven hills, each crowned with a superb mosque, with numerous smaller ones on their sides, with- out being duly impressed with the piety of the Ottoman monarchs, and of their favourites, un- surpassed, save in Rome. Their good taste has led them to imitate Saint Sophia, the Turkish architects have improved on the model, and their taste and vanity combined to erect them on the most commanding spots, whereby Con- stantinople is embellished to a degree it could VOL II. Q 226 CONTRASTS. not have been in the time of the empire ; that is^ in an external view. I sincerely hope that whenever the cross replaces the crescent (which it must do) a mistaken zeal for religion will not remove the stately minarets. Another pictorial charm which it also owes to Mussul- man customs^ is the union of the colours, green_, white, and red, visible in the cypresses, the mosques, and the dwelUngs. The city might be improved, but to alter these quaint, nesses for the sake of regularity would be pro- fanation. T said improved ; but I hardly think I am correct, certainlv not as regards its out- ward appearance. In possession of a nation with ideas of comfort, regularity, and chaste splendour, Stamboul would lose part of the indefinable hold on the senses which it now has. Its very deformities are not displeasing. The perpetual and varied contrast is food for the eye, and excitement for the mind. We leave Pera, a regular European town, and in five minutes are in scenes of Arabian nights. The shores of the Bosphorus realize our ideas, or recollections, of Venetian canals, or the Euphrates' banks. Women, shrouded like spectres, mingle with men, adorned like actors. The Frank's hat is seen by the Dervish's cal- pack ; the gaudy armed chavass by the Nizam CONTRASTS. *2*27 clgetlitt; the servile Greek by the haughty Moslem ; and the full-blown Armenian^ by the spare Hebrew. The charsheys resound with Babel's tongues, the streets are silent as Pom- peii's. We stumble over filthy dogs at the gate of a mosque, clean-plumaged storks cackle at us from the domes ; a pasha with a gallant train proceeds to divan, harpy vultures fan him with their wings ; and in the same cemetery we see grave-diggers and lovers, corpses and jesters. A lane of filth terminates with a white marble fountain, and a steep narrow street con- ducts to a royal mosque. In a moral sense also the parallel holds. We have an absolute monarch, a factious people ; pashas, slaves de nome, despots de facto ; a religion breathing justice and moderation, a society governed by intrigue and iniquity. The Mussulman is mighty in prayer, feeble in good works ; in outward life modesty personified, in his harem obscenity unmasked. He administers to a sick animal, bowstrings his friend ; he believes in fatality, and calls in a doctor. In short every thing, and every person, and every feeling, and every act, is at total variance in this great capital ; and a man niay readily find amuse- ment in it for some months. Your shoemaker this year may be a vizir the next ; your friend Q 2 228 MONUMENTS. the bey serve you with coffee and pipes in a week, thankful for a backshish ; — and, what is a worse change, your boon companion of the evening- be headless in the morning. But I digress. Descending from the Seraskier's tower, we proceed to the apex of the triangle, and find ourselves in the Hippodrome ; or as the Turks call it, At-Meidan. It is an oblong square, 250 yards by 150 yards. Three monuments of antiquity in it attest that the Osmanleys are not such indiscriminate destroy- ers as is usually believed. Were it neces- sary to quit Constantinople for proof of that, I would cite Atliens, which, noth withstanding the numerous sieges it has undergone, from Turks^ and Venetians, and Greeks, still possesses enough to interest the world. It must have required great care to preserve its ruins, more than would be shewn in modern civilized war- fare. Though not connoiseurs of art, the Os- manleys have religiously preserved temples, columns, &c. as trophies. Those in the At- Meidan are — 1. An Egyptian obelisk, sixty-five feet high, covered with hieroglyphics. It rests on a pedestal, on which are groups in bas relief, exceedingly fresh, among them the figures of THE CONQUEROR. 229 Theodosius and the Empress. The accumu- lation of soil has buried the inscriptions all but the first few lines; but they were previously copied.* 2. A pyramidal column, 100 feet high, composed of loose stones, apparently ready to come down with the first gale. An inscription informed us that it was originally cased with plates of brass, brought from Rhodes ; quere — part of the Colossus? 3. A spiral column of bronze, eleven feet high, four feet in circum- ference, called the serpentine column on account of three serpents' heads that used to surmount it. Mahomet II., the day that the city fell, knocked them off with his mace, to shew his contempt for the emblem of collective wisdom. The square at the moment was filled with the victorious Janizzaries, and "Allah hu" rent the air over the prostrate fragment. What a tri- umph ! the youthful conqueror might have fan- cied himself a god. Thence he turned his horse's * Kiova TETcnrXevpov qk xOvvi \su^svov axOog — Mowoc av agn-ple i»iil:4mam»^^^*^^ ^•^ 'v^ ^-r^' ---r' ^^^^ Reipiauift ul'miP of tbe gates of CoIlStaTltl1H)plc ..'> .v*^,*.*^'* .<£■■ .-%\ il'^ €- "W^^r ■■■>!*<, T.undvn ''euuuLer.-! IC OlLof. (^ondubi -''trrr-f AXCIKXT COLUMNS. 259 mity : following its course across the valley, we ascend the Fourth Hill, where,, near the mosque of Mahomet II. in the court yard of a Mussulman^s house (now burnt down)^ is the column of the Emperor Marcian.* in excellent preservation. The height is fifty- two feet ; the shaft is granite ; the capital, of the Corinthian order, is well executed, and sup- ports a square urn, ornamented at each angle with an eagle in half relief. In the precincts of another Mussulman's habitation, where was the forum of Arcadius, is the remnant of a pedestal, supposed to be of the celebrated historic column, representing Theodosius' victories, which, we are told, rose 140 feet above the pavement, and whence the murderer and usurper, Alexius Ducas was cast down by the judgment of the Latin chiefs, 1204. Other remnants of antiquity probably remain in the vast circuit of Stam- boul's walls ; but to find them is the difficulty ; chance is one's only guide, a conflagration by laying open quarters, one's best map. Tire- some as is the well-conned tale of a professed * On the pedestal are these words distinct, *« Hanc sta- tuam Marciani." The remainder of the inscription is ille- gible. s 2 260 ORIENTAL INDIFFERENCE. ciceroni, I have often wished for one in Con- sltintinople. The presence is better than the absence. One is not obliged to listen^ and he saves a great deal of riding or walking, keenly felt in a large, hilly, ill-paved city, where inno- cent curiosity is magnified into necromacy, the pursuits of an antiquarian interpreted as the researches of a treasure -hunter. There are few natives of the East who can understand the incentives of curiosity or pleasure, uninfluenced by stronger motives : If they see a man taking observations, he is calculating a horoscope ; if they see him measuring ruins, he is tracing some deposit of coin. They hate trouble, and there- fore cannot reconcile it with pleasure. But in default of antiquities, there are a few modernities that are interesting by their resem- blance to ancient usages. The shops are like the shops at Pompeii, open from side to side, having a parapet where the window should be, with a narrow cill by way of a door : They are closed at night by shutters, slinging on the top, which in the day serve for awnings : the counters are covered with slabs of marble, always beautifully clean, particularly so where prepara- tions of creams, wheys, &c. are sold, of which the Osmanleys make great consumption. The confectioners' shops are admirable in point of NATIONAL USAGES. 261 elegance, and the excellence of the article : every body has heard praised Turkish sweet- meats ; I may add that one is in danger of having a tooth ache during his stay at Constantinople. The cooking houses are very tempting ; cababs, and roasted sheep's heads, are smoking in them all day long. You go in with your friend, and squat down on a clean mat ; ad interim the chibouque is brought. Cababs on toast are served in five minutes_, with a jug of wine which you order from the nearest Greek vault: a cup of coffee terminates your luncheon, — the whole about the cost of eightpence, paid handsomely. The Osmanleys, like the ancients, eat and drink a great deal in the open air. Venders of sherbets, of rolls, of creams, of sweetmeats, of catimeras (sort of cake), of boza (kind of beer), are at every corner ; whereby the cries of Con- stantinople are as numerous as those of Paris. Some of them sound ludicrous to an Eno-lish ear : — az beaz (white, white) in relation to bread, makes the new arrived Englishman often turn round with mingled anger and surprise. Balluk (fish) likewise catches his ear for the first few days ; and perpetually these two resound in all the streets. The Osmanleys also shew the taste of the Romans in their country houses, by building 262 RESEMBLANCES. them on piles in the water, wLere possible : so far do they project over the Bosphorus, that private caiques lie under the basement floors, whence they issue romantically through low arches ; and the inhabitants are often seen fishing from their window, — a mode peculiarly suitable with their indolence. Many other points of similarity might be cited between the ancient Romans and the Osmanleys. The burial grounds of the latter are highly ornamented, and equally rendered subservient to social intercourse ; their love of display, 1 may add, in appearing abroad with numerous attendants ; and their contempt of women. But in what relate to the decencies of life, there is not the slightest resemblance. The signs over the doors, the frescos in the chambers of Pompeii, have not the remotest counterpart in Turkey. In the article of cru- elty, too, there exists a wide difference. The exhibitions which delighted the Romans would disgust the possessors of their second capital. Spain alone humbly imitates them. The cloaques are also evidences of the former masters of Constantinople. They are indif- ferently kept ; but connected with them is a curious anecdote of the present sultan, who, when young, had Haroun Alraschid's habit of TURKISH LABOURER. 263 going" about the city incognito. It chanced one day that he passed by one of the cloaques that was opened for the purpose of being cleaned. In it was a man up to his neck in abominable filthy endeavouring in vain to remove an ob- struction. The sultan stopped, and looked with commiseration at a human being thus employed. At length the labourer, after long driving and tugging, lost his patience ; — he threw down his guielberi_, uttered an oath, and was about to abandon his work ; but, as if suddenly receiving a bright idea, took up his instrument again, and thus apostrophized his impatient spirit : '^ Dayan gian, yoksa bounden seni beter boku soccarim ;" which being translated, means, "Persevere my soul, or I will plunge thee in w^orse filth than this." At this exclamation, made by the speaker in perfect ignorance of who was listening, the sultan opened the eyes of astonishment : " Is it possible," he thought, " that there can be a worse occupation than that?" — He returned to the seraglio, but could not rest for thinking on what he had heard. He asked his attendants to expound the labourer's meaning : they could not. " Go then," he at length said, " and fetch him hither." " Where is the honest man who was working here this morning ?" demanded a capidgi of the 264 TRANSFORMATION. superintendant of cloaques : — " God knows — he left off work two hours since." " Wonderful ! find him instantly !" The appearance of an officer of the seraglio on such an errand aroused some of the neigh- bours. One exclaimed, " He went to the bath from here ; a boy followed him, carrying a suit of clothes." " Which bath ?" asked the capidgi : — " run^, bring him to me." The object of this research in the mean time had completely purified himself (without which salutary measure he could not have gone into a mosque to say his evening prayer), and now appeared quite another person, dressed in a suit of good cloth, a fur pelisse, with a caouk on his head : he might have passed for a substantial tradesman. " Kalk, guiel," — " Rise, come," — exclaimed a messenger, rushing into the bath, where he was enjoying the restorative chibou- que ; " quick, a capidgi of the Porte wants you." '^ God is great," replied the other ; " want me ! why — for what ?" " You will know soon enough. Come." The capidgi, having ascertained that he was the very man, bid him follow him to the seraglio. During the walk he vainly endeavoured to guess INTERROGATORY. 265 at the evils which he conceived had fallen on his head. " Eshek "(ass)^ said the sultan to the officer, on beholding a respectably dressed man, who would have done credit to a pasha's suite ; "I told thee to bring me that fakyr bokulu" (stinking wretch). " Effendimiz," this is he. The sultan then addressed the man, who was standing with his hands crossed before him, his eyes cast on the floor, in great ap- prehension ; " Wast thou, some hours since, in the cloaque, in the condition of a hog?" The fact could not be denied. "What said'st thou, dost thou remember?" This question made him fear that in his wrath he had uttered something treasonous, which had been overheard, and he began to implore grace on the plea that in a moment of anger a man's tongue may utter what his heart does not acknowledge. " Fear nothii^," replied the sultan ; " didst thou not say, ^Dayan, &c.' Explain what situation is worse ; or didst thou speak in folly?" Thus re-assured, the man answered by point- ing to the tchocadars, who were in the presence, and added, "Their situation is worse." If the sultan was before astonished, he was now still 266 INDEPENDENT FEELING. more so. "The work/ continued the man^ " at which I was engaged,, is disgusting in the eyes of God ; but it gains me sufficient in two or three hours for the day, sometimes for two days. I am then free. I purify myself from its stains^ and dress becomingly : I frequent the mosques, and the cafenehs, master of my time : whereas thy officers cannot call one mo- ment their own, to eat or to drink. This is my meaning; I told my spirit that if it had not courage to submit to that servitude for two hours, I should be obliged to put it in per- petual bondage, by taking a great man's bread, to be at his call the whole twenty-four hours." The sultan, far from being offended at his boldness, dismissed him with a handsome pre- sent ; though, 1 dare say, the tchocadars, thus coarsely commented on, would rather have seen him get the bastinado. This circumstance, which was related to me by an officer of the seraglio, gives rise to reflections on the cause of love of freedom, which this man possessed in its widest sense, simple, divested of any specious ornament. Whence came it? He could not conceive it disgraceful to ser\^e a great man, for an oriental education inculcates that that condition is honourable, and it confers consideration. It came from pure love of indo- COFFEE HOUSES. 267 lence, so dear to^ so cherished by^ the Osman- leys, to indulge which they are capable of enduring great privations. Does it follow that love of freedom and love of indolence are synonymous terms? The cafenehs likewise merit a stranger's no- tice in Constantinople, less on account of their number — several hundreds — their charming shady situations/ and their elegant fitting up, with variegated marble and sculpture, not to mention highly coloured representations of ships, kiosks, gardens, «&c., in which the fish are as large as the ships, the men as tall as the houses, than for embracing the whole mystery of the barber's science — a science which is looked on with infinitely more respect in ti.e east than in the west, and to which the pre- paration of the sober berry, far from being the stay of the concern, is quite secondary; simply intended with chibouques, to amuse the cus- tomers while waiting. In addition to shaving, cutting hair, trimming, dyeing, and anointing, the barber bleeds, draws teeth, and applies leeches,* all very adroitly. At the same time * Not a century since the same union existed in London ; in the year 1745 the surgeons were separated from the barbers by an Act of Parliament, entitled " An Act for making the Surgeons and Barbers of London two distinct and separate Corporations." 268 EASTERN SHAVING. mav be seen, one man holdinor- his head to be washed and shaved^ over an enormous metal basin^ the operator twisting the sohtary lock from side to side^ and brandishing his razor with inimitable grace ; a second submitting to have every hair plucked out which interferes with the prescribed line of beard and mous- taches ; a third having his eye-brows dyed ; a turbaned urchin squalling as a bad tooth comes out ; a tartar with his sleeves up to his shoulder^ getting bled after a long journey ; in 'the corner^ a tiriaki coiled up^ enjoying his dream of Paradise ; and^ if in Pera^ the scene is further diversified by Franks, smoking and chatting, waiting a turn. Oh ye! who visit the East^ put yourselves under an Armenian or Turkish barber. Never shave yourselves. His shaving is ambrosial. The delicate manipula- tion with which he assists the steel sets you to sleep^ and so exquisitely is the operation performed, without ruffling, in the slightest degree, the tenderest skin, that when done, and feeling your face, you start — considering the country you are in — doubtful of your sex. We need go no farther than the fifth hill. Thus far the breath of the seraglio vivifies the languid mass; thus far every description of traveller, with one added to Sterne's list — the GOLDEN GATE. 269 hypochondriac—niay find food for amusement and reflection ; but, beyond it, we wander through a wasted city, and view the effect of the silent depopulation— from executions, dis- ease, and famine — which has reduced its 750,000 inhabitants, in the reign of Solyman, to half the number. Our eyes wander over the Etmeidan, Janizzaries' slaughter scene, and rest on three large towers in the S! W. aiicrle of the city, which denote The Seven Towers.* How things become changed from their ori- ginal purpose! — a church becomes a stable, a palace barracks, ahut the residence of a monarch, by the vicissitudes of war; but Mahomet II. little thought, when he erected this fortress for the custody of his treasures, tliat it w^ould be long solely used as a prison for Christian ambassadors. The apartment where they were lodged is not bad. The golden gate, or trium- phal arch, raised by Theodosius to co?nniemo- rate his victory over Maximus— through which, for one emperor who entered it in triumph twenty ingloriously fled, thereby rendering the * There were originally seven ; but the great earthquake of 1766 threw down three of them : one of the others is nearly ruined. Ttiey were erected 1458. 270 ANCIENT GATES. name a mockery — was in the present circuit of the seven towers. Two dilapidated Corinthian columns^ supporting the remnant of a frontis- piece, denote its existence. Adjoining the towers, supplying the want of the golden gate, is the gate Yedi kule kapusn. Four other gates also give entrance to the city from the country, viz. Ederne kapusu (anc : gate of Poliandro), Top kapusu (anc : gate of St. Romanus), Mevlana yeni kapusu (anc : porta quinta)^ Selivri kapusu (anc : gate of ). These gates are massive arches uniting the double wall, and connecting each with a good stone bridge over the fosse, which is twenty-five feet wide^ and not so many in depth, notwith- standing the assertion of history, that it was one hundred feet deep at the time of the Moham- medan conquei^t ; which, however, it could not have been, or we should not be able to see the ruins of the breach in it as we can. A fine paved road runs along it, from the Propontis to the harbour, a distance of three miles and a half, bordered on the left hand, for a coiisiderable way, by a vast cemetery. The great age of some of the cypresses, and the antique fashion of many of the tombs, led me to conclude that this was the receptacle of those who fell in the storm, — a striking evidence of which event is seen in the THE BREACH. 271 prostrate condition of a tower and of eig-hty feet of wall in the ditcb, about one-third of the dis- tance from the sea of Marmora to the harbour, near the gate of St. Romanus. The Moham- medans considering- them atrophy, and believing that Constantinople had seen its last siege, have suffered these interesting ruins to remain where they fell; and time has ornamented them with a profusion of wild creepers. No, beau- tiful, and romantic, and classic as is Constan- tinople and its environs in every part, it has no spot so truly interesting, so riveting to the miagination as this, the breach, where closed the career of the last and noblest of the Constan- tines. One more suburb of Constantinople remains to be mentioned ; the city of Scutari, on the op- posite coast of Asia. It was anciently called Chrysopolis (city of gold), the cause of which name still exists, in its being the depot for the caravans from Arabia, from Syria, and from all parts of Asia Minor. In consequence, its inha- bitants are chiefly emj.doyed in manufacturing saddlery, with all kinds of horse and travelling equipage. One mile from it is the site of the city ofChalcedonia, now occupied by the village Kady Koju ; and about a cable's length off it, in the fair way of the Bosphorus, on a rock just above 272 MAIDENS TOWER. water^ is a square white tower, called by Euro- peans Leander's Tower (without any reason), by the natives Kiz Kulesi (Maiden's Tower), built by Manuel Comnenus for the purpose of extending a chain from it across the strait. It is admirably situated for assailing hostile ships : some heavy cannon are mounted ; and in the rock is a spring of pure water. Between it and the shore is a passage for vessels not drawing above fourteen feet. The inhabitants of Scutari being entirely true behevers (excepting some Hebrews), the mosques, royal and private, are numerous and handsome. That built by a daughter of Soly- man is the most elegant.* There is also a superb pile of barracks, built by Selim III. for the Nizam dgeditt, and near the city is a seraglio where the sultans used to reside for a while when * It lias this inscription, " Tiiis mosque adorned with columns, has been built by a pious princess, gem of the Ottoman crown, ornament of the world, of religion, and of her country. God render her incomparable with every grace. Built by the daughter of the Emperor Solyman, son of the Emperor Selim, who rendered the world habitable with justice and clemency, and established security and tran- quillity in favour of the faithful. May God extend his empire to the eternity of ages ! It was begun, with the aid of God, in the sacred month of Zilhiggi, in the year of the Hegira 954 (1547). MUSSULMAN GRAVES. 273 they intended to follow the armies to a Persian war. From the outskirts of Scutari the great ceme- tery stretches three miles over the plain, where repose the half of the generations of Stamboul, undisturbed by axe or spade.* A more striking memento of human nothingness, a more im- posing tribute of human piety, a more sincere attestation of faith in resurrection, elsewhere is not to be seen. The graves are never disturbed, being barricaded by superstition as well as by law ; for it is the Mussulman faith that some part of the body (the os-sacrum, generally be- lieved) remains undecayed, on which, at the last day, to effect regeneration. Some Mussulman divines assert that the dead suffer torments while actually in the grave ; that they do until laid there is universally orthodox ; for wliicli reason the breath is scarcely out of a man than he is hurried to his last home without ceremony, the bearers running as fast as they can, giving * It is a common error to suppose that the Constanti- nopolitans are all buried at Scutari in anticipation of their capital falling' into the hands of the infidels, when their graves might be defikd. It certainly is a favourite resting place ; but the different cemeteries on the European side of the Bosphorus would, if put together, cover a space equal to the great cemetery. Nearly all the sultans are interred at Constantinople. VOL, II. T 274 MONUMENTS. a funeral a grotesque appearance. All Mussul- mans believe that the dead undergo an exami- nation in the grave, before Monkir and Nekir, some time during the first three days_, in order to decide whether the patient shall go straight to heaven^ or perform a little preparatory penance in hell. On this account the grave is constructed so as to allow the body to sit up and answer questions. I have often witnessed a Turkish burial : as soon as the procession reaches the spot fixed on^ breathless, two of the party set about digging the grave, while the remainder sit round the coffin in a circle, apparently quite un- concerned. Women cannot attend. The coffin is then taken to pieces, and the body being laid in the ground, a kind of vault is raised over it with the planks, on which the earth is heaped. No service whatever is performed. This accom- modation is of course very temporary, but it lasts sufficiently for the dark inquisitorial angels to arrive. The tombs, or monuments, are very beautiful j they are of white marble, covered with verses of the Koran, durably and massively gilded on a dark-blue ground. The Osmanleys carry the art of gilding to perfection, and the Arabic character is peculiarly effective for its display. The name of the deceased only is inscribed, without any record of virtues, such SUPERSTITION. 275 as deface Christian tombs — deface, I say, since in nine cases out of ten the record is false. The nature of the carved turban denotes the rank which the deceased Reld in society. Wo- men^s monuments are distinguished by a lotus leaf painted on them. Some graves are covered with marble troughs filled with soil to grow flowers in^ the odour of which is grateful to the spirit when he revisits his earthly tenement; neither is it uncommon, in the cities, to see private burial plots covered over with wire trelHs work in which to keep birds, whose notes are also supposed to solace the spirit. All erro- neous as it is, this idea is very beautiful, and the possessors of it are enviable ; it is the most intellectual part of the Mussulman faith, and shews that Mohammed had a soul for poetry. How soothing to affection the belief, that it can afford pleasure to the soul of a departed friend, — can still converse with it ; how assuaging to the pang of separation ! It is touching sometimes to witness the solicitude of Turkish females about these hallowed spots, where they pass some part of nearly every day. Once in a romantic burying ground, on the banks of the Bosphorus, I accidentally saw a young female, unveiled, with her hair loose, plucking the stones from a new made grave, T 2 276 BURIAL GROUNDS. and casting iliem from her with maniac ges- tures. She did not perceive me^ but continued her sad task till not a stone or a weed defaced it ; — then threw herself on it. There she re- mained till her women^ who were observing her from a distance,, came and roused her from her trance of woe. In Europe such grief w^ould be deemed a mockery ; but with Eastern women^ whose passions grow in solitude^ who have few worldly amusements to divert the current of their thoughts^ and whose joy generally centres in one object with whom perhaps hope dies^ it is often too real. The deep solemnity of this vast forest of cypresses^ impenetrable alike to sun or gale^ cannot be imagined. Paved roads intersect it in various directions^ hourly traversed by man and beast. On whichever side you approach Constantinople or its suburbs^ it is through a burial ground : you cannot pass from one quarter to another but through a burial ground : you look out of window on a burial ground: your only promenades are in the burial grounds. Mussulmans at least have the awful lesson con- stantly before their eyes. At night the dogs troop in them^ to the annoyance of all that have to pass them ; and w ithout being provided with a g-ood stick and a lantern^ a man has a chance UOGS. Ill of being found in the morning ready laid for burial ; for though a most cowardly species^ they have wolfish blood and acquire artificial cou- rage at night-time.* Yet to see one crouching behind every tomb, — one darting at you at every angle^ — to hear their continued bark, adds an indescribable interest to these gloomy solitudes. Thus amidst the ruins of Ephesus^ how^ exciting is the long howling of the jackals in every direction ! How greatly would it enhance the scene^ on entering Balbec, to meet a hyena ! What a train of association it caused me, one day at Sardis_, the sight of a Turcoman boring one of the three remaining columns of the tem- ple of Apollo^ for the purpose of blasting it ! It is not that a hyena^ or a jackal^ or a Turco- man, abstractedly viewed, adds much to the * There are instances, though rare, of their seriously hurting people. Two, one day, tripped up a little young- ster of the Blonde, and commenced biting him, and might soon have finished him had not an old Turkish woman open- ed her door and driven them away. A formal complaint was in consequence lodged against them before the ambassador for having thus insulted a British subject. But as his Excellency did not exactly know what procedure to adopt in so novel a case, it was referred to the waivode of Galata, in whose jurisdiction the assault and battery had been com- mitted. The waivode took proper cognizance of the affair. He sent out his emissaries, and a dark, ill-disposed, well- known dog was taken up on suspicion, and, making no defence, was publicly put to death. 278 SARDIS. picture^ but connectively each speaks volumes. They are the postscripts of time^ the seals of desolation. An extent of ruins signifies no far- ther than that a city once stood there ; there may be another within five miles ; — tenant it with savage beasts^ and we conclude that equal ruin has befallen the surrounding country. The Turcoman boring the column was a sorry spec- tacle ; but what a tale of fallen grandeur ! in the once proud capital of Croesus^ the tumuli of Alyattes and his wives in sight ; — what evi- dence of the reign of barbarism ! Thus also in the cemeteries which environ Stamboul^ we involuntarily think, as the pack yells round us^ that we are in a desert. Ten paces on we enter a populous quarter. They never disturb the dead (which would be easy on account of the shallowness of the graves), or the Turks would soon destroy them. I do not even think that they like human flesh. Lord Byron says, in the notes to the siege of Corinth, that he has seen them gnawing bodies washed up under the seraglio w-alls. That should be conclusive ; but I suppose that his lordship wrote from memory, and mistook the place. The water beneath the seraglio wall is bound by a pier two feet above its surface, past which the current rushes, with- out the slightest eddy, at the rate of two miles DERVISHES. -279 and a-hair per hour. Nothing thrown into the Bosphorus lower down than Buyukdere bay, or the Propontis^ can turn up, that is, come to shore, within several miles of Constantino- ple. It is contrary to reason to suppose that the Turks, who have such superstitious vene- ration for the dead, would tolerate these dis- gusting animals were they in the habit of vio- lating them. Adjoining this paradise of worms is the col- lege of dervishes kadi, or the howling dervishes, in contradistinction to the dancing dervishes at Pera. We found them in full cry. They were -extremely civil ; were flattered at our curiosity, and gave us prominent seats. The apartment was octangular, surrounded by a low railing to keep off the spectators. The superior gave the time with his hand and head, while about twenty brethren moaned, half sung, a kind of hymn, in which the names Allah, Mohammed, Mustapha (a saint, founder of the order) continually re- curred. At intervals some howled suddenly, others danced round as mad, and all by turns approached and kissed the hand of the superior, who sat aside on a carpet. During the per- formance sick people were carried in and laid at the superior's feet to be cured. He whispered in their ears, stroked their breasts, and then bid 280 DERVISHES. them rise. They obeyed: some tottered off; others^ faith lighting up their sunken eyes_, joined the holy troop, and sung and danced with equal fervour. Presently the scene changed to one of a more lively description. To the notes ya-la-ye-ip, sung to a merry tune^ the fanatics twisted their bodies in rapid contortions,, jerked themselves violently forwards and backwards, to either side, their heads twirling and their eyes rolling in a frightful manner, making the spectators giddy and expect every moment that some w^ould fall into fits. Occasionally, seized by a sudden impulse, they howled in concert. For upwards of thirty minutes this bedlamite game had lasted, and we began to think that the actors were endowed with perpetual motion when the superior, extending his hand, pro- nounced the w ord " Allah." Immediately, as if they felt the hand of the Almighty as well as heard his name, they stood each still as a sta- tue, eyes fixed, head firm. This was the grand coifp de theatre, and exceedingly well done it w^as — quite sublime. The sport recommenced with greater ardour. In a state, apparently, of complete frenzy they seized each others* hands, and they danced and they sung, and they leaped in concert. Then dividing in two lines, they rushed from side to side, and they charged. SCENERY. 