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CORNELL
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BULGARIA BEFORE THE WAR
LONDON: PRINTED BY
SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE
AND PARLIAMENT STREET
BULGARIA BEFORE THE WAR

DURING SEVEN YEARS’ EXPERIENCE OF EUROPEAN

TURKEY AND ITS INHABITANTS

By H. C. BARKLEY

CIVIL ENGINEER

AUTHOR OF ‘ BETWEEN THE DANUBE AND THE BLACK SEA’

LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET
1877

All rights reserved
INTRODUCTION.

Tue following pages principally tell of my ‘personal
experiences and adventures in Bulgaria north of the
Balkans, during a residence in that country of seven
years, and the construction of the railway from Rust-
chuck to Varna. As, however, they treat almost
entirely of a time antecedent to the present war, it
may be allowed here to say a few words, having under
‘present circumstances a more direct bearing on the
country and its inhabitants, especially as I find that
notwithstanding the many letters that have lately been
written from the seat of war, some misapprehension
still exists as to what Northern Bulgaria itself is
like, and the general condition of its inhabitants.

The great loss of life in the allied armies of
England and France, that so shocked the public at the
time that those armies were encamped near Varna and
at Kustendji, has given rise to a fixed idea that the
Dobrudja and Northern Bulgaria are swampy countries
cursed with a pestilential climate. This is an error.
vi | Introduction.

With the exception of infrequent marshes at the heads
ot a few lakes, and periodical swamps caused by the
overflow of the Danube into long narrow valleys
. running up into the hills, the whole of the countries
in question are high, dry, and healthy.

The right or Turkish bank of the Danube is formed
of cliffs from 100 to 300 feet high, and the country
thence to the summit of the Balkans ascends, at first
gradually, and in the last eight or ten miles very
rapidly. The whole of the country lying between the
river and foot of the Balkans is intersected by deep
wide valleys and occasional ravines, through which
streams, generally small and shallow, flow to the
Danube. Wide tracts of this country are covered
with forests, with occasional cleared spots where the
villagers cultivate their Indian corn; and again, there
are equally wide tracts where a tree is a rare and
welcome sight, where large crops of wheat and barley
are grown under a system of husbandry the object of
which is to cultivate as much land as possible.

_ The Balkans themselves (Balkan is the Turkish for
mountain) have little of savage grandeur. For the
most part the outline of the hills, as might be expected
from their geological formation, is much rounded,

whilst cultivated plots are frequently found nearly to

their summits. In summer, where not covered with

woods, they afford excellent pasturage for numerous |

herds of cattle, sheep, and goats.
Introduction. Vil

 

There are very few parts in these mountains that
are inaccessible, even in those densely wooded. The
wood-cutters and charcoal-burners have made paths in
all directions, by many of which the mountains can
be crossed with more or less difficulty on foot or:on
horseback.

By the well-known passes alone can artillery or
wheeled carriages be conveyed to the south of the
Balkans, but it could never be difficult with the aid of
guides to pass infantry to the south side, if unencum-
bered with artillery and the other ‘impedimenta’ of
war...

Although such extensive forests exist in the Balkans
and the country between them and the Danube, par-
ticularly in that part of the country comprised in the
quadrilateral figure, of which Bourgas, Kavarna, Silis-
tria, and Rustchuck form the four corners, the timber
through neglect is of little value. The habit of the
peasants is to cut the boughs off the trees for charcoal-
burning, fencing, house-building, firing, &c., and con-
sequently there are few timber-trees of value. The
greater number are reduced to the condition of
‘ pollards,’ the trunks of which are hollow and rotten,
and it is only in the higher and more inaccessible
Balkans that good timber can be found.

It is generally supposed that mines of value exist in
the southern slopes of the Balkans, but if so they have
not yet been discovered, although there is nothing in
Vill Lutroduction.

 

the geological structure of that region to forbid the hope
of their being yet found. ;

« My. Arthur Lennox, than whom, I believe, no more
competent person could be found, failed in bringing to
light any mines likely to ‘pay,’ though he passed
months travelling in the mountains diligently search-
ing their recesses. There is something very tempting
in the idea of becoming suddenly rich by selling a
forest or working a mine, but the real wealth of
Bulgaria consists in its climate and its soil, in the corn
and wine, tobacco and roses, the necessaries and luxuries
of life, which, aided by the industrious and frugal
population that it possesses, it is so capable of producing
in abundance.

Before quitting this subject, I may say that the
only mines now successfully worked in Turkey, as far as
I am aware (the Ergana Madan copper mines being I
believe closed), are the coal mines situated on the
shores of the Black Sea, about 120 miles from the
mouth of the Bosphorus on the Asiatic coast. They
are commonly called the ‘ Heraclea’ Mines, though the
mine of Armout Chuk, the nearest to that place, is ten
miles from it. From thence the coal field extends
along the coast to Amasserah, a distance of fifty-five
miles. Inland the coal has been traced to a distance of
about ten miles from the sea. This coal field belongs
to the true Carboniferous formation, and is underlaid
by the mountain limestone pertaining thereto. The
Introduction. ix

 

country in which the mines are situated is very
mountainous, and the numerous seams of coal crop
out on the sides of the hills. Usually the seams lie
at an angle of about 45° with the horizon, but there
are seams that are nearly and some quite vertical.

The quality of the coal varies very much in the
different seams, which also vary in thickness from three
to fourteen feet. In some the coal is quite equal to
our north country steam coal, whilst in others it
contains many impurities which cause it in burning to
form masses of ‘clinkers,’ and render it nearly useless
for steam purposes. There is, however, an abundance
of coal of good quality. During the Crimean War the
English and French fleets were supplied with it in
large quantities, no less than 70,000 tons. The mines
are principally worked for the government under con-
tract by Christian Albanians, Bosnians, and Montene-
grians, assisted by the Mahometan agricultural popula-
tion of the neighbourhood, who are forced to work in
the mines under the contractors; the nominal wages of
these villagers, tenpence a day, are reserved by the
government as a set-off against their elastic taxes. In
times of pressure as at present, they are kept nearly
constantly at work, either in the mines or in carrying
the coal to the sea shore on the backs of their mules
and donkeys.

The seams of coal are constantly interrupted by
faults, and from this cause the difficulty of procuring
x Introduction.

 

labour (even under the system of corvée), the expense
of transport and of shipping in the open roadstead, the
coal costs much more than would at first be thought.
The quantity shipped in one year has never exceeded
120,000 tons. In ordinary times it amounts to from
70,000 tons to 80,000 tons a year.. —

In a book on Bulgaria written at this time, it is
impossible not to recur again and again to the people
of the country. In so doing, I fear that I shall hardly
please those (should they do me the honour of reading
these pages) who, on the one hand denounce the Bulgar
as ugly, stupid, debased, and ungrateful, or, on the
other, those who wish to find in him all the virtues of
a highly civilised race.

Neither physically nor morally can the Bulgar by
any figure of speech be called with truth a degraded
being. The men are generally big, strong, and healthy-
looking, without the slightest trace of the Tartar origin
which some people ascribe to them. This absence of
the Tartar appearance does not however prove the
absence of Tartar blood, for the Turks who are, I
suppose, undoubtedly of Tartar origin, have not now
any more of the Tartar features than the Bulgars.
The Turks, however, virtually speak the same language
as the Tartars of the Crimea, as most of the nomades
of Central Asia, and even the inhabitants of Kashgar.
The Bulgars on the contrary have no Tartar words in
their language beyond a few that they have picked up
Introduction. xi

 

from their conquerors, as we see that the Wallachians
have done, although Wallachia and Moldavia have
never been permanently occupied by the Turks. No
doubt the Bulgars are a very mixed race, but that they
are mainly Sclavonic in their origin is probably true.

Be they what they may, they are an industrious
plodding race, whether the work be ploughing a
Bulgarian plain, doing navvy work in a railway cutting,
studying in a village school or in that admirable
institution the Robert’s College at Constantinople.

The women are equally industrious with the men,
and my experience leads me to believe that where
this is the case, communities thrive; whereas, where
the converse obtains, or where the women only work
under compulsion, no community, or indeed family,
prospers.

As I have said elsewhere, fear of Turkish Don
Juans keeps the women for the most part at home, and
as a consequence the houses of the Bulgars are generally
clean and comfortable, and the children well clothed
and cared for. It has occasioned surprise and apparently
indignation to some people since the war began, to find
that the material prosperity of the Bulgar was so much
greater than they expected. The fact is that there are
few Bulgar peasants, properly so called, none of that
class that in England works from the Ist of January
to the 31st of December for a daily wage, and who
when worn out is provided with subsistence by the
Xl Introduction.

 

general community. Every Bulgar is a yeoman farmer
and maintains himself, his family, and his aged relations,
and pays his taxes by the cultivation of what is
practically his own land. In order to do this, he must
possess capital in the shape of oxen, horses, sheep, cows,
&c., and the possession of these gives an appearance of
greater wealth than perhaps is justified by the actual
balance of his accounts at the year’s end.

Again, when on ‘one side the Bulgar is keen to
acquire wealth by industry, aided by cunning, and has
no scruples about honour, etc., of which he has never
heard, and, on the other, his masters and tax-gatherers
are needy and equally anxious for money, it is not
difficult to understand that a satisfactory arrangement
can be made. Thus it is that when a Bulgar arrives
at having considerable available wealth, it is nearly
invariably by having an influential Turkish partner
in the background. It can be readily understood how
precarious this prosperity must be; the mere fact of the
prosperity itself raises a host of enemies, who are
jealous of a Christian getting rich out of the ‘ Padi-
shah’s Earth’ (the universal theory), and who by
reason of his secret connection is probably spared many
of the extortions to which they, the Osmanlis, are sub-
jected. Consequently if the great man dies, or is dis-
graced, accusations pour in against his unfortunate
Bulgarian partner, who, if he escapes complete ruin,
- - Introduction. Xilt

 

can only do so by a judicious distribution of that gold
which is only less dear to him than life itself.

I think that it- was the late Mr. Nassau Senior who
said that until he went to the East he never knew what
was meant in the Psalms of David by the constant
reference to ‘my enemies.’ People in England have
no enemies in the sense in which it is used in the East,
but there every man has enemies who backbite, slander,
and intrigue against him though they may never have
even seen him.

A Turk looks upon the Osmanlis in the aggregate
as the only people in the world possessing real virtues,
yet ask any Turk about any other Turk who is not his
direct superior, and he will give him the worst of .
characters. This arises from the great personal in-
fluence of individuals, commencing with the Sultan
and permeating through all classes down to the village
‘Muchtar.’ No man loses sight of the fact that if
Achmet can be got out of office and Hassan get his
place, that he will, or believes he will, derive direct
advantage by the change. And thus astute Greeks,
Bulgars, and Armenians frequently pave the way to
fortune by pecuniarily supporting persons who they
foresee will eventually come to power.

The most renowned diplomatist ever known in the
East once said: ‘ After living in Turkey ten months a
man thinks that he knows the people thoroughly.
After living there for ten years he begins to find out
xiv Introduction.

that he knows nothing about them.’. This is very true,
and after many years spent in the country, I have much
diffidence in giving an opinion on the motives and
conduct of the inhabitants. One sometimes gets a
glance into depths which reveal feelings and thoughts
quite unaccountable. For instance, it has always been
a matter of surprise to me that persons so clever as the
Christian hangers-on of the Turkish officials should,
when in the enjoyment of power, behave so, to our
ideas, unwisely. At such times the humblest and most
servile man assumes airs of importance and a general
air of insolence which one would think must provoke
unnecessary enmity. He apes and exaggerates the
manners of the dominant race whom he in private dis-
course affects to despise, and, in short, is insufferably
arrogant and vulgar. And yet such conduct seems to
be accepted by all classes as quite natural and proper
under the circumstances, and such as should inspire
respect rather than disgust or aversion.

There is a prevalent idea that the Turk is truthful
and the Christian untruthful. My experience leads me
to believe that all are not only equally untruthful, but
hold in contempt those that are truthful. They look
upon what we should call straightforwardness as blunder-
ing, if not something akin to bad manners, and taking
the view of things that in nearly all transactions with
Europeans they succeed, they conclude that their policy,
whether in diplomacy or commerce, must be the wisest.
Lntvoduction. XV

 

And yet under certain circumstances they believe one
another just as implicitly as we believe our most trusted
public servants. I have no doubt that the public in
Turkey as entirely accept Edib Effendi’s account of the
Bulgarian massacres as we do the account of them
written by Mr. Baring. With them the ‘ wish is father
to the thought’ absolutely, and I am convinced that it
never crosses the mind of one of them that any of the
wretched Bulgarians now being hanged wholesale are
innocent of the crimes imputed to them, though they
must know that the evidence on which they are being
convicted is for the most part quite worthless. They
know that the Bulgars sympathise with the Russians,
and consequently believe them not only capable of,
but certain to have committed, all other crimes. All
the stories of Russian cruelties that have been pub-
lished by the Turks are not only believed, honestly
believed, but no amount of evidence to the contrary
will ever shake their belief in them.

To save accused Bulgars from the gallows, as I
sincerely hope some may be saved by English or any
other influence, would outrage the feelings of the
Turks as severely as would the liberation under
foreign influence of a Rush or a Miiller have outraged
the people of this country. To hang Chevket Pasha
would be to the Turks as monstrous as the hanging
of a Lawrence or a Clyde.would have been to the
English.
XVI + Introduction.

 

There are depths of wounded feelings and prej udices
concealed under the mild, polite, almost humble de-
meanour of the Turk, little suspected. He burns to
revenge the lecturings and reproofs of ambassadors, and —
the tolerance he has found it politic to affect, and the
liberties to grant to the despised Christians. I do not
like to think what the fate of numberless Bulgarians
will be, should the Turks succeed in driving back the
Russians across the Danube.

Backbite, slander, and intrigue against their fellows
as they may individually, the Turks are entirely at one
as a nation on all great questions. The show Pasha,
who talks of political economy and liberty to the dis-
tinguished English tourist, has the same feelings and
aspirations as the village zaptieh. With courage flushed
_ by success, and the sensation of victory fresh upon them,

they are capable of clearing off old scores and realising
old aims, in a way that may astonish the world.

The Turks are brave, docile, cunning, and am-
bitious. Under favourable circumstances, a Grand
‘Vizier of the old type might call on the 16,000,000
Mussulmen of the Empire for any sacrifice, with a cer-
tainty of being cheerfully obeyed, if the object in view
were popular. To recover the lost territory of Islam, to
humble its enemies and re-establish’ its direct control
over the quasi-independent provinces, would be objects
which would meet the enthusiastic approval of all.

_ Schools now exist in most of the Bulgarian villages.
Latroduction. Xvid

 

They are mostly of recent date, and the education they
give is necessarily limited, and it has therefore been
the custom of the richer Bulgarians to send their sons
to be educated, either in the Robert’s College at Con-
stantinople, or to some foreign country. As is only
natural, the greater part of the boys or young men find
their way to Russia or Roumania, and it is men who
have been educated in those countries, as the Turks
know only too well, who have spread discontent through-
out the Balkan Peninsula,

It is well known that amongst certain classes in
Russia, it is the habit to profess radical doctrines—to
talk, perhaps rather wildly, of the rights of man in
general, and of the Sclave races in particular. There
is, moreover, throughout the East a tie stronger than
blood or country—religion ; and the religion of Russia
and Bulgaria is the same. They may be unwise for so
thinking, but the fact remains that the Bulgars think
that the Russians are their friends, whilst they know
that the Turks make them pay taxes, and do many
things that are unpleasant, and consequently they desire
to get rid of the Turks, Much which has been said and
written in England on this Eastern question during the
last two years goes far to demonstrate how partial is the
mass of humanity! If this is so among highly-civilised
men, how much more so must it be amongst very igno-
rant ones. In the Russian the Bulgar sees all the
virtues, in the Turk all the vices!

a
XVili Introduction.

 

Numbers of men, deeply imbued with Russian sym-
pathies and the more advanced of Russian ideas, have
returned to their native country, and in turn inoculated
the masses with similar notions. In times of difficulty

_and trial these men have been in the habit of going to
the different Russian consulates for sympathy, advice,
and assistance. Under somewhat analogous cireum-
stances, we have seen our Foreign Secretary telegraph-
ing to the English Ambassador at Constantinople to use
his influence to save, if possible, two Bulgars educated
in England from an ignominious death.

Russian education and Russian sympathy have, in
short, been the true—and, I believe, the only real—
‘Propaganda’ in Turkey. As to Russian emissaries, I
never to my knowledge encountered one, or heard on
credible evidence of any one or more being employed.
Those who assert that all the troubles in Bulgaria have
been caused by Russian emissaries and Russian gold,
should bring forward some proof more tangible than
assertion.

Let who may succeed in the present struggle, it
should be recognised by Europe, when the day of settle-
ment comes, that the population of Bulgaria deserve
more than bare sympathy at their hands. With a fine
climate, great natural beauty, a rich soil, and either
accessible or easily made accessible on all sides, Bul-
garia is surely worthy of a better fate than to be given
over to periodical devastation, or that between whiles its
Introduction. xix

 

resources should only be. used as a means of recruiting
forces which are to be again engaged in the same de-
struction.

Personally I have no belief in the view that Turks
and Bulgars cannot live together in peace, even after:
recent events. Give them a good and a just govern-
ment and equal rights, and the natural docility of the
two races will very soon cause them to submit to law
and to settle down quietly. I have seen Turks and
Bulgars live in harmony for ten years in the same
village; and, if for ten years, why not for twenty, or for
always?
CONTENTS.

os
InTRODUCTION 7 ‘
CHAPTER I.
Varna and Rustchuck Railroad—Rustchuck—A Turkish Street—
Buying a Horse. : : 5 . . ‘ 7
CHAPTER II.

Pelevan the Murderer—Starting for Varna—Pravady Gorge—

Arrival at Varna—Varna Merchants—An English Friend
CHAPTER III.

A Pasha of the Old School—Turkish Horsemen—Commencing the

Railway—The English Camp—Devna Marsh—Varna English .
CHAPTER IV.

A Troublesome Visitor—A Volunteer Contractor—Swapping a
Horse—Zaptieh—Turkish Horses—A panne is with the
Pasha x . * . . . : :

; CHAPTER V.

Robbers, Turk and Bulgar—A Turkish Trial—An Open Boat on

the Black Sea—A Night in a Cave—A Narrow Escape . .
CHAPTER VI.
Varna and Varniots—English Graveyard . . .

CHAPTER VII.

Cavasses Hassein and ia Mitac and ee
Lodgings . . ‘ 2 . 5 5 5 : A

PAGE

10

20

28

40

53

61
Xxil Contents.

 

CHAPTER VIII.
PAGE
The Circassian Emigration—Cireassiang . . . . + 7

CHAPTER IX.
An Englishman attacked by Circassians—In Fresh Trouble—Wife-
kicking—The Lawyer Navvy . bi. Mat an cis : - 80
CHAPTER X.
Two Strange Characters—Frozen to Death—Long Rides—Dis-
tances—Midhat Pasha’s Roads—Midhat Pasha’s Post . - 90
CHAPTER XI.
Hard at Work—Turkish Execution—Locked out of Varna—Land-
ing Locomotives—Greek Gang 3 : . ‘ : . 99
CHAPTER XII.

The First Engine—A Turkish Pienic—Strictly Guarded Beauties—
In Trouble with a Pasha—A Trip in the Wrong Direction—A

Conscientious Turk . . . : : : ‘ - 108
CHAPTER XIII.
Quarantine—Cholera—Giving Chloroform to a Horse . , . 122

CHAPTER XIV.
Casting Horses—Turkish Saddles—A Vicious Horse . : . 131

CHAPTER XV.

Strange Birds—A Oolony of Waders—Rose-tinted Pastors—An
Unpleasant Discovery—Vultures and Eagles—A Poor Day's
Sport—An Unfortunate Mistake—A Monster Wild Boar . 187

CHAPTER XVI.
Turkish Watehmen— Visine Watchmen at Sa le
How Robbers are made . . . ‘ . 150
CHAPTER XVII.

Two Murders—Zaptiehs protecting Roads—Insulting an English-
man—Merchants going to Fairs—Commercial Morality—

Consuls . BRE aie sees Le Seg Stk coe Bose Te i . 158
Contents. XXill

 

CHAPTER XVIII.

Funerals—A Volunteer Clerk—Proposing to a Widow—Death of
a Contractor—Husbandry—Vineyards—A Generous Turk—
Osmanlis—Asking a Turk the Time. 7 $ . . 170

PAGE

CHAPTER XIX.

Droughts—Progress of Railroad—A ae rae STO gee
to wreck Trains . ‘ 3 5 F . 182

CHAPTER XX.
Government Inspectors—Turks at a Breakdown—Sport—Deer-
shooting . : : ‘ ‘ é ; : . z . 190
CHAPTER XXI.
Turkish Hounds—Wild Boar—An Unpleasant Rencontre—A Pole
killed by a Roe—An English Officer murdered : 7 . 198
CHAPTER XXII.
A Shooting Excursion—Lost in the cea ‘A oe —
Friends in Need—Forests ‘ , . i . 207

CHAPTER XXIII.

Private Family Affairs—Down the Danube—A Turkish Beau—
A Trip to Kustendji—Inside a Harem . . jj os « 221

CHAPTER XXIV..

On the Dobrudja—An Outrage—A Turkish Husband—Prospects
of the Railroad—Snow-clearing : ; : i : . 234

CHAPTER XXV.
Wolves—A Lion on the iam! a Cossack— Wallachia and

Wallachians—Giurgevo < 5 : . e , . 248
CHAPTER XXVI.

Wallachian Cruelty—Judicial Torture—Bucharest—An Affair of
Honour—A Swindle : . . . . . é . 252
XXIV Contents.

 

CHAPTER XXVII.
PAGE

Bucharest Houses—A Night at Giurgevo—Crossing the Danube— .
A Murder, : ‘ 3 _ : y ‘ 3 . 262

CHAPTER XXVIII.

The Sultan’s Visit—Another important Stranger—Greek Nurses—
A crop-eared Donkey , . . i é . . 270

CHAPTER XXIX.

The Sultan’s Bakshish—Hiring a Tartar House—The Tartars—
Tartar Ship-builders 5 ‘ a é . “ + 281

CHAPTER XXX.

An Intruder—Turk’s Opinion of Christians—A fine old Turk—The
Line flooded—Buffalo on the Line—A Turk shot me an Eng-
lishman . : p ; . . : . « 289

CHAPTER XXXI.

Stealing my own Cow—‘ Barley-water ’—Respect for the Dead—
Turkish Doctors—Giving a Seidlitz Powder—Indifference to
Pain—English Visitors—European Friends—The Poles , . 802

CHAPTER XXXII.

Fires—A Visit from Mussulman Ladies—A Visit from Turkish
Men—A Shell fired in’28—Ancient Works—A Genoese Strong-
hold ‘ 7 i : a 3 : ‘ s . . 8ll

CHAPTER XXXII.

An Anxious Winter—Turkish Sen ree
Position—A Village Governor 5 . é . 322

CHAPTER XXXIV.
Escape from Prison—Turkish. Gaols—Shooting a Murderer—
Executions—The Bastinado—Turkish Honesty—A Turk in
Difficulties—Good-bye to Turkey . : 3 4 7 . 335
BULGARIA

BEFORE THE WAR.

 

CHAPTER I.

Varna and Rustchuck Railroad—Rustchuck—A Turkish Street—
Buying a Horse.

Durina the five years that I was employed on the
Kustendji railway, reports had constantly reached us
that the line from Varna to Rustchuck was about to
be commenced—first by one company then by another ;
but somehow these reports one after the other came to
nothing, and the Kustendji line continued the sole
representative of railway engineering in Turkey in
Europe until the spring of 1864.

The sick man had been getting slowly worse and
worse ever since he and his friends had last fought the
Russians; and so, I suppose, feeling himself to be in a
bad way, he at last took the advice of his European
doctors and consented to pay for a dose of medicine
named ‘ Progress,’ and, as a first step, entered into a
= B
2 Bulgaria before the War. CH. 1.

 

most solemn agreement to give certain advantages toa
lot of unfortunates who, believing in him, proposed to
find the requisite money and make the much required
line.

There could be no doubt as to the great advan-
tages that would accrue from it to the country, for it
was to start from the seaport of Varna and then run
inland up the great valley past the maiden fortress of
Shumla, to the fortified town of Rustchuck, and would
enable the Government at Constantinople to transport
troops and material of war from thence to the front in
twenty hours. Yes, to the front, for Rustchuck was,
and is, one of the eyes of Turkey that is constantly on
the strain looking out for the hostile forces of the great
Czar. Then it must be remembered that up to the
time the Varna and Rustchuck railway was made there
was no such thing as a road in all Bulgaria, and that
the only way of transporting material, in or out of the
country, was to drag it over the muddy tracks in bul-
lock carts, and that even these could not be collected in
sufficient numbers when any great emergency arose,
such as a threatened attack from over the Danube.

Besides the advantages to be derived from the line
in a military point of view, there were those that always
should, under a good government, follow from the
opening up of a rich country—such as offering to the
agriculturalist and the merchant an easy access to the
best markets, both foreign and local, for his products and
merchandise. Any how, after years wasted over various
schemes to get this line made, the Turkish Government
CH. I. Rustchuck. 3

 

at last offered sufficiently enticing terms to induce an
English Company to take the affair in hand, and my
elder brother (and former chief) had the management
of all the works; and it was owing to a short telegram I
received from him that I started at a day’s notice from
Lago @Orta in Italy, where I had been residing for
some months, and with my stout old portmanteau found
myself once more stepping from the Danube post boat
on to the domains of the Sultan at Rustchuck on one
fine morning in the month of April 1864.

For the unfortunate waif who finds himself in
Turkey for the first time in his life, there is no part of
Europe more difficult to make a start in, unless some
kind friend such as the consul or an old European resi-
dent takes him in hand. Not only does he not under-
stand a word that is said, but the manners of the people
are so utterly strange to him that though longing for
help he fears to trust anyone, and so drifts about paying
heavily for every step he goes, until probably some wily
Levantine, scenting the plunder to be extracted from
him, takes him in hand and helps him to buy his
experience. On the other hand, for a man accus-
tomed to the manners and customs of the country there
is no place where so much can be done in so short a
time.

Before I had been on shore an hour I had rescued
my portmanteau from the custom-house, eaten a break-
fast with the English consul, hired two clean though
rough rooms in an Armenian’s house, engaged a man-
cook and a cavass and set up house-keeping. Besides

B2
4 Bulgaria before the War. OH. 1.

 

this I had made the acquaintance of a lot of fellow-
countrymen who had congregated here for the con-
struction of the line, and among them three or four
brother-craftsmen, with whom I started later in the day
on a tour of inspection, first visiting the site of the
future station, and afterwards round the fortifications on
to the rising ground to the south, and then, as evening
drew in, home through the heart of the town.

This was my first visit to Rustchuck, and I must
say that bearing in mind other provincial towns in
Turkey, my first impressions were very pleasing, nor
have I had cause to alter them, for though in after
years I spent many months in this place, I continue to
think it by far the best town I know in Turkey. It is
built on high ground on the edge of the great river,
which at high floods washes the foot of the earth cliffs
on which it is placed, and then extends far away in-
land on the flat plain. It is open to the river (though
protected by several batteries filled with old guns), but
on the land side it is surrounded by a fosse and ramp,
with batteries at intervals, ready to sweep the plain ;
but all are in a state of semi decay, and would require
much to be done before they would be fit to protect the
town. 3
On the south side, running towards the west, are
low hills covered with vineyards through which runs
the main road to Shumla and Varna. From the sum-
mit of these hills can be had a very pretty view of the
town at their foot, then the Danube with its great flat
CH. I. Rustchuck. 5

 

islands, and away some few miles to the right, the
Wallachian town of Giurgevo, the front door to that
principality.

Like all Turkish towns Rustchuck gains enchant-
ment from distance. Standing as I did that afternoon
looking down upon it, it looked ,beautifully picturesque,
clean and prosperous, with its white-washed cottages
covered with red tiles, each standing in a large court-
yard, and shaded by a cluster of mulberry trees. Every
here and there a tall minaret shot its slender shaft
towards the heavens, and I could just catch the cry of
the Immam calling the faithful to prayer, the distance
giving to the sound a sweetness that is wanting when
standing near. Strings of arabas were hurrying along,
anxious to be clear of the town before the gates were
shut, intending to encamp outside to be able to start
before daybreak for their distant villages, and another
string of men and women on foot, on horseback, or in
one-horse telekis were hastening in from field labour.
Reminded by these sights that I also had a home,
though a very young one, and a dinner waiting for me,
I hurried down, and mingling with the stream followed
on through the gate into the Turkish quarter of the
town, and thoroughly Turkish it was. On the open
space left between the houses and the walls of the town
were collected groups of arabas with their patient,
sleepy-looking buffaloes or bullocks chained up to the
pole munching at a bundle of hay, while the drivers
were congregated round a fire on the open ground,
cooking or eating their supper preparatory to sleeping,
6 Bulgaria before the War. CH. I.

 

where they sat wrapped in their long capotes. The
spot they were on had been used for the same purpose
for generations past, and was literally the top of an old
dirt heap, reeking with old and new smells, littered
about with rubbish, dead cats, wolfish-looking dogs, and
half a dozen beggars. Just above the heads of one of
the largest, and apparently one of the merriest of the
groups, was a stout bar some twelve feet long, supported
by two rough posts about ten feet from the ground,
from which in the next few years I saw the fruits of the
first Bulgarian revolution suspended, but which was
now being used as a post of observation by some half-
dozen little urchins who were sitting astride it, chatting
to each other and chaffing the araba drivers. Then on
I went into the street with its wretched one-storied
shops open to the front, displaying such commodities as
old iron, rope, dried figs, locusts, black or white Bulgar
caps, sheeps’ milk cheeses, Turkish shoes and slippers,
earthen water-bottles, tobacco, and many other such
things, useful to the natives, but not pretty nor much
calculated to drain the pockets of an European. If
the shops were bad the road was worse. Close to
the sides were huge ‘narrow irregular stepping stones
about two feet above the level of the narrow street,
which in wet weather was a river of mud and filth,
and in dry, one long dust heap on which sprawled
troops of lean, mangey, decrepit and deformed dogs,
all looking depressed, all thin, and all either sleepy or
sulky.

On I went until in about the centre of the town I
cH, I. A Turkish Street. -

 

came upon a more open part, on which were pitched
higglety-pigglety a group of badly built, worse de-
signed, pretentious-looking buildings, and I at once
perceived that I had reached the abode of the great
man, the Pasha, and that these were the government
offices.

After passing these, my road turned to the right,
and each hundred yards I went the houses and shops
improved, proving to me that I was in the Giaour
quarter. At last I reached the main street of the
Christians, which runs parallel to the cliff, and in
which there are some really good houses. That is to
say good for a Turkish town, for they are spacious,
clean, and fairly well arranged. In this street our
offices were finally situated, and afterwards, whenever
I visited Rustchuck I took up my abode in it.

In Turkey, one’s dinner, such as it is, is always
ready after the middle of the afternoon, and has the
one advantage of being just as well or badly cooked if
it is eaten at 5 p.m. or at midnight, and on this evening
I found mine ready to be served; so neglecting to put
on a dress coat, I just washed my hands, sat down on
the edge of the divan, and pegged away with a good
appetite at the food which was arranged before me on
three rush-bottomed chairs, with Danube water to wash
it down, and a cigarette for dessert.

I had soon, though, to be off again to join a council
of ways and means, when, after spending half the night
poring over plans, taking notes, and discussing arrange-
ments, it was settled that I should accompany the
8 Bulgaria before the War. | cH. 1.

 

consulting engineer over the line to Varna, establish ©
myself there, and look after the works at that end of
the line.

The next day but one was fixed for our departure,
and as there was much to be done on the morrow, and
it was already some hour or so past midnight, I ran
home and tumbled into my bed, where I dreamt of
sections and cross sections, gradients and curves, cut-
tings and embankments, till I finally fell off some high
scaffolding.

I was awakened early in the morning with the
glad news that a big lighter with goods for us had
arrived from Tchernavoda, the terminus of the old
Kustendji line; soI hastened down to see the unlading,
and my heart was made glad at the sight of my saddle,
camp bed, and various odds and ends of my old camp
furniture, whose timely arrival would greatly conduce
to my comfort on the approaching journey. When all
was unloaded and stowed away, I went up to the town
and spread the news that I was in want of a good horse.
Soon I had a dozen beasts prancing before my windows
with their heads well up in the air looking fit and
anxious to run for a man’s life; but on telling my
cavass to lead them up and down the road with a loose
rein, they one after the other lapsed into a lot of spirit-.
less, woebegone wretches, that looked as if they had
been at work all and every day for the past month,
and besides had had bad nights. It was sharp bits
and sharper spurs that had stirred them up, and as I
was not going to haul at a poor beast’s mouth and probe
,
®

cH. 1. -— Buying a Horse. — 9

 

him in the ribs for 140 miles of rough road, I sent
them back to their stables.

I then heard that a Turkish Bin Bashi had ‘a
wonder’ to sell ; so I paid him a visit and spent an hour
sitting on his divan, drinking black coffee, whilst he
poured forth a string of lies in praise of his horse, the
mildest of which would have been enough for most
men’s conscience to carry. It was a lamb, quite young,
very quiet, most enduring, and the price, thirty liras,
as nothing compared to its value. He only parted
with it because he was ordered round by water to
Constantinople, and could not easily take it with him.
He let me have it cheap because he loved it so much.
‘But come, Tchellaby, and see the beauty;’ so off we
started to the barrack yard, and I had the animal
pointed out to me tied up in a nearly dark stall. In
one respect he was like most lambs—he was snow white,
but I was assured this was a marvellous horse, for he
was born so, and his mother was the same. As he
kicked out within an inch of me when I tried to go up
to him; I insisted on his being fetched out, and was
struck by the fact that the gentle creature required
two soldiers to lead him. However, he was a well-
shaped horse and in good condition, so I thought I
would look him over; but on going up to his head, he
gave me a blow on the thigh with his fore foot that
would have done credit to Tom Sayer in his palmiest
days for its quickness and directness, and which sent
me hobbling out of the yard and house quite forgetting
to make my salaams.
e
10 Bulgaria before the War. CH, IL.

 

CHAPTER II.

Pelevan the Murderer—Starting for Varna—Pravady Gorge—Arrival
at Varna—Varna Merchants—An English Friend.

Just before I reached my house I heard a man in a
café call out in Turkish, ‘Tchellaby, my Tchellaby,
welcome, welcome! again I see you, how glad I am!’
and the next minute a great big red-haired Turk was
kissing the end of my shooting jacket with apparent
satisfaction. I knew the man’s face at once; it was
perfectly familiar to me, but, for the life of me, I could
not call to mind where I had seen him; soI patted
him on the arm, called him ‘my good child,’ and put
on an appearance of pleasure to fit his. In the midst
of which my dormant memory revived and I ex-
claimed, ‘ Why, Pelevan, they hanged you years ago for
murder !’ .

‘No, Tchellaby, they did not hang me, they im-
priscned me for life—ah, it is a hard fate.’

‘But you are not in prison now!’

‘Yes, Tchellaby, I am, and never shall get out un-
less I can get some friend, such as you, to help me
by interceding with the Pasha.’

‘But you are not locked up!’

‘No, I am confined to this town, and two hours’
CH. I. Pelevan the Murderer. II

 

distance from it; and oh, my only friend, for the sake
of the old days and my former good conduct, take
pity on me.’ ,

Considering it was well to keep on good terms with
one of the worst murderers I had ever heard of, I spoke
him fair—said I was sorry to see him where he was,
which was the bare truth, for I would much rather
have seen him on the gallows at the town gate, and
then, without committing myself to any promises, bade
him good-day.

Some years before this man had been employed by
us on the Kustendji railway, and was for a year or two
rather a favourite with us all. Over and over again
he was trusted with money to take to distant towns
and buy us requisites, such as pick shafts, charcoal, and
other native products. He was often away for a month
at a time on these excursions, but always turned up at
last and accounted for the money, and might now have
been in the same position if he had not drawn his big
knife and cleft a small Bulgar boy’s head in twain be-
cause the said boy refused to hand him over a pitcher
of water he had just drawn fresh from the well.
Pelevan never attempted to escape, and so was arrested
red-handed and put in prison. Two disguised zaptiehs
were placed in the same cell with him, who won his
confidence by pretending to be fellow-murderers, and so
led him on to confess that while travelling about for us
he had killed five or six people, some of them Turks and
some Christians. He was tried for these murders at
Rustchuck and condemned to death; yet here he was,
2 Bulgaria before the War. CH, II.

 

lounging in a café, well-dressed and apparently pros-
perous, and I daresay when opportunity offered indulg-
ing in his old pastime of cutting throats and breaking
little boys’ skulls. I am glad to say I never saw or
heard of the ruffian again during the remaining time I
was in Turkey.

My horse-dealing on this occasion led me at last to
purchase, for twenty liras, a big, well-bred, active-look-
ing mare in good condition and with easy paces. I
thought at first I had got a bargain, but a few miles of
the road next day developed one fatal fault—she struck
herself in front when trotting or even jogging, and was
perpetually coming down on her head.

As my readers, ifthey trouble themselves to accom-
pany me through the following pages, will have many a
long journey over Turkish roads to make with me, I
shall spare them the account of this ride down to
Varna, and instead will give them, once for all, a short
description of the line and the scenery it passes
through, which will help them, I hope, to understand
better what is to follow.

The station at Rustchuck is placed a quarter of a
mile from the town at the foot of the cliff, on land
partly reclaimed from the Danube. For the first
quarter of a mile the line runs almost parallel with the
course of the river, but works its way up the face of
the cliff by an easy incline, till it reaches the undu-
lating plain on the top, and then turns off in the di-
rection of Varna.

Strange to say, the Turkish Government chose the
cH. 11. Starting for Varna. 13

 

site for the station, which is so placed that it is outside
the forts, and, what is more, out of reach of them,
being hidden by the cliffs. On the other hand, it is at
the mercy of an enemy holding the island opposite,
and could easily be destroyed from thence. This was
pointed out to the Turks at the time, but we only
said, ‘ That is our affair.’

For about the first five miles the line mounts up a
steep gradient, in some parts as much as 1 in 40, till
it passes through the high ground at the south of
Rustchuck in a deep cutting. From there it runs
chiefly down hill till it reaches the first station at
Tchervenavoda (a Russian word which means ‘crimson
water,’ as Tchernovoda, the terminus of the Kustendji
line on the Danube, means in the same language
‘black water’). After this the line mounts by steep
gradients till it reaches flat table land at the station of
Vetova, twenty-four miles from Rustchuck, where, for
the first time, it leaves the plains and enters a forest of
stunted lime and oak scrub which shuts it in as with a
wall, and is far the most uninteresting part of the
line to the lovers of scenery, though, owing to its flat-
ness, it is the best part to travelover. Forty-four miles
from Rustchuck is the station for Rasgrad, though
that town itself is some two miles away in the valley
at the foot of the steep hill, and is one of the dirtiest
and most thoroughly Turkish towns in all the country.
It is near this station that the water-shed is reached,
after passing which the line descends more or less all
the way to Varna.
14 Bulgaria before the War. oH. I.

 

About seventy miles from Rustchuck is the half-
way station of Shitanjick—a most suggestive name, as
it means ‘the little devil,’ and. further to match its
name, it is situated in the ‘ deli Orman’ or Mad Forest.
Here the line passes over a narrow and deep ravine on
a very fine stone viaduct, the best piece of masonry,
I believe, in all Turkey. Leaving the forests behind,
the line here descends over grassy plains and open
downs with a splendid view of the rugged Balkans in
front of it, till at Shumla Road Station it passes into a
narrow gorge actually at the foot of these mountains,
and after winding in and out amongst the hills for
another twelve miles, passes through the valley of
Pravady (where the entrance of the Changa pass be-
gins, over which the Russian army marched towards
Constantinople in 1829), and then on till it skirts the
marshes, swamps, and lakes, which it follows till it
reaches Varna.

Throughout the entire line the land is of the richest
alluvial soil; but though it yields splendid crops of
cereals, it is only partially cultivated, and the tillage
is of the roughest description. The forests—or what
are called forests, for nowhere is the timber good for
anything but firewood—afford pasturage for the dun-
coloured cattle, little active sheep, and a few goats,
and are a fine shelter for such worthless creatures as
wolves, boars, and robbers.

For years past I had heard of the gorge of Pravady
as one of the worst spots in all Bulgaria for brigands,
and half the tales we had been told of men being
cH. I Arrival at Varna. 15

 

stopped, robbed, and murdered were fathered upon it.
It was therefore with keen interest that I rode down
this gorge for the first time, and I felt thankful that
I had English companions with me, and that at all
events it was not likely that the trip would be finished
by a rencontre with the gentlemen of the hills.

At every village at which we stopped we were asked
by the inhabitants with keen interest when the earth-
works were to be commenced, and we were soon con-
vinced we should not stand still for want of labour.
All had heard of the Kustendji line, and many had
worked upon it, and over and over again I was greeted
by some sturdy Bulgar or Turk, who claimed me as one
of his old masters. Our entrance into Varna was
quite an event to the inhabitants of that rather dull
town, and as we passed along the muddy, ill-paved
streets we were greeted on all sides with cries of
welcome; and I was rejoiced to see my old servant
Demetry, who had been with me for two or three years
on the Kustendji railroad, rush out of a shop and
make his salaams. Before I had ridden another hun-
dred yards he was again in my service, and when we
reached the door of the English Consulate he was there
in readiness to take charge of our goods and chattels,
and make himself generally useful. Here we had a
great disappointment, for, on the door being opened,
a melancholy-looking young Greek told us in perfect
English that my old friend Mr. Suter, the Consul, had
been buried only the day before. He had been consul
at Varna for some years, and from time to time had
16 Bulgaria before the War. CH. 11.

 

paid us visits at Kustendji. However, I had but
little time just now to bewail his loss, for I had to
hurry off to the beach, where a huge pile of boxes and
goods of every imaginable description had been tumbled
from a steamer early that morning ; then there was to
hire a magazine to stow them in, look after the trans-
port, appoint a watchman, and, as soon as I could, go
house-hunting—and hard work I had, for I was the
only Englishman of the party who had ever been at the
place before, or knew where to go for help, or who
could be trusted.

I feel sure there were not a dozen male humans in
all Varna that night that did not entertain hopes of
gaining something by the construction of the railway.
Some hoped to make fortunes, others were, perhaps,
content with the thoughts of competency, but all hoped
to gain their end by a short cut and with little labour.
In such a hurry were they that they hardly gave me
time to swallow my dinner on this first evening before
I was beset by at least a dozen of the merchants and
leading men of the town with offers of every sort.

They all wanted me to live with them free pratis,
for all loved me like a brother, and each one was
so disinterested that he split on his oldest friends and
neighbours and assured me théy were all rogues except
himself. Unfortunately for them all, I had lived in
Varna for some time previously, and knew a little of
them. First, I could not recall their having ever
shown me much brotherly love before, and then, from
what I could remember of them, there was not a pin to
cH. II. Varna Merchants. 17

 

choose between them ; so my opinion only differed from
theirs in that I invariably added one more rogue to the
list of those given me—namely, the speaker.

I remember one offer that was made me that night
by a man who, I am sorry to say, was a native of one of
the great nations of Europe, and an educated man.
He asked to be made pay clerk. I thanked him, but
said I should not require his services, as an Englishman
had been appointed to the post. ‘Ah!’ he exclaimed,
‘what a waste of money! You might have saved his
salary.’

‘To give it to you,’ I said.

*No, sir, I would do it for nothing. See here, sir’
(his left thumb stuck up in the air with a big ring on
it, whilst he gave it a severe thrashing with the fore-
finger of the other hand), ‘you just give me de pay
sheets and de money. I go pay all de men, and never
ask for one penny.’

*Ah!’I said, ‘I begin to see. You would recoup

yourself for your trouble by swindling the men.’
. ‘Sir, you say it coarse. No, sir, by my commission.
, not one of dese rogues. All dese others

 

Tama
rogues, but I am an honest man.’

I did not quite agree with him, but I daresay he
was right and I was wrong—it was, after all, a matter of
opinion. However, my opinion on the subject was
so strong that I determined from that night to have as
little as possible to do with Varna merchants.

I shall always look back to the next morning as one
of the days in my life to be marked with a red letter,

c
18, Bulgaria before the War. cH. I.

 

for it was then that I first made the acquaintance of a
man who for the next three years shared my house with
me—shared my troubles, lightened my labours, joined
in my sports, and was at all times a perfect gentleman,
a genial, merry’ companion, and one of the pluckiest
fellows that ever trod in shoe leather. He was so
mixed up with my life for the next five years that
I shall often have to mention him, and in future I shall
call him by the old familiar name of Mac, well knowing
all who knew him will at once recognise of whom I am
writing, though I do not give his real name. As we sat
at breakfast we heard a cheery voice in the courtyard
asking for me, and the next minute Demetry ushered
into the room a tall handsome lad of some twenty years,
who at once introduced himself, telling me, what I then
heard for the first time, that he had been sent out by
my brother as my assistant. I suppose in the great
press of business my brother had forgotten to mention
him, but it only required one look at his face to make
me feel very glad to have him with me.

He had ridden in from Kustendji, having arrived
there from England a few days before, and he had done
the long ride (100 miles) over the Dobrudja in a day
and a-half, accompanied by one cavass, to whom he
could not speak a word. He gave us an amusing
account of his journey, and talked of the difficulties
and fatigue of it as a great joke; said he liked that
kind of life, and threw out hints that he ad not care
how soon he was in the saddle again.

Having a spare room, I offered it to him, and it
cH. IL. An E. nglish Friend, . 19

 

 

 

continued to be his whenever he was at Varna, during
the next three years.

On coming down to the courtyard we were greeted
by four English sub-contractors, who told us they had
just arrived by the steamer from Constantinople, having
come there direct from Spain, where they had been on
some works, and that now they hoped to. be soon at the
old trade again. For the next hour or so we were all
busy poring over plans, sections, &c., and then leaving
the others to ride up the line and havea look at the
country, I furbished up my apparel, and hastened off to
the Konak to pay my respects to the Pasha—a duty not
to be neglected, for though itis not manners for a Turk
to appear to take an interest in anything, yet I knew
he was in a state of the keenest expectation and longing
to see what the Giaour who had come to his town was
like, and he would have felt hurt and offended had I
not called at once.

c2
20 Bulgaria before the War. cH. I.

 

CHAPTER III.

A Pasha of the Old School—Turkish Horsemen—Commencing the-
Railway—The English Camp—Devna Marsh—Varna English.

I nave known many Turks and many Pashas, but of all
I have known this old fellow was the most honest, the
simplest, and the most agreeable I have ever met ; and
yet he was a Turk of the Turks, one of the old school,
that hated a Giaour in the abstract, but liked him indi-
vidually, and whose word when given was to be trusted
implicitly. Unfortunately for me he was removed long
before the line was finished, and I lost a friend, who
was replaced by an & la Franca Pasha, with whom I
had now and then a few words—not friendly.

I found the old fellow sitting cross-legged on his
divan, apparently occupied in dictating a letter to his
sickly, unwholesome-looking secretary, who was scrib-
bling away on another divan on the opposite side of the
room, using the palm of his hand fora desk, and getting
through his work at the rate of about a line in five
minutes, and it appeared to me that both he and his
master were glad to be interrupted, and get a short
rest.

I was presented to the Pasha by an old acquaintance,
M. Comiano, the Greek interpreter, the only permanent
cH, OI. A Pasha of the Old School. 21

 

official I had ever known in Turkey, and therefore far
the most efficient. He had been interpreter to some
_ dozens of Pashas of Varna, and his services extended
over many years. From what I saw of him, during the
years I was at Varna, I came to the ‘conclusion that he
was the real governor, and that the nominal ones were
generally only useless, ignorant hindrances to business.
After the usual salaams had been gone through, the
Pasha entered into a long diseussion—or rather, I should
say, listened to a long discourse from me—only exclaim-
ing from time to time ‘Inshallah’ (please God), or
‘ Mashallah’ (wonderful). When he used the former
word, I knew he did it from a feeling of superstition or
religion, for no good Turk ever makes an assertion, or
listens to one, of what is going to happen, without
saying, ‘Please God ;’ and when he used the other ex-
pression, he meant courteously to insinuate that my
talk was a bit too tall, and that without quite putting
me down as a Har, he yet was not going to swallow all
I said.

Somehow we soon drifted into the subject of horses,
when the old fellow brightened up at once, and proposed
that we should adjourn to a summer-house in the court-
yard and have his stud out to inspect. Wishing to
make friends with him I agreed to this, little as I could
afford to lose the time ; so we marched off, followed by
some half-dozen chiboukjis with pipes and coffee. He
had some very good Arab horses, of which he was justly
proud; but he was almost pathetic, as he patted his
well-filled waistcoat and with a sigh said, ‘ Ah, this has
22 Bulgaria before the War. cH. In.

 

spoilt all the pleasure I used to take in riding; I can
now only go at foot’s pace on a quiet old pony, and
these beauties I only keep to look at and pet. No one
ever uses them for work, nor shall they as long as I
live.’

Standing by the Pasha’s side was a remarkably
handsome blue-eyed little lad, about ten years old,
who the old fellow told me was his son. ,

On my asking the boy if he could ride, the Pasha
called up one of the grooms, who was leading a horse
that seemed to prefer walking about on his hind legs to
going on all fours, and told him to put the boy up.
In a moment the little brat was on the bare-backed
horse, and gathering up the reins and giving a yell
started off down the yard, through the gates and out on
to an open piece of grass at full gallop, the horse kicking
and playing in a manner that would have made me very
careful if on him with a good saddle.

There is one thing, if nothing else, that the Turks
certainly can do well—they can ride; not, perhaps, as
Englishmen can behind hounds—for it is not their
custom to jump horses over hedges, I suppose because
there are no hedges to jump—but from babyhood a
Turk is at home on a horse, and I have seen small boys
perform marvels of horsemanship, and this at the age
when young master in England is in a pannier on the
Shetland. Not only does he ride when a baby, but will
keep it up till he is an old grey-bearded man, and when
he is long past walking, he will be seen sitting upright
on his beast, going over rough roads and uneven ground
CH. Ir. Commencing the Railway. 23

 

with a light hand and easy motion, looking quite at
home and in the right place.

Railway-making must be anxious busy work in any.
country, but few can realise how anxious and busy a
man must be in a country like Turkey, where no one
has the faintest knowledge of the work and every small
detail must be personally looked to and the entire
native staff trained to its duties.

Fortunately for me I was soon joined at Varna by a
most efficient staff of Englishmen, and by letting off
the earth-works to sub-contractors as far as possible, we
soon made a start and put our mark on the country.
But even with this help my life was a very busy one,
and I had to outrage my feelings by getting up with
the lark and working on till far into the night.

Our task was made far more difficult at first by the
Turkish Government having determined to cut a canal
through the mile of sand and marsh that separates
Varna bay from the beautiful deep-water lake which
they proposed to turn into a harbour. Therefore our
railway was to have commenced at the village of Alad-
din, at the head of this lake. We none of us thought
for a moment that the Government would ever carry
out this scheme, and in fact we knew they were quite
incapable of doing so themselves, nor could they even
by any possibility get a European company to do it for
them, first, because the traffic would not be sufficient
to make it pay, and secondly, because the cost would
have been so much that the Turks could not have
guaranteed even a small percentage on the outlay. The
24 Bulgaria before the War. cH, IIL

 

summer was half over before the Government gave way
and consented to our running the line on as far as the
outskirts of the town of Varna. At first, therefore, we
had to transport all our materials ten miles up the lake,
and had a ten miles’ ride each time to inspect the earth-
works. Then, besides the earth-works, magazines and
houses had to be built at Aladdin, and men and horses
kept there for the works.

It was just to the north of Aladdin that our troops
were encamped prévious to their removal to the Crimea,
and the first time I rode up to this village an old Turk
pointed out to me the ring left in the turf where Lord
Raglan’s tent had stood.

Doubtless our commanders had good reasons for
placing the camp on these hills—at all events it is not
for me to criticise their doing so, but I must say I be-
lieve it was about the most unwholesome spot within a
hundred miles, to say nothing of its being the most
unget-at-able. The camp was placed no doubt on high
ground, but it was high ground at the end of many
thousands of acres of swamp and stinking bog, and the
draught down the valley must have carried malaria into
the camp every night; besides, the men ran the risk of
inhaling the same deadly poison each time they visited
the marsh-surrounded lake to get water.

When reading Russell’s letters from the camp in
which he described the great difficulties the commis-
sariat had in getting provisions up to the camp, I re-
member being struck with the fact of their not making
use of the long lake as a means of transport, and the
(CH. 11%, Devna Marsh. 25

 

advantages of doing so appeared so great when I got
on the ground that I immediately sent to Constanti-
nople and bought a dozen big oak lighters, and these I
placed on the lake with small rowing boats to tug them.
We thus became independent of muddy and ofttimes
impassable roads, and had a cheap and easy access to the
Sea.

To give.my readers some little idea what the swamps
surrounding the Devna lake are like, it will be sufficient
for me to tell them that for one whole week three
hundred men were employed barrowing earth into this
bog in the attempt to carry the line across it. Every
night one chain’s length was finished and each morning
it had disappeared! I was away on business during this
week, and when I returned I had an iron rod sunk, end
first, by its own weight to the depth of forty feet in the
bog! We eventually crossed this and other marshes
most successfully by floating the line over it on a thick
layer of brushwood and trees, and to this day that has
‘been one of the best parts of the entire line.

The soil of the bog was about the colour and con-
sistency of pitch, and the smell was nearly strong
‘enough to support the rails, far too strong for my poor
sense of smell, for it made me actually sick standing
over it, and every day the workmen had to be removed
and replaced by others owing to the terrible fevers they
caught.

The state of the roads will be appreciated when I
mention that during the time the troops were at Devna,
three or four officers were sent with some dozen troopers
26 Bulgaria before the War. CH. IIL.

 

to reconnoitre as far as Bazarjik, a town on the edge of
the Dobrudja, only thirty miles distant, and that half
of their horses died on the return journey. I was told
this only a few weeks ago by an officer who was one of
the party.

A few days after my arrival at Varna I received by
sea from Galatz two monster rafts of timber—timber
that bad been grown on the slopes of the Carpathians,
and after being floated out of the mountains, had been
rafted at Galatz, and sent round to Varna with a tug
boat. I had been expecting these rafts for some days,
and was beginning to fear some mishap had taken place,
when one morning Demetry called me at daybreak to
say a sailor had come to tell me that the leading raft.
was aground on a rock near the shore some five miles
up the coast.

I was quickly on my pony galloping to the place,
and on turning a headland, there, sure enough, I saw my
big friend hard and fast, looking likea small island. I
was soon on the beach opposite it, and on hailing the
tug a small boat was sent off forme. I first went on
board to consult the captain, who told me the raft had
been aground half the night and, do what he would, he
could not move it. I then went to the raft to give
orders for the top timbers to be thrown off so as to.
lighten it, but I had not been on it five minutes before
the people on the tug began to shout, the whistle to go,
and the paddles to splash and splutter in a furious way,
and I saw to my great joy that we were moving out to
sea.
CH. IK. Ve arna E ng tosh. 27

 

The landing of these two rafts I put into the hands
of a big Dalmatian boatman who soon had them high
and dry on the beach, and piled up in stacks ready for
use. The first day I spoke to him about it, I said,
‘Get together a good gang of men—mind, I'll have
none of your town hands or coffee-house loungers, they
must all be smart and willing to work.’ The next
morning the Dalmatian came to the office to report
progress, and on my enquiring if he had collected a
good gang, he said ‘ Yes, sare, one vera good lot of men
—all damn fools!’ Now my friend had learnt his
English from the English sailors who came into Varna,
and from hearing them constantly address the natives
employed about the vessels in those two expressive
words, he naturally supposed they were the correct term
for workmen, and that in using them he was convincing
me he had got together a gang of the right sort !

