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EPISODES

A LIFE OF ADVENTURE

MOSS FROM A ROLLING STONE

LAURENCE OLIPHANT

AUTHOR OF
■IA AND J
"HAIFA" ETC.

NEW YORK

HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE
1887

LAURENCE OLIPHANT'S WORKS.

ALTIORA PETO. i2mo, Paper, 20
cents ; 4to, Paper, 20 cents.

CHINA AND JAPAN. Illustrated.
8vo, Cloth, $3.50.

PICCADILLY. i 2 mo, Paper, 23 cents.

EPISODES IN A LIFE OP ADVEN-
TURE. i 2 mo, Cloth. {Just Ready.)

HAIFA; or, Life in Modern Palestine.
Edited, with Introduction, by Charles
A. Dana. Crown 8vo, Cloth, $1.75.

Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York.

HSf* Sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States or Canada,

on receipt of the price.

CONTENTS.

CHAP. PAGE

I. THE OVERLAND ROUTE FORTY-SIX YEARS AGO, AND

AN ASCENT OF ADAM'S PEAK IN CEYLON, . I

II. REVOLUTIONARY EPISODES IN ITALY IN THE YEAR

1848, AND AN ADVENTURE IN GREECE, . -19

III. MY FIRST EXPERIENCES IN DIPLOMACY, . .32

IV. POLITICS AND INDIAN AFFAIRS IN CANADA, . . 49
V. CRIMEAN AND CIRCASSIAN EXPERIENCES, . . 65

VI. ADVENTURES IN CENTRAL AMERICA, ... 88
VII. CALCUTTA DURING THE MUTINY, AND CHINA DUR-
ING THE WAR 1857-1859, .... I02
VIII. SOME SPORTING REMINISCENCES, . . . . 113

IX. AN EPISODE WITH GARIBALDI, AND AN EXPERIENCE

IN MONTENEGRO, 1 35

X. THE ATTACK ON THE BRITISH LEGATION IN JAPAN

IN l86l, ....... 152

XI. A VISIT TO TSUSIMA: AN INCIDENT OF RUSSIAN

AGGRESSION, 1 74

XII. POLITICS AND ADVENTURE IN ALBANIA AND ITALY

IN 1862, 187

IV CONTENTS.

CHAP. PAGE

XIII. CRACOW DURING THE POLISH INSURRECTION OF

1863, ........ 200

XIV. EXPERIENCES DURING THE POLISH INSURRECTION :

WARSAW, . . . . . . .217

XV. A VISIT TO AN INSURGENT CAMP, . . . 242

XVI. TWENTY-FOUR HOURS IN VOLHYNIA, . . -273

XVII. A VISIT TO THE CONVENTS OF MOLDAVIA, . . 29 1

XVIII. THE WAR IN SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN : THE BATTLE

OF MISSUNDE, 312

XIX. THE MORAL OF IT ALL, 340

EPISODES

A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

CHAPTER I.

THE OVERLAND ROUTE FORTY-SIX YEARS AGO, AND AN AS-
CENT OF ADAM'S PEAK, IN CEYLON.

The proverb that a rolling stone gathers no " moss " is,
like most proverbs, neater as an epigram than as a truth, in
so far as its application to human existence is concerned.
Even if by "moss" is signified hard cash, commercial and
industrial enterprises have undergone such a change since
the introduction of steam and electricity that the men who
have made most money in these clays are often those who
have been flying about from one quarter of the world to an-
other in its successful pursuit — taking contracts, obtaining
concessions, forming companies, or engaging in speculations,
the profitable nature of which has been revealed to them in
the course of their travels. But there may be said to be
other kinds of moss besides money, of which the human roll-
ing stone gathers more than the stationary one. He meets
with adventures, he acquires experiences, he undergoes ex-
periences, and gains a general knowledge of the world, the
whole crystallizing in after-life into a rich fund of reminis-
cences, which becomes the moss that he has gathered. The
journal of such a one in after-years, if he has been careful
i

2 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

enough to record his experiences, becomes amusing reading
to himself, and may serve to refresh his memory in regard to
incidents which, as matters of history, may not be devoid of
interest to the public generally.

I was a very young stone, indeed, when I began rolling —
a mere pebble, in fact ; but some of the moss which I col-
lected then has stuck to me with greater tenacity than much
that has gathered itself upon my weather-worn surface in
later years. The impressions of early travel are generally
so deeply stamped at the time that the memory of them does
not easily fade. Thus I have made the overland journey to
the East, backward and forward, eight times, but the recol-
lection of the first one continues the most vivid; and it is
the same with my passages across the Atlantic — but perhaps
that is because it lasted seventeen days, was made in the
depth of winter, and under circumstances calculated to cause
themselves to be remembered. My first voyage to the East
was by the overland route in the winter of the years 1841
and 1842 ; it was made in company with my tutor, and so
imperfect were the arrangements in those days that it took
us two full months to reach Ceylon. At Boulogne, where
we arrived in a steamer direct from London Bridge, my com-
panion and I seated ourselves in the banquette of an old-
fashioned diligence — for very few miles of railway had been
built in France in those days ; and from our elevated perch,
which we preferred to retain throughout, we had abundant
opportunity for a survey of " La belle France," as we rum-
bled across it from one end to the other, accomplishing the
journey from Boulogne to Marseilles in eight days and five
nights of incessant diligence travel ; our only adventure be-
ing that we stuck for some hours of the night in the snow
near Chalons, and had to be dug out. At that time there
were no passenger-steamers from Marseilles to Malta, and
the mails were conveyed in a man-of-war, which was also
compelled to submit to the humiliation of having to take
passengers. The only incident of which I have any recol-

THE OVERLAND ROUTE FORTY-SIX YEARS AGO. 3

lection during the voyage was that of pitching headforemost
from the quarter-deck on to the main-deck, in the course of
a race in sacks, and the flash of thought which suggested in-
stant death as I went over. From this accident I remained
insensible for twenty-four hours, but was otherwise none the
worse. At Malta we changed steamers for Alexandria, where
the East burst for the first time upon my surprised senses.
The foreign population was probably not a quarter of what
it is now; carriages had not been introduced; the streets
were narrow, ill-paved, and crowded with camels, donkeys,
veiled women, and the traffic characteristic of an Eastern
city, but all was life and bustle : the place was just beginning
to quiver under the impulse of the movement which the in-
vention of steam was imparting to the world, and one of the
earliest evidences of which was the direct route to India,
which Lieutenant Waghorn had just opened through Egypt.
One of the pleasantest experiences of the journey was the
voyage along the Mahamoudieh Canal in canal-boats towed
by horses, as far as Atfeh. This was a perfect picnic while
it lasted ; the culinary arrangements being extemporized to
meet the difficulties of the situation, principally by the pas-
sengers themselves, for the organization was still so defective
that they had largely to trust to their own resources and ex-
ertions to secure their comfort. The morning of " Cook "
had not yet dawned, and we were still in a sort of twilight
of ignorance and dragomans. We had been looking forward
to a sail up the Nile in dahabceyahs to Cairo, but the first
steamer had just been put on the river ; notwithstanding
which, owing to various delays, which I for one did not regret
in a country where all was so new and interesting, it took us
three days to get from Alexandria to Cairo. Here, as there
was no civilized hotel — for Shepheard's had not yet sprung
into existence — we had to go to a native khan, where a num-
ber of bare ; unfurnished cells opened upon a corridor, en-
closing four sides of a square, which was filled at all hours
of the day and night with a mob of grunting, munching cam-

4 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

els, and their screaming, quarrelling drivers ; and here we
found Mr. Waghorn himself, indefatigable in his exertions for
our comfort, and in a constant struggle with the authorities,
which, considering that only a few months before we had
bombarded the Egyptians out of Acre, and had handed Pal-
estine over to the Turks, was by no means to be wondered
at. Looked at by the light of subsequent events, we should
probably have done better had we left things as they were ;
but in that case subsequent events would have been so dif-
ferent that we might have had occasion to regret them still
more. No doubt there were reasons why it seemed best at
the time to separate the interests of Palestine from those of
Egypt ; but the fate of each country must ever be powerfully
influenced in the future, as it has been in the past, by the
destiny of the other ; and their relative position towards each
other, topographically and commercially, must always cause
the influence which is paramount in Egypt to be powerfully
operative in Palestine. And this will become the case, in a still
more marked degree, when the two countries are united, as
they must be before long, by a railway from Cairo to Damas-
cus. There is no line probably in the world, except perhaps
between the populous cities of China, more certain to pay
than one which should connect Egypt and Syria, and which
would convey the greater part of that produce which is now
carried in native boats by sea, or transported wearily across
the intervening desert on the backs of camels. The Eastern
question will have, however, to be reopened and closed again
before we can hope to see it constructed. Meantime we were
almost as unpopular in Egypt in 1841 as we are now; but
then, at all events, we had a clear and definite policy, and
knew distinctly what we were aiming at. What we lost in
one direction we gained in another, instead of losing all
round, as we do in these days, and which we shall continue
to do in the degree in which the British mob is invited by
subservient statesmen to dictate to them the policy to be pur-
sued in foreign affairs. However, these are merely the views

THE OVERLAND ROUTE FORTY-SIX YEARS AGO. 5

of a rolling stone, with which it is impossible that stones
which form a part of the pavement of London streets, and can
see no farther than the houses on either side, can sympathize ;
but of this they may feel sure, that if they were picked out of
their political gutters, and sent rolling about the world for a
few years, they would get rid of a good deal of the dirt of
party, and gather a little of the moss of patriotism.

Forty-six years have worked a far greater change in Cairo
than they have in Alexandria. In fact, they have trans-
formed the city to an extent which makes it no longer recog-
nizable. From the most Oriental of Oriental cities, which it
was when I saw it first, it has become the most European —
the broad boulevards and miles of roads and streets, the hun-
dreds of carriages plying for hire, the magnificent hotels and
handsome villas with their surrounding gardens, have super-
seded all that was quaint, Eastern, and picturesque. The
Ezebekeyeh, where in old days one sat in the still evenings,
and smoked chibouks and ?iarg/ule/is, and drank coffee and
sherbet, and listened to the twang of native instruments, in
company with groups of venerable Moslems, is now a park
where nurse-maids and babies and petits creves go and lis-
ten to a military band. And one has to make an expe-
dition expressly into the native quarter to know that it ex-
ists. We were detained a couple of days in Cairo, while Mr.
Waghorn was arranging for our transport across the desert
to Suez, and we were never tired of exploring its narrow
streets on donkeys, and spending money on articles which
could never be of any manner of use to us, in its crowded
and well-stocked bazaars.

We crossed the desert in several four-horse vans — horses
having been recently substituted for the camels which were
at first attached to these vehicles — and found waiting for us
at Suez the steamer India. The journey from the Mediter-
ranean to the Red Sea, including two days' stay at Alexan-
dria, had occupied eight days. The last time I crossed from
one sea to the other it was by an express train without any

6 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

delay at Cairo, and the time occupied was nine hours. Be-
fore the establishment of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam
Company, the mails were conveyed from Suez to Bombay by
one of the East India Company's men-of-war. The first
merchant -ship which carried passengers and mails direct
from Suez to Calcutta was the India, and this was her first
voyage. She was commanded by a Captain Staveley, and
was considered a large ship in those days, though she was
not over fifteen hundred tons. The survey of the Red Sea
was also, I imagine, imperfect. At any rate, on the second
night after leaving Suez we were all nearly thrown out of our
berths by the ship running full speed upon a coral-reef, on
which the scene of panic usual on such occasions occurred.
All the passengers, male and female, were on deck in the
lightest of attire in a moment, and were somewhat reassured
by the fact that the sea was as calm as a mill-pond, and the
ship as motionless as a statue — so much so, indeed, that
one weak-minded cadet, who had been the butt of the younger
members of the party all the way, thought the opportunity a
good one in which to write his will, which he proceeded with
great earnestness and good faith to do in the saloon, assisted
by several of his friends, whose good faith was not so ob-
vious. When he had finished it, we took charge of it, and
promised that in case any of us were saved from the wreck,
which he thought imminent, the survivors would see that it
was executed. I have often wondered since whether this
youth ever rose to command the regiment he went out to
join. We stuck on this reef several hours, and then with the
help of the little tide there is in the Red Sea, and the boats,
we floated off, with, as it afterwards turned out, a severely
damaged bottom. However, we steamed slowly on for two
or three days more, and then ran out of coal. As there was
not a breath of wind when this discovery was made, the pros-
pect of lying for an indefinite time, " like a painted ship upon
a painted ocean," was not encouraging. However, the ocean
was fortunately a very narrow one, and with the aid of a puff

THE OVERLAND ROUTE FORTY-SIX YEARS AGO. 7

of wind which ultimately sprang up, we managed to work our
way into Mocha. As I was not in the slightest hurry to
reach my journey's end, I was delighted at this co7itrete?nps,
as it gave me a chance of seeing a very rarely visited place.
We lay off Mocha for three days, taking in wood. Its as-
pect from the sea is not particularly inviting. It is merely a
row of white, flat-roofed houses, with a minaret or two rising
above them, glistening in the broiling sun, with a palm-grove
at either end, and a desert beyond. Some of us went on
shore to explore the town and pay a visit to the governor or
shereef. We then found that the white houses looked far
grander at a distance than on nearer acquaintance ; and that
there was a bazaar behind them, in which a large proportion
of desert Arabs mingled with the Moslem townspeople, bring-
ing in strings of camels with dates, coffee, and other produce
for sale. I was told that, though the country immediately
surrounding Mocha was barren and unprepossessing, there
was a fertile, well-watered hill-region behind, where the cele-
brated coffee called after the town is produced, but which,
even to this day, has been only very partially explored. At
present the obstacles to exploration are even greater than
when I was at Mocha. At that time it was virtually, if not
technically, the capital of Yemen, a rich and fertile province
about four hundred miles long by one hundred and fifty
wide ; and though the Sultan of Turkey cast covetous eyes
upon it, and even attempted to lay some claim to sovereignty
over it, it was practically an independent country, the su-
preme authority being the imaum, whose palace was at Sana,
a town equidistant from Aden and from Mocha, being about
one hundred and sixty miles from each, and the centre of a
trade which found its way to the sea-coast at Mocha. Now
all this is changed. There is no longer an imaum at Sana :
after a protracted war, which has lasted over several years,
and which never raged more fiercely than it did last year,
though we heard very little about it, Yemen has been an-
nexed to the Turkish empire and constituted into a vilayet,

'^ I E.

With a Tuii snt at Sana, where, however, his

do • id beyc . . _ • of his

lomal 'jnder his orders. I have

9 fa . returned from
ice in / , and they all tell rne that the country is in

a »I; oil ; that the Arabs are intensely hostile

authority of the Porte; that they are very brave, and
' ion into ,. . ibjects seems an almost

less task, I have also met. in Jerusalem a very interest-
ing '/t of \< vs f who only red there as refugees a little
mora than two vi - o from Yemen, where they say they
d long before the final dispersion, for they claim to
be <!' / ended from the tribe of Dan : they are learned in the
Scriptures, and more devout and unsophisticated than those

who have been in contact with Western civilization. They

say they were compelled to leave Yemen in consequence of
the wai between the Turks and Arabs, where they found
themselves between the uppei and the nethei millstone.

So fai as I was able to gather, there is, however, a strong

tnlc' of nomads, all pure Jews, who have sided with the
Arabs in the late war, and who have retired into fastnesses,
where the Turks havi hid a difficulty in following them, for

parts "I Hi' Country are very mountainous. I have also
heard from more than on' • <: of the existence of a

valuable gold mine somewhere in Yemen, and conversed
with those who have :,< >< n I Ik: ore that has been extracted
from it.
The < reation of Yemen into a Turkish vilayet brought the

frontiei of the empire almost to the gates of Aden ; and the

native Arab tribes, who, on the occasion of my first visit,
made ii unsafe to venture a hundred yards from the fortifica-
tion, were "lad to seek OUI protection rather than fall under
Turkish rule. The result has been a certain tension between
ih'' Turkish authorities and British officials, arising out of
tin 1 , newly bom propinquity ; and the fear lest our influence
should spread into the interior, has induced the Ottoman

THE OVERLAND .TOY-SIX YEABJ: 9

y to pr< hmen

. I was at Mocha, it i

-in per
he Ima
although it wai ed, had already be

- ruttendeo, s i r

lies under all 1 ese

h : and from : g - populatic n thousand

hat id down to a r ade

of ¥ finding its

mik from it by sea.

- great
pen received os with moc

;r the circumstances, was f to be

~:.\z; /-.'-- : - ii -•;. I'.'.'.i' '■ .::. •.'.-': '.- : .\.::. : : z i: .::,'s ::. . i-

ket, which gave him to enlisl e in the

wood c He imr . y loaded it, and took a shot

: oppos! vas not

whom it v. . ^ded. alarm and as t as

\..~hJ.. :■ :..;■'. z~ r ,'.:i : : v, \:.--. : t~; v.t:-i 1-i ::v-i *.'. ;,-;>.'>! 1

and highly amused the ; vho I don't think would

e been ifected even i:' . ^sequences had been

The indifference of the human life wi rk-

ably illustrated while •

night our ship was surrounded by boi b wood,

their crews keep: a most discordant din of screar

An while 1 in the proc dischargir

cargoes into us. The abundance of this article was a

s existence in the interior; but as it hac
come on camel's backs, it must have been an expens:
moc!:/. One of these boats, with a couple of men in it.
capsized, the boat turned over, and the men scrambled on to
the keeL There must have been a stror. : j can as they
speedily drifted out to sea, without any efforts being made

IO EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

by their comrades to rescue them, though the accident took
place at midday, in full view of everybody. I suppose our
captain thought that it was the business of the natives to
look after each other. We watched them with our glasses
until they disappeared on the horizon ; but as the sea is very
narrow at this part, it is to be hoped they drifted ashore on
the opposite side.

From Mocha, with our wood fuel and our rickety bottom,
we steamed slowly round to Aden, where the ship was laid
up for repairs, and I was kindly received as a guest by Cap-
tain Staines, then commissioner at that place. Forty- six
years has worked a great change at Aden, as at all the other
places on the route. ' It had then been only two years in
our possession, and was held like a post in an enemy's coun-
try. Every morning and evening long strings of camels were
to be seen passing into the camp from the interior with sup-
plies, and returning again to the desert, every Arab who ac-
companied them being compelled to have a pass, and none
of them being permitted to sleep within the gates for fear of
treachery.

We have now reduced all these unruly tribes to subjection,
and within a certain radius of Aden the petty sultans by
whom they are governed have been placed under our pro-
tection — notably the Sultan of Lahaj, whose village is a
day's ride distant into the interior, and who can now be vis-
ited with perfect security. We have annexed a small district
adjoining the peninsula, and upon it, three miles from the
fortifications, have established a town called Sheik Osman,
which has a population of twelve thousand, composed of So-
maulis, Hindoos, Abyssinians, and Arabs. Each of these
nationalities has its own quarter, and perfect peace and or-
der are maintained without the intervention of any European
— there being no white man in the place. Aden itself has
now a population of at least fifty thousand, and is a grow-
ing commercial emporium, while large sums are about to
be spent upon its fortifications. When I first visited it. the

AN ASCENT OF ADAM'S PEAK. II

resident population, outside the garrison, were to be counted
by hundreds; and both at the "Camp" and the "Point,"
into which the settlement was divided, the residences were
of the most flimsy description. To me, however, their quaint
and unsubstantial character possessed all the charm of nov-
elty ; and the conditions of existence generally were so
strange and unlike anything to which I had been accustomed,
that I enjoyed my week's stay immensely, and was quite
sorry when the repairs of the ship were completed, and we
were called upon to bid adieu to its hospitable society.

The remainder of the voyage was only remarkable for our
slow rate of speed, and we reached Ceylon without further
incident, sixty days after leaving England.

I read a very interesting article in BlackivoocVs Magazine
not long since on sacred footprints, in which the writer sug-
gested that many of them were originally coronation-stones,
and in which he offered some ingenious suggestions as to the
religious character which attaches to them among the various
races in the different countries where they are found. They
seem, indeed, to possess a peculiar fascination to the devo-
tional mind among Oriental races ; and we not unfrequently
find the same footprint invested with a traditional sanctity
by the adherents of religions which have no relation to each
other beyond one or two of those broad ideas which are more
or less common to all worship. This is notably the case
with the print on Adam's Peak, the Sripada of the Buddhists,
the penitential mountain of our first parent of the Moham-
medans. It was from here that Gautama is supposed to
have stepped across the Bay of Bengal into Siam — a gigan-
tic stride, but not so wonderful a performance as that attrib-
uted to Adam, as described by a devout Mussulman to a
friend of mine, when discussing the means by which he trans-
ported himself to Ceylon, after his expulsion with his wife,
according to Moslem traditions, from the Garden of Eden.
It seems that poor Eve, after being separated from Adam

12 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

for two hundred years, and reunited with him on Mount Ar-
arat, died before he left Arabia ; for her tomb, which is re-
garded with great veneration by Moslems, is pointed out to
the pious pilgrims on their way to Mecca, at Jeddah. Ac-
cording to this tradition, it was at the former place that Adam
knelt down to ask forgiveness upon that stone, which has
been invested with the utmost sanctity from a period long
anterior to Mohammed — the sacred Caaba of Mecca ; and
there he had his penance imposed upon him. Then, travel-
ling to the coast, Eve died, and was buried about a mile
from Jeddah, in a tomb two hundred feet long ; for she was
a tall woman. The human race seems steadily to have de-
generated after her time, for Noah occupies a tomb which
was pointed out to me near Zahleh, in the Lebanon, only
one hundred and four feet long by ten wide. If Eve was
two hundred feet high, her husband, to judge by the present
proportions of the sexes, must have been a good deal taller,
say twenty-five or thirty feet. Now the difficulty which my
friend suggested to his Moslem disputant was — how, in those
early clays, a man two hundred and twenty or two hundred
and thirty feet high could find a sambook, or craft such as
are now used in those seas, big enough to carry him on a
long voyage ?

"There was no difficulty at all about it," replied the Mos-
lem ; "he went over to Ceylon in several sa?nbooks /"

After performing such a wonderful feat as this, the fact
that he should have been able to stand on the top of Adam's
Peak on one leg for a thousand years, and leave his footprint
there deeply embedded in the rock, dwindles into insignifi-
cance. Moslem traditions vary considerably in regard to the
proceedings of our earliest ancestors, and I by no means pin
my faith to this one. According to another, Ceylon itself
was the Garden of Eden, and in that case Adam's post of
penance was handy, while his enormous height would enable
him to reach the top a great deal more easily than I did, and
then Eve must have gone over in " several sambooks " to Jed-

AN ASCENT OF ADAMS PEAK. 1 3

dah. Again, the most commonly accepted version of the
origin of the Caaba is, that it was originally a white stone
given by the angel Gabriel to Abraham, and has since been
blackened by much kissing ; while others again say that Ha-
gar rested there with Ishmael, when, after being turned out
of house and home, they drank at Mecca at the sacred
spring Zemzem. These are all fertile themes of discussion
among Moslems, and the reader may take his choice of
them. Meantime many pilgrims go annually to the top of
Adam's Peak, which is about seven thousand five hundred
feet above the sea-level, both Moslem and Buddhist — and
must feel not a little indignant with each other at finding it
appropriated by two such very different characters as Adam
and Buddha. By far the greater number, however, are Bud-
dhists.

There are two paths of ascent : the one most commonly
taken by pilgrims is from Ratnapoora, a place which owes
its importance chiefly to its trade in precious stones. The
sand-washings of the river which flows past it yield rubies,
sapphires, amethysts, cat's-eyes, besides cinnamon stones
and others of less value, and furnish a fair source of profit
to the inhabitants. While watching the washers one day, I
bought on the spot a cat's-eye from one man I saw find
it, which, when polished, proved to have been a good bar-
gain.

As it is rather a fatiguing day's journey from Ratnapoora
to the top of the Peak, I made an early start with a friend
from the house of the hospitable judge who was at that time
exercising his functions in this district, attended by our horse-
keepers — as grooms are called in that country — and some
natives, who acted as guides and carriers of the provisions
we required for a three clays' trip. To say that our way led
us through beautiful scenery is to use a platitude in connec-
tion with the central and mountainous districts of Ceylon,
where the luxuriance of tropical vegetation merges, as we
reach higher altitudes, into the heavy forests peculiar to them

14 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

— where the villages are no longer embowered in groves of
cocoanut- trees, or nestle beneath the broad leaves of the
plantain, but where they are surrounded by coffee-bushes red
with berry, and are shadowed by the feathery bamboo ; while
the valley bottoms are terraced for the irrigation of rice, an-
other variety of which, called hill-paddy, clothes the steep
hillsides where these are not already occupied by forest.
Now, these once heavily-timbered slopes are for the most
part covered with coffee plantations up to a certain elevation,
beyond which coffee gives place to tea and cinchona. But
forty years have made a difference in this respect ; and when
I ascended Adam's Peak, the villages became fewer and
farther between as we increased our elevation, while our path
often led us up the steep mountain-flank, through a dense
jungle, as yet untouched by the hand of the foreign capital-
ist. We passed the night at a native house in one of the
higher villages, and leaving our horses there, on the follow-
ing morning pursued our way on foot amid scenery which at
every step became more grand and rugged, the path in
places skirting the edge of dizzy precipices, at the base of
which foamed brawling torrents. The way was often ren-
dered dangerous by the roots of large trees, which, having
become slippery by the morning mist, stretched across the
narrow path, and one of these nearly cost me my life. The
path at the spot was scarped on the precipitous hillside ; at
least three hundred feet below roared a torrent of boiling
water — when my foot slipped on a root, and I pitched over
the sheer cliff. I heard the cry of my companion as I dis-
appeared,, and had quite time to realize that all was over,
when I was brought up suddenly by the spreading branches
of a bush which was growing upon a projecting rock. There
was no standing-ground anywhere, except the rock the bush
grew upon. For some time I dared not move, fearing that
something, might give way, as the bush seemed scarcely
strong enough to bear my weight. Looking up, I saw my
companion and the natives who were with us peering over

AN ASCENT OF ADAM'S PEAK.

the edge above, and to their intense relief shouted that so
far I was all right, but dared not move for fear the bush
would give way. They, however, strongly urged my scram-
bling on to the rock ; and this, with a heart thumping so
loudly that I seemed to hear its palpitations, and a dizzy
brain, I succeeded in doing. The natives, of whom there
were five or six, then undid their long waist-cloths, and tying
them to each other, and to a piece of cord, consisting of the
united contributions of all the string of the party and the
packages they were carrying, made a rope just long enough
to reach me. Fastening this under my armpits, and holding
on to it with the energy of despair, or perhaps I should rather
say of hope, I was safely hauled to the top ; but my nerve
was so shaken that, although not in the least hurt, it was
some moments before I could go on. This adventure was
not a very good preparation for what was in store for us
when, not very far from the top, we reached the mauvais pas
of the whole ascent. Here again we had a precipice with a
torrent at the bottom of it on one side, and on the other an
overhanging cliff — not metaphorically overhanging, but liter-
ally its upper edge projected some distance beyond the ledge
on which we stood ; it was not above forty feet high, and
was scaled by an iron ladder. The agonizing moment came
when we had mounted this ladder to the projecting edge, and
had nothing between our backs and the torrent some hun-
dreds of feet below, and then had to turn over the edge and
take hold of a chain which lay over an expanse of bare, slop-
ing rock, to the links of which it was necessary to cling firm-
ly, while one hauled one's self on one's knees for twenty or
thirty yards over the by no means smooth surface. My sen-
sations, at the critical moment when I was clinging back-
ward on to the ladder, remind me of a subsequent experience
in a Cornish mine. I was some hundreds of feet clown in the
bowels of the earth, crawling down a ladder similarly suspend-
ed, and, feeling that the temperature was every moment get-
ting warmer, I said to a miner who was accompanying me,

l6 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

" It is getting very hot down here. How far do you think
it is to the infernal regions ?"