281 head down like goats^ only separating to meet again with greater impetus^ all the while mak- ing the dome resound with discordant howls. Finally^ closing in a heap^ confusedly embrac- ed_, with disordered garments and swollen veins^ they stamped and reeled round the hall, till three, overcome with the violence of the exercise^ foamed and fell into convulsions. This was the triumph of devotion ; and thus terminated^ after two hours' continuance^ as singular a scene of folly grafted on supersti- tion as one could wish to see. It is worth seeing once^ and only once. Under the head of Scutari I should mention that from the heights behind it is a fine^ by some said the finest_, view of Constantinople. Whether it is, I will not pretend to decide, since the impression made on me was the same from whichever side I received it. One is in danger of becoming surfeited with the profusion of beauties which nature has here amassed in a narrow compass. I would recommend the epicure in such things on his arrival to take horse and ride to Duyukdere, by which he wilj prolong his enjoyment. There let him embark in a caique, and descend the Bosphorus. I will not dwell on the enchantment. Who once makes this excursion will be tempted to repeat 282 STRIKING CONTRAST. it often. Nor is the ride devoid of interest. During the first two or three miles^ let him occasionally turn round and look on the glo- rious scene he is leaving. Each time he will doubt the evidence of his senses, comparing the proud capital — billows on billows of city — within cannon range, with the barren,, almost trackless^ heath he is traversing, where man neither sows nor reaps. To the civilized Eu- ropean the contrast is truly painful. To find himself, on leaving Palmyra, at once in a sandy desert, would only excite his surprise at the individual folly which could build in such a spot ; at the same time the triumph of art over nature would reconcile him to the anomaly, and flatter human pride. Here it is the triumph of ignorant, indolent despotism over a soil which scarcely needs the spade to burst into fertility, yet remains profitless. Luxury alone might have prompted the ornamental. Ascending the heights of Kiris Bournoo, the fortifications of the Bosphorus and the distant Euxine open on him — a scene that may be dwelt on. There is another view to which I would draw attention. It is from the tombs of the Arme- nian cemetery on the borders of a deep ravine. The spectator looks down between two hills nearly united at their bases, only separated by a FINE VIEW. 283 narrow rivulet, thickly studded with habitations ; that on the right being- the Greek village of St. Demetrius, notorious for the lax morals of its inhabitants ; on the left is Pera. Emerging from the shadow of the hills are seen the capi- tan pasha's palace, and the arsenal gates on the one hand ; on the other his divan hane and the quarters of kasym pasha. Beyond them the harbour intervenes with admirable effect, to break the monotony of architecture,— masts and yards mingling with doors and windows, caiques appearing and disappearing among cy- presses and domes,— not an expanded sheet, but a narrow triangular lake, of insufficient di- mensions, apparently, to allow the guard frigate anchored in it to swing round, her broad red ensign wanting space to display its ample folds. From the base of the triangle, on the farther side, Stamboul rises, and expands to the east and west, with the configuration of the hills, till two-thirds of its extent are visible. Valens' aqueduct occupies the centre of the picture, and over its deep arches, lying parallel with them, defined on either side by the domes of a mosque, the soft blue line of the Propontis, like the pencil stroke of a drawing which repre- sents distant water, faintly traces the horizon. When the sun is setting, and gilding the co- 284 WAYS AND MEANS lumns and minarets ; or on gala nights when the frigate and the mosques are covered with lamps ; or_, still more magnificent^ when the devouring element^ as I have seen it, careers over the seven-hilled city^ the above feebly indicated scene is capable of arresting the at- tention of a gourmand whose dinner is wait- ing. The masses of dwellings thus brought to- gether in a coup d'oeil, from the nature of the site, and the foreshortening of the picture^ are striking in another sense : — they prompt the question^ "How do their inhabitants exist?" — a question which every stranger puts to himself as well as to others — a question which is diffi- cult to answer ; for Constantinople does not offer the same resources as the great Christian capitals for those who live on their wits. Vice^ the great alimenter of idleness^ is kept under by the strong arm of religious law. There is little commerce ; there are few arts ; there is no great influx of travellers; the rich men of the provinces do not congregate in it. There are no cultivated lands to speak of within twenty miles, in some directions within fifty miles. The commonest necessaries of life come from distant parts: — the corn for daily bread from Odessa ;— the cattle and sheep from beyond Adrianople, or from Asia Minor : the rice^ of AT COX.STANTINOPLE. 285 which such a vast consumption is raade^ from the neighbourhood of Philippopolis ;— the poul- try chiefly from Bulgaria ; — the fruit and vege- tables from Nicomedia and Mondania. Thus a constant drain of money is occasioned, without any visible return except to the treasury or from the property of the Ulema. The places above mentioned may be considered as foreign parts ; their inhabitants never visit the capital, and thereby restore the equilibrium. But though I cannot precisely solve the problem of the means of the Constantinopolitans, I may give a rough sketch of them, which may serve as a specimen of the inhabitants of European Turkey in gene- ral ; not of the Asiatic Turks, who are a diffe- rent people; more open and hospitable, less treacherous and avaricious; but far more fanatic and ignorant. CHAPTER XXII. On the Osmanleys — the Greeks — the Armenians- the Jews. In reference to some writers, who assert that we should change "Turks/' as a general appella- tion for the sultan's subjects,, for "Osmanleys/' because (according to them) the former is vilify- ing, I beg leave to remark that the latter is only appHcable to the European Turks, as is easy to be shewn. When Othman (founder of the reigning dynasty) usurped the sovereignty of Cogni (Iconium) on the death of sultan Alad- din, of whom he was the vizir, Turk, or Turk- man (husbandman) was (as now) the denomina- tion of the inhabitants of nearly all the pro- vinces that at present comprise the Turkish em- pire in Asia. After the conquest of Brussa, how- ever, his followers disdained it, and assumed the name of their leader, leaving the indigenous name to those who would not immediately follow his fortunes. The short interval that elapsed TIKKS -287 ere the seat of their empire was at Adrianople, prevented these proud soldiers from losing their characteristic^ and thereby ceasing to be a sepa- rate body. With Amurath their descendants quitted Asia and settled in possession of the lands of the Greeks, from which time the dis- tinction has remained. No European Turk will allow the name of Osmanley to an Asiatic ; even talking of the powerful Car' Osman Oglou, or Tchapan Oglou^ he tells you, with a sneer, that he is only a Turk ; and this superciliousness has been fortified by the superiority that in all demi-civilized countries those of the profession of arms assume over the pursuers of husbandry; — the lowest European Mussulman having sel- dom till lately had occasion to be other than a soldier, whereas in Asia, there not being a raya population, the Mussulmans put their shoulders to the plough. '' Bin Turk bir toorp ; yazek toorp !" a thousand Turks for a radish; poor radish ! (at being valued so cheap) is in every Osmanley's mouth. The name Turkey is also strictly Turkish. The Asiatics sometimes call their country Tour- kia Yakasi, but the Europeans never do ; they may call it Memleket Osmanley, or Vilayet Othmanjick, the appellation being also ex- tended to Bythynia, because Othman reigned 288 THE TURBAN. there. Both names^ however^ are superseded by '^Roumely" (for Europe)^, ''Anadolu" (for Asia). Having thus settled^ in one way, who are and who are not Osmanleys^ we may proceed to give a sketch of the ConstantinopoUtans^ among whom rank foremost^ of course^ the Osmanleys. As they value beauty, even in men, more than talent, it is right to commence saying a word on that subject; the more necessary because they have been so often described as a very handsome race,, and the impression thereby made is so strongs that it requires to be among them some time before allowing one's self to doubt. All, however^ who have visited Con- stantinople since the catastrophe oJ the Janiz- zaries, agree that they are not in general good looking, the disuse of turbans and long robes being the cause of their altered appearance. Excepting Russian troops, I never saw a worse- favoured body of men than the Nizam-dgeditt. The magical effect of a turban is well known. It gives depth to light eyes, expression to dark eyes ; it softens harsh features, relieves delicate ones ; it hides misshapen ears, or a " villanous low forehead ;" it adds gravity to a simple countenance, dignity to a sensible one ; and it little matters whether a man be hump-backed indolenc:e. 289 or bandy-leg-g-ed, crooked or parrot-footed, when clothed in ample robes, which, besides con- cealing defects, impart a theatrical assurance to his step. The sultan, as I have before observed, could not have hit upon a surer way to make his subjects discontented with him and with themselves. Midway between the savage and the civilized man in regard of mental resources, not yielding however to the latter in physical enjoyments, the Osmanley is placed ; his vices have been overrated, because they have been chiefly drawn at periods of fanatic excitement, which should only be considered as episodes. The most favoured nations, at times, with all the advan- tage of education and example, commit whole- sale the excesses of Ashantees and Cherokees ; yet, when the crisis is over, resume their place in the front ranks of civilization. The prominent feature of his character, and which, far more than his religion, acts as a bar to improvement, is an exceeding love of indo- lence, which he carries to an extent scarcely credible ; shopkeepers, in hot weather, rather than rise off their cushions to reach you tlie article you want, will desire you to go to ano- ther shop. The clolce far niente, joined to the peiisar nientey is the Osmanley^s felicity ; and VOL. II. u 290 DISSIMULATION. while he could flatter himself that he was as far above the rest of the human species as his prophet above him, he constantly enjoyed it; but late reverses have broken the charm_, and placed him in the condition of a paralytic in- valid who wakes from a dream of health to a sense of his helplessness. He is not revengeful^ that is if interest be in the scale against passion^ unlike the Alba- iiian_, with whom blood must atone blood. He will forgive a personal insult,, and embrace the murderer of his friend ; will fight with ardour for his patron^ and the moment after be equally faithful to his fortunate rival ; bowing at the sight of the firman of death, to the very execu- tioner of a kind master. Provided with this authority, a man might stab a pasha in his divan (if he could get at him), and it would almost save him from the immediate fury of his attendants ; certainly it would save him were they in an adjoining chamber. The Osmanley's treachery is terrible : as the Spartan boys were taught to consider theft meritorious, so does he consider the art of successfully dissembling the highest effort of the human mind. The command that he exercises over his tongue and features is perfect, — by us unattainable. The most cutting reproach, or ADDRESS. 291 the most sudden surprise, or the most joyful news, is no ways betrayed by one or the other, miless he be in a situation not to need obser- vation, when he will foam. His entire education tends to the acquirement of this talent. Through life he is no better than an automaton while in the presence of a superior : with eyes cast down and hands crossed before him, he stands unless bidden to sit, — is mute unless invited to speak. The more I have witnessed of this command over what may be termed the involuntary emo- tions, the more I have been astonished ; but it requires a painful apprenticeship to arrive at such perfection. Individually, he is courageous ; and he is skil- ful in the use of arms, drawing his ataghan in particular with an electric effect, so that at one motion he can unsheath it, and almost sever his opponent. No inconvenience, however, arises from this aptitude, for it is death by the law to use a weapon unless by command of a su})e- rior. Severe as this law is, heat of blood not being even admitted in excuse, it is invariably acted on, otherwise no man's life would be safe among an armed population ; and in conse- quence, no country is so free from manslaughter. Once, and only once, did T know of a tight. It took place one afternoon, on the quay of Biivuk- u 2 292 SINGLE COMBAT. dere, between two of the capitan pasha's guards, one of whom^ half intoxicated, had just taken a loaf from a Greek's shop, for which offence the patrol, which happened to be passing at the time, seized him and were driving him towards the pasha's kiosk, that the soles of his feet might pay the penalty of the palms of his hands. Irritated, at length, by the abuse and the blows of the chavass bashi, the fellow turned sharp round, drew out his own sabre from the hands of the chavass who was carrying it, and made a cut at the bashi. The bashi parried it, also a second blow, but then finding himself hard pressed, dropped his stick and drew his ataghan. They were now on a par, both much enraged^ and the affair seemed likely to be san- guinary. Their countrymen did not interfere, probably fearing a by blow, otherwise than by calling on Allah to witness their madness ; nor did we, and for the same reason. — Still, however, the parties kept a respectful distance apart, pre- luding by some pretty flourishes, which made the air whiz as though they were using switches. At length, with one accord, they advanced a pace, and made a cut. Neither thought of guarding. The blades, directly horizontal, passed each other like flashes, and took eflPect, — the sabre dividing the skin of its opponent's INCOiNSlSTENCV. 293 neck, while the ataghan, not being so long, only reached the other's nose, making a neat incision across it ;— at the moment we thought that one of their heads was off. The sight of blood cooled instead of inflaming the antagonists : they instantly sheathed their weapons, and he who had first drawn recollecting then the enormity of his fault, rushed, with presence of mind, into the house of a diplomatist, relying on the respect usually accorded to such. Thence he was con- veyed to the flag ship. The pasha ordered him to be strangled at sunset ; but in consideration of his temporary asylum sent him to the bagnio instead. The Osmanley is avaricious from tlie nature of his country, which combines uncertainty of employment and insecurity of property. At the same time he is inconsistent ; for, though he may be said to adore gold, ostentation makes him spend it. He will give rich presents to a stranger, while an intimate friend may expect in vain for a token of liberality. He has a richly dressed train of domestics and a beautiful stud, neither of which can he employ, while his do- mestic expenditure is so trifling, that, excepting on parade days, when it is lavish, five shillings will pay for the dinner of a pasha's household. Simplicity guides most of his tastes: perfumes. 294 SOCIABILITY. and the sound of falling water, and rushing wind, — harmless pleasures which are easily pro- cured by artificial means, — are necessary to his comfort : to which add the chibouque, and a tolerable supply of coffee, and he requires no more to enable him to get through the day with patience. At evening he may honour the ladies with his presence. We will not draw the harem curtains ; a description of the bizarre and multi- plied sensualities behind it would rather offend than amuse. Yet this monotonous life is capa- ble of being exchanged for one of violent action, and with a surprising facility. After lolling half a year in Sybarite indolence, only using his legs to convey him from one sofa to another, he will gird his loins and ride twelve hours a day for a month. He is not the unsocial animal so perpetually described ; on the contrary he is very partial to the company of his likenesses, as the constant occupation of the coffee-houses prove. True, whether in town or country, his verbal inter- course is confined to " selam aleykum, aleykum selam, ne var," and other ordinary questions and answers, followed by a long silence ; but what can they say ? deprive the most loquacious people of books, of gazettes^ of scandal, their conversation will soon drop to monosyllables. CHARITY. 2[)o The Osmaiiley's hospitality has been too much extolled on principle, for in a country which offers few resources for travellers, hospi- tality becomes not only a bounden duty, but a point of self-interest in order to obtain the same upon occasion ; besides, the arrival of a traveller in a family is as good as half a year's newspapers. Neither is his charity, wide flow- ing though it be, so very meritorious, because it springs from the selfish idea of smoothing with it the individual way to heaven, not out of "kindness to all men;" and is, therefore, in appearance cold, bitter cold, as any one will say who has seen a pious Osmanley give away his quantum of paras in his morning stroll, one by one, according as he is solicited, then stop at a baker's shop, buy a loaf, break it in pieces, and distribute them to the expectant dogs ; after which stated duty, a friend's son, or a friend's hound in distress would scarcely attract his notice. Such arises from his religion, which consists chiefly of appearances — ablutions, alms, prayers,— by which, obliging his followers to attest their faith daily in public, by acts that could not be misinterpreted or slurred over, making the infraction a crime, little caring whether the heart were in unison with the tongue or not, Mohannncd provided his creed 29(j POOR LAWS. witli a firm Bulwark against the most dangerous of heresies — visible indifference ; and by a due observance of which^ though uninfluenced by one proper feelings a Mussulman feels assured of exchanging his kiosk for " a hollow pearl/' his favourite palm-tree for a branch of the tUba^ his sherbet for draughts from the rivers of milk and wine^ and, above all_, of obtaining a sight of Him, " one look at whom," said Mohammed, " is joy past imagining." This however, this injunction to his followers to practise charity^ is not the only boon which poor Mussulmans owe to their Prophet, who was hi finitely too well acquahited with mankind to suppose that simple exhortations on such a subject would operate on the mass, and he therefore saved the really charitable from the unequal duty which the callous would have imposed on them — do impose on them in all countries — by es- tablishing poor laws. Poor laws — our boast — which to this day only exist in one corner of Christendom — have been sacred among Mussul- man nations since 1200 years. By them a Mussulman is bound to give to the poor two per cent, of all he has. Where the religion maintains its wonted sway over the minds of the people, the law is strictly observed ; but in the cities — the principal ones of European piioprii:tv. t>U7 Turkey for exaaiple — where religious indif- ference — herald^ according to tbe missionaries, of the introduction of Christianity — ^is making progress,, charity, it is mortifying to observe, is rapily waning. But the virtue which chiefly characterizes the Osnianley (as well as all Mussulmans) is cleanliness, which he carries to fastidiousness. I cannot comprehend how some travellers have disputed it ; they must have formed their opinion from their tartar and their surrogee, although these, the journey over, thoroughly purify themselves in a bath. For my part, I do not know so clean a people, and I have seen them in all grades of society. In addition to his daily ablutions, he takes a bath— such a bath ! — at least once a week. Equally incor- rect is the saying that he does not frequently change his linen ; perhaps they who assert it judge from his shewing no shirt collar, which in civilized Europe would certainly be an ad- missible argument. The sailors and soldiers, for example, nsed to wash their linen twice a week. His house, and every thing relating thereto, his food, &c. are scrupulously clean ; and in every Mussulman dwelling is seen a neat temple to the worship of Cloacina— a piety no where else practised out of Great Britain. 298 decorujM. No people have a keener sense of propriety. We in vain seek in the streets of a Mussulman town for sights which in polished European cities make a woman turn her head^ and neces- sitate the magistrates to affix in conspicuous places "Ici il est defendu de deposer^ &c." When they bathe in the sea they never appear m naturalihusy however remote the spot, lest by chance a female might be shocked ; even boys of the tenderest age retain a cloth. I could cite fifty other examples to the same purport. For those who love to trace ancient customs in modern times^ it may not be unin- teresting to observe that in Turkish camps the same practice^ in necessity, is strictly observed as was prescribed to the Hebrews^ though more out of respect to man than to God. The Greeks occupy the second place in im- portance among the inhabitants of European Turkey^ and more particularly deserve notice on account of the influence which they have exercised over its destinies ; an influence which has tended more than any other cause to under- mine the Ottoman power^ by acting on it like a perverse mind on a pampered body. The Osmanleys viewing conquest only as the means of obtaining repose^ had gained their object with the powerful aid of the Koran as long as grep:ks. 299 the nations whom they subjugated were of the same caste as themselves ; but on obtaining possession of all the Grecian provinces — (their dominions in Europe having been too narrow while Adrianople was their capital to affect their general policy) — they perceived that other arts would be necessary to rule their new subjects^ and reap the fruit of their labour. They were therefore delighted to find in the Fanariotes the requisite knowledge^ with a ready pliability of temper^ which saved them the necessity of hateful study. Policy should have shewn them their error, but indolence was in the opposite scale; they employed them in affairs of state, and from that moment began to decline in learning. With another character the Greeks might have reformed their masters and taught them how to govern, but their treachery was so unvarying that the Osmanleys could never regard any scheme of theirs, although really beneficial to the empire, but as injurious to it. Had they been commonly honest they would long since have been emancipated ; in proof of which I cite Kuprogli's Greek secretary, who by his artifices caused the fall of Candia 1669. He received royal rewards during his life time, and after his death was honoured by a public funeral ; but we in vain search the annals of 300 HOSPODARS. Turkish history for another Greek in high office who did not betray his employer. Considering the number of pashas who have lost their heads by the treachery of their Greek agents^ it is surprising that they were so long trusted. The Greeks naturally turned their power to their own advantage. The hardest terms of their servitude gradually disappeared. They were forbidden at the conquest to build or repair churches; they have done both. They were forbidden to celebrate their religious fes- tivals, burials, &c. openly; they have long since given them the greatest publicity. The odious tribute of every fifth child was discontinued two and a-half centuries since. In the capital they soon became oi" sufficient importance, as drago- mans of the Porte and of the fleet, to rival the courtiers in wealth and display ; to vie with pashas out of it by obtaining the hospodarships of Moldavia and Wallachia.=^ It may be said that this is the fair side of the picture, that in the provinces on the contrary they were exposed * The situation of hospodar of late was preferable to that of pasha, because the former was under the protection of Russia. The term of his government was for five years, then for seven years. If he then feared the complaints of his oppressed subjects, he found a secure asylum in Russia and Austria with his spoils. THE KARATCH. 301 to the wills of pashas, of agas. This is partly true in the Morea ; in Albania quite incorrect ; and in Roumelia the Greeks, aware of the dif- ference^ early abandoned country occupations to the Bulgarians^ and congregated in the cities where they enjoyed equal protection with the Mussulmans. The great hardship of the pea- santry has consisted in the difficulty of procuring money to pay the kharatch, often multiplied in the course of the year, but in the towns this difficulty never existed. At the same lime it must be recollected that pashas in Europe have seldom had unlimited power. It is only in the great pashalicks of iVsia where tyranny is prac- tised on a broad scale^ and in them live few or no Greeks. The Greeks have been and are, without con- tradiction, the most favoured subjects of the Ottoman Porte, which superiority they owe to their union and their hierarchy. The latter preserved the former, and prevented them from losing their distinction as a nation. The modern Greeks, as the ancient, have ever been impatient of the rule of the stranger. They constantly dreamed of the empire and its pride, of St. Sophia and the cross, which recollections joined to the torpitude of their masters, made them often rebel. The Osmanleys on these 302 SUPERIOR CONDITION occasions generally wiped off all scores at once by an indiscriminate vengeance^ affecting guilty and innocent. The Greeks naturally cried out Tyranny^ Oppression ! and the cry re-echoed throughout Europe ; and as the Greeks alone of the Porte's subjects thus repeatedly complained^ Europe rationally concluded that they were peculiarly oppressed. Tyranny is comparative. "What is cruelty, folly, and bigotry in one country, is justice^ reason, and religion in an- other. If one portion of the inhabitants of an empire have privileges which the others have not_, the government, though abstractedly bad, cannot be accused of tyranny towards that privi- leged part ; nor can any reasoning persuade it of the fact, because it draws a comparison with the rest of its subjects. It is unreasonable to suppose that it will willingly regulate itself by other nations. I bj no means pretend that the Ottoman government is not perverse and horrible; the desolate state of the fairest portion of the globe is evidence of this fact before a volume of arguments drawn from the retrograd- ing effects of its faith ; but I must say that the Greeks have suffered least by it, have least reason to complain. Visit any part of Grecian Turkey, the peasant is well clothed and well fed, his property is protected, his vvife and or THi: (; REEKS. 303 daug-hters are sacred (I exclude periods of re- volt). His great hardship is being obliged to lodge and feed troops on their march^ and to receive government officers; — the Turkish pea- sants are equally exposed. In every sense the condition of the Greeks is superior to that of every other class in the empire. The Armenians, though not more oppressed, are infinitely less considered, on account of their not being so com- pletely a nation. The Jews are absolutely de- spised. The Fellahs of Syria are slaves in com- parison of them: and the Fellahs of Egypt are in a state disgraceful to humanity. It is easy to ac- count for this remarkable difference between the Christians and the Mussulmans of the Ottoman em- pire inversely to what we should expect to find it. The Christians have one common misfortune, that of being governed by strangers in every sense of the word ; and one common sentiment, that of being oppressed. These two causes, existing among any people, would produce a spontaneous united opposition to the government which no concession on the part of the latter could dissipate, because the root of the evil is the being of the government. All its acts would be regarded with jealousy ; — if conciliatory, af- ter purposes would be imagined; — if arbitrary, indications of discontent would be manifested. 304 GREEK IMPATIENCE. In this contention the people rnnst have the advantage^ because their endeavours tend to one point alone : religion and sympathy are em- barked in the cause^ and every loop-hole left is immediately occupied. On the contrary, the government has many things to distract its at- tention from this imperceptible encroachment. State difficulties^ the weakness or good nature of the monarchy the carelessness or corruption of ministers, are all arms for the people. By this proceeding, all their own merits the Greeks entirely changed their condition, but, not con- tent with the prospect thus afforded them of gradually rising to the condition of the Osman- leys, too confident in their own strength, and in the blindness of their rulers, they often imma- turely revolted and drew on themselves the punishment they had reason to expect, and thus lost ground. If other proofs were wanting of the superior condition of the Greeks, compara- tively, I would cite the frequency of their revolts, A people ground to misery by watchful tyranny rarely shake their chains. It is when physical wants are satisfied that moral abstinence is felt ; that the mind has leisure to dwell on fancied superiority, — to desire change of government, a constitution, free press, equality of property, and so on on the scale marked by intellect. DIVINE RIGHT. 30" The cool pride of the Osmanley, the superiority he constantly assumed, and marked by dis- tinction of dress, tended as much as any thing else to make the Greek discontented with him. So sorely has he felt on this point, that I verily believe, had the Osmanley wih wise policy, permitted him to wear yellow slippers, and a white turban, and an ataghan (though with a wooden blade), he would not have cared much about changing masters. Now let us consider, by the side of the Christians, the Mussulmans ; the causes of whose inferior condition may be summed in the few words, that they have no legitimate causes of complaint. They are ruled by their lawful sovereign, whom their religion teaches them to consider as such by divine right. They are taught that he has a just title to the lives and property of his subjects, and that for mere whim he may cut off from ten to twenty heads per diem, being moved thereto by divine inspi- ration. To question these prerogatives is im- piety, and they therefore have no refuge from tyranny but in sullenness, and in passive resist- ance, which the peasantry in parts of Asia Minor display by not cultivating more land thcin is requisite for their villages, so that the towns, and troops on the march, may suffer ; — farther VOL. II. X 306 MODERN GREEKS. seceding from occupation^ if hard pressed^ and trusting to their flocks and herds, which they can drive away, for subsistence. The Greek, as an animal, is handsomer than the Osmanley. As a man he is distinguished by knowledge ; not that he has much ; nor is much necessary, for between a very little and wilful ignorance is a wide gulf. His manners from long contact are similar ; his tastes are not more refined ; his constant air of cunning, and ready adaptation of phrases and features to the occasion, evince habitual servitude. His moral character is sufficiently notorious. Say the Phil- hellenists (whose number is fast diminishing) what can be expected after four centuries of slavery? They forget the centuries of crime and bigotry that disgraced the empire previous to the Mohammedan conquest. Many fondly hope that the Greeks will be again what they were. Is a similar hope ever entertained for the Italians ? The European merchants in Turkey fly into an opposite extreme, and assert that the Greek is as dishonest as the Osmanley is honest. They judge from their mercantile transactions, in which it is true the latter display more fair dealing". We must seek the cause. The Os- manley despises trade : he rarely follows it ; and when he does, pride — the pride of the lord— GRECIAN VANITY. 307 keeps him from practising the knavery of the slave. But^ where is his faith when his object is the head of a pasha, or the spoil of a banker ! In a word we may say that where the Osmanley is honest it is through pride : where the Greek, through fear. Were a sufficient number of Grecian skulls to be examined, they would afford a strong argument for or against craniology. They should all have the bump of vanity. The Greeks have always been and are the vainest of the vain on all subjects, from politics to dancing. They still consider and call their country the " fountain of philosophers ;" the " mother of heroes ;" the " shining Greece." Here they stopped. Of late years, however, it has been so much the fashion in Europe the saying ^ We owe every thing to the Greeks," that the modern Greeks begin to believe it ; certes, it is too flattering to them to be rejected. A Fanariote noble very seriously told me that had it not been for his ancestors, Europe would still be barbarous. His ancestors ! — It would puzzle any Fanariote (except perhaps the Argy- ropouli) to trace his descent higher than the Mohammedan conquest : could he do so, he would have more trouble in tracing any of the noble stocks of Attica and the Morea among- X 2 308 MODERN SUPERIORfTV. the schismatizing- population which disgraced New Rome so many centuries. Then^ as now^ the appellation Greek was a religious^ not a national^ distinction. " Are you a Greek ?" you demand of an inhabitant of the Morea or of the Cyclades. " No, thank God, I am a Catholic ;" and vice versa. A Frank, ignorant of this, often gives an insult when he means a compliment. After all, what do we owe to the Greeks ? — Poetry ? — Without them we should have had Shakespeare, though Pope would not have acquired so much renown. — Painting ? We have only notices of theirs. — Music ? They were unacquainted with har- mony. — Sculpture, architecture ? We English at least have not profited much by their unri- valled productions. — History ? Theirs teaches us to admire cruelty and duplicity. — What are all the acquirements of all the ancients to the wonders of printing, of the compass, of steam, which overturns empires and creeds, discovers worlds, and almost sets worlds in motion. Yet there are people who still love to repeat, ^ We owe every thing to the Greeks." The Armenians occupy the third rank at Constantinople. They are good-looking, affable and pliant, peaceable and loyal. They are divided into two classes, catholics and schis- ARMENIANS. 309 matics, as I have already mentioned iii another chapter. These sects are in open enmity, and are both cordially hated by the orthodox Greeks, whose principal article of faith appears to consist in hating every one who does not pray, fast and feast to a tittle as they do. The Armenians are the chief bankers of European Turkey, having supplanted the Jews in that dangerous but lucrative employment, in con- sequence of possessing superior honesty or rather inferior knavery. They are greatly pro- tected by the Ottoman grandees, often against the sultan himself. In return they perform eminent services. If a pasha requires a million of piastres to buy or take possession of a pa- shalick, an Armenian banker provides them ; he trusts to his creditor's talents at spoliation for repayment, and if he have sufficient art to re- main long in office his fortune is assured. On the other hand, should the pasha be impeached and beheaded, the banker is seized and made to disgorge his patron's wealth and his own. The Hebrews from the fourth tribe of the Constantinopolitans. They are as is well known descended from the Spanish exiles, victims of a cruel policy. It is not surprising that these turned their steps to Turkey, considering the protection that their ancestors had enjoyed 310 HEBREWS. under the Moorish kings. =*^ In addition^ they neared Jerusalem, the place — the valley of Je- hoshaphat — where every Jew wishes his bones to rest. Numbers in every part of the empire realize their property in their old ag-e, and retire to the holy city to die there. When 1 was at Salonica three hundred embarked for that lau- dable purpose. Their position in Turkey is am- biguous. They are termed musafirs (guests)^ but are treated as guests who have outstaid their welcome. Nothing can equal the contempt which is heaped on them. If an object of popular hatred has to be insulted, who are constrained to do it? Jews. If a malefactor or other is to be dragged through the streets, who perform the degrading task ? Jews. If a * In proof of this protection. — A.D. 967. Rabbi Moses, and his son Rabbi Enoch (renowned scholais) in their voy- age from the East, were captured by pirates, and sold at Cor- doba. They were redeemed by their brethren, who, taking advantage of the circumstance, established a college, appoint- ing Rabbi Moses the professor of it. After some years, how- ever, the Rabbi wished to return to his country; but the king would not consent, saying, he rejoiced that his Hebrew subjects had masters at home, without being obliged to seek them in the East ; and that the Rabbi should not repine, he granted full indulgence to his religion. From the college of Cor- doba, during the following century, issued many Hebrew authors. The Hebrews had also colleges at Seville, Toledo, and Granada. Hence the Hebrew expressions and proverbs observable in the Caslilian tongue. CONSCIENCE. 