In this he was not unlike nine out of every ten
Englishmen who go to Turkey. They always address
a Turk as ‘ Bonny back’ and speak of him as ‘this old
bonny back,’ thinking it means some such term as ‘ old
fellow.” They have acquired this idea from hearing
the Turks commence their conversation with ‘ Banna
bak ’—which literally is ‘ Attend to me.’

To give another illustration of the fertlle imagi-
nation of the British workman I may mention that
near the mines of Heraclea there is a Turkish village
named Zungledek, which was always called by the
workmen in the mines ‘Uncle Dick,’ and they inva-
riably corrected anyone who pronounced the name
rightly by saying, ‘Oh, I see, you mean Uncle Dick.’
28 Bulgaria before the War. ou. Tv.

 

CHAPTER IV.

A Troublesome Visitor—A Volunteer Contractor—Swapping a Horse—

Zaptieh—Turkish Horses—A Country Trip with the Pasha.
Onz of our chief difficulties at the commencement of
our life at Varna arose from the excessive affection
evinced for us by the Varniot merchants. Despairing
after oft-repeated attempts to allure us into the great
whirlpool of society as existing there, they settled, as it
was settled once before in the East, that if the moun-
tain would not go to Mahomet, Mahomet should go to
the mountain. They took to visiting us in the most
friendly manner. This perhaps, to some men’s tastes,
would have been charming, but to one hard at work all
day it became oppressive, especially as the visits were
paid at all hours between five in the morning and mid-
night, and as the conversation invariably turned on
some advantage the visitor wished to obtain that might
put money in his pocket.

The reader will say, ‘ Why did you not use a little
self-denial, and order your servant to say, Not at home?’
This would not answer in Varna, for this reason: no
visitor ever thinks of troubling a servant to announce
him, but just walks up and into your room with a self-
satisfied smile on his face greatly provocative of a
breach of the peace. One gentleman nearly drove poor
Mac and me demented. He discovered our meal times,
OH. IV. A Troublesome Visitor. 29

 

and whenever either of us by good luck got home in
time for dinner there would be our friend smoking his
everlasting cigarette, and kindly pressing us to make
ourselves at home. Then he would drop in just as the
work of the evening was pushed aside, and we had
settled down for a chat about home and distant friends ;
and on waking in the morning, there he would be sit-
ting on the foot of the bed, telling one not to mind
dressing before him (washing never entered his head).
Driven to desperation, I at last wrote him a note, giving
a short description of the manners and customs of the
West, in which I particularly drew his attention to the
fact, that we preferred our acquaintances being an-
nounced by a servant. No good! Our friend appeared
again the next morning at breakfast, and proposed
afterwards to sit on the corner of the desk in the office
while I went through accounts. I drew him aside, and
politely pointed out that his visits were untimely, and
that when I wished for his company I would let him
know. He went away then, only to walk into my bed-
room at sunset as I was refreshing myself in a state of
nature in a cold bath. He was greatly shocked and
horrified at the sight, and, helped by this and the
getting my bath sponge full in his face, he retired. I
was annoyed before, but now I was in a rage, so I once
more wrote him a letter which I flattered myself would
terminate our acquaintance ; but not a bit of it. He
was perched on my bed when I woke next morning,
looking more friendly than ever. This was too much ;
so I told him if he would only wait till I had put on
30 Bulgaria before the War. CH. IV.

 

my thickest boots I would give myself the pleasure
of kicking him down stairs; and further, that I would
do the same if ever he came up to my rooms again
without first sending up his name.

I did at last thus succeed in getting rid of him, but
we always continued the greatest friends, and he might
constantly be seen trying to induce Demetry to bring
up his card; but that crafty native was too well trained
in the customs of the Britisher ever to allow that we
were at home.

The excessive friendship of another Varniot merchant
induced him to show the very greatest anxiety about
our being constantly supplied with labourers. And to
ensure this he proposed to contract with us for this
useful article. In vain I assured him we had more
men than we wanted. ‘Oh!’ he said, ‘there will be a
break-down soon. Harvest time is coming. I must
and will engage a lot before then. Let me see. You
pay two shillings a day and two loaves of bread. For
that I will engage a thousand men. . I shall lose by it,
but I know how generous you are. When you find out
how truly I have befriended you, you will recoup me
any little loss.’

I laughed, and said he had better not try me, and
thought it was half a joke.

Some ten days after this I went away forty miles up
the country, and was astonished by the men in all the
gangs coming to remonstrate with me for the way I was
behaving, saying that I was paying them sixpence a day
less than I was giving on the Varna sections. I assured
CH. IY. A Volunteer Contractor. 31

 

them it was not so, and soon convinced them I was
speaking the truth, and they then told me that two
or three men from Varna had passed by and had spread
this report. As soon asI returned to Varna the men
there came to complain that the workmen up the line
were being paid higher wages than they were, but for-
tunately they took my word for it, that it was not so.
Here, again, I heard that Varna men coming from up
the country had spread the report.

Now anyone accustomed ‘to ignorant labourers will
see that these reports were just the kind of thing to
make the men discontented, and that we ran a risk of
having the works greatly disorganised. I felt sure
some underhand work was going on, but I held my
tongue and bided my time.

A week later the merchant rushed into my office,
saying, ‘See, I have just received this telegram. Now
am not I your friend? What would you do if it were
not for me?’

I read the telegram, which was to say that five
hundred men had been engaged, and were then on board
a steamer in the Bosphorus ready to start in a few hours
for Varna.

I assured my friend that I should not employ one
of his men, and that I now quite understood who it
was that had been spreading reports among my work-
men. I then went off to the old Pasha, and soon
arranged matters with him. I had only to tell him
that I should not give one day’s work to any of the
expected men, and that I did not suppose he wished for
32 Bulgaria before the War. cH. 1V.

 

a cargo of the riff-raff of Stamboul let loose in Varna,
to induce him to send word to the merchant that they
would not be allowed to land.

I heard afterwards that the merchant telegraphed
to his agent just in time to prevent the men starting,
but that he lost a considerable sum, as the passage was
paid, and they each had received something in advance..

Besides being pestered almost past endurance by
the resident ‘place and preferment’ seekers, hardly a
steamer arrived from Constantinople without bringing
a batch of people, all wanting—I was going to say
work, but that would have been the last thing they
wished for—no, they all wanted pay.

We used soon to get rid of them, however, by asking
them, ‘What can you do?’ ‘ Anything you like, six.’
‘Then you can keep accounts?’ ‘No. ‘ Well, then
you can write English?’ ‘No.’ ‘You are, perhaps,
a carpenter, a blacksmith, a this, or a that?’ till we
had mentioned all the employments on the line, finish-
ing up with a labourer, and receiving a ‘No’ to all.
* I used then to say, ‘ Well, there is only one other post.
to offer, and that is a parson’s. Come up on Sunday,
and we will see what we can do for you. They never
did come back, and we were well rid of them. Occa-
sionally for some reason we were obliged to give some
of these creatures a job, and I can safely say it would
have paid us better to have given them a year’s salary
on the spot and sent them off, rather than have them
on the works or in the offices.

Having had some dozen rolls off the ‘Kisrak’
cH. Iv. Swapping a forse. | ga

 

(mare), thanks to her trick of ‘speedy-cutting,’ and
having at last become quite nervous when I was on
her, I was most anxious to get rid of the beast. In
this I succeeded; for one day whilst riding to Bazarjik
on an excursion to buy horses, the zaptieh who was
riding with me fell in love with her, and proposed a
‘swap. Isaid I was quite willing, on the condition
that we did it ‘Bashi Bash’ (head for head), and no
questions asked. For a time he demurred, and did
his best to pump me; but finding this would not do,
and fearing I might dispose of the coveted mare at
Bazarjik, he agreed, and we then and there changed
saddles, and I for the first time mounted one of the
very best little animals I ever owned; and I only hope
the zaptieh was as well content with his bargain,
though if he were not I do not very much care, for,
without doubt, he had taken the little horse from some
Rayah by force, or by trumping up some threat against
him.

I have said ‘ Zaptieh’ (for so I at once named my
new acquaintance) was a good one, but this took some
time to find out, and I can’t say I was so pleased with
him at first. He had only two paces—a canter and a
jog. The former perfect for short journeys, and the
latter the right pace to put a hundred miles behind
one in the day. I rode this-horse till the last before
I left Turkey; and then, feeling that he owed me
nothing, and fearing lest in his old age he might get
into bad hands, I had him shot. Over and over again
I rode him seventy miles in the day, and now and then

D
34 Bulgaria before the War. CH, IV.

 

as much as a hundred. He never appeared tired, never
made a false step, and never showed the least temper.
As a general rule the horses (or rather ponies, for one
15 hands high is considered enormous in Turkey) are
poor creatures, and those actually bred in the country
are good for nothing. All the bettermost horses come
from Constantinople or the southern slopes of the
Balkans, but it is rarely one gets a good one of any
sort. The pashas and Turkish officials all have Arabs,
more or less pure bred, and after them the best horses
are those owned by zaptiehs; simply for this reason,
that by force or threats they get hold of any good horse
they may find a Rayah possessed of.

In the days of which I am writing, a Bulgarian
pony cost from ten to twelve liras, and the price of the
best pony that could be bought (the pashas did not sell
theirs) was only about twenty liras (a lira is 18s.).
Though they were poor-looking, under-sized beasts, with
bad action, they could do a lot of work, and were rarely
sick or sorry. During all the time I was in Turkey I
never saw a broken-kneed horse or one that was broken-
winded or blind, and almost the only instances I re-
member of a horse dying of any ailment was the result
of eating green wet grass.

Early in the Varna days a question arose between
us and the peasants of Gebedji, a good-sized village,
half Bulgarian, half Turkish, situated about twelve
miles from Varna, as to the diversion of a road.. The
villagers laid the matter before the old Pasha, and I
had to go to him with plans, etc., to explain the diffi-
ou iv. 4 Country Trip with the Pasha. as

 

culty. I believe the old fellow did his best to get at
the rights of the case, but it was beyond my powers
to give him the faintest knowledge of the plan, and at
last he gave up the attempt, and proposed that we
should all meet at the village the next morning, and
examine into the matter on the spot.. Turning to the
head men of the village, who were standing just inside
the curtains of the salaamlik with bare feet, and their
hands spread over their stomachs as if they were suffer-
ing with violent pains, he said, ‘ You see that we have
something to eat; now be off.’

On riding into the village next morning I met the
Pasha and three or four other government officials, all
in crazy old carriages, and attended by a dozen zaptiehs
and chiboukjis. The old Pasha was in a beaming
temper, and he told me he meant to enjoy himself;
and, as a preliminary, begged me not to raise any diffi-
culties about the road, so that we might a settle
the affair.

As is usual, we alighted in the ienioae’ of a
Bulgar’s house, where we found mats and cushions
spread for us under a big walnut tree, the shade of
which was so inviting that we sat down and let two
hours slip by while we drank coffee and smoked. At
last the Pasha put up his big white umbrella, and we
started for the road in dispute, and there another hour
was wasted, although I agreed to all that was said, and
promised everything. By this time the Pasha was so
fatigued that a zaptieh was sent back to the village,
though only a quarter of a mile distant, to fetch his

D2
36 Bulgaria before the War. oH. Iv.

 

carriage; but as the horses had been. unharnessed and
turned out to grass, it was so long in coming, that even
the patience of the Turks was exhausted, and it ended
in our walking back just in time to see the carriage
ready to start. All the zaptiehs and servants abused
each other, but the Pasha only sighed, shrugged his
shoulders, and said, ‘ All asses, silence. Is the food
ready ?”

We were told that it was, so retiring to a short
distance from the mats, we all washed our mouths
inside and out, and had water poured over our hands
by a servant. Directly we had taken our seats, a
monster wooden dish was brought, on which crouched
a sheep roasted whole, and it was placed before us with
also broken bread, a few onions, and a paper of salt.

The Pasha gave us a lead at once, and all being
hungry we tugged away with our fingers till most of
the outside bones were pretty bare, and then the Pasha
having borrowed my penknife, which he first sent to be
washed, cut a hole in the sheep’s side, and thrusting in
his hand, groped about till, with a facetious wink at
me, he secured the heart and hauled it forth. It was a
disgusting goul-like proceeding, and one almost expected
to see the sheep wag its long tail and say ba-a. I
felt quite ill, but I had to get the better of my feelings
and eat my share of the heart, which the Pasha handed
me over with his fingers !

There is quite as much etiquette about a Turkish
dinner as there is ata swell London one, and the unfor-
tunate Turk who makes the slightest mistake is looked
ca.tv. «f Country Trip with the Pasha. 37

 

upon much asa,man in England would be who puts
his knife in his mouth. I do not pretend to good
Turkish manners, but years before I had learnt never to
sit down to table without first washing—never to use
my left hand, as that is reserved for all the dirty work
a man may have to perform—and never to finish a
meal without making one or more violent and dis-
gusting hiccups to show that I was satisfied. Doubt-
less I made many gross mistakes, but my companions
pardoned my Giaour ways more readily, I think, than
most hosts in England would those of a Turk if he
chanced to be dining with him.

There was one thing in which I know I always
failed, but it was from my infirmities and not from
want of knowing better and trying my best. The fact
is, nature provided me with limited internal accommo-
dation, so that it is impossible for me to stow away a
quarter of a sheep, a water melon, two pounds of rice,
and some five or six pounds of etceteras, and so my
Turkish entertainers always had the feeling that I did
not like what they put before me, and were thus made
unhappy. Some of the very best dishes I have ever
eaten have been in Turkish houses, but what they were
or how cooked I must leave to others to describe, and
when this is done, I hope my cook may be able to learn
how to make candied chicken, which is a dish, and a
most delicious one, that I once ate when at breakfast
with the Pasha of Varna.

After our feed was over we again all washed our
hands, and then smoked for half an hour, after which I
38 Bulgaria before the War. cH. IV.

 

proposed to take my leave, but the Pasha would not
allow this, as he wished to take me back in his carriage
to Varna, and said he had ordered his servants to meet
us half way to give us coffee under some big aspen trees
in the village of Inji Keui; but as it was yet early, he
proposed we should all take a nap for an hour to assist
digestion.

In ten minutes all my companions were in the land
of dreams, while I sat, as I often had done before, and
envied them the power of going to sleep at a moment’s
notice. With most Englishmen it generally appears
a matter of uncertainty whether sleep will come when
required, and when once it has come it has to be
guarded as a treasure lest it should be snatched from
him again; but with a Turk it is quite different. With
him sleep is a drug always ready at a moment’s notice,
and may be squandered again and again, and yet never
fail to return.

It has often struck me with astonishment to see the
little respect anyone in Turkey pays to sleep. When
I have been staying in the villages I have often heard
a member of the family get up, and after searching
about amongst his sleeping companions, arouse them
all to ask where his tobacco is, or for some equally slight
excuse. A lad of eighteen would thus wake up his
father, a man of sixty, perhaps, two or three times in
the night, and yet one would never hear an angry word
in remonstrance ; and when I have snapped savagely at
some one for walking into my room and over my body
in the middle of the night, my snappishness has caused
cu. tv. A Country Trip with the Pasha. 39

 

the greatest astonishment. Many times I have turned
in with natives, both Christian and Mussulman, in the
same room with me; and though I was generally tired
when doing so, and my companions not, yet I think I
may say I was invariably the last to close my eyes; and
often I have felt so worried and annoyed by the snores
around me, that I have laid and tossed for hours; yet
among my own countrymen I am considered a good
sleeper.
40 Bulgaria before the War. CH. V.

 

CHAPTER V.

Robbers, Turk and Bulgar—A Turkish Trial—An Open Boat on the
Black Sea—A Night in a Cave—A Narrow Escape.
Laver on in the day, when we were sitting under the
shade cf the aspens sipping our coffee, the conversation
turned on the subject of the robbers of Turkey, and I
gathered then, and in many a subsequent chat with my
old friends, a lot of information on the subject. One
thing I realised now for the first time, and that was
that most of the robberies were committed, not by
regular professionals, but by the ordinary villager, that
is to say, when the robbers were Turks. The fact is -
that there is no disgrace attached to a young Deli kan
(mad blood) who eases a Christian of his purse, not even
if, in doing so, he has also to cut his throat. Itisa
tolerated crime, looked upon as a daring exploit, in the
same way as robbing the revenue by smuggling was in
England some years ago. It often happens that a lot
of young men are together returning from a term of
forced labour for the Government, or from cutting
wood in the forests, when fate sends an Armenian, or
Greek, merchant, or shopkeeper in their way. The
temptation is too strong for them, and they save him
CH. ¥, Robbers, Turk and Bulgar. 4I

 

the trouble of carrying his purse. If he is fool enough
to recognise any of the robbers, he gets his throat cut
or a ball through him. The robbers retire to their
village. The consuls report that a fresh gang of cut-
throats are on such and such a road, the Pasha is
stirred up, and the country scoured, the robbers them-
selves often being of the party.

With a Bulgar it is different. It is considered
a disgraceful crime for him to rob, and not only is he a
black sheep among his fellows, but the Turks have no
toleration for him. If he wishes to do a little business
on the road, he must cut himself off from all honest
men and take to it in real earnest, and thus making a
profession of it, he soon outdoes the ‘amateurs. Almost
invariably the Bulgar who becomes a robber is driven
to it by the tyranny and oppression of the zaptiehs or
some other Government official. For instance, when I
was at Varna there was a noted Bulgar brigand in the
neighbourhood who first took to the woods to avoid
being dragged off some thirty miles from home for the
second time in the year, to work on the Corvée, and
having once overstepped the line there was no return
for him, so he continued on the path he had taken,
and became the most cunning and dangerous of all the
fraternity.

The Pasha told me that a celebrated robber had
just been caught somewhere in the forest, and if I would
breakfast with him in the morning I should hear the
case tried. I gladly accepted his offer as I was curious
to see how justice was administered between Turk and
42 Bulgaria before the War. oH. Vv.

 

Turk, when there would be no Consul present to inter-
fere with or direct the judge.

My friend the Pasha was one of the old school, £0,
soon after I had arrived and made my salaam to him,
breakfast was brought in and placed on a table, or
rather on a big wooden platter with a pedestal that
raised it six inches from the ground. Like two birds
we hopped off our perch, the divan, and began pegging
away with our fingers. When all was fnished, the
things carried away, and we once more on our perch,
cigarettes and pipes were lighted, and word was sent to
the members of the council that the Pasha was ready.

First of all in waddled the Kadi or head priest who,
having first taken a seat and made himself comfortable
on the divan by the side of the Pasha, then turned and
made his salaams to him. One by one the rest of the
council drifted in attended by Yasiji (clerks), chiboukjis
(pipe-bearers), and a few non-descripts. When all had
settled down, the Pasha made a sign to the Buluk
Bashi (head policeman) and he disappeared, presently
to return with the unfortunate prisoner, who was so
heavily ironed that he could hardly drag himself along.
He was placed before us in the centre of the room, and
then the Pasha first, and afterwards the different
members of the council, set to work to pump him.

There was no doubt of his guilt if the numerous.
witnesses, who came in all together from the next room,
spoke a word of truth, and it struck me as curious that
the man should attempt to deny it; but the Pasha told
me afterwards that before he could mete out due
CH. Vv. A Turkish Trial. 43

 

punishment it was necessary to obtain a confession ;
so the case soon drifted into the man’s stoutly asserting
that he was a ‘good child,’ while his judges exhorted
and begged him to confess. Throughout the trial the
greatest. patience was shown towards the prisoner, and
there was no direct threat used to extort a confession.
I say direct, for the Pasha addressed the man as ‘my
child,’ ‘my lamb,’ and begged he would tell the truth,
at the same time saying if he did not he would have
rough times of it, whereas if he gave no trouble he
would consider it in passing judgment.

The prisoner was a short thick-set fellow, with any-
thing but a ruffianly cast of feature, and after the first
awkwardness of appearing before us had passed off, he
stood in a quiet dignified attitude, and though perfectly
respectful to all, yet there was no appearance of fear or
attempt to cringe or fawn upon his judges. In this
he was a great contrast to an Armenian shopkeeper, the
chief witness against him, who stood twisting and
writhing in the doorway, livid with fright and racked
between his desire of having the man convicted, and so
getting back the money he had been robbed of, and his
dread that at some future day he might be called to
account on a lonely road by the robber or some of his
confederates.

‘Encouraged by the half promises held out by the
Pasha, the robber at last gave himself a shake and
confessed all. He had been ‘ on the roads’ three years,
and till a short time before had been captain of a gang
of six. The gang had been broken up through a
44 Bulgaria before the War. cH. V.

 

quarrel which had ‘also led to the capture of our
prisoner. He had committed robberies all over
Bulgaria, but, by Allah, he had never robbed a Mus-
sulman nor hurt anyone. There had been no necessity
for the latter as no one ever attempted to resist ; and
then he went on to tell us, with a good deal of humour
and even a smile on his face, how a short time before
he had made a haul from some Rayah merchants on
their way toa fair. He said: ‘I knew of their coming,
indeed one of my men had seen them leave the last
guard-house, so I placed my gang in thick scrub on
either side of the road and then waited patiently, but
to our astonishment they did not appear. It then
struck me they must have turned off the direct road
and taken one that was longer and less frequented.

‘Had they done so they must, I knew, be far on
their way to the fair, and it would be impossible to
overtake them on foot, but having a good horse tied to _
a tree near, I determined to make a dash for it alone.
Telling the others to go to an old tryste and there
await me, I started off, and after half an hour’s gallop
came upon the other road. I could see at once by the
tracks that no arabas had passed for some days, so tying
up my horse handy, I concealed myself behind a bush,
and kept both ears and eyes open.

‘I had not long to wait before a string of covered
arabas appeared, and I saw by the anxious frightened
faces stuck out of the openings at the sides that I had
not a very desperate set to face. I let the leading
araba come so close there was no room for it to turn and
cH. V. A Turkish Trial. 45.

 

bolt, and then with my gun in my hand stepped out
and stopped the lot. I called out that if anyone:
moved I would order my men to fire on them, and
would also do so myself, which had the effect of keeping
ali quiet. I then started to work, first pretending to
call to my men to keep their guns pointed, and to.
shoot anyone who should attempt to move. I carefully
searched each araba and its occupants in turn, sending”
it off along the road directly I had done so, and in this.
way I robbed the lot, without any trouble, of nearly a.
hundred liras. I daresay the dogs cheated me and
concealed some of their money, but I was alone and in
a hurry, and after all did not do so badly. But, Pasha,
there was such a talk about this robbery that we had to
disband for a time, and go off in different directions,
putting a hundred miles behind us. When we
quarrelled and finally separated we divided what we had
got, and my share came to about seventy liras. Where
is it? Oh most of it is hidden in the roots of the old
ash tree near the spring, on the other side of the lake.
You are welcome to it, but, Pasha, not one para of the
money you will find there belongs to that Jenabet
(pointing to the Armenian); all his money was spent
months ago.’

The Pasha looked very sas at this, and snubbed
the Armenian when he said, ‘This money would do as
well as any other for him.’

Zaptiehs were at once sent to fetch in the money,
which was found exactly as the robber had stated, and
then the case was adjourned to another day. I after-
46 Bulgaria before the War. OH, V.

wards heard that the robber was condemned to the
chain-gang for five years, but he did not serve all his
time, for having his chains taken off at the end of
three months to allow him to work in the Konak yard,
he contrived to pull down the wall of his prison during
the night and decamped, and as far as I know was not
heard of again.

During the early part of this first summer I was sum-
moned by telegraph to meet my elder brother at Kus-
tendji, and as my horses had all been somewhat over-
worked, I foolishly listened to a proposal made me by
an English merchant captain, who was superintending
the discharging of our goods in the harbour. He as-
sured me his gig, as he called his boat, was as safe as a
P. and QO. steamer, and that with the help of two
Greek boatmen he could run me up by sea to Kus-
tendji in fourteen hours, and that I might sleep all the
way and so get in fresh and fit for work. It was a
sure thing as the wind always came off the sea all day
and off the land all night, and there was no fear of a
storm.

I don’t know what possessed me, but I gave in to
his plan, and at daybreak took my place in the boat,
and the two men pulled it out of the harbour ‘ to meet
the wind.’ I suppose the wind had gone round another
way, or that my invariable bad luck.on the sea was too
much for it, anyhow we did not meet it; and there I
sat being fried to a cinder whilst the unfortunate men
pulled and pulled, looking quite cheerful and happy
under their heavy toil, whilst the wretched captain put
cu. v. Anz Open Boat on the Black Sea. 47

 

on an injured melancholy expression and sighed as if
he had got all the wind we so wanted in his chest.

Few people can realise the intense misery I endured
that day, because there are few who hate the sea as I
do, and this day it was in one of its most offensive
humours. It looked like a great sheet of burnished
steel, and reflected back the rays of the sun as the said
steel would have done, and yet it was anything but
still. It lolled about in every direction, and soon pro-
duced a feeling in my head as if my brains were
swelling.

The captain was for ever seeing signs of the wind
coming, but the Greek boatmen only shook their heads,
and at last assured me that when it did come we
should have a hurricane. They told me this when we
* were well ont in the Bay of Balchik, heading for Cape
Kalagria; and I must say I prayed that we might go
on as we were till we reached that point, where I deter-
mined to take to land; but on telling the captain this
he looked so miserable and sighed so heavily that once
more I relented and half promised to keep on if the
wind came. Fortunately for me just before nightfall,
when we were nearing the point, the captain took it
into his head that his watch was over, so handing me
the rudder he curled up and was soon asleep at the
bottom of the boat.

The entire crew, including the man at the helm,
now began to plot a mutiny! My companions told me
that if I would bring the boat sharp round behind the
point I should find a small piece of sandy beach upon
48 Bulgaria before the War. OH. v.. -

 

which I could run her, and that directly above it was a
cave in which we could pass the night.

Mistrusting my powers as a pilot, and dreading the
reproachful looks of the captain when he should dis-
cover what I had done, I hesitated for a few minutes ;
but a vivid flash of lightning darting athwart the sky,
followed by a distant rumble of thunder, settled the
matter, and being then just past the sharp headland,
round went the boat. After pulling along the face of
the steep cliffs for a few hundred yards, I saw a streak
of white before us, and telling the men to pull gently
so as not to wake the captain, I ran the boat on to it
and the men hauled her up high and dry, the captain
remaining peacefully unconscious.

As it was getting dark there was no time to lose, so
I gathered up my overcoat and following the men who
carried our scanty provisions, scrambled up the cliff
and soon found myself in a large dry cave high up out
of reach of the sea. Whilst one of the boatmen was
lighting a fire the other clambered about amongst the
rocks and succeeded in getting a large bundle of twigs
and leaves which he piled up in one corner of the cave,
thereby making me a most luxurious bed. He then
helped his mate to boil some coffee, toast some bread,
and serve supper. I had just finished my share of this
when down came the rain, and in a moment we heard
the captain bellowing and shouting, and from his tones
I gathered that he was in a miserable fright, yet in a
furious temper ; so, first answering him with a holloa, I
sent one of the men to fetch him up. I shall not easily
OH. v. A Night tu a Cave. 49

 

forget his face of disgust as he peered over the big fire
and saw me comfortably seated on a large stone smoking
my cigarette.

His feelings were too deep for words, so he turned
away, and the last I saw of him that night from my
leafy couch was, sitting in a dejected posture at the
mouth of the cave, plugging his mouth with about
half an ounce of tobacco. Just before daybreak the
captain roused me up and induced me once more to
make a venture on the deep, by assuring me there was
a ‘soldier’s wind,’ and therefore we should be at Kus-
tendji in no time. I did not know what a soldier’s
wind was, and should have been better pleased to hear
it was a sailor’s, and from what I learnt of it in a few
hours, I cannot congratulate the military profession on
its possession! However, it served the purpose of the
melancholy-minded captain, and finding that our goods
and chattels were in the boat and it was once more
afloat, I followed him down the cliff, our path lighted
up by frequent flashes of distant lightning.

The storm had passed off to sea and there was
nothing to fear. True, the sea was a bit rough, but it
was nothing, and by hugging the land we should get on
famously. The captain und I soon came to words over
this same ‘hugging the land.’ His ideas and mine
about how to do it differed greatly, and as the boatmen
sided with me, I threatened him with another mutiny
if he did not keep nearer in. The fact is the wind was
blowing strong from off land, and I wished to take
advantage of the shelter the steep cliff afforded to go

BE
50 Bulgaria before the War. CH. V.

 

on an even keel, but the captain, on the other hand,
wished to run further out to get more wind. It ended
in our taking a middle course, and we went through
the water at a famous pace.

Just as the sun appeared, blood-red, emerging from
the sea on the horizon, I looked landwards, and to my
horror saw a bank of inky black clouds coming up at a
desperate pace. I pointed it out and insisted on run-
ning in at once under the cliff. It was well I did so, for
before we had gone half the distance the wind struck us
a blow that made us stagger again, and the beastly
boat, turning her nose from the brunt of it, as nearly as
possible went over sideways. As it was, I scrambled on
to the outer side of her, and the water came rushing in
on the other, and I am sure we all thought she would
not right again. The captain shouted orders in English,
which, owing to the men only understanding Turkish,
were not obeyed. However, I think he behaved well
and did his part, for the boat did somehow come up
again, and he was cool and collected, and looked happier
than I ever saw him before or afterwards. He pooh-
poohed the whole affair, called the water in the boat
‘only a drop,’ and wanted to return to his course; but
1 had had more than enough of the sea, and so had the
boatmen, who assured me that if we had been a little
further out from the shelter of the cliffs nothing could
have saved us, and that the sea was getting up and
would soon be too high for so small a boat.

Being at this time opposite an old lighthouse and
seeing two men standing near it, we turned the boat for
cH. Y, A Narrow Escape. 51

 

it, and in a few minutes were once again safe on shore,
and very thankful and happy I felt. It was only com-
parative happiness, however ; for here I was, on the great
plain of the Dobrudja without a house in sight and not
half my journey over, though I had been on it twenty-
four hours already. Had I kept to the road and the
saddle I should now have been comfortably in bed at
Kustendji with the prospect of a good breakfast on
waking. Whereas I had now a journey of fifty miles
before me, no means of transport ready, precious little
- food, and the rain coming down in such torrents that
my light summer coat was soon soaked through.

The two men I had seen on the beach turned out to
be civil helpful Turks; so I despatched one of them at
once to a village two miles inland to see if he could
hire a horse or an araba to take me on; and after
arranging with the other to shelter my companions in
the old lighthouse till the storm should be over, and
telling them they must then return to Varna as best
they could, I marched off over the greasy slippery road
towards the village. Just before reaching it I met my
messenger in a two-horse araba (if the poor lean de-
pressed-looking beasts that drew it could be called
horses), driven by a sturdy Bulgar, who said he would
guarantee to get me to Kustendji in fifteen hours; so
at once, thanking and bakshishing the Turk, I took my ©
seat and off we set.

I have called the vehicle an araba for want of a
better name, but it was only an araba in the sense that
a springless market cart is a carriage. There were just

E2
52 Bulgaria before the War. cH. V.

 

four wooden wheels, all far from being circular, with a
plank placed between them, stretching from one axle
to the other. The driver perched on the front end of
this plank, just under his horses’ tails, and I rode
astride it in the middle, with the sharp edges cutting
into my legs. There was not a bit of iron about the
rickety machine, neither was there a piece of leather in
the harness, frail, rotten-looking ropes being used
instead. However, such as it was, I was thankful for
it; and so, hunching up my back and hardening my
heart, I started on one of the most detestable’ journeys
Tever had. Yes, started, and, what is more, got to the.
end of it, after much misery and many small mishaps,
such as a wheel coming off, and the harness giving way,
reviling myself all the time for having been such a fool
as to go near that treacherous, restless, never-to-be-
trusted element, the mighty ocean.

If any of my readers want to know what perfect
sleep is, let them go without it for forty-eight
hours and then take a doze. The pleasure of eating
can be intensified in the same way; and I can
assure them there is nothing like going through
the miseries I had, to make one enjoy the comforts
of a good English house, and when to this is added
a kind English host and hostess, good food, good
beds, and time and liberty to enjoy all, one’s happiness
is complete. I had all these in perfection on my
arrival at Kustendji and revelled in the luxury.
cH. VI. Varna and Varniots. 53

 

CHAPTER VI.

Varna and Varniots—English Graveyard.

It was at Kustendji I had passed my apprenticeship
to the ways of the East, and though many old friends
had drifted away to distant lands and distant homes,
yet many still remained, and all the next day was
passed in revisiting old scenes, paying visits, recalling
and laughing over past events and old jokes ; and it was
with regret that at daybreak on the second day I found
myself on a friend’s horse, topping the first rise out of
the town with the hundred miles of road to Varna
before, and Kustendji, my old home, behind me.

Directly I had arrived at Kustendji I had tele-
graphed to Mac to send a horse on for me to the halt-
way village of Delemby Keui, and on arriving there I
found it rested and fresh ; so only stopping to shift my
saddle and take a long pull at a bowl of milk, I started
on at once, and just as the sun dipped behind the range
of the Balkans, I pulled up at my own door, somewhat
tired, but none the worse for my trip.

There are two facts connected with the town of
Varna, and I may say with all the large Turkish towns
54 Bulgaria before the War. ca. v1.

 

I know, that have always been a mystery to me :—First,
how ever the inhabitants earn a living? and secondly,
why they do not all die of plague, cholera, or fevers? In
Varna there is a population of 12,000 people crowded
close together within the walls, and out of these there
are, I believe, not more than 2,000 who ever do any
manual labour. A few are engaged about the harbour
and shipping, a few more are porters or drive one-horse
telekis for hire, a few own vineyards and scratch at
them occasionally, ‘but the great maj ority just loaf
about all day, every day, and all their lives; yet thereis
no such thing as poverty, as we understand it in rich
industrious England. In the immediate neighbourhood
of big towns there is no attempt at agriculture except
in the vineyards, and I am sure if all the townspeople
who leave the gates of Varna in the morning were
counted they would not amount to 500. Even when
our railway was under construction, few of the towns-
people ever asked for a job, and yet the shops, khans,
and coffee-houses are all full of apparently poor people,
and their homes generally swarm with unkempt, un-
washed youngsters, the picture of health and looking
well fed and contented.

Then why are they not plague-stricken? As I have
before said, Varna is a densely crowded town, the houses
all closely clustered together, and the streets are so nar-
row, that in most of them, when a man on horseback
meets a cart, he has to squeeze past it on the pavement.
Yet in all this town there is no such thing as a proper
drain. A large cesspool, more or less open, is the re-
cH. vi. Varna and Varniots. a5

 

ceptacle for all sewerage, and this in a town where the
thermometer all the summer stands between 70° and
90°. Well, I don’t understand it. I only know that if
we had one-half the filth and one-third of the horrible
smells in an English village; the parson, doctor, and
grave-digger would have a brisk time of it.

There is one thing in Varna that is excellent—the
water—and not only is it good, but it is abundant,
being brought down from the hills on the north-east in
earthen pipes and discharged in all parts of the town
from marble fountains, which are also supplied with big
stone troughs whereat the cattle may drink.

The town is divided into quarters—such as the
Turkish, the Tartar, Armenian, Greek, Bulgar, and
even the Gipsy quarter; all kept distinct except the
Greek, where the foreign merchants, consuls, and other
Europeans have either houses of their own or hired ones.
I may here mention that when a house is hired, the
rent is always paid for the year in advance, experience
teaching the owner that a ‘bird in the hand’ is the
proper and safe thing.

The town is surrounded by well-constructed ram-
parts and a deep stone-faced fosse designed and laid aut,
I believe, by European engineers; but in my day the
batteries only held a lot of old smooth-bore guns, so
honeycombed that they were more dangerous to their
own gunners than they would have been to an enemy.

In the very heart of the town is a huge powder
magazine, far from bomb-proof, and yet piled up to the
roof with powder. From the great carelessness I have
56 Bulgaria before the War. cH. VI.

 

seen displayed by the Topjis (artillerymen) on guard
there, as to walking in and out, smoking their
cigarettes, I can only suppose it has not blown up
long ago from the fact that the powder is all damp and
spoilt.

My house and offices were situated in one of the
main streets on the boundary between the Greek and
Bulgar quarter, and I must say I envied the Turks the
quiet of their part of the town. I did not in the least
object to the business bustle of the day, in fact there
was very little of it, but I did object to the sense-
less noises of the evenings—the idiotic high-pitched
laugh, the songs droned out through the nose, and
the hyena-like screeches. Screeches given for no
earthly cause that I could ever discover, but sim-
ply made in the same way that a jay or woodpecker
will make day hideous in an English wood, and this
not by children but by full-grown men. For two hours
after sunset, and on feast days far into the middle of
the night, bands of four or five swaggering Greeks will
come lolling up the street holding each other’s hands
and walking out of step, with their preposterously
bagey knicker-bocker-like breeches swaying from side
to side. One will be talking of money— the one sub-
ject of conversation with all—two more singing dif-
ferent airs, and a fourth yelling madly. They drift
ia and out of the low, smelling bDilliard-rooms and
drinking-shops, and there quarrel and gesticulate, but
seldom come to blows. No, if a Greek has worked
himself up in a fit of rage to the personally aggressive
cH. VI. Varna and Varntots. 57

 

point, he will slip behind a door or round a street.
corner, and give his adversary a stab in the ribs with
his knife and then make a bolt.

The Greek women are very little seen in the streets
of Varna. When they do take an airing on a Sunday
or a feast day, they get their husbands or fathers to
drive them out to the vineyards, and on such days
strings of springless one-horse arabas may be seen on
the road, thickly packed with women and children,
being bumped and jolted over the rough ground in a
manner awful to behold. On other days when the
household work is over, the women sit for hours at the
door of their courtyard, peeping through a narrow slit,
which they leave open, and one may often see a pile of
faces one above the other thus engaged. So fond are
the Greek women of this harmless, if somewhat triste
occupation, that they indulge in it when the cold is so
great that their noses are blue, and they are shivering
all over.

What I have said of the Greek women applies also
to the Bulgar, for they are so mixed up in the towns
that their habits, so far as I could judge, are identical.
There is this difference though—in the Bulgar quarter
many a sweetly pretty and attractive girl’s face may
be seen, whereas amongst the Greeks, though there are
many handsome faces, they lack attractiveness. They
are beautiful as a statue is beautiful, but that is all.

I cannot leave the subject of the Rayah women
without saying that I believe them to be the most chaste
and virtuous class of women in all Europe, and this is
58 Bulgaria before the War. CH, VI.

 

the more curious as their near neighbours, under a
Christian Government, are anything but paragons of
virtue. When one has become acquainted with the girls
and women both in the town and villages, they will
exchange a joke with you as you pass, but it is always
a most harmless one, and any familiarity or coarse word
from the gentleman would cause the door to be banged
to and bolted.

Every house, let it belong to Turk or Rayah, must
have a courtyard—for this reason, that none is ever built
with the windows looking into the street, except in two-
storied houses, where they are far above the reach of
the swaggering ruffians, Christian and Turk, who would
be for ever peeping in and annoying the inmates. The
house door, which stands open all day, even in cold
weather, leads into the courtyard, and in the better
houses the kitchens and offices. are generally on the op-
posite side of it. Nearly every house has a deep raised
verandah, protected by the overhanging eaves, and for
eight months of the year the entire family live in it,
and the rooms are deserted. Not only do they use it
by day, but at night mattresses and pillows are brought
out, and all sleep there.

The first Sunday we were at Varna, Mac and I
went for a walk along the coast, and were shocked to
see the dilapidated state of the English graveyard.
When I was at Varna previously it was surrounded by
some rough boarding, but every vestige of this had dis-
appeared, and the tombstones lay tumbled about in
every direction, and even the graves themselves were
cH. VI. Enghsh Graveyard. 59

 

being fast trodden out of sight by the droves of cattle
that wandered across it night and morning on their
way to pasture,

This state of things was rendered the more conspicu-
ous by the fact of there being a large French graveyard
close by, enclosed by massive stone walls twelve feet
high, with strong oak doors, all looking clean, neat, and
in good repair. We drew the attention of our chef to
this, and he at once wrote to the Foreign Office on the ~
subject, suggesting that a good wall, like the French
one, should be built, and enclosing drawings and an
estimate of the cost. The letter had the immediate
attention of those in power, and we were asked to un-
dertake the work, and put it in hand at once.

It therefore happened that one of our first under-
takings at Varna was the graveyard, and before many
weeks were past it was as complete and perfect as its
neighbour, with, I think, the advantage of having big
open-work iron gates instead of doors, so that anyone
. passing on the road could look in and see that all was
inorder. Not only was the wall built, but gravel
paths were made, trees planted, the tombstones replaced,
and the graves, as far as they could. be traced, were
restored; but it was only when we had to dig new
graves that we discovered how many had disappeared
from sight, and what a number of people had found a
resting place for their bones in this out-of-the-way
spot. It was with difficulty we ever dug a fresh grave
without disturbing others; but from the state of the
coffins it was evident they must have been there some
60 Bulgaria before the War. cH. VI.

 

years, most of them, I suppose, from the time when
the troops were there on their way to,the Crimea.

Amongst the few gravestones that continued in
position were two or three placed over the graves of the
children of Mr. Prettyman, an American, who for many
years worked among the Bulgars as a missionary. His
children’s graves were restored, and the head-stones
placed upright, and they were, I recollect, the nearest
graves to the north-west corner, just inside the wall.

I am sorry to say that though the Government went
to the expense of making an excellent graveyard, no
money was provided for keeping it in order, and long
before I left Varna (in the summer of 1870), the inte-
rior was a perfect wilderness, the weeds being high
above the gravestones. The walls were repaired from
time to time by the servants of our railway company ;
but since then the railway has been turned over to a
German company, and, unless something has been done
since, I fear they must, ere this, be in a dilapidated
condition.
CH. VII. Cavasses, Hassetn and Salt. 61

 

CHAPTER VII.

Cavasses, Hassein and Sali—Honesty and Dishonésty—Village
Lodgings.

In Varna and all over Turkey, it is considered the
correct thing for anyone who wishes to be thought a
swell to keep one or more private guards, whose sole
business is to follow their master about, or, in crowded
streets, to precede him, and, if they dare, push the pas-
sengers out of the way. Somuch is the cavassa necessity,
that all consuls keep one or two, and rarely leave their
houses without them, never when officially engaged.

The favourite men for this work are Mussulman
Albanians, who are dressed up, at their masters’ expense,
in the most gorgeous costume, which often consists of
a fez, a crimson or green hussar jacket with slashed
sleeves hanging loose from the shoulder, a waistcoat to
match fastened with about forty little gold lace buttons,
and both the jacket and waistcoat a mass of gold em-
broidery. Then comes the ‘ fustan,’ a closely’ plaited
white linen petticoat reaching to the knees, which
swings from side to side at every step, and gives the
wearer a swaggering raffish appearance; beneath this
are embroidered trowsers, closely hooked over the lower
62 Bulearia before the War. cH. VII.

part of the leg, and then spreading out well over the
clumsy square-toed shoe. Round the waist isa huge
belt, which holds a brace of silver-mounted pistols, a
knife two feet long, an oxidized silver box or two, with
lots of silver chains, and a white handkerchief stuck
well in the middle, showing its embroidered ends hang-
ing down.

As a rule, these men are by nature swaggering ruf-
fians, and are, to my mind, perfectly odious after they
have been petted and spoiled by their European mas-
ters. J doubt their courage, their honesty, and their
veracity. ‘They are cringing, flattering beasts to their
superiors and bullies to their inferiors, and yet I believe
they are necessary to our consuls, for they do engender
respect among the ignorant inhabitants, and it is, after
all, their masters’ fault if they are allowed to take ad-
vantage of their position. .

I had myself to keep two of these cavasses, but I
made them dress quietly at their own expense, and as
neither of them were Albanians they wore the ordinary
Turk’s dress, without the (to me) offensive fustan.
Their duty was to ride behind me when on a journey,
cook my food, and act as general servant when I was
staying in the villages, and when at home to guard the
office, open the doors of the courtyard to callers, and
go on messages all over the country. I never took them
with me when walking about the town, nor did I allow
them to swagger and bully.

My head cavass, Hassein, was by birth a Kurd. He
was a quiet, peaceable fellow, with great strength, plenty
 

CH. VII. Cavasses, Flassetn and Satz. 63

of pluck, and a good servant in all ways, He was very
ugly and morose-looking, but his moroseness was con-
fined to his looks, for he was always civil and obliging,
and no one ever heard a grumbling or discontented
word from him.

Sali, however, was my favourite, and the one I liked
best to have with me on my long, solitary rides ; for not
only was he a handsome fellow, but there was a pleasant,
kindly look in his eyes that gained one’s confidence at
once. I cannot say that I ever engaged him as a
cavass. He just drifted into my service in this way. I
was returning alone from a long journey up the country,
and was on a horse so tired that it was cruelty to put it
beyond a slow jog, when just as I had reached the scrub
bush above Aladdin, ten miles from home, I heard a
footstep, and found Sali close behind me.

After the usual traveller’s salutation of ‘A prosper-
ous journey to you,’ he said, ‘Tchellaby, you require a
cavass; you should not ride alone; engage me and I
will serve you well.’ I thanked him, but declined his
services, but he trotted along by my side and chatted
as he went. When two miles from Varna I wished him
goodbye, and pushed ahead, but next morning when I
came down stairs I found Sali installed in the cavasses’
room, and there he stayed in spite of my saying I would
not have him or pay him. He soon made friends with
my servants, and by the end of the month I found he
had done so much for me that J had to pay him. This
money he laid out in pistols and a knife, and coming to
me said, ‘See, Tchellaby, I am now ready for the road,
64 Bulgaria before the War. | cu. vu.

 

and where you go I shall go.’ From that day he took
it in turns with Hassein to accompany me on my jour-
neys or go messages up the country, and we soon put
such trust in him that over and over again he was the
bearer of large sums of money, perhaps 100/. or more,
to the different parts far away in the forests where the
works were going on, and never once had we reason to
regret the confidence we placed in him.

And yet this blue-eyed, fair-haired, gentle, though
daring, young hero, was a veritable Bashi Bazouk, and,
like all that gallant band, was a brutal murderer! I
had no suspicion of this all the time he was with me,
and it was only after he had served me three years and
then had died of rapid consumption that Hassein and
others told me his history.

He was born and had lived till a few years previously
at a village on the southern slopes of the Balkan, not
far from the town of Kizanlik, on the pass between
Rustchuck and Constantinople. For many years, as he
himself told me, he had been engaged making gun-
powder ‘ on the quiet,’ which he sold to his neighbours
at no small profit, and at last he had distinguished
himself by a midnight raid on a solitary house, cutting
the throats or shooting all the inmates, men, women,
and children, and walking off with all the plunder he
could lay hands on.

Two or three other enterprising young ‘deli kans’
(wild bloods) assisted him in this last exploit, but they
at once separated, and Sali, thinking it might be as
well to be from home for fear he should be ‘ wanted,’
cH. VIT. Cavasses Flassein and Salt. 65

 

slipped over the mountains, and when I met him on
the road he had only committed the murders a few days.

Twice over he was called before the Pasha, who told
me he resembled the description of the Sali who had
committed a murder; but his passport described him as
coming from a village three hundred miles from where
he was really born and brought up, and Sali is such a
common name in Turkey that a hundred Salis could be
found more or less like the description ; so his examina-
tion led to nothing except that he gota line or two
added to his passport to say that the Pasha had proved
him to be a ‘good, quiet, young man.’

It is next to impossible for a European to under-
stand these extraordinary people, or to realise the fact
that one of them will prove himself within a few months
to be capable of the foulest crime for the sake of a few
liras, and yet be able to be trusted to carry hundreds of
pounds for long journeys on lonely roads where he could
easily make a bolt of it, or hide it up and say he had
been robbed by overwhelming numbers.

On one occasion we had to send 100 liras twenty-
five miles up the country, and as Mac had to go to the
same place, I gave the money into his charge, and sent
him off in a covered two-horse araba with his gun and
pistols by his side, and Sali, armed to the teeth, on the
front seat, by the driver.

Unfortunately he was not able to start till the best
of the day was over, but as the roads were fairly dry
and the horses good, he trusted he should get in before

dark.
66 Bulearia before the War. CH, VII,

 

Just half way on his journey there was a piece of
boggy ground and a stream to pass; the track across
the former was difficult to keep, being narrow, and also
under. water, and on this afternoon, or rather evening,
it proved too much for the skill of the driver; so first
his horses plunged off the road up to their necks in
bog, and then over went the araba with Mac inside.

He stuck to his money and his firearms like a man,
and creeping out of. the uppermost window, plunged
into and through the bog, and so to terra firma. It
was soon evident that neither horses nor araba could be
extricated for hours; so leaving the driver and some men
who had run down from the village of Gebedji to see to
this, he called Sali, and giving him the money-bag to tie
up in his sash, started off on his ten mile trudge through
dense forest on the margin of the lake.

Now here was a chance for the man who but-a few
months before had risked hanging, and had exiled him-
self from his home for the sake of a few liras which he
could only obtain through a brutal murder! Yet I will
engage for it, the idea of shooting the boy before him
and making off with the money never for a moment
entered his head, and he was as much to be trusted on
that lonely walk as Policeman X. is at this moment as
he stands guard over the jeweller’s shop in Regent
Street.

Anyhow, Mac got in quite safely, but not without
an amusing adventure. About half a mile from the
village of Sultanla, whither he was going, his path came
out into the open country, and as he emerged from the
cH. VIL, Honesty and Dishonesty. 67

 

thick scrub he saw, about 200 yards before him, a man
on horseback, who at once shouted out, ‘ Halt, who goes
there ?’

Now in these early days Mac was feeble in Turkish,
so he wisely left Sali to answer, which he did by saying,
‘¢ Keep still till I get ‘my gun straight on you, and then
you'll see.” In a moment off bolted horse and man
direct for the village, and when a few minutes later
Mac tramped in he found a gallant zaptieh haranguing
some dozen young Turks preparatory to leading them
against a large gang of desperate robbers, with whom he
said he had been ‘fighting for half an hour! Sali ex-
plained the joke, which all greatly enjoyed except the
discomfited zaptieh.

For many reasons a Christian is never employed in
Turkey as a cavass—the chief one being that the Turk-
ish villagers would look with contempt upon a man so
escorted, and so the traveller would fare badly when he -
arrived at a village and required food and shelter.
Again, a Christian is so accustomed to being bullied by
the dominant race that, let his master be ever so much
insulted by a Turk, he would not dare to interfere, and
in case of a rencontre with Turkish robbers I may safely
assert that the Rayah cavass would skidaddle. No, it
is just as well when travelling in Turkey to have a
Mussulman cavass, and he should be a carefully selected
man, who will be civil and courteous to the villagers and
all he may pass on the road, but a very demon when his
master does not get proper attention, or is slighted in
any way.

F2
68 Buloaria before the War. CH. VI.

I think myself that the best cavasses of all are zap-
tiehs, engaged for an entire journey or by the month,
paid by the traveller and liable to be dismissed by him
at a moment’s notice if they misbehave in any way.
The ignorant Turkish villagers are awed by the zap-
tiehs’ uniform, and the Bulgars soon lose all fear of
them when they see they are under the control of a
master who will keep them in order.

Hospitality is part of the Mussulman religion, and
a traveller in Turkey should always be well cared for.
In most villages there is a strangers’ room looked after
by the Tchorbadji (Soupman), a name no doubt origi-
nally given him from his having to provide soup for
strangers, but now merely denoting head man of the
village.

These rooms are used by the very poorest of travel-
lers, and custom has made it usual to offer a private
house or room to anyone that looks as if he could pay
for it. Yes, pay, and pay well. The poorest wretch
in the Mussafir Odase (strangers’ room) gives some-
thing, and the European will find the cost of a night’s
lodging in Bulgaria almost as much as it is at a first-
class hotel in London or Paris. Doubtless a Greek or
other native would get it for half this, but an European,
and especially an Englishman, is expected to pay up
and be cheerful, and if remaining long in the country
it is as well he should do so, otherwise he will get the
name of being close, and will find nothing but black

sour bread and sourer looks at supper.
As one man will be more generous than another, so
cM. VIL. Village Lodgings. 69

 

one village in Bulgaria will be more hospitable than its
neighbour, and it does not follow that the richest or
biggest will give the heartiest welcome. I have ridden
into a strange village, rich and prosperous-looking, on
a cold dark evening, and on calling the Tchorbadji have
been told to go on another hour’s ride to the next vil-
lage, as in his village they did not take in strangers,
and it has only been after some sharp words from my
cavass that I have obtained shelter; and sometimes I
have had to share the Mussafir Odase with a lot of
Arnout children, merchants, and other dirty, insolent
fellows, and for this meagre accommodation I have
been asked as much as a lira, though I did not give it.

On the other hand, I have arrived in the same way
at a poor-looking little village, and have been received
kindly, taken to a clean house (Bulgar or Turkish),
had the very best food the village could produce, and
in the morning my host has expressed himself as pleased
with five shillings. It is very bad form for a host ever
to ask for payment, but it is always expected that the
traveller should give a bakshish besides paying for such
extras as chickens, honey, cream, etc., and his horse’s
provender.

Journeys in Turkey rarely come to an end before
dark, so the first thing on arriving at a village is to get
supper. This is usually prepared by the host; but if
the cavass can cook a bit, and will see to it, so much
the better. There never is any sort of table or chair
in a Bulgarian house, so the meat must be eaten & la
Turk, squatting on the ground, and when this is over,
70 Bulgaria before the War. CH, VII.

hands washed and all made straight, the traveller may
draw up to the open wood fire (I am supposing he is in
the forest district), and lolling on his mat, with cush-
ions to support him, may abandon himself to the de-
lights of a cigarette. But he will not be allowed to
enjoy his quiet long, for soon the head man and half a
dozen of the young swells of the village will drop in to
pay their respects to him and have a chat.

With his consent they will seat themselves in a row
on the opposite side of the hearth, and after the usual
salutation, ‘ Welcome, Tchorbadji,’ ‘ Welcome to you,
Tchellaby,’ the conversation will commence with,
‘Where do you come from?’ ‘ Where are you going
to?’ and ‘ What news have you?’

It would rather astonish one here in the West if on
meeting a man in the road he were to address one thus,
and he would probably be told to mind his own busi-
ness ; but in the East it is the first thing that is said
either on the road or on arriving at a house, and is so
far from being a breach of good manners that to
neglect to do it would show a want of interest in the
stranger. There is no penny paper or daily post in
Bulgaria, so this is the only direct way of gaining
information.

At the commencement of a visit the traveller is
expected to offer his tobacco to all his visitors, and
coffee should be served, at least if he wishes to be very
polite, but as he is a (yolji) traveller, this will not be
necessarily expected. When conversation flags, or he
-begins to feel bored, he has only to throw out a hint
cH. VII. . Village Lodgings. 71

 

that he is sleepy, and at once the visitors will rise,
make their salaams and depart; and this form of dis-
missal may be used even when it is broad daylight, as
it is understood to mean the stranger wishes to be
alone. j

I never but once received pure hospitality in Tur-
key. I was on a journey over the Dobrudja, and night
setting in I lost my way, and accompanied by my cavass
. wandered about till near midnight. At last we stumbled
on a village, and on calling ‘ Kayia’ a few times, were
answered from a door where a light was shown. The
next minute a middle-aged Turk hurried up, and taking
hold of my bridle led me to his house, where a clean,
warm room was given us, leading out of a stable. No
questions were asked, but the Turk went off to rouse up
his women to cook us some supper, which quickly ap-
peared, and after that was despatched clean bedding
was brought.in, and the Turk, asking at what hour I
wished to be called, hade me goodnight.