" I don't know exactly, sir," he promptly replied ; " but if
you let go, you will be there in two minutes."

Thus did he meanly take advantage of my precarious and
helpless position to reflect upon my moral character ! which
was the more aggravating as I afterwards discovered that
the remark was not original.

It was my companion's turn, after we had safely accom-
plished this disagreeable feat of gymnastics, to pant with ner-
vousness. And here let me remark that the Alpine Club
did not exist in those days, and we were neither of us used
to go about like flies on a wall. He was a missionary, in
fact ; and he was so utterly demoralized that he roundly de-
clared that nothing would induce him to make the descent
of the same place. Now the prospect of imitating Adam,
and staying permanently on the top of the peak called after
him, was so appalling, that I proposed opening a bottle of
brandy, which we had brought with us, and fortifying our
nerves by taking a light repast there and then — a measure
which was further recommended to us by the fact that the
spot commanded an extensive and magnificent bird's-eye view
of the whole southern portion of the island, with the sea dis-
tinctly visible in the extreme distance, and thousands of feet
below us the forests from which we had so abruptly ascended.
We had one or two pretty steep places after this, but nothing
comparable to the mauvats J>as, and reached the summit an
hour or so before sunset. Here we found the solitary inhab-
itant of a single hut to be a Buddhist, who was guardian of
the sacred footprint, over which was a wooden erection some-
thing like a light arbor, and which was secured to the rock
by chains riveted into it. The print itself was about four
feet long and nearly three wide, so far as I can recollect, and
was so misshapen that it required some stretch of imagination
to detect in it a resemblance to a human impression on a
gigantic scale, more especially as the toes were almost unde-

AN ASCENT OF ADAM'S PEAK. 1 7

fined. The whole area of the summit, which was almost cir-
cular in shape, was not more than twenty yards in diameter ;
and the sensation of being perched up at so great an eleva-
tion on such a relatively minute point of rock was an alto-
gether novel one. One felt as though a violent gale of wind
might blow one off it into space ; and that there was some
such danger was evident from the fact that the two flimsy
erections upon it were fastened to the rock.

We now congratulated ourselves on having brought up
thick blankets ; for, accustomed as we had been for some
time past to the heat of tropical plains, we felt the change to
the sharp night air of such an elevation — the more especial-
ly as the priest's hut was too filthy-looking for us to occupy,
and we preferred taking shelter under its lee. We had no
inducement, after a night on the hard rock, to sleep late ; and
by getting up an hour before sunrise, I was fortunate enough
to witness a spectacle which was well worth all the fatigues
and perils of the ascent.

As Adam's Peak rises from a comparatively low range
of hills in the form of a perfect cone, it presents a far grander
aspect than its rival Pedrotallagalla, which, although more
than one thousand feet higher, neither stands out from its
neighbors with the same solitary grandeur, nor does it fur-
nish anything like the same extent of panoramic view, while
it is easy of ascent on horseback. When I awoke to look
about me, by the light of a moon a little past the full, in the
early morning, I looked clown from this isolated summit
upon a sea of mist which stretched to the horizon in all di-
rections, completely concealing the landscape beneath me.
Its white, compact, smooth surface almost gave it the ap-
pearance of a field of snow, across which, in a deep black
shadow, extended the conical form of the mountain I was
on, its apex just touching the horizon, and producing a scenic
effect as unique as it was imposing. While I was watching
it, the sharpness of its outline gradually began to fade, the
black shadow became by degrees less black, the white mist

l8 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

more gray, and as the dawn slowly broke, the whole effect
was changed as by the wand of a magician. Another conical
shadow crept over the vast expanse on the opposite side of
the mountain, which in its turn reached to the horizon, as
the sun gently rose over the tremulous mist ; but the sun-
shadow seemed to lack the cold mystery of the moon-shadow
it had driven away, and scarcely gave one time to appreciate
its own marvellous effects before the mist itself began slowly
to rise, and to envelop us as in a winding-sheet. For half
an hour or more we were in the clouds, and could see noth-
ing ; then suddenly they rolled away, and revealed the mag-
nificent panorama which had been the object of our pil-
grimage. Even without the singular impression which has
captivated the religious imagination of the devotees of two
faiths, the peculiar conditions under which this remarkable
mountain was exhibited to us were calculated to inspire a
sentiment of awe, which would naturally be heightened in
the minds of the ignorant and superstitious by the discovery
on its summit of a resemblance to a giant's footprint.

We heard that there was another and much easier way
down, but it led in the wrong direction. Fortunately my
companion, having taken counsel with himself during the
sleepless hours of the night, had now screwed up his courage
for the descent, which we accomplished without further ad-
venture; and we reached the hut where we had left our
horses in time to proceed on our journey the same day to
visit some coffee plantations which had beeiuecently opened
in the neighboring district of Saffragam.

CHAPTER II.

REVOLUTIONARY EPISODES IN ITALY IN THE YEAR 1 848,
AND AN ADVENTURE IN GREECE.

In the year 1846, my father, who was then Chief-Justice
of Ceylon, came on a long leave to England. I was on the
point of going up to Cambridge at the time, but when he
announced that he intended to travel for a couple of years
with my mother on the Continent, I represented so strongly
the superior advantages, from an educational point of view,
of European travel over ordinary scholastic training, and
my arguments were so urgently backed by my mother, that
I found myself, to my great delight, transferred from the
quiet of a Warwickshire vicarage to the Champs Elysees in
Paris ; and, after passing the winter there, spent the follow-
ing year roaming over Germany, Switzerland, and the Tyrol,
by rail in the few cases where railways existed, but more
often by the delightful but now obsolete method of vctturino ;
while, for a couple of months, fishing-rod in hand, we explored
on foot the wild and then little known valleys of the Tyrol.
I often wondered, while thus engaged, whether I was not
more usefully and instructively employed than laboring pain-
fully over the differential calculus; and whether the exe-
crable patois of the peasants in the Italian valleys, which I
took great pains in acquiring, was not likely to be of quite
as much use to me in after-life as ancient Greek.

Meantime, mutterings of the coming revolutionary storm
had been heard all over Europe, and it was just bursting
over Italy as we descended into that country at the close
of 1847. Indeed, Italy has always proved an excellent field

20 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

for moss-gathering since the clay when, as I entered Rome
for the first time, I passed cannon pointed down the streets,
and found the whole town seething with revolution — to the
year 1862, when, as the guest of a regiment of Piedmontese
cavalry, I hunted brigands in the plains of the Basilicata
and Capitanata. The incidents of my first visit are so long
ago now, that I only remember their most salient features,
but these are indelibly stamped upon my memory. I shall
never forget joining a roaring mob one evening, bent I knew
not upon what errand, and getting forced by the pressure of
the crowd, and my own eagerness, into the front rank, just
as we reached the Austrian Legation, and seeing the ladders
passed to the front, and placed against the wall, and the arms
torn down; then I remember, rather from love of excitement
than any strong political sympathy, taking hold, with hun-
dreds of others, of the ropes which were attached to them,
and dragging them in triumph to the Piazza del Popolo,
where a certain Ciceroachio, who was a great tribune of the
people in those days, and a wood-merchant, had a couple
of carts loaded with wood standing ready ; and I remember
their contents being tumultuously upset, and heaped into a
pile, and the Austrian arms being dragged on the top of
them, and a lady— I think the Princess Pamphili Doria, who
was passing in a carriage at the time— being compelled to
descend, and being handed a flaming torch, with which she
was requested to light the bonfire, which blazed up amid the
frantic demonstrations of delight of a yelling crowd, who
formed round it a huge ring, joining hands, dancing and
capering like demons, in all of which I took an active part,
getting home utterly exhausted, and feeling that somehow
or other I had deserved well of my country.

And I remember upon another occasion being roused from
my sleep, about one or two in the morning, by the murmur
of many voices, and looking out of my window and seeino- a
dense crowd moving beneath, and rushing into my clothes
and joining it— for even in those early days I had a certain

REVOLUTIONARY EPISODES IN ITALY. 21

moss-gathering instinct — and being borne along I knew not
whither, and finding myself at last one of a shrieking, howl-
ing mob at the doors of the Propaganda, against which heavy
blows were being directed by improvised battering-rams;
and I remember the doors crashing in, and the mob crash-
ing in after them, to find empty cells and deserted corridors,
for the monks had sought safety in flight. And I remember
standing on the steps of St. Peter's while Pope Pio Nono
gave his blessing to the volunteers that were leaving for
Lombardy to fight against the Austrians, and seeing the tears
roll clown his cheeks — as I supposed, because he hated so
much to have to do it. These are events which are calcu-
lated to leave a lasting impression on the youthful imagina-
tion. Unfortunately, in those days newspaper correspond-
ence was in its infancy, and posterity will have but a com-
paratively meagre record of the exciting scenes and stirring
events of the great revolutionary year.

If it was disagreeable to the pope to bless the Italian
patriots in their struggle against Austria, it was still more
hateful to the King of Naples to have to grant a constitu-
tion to his subjects, and swear to keep it upon crossed
swords, which I saw him do with great solemnity in a church,
after a revolution which had lasted three days, and in which
at length the troops refused to fire upon the people. It was
true that he had no intention of keeping his oath, and broke
it shortly afterwards, but the moment was none the less hu-
miliating; and his face was an interesting study. Some idea
of the confusion which reigned in all parts of Italy about
this time may be gathered from an incident which happened
to my father and myself at Leghorn on the day of our ar-
rival in that town. It had been more or less in a chronic
state of revolution for some weeks past. The grand duke
still reigned in Florence, but he had lost control of Leghorn,
which was practically in the hands of the facchini and the
scum of the population. Considering themselves the mas-
ters of the situation, the porters who carried our luggage from

2 2 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

the quay to the hotel made such an exorbitant charge that
we refused to pay it. They accordingly summoned us be-
fore the magistrate. After hearing the case, that worthy de-
cided that the charge was reasonable, and that we must pay
it. With the instinct of resisting extortion to the last, which
is characteristic of the Briton, we persisted in our refusal
notwithstanding this judgment; upon which the magistrate
said that in that case it would be his painful duty to commit
us to prison. We replied that we were travelling for infor-
mation — moss-gathering, in fact; that we were much inter-
ested in Italian prisons; that we could not have a better
opportunity of examining into their management and inter-
nal economy than by being committed to one; and that we
were quite ready to go, provided that he would take the con-
sequences. And we reminded him that we had still a British
minister at Florence. It will be seen from this that we
were of that class of tourists who are a perfect pest to un-
happy diplomats. We were conscious of this at the time,
but reconciled ourselves to it by the reflection that a great
principle was at stake. Moreover, we had a suspicion, which
proved well founded, that matters would never be allowed
to reach that point. Our refusal to satisfy the demands of
the facchini completely nonplussed the poor judge: he now
appealed to them to moderate their claim, but this they
sternly refused to do; upon which, after a few moments'
sombre reflection, he thrust his hand into his pocket, and, to
our intense astonishment, paid them the full -amount of their
extortionate charge himself. We suggested to the hotel-
keeper, who had accompanied us to the court, that the dis-
pensation of justice on these principles must be an expen-
sive operation ; but he said that, on the contrary, it simpli-
fied justice very much, for the judge always gave judgment
in favor of the mob, knowing very well that, if he did not,
he would be stabbed on his way home the same evening,
and that few ever thought of resisting any demand which
was backed by an institution then existing at Leghorn simi-

REVOLUTIONARY EPISODES IN ITALY. 23

lar to the Camorra at Naples. The course we had taken
had left him no other alternative but to satisfy the claim out
of his own pocket. So we gave the amount to our host, and
told him at once to reimburse the unhappy functionary.

We had scarcely reached the hotel before we had the sat-
isfaction of seeing our facchini friends receive a lesson which
our late experiences with them enabled us keenly to appre-
ciate. A boat approached the quay containing two young
Englishmen. Not only was their nationality unmistakable,
but they appeared — what they afterwards turned out to be —
university men in the prime of " biceps." On the boat touch-
ing the quay, it was boarded by half a dozen facchini, each
one attempting to grab something, were it only an umbrella,
for which to claim payment. In vain did the travellers
struggle to select two, which was more than enough for all
their requirements. Each porter obstinately clung to what
he had seized, and refused to part with it. One of them at
last sprang on shore, followed by a young Englishman, who,
finding he could not regain possession of his property, in-
continently knocked his man down. This was the signal
for a general assault upon the travellers, who, from the beau-
tifully scientific way in which they handled their fists, must
have been pupils of some great master in the noble art of
self-defence. In less time than it takes to write it, six por-
ters were lying in a heap on the quay: they were so taken
by surprise they had not even time to draw their knives,
and so demoralized that those who were not too much
stunned to do so crawled off, leaving the two travellers to
carry their own baggage triumphantly into the hotel.

I think, however, it is better to be in a town which is com-
pletely in the hands of the mob, than in one which is half
held by the people and half by the government. This hap-
pened to us at Messina. The Mole and fort at the end were
held by the Neapolitan troops, but the town was in the hands
of the populace. It was difficult to land except at night, be-
cause during the day even a foreign flag ran the risk of be-

24 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

ing fired upon from the Mole. However, we succeeded in
doing so without mishap — though we had not been long on
shore before we began to repent of our curiosity, and to wish
ourselves at sea again.

We had hardly taken up our quarters at a hotel before
a Neapolitan man-of-war entered the harbor and began to
bombard us — one ball entering the wall so near our window
that by making a long arm one could touch it, which illus-
trates the folly of going to a hotel on the quay of a town
which is liable to bombardment. We found all the streets
by which the enemy were likely to attempt an assault de-
fended by sandbag batteries,.in many of which cannon had
been already placed. While the work of fortification was
being pushed forward energetically, at one point I came
upon a party of Messinese in despair at being unable to haul
a gun up to a battery which had been erected on the hillside
behind the town, when their difficulty was solved by a party
of British tars, apparently on shore for a spree, who laid hold
with a will, and in a few moments had placed the gun in
position. Pushing my explorations rashly in the direction of
the Mole, I heard a shot fired and a bullet whistle past me,
and had just time to throw myself flat behind a low wall to
escape the volley which followed. I had strayed uncon-
sciously on to the neutral ground between the fort and the
town, and had crossed unobserved an open space which in-
tervened between the wall under which I was lying and the
nearest street, which was barricaded. I had not approached
the wall from this direction ; but this, I observed, was the
nearest shelter, and I calculated that it was at least a hun-
dred and fifty yards back to the town — an unpleasantly long
distance to run the gauntlet of a heavy fire. So I lay still
for at least a quarter of an hour pondering. At the end of
that time I saw a sympathetic citizen waving to me from the
fort in an opposite direction. Indeed, I now perceived that
I was an object of interest to a good many of the towns-
people, who had discovered my unpleasant position, and

REVOLUTIONARY EPISODES IN ITALY. 25

were watching me from sundry safe corners. As the friendly
signaller indicated that I was to keep along the wall in the
opposite direction from which I had come, although it seemed
to slant somewhat towards the enemy, I followed it on my
hands and knees to a point where it turned off straight
towards the fort : here I perceived a ditch turning towards
the town, in which, by lying fiat on the bottom and wriggling
along snake-fashion, I thought I could escape observation.
It took me a long while to accomplish this operation, and as
the ditch was muddy in places, dirtied me considerably. At
last I thought I was at long enough range to risk a rush
across the open for the remaining distance, and this I ac-
complished successfully, a harmless bullet or two being sent
after me by the garrison, who were not expecting my appear-
ance in this direction, and who still supposed me crouched
behind the wall. I was warmly welcomed by my rescuer,
who was by this time surrounded by a small group of spec-
tators, by whom I was accompanied back to the hotel, a sort
of mild hero, their interest being increased by the fact that I
was a sympathetic Englishman.

We afterwards went on to Catania and Syracuse, and at
the latter place were present at the peaceable transfer of the
town from the royal to the popular authorities. All the offi-
cials, finding further resistance hopeless, handed over their
functions in the most amiable way to those appointed by the
people, and the small garrison vacated their premises to the
national guard without firing a shot. Indeed, wherever there
were sentries posted, they were relieved with all due military
ceremony by the new troops; and the royal soldiery, together
with the civilians, were embarked in a transport which had
been sent to convey them away. So complete was the
popular success at one time throughout the kingdom that
it was difficult to believe that in a few months the country
would lapse into a worse condition, if possible, than that
from which it had emerged, and have to wait for another
twelve years for its deliverance.

26 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

If, in presenting my moss to my readers, I am compelled
to have recourse to personal narrative, it is because at this
distance of time I can thereby best illustrate the political
and social conditions of the country in which I happened to
be at the time. Here is a little bit of Greek moss char-
acteristic of the year 1848 in Athens. The newly constructed
little country which had just before been erected into an in-
dependent monarchy, felt a ripple of the wave of revolu-
tionary sentiment which swept over Europe in that eventful
year. In order to overawe the population of the capital,
King Otho had quartered in it a regiment of Mainotes — a
reckless, dare-devil set of men recruited in the most lawless
province in his kingdom, imperfectly disciplined, and still
more imperfectly educated in any moral code. One morn-
ing at six o'clock I went with my sketch-book to the tomb
of Socrates, intending to take a sketch of the Acropolis from
the neighborhood of that lonely spot before breakfast. I
had not been above a quarter of an hour at work when a
burly figure approached me, and addressed me in Greek. I
was sufficiently fresh from school to be able to make out
that he asked me what o'clock it was. I looked at my watch
and told him, when he put out his hand as though to take it.
I instinctively sprang back; upon which he laughed, threw
back his big cloak and displayed the uniform of a Mainote
soldier, at the same time drawing his bayonet. He did all
this with rather a good-natured air, as though not wishing to
resort to violence unless it was absolutely necessary; at the
same time he stooped, picked up a rather expensive many-
bladed knife, with which I had been cutting my pencil, and
put it in his pocket. In the meantime I had folded my
camp-stool, which was one of those used by sketchers, with
a sort of walking-stick end, and which, in default of a better
weapon of self-defence, I thought might be turned to account.
I expected every moment to be attacked for the sake of my
watch, which he told me to give up, but which I had deter-
mined to make a struggle for; on my pretending not to un-

AN ADVENTURE IN GREECE. 2^

derstand him, he stood watching me, while I put up my
drawing things with as much sangfroid as I could assume,
with the view of beating a retreat. When I walked off. he
walked behind me in most unpleasantly close proximity. I
did not like to take to ignominious flight for fear of precipi-
tating matters, as I could not feel sure of outstripping him ;
but, on the other hand, he trod so closely on my heels that
I felt a constant premonitory shiver clown my back of six
inches of his horrible bayonet running into it. I certainly
never had a walk so full of discomfort in my life. Nor could
I account for his conduct. He had got my knife, and evi-
dently wanted my watch ; then why did he not use his
bayonet and take it ? As I was thus unpleasantly ruminat-
ing, I perceived in the distance the king's coachman exer-
cising a pair of his majesty's horses in a break. I knew it
from afar, for it was the only turnout of the kind in Athens.
I hesitated no longer, but started off for it at my best pace
across country. I need not have been in such a hurry, for
the soldier did not follow me, but continued calmly to walk
towards the town. On reaching the break I eagerly explained
to the coachman, who was a German, what had happened.
He told me at once to jump up beside him, and as the plain
happened to be tolerably level, put his horses into a gallop
across it, so as to cut off the soldier. The latter no sooner
saw himself pursued than he took to his heels ; but we over-
took him before he could reach the town. He did not at-
tempt to deny the theft, overawed by the royal equipage, but
at once gave up his plunder.

"Now," I said to my good-natured Jehu, "let us insist
upon his accompanying us to the police ; the man deserves
punishment."

"Rest satisfied with having got your property back," he
replied. " In the first place, he would not consent to come,
and I doubt whether we could make him ; and, in the secoud,
it is not my business to mix myself up in such an affair."

So, to my great disgust, we let him walk off.

28 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

I then asked the coachman why he had been satisfied
with taking my knife; he knew I had a watch, and if he had
searched me he would have found that I had money. I was
unable to account for his forbearance.

" I will show you how to account for it," he replied, with
which enigmatical response I was obliged for the moment to
be satisfied.

A few moments later we passed a piece of a ruined wall,
behind which three or four soldiers were standing.

"Do you see those men?" said the coachman; "they are
his comrades. They saw you go out alone to a solitary
place — a thing you should never do again while you are in
Athens — and they sent one of their number after you, so as
to prevent your escaping them by going back some other
way; but this was the place where you were to have been
robbed on your return, and the plunder equally divided.
The thief could not resist pocketing the knife on his own
account; but he saw no reason why he should incur all the
risk of committing a murder, if he could not keep all the
spoil to himself afterwards."

As I felt sure I could recognize the man, I called on the
British consul to consult him as to the expediency of prose-
cuting the matter further. But he took very much the same
view of it as the king's coachman.

" If you get the man punished," he said — "which, as you
are a foreigner, you will very probably be able to do — you
will have to leave Athens the next day, for your life will not
be safe — and the punishment will be light, for these troops
are kept here for the express purpose of intimidating the
population, and as soon as you are gone he will be released.
If you are bent upon going to solitary spots alone, take a
pistol with you; you might have shot that man and noth-
ing would have been said."

The present Sir Aubrey Paul, who was travelling with us
at the time, and who was about my own age, was delighted
when he heard of this advice.

AN ADVENTURE IN GREECE. 29

"Let us devote ourselves," he said, "to the pleasing sport
of trying to get robbed, and of shooting Mainote soldiers.
We shall be conferring a benefit upon the inhabitants, and
amusing ourselves." So we armed ourselves with our re-
volvers, and at all hours of the day and night used to prowl
about in the most secluded localities, in the hope of finding
sport. We were very young and silly in those days ; and
though we often encountered Mainote soldiers, both alone
and in company, a merciful Providence deprived us of any
valid excuse for shooting any of them.

But if Athens was in a lawless condition at this time, we
had experiences illustrating the reverse of the picture in
other parts of the country. My father chartered a native
schooner at the Piraeus, and had her nicely cleaned out, her
hold partially filled with white sand, over which were spread
carpets ; in fact, we fitted her out as a yacht with such hum-
ble appliances as were at our disposal, and started for a
cruise amid the Isles of Greece, our party consisting of four
gentlemen and two ladies.

After the first day, however, the weather and the accom-
modation combined proved too much for the ladies. The
cook, I remember, always would make the salad in his old
straw-hat. So we put into the exquisite land-locked little
harbor of Poros, the memory of which still rests upon my
mind like a dream, to consider in calm water what should
be done — for we men did not at all like the idea of aban-
doning our cruise. We had happened to cast anchor just
off an extensive orange-grove ; and when we landed with the
ladies to explore its beauties, they became completely fas-
cinated by the ideal charm of its position. There was a
delightful wooden summer-house — in fact, almost a summer
cottage, except that it had only trellis walls, over which
crept heavy vines ; and there was a gurgling brook of crystal
water rippling past it, and wide-spreading umbrageous trees,
besides oranges and lemons, and a lovely view over the Bay
and the Island of Poros opposite — for this orange-garden
was on the mainland.