311 pasha cannot get a volunteer executioner^ on whom is the odious office imposed ? Jews. They have the peculiar marked countenance of the nation, — eye of care, sallow complexion, scanty beard,— which is not remarkable in the Jews of England. Indeed the Jews of the East and of the West appear to be distinct families. What in Turkey particularly distinguishes them from the other inhabitants, independent of cos- tume, is their uncleanliness : — owing to it the Turkish troops will not quarter in their houses- A modern writer on Turkey has published an absurd calumny about them, concerning their kidnapping and killing Christian children. Their national timidity would contradict this were there not abundance of direct evidence to the contrary. They never by any chance follow agricul- tural pursuits. Their household language is Spanish, rather a vile dialect of it; at the same time, they are well acquainted with the Hebrew and Turkish lang"uaofes. The various people above-mentioned, how- ever different in most points, have one common characteristic, — a total want of conscience. Examine them as we may, we never meet with a trace of it. We are taught to believe that con- science is implanted by nature, but we learn by 312 CALCULATING TKEACHERY experience, that education is its parent. Still, in civilized Europe it is seldom entirely eradi- cated from the bosom of any man, or its place is supplied by honour, the reputation of a good name, &c., sufficient to answer the purpose of society. But every subject of the Porte, of whatever sect, acts perfectly unrestrained by it, or by its substitutes. A pasha slays his confiding guest ; a kadi bastinadoes an in- nocent man ; a banker cheats his patron ; a servant robs his master; — all swearing on the Koran, or on the Talmud, or on the Testa- ment, to their respective faith. What is more surprising, this train of evil goes on in the most regular manner, no w^ays out of the prescribed course of events. The pasha washes his guest's blood off his hands, and eats his dinner, and sleeps as sound as on the preceding day. The banker and the merchant, each in their respec- tive calling, place more merit in fraud than in honesty, and deem a fortune sweeter earned by the former than by the latter ; solace their lei- sure hours by talking of their dexterity in over- coming Prankish caution. Be the object to en- compass a man for his blood, or his money, the air of friendship, the winning softness of man- ners assumed, the oaths put in requisition, the awful denunciations invoked on their own heads ic nase of treachery, are not only sufficient^ one OF ORIENTALS. 313 hundred fold^ to deceive the uninitiated, but even the initiated, in oriental manners : should the latter not yield_, he cannot help thinking himself the most suspicious, stony - hearted being alive. Not only strangers, or provincials, but even Constantinopolitans, who breathe fi om birth the air of dissimulation, are frequently taken in : witness the readiness with which pashas, beys, &c., fall into the snares spread for their lives, notwithstanding the experience of ages, of every day, of their own experience. These men have spread similar snares for others ; they know all the toils, every mesh of the net, yet they are caught. The fact is, they cannot believe that there are men equally bad as themselves, who are capable of calling on the most High, on his prophet, on the bones of their parents — for what? to mask crime. Amongst such a people, it is difficult at all times to divest one-self of an involuntary emo- tion, similar to that which is experienced, when viewing for the first time the ponderous move- ments of a steam engine, which appear immu- table, subject to no ordinary control. So we cannot help feelhig that if it be the interest of our host, our seeming friend, to slay us, no moral tie, no human affection would restrain him. CHAPTER XXIII. On Mussulman Women — Greek Women — Armenian Women — Hebrew Women. Of the more interesting portion of the inha- tants of the Turkish capital^ the Mussulman women occupy the first place. What^ however^ can be said of women who have no balls^ routs, plays_, masquerades^ concerts^ panoramas,, pic nics, fancy fairs^ not even tea parties ? If no other, than that they are happier than half the women in the world, — Lady M. W. Montagu for a witness — that is something. Love, or de- sire, as you will, is the idol to which they are devoted from childhood, at whose altar their ideas are formed, to whose service their edu- cation tends ; the principal care of a mother is to instruct her daughter in the art of pleasing the first man who sees her — her husband, — and as his tastes are not refined, the nature of her lessons may be supposed. The Turkish bride DRESS— BEAUTY. 315 is a self contradiction. Their beauty ! who can be so presumptuous as to decide on the appear- ance of those whose walking- garb, " equalizing- tomb of elegance and deformity/' is purposely made to screen them from the gaze of the monster man ? All is not hid. Eyes belying the Prophet's anti-female soul doctrine, large, softly lustrous, — voice, toned like a silver lute, making music of every word that leaves the lips, — hands, small, taper-fingered, indicate favourably of the remainder of Nature^s handy work. Different from the Italian and Spanish black, their eyes, in particular, are unrivalled, with an expressive expression, impossible to look on without admiration ; a peculiar charm which they owe to the necessity of concealing their faces, since, deprived of the aid of smiles and blushes, their feelings, when excited, concen- trate in the organs of mute eloquence. Of the higher classes of women in Turkey — for the lower orders lead nearly the same life in all countries, nursing children, cooking food^ and matrimonial bickering, being the changes they ring— rank first the inmates of the serag- lio, who are divided into two classes ; the sul- tan's ladies, and the maidens of the valide sul- tana : the former are purchased slaves, since no Turkish woman, being free born, can be a 316 SERAGLIO INMATES. mistress^ even of tlie sovereig-n ; the latter are also in part slaves^ and part daughters of pashas who have been placed there for honour, or on the death of their fathers. They are instruct- ed in the Arabic and Persian tongues, in dancing and singing. The resources of each other's company, the luxury of their existence, and the absence of cares, it being certain that no man but the sultan ever sees these secluded birds, render them happy : there are few ladies brought up in the seraglio who do not look back on it with a kind of regret, com- paring its society with that of the uneducated females of the provincial towns where there residence may be. After a sister or a daughter, the sultan cannot evince greater favour for a pasha than by giving him in marriage one of his unknown women ; an equal honour, perhaps dearer, is a wife from the hand of the valide sultana. The lady, in either case is placed at the head of her hus- band's harem, with absolute authority, since on her interest at court depends his advance- ment. More pashalicks are gained by petticoat interest than is supposed. In virtue of her in- fluence she prevents her lord's affections from being disputed by another wife. Should he be old or disagreeable, slie must exercise patience. pasha's lady. 317 and wait till his death by the bowstring or otherwise^ when she may please her taste by marrying- one of his oficers who has won her regard. The state of a lady in her harem is the same as that of a pasha in his selamlik. She has a train of female slaves^ more or less numerous^ more or less beautiful, more or less ornamented,, according to her fancy, distin- guished, as are the officers of her lord, by the titles of kiaja, selictar, cavedji, &cc. : they watch her eyes, listen for the clap of her hands, leave her alone, dance to her, sing, act the buffoon, anything to please her whims. None sit in her presence. She smokes, chews mastick, sips coffee, and drinks sherbet ; voila her life, — tire- some enough the Frank belle thinks ; but habit reconciles us to every thing, and " ignorance is bliss." The Turkish lady knows no other mode of existence, nor has she any books to enable her to define the vague wishes which rise in her bosom in moments of languor. The condition of her slaves is unpleasant : exposed to all the caprices of their mistress, with scarcely a prospect of obtaining liberty, their only hope lying in attracting the notice of their master, they may be said to live in a convent. View- ing their situation, people are apt to judge all Mohammedan women equally deserving of 318 INNOCENT INTRIGUE, commiseration ; than which nothing- can be more erroneous^ since Turkish women, as I have before remarked, being- free-born, respected by the laws to such a degree that the shadow of slavery may not dim them, restrained even from living- with the other sex unless under the bond of marriage — an honourable consideration un- paralled in other countries — are as far above them as European ladies in the West Indies are removed from their negro slaves. Turkish ladies have a singular amusement for consolation. Two, for example, declare them- selves lovers, one of the other ; plans of hitrigue are formed, confidants are established, secresy ensured, billets doux, i.e. flowers, are mutually exchanged, all the petites ruses de guerre are employed to elude discovery, and in this way a harmless courtship is continued for years. The Koran, w4iile it gives g-reat power to a husband, does not leave a wife defenceless : it gives her a title to an equal share in her lord's affections, his attentions once a week ; in default redress may be had of the cadi. But these important privileges may be regarded as null, since there are few women who would make a similar complaint. Facility of divorce is their great ally. Writers on Mohammedan customs have not sufficiently dwelt on this subject; DIVORCES. 319 indeed it is generally considered an evil rather than a blessing for the weaker sex, and its difficulty is placed among the advantages of Christian women. Divorce among Mussulmans supposes no guilt, simple volition on the part of the husband being a sufficient cause. If in a moment of anger he says the words " 1 will live with thee no longer," that suffices. The parties go before the cadi and the act of sepa- ration is drawn out, paying a trifling fee. The lady receives her dowry and the divorce is no impediment to her re-marrying. What an ad- vantage ! suppose her husband was a disagree- able fellow, she is at once rid of him, and if without children she has notliinor to reo-ret. But in consequence of this tie parties who have been divorced for trifling causes only — for passing ill-humour — come together again. No formality is requisite ; as mutual will separated them so mutual will re-unites them. The cadi takes his fee and the aflfair is ended. Mohammed, however, aware of the numerous inconveniences which might arise from the abuse of this license, wisely ordained that after a third divorce a man could not have back his lady, unless she were previously married to another for the space of twenty-four hours. It is natural to suppose that few orientals would 320 FRIENDLY DUTY. put their affections to so painful an ordeal. However^ whether from love or habit or other cause, the hooleh sometimes takes place. It also occurs that parties thus joined (in intention temporarily to accomplish the law) become so pleased with each other before the expiration of the term that they refuse to be re-separated. The prior husband has no relief, he must de- vour his chagrin. But to avoid this unexpect- ed result, the uxorious man has generally re- course to a respectable member of the law ; he presents him with a, sum of money (the la- bourer deserves his hire), and engages him to perform the condition strictly. He thus makes sure of not being imposed on by his agent ; but he cannot impose on himself — the marriage must be consummated. Friendship cannot qua- lify this unpleasant office, and the mollah would esteem himself an unwosthy Mussulman did he fail in this particular. Turkish women have another remarkable privilege in the rapin (conventional marriage). We will suppose an inhabitant of Bagdad or Aleppo come to Stamboul on commercial or other business with the intention of remaining several months. He has left a wife behind him, and, being used to domestic happiness, feels uneasv. He addresses himself to the imam of MARRIAGE CONTRACT. 321 some mosque whom he may know : ^^ Effeudi, being a stranger in this city and likely to re- main some time, it would be wrong to remain single. Our holy Prophet enforced matrimony by precept and example ; 1 would not wish to be remiss. In your parish there may be some well-disposed young women; — you will not find me ungrateful." " Good,'' replies the imam, ^^ there are many women in my neigh- bourhood who would not turn their eyes from a comely man like yourself: what condition would you choose?" — The applicant answers, " As I am not very rich, besides having a family elsewhere, I should prefer a widow who has a respectable house." The imam bids him return another day, and in the mean time finds a lady according to order. He describes her suitor as possessed of a thousand good qualities, and as smitten with her charms. " Oh/' exclaims the fair, " I know nothing of him ; he may be a bad man, may beat me, may not let me smoke or go to the bath." The imam guarantees his client. The parties then go to the Mekhemeh and the rapin is drawn out, that is, a certificate of marriage for a certain length of time, at the expiration of which the parties are again free, 3Ierchants fiiRl this arrangement very convenient, as thereby they VOL. II. Y 322 TURKISH MOTHERS. often get a comfortable home during their re- sidence in a strange place. In no large towns of Turkey are there wanting accommodating imams. Turkish women are entitled to the credit of being the best of mothers. To be childless is considered the greatest misfortune ; and yet by a strange contradiction^, after having got two or three children^ — as many as suits their fancy to have, — they are addicted to the practice of procuring miscarriages, at which they or their accoucheuses (Jewesses) are exceedingly ex- pert, not producing constitutional injury. Wet- nurses are unknown among them ; and the cus- tom of the Franks, established in the Levant, sending their children to Europe for education, is also regarded by them as unnatural. They never lose their influence with their sons, which repays them in some measure for their want of importance in the eyes of their husbands. The chief care of a Turk, on arriving at wealth and power, is to place his mother comfortably; to which amiable trait in his character, which counterbalances a multitude of faults, we are inclined on first acquaintance to add that of strong parental tenderness. It is interesting to see the Osmanleys along the quays of tliC Bosphorus dancing their children in their arms, MOHAMMEO'S TACT. -3*23 and dropping- their gravity to play with them : the poorest will deny himself to deck his child : but the feeling is purely selfish, derived from a plaything, an exhibition of animal instinct ; as they increase in size it diminishes, and when they are grown up they are never thought much of unless fortune raise them high in the world. Valueless therefore to the Osmanleys must be that promise in the Koran, that " their sons (daughters are not to be produced, since they would hiterfere with the rights of the houris), if they wish any in paradise, shall be born and grow up in the space of an hour ;" a promise which, ridiculous as it may appear, is at the same time a striking proof of Mohammed's admirable tact in adapting his religion to the peculiar tastes of his people. Among the Arabs it must have been the first and most natural wish of a father to have his sons capable of bearing arms, and of sharing the fatigues of a wandering and predatory hfe : — until that age they were a complete burthen to him, instead of being a solace. As prodigal of displaying their charms, leaving little for the fancy to do, as the Mussulman women are reserved, the Grecian sex rank next on the list, inferior also in brilliancy, and less handsome comparatively than their men. Still Y 2 324 GRECIAN WOMEN. they are good-looking, with a dreamy voluptuous style of countenance^ common in the East^ and fine eyes — though fine eyes are so universal among them that the absence is a defect rather than the presence a beauty ; and were they set off by stays and milliners^ they would not yield the palm to the Genoese — fairest of the Italian sex — whom they resemble in a remarkable manner, considering that four centuries have elapsed since the union of Genoa and Galata. But their dress vulgarizes them : it consists of an unsightly assemblage of jackets and pet- ticoats^ hung about^ rather than put on^ their persons, with open bosoms and loose sleeves ; and their coiffure, a turban of prodigious width, the wider the more fashionable, composed of their own luxuriant hair interwoven with flowers and gause, elegant as it certainly is, gives them a courtesan-like air. It might not have this effect elsewhere, but compared with the modest apparel of their neighbours it appears inde- corous, and Mussulman women consider it a scandal thus to appear in public. To this ex- ceeding love of display, most inconsiderate in countries where licentiousness is not always restrained by the law, the Greeks may attribute many disagreeable crnsequences. In quiet times their women are as sacred as Moham- A JUST CALIPH. 325 medan women, as free from insult from every quarter ; but in revolts, which give scope to their masters' passions, it has happened that a family, which would otherwise have escaped notice, has been plunged in misery because one of its female members in her w^alks, gaily dressed and unveiled, attracted, perhaps used to coquet for, the notice of a pasha or other great man, who takes advantage of the crisis. Similar examples are not rare, yet the Greeks never profited by them. They should have applied to themselves a story told of one of the early caliphs^ who meeting a beautiful woman one day in Bagdad, caused her to be con- veyed to the seraglio. The injured husband immediately repaired to the caliph and expos- tulated with him on his injustice. After a struggle between his reason and his passion, the monarch restored the man his wife accom- panied by the caution not to let her go abroad again unveiled : " Men," he observed, " are not insensible to beauty ; they should not there- fore be tempted : — take warning by this ; you will not find all men so moderate." This reason- ing is doubtless inapplicable in countries where the laws are sufficient to restrain unprincipled men. To the want of such laws only must be referred the custom in the East of veiling the 326 GRECIAN WOMEN women, — a custom established ages before the coming of Mohammed, — a custom which did not originate in the jealousy of the men, though degenerated to such, but as the surest way of preserving their women from insults. The chief feature in the character of Grecian women is, I should say, covetousness of money. It would be difficult, except perhaps among mountain tribes, to find a model for one of the thousand heroines of song and tale about Gre- cian love and devotedness. In no country is marictge de convenance so much a law of society as among the higher classes of Greeks ; and among the lower classes mothers do not hesitate to bar- gain away their daughters' honour, which prac- tice is so much the more reprehensible as they are never reduced to it by want ; want, in our acception of the word, being almost unknown in unpopulous countries. No lover need think of advancing in the affections of his mistress unless provided with Cashmere shawls ; neck- laces and bracelets are also in request ; but Cashmere shawls — the more the better — are the things — the height of female ambition, the tests of gentility. She must be low indeed who would think of going to church or to the pro- menade without one. A counterfeit Cashmere ! the reproach would be ineffaceable. FACILITY OF DIVORCE. 327 Divorce is nearly, if not quite, as easy in the Greek religion as in the Mussulman, but less to the advantage of the fair sex, because a fault is supposed. The license is much abused, and the bishops, each of whom has the power, grant it on the slightest pretext. There are, however, three legitimate causes of divorce : viz. infi- delity, inebriety, and a bad breath ; in justice, there should be a gasometer to decide on the state of the latter, which should not be left to the olfactory powers of the bishop and his clerk. A claim of divorce may also be pre- ferred on account of hymeneal mysteries, for which reason the bride's relatives visit the nup- tial chamber to possess themselves of the evi- dence of her honour. The antiquity of this custom is shewn in Deuteronomy. The Armenian women come next. They may be considered as Christian sisters of their Turkish neighbours, for they very nearly re- semble them in dress and manner ; rendering themselves, however, less handsome by an im- moderate use of cosmetics. They bring their eye- brows nearly into the form of semicircles, marking the interval between them, with the idea of shewing the straight outline of the nose, with a perpendicular stroke of black paint ; and they spoil their plump satin cheeks by an 328 ARMENIAN WOMEN. ill-judged display of rouge. They also coral- tip their fingers^ and tinge their eyelids in the manner of Turkish women. Their national characteristic is insipidity ; " ghiuzel Ermeneh" (pretty Armenian) is proverbial in Turkey for a tame beauty. Owing to divorce not being permitted among them, whether of the Catholic or schismatic per- suasion, their situation is more trlste than that of any other class in the empire,, for they live nearly as secluded as Mussulman women, and are completely domestic slaves ; a bride may not speak except in answer, or sit in the presence of her husband, until she has borne him a child — a species of indignity from which Turkish women are exempt. This corroborates what I before observed of the Mohammedan religion respecting women, — that it is not pecu- liarly oppressive. We are in the habit of com- paring it with the Christian religion in the West, and drawing our inference therefrom. This is not fair : we should compare it with the Christian religion in the East — its cradle — where seclusion of women has ever been in vogue among the natives, whether Jews, Pagans, Christians, or Mussulmans. The Hin- doo who told bishop Heber that they owed the custom to their Mohammedan conquerors iMOHAMMED.S POLICY. 329 deceived him. The conquest of a few may alter the government^ the laws of a country, but it never chansfes the manners of a numerous people : the Tartars among the Chinese is an example ; the Normans among the English, and the Osmanleys among the Greeks still more striking ones. In comparing also, in other respects, the precepts of the Koran with the customs of the early Arabians we find a great similarity, for Mohammed was infinitely too w^ise to touch prejudices which had the sanc- tion of antiquity, excepting such as revolted nature. He put a stop to the inhuman prac- tice of the Arabs, v^hich exists to this day in parts of India, of destroying female children ; but circumcision he passed over in silence, not choosing, fortified therein, may be, by his hatred of the Jews, to recommend an absurdity, harm- less but cherished, but not daring to forbid a practice which had been handed down to the Arabs from Abraham. The Hebrew women close the fair list at Con- stantinople, and require no comment, for their manners, customs, and duties, are tiie same in the nineteenth century as they are described in the Bible, sufficiently minutely I am sure to satisfy the most curious investigator. A local practice, however, prevails, in order to restrain 330 COMPARISON OF the facility of divorce which the law of Moses permits^ and whoever considers the character of the nation is not surprised to find that it is very effectual ; a bride's dowry is named at three times its real amount^ which the husband is obliged to give to her in case he divorce her. A word now on the relative beauty of women of the east and the west. The former have been extolled by the divinest poets, copied by the finest sculptors and painters ; yet^ when in the east, we are disappointed. Why? — because our expectations have been too much raised ; and^ principally, because our ideas on beauty have been formed in a different school^ so that habit has silenced reason. We know it is un- natural, the female form staved with cord and whalebone_, — that the variety of shape so much admired in Europe^ is as much owing to art as nature ; still how we are wedded to the effect^ — how graceless in our eyes are the vague lines of nature ! Dress up the Venus de Medicis, — what a dowdy she would be, a ^ dumpy woman.'' — We cannot help occasionally, while in the east, drawing a comparison between the native fair and our own, led by the presumed superiority of the former, but we always decide in a gene- ral sense in favour of the latter. It is true that in the east we are now and then arrested by FEMALE BEAUTY. 331 a face that might be dreamed, the likeness of which is never seen in other climes, but we say this is only one, surpassingly divine certainly ; at home we have myriads, if not quite so fair nearly so ; never reflecting that many pass us every day without notice who, were they set off, as in Europe, by dress, would claim ardent regards. However, whether northern, southern, eastern, or western, climes, every man who has travelled far, must allow that for one pretty woman seen out of England, there are one hundred pretty women in England. CHAPTER XXIV. Capitan Pasha — Greek Patriarch — Nourrey Bey — Passag;e Boat — Echos — Rodosto — Adrianople — Kar'agatch — Silk Worms — Mad Dog — Inhumanity — Greeks — Mahmout Aga — Mosque — Grand Vizir — Bairam Pasha. April 29th, 1830. — I saw for the last time my old friend, Achmet Papudgi, Capitan Pasha, reclined on a sofa in his divan hane (council chamber), his glassy eyes and clear hollow cheeks told me that he was at length dying of his old complaint, ossification of the heart. His officers eyed me wistfully, as much as to say. Can he live? — I shook my head. Little_, how- ever, did the object of their solicitude — less out of love than interest — think that he was soon to be confronted with Monkir and Nekir ; for, after saying that he was going in two months to the white sea (Archipelago), in the new first-rate, he invited me to accompany him. It was pain- ful to hear him thus talk. He was smoking a THE CAPITAN PASHA. 333 nargliiler at the time — his bane, yet like opium, so fascinating", that he never could leave it off — but on its producing- severe coughing*, old Hassan, his purveyor of tobacco, handed him a chibouque instead. This also, after holding it a minute between his pale thin lips, he laid down, and looked out of the window with an air of pleasure, as the English frigate swung in the line of his vision. Her top-gallant masts catching his attention, he put a question to me about them, and then directed an order to be taken to the arsenal, to fit his ships in the same w ay, " Because," he said, " we may meet the English Capitan Pasha in the white sea." Poor man ! a dark sea was opening before him. Presently, a dish of boiled herbs, his only diet, was brought in and laid on a stool before him. Dipping his attenuated fingers into it, he con- trived to swallow a couple of niouthfuls, but then, as if exhausted by the effort, he called for a glass of water, and sunk back on the cushions. My chibouque being now finished, I rose and wished him well, when, as if a different feeling suddenly crossed his mind, he drew a ring from his finger, and gave it to me as a memorial. The next day I went to Brussa, and on my return. May 5th, found him dead. He had died on the 4th in the same comfortless state, sur- 334 ANOMALY. rounded by mercenaries only^ notwithstanding that his wives were in his palace^ and his son was sultan's page. But though his ladies were not grieved they felt the loss, for, being of ignoble birth, they required reflection ; at- tributing his death to the surgeon of a French vessel of war, who had attended him, they shewed their spite by emptying the contents of a vase on his head as he passed under their windows on the following morning. The re- mains of the shoemaker admiral were interred at Eyoub^ his effects sold by auction to pay his debts^ and Halil Pasha (then ambassador at St. Petersburgh^ since the sultan's son-in- law)^ who knew nothing more of the sea than that it was salt and full of fish^ succeeded him ; thus disappointing the expectations of many, that Sultan Mahmoud would have dis- continued the absurd practice of appointing landsmen to that high post — especially disap- pointing the capitan bey^* who, by way of paying * Hassan, capitan bey, was a shrewd fe'low. On hearing that it was desired to turn a line of battle ship out of dock to make room for an English gentleman's yatch, he quaintly offered (not attaching more weight to a yatch than to any other similar craft) to hoist her out of water by the sheers. The yatchman's indignation, at the idea, may be conceived, — by the members of the R.Y.C. The Turkish ofl&cer's astonish- ment at the request may be imagined, — by the authorities of an English dock-yard. NICO MEDIA. 335 courts bad adopted Frank usages in a bare- faced manner, even going* the length of smoking cigars. Were the duties solely ministerial^ the defect, though great^ of having any other than a seaman at the head of the naval department, would not very materially signify ; but the capitan pasha always sails with the fleet : true, he has officers under him who know something of the profession, but their judgment can have little weight against his obstinacy, nor is their firmness to be depended on in the presence of a chief, who has power to dispose of their heads. The weather at this season was most delight- ful, propitious for travelling ; so, having made another agreeable excursion on board the Blonde, to Nicomedia,* I took leave of my * This place, called Ismid by the Turks, and containing about 13,000 inhabitants, between Mussulmans and Arme- nians, possesses one of the most interesting ruins in Turkey, viz. of the palace of Dioclesian, which, from what remains of it, must have been a stupendous edifice. It is situated on a platform one-third of the distance up the hill, and commands a fine prospect every way ; — on one side, of the gulf, which yields only to the Bosphorus in beauty ; on the other side, over the plain where Dioclesian performed the ceremony of abdicating the empire. In a fissure of the wall we disturbed some storks for their eggs ; and on the green at its base, some Turkish boys were playing at leap-frog. The only ancient remains besides it are, — a round tower on the summit of the town, and portions of the arches of the terraces on which the streets of the city were raised in amphitheatre. 336 HOSPITALITY. esteemed friends^ her captain and officers — the frigate proceeding to Artaki^ and then prepared to quit Constantinople ; with a lively sense, though, of the civilities which I had received from many of its inhabitants, Franks and na- tives, during a residence among them of several months. Indeed the English traveller, with- out any other acquaintance, would have found ample resources, at the period of which I speak, in the hospitality of our ambassador, Sir R. Gordon, in whose house he ever found a cor- dial welcome. I doubly felt his attentions, since previous to his arrival in the country I had not the honour of being known to his Ex- cellency. Of the hospitality of our worthy and talented consul-general, Mr. Cartwright, and of those liberal - minded merchants, Mr. Black and Mr. Hardy, I need not say any thing ; they must be fresh in the recollection of every gen- tleman who has visited Pera during' the last fifteen years. My friends, the Turkish naval officers, over- whelmed me with polite demonstrations. I had to smoke twenty chibouques, a' least, with them on taking leave, and drink as many cups of coffee ; and my hand was nearly wrung oflf by their unsophisticated way of shaking it. Little Mehemet, capitan of the Selimier, embraced GREEK PATRIARCH. 337 me and all expressed a hope of seeing me agahia As Mount Athos lay in my projected tour^ I visited the Greek patriarch in order to obtain a letter of recommendation to the monasteries. His residence, which is in the Fanar, close to the metropolitan church, and screened from the danger of fire by a high wall, appeared to us to be very little different from a Turkish palace, ex- cepting that instead of the crowd of chavasses which encumber the halls of the latter, we saw an equally lazy crowd of priests. In the saloons of the first and second floors were antique chairs of state, with high backs, curiously inwrought with pearl. Time, also, we should have had to ex- amine a picture gallery, had there been one, for the siesta of his Holiness kept us waiting an hour ; when, without any ceremony, we were intro- duced, and found the Eastern Pope — at whose almost apostolic simpUcity his brother of Rome would have sneered — seated, a la Turque, on a silken divan, with a writing case and a quantity of papers beside him. His apartment, which overlooked the golden horn, though plainly de- corated, yet evinced the presence of taste in some frescos of birds on the walls, exceedingly well executed, the work of an Italian. Having heard the purport of my visit, the patriarch expressed himself ghid of the opportunity of serving an VOL. II. Z 33S GREEK PATRIARCH. Englishman^ and further complimented us by saying, that he should have been offended had we not asked him : then, directing his secretary in the mean time to write a circular in warm terms, to the superiors of the monasteries, he invited us to refresh ourselves with chibouques ; which, on our bowing thanks, for the honour was not to be expected, were served in due form by deacons, with coffee and sherbet. While enjoying them, I could not avoid remarking the dejection of the patriarch^s countenance, which gave him the air of an Osmanley : he must, T thought, have known severe trials to extinguish Greek gaiety, which generally survives every thing, even honour. His eye and voice be- came yet more melancholy as we discoursed on Greece : it would have done some Philhellen- ists good to have been there. Unsparing in his censures of their conduct — of the mercenary interestedness of their leaders, whether Fana- riotes or Capitani, he lamented more the moral than the physical degradation of his country- men, and predicted great difficulties for prince Leopold (who was then expected to be sove- reign of Greece), saying that he would encounter infinite risk in governing the Moreotes, " the most treacherous of the Greeks," to use his owai ^.A j.'V^^'l O' ^>5^ ^ iliEs' TOMliS. 