Not only were we thus well cared for, but our horses
were put in the stable, covered up with rugs, their
mangers filled with barley, and long after I was in bed
T could hear them munching away.

Soon after daybreak our friend came with a pitcher
of hot water, which he poured over my hands at the
door for me to wash, and then he brought us a capital
breakfast.

When we were about to start I offered my usual
backshish ; but the Turk quietly declined it, saying it
had been a pleasure for him to receive a stranger, and
92 - Bulgaria before the War. cH. VII.

 

he hoped I would come again. In vain I tried to per-
suade him to let me pay, and Hassein’s efforts in the
same direction were equally unavailing; so shaking
hands with my kind entertainer, and asking him to
come and see me at my own house, I bade him goodbye,
and Hassein and I jogged away over the plains. From
that day to this I have never seen the hospitable fellow,
but I shall always remember his kindness to me, a total

stranger.
ca. vir. The Circassian Emigration. 73

 

CHAPTER VIII.

The Circassian Emigration—Circassians.

Ir was during this summer of 1866 that an event
occurred which will for ages leave its mark in the history
of the Turk; and from what I know of it personally
Tam inclined to think it will not be for their advan-
tage. I refer to the great Circassian emigration to
Turkey. An emigration that gave satisfaction to those
left behind, and was welcomed by the governing powers
of those who received them. é

Some years before I had seen the Tartars arrive in
shoals at Kustendji, settle down quietly, and form a
peaceable and industrious portion of the Mussulman
community; and in my ignorance I thought the Cir-
cassians would be much the same sort of people, and
was further prepossessed in their favour by the plucky -
way they had defended their mountain homes against
the trained soldiers of the Czar.

For some time notices had appeared in the Euro-
pean papers that the Circassians were to emigrate,
but I believe the first intimation anyone in Varna
received of their coming was given by the arrival of
a_ Turkish barque crammed with miserable emaciated
74 Bulgaria before the War. cH. VIII.

 

wretches in a state of utter destitution and actually
dying of starvation; for the ship having been detained
a few days by contrary winds, the meagre supplies they
had brought with them, both of water and food, had
been consumed. Not only were they starving, but, like
the Tartars before them, they landed dying by scores
from small-pox, dysentery and fevers, and before the
anchor had been down an hour the bay and beach were
dotted with dead bodies. No preparations of any sort
had been made, but now that the trouble had actually
come the Governor bestirred himself, as a Turk can
when the case is desperate; and soon bread was dis-
tributed to all, and the first great evil, hunger,
stopped.

In all Varna there was but one medical man, a
Greek. As he could not have attended to one case in
five hundred, and as there was besides next to no medi-
cines to be got in all the town, he did nothing, and the
poor miserable wretches just died on the beach where
they landed, like beasts, or rather like wild beasts, for
if they had been considered of as much value as our
domestic animals, they would have received more care.

This first ship-load was soon followed by many
more, and I am sure I may safely say that the miseries
the poor creatures went through in the passage of the
Black Sea would make the sufferings and hardships
endured by slaves in the Middle Passage appear as
nothing. Eighty thousand arrived at Varna alone,
and soon the town was filled with them, all begging for
food, and offering for sale their few trinkets and any-
cx. vm. The Circassian Emigration. 75

 

thing they possessed. Again and again Circassian
mothers stopped me in the street and begged me to
buy their children, pointing at the same time to their
own shrivelled breasts, and giving me to understand
that this last source of nourishment for the babies had
failed.

- The Tartars had endured fearful hardships in their
emigration, but they were small compared to what the
Circassians went through; for most of the Tartars had
money and all had goods of some kind, and also they
could speak Turkish, whereas these unfortunates had
literally nothing and not one in 200 knew any Turkish.

They were driven from the town by the police each
day before the sun set, but returned in the morning
clamouring for food, and when one was fortunate
enough to have a piece of bread given him, the others
tushed at it like a pack of starving dogs, and the pos-
sessor had to run away, dodging his pursuers and at the
same time swallowing his food. After the first few
days bread was procured in sufficient quantities to put
a stop to this terrible state of things, and little by
little the new arrivals were sent off to the different
villages, the inhabitants of which had to support them,
build houses for them, and finally provide each family
with a pair of oxen, an araba, and seed corn.

Hundreds died on landing, especially among the
very young and very old, and constantly a half-starved
wild-looking man or woman might be seen dragging
the body of his or her dead partner through the streets
to leave it on the sand-hills just outside the town. At
"76 . Bulgaria before the War. os. vat.

first the Turkish officials were too busy with the living
to care for the dead, but at last a gang of convicts were
sent out to pile up the bodies and cover them with a
few inches of sand, while many were carried out to
sea by the land breezes, and sank to trouble man no
more.

Great numbers of those that did live, finally built
themselves villages in the forests on the slopes of the
Balkans within a day’s walk of Varna, which became
their town for marketing, and in after years I had thus
many opportunities of seeing these curious people,
though, owing to their not speaking Turkish, their
utter contempt of law and their savage carelessness
about taking life, it was impossible to know much of
them or to visit them, except at rare intervals, in their
villages.

There is a widespread belief in Europe that the
Circassian women and girls are very beautiful. This is
an utter mistake, for though I have seen hundreds of
them, I never saw one with the least pretensions to
beauty. The mistake has, I believe, arisen from con-
founding the Georgian women (who are very beautiful)
with these mountaineers. Possibly I was unfortunate
enough to come across only the ugly ones, but I do not
think this could be so; and even the very young girls
and children seemed to me exceedingly plain. The
fault of their faces is that they are too long and too
narrow, and give one the impression that their heads
had been squeezed between two boards and flattened.
Then their noses are too long and their mouths far too
cH. VIII. Circassians. vo

 

near the middle of their faces. Their complexions are
of a dull leaden hue, quite destitute of any ruddiness.
In figure they are slight and wiry with very small
hands and feet.

As it is the case I believe with all pure bred people,
where one sex is distinguished by plainness, the other
makes up for it with good looks. Certainly it is so
with the Circassians. What the Arab is among horses,
the Circassian is among men. He looks just the finest
purest breed of the huaman—rather small in stature but
most perfectly built in every way ; and itis as rare to see
a plain Circassian man as it is to see a pretty Circassian
woman. They have perfectly shaped heads well put
on, dark chiselled features, with a sharp, intelligent,
bold expression. They are quick and active in every
movement, and as restless as a weasel (an animal they
greatly resemble in character) ; but the most noticeable
part about them is their hands and feet. I observed
hundreds of them, and never saw one that an English
girl of sixteen might not envy for shape and size; and
if any of my readers should have one of the many
thousand Circassian knives that have been sent home
to England, he will realise the truth of what I say if he
will look at the smallness of the handles.

I cannot imagine any two races of people so utterly
different in manners as the Circassians and their co-_
religionists the Turks. The latter dignified, quiet, and
above all, slow. Slow in everything he does, from
making a treaty to save his country, to taking his
watch out of his belt to see the time. The former is
78 Bulgaria before the War. cH. VIII.

one mass of energy, never quiet for a moment, and

always in a hurry. I never saw a Circassian, except

the dying, lolling about or even walking slowly, and
every movement of their bodies or motion of their
hands is made with a swiftness that would do credit to

aconjuror. A Circassian can be identified a mile off

by his quick short step, upright carriage, and rapid
movement; and if two or more are together they will
be talking as fast and as eagerly as if life and death
depended on the getting out the words. And yet, with
all this marvellous energy, they hate labour of any sort
as a cat hates water.

When they first arrived, a few of the young men,
doubtless urged to it by hunger, would now and then
ask for work on the railway, but one, or at the most
two days at it, would prove more than they could stand,
and they would disappear minus their pay, never to
venture near again. The sub-contractors would gladly
have employed hundreds of them all over the line, but
though they were starving they would not work, and
I do not think that, by lawful means, the whole of the
emigrants received from us to the amount of 51.

They allowed the peasants to build their houses for
them without putting out a hand to help, but the old
inhabitants gladly gave their labour if the new village
was some way off, as by this means they got rid of ©
their unwelcome hungry guests.

' The corn that was given them for seed was eaten
at once, the draught bullocks shared the same fate, and
to this day they have not cultivated as much land,
CH, VIII. Circassians. 79

 

man for man, as the Tartars did in the first year of
their settling.

They are a race of marauders and cattle-lifters, and
the whole of them may be said to live by theft. They
had not been in the country a month before they were
at their favourite occupation, and before six months
were over nearly all the men were mounted, though
when they landed they had not had money to buy food
to staveoff starvation. The old residents, both Chris-
tian and Mussulman, had at once to take precautions
for the protection of their beasts, and for the first time
in Turkey each village had to keep a strong patrol
on the alert all night; but in spite of this, the Circas-
sians would lift a horse or cow from under their very
noses, and yet it was rare indeed they were taken in
the act. If they were caught very little mercy was
shown them, they were shot down like vermin and
buried like dogs.

Not only did they steal cattle, but there was
nothing in the way of plunder beneath their notice.
The graves of our workmen at Shitanjik were opened
by these animals for the sake of the few rags the bodies
were wrapped in; so at last the very graves of the dead
haa to be watched and guarded.

Every creature in the country hated them, and
either Turk or Christian when passing one would turn
his head aside, give a spit of disgust, and mutter, ‘ Ah,
Tcherkis kurt!’ (‘ah, Circassian wolf!’) This they
would do openly before the face of the despised one,
and yet I never saw a Circassian retaliate or even
look angry or astonished.
80 Bulgaria before the War. cH. TX.

CHAPTER IX.

‘An Englishman attacked by Circassians—In Fresh Trouble—Wife-
kicking—The Lawyer Navvy.
Earty in the spring after the Circassian emigration,
one of our sub-contractors, Martin by name, who had
been spending part of the winter in England, arrived at
Rustchuck, and hiring an araba and pair of horses
started for the village near the middle of the line,
where he had left his wife under the care of his partner.
Some hours after dark he reached a steep hill within
a mile of his house, and being impatient of the slow
pace of the horses, he jumped out and went ahead on
foot. He had little fear of robbers as the country
was quite free from scrub and timber, and the night was
fairly light. But just as he had reached the top of
the hill up sprang around him some dozen Circassians
who had been lying hidden in the deep cart ruts, and
in a moment they commenced cutting and hacking at
the poor fellow, who had not even a stick with which
to defend himself. He was soon brought to the ground
with his head cleft open, one ear cut off, the cap of
one elbow swept clean away with one slash, and many
other smaller wounds. Fortunately for him he quickly
became insensible, and the Circassians thinking they
cH, Ix, Attacked by Circassians. 81

 

had killed him, plundered his pockets, taking among
other things his note-book and some letters. They
then made a dash down the hill, but the Arabaji, seeing
so many coming, turned his horses round and succeeded
in effecting his escape.

Some time during the night Martin regained
consciousness, but he was so wounded he was unable to
stand. Little by little he dragged himself forward
on his knees till at last he hit off the partially-made
railway only a few hundred yards from his house, but
then feeling utterly done, he crept under a pile of
. Sleepers and again lapsed into unconsciousness.

His wife, not expecting him home so soon, was not
anxious about him and even hesitated to leave her
house when told by some workmen soon after daylight
that an Englishman was lying wounded under the
sleepers. She did go, however, and her horror may be
imagined when she discovered who it was. Martin
was still alive, but quite insensible and apparently at
his last gasp. She had him carried home, and then
sending for her husband’s partner and other English nav-
vies, soon despatched a messenger to Rustchuck for the
doctor, who luckily was at home and at once started .
back on his sixty mile ride.

For some days Martin’s life was despaired of, and
for weeks he remained between life and death, but at
last he so far recovered that he was able to finish his
contract and go home to England with his savings,
though his arm, from losing the entire elbow-cap, must

ever remain a stiff one.
a
82 bulgaria before the War, OH, IX.

This outrage stirred us all up, and our chef called
on the governor-general, Midhat Pasha, and spoke to
him in forcible language, and not content with this,
an account of the occurrence was telegraphed to the
Ambassador at Constantinople. Thus a little energy was
at last awakened, and a strong detachment of zaptiehs
was sent to the Mudir of Rasgrad with orders that the
whole of the assassins must be caught at once. The
old Mudir enjoyed the reputation of being an out-and-
out bad lot, but also that of being good at thief-catch-
iig, and he maintained his character.

He went at once to a Circassian village about a mile
away from the scene of the robbery, and on telling the
villagers he was come for the, robbers, was naturally
informed that all in that village were angels.

He wasted little time in talking, but placing some
of his zaptiehs so as to prevent the chance of any
escaping, he ordered the others to fetch out every
woman in the village. This they soon did, and then
the Mudir had a rope passed from each woman’s neck
to that of her neighbour, the ends being fastened to the
girths of two of the zaptiehs’ horses.

The Circassians stood for some time looking on in
stupid astonishment, but on seeing the Mudir moving
off with his captives, and aroused by their shrieks and
cries, they at last rushed forward and said if the women
were spared, the plunder should be given up. A halt
was ordered and some of the men ran off to the houses,
from whence they quickly returned with Martin’s
pocket-book, knife, letters and a few other things,
cH. IX, Attacked by Circassians. 83

 

Then the Mudir, still sitting on his horse, ordered
all who were engaged in the robbery to stand apart, and
one by one, eight men came forward and confessed to
the crime. The women being then untied, these eight.
took their places and were marched off. .

After some time they were tried at Rustchuck and
were all sentenced to the chain-gang for some years,
where I hope they served their time, though I have
little faith in their having done so; for after all they
were Mussulmen and had only half killed a Giaour, and
the troublesome Englishmen would never know if they
were liberated or not.

If the Turkish officials in the provinces would or
could (their nature is opposed to it) always display as
vouch energy and determination when a robbery or out-
rage is committed, these little exciting incidents would
soon be put a stop to and the country be safe to live
in; but as it is, the brigands know that if they confine
their operations to Giaours, nine times out of ten only
half-measures will be taken for their apprehension, and
even if they are taken it is next to impossible to get
them convicted, for, whatever firmans may say, no
judge in Turkey, if he can help it, will really listen
to the evidence of a Christian when it is against a
Turk.

There is a sequel to the story of Martin which I
think I must mention, though it illustrates somewhat
unfavourably the character of my fellow-country-
women. When the poor fellow was in a convalescent
state, he accepted an invitation from a brother-navvy

a 2
84 Bulgaria before the War. CH, IX.

to take a walk to look for game. Martin, while doing
so, discovered some nets hanging on a bush, so pushed
his way in to get at them, leaving the gunner beating
a field hard by. Presently, bang went the gun, and at
the same moment Martin was shot in the face, chest
and arms, and, though not seriously hurt, he was
properly peppered and the blood trickling down his
face made him look ghastly. In this condition he
hurried home to his wife, who at first was horrified,
but on discovering that little real damage was done,
she lost her temper, fell foul of the unfortunate hus-
band with her fingers, and gave him a severe handling
(or fingering) for being such a fool, she said, as to go out
shooting. From that day she nagged and nagged with
the object of getting him to go home to England, for,
she said, ‘there was nought but ill-luck in this beastly
country.’ :

I believe that all of us English at that time in Bul-
garia were under an obligation to Martin, for the news
of the outrage perpetrated on him spread far and wide,
as well as the marvellous promptness of the authorities,
and so it was thought too dangerous to interfere with
any of us to be really pleasant or profitable. Anyhow,
we never again had any trouble of the sort, and this is
the more astonishing when one thinks of the numbers
of English employed on the line, of. their various tem-
pers and dispositions, their ignorance of the manners
and customs of the people they mixed with, and the
sort of ‘bull in a china shop’ way they got through

life. *
cH, 1X. Wife-kicking. 85

 

My old friend the navvy, or rather the-roving navvy,
got on better with the various natives than any of the
other English workmen—for this reason : they had all of
them worked for years in different parts of Europe, so
had learnt a little tact, and also not to think themselves
so very, very superior to all others that they could do
exactly as they liked. Besides which, they chiefly lived
up country, away from towns, and they worked so hard |
that when they got home they were glad to eat their
suppers, drink their grog, and be off to bed. At pay-
time they would come to the towns, but did not wander
far from the grogshop, where they met other English-
men ; and, if they got excited or quarrelsome, pitched
into a fellow-countryman, and gave him a thrashing, or
took one themselves.

Many of the other workmen lived in the towns, and,
though not so rough as the navvy, were more quarrel-
some; and being new to foreign countries, thought
themselves lords of creation, and that if they got into
a row their master, or the consul, had to get them out
of it. When, as sometimes happened, the master or the
consul deemed them to be so utterly in the wrong that
they declined to interfere, and the noble Briton found

‘himself in a Turkish gaol, their indignation was more
than words could express.

This treatment quite cured one otherwise worthy
blacksmith of that truly British pastime ‘ wife-kicking.’
It chanced that the consul went away for a few weeks
on leave, and during his absence I acted for him.
Within half-an-hour of my receiving the seals, the
86 Bulgaria before the War. CH. IX,

blacksmith’s wife appeared with two black eyes and a
swollen nose, to inform me her husband had been ill-
treating her, he being at the time ‘in liquor.’ I at
once availed myself of my newly-acquired power, and
without telling the wife I despatched two zaptiehs to
_take the husband to the Turkish prison, sending at the
same time a note to the Pasha, asking him to keep the
man locked up for twenty-four hours. I got a powerful
mobbing from the wife when she found out what I had
done; but she lived to thank me for it, for so horrified
was the husband, when the fumes of drink cleared off,
to find himself locked up in a filthy prison, with filthier
companions who had eased him of his money, knife,
and such etceteras, that he made up his mind the game
was not worth the candle, and in future never drank
more than was good for him, therefore remained sensible
enough not to knock his wife about.

‘No sooner had the railway works got fairly under
way, than we were joined by many of our old English
workmen from the Kustendji line, who being well
known to us were of the greatest service.

Besides these, fresh men were engaged in England,
and a host of sub-contractors and navvies flocked in
from Spain, Italy, and Austria, indeed from any coun-
try where English companies had been constructing
railways and public works. The majority of these
proved first-class men, but now and then we got hold of
the ‘lawyer navvy ’"—a gentleman who never finishes a
job, but tries to make his money easily, by a plausible
tongue and a false tape, or, failing these, by going to law.
cH. IX. The Lawyer Navvy. 87

 

We fell victims to one of these latter very soon after
the works began ; and, though it is not pleasant having
to confess to being swindled, I will tell how it hap-
pened.

. When we were letting the different sections by con-
tract, a man who said he had just arrived from Spain
applied to us for work, and as he showed most satisfac-
tory testimonials and was very reasonable in his terms,
we soon let him one of ten miles in length. I must
own that I felt great confidence in my new sub from
his very prepossessing appearance. Apparently he was
about sixty years of age, had snow-white hair, blue eyes,
and an open frank expression. Moreover, he looked a
sober man, was well built and active-looking.

Few of the sub-contractors have money at starting
to purchase their plant, so an order on the stores is
given them from time to time, as the work goes on, for
what they may require, and at each month’s end part of
their money is retained in hand to pay for it.

Well, old Grey applied at once for a large quantity
of stores and got all he could, and soon he had large
gangs of men at work all over his portion of the line.
All went on well until a few days after the first payment
wag made to him, when he appeared at the office with
his eyes bandaged up and in a terrible state of inflam-
mation, and in a heartbroken voice he informed us that
he was totally blind. Furthermore he said he had been
in the same condition once before, and then the doctors
had told him that it was only by having his eyes at-
‘tended to at once that his sight had been saved. It
88 Bulgaria before the War. OH, IX,

was a pitiable sight to see such a fine fellow thus
afflicted, and very sorry we felt for him.

He told us he had paid all his men the previous
night, and now he begged we would give him the money
we had retained for the payment of his plant, ashe had
nothing, and take the plant back again in its place.
He then begged to be allowed to leave for Constanti-
nople by the boat just starting, as it was the only
’ chance of saving his sight.

We never doubted him for a moment, so gave him
the money and sent him off. But on going up to his
section the next day (it was thirty miles distant from
Varna), I had my eyes opened, for I found all his men
in a state of fury, not having received a penny of their
pay. The old fox had bolted with about 200/., and
before doing so had burnt his time books, so that it was
most difficult to find out what he owed his men.

Fortunately I was able to induce the native foreman
to give me at once, before they had a chance of altering
them, the notched sticks they kept for their own satis-
faction, and by these I paid everyone, and Ido not think
we were very far wrong. It would never have done to
repudiate the debt, for the men looked upon us all as
belonging to the same company, and so would never
have trusted any of us again.

Shortly after this, another navvy arrived from Spain,
and on my enquiring whether he had ever heard of a.
man named Grey, he exclaimed, ‘ What Grey the blind
dodger ?’ and then went on to tell me that the swindler
had played the said game over and over again. Doubt-
CH. 1X. The Lawyer Navvy. 89

 

less he put something into his eyes that greatly in-
flamed them for a time, but he thought the pain worth
sutfering for the haul he made.

Having the plant on the ground, anda lot of handy-
looking young Turks and Bulgars ready, we thought it
a. pity to stop the work even for a day; so Mac, who
volunteered for the job, went to live in a neighbouring
village, and with the help of a couple of English navvies
as foremen, soon pushed on the work, and in an in-
credibly short time finished it, and when the accounts
were made up he had the satisfaction of seeing that, by
his judicious management and energy, he had recovered
the 2001. of which we had been swindled, besides paying
for all the plant, and he had finished his section in a
thoroughly workmanlike manner. He was very proud
of it, and we were very proud of him, as only half a
year before he had been a schoolboy. He had only been
in the country a few months, and could understand but
a few words of Turkish.
go Bulgasia before the War. cH. X.

CHAPTER X.

Two Strange Characters—Frozen to Death—Long Rides—Distances—
Midhat Pasha’s Roads—Midhat Pasha’s Post.

Tux two navvies who worked under Mac were both pe-
culiar in their way. One was actually a murderer, and
the other was only saved from being so by his revolver
missing fire when he snapped off all five barrels within
an inch of the head of a fellow-navvy, with whom he
had had a quarrel. This had not been done in drunken
madness, for Tom Moore never drank anything but
water. Like most of our other navvies, he came to us
from Spain, and all we could learn of him was from his
fellow-workmen, who all hated him but allowed that he
was a first-rate man on works.

They disliked him because nothing would induce
him to be sociable, or spend a penny in drink, and he
seemed to them a great morose-looking giant, and a—
mystery. To such a pitch did he carry his reclusive-
ness, that during all the summer he lived entirely in a
big sort of coffin, which he had made out of an old
packing-case. This the native workmen carried on as
the line proceeded, so that he never left the works day
or night, except to visit the villages to buy food, which
he cooked for himself in the open. His box was about
cH. X. Two Strange Characters. QI

 

seven feet long, three wide, and four feet high, fitted up
as a bed with a thin mattress, and at the head and sides
were shelves for the few things he required. Though
he lived in this rough way, Tom was always one of the
cleanest and best dressed men on the line.

In spite of his trick of shooting at his fellow-work-
men, I always liked him, and often of an evening, when
staying at Mac’s lodgings close by, I would stroll out
and smoke a cigarette sitting on the top of his box with
him. After a time he became very friendly and open
with me, and I learnt from him that his great object in
life was to save enough money to return to England
and buy a small house with sufficient land to support
him in his native county, Wilts, and that he had nearly
obtained enough to gratify his wish. As he suddenly
left us before the line was half finished, I hope he may
have gone home and be at this time a householder and
landed proprietor.

Sam Skipper, Mac’s other foreman, was the very op-
posite to Tom Moore. He was a little merry jabbering
fellow, as restless as a magpie, and not quite so harm-
less. Every penny he earned he spent in drink before
he received it, and yet he worked like a horse.

I did not hear his ‘history till after his death, as his
fellow-workmen would not split on him, but I was then
told (mind I do not vouch for the truth of the state-
ment), that years before he and another ruffian had
broken into an old woman’s house, in England, in the
middle of the night, and because the poor old thing had

- gat up in her bed and screamed, Skipper had killed her
92 Bulgaria before the War. cH, X.
with a blow on the head from a pinch bar. He managed
to escape across to France, and had spent the remain-
der of his life working on railways. His end was a very
terrible one and came about in this way.

Atthe beginning of winter the workshad beenstopped
for more than a week by the severity of the weather,
and this leisure Sam devoted to drinking raki in the
village grog-shop. As long as he could get it all went
well, but the Greek proprietor, getting frightened at
the long score he was running up, refused to let him
have more till he paid his old debts. This sudden sus-
pension of his drink brought on delirium tremens, and
in a fit of frenzy he rushed out into the dark night in
the face of a blinding snow-storm, clad only in a shirt
and drawers.

It happened that I was sleeping that night at a
village but a few miles away, and early next morning I
was told what had occurred, so mounting my horse I
hastened to the place, turned out all the workmen and
scoured the country for miles round. From the first I
had but faint hope of finding him, as the snow was very
deep and much drifted, and the country was covered
with thick acacia scrub. The search was continued for
days unsucessfully, but in the spring a few rags of his
shirt and drawers were found in the bush, together with
his skull and some bones. Doubtless, either before or
after his death, the wolves had torn him to pieces and
eaten him. =

Ido not know why it should be so, but certainly

distances in Turkey appear very much shorter than
cH, X. Long Rides. 93

 

they do in England, and one soon gets to pay as little
regard to a journey of twenty miles on horseback
there as here we do to one of five. And yet. it must
be remembered that there are no macadamized roads,
and it would be a strange thing if a man capable of sit-
ting a few hours in a saddle should willingly venture
twice in any wheeled conveyance. He may do so once,
but his bones will be so rattled that he will remember
it all his life. ;
Soon after I had settled at Varna, my younger
brother, R. A. B., my companion of the Kustendji
days, took up his quarters at Sheitanjik, where he
superintended the middle sections and the construction
of the great viaduct, and as this part of the line was far.
away from places resorted to by Europeans, he there
came across the Turks and Bulgars ‘au naturel, and I
learnt through him a great deal of information about
them.
Seventy miles is a long way to go to spend a day
with a companion, but during this and subsequent sum-.
mers I constantly rode over my part of the-line on the
Saturday and at night pushed on to the little cottage at
Sheitanjik, and at other times R. A. B. would ride down
to enjoy the delights and excitement of the town of
Varna.
. [may here mention that all over Turkey distances
are measured by the time it takes a man to ride them,
the pace being that of a man on a long journey. Where
the ground is good, and no hills intervene, as on the
Dobrudja, ‘an hour’ would represent a little over four
94 Bulgaria before the War. oH. xX,

miles, but in the mountainous districts not more than
three, and it will sometimes happen that when there are
two roads both going to the same place, the longest by
mileage will be much the shortest by hours. From
Varna to Rustchuck throughout, the ‘hour’ was as
nearly as possible four miles, which we ascertained from
the measurements of the railway.

T have said there were no macadamized roads in
Turkey, but perhaps I ought to have said in the parts
of Turkey I have visited, for lately I have seen it men-
tioned in a letter from a special correspondent, that
there is an excellent macadamized road leading out of
Widdin, made by Midhat Pasha when he was governor
of the Vilayet.

Midhat Pasha arrived at Rustchuck soon after we
commenced the railway, and at once set about making
a chaussée from that town to Varna. It was all done by
Corvée, and great numbers of men were engaged on the
works, the result being that for the first five miles out
of Rustchuck there was a fairly good broad road. From:
Varna, also, there was something like a road finished,
for four miles, but the intermediate piece (some 160
miles) was in a far worse state when the road was an-
nounced to be opened than before anything had been
done to it. :

In most parts the brushwood was cleared away—in
some a ditch was cut on either side of the supposed line,,
while in others, rough stones, from the size of a cocoa-
nut to that of a man’s fist, were thinly scattered about,
and these sinking into the mud formed a foundati
cH, xX. Midhat Pasha's Roads, 95

 

that prohibited the possibility of driving on it for even
a few yards. Whenever the road passed near a town,
such as Shumla and Rasgrad, a little more was done to
it, but even here it was never passable, and the carts
and arabas had to make fresh tracks by the side. At
first zaptiehs were stationed all along the line to force
the carts to keep upon it, but as the rough unbroken’
stones soon destroyed the tireless wheels and lamed the
bullocks, the drivers would diverge miles from the
direct road rather than risk a break-down, and I am
quite sure the great Pasha himself never kept on the
chaussée after he had once passed over the good piece
from the gates of Rustchuck.

This piece may have been repaired now and then,
but over all the rest not one man’s labour was expended
during the next six years, and before I quitted Turkey
the brushwood had again hidden all traces of it in the
wooded districts, and nowhere was it ever used.

Every European on visiting the Pasha was asked if
he had seen the new road, and if he had not he was
either sent out a mile or two in one of the Pasha’s
carriages, or asked to hire one for himself, In this way
the Pasha soon won a grand reputation; but if, on the
one hand, one takes into consideration the great num-
bers of men forced from home and their usual occupa-
tions, the misery they suffered, and the heart-burnings
this forced labour engenders, and, on the other hand, the
results, any fair-minded man would, I think, agree with
me, that the Pasha deserved a reputation—but a very
different one from what he got!
96 Bulgaria before the War. oH. x.

Directly the road was supposed to be finished, a post
was established on it in imitation of those in Wallachia.
Post-houses were hired or built all along the road, light
four-wheeled carts, some with and some without springs,
were bought in Hungary, and a score or so of wretched
native ponies were purchased. This was advertised in
the Constantinople journals, as also the tariff and the
number of hours it took, or was supposed to take, the
post to get over the road.

I once availed myself of this means of transport,
when it was in its young and palmy days, but I never
attempted it again. I ordered the cart over night,
and, what is more, got the head director of the post to
put a ‘ special recommendation’ upon the order he gave
me for fresh horses. An hour after the time fixed, up ~
drove the little waggon drawn by three ponies abreast,
and as soon as Hassein and I had taken our places, the
post-boy, a great heavy young Turk, flourished his whip,
and away we went over the rough pavement at a pace
that fairly frightened me, the boy shouting as he went
‘Wada posta!’ to make the people get out of the way.
On leaving the gates and getting on the half-made
roads, whack went the whip, first on one beast then on
another, then round the driver’s neck as if he wished to
commit suicide, and then into our faces—for the whip,
like all the rest, was & la Franca, and copied from the
Wallachian. It was therefore a stick some 18 inches
long with a lash of about 10 feet, and this to hit horses
the tails of which were swishing into the driver’s face!

Never mind—we did spin along famously —so
om. x. Mithat Pasha’s Post. 97

 

famously that the Turk could not help turning round to

boast about his cattle and assure me that they could

do the whole distance twice as quickly if required, and

that when they had eaten corn a little longer they-
would go‘ Kush gebe’ (like birds). On leaving the show

piece of the road they perhaps went ‘Kush gebe,’ but not

like birds on the wing—no, about as fast as an old hen

could run, and all the whipping and swearing poured on

them produced no effect.

The first post, twelve miles, was got through at last,
and on showing my order, three fresh horses were pro-~
vided; but these only started at a slow jog, and soon
fell into a walk ; so seeing it was hopeless to get through
my journey in this way, I stopped at a village, where I
found a saddle-horse, and wished the post good-bye for
ever. For a few months one saw from time to time a
post-cart slowly dragged along, and a friend would come
by them to dinner from up-country, and arrive in the
middle of the night; but they soon disappeared, and I
doubt if they have ever been revived.

Besides the five miles of good road out of Rust-
chuck, Midhat Pasha also made a fairly good macada-
mized street through the Bulgar quarter, which he con-
tinued for one mile out of the town in the direction of
Silistria, and I believe scratched a little at a road to>,
wards Widdin. He also built an orphan asylum, which
as soon as it was finished he turned into an hotel, saying
the orphans should have the profits, and as his father
and mother were dead, I daresay an orphan did get
them. He further built a very handsome quay wall

H
98 Bulgaria before the War. cH. X.

along the river face, with a broad promenade on the top ;
but as his engineers forgot the foundations, it all sub-
sided within a year into the Danube, where it stove
in the bottom of the boats till it sank deeper and deeper
and was forgotten. Of course all I have said refers to
the state of things while I was in Turkey, that is up to
the year 1870. Since then the road may have been
repaired and other public works may have been put in
perfect order, but if they have, I, for one, shall be vastly
astonished, .
cH. Xt. flard at Work. 99

 

CHAPTER XI.

Hard at Work—Turkish Execution—Locked out of een
Locomotives—Greek Gang.

Owine to the intensity of the frosts, the depth of the
snow, and the general severity of the winter in Bulgaria
east of the Balkans, little or no work can be done out
of doors ; so availing myself of this, I started off to Eng-
land vid Constantinople and Marseilles, leaving Mac
and R.A.B., who had come down from Sheitanjik, in
possession of my house, and I did not return to Varna
till the winter was over. Then began the busiest part
of all our life in the East, for every description of work
was now in full swing, and workmen of all sorts, all
nations, and all trades swarmed all over the line. I
was very sorry to find that during my absence my old
friend the governor had been removed, and that his
place had been filled by a Pasha of the new school. A
man of the most unprepossessing appearance—big, fat,
and unhealthy-looking, dressed in what he considered
perfect Parisian clothes that sat on him like those ona
dummy at the door of a second-hand clothes shop.

I determined to make the best of him, therefore
called on him at once ; but soon found from his insolent
behaviour that it was best to have as little to do with

H2
100 Bulgaria before the War. CH. SI.

him as possible. My belief is that he hated me because
I had got onso well with his predecessor ; anyhow there

was no mistake about his dislike for me, especially when

he hung a murderer on a tree just outside my gate, and

left him hanging there three days, and only allowed
_ him to be ent down at the remonstrances of half the
consuls in the town. As this execution illustrates the
customs prevalent in provincial towns in Turkey, I will —
briefly describe it here.

There was no doubt about the guilt of the man, who
was by birth a Turk, and who for years had indulged in
Bashi-Bazoukish pastimes. He was seen by several
people in the act of murdering his last victim, so was
taken and put in prison. Months passed before he was
tried for the crime, and after he was sentenced to death
he was again shut up in prison for two years, though
liable at any moment to be taken out and hanged. One
would have supposed that this two years of awful sus-
pense would have somewhat cowed his spirits, but appa-
rently it had no effect on them. One day, soon after
my return to Varna, two zaptiehs led him out of prison
heavily chained, telling him his time was come, and he
was to be hanged at once. On their way to the tree
near my door (they did the distance on foot), the clever
zaptiehs remembered that to hang a man a rope was
necessary, a fact they had quite forgotten | They halted
and discussed the matter, when the prisoner helped
them out of the difficulty by suggesting they should
take the rope reins off a passing teliki—a suggestion
CH. Xt. Turkish Execution. IOI

 

they gladly acted upon, thus committing a highway
robbery to execute justice |

On reaching the tree a further discussion, in which
the prisoner joined, took place as to how they were to
hang him. And again he helped them. He said if
they would allow him to smoke a last cigarette he
would hang himself—an offer they accepted by handing |
him one ready lighted. The man, then pointing to an
empty barrel standing at a. shop door, told them to
place it under a bough that hung immediately over the
middle of the street, and when they had done so and
fastened one end of the line round his neck and the
other over the bough, he stepped upon the barrel, the
slack of the rope was pulled in and all was ready.

It may have been thoughtless ofthe man, but under
the circumstances I think it was natural, he was very
slow over his cigarette, and even when urged by the
zaptiehs to carry out his bargain, he said, he was in no
hurry. But thereis an end to all things, and the cigar-
ette was at last finished, when the man stepping to one
side of the barrel, gave it a shove with his foot, which
sent it rolling down the street and left him swinging
just two feet from the ground, a caution to all be-
holders.

Strange as it may appear, this execution caused my
friend Mac, for the first and last time, to lose his temper
with me very seriously! He was away up-country when
it took place, but the evening before the body was
cut down he returned to Varna. On reaching the tree
he turned his head round to see what all the loafers
102 Bulgaria before the War. OH. XI.

were staring at, and as his horse was going at a sharp
tripple, before he had time to look before him he was
carried so close to the body that it brushed against him.
The next minute he was in my room pouring forth
torrents of abuse upon astonished me, for not having
had the forethought to send a cavass to the gates of the
town to caution him to avoid coming down the street.

I pacified him at last, but there was always an
angry flash from his eyes whenever the subject was
reverted to, and he often told me he shuddered every
time he thought of it, and ever after hated passing the
tree.

Besides hanging the murderer at my door, the
Pasha soon adopted other ingenious methods of an-
noying me. Every evening at sunset the gates of the
town are shut and locked, and the keys taken to the
Konak, where they remain till an hour after sunrise,
while at every gate there is a group of people and
carts, both outside and in, waiting for the doors to be
opened.

Now, as I was almost every day out somewhere on
the line, it was impossible always to get to the gates
before sunset; but during my old friend’s reign I had
only to ride to the gate nearest the Konak, give a shout,
and the zaptieh on guard would run to the Konak to
fetch the key and let me in himself, well pleased to do
so for the sake of bakshish.

One day, not long after the arrival of the new
Pasha, I rode up to the gates some two hours after
dark, and shouted and shouted, but allin vain. So I
cH, XI, Locked out of Varna. 103

 

turned my horse’s head to the spot at the end of the
lake, but outside the walls, where the future station
was to be built, and where we already had stables,
intending to sleep there and do as well as I could.
But on arriving there and telling the night watchman
what had happened, he said, ‘Leave your horse with
the grooms, Tchellaby, and come with me, I will soon
have you into the town.’ I followed him up the steep
hill till we reached a lonely corner of the fortifications,
where he gave a low whistle, which was quickly
answered from the inside; and then, approaching the
head of the fosse, he told the sentinel what had
occurred. He at once said that if I would drop very
quietly into the fosse, he would haul me up with his
sash. I was quickly inside the town, and giving the
man a good bakshish I arranged with him that when-
ever I wished I was to come in the same way, and
furthermore, he furnished me with a lantern to light
me through the town, for it is against the police regu-
lations of all towns in Turkey to be out in the streets
after sunset without one. :

A year or so after, when this Pasha in his turn had
been intrigued out of his place, he could not resist
calling on me to cast in my teeth the fact that he had
over and over again locked me out of the town; but
the tables were turned when I told him I had a silver
key that fitted all doors in Turkey, and that I had
never once slept out on account of the gates being
shut.

Every now and then when the oily brute wanted
104 Bulgaria before the War. cH. XI.

me to do him some favour, he would invite me to
drink a coffee at the Konak; but finding from expe-
rience that I had to pay heavily for such honours, I
persistently declined them, and so at last in despair the
Pasha sent me word one evening about sunset that he
was coming to see me. Rumour said that alcohol in
any shape and in almost any quantity was grateful to
the Pasha’s palate; so having none in the house (Mac
and I being both tea or water drinkers), we sent to
the best café for some champagne, and when the Pasha
and his secretary arrived I placed a bottle before them,
and before the visit was over we were the best of friends
and two bottles had been emptied.

Out of politeness I sipped a few drops myself, and
it tasted for all the world the same as I imagine effer-
vescing ink would, but the Pasha said it was capital,
and smacked his lips and hiccupped loudly after every
glass. This was the last flicker of friendship between
us, for calling by appointment at the Konak next day
to see the Pasha, I heard he was very ill, and oddly
enough his secretary was suffering in exactly the same
manner! The doctor did not know what was the matter,
but thought it looked as if the Pasha had been poisoned,
and remembering the beastly beverage I had tasted the
previous night, I thought he had for once hit the right
nail on the head.

- By the middle of June we had finished a substantial
wooden jetty reaching far out into the bay, and had
also run a line from the lake across the marsh on to it.
This was not done without opposition from the autho-
cH, XI. Landing Locomotives. 105

 

rities, as they feared it might be used at some future
day to shelter an enemy besieging the town. The diffi-
“culty was at last got over by our giving a note to the -
Governor in which we said the Government were at

liberty to remove the bank in case of war. Should war
ever break out, I advise them to set about this in time,

for, judging from the time it took us to put it up, it

would require some weeks to pull it down.

The jetty was erected chiefly to facilitate the dis-
charging of the locomotives and other heavy goods, and
for this purpose a gantry was built at the end of it on
which worked a big travelling crane. :

All had been ready for some days, when at last two
big steamers arrived together, each with two locomo-
tives, and as they drew 16 feet of water and we had
only 17 feet under the gantry, it made us feel very
anxious. For four days in succession we had all the
men ready on the jetty before daylight, only to find
that the captain dare not come in for the swell; but on
the fifth day it was a dead calm, and so stern first and

_ with steam up, we warped the steamers alongside and
began our discharging.

The work was all done by a lot of Greek boatmen
and carpenters; and they managed it so well, worked so
steadily, and showed so much intelligence that they
were kept together as one gang, not only on the con-
struction but for years after the line was opened. They
got to be extraordinarily skilful at all sorts of railway
work, such as repairing and making wooden bridges,
station roofs, putting in points and crossings, pile-
106 Bulgaria before the War. cH. XI.

driving, and, in fact, any sort of work done on a railway.
But where they specially distinguished themselves was
at a break-down on the line, clearing away the wreck
and putting all straight. During the five or six years
they worked under my orders, I never had to dismiss
one for bad conduct, nor did I ever see any of them the
worse for drink; and yet scores of times I have had
them out in such intense cold that Sir Wilfrid Lawson
himself would, I think, have taken a nip.

When discharging the locomotives they had a first-
rate English foreman over them in Tom Bilby, a man
who had commenced life as a sailor, and previously to
this had been driving a locomotive on the Kustendji
line. (He is, I believe, at this present time a driver of
the express train on the Varna railway.) With hardly
a minute’s rest’ they all worked on till dark, by which
time we had the satisfaction of seeing all four engines
with their tenders on the rails, only requiring fitting
and cleaning to be ready for use.

My readers will understand what an anxious day we
had of it, when I tell them that four times during those
hours we had hanging on a single chain the fate not
only of the locomotive, but the steamer under it, which
was besides heavily laden with goods for Odessa. Had
the chain broken or anything gone wrong on the gantry,
down would have gone the locomotive through the
bottom of the steamer, and the company would have
had to pay for all. Besides which there were necessarily
a lot of men in the hold bowsing out the engines from
under the hatches, and directing them up.
cH. XI. Greek Gang. 107

 

At the very first attempt and, fortunately, before
the chain began to lift, ‘ping’ went a link and bang
came the chain in two, knocking over Tom Bilby, but
fortunately not hurting him. Yet this was a new chain
just out from England, where it had been tested up to
four times the weight it was required to lift. Not
having another, we had to use the other end of the
same chain again; and well it stood its work; for once,
owing to the position of the ship, which could not be
placed immediately under the drum of the crane, the
chain on the drum was pulled aside and mounted coil
upon coil one over the other, and just as we were going
to bring the ‘traveller’ back, and so land the locomotive,
which was hanging some twenty feet above the bottom
of the ship, one coil of chain slipped off the other, letting
the weight drop about an inch, and so increasing it that
the gantry creaked and trembled throughout. I know
my blood stood still, and I felt cold all over, but the
five Greeks who were at the crane on the top of the
gantry behaved splendidly. They never flinched, but
kept a tight hold on the handles of the crane, for which
plucky conduct each received a good bakshish.
108 Bulgaria before the War. cH. XII.

CHAPTER XII.

The First Engine—A Turkish Picnic—Strictly Guarded Beauties—In
Trouble with a Pasha—A Trip in the Wrong Direction—A Con-
scientious Turk,.

Some time before the arrival of these big engines,

we had gota little four-wheeled affair puffing and splut-

tering about, a machine so small that it looked over-

loaded when the driver stood on the foot-plate, and yet .

it continued to run away at a brisk pace over the rough

newly-laid line with four heavily-laden waggons of rails,
and as the rail-laying got further and further off, it was
hardly ever off the road day or night, and became one
of the dirtiest and most raffish-looking fellows in

Europe. We got up and down the line faster on it

than on horseback, but otherwise the quadruped was by

far the pleasanter means of locomotion. It was long
before we could get accustomed to its spitting black
water (priming) incessantly from its low chimney all
over us, or could learn to tolerate its hopping dancing
mode of progression, and many was the aching back,
aching head, and blackened clothes, face, and hands
that it gave me.

When the rails were laid for about twenty miles,
some members of the mejliss (council), whose acquaint-
ance we had made when visiting the old Pasha, asked
cm. XIr. A Turkish Prenic. 109

 

us to give them a trip up the line. We readily con-
sented, and the scheme was enlarged into a Turkish
picnic, at which the ladies of the different harems were
to appear, and at which I was to be the only Christian.

We all met ait the station, and the ladies clambering
into one ballast waggon, I got with all the men into
another, and away we went dragged by the spitting
little engine.

As is correct in Turkey, none of the men made any
remark on this, to them, strange mode of locomotion,
nor did they deign to ask any questions; but it was
quite otherwise with the ladies. They criticised all
they saw, openly expressed their intense wonder, and if
laughing and jabbering like a waggon-full of children
showed pleasure, they must have been greatly delighted.

In about half-an-hour we pulled up opposite a
pretty marble fountain, built on the hill-side near the
line, and surrounded by fine walnut-trees. The Turks,
approving my choice of ground, all tumbled out of their
waggons, and leaving the women to follow as best they
could, without giving even a look towards them, they
waddled up to one of the trees and squatted themselves —
down on their carpets. The ladies in like manner col-
lected under a neighbouring tree, and the servants soon
kindled a fire at a little distance and served all with
coffee and sweetmeats. These were no sooner finished
than the great feed itself was placed before us, and we
set to work in earnest. All the dishes were first handed
to us lords of creation, and when we had done with
them they were taken on first to the ladies and then to
110 §©—>s Bulgaria bcfore the War. cH. XII.

the servants and slaves, but even here the sexes kept
apart and the weaker was last served.

Now and then one of the men would fish out with
his fingers a tit-bit from a favourite dish, which, being
placed on a big dock-leaf, was sent by a slave to some
young beauty or favoured one in the rear, and in return
he would get a merry Jaugh and a wave of the hand;
but this was the only notice taken of these sweet crea~-
tures, who I was convinced from the way they were
constantly casting sly glances our way, would greatly
have enjoyed a small flirtation.

One tall, pretty girl in particular, who was the wife
(I don’t know if she was the only one) of a man old
enough to be her grandfather, and whose yashmak was
very transparent and very loosely put on, behaved in
what in Turkish eyes must have been a most audacious
way. She lolled about (not to say rolled!) on her
carpet, laughed and talked loudly, and played practical
jokes with the others, and at last when the repast was
over and we had all washed, she burst forth into a song,
that is to say, if a long string of words without rhyme
or melody, delivered in a voice like the high notes of a
violin being tuned, could be called such. I suppose
my taste was not sufficiently cultivated to enjoy it, for
it appears that all the others did, and as it went on
first one and then another old Turk shook his hand
before his face with the tips of his fingers and thumb
in a cluster, and gave a suppressed whistle, expressing
thereby that he thought her a wonder.

It was quite refreshing to see the intense pleasure
cH. XI. A Turkish Picnic. 1II

 

all this gave the old husband. He stroked his beard,
grinned, sighed a sigh of content, and actually blushed
with modesty, and yet all the time he sat with his back
to his charmer and never cast a glance her way. This
performance was no sooner over than the lady picked
up a sort of diminutive fiddle with, I think, only two
strings, on which she tweaked away with her thumbs
and accompanied with dismal howls, casting her really
pretty eyes about in quite a reckless fashion.

The time was passed in this somewhat deadly-lively
manner, till just as the sun was setting, up came the
engine and waggons and we all took our seats. Hardly
had we moved off before the young beauty beckoned to
me with a downward wave of her hand, and called out
in a peremptory voice ‘ Ghel-burda’ (Come here). I was
fairly perplexed what to do, for I had always under-
stood that it was considered by Turks as something
awful for a Giaour to look at a Turkish woman, much
more to speak to one. However, my hesitation was
overcome by another sharp angry ‘ Ghel burda, Ishitmior
sen ?’ (Come here; don’t you hear me?) from the fair
one, and a nod from the old husband.

I dared not venture inside the waggon, so perched
myself on the end with my feet resting on the buffer,
and thus, with my face within a few inches of my inter-
rogator, I answered her quickly following questions.

‘Are you married? No! Ah, youare poor then and
can’t afford a wife. You would like one, would not you?’

‘Yes, very much if I might have the one I want;

but I can’t have her, she is married to another.’
rio Bulgaria before the War. CH. XI.

‘Ah, ah!’ with an arch look. ‘Have you a father
and mother? write to them and make them buy you a
wife; but Giaours’ wives are no good, they run away .
from their husbands. Have you good water in your
country, and water-melons? No water-melons! Bah,
what a bad place! When you want a wife how do you
get one, do you buy her? You find out a girl who
loves you and then ask her to marry you, but how do
you know she loves you? By her eyes! Oh!’ looking
down. ‘You hate a yaskmak; so do I, and so I wear as
thin a one as I dare. There go away, I have done;’
and somewhat crest-fallen, I slipt back among the men,
who, I may remark, did not hear the above conversation,
our voices being drowned by the noise of the waggons.

The jealous way in which a Turk guards his wife
not only from intercourse with, but also from the gaze
of, an European, is not a traveller’s invention but a real
fact, and though I spent twelve years altogether in
Turkey, and was intimate with the people, this was
one of the very few chances I ever had of speaking to a
woman who looked less than eighty years old! In
after years I did once or twice speak to some younger
ones, but it was not till I had a wife of my own to look
after me and act as chaperone.

On my first arrival at Constantinople some years
previous to this, I saw a Levantine Englishman limp-
ing about, and was told by him that he had had some
ounces of flesh carved out of his leg by the sword of a
negro guard, for looking into a carriage in which were
seated some ladies of the Sultan’s harem. He did not
cH. XI. In Trouble with a Pasha. 113

 

seem to mind it much, for the wound in his leg was

. almost healed, and the wound in his feelings was doing
well under the treatment of the great ambassador who
had taken the case in hand, and extracted a lot of
golden ointment for it from the Government.

After this picnic party we were incessantly pestered
by all sorts of people for a lift up the line on the wag-
gons, and as the rails reached further and further inland
so much the more were we beset by travellers. If we
granted leave we got no thanks, were grumbled at for
delays, and screamed at for mishaps. Did we refuse,
never mind what our reasons were for doing so, we
made an enemy for life!

An amusing incident occurred to me through this
love of getting a lift gratis. J had gone up the line in
the morning, taking my little horse Zaptieh with mein
a break van, and on reaching the end of the rails some
twenty miles from home, I started off on him to inspect
some earthworks further on. I arranged with Tom
Bilby, the engine-driver, that the train should come up
again towards evening and take me home to Varna; so
when my day’s work was over, I rode back to the end
of the line, and dismounting, waited patiently for the
waggons.

T had not waited long before up drove a carriage
attended by some half-dozen zaptiehs, in which was
seated a fat, pompous-looking Turk, whose coat being

_a mass of gold braid I rightly supposed to be some
great military swell.

By order of this big man one of the zaptiehs asked

I
114 Bulgaria before the War, cH. XIf.

me if the train were expected, and on my answering in
the affirmative the Pasha struggled out of his carriage,
and coming up to me salaaming over and over again to
the ground, asked if I would be so kind as to give him
a lift to Varna, together with a servant or two, and a
little baggage that would be up in a few minutes. I
returned the salaams, and said I should feel honoured
by his company; and the locomotive and waggons arriv-
ing at that moment, I set to work to get their load dis-
charged as quickly as possible. When this was done,
the Pasha told me he was very sorry but his baggage
had not yet come; did I mind waiting a few more
minutes? I would wait half an hour, or an hour even,
if it would convenience the Pasha; and wait we did
just an hour, at the end of which time I espied, about a
mile from us, a string of fifty bullock arabas approach-
ing. For some time it never struck me that these
contained ‘the little baggage,’ but when it did I was
somewhat astonished, not to say amused. I at once
explained to the Pasha that having only two platform
waggons and a break-van it was quite impossible to
take all, for the waggons would not hold half of it.

The Pasha said, ‘Oh, you don’t know; my men
will fill it up, tay! ever so high! We can easily take
all.” I explained to him that even if we could get half
the goods into the waggons our little engine could not
drag them in, and we should stick fast. But nota bit
of it! I reasoned, I explained, and did my best to
persuade the Pasha to leave his ‘little baggage’ and
come on alone with me; but this he refused to do, and
cH. XII, ‘In Trouble with a Pasha. II5

 

finding that reasoning was thrown away on this dense-
brained idiot, I told him I gave him one last chance,
and if he did not get up at once I should go without
him. Then he in his turn began to threaten. ‘See,’
he said, ‘if you venture to do so I will report you to
the manager of the railway when I arrive at Varna to-
morrow, and will insist on your instant dismissal !”

This was enough, so telling Tom Bilby to move on,
I made my salaams, the engine puffed and spitted, and
away we went, leaving the Pasha shaking his fist and
gesticulating—a display of energy that he kept up till
we were out of sight.

Mac and I laughed over the affair that evening,
and then it passed from my mind. But two days later,
as we sat at breakfast, Demetry popped his head in at
the door, and said in a hurried whisper, ‘One great big
pasha, he come see you, sare,’ and withdrawing his
head, threw the door open again the next instant, and
in an awe-struck voice announced, ‘ The Pasha Effendi.’

_In a moment I recognised my friend, and at the
same time scented some fun. Not so the Pasha; he
did not deign to cast one look in my direction till after
he had slowly unbuckled his cumbrous sword, seated
himself on the divan, and stroked his beard. Then,
however, he bowed low, commenced a salaam, and also
a friendly smile, but on recognising me his salaam was
arrested on the middle of his stomach, and the friendly
smile turned first into a look of astonishment and then
of anger. In arage he turned to his Tchiboukji, who

12
116 Bulgaria before the War. . cm. xx

‘stood just inside the door, and said, ‘ Eshek (ass), yor
shave made a mistake !’

‘Yes, Effendi, I have—but they said this was th
head man of the iron road.’

‘Pah, pig, hold your tongue.’ And then coldly
turning to me, he said he wished to speak in private t

the manager of the railway.
I at once asked Mac to leave the room, but’ the

Pasha stopped him and asked, ‘ Who is the manager
here?’ I said, ‘Jam, and I shall be most happy if I
can be of service to you.”

The Pasha gave a low whistle, and then beginning
to grin, said, ‘True? Then I have made a mistake. I
called to complain to you of your own conduct'the day
before yesterday, and was going to ask for your dismis-
sal. What shall I do now?

‘Have a coffee and a cigarette, and believe me it
was only the utter impossibility of doing as you wished
that forced me to leave you on the road; but, Pasha,
why did you not come on alone ?’ > a

«I could not, Tchellaby, for this reason.’ ina tak-
ing down government stores from Shumla, and amongst
them was a lot of powder, and it would not have done.’

After this explanation we sat and chatted in the
most friendly manner, and on leaving the Pasha pressed
me to call on him the first time I went to Shumla.