30 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

"Can't you land us here, and leave us?" exclaimed the
younger and the fairer of the ladies. "It will be quite, too
awfully quite, delicious!" I don't think those were the
words she used, but they would have been had she spoken
seven-and-thirty years later. Ah me! she is seven-and-
thirty years older now, and has gathered moss of all sorts.
We had a most willing and intelligent Greek dragoman, by
name Demetri — all Greek dragomans are Demetris — and he
assured us that he could guarantee the safety of the ladies,
if we liked to leave them under his charge. It seemed rather
a rash thing to do; but that was a matter for the considera-
tion of the person responsible for them — and he was willing
to take the risk, as were the ladies themselves; so we landed
them, bag and baggage. We made a beautiful bower of
bliss for them under the orange-trees, with canvas and car-
pets and shawls, and landed mattresses and cooking uten-
sils, and everything needful for a week's camping. Demetri,
with the assistance of a boy, undertQok not merely to pro-
tect them, but to procure supplies, cook for them, and wait
upon them generally; and so, with a parting injunction to
these deserted fair ones to betake themselves to the summer-
house in case of rain, we sailed away without having seen a
human being during the whole process of their installation
on shore. We visited Hydra, and Paros, and Naxos, and
sundry other islands, landing at quiet coves where there
were no inconvenient officials to ask for our passports, and
make us pay port-dues — shooting and fishing and bathing;
and so to Argos, from whence we made an excursion to
Tiryns and Mycenae ; and so back to Poros, feeling rather
nervous and guilty as we approached that port, and specu-
lated upon the possible chances of mishap which might have
occurred to the ladies during our week's absence. Our fears
were set at rest as we neared our anchorage, and perceived
a great waving of pocket-handkerchiefs; but lo! we dis-
cerned also the waving of a hat! This was the more re-
markable as the Greek costume was at that time almost

AN ADVENTURE IN GREECE. 3 1

universal, and a stove-pipe hat did not form part of it ; so
we pulled ashore full of curiosity, and were introduced by
the ladies to a gentleman in irreproachable Western cos-
tume — the proprietor of the garden, in fact. His residence
was about two miles distant, and he had been much sur-
prised, on visiting his garden the day after our departure, to
find it occupied by two errant damsels, protected only by a
dragoman. Fortunately he had spent some years of his life,
in civilized Europe, and had now returned to his native land
with a fortune; so he could appreciate a lady when he saw
one — even in unlawful occupation of his garden. So far
from resenting it, he was perfectly enchanted with an act of
trespass which had provided him such guests, and he had
danced attendance upon them from morning till night dur-
ing all the time of our absence. He had invited them to
his residence, where he had a wife and family; but was
evidently so much relieved at his invitation being declined
that it is probable that he kept the whole affair a secret, as
he seemed to enjoy the monopoly of his self-imposed service.
The result was that the camp was supplied with every deli-
cacy which the resources of the country could supply in the
way of comestibles, and numerous articles of furniture were
added to the slender stock of those we had left behind ; so
that, in spite of the waving of pocket-handkerchiefs, I believe
our reappearance, which was to put an end to this romantic
sojourn among the Greek orange-groves, was viewed with re-
gret rather than otherwise.

CHAPTER III.

MY FIRST EXPERIENCES IN DIPLOMACY.

From Greece we went to Egypt and spent a month on the
Nile, finally riding across the desert to Suez by the route
then supposed to have been the track of the Israelites — a
theory which subsequent investigation has entirely exploded.
By this time all idea of Cambridge had been given up, and I
returned to Ceylon as my father's private secretary. Here
I spent three years, devoting my time largely to sport as well
as to law, my avocations and amusements enabling me to
travel over the island pretty thoroughly. My residence here
was further enlivened by the excitement incident on what
was called a rebellion in the Kandyan Province — a very
trumpery affair, to which I shall have occasion to refer later
— and by an expedition which I made on the invitation of
Jung Bahadoor, who spent a few days in Ceylon, and whom
I subsequently accompanied to Nepaul. This visit into a
little known and most interesting country, and the trip
through India which I afterwards made with the present
Duke of Westminster, the Hon. Mr. Leveson Gower, and the
Hon. Captain, now Admiral Egerton, formed the subject of a
book which I published a year later in England. Meantime
I had got called to the Ceylon bar, and had some curious le-
gal experiences, not the least of which was that at the age of
twenty-two I had been engaged in twenty-three murder cases.
This success, and the desire I had to bring out my book,
induced me to return to England for the purpose of being
called to the English bar. While I was engaged in this
very uninteresting operation, my journey to Nepaul was pub-

MY FIRST EXPERIENCES IN DIPLOMACY. 33

lished by Murray, with such satisfactory results that I be-
came bitten with a mania for authorship. The difficulty was
to find something to write about ; this I solved by decid-
ing to go to some- out-of-the-way place, and do something
that nobody else had done. Unfortunately, I had only the
long vacation at my disposal. The only part of Europe
within reach, fulfilling the required conditions, seemed to me
to be Russian Lapland, for I heard from an Archangel mer-
chant that the Kem and other rivers in that region swarmed
with guileless salmon who had never been offered a fly, and
that it would be easy to cross over to Spitzbergen and get a
shot at some white bears ; besides, too, it appeared proba-
ble that I should come across other uncommon varieties of
game. I propounded this scheme to my friend Mr. Oswald
Smith, who agreed to accompany me ; and, well equipped
with the necessary tackle, we started one day in August, 1852,
for the shores of the White Sea. On our arrival at St. Pe-
tersburg we found, to our dismay, that we had to deposit the
whole value of our equipment in cash before we were al-
lowed to bring our guns and rods into the country, and then
only on the express condition that we should leave Russia
by our port of entry. This disgusted us so much that we
packed our whole sporting apparatus back to England with-
out entering them at all, and thus found ourselves stranded
in Russia, and unable to carry out the object of our journey.
We therefore bent our steps southward, visited Moscow, the
great fair at Nijni Novgorod, went down the Volga, through
the country of the Don Cossacks, across the Sea of Azof,
and all over the Crimea, finally leaving Russia at Odessa,
and returning home by way of the Danube. As it turned
out, I owed the Russian authorities at St. Petersburg a debt
of the deepest gratitude for the journey thus forced upon us
in default of a better, as the book which I wrote describing it,
and especially the Crimea, appeared at the moment that war
was declared by England against Russia, and a military ex-
2*

34 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

pedition, which should have for its objective point the Tauric
peninsula, had been decided upon.

Thus it happened that in the early part of the year 1854
I was startled one morning by the clattering of a mounted
orderly, who reined up at the door of my modest lodging in
Half-Moon Street, and impressed my worthy landlady with
a notion of my importance which she had not hitherto enter-
tained, by handing her a letter which required an immediate
answer. I found it to contain a request from Lord Raglan's
chief of the staff that I should repair at once to the Horse
Guards. As may be imagined, I lost no time in obeying the
summons. I was ushered into a room containing a long
table covered with maps, and round which were standing sev-
eral officers of rank, among whom the only two that I re-
member w$re Lord de Ros and Sir John Burgoyne. The
commander-in-chief himself was not present. The Crimea
was at that time almost a terra incognita in England, and
travellers who had ever been actually inside the forbidden
precincts of Sebastopol itself were rare.

It so happened that we had spent two or three hours with-
in the walls of that celebrated fortress, and I was now sum-
moned to tell the chiefs of the expedition all I knew about
it. Sir John Burgoyne told me that he had just been exam-
ining a Pole, who had given him an account of the serious
character of the fortifications on the land side which did not
altogether tally with other information he had received, and
he begged me to give him the result of my observations. I
assured him that if any such fortifications on the land side
existed, they must have been erected since my visit. We
had entered the town from Balaclava, and I must certainly
have remembered passing through them. I was therefore
prepared most positively to assert that, in October, 1852,
there was no more impediment to an army, which should ef-
fect a landing at Balaclava, from marching into Sebastopol,
than there would be for an army to march into Brighton
from the downs behind it; and I felt sure that my travelling

MY FIRST EXPERIENCES IN DIPLOMACY. 35

companion, Mr. Oswald Smith, would, if further evidence
were required, confirm this statement. At the same time, I
had, without any pretension to a knowledge of military tac-
tics, amused myself, as soon as a hostile invasion of Russia
was determined upon, in forming quite another plan of cam-
paign, which consisted in a combined attack upon the Isth-
mus of Perekop, by way of the Gulf of Perekop on the west
and the Sea of Azof on the east. The capture of the small
fort there would have cut off the whole of the Crimea, to
which very few troops had yet been transported. It would
have been impossible for Russia to reinforce Sebastopol,
either by sea or land, and the fall of that fortress, provided
that the Allies could have maintained their position at Pere-
kop, would simply have been a question of time. We should
have stood upon the defensive against Russia at a position
of great natural strength, instead of on the offensive against
her, at the point where, as it afterwards turned out, the genius
of Todleben made her impregnable for a year.

The capture of Kertch and Theodosia would have given
us command of the resources of the Crimea ; and the defeat
of the garrison of Sebastopol, had it ventured out to attack
us, would not only have sealed the fate of that garrison, but
would have given us the whole peninsula, which we should
have held as a permanent guarantee ; and then if Russia
still refused to come to terms, we should, by leaving a suffi-
ciently strong force to defend Perekop, have been free to
transfer the scene of our operations to the Caucasus and the
provinces beyond it. I ventured, after giving Sir John Bur-
goyne all the information in my power as to the defences of
Sebastopol, the apparent strength of its garrison, and so
forth, to point to Perekop as a weak spot ; but, of course,
could only do this with the greatest diffidence. So far as I
can remember, he listened without making any remark] at
all events, I soon felt so much impressed with a sense of my
own presumption in volunteering a plan of campaign, that I
confined myself to a mere hint of it ; but I have often won-

36 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

dered, if the whole thing had to be done over again, whether
it would be attempted the same way as before.

The immediate prospect of a war in the East had the ef-
fect of utterly unsettling my mind, so far as my legal studies
were concerned. I had determined in my first enthusiasm
to come to the Scotch bar as well as the English, and was in-
deed ultimately called to both ; but the world at large seemed
such a much bigger oyster to open than my neighbor's pock-
ets, that I never even went to the expense of buying a wig
and gown, while the absurdity of perpetually paying for din-
ners at Lincoln's Inn that I never ate, induced me at last to
disbar myself. Meantime I was extremely anxious to take
part in the Crimean campaign in some capacity or other,
and should have accepted an offer of the late Mr. Delane to
go out as Times correspondent, had not Lord Clarendon
kindly held out hopes that he would send me out when an
opportunity offered. It was while anxiously awaiting this
that Lord Elgin proposed that I should accompany him to
Washington on special diplomatic service as secretary, and
as the mission seemed likely to be of short duration, I gladly
accepted the offer, in the hope that I might be back in time
to find employment in the East before the war was over.

The mission to which I was now attached arose out of the
unsatisfactory nature of the commercial relations existing
between Canada and the United States, and the futile at-
tempts, lasting over a period of seven years, which had been
from time to time made to put them upon a better footing,
and which finally determined the English government to
send the Earl of Elgin, then Governor-General of Canada, to
Washington, with instructions to negotiate a treaty of com-
mercial reciprocity between the two countries. Our party,
on leaving England, consisted only of Lord Elgin ; Mr.
Hincks, then Prime - Minister of Canada, afterwards Sir
Francis Hincks; Captain Hamilton, A. D. C; and myself;
but at New York we were joined by the Hon. Colonel Bruce,
and one or two Canadians, whose advice and assistance in
the commercial questions to be treated were of value.

MY FIRST EXPERIENCES IN DIPLOMACY. 37

We happened to arrive at Washington on a day which, as
it afterwards turned out, was pregnant with fate to the desti-
nies of the republic, for upon the same night the celebrated
Nebraska Bill was carried in Congress, the effect of which
was to open an extensive territory to slavery, and to intensi-
fy the burning question which was to find its final solution
seven years later in a bloody civil war.

We found the excitement so great upon our arrival in
Washington in the afternoon that, after a hurried meal, we
went to the Capitol to see the vote taken. I shall never
forget the scene presented by the House. The galleries
were crammed with spectators, largely composed of ladies,
and the vacant spaces on the floor of the House crowded
with visitors. The final vote was taken amid great enthusi-
asm, a hundred guns being fired in celebration of an event
which, to those endowed with foresight, could not be called
auspicious. I remember a few nights afterwards meeting a
certain Senator Toombs at a large dinner given by one of the
most prominent members of Congress — who has since filled
the office of secretary of state — in Lord Elgin's honor. It
was a grand banquet, at which all the guests were men, with
the exception ot the wife of our host. He himself belonged
to the Republican, or, as it was then more generally called,
the Whig party. Notwithstanding the divergence of politi-
cal opinion among many of those present, the merits of the
all-absorbing measure, and its probable effects upon the des-
tinies of the nation, were being discussed freely. Senator
Toombs, a violent Democrat, was a large, pompous man, with
a tendency, not uncommon among American politicians, to
" orate " rather than to converse in society. He waited for
a pause in the discussion, and then, addressing Lord Elgin
in stentorian tones, remarked, apropos of the engrossing topic:

" Yes, my lord, we are about to relume the torch of liberty
upon the altar of slavery."

Upon which our hostess, with a winning smile, and in the
most silvery accents imaginable, said,

38 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

" Oh, I am so glad to hear you say that again, senator ;
for I told my husband you had made use of exactly the same
expression to me yesterday, and he said you would not have
talked such nonsense to anybody but a woman."

The shout of laughter which greeted this sally abashed
even the worthy senator, which was the more gratifying to
those present as to do so was an achievement not easily ac-
complished.

When the war broke out, Senator Toombs was among the
fiercest and most uncompromising partisans of the South.
He was one of the members of Jefferson Davis's cabinet,
and I believe only succeeded with some difficulty, at the con-
clusion of hostilities, in making his escape from the South.
He remained to the last a prominent political figure, and
only died quite recently.

It was the height of the season when we were at Washing-
ton, and our arrival imparted a new impetus to the festivi-
ties, and gave rise to the taunt, after the treaty was conclud-
ed, by those who were opposed to it, that "it had been float-
ed through on champagne." Without altogether admitting
this, there can be no doubt that, in the hands of a skilful
diplomatist, that beverage is not without its value. Looking
through an old journal, I find the following specimen entry :

'"May 26. — Luncheon at 2 p.m. at Senator F.'s. Sat
between a Whig and a Democratic senator, who alternately
poured abolitionism and the divine origin of slavery into
the ear they commanded. I am getting perfectly stunned
with harangues upon political questions I don't understand,
and confused with the nomenclature appropriate to each.
Besides Whigs and Democrats, there are Hard Shells and
Soft Shells, and Free-Soilers, and Disunionists, and Feder-
als, to say nothing of filibusters, pollywogs, and a host of
other nicknames. One of my neighbors, discoursing on one
of these varied issues, told me that he went the whole hog.
He was the least favorable specimen of a senator I have
seen, and I felt inclined to tell him that he looked the animal

MY FIRST EXPERIENCES IN DIPLOMACY. 39

he went, but smiled appreciatively instead. There were,
however, some interesting men present — among them Col-
onel Fremont, a spare, wiry man with a keen gray <eye, and a
face expressing great determination, but most sympathetic
withal ; and a senator from Washington Territory, which in-
volves a journey of seventy days each way ; and another
from Florida, who, from his account of the country, repre-
sents principally alligators ; and Colonel Benton, who is
writing a great work, and is ' quite a fine man ;' and the
Governor of Wisconsin, whose state has increased in popu-
lation in ten years from thirty thousand to two hundred
thousand, and who told me that he ' met a man the other
day who had travelled over the whole globe, and examined
it narrowly with an eye to its agricultural capabilities, and
who therefore was an authority not to be disputed ; and this
man had positively asserted that he had never in any coun-
try seen fifty square miles to equal that extent in the state
of Wisconsin — and therefore it was quite clear that no spot
equal to it was to be found in creation.' As various other
patriots have informed me that their respective states are
each thus singularly favored, I am beginning to feel puzzled
as to which really is the most fertile spot on the face of the
habitable globe. After two hours and a half of this style of
conversation, abundantly irrigated with champagne, it was a
relief to go to a matinee da?isante at the French minister's."

Here follow remarks upon the belles of that period at
Washington, which, though they are for the most part com-
plimentary, are not to the purpose, more especially as they
were the result of a crude and youthful, and not of a matured
judgment.

"Got away from the French minister's just in time to
dress for dinner at the president's. More senators and
politics, and champagne, and Hard Shells and Soft Shells.
I much prefer the marine soft-shell crab, with which I here
made acquaintance for the first time, to the political one.
Then with a select party of senators, all of whom were op-

40 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

posed in principle to the treaty, to Governor A.'s, where we
imbibed more champagne and swore eternal friendship,
carefully avoided the burning question, and listened to sto-
ries good, bad, and indifferent, till 2 A. M., when, after twelve
hours of incessant entertainment, we went home to bed
thoroughly exhausted."

Meantime, to my inexperienced mind no progress was be-
ing made in our mission. Lord Elgin had announced its ob-
ject on his arrival to the president and the secretary of state,
and had been informed by them that it was quite hopeless to
think that any such treaty as he proposed could be carried
through, with the opposition which existed to it on the part
of the Democrats, who had a majority in the Senate, without
the ratification of which body no treaty could be conclud-
ed. His lordship was further assured, however, that if he
could overcome this opposition, he would find no difficul-
ties on the part of the government. At last, after several
clays of uninterrupted festivity, I began to perceive what we
were driving at. To make quite sure, I said one day to my
chief,

" I find all my most intimate friends are Democratic sena-
tors."

" So do I," he replied, dryly ; and, indeed, his popularity
among them at the end of a week had become unbounded ;
and the best evidence of it was that they ceased to feel any
restraint in his company, and often exhibited traits of West-
ern manners unhampered by conventional trammels. Lord
Elgin's faculty of brilliant repartee and racy anecdote espe-
cially delighted them , and one evening, after a grand dinner,
he was persuaded to accompany a group of senators, among
whom I remember Senator Mason — afterwards of Mason
and Slidell notoriety — and Senator Toombs figured, to the
house of a popular and very influential politician, there to
prolong the entertainment into the small hours. Our host,
at whose door we knocked at midnight, was in bed ; but
much thundering at it at length aroused him, and he himself

MY FIRST EXPERIENCES IN DIPLOMACY. 41

opened to us, appearing in nothing but a very short night-
shirt.

" All right, boys," he said, at once divining the object of our
visit; "you go in, and I'll go down and get the drink ; M and
without stopping to array himself more completely, he disap-
peared into the nether regions, shortly returning with his
arms filled with bottles of champagne, on the top of which
were two large lumps of ice. These he left with us to deal
with, while he retired to clothe the nether portion of his per-
son. He was a dear old gentleman, somewhat of the Lin-
coln type, and had the merit of being quite sober, which
some of the others of the party were not, and though thus
roughly roused from his first sleep, expressed himself highly
delighted with our visit. He was, moreover, evidently a great
character, and many were the anecdotes told about him in
his own presence, all bearing testimony to his goodness of
heart and readiness of wit. At last one of the party, in a fit of
exuberant enthusiasm and excessive champagne, burst out,

" As for our dear old friend the governor here, I tell you,
Lord YXgine " — the accent was frequently laid on the last
syllable, and the g in Elgin pronounced soft — " he is a per-
fect king in his own country. There ain't a man in Mussoo-
rie dar say a word against him ; if any of your darned Eng-
glish lords was to go down there and dar to, he'd tell
them — " here followed an expression which propriety com-
pels me to omit, and which completely scandalized our
worthy host.

"That's a lie," he said, turning on his guest, but without
changing his voice, as he slowly rolled his quid of tobacco
from one cheek to the other. " I can blaspheme and pro-
fane, and rip, and snort with any man ; but I never make
use of a vulgar expression."

The impoliteness of the allusion to the British aristocracy,
in Lord Elgin's presence, which called forth this strong as-
severation on the part of the governor, also evoked many
profuse apologies from some of the others present, who main-

42 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

tained that, if all English lords were like him, and would be-
come naturalized Americans, they would " run the country ;"
and that, so far as he was individually concerned, it was a
thousand pities he had not been born an American, and
thus been eligible for the presidency. Certainly it would
not have been difficult to be more eligible for that high of-
fice than the respectable gentleman who then filled it. Of
all presidents, I suppose none were more insignificant than
Mr. Pierce, who was occupying the White House at the time
of our visit ; while in his secretary of state, Mr. Marcy, we
found a genial and somewhat comical old gentleman, whose
popularity with his countrymen seemed chiefly to rest on the
fact that he had charged the United States government
fifty cents "for repairing his breeches," when sent on a mis-
sion to inquire into certain accounts in which great irregu-
larities were reported to have taken place.

Thirty-two years have doubtless worked a great change
in Washington society, as indeed it has upon the nation gen-
erally, and more especially upon the Eastern cities, since I
first knew them. Then, Washington, " the city of magnifi-
cent distances," struck me as a howling wilderness of de-
serted streets running out into the country, and ending no-
where, its population consisting chiefly of politicians and
negroes. Now, it is developing rather into a city of palaces,
and becoming a fashionable centre during the winter for
the elite of society from all parts of the United States. Its
population is growing rapidly under the new impetus thus
received, and it will in all probability ultimately become the
handsomest and most agreeable place of residence in the
country. At the time of our visit Sir Philip Crampton was
British minister at Washington, and under his hospitable
roof I remember meeting Lincoln, and being struck by his
gaunt figure and his quaint and original mode of expression.

I cannot convey a better idea of the effect produced upon
society by our festive proceedings at Washington than by
quoting the following extract from a paper at the time de-

MY FIRST EXPERIENCES IN DIPLOMACY. 43

scribing the ball given by Sir Philip Crampton in honor of
the queen's birthday :

" As for the ladies present, our pen fairly falters in the attempt to do
justice to their charms. Our artists and modistes had racked their
brains, and exhausted their magazines of dainty and costly fabrics, in or-
der to convince the world in general, and the English people in particu-
lar, that the sovereign fair ones of Washington regarded their sister sov-
ereign of England with feelings, not only of ' the most distinguished
consideration,' but of downright love, admiration, and respect — love, for
the woman — admiration, for the wife of the handsomest man in Europe
— and respect, for the mother of nine babies. More was accomplished
last evening in the way of negotiation than has been accomplished from
the days of Ashburton to the advent of Elgin. We regard the fishery
question as settled, both parties having partaken freely of the bait so
liberally provided by the noble host.

"Amid the soft footfalls of fairy feet — the glittering of jewels — the
graceful sweep of five-hundred-dollar dresses — the sparkling of eyes
which shot forth alternately flashes of lightning and love — there were
two gentlemen who appeared to be the ' observed of all observers.' One
was the Earl of Elgin, and the other Sir Charles Gray. Lord Elgin is a
short, stout gentleman, on the shady side of forty, and is decidedly John
Bullish in walk, talk, appearance, and carriage. His face, although
round and full, beams with intellect, good feeling, and good-humor. His
manners are open, frank, and winning. Sir Charles Gray is a much larger
man than his noble countryman, being both taller and stouter. He is
about sixty years of age, and his manners are particularly grave and dig-
nified.

" The large and brilliant company broke up at a late hour, and de-
parted for their respective homes — pleased with their courtly and cour-
teous host ; pleased with the monarchical form of government in Eng-
land ; pleased with the republican form of government in the United
States ; pleased with each other, themselves, and the rest of mankind."

At last, after we had been receiving the hospitalities at
Washington for about ten days, Lord Elgin announced to
Mr. Marcy that, if the government were prepared to adhere
to their promise to conclude a treaty of reciprocity with
Canada, he could assure the president that he would find a
majority of the Senate in its favor, including several promi-
nent Democrats. Mr. Marcy could scarcely believe his ears,
and was so much taken aback that I somewhat doubted the

44 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

desire to make the treaty, which he so strongly expressed on
the occasion of Lord Elgin's first interview with him, when
he also pronounced it hopeless. However, steps had been
taken which made it impossible for him to doubt that the
necessary majority had been secured, and nothing remained
for us but to go into the details of the tariff, the enumera-
tion of the articles of commerce, and so forth. A thorny
question was intimately associated with the discussion of
this treaty, which was settled by it for the time ; and this
was the question of the fisheries off the coasts of British
North America, claimed by American fishermen. The vexed
subject, which was reopened by the abrogation of the treaty,
has recently been the matter of protracted negotiation be-
tween the English and American governments ; which, how-
ever, has proved so imperfect that serious disputes are daily
arising, which it will require all the tact and forbearance
of the English and American governments to arrange ami-
cably.

For the next three days I was as busily engaged in work
as I had been for the previous ten at play ; but the matter
had to be put through with a rush, as Lord Elgin was due at
the seat of his government. And, perhaps, under the cir-
cumstances, we succeeded better so than had longer time
been allowed the other side for reflection. As it was, the
worthy old secretary of state was completely taken by sur-
prise. I will venture to quote the description I wrote at the
time of the signing of the treaty, and ask the reader to make
allowance for the style of mock heroics, and attribute it to
the exuberance of youth :

" It was in the dead of night, during the last five minutes
of the 5th of June, and the first five minutes of the 6th of the
month aforesaid, that four individuals might have been ob-
served seated in a spacious chamber lighted by six wax
candles and an Argand lamp. Their faces were expressive
of deep and earnest thought, not unmixed with suspicion.
Their feelings, however, to the acute observer, manifested

MY FIRST EXPERIENCES IN DIPLOMACY. 45

themselves in different ways ; but this was natural, as two
were in the bloom of youth, one in the sear and yellow leaf,
and one in the prime of middle age. This last it is whose
measured tones alone break the silence of midnight, except
when one or other of the younger auditors, who are both por-
ing intently over voluminous MSS., interrupts him to inter-
polate an ' and ' or erase a ' the.' They are, in fact, check-
ing him as he reads ; and the aged man listens, while he
picks his teeth with a pair of scissors, or cleans out the wick
of a candle with their points, which he afterwards wipes on
his gray hair. He may occasionally be observed to wink,
either from conscious 'cuteness or unconscious drowsiness.
Presently the clock strikes twelve, and there is a doubt
whether the date should be to-day or yesterday. There is a
moment of solemn silence, when the reader, having finished
the document, lays it down, and takes a pen which had been
previously impressively dipped in the ink by the most in-
telligent-looking of the young men, who appears to be his
'secretary,' and who keeps his eye warily fixed upon the
other young man, who occupies the same relation to the
aged listener with the scissors.