376 suliiiaii village of 800 bouses^ two miles from the left bank, and two hours farther on pulled up to the right bank at the nearest spot to Fera, a Turkish town, two miles from the river. I procured horses and rode to it, to ascertain if there were any remains of antiquity^ it being conjectured to be on the site of TrajanopoHs. I found none, but saw a good mosque and the ruins of a spacious khan, shewing that the town had been of more importance. Thence we rode to the summit of an adjoining hill to see some ruins, which, according to my informant at Adrianople, were of an old castle. Ruins there were, certainly, though not such as I ex- pected to find — time-hallowed, recalling cru- sading scenes, — but recent, betraying wanton destruction. Yet among them was an edifice, entire, low, and solid, resembling a powder magazine or a dungeon, and singular, attracting curiosity, as having escaped the surrounding wreck: stooping under a low arch, I entered it, and started on finding myself in a chamber containing the coffins of five dervishes, as the peculiar caps, decaying at the head of each, and the tattered garments, hnng round, indicated. An elderly Osmanley was on the hill : him I questioned, and learned that it was the tomb of Ibrahim Baba, a holy dervish of the order of 376 dervishes' tombs. Bektash^ and that the adjoining- ruins had been houses for the accommodation of pilgrims. In reference to the size of two of the coffins^ which were upwards of nine feet long, he said that they held evel zeman adam (men of the olden time). He recommended me to go five miles further, where was the tomb of Nefez Baba, one of the most celebrated saints of the same order, who had come from Gallipoli with the Osman- leys when they conquered the country ; and in commemoration, he, Nefez, being rich, Fez Padischah Oglou (son of a Barbary prince), had founded a monastery. A similar spectacle awaited me, — a ruined village and a tomb. Two of the coffins were also of enormous size, made so to impose on the vulgar. There, also, a di- rection was given me to the tomb of another saint, Rustam Baba, some miles farther, but I did not profit by it, thinking two sufficient for a moderate curiosity ; at the same time I was greatly pleased at finding myself among the tombs of the Bektashes — as celebrated in the east as the Jesuits were in the west. But our friend Hadgi Bektash's was not one. He, as everv one knows, was the founder not of the order, but of its fame, by sanctifying the corps of Janizzaries at Adrianople, 1389, at Amurath's request. Holding his sleeve over the foremost JAMZZARIES BERT ASHES. 37T file, he said,—" Let them be called Yenicheri ; may their countenances be for ever bright ; their hands victorious; may their spears hang over the heads of their enemies ; and wheresoever they go may they return with a white face l" How well they answered his invocation, the battle fields from St. Sophia's domes to Vienna bear evidence. Thus the cowl became the scarf of the sabre, the dervish's sleeve the plume of the soldier. Thenceforward the names of the Janizzaries and the Bektashes were nearly synonymous ; their interests were indissolubly linked; and they supported each other, re- spectively, by deeds and prayers. The order was immensely rich, spread over the empire, commanding the veneration of high and low, and not to visit the tombs of the principal saints was considered a serious omission. The blow struck at the Janizzaries rebounded on the Bektashes. Sultan Mahmoud instantly pro- claimed their dissolution, and sent officers to this part of the country to level the houses of accommodation and the tombs. The former part of the sentence was carried into effect, but the discontent of the people averted the latter. Hadgi Bektash lies near Cesarieh, whither, I should imagine, the Sultan's anathema did not penetrate : the Asiatics have not hitherto shewn 378 HADGI BEKTASH. much docility to his will, and still less would they respect it regarding the violation of their favourite saint. To judge by the pilgrimage to the inferior luminaries, that to the Hadgi's tomb should be numerously attended. Proba- bly it still exists, and it is worth a traveller's while, whose route lies that way, to make inqui- ries concerning this interesting character — in- teresting, for certainly no man since the pro- phet has more permanently influenced the af- fairs of the East. Poor Hadgi Bektash ! he little dreamed in the days of his sanctity, when be breathed soul into that body, so long the terror of Europe, that his name would ever become a curse with the sovereign of Turkey. Wherever I went existed a strong feeling against the sultan for his wanton enmity to the dead. That night I passed like the others in my boat, slowly progressing as there were no dams to obstruct us, and early in the morning reached Enos,^ where I was hospitably received in the * The Marizza is navigable all the year for flat boats ; from October to the middle of June for frigates' launches. Both banks are well cultivated to within fifteen miles of Adrianople, with substantial villages at intervals of ten miles or less. ' In a future war between Russia and Turkey it will pro- bably be England's policy to give the latter effectual aid, BRITISH VICE CONSUL. 379 house of Mr. Limonjog-lou^ an Armenian mer- chant_, whom I had known at Adrianople as dra- goman to the consulate^ — a clever worthy man, with a very pretty amiable Greek lady for a wife ; her father was beheaded at the commence- ment of the civil war. I had scarcely break- fasted when officers came on the part of the aga and the kadi to compliment me on my arrival. The British agent also called, a native of Syra, a man notorious for a disreputable appearance and life, and for unworthy practices : I was ashamed to see such offal bearing so respect- able a title. People out of Turkey cannot con- ceive the injury caused by such representatives : wherever they reside Franks are not respected. Born rayas, they seldom surmount their timi- dity of the Osmanleys ; and when they do, their tone towards the agas, with whom they have to deal, becomes insolence ; the more insup- portable, because connected, generally, with in- capacity and ignorance of the laws and pe- and if so, to send a few thousand men to Adrianople to form a nucleus for the Turkish forces. Troops landed at Enos might march with comfort to Adrianople in three days, their materiel being conveyed on the river. There are a sufficient number of good positions to ensure the com- munications ; and the inhabitants (Mussulmans and Cos- sacks) would render essential service. 380 lONlANS. culiar privileg"es of Europeans in the Levant. Besides^ they always engage in trade^ often contraband^ to increase which they scruple not to compromise the nation they represent. The out-ports of Turkey swarm with lonians who claim British protection. For these^ re- spectable agents are infinitely more required than for the English, who conduct themselves properly, and command respect everywhere ; they rarely need the interference of consuls ; whereas the lonians are perpetually embroiled with the native authorities, either through ignorance, or malice (the pleasure of annoy- ing Mussulmans). The agent, if a Greek islan- der, or an emancipated raya, cannot restrain their irregularities, and will not question the exactions of the aga, with whom he often con- nives. Thus commences an affair. It gets abroad that English interests are neglected ; it gets to Constantinople ; is referred to the ambassador, and a tedious correspondence ensues with the Porte in consequence of a trifle, originating in the inability or dishonesty of an adventuring, pennyless Greek or Ita- lian — agent for Great Britain ! The lonians are spread all over Turkey, as traders, as doctors, as pedlars, as tradesmen ; and, when in trouble, invariably style them- CASE OF HARDSHIP. 381 selves Englishmen (not otherwise), to the great injury of our name ; they commit more dis- orders in Turkey than any other class. I have met some with passports wherein they were styled Englishmen^ a license which should not be permitted to them, because they only discredit it. Nor are tl e Osmanleys always aware of the distinction. One day at Buyuk- dere, the Capitan Pasha sent to inform me that an English sailor on board one of the ships was mutinous, and committing great dis- orders. It was a trait of delicacy on his part;, letting me know^ of it, instead of ordering the man a few hundred blows on the soles of his feet. 1 had never heard of an Englishman being in the fleet, but I felt grateful for the in- formation, and immediately went to him. He was a Cephaloniote. I was so vexed that I threa- tened to let the worst come to him for having assumed our name to screen his misconduct^ I took care to explain to his excellency the dis- tinction between an Englishman and an Ionian. A few years since an Englishman was vice, consul at Enos ; he there married the bishop's niece. This alliance cost him his situation ; for Mr. Stratford Canning would not, in conse- quence, permit him to retain it, it being con- trary to Turkish laws, intermarriages between 382 ILLEGAL MARRIAGES. Franks and rayas. The publicity thus given, in virtue of the ambassador's proceeding, aroused the authorities, who separated the parties and placed the lady under confinement. The hus- band, not being able to gain any redress at Constantinople, retired to the Morea in distress, v^here he soon after died. His widow was then restored to her friends. Now this act of the ambassador was cruel, because totally unneces- sary ; for although the Turks sometimes inter- fere to prevent these matches, they never op- pose them after the ceremony. At Constanti- nople and at Smyrna, in proof of this assertion, are Englishmen and other Franks married to rayas. At Adrianople a Corfuyote physician of my acquaintance paid his addresses to a Greek lady during three years, but could not obtain permission to marry her; moreover, Alish Pa- sha, a vulgar tyrant of low origin, fearing that his commands might be ineffectual with the lovers, sent for her parents and threatened their heads if the marriage took place. A similar menace is too easily carried into effect to be despised ; therefore the consummation of their wishes seemed hopeless. The arrival of the Russians, however, by superseding the Turkish laws, smoothed all difficulties. They were united and continued to live undisturbed, not- PETITION. 383 withstanding" that the same pasha resumed the command of the city after the departure of Diebitsch. There was one other agent at Enos when I was there^ besides the British agent^ his bro- ther-in-law ; but^ more fortunate_, he was agent for seven nations. Seven coats of arms were in his hall, and consequently he was seven times a rogue. His reign was drawing to a close. The morning that I arrived, the aga, kadi, and the principal inhabitants — Mussul- man, Greek, and Frank — signed a petition against him to be presented at the Porte. I saw the petition, and a curious document it was, on account of the signatures, which were various : some were done with reed or pen, others with a signet, others by the bulb of the fore-finger of the signer dipped in ink and pres- sed on the parchment. One of the marks I observed made with the back of the fore-fin- ger, contained between the second and third joints. This custom is of high antiquity. The Koran informs us that the prophet signed pa- pers of importance by laying his whole hand smeared with ink, on thein. Enos is situated on a rocky isthmus, so nearly surrounded by water that a cut of 200 yards would make it an island. In the hands of 384 NATURAL CURIOSITIES. Franks it might be rendered a second Gibraltar ; nothing commands it. It has an old castle of Italian structure ; there were thirty-six pieces of cannon in it which the Russians carried off or sunk^ together with all the ammunition. It surrendered at first summons to General Severs, at the head of a brigade of cavalry, with a few- field pieces. In the foundations of the town are quantities of oyster shells, and on the plain outside are some remarkable rocks, encrusted a foot deep with similar marine productions. It is natural to suppose that they were formerly under water, in which case Enos was an island, although, at first sight, the extreme flatness of the plain towards Adrianople seems to contra- dict this supposition, on the ground that the sea in flowhig over them would have encroached farther in land than facts justify. BA a rise of one inch in fifty feet, which is imperceptible, gives in five miles and a half as many feet ele- vation ; and the inhabitants assured me, from tradition, that several villages now four and five miles inland, were formerly on the sea coast. It is manifest that the alluvial deposit of the Marizza is forming a delta. Another of Enos' curiosities is the infinite number of storks, called by the Turks lekleks, from the noise they make with their bills. They STORKS. 385 cover every house and cliimney, and for a stranger to attempt sleeping of a morning after they commence lekleking is useless. They are fond of their young : when they have occasion to bring food to them from a long distance they swallow it for the convenience of carriage^ and restore it on reaching the nest. They are an emigrating species. At the commencement of winter they assemble and fly off in long caravans to the souths returning in the spring, — the same birds to the old quarters as I was credibly in- formed. They are lovers of tranquillity though such noisy creatures themselves, on the same principle that great talkers like silent people ; and from this disposition arises the vulgar opinion that they shun the vicinity of Christian dwell- higs, — a prejudice somewhat warranted by the observation that they are rarely seen in tlie Christian quarters of Turkish towns : Constan- tinople, for example, swarms with them, exclud- ing the less quiet suburbs of Pera and Galata. Their position at Enos, however, an entire Greek town, exonerates them from enterino- into the religious antipathies of Mussulmans. I returned the inquiries of the aga, Mahmoud Bey,* in person. I found him a handsome polished young man, and as I had known some * Sons of pashas have the title of bey. VOL. II. 2 c 386 LOVE OF ANCESTRY. of his brother pages at Constantinople, we soon became good friends and exchanged trifling presents. He had more curiosity than Osman- leys usually have, and wished to know my opinion of several pashas whom he named. I had a good word for all excepting Alish Pasha, at which he caressed his moustaches, informing me that Alish had been his father's selictar and that he hated him for a parvenu. This shews that though the sultan disregards birth in the selection of his officers, the Turks, like all other people, value it. Happy the man among them who can boast of a grandfather. He invited me and my party to dine with him next day at a kiosk in the country. We then visited the cadi and the archbishop, and in the evening, it being Sunday, mingled with the fashion of the town on the promenade by the sea-shore. The whole female population was out, partly on land, partly on the water in small boats, and made a gay spectacle in their rich costume, consisting of loose robes a la Turque of finest bright coloured silks, and all seemed superla- tively happy, though under the Turkish rule. We sat down by a windmill to listen to their songs and observe their landing. It was plea- santly cool. The sun was setting behind a fine mountain-range, terminating with Cape Macri ; GRECIAN BEAUTY. 387 Saniothraki expanded in the clear atmosphere, and the jagg-ed cone of the holy mountain, ap- pearing single on the water as an island, was distinctly visible. Presently a fair freighted bark, object of our attention on account of a sweet voice in it, came to the beach near where we sat. A dozen ladies disembarked : amonor them was one of real beauty, that beauty which we are taught to expect in Greece but which we rarely find — a model for the sculptor. There was the virgin front, the pencilled arches, the large saintly eyes, the strait profile, the satin cheeks, the just-parted delicate lips, the chin nor oval nor round, the blue-veined neck, the falling shoulders : — there were all these — all in perfection ; but where were the charms of figure? — the bust, the slender waist, the swell- ing hips, the well-turned ancle, — charms un- possessed out of modish Europe. The fair Enosiotes, in my opinion the best looking of the Grecian women^ surpassing the vaunted Smyr- niotes, conceal the forms nature has given them under a mass of clothing, and their toilette makes girls appear enceintes. The next morning we made a light breakfast, in anticipation of the surfeit we were doomed to undergo chez le hey. It is one effect of civil- ization that a man is not forced to eat more than 2 c 2 388 DINNER PARTY. he wishes^ but the Osmanleys have not yet reached that point. At two o'clock the bey sent horses for us. We were four in number: — my host ; his partner^ a freed raya ; a Nea- politan trader, his guest,, waiting for a passage to Syra ; and myself. The place of rendezvous was a kiosk near the salt-pans^ one mile and a half from the town. We had occasion^ to get to it, to cross an hilet of the sea up to our horses' bellies, in doing which poor Aleccho (Linionjoglou), who preferred riding on a don- key, got a wetting. However, it was a fine day, and he dried before the bey, who followed soon afterwards accompanied by the cadi and the yombrokgi (douanier), arrived : in the mean time we gallopped about the plain, and played awkwardly at the jerreed with some Osman- leys. These three personages, in small towns, are seldom apart, from the necessity of playing into each others' hands, and for society ; they may be compared, under the latter article, to the parson, the apothecary, and the schoolmaster of an Enghsh village fifty years back. The bey was in every respect the superior of the triade, with, too, a perfect freedom from eastern non- chalance, so trying to a stranger, and only to be met by counterfeiting a similar deportment. CADI — YOiVlBROKGI. 389 The cadi was a usual specimen of the favoured law class, distinguished over Turkey by supe- rior knowledge and superior sensuality ; his smooth and polished manner, soft as his lady- like hand, a beauty much esteemed in the East, was opposed by the lurking treachery of his eyes glancing from the corners of their half-closed lids. The extraordinary self-command of these adepts in duplicity^ equally serene whether signing a death-warrant or accepting a bribe, makes one experience, in their intimacy, the sensation of the Hindoo while caressing a cobra capella. The yombrokgi was a vulgar, low Asiatic, tolerated by his superiors on account of his gross buffooneries ; for however superior an Osmanley is, he cannot get over the innate love of beholding others expose themselves to ridicule. I already knew these worthies, there- fore without ceremony we took possession of the divan, and began, as usual, to smoke. The bey kicked off his Wellington boots, which an- noyed him in his tailor-like position, and asked my opinion about fortifying the town, of which we had a full view. Not knowing more of Ibr- tification than men of my profession in general do, I might have been embarrassed without the comfortable reflection that, know ever so little, I could not well know less than an Osmanley. 390 MISTRANSLATION. I completed my task off hand, and assured him that if he followed ray plan, Enos would be the strongest place in the empire ; much was not requisite to gain for it that pre-eminence. He expressed himself delighted, though, I knew, inly determined to do nothing that would re- quire money, and the freed raya burst out into rapture at my demonstration, with, " Voila I'avantage des mathematiques." As this was his constant expression, his retreat, I may say, when auy thing was said or done of which he was ignorant, I could not take it as a substan- tial compliment : however, it had the effect of giving a change. The bey and cadi began a whispering conversation ; the yombrokgi, dis- pleased at being neglected, applied himself assiduously to a narghiler ; and my Frank com- panions, who never saw newspapers, drew me into their favourite subject, politics, of which I remember no other than that the Neapolitan was extremely anxious to know the views of the hautes potPMces (as by a natural translation of his own word potenze, he expressed puis^ sances). The repetition of the expression was amusing, and the idea of how sharply an Italian poUceman would have caught it up, still more so. But the equivoque was harmless ; there was nothing in his broad good-humoured coun- SALT PANS — PUNCH. 391 tenance that indicated a savour of carbonarism. By the frequent changhig of our chibouques it became evident that we should not eat before late, and we therefore ceased looking impa- tiently towards the hill over which the viands were to be brought from the town. To amuse us, in the mean while, English beer, and cucum- bers were brought in, of which we partook moderately, and the Osmanleys voraciously. The natives of Turkey, of every sect, are gree- dily fond of cucumbers, and in the season are seldom seen without a whole one in their hands devourinoT" it. We then walked out to view the pans. The bey, in a facetious humour, called for some of the salt, and tasted it ; all his coun- trymen present were of course obliged to fol- low the example and praise it ; nor dared they spit it out, not even the yombrokgi who made wry faces. It appeared good and white. It forms a principal source of the aga's revenue — Adrianople, with the surrounding country, being supplied with it. At our return to the kiosk, I hoped to find dinner, — but no such luck. As a necessary prelude, for it was now evident that we were destined the honour of a regular Bacchanalian repast, an enormous bowl of punch was ready, and musicians were in waiting. The Osman- 392 SONGS — DANCING. leys made a few fagons, but drank deep ex- cepting the bey, who constrained himself for appearance sake^ and in order to make the yom- brokgi intoxicated. The yombrokgi acted his part well. He began by protesting that he was a true Mussulman — that he would not violate his religion by drinking before Franks ; then begged submissively (as if the victim of his politeness) not to be made the jest of the com- pany, — entreated that we would at least turn our heads, and finished by swallowing an ok (quart). The music then struck up with songs that will not admit translation. The company warmed to the subject and joined in the chorus — the cadi in an under tone^ with a subdued expression of satisfaction^ the yombrokgi furi- ously striking the floor with hands and feet. The bey was infinitely delighted, and urged him to play the fool still more. Presently dancing boys came in^ and began in a moderate manner to keep time with their attitudes. This would not suffice the yombrokgi ; he rose, fast inflaming, reeling joined the dance, and ex- cited them to shew all their skill ; but, it not being the intention of the epicurean company to exhaust at once their means of entertain- ment, he was compelled to sit down and con- sole himself with punch, while the boys conti- ALI EFIENDl. 393 nued in their own fashion to exhibit lascivious sleepy gestures. We were all good friends — hats and turbans ; the cadi, next to me, tes- tified great solicitude for my entertainment, and kept me in a state of suffocation by making his own chiboukgi assiduously serve me. It was now six o'clock, and what with beer, cucum- bers, punch, and an infinity of tobacco, I began to fear that I should not be able, much longer, to preserve my equilibrium ; when, with the joy that a famished army knows, haihng its long-expected convoy, we perceived a train of domestics, bearing dishes over the water. Our flagging spirits revived ; the dancers retired, the music ceased, the yombrokgi went out to make restitution, and Albanians came in to arrange the cushions for eating commodiously. But one of the guests, Ali Effendi, was not yet arrived. While I was wishing him at Mecca, behold he rides into the water, and crosses it in an orthodox style, smoking a long pipe. The musicians came up again to welcome him, and punch was brought in, in order to assimilate him to the rest of the party. His white beard seemed older than his florid countenance, and a bright mellow eye inferred how little he heeded the Koran. " We Osmanleys," he whispered to me, " seldom drink, but when we do we can empty 394 EASTERN POLITENESS. a cask." At length all being arranged^ the guests merry^ we disposed ourselves round the tray_, — the bey in the angle of the sofa^ the cadi on his right hand (place of honour), myself on his left^ and the rest of the company alternately — nine in all. There was also an inferior tray, which received our leavings, for the attendants and some low Franks who came to the feast like Myconians. The first dish was, as usual, lamb roasted whole, stuffed with rice and raisins. An Albanian first took it up and twisted off a shoulder for the second table, an etiquette which is observed in order to lessen the sense of inferiority. It was excellen", as well as the multitude of dishes which rapidly followed. I complimented the bey on his cook, but he re- minded me that he was son of a pasha, therefore it was not surprising. Between every dish wine was handed round in large goblets. I was compelled to drink deep, for Ali Effendi wishing to recover lost time pledged me repeatedly until the bey checked him, saying, "I desire that my guest follow his will." But his polite- ness in other ways was as disconcerting as this was acceptable, for he carried it to the length, shewing me the greatest honour that can be shewn in the East, of helping me with his fingers to the choicest morsels of every dish. SAFFRON PILAFF. 395 sopping them in the gravy. The repast I thought would never terminate : — an ordinary repast is over in ten minutes_, but one of this description is indefinite and requires energy. The Turks on such occasions loose their sashes and to it. Nor was our company^ Christian or Mussulman,, wanting in due exertions. The Neapolitan forgot his dear maccaroni in the luxuries before him ; the cadi ate like an accom- plished gourmand^ savouring all^ allowing only a slight remark occasionally to escape him ; the yombrokgi was voracious^ tearing the meats with both hands (he was not on my side)^ and ap- plying a rum bottle to his lips at each mouthful ; Ali EfFendi was very loquacious^ at the same time not neglecting the more serious business of the day. Finally, to our great relief the saffron pilafF * made its appearance with creams and kours- houb. These were replaced by a large bowl of punch, in the composition of which water had a very small share. In virtue of it our orgies were pushed to excess^ and the scene, — what with the music^ the songs and the dancing boys, became rather bedlamite. Some of the * It is a sign that your entertainer is well-bred when the last pilaff is slightly tinged with saffron. To the eye it is pleasing, and not disagreeable to the taste. 396 DRUNKEN FROLIC. guests tore off their upper garments — fire in their eyes^ froth on their beards^ — joined the dancers^ their turbans half- unrolled flying out as they reeled round the apartment, and but for the presence of the bey scandalous displays would have ensued. One grey - beard actu- ally seized a handsome lad belonging to the cadi with felonious intent. The struggle was sharp between them, and the company stifled with laughter at beholding the grimaces of the drunken satyr. The lad's eye at length caught mine : — blushing till his very ears tin- gled, he broke away, letting the other fall on his face. Tranquillity followed this burst : — coffee composed the actors, and the bey hoped that I would make no remark on what I saw, adding that such took place only once in a way. I assured him that I had been sufficiently long acquainted with Osmanleys to be aware of their general propriety, and that he might depend on my discretion. At ten o'clock we remounted, forming a cavalcade of fifteen persons. Footmen accom- panied us with torches, the long streams of light flowing from which on the placid tide joined to the phosphoric splashing of our horses was ex- ceedingly pretty, and made by their dazzling vibrathig effect some of the party reel in their PRACTK AL JOKE. 397 saddles. No derang-ement however occurred to any one excepting* the Neapolitan^ who hastily sprung off, exclaiming, " Faccia che vuole alia giumenta almeno mi lasci tran- quillo."* Beyond this nothing discomposed us. Ali Effendi reined in his neighing charger, laughing at the joke, and in ten minutes we gained the town, the streets of which we paraded till past midnight, accompanied by barking dogs and discordant music, to the entertainment of the * It was a singular circumstance that a very few days before this banquet a copy of a hatti scheriff came from the Porte enforcing' the prohibition of wine or spirits. When it arrived, the aga and the cadi were half intoxicated, and consequently the public reading of it was deferred till the next day. The aga and cadi in their cups thus commented on it. — " Here is an order against drinking, and we are drunk when it arrives. They who sent it must have been drunk too for not knowing that we would disregard it. — Mashallah !" Simple remonstrances have never restrained the OsmanJeys from drinking. Sultan Mahomet IV., in whose reign the vice rose to a great height, enforced his hatti scheriff by commanding hot lead to be poured down the throats of those who were caught drinking wine. The Mussulmans have always been dexteious in twisting the Koran, by taking it in a figurative or literal sense. They defend the use of spirits because they s ly the Prophet only forbade wine — for a good reason, spirits were not then known in Arabia ; and the irreligious, the drinkers of wine, excuse 398 WINE OF PARADISE. inhabitants male and female^ who stood at their windows with candles in their hands to admire us or to be admired. We gradually dispersed, nor did I again join the bons vivans of Enos. themselves by saying that the prohibition is figurative, sup- porting their argument by the verse of the Koran, that the Faithful shall have wine in Paradise — a wine delicious to the taste but which does not intoxicate. It is clear therefore, they say, that the prophet only intended that wine should not be drunk to excess ; for it is sinful to suppose that what is lawful in heaven is unlawful on earth. CHAPTER XXVI. Schooner — Deserters — Samothraki — Ancient castle — Greek pirates — Thasco Mehemet AH — Mount Athos — Albanian gardeners — Simenu — Vatopede — Monkish Customs — His- tory of Monte Santo — Cariez — Waivode — Protaton — Ku- thenisi — Priors — Iphiron — Libraries — Lavra. I ROSE with a head-ache^ which, however, an unusual incident soon dispelled. A Genoese schooner had just dropped anchor in the port, from Salonica, freighted with a hundred Alba- nians—deserters and vagabonds, to be sent to the grand vizir at Adrianople. Every shop was closed, and the inhabitants, in alarm kept their houses. The bey was on the beach, in doubt what to do. " God is great 1" he said, " and those fellows are villains : the pasha of Salo- nica has sent them here to be rid of them. Please God, 1 will send them away too ; but I have no troops, and they may choose to quarter on Enos." He sent a messenger on board, to order them to land any where but in the town. 400 SAMOTHRAKI. They beat the messenger and did the contrary ; came on shore like wild beasts, in a mood to break open the first shop, or fire the first house, cryhig out for food. A large magazine was speedily cleared ; bread, caimac, and cheese placed in it ; and they rushed in like a crowd into a theatre on the doors being opened. Guards were placed over them. This ma- noeuvre gave time for consideration on what was to be done with them next — not provide them with supper also, certainly. Our counsel beinof asked, we advised that thev should be called out singly, under any pretence, and handcuffed. It succeeded admirably, and in a few hours they were on the march to Fera, with a bouryourdou to the aga to feed and for- ward them. I simply mention this as a speci- men of how they manage tl.ings in Turkey. At midnight I embarked in a large boat, which I had hired, and the next forenoon beached in a little cove in the rocky shore of Samothraki. A distressing walk over rocks and briars, up-hill for two hours, brought me to a deep ravine, on the sides of which was sus- pended the village, resembling piles of rocks, from the houses being built of large loose stones. Magnificent ruins of an ancient castle, rendered yet more picturesque by the contrast of three AGA — DINOCRATES. 401 Turks smoking their chibouques in the shade of them, towered on a precipice above. On the walls were several inscriptions, the most per- fect of which I copied, after having visited the aga, a rough Albanian. He demanded my fir- man ; but not finding it at the moment, I pre- sented him my post-horse order instead, making sure that it would answer the same purpose, as in fact, it did. He affected to read it atten- tively, then returned it saying that it was good, and directed the Greek tchorbagi to take care of me. The tchorbagi's house commanded a view of Mount Athos, which is a stupendous object viewed from afar, though not four thou- sand feet high, on account of its isolation, and the absence of comparative heights. One knows not whether to admire the Titanean idea, or laugh at the extravagance, of Dinocrates, when he proposed to shape it into a statue of Alexander, holding a city in one hand, a lake in the other. The monarch's answer, that the adjacent country could not furnish provisions for the inhabitants of the city, was keenly- ironical ; for the length of a hand to a figure four thousand feet high, could not, if in propor- tion, exceed three hundred and forty feet. In a more elevated part of the island, near a small lake, are the remains of a fine amphi- VOL. II. 2d \ 402 THEATRES PIRATES. theatre. Theatres^ in ancient days^ were not such direct evidences of wealth and population as now, that men are more devoted to business ; therefore vestiges of them,, even though superb, are not always conclusive of a former state of high prosperity ; although, in this case, they may be so considered ; for we know that Samo- thrace was celebrated, while governed by its own laws, and the extent of the castle renders it apparent that it continued of importance after Vespasian reduced it, with all the Egean isles, to the condition of a province. Samothraki is chiefly composed of granite rock. On the south side, however, there is a large portion of plain, with good pasturage, though utterly neglected, on which a town might be built and the inhabitants enjoy plenty. But the Greek pirates are obstacles to such a scheme : during the last eight years, they have brought desolation on the island by frequently landing, and carrying off cattle and other move- ables. When it is considered, that of the popu- lation, six hundred families, six only are Mus- sulmans, the patriotic Hellenists can hardly claim the credit of taking to the trade of piracy solely to distress their natural enemy. June 23d. We made sail for Ayonoros, CAVALLA— LOW BIRTH. 