Another amusing scene took place when the rails
were laid to Sheitanjik. A long train of materials was
standing at Shumla Road Station, on its way up the
line, and whilst there a swell young Turk, a govern-
caexm. A Trip in the Wrong Direction. 117

 

ment official, arrived from Shumla in a carriage and
four, and jumping out told his servant to place his
baggage on the end waggon and arrange him a com-
_ fortable seat. ,

_ I was standing by the side of the waggon all the
time this was being done, and when the Turk was
seated I asked him what he intended doing.

‘Iam going down by this train,’ he said; to which
I rejoined that it was against rules for anyone to get
on toa waggon without a written order. At this he
chucked his nose in the air and said ‘ Pish,’ and in
doing so contrived to throw such concentrated essence
of insolence into his manner that I refrained from ask -
ing him where he wished to go to, guessing that he
thought from the position of the engine that we were
bound for Varna, whereas we were shoving the train
before us up to Sheitanjik, just twenty miles in the op-
posite direction, and what was more, when we got there
the engine and waggons would be detained ballasting
for a week before they returned.

I therefore made him a salaam, and when all was
ready I jumped on the tender and away we went. Our
friend took no notice till we were clear of the station,.
but then finding we were going faster and faster in the
wrong direction, he jumped up and began shouting and
waving to me in a frantic manner, but I kept my back
to him and let him shout till he was tired. On arriv-
ing at Sheitanjik, up he rushed, and in a very different
manner to that he had used before, told me he wished
to go to Varna.
118 . Bulgaria before the War. CH, XII.

I replied that if he would wait where he was till the
end of the week I would give him a written order for
the waggons, but they would not be going there sooner.
He begged, he intreated, he threatened and blustered,
but on my shrugging up my shoulders as high as I
could get them, spreading out my hands before me with
the palms upwards, and saying ‘ Neyapajak ?’ (What’s
to be done?) in as &la Turk a way as I could, and at
the same time offering him no suggestions, he retired
to the native huts. An hour later, when I was mount-
ing my horse to ride on to Rustchuck, I had the plea-
sure of seeing the young swaggerer jogging off in the
opposite direction, in a one-horse teliki, with a journey
of seventy miles before him ; and I trust before he had
accomplished it, he had come to the conclusion that it
was better not to be insolent to Giaours unless they
were Rayahs.

As the foregoing occurrences illustrate the Turkish
character in a somewhat unfavourable manner, I will,
before quitting the subject, tell an anecdote that shows
how patient a Turk can be, and also how conscientiously
he attends to his religious duties, that is to say, if he is
one of the old school and of a good sort, as was the man
of whom I am going to write.

Some time after the rails were all laid, but before
the line was opened, an old village Turk came to R.
A. B.’s house, at Sheitanjik, and asked him to give him
an order to go to Rustchuck on the waggons, to see his
son, who had been drawn for a soldier, and the poor old
fellow had heard that his regiment, which was then at
CH. XII. ‘A Conscientious Turk. 119

 

Rustchuck, was under orders for Constantinople, and no
one knew where afterwards. He added, taking hold
of his long white beard, ‘I am an old man, and can-
not expect to live long, and it is pretty sure I shall
never see my boy in this world, for I am too feeble
to make the journey by road, but I am told you could
take me to Rustchuck in a few hours, without my suf-
fering from fatigue.’

R. A. B. at once gave him the aie and calling

up his cavass, told him to take great care of the old
man, provide him with food and bed, and see him off
safely next day, as he himself had to leave home that
evening.
_ <A train passed through Sheitanjtk each day, at a
fixed time, on its way to Rustchuck, but only just
pulled up to deliver letters, aud did not stop a minute.
Now it so happenedthat the time the train arrived was
just at the moment the old Turk’s turnip-like watch told
him to say his prayers, and it pulled up at the tem-
porary station just as the old man had spread his
carpet and gone down on his knees. . An English
navvy, the only European at the station, told him the
train could not wait, and that if he wished to go he
must look sharp, but the old fellow went on with his
prayers as if he had not heard. .

The engine-driver whistled, moved on his train, and
shouted to him, but it had no effect ; so fearing to delay
longer, he started off, and by the time the prayers were
over the train was far away in the distance.
120 Bulearia before the War. cH. XII,

The old man rose, rolled up his carpet, cried feebly,
said ‘ Allah yapmish ’ (God did it), and settled down to
wait another twenty-four hours; but again the train was
punctual, and the watch despotic, and again the poor
fellow was left behind as on the previous day. Again
he said, ‘Allah yapmish,’ and quietly wept, adding,
‘Please. Allah my child will not have left Rustchuck
when I get there.’

The same thing was about to occur on the third
day. The Turk went to his prayers, the engine
arrived, everybody shouted to him and urged him to get
up, but again he apparently heard not. This proved
too much for the patience of the big English navvy,
who had witnessed the two previous failures; so making:
a rush at the old ‘Bony-back,’ as he called him, he
lifted him up like a child, and tumbled him over the side
into a waggon, and pitched his carpet in after him.
Nothing in the world would have induced the good old
fellow to swerve one iota from what he considered his
duty, but words cannot tell, and my pen cannot
describe, the intense delight his face betrayed when fate
thus stood his friend in the shape of an impatient good-
tempered burly navvy, and as long as the train was in
sight he could be seen waving his thanks with a beam-
ing countenance.

I am glad to be able to add that a week later the
old man returned, and thanking my brother for his
kindness, told him he had spent all his time in Rust-
chuck with his son. i
CH, XII A Consctentious Turk. I2I

 

Some years later, R. A. B. again saw him at Shei-
tanjik station, and with him was his son, who, he said,
had been sent home with his discharge, as his eyes
were failing ; ‘ But, Tchellaby, our wise man soon cured
them, and there he is safe and well.’
122 Bulgaria before the War. CH, XII.

CHAPTER XIII.
Quarantine—Cholera—Giving Chloroform to a Horse.

Towarps the end of this summer, when we were endur-
ing the very greatest heat, the cholera, which had been
carrying off hundreds of victims at Constantinople, fell
upon us, or rather I should say upon our companions,
for, strange as it may appear, there was not a single
case of it in Varna. It was all round us, at Bourgas,
Baltchik, Kustendji, Shumla, and Rustchuck, but for
some unaccountable reason it did not appear in
Varna.

Doubtless it will be said that quarantine saved us,
but for my part, I do not believe it did the least good,
for this reason, that though it was supposed to be most
strictly observed, yet I know of dozens of cases where it
was broken, and broken with the connivance of the
quarantine officers. Then, again, though there was
quarantine for all who came to Varna by sea, yet any-
one was at liberty to come in by land from Constan-
tinople, Bourgas, and Kustendji, and I myself, as
well as many other Englishmen, constantly passed
into Varna from infected places, and no questions were
asked. ,

When it was at its height at Rustchuck, a cordon
cH, XII. : Quarantine. 123

 

of soldiers was stationed along the road from Shumla
to Silistria, to stop people from Rustchuck coming fur-
ther inland; but I know of numbers of people who
passed through simply by paying bakshish to one of
the soldiers on guard to let them do so, and the captain
in command made quite a pretty little purse out of tra-
vellers by this way of collecting tolls. In fact quaran-
tine in Turkey, like all other laws there, seemed
expressly made to hinder trade, annoy the inhabitants,
and enrich the officials. Quarantine was the only
weapon used either to keep the fell enemy out of the
town or to fight against him should he make his
appearance. No sanitary measures were taken, such as
removing the hills of filth that lay reeking in the sun
all round and in the heart of the town. Nota single
cesspool was cleaned out, and not an ounce of extra
medicine or disinfectant of any sort was imported ; and
the Greek doctor told me that if it did break out, he
had not sufficient of the commonest medicines to last
a week. Then the quarantine arrangements them-
selves were as bad as bad could be. All ships arriv-
ing were visited by an officer and their papers looked
at, and those unfortunates who were forced to land
were marched off to the far side of the bay, where a
rough shed of planks, far from either air-tight or
water-tight, was all the accommodation made to re-
ceive them. Here, men and women, Asiatics and
Europeans, rich and poor, were huddled together, and
catered for by a dirty Greek cook, who kept a canteen.

If any of the unfortunates had friends in the town,
124 Bulgaria before the War. CH. XIIL

 

they were allowed to take them food, which had to be
placed outside the quarantine ground, and then the
guards, if paid, would fetch it in. Some few rich men,
or men who knew Turkey well, brought servants with
them as well as tents, and these fared like princes com-.
pared to the others; still I should strongly recom-
mend all Europeans who could do so to quit Turkey
directly cholera broke out, not on account of the dis-
ease but on account of the risk they must run of suf-
fering from the stupidity, idleness, and dishonesty of
the quarantine officers.

The cholera apparently started for the Bulgarian
province from Constantinople, visiting Bourgas, then.
fortunately jumping over Varna, it touched at the little
seaside town of Baltchik and so on to Kustendji, where.
it proved most fatal to the English workmen, killing a
far greater proportion of them than of the other inhabi-
tants. Then it broke out at different places all down
the Danube simultaneously, and after a little while
appeared in the interior. At Rustchuck it was most
destructive, but here, unlike Kustendji, the English
did not suffer much. The chief victims were the poor
Albanian masons, hundreds of whom were employed by
the railway company on the various buildings. These
Albanians were living in all parts of the railway works
in small huts they had themselves constructed, the
sanitary arrangements of which were bad, but directly
the cholera broke out this was at once remedied. On
the other hand they were men who lived on vegetable
diet and drank very little in the shape of alcohol.
on, xm. Cholera. 125

 

The English at Kustendji were better lodged than
any of the other inhabitants, and ate quite six times as
much meat, man for man, as any other people there.

The poor Albanians, when they saw their friends
and relatives dying by scores, became perfectly panic-
struck, and I have no doubt their terror held the door
open for the cholera to enter. Strange to say, it con-
stantly happened when one of these poor creatures felt
himself attacked by cholera he would go away from all
his friends and from all help, and wandering into the
vineyards or into the brushwood two or three miles
from the town, die there like a beast, and long after-
wards, whilst shooting, we constantly found their
unburied bodies.

Fortunately, we had an extremely clever English
medical man to attend to the servants of the railway
company, and to great ability he added indomitable
pluck and perseverance ; and I can safely say that of all
the men that ever did a day’s work for the railway, he
at this time worked the hardest and went through
enough danger to make him worthy of a Victoria Cross.
Hundreds of those who came under his treatment died,
but here and there he succeeded in snatching a victory,
generally before the enemy had made much way with
its victim, but not unfrequently when the man was
actually in a state of collapse. A life saved by the
doctor was not only one life saved, for I am sure the
moral support it gave to others went far to prevent
their falling ill, and even gave those already stricken
courage to battle for life. I repeat what the doctor
126 Bulgaria before the War. ou. x.

told me when I say there is nothing in the whole
pharmacopeia that staves off cholera so well as quiet
courage and the not giving way to a morbid dread of
the malady. And yet this will not save all. Hundreds
of men of all nations with undoubted pluck, and many
among the Turks apparently quite indifferent to death,
were swept off by this outbreak.

I remember well one of our English carpenters who
had so often been face to face with death in various
forms, that he had learnt to look on it without the
least dread. He had served from a boy in the English
navy, had visited all quarters of the globe and seen
cholera over and over again, and had been frequently
in action, and yet, poor fellow, he was one of the first
taken at Rustchuck. He had worked some time for us
as manager of the saw mills, and it had always been his
custom on going home to dinner to leave his tools in
the mill. His fellow-workmen, therefore, were some-
what astonished one day to see him carefully putting
away his tools in his basket before going home. On
their asking why he did so, he said, quite calmly,
‘Well, mates, you see I shan’t require them where I
am bound for. I have got the cholera, and what is
more, shall not be here long. . Good-bye, all.’ And
off he walked home. At the time no one thought he
was in earnest, but before night they heard he was
really down with it, and by dinner-time the next day
they were making his coffin.

At Rustchuck, Midhat Pasha, stirred up by our
CH. XIII, ; Cholera. 127

 

doctor, who was incessantly at him, did turn out the
prisoners and made a feeble attempt at cleaning the
streets; but if the entire gang had been kept at the
' work a year they would not have removed the abomi-
nations that had accumulated, and by scratching at it
as he did I suspect more harm than good was done.
He only stirred up fresh smells, and brought to light
that which had been hidden. Like Varna, there is not
in all Rustchuck a single covered drain. In every court-
yard there is an open cesspool, besides lots of others
that have become full and been covered over with a
little earth. Before leaving this subject I must men-
tion that under the doctor’s orders all the Turks who
were employed in attending on the sick, burying the
dead, and doing sanitary work, behaved famously. They
never once resisted an order, and evidently felt no fear.
Doubtless their being fatalists helped them, but yet
_ allowing for this, there was shown, as there always is
when a Turk is well commanded, great courage and
devotion to duty.

Even for those who were fortunate énough to be
beyond the fatal district, as we were at Varna, it was a
most anxious time, and hearing, as we did daily, of
scores of natives being struck down all round us, we
dared hardly hope that all our own friends would
escape, and we began to dread the sight of a telegram
lest it should tell of some one dead or dying. Thank
God, we all escaped, and few will wish to be in Turkey
again when cholera is on the move. I say ‘few’ ad-
128 Bulgaria before the War. — cx. xm.

visedly, for I had one man living in the house with me
who had come from England at the first outbreak
sincerely hoping he would see a lot of it!

He was a medical man in the service of the English
Government, who, hearing we required an extra doctor
to take charge of the Varna end of the line, applied for
his leave and devoted it to looking after us, thinking
he should be able to study the horrid malady, and per-
haps throw some light upon its causes, treatment, &.,
that would be of service to the world in general and to
his profession in particular. His was a most praise~
worthy ambition, but as I might have been the case for
him to study, I am thankful he was disappointed, and
that during the three months he lived with me he did
not see a single case.

Not only did he fail in this, but he failed in another
professional attempt he made. He said this was
because his assistant was such a muff, and as I was that
assistant and yet suffer from the hard things he said of
me at the time, I will tell my readers all about it, and
let them judge between us.

One morning after going his rounds, the doctor rode
his horse up to my courtyard, and left it fastened up
to a post while he came to eat his lunch with me. Now .
in the post was a firmly fixed nail, and after the manner
of horses, the beast devoted his leisure to rubbing his
head up and down the tree, and in so doing managed
to tear its eyelid nearly off with the nail.

When the doctor went to remount he saw what had
happened, and calling me, said that unless the lid were
cp. xt. Gzaving a Horse Chloroform. 129

 

at once sewn on, it would come quite off, and leaving
the eye exposed, dust and grit would go into it, and
the-horse would go blind. ‘Now I have it,’ he added ;
_fwe will give him chloroform, and then we can sew
it on.’
It was settled we should take the horse into a shed
thickly strewn with hay, and that I should administer
the chloroform. This was quickly done, or rather com-
menced. The chloroform was poured on a thick cloth,
and, going into the shed, I held it to the horse’s nose.
At first he objected and tossed his head, but presently
a happy, contented, sleepy look came over his face, and
he stood stock still. At this I said, ‘It’s all right,
doctor ; get ready, he will soon be ‘off;’ to which he
replied, ‘I am rather astonished he has not gone
through the excited stage.’ Just as he said this, the
horse gave a sudden and violent plunge, knocking me
over on my back in the hay, and then he commenced
the most eccentric unhorse-like proceedings. He sat
up on his tail and tried to reach the roof with his feet ;
failing this, he jumped up and rushing into the corner
essayed his best over and over again to run up the wall,
and failing, fell each time over on his back. Then he
‘tried to put his head through between both his front
and hind legs, and so went head over heels forwards.
Need I say I bolted! but will it be believed that
the hard-hearted, unfeeling doctor held the door against
me, and only answered to my entreaties to be let out,
‘Hold it to his nose! hold it to his nose! look sharp,
and hold it to his nose!’ and when at last I succeeded
K
130 Bulgaria before the War. CH. IIT.

in bursting the door open and making my escape, I was
greeted with both contemptuous looks and words! As
I said before, I will let my readers judge between us.
A Rary might have liked the situation: Iam not a
Rary, and at all events I did not like it, and was very
cautious how I went up to the beast, even after he had
got over his flurry and stood stock still, looking very
astonished, as well he might.

It ended in our having to cast the horse, and then
the doctor in half a minute sewed up the lid, which
healed perfectly in a very short time.
CH. XIV. Casting Florses. 131

 

CHAPTER XIV.

Casting Horses—Turkish Saddles—A Vicious Horse.

THE method invariably adopted in Turkey for casting a
horse appears to me a particularly good and safe ones
far better than the brutal way in which it is often done
in England by tying a poor beast’s feet all together and
then throwing it over on its side, and perhaps, as I have
known happen, breaking its ribs. .

A soft rope or strap is passed round the horse’s neck
cluse to the shoulders; then two light ropes are fastened
to the hind fetlocks, the ends of which are passed
between the front legs through the rope round the neck”
and then returned through the front legs, and each held
behind the shoulders by aman. The horse is then led on,
and as one hind leg after the other advances, the ropes
are tightened, and so at last the hind feet stand between
the front ones. The bridle is then taken hold of, and
the horse being pushed backwards, it quietly sits down,
it is then turned over on its side and the legs made fast
all together. I constantly saw this done, as two of my
horses would not allow themselves to be shod standing ;
but I never saw a horse hurt in the least, and yet they
were always cast on the hard ground.

kK 2
132 Bulgaria before the War. CH. XIV.

The same plan might be advantageously adopted for
the poor bullocks and buffaloes in Turkey, as they are
always cast for shoeing ; but with these they fasten all
four legs as they stand to a long stout pole, and then
after shoving the poor beast over on its side with a
great thump, two men seize the pole, one at each end,
and hoist the legs up in the air, the beast being on its
back. The thin cleft shoes are then tacked on, the
ropes cast off, and with a scramble the animal gets
up and walks about for half an hour, with marvellous
knee action, produced by the strange feeling of the new
shoes.

No horses in Turkey are shod in our fashion, or as
the Turks call it & la Russe. Instead of our shoes, flat
iron plates an eighth of an inch thick are fastened on
cold, and then the hoof is rasped down to fit them.
Under the frog there is a small round hole in the plate,
which immediately fills up tight with mud and remains
so as long as the shoe lasts, for a Turk never thinks of
cleaning this out.

Though roughly shod, few horses go lame; and I
cannot say that I think this a bad method, in a country
were the roads are all soft, except that on sloping or
slippery ground the flat soles give the horse very little
hold, and one of the commonest accidents to an eques-
trian is having his animal slip up sideways.

A horse’s shoes last a very long time on the soft
roads; and well it is they do so, for otherwise shoeing
would be a serious item for a poor man, not over bur-
dened with much ready cash; for as all the shoeing
CH. XIV. Turkish Saddtes. 133

 

smiths, or nearly all, are gipsies who wander about
from town to town and village to village, cash pay-
ments are the rule, except when a kick‘ or slash of a
knife is given instead by a swaggering Turk.

In the villages where the horses are not reqnired for
long journeys and are only used to jog about near home,
shoes are dispensed with; first, to save the cost and
trouble, and secondly, because the having no shoes on
often stops a Turk from borrowing one for a journey
whilst his own horse lives at free quarters in the stable
of that taken. They get on very well without them,
and I have myself ridden a village pony 200 miles in a
week without shoes, and at the end of his journey his
hoofs were as sound as when he started.

To such an extent do certain people carry their
admiration of everything that is Eastern, and especially
Turkish, that I have heard such declare there is
nothing so comfortable to ride on as a Turkish saddle.
If anyone desires to know what it is like, let him fix
two posts crossways, forming the shape of the letter V.
Let the V be two feet wide at the top and a foot deep;
stick two cushions on the sloping sides, and then wedge
himself in between these. Let him put his feet in very,
very short stirrups hung quite at the back part of the
saddle, and then sit quiet for five minutes. He will by
that time know all about it, and will be willing that
any friend, who may wish, should take his place.

When on a Turkish saddle the rider’s legs from the
hips stick out backwards, his nose is poked forwards,
and, if he is not up to the use of the cruel Turkish bit,
134 Bulgaria before the War. cH. XIV.

directly he picks up the reins the horse hits that pro-
minent and tender feature a rap with the top of his
head that is far from agreeable. It is painful to sit
still; it is agony to move, and to ride a mile is acute
torture. No. Whatever I may admire in the Turk,
I shall not praise his saddle; and yet in many
things—-such as feeding, watering, and grooming a
horse, and especially in his quiet treatment—a Turk,
in my opinion, is far more judicious than we are in
England, and I hope the day may come when people
will graft much of Turkish stable management upon
that which is English.

I never owned but one vicious horse all the time I
was on the Varna railway, and I did not own him long,
for, after having fought him day after day when riding
about near home, I thought a journey up to Kustendji
would be a fine opportunity for tiring the devil out of
him.

I intended doing the entire hundred miles in the
day, and therefore sent on a horse by Sali some days
previously to the half-way village. No horse in the
world could have behaved better than this vicious one
for the first twenty-five miles, and I chuckled at the
thought of how famously he was getting me over the
ground, and determined that in future I would always
keep him for long distances. Just as I had come to
this conclusion the horse came to another. He was
convinced we had gone far enough, so twisted round
like a top. I got him by the head and tried to pull
him back to the road, and so far succeeded that he let
CH. XIV. A Victous Horse. 135

 

his head go slack, and I pulled it round till he stared
me in the face, but not one inch would he move his
body. I then gave him a few severe digs in his ribs
with my spurs and applied the whip, but to no purpose.
He stood it like a broken-down rocking-horse, and
apparently with about as much feeling. I got off and
whacked him, and then he was lively enough, for he
rushed at me like a savage dog; so feeling safer in the
saddle, I once more clambered up. For.some minutes
after this he kicked, he plunged, he bit, and did his
worst, but, as I still stuck to him, he once more lapsed
into passive resistance, and I now found he would not
even go towards his own stable.

Two precious hours I sat there in the scorching sun,
the perspiration running off me, and my temper getting
worse and worse. ‘I verily believe I should either have
been sitting there to this day, or been forced to abandon
him, had not a friendly Tartar come along with a load
of wood on his bullock-cart. On first coming up, and
hearing from me what a fix I was in, the Tartar’s face
expanded into a broad grin, and he kept walking round
and round me, muttering, ‘Mashallah!’ but, on my
remoustrating with him for not helping me, he said,
‘Oh, I will make him go; but can you stick to him if
he behaves badly? Well, all right;’ and going to his
_ araba he fetched his goad—a long light pole with an

iron point about a quarter of an inch long and as sharp
asa needle. He gave the beast one stab on his nose
with this, which sent him round in an instant, and then °
telling me to hold him in, he administered a dozen more
136 Bulgaria before the War. CH. XIV.

 

behind, the first of which started the horse off as hard
as he could go. I was determined he should have his
lesson, so again and again I pulled him up, and the
Tartar ran up and gave him a prick, till at last, when
mad with fear, I gave him his head and kept him going
as fast as I thought safe till I pulled up at the half-way
village, never having before or since ridden twenty-five
miles so fast.

I never set eyes_on that brute again, for when
mounting my fresh horse I told Sali he was to sell him
within the next two days as best he could; and well he
did it, for on my return journey he handed me the
exact sum I had given for the horse, telling me he had
sold it to a young Turk in the little town of Baltchick.
cn. Xv. Strange Birds. ~ 134

 

CHAPTER XV.

Strange Birds—A Colony of Waders—Rose-tinted Pastors—An Un
pleasant Discovery—Vultures and Eagles—A Poor Day’s Sport—
An Unfortunate Mistake—A Monster Wild Boar.

I. pELizve there is no part of Europe that affords the

ornithologist and collector so rich a field to work upon

as the triangle between the Balkans, the Black Sea, and
the Danube, and even a busy man, such as I was, may

- constantly come across rare birds, and if he has the will

and the taste for it, may in a short time make a valuable

collection. Owing to the near proximity of the Balkans
with their vast forests, precipitous crags, and unfre-
quented ravines, the birds of prey have every facility
for enjoying a quiet life, and a, to them, comparatively
short flight carries them to the open fields at the foot
of the mountains or to the great open Dobrudja, and
marshes of the big river where the abundance of animal
life affords them a rich hunting-ground. Then the
great islands and marshes of the Danube provide a
sécure retreat for the numerous waterfowl; and so be-
tween the two nearly every European bird may be
found, except some few who make their homes in
regions of perpetual snow and ice, and even of these
stray birds occasionally drift away to these parts, and
138 | Bulgaria before the War. OH. XV.

 

may be seen and shot by anyone who will brave twelve
degrees below zero, and has strength enough to plod
about through snow above his knees.

Though living too busy a life to become a scientific
ornithologist, yet, thanks to having spent all my boy-
hood in the country, and to an innate love of all birds
and beasts, I rarely left my house without observing
some sort of bird more or less rare, and, as I often car-
ried a gun with me, I constantly secured some good
specimens, which I skinned and sent home to my
ornithological friends. Every now and then some stray
collector would arrive from England and take up his
abode with me for a time; and so, stimulated by him
and urged on by my own love of the fun, I, as often
as I could, stole a few hours from work, and in-
dulged in an excursion, either collecting skins or birds’
nesting; and I now look back to the hours I thus
spent as some of the happiest I ever had in the
land of the Turk, and when passing some quiet cliff
side or marshy ground in England, a feeling akin to
home-sickness comes over me, and I long to be once
more away in Bulgaria with its wild life, sunny days,
and sporting adventures, and I plan out all sorts of
excursions to those parts, till a twinge of rheumatism,
or the thoughts of bygone fevers, reconcile me to my
home life, and I content myself with going over the
old ground in imagination.

The Danube, on the Wallachian side, is split up into
innumerable islands, large and small, mostly covered
by low willow scrub and rank vegetation, the shores of
CH. XY. A Colony of Waders. 139

 

which, when the river begins to fall after the spring
floods, are wide beds of soft mud, affording a rich
feeding ground for numberless water-birds of all kinds,
By threading the numerous small channels, and coast-
ing quietly round the islands in a native ‘dugout,’
one can approach, and observe the habits of such
birds as the spoon-bill, heron, night heron, the purple
heron, the bittern, the little bittern, the egret, besides
almost all the different species of tern, duck, waders
and divers, and many other birds too numerous to be
mentioned in these pages.

- For a long time it had been a ‘pimile: to me where
the various waders, &c. built their nests; for though
the birds were to be seen at every few yards along the
muddy banks of the river, or slowly flying over the
marshy islands, I had as yet never discovered their
nesting ground. At last, one fine afternoon in the
early summer, I accompanied a friend in a small boat
on an excursion a few miles down the river below
Rustchuck. On approaching a small island which was
covered with water about a foot deep, we heard, amidst
the dense willow thicket which overspread it, a noise
as if the inhabitants of Purgatory had made their home
there and were having an unusually bad time of it.
Pushing our small boat into a narrow creek, we took
off our boots and stockings, and, turning up our trow-
sers, picked our way through the tangled boughs in
the direction of the sound, which evidently proceeded
from the centre of the island, and I shall not easily
forget the sight we beheld when we reached it.
140 Bulgaria before the War. OH. Xv.

 

There, on the pressed down boughs of the willows,
only a few feet above the water, were hundreds of
great flat nests of the various kinds of herons, spoon-
bills, egrets, bitterns, &c., all huddled together in one
confused mass, and the entire colony reeking with the
most indescribably filthy smell.

Tt was rather late for eggs, as most of them were
hatched off, but it was just the time to observe the
doings of the children of these sedate, quiet, peaceful-
looking birds, and I must say that I never yet beheld
such a collection of little fiends, nor a more hideous
set. heir bodies were of the smallest proportions,
while every other part of them—their wings, legs,
necks, and beaks—were of the longest; most of them
had no feathers, and all seemed possessed with one
idea, and that was either to limb a small brother or
swallow him whole, and all kept up either a shriek of
fear or pain, or a yell of rage. Floating on the top
of the putrid water were masses of dead birds, some
with legs torn off, others without heads or wings:
Most of them were dead, but others were dragging
their maimed carcases about in a ghastly manner. So
intent were they on their fiendish pastime that they
took little notice of us, and dragged and clawed them-
selves about after their weaker brethren at our very feet,
whilst the old parent birds sat looking on from the top-
most twigs, as if fratricide were the proper moral
pastime of the young. A big spoon-bill would chase a
small egret from bough to bough, till at last he tired it
out, and then seizing it with one claw, would take hold
cH. XV. Rose tinted Pastors. I4t

 

of its leg or wing and tear it from the poor victim, or
else getting its head in its mouth, would try to swallow it
whole, and gulp and gulp till so much of the little one
was down its throat that it was itself choked, and would
turn over on its back kicking and struggling, to be in
turn seized by a brother, and torn limb from limb.

All kept up some hideous scream, and all kept
clambering and dragging themselves about from bough
to bough, all either hunting or being hunted; and from
what we saw I am sure nine-tenths of all hatched in
that colony came to an untimely end before they could
fly. We did not stay long to watch them, but quickly
securing some eggs from the few nests that were not
hatched off, we beat a retreat, with our opinions of the
beautiful, gentle-looking birds greatly changed.

Twice over the lovely rose-tinted Pastor visited
our railway in thousands, and took possession of a
mound of broken stone and rock thrown out of a
cutting, to make their nests in. Like the birds on the
island, they were anything but pleasant to the smell,
but, unlike them, they appeared a peaceable friendly lot,
and the young ones kept quietly in their nests till they
were able to fly; and as soon as all were well on the
wing they deserted the home of their birth never again
to return to it. Each time they built in heaps of
broken stone from a railway cutting, but not in the
same place.

The love of nesting is not one of the weaknesses of
the Turkish or Bulgar boy; therefore, having learnt
from experience that no human being will trouble
142 Bulgaria before the War. cH. Xv,

himself to plunder their nests, such birds as the eagle,
falcon, and hawk build often on trees a very three-year-
old might climb, and I can now remember looking into
a splendid sea-eagle’s nest as I sat on my horse under
the boughs of a low thorn bush. Out on the grassy
plains of the Dobrudja, where there are literally no
trees, the various sorts of eagles actually build on the
‘ground; but the most favourable place for nesting is in
the big trees on the islands of the Danube, for there all
is perfectly quiet, and a rich feeding ground within ©
easy reach on both sides of the river.

Two of my brother-engineers made a most un-
pleasant discovery whilst eagle-nesting on one of these
islands. They had climbed many trees with varying
success, when at last they arrived at the foot of one the
top branches of which were so thick and full of leaf
that they with difficulty discovered what they thought
was a nest well up on the top. One of them stripped
off his coat and climbed up the tree; but what was his
astonishment on reaching the supposed nest to find it
only a bundle of decaying rags, with a shepherd’s crook
sticking out of them! Perching himself on a secure
bough, he pulled aside the rags and revealed the
skeleton of a man, the bleached bones of which went
falling to the ground as soon as disturbed, quickly
followed by the horrified nester, who, calling to his
companion, never stopped till the Danube separated
him from his ghastly discovery.

The highest of the Danube islands are visited by
the Wallachian shepherds with their flocks, and I have
cH. Xv, Vultures and Eagles. 143

 

no doubt this poor fellow had been surprised by the
_ spring flood, and to escape the water had been driven
up the tree, where he had remained a prisoner till he
was starved to death. His flock would have been
drowned, and no doubt his friends supposed he had
been washed away down the river with them.

Those collectors who are unaccustomed to the
habits of the vulture and eagle are apt to let the spring
get too far advanced before they go nesting, and so
give themselves the trouble and danger of a climb up
a big tree or over the face of a precipitous cliff, only to
find the nest tenanted with the great downy young
birds, with their big beaks and fierce angry-looking
eyes. Most of the eagles lay their eggs in the month
of February, and I have taken them when the ground
has been inches deep in snow, and when one would
have supposed the frost was severe enough to kill the
poor old bird as she sat her dreary time on her eggs.

Much has been written at various times about the
danger of being attacked by the old eagles whilst
plundering their nests. From my own experience I
should say the eagle of all sorts is a most cowardly
bird, and again and again I have failed to identify one
of them, when taking the nest, by the bird keeping
such a respectful distance, No: there is quite danger
enough in the climb without the imaginary one of
being buffeted and pecked at by the old birds. I
believe a mistletoe thrush in its small body has more
real pluck when its nest is being disturbed than all the
eagles in Europe put together.
144 Bulgaria before the War. CH. Xv.

When kept in confinement there is no doubt but
that the eagle and vulture are often savage and even
dangerous. I found a splendid Cinereous vulture,
which one of my cavasses had brought up from the nest,
become such a nuisance from the way it attacked me
and every other creature that came within its reach,
that at last I let its wings grow and turned it out to
shift for itself, much to the disgust of the cavass.

It was supposed to be always kept chained up by
the leg, but somehow it was for ever getting loose, and
then would immediately march up into my room, and
attack me with wings, claws, and beak, and in the
fight both I and my furniture came off badly: then it
took two powerful men to secure it, and this was
seldom done without torn clothes and hands.

I kept this vulture in a small courtyard in Varna,
and though I also had cats, dogs, and a tame hare, to
say nothing of rats and mice that swarmed at times, I
never knew the bird attempt to kill anything, and
therefore I suppose it lives entirely on carrion.

The commonest of all the Raptores in Turkey is the
hen harrier; and wherever one goes one or more of
these birds are to be seen regularly hunting a grassy
bank or beating a field, and their nests are easily found
in some thick jungle of grass or thicket of short brush.

When out shooting, two or three of these birds will
often hover near all day, and one must look sharp to
pick up a wounded quail or partridge, or the harriers
will have it.

Then the marsh harrier is very common by the
CH. XY. Vultures and Eagles. 145

 

sides of the lakes and in swampy places, where also
numerous buzzards and kites are always to be seen.
These often help the sportsman by keeping the duck
and snipe down; and though I have had a wounded
bird carried off by them, yet I have through them got:
many shots I should not otherwise have had, and so I
learnt to welcome them when out with my ea and
never took a shot at them.

‘In my opinion the most beautiful of all the birds of
prey, both in plumage and in shape, and certainly the
most graceful in its movements, is the osprey. Many
a time have I watched this bird hovering over the big
Varna lake until it has descended like a stone into the
water to emerge with a good-sized fish in its claws, to
be eaten as it sits on some withered tree branch hard
by the shore.

All the birds of prey are much tamer in tiie
than they are in any other part of Europe; and not
only do they build their nests within easy reach, but
they will often sit close to the side of the road, and let.
the passer-by examine their beautiful plumage from a
few yards distant.

The Turks hardly ever keep useless birds as pets;
but now and then, in the courtyard of a rich man, one
may see a graceful demoiselle crane walking demurely
about, or still more frequently a few ruddy sheldrake
that have been hatched under a hen, and are im-
pudently tame, are to be seen among the domestic
poultry.

I remember, at a small village on the Danube, a

L
146 Bulgaria before the War. CH. XV.

Greek coffee-house-keeper had a splendid griffin vul-
ture that never left his house, and would show fight |
to anyone who offended it, flapping with its wings,
and darting its strong claws into the feet and legs,
apparently greatly enjoying the fun if it could make its
enemy call out with pain. This poor bird at last fell a
victim to a party of twelve gentlemen from Galatz,
who had arranged a shooting excursion up the river on
board a gunboat. Each of the twelve had powder and
shot with him sufficient to supply the whole- party,
even if they had had good sport. All were dressed in
correct sporting costume, and each had a perfect chien
@arréi—that is to say, perfect in the eyes of their
owners; but to those accustomed to our pure-bred
active English pointers they appeared the ugliest,
clumsiest beasts that ever waddled after man. Even
when it is cool an ordinary walker can keep well in
front of these brutes; and when hot—as it was when
these gentlemen made their ‘ chasse’—the noble Fido
finds panting and gasping as much as he can do, and
no amount of flattery or abuse can get him to do more:
than creep from bush to bush, not to look for game,
but to recline in the refreshing shade.

Anyhow on this occasion, after walking some hours
up hill and down dale, the twelve chasseurs only suc-
ceeded in killing one small quail before they reached
the village. But there, sitting on the top of the very
first house, they espied a noble object, a lordly vulture,
and ah, such an impudent one! A line was formed,
and at the word of command half the guns went off
cH, XV. An Unfortunate Mistake. 147

 

pop, and over fell the bird! The next minute out
rushed the owner with some score of customers all in a
furious passion, and before the twelve chasseurs were
allowed to pass they had to subscribe two Turkish
liras; but they did not mind this, as they were allowed
to take the bird on board ship, which they did, held
_ out by the tip of its wings, forming a most imposing
head to the returning procession.

I remember on another occasion a sporting party
from Bucharest making a more serious error of judg-
ment; for while beating through some jungly ground
on the Wallachian banks of the Danube, they disturbed
a drove of pigs which they most naturally mistook for
wild ones, the two animals being exactly alike in
appearance. After a splendid and spirited chase they
succeeded in bagging the entire drove—some twenty
beasts; but great was their disgust, after bragging at
Bucharest of their exploits, at being summoned before
the authorities on the charge of having killed the herd
of pigs belonging to an entire village, and having to
pay about double the real value for the dead pigs !

My readers must not, however, imagine from the
above anecdotes that I laugh at and ridicule all foreign
sportsmen; for I can assure them, on the contrary, that
J have known foreigners who, in their knowledge of the
habits of game, their powers of enduring fatigue when
following it, and their skill in bringing it to bay, could
not have been beaten by anyone of my own country-
men. ii
During the time I was. on the Varna Railway, a

L2
148 Bulgaria before the War, + om. xv.

Wallachian gentleman, with whom I was acquainted,
succeeded in getting two or three of his little hounds
on to the line, of what he judged from the footprints
in the snow, to be a monster wild boar, and though
he was quite alone he determined to have it if possible.
All day he followed the ery of the hounds through the
scrubby oak bush between Bucharest and Giurgevo,
and though he every now and then caught a glimpse
of the huge beast he never had a shot at it, but these
momentary peeps so encouraged him that he stuck to
the line all day long, and when too dark to see more he
marked the spot where he left off, and marching with
his tired dogs to a village some miles distant- turned
in for the night, only to be on the ground again by
break of day. Slowly and laboriously he pricked the
beast through the snow, never for a minute leaving the
trail, till about noon his hounds once more opened on
the recovered line, and after driving it through miles
of forest, the boar at last took to the open, where the
hounds, catching a view, so harassed it in rear and
front that at last it was driven to bay in a small

thicket, and Mr. —— was able to roll it over with a
well-aimed ball between the eyes just as it charged at
him.

The carcase was taken to Bucharest, and there
stuffed and presented to the Museum, where it may
now be seen. When its skin was taken off, numerous
slugs and even balls were found embedded in it, showing
that it had often been in trouble before, and owed its
long life to the thickness of its hide.
cuoxv. =») A Monster Wild Boar. 149

 

I myself saw the boar after it was set up, and
measured it, but my memory will only allow me to
state that its height at the shoulder was exactly a
metre,
150 Bulgaria before the War. OH. XVI.

CHAPTER XVI.

Turkish Watchmen—Visiting Watchmen ‘at Night—Passports—How
Robbers are made.

Taanxs to the new arrivals, the Circassians, I found
it absolutely necessary, for the protection of the railway
plant, to double the number of guards or watchmen at
Varna, and not only to do this but to double my own
watchfulness in looking after them; and I found the
only effectual way of doing this was to visit them all
from time to time in the middle of the night, and
summarily to dismiss all those ‘I found off guard.

There is no post a poor Turk likes more than that
of watchman; first, because he can sleep all day, and,
secondly, because he expects to do the same all night ;
and therefore my visits were anything but pleasing,
and it rarely happened that I went the round without
finding some of them snugly sleeping in their watch-
houses. The plan I generally adopted was to ride
with my cavass from some up-country village in the
middle of the night, and, leaving the horses under his
charge, walk all round the works. The first time I did
so I found every watchman snug in bed, and con-
sequently there was a general discharging in the
morning.
cx. xvi. Vastting Watchmen at Night. 151

 

‘There was always to me a certain charm about
these midnight strolls—the feeling that of the thou-
sands all around me, I was one of the very few that
were about and stirring, and that I had the world
all to myself, as far as my fellow-creatures were con-
cerned. And then how weird and uncanny every-
thing appeared on those still quiet summer nights, as,
after having visited all the guards, I would sit on the
side of the steep cliff over. the big lake, and listen to
the various cries of the night birds. the far from un-
pleasant chorus kept up by the myriads of frogs in the
marshes, and the chirp, chirp of the grasshoppers all
round me! How delicious also was the cool breeze to
one’s fevered blood, and how we longed to escape the
fearful heats that would be upon us directly the sun
arose! These midnight outings were often shared by
Mac, and many is the pleasant chat he and I have had
as we sat waiting for the sun to rise and the gates to
open, till first the creaking of the wheels of a string of
bullock-carts, and then the passing of a few country
people on their way into the town, has warned us that
we might also be going in the same direction, home to
acup of hot coffee and a few hours’ rest, before the
great heat of the day made one’s bed a furnace and
sleep impossible.

Few of the native workmen belonged to the town,
most of them came from distant villages in all parts of
Bulgaria, and therefore they lived on the works. A
bench cut in the side of a steep bank, with a few boards
covered with rushes or long grass for a roof, a few
152 Bulgaria before the War. CH, XVI.

 

rough boards and a coat for a bed, made what they
thought a comfortable home in which to sleep in wet
weather ; but on fine nights everyone stretched him-
self out, wrapped in his big capote, with a bundle of
straw for a pillow, in front of his hut, and there slept as
few who do not labour in the open air can, even on
spring mattresses in snug English rooms. Many a time
have I stood over the sleeping forms of some twenty or
thirty men, and admired the perfect repose of both
limbs and features, and longed that I had the power of
some great painter, that these living pictures might be
retained, as I saw them, for ever; but then the picture
could never be quite the same, no not even if I had the
pencil of the greatest artist that ever lived, for it would
lack that delicious fragrance of the marsh herbs, the
smell of the dew-refreshed earth, and the thousand half-
hushed sounds that all came into the pieture of my mind.
But there is the sun just peeping over the eastern
horizon of the glassy sea like a red-hot ball, and then
first one and then another of the numerous sleepers
rouses up, yawns and stretches, and in a few minutes
scores of camp-fires are ablaze; a little later and the
fragrant smell of the Howers gives place to that of
highly-roasted black coffee, and then the lately sleeping
human swarm is all at work. The bustle and the
anxiety, the bother and the worry, the jokes and the
laughs, that make up a working life have begun again,
and the quiet night is a thing of the past.

I have often heard it asserted in England that pass-
ports are not asked for in Turkey, and that it is the
cH. XVI. Passports. 153

 

freest country on the continent for anyone to travel in,
and that the Turk thoroughly respects the liberty of
everyone so long as the reasonable laws of the country
are respected. Now these assertions are based on igno-
rance. There is no country I have ever been in where
the law requires stricter passport regulations than in
Turkey. Not only is it necessary for foreigners to
carry and show their passports, but everyone, foreigner
or native—Turk, Christian, or Jew—has to be provided
with a passport for the very shortest journey 7 the
country—even from one village to another, and any
wretched understrapper of the Government may demand
to examine it, and through it give the traveller an in-
finite amount of trouble.

It really appears to one, when living in Turkey,
that all the laws are made for the express purpose of
annoying honest people; for rogues ride roughshod
through them, and are often greatly assisted by them,
whilst those who would be honest and straightforward
have to suffer both in purse and temper.

True, the administration of the law is so feeble, and
those whose business it is to put it in force are so venal
and idle, that, by anyone who knows how to set about it,
law can be either bought or avoided. But the freshly
arrived European, who expects the law to protect and
he]p him as long as he remains honest, finds it is only
used to extract money from his pocket, and as a capital
exercise for his bad temper.

Bakshish ninety-nine times out of a hundred saves
the delinquent. Bakshish buys the judge, buys false
154 Bulgaria before the War. CH. XVI.

 

witnesses, opens the customs to contraband goods,
staves off the tax-collector, and is the finest passport in’
Turkey. Bakshish cleverly administered will release
the murderer from prison, shoe the patient soldier with
paper boots, load his musket with sawdust cartridges,
and allow rogues and swindlers of all sorts to enjoy a
good time of it.

I have ‘seen bakshish pass some traveller through
the passport office, whilst a poor foreigner who did not
understand its use has stood for hours amidst dirt,
smells, and all the discomforts invariably attending an
official’s office, waiting for his passport, which is as
perfectly en régle as the law can make it.

I once discovered an unfortunate English lady
jammed in a filthy crowd in a passport office, dreading
she should miss the train which was about to start, in
vain assuring the official that she had been told in
London that passports were not needed. I felt sure
bakshish was the only thing necessary, but before trying
that I thought of another dodge. I ran upto my office,
rummaged an old shooting license out of my gun case,
and giving it to the lady, told her to present it. The
trick answered, and in a few minutes the license was
returned properly viséed as the veritable passports are,
and the lady was free to continue her journey.

Not only are passports required, but everyone carry-
ing firearms in Turkey has to buy a permission to do
so, which has to be renewed each year and paid for
afresh.

When the rail-laying was going on near Pravady,
cH. XVI. flow Robbers are made. I 5 5

 

we had a gang of strapping young Turks at work there
under a Turkish chaoush or foreman, and this man had
in his possession two very handsomely-mounted pistols,

_which unfortunately attracted the attention of the head
of the zaptiehs at Pravady, who at once plotted to do the
man out of them. He waited till the ‘ permis’ to carry
arms was a few days out of date, and then riding down
the lines to the gang he began examining their papers.
When he came to the chaoush and found that his was
out of date he abused him violently, and finished by
confiscating the pistols, riding away with them sticking
in his belt.

When the men were paid at the end of the month
the chaoush bid the English foreman goodbye, saying,
‘T shall not return to work again. I shall now live as
a big man, and I have no doubt you will hear of me. I
am going first to look after my pistols.’

About a month later the chaoush and all his gang
entered the little town of Pravady at the dead of night,
surprised and overpowered the watchmen, and then pro-
ceeding to the house of the zaptieh, forced open the
door, and, with a pistol in his hand, rushed into the
room. Fortunately for him the zaptieh was away at
Varna, and only the wife at home; so discovering this
to be the case, the chaoush first gave her a scolding for
appearing with her face uncovered (she having in her
hurry and fright forgotten to arrange her yashmak),
and then sent her for the two pistols, which she soon
brought him. He at once turned to leave, but when
he got to the door he told her to tell her husband he
156 Bulgaria before the War. CH, XVI.

 

had better be on the look-out, for sooner or later, per-
haps not for years, but nevertheless he would most cer-
tainly, be killed, and he swore by Allah that he or one
of his men should carry out the threat.

For some years after this, in fact till I left Turkey,
this gang was the terror of the eastern slopes of the
Balkans, and though from time to time they disap-
peared for months, yet they were sure to crop up again
and be recognised by some unusually daring robbery ;
and not only were they themselves a scourge, but they
afforded a shield from behind which many a murder
and robbery was committed, for when a traveller was
found dead and robbed the deed was sure to be laid to
the door of the chaoush and his gang, and the local
authorities felt excused from taking the trouble of
hunting up the real perpetrators.

The next thing we heard of this gang was that they
had paid a visit in the middle of the night to the
governor of Yenibazar, a little town ten miles beyond
Pravady. Having overpowered his zaptiehs, they
cleared out the Government chest, and also made the
governor send out and collect from the townspeople a
further sum of 2001. T. They also informed him that
if 2001. T. more were not deposited at a certain spot
within a month, his head would have to make a journey
into the hills without the usual encumbrance of his
.body. The money was never deposited in my day, but
I often saw the governor at Shumla Road Station look-
ing anything but comfortable, and always surrounded
by a strong guard.
cH, XVI, How Robbers are made. 157

 

I never heard that either the threat to the zaptieh’s
wife nor this to the governor was ever carried out; but
from what I know of the Turks I feel sure that sooner
or later the chaoush will have kept his word—that is
to say, if his intended victims do not die some other
death in the meantime.

We did not much fear being molested by these men,
first, because we knew they had no grudge against us,
and secondly, because we (that is, Mac and I) took
care that it was well known all over the country that
we never carried money, and so attempting to rob us
would have been not only dangerous but unprofitable.
Anyhow we rode all over the line alone, even through
the dreaded Pravady Gorge with its evil reputation,
and yet we never had an uncivil word said to us. Not
that Pravady Gorge was maligned, for twice during the
construction of the line foul deeds were perpetrated .
in it,
158 Bulgaria before the War. cH. XVII.

CHAPTER XVII.

Two Murders—Zaptiehs protecting Roads—Insulting an Englishman—
Merchants going to Fairs—Commercial Morelity—Consuls.

IT Hap. occasion one day to call on the Governor of
Pravady, and found him enquiring into a case of brutal
outrage. It appeared that at the next village to
Pravady there lived an old Turk and his one wife, who,
from the number of his sheep and cattle and the quan-
tity of land he had under cultivation, was considered
rich. Anyhow a band of five ruffians, with their faces
disguised, had, on the previous night, broken into his
room, dragged him out of bed and then cut his throat,
His wife was told that if she kept her head covered up
in the bed-clothes so as not to see the murderers no
harm should come to her, but the cries and struggles
of her old man proved too much for her and she sprang
up to try to help him. After the man had been mur-
dered the brutal fiends deliberately gagged the poor
woman, and then cut her tongue out so that she was
unable to give evidence against them.

I myself saw the poor creature lying huddled up
and groaning in a corner of the governor’s room, and
I heard that she had died a few minutes after I had
cH. XVII. Two Murders. 159

 

left, but not before she had by signs made her story
intelligible, and also pretty clearly pointed to a Turk
in a neighbouring village as the leader of the ruffians.
Doubtless they were neighbours, as otherwise they
would not have been so afraid of being recognised.

Again, just above Pravady, in the quietest part of
the gorge, Tom Bilby observed, as he passed with his
engine on three successive days, that two horses re-
mained tied up to a tree without food. He pointed
them out to one of our engineers as he passed the place,
and on stopping the engine and going up to the horses
they discovered, just beyond them, two Jews, their
arms tied behind them and their heads thrust into the
brook, both quite dead. The poor horses were let loose
and at once rushed into the river to quench their thirst,
Then putting the two dead Jews into a waggon, they
carried them on to Pravady, and told the governor what
they had found.

The only remark he made was, ‘Ah, what matters
it? two Jews—I'll see to it.’ Again the same Turk was
suspected who was supposed to have committed the
previous murder; but no enquiry was ever made and
no one ever troubled about it.

Every now and then, when some great fair was
going on, as, for instance, the annual one at Eski
Djuma (a town some twenty miles to the west of the
road between Rustchuck and Shumla), a feeble attempt
was made to protect the merchants going thither with
their goods, by placing, about ten miles apart on the
chief roads leading there, three. or four special zaptiehs,
160 Bulgaria before the War. OH. XVII.

and these nearly always were a parcel of rowdy Ar-
nouts, ‘who built themselves huts on the side of the
road, sponged on the nearest village for food, and sys-
tematically insulted every passer-by they dare, under
the pretence of examining their teskeris-or passports.
Nine times out of ten, when we passed these stations,
the guard was to be seen fast asleep, and I have often,
through this, been able to avoid their insolence and a
useless and annoying delay. It is rare that any of
these zaptiehs can read, so that any bit of paper with a
big seal on it passes muster; but in spite of their not |
knowing a word of the writing, one after the other of
the zaptiehs intently examine it and try to look
knowing.

Then, as guards they are quite useless. What
chance would they have, placed ten miles from the
nearest picket, without horses, and only three or four
together, to stop such a gang of robbers as that of our
old friend the chaoush? besides, I believe them to be a
set of arrant cowards, and that they would cave in to:
robbers were they equal man to man. :

On one occasion a young English engineer had to
pass by one of these stations on his way from Rustchuck
to Pravady. He spoke but little Turkish, and knew
little of the manners of the country, and most naturally
supposed he had fallen among thieves, for his passport,
which was from the Governor-general, was overhauled,
and then confiscated. He was charged twenty piastres
for the trouble he had given. He was sworn at, abused,
and detained two hours on the road, and was then only
cx.xvn. Lnsulting an Englishman. 161

 

allowed to proceed after giving fifty piastres more to
gain permission to do so.

As it happened, he found R. A. B. sleeping a night
at Pravady, on his way up country, accompanied by his
- cavass, and to him he told his tale. R. A. B. knew it
would be labour lost to apply to the authorities for re-
dress, so took the law into his own hands, and when he
and his cavass reached the guard-house next morning,
they pounced on the two Arnouts, slipped one end of a
cord round each of their necks, and, fastening the other
end to their girths, took the two gentlemen on to Shei-
tanjik, a distance of thirty miles, and then turned them
loose, to find their way back as best they could. We
expected a grand kick-up about this, but never heard a
word about it. From that day, however, there was a
marked improvement in the behavour os all me special
guards to us English. “

Occasionally, when these guards were genuine
Turks, on arriving at their hut one was treated with
civility, and then it was pleasant to dismount and
stretch one’s legs, and, as soon as the men could prepare
it, drink a cup of black coffee; but these were rare
treats, and we learnt to avoid the guard-houses as one
would the professional robbér.

The love of commerce and money-making must be
marvellously strong in the Jew, the Armenian, and the
Greek, to induce them to travel over the country, from
fair to fair, with their merchandise, for they suffer tor-
tures from fear all the time they are on the road; and
well they may, for there are few of them that have not

M
162 Bulgaria before the War. cH. XVI.

been at. some time stopped, robbed, and ill-treated on
these journeys. If you ride with a native of the coun-
try he will, as you go along, point out at every few
miles some spot where a robbery or a murder has been
committed. ‘Here Demetri Jancho was robbed of a
hundred liras; there Juan Popa was strangled, because
he had not money enough to satisfy his murderers ;
there three Jews were found with their throats cut.
Yes, over that point would be our nearest way, but we
don’t like the road since a whole caravan of merchants
were stopped and robbed upon it, so go round in the
open plain,’ and so on.

Naturally, the merchant puts an extra price on all
his goods to cover the risk he runs, and the country is
almost as unsettled as if a foreign enemy were over-
running it, and trade and commerce are as effectually
stopped by the home enemy, the robber and the police,
the tax-collector and the Government official, as if the
dreaded and detested Russ had an army of Cossacks
skirmishing about.

The only comfort is that in Bulgaria one seldom feels
much pity for the victim, unless it is some poor peace-
ful villager who gets into trouble. The merchant and
trader, great or small, is always a rogue, and one gets
to feel rather glad when one hears that the rogue has
been robbed, and the cheater of piastres plundered of
liras. It may appear a hard thing to say of a class of
men that they are all rogues; but few Englishmen will
live as long as I did in Bulgaria without coming to the
same conclusion, and fewer still will get away without
cH, XVII. Commercial Morality. 163

 

being cheated.’ There is no such thing in Turkey as
commercial morality, and anyone who indulged in such
a Quixotic notion would be thought a fool, and when
one hears of a good merchant or trader, one at once
understands he is a cunning, successful cheat. They
are so proficient in the art of cheating, that they can
seldom over-reach one another, so they all prey on the
villager, both Turk and Christian, and consider they
have done badly if they do not do him out of ten to
fifteen per cent. on every bargain they make.

When the corn is coming up from the villages, the
merchants’ touts may be seen far away on the road try-
ing to makea bargain. ‘The price of corn has suddenly
gone down. No ships are in the harbour. The go-
vernor is buying up the corn in the town, at a nominal
price, for the Government.’ In this way the peasant is
induced to make a bad bargain before he reaches the
town. Then -his corn is measured out of his bullock-
carts with false measures, and when the number of
measures is mounting up, and there is a biggish
row of notches on the tally-stick, one may constantly
hear a dispute going on. The teller has dropped sud-
denly from calling out 510 to 410. The peasant cor-
rects him, and is at once shown the stick. with its
notches; a dispute is carried on for an hour or more,
but as perhaps a dozen different peasants are all dis-
charging into one magazine, and it was perhaps half
full of corn previously stored, nothing can be done.
Then the bland, oily merchant arrives upon the scene.
He hates disputes; would rather lose his money than

M2
164 Bulgaria before the War. cH. XVII.

quarrel with friends, &c., and so ‘we will split the differ-
ence, and go on counting from 460. Ah! you won't
have it so? Then come before the governor, and we
will ask him if a consul is likely to swindle. Come
along.’