"There is something strangely mysterious and suggestive
in the scratching of that midnight pen, for it may be scratch-
ing fortunes or ruin to toiling millions. Then the venerable
statesman takes up the pen to append his signature. His
hand does not shake, though he is very old, and knows the
abuse that is in store for him from members of Congress and
an enlightened press. That hand, it is said, is not all unused
to a revolver ; and it does not now waver, though the word
he traces may be an involver of a revolver again. He is now
secretary of state ; before that, he was a judge of the Su-
preme Court ; before that, a general in the army ; before that,
governor of a state ; before that, secretary of war ; before
that, minister in Mexico ; before that, a member of the House
of Representatives ; before that, a politician ; before that, a
cabinet-maker. He ends, as he began, with cabinet work ;

46 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

and he is not, at his time of life and with his varied experi-
ences, afraid either of the wrath of his countrymen or the wiles
of an English lord. So he gives us his blessing and the treaty
duly signed ; and I retire to dream of its contents, and to
listen in my troubled sleep to the perpetually recurring refrain
of the three impressive words with which the pregnant docu-
ment concludes — ' Unmanufactured tobacco. Rags !' "

Thus was concluded in exactly a fortnight a treaty, to
negotiate which had taxed the inventive genius of the Foreign
Office and all the conventional methods of diplomacy for the
previous seven years, and which, as it has since proved, has
been of enormous commercial advantage to the two countries
to which it was to be applied. A reference to figures will
furnish the most satisfactory evidence on this point.

In 1853, the year prior to our mission to Washington, the
trade of Canada with the United States amounted to $20,000,-
000, as recently given from correct data, by the Toronto Mail.
In 1854 the treaty commenced to operate, and the volume
of trade at once increased to $33,000,000. In 1855, it was
$42,000,000; in 1857, $46,000,000 ; in 1859, $48,000,000 ; in
1863, $55,000,000 ; in 1864, $67,000,000 ; in 1865, $71,000,-
000 ; and in 1866, the year the treaty was abrogated by the
action of the American government, it had reached the high
figure of $84,000,000. It had thus nearly quadrupled in the
course of twelve years under the action of the treaty, which
the Americans erroneously believed to be so much more to the
advantage of the Canadians than of themselves, that they seized
the earliest available opportunity, after the term fixed for its
expiry, to abrogate it — a measure dictated, I fear, rather by
sentiments of jealousy than of political economy, and from
which the States suffer certainly as much if not more than
Canada, whose trade with the mother country has latterly
undergone considerable development in consequence.

The brilliant and dashing manner in which Lord Elgin
achieved this remarkable diplomatic triumph, apparently cer-
tain of his game from the first, playing it throughout with

MY FIRST EXPERIENCES IN DIPLOMACY. 47

the easy confidence of assured success, made a profound im-
pression upon me — an impression which I had no reason to
modify throughout a subsequent intimate association with
him of three years in two hemispheres — during which he
was nearly all the time engaged in confronting difficulties and
overcoming obstacles which I used to think to any other
man would have seemed insurmountable. As one by one
they melted before his subtle touch, my confidence in his pro-
found sagacity and his undaunted moral courage became un-
bounded ; and I could enter into the feelings of soldiers,
whose general never led them to anything but victory. It
was both a pleasure and a profit to serve such a man ; a
pleasure, because he was the kindest and most considerate of
chiefs — a profit, because one could learn so much by watch-
ing his methods, which indeed he was always ready to dis-
cuss and explain to those who occupied confidential relations
towards him. By his premature death the country lost one
of its most conscientious and ablest public servants — one
whose services, and whose great capacity for rendering them,
have never received their just recognition at the hands of his
countrymen.

Our progress from New York to Canada was triumphal.
On our arrival by a special train at Portland, Maine, we were
received with the thunder of salutes, and went in procession
to the house of one of the leading citizens, with bands of
music, and flags, and escorts, mounted and on foot, the whole
of the gallant militia having turned out to do Lord Elgin
honor. A characteristic incident occurred prior to our start-
ing for a banquet at the city hall. While we were assembled
in the drawing-room of our host, a tray with various kinds of
wines and spirits was brought in, and our hospitable enter-
tainer remarked,

" You'll have to take your liquor in here, gentlemen ; for I
guess you'll get none where we're going to. We've got a
liquor law in Maine, you know," he added, with a sly look at
the tray.

48 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

Drinking all you want before dinner is not a satisfactory
way of " taking it in." However, we made the best of it, and
soon found ourselves seated at a table plentifully supplied
with tumblers of water, at which were two hundred guests.
I am bound to say, considering the absence of stimulants,
there was no lack of noise and merriment ; and when dinner
was over, speeches followed in rapid succession, in response
to toasts and sentiments. Lord Elgin was facile princeps in
this respect, and his speeches provoked enthusiastic applause.
He brought down the house by a retort upon one of the speak-
ers whose good taste was not equal to his patriotism, and who
took the opportunity of comparing the position and functions
of the governor of a state with those of the Governor-General
of Canada, much to the disparagement of the latter. Allud-
ing in one of his speeches to the uncomplimentary parallel
thus drawn, Lord Elgin said he would narrate an anecdote.
In the course of his travels in the United States he had one
day found himself next a stage-driver, with whom he entered
into conversation as to the political parties in the States.
The driver informed him that the majority in the state was
Whig, but that the governor of it was a Democrat.

" How comes that about, if the majority are Whigs ?" in-
quired Lord Elgin.

" Oh," replied the driver, " we traded the governor off
against the land agent."

" Now, gentlemen," pursued his lordship, amid loud laugh-
ter, "you could not trade the Governor-General of Canada
off against any land agent."

All the way from the Canadian frontier to Montreal arches
were erected, addresses presented, and all the paraphernalia
of a triumphal progress exhibited. British troops lined the
streets of Montreal, and a large procession here attended the
party to the hotel ; we did not linger, however, but pushed on
without delay to the seat of government.

CHAPTER IV.

POLITICS AND INDIAN AFFAIRS IN CANADA.

I do not remember ever having been more vividly im-
pressed by the beauties of nature than on that lovely spring
morning when, in order to avoid any more demonstrations,
we landed unostentatiously from the steamer in which we
had descended the St. Lawrence, at the foot of the beautiful
grounds which encircle Spencerwood, then the residence of
the governor-general. Although it was the nth of June,
the trees were still in their spring garb of tender green ;
there was a delicious stillness in the air, and a peculiar clear-
ness and brilliancy in the light with which the landscape was
flooded, which enhanced its own rare beauty; and as I now
knew that I was to be a dweller here for some months, I was
enchanted by the sort of fairy-land that was to be my future
residence. For within the last twenty-four hours a new pros-
pect had dawned upon me. Although our Washington treaty
was completed, I was not, as I had originally anticipated, to
return at once to England, after accompanying Lord Elgin to
Canada, but to enter upon new functions for which I was al-
together unprepared. The exigencies of the service com-
pelled Lord Elgin's brother, Colonel Bruce, who had hitherto
filled the office of Civil Secretary of Canada and Superin-
tendent-General of Indian Affairs, to join his regiment in the
Crimea, and I was appointed to succeed him. The depart-
ment of Indian Affairs was then under imperial control. It
has, since confederation, been handed over to the Dominion.

The novelty of the functions I was now called upon sud-
denly to assume invested my new position with great inter-

50 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

est. I soon began to realize this by the style of the corre-
spondence which poured in upon me. First came a letter to
the queen from an Indian tribe, expressing to their "Great
Mother across the Big Lake " their sympathy with the war in
the Crimea, and the desire of the warriors to participate in
it ; and another addressed to myself, in which the " red skins "
write to their "great brother who lives towards the sunrising,
to express their confidence in his administrative talents,
which alone reconciles them to the loss of their good brother
[Colonel Bruce], who is now upon the war-path." The colo-
nel's paternal administration had rendered him very popular.
No doubt his being a " warrior " by profession was also a
point in his favor ; and I feared that they would consider me
little better than a " squaw," while their confidence in my ad-
ministrative talents had about as solid a basis of knowledge
as their sympathy with the objects for which the Crimean war
was undertaken. The important political events which trans-
pired immediately on our arrival at Canada obliged me, how-
ever to suppress for the present the desire which began to
consume me to make a closer acquaintance with my red
brothers, to visit the industrial schools which my predecessor
had established, and to smoke the " calumet of peace " with
them in their wigwams.

Lord Elgin's first act upon arriving at Quebec was to open
Parliament in state. The number of British troops in those
clays quartered in Quebec rendered this a very imposing cere-
mony, as the streets were lined with them. The striking
feature in the procession was the state carriage, in which I
accompanied the governor-general to the House, and the
panels of which were gaping with cracks and splits, inflicted
upon them by the mob of Montreal on the occasion when
they stoned his excellency some years before, and burned
down the Parliament Houses. The carriage had never been
repaired since that event, in order that it might serve to re-
mind the populace of the measure to which they had re-
sorted in order to give vent to their feelings. Until that

POLITICS AND INDIAN AFFAIRS IN CANADA. 5 1

time the party in power had been the Tories, or loyalists,
who found themselves in a minority on the occasion of the
passing of the Rebellion Losses Bill, and who expressed their
indignation on being turned out of office to make way for those
who commanded the parliamentary majority, by these acts of
violence. They had been out of office for about six years,
during which time the leaders of the party had resented the
constitutional conduct of the governor -general so keenly
that many of them had ever since refused to set foot in Gov-
ernment House, and even neglected to salute his excellency
in the street. It was only as the result of the somewhat ex-
citing events upon which we were now entering that they
finally came to understand that Lord Elgin did not allow
himself to be influenced by personal sympathies, and was de-
termined to give effect to a parliamentary majority, of whom-
soever it might be composed. After several days' debate the
government was beaten on an amendment to the address,
and ministers determined to go to the country. Lord Elgin
came down a week after he had opened the House to prorogue
it, when a somewhat exciting episode occurred. When the
Commons were sent for, they refused to come. The pause
was in the highest degree embarrassing. The Legislative
Chamber, filled with an audience en grande tenue — Lord Elgin
seated on the throne — a silence, broken only by a whisper-
ing and tittering, which did not add to the dignity of the sit-
uation — all contributed to form a unique political situation.
At last, after the lapse of nearly half an hour, the Speaker of
the Lower House, who had been engaged drawing up a pro-
test against the course which was being adopted, appeared,
supported by a large body of members, and read it — a pro-
ceeding which the governor-general promptly met by de-
claring the House dissolved ; and for the next few days a
state of feverish excitement pervaded political circles, the
opposition declaring the whole course of proceeding to be un-
constitutional, and the local opposition press teeming with
abusive articles denouncing a tyranny which had deprived
them of their liberties.

52 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

Altogether the month had been in the highest degree ex-
citing and eventful ; for in the short space of four weeks
Lord Elgin had negotiated and signed a treaty with the
American government, made a triumphal progress from
Boston to Quebec, opened the Canadian Parliament, pro-
rogued and dissolved it. But though the difficulty had been
overcome, so far as any opposition to the treaty at Washing-
ton was concerned, it had still to receive the assent of all the
colonial legislatures. In Nova Scotia especially it was un-
popular, owing to the fishery clauses, and it required the
exercise of all the authority and tact of the governor-general
to force the adoption of a measure to which, as it afterwards
turned out, that colony owed a greater degree of prosperity
than it has ever enjoyed before or since. In 1869, or four
years after the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854 was abrogated,
the Halifax remarks :

" From the making of the Reciprocity Treaty until its abrogation, Nova
Scotia increased in wealth and population at a most extraordinary rate.
From its abrogation until the present, we have retrograded with the most
frightful rapidity. Want of a good market has depreciated the value of
our coal-mines — has nearly pauperized our fishermen, farmers, and
miners ; and should this want not be supplied in the only way it can be,
by a new treaty with the United States, Nova Scotia will in five years be
one of the least desirable countries to live 111 on this continent."

This quotation affords an interesting illustration of the in-
competence of the popular judgment to arrive at accurate
conclusions in matters affecting the public interests ; for I
can bear personal testimony to the furious opposition which
the treaty encountered from all classes in the province, from
the lieutenant-governor downwards, at the time it was pro-
posed, and of the conviction generally entertained that it
would prove the ruin of the colony. Under these circum-
stances the final result was satisfactory beyond our most
sanguine expectations, as may be gathered from the fact
that the treaty ultimately passed through the Congress of
the United States, and through the colonial legislatures of

POLITICS AND INDIAN AFFAIRS IN CANADA. 53

Canada, New Brunswick. Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island,
and Newfoundland, with a total of only twenty-one dissenti-
ent votes. Had Canada then been confederated, as it was
fourteen years later, the task would have been much easier.
Unfortunately the reaction predicted in the Nova Scotia
newspaper has occurred in that province, and the decline in
its prosperity is attributed to confederation. It is really due
to the unsatisfactory state of our relations with the United
States on the subject of the fisheries ; and if those were
placed upon a sound footing, the outcry against confedera-
tion which has recently been raised in Nova Scotia would
soon die away. What is needed in Canada is an imperial
officer, who might still be called civil secretary, and be at-
tached to the governor-general's staff, and whose functions
should be partly political and partly diplomatic. At present,
when delicate questions arise between the confederated prov-
inces, involving a special mission and local treatment, the
settlement has necessarily to be intrusted to an agent ap-
pointed by the Dominion government — which means an
agent of the political party then in power ; and whatever ar-
rangement he may make is certain to be objected to by the
opposition.

This consequence of party government is unfortunately
not confined to Canada, and receives daily lamentable illus-
trations in our own political performances at home. So, in
questions arising between Canada and the United States,
our minister at Washington is necessarily guided by the in-
formation and advice of the Canadian politicians sent to as-
sist him. And as whatever they do must be wrong, in the
opinion of the other side, the result is sure to be severely
and unfairly criticised. Whereas, if negotiations of this char-
acter, whether as between the provinces or with the United
States government, were intrusted to an imperial officer
thoroughly conversant with the questions at issue, outside of
all local politics, and who could not be suspected of being
influenced by them, they would meet with far less opposition

54 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

on the part of local politicians, and be arranged on a broader
and more satisfactory basis. Had such an officer existed,
it is probable that neither the British Columbia nor the North-
west questions would have assumed the proportions they did j
that Newfoundland would ere this have been included in
the confederation ; that the discontent now existing in Nova
Scotia might have been appeased; and that the fishery and
other questions which are still outstanding with the United
States would have obtained a satisfactory solution. I re-
ceived assurances from leading members of the Dominion
government only a few years ago, that so far from being op-
posed to the idea of availing themselves of the good offices
of an imperial functionary of this kind, they would even be
prepared to contribute to his salary, which could be added
to from funds drawn from the Foreign and Colonial Offices
at home. The amount required would be very small, and
would simply constitute an increase on the present salary
of the governor's secretary, whose position would naturally
qualify him for the exercise of these functions. In these
days, when the idea of imperial federation has assumed such
prominence, such appointments, calculated rather to soothe
than to wound sensibilities, would form additional traits
d'union between the mother country and her dependencies.

The excitement into which the whole country was thrown
by a ministerial defeat, and a general election so unexpected,
created a social and political lull in Quebec itself, which I
was thankful to avail myself of, in order to pay a round of
visits to my "red children." This duty was eminently to my
taste ; it involved diving into the depths of the backwoods,
bark-canoeing on distant and silent lakes or down foaming
rivers, where the fishing was splendid, the scenery most ro-
mantic, and camp-life at this season of the year— for it was now
the height of summer — most enjoyable. It was a prolonged
picnic, with just enough duty thrown in to deprive it of any
character of selfishness. There were schools to inspect,
councils to be held, tribal disputes -to be adjusted, presents

POLITICS AND INDIAN AFFAIRS IN CANADA. 55

to be distributed, and, in one case, a treaty to be made. At
nearly all the stations there was a school or mission-house
of some kind, and here the meeting of the "warriors" and
the "young braves" with their "father" took place ; and as
I had barely attained the age of five-and-twenty when these
paternal responsibilities were thrust upon me, the incongruity
of my relation towards them, I am afraid, presented itself
somewhat forcibly to the minds of the veterans on these oc-
casions. It was a novel and exhilarating experience to paddle
up in a sort of rude state at the head of a train of canoes,
and to be received by volleys from rifles and fowling-pieces
by way of a salute from all the members of the tribe collected
on the margin of the lake or river, as the case might be, to
receive me. Then they would form in line and file past me,
every man, woman, and child shaking hands as they did so,
and in solemn procession escort me up to the place of meet-
ing — when, if it was a chapel, I mounted into the pulpit, and
solemnly lighting a pipe, waited till my audience were all
seated on their heels and had lighted theirs, before entering
upon the business of the hour. This generally terminated
in a lecture upon temperance and industry • for their love
of spirituous liquors and their inveterate indolence are the
curse of these poor people, and render them an easy prey to
the more unscrupulous class of white settlers, who system-
atically carry on a process of demoralization, with the view to
their extermination, a result which is being rapidly achieved.
I do not know whether my efforts to convince them that they
were themselves their own worst enemies procured for me
the name of Pah Dah Sung, or " The Coming Sun " — possibly
from the light I was expected to throw upon the subject.

My two most interesting experiences in connection with
my brief administration of Indian affairs in Canada were the
distribution of annual presents upon the island of Manitoulin,
and a treaty which I succeeded in negotiating with a tribe
which owned an extensive tract of territory upon the shores
of Lake Huron. Manitoulin, which is over a hundred miles

56 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

in length, is said to be the largest fresh-water island in the
world, and was destined by a former Governor-General of
Canada — Sir Francis Bond Head — as an eligible territory on
which to make the experiment of collecting Indians, with a
view to their permanent settlement and civilization. It has
not succeeded, however, and at the time of my visit was the
rendezvous of thousands of Indians belonging to many dif-
ferent tribes, who, with their whole families, congregated
here to receive blankets, agricultural implements, and other
presents which it was hoped would conduce to their welfare.
These, correctly speaking, were not presents, as they were
purchased from funds in the hands of the Indian Department,
whose principal function it was to invest the large sums of
money which had accrued to the Indians from the sale of
their land to white settlers, and to apply the interest to their
advantage. The collection of birch-bark wigwams which
surrounded the little harbor where I landed looked like a
huge camp, and in these were huddled a swarm of dirty oc-
cupants, some of them having travelled hither from a great
distance, miserably clad in frowsy blankets and skins. Here
and there were fine-looking, picturesque figures, more gaudily
decorated with paints and feathers ; but, taking them as a
whole, I know of no nomads — and I have seen Calmuck
Tartars, Kirghiez, Bedouins, and gypsies — who present a
more poverty-stricken and degraded appearance than did the
majority of my red children ! I was the more disappointed
with them in their savage state, because I expected an im-
provement upon their semi-civilized brethren, with whom 1
had hitherto come in contact. I believe the annual congre-
gation of Indians on this island, and distribution of presents
among them, has been discontinued by the Dominion gov-
ernment.

The occupation by the Indians of large tracts of country
eligible for settlement by whites, which they reserve as hunt-
ing-grounds, from which they got nothing but a few foxes and
muskrats, was a fruitful source of trouble to the department,

POLITICS AND INDIAN AFFAIRS IN CANADA. 57

as settlers were constantly unlawfully squatting upon them,
who had to be driven off. The largest and only remaining
one of these in the immediate vicinity of a thickly settled
district was called the Sangeen Peninsula, a promontory ex-
tending into Lake Huron, and containing about half a mill-
ion of acres of fine land. I determined to try and induce
the tribe to which this extensive tract belonged, and who
practically derived no revenue from it, to make a cession of
it to the government for the purpose of having it sold in lots
to white settlers, the whole of the proceeds to belong to the
tribe, which would thus become one of the wealthiest in the
country. In order to do this, it was necessary to undertake
an expedition to a remote, and, in those days, very inacces-
sible spot. My journey involved sundry adventures by flood
and fell, for I was nearly wrecked in a small boat coasting
along the shore of Lake Huron, and lost in a swamp while
endeavoring to follow the Indian trail through the forest,
where sometimes we only had the "blaze " — or places where
the trees had been scored with an axe — to guide us.

On my arrival at my destination, I found all the males of
the tribe collected in a chapel where a native catechist acted
as interpreter, the tribe being a branch of the Chippeways.
In order not to lose time, the meeting was convened for
7 p.m., on the evening of my arrival. As usual I opened the
proceedings with a pipe and a speech from the pulpit, the
twelve elders of the tribe sitting immediately below me on
the ground, each with his pipe, and forming the front row of
a crowd of squatting men, all smoking. My address was
frequently interrupted by what Fenimore Cooper calls "ex-
pressive ughs ;" and the grunts and murmurs of the audience,
expressive of their disagreement with my proposal, were not
encouraging. A pause of at least ten minutes ensued after
I had finished, during which they all smoked vigorously.
Then their principal chief rose, and in an energetic speech
set forth his objections, which were received with grunts of
approval by the majority. Then another chief rose, who

58 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

seemed to be a man of some weight, and delivered himself
forcibly in the opposite sense. In the course of his remarks
he made some observations apparently of a character un-
complimentary to the previous speaker, for a fierce wrangle
ensued, in which many took part, and in which, when I came
to understand it, I occasionally joined, adding, by the advice
of the catechist, fuel to the fire. When the atmosphere had
become sufficiently stormy — it was already so smoky that I
could not see across the room, but perhaps that was partly
owing to its being illuminated only by a couple of tallow-dips
— I, again by the advice of my interpreter, retired, "to let
them fight it out," which, as he afterwards assured me, they
did literally with their fists. As he believed himself to be
pecuniarily interested, he remained to take part in the melee
— a course of proceeding which I left him to reconcile with
his own conscience as a religious teacher. I reconciled it to
mine by the fact that my efforts were being directed entirely
in the interests of the Indians themselves, which they were
too stupid to understand.

It was past midnight when the catechist summoned me
from the little outhouse in which I had been waiting, with
the welcome intelligence that all the difficulties had been
overcome, and that the chiefs expressed themselves ready to
consent to the proposed arrangement. It seemed to be my
fate, while in America, to assist at the signing of midnight
treaties ; but on this occasion the scene was infinitely more
novel and picturesque than on the previous one. Round a
table below the pulpit, which was covered with papers and
maps, crowded a wild-looking group of Indians, in blankets
and leggings and moccasons, with their bare arms and long,
straight, black hair. Twelve of these placed their totems op-
posite my signature, each totem consisting of the rude repre-
sentation of a bear, a deer, an otter, a rat, or some other wild
animal.

It was one o'clock in the morning before I set out with a
light heart, for I had the treaty in my pocket, on a two-mile

POLITICS AND INDIAN AFFAIRS IN CANADA. 59

tramp through the forest in pitchy darkness to the rude tavern
at Southampton, then the extreme outpost of civilization,
which did duty for a lodging ; but it was not to find rest.
The Indians all followed me ; and my host, in anticipation
of my triumphant return, had exhausted the resources of the
place in preparing a grand meal for me, to which we — Indians
and all, with a sprinkling of whites attracted by the excite-
ment of the event — sat down at 4 a.m. The Indians, so lately
at loggerheads, now became reconciled over copious libations
of whiskey, under the influence of which there was a general
fraternization with the whites as well, who were in high spirits
at the prospect of so much new territory being opened up to
settlement, and who offered to give me a banquet if I would
only prolong my stay a day ; but on my declining this, the
whole crowd, red and white, when day broke, accompanied
me to the river, and gave me three cheers as I ferried across
it on my return journey.

By means of the revenue derived from this cession of In-
dian territory I was enabled to reorganize the whole finan-
cial system of the Indian Department, and to effect a clear
saving to the imperial exchequer of ,£13,000 a year — an
economy with which Lord Taunton, then colonial minister,
expressed himself so well satisfied that he was kind enough
to offer me a small lieutenant-governorship in the West In-
dies, which I should have gratefully accepted had it not been
for my preference for diplomatic work, and desire to go to
the seat of war in the Crimea.

The most distant Indian settlement I visited was in the
immediate neighborhood of Lake Superior. Finding myself
so far west, I determined to return by a very roundabout way,
for the purpose of seeing some of the country to the west of
the lake. My companions were Lord Bury, who had been
for some time previously Lord Elgin's guest at Quebec, and
Messrs. Petre and Clifford, whom we met on Lake Superior,
and with whom we made a bark-canoe voyage from the western
end of the lake to the head-waters of the Mississippi, coming

60 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

down that river to Dubuque, from which place we crossed
the prairies of Illinois to Chicago, then a rising young city
of seventy-five thousand inhabitants, and so by way of Niagara
back to Quebec — a trip which afforded me material for a
book at the time,* and which is interesting now to look back
upon as furnishing the recollection of a country in which the
Indian and the buffalo still roamed, where the scream of the
locomotive was then unheard, and where not an acre of land
was taken up by a white settler. It is now a thickly peopled
region, from which Indians and buffaloes have alike retired,
and where the traveller, instead of poling up a river in a bark-
canoe, can fly across the country by train, and look forward
at night to a comfortable hotel, instead of the turf for a bed,
and a lean-to of pine-branches for a shelter.

In view of the future which I saw for the country, I bought
a town lot at the city of Superior, which then consisted of
one log-shanty and a tent, and to find which I had to wade
up to my knees in water, and cut my way to it with a billhook.
The city of Superior rose at one time to contain about twelve
hundred inhabitants ; then was victimized by a political in-
trigue, and, to use the expressive phrase of a citizen, " bust
up flat," so that the cottage which I had built upon my lot,
and which, had I been wise enough to sell it at one moment,
would have realized a handsome profit, became worthless,
and I had to sell the doors and windows to pay the taxes,
for the place was deserted. Five years ago a slow upward
movement commenced, and I accepted an offer which exactly
covered the money expended upon it during the previous
five-and-twenty years. Since then I believe it has come un-
der the influence of what is called "a boom," and the pur-
chaser is in possession of a property which will yield him a
large return. Such are the ups and downs of western towns,
and of people who speculate in them.

The Canadian elections had been completed during my

*" Minnesota and the Far West." By Laurence Oliphant. William
Blackwood & Sons : 1855.