403 (Mount Athos,) and in the course of the clay> the wind constraining- us, passed near Thasco, an island now interesting as the birth-place of Meheniet Ali of Eg-ypt. Jn the small town of Cavalla near it, on the main, is still seen the cafeneh where he once served in a humble ca- pacity. The master of the cafeneh afterwards came to Egypt, in the hope that the pasha would favour him : effectively he was inclined to do so ; but the cavedgi marred his prospects by reminding him of their former intimacy. " Never let me see or hear of that man again," said the pasha to his secretary, Boghoz. Men who surmount the obstacles of low birth and poverty generally excite our curiosity, be- cause we suppose them gifted with extraordinary minds. In civilized countries, the sight is rare, and justifies our expectations; but in Turkey, on the contrary, it is very common, and usually disappoints us. The possessor of greatness in the East, in nineteen cases out of twenty, rises from nothing. Why? because crime or vice is there the high, the only, road to power ; consequently, men who are in easy circum- stances will not, unless goaded by unusual am- bition, enter it ; they shudder at its first steps, and having the comforts of life, with peace of 2 D 2 404 ALBANIAN GARDENERS. mind^ care not for the baubles as the price of it. But the poor man^ who has nothing to lose, and is urged on by the desire of being avenged on fortune, will, for less than the distant chance of a pashalick, soil his conscience. Repetition of crime cleanses it — strange peculiarity of this said conscience. Late in the evening we made for a small bay in the promontory of the mountain, at the bot- tom of which appeared, as I thought, a dis- mantled fortress. My boatmen knew it for the monastery of Simenu. We landed, and endea- voured to obtain admittance by knocking at the gates ; but no answer was returned. We then walked round the walls till we came to a spacious garden, where several Albanians were employed as gardeners and as guardians to judge by the opposite description of their im- plements. Lying down their spades, and bring- ing their tophenks up to their shoulders, they interrogated us in a manner which showed that unity of religion would not have been a sufficient passport ; for the times were trou- blesome, and a formidable band of klephtes was near. Being satisfied, at length, of our pacific intentions, they showed us a postern- gate which admitted us within the walls. SIMENU — WINE. 405 The caloyers were at prayers ; nevertheless the superior came out to meet us. He took the patriarch's letter with great respect^ put it to his forehead, kissed it, read it, then invited us to enter the church. It was small, but rich and clean. Fifteen caloyers were present, and the service was performing with a monotonous carelessness that did not astonish me. When finished, 1 was conducted to the best apart- ment, and the superior supped with me off bread and boiled herbs — the monkish fare — seasoned with excellent wine — '' dove si tro- vano frati la si trova buon vino " — a proof that art has more- to do with the quality than climate. Throughout Mount Athos the wine is excellent. The monastery, where chance threw me, was one of the smallest, and bore marks of the Turkish occupation during the last eight years. At the commencement of the revolution, the Greek patriots had the intention to occupy the mountain, and garrison the fortified convents, whence they could have made incursions into Macedonia, and raised the province; but with a foresight that rarely belongs to them, the Turks threw troops into all the convents in time, with the farther view of preventing the 406 ABOULLOUBOUT PASHA. caloyers from sending their riches away. Tlie infliction lasted till March 1830^ when a firman from the Porte relieved them. During the oc- cupation^ the convents were obhged to support the troops, and to pay a contribution, besides being exposed to individual exactions. The monthly sum levied on the whole mountain was ten thousand piastres (one hundred and sixty pounds). The larger establishments, be- ing rich, were enabled to pay their unwelcome guests for good behaviour ; but the smaller ones suffered grievously in the furniture and decorations of the apartments. The chief instrument of the Porte in bleed- ing the caloyers was Aboulloubout Pasha, who, at the commencement of the revolution, was summoned from Jerusalem, where he had made himself odious, to practise his art at Salonica. After various atrocities, among others, decimat- ing the inhabitants of Neyousta, he came to the mountain to endeavour to get gold in ex- change for bastinadoes and threats. He was forbidden to take the life of a single caloyer. He then went to Demotica, and thence — but it is needless to enumerate the halting-places of this barbarian : his crimes are probably exaggerated by the caloyers, who use his VATOPEUE — CALOYERS. 407 name as a curse. " Where is he now ?" I asked, "In hell," was the emphatic reply. Had a devout Catholic Greek been by he would have mentally added, " in the hands of caloyers." But they erred: Aboulloubout was still alive, though unemployed. The next afternoon, re-embarking, we beat up a few miles to the eastward, and landed at Vatopede, the largest and richest of the con- vents. Several young caloyers were already on the beach, waiting to greet us, the arrival of a stranger on the mountain having been re- ported from Sinienu. With much ceremony, they conducted me up the slope to the building, which to all appearance, was a fortress, having high battlements, a moat, with drawbridge and iron gates ; cannon, too, there had been, but the Turks had removed them. There the rest of the brotherhood welcomed me ; and, having first conducted me to a chapel to return thanks for my prosperous arrival, installed me in the best " guest's apartment." Pipes and coffee were immediately brought. To this Eastern refreshment the caloyers add raki. Afterwards a supper of fish, vegetables, and dried fruits, was served, at which the principal caloyers, in the absence of the ugoumenos (prior) at 408 MOUNT ATHOS. Cariez, did me the honour to assist. That even- ing my room was crowded with caloyers, all eager to obtain news on various subjects — the destinies of Greece, the late war, &c. One among them, a Bulgarian, asked me if it were true the misery that the Russians were reported to have brought on his countrymen ? Of course I did not disguise the truth. Throughout the mountain, as in every other part of Grecian Turkey, I found the same marked discontent with the Russians. That night I lay on a comfortable sofa, and in the morning appreciated the beauty of the situation from my windows, which commanded a view over the sea, of the hills of Macedonia, of Thasco, and of Samothraki. Mount Athos is, properly speaking, an ele- vated cone of rock, at the extremity of a long mountainous promontory^ forty miles by nine, the highest point of which it doubly exceeds, connected by a low narrow isthmus to Mace- donia. This is the geographical distinction ; but Ayonoros, Holy Mountain, is applied to both cone and promontory, along either shores of which, in small bays, the monasteries are situated; and, considering their isolation, the climate, the prospect, the pleasant country, the MONASTER1K.S. 409 gardens, more delightful spots do not else- where exist for religious or philosophical retire- ment ; with too many comforts, elegant lodg- ings, books, and society — such as it is. The monasteries are twenty-two in number, as follows ;^ Zilantari — built by Simeon, a prince of Ser- via, who became a Caloyer. Zographo — built by two brothers of Justinian. — In these two monasteries the service is per- formed in the Bulgarian tongue, the caloyers being Bulgarians. Simenu — built by the Empress Pulcheria. Vatopede — built by Constantine originally, and rebuilt by Theodosius. Pantocratorous — by Manuel Comnenus. Kuthenisi—h^ Alexius Comnenus, of Tre- bizonde. Protaton—huWi originally by Constantine, re- built by Theodosius. Iphiron—hmli by Theophania, wife of Ro- manos, son of Leon Sophos ; restored by a prince of Iberia (Georgia), about a.d. 600; added to by his son, a caloyer. Stavro7iikita—hy the patriarch Jeremiah. Philotheu—hmM by a wealthy Roman, (name unremembered,; since restored by a Georgian prince. 410 MONASTERIES. Karacalu — by Caracallos^ governor of Bessa- rabia. Lavra — built by Niceforas. St. Anna — a monastery without a wall, called a skidt. St. Paul — built by an emperor's son^ who became a caloyer. Dionisius — by Alexius Comnenus, of Tre- bizonde. St. Gregory — by a Servian priuce. Sbnopetra—hy John, a Servian prince. Ziroyotamo — built by Andronicus II. (the old) ; shook down by an earthquake the be- ginning of the 16th century, and restored by Selim I. Rusikon — founded by Catherine for Russian caloyers. XeMophu — built by the Logothete of an Em- peror. DochejariJM — Kastamonitu — built by Constantine ; rebuilt by Constantius ; rebuilt by a Servian prince. — There are also visible some ruins o^ Anialfenu, a Latin monastery, built in the short interval of peace that existed between the eastern and western churches, and destroyed by the Greeks nine hundred years since. Before the Greek revolution there were nearly VATOPEDE. 411 two thousand caloyers on the mountain. When I was on it there were about nine hundred, many having- fled to the convents of Mega Spi- lion and others. They were expected, how- ever, to return, since the Osmanleys had taken leave. The description of one convent may serve for all. Vatopede is in form a heptagon, of which the fagade is equal in length to three of the other sides. At the acute angle is a high tower, built by Arcadius, commanding a view of the whole establishment. Round the inte- rior of the walls are corridores, supported on arches, containing the cells, about two hundred and fifty in number, neatly furnished with divans, tables and chairs. On the walls and turrets, overhanging them, have been erected various kiosks, that give the monastery, from a distance, the appearance of a village built on white rocks. These aerial dwellhio^s are " musaphir odasi " (" guests' apartments"). The area of the figure is occupied by the church, the refectory, the magazines, the distillery, the stables, and some chapels. At the gates are apartments for the wardens. The church is singularly rich and eleganf, partly in imitation of St. Sophia. The dome is sustained by four porphyry culuunis, brought 4r2 VALUABLE RELICS. from Rome by Theodosius the Great. The pavement is variegated with roux and verd antique. The walls are adorned with frescos of saints^ and martyrdoms^ and of the chief bene- factors. Imperial eagles are in every corner. The praying desks, the chairs^ the stools^ the batons^ are inlaid with pearl. The candlesticks^ chahces^ urns, 8cc._, are of massy silver. The bibles are clasped with gold. In the sanctum sanctorum I was shown various relics : a picture of the Virgin and Child ; the countenance was of the real Jewish cast, but black with age, the gift of Theodora, who married Orchan:— a piece of the real cross, presented by Stephen, a Servian prince: — a piece of the Virgin's shawl, by John Cantacuzene ; with it is kept a pearl necklace of high price, a votive offering : — a jasper vase set in gold, a beautiful specimen given by Con- stantine Manuel Paleologos :— the tapestry on which Andronicus knelt ; in the centre of it a two-headed eagle worked in gold ; in each corner a crowned griffin, with the emperor's cipher : — a picture of Peter and of Paul, given by the same, at the bottom of it this inscrip- •|;ion: — AKOpOKig (78 ev (ra^sg dearjOTs nAAAIOAIFs: — a manuscript volume, written by the Emperor Leon, being a history of Jesus and of Mary, THREE EMPERORS SACRILEGE. 413 and a disquisition on the writings of the apos- tles. All these relics are carefully preserved in silver boxes ; the wood of the cross is set with jewels. They showed nie^ as a curiosity, a marble tablet of bas rehefs^ very ancient, depicting- in twelve compartments the history of our Sa- viour, commencinor- with the scene of the ancrel's first conversation with Mary. The execution is far from good^ but singular ; in the stable two donkeys are represented regarding the infant with awe. In another part of the church was a marble coffin^ with a lamp burning over it, containing the bones of Andronicus Paleoloo^os, Manuel Paleologos, and John Cantacuzene. These three emperors died in the monastery, the first as a caloyer. For greater security, their bones were taken from their respective tombs, and enclosed together. Every Latin and Greek establishment has its miracle ; nor was this an exception. After several crossings before a tattered curtain, my conductors drew it aside, and disclosed a pic- ture of the Virgin, black with time. One of her cheeks was marked with a scar and a blood- stain — the prodigy, occasioned by a caloyer, who, for some unknown reason, struck her with 414 FORBEARANCE. a knife ; blood followed the blow ; the arm of the impious wretch instantly dropped off, and he died in agony the following day. He was buried in the spot where the sacrilege was com- mitted ; whence, on the anniversary for several succeeding years cries issued, while the blood flowed anew on Mary's cheek : in confirma- tion whereof, they showed me the bones of the offending arm kept in a case. The curtain, that divides the body of the church from the great altar, was formerly of sculptured marble, but the frivolous taste of the caloyers, sixty years ago, changed it for carved gilded wooden work, a change that the present inhabitants, with better taste, lament. The great doors are of richly carved brass, the gift of Theodosius. Near them is pre- served, with care, an ancient marble slab, al- though nothing concerning its history is known. It is worthy of remark, that the Osmanleys never took any thing from the churches, not even in the convents which became too poor latterly to satisfy their demands. "What re- strained them," I asked, " from laying hands on these objects of cupidity?" Pointing to the above-mentioned picture of the Virgin, the ca- loyers answered, that they dreaded her venge- ance. A poor restraint, 1 thought, judging PERFECT tEMALES. from the treatment the French gave the Italian churches. They further assured me, that the Osmanleys never disturbed them at their devo- tions, at which they often attended as specta- tators. 1 well understood that, because the church - service at Ayonoros resembles the mosque service, consisting chiefly of a series of prostrations and other visible signs, with the constant cry of Kyrie Eleison. This point of resemblance pleased them. Moreover, the Mus- sulmans respect the Christian religion ; they revere Christ next to Mohammed, and rank the Virgin among the four perfect women, (Asia, the princess, who saved the infant Moses ; the Virgin Mary ; Khadijah, the prophet's first wife ; Fatima, his daughter.) They regard no part of our faith with horror excepting that, that Christ is Son of God — I will not mention their reasoning on this subject ; they regard it as a complete blasphemy : had Mohammed asserted that his wife was the daughter of God, it could not be a greater blasphemy to our ears. They doubly hate the Jews because the latter do not believe in Jesus. The conversion of a Jew would not be considered sincere, because the Mussulmans say, that unless a man believe in Christ he cannot believe in Mohammed. One is a consequence of the other. 416 SEVEN-HEADED BEAST. The outside, however, of the churches of the different convents rather suffered from the pre- judices of the Osmanleys. They are covered with frescos representing the most atrocious martyrdoms, and hell and purgatory in every variety that human fancy has devised ; more than I — poor ignorant Protestant — had any pre- vious idea of. Paradise is not pourtrayed, except- ing here and there its gates, whereat companies of old men are obtaining admittance. The dis- mal abodes, on the contrary, are entirely filled with young men ; women are nowhere seen — a greater illiberality than is displayed by Mo- hammedanism, which does admit some of them to a future state. I remarked to an old caloyer, who took pleasure in explaining the pictures to me, on the discrepance in the judgment al- lotted to the old and the young. His politeness prevented him from saying any thing ; but he made a very significant reply by stroking his own long white beard, and complacently smil- ing. Likewise were embodied the reveries of the Apocalypse, exaggerated into manifold ab- surdities. The seven-headed beast was there, seven hundred times repeated at least, gene- rally in the form of a giraffe with seven necks, like boa constrictors, with as many heads, un- like those of any animal in BufFon. The Os- MONSTROSITlIilS. 417 manleys very willingly respected the pictures of Christ, and of Mary, and of saints; but saw no reason why ihey should respect such mon- strosities, and therefore amused themselves by picking out all its eyes, wherever they found it, with the points of their ataghans, making it ten- fold more ridiculous. I could not sympathize with the caloyers in their complaints on such vandalism, though I thought that the perpe- trators of the said barbarous acts were wronsr- ly actuated ; they certainly could not complain that that part of the koran was infringed which forbids the representation of any of God's creatures. Having completed our survey of the church, the day after my arrival, the prior's secretary, my immediate entertainer, with some others, conducted me to the garden, where we seated ourselves in an open kiosk. The gardener, an old caloyer, brought us some fresh cucumbers and a bottle of raki. Each of my companions ate two of the former, and drank five or six glasses of the latter. On the beach, not far from us, a tall and spare caloyer was walking up and down with an irregular pace, occasion- ally stopping, and regarding the sea earnestly. His deportment reminded me of the " Giaour," and I was ready to imagine him also a victim VOL. II. I E 418 CATCHING FISH. of passion, when suddenly he threw aside his cowl, rushed into the water, and casting out a small net, enclosed some fish : he was ap- pointed to catch fish for my supper that night. It would not have required much fancy to have traced a melancholy tale in the pale counte- nance of some of the caloyers : but there was no truth in them ; they had never known the world, therefore could have no causes, beyond vague ones, of regret. Brought to the moun- tain as children, they grow up with perfect freedom from work or study : to read is all they learn. On reaching the age when they must quit the mountain, or embrace the order, they usually choose the latter, their choice con- firmed by habits of indolence, and by a feeling of security. No temptations afterwards cross their minds. Women are not admitted in any part of the mountain, in a circuit of one hun- dred miles, and few strangers (of late) visit their abodes : during the last twelve years, a chance fishing-boat for water, or a pirate seek- ing a blessing, has been their only varieties. This absence of excitement, joined to rigid fasting and watching, soon tames the natural heat of their blood, so that at thirty, their pulses beat like men's at seventy. I felt se- veral for curiosity, and was astonished. My CALOYEUS. 419 visit afforded them great pleasure, and, I fear, did no g-ood to the younger members, who nightly crowded my supper table, and re- mained with rae till the midnight church bell tolled, seeking information about the world, of which, it appeared, the rogue, my servant, told them I had seen much. One, Papas Grego- rios, evinced a strong natural taste for earthly vanities : daily he put on my uniform more than once, and strutted about with great satis- faction, regardless of the sneers of the aged. He was very inquisitive about every thing outside the mountain, particularly regarding women, whom he had heard of, but never seen, that is since he was four years old. For charity's sake I discouraged his inqui- ries, and bade him thank Heaven that he was safe from their dangerous allurements. He would willingly have dropped his cowl, and accompanied me ; but what could I have done with a caloyer? The life of the caloyer is monotonous, their dress coarse, and their food simple. Their time is occupied between praying, eating, and sleeping. At midnight they rise and go to church, remaining there four hours, after which they retire to a chapel, and pass two hours •2 E 2 420 MONASTIC LIFE. more in silent meditation on the scriptures : they may then sleep. At nine they rise^ and breakfast on what they please (of monastic fare,) At noon^ church until four o^clock ; at five they dine^ singly or in company, only eating altoge- ther in the refectory on festival days. This routine is enough to blanch their cheeks. Be- sides, they have domestic and out-door employ- ments. On occasions of fasts and festivals the churchings are considerably increased ; during the Easter week, they are in the church fifteen hours of each twenty-four. On set days they visit holy spots in the neighbour- hood to pray. At the panagia they walk pro- cessionally a circuit of several miles in their robes of ceremony, preceded by the banner of Constantine, a large flag representing on one side the emperor and his mother Helena, sup- porting a huge cross ; on the reverse the Vir- gin kneeling, an angel hovering over her. They have other ceremonies innumerable, the due observance of all which preserves the members of the communities from corpulency. Meat is entirely excluded from their diet. Fish, vegetables, fruit, milk, eggs, they may eat, excepting during their Lents, to the rigour ol* which the laity as well as the clergy are THE LALJaRUM. 421 subjected.* Wine and spirits may be drank at all times ; indeed they are necessary after their indigestible food. They felt the priva- tion of milk, they told me, in Lent more than of any other thing-. Withal, they enjoy excellent health, although there is not a doctor on the mountain, or a par- ticle of medicine, as I found afterwards to my cost, and they attain longevity. In Vatopede, I conversed with three caloyers above one hundred years old, the eldest of whom was one hundred and seven ; they were fresh and vigorous, and able to attend the night church, only suffering a little from chalk-stones in the hands. By their appearance they might live twenty years longer. The government of the monasteries is pa- ternal, independent of each other, and of ex- ternal influence. They pay no tribute, nor owe any direct obedience to the patriarch, although, * The Greek fasts are four, viz. : Fifty days before Easter, when they eat bread and vegetables only ; on Saturday or Sunday may add oil. Twenty-five days after Easter, when they eat bread, fish, and vegetables; no oil. Fifteen days before the Madonna, when they eat bread and vegetables only. Forty days before Christmas, when they eat bread, fish, and vegetables. Thus in the year the Greeks have one hundred and thirty days rigorous abstinence, to which the Catholic lent is feasting: and the Greeks keep them. 422 AGRICULTURE. as head of the religion^ his wishes have weight, and his approval (never withheld) is necessary to confirm the election of a new prior, which is performed by the caloyers in their respective monasteries. The prior has the power of soli- tary confining, and of flagellation. The priors are nominally subjected to the Bishop of Ayonoros, who resides at Cariez, receiving a moderate slipend from the monas- teries : once a year he visits them in succes- sion, when he is treated, respectively, as the prior, in order to confer priest's orders on such of the caloyers as choose. Few, in comparison of their numbers, aspire to that dignity, de- terred, perhaps, by the arduous task of per- forming church service : priests are at the same time exempt from menial offices. The cultivation of the monastery lands is performed by caloyers, assisted by Albanian labourers. During prosperous times the pro- duce was sufficient to supply all the monasteries with bread, wine and vegetables ; but the incur- sions of the klephtes since 1821, and the pre- sence of the Osmanleys caused such a stagna- tion of agriculture, that the greater part of their corn, when I was there, was imported, and only enough wine made for the sick and the aged. Of raki, however, they distilled sufficient quan- COTTAGES. 423 titles for a liberal consumption by the brethren^ who drink it at least twice a day, and are no ways restrained : even with this indulgence, I should say that a more mortified body of men than the caloyers of Mount Athos does not exist. Numerous cottages are scattered in the val- leys of the mountain, for the accommodation of the farmer caloyers, who principally like their mode of life, because it reUeves them from their religious duties ; although, it is true, they are enjoined to be equally exact when alone, as when in the monasteries — a fervour not to be expected, for a man after a hard day's toil, will hardly awake at midnight to pray for four hours, even were he innately devout, which the caloyers certainly are not ; thereby showing, that reUgion, though delightful when prompted by godliness, is irksome, like most obligations of this life, when enforced as a duty. I was surprised one night, attending the church, to find very few present The secretary confiden- tially told me, that it was in consequence of the prior's absence at Cariez. He, too, gladly availed himself of his temporary office, doing the honours to a guest, to excuse himself from the night service. The religious history of Monte Santo com- 424 THEODOSIUS THE (iREAT — inenced with Coiistantine and Helena, who founded several monasteries. Julian the Apos- tate levelled them, and dispersed the monks. After his death, however, they returned to their old haunts; but did not again prosper till the reign of Theodosius the Great, who, moved by a miracle, which I will relate, rebuilt Vatopede, the principal monastery. The em- peror, in a voyage from Italy to Constantinople, was surprised by a violent gale off the moun- tain, during which his fleet received great damage, and, in the course of the night, a wave washed his infant son, Arcadius, overboard. Instead of drowning, as any other child would have done, he was saved by the Virgin, who, seeing the accident, descended on a cloud, and bore him to a wood near a ruined monastery, on the sea shore. The disconsolate emperor vowed not to continue his voyage without the body of his son ; therefore, stationing his ships round the promontory, he landed to search the inlets, and, heaven directed, proceeded straight to the very tree — (the caloyers still show it) — under which the young Arcadius was sleeping. Confessing the prodigy, he showed his gratitude by rebuilding the monastery, and in commemo- ration of the event, named it Vatopede, from vatos, wood ; pethe, son. In a short time, from HIS SON AR( ADIIS. 426 this impulse^ the mountain surpassed its pristine magnificence. Succeeding emperors, with other Christian" princes, [built * various monasteries, adorning its shores and romantic glens ; and the continuance of such high favour preserved its sanctity from becoming dim — its treasures from diminishing. Several royal heads retired to it to enjoy repose ; and three emperors, as I have mentioned, were buried in it. There is a tradition, that the Latins, in one of their cru- sades, landed on the mountain, and pillaged the convents. Direct proof of this outrage is wanting ; but the crusaders^ were just the gentry to commit it, came they in the way. On the other hand, in their favour it may be said, that a Greek would not lose an opportunity of vituperating a Catholic. The mountain escaped the catastrophe at- tendant on the Mohammedan conquest by the shrewdness of the caloyers, who, inspired by divine grace, as their successors modestly allow, foresaw that, with Constantinople, every land where Greek was spoken would fall into the hands of the Osmanleys ; and, therefore with- out waiting their turn to yield to force, sent deputies to congratulate the conqueror, and to declare themselves his obedient subjects. Ma- homet, pleased with their unclaimed submis- 426 MONKISH POLICY. sion, granted their prayer^ and gave them a firman, exempting them from the desolation he designed the Greek church; empowering them to retain possession of their monasteries,, and all the lands appertaining to them, with the right to use bells and other symbols of their faith ; to repair their monasteries, and to build others. He only claimed the kharatch. These privileges have never been contested. The ca- loyers retain them, with the important firman — their charter — to this day ; nor have they ever received so severe a visitation from their masters, as the one they were just freed from on my arrival. The revenues of the monasteries were de- rived in part from pilgrims, who resorted to them in great numbers, from Greece, and Tur- key, and from Russia. Since the Greek war the pilgrimage has ceased, but is expected to be resumed now that the Levant is more tran- quil. It was considered a party of pleasure a voyage to the mountain. The pilgrims received great hospitality. Some visited all the monas- teries; others were contented with seeing three or four. They generally gave money ; and the names of donors were inscribed in a large book, at each convent, however small the amount. In the great book at Iphiron, I saw the names QUITTING vat()pi:de. 427 of Peter the Great and of Catherine the Second. The monasteries also derive revenues from their estates in Vallachia, Moldavia^ and in Russia, v^here they have dependent estabUsh- ments, as in Constantinople, and the principal towns of Roumelia. Members of the mountain reside in them to receive the rents, and the offerings of the pious. By this medium, which closely connects the Russians, the Bulgarians, and the Greeks, Russia can exercise a great influence with the Christian subjects of the Porte : it is a secret police for her all over Turkey. After three days, I quitted Vatopede.* My * This ancient convent gave me hospitality, Spontaneously, with graceful cordiality, Mild complaisance, and innocent hilarity, — Befitting monks — untainted by venality. It gave me pleasant quarters and society. Choice wine and vegetables to satiety, Chibouques and coffee, raki, for variety, Without a thought of gaining notoriety. Stranger, who tarrieth in the mountain shade. Banish far off, awhile, corroding cares. Let nature's blandest charms thy breast pervade — Contentment, peace of mind, and holy prayers ; Then alms bestow, and bless the band that made These sweet asylums frum terrestial snares. — 428 MOUNTAIN RIDE. conveyance was mules^ remarkably fine ani- mals. The bells of the monastery were set ringing, not excluding the great gong that sum- mons to church ; and the whole fraternity ac- companied me to some distance outside the gates, where we took an affectionate parting. My path struck into the nut woods that cover the mountain, and from which vessels every year embark cargoes gratis. The way was rough, but highly picturesque. At times fine rocks girt us close to the edge of steep preci- pices ; at times we passed under natural arches, formed by large oaks growing from the banks above us, and crossing with others springing up from beneath our feet ; when a glade occurred, we looked down on the sea, and occasionally, from a summit devoid of trees, we saw the grey head of the cone. All the promontory is of the same description, cool and varied. The sun caimot penetrate its thick foliage, and the ca- loyers have furnished it with a ready supply of excellent water, collected in numerous foun- tains, and carried for many miles, from hill to hill, diverging in all directions, in split trunks of trees, hollowed out: the murmur of these little streams, dropping from branch to branch, joined to the continued fragrance of myrtle, is extremely agreeable to the traveller. The pro- CAIilEZ— PRIORS. 429 meiiades at Castel a Mare are a miuiature of the sequestered shades of Ayonoros. Art has only to prune nature to make them yet more delightful. I met several caloyers, who be- stowed blessings on me, so gratifying — so auguring of peace, was the novel sight of a Frank traveller to them. In three hours I reached Cariez, a village embosomed in woods and hills, with an old fort, built by Justinian. Six priors received me, and conducted me to a house already pre- pared for me, they having previous notice of my arrival. It is not surprising the extraordi- nary honour I received at Ayonoros, when it is considered that I was the bearer of a patri- archal letter, and the first milordos * who had been there for fourteen years. The rarity of the animal was a sufficient reason for curiosity (of which he was an unbounded object) and hospitality, even were the caloyers not inclined that way. My apartment was not so commo- dious as the one at Vatopede ; but it com- manded a finer prospect, from its elevated si- tuation. Several priors kept me company till late, and undeceived me in regard of their sup- * Milordos is adopted universally by people of the East to express a traveller on pleasure. They apply it to individuals of all nations. *«.-■ 430 PRIORS. posed acquirements. The brethren at Vatopede had told me that I should gain any information I wanted about the monasteries from them — they referred me back to the monasteries. The ignorance of the monks makes them regard with wonder any body who displays the learn- ing of a school-boy. "If you conversed with our priests/' I said, " then you might indeed exclaim, ' Sophos !' " They had heard of the devastation and misery caused by the Russians in Bulgaria : " Is it possible," they asked, " that a Christian army conducts itself like a Turkish army?" "Too true," I replied. They asked me for how many years peace was con- cluded — a usual question with all classes in the East, who can never believe that a peace between Russia and Turkey is other than a truce: to judge by what has hitherto taken place, they have reason on their side. They wished very much to know whether Prince Leopold would change his religion on assuming the sovereignty of Greece. I answered in the negative ; on which one of them said that it was not of very great consequence, considering that he was a Protestant. The Greeks generally believe, that in deviating from the Latin church we approached the Greek church. PRIORS. 