To be made a consul for some country is the great
ambition of all merchants, for the gold-laced cap and
medal (nearly all foreign consuls have medals) awe the
peasant ; and, besides, the governor finds it better to
be on good terms with a consul, and so when there is a

dispute between a consul and a peasant, the minnow
has to give way to the shark.

I am glad to say our English eis are not
allowed to trade, and, therefore, they are the most
respected of all except the Russian, who also confines
himself to his consular business. .

I must own, though, that I have known many of
our English consuls who were utterly unfit for their
post; and in my opinion there is nothing wants look-
ing into more than the efficiency of our Consular
Service in the Levant. I can speak with some autho-
rity ; for not only did I know many consuls, but I once
acted in that capacity myself at Varna for nine months,
and so got some insight into the business—an insight
that gave me the poorest opinion of the way it is con-
ducted.

Often the consul is a Levantine, with numerous
relatives around him, all pestering him to use his
authority to gain them some advantage from the local
government. Then the man himself is not chosen be-
cH. XVI. Consuls. 165

 

cause he has any special aptitude for his duties, nor
has he had any previous training. Many are regular
‘jacks in office,’ ignorant, prejudiced, and consumed
- with the idea of their own great importance. They
have hardly one day’s work in a month, and the truth
of the old saying of the devil finding work for idle:
hands to do, can often be seen close under the English
flag in some dull little Turkish town.

Silly childish quarrels are always going on between
the British consul and his colleagues about some sup-
posed breach of etiquette; and he who is sent to
protect British interests spends his life in watching
the behaviour towards himself of those he fancies are
either cutting a grander figure than himself, or are
wishing to put some slight upon him.

Frequently their knowledge of law is nil, and their
knowledge of the country and people is prejudiced and
incorrect. They only mix with the rich merchants
and Turkish officials, while the peasant—his lifes: his
troubles, his pursuits and his aspirations, are quite un-
known to them. The information for the reports they
send home is collected chiefly from the Turkish offi-
cials, and is quite unreliable; and yet these men
receive a salary that would induce many educated and
intelligent Englishmen to jump at the appointments.

I have seen some brilliant exceptions to all this;
have seen men who were respected and honoured by
all, high and low, Turk and Christian, and whose
knowledge of the country and people they live amongst
was the result of years of careful study. But again, I
166 Bulgaria before the War. cH, XVII.

 

must repeat, these were the exceptions, as far as my
experience goes. : ’

I know that the truth of these assertions wlll be
doubted, and that every single consul in the Levant
could find some one to speak to his fitness for his
position—some one who has visited his consulate, re-
ceived his hospitality, and profited by his official posi-
tion ; but I do not think these would be competent to
judge. It is only those who have lived long in the
country, and known it well, who have watched the
conduct of the consuls, and read their official reports
on the manners and doings of the people they live
among, that can understand how unfit they often are
for their work.

As a specimen of the way consular business was
transacted at Varna some few years ago, I may mention
how it was I became an acting consul ; and first let me
say that I had not the slightest idea of consular work,
and had to learn how to carry it on from a wily Greek,
a man who I knew was a cheat and a rogue.

The consul at Varna was taken ill, and as he did
not recover as quickly as he wished, he suddenly deter-
mined to take six weeks’ leave, and so begged me to
receive the seal, flag, and archives for that time. I
pointed out that I was utterly unfit for the work, but
he begged so hard that I would undertake it, and
assured me so forcibly that there would in all proba-
bility be nothing to do, that at last I gave way. The
archives, such as they were, were brought to my office
and I had an inventory taken of them. There were
CH, XVII. Consuls. 167

 

no copies of old reports, no instructions, no forms or
official papers. There was just the seal and its box,
the flag, and about a pound’s worth of old nicknacks,
_ the effects of British subjects who had died at Varna.

The six weeks became six months, during all which
time I never heard a word from the consul or any other |
official person ; so not knowing whither the consul had
taken himself, I at last wrote to the Foreign Office and
stated my case. In answer to my letter I was assured
that no one knew that the consul had left his post, and
I was politely asked to continue to act until some one
was sent out. The old consul never appeared again,
but after three months a fresh one was appointed, and
I, after nine months’ work, if work it could be called,
handed up the seal, &c. As my services never received
any public thanks, perhaps I may be allowed to say for
myself that I had nothing to do, and did not do it very’
badly, which is more than can be said of many Levan-
tine consuls in the same position.

From experience, I have come to the conclusion
that under no circumstances should a Levantine ever
be made a consul, as, even if he is an honest clever man,
he is yet sure to be in awe of the Turkish officials and
will be got at and influenced by them. I would go
further. I would never have a man appointed consul
who had lived long enough in Turkey to learn to twist
up a cigarette ! .

Every consul should be appointed direct from Eng-
land, after a proper education and after passing a com-
petitive examination. He will not perhaps have the
5
168 Bulgaria before the War. OH. XVII.

 

same knowledge of the people at first, but his judg-
ment will not be warped by deep-rooted prejudices, and
he will not have friends to deter him from doing his
duty.
If the consular salaries are not good enough to
induce educated gentlemen to bury themselves in dull
Turkish towns, let them be.increased. The Foreign
Office would then get its money’s worth, it would not
be led so much astray, and in time we should have a
really valuable collection of consular reports, on which
we might act’ whenever the Eastern question has one of
its periodical eruptions. .

I have said that of all the consuls in Turkey the
English are the most honoured and respected, except
the Russian. Ihave said this after due thought and
consideration, for I believe the Russian consular service
is as superior to ours as ours is to’ all others. I have
known many Russian consuls in the East, and I have
invariably found them intelligent, well-informed men,
keeping to themselves, doing their business quietly and
without ostentation, never mixed up in trifling quarrels
with their colleagues, and never getting into troubles
with the authorities; and from conversations I have
often had with them, I believe they understand more
of the people of the East than all the other consuls put
together. It is said, I know, that they intrigue
with the Bulgars against the Turks, and that it
may be so I cannot deny, for they are men who do
what they have to do without taking the world into
their confidence.
CH. XVII. Consuls. 169

 

In Turkey proper I never saw or suspected that any
underhand work was going on, though I know that in
Bucharest there was, previous to the first Bulgarian
revolution, advice and moral support given to it by the
Russian consul.
170 Bulgaria before the War. CH, XVII.

 

CHAPTER XVIII.

Funerals—A Volunteer Clerk—Proposing to a Widow—Death of a
Contractor—Husbandry—Vineyards—A Generous Turk—Osmanlis
—Asking a Turk the time.

Durrne the time I was acting consul at Varna we had

several deaths among the English employed on the

railway, and it was then my duty to read the funeral
service. Somehow, little as I liked this amateur
clerical work, I was looked upon by all the Englishmen
ever after as the proper person to officiate, and so it
became part of my work; and during the time I was
at Varna I buried in all thirteen people: that is to say,
nearly all who died during that time. As it became
my duty to be the parson, so somehow it fell to the lot
of a great Scotch navvy to act as clerk; and not only
so, but during the last hours of the poor fellows who
died from any illness he would sit with them for hours
reading the Bible in a sing-song voice, and in a hard
matter-of-fact way. He was not picked out for this
duty from all the other Englishmen because he was a
religious or good character, nor do I think anyone paid
much attention to what he read. He simply drifted
into his work, and he and his Bible became as neces-
sary a part of a man’s dying decently as an elm coffin
and black clothes were considered correct for his burial.
cH, XVITL A Volunteer Clerk. 171

 

_ Then he acted as clerk, and arranged the funeral down
to the minutest details, from putting pennies on the
dead man’s eyes (piastres would have been rejected with
horror !) to seeing the grave was carefully finished off
when all was over.

Ifa woman was left a widow and in poor circum-
stances, another duty by universal consent devolved on
‘Scotty,’ namely, dunning all the other men for a sub-
scription for her, and from. the large sums he often
collected he was evidently a famous supplicant.

‘Now, you chap, I want something from you for
Mrs. S——. Come, look alive, and shell out. Well,
there now, two pound only, and you a-getting ten
shillings a-day. Well, you are a mean beggar. So help
me, if you get nipped, Pll see how as you arn’t buried
in elm nor put very deep in the ground. No, I aint
a-going to take less than five pounds, so look sharp
about it; I haint no time to be a-jawing here. There,
Ill put that to the widdy’s fund. Now for the kids.
There be three on ’em, so you give a pound a-piece.
What! the five pound do for the lot! No; I just aint
a-going to stand that, so out with your money; and
then when your turn comes I'll see you've all done
correct.’

English women were so scarce in Turkey that few
remained widows long; and I remember on one occasion
as I was leaving the graveyard after a funeral I was over-
taken by a sub-contractor, who said he wished to speak
to me ‘verry partic’lar.’ ‘You see, sir, I hear as how
the poor widow yonder is going to pack up her traps,
172 Bulgaria before the War. cu. xvm.

and leave by the steamer for Constantinople to-morrow
morning. Now I don’t think as how it would do for
me to speak just now, but if, sir, you would kindly see
her this evening, and tell her as how I be willing, if so
be as she be willing, for to marry ber; say. in three
weeks: that is as soon as the top grief has got trod down
a-bit. It do seem a pity as such a useful crittur should
go away, and women so scarce. I have spoke to my
mates, and none of them want her, and so I thought as
how I would speak to you.’

As the man was. getting on well in the world, and
was able to provide for a wife, I called on the widow
that same afternoon, and in five minutes had made her
the offer, and the sub-contractor was accepted, and
what is more, was married before three weeks were over.
He was the third husband the woman had had, and I
am sorry to say she did not enjoy her married life with
him long; for some months after their marriage he
was one day riding quietly up the line on a stodgey old
pony, when as he was passing between some thick
acacia bushes a wolf trotted across the line under the
pony’s nose, and so scared it, that it twisted round like
a top, depositing its rider on a heap of sleepers, with
two of his ribs broken. I have no doubt he would soon ‘
have recovered from this accident, but being confined
to his house with nothing to do, he passed his time
with a brandy bottle at his lips, and three or four
days after his first mishap, fell, whilst drunk, off the
verandah, and so injured himself, that he died the same
night, and I had to bury him. I did not on this
cx.xvm. Death of a Contractor. 173

 

occasion propose again to the widow, as no one asked
me, so I suppose she having survived her third husband,
was looked upon as an unlucky venture.

Strangely enough, the very morning the man died

-I had been scolding him for the disgraceful manner he
was carrying out his contract for rail-laying; and
on my saying that I knew it was a good paying con-
tract, and he should not scamp it, he replied, ‘ Look
here, sir, I have not made a penny by it. IfI have,
may the Lord strike me dead.’

After the funeral the consul seized his effects (as he
had a daughter living by a previous marriage), and it
was then discovered that he had 8002. buried under his
hearthstone, all of which I know he had made out of
his contract, as he borrowed a few pounds of me to buy
food, etc., when he first began it.

When [I first arrived in Turkey I made the mistake
that Englishmen are apt to make when visiting the
country—that of despising the people for their very rude
style of husbandry, but I have since learnt to modify my
opinion on the subject. I say modify, for doubtless
much might be done by better implements, such as good
iron ploughs, &c., to save time and labour; though in
a country where the weather is settled for months, as it
is in Bulgaria, even this is not of any great importance,
‘As for farming the land in a rough manner, no doubt it
is better in most parts to do so, for it pays better to
bring fresh land under cultivation, rest the old land
and crop a larger area, than to expend labour on keep-
ing the old land in a fertile condition by deep plough-
174 Bulgaria before the War. om, xvm,

 

ing and manuring. In few parts is there any dearth
of land, so the farmer can always break up virgin soil,
and give that which has been cropped a long rest.

Just before I left Turkey the inhabitants in some
of the large villages and in places where, owing to the
near proximity of the hills and forests, land for culti-
vation was somewhat scarce, did begin to use manure;
and this they could do to any extent, for in all villages
there are perfect mountains of accumulated manure
that could not be exhausted for years, and would be a
perfect fortune to a man were it in England.

The old Roman wooden plough continues to be the
only one in use, and this is dragged through the ground
by a perfect herd of oxen. No attempt is ever made
to harrow or roll the land, or to free it from weeds,
but the seed corn is scattered broad-cast over it, and
left to take its chance, and I must say that generally it
does remarkably well. The chief crops are wheat and
barley ; the former being of a small, hard, fine-skinned
description, that seems created especially for the lazy
Turk, for it does not shell out from the ear, so that
there is no hurry necessary in getting it under cover.
Owing to the iniquitous system of tything it on the
ground, and to the Turkish rule of never doing to-day
what possibly may be done to-morrow, it often remains
months on the ground. As far as I am able to judge,
the barley is very good, being large in grain and rich
in colour; but I am not a farmer, and therefore may
be mistaken in this.

Most of the wheat is exported, chiefly to the Medi-
CH, XVIII. | Husbandry. 175

 

terranean, and also some of the barley, but large quan-
tities of the latter are consumed in the country, as it is
the only corn ever given to horses. Besides wheat and
barley Indian corn is grown, especially on the Dobrudja
and on the wide plains between the hills. Then millet
is also grown in small quantities, and is used occa~
sionally to fatten up horses for sale.

Unlike most semi-civilised countries, and also unlike
most that think themselves civilised, in Turkey women,
or rather Christian women, do not work in the fields,
and for this reason: were they to do so they would be
subjected to fearful insults from their lords and masters
the Turks ; and so they never venture far away from
their houses and the protection of their neighbours.
Now and then a few Turkish women may be seen in the
fields at harvest time, but even with them it is nota
general practice. No woman of any description ever
asked for work on the railway, nor are they ever
employed on works for the Government.

* Potatoes were just becoming known in Bulgaria in
the year 1857, having been first introduced by the
German colonists in the. Baba Dagh mountains in the
far eastern corner. formed by the Danube and Black
Sea. They never became a favourite food with any of
the natives, and though it was always easy to procure
them, large quantities were not cultivated. In their
place melons and water melons are used in summer in
immense numbers, and in winter dried pumpkins are
cooked. The best soil in Bulgaria for melons is some
high and dry piece of virgin pasture, roughly ploughed,
176 Bulgaria before the War. om. xvut.

 

and the seeds sown broadcast amongst the rough uneven
turf. Near every village may be seen many acres of
these two kinds of melons, and when they are ripe the
entire population may be said to live on them, and tq
us Europeans it appears marvellous to see the way a
Turk or Bulgarian can swallow them by the cart-load.
Melons of both sorts, as big as a man’s head and of
splendid flavour, may be bought in any of the towns for
about the tenth part of a penny, and in the villages
they are given away to whoever likes to eat one; the
consequence is that wherever you go, either in the vil-
lages or far away on the roads, melon peels are to be
seen lying in all directions covered by millions of flies
and insects. As far as I myself am concerned, a good
tuck-out on Swede turnips would be preferable to the
best melon, and far more digestible; but in this the old
saying that ‘one man’s meat is another man’s poison,’
proves true; for not only have I seen natives, old and
young, eat them till they swelled visibly before my eyes
with no ill result, but I have seen a fastidious English
lady in Turkey demolish a big one just before going to
bed, and yet, strange to say, not only has she been
alive next morning, but apparently quite well and re-
freshed with sleep, ,
With the water melon it is different. They are so
soft and watery, that when the outside rind is taken
off one as big as my head, it cannot weigh more than a
few ounces, and 90 per cent. of its contents is liquid.
On a cool day a water melon is distasteful to most
people, unless they have by long habit acquired a relish
CH. XVITI. | V wneyards. 177

 

for them; but in a broiling sun when one is hot and
feverish, their coolness and lusciousness is most re-
freshing, and I plead guilty to having often eaten three
or four at a sitting.
' In the immediate neighbourhood of both Varna
and ~Rustchuck there are many thousands of acres of
vineyards producing great quantities of excellent grapes,
from which is made a poor sort of ‘ vin ordinaire,’ which
I have no doubt might be greatly improved by a little
care in the manufacture. As it is now, the grapes are
thrown just as they come from the vineyards into large
tubs, and then a good big youngster in a state of
nature is pitched in on the top of them, and there he
kicks and tramples about till the juice is extracted and
the boy himself has become redder all over than the
reddest Indian. Doubtless all impurities are carried |
off by the fermentation, and it is only imagination that
makes me believe that Turkish wine is flavoured with
Bulgar.
These vineyards are the only crops in Turkey that
are fenced in, and not only are they protected in this
way, but, to make all safe, watchmen are stationed all
over the vineyards during summer.

The vines themselves are all low stubby bushes
about three feet high, planted in rows, and carefully
pruned in the autumn, when also the earth is hoed up
round the roots to protect them from the cold of win-
ter. No sort of manure is ever used, and so in time a
vineyard wears itself out and is left covered with weeds
for years until it recovers. Generally the owners of the

N
178 Bulgaria before the War. om. xvm.

 

vineyards are most generous with their grapes, and will
allow one to pick and eat as many as one likes on the
ground, besides giving away great quantities. The
price of grapes is, however, so trifling, that it really is
of no consideration to the very poorest.

A friend of mine was one day shooting in the vine-
yards at Rustechuck, when he was stopped by an old
Turk and told that trespassers were not allowed, and
that he must clear off at once. My friend turned to
comply, but before leaving said in Turkish, ‘ What man-
ner of man are you? I have shot in these vineyards
for years without a word being said to me, and to-day I
have passed over many miles and spoken to many
owners of vineyards, and you are the only one who has
raised the slightest objection. The vineyard is yours,
and you have the right to object to my being here, so
I shall leave your ground, but I never received such
treatment from an Osmanli before.’

The Turk, who up to this time had been squatting
on the ground, jumped up, and with a marvellous dis-
play of energy, began protesting : ‘ Tchellaby, you shall
not say so-—others have shown you hospitality, and I
will not be behind them. Go where you like, eat what
you like, carry away all you like, and all the vineyard is
yours to do as you like with.’ The Englishman thanked
him, and it ended in the two squatting down and
having a feast on grapes and smoking a cigarette
together.

Tam always glad to tell anything I can in these
pages which shows the Turk in a good light (as I
CH. XVIII. Osmanlts. 179

 

think the above does), for I fear if I keep to the strict
truth I may tell many a tale that does not redound to
his honour: the fact is, he is a strange mixture—quite
unintelligible to us Europeans—full of the vices of the
Eastern savage, which are yet often qualified by great
virtues.

It may be observed that the term Osmanli’ is
used in the foregoing anecdote. No Mussulman ever
calls himself a Turk; and further, to call him so is to
insult him. The term Turk, when addressed to anyone,
is synonymous to our word ‘lout,’ and is never used
except in that sense, unless it is by some foreigner
who does not know how it is understood. I have often
heard people freshly arrived in the country splutter
out the question, ‘Are you a Turk?’ to some dignified
old fellow ; thereby doubly insulting him, first by insinu-
ating that he might be a Giaour, and secondly by
asking him if he isa lout! The Turk, however, is very
quick at catching the meaning of foreign words and
broken Turkish, and will at once see that no insult is
intended, and will answer, ‘ Yes, Iam an Osmanli.’ If
the feelings of the Turk are apt to be hurt, those of the
European who does not understand the ways of the
country may often also suffer from being called a liar.
If in conversation a doubtful statement is made, it is
not considered bad manners to tell a friend that he is
telling a lie; it only means in our language that he is
making a mistake. I suppose lying is so common in
Turkey that it has become an accomplishment, and

n2
180 Bulgaria before the War. om. xvm.

 

therefore it is not an insult to say you tell a lie, but
rather the reverse.
Again, Europeans are sometimes hurt at not re-
ceiving thanks from a Turk for any little attention
they may show him. Thus, for instance, a man will
stop you on the road and ask you for a light for his
pipe. You give him one, and he rides on without any
acknowledgment, remarking, ‘May your journey be
prosperous.’ There is no equivalent in the Turkish
language for our word ‘ Thank you,’ and the nearest.
approach to it, ‘ May God reward you,’ is too much for
so slight a favour as the giving a pipe-light, or telling
what o’clock it is. By the way, let me warn the
traveller in Turkey if he is in a hurry never tu ask a
Turk for the time. The chances are if he does, the
man begins in the slowest possible manner, so slow
indeed that it is impossible for the most sleepy Eng-
lishman to mimic him, to search in the folds of his
sash. After some minutes he fishes out a canvas or
silk bag in which is his watch. One of the old-
fashioned ones, such as our great-great-grandfathers
carried about, as big and round as an orange, and en-
closed in a pinchbeck case. The bag will be tied up
" by a loose piece of twine in a hard knot, the untying of
which will take many minutes, then the case will take
a while to open, and when it is the man will apply his
ear to the watch for half a minute to make sure it is
going, and about nine times out of tenit is not. Even
if it is going, it will only be ‘somewhere about the
time,’ and one cannot feel sure of it by an hour or so.
cH, XVIII. Asking the Time. 181

 

Then the time will be given in Turkish fashion, which
begins to count at sundown, and goes on for the whole
twenty-four hours, so in the middle of the afternoon
one may be told it is exactly 17 o’clock. Then as the
sun does not have the politeness to set every day at the
same time, it is necessary to carry an almanack in one’s
head to reduce the Turkish time to English. After
the Turk has taken all this trouble, it is not polite to
ride away and leave him before he has returned: his
watch to its case, the case to the bag—the bag, after
being carefully knotted up, to his sash and all shaken
into place; so to learn the time of day within an hour
or so a quarter of an hour will be wasted, a quarter of
an hour that would have put the English traveller two
miles further on bis road. The fact is watches and
clocks are very little used by the Turks, as time is of no
value, and if they are in a town the cry of the immaun
from the mosque calling to prayer is sufficient, or if in
the country, a look at the sunis enough for their needs.
182 Bulgaria before the War. cH, XIX.

 

CHAPTER XIX.

Droughts—Progress of Railroad—A Railway Accident—Attempts
i to wreck Trains.

Every few years, say about once in ten years, there is
more or less of a drought in Turkey, and the crops out
on the great open plains perish for want of moisture,
and the cattle die by hundreds, or have to be sold off at
nominal prices to those living in more fortunate situ-
ations. During the second summer we were engaged
on the railway we had a drought, and the crops and
cattle suffered greatly. At last even the Turks were
aroused out of their indifference, and it was then that
I witnessed a curious ceremony. All the small Turkish
children from the schools were formed into a procession
headed by the mollahs, and marched out of the town
into the open plain, where they were ranged in lines,
and spreading the little carpet each one carried, they
all at a word from the head mollah fell down and prayed
with their faces to the east. After continuing this for
an hour, they again formed in procession and marched
back into the town, droning out as they trailed along a
most dismal and hideous chant. But Allah did not
seem to hear their prayer, or at any rate did not grant
their request; for instead of rain coming, it got hotter
cH. XIX Droughts. 183

 

and hotter, and for weeks the sun played down on the
parched ground without a cloud in the sky to moderate
its force, till every living creature was prostrated by it,
and even the birds sat about gasping in the shade with
their beaks wide open. The only things that did not
seem to mind it, or had a spark of energy left in them,
were the pretty lizards that wherever you go in Turkey
during the summer may be seen darting about in every
direction, and the fiercer the heat is, the more happy
they appear to be.

During this excessive heat the work progressed
somewhat slowly, the men not having the power to
work or the masters and foremen sufficient energy left
in them properly to press matters forward; and it was
only owing to the long hours we all worked that we
got on as well as we did. First embankments and
cuttings were finished in section after section, and then
day by day the rails crept forward, in gorges, over
‘morasses, out on the down-like plains, till at last the
joyful day arrived when a pair of rails had to be cut
for a junction, and each end of the works exchanged
an engine. The line even then was far from being
completed, for ballasting had to be finished, sidings,
crossings, turn-tables, and signals put in, and the
stations finished off and put in order for the traffic.

As I was not the engineer who designed the plans,
or decided where the line should go, but simply had to
see the works properly executed, I may be allowed to
say that I think, taking all things into consideration, it

was most skilfully laid out, and during the years I was
184 Bulgaria before the War. Om. XIX.

on it I never had reason to wish that any part of it had
been differently planned. TI say, taking all things into
consideration, for no doubt had money been unlimited
it would have been better to have made a far more
expensive line, avoiding sharp curves and heavy
gradients, and to have kept the line at the foot of the
hill on the Rustchuck section rather than on the high
table land, so that the produce of the country might
have been brought down-hill to it, rather than dragged
wearily up.

But then money is the one thing always scarce in
Turkey, and if the line had been planned to cost more
it would not have been made to this day. The only
fault I have to find with the line is that it is far too
good for the country, and especially that so much
money was spent on the stations, which are all sub-
stantial stone buildings, far beyond the requirements of
the people of the country. If these stations had,
instead, been mere sheds, and the money expended on
them had been used for reducing some of the gradients,
it would have been better ; but the Turks could see and
understand somewhat the imposing appearance of the
station as shown in the plans submitted to them, but
could not understand why a locomotive should not work
up and down an incline of one in forty-five.

In all countries and at all times the life of the
engineer of a railway must be full of anxiety, but it is
doubly so on a railroad under construction, and trebly
so in Turkey, where, owing to the inexperience of all
the workmen, their indifference and incapacity to see
cH, XIX, A Railway Accident. 185

 

danger, and to the wretched state of the police and the
feebleness of the law, accident may be dreaded at any
time from any one of the above causes.

Our experience on the Kustendji Railway taught
us that it was quite useless to fence in the line, for the
villagers there stole the whole of the fencing in one
winter without a single culprit being caught by the
zaptiehs ; so we determined on the Varna line to trust
entirely to our cow-catchers, and a strict rule was esta-
blished that no engine should ever get up steam without
having one on; but even with this protection we were
not safe, and from time to time accidents did occur
from the train being kicked off the line by a horse, ox,
or buffalo. |

I am sorry to say that the first serious accident we
had on the line was through the fault of the English
driver. He was taking out a train of fifteen waggons
heavily loaded with rails, and from what we could after-
wards make out about it, it seems he was not quite
sober. A few miles out of Varna the line descends
through a cutting, on rather a steep gradient, and then |
runs over a short high bank. On reaching the top of
the gradient, the Bulgar stoker very properly put on
the break, but no sooner had he done so than the driver,
swearing at him, pulled it off again, and then put on
all steam.

Away rushed the engine with its heavy load, and
fortunately got just over the high bank, when it gave a
hop in the air, and turning across the line went over on
its side, the fifteen waggons behind it jumping one
186 Bulgaria before the War. CH, XIX.

 

atop of the other in one confused mass of rails, waggons,
broken wood, and twisted iron.

Just before the train started Mae had been at the
station and had ejected from the waggons some score of
would-be travellers, but, unfortunately, as the train was
moving off, a Turk, with his wife and a little girl of
seven years of age, had scrambled on to the last waggon
and squatted down between the end of the rails and
the thick board that formed the end of the waggon.

When the smash came the rails shot forward, and
one of them pierced through the chest of the man,
carrying him on over the wreck till it struck the engine,
when it turned up in the air, lifting the man, still
impaled, high above the wreck. The poor woman had
both her legs broken, and died in a few hours without,
I am glad to say, apparently suffering any pain.

The unfortunate child at the same time had her arm
broken above the elbow, and was with difficulty extracted
from the mass of wreckage, maimed for life and an
orphan.

The darkest cloud has a silver lining, and so had
this one, for the Bulgar stoker behaved splendidly. I
have said that when the engine went over all steam was
on, and as both the driver and stoker were at once
pitched clear out into the field, they had no time to
shut it off, so as the great beast lay on its side its
wheels continued to revolve at a fearful rate. Neither
of the men were hurt, and as the driver picked him-
self up he said, ‘ Hook it, mate, she’ll bust in a minute,’
and suited the action to the word by placing the pile
cH, Six, A Railway Accident. 187

 

of broken waggons between himself and the dreaded
machine. Not so the Bulgar. He at once jumped up,
made a dash at the prostrate engine, shut off the steam,
and then opened the safety valves, which he found
firmly closed by the mass of débris ; and thus doubtless
saved a much more fearful accident and a greater des-
truction of property.

For this heroic deed he was liberally rewarded at the
time, and before I left Turkey I am glad to say he was
one of the regular drivers on the line, a capable and
deservedly trusted man.

Mac and I, with a gang of men, were quickly on
the scene of the accident, and having first sent off the
poor little girl on a trolly to Varna, we busied ourselves
in getting the line cleared of the wreck; but though
we worked hard with hardly a moment’s rest, it was
twenty-four hours before all was clear, and then we were
left with a crippled engine, and of the fifteen waggons
not one was fit for the rails.

The Greek doctor at Varna, in the absence of our
own medical man, amputated the child’s arm, and,
thanks to her great pluck and patience, she got well
over the operation and soon recovered. The railway
company gave her a sum of money that would make
her a great catch in a few years’ time for a poor
man, and every now and then during the years I
was at Varna she paid us a visit, and invariably on such
occasions extracted a handful of small coin from our
pockets.

There was a great row with the authorities about
188 Bulgaria before the War. cH. XIX,

 

this accident, but as they had neglected to place a
policeman at the station to prevent people getting on
the waggons, and objected to our using the only effectual
means of keeping them off, namely, a stick, they could
do nothing. They contented themselves, therefore, with
writing to the big-wigs at Constantinople, and stating
that many people had been killed, but that it was im-
possible to say how many, as the engineer on arriving
at the scene of the accident had buried all that had
been killed outright, and that the graves could not be
found !

How it was that more accidents did not happen is
now a marvel to me, for hardly a day passed without an
attempt being made somewhere on the line to upset the
train. One day it would be a big stone on the line,
another a rail bodily taken up, and on one occasion we
escaped a dire catastrophe by the merest chance. Just
beyond Kara Agatch, a village some seventeen miles up
the line, there was a wooden bridge over an old water-
course, which in summer was dry. Early one morning
a Turk from the neighbouring village passed under the
bridge on his way to the marshes to cut reeds, and
observing some fresh sawdust he examined the structure,
and found that one of the big wooden beams that
carried the rails had been sawn through within two
inches. At once he saw that a terrible accident must
occur if nothing were done, so he walked a few hundred
yards down the line, and there squatting waited patiently
for the train, which he stopped just in time within a
few yards of the fatal pitfall. We, on our part, rewarded
OH, XIX. Attempts to wreck Trains. 189

 

the man, but it is needless to say the Government
never moved at all in the matter.

During the time I was at Varna, many, not alto-
gether unsuccessful, attempts were made to upset trains,
but the only person ever punished on this score was one
of our young engineers. He chanced to be on the
engine one day, when rounding a curve he saw a big young
Turk deliberately carry an old sleeper and place it on
the rails. As soon as the engine slackened he jumped
off, gave chase, and overtaking the man hit him with
his fist and knocked him over. For this he was sum-
moned by the man himself before Midhat Pasha, who
was then the Governor of Rustchuck, and fined two
pounds, the man being allowed to get off free.
190 Bulgaria before the War. cH. XX,

 

CHAPTER XxX..

Government Inspectors—Turks at a Breakdown—Sport—
Deer-shooting.

Berorz the line was opened the Turkish Government
appointed two inspectors to see that the works were
properly executed and maintained—one a Pole and the
other a Turk, and I must say, two more ignorant
inefficient men never were employed. They were as
ignorant of anything connected with the construction
of a railway as a ploughboy in England would be, and
not half so capable of learning. They made up for
their deficiency, though, by their fussiness, or rather
the Pole did, for the Turk took things more easily and
was content so long as he got his salary, which we had
to pay him.

The Pole from the first. day looked upon me as his
natural enemy, and left no stone unturned to catch me
tripping. On one occasion he reported me to the
authorities because he found that ‘on one of the very
sharpest curves on the line the outside rail was much
higher than the inside one!’ I believe, however, that
he was an honest man and most anxious to do his duty,
if he only knew how; certainly he was most energetic
in running up and down the line, and might be said
to live in the first-class carriages.
CH. XX. | Government Inspectors. IgI

 

The Turk, on the other hand, was of the Young
Turkey school, and not very ‘straight.’ I remember
ounce when the Minister of Public Works (I think it was
Edhem Pasha) was to pass over the line, the inspector
asked our general manager to complain of him.
‘Just say that on the whole you are content with
me, but that you beg the Pasha will speak to me and
tell me not to show such an excessive amount of zeal,
and that above all things he will ask me to be more
friendly with you!’

When an accident occurred on the line we always
advised the inspectors of it, and gave them the chance
of proceeding to the scene on the picking-up trains;
and I confess it was a real treat to me to see the Pole
sitting in the broiling sun or biting cold hour after
hour, whilst we worked on, and every now and then to
ask his opinion on some matter connected with the
accident. He wasin such dread of committing himself
that he would twist and writhe about as if in extreme
tortures, but never uttered a word. Once when an
’ engine had jumped off the rails and had partially broken
a ballast waggon, the Polish inspector, who had gone
with me to the place, asked me how much damage I
thought was done. I answered jokingly, ‘Oh, some-
thing under 5,000.’ It was no joke to him, for on
his return to Varna he wrote a report to the Minister
at Constantinople, in which he said a grave accident
had occurred, and he estimated the damage done at
5,000/. When the accounts were made up at the end
192 Bulgaria before the War. cH. XX.

 

of the month, and he found.all had been repaired for
151, his rage with me was sublime. ,

It was at these accidents that the Turkish labourer
showed to the best advantage. I have known a gang
of young Turks had out to repair a bank, remove a slip,
or pick up a broken train, remain exposed to excessive
heat, rain, or intense cold for twenty-four hours at a
stretch. They have had no shelter—only black bread
and water, and little or no rest, and yet one would never
hear a murmur. It was sufficient for them that they
were ordered to do it, and that their masters stuck to
the job; and not only did they work, but they worked
with a will, and when all was done, seemed as pleased
as we were, and if we could procure them a sheep for a
feast looked upon it as a great favour and were tho-
roughly happy.

A Turk does not like steady work. He will do it
for a few months and do it fairly well, but it is against
the grain. But any exciting job he thoroughly enjoys,
and will then put forth all his latent energy. He wants
‘most careful supervision, being just like a child, rash
and impetuous and quite incapable of foreseeing danger,
but when he does get hurt he excels all other races in
bearing pain bravely, and I have seen a man with two
fingers broken actually want to go on working.

Not only is the Turk a good workman at a push, but
when he likes and respects his master, he is one of the
pleasantest men to work with, as he is willing and
obliging, and shows courtesy and good manners in a

hundred little ways.

“
cH, XX. Sport. | 193

 

I cannot imagine a more dreary life than one in
Bulgaria would be for a man who was not a sportsman,
a botanist, or a collector of some sort; for though he
may have work to do, the old saying, that ‘ All work and
no play makes Jack a dull boy,’ holds as good under the
Balkans as in any other part of the world, and the only.
‘play’ to be had is in the open field. For an English-
man there is no society of any sort ina Bulgarian town,
and the frequenters of the billiard-rooms and cafés are
such a rowdy set that no good can be derived from fre-
quenting them; sooner or later, the most peaceful of
mortals will get mixed up in a rowif he goes there, and
probably get a few inches of knife between his ribs.

Then, unless arrangements are made for books to be
sent out from England or Vienna, there is no reading ;
for in all ‘the towns of Bulgaria—that is in Varna,
Rustchuck, Widdin, Silistria, &c., there is no such thing
as a bookseller’s shop, not even on the very smallest
scale. Newspapers and letters arrive once or twice a
week, and the longing for home news causes an Eng-
lishman to gallop through them in the first twenty-four
hours, and then till the next postal delivery life is a
blank. No: there is only work and sport; and my ad-
vice to anyone going to live in a Turkish town is to
work hard at both.

For men engaged as we were, there is always plenty
of time in winter for shooting; for as the ground may
be frozen three feet deep and the cold so intense it is
impossible to handle a tool, the works have to be
stopped, or only those carried on that can be done under

Oo
194 Bulgaria before the War. cH, XX,

 

cover. It was very strange that though we had always
about a hundred Englishmen employed on the line,
there were not more than half a dozen sportsmen
among them all; which was the more fortunate for those
who were, as the game never got scarce or wild, and
some sort of a bag might be made any day within an
easy walk of the town.

When first I arrived at Varna I had sent up to
Kustendji for my two old setters, Bell and Bounce, now
grown somewhat old, but still able to do good steady
work in the field, especially after younger and faster
dogs had found the game and driven it into covert;
besides these I had out from England a brace of good
active pointers, and was therefore well prepared for the
first season, and the envy of my less fortunate com-
panions. .

Partridge-shooting may be said to commence in
August, but it is so fearfully hot then that there is
more pain than pleasure in it, and the really enjoyable
shooting does not commence till the end of September.
Having devoted an entire winter to shooting at Varna
while waiting for the commencement of the Kustendji
railroad, I knew pretty well where to find the game
and what to expect ; but great was my astonishment and
delight to find that since those days, partridgesin great
numbers had come down from the Dobrudja, and were
to be found out in the open cornfields close up to the
gates of the town. During all the winter I had previ-
ously lived at Varna I only saw two coveys of birds, and
everyone told us they were unknown except out on
CH, XX. Sport. 195

 

the Dobrudja ; now they were to be found everywhere,
and an ordinary shot, witha brace of good dogs, could,
towards the end of September, kill from fifteen to twenty
brace of birds in the day, besides filling up his bag with
quail, snipe, duck, a hare or two, and (oh tell it not in
the shires) a fox!

Then, besides partridge-shooting, a pretty day’s
sport might always be had on the Varna marsh among
the snipe; and if one was a glutton atit, as I confess I
was till fever and rheumatism made me more cautious,
a trip up the line to the great marshes some twenty
miles away brought one into the very créme dela créme
of snipe-shooting—-they literally swarmed there from
morning till night; one might fire and load as fast as
one could and yet snipe get up at every step, and this
not on exceptional days, but always from the end of
July tilljust before Christmas, when the marshes became
frozen and the snipe migrated.

The Turks looked upon snipe-shooting with wonder
and contempt. How could anyone with brains forego
the chance of getting a hare, a beast that might be
killed without danger and without fatigue, and, when
secured, was equal in weight to a whole bagfull of snipe ?
to plod about all day over one’s knees in water ina
smelling bog! ‘Ah, these English are curious people,
eccentric to the verge of madness, and the less a good
Osmanli has to do with them the better.’ No: a Turk’s
idea of real sport is to perch himself up on the top of a
stunted tree in the low brush wood, and allow his small
Coppoi (hound) to run a hare about, perhaps for hours,

02
196 Bulgaria before the War. cH. Xx,

 

until he brings it within range, when, if it will only sit
still for a few minutes whilst the Turk takes aim, he
knocks it over, and then scrambling down from his
perch proceeds to cut its throat and bag it. No game
or other animal is eaten by a Turk unless its throat has
been cnt, and therefore itis supposed to be bad shooting _
‘to kill anything outright, and I have often laughed to
see some great swaggering fire-eating young Bashi-
Bazouk pursuing a wounded partridge with a knife some
two feet long in his hand ready to cut its throat!

On all the higher Balkans there are, I believe, num-
bers of red deer, but I was always too busy to be able
to spare time to make an excursion after them, so I
can only speak from hearsay ; moreover, much of the
information I gleaned on the subject was from natives,
and they are always inclined to magnify the wonders
of a distant place, and when one hears of ‘ hundreds of
deer’ from them, it is as well to divide the sum by ten,
and not be disappointed if on going to the happy
hunting ground you find no game atall! Few Eng-

‘lishmen have ever been on the high Balkans, so the
only reliable information I ever had was from Poles,
and as they are generally good sportsmen, I believe
their accounts were to be trusted.

Were I about to make a shooting expedition to the
Balkans, I should go out to Constantinople and there
organise a trip from Bourgas through the high Balkans
away to Kazanlik, stopping at the few Bulgarian
villages and working the country well on both slopes
of the mountains. As there are no roads to speak of
CH, XX. Deer-shooting. 197

 

in the mountains, one could take very little luggage,
and it would have to be carried on pack horses. The
entire journey had better be done on foot, leaving the
baggage in the charge of a good cavass to transport
from village to village. Then it would be as well, if
one did not wish to run the risk of being murdered or
robbed, to have a cavass or two with you besides a few
Bulgars, well-armed, who could act as extra guards, look .
after the dogs, and attend as servants at the villages.
A foreigner, unattended, or with only a few servants,
is looked upon as a very poor low sort of creature, and
the respect shown is in proportion to the number of
men that follow you.

Besides red deer, there are great numbers of roe
deer and wild boar on the mountains, and now and then
a pheasant, capercaillie, or black cock may be picked
up ; so that a shooting party need never want for meat,
and all other necessaries might be had in the villages
if one were not too dainty to eat what the natives
thrive upon.

From all I have heard, I think it would be most
difficult to stalk the red deer, as the part where they
are found is all forest, and I think the biggest bags
would be got by driving the hills with the peasants,
which could always be done with little expense as there
is nothing the villagers, both Turk and Bulgar, like
so much as a drive, especially if they are allowed to
share in the game killed. Ihave turned out a hundred
men for a long day’s drive, and the entire cost has not
amounted to a pound.
198 Bulgaria before the War. cH. XXI.

 

CHAPTER XXI.

Turkish Hounds—Wild Boar—An unpleasant Rencontre—A Pole
killed by a Roe—An English Officer murdered.

In all Bulgaria there are only two sorts of dogs that are
domesticated—the Persian greyhound, which is used on
the Dobrudja, and the little Hungarian hound called
‘“Coppoi.’ These latter are a small sort of harrier, in-
variably black and tan when pure bred, straight on
their legs and with small unhound-like ears, but pos-
sessing the most extraordinary power of endurance and
of sticking to a line. I believe a cross with them would
greatly improve many of our English packs of harriers
by restoring to them the keen power of scent and
their music—gifts that have been lost through crossing
them with the foxhound for the sake of getting greater
speed.

These little hounds are by no means common in
Bulgaria, and I have often been asked as much as
101. fora really good one, and have had others of
my own that no money would have bought.

Of all the sport I have ever had in Turkey, nothing,
to my mind, comes up to roe-deer shooting on the slopes
of the Balkan with these hounds, nor do I know sport
that requires so much judgment and power of en-
CH. XXI. Turkish FHlounds. 199

 

 

durance. As soonas the severe cold and snow had shut
up the works and driven the labourers home to their
villages, Mac and I would start off to some Bulgar
village in the forest, taking with us old Hassein as a
cavass, Popa, a Bulgar, as master of the kennel and
general body-servant, and provided with a good supply
of tinned meats and other luxuries. Tchakal, Dudush,
and Barak, three small hounds, rode up in an araba
with our goods, while Mac and I plodded away over ice
and snow on our ponies. On reaching the village we
hired a room in a Bulgarian house, and after arranging
our camp beds and the few other comforts we had
brought with us, receiving the Tchorbadji (head man)
and others, we would squat down in front of the fire
and with ravenous appetites peg into the good things
that Popa, assisted by the housewife and her daughters,
had prepared for us: good things by no means. to be
despised after a fast of ten hours and a ride of between
fifty or sixty miles through intense cold. First of all,
while our appetites were at the keenest, we would have
a pair of chickens or a grand tough old turkey that an
hour before had been lording it over the poultry-yard,
then a big wooden bowl of youatt,:(milk curds) or a
dish of cream, and as a finish some delicious virgin
honey with black bread. There was always goats’
cheese, but this I could never stand, for it leaves a
flavour of the beast it is made from in your mouth for
a month
After supper we would sit and chat over the wood
fire that went roaring up a chimney wide enough to
200 Bulgaria before the War. cH, XXI.

 

drive a coach and four up, or else listen to the stories of
our host—stories of the doings of the Russians in 1828,
stories of sport, of brigands, and the never-ending
theme Turkish oppression, till at last the evening wore
away and we slipped between the sheets to dream of
whole herds of roe deer which we were hunting in
the land of nod.

Before it was light Popa would rouse us uj, and,
dispensing with shaving and such extras, we would have
a good sousing over head and face in the yard with
icy cold water, and hurrying into our clothes, sit down
to another big feed, the last we should get for the next
ten hours. Then, as the grey of the morning began
to appear, we started off to the hills, among the deep
rugged ravines, and soon reaching our ground, Mac and
I would ascend one of the hills, and placing ourselves
at a likely spot on the brow, listen breathlessly for the
first notes of the hounds that Popa had kept with him
below until he thought we were ready.

These hounds, to be quite perfect, should, as soon as
they find, give tongue and never for a moment cease;
besides this, they should hunt slowly, the slower the
better. If a hound only speaks at intervals, the deer
suspects that it is stealing upon it and will take a scare
and go off straight ‘away over the hills for miles with
the hounds after it, and the entire day will be spent in
astern chase vainly trying to call back the hounds or
to push on past them for a shot. The same thing
takes place if the deer is hard pushed; but if the
hounds will only hunt slowly and keep up continuous
CH. XXII; Wild Boar. ; 201

 

music, the deer will play with them and may be seen
hopping along quite happily only a few yards in ad-
vance of them, and a snap shot can be got as it darts
across some open glade or stands to listen for a moment
to the hounds as they toil with difficulty up the face of
some steep ravine which the nimble little deer has
bounded up apparently without the slightest exertion.

Many is the long run Mac and I have had up and
down the steep ravines, over the flat tops, through
thick brush and stunted evergreen oak, often with no
result; for on some days the deer are wild and come
ungainly, whilst on others the hounds settle down on
a wild boar which directly it finds man following it,
makes off in a straight line at a sharp trot, crushing
through the thickest part of the brush-wood and mak-
ing for the high hills far away. I lost the very best
hound I ever possessed through one of these beasts.

We had got it on foot early in the day, and Tchakal
had stuck to it up hill and down dale, till as evening
approached we could only just hear him giving tongue
far away on the other side of a deep ravine. We were
all far too tired to push across, so turned for home,
giving a good blast on the horn from time to time to
call back the good old hound. All the evening we
were expecting to hear his whine at the door, and when
in the morning we found he had not returned we started
off to track up the boar in the deep snow. On reach-
ing the spot where we had last heard Tchakal, we
found him, poor fellow, stretched out on the snow,
stone dead with a ghastly tear in his side. He had
202 Bulgaria before the War. OH. XX.

 

driven the boar to bay undera steep crag, and there, I
suppose, making adash at the beast, he gota rip from
its powerful tusks that settled him.

I must confess that I never once got a shot at a
‘boar all the time I was in Turkey. I don’t know how
it was, for I worked like a slave to get one, and never
went out in the forest after deer without having one or
more of these great beasts on foot. But, somehow, I
had no luck, and someone else always got the shot. It
was a great disappointment, for I would have slept out
in the snow for a week to have made sure of a fair shot
at a real old tusker.

No animal has more courage in a pig-headed way
than the wild boar; not only will he turn to bay on
both hound and man, but when making a point he will
dash straight through a line of beaters all halloaing
and making a row; and if by chance he meets a man in
a narrow path he will just gallop between his legs, and
the man may think himself fortunate if he does not
get a severe wound from his tusks. Then few people
have any idea how active one of these great unwieldy
creatures can be at a push. I have seen one jump off
a cliff fifteen feet high, and without even ‘ pecking’
gallop away at the bottom at a surprising pace.

Everyone’s hand is against the wild pig—the Bulgar,
because he thinks it the best of all game; and the
Turk, because it fetches a good price, and also because
it plays havoc in the corn fields, pumpkin grounds, and
Indian corn patches.

To my mind there is nothing in the way of game
OH. XXI. An Unpleasant Rencontre. 203

 

so good for the table as the roe deer, and many is the
rich feast Mac and I had after a successful day, and the
civility of our European friends when we returned to
Varna with two or three deer was quite touching.

In these shooting expeditions there is just sufficient
spice of danger to keep one alive. First, there is the
fear of getting lost in the maze of wooded ravines, and
then one offers rather a tempting shot to a loafing
Turk or ‘ Hayduck’ (robber). On one occasion, when
R. A. B. and I arrived at a village in the forest between
Varna and Baltchik, we were told there was a band of
robbers out on the hills, and if we did not keep well
together we should certainly be potted; indeed, our
Bulgar friends recommended us to give up the excur-
sion, but having walked some fifteen miles out we were
unwilling to do this, so at daybreak we started from the
village for the hills.

During the early part of the day we succeeded in
killing two deer, which we despatched to the village ;
then, not having seen or heard of the robbers, we
became more venturesome, ‘and on a fresh deer getting
up we separated. After a long time R. A. B. found
himself in an old Roman fort on a thickly wooded
point on the high hills over the sea. Not hearing the
hounds, and not feeling sure of his way home, he
halloaed to attract my attention, and soon heard a shout
in response from the valley below. Hurrying down the
hill, he hit off an old cart-track and hastened forwards,
but just before he reached the bottom he heard voices,
and the next minute saw through the stems of the
204 Bulgaria before the War. cH. XXI.

 

trees some half-dozen ruffians stealing along all with
guns in their hands. Fortunately for R. A. B., the
road where he was divided into several branches, all cut
deep into the boggy ground; so trusting the men might
pass by a parallel road, he crouched down where he was,
luckily unperceived, and had the pleasure of hearing
the men pass within a few feet of him, and gathered
from their conversation they were hoping to get a pot
shot at him. He was very nearly discovered, for just
after they passed a Coppoi that was following them
actually came up and sniffed at him, and gave one low
growl, but fortunately refrained from barking.

R. A. B. was not long in putting a mile or so
between him and them. Meeting me we started for
home, and ‘the next morning reported the gang to the
Pasha, who informed us that he knew them well and
that the leader was an escaped convict, who had, since
his escape, committed three or four murders.

In this Baltchik forest a Pole once lost his life in
a very curious manner whilst out shooting. He had
wounded a deer in two or three places, besides breaking
its fore leg three or four inches below the knee. He
rushed up and seized it in front by the neck. In a
moment the deer raised itself on its hind legs and
struck at him with its front ones, and in doing so
plunged the sharp splintered bone of the broken leg
deep into the man’s body just below the chest, killing
him instantaneously, and then falling dead itself by his
side.

It was just below the Roman fort I have mentioned,
cxxu. An English Officer murdered. 205

 

and between it and the sea, that an English commis-
sariat officer was murdered, whilst the British troops
were waiting at Baltchik for transports to take them
_ to the Crimea. He had ridden into Varna on business,
and was returning accompanied by a cavass, when,
passing a fountain in the forest, he stopped to give his
horse a drink. Whilst doing so he was shot by some
ruffians who were concealed at the back of the fountain.

The cavass galloped on to the camp to tell what
had occurred, and a party was despatched at once to the
spot, but only to find him quite dead. It seemed pro-
bable this foul deed was perpetrated for revenge, for
the poor fellow was robbed of nothing, and the body
was found exactly as it had fallen.

Of allroads I have ever passed over, this was without
exception the most convenient for a robbery, running
for miles on cliffs above the sea, with steep cliffs rising
again on the other hand at the foot of the hills, all full
of deep caves, and the entire ground covered by dense
thicket.

I myself once experienced anything but pleasant
emotions when riding on this road. Just as I came
into it from the Baltchik side, I espied a Turk perched
on a rock well above me, who, on seeing me hesitate
before entering it, shouted out, ‘This way, this way ; the
other one is out of order.’

Thinking this might be a dodge to make me take
the higher road, I kept a sharp look-out as I trotted
along the road to which he pointed. I had not gone
far before I saw a newly-felled tree right across the
206 Bulgaria before the War. CH, XXI.

 

road, in so thick a part of the forest that there was no
possibility of rounding it. ..Knowing that the horse [
was cn was a good jumper, I took him short by the
head, and with a touch of the spur sent him at the tree,
which he cleared splendidly, and then, increasing his
speed, I kept him going briskly till I was through the
gorge. But from the moment I saw the tree, so evi-
dently put to bar the path, till I had left it well
behind, | had a nasty creepy feeling up my back, and
don’t mind confessing I was in a horrid fright.
CH. XXIL A Shooting Excursion. 207

 

CHAPTER XXII.

A Shooting Excursion—Lost in the Snow—Taking a ‘Nip’—~
Friends in Need—Forests.

Tue last Christmas-day we were in Turkey, we were all
sitting round the fire with a few friends who had shared
our dinner, when the conversation, as often happened,
turned on shooting; and on my describing a very good
day’s sport I had had after deer, at a village called
Chaoush Keui, some twelve miles to the east of Varna,
and among the forest-covered hills in its neighbourhood,
three of my friends were fired with a desire to try their
luck, and I at once offered to accompany them with my
hounds and men, and to make all necessary arrange-
ments for a two nights’ stay in the village.

As we were all of us young, all apparently strong,
and all accustomed to outdoor exposure and hard work,
I proposed that we should start about noon the follow-
ing day, and walk up to the village with our guns in
our hands, and see what small game we could pick up
for the pot. Early next morning I packed a light
waggon drawn by two ponies, with the remains of our
Christmas dinner, camp beds, &c., and despatched it
with the three little hounds, under the care of Popa
and Hassein, with orders to go to the village and take
the same rooms, if they could get them, that I had
208 Bulgaria before the War. om. xx.

 

occupied some three years before, when on a similar
excursion.

I must now give some description of my three com-
panions. :

First in the list, as the biggest (he was six feet high)
comes C » a straight, well-made man of about thirty,
who had been staying with us during the autumn for
the sake of shooting.

Then came Salwey, a young civil engineer, sturdy
and strong, looking like a rope of twisted wire, always
good at a pinch, and always in a good temper.

Thirdly, and lastly (for I shall not attempt to describe
myself), came W: » @ strong-looking though slight-
made young fellow, but who had had his constitution a
good deal shaken by fever and rheumatism. _

The rendezvous was at my house, but the last arrival
did not put in his appearance till long after one o'clock,
just as we were finishing a heavylunch. Then he would
explain how it came about that he was late; then, to be
even with us, he had to take in his provisions; and then
when all was ready he remembered that he had left his
shot-belt at home, and had to go and fetch it. It was,
therefore, just 2 p.m. when we did get off, and as in
place of roads we had nothing but snow-covered tracks
before us, I saw at once that we must give up all idea.
of shooting by the way, and push on as fast as we could,
so as to get near the village before dark.

I spoke with authority, as I was the only one of the
party who had ever been that way hefore; but I felt
pretty sure of the road, and, failing that, knew the lay

 

 
cH. XXII. Lost in the Snow. 209

 

of the land well, so was little troubled with fears. We
stepped out bravely from the Varna gate over the mile
of plain to the foot of the steep vine-clad hills, climbed
ploddingly up their face, through the deep snow with
which the ground was covered, and when we got to the
top were all glad to halt for a minute under a projecting
cliff on the roadside, to wipe the moisture from our faces
and light our pipes. Then on again, over the brow, on
to the great flat plain that extended some miles before
us, over which the north-east wind swept full in our
teeth, so cold that it became dangerous to touch the
gun barrels with a wet naked hand.

‘Come on, W , old fellow, face it out; it won’t
be so cold in the forest. Don’t lag; we must push on.’

‘All right ; I’m coming.’

Yes, he kept ‘ coming,’ but he got slower at every
yard, and I saw with some fear that he began to take

 

long, weak, loping steps, and did not lift his feet out
of the snow. When we had crossed the plain and had
struck off the opening made by the track in the edge of
the forest, it began to get dusk, soon to be followed, in
these Eastern parts, by darkness, and, ‘ Yes, by Jove, it
is beginning to snow again.’