POLITICS AND INDIAN AFFAIRS IN CANADA. 6l

absence from Quebec, and Lord Elgin opened the new Par-
liament a few days after my return. I found that I arrived
just in time for another political crisis, as the elections had
resulted unfavorably for the government. The two great
questions which it was Lord Elgin's great ambition to settle
before closing his term of office were the abolition of Seig-
neurial Tenure and the Secularization of the Clergy Reserves,
which, in his speech from the throne, he recommended to
the attention of the House. To the settlement of both
these questions in the popular sense, the opposition, or Tory
party, had been vigorously opposed. When, therefore, the
government was beaten on the election of the speaker, the
fate of these measures seemed somewhat critical. I was
fortunately situated for watching the progress of the parlia-
mentary proceedings, and the crisis resulting therefrom. By
virtue of my office, I had a seat on the floor of the House,
without, however, the right of voting or of speaking, except
to offer explanations in the event of any question affecting
the Indians coming up. I was thus present at all the de-
bates, and on excellent terms with the leaders of both parlia-
mentary parties. In fact I had practically all the fun of be-
ing a member of the House without any of the responsibili-
ties, and after the vote on the speaker was taken, had sun-
dry confidential meetings in the small hours of the morning
with the prominent men on both sides, the result of which
was that I could not resist, in my excitement, waking the
governor-general up at 5 a.m. to inform him of the defeat
of the government, and what I had learned since. The day
following the prime -minister placed his resignation in his
excellency's hands 3 and to the great astonishment of the
public, as well as to his own, Sir Allan M'Nab, who had been
one of his bitterest opponents ever since the Montreal events,
was sent for to form a ministry — Lord Elgin by this act sat-
isfactorily disproving the charge of having either personal or
political partialities in the selection of his ministers. After
some little delay, Sir Allan succeeded in forming a coalition

62 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

ministry, which adopted the address of their predecessors in
toto, and thus committed themselves to passing the two im-
portant measures alluded to in it, in exactly the same sense
as their opponents intended to do — a sense which they
had always resisted. Meantime the Reciprocity Treaty also
passed unanimously, and the governor-general went down in
state to give it the royal assent.

We immediately afterwards started on a tour through Up-
per Canada, which was a triumphal progress throughout —
the people, many of whom until lately had been his excel-
lency's bitterest opponents, turning out en masse to do him
honor ; while at sundry banquets, and on other numerous
occasions when he was called upon to speak, he explained
to the people the advantages of the treaty he had secured
for them. In fact, a reaction of popularity had set in ; and
the defeat of the previous administration, which at first
seemed an untoward circumstance to have occurred so near
the close of his government, proved the most fortunate event
for Lord Elgin's own reputation, for it gave unanswerable
evidence to the constitutionality of his conduct, which had
always been impugned. I cannot do better than quote his
own words on this subject :

" I have brought into office the gentlemen who made themselves for
years most conspicuous and obnoxious for personal hostility to myself,
thus giving the most complete negative to the allegation that I am swayed
by personal motives in the selection of my advisers ; and these gentlemen
have accepted office on the understanding that they will carry out in all
particulars the policy which I sketched out while my former administra-
tion was in office, thus proving that the policy in question is the only one
suited to the country — the only one which an administration can adopt.
I do not see how the blindest can fail to draw this inference from these
facts. The first thing which my new administration have had to do is
to adopt and carry through the House the address responsive to my
speech from the throne. This is, certainly for me, and I hope for the
country, the most fortunate wind-up of my connection with Canada which
could have been imagined."*

* Extracts from the Letters of James, Earl of Elgin, to Mary Louisa,
Countess of Elgin, 1847-1862. Privately printed.

POLITICS AND INDIAN AFFAIRS IN CANADA. 63

It was indeed a fortunate wind-up, and we determined to
celebrate it as such. For the last three months of our resi-
dence at Quebec we lived in a perfect whirl of gayety. Balls,
dinner and garden parties, and picnics, were the order of the
day. Society took the cue from Government House, and I
found, under the temptation of more congenial pursuits, my
parliamentary attendance getting slack. The delights of a
Canadian winter, with its sleighing and tobogganing parties,
have become proverbial. Unfortunately we only enjoyed
one month of them, as Sir Edmund Head, Lord Elgin's suc-
cessor, had arrived, and we merely remained a few weeks to
facilitate the transfer of the government. Sir Edmund was
so kind as to urge me to remain with him in the office I was
now filling ; but the promise which Lord Clarendon had pre-
viously made to find me employment in the East, where the
stirring nature of the events which were transpiring offered
the strongest attraction, induced me to decline this offer and
to return to England with Lord Elgin, and Lord Bury be-
came my successor in Canada. When I left home I had not
expected to be absent above eight weeks, but the same num-
ber of months would now nearly have elapsed before our re-
turn to British soil. It was nevertheless with a heavy heart
that on a bitter morning towards the end of December, with
the thermometer 2 6° below zero, I left Quebec; the streets
were for the last time lined with troops as we drove down to
our place of embarkation, and the greater part of the society
was collected on the bank of the St. Lawrence, as, after tak-
ing an affectionate farewell of the friends with whom I had
formed ties of warmer friendship than is usual after so short
a residence, we stretched ourselves at the bottom of the bark-
canoes in which we were to be ferried across the broad bosom
of the river, at this time encumbered with huge ice-floes and
enshrouded in a dense fog. The traject is not without clan-
ger, and is exciting in proportion. Our muscular boatmen
paddle us rapidly across the narrow lanes of swift open water,
haul us up on the ragged floes, and running on the ice by the

64 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

side of the canoes rush us rapidly across them, to plunge us
into the river again on the other side, until, after more than
an hour's battling with the ice, we find ourselves safely hauled
up under the bank at Point Levi. A few days afterwards I
watched the outline of the American continent fading on the
horizon, and little imagined as I did so that this was only
the second of twenty-two passages I was destined to make
across the Atlantic in the course of the ensuing seven-and-
twenty years.

CHAPTER V.

CRIMEAN AND CIRCASSIAN EXPERIENCES.

Owing to the events related in the last chapter, nearly a
year had elapsed before I was again in a position to offer my
services to the government for employment at the seat of
war, but Sebastopol was still holding out bravely, and the
public were getting impatient at a siege so protracted and so
barren of definite results. I was emboldened thereby to
publish a pamphlet, in which I suggested the expediency of
a campaign in the Caucasus, a part of the world to which
it was difficult to attract attention, until the siege of Kars
forced its strategic value upon public notice. Feeling
strongly the importance of a diversion in this direction, and
the use which might be made of the Circassians, who were
in a chronic state of guerilla warfare with Russia, but with
whom, during the year that our own hostilities with that em-
pire had lasted, we had opened no relations, with the view
of inviting their co-operation and alliance, I proposed to
Lord Clarendon that I should undertake a mission to Scha-
myl, for the purpose, if possible, of concerting some scheme
with that chieftain by which combined operations could be
carried on, either with the Turkish contingent which was
then just organized by General Vivian, or with the Turkish
regular army. It had always seemed to me that to ignore
the existence of a race of brave and warlike mountaineers,
who were fanatic Moslems, fighting in the heart of Russia for
their independence, and yet most easily accessible by sea,
was wilfully to cast aside a most powerful weapon for attack
which the fortune of war had placed in our hands : we had

66 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

only to land a strong Moslem force at Sujak Kaleh, on the
Black Sea coast, whether of Beatson's Bashi-Bazouks, or
Vivian's contingent, or Turkish regulars, provided they were
Moslems, to have the whole male population of Circassia,
every one a trained warrior, flock to our standard. Such a
force would have the friendly mountains on its right flank to
retreat to in case of necessity, the river Kuban to protect its
left flank, and the rich plains which lie between the Kuban
and the mountains to march across.

The objective points of such an expedition would have
been the passes of Dariel and Derbend. These two moun-
tain defiles closed by an allied army of Circassians and
Turkish or irregular Moslem troops, all access into Trans-
caucasia would have been barred to Russia except by way
of the Caspian Sea from Astrakhan — a most difficult and
tedious operation, for in those days the steam-transport upon
it was too limited for the conveyance of an army except
in minute driblets. The Russian army in the Caucasus, at
that time under General Mouravieff, only amounted to sixty
thousand men. The Transcaucasian provinces of Abkhasia,
Mingrelia, Imeritia, Georgia, and Gouriel were all of them
disaffected to Russia — as I afterwards had an opportunity
of knowing when I campaigned through them — and being
almost exclusively Christian, would have welcomed with de-
light a Christian army come to release them from the Mus-
covite yoke. This army would only have had to contend
with that under Mouravieff, and would have operated in
combination not only with the force on the Kuban, holding
the northern passes, but with a Turkish army advancing
from the direction of Kars. Mouravieff and his force would
thus have infallibly been caught in a trap, from which there
was positively no escape. Not only would Kars never have
fallen, but Russia would have lost all her Transcaucasian
provinces to boot. At that time the allied armies — French,
English, and Italian — round Sebastopol numbered one hun-
dred and fifty thousand men ; but even supposing none of

CRIMEAN AND CIRCASSIAN EXPERIENCES. 67

these could be spared, Turkey could have furnished a force
of fifty thousand men under Omer Pasha, exclusive of the
Kars troops, which, with twenty-five thousand of Vivian's and
Beatson's, would have sufficed for the operation.

These considerations I urged so strongly on Lord Claren-
don that he determined to send me to Constantinople with
a letter to Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, authorizing him to
send me to Daghestan, in the Eastern Caucasus, where
Schamyl had his stronghold, for the purpose of making cer-
tain overtures to him, at his lordship's own discretion. Lord
Stratford listened most sympathetically to my proposal ; in-
deed he had been for months urging on the government that
a campaign should be undertaken without delay for the re-
lief of Kars — and of the rival plans proposed, was by no
means opposed to the operation being undertaken by way
of the Caucasus, as a diversion to compel Mouravieff to raise
the siege. He had also sent Mr. Longworth to the coast of
Circassia to communicate with the naib, Schamyl's lieuten-
ant in the Western Caucasus ; but he declined to commit
himself to sanctioning my proposed expedition to Schamyl,
on account of the great personal risk which attached to such
an enterprise. Of the naib's own messengers, which he de-
spatched from time to time from the Western to the Eastern
Caucasus, it was calculated that not more than one in three
ever reached his destination ; to do so, it was necessary to
cross a district in Russian hands, called the Two Kabardas.
The only way to do this was to ride all night, and lie con-
cealed in some hiding-place all day ; but, as I understood,
neither woods nor caves abounded, and to play a game of
hide-and-seek in an open country, with a scattered hostile
population, and Cossack guerillas continually scouring it in
every direction for the express purpose of intercepting such
messengers, was one which experience had proved had more
often than not cost those who had engaged in it their lives.
Lord Stratford's hesitation, therefore, to despatch me at once,
proceeded from motives for which I could not feel otherwise

68 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

than grateful, though I was much disappointed at his objec-
tions, which I did my best to overcome. Finally he gave me
a sort of qualified promise, and in the meantime proposed
to me as a consolation that I should accompany him to the
Crimea on the occasion of his proceeding to the seat of war
to confer medals and decorations on the gallant officers who
had so well earned them. Until the day appointed for our
departure arrived, he was so kind as to extend the hospital-
ity of the embassy to me, and here I came in contact with
probably a more brilliant group of men, so far as talent was
concerned, than could be found in any diplomatic circle in
Europe.

Lord Napier, then secretary of embassy ; Odo Russell,
afterwards Lord Ampthill ; Percy Smythe, afterwards Lord
Strangford ; Charles Alison, afterwards minister in Persia —
were all men of quite remarkable ability, and the last two of
exceptional Oriental attainments ; while, if Lord Pevensey,
Lionel Moore, and Brodie, the three juniors, never made a
mark in the world, it was from no lack of capacity of a truly
high order, which they each severally possessed. The days
passed in such society are not to be forgotten ; and I have
never since been thrown with so many men where the stories
were so racy, the repartee so quick, the flow of wit so con-
stant, or the conversation generally so brilliant, as among
those by whom Lord Stratford was surrounded at the time
of the Crimean war. If anything could reconcile me to de-
lay in the realization of my projects, it was life on the lovely
shores of the Bosporus, under these conditions, with all the
excitement attendant upon a residence at the embassy, when
any hour might bring stirring intelligence from the seat of
war, and almost every day brought arrivals of officers fresh
from it, with graphic details of personal adventure. The
little quay at Therapia swarmed with uniforms, faded and
war-worn, or spick and span, betraying the veteran or the
new-comer, as the case might be ; while a constant succes-
sion of transports and steam-vessels of all kinds, varied now

CRIMEAN AND CIRCASSIAN EXPERIENCES. 69

and then by a man-of-war, and caiques darting to and fro,
imparted an air of animation to a scene which is at all times
one of the most beautiful in Europe, but which was then in-
vested with a thrilling interest.

At last the day fixed for our departure arrived, and on the
24th of August, 1855, we embarked on Her Majesty's de-
spatch-vessel Telegraph — the party consisting of the am-
bassador, Lord Napier, General Mansfield (afterwards Lord
Sandhurst), Count Pisani — whose name must ever be identi-
fied with the British Embassy at Constantinople as one of
the oldest and most trusted members — Messrs. Alison,
Moore, Brodie, and myself. Owing to a fog, it was dark the
following evening before we approached our destination, and
we only knew of our proximity to land by the distant flashes
of the guns through the darkness, and the sullen reverbera-
tion which followed them. When day broke I found that
we were at anchor at the entrance to Kamiesch Bay, which
was crowded with the British fleet. Weighing, we steamed
slowly through them, amid the thunder of salutes, the man-
ning of yards, and the strains of the national anthem, to
our anchorage ; then followed the official visits, and long
discussions on the affairs of the nations, between Lord Strat-
ford and Admirals Lyons and Bruat, during which I watched
the progress of the bombardment through a telescope, being
able distinctly to see the shells from the Russian batteries
exploding in the French trenches, and the scurry which fol-
lowed each such event. We spent the whole day in Kami-
esch Bay, dining at night at a banquet given to the ambas-
sador on board the Royal Albert, at which the two English
and two French admirals were present, besides a great many
distinguished officers. I could not but feel the contrast — as
we sat on deck and sipped our coffee after dinner, listening to
the incessant roar of the cannonade, and watching shell after
shell explode in the darkness — between our own condition
of luxurious and festive enjoyment and the agonies which
hundreds of poor fellows were at that very moment enduring.

7° EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

The next morning we rode up to camp, where I was so
fortunate as to find my old friend Captain Valentine Baker,
then of the Twelfth Lancers (now Baker Pasha), in com-
mand of the headquarter escort, established in a capacious
Indian hut, which he kindly invited me to share with him
during my stay in the Crimea, and where, owing to its prox-
imity to headquarters, I was in the best position to be in-
formed as to the events which were transpiring. The am-
bassador, less fortunate, as I considered, than I was, slept
every night during his stay with the army on board the Tele-
graph, the labor of riding to camp and back each day add-
ing not a little to the fatigue of the functions he was called
upon to perform. First, there was a grand breakfast given
in his honor by Sir James Simpson, who had succeeded
Lord Raglan as commander-in-chief, the solemn dignity of
which I was glad to escape, and take a more lively midday
meal with Captain (now Admiral Sir Harry) Keppel and
some of the Naval Brigade. I had also many friends among
the Engineers and Artillery, with one of whom I made an
exciting expedition to the most advanced trench, which, as
it was only a few weeks prior to the surrender of Sebastopol,
had been pushed to an unpleasantly close proximity to the
fortress, and the shelter of which, to my unprofessional mind
and unaccustomed nerves, was meagre to a degree, and by
no means dispensed with the constant exercise of watchful-
ness and agility, as the enemy's shells came lobbing into it,
and exploding in all sorts of unexpected quarters. To go to
the farthest extreme point, to pop one's head over the trench
for a moment and take a hurried glance over the narrow
space intervening between it and the nearest embrasures, to
see them belch forth their smoke almost in one's face, to
hear the ping of the rifle-bullets aimed at too curious observ-
ers of this description, and suddenly to pop down again —
was to achieve an experience which one felt it totally unnec-
essary to repeat, more especially as the main object of un-
dergoing it at all seemed to be to be able afterwards to say

CRIMEAN AND CIRCASSIAN EXPERIENCES. 7 1

you had done it. It was in the Engineers' camp that I first
made the acquaintance of General Gordon — a fact which we
had both forgotten, until, on comparing notes in Palestine in
December, 1883, only a month before he left London for
Khartoum, we recalled the circumstances of our first meet-
ing eight-and-twenty years before.

Scrambling about the camp before Sebastopol was attend-
ed with extreme difficulty for a visitor ; the distances were
so great, and the disposition of the army to a stranger seemed
so complicated, that endless inquiries often landed you at
last at a wrong destination. Then the walking was so de-
testable that a horse, which had on each occasion to be bor-
rowed, was an almost absolute necessity. I could scarcely
recognize, as I wandered through the maze of tents and
huts, that three years before I had driven across the same
country, from Balaclava into Sebastopol, without, so far as I
can recollect, meeting a soul ; and that the frowning bat-
teries which held at bay the English, French, Italian, and
Turkish armies had all been erected since then. It was a
strange coincidence that, on leaving Sebastopol on that oc-
casion, the wheel of the wagon I was in should have given
way,* and afforded me an opportunity of sketching the iden-
tical slopes of Inkermann, with the stream meandering at
their base, upon which, about eighteen months afterwards,
the celebrated battle was destined to be fought.

Finding myself next to Sir John Burgoyne at dinner one
night at headquarters, I reminded him of our meeting in Lon-
don, and I asked him whether the information I had given
him on that occasion, as to the defenceless condition of Se-
bastopol, was correct. He admitted that it was, and that
after the battle of the Alma it would have been perfectly
possible to have taken the town by assault; but he said it

* See " The Russian Shores of the Black Sea in the Autumn of 1852 ;
with a Voyage down the Volga, and a Tour through the Country of the
Don Cossacks." By Laurence Oliphant. William Blackwood & Sons,
Edinburgh and London : 1854.

72 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

would have involved a great loss of men, as the fire from the
houses in which the enemy were ensconced would have been
very destructive, a loss which he calculated would be avoid-
ed by awaiting the arrival of the siege-train. He further
had the frankness to admit, however, that he had not taken
the genius of a Todleben into his calculations, and that they
had been completely upset by the remarkable engineering
skill, in the matter of earth-works, of that celebrated officer.

On the third day after our arrival in the Crimea, the grand
function took place which had been the special object of
Lord Stratford's visit to the seat of war. The weather was
lovely. About two thousand men were formed into a square,
which was decorated with numerous flags floating in the
breeze. A sort of raised dais had been constructed for the
ambassador, who, seated upon it, invested Sir Edmund Lyons
and Sir Colin Campbell with the insignia of G.C.B., and sev-
eral other officers with the lower grades of the same order.
It was a striking moment as the guns thundered forth a royal
salute, to hear it broken in upon by the boom of the cannon
sending forth their defiant response, and to see now and then
a shell bursting in the air, to remind one that these gallant
soldiers, like the knights of old, were being decorated upon
the field of battle, and amid the din of actual warfare.

Meantime I was getting anxious about my own fate. The
ambassador had been so much occupied with receptions, en-
tertainments, and grand functions— among them a great dis-
play which M. Soyer gave us of camp cookery — that I had
shrunk from troubling him with my personal affairs, and yet
the prospect of going back with him to Constantinople did
not smile upon me. The Duke of Newcastle, who was then
in the Crimea, having resigned his seat in the cabinet, pro-
jected a trip to the Caucasus, and was kind enough to in-
vite me to accompany him ; but I clung rather to the idea
of a special mission to Schamyl in Daghestan, the necessity
for which, it seemed to me, was every day more pressing. It
had become evident that Sebastopol could not hold out much

CRIMEAN AND CIRCASSIAN EXPERIENCES. 73

longer ; but there was no reason to suppose that we were go-
ing to be dragged into a peace by the French, by which the
results of the war would be in a great measure sacrificed.
On the contrary, it seemed likely that the scene of opera-
tions would be transferred to another quarter, and that the
government would at last open its eyes to the fact that
the most vulnerable spot in the Russian empire was the Cau-
casian provinces. I did not then know, what I discovered
afterwards, as may be proved by official documents, that it
entered into the policy of our allies to sacrifice our Eastern
interests to their own immediate necessities, though, as it
afterwards turned out, at the period of my visit to the Cri-
mea, General Pelissier was pursuing a course which could
bear no other construction. At that very moment Lord
Stratford was receiving from General Williams news of the
straits to which the garrison of Kars was being rapidly re-
duced by the besieging army under General Mouravieff, and
of the necessity of immediate relief being sent to prevent its
capture ; and was urging on the British government the ex-
pediency of sending the Turkish army, then lying idle in the
Crimea under Omer Pasha, to its relief. Six weeks before
our visit, Omer Pasha had met the generals of the allied ar-
mies in conference, had explained to them the useless inac-
tivity to which he, with his whole army, was condemned, and
had implored them to let him at once undertake an Asiatic
campaign for the relief of Kars ; but his arguments had
failed to move them — General Pelissier being most emphatic
in his objection to it, and General Simpson being a passive
tool in the hands of his French colleague. Lord Stratford,
however, took a very different view of the situation, and so
strongly advocated the measure urged by Omer Pasha that
he had extracted the consent of the British government to it,
qualified, however, by the proviso "that the government of
the emperor will concur in it." The emperor only concurred
in it subject to the approval of General Pelissier, who flatly
refused. It was at this juncture thai we were in the Crimea
4

74 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

—the battle of the Tchernaya had been fought, the fall of
Sebastopol had become a matter of days. There were one
hundred and fifty thousand allied English, French, and Ital-
ian troops awaiting its surrender, and not exposed to the
slightest danger ; and yet, in General Pelissier's opinion, the
safety of these three European armies depended upon the
presence by their side of thirty thousand Turkish troops.
Had this force been allowed to leave the Crimea while we
were there, the event pToved that they would have been in
plenty of time to have saved Kars, which did not capitulate
for three months after this. A month later, the Turkish
army was still kicking its heels in front of Sebastopol, to the
great discomfort of the other three armies, who had difficulty
enough in finding camping-grounds and supplies. Sebas-
topol had fallen a fortnight before. General Pelissier had
been deprived of his last excuse, and yet we read in a de-
spatch from Colonel (now General) Sir Lintorn Simmons,
the English commissioner with the Turkish army, dated the
21st September: "General Simpson has informed me that
he sees no objection to their [the Turkish troops] departure.
The only obstacle seems to be that the assent of General
Pelissier and the French government has not been given."
At last, a week later, this consent was reluctantly extracted.
And the record of the campaign of the Turkish army in
the Caucasus, in which I took part, proved that it was given
three weeks too late. Had the Turkish army been released
even the day after Sebastopol fell, it would have been in
Tiflis before Kars surrendered, and Mouravieff would have
been compelled to raise the siege of that fortress. As it was,
we had arrived at a point one hundred and thirty miles from
Tiflis, or ten days' easy marching, with nothing to oppose
our advance but a Russian force scarce a third of our own
number, which had already suffered one serious defeat at our
hands, and was in full retreat before us, when the news
reached us of General Williams's surrender.

It was a story which has since almost found its parallel in

CRIMEAN AND CIRCASSIAN EXPERIENCES. 75

the failure of the expedition to relieve General Gordon at
Khartoum ; but the circumstances which attended the fatal
delay were not so well known, for at that moment the entente
cordiale with France was supposed to be a consideration of
paramount importance in our policy, and it might have been
seriously imperilled had the British public thoroughly un-
derstood at the time that the fall of Kars, which was being
defended by British officers, was directly clue to the refusal
of the French government to allow a force which was doing
nothing in the Crimea to proceed to its relief.

It was doubtless the increased prominence which the ex-
posed territories of Russia on the eastern shores of the
Black Sea were likely to assume so soon as Sebastopol fell,
which induced Lord Stratford to send Mr. Alison from the
Crimea at this time on a special mission to Circassia, with
instructions to confer with Mr. Longworth in anticipation of
future contingencies, the more especially as the conduct of
the Turkish officials who had been placed in the forts cap-
tured by us from the Russians on the coast of Circassia, and
their treatment of the natives, had not been such as to give
unqualified satisfaction. In Mr. Alison's instructions he was
directed to confer with Mr. Longworth in regard to my proj-
ect of going as an emissary of the British government to
Daghestan, and I was informed that I was to accompany
him.

It was therefore in high spirits that, on the evening of the
last day of August, I embarked with Mr. Alison on board
H.M.S. Highflyer, Captain Moore, which was detached from
the squadron in order to take us to Circassia. At Kertch I
found the Seventy-first Highlanders, whom I had known well
the previous year at Quebec, and after spending a pleasant
day with them, went on to Anapa, the first or most northerly
Circassian fort which we had taken from the Russians. Here
we transferred ourselves to H.M.S. Cyclops, which had been
placed at the disposal of Mr. Longworth; and in that com-
fortable and roomy old tub — of a type now obsolete — had a

76 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

most enjoyable cruise along the Circassian coast, landing re-
peatedly at the dismantled Russian forts occupied by Circas-
sians, who received us everywhere most cordially, for they
had formed a most exalted idea of British prowess when
they found that the forts which had always resisted their
efforts had either been abandoned or surrendered at once
to the guns of the British fleet. I had earnestly wished to
proceed on my mission to Daghestan from Anapa, which I
thought the most eligible starting-point ; but both Alison
and Longworth were of opinion that it would be desirable
first to communicate with the naib, Schamyl's lieutenant in
the Western Caucasus, and procure, if possible, an escort.

We hoped to find that chief within reaching distance from
the coast ; but in this we were disappointed, and it was
deemed undesirable to incur the delay of trying to reach him in
the mountains, as it was considered important that a confer-
ence should first be held with Omer Pasha, who had just ar-
rived at Trebizond, to decide upon the best strategical meas-
ures to be taken for the relief of Kars. To my mind the en-
joyment of a yachting cruise in a comfortable man-of-war, at
the loveliest season of the year, along the most exquisite
coast-scenery to be found anywhere, and in the most agreea-
ble company, scarcely compensated for the uncertainty and
delay which thus attended the realization of my own project.
Our party consisted of Messrs. Alison and Longworth ; Mr.
(now Sir Alfred) Sandison, the nephew and at that time the
private secretary of the latter ; Captain Ballard, who com-
manded the Cyclops ; and myself. At Trebizond we found
the Turkish commander-in-chief perfectly furious at the de-
lay to which he had been subjected by the generals in the
Crimea, unable to form any definite plan of campaign until
he knew what the strength of his army was to be, and when
it was to be at his disposal ; a position of matters which was
aggravated by the fact that while here we heard of the fall
of Sebastopol, but received no intelligence that the Turkish
army had left the Crimea in consequence.