431 Cariez is situated about the centre of the mo- nastic district. The Turkish ^vaivode resides in it — a personage with little real authority, who may be considered in the light of a refe- rendee_, or of a gate that a man puts up in his own road to establish his claim thereto. The caloyers have in general sufficient influence to obtain the removal of an obnoxious waivode. Cariez has a bazaar for supplying the monas- teries with articles of importation — as cheese, salt fish, caviar, coffee, spices, tobacco, clothes, &c. Four times a year the priors assemble there to wait on the waivode, and to dehberate on their prosperity or adversity. Each monas- tery has a lodging in the village for its prior. While together, the priors live sociably, meet- ing tw'xe or thrice a day to drink coffee, smoke, and eat sweetmeats. Church service is per- formed only once a day. After a week, or ten days they return home, excepting two who remain at Cariez the whole year to transact business with the waivode, and with the bishop, and with the trades-people. A caloyer also, with the rank of prior, resides at Constanti- nople as their agent with the Porte : he in- forms them of its commands respecting them, receives their kharatch, and other contributions that may be levied, and pays them into the 432 LOYAL W AIVODE. treasury. He is also their great protection ag-ainst an ill-tempered waivode^ who is farther restrained by the pasha of Salonica, in whose jurisdiction he is. But independent of these checks, as the community support him and his attendants, and give him a salary, it is his in- terest to be civil. In the morning I waited on him accom- panied by nine priors. I seldom met a merrier Turk. When I gave him my firman, he put the signature to his head and lips — the first and only time I saw that respect paid. I amused him greatly by an account of the change which had taken place at Stamboul — that the padi- schah wore boots and pantaloons, and rode a Frank saddle — that the grandees cut their beards — that one or two even talked French, and used knives and forks. " Mashallah ! " he exclaimed, " the world is coming to an end. What then brings you here ? " he laughingly asked. "You will find nothing but monks and vegetables : I have been here six years, and have not seen a woman." The priors looked at each other with becoming confusion, and a beautiful Albanian youth, in the room, smiled significantly. " You have a fine climate," I ob- served, " to make amends." " Yes, we have RELICS REAL CROSS. 433 good air^ good water^ and/ winking to tl.e priors, " excellent wine ;" to which I added my testimony. We next visited the monastery of Protaton, in the village, the most ancient on the moun- tain ; only twelve caloyers remained in it. It possessed nothing remarkable, save a bible with a curiously embossed binding. From thence, still attended by my priorly train, who did not bless me for taking- them out in the noon-day sun, I walked about a mile to Kuthe- nisi, a small convent, with an elegant church, containing inestiuiable relics ; viz. the leg of St. Anna, the Virgin's mother, preserved in a rich silver case of the same form, the gift of the founder Alexius Comnenus of Trebizonde ; — the chin of St. Girolamus ; — a piece of the real cross ; — the skull of a martyrized caloyer. My companions kissed devoutly these precious frag- ments of mortality. I did the same, to please them, and pleased myself by thinking that they were authentic. Why not? we are bound to believe so many things. It is not at all impro- bable that pieces of the real cross are possessed by the caloyers. The cross must have been preserved somewhere ; and as it is generally supposed to have been brought to Constant!- VOL. II. 2 F 434 TAKING LEAVE. nople^ portions of it might easily have come to Ayonoros, as rare offerings : and Ayonoros has escaped the terrible sackings which befel Rome and Constantinople at different periods. In the evening I left Cariez ; but previous to mounthig, could not avoid walking procession- ally through the town^ accompanied by all the clergy. The waivode, who was enjoying a chi- bouque on a couch in the street, lifted up the finger of astonishment^ as he had never before witnessed so grotesque a ceremonial ; perhaps, too^ somewhat mortified at such honour_, to a tithe of which he could not aspire, being shown to an infidel. " Oughrola/' (bon voyage y) he said. The priors then blessed me, and I pro- ceeded with two Albanians, for honour, down hill towards Iphiron, along a rugged romantic path, skirting some beautiful glens, adorned here and there with large wooden crosses, which gave evidence of the moderation of the Osmanleys towards a hostile faith during their nine years' occupation of the mountain. Flou- rishing their tophenks over their heads, and singing wild airs, my martial guides bounded merrily before me with the agility of chamois, till a turn of the path disclosed the battlements of Iphiron, when they stopped, and discharged CHAPEL WINE. 433 their pieces— a preconcerted signal, which set every bell a ringing. Another turn of the rock, and we came abruptly in front of the great ga'.es, before which, to my surprise, the whole brotherhood were drawn up to welcome me. Having severally saluted, and been saluted, they ushered me into the building under a deafening peal, through a formidable apparatus of iron gates, which might have led a stranger to suppose that he was entering a feudal castle rather than a peaceful monastery. Conducting me in the first place, as a primary duty, to a small chapel of peculiar sanctity, they intro- duced me with great form to a picture of the Virgin, to which, although unable to distinguish her features, owing to their native darkness, and the obscurity of the place, I was not wanting in due adoration, crossing myself so devoutly, as greatly edified the caloyers, who returned me the compliment by showing them- selves equally fervid, at my supper-table, in devotions to the rosy god, pouring out co- pious libations according to custom. On Mount Athos wine is doubly attractive, since at its shrine are offered up the vows which, in other places, would be more willingly paid to its fair rival. After supper 1 went down to the beach to enjoy the baneful luxury of nocturnal 436 MOSQUITOES. bathing ; then returned to roll on my couch, a prey to that cruel, pitiless foe of mankind, mos- quitoes. Their stings, pungent as they are, might be endurable were it not for the constant buzz which heralds their approach, and appears to triumph at their success. What a satire on man, that an insect, scarcely larger than a fly^s young, should be capable of chasing repose from the couch of prince or peasant! More than wonderful — exquisite specimen of divine mechanism — is the force residing in the wings of these diminutive creatures ; the buzz of one alone pervades a spacious room, and the undu- lation of the air, caused by its flight, affects the flame of a candle at the distance of feet. The midnight bell led me to the church in the hopes of getting an appetite for sleep. Had example been contagious they would soon have been realized, for in less than half an hour nearly all the caloyers were oblivious ; and the officiating priests, scarcely visible in the flickering glare of a few lamps, resembled so many sleep-walkers. The name Iphiron is derived from Iberia, (Georgia,) the convent having been much bene- fited by the princes of that country. It is one of the four large monastic establishments (Lavra, Vatopede, Iphiron, Ziropotamo) ; but besides this di^tinction has not much to boast of, not MANLSCliiPTS. 437 even a relic in the churchy which, however,, is elegant, and paved with beautiful variegated marbles. Nor did its library, though extensive, in the least repay my trouble in rummaging among its cobweb shelves, which apparently had long been undisturbed by the hand of man, for manuscripts. There were no Greek nor Latin, but a great many Georgian ones, very ancient, and bound in wood, though on what subjects they treat I cannot say, for the ca- loyers, no more than I, had no idea of the lan- guage. The library at Yatopede was much larger, but owing to the key of it having been mislaid, I could only look at it through the bars. Most of the convents have large libra- ries; it is not improbable that Greek manu- scripts exist in them. I had intended making a search among them, but severe illness pre- vented me. I slept one night at Iphiron. The next even- ing, embarking in a small boat belonging to the establishment, a fresh northerly breeze carried us swiftly past a romantic shore, its prominent points adorned with chapels, to a tiny harbour, capable of affording shelter to a dozen large boats, formed by a shelf of rocks and a rude breakwater at the foot of the cone, just beneath the monastery of Lavra, to which I was wel- 4:38 MONKISH DISTRESS. eomed with the same ringing, and the same good-will as at the other convents; though — and ill-luck it proved to be — its accommoda- tions^ in consequence of having had ruder oc- cupants, were far inferior. Not an entire pane of glass remained, and the furniture was in a woful condition from the Osraanleys having been in the habit of firing at marks in-doors. Add to this, a biting scarcity of provisions, and it may be readily supposed that the inhabitants, ninety in number, the remnant of two hundred and forty, looked, as they expressed themselves,, in a deplorable state. They hoped, however, for better times ; and two elderly caloyers were about to go to the monasteries of Mounts Olym- pus and Pelion, and to Mega Spilion^, to invite back the refugees, who in the first months of the revolution had fled, carrying with them, it is said, good part of the riches of the convent. At Vatopede and Iphiron envoys were preparing for a similar expedition; so that, in a few years, Ayonoros may again be flourishing. CHAPTER XXVII. Fever — Church Scene — Bigotry — Voyage — Gulf of Cassan- dra — Salonica — Banditti — Earthquake — Chaban — Execu- tion — Pirates — Mr. Wolff — Hebrews — Missionaries — Ma- ronite. At Lavra_, ray monasterial tour terminated,, much to my regret. At a small chapel situated near the summit of the cone^, to which I climbed the morning- after my arrival^ the fever^ which had been lurking in my veins since leaving Adriano- ple, fostered by a foolish want of precaution, and by excessive fatigue, suddenly pulled me to the ground. I was carried back to the convent, where, during five days, I inhaled the grave. My pulse ran 160. Nothing was in the convent which could avail me, and all my resources were comprised in a determination to get through it, despite the prophecy, which now struck me as singular, of an old wizard at Constantinople, 440 FEVER. that I should die on a mountain^ and in a pair of lancets. One of the cal overs professing to be able to use the latter, I made him^ much against his will_, bleed me copiously seven times. But it was of slight relief; every basin of blood he took from me seemed only to make room for a hotter tide to flow in my veins. Hot baths I tried also, till I was like a boiled lobster, and with as little effect ; not as much moisture could be attracted to my skin as would have damped a grain of sand. I required calomel. Those who have felt the stifling heat of a violent fever — stifling even with "all appliances to boot^ — may have an idea how I suffered, rolling about in a room which had glassless windows on two sides, with- out a curtain to exclude the sun, which glared in on me half the day, with an intensity to have made the most devoted fire-worshipper, in my place, curse him, or a shutter to keep out the malaria, which rose every evening like a wave from the valley, undulating on a level with my windows. But these inconveniences were trifles compared with what followed after night-fall, when tlie reign of mosquitoes set in. Then every faculty sharpened by pain and anxiety, every sense was resolved into that of hearing, and my apartment in consequence seemed pervaded by the blasts of a thousand trumpets. Such an effect FEVER. 441 had this visitatioQ upon me^ that for months after^ even when surrounded by that blest contrivance, a mosquito curtain, the humming of one of these insects would make me start from sleep in dis- may. Insensible as forest ponies to such an in- fliction, the caloyers ridiculed my complaints on the subject, and thought me, I believe, madder when I grieved seriously about it than when de- lirium, from time to time, overcame me. Thirst too tormented me ; for though I had no disposi- tion to canine madness, I positively loathed the only beverage I could get, water. What would I not then have given for a shaddock — a lemon — the cast-away peel of one ! The middle of the fourth night I rose and cast a sheet round me. My appearance, I suppose, was strange, for the caloyer appointed to guard me ran away. I followed him along the corridore — he ran still faster, till on reaching the gallery, which over- looked the body of the church, I turned into it, disturbing at the same time two centenarians, who were mumbling their prayers. They started at the apparition, crossed themselves, and drew close into their respective corners to make room for me between them. It being the eve of a saint's festival, the whole fraternity was present in mournful guise, acting holy parts with be- coming fervour. 1 recollect gazing earnestly 442 DELUSION. down on the solemn scene till it became unreal to my disordered imagination — till a change came over its fair proportions — till the monks in their black robes, and crape cowls, prostrating themselves on the pavement, flitting about spec- trally, blending in the dim light with the martyr- ized figures on the frescoed w^alls, crying, and the roof echoing the cry, " kyrie eleison," seemed to me the souls of the wicked, whose torments, in idea, my fever was supplying. An eternity flashed across my mind. Scarcely for the real- ization of my fondest wishes would I consent to re-experience the same intensity of feeling. How long I remained in the gallery I do not know, or how I left it ; but as the dawn was breaking, I found myself again lying on my rug. The disorder seemed to be coming to a close ; my skin felt as though drawn over a frame of red hot iron ; my head as though an anvil under a dozen hammers ; and for the first time it struck me seriously that I was about to die. What a place to die in! without even hearing my native tongue, sweetest of all sweet music at such a moment. I motioned for pen and paper, that I might write to a friend, but, in vain I tried, I could not form a letter. In this extremity a number of caloyers, drest as I had seen them in the church, and pre- ceded by the cross, entered my chamber in pro- CRISIS. 443 cessional array. I absolutely recoiled, thinking them— I may be excused, considering my state- dark watchers for my soul, struggling to escape from its burning tenement. Heedless of my re- pulsive gestures, they gathered round me, and began talking of the inestimable advantage of leaving the world in the true faith. How I answered 1 scarcely know, but not very cour- teously, I believe. Moreover, earthly wants still pressed on me, and made me beg for some lemonade. They had none to give me ; but in- stead, reiterated their proposition in full chorus, until, at length, weary with their importunity, I bade them leave me to die in my own way. They obeyed, and went away shaking their garments, saying that I should go to hell. They were mis- taken—at least for the present, for, after a few hours of unconsciousness, into which I had fallen on their departure, 1 came to ray senses in a vio- lent fit of vomiting, &c. The fever had changed its malignant for an intermittent form ; and then I knew that I was out of immediate dano-er, though so extremely weak, that my only idea was to get away to any place where I might procure assistance. With this view, I sent to Cariez for mules or horses, that I might pro- ceed to Salonica in a litter : ride I could not. But the waivode would not hear of it^ because 444 HELMSMAN. the road was infested with klephtes; and my having a firman, made him, in some measure, feel himself responsible for my safety. A boat in the meantime arrived at Lavra, manned by three suspicious looking Greeks, who offered to convey me and my servant to Salonica. The caloyers, who now, forgetting whither they had consigned my soul, and attributing my recovery to their prayers, were very assiduous about my welfare, warned me against them. But what could I do? remaining on Mount Athos in my state, was, I thought, suicidal ; leaving it, even in a pirate boat, my only chance of recovery : besides, at the worst, they were but three, and we were two. Embarking, therefore, one evening, as the sun set, we left the holy mountain, to my great joy, one effect of a violent illness being to make a man loath for the time the place where he had it; but before midnight, other considerations assailed me: I could not help feeling that, however strictly I might keep on my guard, I was completely at the mercy of the helmsman, he being seated be- hind me on a level with my shoulders. To have continued in that way would have been prepos- terous ; but to my request that he would tran- quillize me by placing his arms beside me, the fellow strongly objected, calling on God to wit- ness that he was the honestest man living, and WILFUL ERROR. 445 appealing to his comrades for the truth of his modest assertion. His eagerness a})peared to condemn him. To have beheved him would have been folly on ray part ; to have desisted from my attempt would have been worse : so I fairly told him my mind ; on which, affecting a sort of proud consideration for my nervous state, he yielded the point, perhaps thinking it would be all the same when I should be asleep. Sleep ! I could have slept, for my eyelids were like pieces of lead ; but the idea of having escap- ed the fangs of the fever only to fall into the hands of such fellows was unbearable. Perhaps I was wrong, and they were well inclined dii first. We progressed slowly, on account of a light, scant wind, till early the second morning, when we altered our course, and steered for the gulf of Cassandra. It was well that 1 remembered the coast. The helmsman swore that it was the gulf of Salonica — that we had passed the gulf of Cas- sandra in the night without my knowledge; nor, could I, without a very warm altercation, and pointing out indisputable land-marks, convince him of his en^or. He affected to treat me liglitly ; said, that he would not be dictated to — that he knew the coast better than I did, (I was certain of that) — that he was a palicari— that I had treated him unjustly, as a villain — that I might do as I 446 GULF OF CASSANDRA. pleased ; in shorty that he would have his own way. Of course^ my only answer to all this rhodomontade was by insisting- on our hauling to the wind again. My friend's purpose was evident. The g-ulf of Cassandra, from time im- memorial, has been noted for consistent pirates : every boat that leaves the inlets of its coasts is a free-trader if occasion offer; if not, a fish- ing-boat. Had we met one of these convenient navigators my travels were finished : I should not even have adorned a tale. In the gulf of Salonica, the pirates are obliged to act with more caution, because there are often ships of war there ; and from the vicinity of consuls of various nations, notice of a piracy is more prompt, as well as pursuit more vigorous. The third day, being fairly in the gulf of Salonica, therefore, comparatively sure, I sent my servant on shore to find me some fruit ; and the next morning early we landed at Salo- nica, where I was hospitably received by James Charnaud, Esq., the British consul. I had need of repose, for the intermittent fever on me, recur- ring every twenty-four hours, had quite ex- hausted me; added to that, my long exposure in an open boat, with the necessity of keeping so much awake, brought on a violent ophthal- mia, which the surgeon of the place treated BRIGAND.S— 'EARTHQUAKE. 447 ignorantly. His name was Lafont;, a French- man. To hear him^ no one ever performed so many cures ; to hear others^ no one ever killed so many people. He kept me in perfect agony during a fortnight, when it ceased. He pro- nounced me cured, not knowing that the disease was only assuming a more dangerous form ; and in consequence, I gave myself liberties, which in the end nearly proved fatal to my sight. The neighbourhood of Salonica, at my arrival, was infested with brigands, who carried their audacity so far, as to pillage within a mile of the city, and even threatened to enter it and levy a contribution. Under ground was also in commo- tion : one day, while lying in bed very ill, I was surprised at seeing the doors and windows of my room banging to and fro, without the aid of hands, and feeling the house roll like a ship. Wooden houses are difficult to overthrow. Chaban, (one of a Christian-tribe of Albanians called Gueges,) the leader of the above daring gang, was no novice in his profession. He had already obtained a pardon for a former career ; remaining tranquil some years ; but on the breaking out of the Russian war, he resumed his old work, and made himself, as before, the terror of a wide tract of country. The peace rendering his profession hazardous, he made 448 BRIGAND CHIEF. overtures for purchasing a second pardon ; but the Porte_, instead of listening to them^ sent cir- cular orders to have him taken up at any cost. A brigand, howsoever powerful he be, rarely escapes such a crisis ; he becomes like a wild beast^ and the villagers gladly assist the autho- rities in tracking him. From the district of Seres, whither he had been chased with considerable loss, Chaban made a dash in the vicinity of Salonica, whence he also retreated, after having alarmed us peaceable folks, speedily followed by the pasha's chiaja, who overtook him at a villaofe about fifteen miles distant. Several were killed and wounded on both sides in the skirmish which ensued ; among the latter was Chaban, who narrowly escaped being taken. Mounting on a baggage horse, and supported by a palicari on either side, he cut his way through with fifty followers. Thence he attempted to gain the gorges of Olympus, and so into Greece ; but in that direction also his retreat was cut off by the peasantry ; on which, as a last resource, he dis- banded his followers, and crossed the mountains alone into Albania. There his career ended. The pasha of Scutari, willing to oblige the Porte in every thing that did not affect his own inde- pendence, had given orders to have him taken up whenever he should appear in Albania. He was BRIGAND CHIEF. 449 punctually obeyed, and Chaban was conducted as an agreeable oflfering- to the grand vizir, whose head quarters were then at Betolia. When brought before his highness, he was no ways down-cast. I was then at Salonica, and heard him described by those who saw him, as a very fine looking man, about thirty-five. He en- deavoured to excuse himself by saying, " that he had the intention of delivering himself up to the pasha of Salonica, when attacked by his forces, and only fought in self-defence." The vizir replied, "A man does not go for that purpose with five hundred followers, and ravage villages en routeP — "I was obliged to have follow^ers to protect me : I endeavoured to restrain their excesses— that should be considered." The vizir was unmoved. Chaban was taken out, and as a preparatory exercise suspended by his arms for tw^elve hours. He was again brought into the vizir's presence. ^^ You will do wrong to slay me," he said ; " my death can do you no good. Example in this country has no effect. I am able to serve you— I know the haunts of the bri- gands as a hare knows her form ; you wish to snare the beys of Albania— they trust me. Let me escape, you will not repent it— kill me, you lose one who can bring a thousand palicari to your standard to-morrow." Chaban's reasoning VOL, II. 2 G 450 HORRID DEATH. was vain. His judge was inflexible^ considering him too great a villain to live. He was taken back to prison. The following day a hook was thrust into his side, by which he was suspended to a tree, and there hung, enduring the agony of thirst, till the third evening, when death closed the scene ; but before that, about an hour, the birds, already considering him their own, had alighted on his brow to peck his eyes. During this frightful period, he uttered no unmanly complaints; only repeated several times, " Had I known that I was to suffer this infernal death, I would never have done what I have. From the moment I led the klephte's life, I had death before my eyes, and was prepared to meet it, but I expected to die as my predecessors— by decapitation." Simple death is a trifling punish- ment for great crimes, which requires bold hearts to execute ; if accompanied by torture, it makes courage shrink, not unless. His exit restored tranquillity to Salonica. The city of Salonica is large and well built, contain- ing about sixty thousand inhabitants, of whom nearly one-half are Jews. It is considered the head quarters of the Turkish Jew^s. One, a purveyor of flour, was hung during my stay, for cheating the public. His fate caused a sensation, for Jews are rarely put to death in Turkey— they SALON If A. 451 are too cunning. He was bung on a Friday ; and that the body might not continue hanging on the Saturday, according to custom^ a sum of money was presented to the pasha ; a bad pre- cedent, since every Jew in future condemned to death, will be hanged on a Friday. Salonica, twenty years since, vied with Smyrna in trade ; and was the residence of nearly as many Frank merchants, of whom three remain. Its chief exports were corn, produced in the fer- tile, well-watered plains of Macedonia; but the ruinous policy of sultan Mahmoud, in monopo- lizing the produce, has caused such a stagnation of agriculture, that barely enough is now pro- duced to supply the city. The proprietors have no interest in cultivating their estates, when they must take the produce to the government market. Whenever the Turks have had the advantage of free trade, they have shown no want of spirit to meet the demands of the merchants ; the quan- tity of corn exported from Salonica, and Tarsus, during the war, is a proof. The rule of fanning in Turkey is, the landlord finds seed, the tenant incurs all the other expenses, and the profits are equally shared. All lands pay ten per cent, of the produce to government. Salonica has above twenty mosques, several Greek churches, many synagogues, with two 2 (r 2 452 CATHOLIC RELIGION. Catholic churches which have the privilege of using bells as at Pera and Smyrna. The great protection enjoyed by the Catholic church in the East is entirely the merit of the French ambas- sadors^ who have always been, and are still con- sidered^ its protectors. It is singular in the present time, when religion is a bye-word in France, to know the French ambassador cavil- ling with the Porte to obtain privileges for it. It may be asserted, without fear of contradiction, that their unwearied zeal in its behalf for cen- turies has more benefited the cause of humanity in the countries governed by the Osmanleys, than could have done the labours of thousands of missionaries. It has preserved the religious in- stitutions in Syria, and Palestine, and Arabia ; it has ever offered a secure asylum for wavering minds of the Greek and Armenian sects ; and it has, at the same time, conciliated the Porte by never interfering with its interests. After all, what is the rational object of religion ? Is it not to make men live in peace among each other, and under their government, whatever that govern- ment be ? The Catholic religion in the East has effected this. The remarkables of Salonica are — its ancient walls, which stand the test of time as well as Constantinople walls; — a triumphal arch with bassi rilievi, erected by Constantine to com me- PULPIT. 453 morate his victory at Cassandra; — and the pul- pit whence St. Paul preached to the Thessalo- nians. It then stood in the street near the church of the S.S. Apostles^ and I make no doubt, from its form, was oftener used to get on a horse, or a cart, than for a display of eloquence. The Mussulmans have a respect for it, in the light of a trophy, and keep it in the mosque of Aya So- phie. It is worthy of remark, that the Turks, when they converted churches into mosques, never re- named those that bore the title of St. Sophia. It is formed of one block of marble, of a species of verd antique, and consists of three steps, w ith a platform the parapet of which reaches to the knee. Its height is about five feei^ its length eight feet — as near as I could guess; for the imam showed impatience at my wishing to measure it. As many Turks almost regard Franks in the light of necromancers, the good priest might have thought that if he allowed me to measure it, I should make a corresponding aperture in the roof, and so convey it away at night. It would be seen to much more advantage in London ; and I dare say that the sultan would give it to an am- bassador, if asked. He certainly does not know of it. A trifling gift afterwards to the pasha, and the Greek bishop of Salonica, would cause it to be embarked without oj)position from the people. 454 MR. JOSEPH WOLFF. I had been at Salonica about ten days when we were all much surprised at the consulate by a letter from Mr. Joseph Wolff, missionary to Persia and to Palestine. The reverend gentleman stated that he w^as at a village, two days' distance, in consequence of having been maltreated by pi- rates off Cassandra point ; that he was shoeless, and coatless, and moneyless; — in fine, wanted aid. It was, of course, immediately sent. A few hours after a large boat arrived, containing seven cases of bibles, and Mr. Wolff^s domestic, a Cypriote Greek. The Cypriote informed us that his master had embarked in this same boat about a fortnight before at Mytilene, having re- sided there six weeks, preaching the gospel — to no purpose. He had come to the island from Alexandria, where Lady Georgiana was then staying. From Mytilene they went to Tenedos on the same errand ; and thence, after remaining a few days, steered southwards. They passed one night at St. Anna, a small convent at the extremity of Mount Athos, and were continuing their voyage with high spirits to Salonica, when it was interrupted by a pirate giving chase to them off Cassandra point. Not trusting to his eloquence to convert his pursuers to abetter life, or thinking that the gospel would be thrown away on them — pearls to swine— Mr. Wolff directed NARROW ESCAPE. 455 his boat to be run on sliore^ and left her, half- dressed as he was- on account of the heat, ac- companied by his Arabic professor, a Maronite. Landing-, also, the pirates pursued them some way up the hills, firing several shots ; but on finding- that faith gave speed to the fugitives, they abandoned the chase, and returned to pillage the boat, from which they removed everything valuable excepting the bibles ; then beat the Cypriote, and bid him tell his master that he owed his life to his legs. We were not so much surprised that Mr. Wolff had been attacked by pirates, as that he had been able, as his letter showed, to escape the brigands who infest the promontory of Cassandra. It was like jumping- out of the frying-pan into the fire. We expected him with impatience. In three days he arrived with his feet in a woful plight from the thorns, though otherwise in good health, and undaunted by his disaster. Confirming his servant's report, Mr. Wolff added that after a sharp run of an hour up the hills, perceiving that the chase was given up, they halted to consider their position. Alone on wild mountains, which had scarcely ever been trodden by Franks, covered with underwood, and infested by worse than savage beasts— men in a lawless state — without shoes, without food, with- out a compass to guide their steps, their position was indeed distressing. Fearing to return to the 456 TIMELY SUCCOUR. beacli^ they wandered about in great anxiety dur- ing twenty hours^ searching in vain for traces of paths or of water. Their thirst at length became insupportable. Sinking on their knees^ as they thought for the last time^ they prayed fervently, and the Maronite, in particular, supplicated God not to abandon his apostle. Their prayers were heard ; in less than ten minutes they met a stream, and shortly after some shepherds, who conducted them to Sicaya, the residence of an aga. Fortunately Mr. Wolff had about his person his firman, with other papers, which entitled him to the utmost attentions of the aga, who provided him with a courier to carry his letter to Salonica, and a guard to escort him. Notwithstanding his fatigues, he commenced his labours the same day. His name was already well known to the Hebrews, and they were not remiss in flocking to hear him. The house and streets adjoining were filled. He preached assi- duously twice or three times a day, and disputed hotly with the rabbis ; taking care, however, not to eat or drink with them, for he remembered his experience of their artifices at Jerusalem. =* * At Jerusalem Mr.WolflF was in the habit of arguing once or twice a week in a cafene much frequented by Jews. One day the cavedji, being bribed by some of his enemies, presented him with a cup of poisoned coffee. Fortunately the dose was too BOLD PROPHECY. 457 He distributed bibles with profusion ; and after some days^ put up in the streets a call to the Jews, showing them from the Testament that Christ was Messiah^ and would come again on earth in 1847. I have often heard this prophecy from Mr. Wolff's iips^ and he has done me the favour to explain to me his calculations,, from which he deduces that year in particular for the advent. They are ingenious, and the connexion of them good ; but no calculation from the data in the old Testament can be relied on, because no two people can agree on the expression of those data. I have listened with delight to Mr. Wolff. He is eloquent and persuasive^ with four lan- guages — Hebrew^ Italian, German, and English — in which to clothe his thoughts gracefully ; besides having a tolerable knowledge of Arabic and Persian. But on one subject his enthusiasm rather taxes his auditor s patience, if not pre- cisely of his opinion. He has published, and he believes, that in the year 1847 Christ will come in the clouds, surrounded by angels, and com- mence his reign in Jerusalem for one thousand strong; he brought it up immediately, and thereby saved his life. Lady Georgiana was there with him, and to her care Mr. Wolff attributed his recovery from the dangerous ilhiess which ensued in consequence. Since then, however, he has been en- tirely free from tertian fever, to attacks of which, on exposure to malaria, he was previously very liable. 458 MR. JOSEPH WOLFF. years. It is difficult to listen to such expres- sions without regarding the speaker of them twofold^ to discover if there be not something hidden under the garb of enthusiasm ; but I really beheve that Mr.WolfFis sincere — deceives himself as well as others. The great foil of his character is vanity. How far this passion if deeply probed, may be found to have acted on his judg- ment till he believed himself pre-eminently the chosen of God, I will not pretend to hint at : we forget his foibles in considering his talents and his principles : yet, without being thought un- charitable, we may be allowed to suppose that Mr. Wolff, on being enlightened by the Holy Spirit, would have done well in sitting down unostentatiously in Bavaria, endeavouring to con- vert his relations, before wandering to distant lands. I asked him one day, whether he would be at Jerusalem in 1847 to receive the Messiah ? " Certainly," he replied ; " Lady Georgiana and myself will go there for that purpose." The call he put up excited great sensation. He was obliged to give a soldier money to prevent it from being torn down. Thousands of Jews came to read it. Some said in reply, that as the advent was only seventeen years off, they would wait till then before determining their opinions. Few men are so old as not to hope for as many as seventeen MR. JOSEPH WOLFF. 