Never mind! the longest part of the journey was
over. We were on the right road, and if we could but
keep it all would be well. So, once more lighting our
pipes, we pushed on; but not before W had taken
a pull at his pocket flask of brandy, ‘just to keep the
cold out.’

Before we had gone another mile, I was startled by an

P

 
210 Bulgaria before the War. cm. xxu.

 

 

exclamation from Salwey, and turning round saw W
slowly twist round and round three or four times, and
then take a dive into the snow head foremost. He was

up again in a minute, but seemed half-unconscious and °

almost unable to move. No time was to be lost, so
handing over our guns to C——, Salwey and I placed,
each of us, an arm of the poor fellow round our necks,
and with our hands clasped behind his back, hurried him
forward. The progress we made was small, and the
further we went the worse we fared. Soon it became
dark, or nearly so, for thanks to a small moon behind
the driving clouds, we were able to see our way a little.

The wind grew stronger and colder, and the snow
drove full in our faces with pitiless fury.

C went on in front and, more by the feeling of
the ground under his feet than by sight, kept the road
for us for a time. But only fora time; for, after asking
us to wait, while he cast forward and around, he re-
turned telling us the road was lost! We dared not
wait longer; so taking the direction in which I knew
the village to be, we pushed forward, up to our kneesin
snow, midst stunted bush and fallen timber, and every
few yards one or all of us came down heels over head in

 

 

the snow. —

After struggling on thus for two hours we at last
came to a small brook running between steep hills on
either side, and I knew that by following it down we
should pass within half a mile of the village, which was
placed on the side of the bill with open grass land
sloping down to the brook. If we could but reach this
open land, we should feel quite safe.
CH. XXII. ' Taking ‘a Nip. 211

 

For the last hour poor W: had been begging ina
half-conscious, but wholly piteous way, to be allowed to
lie down if only for a minute, and we had at last to
resort to blows and other rough usage to keep him on
his feet. At times he almost recovered himself, but at
others his legs dragged behind him, and we had to carry
him on between us.

_ The brook wound across and across the narrow valley,
and at every two or three hundred yards we had to
over. The

 

 

plunge in above our knees and carry W.
entire valley was covered with tangled stunted timber,
and the ground strewed with big boulders and logs,
which being concealed beneath the snow, made it most
difficult walking. It seemed as if we were never to get
out of this wood, and at last my two conscious friends
lost: all confidence in me, and kept protesting that I was
leading them astray, and that we had better alter our
route. I might be wrong, but I thought not, and at all
events it was just as well to follow on by the brook as
to wander about on the hills.
Cc kept on in front, and when at last I even was
beginning to despair, we heard him shout out the glad
_ news that he was out of the wood. We were soon beside
_ him, and from what I could see, I felt sure the village
‘was far away up the steep hill to our left.

We halted for a minute, and C ,in spite of my en-
treaties, would take a pull at the brandy-flask, and then,
as Salwey was so done up he could scarcely drag himself
took his place and helped me to half-carry,
up the hill. For a few minutes he

pP2

 

 

 

along, C
half-drag W

 
212 Bulgaria before the War. om. xxu.

 

gave great help while the fumes of the brandy were
stirring up his brain, but it was soon over, and I then
found I had to drag him as well as W 3 so using
forcible language, I fear, I made him drop his hold, and

 

 

continued to drag W- on alone. :

When half way up the hill, Salwey gave a shout and
drew our attention to the light of a fire directly behind
us on the opposite hill. All then set on me and declared
I was taking them from the village, insisting that we
should retrace our steps. In vain I assured them the
light must come from some shepherd’s hut, and that
if we all descended the hill again into the forest, we
should lose sight of it, and be too exhausted to climb
the other hill to look for it. It was only when I
announced my intention of going on alone, and ae-
tually dropped W- in the snow, and took my gun
from Salwey, that they consented to make one more

 

attempt.

C was by this time in much such a state as
WwW , beginning to wander both in his speech and
with his legs, and I dreaded every moment his falling
and going to sleep.

Salwey pushed on ahead, and soon called to say he
had reached-a wattled hedge. I knew then that we
were on the outskirts of the village, so with a rush I
shoved W. up the remainder of the hill, and we
soon all four stood under the shelter of the fence to take
breath.

Salwey now took a ‘ nip of brandy,’ and though we
all started at once round by the fence, it did its work

 

 

 
OH. XXII. frytends in Need. 212

“

 

too soon, for on coming to a sort of deep ditch cut in
the face of the hill by water, he pitched head first into-
it, and had not strength to do more than just drag him-
self out and collapse on the bank. I managed somehow
to get the others through, and then telling them to
huddle together and wait for me, J snatched up a gun
and hastening on soon came to the houses.

In a few seconds I was surrounded by some dozen
howling, snapping curs, who were only to be kept at a
respectful distance by a continual discharge of snow-
bails. Passing one or two detached houses, I made my
way to the door of one from which a few rays of fire
light shot out from a partially covered window. I
knocked a dozen times before I got an answer, and at
last I was requested to go away as there were no men at
home.

I insisted on the door being opened, said I was

alone, an Englishman, and nearly frozen, but it was only
by threatening to fire my gun into the lock that at last
I got it opened. On slipping inside I found three or
four Bulgar women and an old man, and on telling the
condition of my friends and requesting the man to come
and help me to bring them in, all the women set up a
howl, and clung to him as if they thought his last hour
had arrived. I first tried entreaties and promises, then
threats, that is, I swore I would shoot the man where
he stood if he did not take me to some house where I
might procure help. He soon shuffled out, followed by
all the women, and after leading me half way through
the village showed me into the ‘ Mussafir Odase ’
214 Bulgaria before the War. om. xxu.

 

(strangers’ room), and then made asurprisingly hurried
bolt of it.

I found two likely-looking young Turkish giants
sitting in front of the fire, and at once told them of my
friends, and asked for their help, but the only answer I
could get for some time was a surly ‘yok’ (no). Again
I tried persuasion, and then bribery, and after I had
offered them a lira(188.), they consented to go, on con-
dition that I left my gun in the room, and that they
might take their pistols, for they said, ‘We don’t know
who you are, and you may want to decoy us out and
murder us.’ After depositing my gun in the corner and
paying the money in advance, the two heroes started:
off with me, and in a few minutes we found C
Salwey, and W—— more dead than alive. Salwey
was the strongest of the party, and with a helping hand:
from me he managed to cripple along, but the other
‘two had to ride in pig-a-back on the young Turks.
Doubtless the old Bulgar and his wives had spread the
news of our arrival, for on getting to the ‘ Mussafir
Odase’ we found quite a crowd assembled, and they
looked at us as village yokals in England would look at
four Esquimaux if they suddenly appeared at night in
their village.

We sent for the Tchorbadji or head of the village,
whose business it is to provide for strangers, as his name
‘Soup man’ denotes, and asked for news of our men;
but to our great annoyance nothing had been heard of
them. Then we asked for a private room, and for the
owner of the house where I had previously put up. We

 
CH. XXIt _ Friends in Need. 25

 

were told we might have all the accommodation wecould
find in the strangers’ room, which was literally nothing
but a mud floor, four walls, a broken door, a leaking
roof, and a smoking fire! Food would be given us in
the morning, if we behaved well; if not, we should be
turned out fasting.

This was all said in a contemptuous way by the
head man, who wasa Turk. There was nothing for it
but to submit, so I started to strip the wet boots and
stockings from the feet of poor W , who was quite
unconscious, and C » who was nearly so. Salwey had
brightened up a little and was able to valet himself,
and even fired off a feeble joke or two on the hospitality
of the noble Turk.

Whilst we were thus engaged, a small bright-eyed
little Bulgar urchin, who had been peeping in at the
door all the time,.suddenly addressed me with, *‘ Have
you a companion who shoots with you named Popa?’
And on my saying yes, he jumped up and disappeared
into the darkness, soon to return with his father, who
proved to be the owner of the house where I had for-
merly stayed. He was delighted to see me, and in half
a minute had W on his back and carried him off
home, returning for C———, whom he transported in the
same manner. Salwey and I followed with the cast-off
boots, wet socks, guns, &c., and soon found ourselves sit-
ting on cushions round a roaring wood fire on our host’s
hearth, whilst he, his wife, and daughters married and
unmarried, his sons and grandchildren, all busied them-
selves to give us a hearty welcome.

 

 

 

 
216 Bulgaria before the War. om. xxu.

 

The reaction after our long miserable struggle in
the cold was worth a king’s ransom, and Salwey and I
could only sit and chuckle for the very fulness of our
hearts. Yet all was not as we could wish, for both C-——
and W—— remained in a comatose state, and the
latter never said a word all that night, but rolled on
the floor and sighed as if his heart were breaking, which
I think it very nearly did !

In a few minutes the housewife made us a big flat
cake which she quickly baked in the hot embers, and
then with the help of about a score of eggs poached in
oil, we sat down to a good supper, and I know I fared
like a prince as far as quantity and appetite went.
Then what pleasure and contentment there was in
sitting over the fire after supper roasting the last
lingering shudder out of our bones and chatting over
our misfortunes !

All agreed with me that the brandy had brought
the trouble upon us, for did not my being able to get
through with hardly more than pleasant fatigue prove
that it had almost driven the life out of those that had
tasted it? Yes, tasted it, for on examining the flasks
we found that not more than a wineglassful had been
taken by the three.

Had W not taken any he would doubtless have
got through with more or less fatigue, assisted a little
by us—Salwey would not have been knocked up had
he not had to drag and carry him, and C—— would
have done very well if he had not had all our guns to

 
CH. XXIT. Friends in Need. ary

 

carry. As we sat round the fire that night we made
up our minds never again to take nips to keep out the
cold, |
_ Soon after supper the Tchorbadji appeared to pay
us a visit; his manners had greatly changed since he
learnt that we were not a set of poor destitute devils
as he had supposed, and he came sidling into the room
salaaming and cringing like the very cur he was. I
could not stand the beast, so jumped up and seizing a
stick sent him flying from the door, much to the de-
light, though somewhat to the alarm, of our Bulgar
friends.. They were delighted to see the bully discom-
fited, but were fearful lest he should visit on them
his wrath when our backs were turned.

The house we were in consisted of only two rooms,
one through the other, but it was clean and dry. The
inner room was given up to us, and the good women
made vs up a monster bed on the floor opposite the fire,
where we soon found ourselves curled up, only having
divested ourselves of our outer garments. We were
quickly asleep, but about 2 a.m. were aroused by a
- noise at the door, and the next minute Popa and
Hassein appeared with the three dogs, food, &e.

Popa told us that soon after they had got on the
top of the hills in the morning, the snow proved so
deep that the ponies could hardly drag the waggon, and
after struggling on for two or three hours the waggon
was fairly pulled to pieces; so after tying it together
with ropes, they returned to Varna, hoping to get there
218 Bulgaria before the War. om. xan.

 

in time to stop our starting, but found we had been
gone two hours.

My wife, knowing we should be in want of food,
&ec., and unable to do anything without the hounds,
made Popa and Hassein hire some pack horses, on which
baggage and dogs were tied, and started them off, in
pursuit of us. Like us, they had lost the road, but as
they had not indulged in ‘nips,’ they were able to get
on and at last hit off the village.

On waking up next morning, we found to our joy
that our two friends had greatly recovered, and were
able to get up and about. W. seemed to have for-
gotten all about the weary strugglé of the night before,
or nearly so, for one thing remained clearly imprinted
on his mind, namely, my brutality in not letting him
lie down in the snow, and the punches,:&c. I had ad-

 

ministered.

Our assuring him that I did not do it for my
amusement was quite useless, all he would say was,
‘Oh, I was quite right, only you hurried meso.’ He
declared he was quite strong enough to go out shooting
with us, but we resolutely declined his company.

We had a famous breakfast off the remains of our
Christmas dinver, and then Salwey, C——, and I, ac-
companied by Popa and the three hounds, started for
the forest about two miles distant, and in half an hour
after reaching it, had the satisfaction of hearing the
little hounds open on a roe.

Accustomed as Englishmen are to the sight of our
CH. XXIr Forests. 219

 

well-preserved and well-cared for woods at home, the
condition of all the accessible forests in Turkey appears
to them most wretched and dreary, and so it really
is. ,

Thanks to the universal mismanagement of the
Government, and the feeling of the village Turk that
with him the world ends, no sort of care is taken of
them, and the traveller may journey for miles over the
hills, always in forest, and yet never see a tree that
would sell in England for more than firewood. Here
and there some gnarled, half-rotten monster oak may
be seen denuded of all its big limbs, most likely half
destroyed by fire and yet living, as if to point out to
the Turk what really splendid timber the land will
grow, and what a mine of wealth these hills might be
if properly cared for.

Year after year the destroyer visits the woods, but I
do not believe there is in all Turkey such a thing as a
young growing forest that is really preserved. In its
place is a ragged thicket of stunted oak scrub, inter-
mixed with a few lime and hornbeam, just occupying
the rich virgin soil to the prevention of husbandry, and
utterly unprofitable except as pasturage to a few man-
gey-looking sheep and goats.

The roe deer gave us a very pretty two hours’ run
just in the best part of the day, but when at last we
brought it to bag we all felt so tired that, fearing we
might some of us be knocked up as we were over night,
we turned back to the village, and after spending
220 Bulgaria before the War. cH, XXII.

another night with the hospitable Bulgars, we returned
home to Varna. This time we accomplished the
journey easily and without mishaps, for not only had we
the entire day before us, but there were the pack horses
to give a help to those who felt tired.
CH. XXII. Private Family Affairs. 221

 

CHAPTER XXIII.

Private Family Affairs—Down the Danube—A Turkish Beau—A Trip
to Kustendji—Inside a Harem.

Dorine the construction of the railway we had little
time for shooting excursions, and most of these I have
written about took place later on when there was not
so much work to be done, and when the fun of the
chasse was not spoilt by the dread lest all should be at
a standstill for want of our supervision on the works.
The railway was finished and opened for traffic in
1866, and I had the post of resident engineer offered
me, with Mac as my assistant; this I most gladly ac-
cepted, as it enabled me to take a private assistant
who had been waiting, engaged to me for some years,
and who was willing to face the hardships, dangers,
and privations of a life in the East, whenever I might
be in a position or had time to run home and fetch her
out. JI thought this private business so much more
important than seeing the line opened, that a few days
before that great event I got leave from my brother
and joyfully hurried off, over the now finished line, up
the Danube and home; but there was so much work
still left undone that I was obliged to hasten over my
important private family affairs, and just ten days after
220 Bulgaria before the War. cu. xxm.

my arrival in England I once more had my face turned
eastwards, but this time with a wife to cheer me on the
way.

As far as Pesth our journey was quick and pleasant—
a sort of honeymoon affair; but from this point there
was anything but honey or any other sort of sweetness
in it. The post-boat had just started, so there was
nothing for it, if we did not wish to stop a whole week,
but to face the horrors of a slow boat. The Danube
was very low, and we should have to change at The
Tron Gates; but we made the best we could of the
state of affairs by taking a private cabin, and so having
a spot, though a small one, where we could escape from
the dirty, garlic-smelling, unwashed crowd of Jews,
Turks, infidels, and heretics, to say nothing of Greeks,
Wallachs, Serbs, Croats, Montenegrins, and Bulgars,
all jabbering, eating, drinking, smoking, spitting,
swearing, and generally objectionable.

All went pretty well with us until we reached a
small village just below Baziash, at the mouth of the
gorge leading to the Iron Gates; but from this point
till we reached Rustchuck all was misery, discomfort,
and actual hardship. I shall here insert a letter from’
my wife to her home friends, describing our journey, as
I think the account of it whilst the scenes were passing
will be more interesting than anything I can write
from memory.

‘ Orsova, 7 a.m., November 10th, 1866.

‘My pear F.,—T have no doubt you saw my letter to
M., so I will only tell you of what has happened to us
CH. XXIII. Down the Danube. 23°

 

since I finished her letter yesterday morning. The
Carl Josep was then just stopping before Baziash, and
H. ran ashore and posted the letter. We thought we
were to remain on the Carl Josep till this morning,
and had settled ourselves down for the day, when it was
found the water was so low that we must turn out into
‘a smaller boat, so we had to scuffle our things toge-
ther, and go on board a wretched crowded little steamer.
The luggage was piled up in the centre of the boat,
and H. and I perched ourselves on the top of it. We
were quite comfortable, and I longed that you could
have been with us, for the scenery was most glorious—
infinitely superior to anything I had ever seen—grand
hills on either side, covered with forests that are gor-
geous with every shade of brown, red, and yellow; and
lovely valleys in between, dotted about with the
quaintest little white cottages only one story high.
‘Part of the way, the Danube runs through a narrow
defile, as if the hills had been parted asunder to make
a pathway for it, and at the entrance there are ruins of
an extraordinary old fortress built up the side of the
rocks in a most un-get-at-able place. It is most
provoking that the Danube is so low, for otherwise we
should have gone on all the way in one boat, but as it
was the water was boiling and fizzling over the rocks
on all sides of us, and when we reached a place called
Drinkova we were all put ashore. Such a scene it was!
Crowds of passengers, not such as one pushes one’s way
amongst in the civilised world, but hideous-looking
dirty animals, dressed in the strangest costumes, all
224 Bulgaria before the War. om. xx1.

 

with long greasy moustaches and huge pipes, gesticu-
lating and shouting in the most unearthly tongues.
We were all bundled ashore into a filthy kind of yard,
worse than any pigsty I ever saw in England; great
long-legged hairy pigs added to our troubles by trying
their best to upset us; and then we had to look sharp
not to get driven over, for the place was crowded with.
arabas, which are little wooden waggons with a kind of
awning over them, and curtains that draw all round.
They carry four passengers inside, and there is a seat in
front for the driver. Each is drawn by two miserable
half-starved ponies, with bells jingling round their
necks. The arabas are light and very rickety; but H.
says they will stand a great deal of rough work, and
indeed they will, for I can give you no idea of the
jolting we went through. We left the boat about
5 p.M., and drove (packed tight with all our luggage)
for nearly five hours. It was a starlight night, but too
dark to see much beyond the fact that sometimes we
were unpleasantly near the bank of the river. At last
we saw the red light of a steamboat, and we and all our
travelling companions were turned out in the middle of
a ploughed field (in such mud!) to find our way on
board. H. had arranged that we should have a cabin
all the way here, so we were better off than our neigh-
bours; but the rest of the boat was so crowded that we
had to take Harriet (my maid) in with us. There
were but two berths, but we made her comfortable on
the floor. None of us undressed, which was lucky, for
at 5 a.M.a man came to the door and said, in broken
CH, XXtIt. Down the Danube. 225

 

English, “ Sir; itis time.” “Time? what for?” shouted
H.; “the boat is going on, isnt it?” “Yes, sir; the
boat goes on, but you are to be left on shore.” So out
we all turned again in the dark, and here (Orsova) we
are to remain till midday, when we are to go on again
by arabas to Turna Severin, where we hope to find
‘another steamboat. The worst part of our troubles
yesterday was that we were starving. We had break-
fast about 9.30, were hurried out of the boat, and had
no chance of getting anything more till past 10 p.m.
It was real suffering; and when, at last, while waiting’
for some food to be cooked, they brought us some sour
bread and black coffee, I thought it more delicious
than anything I had ever tasted. I have now taken a
supply of rolls with us, so that we may not again be in
such a fix. H. has lost his portmanteau, and it is such
fun to hear him haranguing all the hotel people. He
seems to understand all they say, whether they speak
French, German, Italian, Turkish, or anything else,
and he talks fearlessly to everybody in any language.
“As far as I can judge by his French, he appears to be
quite innocent of grammar; but he always manages to
make himself understood, and never hesitates for a
word, for if he cannot remember it in one language he
puts it in, in another. Portmanteau just found! the
news brought us by a Frenchman, who, in the exube-
rance of his delight at having discovered it, has nearly
shaken my arms off, and is now proceeding to do the
same by Harriet! Harriet makes friends, and amuses
herself by giving lessons in English to her fellow-
Q-
226 B ulgaria before the War. OH. XXIII.

 

passengers; she is bright and happy and very civil.
Arabas now arrived. Good-bye.

‘Rustchuck, Monday, 12th.—Here we are safe and
well, and now we have but one stage more and then
we shall be home; nine hours by train to-morrow and
we shall be at Varna. Yesterday was a very dull day,
scenery uninteresting, and I could not leave the cabin
at all, for the boat was crowded with such a set of
creatures, they were lying in masses all over the deck,
they actually eat, drink, and sleep there. On Saturday
night we had a tremendous storm, the river was like
a rough sea, the waves washing over the deck and
running down into the saloon, yet these creatures slept
out in it all. We stuck fast in the Danube last night.
for an hour, we did so hope we might not get afloat
again till morning, but unfortunately we did, so at
2.30 a.M. we were opposite Rustchuck. We could not
land here because of quarantine, but we had to get
up and dress, and at 3 a.M. we were put ashore on
the other side of the river, about two miles from
Giurgevo. At first we were put into an awfully
dirty hovel, where some old Wallachs were snoring
in bed, but H. afterwards got us taken into the agent’s
office, and there we sat waiting for five hours. H. re-
mained with us till it got light, and then he walked
on to Giurgevo, to get some carriages. It was about
8.30 am. when he got back to us, and we drove for
half an hour across a desolate-looking plain, no road,
but all just, like a ploughed field, deep in thick mud;
and we were so shaken and jolted. Then we were put
CH. XXIIT. Down the Danube. 207

 

into a little boat, and sailed up the river and landed
here just by the railway station, which, by the by, is
avery nice one, quite English-looking, and very clean
and neat. We walked from the station to the town,
above a mile, through a sea of mud, to Mr. 8.’s
house, where we remain till to-morrow.” * * *

In the above letter my wife says, we could not
land at Rustchuck; no, this was the case. There was:
supposed to be cholera somewhere up the river, at.
Orsova, Vienna, London, or perhaps San Francisco.
No one knew where, but, to make all safe, passengers
arriving by the boats were subjected to quarantine, but
travellers from Europe vid Wallachia were allowed to
pass free. It was therefore the easiest thing possible to
avoid the quarantine by passing Rustchuck, landing at
Giurgevo, and then coming across in a boat; and this.
we did, though, in having to do so, we went through
several extra hours of extra discomfort, which, though
passed over so lightly by 8. in writing home, will yet
never be forgotten by either of us. The fact was, the
river being so low our boat was not able to pass up the
narrow, shallow channel to Giurgevo, and, therefore,
ran on to a temporary landing-place, two miles below
that town, where the enlightened Wallachs and enter-
prising Danube Steam Navigation Company had pro-
vided for the comfort of the passengers, when waiting
for or arriving by the boats, a wooden hut, some ten
feet square, fitted up with two wooden beds, on which
slept two porters. This was the only place to shelter
some half-dozen unfortunate ladies, who had to sit on

a2
228 Bulgaria before the War. CH. XXIII.

 

the edge of the beds still occupied by the snoring
porters. :

There landed with us on that memorable occasion a
real Wallach Prince (not a sham one), with his lately
espoused French wife, and it was quite refreshing to
hear him revile his country, its institutions, and govern-
ment, as he and I stood on the river bank in summer
clothes, refreshed by several degrees of frost, waiting
for the first glimmer of daybreak to show us our way
over a partially dried swamp to Giurgevo in search of
carriages.

On our arrival at Varna I found that R. A. B., who
during my absence had been living with Mac in our
house, had got things into a pretty comfortable state,
first, by removing the offices out of the house to the
station; and secondly, by papering, white-washing, and
cleaning up generally.

, As may be supposed, I had much to hear of all that
had taken place at the opening of the line, and I
remember one incident that greatly amused us. Two
English ladies had accompanied their friends out to
Varna to be present at the opening of the line, and had
stayed in R. A. B.’s house. Thinking that none of the
natives could possibly understand English, they talked
away freely before them all, criticising their costumes,
manners, &c. Now it so happened that we had a re-
markably gook-looking young Turkish zaptieh, who
having been constantly with us for some years under-
stood and spoke English perfectly. The younger of
the ladies was greatly taken with the lad, and I think
CH. XXIII. A Turkish Beau. 229

 

the admiration became mutual, when, as she was stand-
_ing at the door ready to mount her horse, she looked
him hard in the face and said, *‘ Yes, there is no deny-
ing it, you are a pretty boy.’ Mehemet’s delight was
so great that as soon as the riding party had started, he
fresh waxed his long moustache, hurried off to the town,
and had his photograph taken, which he presented a
few days later to his fair admirer, with looks of deep
devotion. Poor Mehemet, not long after this he ac-
companied me on a shooting excursion, caught cold
whilst sleeping out in the open, and in a few weeks
died of consumption.

Thanks to my having in my bachelor days foregone
the delights of Varna society, and also to its being the
custom there for the new comers to call first on the old
residents, 8. and I were spared the necessity of paying
calls and receiving visits, and instead, we occupied all
our spare time in riding about the pretty neighbour-
hood, making excursions up the line, or paying visits
to friends at Kustendji, Rustchuck, Bucharest, &.

The first of these distant trips was to Kustendji, to
introduce my wife to my old friends there, and show
her the place where my apprenticeship to the ways of
Turkey had been passed. We persuaded Mr. H., our
medical man, to make the trip with us, and as we were
all fond of riding, had good horses, and wished to make
the journey quickly, we sent our luggage on in an
araba, and all three started from Varna early one fine
winter’s morning, escorted and guarded by Hassein and
Mehemet, our two cavasses.. After a long but pleasant
230 Bulgaria before the War. cl. XXmI1.

 

day we reached the half-way village of Delemby-Keui,
and asked a night’s lodging of my old friend Halil Aga.
The old fellow was delighted to see us, but no words
can describe the excitement our arrival occasioned to
his harem.

8. was the first English woman ‘that they had seen,
and not only was she herself a curiosity, but every
article of her dress was a novelty to them.

As the doctor and I were not allowed to enter the
yard in which the harem rooms were situated, S. felt
at first disinclined to visit them alone, but this so
increased the anxiety of the women to see her, that
they came to the door and entreated her in such
beseeching tones to pay them a visit that she consented.
Great, however, was their disappointment to find that
8. could not speak Turkish; this difficulty was at last
got over by old Halil Aga inviting me in to act as
interpreter, saying, ‘I know you of old; are not we
brothers? besides, you never were a deli kan (wild
blood), and now you are evlendi’ (married, or literally,
housed).

For the first time in my life I found myself inside
a Turkish harem, and I must say, I did not feel very
much elated. There were three wives, ranging from
the age of twenty to sixty, the youngest looking quite
old, and the others two fearful hags. At first they kept
on their yashmaks, but after a while they allowed them
to fall down and show their faces, whilst they all three
at once poured down upon me innumerable questions.
CH, XXIII. : Lnside a Harem. 231

 

What seemed to strike them most was, that S. had
not got her finger nails coloured with henna, and they
kept taking her hand and chuckling over it, evidently
thinking it looked most unfurnished and strange. Then
her English boots were examined. over and over again,
till at last getting somewhat tired of sitting with both
feet prisoners in their hands, she took a boot off and
allowed them to look it over at their leisure.

A proposition that 8. should sleep with the women
in the harem was declined; so after we three travellers
had had our supper squatting on the floor in the men’s
apartments, attended upon by old Halil Aga (the
women dare not come into the room because of the
doctor), S. and I once more returned to the harem and
gratified the inquisitiveness of its occupants for another
hour or so, whilst 8. ate sweetmeats, and the Turkish
ladies and I smoked cigarettes. At last bedtime
arrived, and the doctor having retired to a stable to
pass the night as best he could on a bundle of hay, the
women came in and made us up beds on the floor. All
was beautifully clean and comfortable, but, in spite of
this, 8. could not sleep a wink all night, because all
felt so strange and new to her, and because, for the
first time in her life, she got down into bed.

At the door of our room stood one of the oak poles
of the telegraph running from Varna to Kustendji,
and the wire vibrating in the wind kept up a continu-
ous hum.

Halil Aga drew my attention to this, and asked me
g32 Bulgaria before the War. cu. xx1m.

 

if J could tell him why it was people talked so much:
more by telegraph in winter than in summer, adding,
‘ In summer they often do not speak for days, and then
often in a whisper, whereas in winter they hardly ever
stop—just hear them now, they are almost shouting.’

I tried to explain matters to him, but soon got so
out of his depth, and my own too, that Halil Aga saw it
was no go, and cut me short by saying, ‘ Ah, never mind ;
it is a “ Sheitan Shey” (devilish thing). It is no good
for us Osmanlis;’ a remark with which I agreed, for I
believe the telegraph and other inventions of civilised

“Europe will eventually drive the half-civilised Turk out
of the land. JI for one shall be sorry when it does, for
among the village Turks there are many good old
fellows such as Halil Aga, hospitable to strangers, kind
to their families, contented, happy, fairly industrious,
and altogether much freer from vice chen any other |
inhabitants of Eastern Europe.

Leaving Delemby-Keui early next morning, we
pushed on for Kustendji, where we arrived in the after~
noon after a very pleasant and fortunate ride—fortunate
because we had accomplished the journey without once
losing our way, no easy task on a great open plain,
without landmarks and without roads. Yes, without
roads; for though my readers, if they turn to a map of
the Dobrudja, may see them marked there, it is the
only place where they can be found. From village to
village there are tracks worn by bullock-carts, winding
about in any direction, and often dividitig into three or
four branches, only to meet again some miles further on,
cH. XNIIt, Inside a Harem. $25

 

‘and often near villages, all ploughed over. Nowhere,
since the day the land first appeared from out of the
waters, has there ever been the feeblest attempt to
construct a road of any sort, and the natural earth

remains the only ballast.
234 Bulgaria before the War. cH. XXIV.

 

CHAPTER XXIV.

On the Dobrudja—An Outrage—A Turkish Husband—Prospects of
the Railroad—Snow-clearing.

SIncE the days of the Crimean War I have many times
seen, in the papers and in books, remarks about the
‘swampy marsh of the Dobrudja.’? These are totally
incorrect, and lead people into most erroneous ideas of
this part of Turkey. It would be about as correct to
call Salisbury Downs a morass as to call the Dobrudja
aswamp. From the hills above Varna to the Baba
Dagh Mountains on the one hamid, and from the sea to
the Danube on the other, I should say the average
depth of the dryest possible alluvial soil is 300 feet.
The one difficulty in nearly every village is the want:
of water, and many of the wells are 150 feet deep.
Between Varna and Kustendji the traveller only
crosses one stream, and this is in the hills near Varna;
except this stream no open water is to be found till he
reaches Tusla, some twenty miles from Kustendji.
Here there isa big lake of fresh water divided from
the sea by low sand hills, and lakes like this will be
found all along the sea coast at intervals of from ten to
twenty miles. Again, on the Danube side, there are a
few lakes such as the chain running from Tchernavoda
CH. XXIV. On the Dobrudja. 235

 

towards Kustendji, by the side of which the railroad is
constructed. Looking at it one would say no healthier
country could be found in Europe, and it is healthy
except for the ague, which, though very trying to
Europeans, seldom proves fatal.

But to return to the tracks. Owing to the ground
being all of a rich dark soil with hardly a stone on it,
the mud in winter is very tenacious, rendering draught
work most severe; but in summer, when the ground is
dry and hard, it is far from bad to travel over, and
there is no extensive tract of land in all Europe more
fitted for military purposes than the Dobrudja Proper.
Not only are the tracks firm and good, but artillery,
cavalry, and baggage waggons can pass straight
through over the undulating plains for hundred of miles
without the least difficulty, except that of the great
want of water, which, on the Mid Dobrudja, can only be
procured at the villages, and then in limited quantities
from deep wells.

It is pitiable to see the droves of cattle standing
for hours, on a hot summer afternoon, round the well of
the village, nearly parched with thirst, waiting till
some lazy young Turk, towards sundown, thinks fit to
arouse himself, and with the help of a pony, and a huge
wheel, draw up a few buckets of water, which he empties
into a dug-out tree placed near the well, the contents
of which are half spilt by the frantic haste of the poor
beasts to get at it.

We spent a very pleasant week with our friends at
Kustendji, devoting nearly every day to coursing, and
236 Bulgaria before the War. om. xxtv.

 

the evenings to paying visits. We sent our horses
home with the cavasses, and then ourselves returned
vid Tchernavoda and the Danube to Rustchuck.
On our way down the line from Rustchuck, R. A. B.,
who had joined us, told us of a brutal outrage that had
‘taken place near the station of Sheitanjik. He was
called up one morning by the news that a Bulgar boy
was dying in his yard. On going out, true enough
there he found a lad about fourteen years old, looking
very much as if he were not long for this world. His
face was black and swollen, his eyes seemed about to drop
from his head, and he was quite speechless. R. A. B.’s
cavass said that when riding in early that morning
from some neighbouring village, he had discovered the
boy lying in the grass with his arms tied behind him,
and his head pulled backwards towards his elbows by a
rope from them round his neck. He was nearly strangled,
and quite insensible. Cold water was poured on the
boy’s face, brandy poured down his throat, and his feet
and legs well rubbed; and, after a bit, he revived and
recovered his speech. He then told R. A. B. that a
Turk, the son of the head man of Kajelidere, the next
village, had tied him up the previous night, and then
left him, because he had allowed some sheep he was
watching to stray on to what the Turk was pleased to
consider his pasturage. R.A. B. at once despatched his
two cavasses to Kajelidere, and they soon returned
with the man.
When told what the boy had said, he answered,
without the least appearance of shame, * Yes, I did it,
OH. XXIV. An Outrage. 237.

 

and why should not 1? He is a Giaour, and let his
sheep eat my grass.’ R. A. B. told him he ought to be
ashamed of himself, for it was a most disgraceful thing
he had done. Whereat the man turned on him ina
fury, and said, ‘ How disgraceful? I am the Sultan’s
soldier (he had been one), and the Sultan’s soldiers’
cannot do a disgraceful thing.’

It was useless to argue with him; so R. A. B.
ordered his cavasses to take him to Shumla, and hand
him over to the governor, sending a message at the
same time that he hoped the man would be severely
punished. When the cavasses returned they said the
Pasha sent Tchelaby many salaams, and he would cer-
tainly punish the man severely. His ideas of severe
punishment and R. A. B.’s, however, somewhat differed ;
for the very next morning the man rode up to the
station, swaggering and blustering, assuring everyone
that the Pasha had told him that he was a very good
child, and that he had done no harm. So much for a
Turk’s ideas of right and wrong, and so much for a
Pasha’s ideas of justice between Mussulman and
Rayah |!

We were accompanied on our journey down from
Rustchuck by a Pasha, who was on his way to Con-.
stantinople, with his two wives, three or four children,
and some half-dozen slaves of either sex, some white
and others black; and his treatment of his ‘better
halves’ raised my wife’s indignation greatly. First of. .
all, while waiting for the train to start, he allowed the
poor wretches to stand out in a piercing wind on the.
238 Bulgaria before the War. om. xxv.

 

platform, while he squatted under the verandah in an
arm-chair. Then, when we started, the Pasha came
into a first-class carriage with us, while his wives,
children, and female slaves were all huddled like a lot
of sheep in a second-class compartment. Throughont
the entire journey the old fellow never so much as

looked at them; and, on arriving at Varna, they were
all put into a springless araba, whilst he drove up into
the town alone in an open carriage. Yet the old
fellow did not seem to dislike ladies; for all the way
down he had been most polite and courteous to S., and
through me, as interpreter, kept up a lively conversa-
tion, and paid her such extravagant compliments, that
I dared not translate them all, for fear of her head
being turned.

It was about this time that the unfortunate share-
holders in the Varna Railway began to have their faith
in ever getting a dividend somewhat shaken. They
had been induced to put their money into the concern
by the promise of the Government guarantee, and the
guarantee was to come into effect as soon as the line
was ready for traffic.

Now the line not only was ready for traffic, but was
running three or four through trains each day, besides.
carrying the mails for Constantinople twice a week.
But yet the Government refused to pay the guarantee
on the ground that the line was not finished. Over
and over again we asked to have the line inspected;
and over and over again, after some weeks of delay,
some well-instructed man came up to examine it, or to
cx. xxtv. Prospects of the Railroad. 239

 

pretend to do so, and then left, finding some childish
excuse for the Government’s not paying up—such as
the station doors wanting repainting, or the reeds in
the marshes near the line requiring to be cut. Again
and again we complied with their requirements, and:
put all finishing touches to the line; but it was only
by stopping the traffic and shutting up the line that we-
at last got it acknowledged to be in proper working
order; and then, when we hoped to get some money,
there was another rather awkward hitch. The Govern-
ment had not got any; and from that day to this the
company has experienced like treatment. Now and
then some trifling driblet has been obtained; but the’
sum owed by the Government is enormous, and will, I
fear, remain so, and all hopes of getting it are quite
vain, . -

During this winter I had my first experience of what
I look back upon as the most disagreeable and severe
of all the tasks I ever had to perform, namely clearing
the line of snow, and as Mac was spending the winter.
in England the entire work fell upon me.

Wherever the neighbourhood of the line is open
country, which it is throughout the greater part of it,
the fine hard frozen snow drifts and drifts until it
finally piles up behind every obstacle and falls over
every declivity, and then settles to about the consis-
tency of a block of salt, and this, not only when the:
snow is falling, but after it is down it drifts at every:
rise or change of the wind. Constantly a telegram:
would arrive after dark to say that a train with all its:
240 Bulgaria before the War. om. xx1v.

 

passengers was stuck fast at such and such a kilometre,

and then I had to turn out of my snug warm room,

huddle on mountains of furs, and hasten away up the.
line with the ‘ picking up’ train, pushing in front of us

a monster snow plough that would clear a cutting’ of,
many feet of snow if it had not been lying long enough

to get compressed.

_ Often we in our turn got jammed, and then in the’
piercing cold, engine and plough had to be dug out,
and the cutting cleared by hand, and when at last we
did recover the lost train we had to precede it into
Varna or Rustchuck, and then start off again to run
over the entire line, for we felt pretty sure that the
same storm that had caught the train would have filled
all the cuttings. :

*On these excursions we often took with us, in break
vans, three or four hundred Bulgars, packed like
herrings in a barrel, for the sake of warmth. Often we
were out for two or three days, and then after having
cleared the entire line would learn that a shift of wind
had undone all our work.

I remember the first time we used the snow plough
we were in some fear of the weighty machine, and did
not go half fast enough at our blocked cuttings, but we
soon got over this and before our arrival at Rustchuck
had become quite desperate. When we found a-
cutting quite full of snow we ran up and down the line
a few times for half a mile in front of it to clear the
rails, and then, whilst we were getting up all the steam
power we could, some men went forward and sanded
CH. XXIV. + Snow-clearing. 241

 

the rails. "When all was ready we drove ahead with all
our might, crouching well down behind the fire-box
to shield us from the avalanche, and went crash into it.
If the cutting were not too long or too deep, and we
had a good run at it, we would dash through ; but often
when this was not the condition of things, we just
burrowed into the snow till not a vestige of the engine
or waggons could be seen, and then we had first to dig
ourselves out, and afterwards.the entire train.

It was always a marvel to me how the men could
be induced to start on these excursions ; for if I suffered,
wrapped up as I was in warm furs from the soles of my
feet to the top of my head, what must they have gone
through with only a sheep-skin jacket! Yet they
never grumbled, and never refused to turn out, and day
or night worked with a will, and not only with a will,
but with many a laugh and joke. When all the work
was over I gave each of them a good glass of spirits,
but never while the work was going on, for I am con-
. vinced, from experience, that there is nothing prostrates
a man, or destroys his bodily vigour and heat, so much
as spirits. For a short time after drinking it he may
fancy he feels warmer and stronger, but it will not last ;
- the master will see at once that he is not working as well
as he did before, and if the cold be very great, and the
man tired, he will ‘shut up’ altogether in a few
minutes.

The best thing I believe to give lasting heat
and vigour in intense cold is a cup of hot Turkish
coffee, the stronger the better, to be followed up by a

R
242 Bulgaria before the War.: om. xxrv.

 

good meal on the warmest and greasiest dish ever
dreamt of by the worst of cooks; and I plead guilty to
having eaten, with the greatest relish, some dozen eggs,
all poached and floating in a lake of oil—a dish that
would be about as tempting to me, during temperate
weather, as a tuck-out on physic.

We all of us suffered most on these occasions from
the fine needle-like particles of snow being driven into
our eyes, causing intense inflammation and pain, and
sometimes blinding us for days. Then every now and
again we got a nip of frost-bite, which is, to my mind,
the most terrible pain, and I still have a numbness in
my toes, the result of a frost-bite on the Varna Railway.
No: snow-clearing, with the thermometer at 20 deg.
below zero, is not pleasant, and this is one of the few
things in my life in Turkey that I do not look back to
with pleasure.
CH. XXY. Wolves. 243

 

CHAPTER XXvV.

Wolves—A Lion on the Line—Killing a Cossack— Wallachia and Wal-
lachians—Giurgevo.
Durine our snow-clearing excursions we often saw packs
of from three to ten wolves—long-legged, gaunt, ragged
beasts, always on the gallop, but shy and cautious,
never coming within shot, and certainly not looking
very fierce or dangerous; nor are they. I do not know
the beast in any other part of the world, so can only
speak of him as he was in Turkey, and I am bound to
say I never could verify one of the numerous stories
that we constantly heard of his attacking and eating
men; nor doI believe them. When a man is found
eaten by wolves I take it he has either died of cold or
some other ailment, or else been dead drunk; and-I do
not blame the wolves for clearing him up. It is much
more moral of them to do so than to attack live cattle
or sheep, as they will do if they are not well looked
after ; but even here they are very cautious, and I never
heard of wolves killing any in the daytime, yet they
look, and I dare say often are, very hard set with
hunger. ‘ /
Nowhere in Turkey have I ever heard of wolves
being trapped, and I believe the only plan adopted for

rR 2
“
244 Bulgaria before the War. cH. XXxv.

their destruction is to drive a strip of forest and shoot
them, or try to do so, as they bolt. A Turkish sports-
man may be said to kill his game about once in every
three shots fired, and his gun, which he loads as deeply
as he can, goes off once in every two attempts. With
all these chances in the wolves’ favour, it is a puzzle to
me why they do not swarm. As it is they are decidedly
rare, and are seldom seen by anyone.

Besides wolves I believe there are a few jackals in
the Balkans, and that they come within a few miles of
Varna, but I cannot be certain about this as I speak
only from hearsay, that is, from what I have gathered
from the shepherds, but I am inclined to believe them ;
as not only did they assure me that their flocks were often
visited by them, but they imitated the cry of the jackal,
which they could not have done if they had not
heard it.

I am always sceptical as to the reports of natives
about game that I have not seen myself, and it is
sometimes as well to take the tales told by even
Englishmen with a grain of salt. For instance, one
night, just as I was turning into bed at Rustchuck,
Tom Bilby came to my house, wanting to speak to me
‘very particular.’ Having asked him into my room,
and set a glass of grog before him, he said, ‘ Well, sir ;
you know I have killed with my old locomotive almost
every animal, from a man to a hedgehog, but I never
had such a stroke of luck as I have to-night. If you
will believe me, not an hour ago, I went smash over the
biggest lion you ever saw. You may laugh; but I did.
CH. XXV. A Lion on the Line. 245

 

I was running sharp down the Vetova incline when the
beast sprang at the fore-part of the engine, and I just
saw it writhing under the wheels as we dashed over it
with a great heave up that made me think for a
moment that we were off the rails. There aren’t no
lions in Turkey? well, you must exeuse me, sir, but I
know better—there is one, a dead one; and if you will
come back with me to-morrow I will show it you.’

Tom stuck to his story, assuring me he saw quite
plainly by his engine lights its ragged red mane, and so
accurately and vividly described it that I was almost
convinced, and began to think he must have run foul
of a lion that had*escaped out of confinement; but the
next morning, on going up the line with him, the mys-
tery was solved, for there, on the side of the line, with
some fifty vultures tugging at it, was a dead camel!
If Tom had not returned that way he would all his life
have sworn he had killed a lion, and as he was one of
the most truthful men I ever knew, it would have been

difficult to disbelieve him.

At Vetova station we left word about the kill of
the previous evening, as we knew the carcase, or such
part as the vultures left, would prove a rich feast for
the Circassian villagers. Nothing ever seemed to come
amiss to them, and they apparently liked their food
gamey, for R. A. B. once saw them unearth a horse
that must have been dead and buried for weeks, and
carry it off to cook, when the worst rascal that ever
sent bad meat to Smithfield Market would have turned

sick at the smell of it.
246 Bulgaria before the War. CH. XXV.

 

When we killed a beast on the line, which I should
say was about three times a week, first its owner, if a
Turk or Bulgar, would strip off its skin, then the
Circassians would clear off the meat, and the wild dogs
and vultures finished up the offal; so by the next day
the utmost to be seen was a few scattered bones and a
trampled dark spot on the turf. I plead guilty myself
' to having carried home, on more than one occasion, a
leg of beef, but then good beef was very rare, and it
did seem a pity to let the beasts of the field (I include
Circassians among these!) eat good food.

It may perhaps be said here what a shame it was to
kill the poor villagers’ cattle. It was certainly a pity,
but not a shame, for every beast killed owed its death
to the carelessness of its owner or guardian. Either the
herdsman drove his beasts on to the line or across it in
front of a train, or more frequently he went to sleep
and let them stray on the path of danger. I once saw
one of our own gate-keepers fast asleep at the door of
his hut, whilst his horse was tethered to the rails, and
was, poor beast, cut to pieces by the engine I was on.

I only wish we had been able to escape running
over human beings; but even this we sometimes did
through the utter recklessness of the people, who would
cross the rails just in front of a train going at full
speed. I can never forget the feeling of horror I once
experienced when just as we had got up full speed, after
leaving Gebedji station, and were rounding a sharp
curve, the driver saw a man, lying across one rail with
his head resting on the other for a pillow, fast asleep.
cu. xxv. Wallachia and Wallachians. 247

 

It was impossible to stop, and the next minute we were
over him, cutting him clean in two. On enquiry I
found that the man was a Cossack, and that shortly
before our arrival at the station he had been seen
staggering about very tipsy. I ordered a gang of
Bulgars to bury him where he died, and reported his
death to the authorities, but no notice was taken of it;
and why should there, for he was only one of the many
thousands of hated Russians that had found an un-
known resting-place in that distant land.

As the snow had ceased falling for a bit just before
Christmas, and I had but little to do just then, my
wife and I took the opportunity to spend a few days
with my brother, G. A. B., who was at this time living
at Bucharest. It was a visit I looked forward to with
much pleasure, as I had once lived a year at Bucharest,
and, therefore, had, besides my brother’s family, many
sincere friends there, though I must confess chiefly
among the English and other foreigners. I fear I
cannot say much in favour of the Wallach. I don’t
like him. I even prefer the Turk to him, and yet I
know, when I reason with myself, that, on the whole,
he is the Turk’s superior in most ways. Since the
partial independence of Wallachia, the country has
greatly improved, and is going on improving. Good
roads have been made where previously only muddy
tracks existed. Iron bridges have been thrown over
most of the large rivers where these roads cross them,
and hundreds of miles of railroad have been opened ;
above all the Wallach is ambitious and hopes for a
248 Bulgaria before the War. cH. XXV.

 

future on earth amongst European nations, and can be
got at through public opinion. In these two latter
points he is somewhere, whereas his neighbour over the
river is nowhere.

The Turk hopes for no improvement; but, on the
contrary, wishes to stop where he is and as he was 400
years ago; and as for public opinion, it is the opinion
of Giaours, worse and more to be despised than the
opinion of the beasts he uses.

When first I went to Bucharest, some eighteen
years ago, there was nothing but a rough track from
_ Giurgevo to that town; since then a very good high
road has been constructed all the way, and this in its
turn has given way to one of the very best constructed
railroads in all Europe. The progress exhibited on this
road is a fair specimen of what has been done through-
out the entire country; and yet Wallachia has much to
do, and many, many years must elapse before she can
be admitted into the family of nations as an equal.
She must get over her swaggering, boastful, yet effemi-
nate ways; she must introduce education and literature
amidst all her people, beginning at the very highest.
Her women must learn to prize virtue more than fine
clothes, and the men must learn to look on women as
something better than creatures sent on earth for their
pleasure. In fact, the saying one often hears a Walla-
chian quote of his own country, that it is a land where
‘The fruit has no flavour, the flower no scent, the men
no honour, and the women no virtue, must become
CH, XXv. Giurgevo. 249

 

untrne, and it must be the boast of its people, instead,
that at all events the latter part of the proverb is
altered.

These are but a few of the many lessons Wallachia
has to learn: it is along task and willtake a long time ;
but learn it they will, I have no doubt, if they only
have time given them.

I have said my say, as far as the dark side of the
Wallachian character is concerned, and now I am glad
to give the other side of the picture. There is no part
of Europe where the stranger is received with greater
kindness and hospitality, and he will find his hosts
amusing, clever, and anxious to please. The men
always ready and willing to do him a service, and the
ladies more than kind—that is to say, the married ones,
for with them alone will he be able to converse freely,
- the girls being guarded strictly by mothers and duennas,
as if they thought all hopes for them would be lost if
they escaped from under their eyes; but as the boy is
father to the man, so I suppose the girl is mother to
the woman, and judging from the ladies I have known
in Wallachia, I should say the girls must be very
amusing, if one could only talk to them without
restraint.

I have crossed the Danube from Rustchuck to
Giurgevo some hundreds of times, and am well used to
the troubles and trials that beset a traveller, wherever
he may go; but I can safely say that I lost more good
temper each time I entered Giurgevo than a trip to
250 Bulgaria before the War. CH. XX¥.

 

every capital in Europe would cost me, through the
imbecile management of the Wallachian passport and
custom-house officials.

On reaching Giurgevo, you are landed on a muddy,
shelving shore, between the river and the town, amidst
piles of goods, arabas, bullocks, horses, and indescribable
smells. There is no place to shelter you or your lug-
gage, and if you attempt to enter the town, you are at
once stopped by a creature dressed like a scarecrow,
calling himself a sentinel. He speaks nothing but
Wallachian, and even if you understand him, he will
only condescend to tell you to stop where you are; and
stop you will, probably for hours, if you are not fortu-
nate enough to induce some one to take pity on you
and go to call a custom-house officer. Supposing this
has been done, and your luggage carried to the custom-
house, nine times out of ten you will then be told that
the custom-house officials have not yet arrived, that
they have left for the day, or that they have gone home
for dinner, and if you remonstrate at this state of
affairs, you are looked upon as most inconsiderate. The
only chance is to get hold of some Wallachian gentle-
man who may be passing by, and persuade him to help
you ; if you succeed in this, he may in time fish up an
official for you, and then, with time and patience,
helped with bakshish, you will at last-get through your
troubles and be allowed to go into the town. This
kind of thing takes place again and again, day
after day, as often as you go there, and yet Giurgevo is
the front door of Wallachia, or, stating the ‘case in
CH. Xxv. Giurgevo. 251

 

arithmetical terms, one may say, ‘As Liverpool is to
England, so is Giurgevo to Wallachia.’

When once the frontier troubles are over, a foreigner
is as free in Wallachia as in England, and will have no
more ‘ official’ annoyances of any sort, as long as he
behaves himself properly and quietly.
252 Bulgaria before the War. om. xxv1.

 

CHAPTER XXVI.

Wallachian Cruelty — Judicial Torture — Bucharest —An Affair of
Honour—A Swindle.

Wuen my wife and I arrived at Giurgevo on this occa~
sion, the railroad was only just commenced, so we had
to hire an open carriage with four horses (harnessed all
abreast), and with our luggage packed in with us,
started off at a capital pace, which was kept up
throughout the entire journey of forty miles, the unfor-
tunate beasts pushed along at their best speed by the
unsparing application of a whip that cut like a knife.

When the present Prince of Wallachia first arrived
at Bucharest he was accompanied by several Prussian
officers, one of whom was heard to remark a few days
later, that ‘The Prince had better give up his under-
taking and return home again, for no good could be
done in a country where the people are such consum-
mate fools as to illtreat the animals they make their
living by, until they kill them.’ And from what I have
seen, I know the officer had but too good reason for
saying this.

In all the civilised world, there is no people so
innately cruel to their beasts as the Wallachians are,
and so foolishly cruel too. I have seen the driver of a
CH. XXVI. Wallachian Cruelty. 253

 

carriage sitting by the side of the road crying bitterly
over one of his horses that lay stretched out dead,
having been driven to death, and then seen him in a
fury of rage attack the poor surviving beast, and fell it
by repeated blows on the head, and yet the poor things
had been driven on and on, till they were totally
exhausted. As long as a horse can move, its owner
will continue to work it, if he can earn a penny by it,
though it may be plain to the greatest fool that by
doing so the horse must die in an hour ortwo. All the
peasants’ beasts are half starved and covered with sores
and crippled by ill-usage. On the old road from Giyr-
gevo to Bucharest dead horses might constantly be
seen lying by the side of the road, and at the half-way
house the yard and premises were strewn with the bones
of the poor beasts that had died there.

As may be supposed, these people, who are so cruel
to their domestic animals, are not much better to those
of their fellow-creatures who are at their mercy. Men,
and even women, were beaten in a brutal manner to
extort confessions from them, and other revolting
tortures were resorted to for the same purpose; and
yet the Wallachs say of themselves that they are the
most refined, enlightened, and civilised of all the
European family !

In the year 1868 or 1869 (I forget which), a sum of
money was despatched by post-cart to Foktchany. The
driver of the post was changed at each stage; so some
half-dozen people had charge of the money during the
journey. When the cart arrived, the money was not
254 Bulgaria before the War. om. xxvt.

forthcoming, and nothing could be made out about it.
The loss was reported by telegram to the authorities at
Bucharest, and orders were sent back to beat the post-
man till he told where the money was. This order was
at once carried out in the severest manner, but without
eliciting anything; and it ended in the Minister of
Justice running down to look into the affair himself,
The post-boy was brought before him, again flogged,
with no further result, and then the Minister, sitting in
judgment, ordered sharp pegs of wood to be driven
under the finger-nails of the unfortunate wretch.
Driven wild by the excruciating pain, the poor victim
called out, ‘I did take it, I confess]? But then
followed the question, ‘What did you do with it?’ and,
not being able to tell, he was again subjected to the
same torture, and, in addition, had a rope tied to his
feet, by which he was over and over again lowered down
a well and soused in the water. At last the man
became insensible; and then the Minister sent for the
man’s wife, and the mildest torture to which he sub-
jected her, and the only one I can sully my pen by
mentioning, was placing hot roasted eggs under her
arms, next the skin, and binding her arms down upon
them. The woman, in her turn, became insensible, and
was carried off to the hospital; and the Minister, feel-
ing, no doubt, that he had done a good day’s work,
returned to his house at Bucharest.

Unfortunately for the Minister, there were some
English engineers at Foktchany, who reported the
affair to the consul, and through him the matter was
CH, XXVI. Fudicral Torture. 255

 

taken up, and the Minister, after much delay, was
brought to trial and condemned to, I believe, a year’s
imprisonment for ‘un peu trop de zéle.’ I have said
“condemned’ to imprisonment; for there the matter
ended, the authorities thinking it quite sufficient
punishment to condemn him, without ever carrying
out the sentence ; and during the year of his supposed
imprisonment, the man might be seen driving or walk-
ing about in Bucharest, looking quite contented and
happy.

I afterwards heard that he died raving mad; so I
will be charitable, and suppose his diabolical acts were
done in a fit of insanity. Though if such deeds only
occurred in Wallachia when those in authority were
deranged, I fear a lunatic asylum on a large scale was
greatly needed!