CRIMEAN AND CIRCASSIAN EXPERIENCES. 77

The strategic question at issue was, whether it would be
best to attempt the relief of Kars direct from Trebizond by
way of Erzeroum — the objection to which plan was, that
there was no harbor at Trebizond, and the disembarkation
of troops might be attended with great danger, delay, and
difficulty ; or from Batoum, which possessed an excellent
harbor, but the roads from which place, across the country
to Kars, were almost impracticable for artillery ; or whether
it would not be best to land at Sukhum Kaleh, and march
directly on Tiflis, thus threatening the whole of Russian
Transcaucasia, and creating a diversion in favor of Kars by
compelling Mouravieff to raise the siege of that fortress. On
visiting Batoum, I was much struck with its great strategic
value as a port — a value which the Russians recognize so
fully that they succeeded in acquiring it by the Treaty of
Berlin, and are now fortifying it in direct defiance of a clause
in that treaty prohibiting them from doing so. The Ameri-
can code of commercial morality is, that it is perfectly legit-
imate to break a solemn contract if the advantages to be
gained more than compensate for the damages which you
will have to pay for so doing under a legal judgment. The
modern code of international morality seems to be, that it is
perfectly legitimate to break a treaty if you can do so without
incurring the risks of war ; and it is in accordance with that
code that the Russians are now acting in the matter of Batoum.

The delays consequent upon the departure of his army
from the Crimea finally decided Omer Pasha to undertake a
campaign in the Transcaucasus, with Tiflis as an objective
point. Meantime Mr. Alison left us at Trebizond, to go
back to Constantinople; and we returned in the Cyclops to
Sukhum Kaleh, to start upon an expedition from that point
into the interior, which had been decided upon, with the ob-
ject of distributing proclamations, calling upon the inhabi-
tants to rise and co-operate with their Mohammedan breth-
ren, who were coming to free them from the Muscovite yoke.
As, however, there were reasons why we could not start

7^ EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

upon this mission until Omer Pasha arrived, and as the com-
mander-in-chief lingered so long at Batoum that our patience
was becoming exhausted, Mr. Longworth sent me back to
that place in the Cyclops to discover the cause of the delay.
In answer to my urgent representations that we were anx-
ious, before the season for crossing the mountains closed, to
start on our expedition, Omer Pasha insisted that there was
no cause for hurry ; that he intended to summon a great
meeting of Circassian chiefs at Sukhum Kaleh, and that he
would then make arrangements for us all to start from Sujak
Kaleh and go into the interior together, by way of the
plains to the north of the range. I represented that we
should thus be exposed to Russian attack; but he main-
tained that we could always retreat in case of necessity into
the mountains on our right flank, and that he would arrange
that the force should be large enough to resist any Cossack
irregulars we were likely to meet. Meantime he desired me
to return to Sukhum Kaleh and request Mr. Longworth to
come back to Batoum, and to stop on the way at a small
place called Shefkatil, to meet there the Prince of Geoigia's
brother, and endeavor to make terms with him, which should
induce the prince to declare himself in favor of the allies.
On our way back we took provisions to the Turkish garri-
son at Redoute Kaleh, which, 1 verily believe, would have
starved to death had it not been for our opportune arrival.
Mr. Longworth at once responded to Omer Pasha's appeal ;
but no Georgian prince was forthcoming at Shefkatil accord-
ing to appointment, though an extremely picturesque emis-
sary arrived at Batoum shortly after we got there, and had
a long and secret conference with Omer Pasha. I suspect,
however, that his master the prince was not inclined to com-
mit himself definitely to the desertion of the Russians; and
as it afterwards turned out, it was fortunate for him that he
contented himself with temporizing. At last we succeeded
in dragging Omer Pasha out of Batoum, and took him with
us to Sukhum on board the Cyclops.

CRIMEAN AND CIRCASSIAN EXPERIENCES. 79

I had now performed the voyage between Sukhum and
Batoum six times, hammering away in a futile manner on the
rim of the country I so ardently desired to penetrate, unable
to get any positive decision arrived at in regard to my mis-
sion, which was all the more aggravating, as it was constantly
being talked of as a thing which, sooner or later, under some
circumstances or other, either in company with Mr. Long-
worth or alone, or with a strong force or a small escort, or
by the mountains or by the plains, was to come off; but as
week after week passed, it seemed further from being ac-
complished than ever. At last, three days after our arrival
at Sukhum Kaleh, Omer Pasha informed me that he wished
to send me on a special mission from himself to the naib.
As, when its purport was explained to Mr. Longworth, it re
ceived that gentleman's full concurrence, my spirits rose as
they had never done before. I had made all my prepara-
tions, received my instructions, and on the morning of my
start was only waiting the arrival of the Turkish officer who
was to accompany me, when he appeared with the depressing
intelligence that Omer Pasha had changed his mind, and had
given up the idea of sending the proposed mission, as news
had reached him that the naib was on his way from the in-
terior to pay his respects in person to the Turkish generalis-
simo. I thought the Fates were certainly against me, as I
sadly ordered my horse back to the stable, and resigned my-
self to the chapter of accidents. Omer Pasha had not been
misinformed. The naib arrived a few days after, and at the
same time the Highflyer appeared, having on board the Duke
of Newcastle and Mr. (now Lord) Calthorpe. Transports
also came pouring in from the Crimea, disgorging the army
for which we had been so long waiting ; and the picturesque
harbor of Sukhum, with its fort and village — which had been
abandoned by its Russian occupants when I first saw them,
and was a spot of silent and deserted loveliness — was now a
scene of life and bustle, and for those whose fate obliged
them to live on shore, of no little discomfort.

8o EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

Omer Pasha received the naib with every mark of respect
and consideration. He was evidently a personage of great
authority among the mountaineers, and was very proud of
an expedition he had just made against the Russians in the
province of Karachai, which he declared was a great success,
but which some Karachai men, whom I afterwards saw, pro-
nounced a failure. He was invested by the commander-in-
chief with Turkish official rank as Governor of the Western
Caucasus, and in that capacity could, I thought, have easily
forwarded me in safety to Schamyl. Whether as a bigoted
Moslem he had a prejudice against allowing me to penetrate
where no foreigner had ever been before, or was jealous of any
direct communication with Schamyl, between whom and the
outside world he was at that time the sole intermediary, I
know not ; but he made objections to my proposed journey
on the ground of the lateness of the season and the inse-
curity of the country, which neither Omer Pasha nor Mr.
Longworth used any arguments to overcome. Had they
done so, I do not think he would have persisted in his oppo-
sition ; indeed I have a strong suspicion that Omer Pasha
looked upon the mission with disfavor, believing, as did Mr.
Longworth, that it would be rendered unnecessary by a suc-
cessful advance on Tifiis, from which point Daghestan and
its celebrated chieftain could be visited without difficulty by
Mr. Longworth himself, as well as by Turkish emissaries,
none of whom were anxious to undertake the risks of a mis-
sion under present conditions. I was therefore finally com-
pelled to reconcile myself to the disappointment, and gladly
accepted an invitation from the Duke of Newcastle to ac-
company him on a short trip into the interior. Our party
was a large one, and consisted of his Grace, Mr. Calthorpe,
Captain Moore, Mr. Simpson (the well-known and popular
artist of the Illustrated London News), Mr. Longworth, Mr.
Sandison, and myself. A small abandoned Russian post on
the coast, called Vardan, was our starting-point, and the ut-
terly unknown and unexplored Circassian province of Ubooch

CRIMEAN AND CIRCASSIAN EXPERIENCES. 8l

the scene of our wanderings. These lasted for a little more
than a week, and led us high into the mountains, through the
most romantic scenery, and among a people as new and in-
teresting to us as we must have been to them. As, however,
I published a record of our adventures and observations on
that occasion,* I will not allude to them further now. On
our return to Sukhum Kaleh we became the guests of Prince
Michael of Abkhasia — of which province Sukhum is the
capital — who organized a grand shooting-party at one of his
country residences in honor of the duke, who afterwards re-
turned to England, while I, finding all chance of diplomatic
work of the kind I ambitioned at an end, for the present at
all events, attached myself to the Turkish army, with which
there were then five English officers, and especially to Colonel
Ballard of the East India Company's service, who commanded
two battalions of rifles, and was an officer of signal capacity
and merit. Under him I did some amateur soldiering, and
devoted myself to chronicling the events of the campaign in
the columns of the Iwies, afterwards republished f — a duty
which seemed to me the more necessary, as there was no
correspondent of any paper with the army throughout, and
no public record would otherwise have existed of a military
episode in the highest degree interesting at the time, and
which, had it been successful, would have been pregnant
with the most important political results. On my return to
Constantinople I received a reprimand from Lord Stratford
for having imposed this task upon myself while engaged in a
quasi diplomatic capacity ; but I represented that I consid-
ered this to have come to an end as soon as the diplomatic
object which had brought me to Circassia had become un-

* " Patriots and Filibusters." By Laurence Oliphant. William Black-
wood & Sons, Edinburgh and London: 1S60.

t " The Transcaucasian Campaign of the Turkish Army under Omer
Pasha: A Personal Narrative." By Laurence Oliphant. With Maps
and Illustrations. William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh and London :
1856.
4*

82 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

attainable, and that as I was receiving no pay at the time,
my pen was at my own disposal : at the same time, I de-
clined an offer which he kindly made me that I should re-
main at Constantinople as his private secretary.

The chief incidents of the campaign were the battle of the
Ingour ; the long and unaccountable delay at Sugdidi, the
capital of Mingrelia, which followed it ; and the disastrous
retreat when the winter rains set in, and the news reached
us of the fall of Kars. In regard to the first, the ease with
which we overcame the Russian army sent to oppose us
proved the facility with which we might have advanced on
Tiflis, and rendered it all the more difficult to explain the
delay of a fortnight which had occurred.

The ostensible reason for our inaction after the battle of
the Ingour was the necessity which had arisen for changing
our base from Sukhum to Redoute Kaleh for commissariat
and other transport. It was to this latter point that we ul-
timately retreated — not before the enemy, but the weather —
losing a very large proportion of our force from fever and
starvation, harassed night and day by Cossack irregulars,
drenched to the skin by flooded rivers and unceasing tor-
rents of rain, and compelled to endure privations which, in
my own case, brought on an illness that I thought at one
time would abruptly terminate my record of them. As it
was, I was barely able, on the 2 2d of December — just four
months after I had landed in the Crimea — to scramble on
board a steamer bound for Trebizond; and about the same
day, between our rear-guard and some Cossack skirmishers,
the last shot of the war was fired.

I would say one word finally in regard to the peace which
followed, and which, by its premature conclusion, prevented
the scene of our late campaign again becoming the theatre
of hostile operations — this time to be undertaken by an Eng-
lish army, supported by the Turkish contingent and Bashi-
Bazouks which we had organized, and by a Turkish force of
regulars co-operating with us on the Kuban. This plan was

CRIMEAN AND CIRCASSIAN EXPERIENCES. 83

abruptly put an end to by a peace which practically did
nothing towards checking Russia's Asiatic policy. But even
then she would have been powerless to resist the insertion
of a clause which would have changed the whole course of
events in the East since that period, and this was simply for
England to refuse to consent to the reoccupation by Russia
of the nine or ten forts which we had taken from her, and
which had been dismantled on the eastern or Circassian
shore of the Black Sea.

When we consider that even when, by the Russian occupa-
tion of the coast and the erection of these forts, the Caucasus
had become a besieged mountain, its brave defenders, unable
to obtain arms or ammunition from without exceDt with the

greatest difficulty, had successfully held Russia at bay for
thirty years, it is evident that the final conquest of the coun-
try and its annexation to the empire would have been a work
of enormously increased cost and labor — if, indeed, it could
ever have been achieved — had the whole of its coast remained
in the hands of the Circassians, and traffic with the outside
world been thus unimpeded. With the Russians deprived
of a Black Sea fleet, and their access to Circassia barred
from the coast, which would thus have been open to all
comers to supply the population with arms, volunteers, and
material aid, the absorption of this wild and inaccessible
mountain-range into the empire would have been a matter
almost of impossibility; it would have remained a barrier
permanently separating Russia from her Transcaucasian
provinces, and have protected Turkey from that campaign
in 1878 which resulted in the annexation of Kars and Ba-
toum, and is about shortly to culminate in the acquisition of
Armenia and the ultimate extension of the Russian frontier
to the shores of the Mediterranean.

The neglect of this simple precaution has entailed conse-
quences which have had a predominant influence on recent
events in the East. The Russian government, perceiving
the narrow escape they had made from a termination of the

84 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

war which would have checkmated their policy in Asiatic
Turkey, took the most stringent measures, as soon as peace
was concluded, to repair the weak spot in their armor of na-
tional defence and aggression, by concentrating their whole
energies upon the final subjugation of the Circassians. This,
after some years of severe fighting, they succeeded in achiev-
ing; and the Moslem highlanders, refusing to part with an in-
dependence for which they had struggled so long and so brave-
ly, emigrated en masse into the dominions of the Sultan.

The influx of about two hundred thousand destitute stran-
gers, of all ages and both sexes, was a severe strain upon a
crippled treasury; and large numbers were settled in colonies
in Bulgaria and other parts of the empire, there to shift for
themselves as best they could. Lawless by nature, cattle-
lifters by training and instinct, brave and inured to wars, they
found themselves planted in a fertile country, surrounded
by a race in close affinity with the one they most detested,
speaking almost the same language, and professing the same
abhorred religion. The Bulgarian atrocities followed, as a
matter of course. One might as well have transplanted a
penniless clan of Highlanders in the middle of the last cen-
tury into Kent, and expected them to live peaceably with
their neighbors, as have colonized Circassians in the midst
of Bulgarians and have expected fraternization.

The philanthropic British public, who a few years pre-
viously had held meetings of sympathy and collected funds
for the relief of the poor expelled Circassians, now demanded
vengeance against Turkey for the atrocities committed by
them upon the Bulgarians; and the Russian army crossed
the Danube to execute it, while the British public calmly
looked on, and saw every object, to attain which they had
expended so much blood and treasure in the Crimea twenty-
four years before, ruthlessly sacrificed, and the treaty of 1856,
which had resulted from it, torn up and scattered to the
winds. We had already yielded the important clause pro-
hibiting Russia from having a fleet on the Black Sea : we

CRIMEAN AND CIRCASSIAN EXPERIENCES. 85

then, by the Treaty of Berlin, gave her back Bessarabia, per-
mitted her to annex Kars, with the harbor of Batoum, and
consented to the unlimited extension of her influence across
the Danube. All this was due, in the first instance, to our
having concluded the Crimean war without finishing the
work to which we had set our hand, by means of a Trans-
caucasian campaign with a British army, with the Circas-
sians as our allies ; and in the second, to our having utterly
ignored the strategical value and importance of the country
they occupied, and to our having taken no steps at the con-
clusion of peace to secure its independence.

How little apprehended at the time were the circumstances
connected with the fall of Kars — which an ignorant public
attributed chiefly to neglect on the part of Lord Stratford —
and the effect which our Circassian policy was destined to
produce upon subsequent events in the East, may be gath-
ered from the following letter from the ambassador himself,
dated 30th April, 1856, to whom I had sent a copy of my
narrative of the campaign in which I had just been engaged,
and who was as much disappointed at the sudden and inept
conclusion of the war as was everybody else who had the
interest of their country at heart and understood the posi-
tion of affairs at the time. He writes :

" I am greatly obliged to you for thinking of me in the distribution of
your Circassian volume. I accept the copy you have kindly sent me as
a valuable testimony of your regard. I have been assailed with so much
reckless self-seeking malignity, that the discernment of any disinterested
witness having a just hold on public confidence is doubly precious to me.
Many a false notion respecting the fate of Kars and its neighborhood re-
mains still to be dispelled ; but I rely with confidence on that sense of
justice and love of truth which seldom fail our countrymen after allowing
themselves the indulgence of a little temporary riot. We shall be delight-
ed to see you again whenever you are tempted to explore these regions in
a more complete manner. The restoration of peace gives so much uncer-
tainty to our plans that I can hardly venture to look forward beyond a
month. Yours very sincerely, Stratford de R."

The misfortune is, that whatever may be " the sense of

86 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

justice and love of truth of our countrymen," their ignorance
of political conditions abroad, especially in the East, and
their effect upon British interests, remain unchanged. They
were unable then to perceive that the sure way to prevent
a Russian advance upon India was to wrest from her her
Transcaucasian provinces, and that we could attack her far
more easily and effectively in Circassia than in Afghanistan.
Although we have allowed the golden opportunity to escape
us, strategically this proposition still holds good— should we
unfortunately ever find ourselves forced into hostilities with .
the power which is ever the disturbing element in Eastern
affairs, we should act, not on the defensive at Herat, but on
the offensive at Batoum and Sukhum Kaleh, and endeavor
to occupy the country between the Black Sea and Caspian
— thus cutting her line of communication to the East, and
forcing her to concentrate her attention on her own fron-
tiers instead of upon ours. To do this effectively, however,
it would be necessary to come to an understanding with
Turkey, both in regard to our passage into the Black Sea,
which it would be better to arrange peaceably than by force,
and in regard to a Turkish military contingent, which, with
the thousands of Circassians who would flock to our stand-
ard at the prospect of returning to their own country, would
form a most valuable auxiliary force ; while the restoration
to Turkey of the Asiatic provinces recently annexed by Rus-
sia, with possibly a further extension of territory towards
the Caspian, would in some measure repay her for the sac-
rifices to which she is being now subjected in Europe. It
was universally admitted at the close of the Crimean war,
by those who were engaged in it and had studied the sub-
ject, that the true theatre of operations from the first should
have been the Transcaucasus. The proof of it was that we
were making preparations to convey an army there when
peace was made. Is it possible that the lesson we learned
then should be so soon forgotten ?"

CHAPTER VI.

ADVENTURES IN CENTRAL AMERICA.

I had not been many months back from Circassia, and,
Micawber-like, was waiting for something to turn up — not
anxiously, however, for the London season of 1856 was not
without its attractions — when, towards the close of it, I found
myself once more starting for Liverpool on another trip
across the Atlantic, my fellow-traveller on this occasion
being my much-valued and lamented friend Mr. Delane of
the Times, to whom I was able to act as cicerone on our ar-
rival at New York, where we underwent a round of festivi-
ties and enjoyed an amount of hospitality which, I used to
think afterwards on perusing the columns of the Thunderer,
had not been altogether without their effect. The pressure
of my companion's editorial duties unfortunately obliged us
to part all too soon — he to return to England, and I to visit
each one of the British North American colonies in turn,
on some business with which I had been intrusted ; but I
cannot neglect this opportunity of paying the tribute of a
grateful memory to one of the best and truest men I have
ever known.

My intimacy with Delane extended over nearly twenty
years, during which I had frequent business as well as un-
interrupted private relations with him. I had thus abun-
dant opportunities of testing alike the power of his intellect
and the warmth of his affections, and found in him a man
who, with everything to spoil him, was never spoiled — who
never allowed his social or public position to paralyze in
the slightest degree that generosity of nature which was

88 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

constantly prompting him to extend his strong arm to help
those in trouble, and to perform acts of kindness which were
never known except to the recipients of them. As an in-
stance, I remember on one occasion bringing to his notice
the case of a widow of an officer who had been severely
wounded in the Crimea, who was refused her pension be-
cause, although it was not denied that he died of his wound,
he lingered a day or two beyond the allotted time within
which he ought to have succumbed, the plea of the War
Office being that an awkward question might be asked in
the House of Commons if an exception were made in his
favor. On my showing him the correspondence, Delane
immediately took up the cudgels for the widow, and a lead-
ing article appeared in the old slashing style, which con-
cluded with the following stinging epigram, in allusion to
the possibility of an objection being taken in Parliament:
" The House of Commons is never stingy, except when it
suspects a job ; the War Office is always stingy, except when
it commits one." But the question was never allowed to
come before the House ; for, two days after the appearance
of this article, the widow got her pension.

We made at New York the acquaintance of all the lead-
ing members of the press of that city at an entertainment
given by them to Mr. Delane ; and the occasion was doubly
interesting, because the presidential election was going on
at the time, which resulted in Buchanan being sent to the
White House at Washington. How little did any of us, in
the political discussions in which we took part, foresee how
pregnant with disastrous results that .presidentship was des-
tined to be — that it would involve the most bloody civil
war of modern times, and that nearly thirty years would
elapse before a Democratic administration would again be
formed in the United States ! Among the eminent men
whose acquaintance we made, and whom it is interesting to
recall to memory— for they have all, I think, passed away—
were General Scott, then commander-in-chief of the army ;

ADVENTURES IN CENTRAL AMERICA. 89

Commodore Perry; Mr. Grinnell, who fitted out the first
American Arctic expedition ; and Bancroft, the historian.
We fraternized much with a most agreeable group of South-
erners, from whom I was glad to accept invitations to visit
them on their plantations — an experience I the less regret,
as I was thus able to form an independent judgment of the
practical working of the "peculiar institution" which was
destined so soon to be abolished ; to see the South in the
palmy days of its prosperity, under conditions which can
never occur again ; and to enjoy a hospitality which pos-
sessed a charm of its own, however much one might regret
the surroundings amid which it was exercised, or condemn
the abuses to which the system of slavery gave rise. I put
the result of my observations on record at the time in an
article in Blackwood's Magazine ; and from what I saw
and heard, it was not difficult to predict in it the cataclysm
which took place four years later, though the idea of the
South resorting to violence was scouted in the North ; and
when, upon more than one occasion, I ventured to suggest
the possibility to Republicans, I was invariably met by the
reply that I had not been long enough in the country to un-
derstand the temper of the people, and attached an impor-
tance it did not deserve to Southern " bounce." When, three
months after the close of the war, I again traversed the same
states which I was now visiting during a period of peace
and plenty, the contrast was heartrending. Homesteads
which then were rich and flourishing were now masses of
charred ruins ; whole towns had been swept away. This,
I remember, was conspicuously the case at Atlanta, where
only a few wooden shanties — where I found it very difficult
to get accommodation for the night — indicated the site of
the former town. It is now again a flourishing city. Ruin
and devastation marked the track of invading armies over
vast tracts of country, and testified alike to the severity of
the struggle and the obstinacy of the resistance. In this
respect the country exhibited a very striking contrast to

90 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

France after the German campaign. As it was my fortune
to accompany the German armies through a great part of
the war, and to march with them through several provinces
of France, I could compare the conditions of the theatre of
military operations with that of the Southern States imme-
diately after the war, and judge of the nature of the conflict
by the traces which it left. In the latter case, one may say
that, except immediately round Paris and in one or two
isolated localities like Chateaudun, it left no traces at all,
and enabled one to estimate at its proper value, even if
one had not been present at the battles, the flimsy nature
of the resistance which had been offered.

Perhaps one of the best evidences of the different char-
acter of the fighting which took place between the Northern
and Southern armies in America, and that which occurred
in France, is to be found in the fact that the Franco-German
battles were essentially artillery combats ; and that, with the
exception of one or two of the earlier battles, such as Spiche-
iren and Gravelotte, the opposing forces never came to close
quarters at all. In fact, during the Loire campaign, which
I made with the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg, both sides
played at such long bowls that it was very difficult, even with
the aid of a field-glass, to see a Frenchman ; whereas, tow-
ards the close of the American war, both sides almost aban-
doned artillery as a useless arm, and a source of weakness
rather than of strength, when men, not to be deterred by
noise, rushed in on the guns. Modern inventions and ma-
chine-guns may make this more difficult, but certainly the
artillery of even fifteen years ago, mitrailleuse included, re-
quired an amount of protection when opposed by a resolute
foe which scarcely compensated for the relatively small ex-
tent of injury it could inflict; and I have often thought that
if the German armies had found themselves confronted with
the comparatively raw and untrained levies of the American
rebellion, they would have discovered that there is another
art of war altogether from that in which they have perfected

ADVENTURES IN CENTRAL AMERICA. 91

themselves — of which they have had as yet no experience —
and which consists in an invincible determination to get at
close quarters with the enemy as quickly as possible, and, if
necessary, to die there rather than come away.

In no Southern city, perhaps, was the stress of war more
severely felt than in New Orleans, though it was never de-
vastated by shot and shell. At the time of my first visit in
the winter of 1856-57, it was socially the most delightful city
in the Union ; and as I was fortunate in the possession of
many friends, and of an age to appreciate gayety, my stay
there was one of unqualified enjoyment. In the autumn of
1865 it was the saddest place I ever entered, sadder to me,
perhaps, from the contrast as I had known it in happier days.
Some of my friends had been killed, others were totally
ruined, others in self-imposed exile. A new and not a pleas-
ant class had taken their place, trade was at a standstill, en-
terprise of all sorts was languishing, and a feeling of gloom
and despondency reigned supreme. My last visit there was
made during the last days of 1881, when it seemed like a
city rising from the dead : hope and joy beamed from every
countenance ; and though, after the lapse of so many years,
I scarcely found a soul I knew, there was a life and anima-
tion which augured well for the recovery of the place from
its long torpor. Still it has undergone a change which will
prevent it ever becoming the New Orleans I first remember.
Then its charm lay in its French-Creole society — an element
which has given way to the inroad from the North — and, if
I may venture to confess it, in a certain lawlessness, which
made it what, in local parlance, was called the " jumping-off
place" for harebrained expeditions of a filibustering charac-
ter to Cuba, Central America, or any other tempting locality.
Among the most hospitable houses on the occasion of my
first visit was that of Mr. Pierre Soule, formerly United States
Minister to Madrid, and whose son — at whose wedding I
assisted — fought a duel with the Duke of Alva, which made
some noise at the time. At this juncture Walker was en-

92 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

deavoring to establish himself as President of Nicaragua,
and engaged in a war with the Costa-Ricans, who were be-
ing aided in their resistance to his attempt by money and
men supplied by Commodore Vanderbilt, with whom Walker
had foolishly quarrelled upon the subject of the transit route
through Nicaragua, of which the American capitalist desired
to retain the control. Mr. Soule was acting in New Orleans
as Walker's agent, and he explained to me that Walker's in-
tention was not, as erroneously supposed by the British gov-
ernment, to conquer the small republics of Central America,
with the view of annexing them to the United States, but for
the purpose of welding them into a new Anglo-Saxon re-
public — a project which it seemed to me, though it was un-
dertaken by a single man, was not more immoral than sim-
ilar enterprises are when undertaken by governments, and
one which was calculated to benefit not only the Central
American States themselves, but the cause of civilization
generally. Subsequent observation confirmed me in this
view, which has been further illustrated by the history of the
country during the thirty years which have elapsed since
this time, when it has been the prey to constant revolutions,
while it has made absolutely no advance in the arts of
peace. I therefore listened with a favorable ear to Mr.
Soule's offer of a free passage to Nicaragua in a ship convey-
ing a reinforcement of three hundred men to Walker's army,
and of carrying strong personal recommendations to that
noted filibuster, who was requested by Mr. Soule to explain
the political situation to me, in the hope that on my return
to England I might induce the British government to regard
his operations with a more favorable eye than they had
hitherto done. The fact that if I succeeded I was to be al-
lowed to take my pick out of a list of confiscated haciendas,
or estates, certainly did not influence my decision to go,
though it may possibly have acted as a gentle stimulant ;
but I remember at the time having some doubts on the sub-
ject from a moral point of view. Had I been brought up

ADVENTURES IN CENTRAL AMERICA. 93

in the city, or been familiar with the processes of promoting
joint-stock companies, these probably would not have oc-
curred to me. As it was, I remember spending Christmas-
day in high spirits at the novelty of the adventure upon which
I was entering; and here I may remark, as an illustration
of the rapidity with which, in my capacity of a moss-gather-
ing stone, I was rolling about the world, that my Christmas-
days during these years were passed in very varied localities.