459 years more life. The whole city was upside down. Hitherto the pasha had been silent ; but on this he sent to the consul^ and desired him to tell Mr. Wolff not to affix any more calls on the houses^ inviting people to change their religion, which he considered highly improper. To make a long story shorty after a fortnight's preaching and arguing Mr. Wolff desisted. He told me that endeavouring to convert the Jews was reaping in a barren field. No one acquainted with them will be much surprised at this confes- sion. I was less so^ because I knew the opposi- tion that he had encountered from the Jews in every part of Turkey. From the Ottoman autho- rities he never received any serious obstacle. The intrigues of the Jews obliged him to leave Cyprus and Rhodes : they poisoned him at Jerusalem ; they burnt the New Testaments he distributed at Adrianople ; at Arnaoutkeuy^ a populous village on the European bank of the Bosphorus, they paraded a crucified dog in derision of him : how they may have evinced their abhorrence of his apostacy in other places I do not know. He might well say that he reaped in a barren field; at the same time he told me that at Constantinople he had baptized thirteen Jews^, who were after- wards banished through the influence of the rabbi ; and will probably,if not already, by means 460 CHRISTIAN DUTY. of discipline^ be induced to rescind. At Rome two Jews are converted every year^ — but how ? In all cases it seems to me a negative humanity to convert people whom we cannot protect from after persecution. They generally recant. The Thessalonicans not only would not listen to Mr. Wolff; they libelled him by swearing to the consul, that he had offered four thousand piastres to any one who would consent to be baptised. I believe this to be false ; Mr. Wolff assured me that it was. Though unsuccessful in his pursuit, no one can deny Mr.WolfF great praise for the shigle-minded zeal that he displays in his avocation, or can de- preciate his motives, which, he has shown the world, are pure. It may be considered the bounden duty of every person who believes in the Christian doctrine (which I hope is wrongly interpreted,) that none can be saved but who be- lieve in Christ, to take the Bible in one hand, the cross in the other, and go through the world with the hope of enlightening at least one soul. This is Mr.Wolff's idea. There is little merit in sitting by a warm fire, and sending deputies for that purpose. With such an object in view as the salvation of a soul, no persuaded believer should regard fatigue and privation ; he should rather rejoice in them. MISSIONARIES. 461 Alas ! this is not the object of the missionaries who frequent the shores of the Turkish empire. To what purpose do they frequent them ? to convert those who are already Christians : it would be as wise to teach the poor of one parish Greek and the mathematics, while the poor in the rest of the kingdom could not read. To what do they convert them ? to their own peculiar opi- nions ; as whether it be better to stand or kneel in church, to pray together or alone, to fast or feast on certain days. The utter unprofitableness of these gentlemen cannot be sufficiently pointed out ; and Mr.WolfF has not done a greater service to the public, than by exposing some of them in his work. Would that his hints were attended to ! One comes to Malta, and settles there with his lady : — another comes to Tino, and while learninof Greek, to be enabled to labour on the continent, falls in love, and marries an amiable Tiniote— his spiritual ardour takes another course: — another fixes himself at Smyrna, finding that demi-Frank city pleasanter than the interior of Turkey, whither he was destined :— another takes a disorder^ and dies of it on the shores of the Persian Gulf: — another quietly pursues his own studies at Alexandria, regardless of others' souls, to qualify himself for a situation in one of the London colleges. All are living on the stipends 462 GOOD MISSIONARY. granted by the Missionary Societies^ and occupied in forwarding their particular views. Far be it from me to say that human weakness does not merit indulgence ; but they who embark in a holy cause should quit it when they find that the flesh overpowers the spirit. Religion is the last asy- lum where hypocrisy should shelter in. Independent of moral qualifications^ which ap- parently are not seriously attended to by the nominators of missionaries^ it is reasonable to suppose that other qualifications are considered indispensable ; particularly a knowledge of lan- guages : yet, it will scarcely be credited^ mission- aries arrive in the Levant,, to preachy to convert^ knowing absolutely no other than their mother tongue. Every body knows the length of time it requires to learn a foreign language^ so as to be able to argue in it : the older the tyro^ the more difficult the task. There is no field without a flower^ no desert without an oasis^ no sea without a coral. I say this in reference to Mr.Hartley^ missionary of the church of England. His unwearied zeal, and his amiable character^ gained him the esteem of all who met him during his stay in the Levant. He does not remember the writer of this^for there was nothing there to fix his attention; but he saw in the preacher a mild persuasiveness^ which he MUSSULMAN REFOR^IER. 463 thought could not fail in its object^ could men be weaned from the creed of their fathers — be taught to believe in any miracles besides those imbibed with their mother's milk^ fostered by continued precepts^ sanctioned by the credence of all whom they esteem, which, if left to the exercise of their mature judgment, might have been rejected as fabulous. This, in my opinion — the extreme im- probability of men, arrived at years of discretion, embracing another^ hitherto ridiculed, series of prodigies— is a chief obstacle to making converts; a vahd reason for doubting their sincerity when converted ; a plausible argument for not esteem- ing their talents. Of course there are excep- tions ; favoured individuals, on whom rays of di- vine grace alight, and paint on their minds' retinas the mysterious truth ; but, in a general sense, the difficulty is insuperable. Abdul Wahab, the Luther of Mohammedanism, founder of the sect called Wahabites, since scotched by the sabre of Mehemet Ali of Egypt, while acknowledging the nnity of God, the purity of the doctrines contained in the Koran, the existence of future worlds as therein described, rejected the orthodox belief of Mohammed's intercourse with the angel Gabriel, and held him up as a mortal only, worthy of veneration truly ; a being superiorly gifted with wisdom, but not supernaturally endowed. There 464 BIBLES. can be no doubt that a grown person,, brought up in no religion^ if desired to make choice between Islainism and Wahabitism, would choose the lat- ter, as being least offensive to human reason. But to return whence we started. Where did Mr. Hartley's labours lie ? — among the Greeks, and without effect. Let the Greeks alone ; they are already entitled to salvation, as far as belief can entitle them. Under the actual or nominal rule of the sultan, are fifteen millions of Mussul- mans, who, according to the religion which the missionaries preach, must be d d. Does ever a missionary attempt, in the most indirect way, to save one of them ? Never ; the age of mar- tyrdom is past. The lavish distribution of Bibles is equally dis- tressing to behold. Did the members and sup- porters of the Bible Society know how they go, how they are received, they would infinitely pre- fer giving their money to their poor countrymen. God knows it would be a more praiseworthy ac- tion. But then the patronage of appointing mis- sionaries, Bible distributors, &c. would cease. Let us examine what becomes of these books. Bibles are given to the Turks, printed very ration- ally in the Turkish character — (one hundred and ninety-nine of two hundred cannot read .) A Turk takes one of them as he would a Treatise on BIliLES. 465 Fluxions, or a Life of Lord Bacon^ and with about as much interest ; as neither the pasha nor the muphti interferes with his possession of it^ it does not gain additional value as a prohibited article : he either keeps it as a curiosity^ or tears it as waste paper. If imams came to England and France, and distributed Korans in the English and French tongues, I make no doubt that the people would willingly accept them, or buy them cheap ; but I am sure that the propagation of the Mohammedan faith would not be the least advanced by this liberality, especially not being enforced by word of mouth. The Hebrews take the Bible with great pleasure, because saving them expense : they carefully destroy the New Testaments, and place the Old Testaments in their synagogues, sneering at the donors. Tlie Albanian klephtes make wadding for their guns of the leaves of the Society's bibles, if they have no other. Vast numbers of bibles are annuallv distributed, or sold cheap, to the Greeks : these tell their priests, and their priests, as in duty bound, relieve them of the charge of keeping such forbidden books. In 1829, a Sardinian frigate, at Alexandria, received bibles from the agent of the English Society ; when the frigate arrived at Genoa, her officers and men, uitliout distinction, were required to give them up, and VOL II. 2h 466 CONVERTS. did. If such absurdity exists in enlightened Italy — I vouch for its truth — what can be ex- pected in Greece? In Mesopotamia, Mr. Wolff told me, to justify the distribution of bibles, is a tribe of 200,000 souls, who were formerly Chris- tians, (at least so it is said,) but who, their books becoming destroyed by age and carelessness, lost all remembrance of their faith, and degenerated into, what they are, worshippers of the evil spirit. Here, it may be exclaimed, is a fitting channel for the liberality of the Bible Society to flow in ! to restore a lost flock to its pastor. Much cannot be hoped : their Christianity must have been very very lukewarm, if they could not copy their writings, or at least preserve them traditionally. The oriental Hebrews, and the Mohammedans, have been equally without the aid of printing ; yet bibles and korans are not wanting — at least one to every family. This discussion does not properly come under the head of a lay traveller's note book ; but the subject, at which I have barely hinted, forcibly impresses every disinterested Frank in the East. I must, however, add that the missionaries do not entirely labour in vain. Converts are ob- tained, not many certainly, but enough to impose on the world, chiefly from among the Syrian Christians. I will not say that any of them are CONVERTS. 467 gained by actual bribery^ but they certainly are by promises of employment in the missionary line — promises often not fulfilled, in consequence of which the converts are reduced to distress. More than one Armenian bishop has embraced a Protestant faith in order to marry : " every man has his price. " Mr. Wolffs Arabic pro- fessor, of whom I have spoken, was one of these Syrian Christians. He had been converted five years since by an American missionary at Bey- ruth — converted to the American's own doc- trines : what tkei/ were I know not ; I only know that the said American, with another of his countrymen in the same line, have brought the English name in great discredit with the inha- bitants of Mount Lebanon, and thereabouts. Having been strongly recommended as one ad- mirably qualified to preach the gospel among the Arabs, Mr. Wolff took him into his ser- vice, with a liberal salary of eighty pounds per annum. When obhged to make the precipi- tate retreat from his boat off Cassandra, Joseph (the convert) accompanied him. In his fear he did not forget his Syrian craft, but opening a trunk, took out his master's ready money, four thousands piastres, and put them into his sash for his own private use. At Sicaya, Mr. Wolff wanted money to repay the civility of the aga's * 2 H 2 468 CONVERTED MARONITE. attendants : Joseph offered him none ; indeed^ his master thought lie had none, and did not ask him. On arriving at a convent_, in their journey from Sicaya to Salonica, Joseph^ tormented with ideas of brigands, lodged his money in the hands of the prior ; and when he reached Salo- nica, requested the consul to withdraw it from him. The consul, knowing that Mr. Wolff had been in distress for money, was scandaliz- ed at this mercenary trait in the Maronite, and thought that the man who could be guilty of such meanness towards a liberal patron could not be honest. Sanctified Joseph, still feigning poverty, induced his master not only to reimburse him for the loss of apparel which he had sustained in the boat, but also to fit him out entirely anew, and pay up his arrears of salary. He insisted on these terms without delay, which put Mr. Wolff to great inconvenience on account of the exchange at the moment being unfavourable. At this un- principled extortion I could not restrain my indig- nation, or from expressing it to Mr. Wolff, who w£is much surprised at hearing that his strongly recommended, good, honest Joseph was possessed of a considerable number of piastres, especially as he had reason to know that he had none pre- vious to the visit of the pirates — gentlemen who take rather than give. Still, judging from his own CONVERTED MAROMTE. 469 good feelings^ he was inclined to think that he might have been mistaken, and that at worst, Joseph was only guilty of bad faith with him, not of a crime which in England might have brought him to the gallows. I thought dif- ferently. Here, however, the affair ceased for the present : Mr. Wolff resolved on parting with him on arriving at Smyrna, not on account of this, but on account of his ignorance of any other language than Arabic, which rendered him of little service, also from his lukew^armness in the cause of rehgion. He settled in his own mind that Joseph should be sent to Alexandria, with strong certificates to the missionaries there, in order to be profitably employed. I am happy to say that the rogue was unmasked in time. On our arrival at Smyrna, the Cypriote, (Mr. Wolff's domestic) between whom and Joseph had been a growing coolness on the passage, quarrelled with him seriously on account of the said wrongly appropriated piastres, and to be revenged told his master the story of the theft, of which he was an eye-witness, and which he was to have shared. The case being laid before the consul, honest Joseph was induced to disgorge great part of his dearly-beloved piastres, and was sent back to Syria in disgrace. He will probably resume his old creed, laugh at the credulity of missionaries. 470 CONVERTED MARONITE. and lament his own sufficient want of cunning. The name of this man has figured more than once in the reports of the Bible society^ and been cited as an instance of the success attending the mis- sionaries' labours. As a further spur to their labours^ I may add, that there is no difficulty in converting a Maronite to any thing except honesty. CHAPTER XXVIII. Tertian Fever — Philanthropy — Hydriote — Schooner — Mr. Wolflf — Smyrna — Hotel — "Glorious three days" — Recluse — Swede — Merchants — L'Eurydice — Ourlaq — Gazelle — English Frigate — Spezzia — Quarantine — Genoa. Salonica is notorious — I know it to my cost — as the head quaters of the tertian fever, which ravages, more or less, every part of Turkey in the summer and autumn, — the natural consequence of uncultivated lands. During my stay, it cruelly afflicted the town ; of eight males in the consu- late, not one escaped. There were nearly as many females, including Mrs. and MissCharnaud; not one took it. Exposure to the wind that blows over the marshes, without having on a cloth jacket or flannel, is certain to produce it. One day of this wind, the doctor seeing my servant, a stout athletic islander, standing at the window in 472 TERTIAN FEVER. his shirt-sleeves, cautioned him to come away, or to put on his jacket. " Maccari !" exclaimed the fellow ; " do you think we are like you ef- feminate Franks ? We are Palikari. " " You may be aPalicari/ replied the doctor; '^but the fever is more of a Palikari than you. " That evening- he sunk under it, and twice afterwards before leaving the place. In consequence, the inhabit" ants are divided into two parties ; the partizans of quina (bark), and the partizans of quinina (extract of bark) ; each has its doctors, and the respective merits of the drugs form the engrossing topic of conversation. I give the preference to quina ; it is slower in performing a cure, but its effects are more certain : quinina, too, though it generally cuts a fever in twenty-four hours, has the disadvantage of giving intolerable head-ache. The depopulation of Turkey is mainly attri- butable to this fever. Wars, executions, and plague are active agents, I allow; but they are incidental, whereas tertian acts like rust on metal, silently and destructively. It falls heaviest on children, and more than counterbalances the great fecundity of the women ; the mother of ten chil- dren may esteem herself happy in being able to bring up two. Bark, its sovereign remedy, is not procurable, except hi the great trading cities of the coasts ; in default whereof, the natives TERTIAN FEVLR. 473 drink off large doses of raw spirits seasoned with pepper^ or of lemon juice which has stood in the sun a whole day. The cure is often worse than the disease ; both are uncertain^ and in no case can be safely administered to young children. Winter checks it, but it returns the ensuing sum- mer : a child is weaker each season^ and, unless shaken off in time, intestinal complaints ensue, from which only the most robust recover. Mind has so much influence on this fever, that I have heard of natives being cured by going to mosque or church covered with amulets. I can believe it, from knowing how eflfectually the mind, in an inverse way, acts on Franks, who being free from the wholesome superstition, prolong the disorder by a nervous apprehension of its certain repe- tition. It is laughable the exactitude with which it returns, to half an hour. A Frank takes out his watch, orders warm drinks, and waits for it : he never waits in vain ; at the precise minute his extremities begin to chill, and the shivers soon follow. Of all the inhabitants of Turkey, the Osmanleys suffer the least from tertian fever, because they clothe the warmest. On the subject of the depopulation of Turkey, it may not be amiss to observe, that another great cause of it, more active than is readily supposed, is the absence of surgical aid. Bad wounds. 474 PHILANTHROPY. fractures^ neglected ulcers^ gangrenes^ &c. almost always prove fatal. One of the rarest objects in Turkey is a person minus a limb : minus an eye is fearfully common, for simple ophthalmia, trifling in civilized Europe, is in these countries generally followed by the partial loss of sight ; by a merciful provision of nature, when one eye is extiguished, the other is less liable to dis- orders. Aware of the distressing consequences of neglected wounds and hurts, the Philanthropic Society of Paris, with an enlightened humanity that cannot be sufficiently admired, sent two sur- geons into Greece in 1827, with liberal stipends, and all necessaries appertaining to their art, to relieve the natives gratis. If the healer of sores and the preacher of the gospel were united, might not greater success be expected? European skill in medicine is regarded by the easterns as almost miraculous ; they do not attribute it to witch- craft. Was not a power of healing one of the direct proofs given by our Saviour of his divine mission'? A person with skill and medicines, and a knowledge of the language, would be treat- ed as a little divinity all over the country ; he would be carried on men's shoulders from village to village ; pashas would court him, and brigands would respect him. RARE CARGO. 475 At length,— Mr. WolfT, despairing of mollifying the obdurate hearts of the Hebrews, and I of getting cured by Mr.Lafont, who, too late, con- vinced me that he knew little more of the nature of an eye than of the moon, we embarked in a Hydriot schooner, to proceed to Smyrna. The live cargo of our little bark might, for singularity, be placed in comparison with the old pirate's of the Cyclades— Haidee's father. There were five Albanians cap a pie ; a Greek trader with bales of tobacco for the Smyrna bazaar ; a party of Turkish women on their way to Damas- cus, to join the next Mecca caravan ; an Egyptian slave dealer with nine young negresses, whom he was conveying to Smyrna on speculation, having failed to dispose of them at Salonica ; and last, though not least in consideration, or least out of place, a missionary, a Maronite, and an English naval officer. These groups so crowded the narrow deck, that the ten merry Hydriots, who composed the crew, had barely room to plant their broad feet. We had some difficulty in getting out of the gulf, on account of baffling airs : while in it, the Maronite was deeply en- grossed by fears of pirates, and referred to me as the only unbiassed authority on board, in his opinion, each time that a boat, or any thing that his fancy magnified into one, appeared. I amused 476 ARDENT ZEAL. myself by playing with his childish apprehen- sions; we were too well armed for a bonne bouche; and the joke spreading-^ he found himself all at once the butt of the company : he could not eat for fear; and he could not sleep for fear; and he worked himself ill before three days. Having cleared the gulf^ we met the north wind^ which rarely ceases in the Archipelago dur- ing the fine season, and the well-sustained mer- riment of the passengers changed into something like alarm at the heeling of the vessel ; she sadly wanted ballast. This enabled me to appreciate more fully the zeal of Mr. Wolff. He is consti- tutionally nervous^ and therefore^ his exposing himself in the manner he does to uncertain peri- lous journeys — being able to subdue the infir- mity of nature in the cause of religion, shows a singularly fine, elevated spirit ; and his exertions in consequence merit one hundred - fold more praise than they would were he possessed of ordinary strength of nerve. In no one point did I so much admire his character as in this. The apprehensions which would have been puerile in other men, were respectable in him, almost en- nobling, because they acted as foils to bring into full relief the force of his mind, which shewed itself, in thus combating the flesh, so vastly supe- rior to the conservative ideas which mark the READY ANSWER. 477 great mass of mankind. He never^ while on boards forgot his calling, but talked of religion to the crew and the passengers, as cheerfully as on shore : one morning, however, his distrust of the sea made him expose himself unwittingly to a sharp retort from one of the crew, whom, with others, he hadjust rebuked for swearing profane- ly, saying, ^' that they should be cautious on the deep, where God might engulph them at a moment." The fellow promptly answered, " Is he not equally powerful on shore ? Why then should we be more guarded here than there ?" By means, however, of carrying low sail, we crossed the narrow sea pleasantly, and anchored at Smyrna on the third evening. I was in a bad state, having suffered a complete relapse on board. So I placed myself under the care of Mr. Clark, surgeon of the factory ; a gentle- man, as renowned in the country for his profes- sional skill, as esteemed for his various acquire- ments and amiable manners. To his care I owe that my disorder did not terminate in gangrene — disposed that way through the ignorance of Mr. Lafont ; and the moments of his company, which he gave me, and which he could ill spare from his well-employed time, tended to relieve the tedium necessarily attendant on ophthalmia. I did not immediately lose my eccentric and 478 INTERESTED STATEMENT. amiable friend ; he remained in the same hotel a week,before embarking for Malta to meet Lady Georgiana Wolff, who was expected there from Alexandria to lie in. During his stay, his apart- ment was like a chapel. Morning and evening he preached ; at one time in Italian, that language being the most universal medium in the Levant ; at another time in English, — to an audience chiefly composed of Americans who were much pleased with him, and listened for hours to his extemporaneous eloquence ; but who were also rather facetious at occasional slips in his pro- nunciation, particularly of the word tribes, when talking of the tribes of Israel, accenting the b rather too sharply. He was also besieged by the visits and attentions of the missionaries, and Bible Society agents resident at Smyrna ; they remem- bered the lashing he had given their class in his work, and they wished to disarm his scrutiny. He was not blinded by the flattery. If I do not mistake, it was said in one of the Bible Society reports, "that the Smyrniote Greeks were to be seen sitting at their shop-boards diligently read- ing the Bibles distributed by the Society, every moment they could spare from their work." I have no wish to cavil, but I cannot help remarking on so astounding a misrepresentation, made for an interested motive. I have often been at Smyrna, SIR HUDSON LOWE. 479 a great deal in the bazaars, and among" the Greeks ; but I have never seen one of them read a Bible ; nor has, I believe, any other English- man at Smyrna. When a Greek has done his work, he goes to dance^ and to sing, and to drink; attending mass satisfies his conscience. Smyrna abounds with French, not of the best class ; many, exiles nolens volens for the events of 1814-15. One of them, a staunch Napoleonist, rather cracked it is said, armed himself with a long knife, and burst open the door of Sir Hud- son Lowe's apartment, when he was here on his way to India, intending to make the lieutenant- governor of Ceylon expiate the faults of the governor of St. Helena. Sir Hudson was fortu- nately out, but he profited by the hint, and took up his quarters on board the Cambrian, then lying in the harbour. Our inn belonged to a' Frenchman ; and when the news arrived of the capture of Algiers, his countrymen hoisted an Algerine flag on the roof Such conduct cannot be sufficiently deprecated; it is always bad taste, not to say the height of meanness, to insult misfortune. Some old Os- manleys absolutely wept when they saw it. Six years ago, before the Turks were crest-fallen, this action would have brought destruction on the house in question, and perhaps endangered all 480 THE THREE DAYS. the Frank quarter. Many of the great disasters suffered by Franks in Turkey, have been occa- sioned by their imprudence or their pride. I had not been many days at Smyrna, when rumours of the " glorious three days" filled all ears, and made the hearts of the French swell with exultation, excepting those in trade ; dur- ing several weeks, their bills were not accept- able. Count Guilleminot's son-in-law, who was going to Constantinople with his lady, and M. Fontanier (author of a book of travels in the east) on his way to Trebizonde as consul — both in my inn — received the report rather queerly, for they or their relatives held office under the fallen dynasty ; yet, with true French feelings they fan- farronaded about the great nation, and drank to the illustrious event. Individuals, who before had scarcely known each other, now fraternally embraced with, Avez vous entendu le prodige—le peuple heroique — vive la France — encore notre chere patrie, ^t. All eyes were turned towards the sea to catch the first glimpse of the magic stripes, the mystic union of blue, white, and red ; and September 15th, the People's triumph was fully confirmed by the arrival of a French ship of war from Algiers. As she clewed up, round- ing to in fine style within a cable's length of the British consulate, and displayed from her peak a TRI-COLOURED FLAG. 481 broad tri-coloured ensign, nearly as larg-e as one of her topsails, loud cheers from the crowds on the quay, as fervently answered by the crew from her yards, welcomed her. Who could gaze on that banner,— miraculously, it might be said, restored, without reading in it a long tale of blood, and glory, and stern reverses — Italy, Egypt, Moscow, Waterloo, at the angles ; in the centre, St. Helena. Having sufficiently admired its graceful undulations in the sea-breeze, the liberals dispersed, and then paraded the streets with bands of music : that ev^ening ca ira, and the Marseillaise succeeded to the Muezzin's Hymn, "God is great : there is no God but God." There is no reasoning in enthusiasm ; but had I been a Frenchman, the sight of the tri-color again on board ship, would have occasioned me an unpleasant reflection ; for however it may have triumphed on land, (and it has, i'ar and near,) no flag has ever been so humiliated on the ocean. The next day a schooner arrived from Toulon, with orders for the consul, who the following day hoisted the tri-color on his house. The French brig saluted it with twenty-one guns ; and the American merchant vessels in port testi- fied their joy by firing guns from time to time during the day ; and the delirium of the French was carried to its height by the Wasp, English VOL. IL 2 1 482 REJOICINGS. sloop of war^ arriving from Vourlak the same evening", and saluting- regally the revolutionary emblem. Young Napoleon was on all lips. The Turks during these few days kept the eyes of astonishment open, and more frequently than usual, made use of their favourite exclamations, '^ Wonderful, God is great !" it added another reason to the many they already pretend to have, for saying that Franks are mad. The rejoicings were wound up a V Anglaise, by a national din- ner, to which the only foreigners invited were the English and American consuls, as represen- tative of the two free nations ; and therefore alone worthy to fraternize with French citizens, — quels cltoyens I At Constantinople the same order was ob- served. A dinner followed the inauguration of the flag, at which were present all the French at Pera, to the number of nearly one hundred, the English consul, and an American citizen ; and to heighten the entertainment, combining recollec- tions, it was served in the garden of the embassy; in the same allee, where, at the commencement of the first French revolution, a tree of liberty was planted. It was, however, lamented, by some that Count Guilleminot, so universally respected, the personal friend of the Due dAngouleme,to whose influence he owed the post of ambassador, should A RKCLUSE. 483 have given thai d'limer on that occasion. In his public capacity^ it was his duty to cause the colours to replace the lilies with all necessary solemnities ; but he had no occasion to make a private display. If the banquet he gave on the downfal of the elder branch of the Bourbons was a hire to secure his place, he perhaps regretted it and thought since,, how much more noble it would have been not to have given it. In my inn lived a singular being, who had abandoned the world. Since eleven years, he had occupied a chamber in it not larger than a friar's cell, and in that interval had not been out- side the house a dozen times ; in the last two years he had not left it. He was a good-looking man, spare, about forty-five. He led a life of sameness, irksome to those that beheld it, in sober sadness. In all his actions he was the pattern of exactitude. He slept to a moment, he eat to a mouthful, he drank to a drop, he smoked to a puff; no inducement could make him exceed in any one point ; and I dare say, had I counted them, I should have found, that in his walk up and down the passage, he never made a step more one day than another. The mere act of forsaking the worlds and retiring to a dis- tance from one's former connexions, is not very extraordinary ; such an impulse is often pro- •> I o 484 A RECLUSE. duced by the crosses of life ; but that a man should bury himself in a dirty inn^ in one corner of his native town_, appeared to me the excess of originality^ and excited my curiosity. He had never been known to form an acquaintance with any of the strange and opposite characters who came to the Cloche d'Or^ from all parts of the world ; yet, with a remnant of that instinct which draws human beings together, he loved to regard them from the door of his room, just sufficiently a-jar to allow his head to appear, where he w ould remain like a rabbit, at the entrance of its hutch, and, like a rabbit, would quickly with- draw, if any person, prompted by politeness or any other cause, addressed an obtrusive question to him. Nor should I probably have made fur- ther progress in his graces, had not our situation been similar : we were both prisoners ; he from will, I from sickness. It may be, too, that com- passion excited an interest in him for me, as curi- osity did in me for him. Be that as it may, we made gradual approaches; an occasional "^ Good morning, how do you do," &cc. broke the ice ; and in a short time, to the astonishment of the house, he would visit me in my apartment. x'Vt first, he would only remain a minute, put a good- natured question about my health, and retire abashed. By degrees I got him to sit down ; A RECLrSE. 485 and thus our familiarity increased, till he would remain an hour and apparently take pleasure in hearing himself talk again. He was not an uninteresting companion. In his youth he had travelled_, as a merchant,, in Russia and Ger- many, and could recount anecdotes and personal adventures with humour ; but of the present as- pect of the world he was more ignorant than a dervish, for since his seclusion he had not thought of it. I endeavoured to hit upon the cause of his malady, but met with indefinite success ; hints he would not understand, direct questions he evaded. I touched however, a sensitive chord, whose vibrations showed me that he had learned Timon^s experience : the mention of his countrj^- men, the Greeks, was sure to set him in a flame — to make him " cast dirt on them," to use a Turkish phrase, in neither measured nor decent terms ; if I praised them, he became worse. His severe strictures, too, on women, led me to conjecture that he had not found them altoofether anoels. More precisely his motives for disliking his spe- cies I never learned ; I ceased to importune him when I suspected that it would be ripping open too keen a wound. He became more and more partial to my society ; and I may say, without vanity, that my departure caused him a sensation such as he had not felt for years. Can it be 486 FRENCH COLONEL. doubted ? when we consider how consoling it must have been for his mortified and suspicious spirit to find a person willing- to hold commu- nion with him, totally unmotived by interest. For several weeks we were the only resident lodgers. Occasionally a guest arrived for a day or so; but their stay being shorty and their time occupied, they caused no interruption to our daily intercourse. I knew some ; among them an ex- colonel and an ex-captain dela grande ar?nee,vf\\o were returning from Constantinople to France, in consequence of the revolution. Their joy was only equalled by their volubility in expressing it. The colonel wished to pass off as having been a bim bashi of the nizam dgeditt, and hinted to me to countenance him. To humour his vanity, I did so, though I had known him in the humble capacity of talimgi (instructor). Another was a M.Wildenbrach, officer of the King of Prussia's guards, who was honorarily attached to the Prus- sian embassy at Pera, where I had made his acquaintance. He had been touring in Syria and Palestine, and was now hasting back to Con- stantinople, on account of the death of his minister, M. Royer, and of the "three days." At length a Swedish merchant took up his abode under the same roof, to wait for a passage SWEDISH MERCHANT. 