Mind, these events occurred some years ago, and I
hope things have improved since then; indeed, I know
they have under the influence of Prince Charles and
the good Princess, who would not tolerate such brutali-
ties, nor many other doings of the Wallachs of some
years ago.

Neither in situation, nor in any other respect, is
Bucharest a pleasant, pretty, or healthy town. Being
placed out in the midst of the great flat plains, it is
fearfully hot in summer and bitterly cold in winter. A
dirty little river runs through the lower part of it, and
furnishes a plentiful crop of ague and other fevers, and,
at the same time, is an outlet for such drains as there
are, while it supplies drinking water for half the people
256 Bulgaria before the War. CH. XXVI.

 

in the town. All the buildings are made with half-
burnt hicks, so rotten and soft that to keep them
from crumbling away they have to be covered with
plaster and cement, which, owing to a trick it has of -
comirg off in big patches, gives even the very best of
the houses a shabby, untidy appearance. There is not,
in all the town, a building with any pretensions to ar-
chitectural beauty, but many of the houses are well
arranged internally, and are warm and dry.
I do not think there is to be found in all the town
a street that is straight for a hundred yards, and no-
where in any street are there two houses alike, or facing
in the same direction. Here one sees a large preten-
tious house placed sideways to the street, there a wooden
drinking-shop jutting out over the footpath, and next
to it, perhaps, a church, wretchedly built, standing in an
open yard—open, because the wooden railings that once
surrounded it have rotted away or been stolen, and the
only things that now show it was once an enclosed space
are the crumbling brick pillars that had supported the
gates. After this may come a shop or peasant’s hovel,
and then another palace. In the days I write of the
streets were paved with water-washed pebbles from the
river, as round as cannon-balls, set in the accumulated
mud of ages, without any drainage, and most of them
loose. I once saw, not fifteen years ago, a horse foun-
‘dered ina bog-hole at the very door of the house of the
then Minister of Public Works!
Ta summer, not only do you drive and walk through
piles of dust, but you breathe it, eat it, and drink it,
CH, XAVL Bucharest. 257

 

and in winter directly you are out of your house, you
are plunging, slipping, and staggering in a quagmire
composed of liquid filth and the above-mentioned
boulders. The consequence is, that no one who has the
means of hiring a carriage ever thinks of walking in
the streets for a yard, but goes bumping and jolting at
a rattling pace over the rough pavement, bespattering
not only the foot-passengers, but the houses and shops,
even to the top of the ground-floor wiudows.

The public carriages are little light four-wheeled
affairs, with a hood that can be raised or lowered at
pleasure, drawn by two horses. Nearly all these con-
veyances are owned and driven by Cossacks, generally
so huge in size that they alone make a good load for
the horses. Just outside the town, to the north, there
is a feeble attempt at a park and gardens, through
which ruus a good broad macadamised road, and it is
here that on hot summer evenings the fashion and
beauty of Bucharest take their airing, do their flirting,
and show their fine feathers and artistically prepared
faces.

Some of the carriages are most gorgeous, and have
been built in Vienna, Paris, or even London, and the
entire turn-out, including the really fine horses, must
cost a small fortune, and yet a properly turned-out car-
riage is never seen. The carriage may be all correct,
so may the horses, and laying aside English prejudices,
the coachman in a livery that is a sort of cross between
the dress of the old English parish-beadle and the robes
of the Lord Mayor of London, may pass muster, so may

8
258 Bulgaria before the War. CH. XXVI.

the pretended Montenegrin in his preposterous white
petticoats anda belt full of pistols and knives ; but how
about the rusty bit? the coachman’s pig whip? the
traces a foot too long, and the collars six inches too
small? But, after all, these are but minor matters,
and I suppose the real pleasure is in knowing that the
cost of the whole is very large, and that altogether the
turn-out is better and more imposing than that of your
neighbour.

Besides being the proper place for rank and fashion
to take their airing, the Chaussé, as the drive and sur-
rounding gardens are called, is the correct place for
affaires Phonneur, and every now and thena duel takes
place there, but it is seldom that any real mischief is
done. A hero is manufactured for the fair ones to ad-
mire. A little powder is burnt, and now and then,
when two very desperate characters have met, one or
both may be seen for a few days with a hand in asling
or a crutch under his arm, but I have never yet heard
of one returning on a shutter, in the old approved
manner.

One of these affaires Phonneur took place while we
were staying at Bucharest, and the history of it was, I
believe, that an officer had fallen head over heels in
love with a married lady. He did not know her, had
never spoken to her, and despaired of making her ac-
quaintance, as she was a great swell, and he a nobody.
In despair the poor fellow went to the opera night
after night, and when his charmer was in her box, he
would fix his glasses upon her, and throughout the
CH. XXVI. An Affarr of Honour. 259

 

evening never take them down. After this had gone
on for some time the husband got angry, and on meet-
ing the officer as he left the opera he slapped his face.
There was the usual hubbub, and at last kind friends
arranged that the two fools should have the pleasure of
shooting at each other in the gardens next morning—
the result being that the officer had the end of his
thumb shot off, and became, on the spot, the hero of
Bucharest, for at least three days, and was on show
walking up and down the gardens each afternoon for
an hour with his hand inasling. Iwas told that the
husband, having had his honour satisfied by about
three-quarters of an inch of thumb, then discovered
the officer was a good fellow, so invited him to his
house, played with him at cards, night after night, and
lost to him asum of money, which might well repay
him for his morsel of flesh.

An old Wallachian once told me a good story of a
duel that was fought in Moldavia, in years gone by.
It appears that one of the old Boyards who lived in
those parts got very short of cash, and having put all
the screw he could upon his serfs, borrowed of his
friends, gambled at cards, &., to no purpose, he at
last summoned to his help a Russian Jew from over the :
border. Wishing to ingratiate himself with the Jew,
he invited him to join him and his retainers at dinner.
Now among these retainers were six young swells, the
very pink of fashion, whose honour felt injured at
having to break bread with a Jew money-lender. They
therefore consulted together and ended by sending the

s 2
260 Bulgaria before the War. CH. XXVI.

 

Jew a challenge to fight them all with pistols one after
the other. The Jew protested against this, but on
being told the gentlemen could never hold up their
heads again if they did not vindicate their honour, he
gave way, but at the same time said he would much ©
rather lend them a heavy sum on good security than
shoot the lot.

The meeting was arranged for the following morn-
ing, and then the Jew and No. 1 of the retainers took
their stand, the signal to fire was given, and over fell
the young swell, shot fair through the middle of the
chest. No. 2 rather hesitated to come forward, but
being cheered on by his friends, took his stand, and
the signal being again given, he fell by the side of his
dead companion, shot in exactly the same place.

There was then a great discussion as to whose turn
came next, and on the Jew saying,‘ Pray come on one
of you; it cannot matter which, as I shall kill you all in
the same way,’ the quarrel waxed so fierce that the rest
of the duel was postponed, and has not come off to this
day. The best of it was the Jew thought it advisable
to get over the frontier as fast as he could, and in his
hurry had not the courtesy to say good bye to his
entertainer. The result being that the Boyard did not
get his loan, so lost his temper and dismissed from his
service the four survivors of the duel.

Probably it was fortunate for the Jew that his finan-
cial speculation was thus interrupted or he might have
been served as was an Englishman I knew while I was |
living at Bucharest. He one day received a visit from
CH. XXVI. A Swindle. 261

 

a high-born and well-known Wallachian, who, in an
off-hand manner, stated that he was in want for the
moment of 100/., his rents had not come in yet, and
two splendid horses were on sale, and he must have
them, &e. My friend knowing the great man well,
and having the money in his safe, gave it to him, but
before doing so took a bill at thirty days for it.
Punctual to the day the big man reappeared, and after
chatting for a few minutes, said, ‘ By-the-bye let us
settle that little money affair—you have a bit of paper
of mine, I believe, give it me, and I will settle it at
once. The Englishman unlocked a drawer, took out
the bill and handed it over, and then turned to relock
the drawer. When he looked round again the Walla-
chian was craning his neck up and down and swallowing
violently, but his labours were soon over, and then
picking up his hat he said, ‘ Ten thousand thanks; now
that little affair is satisfactorily settled, and walked off,
no doubt to digest at leisure his bill for the 1000.

From that day to this my friend has never seen his
money, and what is more he had not even the satisfac-
tion of annoying the great man by exposing him, as in
less than an hour the Wallach himself had spread the
news all over the town as a good joke.
262 Bulgaria before the War. cu. xxvu.

 

CHAPTER XXVII.

Bucharest Houses—A Night at Giurgevo—Crossing the Danube—
A Murder.

Nearty all the best houses in Bucharest stand in large
courtyards shut off from the street, with the stables
and domestic servants’ rooms at one end, and they are
generally prettily shaded by monster ball acacias.

Externally the houses are not handsome, but in-
ternally they are the nicest I ever lived in, combining
all the best points of both Turkish and European
houses. Like the Turkish, there is always a large
entrance-hall running straight through the house, in
which the family live in hot weather; and opening from.
this are dining-rooms, drawing-rooms, and bed-rooms
(most of the houses have all the rooms on one flat), and
every room is fitted with a porcelain stove, a thing
looking like a small church organ, only in china. I
know that few of my readers, except those who have
lived abroad and learnt it by experience, will be in-
clined to believe me when I say that nothing man has
yet invented for heating a house comes up to these
stoves, when they are as good as they are at Bucharest ;
but I feel sure that if once they had lived a winter in
a house warmed with them they would never, if they
CH. XXVII. Bucharest Houses. 263

 

 

could help it, go back to our open fires. I shall be
told an open fire is so cheerful, and so it is, but only
because you are shivering with cold; you will not
require cheering if you feel warm all over the house
and in all parts of the room. Then it is said they are
stuffy, but this I deny. A Bucharest drawing-room is
no more stuffy than an English one. Certainly there
is not the rush of cold air along the floor which is
necessary in an English room to induce the smoke to
go up the chimney, which, after all, it so often fails to
do; but instead there is a nice genial heat everywhere,
and one is able to inhabit the whole drawing-room,
and not only the hearth-rug as we do in England.

Then a stove is far cheaper than an open fire; it gives
less trouble to clean, and may be made to burn either
wood or coal, or a happy mixture of both. Englishmen,
however, have a rooted prejudice against stoves, chiefly
brought about by the stuffy smelling iron things used
occasionally; but it is a prejudice we shall, I have no
doubt, get over when coals become so dear we are
driven to adopt some cheaper method of warming our-
selves than by filling an open grate and allowing 85
per cent. of the heat to escape up the chimney without
doing any good.

Then another luxury one gets in every house in
Bucharest is double windows, and it is marvellous how
they contribute to the warmth, and how effectually
they keep out draughts. In summer these outside
windows are removed, and their places taken by pretty
light Venetian blinds; but these J allow are not much
264 Bulearia before the War. om. xxvu.

 

needed in England, as, thanks to the dull, half-shame-
faced way the sun shines upon us here, there is rarely
any glare.

Our visit to Bucharest was cut short by receiving
a telegram from Rustchuck to say the ice was coming
down the Danube; and fearing that we might be shat
out of Turkey, perhaps for weeks, by the half-congealed
floating masses, we started off early one morning with
the intention of crossing the same afternoon; but man
. proposes and Wallach disposes, for on getting to the
river nothing we could offer would induce the Wal-
lachian boatmen to venture to take us over, as they
feared being caught in among the floating ice after
dark on the return trip. There was nothing to be
done, therefore, but to make the best of it at the filthy,
noisy, smelling hotel by the river side; shut up ina
little dirty, dranghty bedroom, cold, hungry, and in a
temper.

All Wallachia has a peculiar smell of its own, quite
distinct from anything to be found elsewhere, and ten
times more objectionable than anything to be found in
Turkey. There the smells are the usual ones common to
all dirty and garlic-consuming people, but in Wallachia
is added thereto that of petroleum; for, owing to there
being petroleum springs in the country, everyone uses
it, everyone spills and wastes it, and go where you
will on the loneliest road, or in the grandest of the
Bucharest houses, the fumes of petroleum are sure to
assail you. I had suffered from it before, but never in
my life as on this night; and had it not been for the
CH, TRYIN. A Night at Giurgevo. 265

 

swarms of ‘busy b—s’ that speedily attacked us, and
seemed extra lively and healthy, I should have been
inclined to think that animal and human life could
not have endured it. As it was, we saved the chamber-
man (it was a man) the trouble of calling us by lying
awake all night, and as soon as it was light I went out
and tried to hire a boat; but I was told the ice was too
strong in the river, and that we must wait till it was
frozen hard enough to walk across. I was just giving
up in despair when I caught sight of a Greek boatman
from Rustchuck, and on asking him what he was doing
there, he told me he had come over short-handed from
Rustchuck, and had not strength to take his boat back
again. After a long discussion, and by offering him
about five times his ordinary fare, and promising to
help him if he got into difficulties, I at last persuaded
him and his man to make the attempt; but part of the
bargain was that we should cross over the arm of the
river from Giurgevo to the big island, and then walk
across that till we came to the river itself above Rust-
chuck, where we were to embark and take our chance.
8 was soon dressed, and then, hiring some
porters to carry our luggage, off we started; but our
progress was soon cut short by the horrid little river.
It had been hard frozen for days, but on this morning
the water had risen and covered the ice to the depth of
about a foot. Fortunately there was standing on the
river bank an old Turk in high boots, who offered to
carry us over on his back ; and forgetting, as one is apt
to do, that everyone might not understand what we

 
266 Bulgaria before the War. om. xxv.

 

said, I told him to ‘ pick up Madame and go ahead.’
Now § had not understood a word of what was
going on, and her face of astonishment and horror was
comical when the Turk, going up to her, gave her a
twist round and slung her over his shoulders; then,
without heeding her remonstrances, plunged into the
river and carried her over, her feet kicking out behind

 

in a frantic manner !

During the night snow had fallen, and the ground
was covered a foot deep, so that our walk across the
island among stunted willows and rough grass was any-
thing but a pleasant or an easy one, especially for a
lady ; but we had before us the prospect of a com-
fortable lodging in a friend’s house, and we felt that
at each step we left further behind us the horrid little
room where we had passed twelve hours of misery; so
on we hastened as well as we could. On reaching the
river I confess I did not wonder at the boatmen’s
reluctance to venture upon it, for there in the water,
looking dark and forbidding in its setting of deep snow,
surged and crashed great blocks of ice of all sizes, from
a few pounds’ weight to several tons: so close were they
packed together, it looked impossible to force a boat
through them; but the boatmen were hopeful and will-
ing, so, arranging our luggage, we stepped in and
shoved off ; then, all armed with poles, we pushed our
way out, and, after many a narrow squeeze and an hour
of hard labour, we managed to hit the Turkish shore
some miles below Rustchuck. Willing hands were soon
on the spot to help us out, and an hour later we
CH. XXVIII. A Murder. 267

 

were eating breakfast in our friend’s house, warm and
snug.

On our return to Varna we found all the employés
at the station in great excitement about a murder that
had been committed that afternoon by a young Greek,
who was employed by us as engine-cleaner.

It appeared that Christo (the delinquent) was what
is called ‘keeping company’ with a young woman. As
chance would have it, he was sent by the foreman on
this afternoon to buy something, and taking the opportu-
nity to pay his sweetheart a visit, had discovered her flirt-
ing with a rival. Ina moment he out with his knife,
buried it in the man’s heart, and then bolted back to the
workshops, where he was seen for a little time, but then
suddenly disappeared. Just as we came in with the
train,a dozen zaptiehs arrived to search for the man;
on home in a carriage, I started off

 

so sending S
with them, and together we searched every hole and
corner, but to no purpose. Feeling sure, however, that
the man was concealed somewhere on the works, the
zaptiehs kept watch all night, and when the train was
just starting the following morning, the murderer sud-
denly appeared on the platform, walking coolly along.
He had not quite reached the train when a zaptieh
pounced upon him; but Christo calmly said, ‘ Hullo,
now what do you want? do you take me for Christo?
Donkey! don’t you see these’ (taking hold of his
moustache)—‘ had Christo moustaches?’ Altogether,
he carried matters with so high a hand that the zaptieh
was puzzled and let him go, just in time to jump into
268 Bulearia before the War. om, xxv.

 

a carriage and start off by the train. No sooner was he
gone than some one told the zaptieh he had let the
murderer go, and then for half an hour everyone abused
everyone else, after which the head zaptieh galloped off
to report it to the Pasha, who wasted another half-hour
in saying ‘ Mashallah,’ and then came waddling off to
me to ask what should be done.

On my suggesting the use of the telegraph, he sent
off a message in Turkish to the zaptiehs at Shumla
Road Station to’take the man out of the train, and soon
received an answer back that he was captured, and
taken off to Shumla under a strong guard. For two
days everyone felt content at the successful termination
of the affair; but at the end of that time it was dis-
covered that the Shumla zaptiehs had taken the wrong
man, and on enquiry, I found that the muddle-headed
Pasha, having heard the man had something to do with
the engines, telegraphed that he was the stoker, and,
therefore, the zaptiehs seized that individual, who not
only was not the right man but was not even a Rayab,
being an Italian. To complicate matters, the zaptiehs,
as is their wont, not only took him prisoner, but after
chaining his hands and feet, gave him a rubbing down
with their gun-barrels over his head and arms. The
Italian consul took the matter up, and it ended in some
one having to give the victim a bakshish to shut his
mouth, and the Pasha and his zaptiehs earned every-
one’s contempt for the way they bungled the affair. _

' Christo continued his journey to Rustchuck, where he
took the trouble to call on our locomotive superinten-
CH, XXVIL A Murder. 269

 

dent and ask him for leave of absence for a few days, as
it was absolutely necessary he should pay a short visit
to Bucharest! He afterwards wrote from that safe re-
treat to one of his friends, and told him that if ever he
got into a row with the zaptiehs at Varna, he would find
a secure, though rather cold and draughty, hiding-place
in the little bell~cover over the engine shops !

Whenever a native in our employment ‘got into
difficulties,’ and the authorities could not catch him
themselves, they considered that we were bound to do
so for them, and I have often been requested by the
Pasha to find and deliver up a delinquent ; but always
declined to make the attempt, excusing myself by
saying, I could not remember ever having been enrolled
in the Turkish service as a zaptieh, and until I was I
did not choose to act as one. The English consul
would then be asked to use his authority to make me
find the required man, and he in his turn would get
into hot water by refusing to stir in the matter. In
revenge the Pasha used to say, ‘ Very well, if you will
not help us to catch people who have broken our law,
we will not catch anyone who may rob you;’ a threat
that lost its force by our knowing that ninety-nine
times out of every hundred he was unable to do so
whether he wished it or not.
270 Bulgaria before the War. om. xxvmt.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

The Sultan’s Visit Another important Stranger—Greek Nurses—A
crop-eared Donkey.

In casting back my memory, it seems to me that the
first year after my married life commenced, everything
went on so smoothly that there was little incident, and
therefore little that would interest my readers. I shall
therefore make a jump forward and take up my narra-
tive of our life and doings at the following August
(1867), when we were all greatly stirred up and excited
by receiving the news that Abdul Asiz, the Padishah,
who was paying his memorable visit to England, would
return to his capital over our railway. Fortunately, our
former chef was at that time living in Wallachia, and
he took upon himself all the necessary arrangements.

A very pretty saloon carriage was prepared for him,
triumphal arches were erected at Varna and Rustchuck,
the waiting rooms were gorgeously furnished, and for
some days previous to the great day we did nothing
but run trains up and down the line with the big
people who had come up from Constantinople to wel-
come the Padishah back to his country. Never before
bad there been such an excitement in these parts, not
even, I believe, when the armies of the hated Russians
CH. XXVIM. ~ The Sultan’s Vist. a7i

 

were swarming all over the land, for the Turks were
used to war from their earliest history, whereas this
was the first time since the Padishah had given up the
custom of leading their hosts to battle, that they had
ever visited any of the provinces, and most assuredly
the first time anyone of them had travelled by a railway
in his own land. ‘Bakalim (let us see), what will
Allah say to it.’

If the excitement was great, the pleasure was not, at
least for us poor railway officials, for not only was our
work increased tenfold, but we were racked with anxiety.
For fancy if anything went wrong !—if a pointsman
should lose his head and make a mistake. Should a
rail give way under the increased speed it was thought
necessary to travel at, or should some of the thousands
who came to see the sight drive their bullocks across
the line, and so the great Sultan get killed! To prevent
this every precaution was taken. Before the train
started from Rustchuck telegrams were received from
each station-master to say all sidings had been shut
and locked. Everything was cleared off the main line,
and to make all safe, mounted guards were placed
within sight of each other the whole length of the line
to keep off wandering cattle.

All was in perfect readiness early on the morning of
the eventful day, and about noon the Sultan, attended
by a swarm of local officials and others from Constanti-
nople, arrived at Rustchuck station, and was shown
into the large waiting-room, where it had been arranged
that he should receive some of the great personages,
272 Buloaria before the War. om. xxvim.

 

Christian and others, who had come to welcome him and
wish him a prosperous journey. His behaviour during
the ceremony was much criticised. It must be under-
stood that up to this time it had not been considered
etiquette in Turkey for the Sultan ever to return any
salaams when in public; but he was, on the contrary,
supposed to stand like a statue, and receive all as if he
were a god; but on this occasion, when the old grey-
bearded Greek high-priest came and grovelled before
him, he received him with a hurried salaam, and in a
moment all over the station might be heard such
remarks as—‘ The Padishah has become a Giaour; he
salaams like other men; it is a pity; he never should
have left his country; harm will come of it.’ Not only
did he salaam, but he even so far forgot himself as to
say afew words to some of the multitude, and then
motioning to my brother, he moved off to the saloon
carriage. .

In the hurry of getting all ready one thing was for-
gotten till the last moment, and that was a carpet or
rug to spread in the carriage in front of the sultan’s
divan ; on this being discovered at the eleventh hour a
telegram was despatched to Bucharest, and a messenger
arrived at the last moment with the most hideous pro-
duction ever seen, or rather we all thought it so. It
was a bright yellow mat, like a hearthrug, and in the
centre of it was a blue Arab, with black eyes and brick-
red complexion, perched on the hump of a crimson
camel that was represented as going at a fearful pace.
There was no time to get another, so down went the
- CH, XXVIII. The Sultan's Viste. 273

 

horrid, vulgar affair, and we all felt the appearance of
the saloon was as much spoilt as that of a man would
be if he went to a ball in an evening suit with a
sporting shawl-scarf on. Will it be believed that this
rug was the one thing of all we had done in his honour
that extracted any notice from the Sultan! No sooner
was he in the carriage than he fixed his eyes upon it
and said, ‘ Mashallah! this is beautiful! I must have it.
Where is the Director?’ and on my brother appearing
he said, ‘I shall take this lovely rug away with me as a
pleasing souvenir of my journey over your line,’ and
calling up a Pasha he ordered him to roll it up-at once
and carry it off. Somehow, in the confusion at Varna
the wretched rug was left behind, but in a day or two
telegram after telegram arrived asking for it, and at
last it was sent off, and I daresay is now in a place of
honour in one of the Sultan’s palaces.

The sultans of Turkey are such very great men
that, unlike the, poor little potentates of the rest of
_ Europe, they cannot condescend to trouble themselves
about the feelings of their subjects; and so it was that
on this occasion the train had no sooner started than the
Sultan stripped to his under garments, ordered his
attendants to pull down the blinds, and then curled
himself, up on the divan and went to sleep; and though
the train stopped at several of the chief stations, he
never once showed himself to the thousands of his sub- ..
jects who had congregated there, hoping that for once
in their lives they might feast their eyes on the grandest
of living mortals, the king of kings, the ruler of rulers.

Tt
274 Bulgaria before the War. om. xxvin.

 

No: he slept, or pretended to sleep, the whole way, and
only roused up in time to se on his things just before
he reached Varna.

At Varna station the waiting-room had been fitted
up as at Rustchuck, and a double line of notables, con-
suls, pashas, priests and governors had been standing
for hours drawn up in readiness to receive their sove-
reign. At the very end of all this line stood your
humble servant, just inside the door of the waiting-
room. Directly the train stopped and the door of the
saloon opened, out waddled the Sultan, his knees well
arched outwards and his toes turned inwards, and a look
of intense disgust on his face. Without taking the
smallest notice of the profound salaams of everybody,
he hurried into the waiting-room, and then, turning to
me as I was the nearest to him, said in a voice of fury,
with his hands spread out and his shoulders hunched
up, ‘Where, where, where?’ I pointed out a carriage
and four that was standing at the door, and without
waiting for anyone he scuttled into it, shouted out ‘Go
on, go on,’ and away he dashed. Then followed the
most ludicrous scene of confusion I ever witnessed.
Ali Pasha, the next greatest man in Turkey, jumped
into a one-horse carriage, and standing on the seat
holding on by the driver, shouted to the horse and
urged it on in pursuit. Zaptiehs, eunuchs, and ser-
vants blundered into state carriages, while governors -
and great men climbed into arabas, and a goodly lot of
pashas went jogging off on foot, all swearing, all
shouting, and not one in fifty knowing where to go.
CH. XXVIII. The Sultan's Visit. ans

 

But never mind, our trouble was over, for the great
man was safely off our line and into the hands of his
own subjects; so after giving a few orders to set things
straight, we hastened home to dinner and rest.

Just as I was leaving the station I espied a rather
nice-looking pointer dog drifting about in a ‘don’t-
know-where-I-am’ sort of a way, so taking compassion
on it I induced it to follow me, and finally had it tied
up with my own dogs. Afterwards I took the beast out
shooting, but finding it quite useless I was on the point
of sending it to Bucharest as a present, when a string
of telegrams arrived, stating that it was the Sultan’s
dog, and that if it could be found and handed over to °
the Governor, the fortunate finder should réceive two
liras. So I gave the dog to Popa, and he, on producing
it at the Konak, got the reward and was properly .
delighted.

When the Sultan arrived at the Konak, he sent at
once for the Admiral in command of the fleet that had
come up to escort him to Constantinople, and asked him
what the weather was going to be; but as the old fellow
had not been taken into the confidence of the clerk of
the weather, and dreaded making a blunder, he hedged,
and said, ‘If it pleased God it would be fine ;’ for which
wise remark he got snubbed and dismissed, and the
Sultan determined to leave well alone and stay where he
was till the next morning. So all was unpacked and
settled for the night, but after supper had been eaten,
and I suspect something stronger than water and coffee
drunk, the Sultan mustered up sufficient courage to

T2
246), Bulgaria before the War. CH. XXVIII.

 

face the dangers of the twelve hours’ run down the
Black Sea, and started off at a moment’s notice for the
harbour, and in less than half an hour was away out at
sea, followed by some dozen steamers of all sorts, all
popping off their big guns in answer to salutes from the
land batteries. /

A few days previous to the arrival of the Sultan,
another stranger had put in an appearance, and though
she did not make such a general commotion, yet to me
and my household the birth of a small daughter was a
far greater event than if a dozen sultans had arrived,
and I am sure if they had they could not have been
more despotic tyrants than this little mite of humanity
was to all she came in contact with.

Even in England a birth in a house is far from a
pleasant event, at any rate to the male portion of the
household, but it is a mere joke to one in Turkey with
the thermometer at about 95° in the shade, the
doctor 140 miles away, and the only Mrs. Gamp to
be had a drunken old Irish woman. Yet the child was
not only born but lived, and is now able to read these
lines and laugh over the troubles she brought upon her
unfortunate parents. All I can now say is, that the
instincts of a parent must have been very strong in me
or I should have pitched the unfortunate baby out into
the street, and the old nurse after it, for my life was
made a burden to me for a month, and I was reduced to
abject slavery. Day or night it did not matter which,
in bed or out, I never escaped for half an hour from
that fiend in human shape—sometimes maudlin drunk,
cx. xxvit. Another unportant Stranger. 277

 

at others reproachful, at others furious; and did I but
offer the faintest resistance I was ordered off to search
the town for some utterly impossible food that was abso-
lutely necessary for the child, knowing full well that
Mrs. Gamp would avail herself of my absence to get
drunk, and that on my return I should find her col-
lapsed on the stairs, on my bed, on the dining-room
table, or in my favourite arm-chair. Then what tortures
I went through about the child! I did not know much
about such creatures, but judging from my experience
of young puppies and other small beasts, I felt’ sure it
was not the proper thing to carry it doubled up on its
stomach across your arm and to thump it on the back ;
neither did I believe it necessary to give it three or
four sorts of food in large quantities during one hour,
and then starve it afterwards till it was too weak to
howl. I longed to turn the old woman out of the
house, but I dare not do so as she was supposed to
know her business, and the life of the mother was at
stake; so I comforted myself by hiding first in one
room, then in another, and picturing to myself the
horrors I would like to subject her to when once I was
safely out of this infernal wood; but no, there was no
rest for me, not even when the old sot was got rid of, .
for then the baby was very ill, and to save its life I had
to spend my time in the Greek and Bulgar quarter
hunting up wet nurses, and I shall not easily forget my
experienceg, nor shall I ever be in Turkey again when
a child is born to me, no, not if I have to walk bare-
footed out of the land.
278 = Bulgaria before the War. cm. xxv.

 

With the help of some dozen volunteers, I succeeded
after a whole day’s search in procuring the needful
article, but only to find, after she had been in the house
some hours, that the child was starving, owing to her
lacking the very thing she had been engaged to give;
and so the hunt began again. This time a really good,
useful article was found; but she was, I suppose, so
monstrously afraid of losing her reputation in our
house that she brought with her an old mother and
three loathsome children, who were possessed with appe-
tites that required one continuous meal, and all of them
blessed with such an enquiring turn of mind, that they
first ransacked the house, appropriating anything that
took their fancy, and then when so fatigued they could
move about no more, they brought ‘ the meal’ into the
drawing-room, and squatting on the floor stared at me
for hours, and kept on stuffing till I expected to see
them go pop like the frog in the fable.

For three days I endured this, but then late at
night the deputy mother quietly walked into my room,
and saidshe was going home. I asked her why, and
she said she found it dull. I explained, that if she
left the child would die before morning, and she
answered, ‘ Never mind ;’ but I did mind, and so bribed
her to stop through the night by giving her a pound to
do so.

After this we had a fresh nurse, on an average, one
a day for a week; and if, as is sometimes believed, a
child imbibes the nature of those from whom it derives
its nourishment, mine is a curious specimen. .
CH, XXVIII. Greek Nurses. 279

 

Perseverance and hard cash at last procured a
Greek woman, who did pretty well, but she kept us in
a constant fright for a week by threatening to leave;
but then a bright thought struck us which being at
once acted upon, saved us a powerful lot of trouble. I
bought a donkey, the most hideous half-starved beast I
ever saw, with but. one ear and no tail, but with a foal
at her side, and, establishing this pair in the yard, I
told Helenco, the nurse, that they would take her place
if she left, and for the next nine months we had peace,
and the child had good food and thrived and pros-

pered.
Don’t let my readers imagine that I have enu-

merated one-half of the troubles we went through, but
do let me entreat them never to become a parent in
Turkey ; if they find themselves likely to become 50, let
them go home at once, or if this is not possible, let
them take strychnine and so escape the most fearful
misery that can befall them !

I look back to that crop-eared donkey as quite a
bright spot in all this awful time! first, because it awed
the nurse into behaving well, and, secondly, it did so
enjoy its new life. From the time it was a year old,
the poor little beast had been worked by a villanous-
looking Armenian boy, fetching wood from the hills.
I should think it had never had one satisfactory meal,
and was beaten and ill-used till donkey life was almost
driven out of it. With us it had nothing to do but
eat, eat, eat, and little by little it grew fat and sleek,
and so light-hearted it would play and kick by the
280 Bulgaria before the War. om. xxvut.

 

half-hour together. As was the mother so was the son,
and by the time the baby was safe from the desertion
of its human nurse, they had both become quite
pictures, and I could have got a good sum for them;
but, feeling they had served me well, though easily, I
gave them to an old Turk, who worked them fairly and
gave them more than enough to eat.
CH, XXIX, The Sultan's Bakshish. 281

 

CHAPTER XXIX.

The Sultan’s Bakshish—Hiring a Tartar House—The Tartars—Tartar
Ship-builders.

Some months after the Sultan had passed over our
railroad, I was asked by the governor of Varna to give
him the names of those of the employés who had had
extra work and trouble connected with his journey, as
it was willed that they should have a good bak-
shish. This was soon done, and after another month
or so I was asked to send all the men on the list to the
Konak to receive the money; and as it illustrates the
way Government officials in Turkey deal with public
money, I must mention that one man who had 501.
to receive was paid in pieces of copper money valuing
a fraction over twopence, and that he was cheated
through the exchange out of exactly 51.

The worries and anxieties we had gone through,
ageravated as they were by the smells and the intense
‘heat of the closely populated part of the town in
which we lived, made us anxious to change our quarters, »
but for some time our enquiries for another house
proved ineffectual, and I had begun to despair of get-
ting one, when one day driving through the Tartar
quarter, my wife drew my attention to two substantially
282 Bulgaria before the War. om. xxix.

 

built houses standing first in the block of buildings
and quite on the outskirts of the town. I asked the
old Turk who was driving us if he knew to whom they
belonged. He did not know, but offered to find out
and let me know in the course of the day—an offer I
accepted, and which he so well carried out, that before
evening he came up to tell me the houses belonged
to two Tartar brothers, but that the man who owned
the second house was living at Kustendji as a corn
merchant, and further that he believed I might have
the house if it suited me; so early the following morn-
ing I called on the owner of the first house and ac-
companied by him looked over No. 2, and was delighted
to find it well built and roomy, with many more con-
veniences about it than was possessed by any other
house I had seen in the town. as of

In two minutes we concocted between us a telegram
to the absent owner, asking if he would let the house,
and if so, for how much, and within half-an-hour re-
ceived his answer, ‘ Yes, for 50. a year.’ The brother
then drew up a rough but concise agreement, and after
we had both put our names to it we repaired together
to the Government office to get the signature of the —
governor, for without this no one can let or hire a house
in any part of Varna—never for a moment thinking
we should have any difficulty. I did not myself go in
with the contract, but let the Tartar do so, and after I
had waited some time he returned looking furious to
say the governor would not allow him to let the house,
CH. XXEX. Fliring a Tartar Flouse. 283

 

because I was a Christian, and the house stood in a
Mussulman quarter.

I then called on the governor myself, but was only
referred by him to the Turkish high-priest, who told
me it was against the law for a Christian to live
amongst Turks, and even if he did give way for me,
my life with such neighbours would not be safe. I
offered to risk this and pressed my case as hard as I
could, but it was of no use; and finally, as the old fel-
low would only chuck his chin in the air and give a
click of his tongue for an answer, I also retired in a
rage and joined my Tartar friend in the courtyard.

When he heard that I too had failed, he said, ‘ Are
you willing to trust me? If you are, pay me the rent
for one year in advance, move into the house and it
will be yours, and if that old idiot there makes a row,
go to your consul to protect you. You do your part,
and I will do mine, and risk the getting into trouble ;
but I do not think there will be any, for when once the
Turks see you have got the house in spite of them they
will leave us alone.’

I followed his advice—paid my rent and at once
had the picking-up gang from the station to move us
in bag and baggage ; and there I remained three years,
never once regretting what I had done, and never hear-
ing a word more from the authorities about it.

In negotiating with the Tartar for the house, he
only made one stipulation, and that was, that I should
never on any occasion, no not even on my greatest
feast-day, go out into the streets of the Tartar town
284 - Bulgaria before the War. om. xxrx.

 

and howl, as was the custom with the Christians. On
my assuring him that there were Christians and Chris-
tians, and that each had different customs, and that,
unlike the Christians of Varna, it was my custom to
stay quietly at home in the evening and under no cir-
cumstances nor at any time to howl, he looked incredu-
lous, and said, ‘Well, if you wish to ever so much,
dovt.

For this one thing alone, I would far rather have
given the 50]. a year for my new house than have lived
rent-free in my old one. Here, assoon as night closed
in, all was quiet, whereas in the old quarter, among the
Greeks, night was made hideous, sleep broken, and
temper lost, through the senseless and imbecile way
the people yelled and shouted in the streets.

As the Tartars are new comers into Europe, and
very few, ifany, English have lived amongst them as I
did, I will tell my experiences of them, and I have
much pleasure in doing so, for of all the races of Bul-
garia I believe them to be, after the Bulgarian himself,
far the most industrious, intelligent, and peaceful. In-
heriting as they do the nomad instincts of their fore-
fathers, they do not shine as housé-constructors, but in
all other respects they seem to have quite got over
their wandering proclivities and to have taken to com-
merce and husbandry with a perseverance and industry
that ensures success. Coming as they did only eighteen
years ago to Turkey, and bringing with them hardly
anything but their strong arms, it is extraordinary how
they have prospered and how they have changed the
CH. XXIX. The Tartars. 285

 

face of Eastern Bulgaria. In the year 1857, when [
first rode over the Dobrudja, more than two-thirds of
the great plain was virgin grass, whereas now the Tar-
tars have reduced this to less than one-third of the en-
tire area, the rest being under corn cultivation.

On entering the Tartar quarter of any of the large
towns, an observant traveller will at once be struck by
the absence of the male-portion of the population. In
contrast to the Turkish quarter, a coffee-house is
hardly to be met with, and even when there is one,
only old men whose working-days are over will be
found sitting there. Again, unlike the Christian
quarter, no men will be seen sprawling about on the
pavements during the day, or roaming the streets at
night ; for the very good reason that all are at some sort
of labour during the day, and at night are tired with
their toil, so are glad to stay at home and rest.

Even in his manner of walking the Tartar is su-
perior to all other Mussulmen: he never lounges or
swaggers as the others do, but walks quickly and
brightly, and not only does he do so, but he makes
his beasts follow his example; so that if you see a
bullock-cart or araba coming along in the distance at
a brisk pace, you may be pretty sure it is driven by a
Tartar, who knows the value of time, a knowledge not
acquired by any other Eastern.

In such towns as Varna and Kustendji the native
trade is rapidly passing into their hands, and as fast as
they can they are acquiring all the shops, driving the
old Turks to the wall by their prompt way of attending
286 Bulgarta before the War. CH. XXIX.

 

to business, and besides the retail shops, they have
established many others, such as wheelwrights’, carpen-
ters’, blacksmiths’, &c., and in these they draw away
the customers from the old shops by their very superior
workmanship.

In the Crimea the German settlers built for the
Tartars some strong light waggons, such as may be seen
throughout Hungary and Transylvania; these the Tartars
brought with them to Bulgaria, and when they wore
out they replaced them by others made by themselves
so exactly after the pattern of the old ones that the
Germans themselves would have been proud of the
workmanship. Like their relations the Chinese, they
have a great power of imitating anything they see, and
are always anxious to get models and try their hands at
something new.

Two brothers, both under twenty-five years of age,
the sons of one of our neighbours, started to work after
their day’s work in the blacksmith’s shop was over, to
fit up a boat in the harbour as a steam-launch, and
though from want of tools and want of materials they
did not make a very perfect job of it, yet they succeeded
in making an engine that worked, and drove a cumber-
some boat through the water at a steady rate of three
moiles an hour, and I have no doubt if these lads had
been properly encouraged and helped, they might have
turned out the Penns of the East. The father of these
lads asked for the loan of my wife’s sewing machine,
saying, if we could let him have it he would make
one like it; and I dare say he would, but unfortu-
OH, XXIXx. - The Tartars. 257

 

nately we were just leaving Turkey, so could not spare
it.

In outward manners the Tartars are a quiet and
somewhat dull people, seldom laughing or joking, and
even the small children play in a sedate business-like
manner, with but little laughing and shouting. Like
all people with strong characters, when they go to the
bad they do so with a vengeance, and I must confess
that I have known some arrant blackguards among my
friends the Tartars, and more than one robber and
murderer, but they are rarer among the Tartars than
among either the Turks or Bulgars.

Like the Turks, they are kind to women, children,
and animals; and I might hold them up as an example
to some of my fellow-countrymen and women by men-
tioning that during the three years we lived closely
surrounded by Tartar neighbours, we never heard any
‘nagging’ or hasty angry words—not even to the
children, who yet appeared obedient and respectful to
their parents.

Generally speaking, the Tartar, man or woman, is
not a beauty, at all events, not in European eyes, though
among the very young girls there are exceptions, and a
pretty fresh round-about face may occasionally be seen;
their faces are flat and round with high cheek-bones,
and their eyes are narrow and long, like those of the
Chinese, giving to the face a mean and cunning expres-
sion, which I should say from my experience of them
quite belies the character of the man. In figure the
Tartar is generally short, square, and powerful-looking,
with good hands and feet, and a firm upright carriage,
288 Bulgaria before the War. cH. XX1x.

 

Iam sure no Tartar woman ever needs to visit the
Trufitt of those parts for a plait to help out her own
natural covering, for all have masses of the most beau-
tiful hair. I fancy they are proud of it—at least one
was I know. A young married Tartar woman who lived
in a cottage just under our windows would often come
out into the yard and undo the numberless rats’ tails
into which her hair was plaited and comb it out for my
wife’s edification. Not only was it fine and thick, but -
it was so long it reached down to her ankles, and hung
round her like a cloak. It was brown hair, but was
washed with henna, which gave it a ruddy chestnut hue.

I believe the Tartar women have no objection to
allowing their faces to be seen, and that they use the
yashmak chiefly to save offending the prejudices of their
weaker Turkish brethren. Anyhow, in the yards com-
manded by our windows the women would stand and
talk with me without the least attempt to hide their
beauty ; in fact they kept their yashmaks in the house,
and only put them on when going out in the streets.

When first we went to live among the Tartars they
seemed to avoid us, but at the same time were always
civil and obliging when spoken to; but before we had
been there long, we had a host of friends, and when
at. last the day came for our departure, two-thirds of
the entire quarter came to see us off, and all insisted on

‘ shaking hands, and if half the kind wishes they poured
on us were fulfilled, we should be the most’ fortunate
people under the sun.
OH. EXX, An Intruder. 289

 

CHAPTER XXX.

An Intruder—Turk’s Opinion of Christians—A fine old Turk—The
Line Flooded—Buffalo on the Line—A Turk shot by an Englishman.
Wirsin a hundred yards of our house ran the wall of
the town, and in an angle of this was one of the largest
batteries, occupied always by a lot of lazy artillerymen.
We had been in our house but two days, and were sitting
in our pretty little upstairs drawing-room, chatting with
the English Consul, when we heard a slow heavy step
on the stairs, and the next minute a great loutish
soldier swaggered into the room and began staring about
him. At first I was too much astonished to speak, but
on his advancing towards the divan, I jumped up and
asked what he wanted. Without even condescending to
‘look towards me, he said, ‘Nothing.’ I then asked why
‘he came. ‘ Oh, just to stare about,’ he answered, and the
‘next moment he went toppling down the stairs, and I
had a sensation as if my right boot had suddenly grown
too short for me. Demetry and Christo, our two men,
hearing the noise, ran out of the kitchen, and cheered
on by Her Britannic Majesty’s Consul (who behaved
nobly), they fell upon the unfortunate soldier, and midst

kicks and ‘cuffs he was rolled out of the courtyard.
So little can even those who have lived for years
U
290 Bulgaria before the War. cH. Xxx,

 

among the Turks follow the workings of their twisted,
warped, Oriental minds, that I am yet doubtful whether
this lout blundered up into our room knowing that he
was doing a rude and cheeky thing, or whether it was
crass stupidity that led him to doit; perhaps a mixture
of the two influenced him, with the addition that he
. held the Giaour in such contempt that it never entered
his mind to consider whether he would like him to in-
trude or not—no more than it enters into the mind of
one of us to consult a flock of sheep before we enter the
field in which they are; and I only hope he was as much
astonished at the reception he got as we should be if the
sheep flew at us and gave us a worrying.

Those Turks who as servants are brought into daily
contact with Europeans may learn to like them just as
we learn to like an animal, but underlying this there is
a feeling of contempt for all who are not Turks, or per-
haps rather a conviction of the vast superiority of the
Turk over all others. In talking with one once on this
subject, I asked him if he could not see that Europeans
were more to be admired than Orientals, for their
energy and cleverness? and he answered me thus: ‘ Can
you make a watch? No. Well, then, do you think
the man who can, very much your superior? Well, we
can’t do all that you can, but in other respects we are
your superiors. In diplomacy you are babies to us, and
then one Turk is equal to two of any other nation as a
soldier ; so you see we have good reason to feel ourselves
your superiors, even leaving out of account the advan-
tage we have in our religion.’
cu. xxx. Zurk's Opinion of Christians. 2g1

 

Again, I once asked a Turk, who had worked for me
for years, and who I had reason to believe liked me,
what chance he thought I had of going to Heaven, and
he said, ‘If you were a Mussulman I should say you
were quite safe, but as itis I do not know. Perhaps
Heaven is like some of the big khans that have two sets
of apartments, and Allah will give you good Christians
a room to yourselves, but who knows! We shall see.’
From the way he said all this I could see that the faint
hope he held out of a poorish place in Heaven for me
was given only to please me, and that in his own mind
he would as soon have thought of a dog going there.

In some respects I agree with the first of the two
Turks I have just quoted, for while not quite allowing
that he beats us at diplomacy (though really I am not
quite sure he does not), and utterly denying that he
can fight any two Europeans, and further, knowing him
to be a savage, yet I have known him do deeds that
would do honour to the greatest hero in Europe, and
display virtues that any Christian might be proud of.
But yet so mixed and jumbled up is his character, that
the Turk who will perform a heroic deed one day may
the next be guilty of the meanest and lowest action.
How often, for instance, has the soldier defended a ram-
part day after day surrounded by falling comrades, with
almost certain death before him, and then, a few weeks
later, has run from a mere handful of his enemies and
given up position after position like the veriest coward !
J know that for a very little any one of the Turks I
worked with would turn against me, and that in case of

: v2
292 Bulgaria before the War. CH, XXX,

 

a fanatical outbreak, there was not one who would think
of helping me; and that the old cavass, who day after
day carried my child about and devoted himself to her
with untiring patience, would just as likely as not be the
man to murder her should the outbreak ever arise.
And yet the same man who would do this would fight
to the death if led by his master—or if his master were
ill with the most fearfully infectious disease, he would
devote himself to his service, scorning to give one
thought to the danger he was running.

Knowing them as I do, I cannot patiently listen to
the Englishman who, having passed a few weeks in
Turkey, comes home and talks of the faithful Turk who
served him, and who would, he believes, under any cir-
cumstances sacrifice his life for his master’s pleasure; or
the other, who comes home having discovered the Turk
is the finest of heroes, honest, faithful, and really very
fond of the Giaour; or a third, who denounces him as
bad throughout, a liar, a cut-throat, in fact a savage on
a par with, or rather beneath, the Ashantee in all
respects. He is neither the one nor the other. He is
indeed a strange anomaly, and I do not believe the
European is yet living who can say what he really is, or
understand him in the least.

When the great fire broke out in Pera that con-
sumed a quarter of the town, including the British
Embassy, and in which 1,100 people lost their lives, a
friend of mine, a Pole, who was hurrying from the
flames, saw an old Turk standing opposite a house that
was just beginning to burn, and heard him say, ‘ There
cH. XXX. The Line Flooded. 293

 

is a child in that house; if anyone will bring it safe to
me I will give him five liras.’ As no one responded, he
continued, ‘ I will give ten liras, and if no younger man
will make the attempt, I will do so myself.” A young
Turk did make the attempt and succeeded in bringing
the terrified child in safety to the Turk, who immedi-
ately paid the ten liras. The child was a Christian, had
been probably deserted by its parents, and it must have
perished had it not been for this fine old fellow. There
are many Turks that I know who I feel sure would
have done the same as this man did, but I should not
care to be a child and within reach of any one of them
if their blood was up and a massacre going on.

The Turks say that if there is plenty of rain during
the month of March, the corn, which is all autumn
sown, is sure to do well, and that from then till it is cut
it will require no more rain. It is well it is so, for from
the month of April till the beginning of October there
is often no rain in Bulgaria, or only occasional thunder-
storms, which from their severity often do more harm
than good. Those who are accustomed only to the mild
attempts at a thunderstorm that we have in England
can hardly realise how grand and terrible a storm is in
the East, or what a flood can pour out of the skies in a
few minutes.

I remember on one occasion the passenger ‘train on
its way from Rustchuck left Sheitanjik Station in
perfectly fine weather, but before it had gone ten miles
it was effectually stopped by the floods, and narrowly
escaped a dreadful accident. Just above Shumla Road
294 Bulgaria before the War. CH. XXX.

 

Station the railway passes for a couple of miles up a
rocky gorge, nowhere more than twenty yards wide,
with precipitous cliffs on either side. Further on the
gorge opens out into several wide valleys, the water of
which all drain down it. We had used what had been
considered very extra precaution in the construction of
this part of the line. The embankments were higher
and wider than anywhere else, and when there was any
fear of a rush of water, stone pitching had been used,
and the iron-girdered bridges all carried high above
the winding brook, and the abutments made of extra
strength. Fortunately my assistant Mac, who always
had all his wits about him, was on the engine, and
when the storm broke in all its fury soon after they
had left Sheitanjik, he insisted on the engine-driver
creeping into the gorge at the most cautious pace. It
was well he did so, for after passing safely over two or
three bridges, they suddenly saw the entire super-
structure swept off one immediately in front of them
as easily apparently as if it had been made of straw.
There was just room to stop the train, and then, seeing
there was no hope of getting on, Mac gave orders to
reverse the engine and push the train back to Sheitanjik.
Just as they were starting Mac jumped off the engine,
and telling the driver not to go faster than a man could
walk, he ran back along the line in front of the train.
On reaching the first bridge, the one that they had
passed over within a few minutes, he found there was
not a vestige of it left standing, but instead a deep
gulf with sixteen feet of water rushing through with a
CH. Xxx, The Line Flooded. 295

 

force that was quite irresistible. Half-an-hour before
there had not been as many inches of water at this
spot as now there were feet, and yet the storm, then
falling, had not as yet extended over a mile square of
country beyond them.

Fortunately the part of the line where the train
was shut in was on a solid highland, so there was no
fear of the rails being washed away from under it.
Mac called together the passengers, pointed out the
state of affairs, and as the afternoon was already
advanced, he advised them to make up their minds to
remain where they were, while he and the guard would
struggle on to Shumla Road Station, and send for
another train with food and help.

Through pelting rain, and often up to their waists
in the turbid flood, the two laboured on, but it was
night before they reached the station. Wet through,
tired and hungry, but nothing daunted, Mac, after
telegraphing to me to bring the necessary train, &c.,
started alone to battle his way back, but this time he
was on horseback, and after many mishaps he reached
the train, where he was received with complaints
and abuse, and not one word of thanks for his plucky
conduct! Abuse, because he could not bring a fresh
train back with him, and because the unfortunate
passengers were both uncomfortable and hungry. All
night long Mac sat huddled up in the guard’s van wet
and cold, but as soon as it was daylight he set to work
repairing the line with the help of some gangs of men
that had been sent up the line during the night, but
296 Bulgaria before the War. CH. Xxx.

 

_the bridges he could not touch till he received material
from Varna.

In the meantime I had started after dark with the
picking-up train, some three hundred workmen, ma-
terial, &c., but on reaching Pravady Station we began
to find proof of how severe the storm had been, for on
going into the telegraph office we found the instrument
destroyed and the window near which it stood blown to
pieces by the electric fluid. Just beyond the station
the telegraph poles were shivered to pieces and the
wires lying on the ground, and still further on the line
began to be blocked up with trees and other débris that
had been washed on to it. Luckily the storm had not
struck this part of the telegraph wires until just after
Mac had sent off his message, otherwise we should not
have known the trouble the train was in.

We struggled on for some time, but at last, fearing
an accident in the pitchy darkness, we were obliged to
return to Pravady Station, and we did not renew our
attempt till after daylight; which was fortunate, as we
found the line in some parts perfectly buried in trees,
earth, sand, big stones, and hundreds of loads of corn
in the sheaf that had been carried down by the flood ;
and though we worked hard, it was some hours before
we got near the scene of the previous night’s accident.
I say only near, for just half a mile below it we found
Mac and his men busily at work repairing a gap
through an embankment some twenty feet deep and
twenty yards long.

We soon transferred the passengers to the newly-
CH. XXX. Buffalo on the Line. 297

 

arrived train, and sent them off to Varna, and then we
started to work to repair damages. I tried my utmost
to induce Mac to go back with the train, but he utterly
refused to do so, and stuck to his work till all was
finished, which was not till noon the next day, so that
again he had to sleep out in the waggons wet and tired,
and with only black bread for supper. Poor old fellow,.
if I had only known then, as I did afterwards, what a
fearful risk he was running, I should have refused to let
the repairing work begin until he had left, but he and
I had roughed it many a time together, and had always
lived to joke and laugh over it, and I never for a mo-
ment had any fear for him more than for myself.

On the return journey from this accident we very
nearly had a fresh one, and this when, owing to the
fatigue we had all gone through, we were scarcely in a
fit state to begin again. Mac and I were fast asleep in
a break van and, except the driver and stoker, I expect
everyone of the three or four hundred men in the wag-
gons were the same, when I was brought quickly to my
feet by hearing the dreaded three sharp whistles from
the engine which denote danger, and the next moment
I was pitched on my head in the corner by the van
taking what appeared to me a prodigious jump in the
air. I was up again in a moment, and looked out just
in time to see the end waggons of the train one after
the other heave up and settle down again, and also to
see the carcase of a huge buffalo half on and half off the
line. As the whistling continued, I looked forward,
and there just in front of the engine went another great
298 Bulgaria before the War. cH, EXx,

 

black beast at full gallop fair on the top of the rails.
After going so for some few yards it seemed to strike it
that it might as well give up the race, for it attempted
to turn off, but the engine was too close, upon it, and

_ giving it a rap behind, I saw the beast dive head fore-
most into the thick black bog, and sink, and sink, till
just as my van passed it, the tip of its tail slowly drew
under, and the treacle-like bog looked as if nothing
had happened. :

We did not know to whom the buffalo belonged,
so could not relieve their minds by telling them where
their buffalo had strayed to! I only hope they did not
trouble to search for it long, but doubtless its total dis-
appearance was put down to the hated Circassians.

The driver told us the two beasts had dragged them-
selves out of the reeds in front of the engine when it
was running fast, so there was not time to pull up. We
were not always so fortunate as to escape an accident
when running over an animal, and I have now a lively
recollection of spending twenty-four hours in this stink-
ing morass screw-jacking a locomotive on to the rails,
inhaling fever with every gasp, and feeling half-poisoned
by the combined smell of the dead animal and the
putrid marsh. As our line made a nice short cut across
the marsh from the village of Gebedji to Kara Aghaj,
which was some four miles further on, the peasants in-
sisted on using it, not only to walk on but to ride and
drive over, and nothing we or the local authorities could
say would keep them off. At last when this had be-
come so bad that we dare not run faster than five miles
cu. xxx. 4 Turk shot by an Englishman. 299

 

an hour over the marsh, I stationed an English navvy,
named Richarby, at the end of the marsh to warn
people off, with orders if they persisted in passing over
the line to take them in charge and bring them into
Varna. I selected a man who could speak Turkish,
and for, some days the would-be trespassers obeyed
him, and turned back, but at last a Turk swaggered
up, and being told he must not pass, he poured forth
a string of oaths and declared he would. The Eng-
lishman placed himself in front of him, whereat the
Turk whipped out a pistol and fired full in his face, but
fortunately missed him. He instantly began pulling
out the fellow pistol, but before he could fire again
the Englishman’s gun went off and over fell the
Turk. Thinking this extreme measure might lead to
trouble, Richarby ran off and came to me to report the
affair. J at once went to the governor, who on hearing
what I said looked very black, but proposed I should go
up the line with a Turkish zaptieh and bring in the
man. This I agreed to, and started off at once with an
engine, but on getting to the spot the man was not to
be found, and there was only a dark stain on the ballast
to show where he had fallen. Not only was he gone,
but I could not discover what had become of him, and
it was not till three or four days had passed by that we
heard anything more. Then I was called tothe Konak,
and to my astonishment found a most perfectly got-up
Turkish priest, the picture of innocent respectability,
standing in the Pasha’s room, exhibiting a wound all
along the top of his head, only skin deep, but so severe
300 Bulgaria before the War. CH. XXX,

 

that for the remainder of his life there would be no

“necessity for him to shave there. Richarby had de-
scribed the man as a dirty, blustering fellow, dressed in
the ordinary peasant style, so at first his clean clerical
appearance staggered me, but I soon saw the dress and
get-up was for effect, and dreaded the trouble it would
be sure to give me.