On Christmas-day, 1854, I was in Quebec; on the same
clay, 1855, 1 was in Trebizond ; in 1856, at New Orleans; and
in 1 85 7, in the Canton River.

It was on the last day of the year that the good ship Texas
cleared out of New Orleans with three hundred emigrants
on board. At least we called ourselves emigrants — a mis-
nomer which did not prevent the civic authorities, with the
city marshal at their head, trying to stop us ; but we had
the sympathies of the populace with us, and under their aegis
laughed the law to scorn. It would have been quite clear
to the most simple-minded observer what kind of emigrants
we were the day after we got out to sea and the men were
put through their squad-drill on deck. There were English-
men who had been private soldiers in the Crimea, Poles who
had fought in the last Polish insurrection, Hungarians who
had fought under Kossuth, Italians who had struggled through
the revolutions of '48, Western " boys " who had just had six
months' fighting in Kansas, while of the "balance" the ma-
jority had been in one or other of the Lopez expeditions to
Cuba. Many could exhibit bullet-wounds and sword-cuts,
and scars from manacles, which they considered no less
honorable — notwithstanding all which, the strictest order
prevailed. No arms were allowed to be carried. There
were always two officers-of-the-day who walked about with
swords buckled over their shooting-jackets, and sixteen men
told off as a guard to maintain discipline. Alas ! the good
behavior and fine fighting qualities of these amiable emi-
grants were destined to be of no avail ; for on our arrival at

94 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

the mouth of the San Juan River we found a British squadron
lying at anchor to keep the peace, and the steamer by which
we hoped to ascend the river in the hands of our enemies,
the Costa-Ricans. Our first feeling was that we were not
to be deterred by such trifles. The men were all drawn up
below, each had received his rifle, revolver, and bowie, with
the necessary ammunition, and all the arrangements were
made for cutting out our prize, which was lying about three
hundred yards off, in the night. As a compliment, which I
could not refuse but did not appreciate, I was given com-
mand of a boat (I think it was the dingy), and I costumed
myself accordingly. Just before sunset we observed to our
dismay a British man-of-war's boat pulling towards us; and
a moment later Captain Cockburn, of Her Majesty's ship
Cossack, was in the captain's cabin, making most indiscreet
inquiries as to the kind of emigrants we were. It did not
require long to satisfy him ; and as I incautiously hazarded
a remark which betrayed my nationality, I was incontinently
ordered into his boat as a British subject, being where a
British subject had no right to be. As he further announced
that he was about to moor his ship in such a position as
would enable him, should fighting occur in the course of the
night, to fire into both combatants with entire impartiality, I
the less regretted this abrupt parting from my late compan-
ions, the more especially as, on asking him who commanded
the squadron, I found it was a distant cousin. This an-
nouncement on my part was received with some incredulity,
and I was taken on board the Orion, an eighty-gun ship,
carrying the flag of Admiral Erskine, to test its veracity,
while Captain Cockburn made his report of the Texas and
her passengers. As soon as the admiral recovered from his
amazement at my appearance, he most kindly made me his
guest ; and I spent a very agreeable time for some days,
watching the "emigrants" disconsolately pacing the deck,
for the Costa-Ricans gave them the slip in the night and
went up the river, and their opponents found their occupa-

ADVENTURES IN CENTRAL AMERICA. 95

tion gone. The question they now had to consider was how
to get to Walker. Few ever succeeded in doing so ; and the
non-arrival of this reinforcement was the immediate cause
of the disaster which obliged " the blue-eyed man of destiny,"
as his friends called him, not long after to escape from the
country. Poor Walker ! he owed all his misfortunes, and finally
his own untimely end, to British interference ; for on his return
to Central America, where he intended to make Honduras the
base of his operations, he was captured at Truxillo by Cap-
tain (now Sir Nowell) Salmon, and handed over to the Hon-
duras government, who incontinently hung him. This was
the usual fate which followed failure in this country; and
those who fought in it knew they were doing so with a rope
round their necks — which doubtless improved their fighting
qualities. I did not know, however, until my return to Eng-
land, that rumor had accredited me with so tragic an end,
when, at the first party I went to, my partner, a very charm-
ing young person, whom I was very glad to see again after my
various adventures, put out two fingers by way of greeting,
raised her eyebrows with an air of mild surprise, and said, in
the most silvery and unmoved voice, "Oh, how d'ye do? I
thought you were hung !" I think it was rather a disap-
pointment to her that I was not. There is a novelty in the
sensation of an old and esteemed dancing -partner being
hanged, and it forms a pleasing topic of conversation with
the other ones. Eight years after this escapade, Admiral
Erskine and I used to meet under very different circum-
stances : he was member for the county of Stirling, and I for
the Stirling burghs, and he used laughingly to maintain that
he had rescued me from a gang of desperadoes and restored
me to respectable society — a view which I attribute to nar-
row prejudice ; for, if you come to sheer respectability, there
can be no doubt in the mind of any one who has tried both
that the life of a filibuster is infinitely superior in its aims
and methods to that of a politician: a conclusion which was
forcibly impressed upon my mind by one of my earliest ex-

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98 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

should receive from a bishop ! My spiritual tempter was
rather disappointed to learn that I was not a Romanist, as
then I should have been supported by the high moral con-
sciousness that I was fighting in the cause of the Church ;
and was obliged to rest satisfied with my assurances that I
was free from theological bigotry of any kind. Men, he said,
derived great spiritual benefit by fighting on the right side,
even though, to begin with, the motives by which they were
actuated were low ones. This naturally suggested the ques-
tion, What temporal advantage was to accrue to me for the
service I was rendering the Church ? He was not in a posi-
tion, he replied, to make me any definite promises in this re-
spect ; but I might count on high office, probably the head
of the War Department, if I developed strong clerical sym-
pathies. What a vista of conquest and greatness did this
suggestion open to my youthful and ardent imagination ! To
be War Minister of Honduras at seven or eight and twenty,
with Costa Rica, Guatemala, San Salvador, and Nicaragua
all waiting to be gobbled up. I would out-Walker Walker.
Of course we did not get to this climax till after several days
of secret confabulation, for I had to inspire the holy father
with confidence. Meantime my moral sense was getting
more and more confused. Decidedly there was something
in the atmosphere of Central America which had a tendency
to mix things up. Possibly it is still haunted by the shades
of Pizarro and Kidd and Morgan, and freebooting and buc-
caneering influences hang round the lovely land to tempt the
lonely wanderer disgusted with the prosaic tendencies of
modern civilization. I went so far as to learn a secret sign
from this pious conspirator, so that on my return with my
twenty men I should know how to find a friend in case of
need. After all, he was only proposing to me to do on a
small scale in Honduras what a clerical deputation five
years afterwards proposed to the brother of the Emperor of
Austria to do in Mexico on a larger one, and which that un-
happy prince accepted as a religious duty.

ADVENTURES IN CENTRAL AMERICA. 99

I had a long talk with the Emperor Maximilian at Trieste
just before he started for Mexico, and gave him the benefit
of some of my Central American experiences ; for when I
heard the noble and lofty ambitions by which his soul was
fired, I foresaw the bitter disappointment in store for him,
though I could not anticipate his tragic end.

"It is the paradise of adventurers, sir," I remember say-
ing, "but not a country for any man to go to who has a
position to lose or a conscience to obey." In my small
way I felt, after I had escaped from the influence of my
ghostly tempter, that I had both, and dismissed him and
his proposals from my mind. I watched, however, the fort-
unes of Honduras in the papers ; and sure enough, not
many months elapsed before the government was over-
thrown by a peaceful revolution, as the father had predicted,
and a new president and administration were installed in
its place, where the name of the priest himself figured more
than once as an important character in the politics of the
country.

Almost immediately on my arrival in England, a dissolu-
tion of Parliament, followed by a general election, took place,
and I was actively engaged for a fortnight endeavoring to fili-
buster a constituency. I failed in the attempt ; but I was
more than consoled by the fact that during the contest a
special embassy to China was decided upon, with Lord Elgin
as ambassador, who offered, if I did not get into Parliament,
to take me out with him as his secretary. As special em-
bassies to China are rarer events than general elections, I
accepted my defeat with a light heart, more especially as I
knew I had made the seat sure for next time, and a month
afterwards was steaming down the Bay of Biscay on my way
to far Cathay, with my dreams of empire in Central America
relegated to the limbo of the past.

At Singapore we transferred ourselves from the P. & O.
Company's steamer, in which we had made the journey thus
far, to H.M.S. Shannon, a fifty -gun frigate commanded by

IOO EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

Sir William Peel. She was a magnificent specimen of the
naval architecture of those clays ; and her captain, who was
justly proud of her, was, I think, not altogether satisfied with
the prospect, during war-time, of the peaceful duty of carry-
ing about an ambassador, which had been allotted to him.
Poor fellow ! his fighting propensities were destined all too
soon to be gratified, and the brilliant professional career
which seemed in store for him to be abruptly and fatally
terminated. I have never met a naval officer who so com-
' pletely realized one's beau ideal of a sailor, or in whom a
thorough knowledge of and devotion to his profession was
combined with such a sound judgment, such gentle and amia-
ble qualities, and such chivalrous daring. In some points
there was a marked similarity in his character to that of
General Gordon. There was the same high principle, stern
sense of duty, lofty aspiration of aim, unbounded self-reliance,
and intolerance of what seemed unworthy or ignoble, whether
in governments or individuals.

It was at Galle that we heard the first news of the out-
break of the Indian mutiny ; but the appalling details reached
us at Singapore, and determined Lord Elgin, on his own re-
sponsibility, to divert the destination of the China expedi-
tionary force from Hong Kong to Calcutta. Meantime we
proceeded ourselves to the former place ; and after staying
there a few weeks to transact some necessary business, Lord
Elgin determined to go himself to Calcutta, with the view of
affording Lord Canning all the moral support in his power.
On our return to Singapore in company with H.M.S. Pearl,
commanded by Captain Sotheby, we found the Ninetieth
Regiment, together with some other troops, waiting for trans-
port to Calcutta. These were embarked in the two ships,
and we proceeded with them to India.

The transport which had conveyed the Ninetieth Regiment
had been wrecked in the Straits of Sunda, and one young of-
ficer had particularly distinguished himself in the confusion
attendant upon getting the men safely ashore and putting

ADVENTURES IN CENTRAL AMERICA. 10 1

them under canvas. This was the junior captain ; and as he
took passage with us in the Shannon, I was so fortunate as
to make his acquaintance. I little suspected, however, when
we parted at Calcutta, that the next time I was destined to
meet him it would be as Lord Wolseley.

CHAPTER VII.

CALCUTTA DURING THE MUTINY, AND CHINA DURING THE

WAR 1857-1859.

The extraordinary sensation produced by our arrival at
Calcutta, and the relief which the appearance of a large body
of British troops at so critical a juncture afforded the foreign
population, I alluded to in a book published two years later •*
but as this narrative had reference more especially to war
and diplomacy in China, I may be permitted to recall the
impressions which Calcutta made upon me at the time, and
which are omitted-in it. Certainly at the moment of our ar-
rival the prevailing sentiment was panic. Each day witnessed
the appearance of refugees from up country, with tales of
fresh horrors. The whole country seemed slipping from our
grasp : Delhi and Agra were in the hands of the mutineers ;
an English garrison, with a numerous party of civilians, with
ladies and children, were besieged in Lucknow, which Have-
lock had not yet succeeded in relieving; the solitary sur-
vivor of the Cawnpore massacre had only arrived two or three
days before. He was pointed out to me one afternoon in
awe-stricken tones by a friend. Almost every private house
was an asylum for refugees. I was the guest of my old friend,
the late Sir Arthur Buller, and shared his hospitality with two
ladies who had both been obliged to fly for their lives. One of
them in particular had a very narrow escape. She left the
station at which she was staying at nine p.m., fearing an out-
break, but scarcely anticipating it so soon. By six o'clock

* "Narrative of Lord Elgin's Embassy to China and Japan."

CALCUTTA DURING THE MUTINY. 103

the next morning every man, woman, and child in the place
had been murdered. For two nights and a day she rode or
drove with a double-barrelled gun across her knees. Al-
though she was robbed of this and of all the money she pos-
sessed, her life was spared by the natives she encountered ;
but during these thirty-six hours she tasted no food, and I
remember being deeply impressed by the narrative of her
adventures, though these are all the particulars I can recall.
As everybody one met had lost some dear relative or friend,
or was in feverish anxiety as to the fate of those from whom
no news had been received, a fearful gloom pervaded the
community ; and this was heightened by the suspense at-
taching to Lucknow, where so many officials in both branches
of the service, with delicate women and children, were col-
lected. Every day we expected to hear the news of its fall ;
and with the experience of Cawnpore fresh in our memories,
we knew that this meant the massacre, under the most re-
volting conditions, of every soul. It was no wonder, under
these circumstances, that every soldier we brought was hur-
ried up to Havelock, and that a naval brigade formed from
the S/ian/ion and Pearl, and placed under the command of
Sir William Peel, was organized without delay. The whole
force was drawn up on the morning of its despatch to the
front, and addressed in a stirring speech by Lord Elgin, when
we parted from our shipmates, many of whom we should never
see again. There can be little doubt that these reinforce-
ments, arriving when they did, enabled Havelock to relieve
Lucknow, and that the salvation of that place by the Eng-
lish was the turning-point of the mutiny. The China force
thus diverted by Lord Elgin without waiting for instructions
from home, thereby indefinitely postponing his own mission,
amounted to five thousand men ; and these just turned the
scale at the critical moment. As a testimony to this, I can-
not do better than quote a letter addressed by Sir Henry
Ward, whose position as Governor of Ceylon enabled him to
judge of the situation as well as any man, to Lord Elgin :

104 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

" You may think me impertinent," he says, " in volunteering an opin-
ion upon what, in the first instance, only concerns you and the queen and
Lord Canning. Uut having seen something of public life during a great
part of my own, which is now fast verging into the ' sear and yellow leaf,'
I may venture to say that I never knew a nobler thing than that which
you have done, in preferring the safety of India to the success of your
Chinese negotiations. If I know anything of English public opinion, this
single act will place you higher in general estimation as a statesman than
your whole past career, honorable and fortunate as it has been. For it is
not every man who would venture to alter the destination of a force upon
the despatch of which a Parliament has been dissolved, and a govern-
ment might have been superseded. It is not every man who would consign
himself for many months to political inaction in order simply to serve
the interests of his country. You have set a bright example at a mo-
ment of darkness and calamity ; and if India can be saved, it is to you
that we shall owe its redemption, for nothing short of the Chinese ex-
pedition would have supplied the means of holding our ground until
further reinforcements are received." *

I have ventured to introduce this quotation because I do
not think that either in public estimation, or in the accounts
of the Indian mutiny which have been published, the impor-
tant bearing of this act on the part of Lord Elgin upon the
destiny of our Indian empire has ever been sufficiently rec-
ognized and appreciated. The ambassador was at this time
staying as the guest of Lord and Lady Canning, with his
brother Sir Frederick Bruce, and Mr. (now Sir Henry) Loch,
at Government House. Here I used constantly to dine, and
here I remember meeting Lord Clyde on the evening of his
arrival in India to take the command of the army. It gave
one a curious sensation to pass the native sentries at the
gates and in the corridors of the governor-general's residence,
and see them all keeping guard with ramrods in their hands,
instead of the muskets of which they had been deprived ;
and I was much struck, amid the universal exasperation,
mingled with panic and gloom, which prevailed, at the per-
fectly calm and even unemotional attitude both of Lord and
Lady Canning. For not only was the governor-general over-

* " Extracts from Letters of Lord Elgin." Privately printed.

CALCUTTA DURING THE MUTINY. 10^

whelmed with the cares and anxieties arising out of the for-
midable progress which the mutiny was making, but he was
exposed to the severest censure on the part of the English
community at Calcutta, by whom he was nick-named Clem-
ency Canning, and who accused him of a forbearance in his
conduct of affairs and treatment of the natives which had
brought matters to their present pass, and which they be-
lieved imperilled not only the Indian empire, but their own
lives. As nothing has a tendency to destroy the faculty of
calm judgment so completely as panic, the violence of the
language employed was usually in proportion to the degree
of alarm that was felt — a sentiment no doubt exaggerated
by the fact that it was mingled with contempt for the race
from whose cruelty so much was feared.

" I have seldom," says Lord Elgin, in his diary during this episode,
"from man or woman since I came to the East, heard a sentence which
was reconcilable with the hypothesis that Christianity had ever come
into the world. Detestation, contempt, ferocity, vengeance, whether
Chinamen or Indians be the object. There are some three or four hun-
dred servants in this house (Government House). When one first passes
by their salaaming, one feels a little awkward. But the feeling soon
wears off, and one moves among them with perfect indifference, treating
them not as dogs, because in that case one would whistle to them and
pat them, but as machines with which one can have no communion or
sympathy. Of course those who can speak the language are somewhat
more en rapport with the natives ; but very slightly so, I take it. When
the passions of fear and hatred are grafted on this indifference, the result
is frightful, an absolute callousness as to the sufferings of those passions,
which must be witnessed to be understood or believed."

I remember meeting one clergyman who contrasted, in
my mind, very unfavorably with the filibustering friends
with whom I had lately been associating, in the ferocious
vindictiveness of his language, and the fury with which he
expressed his indignation with Lord Canning because the
latter had removed some commissioners who, not content
with hanging all the rebels they could lay their hands on, had
been insulting them by destroying their caste, and thus inter-
5*

106 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

fering, in their belief, with their prospects in a future state
of existence. Alluding to this conversation, Lord Elgin re-
marks: "The reverend gentleman could not understand the
conduct of the government ; could not see that there was any
impropriety in torturing men's souls ; seemed to think that
a good deal might be said in favor of bodily torture as well.
These are our teachers, O Israel ! Imagine what the pupils
become under such a leading!" The poor man was evi-
dently utterly demoralized by fear. The holy father who
offered to make me War Minister of Honduras was, I think,
a better specimen of the Church militant here upon earth
than he. Perhaps if, during my early experiences, I had not
met such a singular variety of ecclesiastical specimens in
different parts of the world, instead of remaining a rolling-
stone to this day, they might have builded me into one of
their temples.

At the same time, I must admit that the treatment of such
a rebellion as that with which Lord Canning had to deal
involves very difficult and complicated considerations, as
well from a moral as from an expediency point of view. I
think there can be little doubt that if, when the first regiment
mutinied at Barrackpore, the governor-general had ordered
them to be blown from the guns, instead of treating them
with the leniency he did, the mutiny would have been nipped
in the bud, while he would have been handed down to pos-
terity as a butcher of the most ferocious description, and his
name branded with universal execration. No one would
have known what thousands of lives and untold horrors
might thus have been spared, and how merciful this act
would have been, judged by the light of events which only
transpired because it was not consummated ; for had the
mutiny been thus checked, there would have been no appar-
ent justification for an act of such barbarity. An illustration
of an opposite kind occurred some years later in the case of
the late Governor Eyre of Jamaica. It is impossible to say,
now, what massacres by the negroes his timely severity may

CALCUTTA DURING THE MUTINY. 107

not have prevented : it is easy for those ensconced comfort-
ably by their own firesides to sit in judgment upon men who
have this tremendous responsibility to bear, and who feel
that the lives of thousands of their country men and women
depend upon the promptitude and vigor of their action; and
it would be well that these arm-chair humanitarians should
remember that the very spirit which prompts them to show
no mercy to an unfortunate governor who may, under this
terrific pressure, commit an error of judgment, is just the
tendency which would lead them, if they were put in the
place of their victim, to act as he did. Another very inter-
esting instance of the same kind was brought under my imme-
diate notice in Cevlon. I was in that island when a native
rising occurred in the Kandyan province in the year 1849.
Lord Torrington was governor at the time, and my father
was the chief-justice. It was soon apparent that the move-
ment was not dangerous; not a European life was taken, and
beyond the gathering on one or two occasions of some hun-
dreds of natives, and the robbing of one or two planters'
bungalows, nothing of importance occurred. Nevertheless,
martial law was proclaimed, continued over a long period —
I forget how long — but from first to last some two hundred
natives were shot or hung. The sentiments of the English
community became divided; so strong a current of public
opinion set in condemnatory of the acts of the government,
that it was thought best at last to invoke the action of the
civil tribunals, and a few acres were exempted from the
operation of martial law in Kandy, in order that my father
might try some of the leading rebels who had been captured,
for high-treason. This was a manifest blunder on the part
of the governor; either the country was too disturbed for
the civil courts to sit, or it was sufficiently peaceable to ren-
der the action of the courts-martial unnecessary. As it was,
while sitting in court listening to the tedious formalities of
the ordinary legal processes, I actually on one occasion
heard the distant reverberation of the volley which was ter-

Io8 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

minating the existence of a man who had been tried the
same day for the same crime by a drum-head court-martial.
This was an insult alike to the majesty of the law and the
common-sense of the community, and excited so strong a
feeling of resentment on the part of the latter that it ulti-
mately led to Lord Torrington's recall. At the same time I
have always felt that if Lord Torrington committed an error
in judgment, which he undoubtedly did, it was one for which
he was not to be judged too hardly, considering the pressure
which at the first moment of panic was brought to bear upon
him from certain quarters, though it was difficult to realize
the state of mind which, after the insignificant character of
the movement became evident, led him to prolong the state
of martial law, and intrust the lives of men to the judgment
of two or three young military officers, when there was no
reason why they should not have the advantage of a trial in
a legally constituted court. It may generally be assumed
that when the British community cease to feel that danger
exists, it has passed away some time before. A governor
may often have to resist their demand for severity; he is
safe in acceding to their appeal for clemency — and this was
made by the majority of the Europeans in Ceylon for some
time before the pressure of public opinion became so strong
as finally to put an end to summary executions. Under no
circumstances have the public in England any right to work
themselves up to a state of excitement upon a subject upon
which their remoteness from the scene of action, and igno-
rance of local conditions, absolutely disqualify them from
passing a judgment. By so doing they run the risk of com-
mitting grave injustice and of blasting the career of consci-
entious and painstaking public servants, who, if they have
blundered, are certainly not likely to have done so wilfully,
and whose action, which they so loudly condemn, may have
averted a very grave catastrophe.

The cnly excitement during our month's stay in Calcutta,
beyond that attendant upon the arrival of news and refugees

CHINA DURING THE WAR, 1S57-1859. 109

from the interior, was the anticipation of a riot — happily fal-
sified — during the great Mohammedan festival of the Mohur-
rum. Some of the more timid residents adopted all sorts of
precautions for escape in case of a general massacre; indeed
there was a universal sense of living on a volcano, which
imparted some piquancy to an existence that during the
heats of August would otherwise have been decidedly dull.
By this time we had felt enough of what India during the
mutiny was like, not to care to prolong our experience, espe-
cially as there was no possibility of active co-operation ; so
we were not sorry to hear that a P. & O. steamer, which had
been expressly chartered and fitted up for the accommoda-
tion of the embassy, was ready; and in it we bade adieu to
Calcutta on the 3d of September, and shortly after found
ourselves once more at anchor in the harbor of Hong Kong,
within two months after we had left it.

The incidents of our war with China, and of our embassy
to that country and Japan, which extended over two years,
were so fully recorded in the history of it which I published
shortly after our return to England, that it leaves me little
to relate here. The experience was one pregnant alike with
excitement and instruction. The excitement consisted in
the novelty of some of our methods of warfare and the inci-
dents attendant upon it, and the instruction in the new re-
gions we visited. It was strange, for instance, in this nine-
teenth century, to find one's self adopting the contrivances
of a bygone age, and scaling walls by means of ladders in
the face of the enemy. I do not know when I have felt a
keener thrill of emotion than when we raced for the ladders
at the taking of Canton, and clustered up them like bees,
holding on to one another's legs, and nearly pulling each
other down in the eager scramble. It was on this occasion
that I saw Lord Gilford (now Admiral the Earl of Clanwill-
iam) shot in the arm. Then came the rush into the city,
with its million of inhabitants, all crouching in terror, to

IIO EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

capture Yeh, an achievement which was performed by Sir
Astley Cooper Key, who seized him by the neck as he was
in the act of scrambling over a wall in his back-garden, and
held him down till assistance came. I came up a moment
later with General Crealock, who made an admirable sketch
of the truculent mandarin, while he was still trembling with
alarm and uncertainty as to his fate. The other most memo-
rable incidents, so far as they affected me personally, were
the capture of the Peiho Forts, the scaling of the walls of
Tientsin, and the bombardment of Nankin. On the first
occasion, I had obtained permission from Lord Elgin to ac-
company the attacking squadron, and accepted the invita-
tion of the late Captain Roderick Dew to go on board the
Nimrod, the ship told off to lead the attack. When I saw
the rows of batteries bristling with cannon on each side of
the narrow river, between which we were to run the gauntlet,
1 somewhat repented of my warlike enthusiasm, and sug-
gested to my kind host that I thought I should be safer in
the maintop than on deck. He recommended me, however,
to wait and see how the shot went; and it was fortunate I
took his advice, for one of the first carried away the whole
maintop. The Chinese had trained their guns, making sure
we should attack on a high tide. As we attacked at low
water, nearly all their shot passed over the attacking gun-
boats, and we escaped with but few casualties, the whole
number not amounting to thirty. A year later, when the
same forts were attacked, the Chinese had profited by expe-
rience, and repulsed the British force under Admiral Hope
with a loss of four hundred men out of seven hundred.