48? to Malta. He came from Eski Scheyr,* three days' journey distant, whither he had been on a speculation in ecume de mer^ but had failed in consequence of the article being monopolized. As he was a gentlemanly, pleasant man, with a great deal of information, I was egotist enough to rejoice that there was no present opportunity for his departure. He was sixty years old ; but to the experience and knowledge that should, but does not always, belong'to that age, he joined the vivacity and freshness of youth : it may therefore be readily conceived how I valued his acquaint- ance, deprived, as I was, by my disorder, of the enjoyment of reading. My original friend was not so pleased with this addition to my society, and at the commencement kept aloof He yielded, however, to the impulse which I had given, and occasionally formed the trio ; but would never join in the conversation, contenting himself with listening. The Swede, on his part, could not * Eski Scheyr is about eighteen hours from Brussa. Near it, in mines, is found the best quality known of ecume de mer. The trade is monopolized by six Turkish merchants, who sup- ply all Germany. As they reside in turn at V^ienna, in quality of agent for the sale of the article, one meets at Eski Scheyr the rare phenomenon of a Turk speaking any other language than his own. The inhabitants are Mussulmans, governed by a mousselim. 488 THE RECLUSE. bear hini^ and amused himself heartily at his ex- pense behind his back, and now and then covertly to his face ; not being in that to blame, for he certainly was a legitimate subject for a quiz to any one who had not had the leisure that I had to appreciate his good qualities, or to make allow- ances for the contrarieties of his life. He only saw in him the absurdity of a misanthrope. The poor recluse had sufficient Grecian wit to know friend from foe, and did not lose an opportunity that presented itself, to be quietly revenged. The Swede was intimately acquainted with the Dutch consul, M.Van Lennep, who promised him a pas- sage in a Dutch brig of war, which was about to sail for Malta ; assuring him that he need not be uneasy about losing his passage, for he would give him a day's notice to prepare his baggage. Accordingly, the Swede remained joyously tran- quil, waiting the hour of the vessePs departure ; an occasion so much the more valuable, as there would be no other for a long time. Thus matters stood, when, one evening, as we three met as usual, the recluse, addressing himself to me, ob- served, carelessly, that the Dutch brig had gone out of harbour in good style about two hours before. Not having the shghtest idea of it, I shrunk at the effect which so abrupt a notification would have on the Swede, who was naturally THE RECLUSE. choleric, as he had set his heart on that convey- ance^ daily expatiating- on its advantages. He laid his chibouque against the wainscot, put his hands in his sides, and fixing his large grey eyes on him, said, "What did you say, sir?" The recluse quailed under his intense stare ; but, en- couraged by my vicinity, simply repeated what he had said. On this the Swede drew breath, hiwardly thinking, from the half-suppressed smile which I could not for the life of me conceal, that we were joking with him, and contemptu- ously replied, "You, sir, you do not know a Dutch brig from a Chinese junk : how should you, shut up all your life in this " " I do not know," answered the recluse, in a strug- gle between malice and timidity, "I may be mistaken ; but is not the Dutch ensign red, white, blue, horizontal ? " This circumstantial evidence was staggering. Having given it, he shot me a look from the corner of his eye, I nearly bit my lip in two, and the Swede opened his eyes till I thought they would have left his head. " You, sir," he again cried, " you do not know an ensign from a topsail ;" then, without waiting for an answer, he ran to the head of the stairs, and loudly vociferated for the master and the servants, who, one and all, came running up, thinking that murder had been 490 THE RECLUSE. committed. " Where is the Dutch brig- — has she sailed — when did she sail — why did she sail ?" Having given utterance to these interrogatories in one breathy he allowed himself time to hear the painful truth confirmed, that she had sailed two hours before. Those who have missed a sea passage can judge of his mortification. He struck his hand to his forehead, and walked up and down the passage, past us, like one possessed. I never swallowed so much smoke, in order to prevent laughing. I saw that a storm was brewing ; and the author of the mischief, satisfied with his even- ing's work, was about to retire, when the Swede opened fire. " Stay here — two months longer — I shall cut my throat — have already been here two months — enough to make a man throw himself from that window headlong into the sea." Then fixing his eyes again on the recluse, who edged closer to me, he continued : "A man who would live in this dog-hole by choice must be mad — worse than a beast — deserves to have a chain round his neck. By God," waxing more wrath, '^if I have to remain here another month, I will blow my brains out." It was now the recluse^s turn. ^lu that case," he said — I was surprised at his cou- rage — " come to me ; I have a pair of pistols hanging up in my room." " Then, sir," cried the Swede, who could contain himself no longer. SWEDE CONSUL, 491 " blow your own muddled brains out and g-o to h — ." He then deliberately broke his own pipe in two, put his foot inadvertently, on my bowl, and smashed it ; upset all that lay in his way, and rushed into his room. That night we saw no more of him. Next morning* I found him in bed, sick in mind and body. His well-made grey wig, that suited his years to a nicety, and de- ceived even the perruquier, had fallen off; his shirt was open ; a dish of slops was by his side, and a rejected pipe before him ; he presented a forlorn picture, and showed that at sixty his blood ran too quick. It was now my office to console him, which I did in regard of his disap- pointment ; but nothing could reconcile him to the recluse, who was become as an abomination in his eyes. He rose and repaired to the Dutch consul to seek an explanation. The consul acted his part admirably, started back on seeing him, as from a spectre, atfected despair, loaded him- relf with reproaches, and swore that it was a complete oversight ; so that the Swede, who had worked off his bile in the night, allowed himself to believe his professions. The fact was, that intelligence of the revolu- tion in Belgium had altered the brig's destina- tion, which the consul did not choose to avow ; and instead of going to Malta, she went to lie at 492 RUSSIAN CAPTAIN. Port Oliveto^ ready for any emergency, fearing" in case of a war with England or France to be blockaded in Smyrna. The commander of a Russian vessel of war, in port, dined frequently at the Cloche dOr. On such occasions he always had the complai- sance to pay me a visit ; but though gratified by his attention, I derived little pleasure from his society, for we sadly wanted a medium of in- tercourse ; he speaking no other language than his own, excepting about a dozen words of English ; I only knowing about as many words of Russian ; so our stock was equally produced each time, and as soon exhausted. If the re- cluse happened to be present we could get on, for he spoke Russian tolerably well. One day that he was thus acting as our interpreter, and in un- usual spirits, we persuaded him to depart from his precise habit, so far as to take a little wine. Going shortly afterwards into his room, I saw him throw out of window the small portion of wine which he reserved from his bottle at dinner to drink with his cigar at seven o'clock. Why did you throw it away?" I asked. '^Be- cause I drank a glass with the commandant," he replied, " and therefore have no occasion for it." The commandant's gig, which waited for him every day at the quay beneath my windows, had BOATS CREW. 493 a very decent crew, dressed after the English fashion — a fashion now adopted by the ships of war of most nations ; not that foreign men-of- war's men, though imitating the dress — blue col- lared frocks, black handkerchiefs, tight breeched trowsers without braces, low-quartered shoes, straw hats with black ribbons— can ever acquire the address, the happy, ofF-hand, don't care a d — m air of our Jacks. The coxswain, in par- ticular, was a superior man, free from the Rus- sian snub-nose and low forehead, which marked all his companions ; and his intimacy with two Turkish custom-house officers, whose station was close to the landing-place, attracted my at- tention, still more, " Call him Mustapha," said one of them to me, "and you will know the rea- son why we are such friends." True enough ; he answered to the name which confessed him a Mussulman. I could do no less, then, than show him that I had not taken his name in vain, which I accordingly did by askhig him upstairs, bidding the garcon, at the same time, to fetch coffee, chibouques, and punch. The two first of these introductory tokens he accepted cheerfully ; the other he at first shyed for form's sake, but having salved his conscience by saying that he had lived a long while amoiig Christians, drank it off. He informed me that on board many of the Russian 494 RUSSIAN SAILORS. ships of war Mussulmans were embarked^ add- ing^ that they were treated very well^ excepting while in Turkish ports, when an embargo was laid on their leave, under the idea that they would desert ; and so strictly was it enforced, that the request of some imams, who came on board his vessel for the purpose during the pre- ceding ramazan, that the Mussulman part of the crew might be allowed to go on shore to mosque, they (the imams) answering for their return on board, was refused ; "which," said Mustapha,"was very hard, considering that the Christians were allowed to go on shore on Sundays, and other festival days, to church." He had been nineteen years in the service, and looked forward with impatience to when his time should expire— in four years; though he expressed a fear that even then he would not obtain his Uberty, because be was still strong and healthy. " But," I observed, "after having been twenty-three years in the ser- vice, what will you do on being discharged ? you will have no pension and will be in want." " Not so," he replied, " my father has a house and lands near the Caspian ; if they give me my freedom I will not ask them for more ; it was the unhap- piest day of my life when they took me from my home, it will be the happiest one when I again see it." Poor fellow ! I did not damp him by hinting at the change which will probably RUSSIAN SAILORS. 495 await him, should he be able, on being dis- charged at Cronstadt, to find his way home across the extent of Russia, which extent oper- ates as an effectual bar to desertion since the conscripts are generally enrolled in opposite provinces to those in which they are levied. During these nineteen years Mustapha informed me that he had not heard once from his rela- tions ; — how should he ; snatched from the Cas- pian and imprisoned on the Baltic ? nor did he seem to expect it, but would have deemed it, I believe, rather miraculous to have received intelligence of them. Although speaking with great moderation and loyalty, treating the pri- vations under which he laboured as things of course, he confirmed what I had heard from other sources, of the convict condition of the Russian sailors ; — even they are better off than the soldiers of the line. At the time of which I am speaking, the sailor in the Levant station received nine Turkish piastres a month, (half-a- crown,) his entire pay, no arrears, no allotments ; but then it is true, the government found him in clothes, and sufficient leather to make two pair of shoes a year, which, if he was not endowed with a cobbling capacity, he had to pay others for mak- ing. The duty on board ran in the opposite ex- treme; for, independant of being sailors, the crew were drilled every day for four hours as soldiers. 496 CONSCRIPTION — SLAVERY. Alas! if philanthropists would consider the nature of twenty-three years of such an existence, whe- ther on shore or on board, seasoned with rattan- ning, on such pay, on rations to which prison fare hi England is luxury, without hope, without surgeons or medicines in case of sickness, they would deem it more charitable to rescue Russian subjects from their government, than negroes from West India merchants, or Greeks from Turkish masters. Sift slavery how we will, view it on every side, stigmatize it as degrading, as beastial, I do believe that it is not near so galling as the state of conscript soldiers in coun- tries where military duly is arduous. Leaving insecurity of life out of the question, as unwor- thy of consideration, what is there in the negro's fate — we cannot cite the slaves of Mussulmans, for they are treated like their master's children— what is there in his fate worse than that of such a soldier ? Say you he is dragged from his na- tive shore to work in distant isles ; is that worse than being marched from Archangel to fill a ditch in Bulgaria ? Say you he can never see his friends again, allowing that he cares a straw for them ; will the conscript's friends recognize him after twenty-three years of absence, when he returns sickly and poor ? But the negro, though severed from his country, is not separated from the best portion of the human species ; though SARDINIAN FUIGATE. 497 doomed to be tyrannized over by man, he has the sympathy of woman to Ug-hten his cares ; though cut off from first connexions^ he has dearer ones growing up around him, which make every place a home. What has the conscript sol- dier got to make up for his lost home, his forget- ful friends, his cheerless singleness ? — honour ! The beginning of November, a Sardinian frigate, L'Eurydice, arrived from Syria, and 1 gladly accepted a proposal of her officers, whose acquaintance I had made at Genoa, to accom- pany them to that port. The obstinate nature of the complaint hi my eyes rendered it ad- visable to try a change of climate, and I could not have undertaken a voyage in a vessel without a competent surgeon. What I suffered from ophthalmia, during three months at Smyrna, relapse after relapse, I shall not attempt to describe ; it was at times the excess of agony only to be calmed by opium. It is a most fright- ful disease, almost an excuse for suicide. Having been so long at Smyrna, I may be sup- posed capable of saying a word on our numerous countrymen resident in it, how their customs are affected by long contact with Turks, Greeks, Armenians, Jews, and Levantines. In good earnest, to speak generally, an Englishman may be there a long time without knowing any of his VOL. II. '2 K 498 ENGLISH MERCHANTS. countrymen beyond some shopkeepers. Thus far the reputable body of fruit merchants de- serve credit for their consistency, in which, I believe, they were never grossly wanting, but once, and then the individual in whose favour the rule was infringed, repaid them (thus avenging others, though at his own expense) by quizzing them in print. In no town of Turkey is a traveller put more to his shifts than he may be at Smyrna ; in every other he presents himself to the gover- nor, who quarters him on the best Greek house, the owner of which, far from being displeased with the distinction, is glad of the opportunity of gaining news ; but at Smyrna, the pasha would with astonishment refer him to his consul to pro- cure him accommodation among his countrymen, who would admire his simplicity, and in return refer him to some paltry inn, as full perhaps, of bipeds as of centipedes. I do not pretend to say that travellers have the least right to complain of the lukewarmness of their compatriots at Smyrna; it is a matter of opinion ; but their inattention to the navy is as inexcusable as it is singular, and so marked as to excite the surprise of all fo- reigners. The officers of foreign ships of war invariably find a ready welcome in the houses of their respective consuls and merchants, who are, the latter, to the English, in point of wealth and numbers, as one to ten. The English officers ENGLISH NAVY. 499 rarely see more than the outsides of their mer- chants' houses : every English man-of war that has been at Smyrna can testify the same. There is seldom more than a corvette and a brig lying there at the same time^ therefore numbers is not the obstacle. A merchant said, (I suppose jokingly,) " It would be a clever stroke, hideed, to invite the naval officers to our houses, to corrupt our wives and daughters, while we are at our bureaux. " It is a new thing to be told that the navy abounds with Don Juans. But however cheap the author of that sensible remark holds the virtue of Frank ladies at Smyrna, he may be assured that it is on as fair a scale as in any other confined society, where scandal, the guardian, as well as the vituperator, of female fame, has her eyes ever open, her tongue ever ready. No one will be so inconsiderate as to say that the English navy has no claim on the grati- tude of English merchants. Where is there a navy that shows such disinterested zeal under all circumstances, the most trying and responsible, in the protection of its country's commercial in- terests ? It is its duty — true ; but there are two ways of doing that duty, the difference between which would make a material corresponding dif- ference in the receipts of trade. November 14, 1830, 1 embarked in L'Eurydice, 2 K2 500 ENGLISH ISLAND. Her first destination was Vourlah^a capacious and safe anchorage on the south shore of the Gulf of Smyrna, eighteen miles from the city, much frequented by ships of war since 1821, on ac. count of its excellent water. It takes its name from a large village two miles distant, near which are mineral springs, reputed efficacious, but not much used from a want of conveniences for patients, — a defect which renders unavailing nearly all the mineral waters throughout Turkey, excepting those of Brussa, where are accommo- dations on a superb scale. On an island near the main, formerly connected with it by a cause- way which is still visible under water, are ruins of Clazomene, described by Chandler. One of the islands which screen the anchorage is named English Island, probably from some of our early crusaders, who landed on it ; though this is conjectural, the origin of the name being un- known : it abounds in rabbits. We soon completed the frigate's water, and then left the Gulf of Smyrna on our homeward voyage to Genoa. Several memorials of Syria, off which coast the frigate had been for some months, were on board, among others, some melodious bulbuls and a gazelle. The latter was a beautiful little creature, and tamer than a pet-lamb. A peculiarity of its nature struck ray attention as TAME GAZELLE. 601 being very remarkable, and this was its extreme fondness for tobacco, which it ate like hay. Buffon says that tlie gazelle will ate any thing ; but any thing does not mean a pound of tobacco at a time. Whenever we smoked, it would come bounding towards us, attracted by the fumes, and if we did not immediately satisfy its wishes^ would put its little nose to the pipe-bowls to inhale the odour nearer. We usually gave it a handful every morning, which it devoured with avidity and came for more. It did not much relish cigars, but was particularly grateful for snuff, licking it off our fingers with great gout. Foul and squally weather detained us some days at the entrance of the Archipelago, during which an English frigate, equally with ourselves bound out, doubled us by working through the Cervi passage, and was out of sight next morn- ing. This little circumstance was not alluded to by the officers, nor through delicacy touched on by me though it would be hypocrisy to say that I was not pleased by this proof of our national superiority. However, it is fair to ob- serve that L'Eurydice was a sweet frigate, and her officers proficients in their art, moreover versed in the various knowledge and accomplish- ments of gentlemen — merit pr-culiarly their owu^ since in a naval career, such must be self-taught. 502 RESPONSIBILITY. They were alive to the inconvenience of belong- ing to a diminutive state, where sous are counted and officers' talents estimated by the scale of their economy. "Our captains cannot venture to do what yours do/' one observed to me, ^ for our admiralty makes as much fuss if we carry away a topsail-yard, as yours does if you lose a frigate." There was truth in what he said, showing the excellent policy of not being too severe on officers for loss of ships (unless where stupidity is the cause). Too much responsibility creates timidity. What might not be lost by a captain of a ship of war being afraid, through long habits of caution, to carry sail, or attempt hazardous navigation in night or hazy weather ! a dispatch, involving the destiny of nations, might be detained weeks in consequence of lying to six hours for day-light, for in that short delay a gale of wind might come on, and drive him far to leeward. At length a south-east wind took us and car- ried us to within a few miles of Catania. Thence meeting the north-east wind blowing down the strait of Messina, through which we had hoped to pass with a flowing sheet, and there being little probability of its changing, and it making little difference by which side of Sicily a vessel passes going to Genoa, we bore up for the Malta QUARANTINE. 503 channel, where, after lying a day becalmed, the friendly south-easter again overtook us, and ac- companied us with little intermission to the Gulf of Spezzia, in a snug cove of which, half a cable from the lazzarette, we moored December 7, to ride our quarantine of twenty-eight days' duration; the minimum, in the opinion of the sapient council of sanita at Genoa, that could with safety be given to a ship of war, which had not one sick person on board, and had been twenty days in her voyage from Smyrna, where had not been known a symp- tom of plague for thirteen years. But instead of grumbling at our fate, I thought it rather our duty to be thankful for not having a longer time inflicted on us, which might well have happened, considering that we were at the mercy of the fears of a set of men (quere, old women ?) who knew nothing of the subject of contagion from expe- rience, or from reading, or from inquiry ; who founded their reasons about it, and their sanatory regulations, on the fright, and consequent laws occasioned by the great plague at Marseilles in 1720, without taking into consideration the immeasurable advance of medical science since, and the superior habits of the lower classes of Christendom, which tend very much to diminish the spread of contagion. What was prudence in 1720 is imbecility in 1830. 604 QUARANTINE. The first night of our arrival it blew hard, and a vessel laden with corn from Odessa nearly ran on board of us, exciting* our unqualified ap- prehensions : had a portion of her canvas touched one of our catheads, or spars, or davits, we should infallibly have been condemned to share her quarantine, (forty-five days,) on account of the cholera morbus raging in the south of Russia ; as if cholera morbus were a personage who re- mains shut up in a cask or a bale, or, rat-like, revels in a cargo of wheat. I am aware that, in the opinion of many sensible people, to question the expediency of the most rigorous quarantine is little short of counselling murder. If we were to yield implicit faith to some alarmists, we should close communication with all countries inhabited by Mussulmans, on the theory that England might, through her cotton manufactures, be in- occulated with plague as fast as goods travel from town to town. In no one particular is the good sense of England so visible as in her quarantine regulations, which are quite sufficient to ensure public health, without adding one unnecessary shackle to commerce. A distinction is made be- tween a vessel laden with fruit, and a vessel laden with cotton ; between a vessel that has been ten days at sea, and a vessel after seventy days' voyage. So natural and necessary must this.dis- QUARANTINE. 505 tinction appear, so impossible to avoid making without incurring the charge of folly, that any person, who has never troubled himself about the subject, must deem the assertion that it is not made in any other country, a mis-statement. In the ports of France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ger- many, and Russia, it is never made. There, quarantine is a complete job, kept up in all its absurd detailed rigour, embracing manifold ano- malies, to give salaries to directors, physicians, surgeons, guardians, &c., and at the expense of those subjected to it. A prisoner in Bedlam has the advantage over a prisoner in a lazzaretto, insomuch that his lodging is gratis. There is no one regulation, made by civilized societies, so subjected to caprice and interested motives as this. For example : two vessels leave the coast of Turkey together, laden with unsusceptible cargoes, bound respectively for Southampton and Havre de Grace. Both anchor the same day. Three days after, the passengers from the English vessel may cross over to France in the steamer with their trunks, and look, in Hberty, at their French consort, who is condemned to thirty days' quarantine. A traveller, for another example, leaves Constantinople, rides through Roumelia, with his baggage, sleeping every night in the cottages of the peasantry, or in the 606 BOARDS OF HEALTH. cafenes^ where disease may or may not be, and arrives at Semlin^ twenty minutes distant from the Turkish frontier^ where he has only four or five days' quarantine to perform_, and is then at liberty to continue his journey wheresoever list- eth him. Another traveller leaves Constanti- nople at the same time in his yacht, and after thirty days' voyage without communicating with any place or vessel, refreshed by cool mountain and sea breezes, reaches Trieste, in the same empire, where he must perform twenty-eight days' quarantine. Were common sense to de- cide which of these travellers merited the least quarantine, she would give it in favour of the latter ; but unfortunately, her presence never yet graced a board of health in a Mediterranean port, except occasionally of late years at Malta, where, however, she is generally overruled by the supposed (but erroneous) necessity of follow- hig the example of Marseilles. Boards of health show still more inconsistency ill drawing no line of distinction (none to speak of) between ships of war and merchantmen ; between vessels carrying no cargoes, cleaned throughout every day, with surgeons and dis- cipline on board; and vessels full of cotton, packed, for aught any one knows, in a season of plague, devoid of d scipline or cleanliness. For- BOARDS OF HEALTH, 507 nierly the passage of a ship of war was reckoned as part of her qnaranthie ; for as all writers on contagion agree that a given number of days, fourteen, or twenty-one, or thirty, is sufficient to let the disease appear in the living subject, after which no danger can be apprehended, so it w^as rationally concluded, that the end was equally ob- tained, whether the probation were passed at sea, or in port, provided that the observance of it, in the former case, were satisfactorily proved. For this purpose, the words of the captain and the surgeon of a ship of war, regarding the length of voyage from a suspected place, and the health of the crew, used to be considered a sufficient guarantee. But the privilege lasted a very short time after the peace, when the continental nations ceased to care — not requiring our aid — about conciliating our prejudices. The boards of health pretended that captains of ships of war gave incorrect statements, thereby diminish- ing their already favoured quarantine ; and being unfortunately enabled to adduce proof in the case of an English frigate at Leghorn, com- manded by a captain Dundas, they refused, at length, to credit their affidavits more than those of merchant-ship masters. This manifest, galling public insult, repeated on every shore of the Mediterranean to an honourable body of ^08 GUARDIANS OF HEALTH. men, the officers of the British navy — a service, of all others, where least discreditable conduct can be shown, should not be tolerated any longer. Our government should insist with the other governments of Europe that this unworthy distrust should be done away — that the words of its officers should be credited ; with, of course, the proviso that any officer, capable of acting deliberately unlike a gentleman in that respect, should be cashiered. On the other hand, boards of health, leaving out of the question considerations of reason and justice, as irrelevant, might say with plausibility, ^The public health being entrusted to our care, it is our sacred duty to prevent the possibility of its being trifled with, of our being imposed on by a false oath ; we therefore cannot admit of any quarantine which is not performed under our eyes." Good; but so far from acting up to this maxim, they take the word of a guardian of sanita, that is, of a Maltese, or a Neapohtan, or a Livornese, or a Genoese, who works for tenpence a day, as to the duration and circumstances of a vessel's voyage ; take the word of such scum, before the united testimony of the officers of an English line-of-battle ship — of an admiral him- self, were one on board. It is scarcely credible that governments allow themselves to be thus in- GUARDIANS OF HEALTH. 509 suited in the persons of their officers. Suppose a frigate and a merchant-man to leave Alexandria tog-ether, bound to Genoa, or to any other Italian port, and that they anchor in their way at Mes- sina ; that the latter there embarks a guardian of sanita, and pursues her voyage, followed by the frigaie in a couple of days. Both arrive at Genoa the same day. The guardian makes his declaration that he embarked on the merchant- man such a day ; from that day her quarantine commences. The captain of the frigate equally asserts that he anchored at Messina at the same time, and demands a similar grace. ''That may be," replies the spectacled, sharp-nosed, cadave- rous looking health officer^ who comes along-ide ; " but as you neglected to take a guardian, we cannot answer for your having had no communi- cation with any vessel since leaving Messina ; you must be content to ride the whole quaran- tine." That such a circumstance may happen, disjunctively does occur, cannot be contradicted. What a balance ! on one side we have the word of a captain of a frigate, backed if requisite by his officers ; on the other that of a Sicilian_, who works for a carline a day, and who would, if resembling the generality of his countrymen, sell his wife or daughter, much less his conscience, for five dollars, or less. 510 QUARANTINE. There are certain abuses and prejudices in the world, against which it is idle to preach : the wisest way is to take advantage of their discre- pances,, while existing, and in virtue of which, in question, English ships of war may reduce their quarantine, without contravening one regu- lation. A guardian on the quarantine establish- ment at Malta, receives one shilling per diem, the pay of an A.B. Let therefore each ship in the Levant station bear a seaman less on her books ; and in lieu embark one of these gentry, still preserving the title and uniform of guardian. From the day that the ship leaves Smyrna, or any other suspected place, to return to Malta, her quarantine will commence on the faith of her guardian's word. By this arrangement every body will be pleased, without incurring any ex- pense to the public ; the admiral have the ship at his disposal earlier; the officers and crew escape ten days' imprisonment, more or less ; and the guardian find his account by gaining his provisions in addition to his daily shilling. There is no one privation of this world so im- patiently submitted to as quarantine, and no per- son conversant with it who does not consider it perfectly gratuitous^ when applied to the living subject, except where disease actually exists. View it on all sides, its supposed advantages and QUARANTINE. 611 its certain inconveniences, it may be confidently stated in opposition to the former, that a plague, or other similar wide-spreading disorder, does not visit any country in healthy latitudes, so often as once in a century, and therefore it may be asked, '^ Is it not better to run the risk of that chance which no human prudence may avert, than to impose on ourselves the eternal plague of quarantine, which, in its strictest sense, enforced by fines, imprisonment and death, can never be totally effective, can never stop clandestine in- tercourse, or contraband traffic ? " On the con- trary, it favours the latter, as was clearly proved in that which was carried on between Sicily and Malta during the time they were separated by quarantine. Sparonaroes then carried our ma- nufactures, virtually prohibited in the Sicilies by enormous duties, to the opposite coast, where, during the fourteen days^ quarantine, in which the boats were of necessity unmolested by do- ganieri, they were quietly landed. Since free pratique has existed between the two islands, this species of intercourse, so profitable to us, has entirely ceased, for a sparonaro no sooner appears oft' the coasts than she is boarded by the doganieri, who quickly probe her cargo. To return to Spezzia. The morning that our quarantine should have terminated, January 4th, 512 GENOA. 1831, a seaman died suddenly. Of all the little contrarieties of life,, I never saw one more bo- thering than that. He might have had symp- toms of fever in him — a black spot under his arm —a twist in his bowels— and then another month's quarantine. We sent the corpse to the lazzaretto to be inspected, and waited with anxiety the result, which was that apoplexy was the cause of the death ; and therefore on the evening of the next day, the members of the sanita, having maturely deliberated on the subject, consented to admit us to pratique : the extra twenty-four hours was stated to have been inflicted on us by way of observation ; though why that observa- tion was necessary, they who ordained it only know. They could hardly have supposed that apoplexy was catching ; if they did, they would equally have observed us in the case of a man falling from aloft;, and breaking his neck, lest the contagion, spreading, should have made the bricklayers do the same off their scaffolds. January 6th, 1831, 1 landed from L'Eurydice in "superb" Genoa, where I had embarked nearly two years previous. The thunder of the "glorious three days " still vibrated within her walls, ex- citing the republican craniums of her sons among whom in consequence, a rigorous espionage exerted its baneful sway. Some officers were GENOA. 513 arrested for speaking freely^ several avocats im- prisoned^ without trials for Carbonaro principles, and a few nobles watched for having talents. Yet governments are surprised that there are revolutions ! I" hi: lilND. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. K/UjhAfflLi.'fl- '^■■^^ AU6 31992 l%^lt0 n LD-URt < c ^m 3 1158 00734 1471