Richarby was, very properly, put upon his trial, but,
very improperly, about twenty witnesses were brought
to confirm the statement of the Turk, that whilst he
was quietly standing by the side of the line, Richarby,
without a word, had shot him froma distance of twenty
yards. It was no good pointing out that at twenty
yards the shot from the gun would have spread, so that
the neat little road across his skull could not have been
so made ; and indeed it was useless saying anything, the
Turks one and all were determined to bring it in as an
attempt to murder, and they succeeded ; for after waiting
some days for the decision of the judge, I got notice
that Richarby was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment,
and I was requested to hand him over to the zaptiehs.
Now I did not agree with the judge, but firmly be-
lieved what Richarby said, and besides, as I have said
before, I did not consider it part of my duty to act
zaptieh ; so instead, I sent Richarby a message, and a _
train just starting for Rustchuck took him up there,
and the same night he was safely over the river, and
the following day went to work on the Giurgevo and
Bucharest line which was then under construction.

If I had been a Rayah I should have got over this
cu. xxx. 4 Turk shot by an Englishman. 301

 

difficulty in another manner. Either I should have
judiciously expended a few pounds in bakshish, or I
should have set to work, and for every witness brought
against Richarby Aired two for him, and so squashed
the affair under a heap of perjury. I am sure no one
in Turkey need ever fear being punished for his mis-
deeds if he is only rich enough to hire false witnesses.
If the vagabonds only had organisation enough to form
a sort of insurance society, they might all get off scot-
free by using the two all-powerful weapons, bribery and
perjury.
SOR. Bulgaria before the War. CH. XXXI.

 

CHAPTER XXXI.

Stealing my own Cow—‘ Barley-water’—Respect for the Dead—
Turkish Doctors—Giving a Seidlitz Powder—Indifference to Pain— ~
English Visitors—European Friends—The Poles.

Every now and then I-have myself used bakshish

instead of the police. ' For instance, soon after we had

moved into our new house we thought it would be a

fine thing to own a cow; so bought one that had just

had a calf; and, turning it out of the yard each morn-
ing, it wandered off to the town gates, and, joining
there all the other cows of the town, was driven up

into the hills by the herdsman, where it picked up a

good living, costing us only the few piastres each week,

which was paid to the man. At night it returned of
itself to the house to be milked, or, rather, it should
have done so; for after we had had it about a month,
the cow one day disappeared. In vain we searched for
it, and asked the herdsman about it. No one had
seen it; so we at last gave it up as lost, when one
night a message was brought me by a small boy that if

I would come out into the dark, there was a man who

could tell me where my cow was. I did go out, and

tried to persuade the man to come into the yard, but
this he refused to do. He told me he knew where my
CH. XXxxr. ‘ Barley-water.’ 403

 

cow was. That it had been stolen, and taken away
into the hills; but that if I would promise to pay him
one lira, he would steal it, back-for me! I gave the
required promise, and within a week the cow appeared
alone at the door; and after it had become quite dark,.
I was sent for to pay my thief, who was standing out
in the street waiting for his bakshish. -I paid the
money, and the next morning had the cow sold, so
that if it were to be stolen again, I should not he the
loser. This was my first and last attempt to keep a
cow; and I cannot say I found the speculation a pay-
ing one.

Bakshish in another form answered well for us
whilst we were constructing the viaduct at Sheitanjik,
as by its help we carried all before us with the civil
governor of Shumla; but in this instance it took a
liquid shape, and went down the old fellow’s throat
when he paid us a visit, which he did regularly once a
week, in the form of whiskey. But we did not call it
whiskey—no: whiskey is alcohol, and no good Turk will
drink that—so we called it by its proper name, ‘ barley-
water, and so saved his conscience. There were two
sorts of barley-water—whiskey and Bass’s pale ale; so
after making the old fellow very jovial on the first, we
would put some half-dozen bottles of the latter under
the seat of his carriage when he was leaving, and the
result was, we were very great friends. A few pounds
expended in bakshish often saved the company some
hundreds.

At the village of Kajelidere, directly where we
304 Bulgaria before the War. CH. XXXI.

 

wanted to carry the line, there was a monster grave-
yard, and the line would have to pass straight through
it.on a bank some ten feet high. There was no possi-
bility of diverting it, as, owing to the formation of the
land, we should have had to make a bank some 200 feet
high on one side, or go into a deep rock-cutting on the
other. We applied to the authorities; but were told if
there was one thing good Osmanlis respected more than
another, it was the sanctity of the graves of their dead.
This brought us to a deadlock, till R. A. B., who gene-
rally knew how to get round a Turk, sent for the head
man of the village, and offered to let the piece of line
to him to make, saying that if he and his villagers
agreed to make it where we wanted, he should have
twenty pounds for himself beyond the contract price.
There was no more said about the sanctity of the dead;
and all who travel over the line go dashing over the
bones of generations of the villagers without thinking
there is any desecration in it.

Nowhere in any part of Europe is the art of medi-
cine so little understood as in Turkey; and from what
I have seen of the Turkish ‘Hékim,’ I should say it
would be far better for a man, when suffering from ill- |
ness or wounds, to be left to the care of Dame Nature
than fall into the hands of these gentlemen; and for
myself, I would far rather be treated by the veriest old
village goody in England than by the best Turkish
doctor or surgeon. Fortunately there are very few
Turkish doctors even in the towns; and as for “the
villages, such a thing as a doctor is never seen in them,
cH. xxx.) Giving a Serdlitz Powder. 305

 

and is spoken of much as magicians are by us. <A few
charms are all that stand between the sick man and
death, and therefore the simplest ailments that might
easily be cured by a shilling’s worth of drugs often
prove fatal.

There is no doubt, however, that the natives of
Turkey all appreciate the services of a doctor, as shown
by the numbers that flocked to consult our very able
medical man, and also by. the peasants invariably
asking a European traveller if he has any medicine.
Sulphate of quinine, or ‘sulphat’ alone, as it is gene-
rally called by them, is well known by hearsay, and the
poor fever-stricken wretches believe, if they can but
get a dose of it, they will be made well for the rest of
their lives. Like all uneducated people, they like their
medicine strong and nasty. The stronger and nastier
the better; and a free use of the most powerful pills,
given in double or treble doses, would make anyone’s
reputation as a doctor. J remember once gaining such
a reputation in a ridiculous and most undeserved
manner. I was staying in a very poor Turk’s house,
little better than a shed, when, just before I left, the
Turk asked me if I had any medicine with me, as he
did not feel very well. He could not describe what his
ailments felt like, nor in what part of his body théy
were located ; and, as he looked the picture of health, I
at first refused to give him the only medicine I had
with me—namely, a few seidlitz powders; but the old
fellow begged so hard for just a little, that at last
I gave way; but then a difficulty arose. There was

x
306 Bulgaria before the War. om, xxxt.

but one drinking-vessel—an old tin cup—in all the
house; and I had, therefore, first to give the man the
soda and then the acid! He smacked his lips well
over the first, but no sooner was the second down his
throat than he looked fairly scared, and kept writhing
about, and making awful ugly faces; and well he
might, for I expect he felt as if he had swallowed a
locomotive blowing off steam! After the suffocating
sensation had gone off, which it did in a few minutes,
he poured upon me profuse thanks, and kept saying,
‘ Ah, Tchellaby, you are a big Hékim, and your medi-
cine is lovely. I felt it in a minute, and it was so
powerful I thought I was going to die. Oh, you are a
great man, and may God reward you.’

By the Turkish law, however badly a man’s limbs
are smashed and broken, and however necessary it may
be to amputate one, the doctor is forbidden to do so
without first receiving the permission of the sufferer ;
such permission is rarely given, and the result is a one-
legged or one-armed man in Turkey is very rare, be-
cause the man whose life might have been saved by
sacrificing a limb has died; yet the Turk can stand
pain as few others can, and I have seen one laugh at.
the thoughts of taking chloroform before undergoing an
operation, saying, ‘I am not a child, to cry out because
I am hurt.’

One can hardly believe that Turks feel pain like
other people, and I do not believe they do, for other-
wise they could not behave as I have often seen them
when badly hurt. I once knew a Turk who was stem-
CH, XXX. Lndifference to Pain. | 307

 

ming a hole charged with gunpowder when it exploded
under his face, and a stone was thrown up which struck
him and completely put out one eye, yet within an hour
the man again appeared ready for work, and was only
prevented from going on by being assured he would
receive his pay whether he worked or not.

On another occasion, we sent a large sum of money
up to Sheitanjik to pay the workmen, and, for its
protection against robbers, we got the Governor of
Varna to senda Bin Bashi (colonel) up in the araba
and some dozen soldiers riding by the side. I suppose
the Bin Bashi found time hang heavy on his hands, for
he took to playing with his pistol, and finished by
. letting it off by accident, and blowing off one of his
thumbs; yet when he arrived at R. A. B.’s house he
came in and chatted with him, and R. A. B. only dis-
covered what had happened when the Turk tried to
drink a cup of coffee. He laughed when condoled with,
and said,‘ Ah! that is nothing to a soldier.’ Now, I
do not believe there is an European who could have
‘behaved in this manner, and I know that if there is, I
am not that man!

After our railroad was opened for traffic we did not
feel so shut out from the world; for twice a week, when
the post-train came in, we could see at the station a
number of Europeans, and nearly always some few
Englishmen, and not unfrequently these would break
their journey at Varna, and stay a night or two with
us; and no one who has not been for years cut off from

x2
308 Bulgaria before the War. om. sae

intercourse with his fellow-countrymen can understand
how much we enjoyed these visits.

Besides the ordinary traveller who was merely pass-
ing by on his way elsewhere, there were others, such as
Mr. Elwes, Mr. Buckley, &c., who came out to Bulgaria
for a special purpose, such as shooting, bird-collecting,
botany, or geology, and we often had pleasant expe-
ditions with them during the day, and long chats about
the old country in the evening, that is, when the bird-
collector could spare time from his everlasting skinning,
or the geologist tear himself away from his precious
stones! Among the latter was a Mr. Arthur Lennox,
who visited us several times; and not only was he a
really scientific man, but one of the cleverest, brightest
companions I ever knew, a favourite with everyone, and
one of those fortunate people who seemed ever happy
and contented, even were his bedroom a Bulgar hut and
his food a piece of black bread.

Then, besides these, there was the man who, travel-
ling all over the world, was for ever missing a train or a
boat, or being detained because he had lost all his
luggage! But whether they stayed for business or plea-
sure, all were welcome, and their visits seemed a link
between us and the outer world.

Besides these outsiders, we were fortunate in having
a capital set of fellows on the railway staff, some living
at Rustchuck and some at Varna, and so far as men
went we were well off for society—I say men, for nearly
all were bachelors, and the only lady we could claim as
a friend, within a hundred miles, was Madame Ostoya,
CH, XXXI. The Poles. 309

 

“ who being married to a Polish gentleman who had a
berth on the railway, lived at Varna. Her pleasant
little drawing-room was open to all comers, and she
would make time pass quickly and merrily by her
bright, amusing conversation, and stories of a more
than usually eventful life spent in various parts of
Europe, and embracing many a stirring scene during
the Polish revolution, in which her husband had taken
a leading part.

If there are any people who should have a good
word for the Turkish Government, it is the Poles; for
when foiled in their attempts to cast off the Russian
yoke, and driven from their home by the dread of
Siberia, they found a place of refuge in the land of the
Turk, and, if they had any good in them, employment
and a means of living. On the other hand, the Turks
benefited greatly by their coming, for among them
were clever, scientific men, like M. Ostoya, who often
ably filed most responsible government appointments ;
and it may be safely said, that out of all that the Turks
have done in the way of public works, the Poles have
superintended and carried out one-half, and that the
only half that is good for anything or that has produced
any lasting benefit to the country.

Unfortunately, among the Turks there is such a
feeling of jealousy against the employment of foreigners,
that but few of these Polish gentlemen have ever ob-
tained military service, and even those few have always
been kept in subordinate positions. The fact is, not
‘only are the Turks jealous of foreigners, but they cannot
310 Bulgaria before the War. CH, XXXL

 

stand their awful energy—an energy that if it were
allowed its way would double the hours of drill, and
actually want to make the army ready to fight when
there is no fighting going on! And then no Turk can
suppose for a moment that anyone knows so much about
the art of killing as he does himself, or that, European’
tactics can be better than the old Turkish ones.
CH. XXXII. Lures. 311

 

CHAPTER XXXII.

Fires—A Visit from Mussulman Ladies—A Visit from Turkish Men—
A Shell fired in ’28—Ancient Works—A Genoese Stronghold.

THERE is one thing which keeps one on the alert when
living in a Turkish town, and which, sooner or later, is
pretty sure to cause one a few hours of intense excite-
ment, and this is the fear of fire. In Varna, moreover,
this dread was considerably enhanced by the fact that
_ in the very centre of the town stood a monster magazine,
full to the roof with barrels of gunpowder—a quantity
so large, that if it did go off, the whole town would ac-
company it; and, even placed far away in the extreme
corner of the ramparts as our house was, we could not
have expected to escape scot-free.

As it happened, Varna was wonderfully free from
fires all the while we lived there, none of any great
consequence occurring ; but to make up for this, the
very heart of Rustchuck was consumed under my eyes in
the space of a few hours, and, though I had often been
told how: rapidly flames could travel, and how quickly
these wretched houses—composed almost entirely of in-
flammable material—would disappear before it, yet the
reality seemed to me most astonishing. It really ap-
312 Bulgaria before the War. cm. xxx.

 

peared as if the houses must have been saturated with
turpentine and otherwise prepared, for the flames darted
from house to house and enveloped everything in a few
seconds, making truly ridiculous the efforts of three or
four big squirts, carried on men’s shoulders, to put it
out. The more effectual plan of isolating the fire by
pulling down buildings in front of it also proved useless
on this occasion, for the high wind carried showers of
sparks and burning thatch over the gap, and the fire
went on as merrily as ever, and never stopped till it had
run through the long street and consumed all that
came in its way. The only things left standing were a
few stone chimneys, and in the middle of the town a
minaret, looking very much like a tallow candle that
had spluttered out in the draught, and this had such a
dangerous cast over the street, that it was thought
necessary to pull it down. For hours the governor-
general and his big wigs sat in chairs in the street, pro-
pounding impossible plans for its destruction, when at
last one of our engineers settled the difficulty by
toppling it over with a charge of powder.

In the middle of a bitterly cold night, when it was
snowing heavily, we were aroused by a messenger from
M. Ostoya, bringing a note to say that the street in
which he lived was on fire, and the flames coming his
way, and that probably he would have to quit his house
with bag and baggage before long; but he did not in-
tend to run till the notice to quit became very pressing.

I hurried on my clothes, and, after plunging through
the deep snow-drifts, arrived at his house, where I found
CH. XXXII fires, 313

 

Monsieur and Madame just sitting down to some excel-
lent café au lait, and joking merrily over what was
likely to befall them, as if they were used to being burnt
out of house and home once a week. All their goods,
down to Madame’s canary-cage, were packed and corded,
and the last look round had been gone over three or
fovr times; the only thing they wanted was men to re-
move the heavy packages, and these I soon provided, for
on going into the crowd round the fire, I found the
foreman of our ‘ picking-up gang,’ who quickly collected
his men and posted them in readiness at the Ostoyas’
door.

The fire crept on and on; but, fortunately, there
were one or two stone houses in its path which delayed
it a little; and then, just as it had gutted these, and
had before it a nice gallop through some wooden build-
ings, round went the wind and swept the flames away
over an open space between the town and the fortifica-
tions, and M. and Madame Ostoya quietly set to work
to unpack again.

Three different times our house caught fire, but,
fortunately, it was each time discovered in its infancy
and promptly smothered; but we had such scares there-
from that we were ever after nervous, and have not
quite got over the feeling now, in spite of living in a
stone house with all insured.

We but just missed seeing the great Pera fire, in
May 1870, when acres of houses were reduced to ashes,
and 1,100 people, so it was said, burnt to death. We
had been. spending a week in Constantinople, but left
314 Bulcaria before the War. om. xxxu.

 

the day previous to that on which the fire broke out,
and so missed what must have been a very grand sight,
though a very terrible one.

We heard fearful accounts of it from friends who
were on the spot—how unfortunate men, escaping on
horseback down streets that were burning in their rear,
found the flames carried forwards hundreds of yards in
front of them, cutting off their retreat, and, being thus
shut in by burning. buildings, they were in a few
minutes suffocated by the inky-black smoke. After
the fire had burnt out, seven men were found in an iron
tank literally boiled. They had doubtless jumped in to
escape the flames, and then perished probably from suffo-
cation. Many lost their lives whilst plundering, tempted
into danger by the abandoned property. The strangest
thing was that here and there, in the midst of the burnt
district, single houses stood, without having received any
apparent injury. This, of course, was either put down
to the fact that the owner was a saint, or else that he
had sold himself to the devil, who had excused him
suffering in this world from the flames, of which he was
to have so large a share in the next! .

When the fire had worked its will, fever and a host
of other maladies stepped in and claimed many victims,
and for months a miserable crowd of sufferers were
living behind charred walls in roofless dwellings, under-.
going the most terrible hardships. No one pitied them
very much, for fire and its consequences were part of
the daily life of the place, and all felt they might
expect to have their turn of it, sooner or later.
cu.xxxn. 4A Veset from Mussulman Ladies. 215

 

The government took advantage of the fire, and
passed a law forbidding any but stone houses to be
built in the place of the old wooden ones, and new
broad streets were planned and talked of; but, like the
fire, it began with smoke and ended in smoke, and little
by little wooden houses crept up again, and will no
doubt in turn be again burnt down, together with some
few hundred human beings; but ‘Allah does it, so
never mind.’

A few pages back I said that the only lady with
whom we were on visiting terms was Madame Ostoya,
but I should not have forgotten a few Turkish and
Tartar fair ones, who occasionally paid us visits, which
were duly returned by my wife; but as I was never
allowed to be present on these occasions, I shall insert
an extract from a letter, in which my wife gives a more
exact description of our visitors than I should be able
to do.

‘This morning a large party of Tartars (seven in
all) have been to call on me. The grown-up ones shook
hands @la Franca, but the three children knelt on one
knee, kissed my hand, and then put it to their foreheads.
They all came bundled up in yashmaks and long ferrajis
(cloaks), but took them and their slippers off when they
came in. They were dressed in every colour of the rain-
bow. The chief lady of the party had on loose pink cotton
trowsers, then a yellow and white striped petticoat with
a shorter one over it of purple satin open down the
front, showing a red and black apron; the body was also
purple satin, trimmed with gold braid, and sleeves em-
316 Bulgaria before the War. om, xx3u.

 

broidered with gold and beads. It was made like a
Swiss bodice, and the open part was filled up with a
stomacher of large gold coins the size of 5s. pieces. An
embroidered handkerchief on her head was fastened
with a brooch. The children wore little Greek caps
covered with gold coins, and also necklaces of the same,
and they all had enormous wide belts of leather with
gold clasps. They spent the whole morning here, and
you cannot think how ridiculously inquisitive they were.
They examined everything in the whole house, opened
every box and drawer, and searched into every nook
and corner, even to the larders and store room! The
Tartars sent us word they were coming this morning,
and requested all men might be out of the way; so I
sent the grooms out, and told Fideli to keep in the
kitchen, and Harriet, instead, to bring up the sweet-
meats, coffee, &e. But their curiosity was so great,
that having inspected all the house, they would trudge
across the yard to look into the kitchen; so out bolted
Fideli, and the nearest place of refuge being the cow-
house, he shut himself in there. Having peeped into
all the saucepans and cupboards in the kitchen and
servants’ sitting room, and shuddered and spit at the
sight of a ham, the next place that attracted their
notice was the identical cow-house where Fideli was
hidden! so away he fled again, this time to his own
bedroom. They peered into the stables and harness-
house, and then finding there was yet a place they had
not investigated, they once more surprised poor Fideli
in his retreat. This time he quite gave up and did
cu.xxxu. A Viset from Turkish Men. 317

 

not attempt to run away, but exclaimed in a piteous
voice, “Oh, Madame, ou puisyje aller?” I suspect it
was the husbands sent the message this morning, for in
spite of not having their yashmaks on, the good ladies
seemed quite content to see and be seen by the nice-
looking moustachoed Fideli.’

As these visitations did not take place very often,
my wife thought them rather amusing, and I daresay I
might have found them so too had I dared to be pre-
sent; but as it was, I thought it rather a bore to be
turned out of house and home for an indefinite time,
with the knowledge that one’s house was being ran-
sacked; but I would any day rather air myself for a
few hours on a hill outside the town, whilst these ladies
were inspecting my domain, then go through the inflic-
tion of receiving a visit from their husbands! Every
now and then, generally when something I could not
do was wanted of me, the Governor, or some other
great man, would send word he proposed calling on me,
and soon after would drive up in his carriage (his house
was some five hundred yards distant), escorted by a
dozen mounted zaptiehs, his Greek interpreter, and a
few pipe-bearers. Fortunately we had a Turkish divan
in our drawing-room, so the old fellow would waddle in
and, having left his outer-shoes at the door, would
squat himself cross-legged on it, taking no notice of
me. Then after he had got over his gasping and
grunting, produced by the exertion of walking upstairs,
I would from my corner of the divan make my salaams,
and say a lot of ‘ pretty-pretties,’ to which he would
318 Bulgaria before the War. ca. xxxu.

 

respond in like terms, and for the next hour or two we
sat like two fools, making speeches to each other, and
carefully avoiding the one subject that we wanted, or
rather that the Turk wanted, to talk about. At last
out it would come, and I had to get over the difficulty
of refusing as well as I could, without making an
enemy, and then after a few more salaams away wad-
dled my visitor, leaving me weary and tired, but very
thankful my troubles were over.

There are exceptions to all rules, and now and again
a Turk would call on me and have a talk over his coun-
try and the habits of his people that was really interest-
ing; but these would be men with whom I was intimate,
and that were not merely paying a visit of ceremony.

I remember one of these men telling me of a curious
occurrence that had just taken place in the yard of the
Konak. An old wall was being pulled down, to make
room for another building, when, embedded in the
middle of it, was founda big shell, which was taken out
in the yard and examined by a staring crowd of men
and children. Having seen all that was to be seen on
the outside of it, a man began prodding at the fuse-hole
with an iron spike, to see what was inside it, when, bang !
off went the shell, killing the man and wounding seve-
ral others.

Now, from what I could make out, this shell could
only have got into the wall when the Russians were be-
sieging Varna in 1828, for though a Russian man-of-
war did put a few shells into the town during the Cri-
mean War, none of them fell anywhere near this quarter.
» CH, XXXII. A Shell fired in ’28. 319

 

I tell this, for I think, in adding up the casualties of the
war of ’28, this man’s death will never get entered ex-
cept through these pages. One of the wounded in this
accident was a little girl ten years old, who will carry
the scar she then got to her grave; so, should she live
till she is eighty years old, she will then be able to
point to it and say, ‘I got this scar from a shell fired
at Varna by the Russians in ’28;° and doubtless she
will get the reputation of being the oldest person ever
heard of, and might make a fortune by interviewing
the curious. :

I told this story to Palgrave, the celebrated travel-
ler, who was paying us a visit, and I fancy he sent it
home to some paper or periodical; but as I have not
seen it in. print, I venture to give it here again.

Some of my readers may be interested in knowing
that, during the construction of the railroad, no sort of
coins, statues, or curiosities of an ancient date were
found, and nowhere near the line do I know of any Ro-
man camp or other sign of the old invaders. This is
the more curious, as barrows, I believe Roman ones,
are thickly strewn all over the Dobrudja, and at Kus-
tendji, besides Trajan’s Wall, the foundations of build-
ings and fortifications were discovered, to say nothing
of hundreds of other curiosities, showing it must have
been a considerable Roman town.

On the headlands on either side of Varna Bay, there
is what appears to have been an old barrow, and there
are also a few barrows dotted about amongst the hills to
the west of Varna, and some fifteen miles along the .
320 Bulgaria before the War. om. xxxu.

coast, towards Kustendji, there is an old camp formed
like those on Trajan’s Wall, and evidently placed so as
to command a deep and wide valley that runs inland
just between the plains of the Dobrudja and the forests
that extend to Varna.

Nowhere inland between the Black Sea and the
Danube on the one hand, and the foot of the Balkans
and Trajan’s Wall on the other, is there anywhere, that
I know of, the remains of a Roman camp, or any sort
of stone building or foundation of such building; and
yet, as I have said before, barrows are always in sight,
often two, three, or four, placed close together, or, as at
the rear of Kustendji, in some places a dozen, all within
half a mile of each other.

At Cape Kalagria, some two miles from the Bulgar
village of Kavarna, and about thirty to the east of Varna,
there are the remains of, what I believe was, an old Ge-
noese stronghold, which I once had the opportunity of
thoroughly examining. The point stretches out some
three hundred yards into the sea, and is shaped like a
man’s hand and wrist. The wrist (which is very nar-
row in proportion to the hand, being only about ten
yards wide, whereas the hand in the thickest part may
be forty) connects the point to the main land. The
point is about two hundred feet above the sea, and the
sides are everywhere so precipitous that nowhere could
they be scaled. Across the wrist there aré the remains
of a deep ditch, protected, on the sea side by a mas-
sive stone wall, with an arched gateway in the middle,
not more than three feet wide. This is all now in ruins,
ea.xxxm = A Genoese Stronghold. 321

 

and only part of the arch is left. On passing through
the gateway there appears no sign of the point ever
having been inhabited, but, on walking along the top,
several round, well-like shafts will be seen descending |
into the solid limestone rock, and on taking a path that
leads along the face of the precipice to some twenty feet
below the top, three or four monster caverns will be
found, evidently made by man, with great labour. Be-
sides these, in the middle of the ‘ hand’ there is a deep
well, now dry, but evidently still of great depth, which,
I suppose, went down below the sea level.

From the way the land gradually slopes out on each
side towards the ‘wrist,’ men placed behind the wall
would, even in these days, be perfectly covered, and, in
the days of the Genoese, the fort must have been a very
hard nut to crack, either from the sea or from the land,
and would not now be a pleasant place to assault if held
by a few determined men.
229 Bulgaria before the War. om. xxxin.

 

CHAPTER XXXIITI.

An anxious Winter—Turkish Fever—Sandals—Pottery—Official Posi-
tion—A Village Governor.

During the winter of 1867-68, we had a most anxious
time, owing to the failing health of my old companion,
Mac, and not only did we, his most intimate friends, feel
it, but every European in those parts shared our anxiety,
for everybody liked him, and for years he had been the
life of our small community, the friend of all, rich and
poor ; and even the natives too, both Turks and Chris-
tians, had learnt to like and respect him, and, during
the time he was ill, the enquiries after him were inces-
sant, and, if good wishes could have helped, or any hu-
man power availed, poor Mac would soon have got well;
but it was not to be.
; Through all the summer of 1867 Mac had been
poorly, and though he laughed at the anxious way our
doctor questioned him, he got no better, and, at last,
what had at first appeared only a slight, though persis-
tent, cough, settled on his lungs, and we all began to
realise how seriously ill he was. -By our doctor’s advice
he determined to spend the winter in Turkey, as it was
thought the excessively dry air there would be better
cu.xxxm. <- An anxious Winter. 323

 

for him than a change to the damp climate of England ;
and so it was arranged that once more he should share
my house with me, and early in the autumn he
gave up his bachelor quarters at Rustchuck, and the rest
of his days in Turkey, and nearly all in this world, were
spent with us. Poor fellow ! it was miserable to see him,
failing day by day, getting weaker and weaker, and the
terrible cough worse and worse. Yet he was always
cheerful and bright, always with a smile for everyone,
and ready for a joke, if we could only summon up heart
enough to make one-; always brave and contented, and
the only anxiety he ever evinced was to save trouble and
to. ease our minds, and therefore he would constantly
chat about plans and schemes for the future, when we
were allto meet in England and have a holiday together
after our rough life in the East; and yet I think he
knew there was no hope, and only talked thus to reas-
sure Us.

At last the sad winter passed, and then, longing to
be once more with his friends and relations at home,
Mac left us, and in bidding us good-bye did so for ever
in this world, for he only lived a fortnight after he
reached England; but, thank God, I believe he did not:
suffer much. Another Mac now calls my house his
home, and my sincere wish is he may grow up such
another man as he after whom he was named.

Some few of the English workmen had died before
this, but I am thankful to say poor Mac was the only
onewe lost out of our small circle of friends in the East.
We all constantly suffered from ague, and some had, in

x2
324 Bulgaria before the War. om. xxxim,

 

consequence, to give up their work and go home, but
when there they gradually got rid of it, and though
possibly some may have their lives shortened by the
fearful shaking the wretched fever gave them, yet they:
are now apparently quite well. This shows the fevers
of Turkey are not to be feared like those of many other
parts of the world, and that there is nothing in them
that need deter Europeans from getting on very well in
Bulgaria if they are reasonably careful, and have good.
constitutions. .

To be reasonably careful the European should, in
my opinion, eschew strong drinks entirely. Few can
stand them long even in what is called moderation, and
all are injured by them. I take it this will stand good,
in all warm climates, if it does not everywhere.

Then snipe-shooting on marshes that extend over
thousands of acres cannot be reasonable—the biggest
bag ever made will not repay a reasonable man for a;
‘ fit of the shakes.’ Night air should be avoided, or if it
has to be encountered, it should be after a good meal,
and not whilst suffering from great fatigue.

Freshly turned up lands apparently produce as’
much fever as marshes, and for this reason there is less.
fever in the large towns than in the country villages, .
but even in them the European will not escape, for the:
fever finds him out everywhere, even on the high hills.
of the Balkan. :

On the other hand, there are not many other com-:
plaints to be feared, at all events out of the large towns.
In them (doubtless owing to their disgusting filthiness)
CH, XXXL Turkish Fever. . 325

 

now and then cholera, small-pox, or typhoid fever breaks
out, but in the villages all these are very rare. Then
‘consumption is hardly known. I can only remember
two natives dying from it, and they were men from the
milder climate, south of the Balkans. This, I suppose,
is partly owing to the dryness of the air, but I cannot
help thinking it is also partly owing to the way all the
natives accustom themselves to bear the coldest winds
and frosts with their chests and throats utterly unpro-
tected. Little, delicate, fair-skinned Turkish children
may be seen playing”in the courtyards with their chests
open down to their waists, and the men will face the
keenest cold with nothing on but the tangled mat of
‘hair that nature covers the chest with when an artificial
covering does not take its place. :

Even the women in the villages go about with their
necks and chests bare, or at most only covered by a thin
muslin bodice, and yet they wrap all the rest of their
bodies in sheep-ckins and furs.

Thave no doubt that the plan adopted by all natives,
- Christian and Turkish, of wrapping yards of scarf round
their waists, and so keeping that sensitive part warm
and comfortable, is an excellent plan, and I would
recommend all travellers in Turkey, whether in summer
or winter, to follow it. I believe they would find it far
better than wrapping up their heads 4 la Turea, as so
many are fond of doing! I must say that, to my mind,
of all senseless head-coverings man ever invented there
is none so bad as the red Turkish fez. Neither in
cold or heat does it protect the head, and it subjects
326 Bulgaria before the War. cm. xxxm.

 

the eyes to the full glare of the sun, Then the cloth
it is made of irritates the forehead, and the useless
long tassel tickles the cheeks and neck. I don’t think
even the natives of Turkey would long stick to it, if
that wise paternal government did not make them.
Years ago the Turkish Government took to manufac-
turing the fez and, forbidding all private individuals to
compete against them, they put up the price a hun-
dred per cent. Naturally the people gave up buying
them; but the government were not thus to be done;
they taxed everyone that wore anything else, and so
caught their customers one way or the other.

It is a marvel to me that the Turkish Government
has never adopted the same plan with the other end of
its subjects, and made them pay for their boots; but I
suppose they think it would induce the entire popula-
tion to go barefoot, or else they know that no shoes or
boots they could make would do to walk about in. As
it is, the peasantry dispense with boots at home, or slop
about in stout slippers, well down at the heels, and
with no stockings under them. When away from
home, or on a journey, they first wrap the feet up in
flannel rags, and then lash over all a piece of sun-tanned
cow-skin, which, being previously well soaked in water,
takes the shape of the foot as it dries and shrinks.

In dry weather these sandals are excellent, keeping
the feet warm and giving a good foot-hold, and saving
them from thorns and stones and other injuries; but in
wet weather they are miserable things, for then they
become soft and slippery, and soon wear, or rather melt,
OH, XXXII, Sandals. 327

 

from the feet, and the unfortunate wearer slips and
slides about in the mud in a pitiable fashion. Once
when on a shooting excursion, I was induced by my man
Popa to try these sandals, and during the first part of
the day I thought them the finest invention man ever
conceived for covering the feet; but in the afternoon
rain came on, and I soon changed my mind, and before
I got home I had determined never to adopt anything
Turkish again—no, not if I had to go stark naked! For.
days after my feet ached and smarted from the strains
they had received from trying to keep my hold on the
muddy ground, and from the blisters that the saturated
and displaced flannels had produced.

The natives of Turkey would never take to our navvy
boots, for several reasons. First of all, the Turks would.
never take the trouble to lace them up; then, on enter-
ing a Turkish house, the boots, or outer foot-covering,
must be left at the door; and thirdly, in the villages,
the floors of the houses are all composed of dried mud,
and thick boots would soon reduce the clean, smooth
floor to the state of a ploughed field; and my readers
will realise how this would be if they picture to them-
selves their room turned upside-down and themselves
walking on the ceiling. In fact, most Turkish rooms—-
at all events, those of the better class—are turned topsy-:
turvy; for, whereas the floor will be made of plaster,
the ceiling will often be planked. But this is in con-
formity with the strict rule of the Turks—always to do
everything they can in the reverse way to Europeans.
For instance, we take our hats off on entering a house 3.
328. Bulgaria before the War. om.xxxm.

 

they, their shoes. We sit up to table; they sit down
on the ground. We get up into our bed; they get
down into theirs. We begin to build a house from
the foundation; they, from the roof. At dinner, we eat
sweets after meat; they, before. We read and write
from left to right of the paper; they, from right to left ;
and so on without end.

I think the Turks’ plan of building a house from the
roof is, perhaps, a better plan than ours. Even if the
house is to be entirely of stone, the Turk erects scaffold-
ing inside where the walls are intended to rise, and on
- this he places the permanent roof, and then runs up the
walls to it; and thus gets all built in the dry, and
avoids the wretched damp condition that new houses
are in with us.

I have spoken of the way the Turk builds his house,
but I should have said the way he gets it built; for the
Turk never builds anything but the poorest and roughest
village houses for himself. All the house-building is
done by the Greeks, or else by the Albanians, who flock
all over Turkey during the summer months as masons
- and carpenters. A Turkish carpenter, wheelwright, or
mason is hardly known, and the only skilled labour they
will ever be found doing is making a little rough
earthenware pottery, or boring out pipe-sticks with a
fiddle-stick.

At Rustehuck and some few of the towns in the
neighbourhood, the Turks make of red clay (the same
the pipes are made of) a rather effective sort of pottery.
After having turned and carved the clay whilst it is
CH, XXXII, Potteries. 329

still damp, they insert small pieces of silver, beaten out
very thin into different patterns, and then all is baked
till the clay becomes jet black and shows the bright
silver ornamentation in strong relief. But the things
are so frail and brittle, that they are only fit for orna-
ments or very careful use. Some that I sent home to
friends in England were so much admired that I was
constantly being asked to procure more, so that, first
and last, I spent a small fortune at the Rustchuck.
potteries.

. :When the Turk wishes to please, there is no one his
equal in good manners, and high, low, rich and poor can,
and often do, deport themselves in a manner that would
be considered courtly anywhere, and might be copied
with advantage by some of us in the West. What a
’ difference there is between the way any ordinary village
Turk makes his salaam and the stiff, awkward saluta-
tions one meets with at home! Just think of the con-
strained, self-conscious way in which most men make a
bow. Then there is the jerky nod, sometimes down-
wards, sometimes upwards; and the thousand different
ways of shaking hands! Also compare the pretty
flowery speech, spoken as if the speaker was thinking
of what he was saying, with our ‘ How d’ye do,’ or, more
often, half-inaudible grunt! No: if in nothing else, I
think the Turk outshines us in this. °

As the Turk can behave well when he wishes, so
also can he behave badly—no one worse; and yet he
even behaves badly like a gentleman. He does not
shout and scream in his rages, but manages to throw
330 Bulearia before the War. om. xxxm.

 

into every look and gesture the very concentrated:
essence of contempt, and the few oaths he makes use
of are to the point, and, unlike ours, are never blas-
phemous, but simply grossly insulting.

Then all are alike in manners—the peasant and the
Pasha, the soldier and his general, the judge and the
hangman; and doubtless to this is owing the easy way
in which the pipe-bearer of to-day is a Pasha to-
morrow, and the soldier stacks his musket to pick up
the mareschal’s baton. There is no hereditary rank in
Turkey, but all rise because they are rich, or are
cunning, or are useful to some great man, or are suc-
cessful rogues. It must not be supposed that any poor
Turk can rise to a distinguished position through
real merit. He may be as virtuous as Saint Paul, and
as clever as a Bismarck, and yet, if he is not a tuft-
hunter or worse, he will remain in the outer darkness
of Government life. I say Government life, for all the
distinguished men belong to it. There is no such
thing as a Turk whois distinguished for anything else
— for book-learning, science, or any kind of skill.
Were I the father of a Turkish boy, and hoped to see
him rise to distinction, I should tell him first to learn
lying in its highest branches, then tuft-hunting, then
vicious intriguing, and when he had mastered these, a
little reading and writing; but these two last would
only be as ornaments to the former, and not absolutely
necessary.

The life of every Government official, from the
Grand Vizier to the zaptieh, is one long grind at.
CH, XXXUI. Official Posztion. may

 

intrigue. Either he is in office or out of it. If the
latter, he intrigues to get in, and when in he intrigues
to keep there, and to rise higher ; and the consequence
is, his entire life is a series of ups and downs; but if he
has only money, the ups will preponderate, and if he
has the power and pluck to spend it like water, he may
hope to rise to the top of the tree in either the civil or
military service, and this quite irrespective of any real
ability to fulfil his duties decently.

In all countries it must be very charming to be a
great man, and receive the respect due to one’s posi-
tion ; but this can nowhere be so thoroughly enjoyed as
in Stamboul. There everyone perfectly adores (at all
events in appearance) the man who holds a higher position
than his worshipper; and when the big man is a powerful
Pasha, in some such post as a governor-general or com-
mander-in-chief, he rises above humanity, and becomes
a sort of earthly god. While his power lasts he can do
anything; and what is bad in ordinary men is a divine
virtue in him. But oh, should he but get intrigued
out of office, how great is his fall! Say a provincial
governor, whose every look has been studied by all
beneath him in the hope to satisfy some small unex-
pressed wish, should suddenly receive a telegram to
recall him, the very clerk who delivers it will show by
his manner before the telegram is opened that the
game is up, and in half-an-hour stories will be told in
every café to prove what a poor little candle the extin-
guished light has been, and those with good eyesight
will have caught glimpses of the really powerful light
ep: Bulsaria before the War. on. xxxm.

 

on its way to take its place, though the name of it is
as yet unknown. Neglect and contempt will surround
the retiring Pasha, to reach a climax as he is received
with a stare by the new man, and is shoved out of the
way to make room for his old adorers to worship at the
new shrine. .

The most proficient of tuft-hunters is the Arme-
nian, and after him—but some long way after him—
the Jew. It therefore happens that wherever a big
man is, there are congregated a swarm of Armenians,
filling subordinate offices for next to no salary, and
even this pittance only paid months after it is due;
but, thanks to the influence they are known to have
with the Pasha, they, one and all, make a very good
living, and always look well clad, well fed, sleek and
prosperous.

The Bulgar, from having been treated from the
first day he fell under the Turkish rule as a veritable
savage, little better than a pig, and far beneath a
horse, has inherited such a dread of his masters, that
he rarely puts in an appearance at the Konak as an
official ; but as he has the knack of acquiring riches,
he often is able to ‘square’ the Pasha through some
oily Armenian, who extracts a toll from the bakshish
on its way up higher.

Once, when visiting the large annual fair at Hadji
Oglu Bazarjik, I was received as a guest by the leading
Bulgar of the place, who was a great sheep farmer;
and on my telling him I was going to visit the
governor of the town, he volunteered to accompany me,
cuy.xxxir, - 4 Village Governor. 233

 

for, he said, in my presence and with a word from me,
he hoped he might accomplish an object he had some
time had in view—namely, to rent from the Govern-
ment a large tract of pasturage at a moderate figure.
On reaching the governor’s house about 11 a.M., we
were told that the Bey Effendi had not yet risen, but
that if we would wait in the verandah for a few minutes
he should be called at once. We had not long to wait
before we were ushered into a room, where we found
the most unpleasant-looking young man, sitting up,
partially dressed, on his bed, surrounded by dirty
tumbled bedding, and in an atmosphere that was quite
stifling. ;
The young gentleman was most condescending, how-
ever, shook hands @ la Franca, ordered coffee and cigar-
ettes, and evidently did his best to be agreeable; and I
am sure we ought to have felt grateful for all the
trouble he was taking, for not only had we roused him
up, but, as he assured us, he was suffering from a severe
headache, produced by having been drunk overnight
on raki, a Christian practice which, it seemed, he in-
dulged in nightly! After chatting for an hour or
so, and after he had scared me dreadfully by saying
he looked upon me as a brother, and that he would
shortly pay me a visit at Varna, and make a night of
it, the Bulgar at last broached the subject of the
pasturage, and to my astonishment the Turk at once
said, ‘Yes; you shall have it for the money you offer
because you are a great friend, so great a friend that
I feel sure you would do me a favour, and lend me
aah. Bulgaria before the War. om. xxxm.

 

20 liras. If you will give me the money, I will at once
write you a paper making over the land.’

In a moment the Bulgar was gone, soon to return
with the money, which the young man pocketed, and
then in exchange handed over the coveted paper. Later
on the old Bulgar assured me he had done a splendid
morning’s work, for if the land had been let to the
highest bidder, as it should have been, he would have
had to pay, in excess of what he had offered, three or
four times the amount he had given asa bribe. I am
happy to say the threat of visiting me was never carried
out; I suspect, from what I saw, the Effendi was never
sober enough to leave home, or perhaps he was _pre-
maturely carried off by the deadly poison he was con-
stantly imbibing. ,
CH, XXXIV. Escape from Prison. 335

 

CHAPTER XXXIV.

Eseape from Prison—Turkish Gaols—Shooting a Murderer—Execu-
tions—The Bastinado—Turkish Honesty—A Turk in Difficulties—
Good-bye to Turkey.

Durine the first autumn we were in our new house,
we were all thrown into considerable excitement by
hearing in the middle of the night the incessant hur-
rying past of people, some on foot, some on horseback,
all talking so eagerly, and bustling about so fast that,
at first, I made up my mind we were in for a fire; but
on visiting the windows on each side of the house, and
discerning no flames, I was puzzled to make out what
could be the matter, but as no one troubled us, I
troubled no one till the morning, and then I heard that
during the night some twenty prisoners, undergoing
various terms of imprisonment, had made a large hole
through the wall of the gaol and decamped, some with
and some without chains on. One would have thought
that the former would easily have been retaken ; but as
it turned out, all effected their escape, and so relieved
the governor of the trouble of feeding and guarding
them.

As soon as I had finished my breakfast I paid a visit
to the governor, whom I found looking very dejected,
336 Bulgaria before the War. oH. XXXIV.

partly, no doubt, from having been up all night, and
- partly from fear of the row that might be expected;
and it was amusing to trace from his oft-repeated
declaration that the worst class of prisoners were still
_ locked up in another gaol, and that those who had

escaped were only petty larceny lads, the line of argu-
ment he intended using to excuse himself.

With the Pasha’s permission I paid a visit to the
gaol that was burst open, and I was only astonished that
anyone should have been unenterprising enough to stop
in it for a single night, especially as it was the most
disgustingly filthy place I ever saw for a human being
to live in. It was aroom some thirty yards long by
eight wide, very low, very dark, very damp, with no
ventilation and no beds or bedding; a few rush mats on
the ground and a few heaps of dirty straw; an open
cesspool in one corner, and a stench everywhere. The
walls were only eighteen inches thick, built of rubble-
stone set in decayed mortar, which could easily be
picked out by the fingers; and yet some of the men
who escaped that night had been shut up there for

_ years.

I made an attempt then and several times after-
wards to visit the gaol where murderers and other big
criminals were confined ; but, unfortunately, I expressed
my feeling of disgust at anyone being shut up in such
a pigstye before the officials; and I suspect they put
the Pasha up to refusing my request, lest I should
criticise unfavourably this place also. Anyhow, I did
not get permission, and had to take the Pasha’s word
cm. xxv. * Shooting a Murderer. 439

 

for it that it was very strong, and that there was no
fear of a lot of desperate ruffians getting out amongst
us.

When my little girl could just toddle about, she was
one day sent for a walk with her English nurse on the
open space between the town and the fortifications, and
whilst playing on the sheltered side of an old earth
ramp, they suddenly heard a gun fired close by. They
ran to the top, and were just in time to see a man,
with chains on his hands, running from three zaptiehs,
who were pointing muskets at him. The next moment
one of the zaptiehs fired, and the man fell writhing on
the ground, and the third stepped up and blew his
brains out.

The nurse hurried home to tell us what she had
seen, as well as the child, who was fortunately too
young to take in all the horrors of it.

I at once ran down to the Konak, and calling on the
Pasha’s interpreter, asked for an explanation. He an-
swered me witha laugh, ‘Oh! itis all proper; the man
was a Tartar, who committed a brutal murder a year
‘ago and was condemned to death. Some busy-body
(looking askance at me) wrote the other day and told
the Minister at Constantinople that he was not yet
executed, and this morning we had an order to kill him
at once, and so we shot him.’

Just three ordinary policemen had taken him out
chained, turned him loose in the open, and then took
running shots at him till they had brought him to the
ground, and after they had killed him they dug a hole

Zz
338 Bulgaria before the War. on. xxx1v.

 

and buried him where he fell} No one seemed to think
there was anything strange in the manner of this exe-
cution, and when I expressed my astonishment they
only said, ‘Ah! but he was a murderer ; what matters it
how he died?’ The fact is life is so little regarded in
Turkey, and is so often taken, that it is not worth cri-
ticising the means used, especially if it is by the hand
of the law the man dies.

- The general way of executing a prisoner in Turkey
is to hang him in the quarter of the town where his co-
religionists live, and then to leave him hanging for
days as a caution to all beholders. I don’t think any-
one ever takes the warning to himself, or that anyone is
deeply impressed by the spectacle. Business goes on
ten minutes after the man is dead as if nothing out
of the way had taken place, and even the small children
pay little attention to the strange object dangling from
a balcony or bough of a tree, and I have certainly seen
more excitement shown over a dead dog in an English
village than the natives of Bulgaria have shown over a
hanged murderer.

I never saw a man hanged myself, for the reason
that I would rather at any time undergo a month’s im-
prisonment, but over and over again I have seen the
unfortunate wretches hanging after they were dead.

When Midhat Pasha took to stamping out the first
little feeble Bulgarian revolution, and, by the wholesale
manner he hung all suspected people, sowed broadcast
the seeds of future trouble, it was impossible to enter
Rustchuck for weeks without seeing men slung up on the
OH. XxxIv, The Bastinado. 339

 

cross-bar at the gates. Generally there were two hang-
ing together, and to keep them from swaying about in
the wind they had a cord from one of their feet, pulling
them sideways to the upright posts, and in this position
they were left till the bar was wanted for a fresh batch.

The fine old Turkish punishment, the bastinado, was
stopped by law some ten or fifteen years ago, I believe
through the remonstrances of Lord Stratford ; but cus-
tom is here stronger than law, and small local governors
keep the stick going as merrily as ever, with the old
result—cripples and even death. I myself have been
asked whether I would have a man bastinadoed or im-
prisoned, and three or four men were bastinadoed to my
knowledge while I was in Turkey.

It used to be an old custom to nail a shopman to his
door-post with a spike through his ear when discovered
with false weights, but this J have never known done;
I suppose because if it were, no one would be inside any
shop to serve the customers, all having false weights,
especially among the Armenians, Jews, and Greeks. The
Turks are better, and as shop-keepers, are not, I believe,
dishonest as a rule; in fact, the lower orders of the
Turks are more to be trusted than any of their neigh-
bours, and in their own peculiar way have a great deal
of honesty about them. .

An amusing illustration of the superior honesty of
the Turk over the Wallachian was told me by a friend
of mine. He was coming down the river from Vienna
on boarda post boat. Having run short of tobacco, he
placed himself on the saloon deck, where stood a throng

z2
340 Bulgaria before the War. cu. xxx1v.

 

of Wallachians, and as soon as the boat stopped at
Widdin, he called to an old Turk, who chanced to be
standing on the shore, and throwing him about five
shillings, asked him to hurry up into the town, and buy
some tobacco. No sooner had the Turk trotted off on
his errand than the Wallachians began laughing and
jeering at my friend. ‘Ah, Monsieur, you who are
such a great traveller to do such a thing! to throw
away five shillings to that canaille; for do you really
expect to see that man again? Well, we shall see; if
you do you are fortunate, and the man a fool; for
why should he not keep the money? it is against
human nature that he should not, &. Their gibing
was redoubled when first one rope was cast off
and then another, and the boat slowly swung round
to the current, for it really seemed as if my friend
were to be done; but just as the paddles made
their first revolution, the Turk dashed through the
crowd and flung a big packet of tobacco on board,
grinning and looking very pleased with himself. My
friend threw him a small bakshish, and then turning to
the Wallachs said, ‘Now who was right? It is just
because I am a traveller that I trusted that old Turk.
I know them well and felt quite safe; but let me tell
you I also know the people on that other bank of the
river, and should not be fool enough to trust any living
man there as I did the old Turk.’

In most countries such a very outspoken opinion
would have been resented, but the only remark it pro-
duced was, ‘Well, you have reason—what you say is
cxxxxv. A Turk in Defficulties. 341

 

very true.’ And here again the difference may be seen
between the two people the great river divides. No
Turk will listen to a word spoken against his country,
whereas the Wallach is never tired of pointing out all
his own defects; certainly he insinuates that all might
be perfect, if so-and-so were done, or, to sum up all, if
he, the individual, had the making of the laws.

I remember the same friend telling me another
incident that occurred to him, and as it relates to the
people of whom I am writing, I will repeat it here.
Some years ago G. was travelling, as he was constantly
in the habit of doing, from Italy into Switzerland vid
the Simplon Pass, when on stopping at the hotel. at
Brigg, the landlord came to him to say that, knowing
that he was a good linguist, he hoped he would
help him with a traveller who had arrived ill at
his hotel some few days before, adding, ‘No one can
make out what he is, and no one can understand a word
he says.’

G. was then shown by the landlord into a room
where he found, curled up in his bed, a woe-begone-
looking old Turk, who, only seeing in my friend another
tormentor, turned wearily away, but when G. spoke to
him in Turkish a powerful change took place in his
appearance. He sat up, looked bright, and began
pouring forth such a volley of words it was almost im-
possible to follow him; but at last G. learnt that the
man was a veritable Turk, and that he was going on to
Switzerland to buy cows for his master, Sultan Abdul
Azis, that is to say, if Allah would allow him to live
342 Bulgaria before the War. om. xxxrvi

 

long enough. He could not speak a word of any
language but his own, and the last person he had seen
who could understand him was at Trieste. He then
went on to say that he had been taken ill on the Pass,
and was forced to stop at the hotel, and that since he —
arrived there he had been starving, for, he said, with a
look of intense horror, ‘ These beasts have again and
again given me pig to eat, and, as you know, I cannot
eat that, nor dare I eat any other cooked food, for
doubtless the same utensils are used to cook all in—
ugh!’

On calling the landlord in and explaining who the
man was, and that Turks did not eat pork, G.. was
assured none had ever been given him, all the meat
used in the house being either veal or mutton. Now
the Turks never eat veal, and therefore the old fellow
had mistaken it, from its white appearance, for pork.
He was delighted at discovering this, and in a few
minutes was making up for lost time by handing calf
cutlets down his throat in a long continuous procession,
Before G. left, he wrote out a menu of every meal the
Turk was to have, settled his bill in advance, explained
the money of the country, and helped him in many
other ways; and when he left, the old Turk stood at
the door, and, besides heaping blessings on him, kept
shouting out, ‘ Allah sent you—Allah sent you.’

Some time after, G. found himself at Trieste; and,
on making enquiries, heard that not only had the Turk
returned, vid that place, safe and well, but that he had
with him a herd of Swiss cows. So, in some unac-
OH, XXXIV. Goodbye to Turkey. 343

 

countable way, he had succeeded in fulfilling his
master’s orders; and I think it speaks volumes for
both him and his master. For him, in that he sur-
mounted his great difficulties, and for his master, for
' being such an ignoramus as to give him such an
amount of labour. It would be about as sensible for
our Queen to send a village bumpkin to Constantinople
to buy crown jewels, as for the Sultan to have sent this
man to Europe to buy cows !.

Ever since the year 1857, when, as a lad, I had
arrived in Turkey, I had constantly suffered from fever,
and most of the time from rheumatism also. Once
before, the two had driven me from Turkey for a while,
and now again they were so bad that life began to be a
burden; and so, most reluctantly, I determined to
resign my appointment, and return home to see if
native air and rest would not in time rid me of my two
great enemies. And I was further induced to do this,
as both my wife and small child continually had the
ague, and were getting thoroughly out of health.

We had always looked forward with pleasure to the
day when we should quit the East for good; but when
that day arrived, we found it anything but a happy
one, and it was with heavy hearts that at last we bid
good-bye to the place where, on the whole, we had
spent avery pleasant time. Lightened, as it was, by
the kind wishes expressed by our numerous friends and
old companions, our last day in Turkey was yet a sad
one; and it was not till we were well on our way to
another and an older home that our spirits revived ;
344 Bulgaria before the War. om. xxxv.

 

and even then we were glad to comfort ourselves with
the hope that at some future day we should once more
return to the old familiar scenes.

Since then many strange changes and fearful mis-
fortunes have befallen that land ; but, in spite of all, I
cling to the hope that there isa happy future to arise
in Bulgaria, and that I may be able to revisit it before
I am quite forgotten by the different people I lived
amongst, many of whom I look on as friends, and in all
of whom I take a lively interest.

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