The scaling of the walls of Tientsin was a very absurd
affair. Some English officers in the town having been in-
sulted, and redress refused, a column of marines was sent
clown to exact it, upon which the gates were closed, and they
were denied admittance. These gates were so massive that
nothing short of artillery or battering-rams would have forced
them. It occurred to Captains Sherard Osborn and Dew,

CHINA DURING THE WAR, 1857-1859. Ill

with whom I happened to be, and who were accompanied
by a boat's crew, to scale the walls and come upon the ene-
my in rear. This was no sooner said than done. By means
of a pent roof of a house under the walls, and the crevices in
the wall itself, we scrambled up unobserved, and, drawing our
revolvers, suddenly dashed with loud yells upon the dense
mass of people holding the gate on the inside. These, too
panic-stricken to think of counting our numbers, and not
knowing how many were behind us, fled in all directions,
and we had quietly unbarred the gates and let in the troops
before they had time to recover themselves. In this amus-
ing operation not a shot was fired or a drop of blood spilled.
It was different at the bombardment of Nankin, when the
Taiping rebels opened upon us very unexpectedly as we
were steaming past their batteries in the Furious, accom-
panied by four other ships of the squadron. Lord Elgin and
I were standing with Captain Osborn on the bridge, and the
first shot cut through a rope a couple of feet above his lord-
ship's head. Osborn immediately ordered us both below,
and the ambassador went down into his cabin to find another
round-shot which had just entered it through the ship's side
— so he did not seem much safer there. I was leaning over
the bulwarks watching the batteries when another round-shot
came through them close under my arm, one of the splinters
tearing out my watch-chain. The ball then passed across
the crowded deck without touching a soul, and through the
opposite bulwark.

For interest, however, nothing equalled our entry into the
bay of Yedo, and our fortnight's residence in that city, which
until then had been hermetically sealed to foreigners. The
suddenness with which Japanese civilization burst upon our
surprised senses, and its extreme novelty, can scarcely be
realized now ; but to have been the first Europeans who ever
invaded the exclusive precincts of that great city was an ex-
perience never to be forgotten. So also was our memorable
cruise of six hundred miles up the unknown waters of the

112 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

Yang-tse-Kiang, with its cities desolated by civil war, its
majestic reaches, fine scenery, and the wondering population
on its banks, as we steamed silently past them or wriggled
for hours, and sometimes clays, on some treacherous shoal.
This kind of work, varied by one or two special missions
upon which I was sent — one to Soochow, a large and at that
time rarely visited city in the interior, where I had an in-
terview with the governor-general of the province, and an-
other to the head of the Taiping rebellion at Nankin, was
pleasanter than that which afterwards fell to my lot as com-
missioner for the settlement of the trade and tariff, which
used to involve a daily ride in chairs to the Chinese officials
appointed for the purpose in Shanghai, numerous unwhole-
some Chinese repasts, and incessant wranglings over export
and import duties. In June, 1858, Sir Frederick Bruce re-
turned to England with the Treaty of Tientsin, and I became
acting secretary to the embassy.

At last it all came to an end, winding up with an interest-
ing four days' march with a column of twelve hundred men
to a town near Canton, where it was considered desirable to
make a display of force, on which occasion the French con-
tingent, consisting of one hundred and fifty men, who did
not fire a shot, were afterwards reported in the French papers
to have performed prodigies of valor. My companion on
this march was the late Sir Harry Parkes, with whom, as
well as with Sir Thomas Wade, I had been constantly associ-
ated, and whose unflinching nerve, knowledge of the language
and of the character of the people, enabled him to render in-
estimable service. In his premature death in the midst of a
brilliant career the country has lost one of its most conscien-
tious and gifted servants. In April, 1859, the embassy, hav-
ing successfully accomplished its labors, often in the face of
difficulties which seemed at the time almost insurmountable,
returned to England.

CHAPTER VIII.

SOME SPORTING REMINISCENCES.

Just four -and -thirty years have elapsed since I wrote
my first article in Blackwood's Magazine. It was entitled
"A Sporting Settler in Ceylon," and was a review of Mr.
(now Sir Samuel) Baker's most graphic and entertaining
book, " The Rifle and the Hound in Ceylon." I ventured
to suggest to my friend the late Mr. John Blackwood that,
as I had taken part in many of the incidents that are there
described, and had participated in some of those striking
episodes of sport, I might be allowed to try my 'prentice
hand at reviewing the book. Till then I had been more
familiar with the use of the gun than of the pen ; but the
former has been long since laid aside in favor of the latter,
and, on the whole, I think more sport can be got out of so-
ciety than out of any herd of elephants, provided that you
know where the weak spots lie, and your aim be accurate.
Whether the effects which result to the literary sportsman in
search of social quarry are comparable from a moral and
physical point of view with those which are involved in the
pursuit oiferce natural, is a very different question ; and when
I look back to the years '49 and '50, and remember the keen,
unmitigated delight with which I anticipated a day in the
jungle with the dogs, I doubt whether any more healthy
or innocent form of enjoyment exists than the chase in wild
tropical mountains of the grand animals with which they
abound.

For this purpose there is no spot more delightfully situ-
ated than Newera Ellia, the sanatorium of Ceylon. It is a

114 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

small plain, now partially converted by artificial means into
a lake, surrounded by mountains, the highest rising to a
height of nearly nine thousand feet above the sea, and
two thousand above the plain. Six - and - thirty years ago
these highlands were all heavily timbered, as their elevation
was too great for coffee -planting. I believe, however, that
since they have been found adapted to the cultivation of tea
and cinchona, plantations have taken the place of the thick
jungle, which in those days was abundantly stocked with
elephants, cheetahs, elk, wild boar, and many other descrip-
tions of game. So numerous and daring were these animals
that the footprints of elephants which had been paying a
nocturnal visit to the kitchen-garden were often to be seen
among the cabbages ; the loud bark of the elk was constant-
ly audible from the house ; and on more than one occasion
cheetahs were killed making depredations upon the live-stock.
Upon one of these the bold forager came down and carried
off a calf from the lawn at midday — not, however, without
being observed. We followed him up so closely that he was
obliged to drop his prey not many hundred yards after enter-
ing the jungle ; and set three spring-guns, covering the car-
cass, feeling assured that the cheetah would return. We
were not disappointed : an hour had scarcely elapsed before
we heard the guns go off, and on rushing to the spot found
the traces of blood, which we followed until we reached the
animal breathing his last gasp. He was a fine specimen,
but not so large as another which we captured alive in a
trap, which we had baited with a kid. Although at this dis-
tance of time I have forgotten his exact dimensions, he was
the largest I ever saw, and I preserved his skin for many
years.

In those clays there were generally two and sometimes
three packs of hounds at Newera Ellia, each consisting of
eight or ten couple ; and at certain seasons I went out elk-
hunting on foot — for the jungle was too thick to ride through
— almost every morning, sometimes being in at the death of

SOME SPORTING REMINISCENCES. 115

two of these noble animals before midday. The sambre, or
elk, as he is popularly called, usually stands about thirteen
hands high, and has magnificent antlers. When brought to
bay he makes a gallant fight for it ; and as it was not con-
sidered orthodox to carry any other weapon than a long
hunting-knife, the final struggle was generally exciting, and
by no means devoid of risk. The sport was rendered doubly
enjoyable by the contrast it presented to the life in the
plains. One left Colombo with a thermometer ranging per-
haps from 90 to 95 , and in twenty-four hours was enjoying
the blaze of a crackling wood-fire, glad to turn into bed
under a thick blanket, and in the early morning to turn out
again and find the edges of the puddles on the road fringed
with a thin coating of ice. The reaction from the enervating
heats that had been escaped, produced a delightful feeling
of exhilaration, which was increased by the pleasures of an-
ticipation, as one followed the experienced master of the
pack and his dog -boy into the jungle, with the certainty,
whichever beat one tried, of a scramble through splendid
scenery, and the chance of some wild adventure by "flood
or fell." Down all these wooded valleys dashed mountain
torrents, in one of which the instinct of the elk would most
probably bring him to bay ; while here and there the forest
ended abruptly, and enclosed island -like patches of open
land, of greater or less extent, covered with long, coarse
grass, to which the game would also be very apt to turn,
trusting to his superior fleetness in the open as a means of
escape. There were always two or three greyhounds, or
Scotch deerhounds, with the pack, to provide for this contin-
gency ; and these were kept in a leash, to be slipped as soon
as the game broke cover, or, in the event of a bay, to be de-
spatched in aid of the less powerful hunting-dogs. These,
as a rule, were not necessarily thoroughbred, it being found
that well-bred dogs were apt to get too keen, and lose them-
selves in their ardent pursuit of their game — falling, probably,
a prey to the cheetahs; while your cur would abandon the

Il6 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

chase when he found himself too far from home, and prudent-
ly return to the bosom of his family.

One of the inconveniences — as it constituted also one of
the excitements — of this sport was, that you were liable at
any moment to come upon game that you were not looking
for, and did not want to find. I remember upon one occa-
sion, after listening to the music of the dogs in the distance
as they were apparently crossing some patch of open, to
judge from the pace they were going, and after making up
my mind as to the direction the elk was taking, and the pool
in which he was likely to come to bay — for I knew the coun-
try well for miles round — making a rush by the only avail-
able path through the dense jungle, and coming suddenly
upon the stern of an elephant taking his midday siesta ; at
least I presumed, from his motionless attitude, that he was
dozing, and I was thankful for it. He was standing in the
narrow path, and completely blocked it up. I was so near him
that I could have pulled his tail, had I felt inclined to be im-
pertinent ; as it was, the only course open to me was a strate-
gic movement to the rear. The jungle was so thick that it
was impossible to turn him without attracting his attention ;
and, under the circumstances, it seemed a pity to disturb his
noon-day dreams. As he was quite alone, he was probably
a " rogue " or " must " elephant ; and in that case my chances
of escape, should he happen to detect me, would have been
small. I felt compelled even to deny myself the pleasure of
trying to get a glimpse of his head and face. His huge hind-
quarters towered above me as fixed and motionless as though
they had been carved in stone. After staring at them for a
minute or two, and turning the situation over in my mind, I
retired stealthily, and on tiptoe ; and the result was, that be-
fore I could strike another path in the desired direction, the
sound of the chase had died away. However, I made steadily
for my pool, and as I approached it, knew, from the changed
notes of the hounds, that what I' had anticipated had oc-
curred. The elk was standing on the edge of a fall some

SOME SPORTING REMINISCENCES. 117

twenty or thirty feet high, with a part of the pack squat-
ting on their haunches in a semicircle, barking at him, but
afraid to go in at him : one foolhardy young cur had appar-
ently been rash enough to venture too near, and got an ugly
gash for his pains, which he was now licking disconsolately.
The rest of the pack, with the seizing hounds and their owner,
had apparently gone off upon some other scent, for they were
nowhere to be seen, so I had all the fun to myself. No
sooner did I appear upon the scene than the elk made a
bound, and plunged over the cataract into the pool below.
It was a dark, deep-looking hole, some twenty yards in di-
ameter, and here he began to swim about, apparently unin-
jured. The pack, declining to follow him in his leap, ran
round, and, jumping in from below, were soon all swimming
about him, giving tongue and snapping prudently at his
stern. As he apparently shrank from the shallow water, and
kept swimming about the centre, there was nothing for it but
to go in after him. So, putting my knife between my teeth,
I swam out to him. When one is young and excited the
idea that animals suffer pain does not seem to occur to one ;
at all events, I look back to my performance upon that oc-
casion with a certain feeling of disgust. The picture of the
fine animal, with his head and magnificent antlers thrown
back, his eyeballs staring, and his tongue half out, rises be-
fore me as vividly as if it were yesterday ; but I cannot re-
member the details of that horrible struggle. I know that
it lasted a long time ; that more than once I had to swim
ashore and rest ; that the waters of the pool were tinged with
blood from the repeated stabs I gave the poor beast, for it
was difficult, while swimming, to strike a vital spot with suffi-
cient force for it to be fatal ; that the dogs, in their excite-
ment, were very apt to mistake me for the elk ; that, finally,
we all came tumbling into the shallow water together, and
that there I despatched him — a splendid animal of unusual
size. I have had several encounters with elk at bay, and
more than once have seen dogs receive such severe wounds

Il8 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

that they have died of them, so savagely has the elk fought;
but none of them were so exciting as this — perhaps because
I was alone.

One soon got to know, from the way they gave tongue,
whether the dogs were on an elk or on some other animal.
A steady barking for a long time in one place was sure to
indicate either a wild boar or a cheetah. On one occasion
when we came up, we found the whole pack sitting in a cir-
cle round a tree, with their noses in the air, barking franti-
cally, and on looking up we saw in the fork of the branches,
about twelve feet from the ground, a cheetah, with his back
curved like a cat, and his long tail swaying to and fro, look-
ing viciously down, as though making up his mind for a
spring, and only hesitating which hound to choose. It was
a difficult matter to get the dogs off, and not altogether a
safe one, as one never felt sure that the brute would not
spring upon a hound as he saw them retreating. However,
in spite of the aggressive expression of his ugly countenance,
he was only too happy to be left alone, and we parted with
every token of mutual respect, if not of esteem. This was
the only occasion on which I ever saw the dogs " tree " a
cheetah, and it is a somewhat rare occurrence ; but they
often used to bring a boar to bay, to the great disgust of
their owner, who knew that it possibly meant the loss of a
dog or two, and would certainly involve some severe wounds.

Once I came upon the pack when they had got a porcine
monster ensconced in a bush, out of which gleamed his great
curved tusks, while a dog lying dead by his side showed to
what effective use he had already put them. The pack
were evidently demoralized at the sight, for they kept at a
respectful distance, but barked frantically. One or two dogs
bolder than the rest would occasionally make a rush in ; and
they were so far useful that they distracted the brute's atten-
tion, and enabled my friend and myself to crawl behind,
while the dog-boy was helping the dogs to make demonstra-
tions in front. Our object was to hamstring the beast while

SOME SPORTING REMINISCENCES. 119

his attention was otherwise engaged ; and this we succeeded
in doing in one leg, though the suddenness with which he
turned upon us when he felt the cut made us jump back with
remarkable alacrity. We had meant to do both legs at the
same moment, but the half- squatting position of the boar
made it difficult, and I failed in mine ; so we had to wait for
another opportunity, for the boar was now on his guard. I
did not note the time it took us to despatch this animal, but
I do not think I exaggerate when I say that our struggle
lasted half an hour, so wary was he, and so difficult was it to
approach him near enough to stab him without getting gored.
On the chance of having to deal with boars, it is as well to
let the dog-boy carry a short spear.

In India, when out shooting from an elephant, I once
shot a boar, paralyzing his hind-quarters without killing him.
I had been having good sport, and had only two or three
bullets left. With the prospect of still needing these, I did
not like to waste a ball on an animal unable to move, and
thought of getting down to despatch him with my knife.

" Stop," said the mahout, when he learned my intention ;
" that is quite unnecessary. I will tell the elephant to kill him."

The mahout accordingly communicated his instructions
to the elephant, who evidently did not relish them. The
more the mahout urged him to advance on the boar, the
more the latter showed his angry tusks, and the more the
elephant backed away from him. Suddenly, as the result
of repeated goading, the latter seemed to make up his great
mind. He wheeled sharply round, backed upon the boar,
got him between his hind legs, and fairly ground him up —
I heard all his bones cracking.

A very different kind of sport from that I have been de-
scribing at Newera Ellia, is to be had in the flat country in
the northern province of Ceylon. One of the pleasantest
shooting-trips I ever made, was in company with a friend —
now the governor of a West India island — in this part of
the country. We took a tent, a first-rate cook, and a train

120 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

of a dozen or more men to carry our baggage, bedding,
drinkables, and condiments, trusting entirely to our guns for
the staple of existence for the whole party. As the game is
most abundant in a region almost totally uninhabited, we
could not rely upon the resources of the natives. We were
then in the dry season, when the only water-supply is con-
tained in ponds, or tanks, as they are called. Many of these
dry up, and those that contain water, being far apart, become
the resort of the wild animals inhabiting a wide range of
country. The pleasantest time to shoot is at night: in the
first place, because it is so fearfully hot that it is almost im-
possible to be out during the day between nine in the morn-
ing and five in the afternoon ; and in the second, because
one is certain to see a much greater variety of game, and to
have a much better chance at them.

Our plan of operations was to pitch our tent in the sha-
diest grove we could find near a tank. We then had two
circular holes dug in the ground at a convenient distance
apart on the edge of the tank — each hole four or five feet
in diameter and about two feet deep. Round these we piled
brushwood a foot high. This gave us a screen about three
feet high, and in these holes we lay in ambush. A brilliant
moon is of course indispensable for this kind of sport ; and
to assist our aim we whitened the sights of our rifles. Then,
after a good dinner, we sallied forth, each accompanied by a
native, who carried a bottle of strong cold tea, some sand-
wiches, and some dry elephant's droppings, to serve as tin-
der and keep a spark in all night for our pipes. I have
counted the following different specimens of game come
down to drink in the course of the night : elephants — a herd
of sixteen — several buffaloes, a cheetah, two bears, some elk
and wild boar, and a large herd of spotted deer, besides
hog-deer, porcupines, and smaller animals. The latter al-
ways came early in the night ; and in order not to disturb
the larger game, which generally came after midnight, we
usually refrained from firing at them. The deer were so

SOME SPORTING REMINISCENCES. 121

numerous that it was always easy to kill two or three by day-
light, so we reserved the moonlight hours for nobler sport.
Even when the elephants came down it was more interesting
to watch them than to shoot them. There would be the
fine old patriarch with his harem, and the young ones per-
forming the most fantastic aquatic gambols : the clumsy
disportings of a baby elephant, at a loss to know how to give
full vent to the exuberance of his spirits, is one of the most
grotesque sights imaginable, and one only to be witnessed
under such exceptional conditions as I have described.
Looking through a peep-hole in the brushwood screen, one
could watch them at one's leisure. On one occasion, on
their return from the water, in which they had been paddling
and splashing themselves, to the jungle, the whole herd
would have walked straight into the hole in which I was
squatting had I not shown myself. I had already marked
the father of the flock as the one I intended to kill, and he
was not ten paces from me when I fired. He stopped,
while the herd scattered, and fearing he would charge, I gave
him the second barrel, and he sank ponderously to the earth.
In my excitement I did not stop to reload, but making sure
he was dead rushed out to secure my trophy. I had just got
out my knife, and was stretching out my hand to lay hold of
his tail to cut it off, when to my disgust he slowly rose and
walked off after the ladies, leaving me amazed and con-
founded, and the subject of a good deal of chaff on the part
of my companions. I was more lucky with a wild-boar an
hour or two afterwards. He, too, was approaching me in a
direct line, coming from the jungle, when I fired at him,
upon which he made a rush straight at me. The impetus
was so great that, though he received the second barrel full
in the forehead, he actually rolled dead into the hole. So
close was my rifle to his head the second shot that his hair
was all singed where the ball had entered. I have killed
several wild-boar at different times in my life, but his were
the largest tusks I ever got.

122 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

Feathered game were no less abundant and varied. There
were pea- fowl, jungle-fowl — which is more like the domestic
fowl than any other wild bird I know — and various kinds of
water-fowl, from which it may be inferred that we fared
sumptuously every day. Our cook, who was really an artist,
and had served an apprenticeship under a French chef at
Government House, found ample scope for his talents, and
did full justice to his training. He had been careful before
starting to lay in a good supply of sauces and flavorings.
This was the kind of menu he used to place before us : wild-
boar's head, venison-pasty, salmi of wild duck, roast peacock
with buffalo-tongue, and curry of jungle-fowl. Our camp-fol-
lowers rioted in good living ; and though, including servants
and horse-keepers, they numbered sixteen or eighteen, it was
impossible for them to consume all the game we killed, and
this in spite of neither of us being remarkably good shots.

The most singular shot I ever made was under rather
peculiar conditions. It was a blazing hot day — I should
think the thermometer must have been over a hundred in
the tent — and I was lying panting on my bed, in a state of
entire nudity, vainly trying to get a wink of sleep, in antici-
pation of the night-watch in store for me, when my servant
stealthily crept into the tent with the intelligence that there
was a flock of pea-fowl just outside. He held the flap of
the tent back, and there they were strutting about within a
hundred yards of it. As I looked they seemed to be tak-
ing alarm, and, afraid of losing them, I seized my rifle and
rushed out with nothing on. It was useless to attempt to
stalk them — the plain upon which they were was a hard
surface of baked cracked clay, with scarcely a shrub upon it.
The only plan was to get as near them as possible — not an
easy matter, for they took to running too, and pea-fowl can run
faster than one has any idea of. At all events they seemed
to me to do so, as, with bare head and body exposed to the
scorching rays of the midday sun, I hurried on in pursuit,
cutting my bare feet terribly on the sharp angles of the

SOME SPORTING REMINISCENCES. 1 23

cracked clay. At last they took to wing, and I brought
down, to my surprise, a splendid bird — at least he was
splendid to look at, but proved rather tough to eat, for he
was an old cock. I thought of clothing myself with his
feathers so as to be able to return to the camp with some
decency, but it might have looked vainglorious, considering
the wonderful shot I had made. Indeed, I took some credit
for it at the time, for it is not everybody who has knocked
over a peacock on the wing at a hundred yards with a rifle,
especially with nothing on ; but I am free to admit, after this
lapse of time, that it was a pure fluke. I was so out of
breath and blinded by perspiration at the moment that I
fired without being able to take any kind of aim. In India,
where pea-fowl are sacred, they are perpetually offering the
most tantalizing ^hots to the sportsman, who is unable to
take advantage of them ; but no such prejudice exists in
Ceylon, and they form a most valuable addition to the larder.
I remember once, when campaigning with the Turkish
army in the provinces of the Transcaucasus, arriving at
Sugdidi, the capital of Mingrelia, the day after the battle
of the Ingour. Finding it deserted, and provisions scarce, I
went out on a foraging expedition. Thinking that, as the
palace had only just been abandoned by the Princess Da-
diani, I might find something in the larder, I directed my
steps in that direction, but found Turkish sentries at every
ingress. Suddenly I heard the scream of a peacock, and
my Ceylon experience recurred vividly to my mind. What
a contribution to our mess he would be, I thought, if I could
only get hold of him ! Shooting him in the gardens of the
palace was out of the question ; indeed, I found that the one
he was in was enclosed with a high wall. Scrambling to the
top of it by the aid of the branches of a tree, I saw several
members of his family strutting about. Now, it so happened
I had provided myself with a hook and line with the view
of also trying my luck in the river, and as I had a piece of
bread also in my pocket, the notion occurred, to me offish-

124 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

ing for one of these majestic birds from the top of the gar-
den wall. This idea I immediately put into practice, and
in a few moments my efforts were rewarded, and I was gin-
gerly hauling up a tender young hen, in an agony lest her
weight and struggles should break the line before I got her
safely landed. A night or two afterwards I was dining with
Omer Pasha, and recommended him to try one of the prin-
cess's pea-fowl, a hint which resulted in my partaking of one
at his table shortly afterwards.

In Ceylon, as a rule, the game is so abundant that one is
never reduced to experimenting on strange diet. I once
dined off young monkey, which is something like rabbit, but
immeasurably superior to it. Travelling in the wilds of
America, I lived for some time on bear-meat, which is ex-
cellent ; and once the entire rations for the day for four of
us consisted of a jay, a magpie, and a woodpecker. During
the last days of the siege of Paris I tried the dainties which
were then in vogue ; but they were so far disguised by the
exercise of culinary skill that they all tasted very good. It
requires a little practice to recognize at once the difference
between clog, cat, and rat, if they are all prepared with equal
care and delicacy. One of my sporting friends in Ceylon,
camping out with his pack, and depending solely upon their
exertions, succeeded, thanks to the talent and ingenuity of
his cook, in giving some British tourists who paid him a visit
a most varied menu. There was rts de veau,jilet de bosi/f,
cbtelettes en papillotes, poulet saute, and I don't know what else
besides. It was some time before his quests discovered
that, under these high-sounding names, they were eating
various preparations of elk. If it is the tailor who makes
the man, it is the cook who makes the beast. In China and
Japan diet is proverbially attended with the greatest uncer-
tainty, and I never dined with a native of either of these
countries without suffering for it the next day. On one oc-
casion I was given a soup in which was floating what ap-
peared to be. pieces of vermicelli, chopped in lengths of

SOME SPORTING REMINISCENCES. 1 25

about an inch. On inquiring what these little stringlike
substances were, I was informed they were rock-leeches !

But to return to our camp by the tank-side. I never in
any part of the world saw so many deer as there were in its
neighborhood. The country was flat and park-like, the dif-
ference being that there was only a little burned-up grassland
that the trees were for the most part represented by thorny
bushes, from ten to fifteen feet high, dotted about it. Among
these, large herds of deer were constantly feeding; and they
had been so little molested that it was no difficult matter to
stalk them.

The tanks abounded in alligators, who came ashore to bask
in the sun, all their heads turned towards the water except
the watcher, whose face was turned landwards. When he
gave the signal of danger there was a general stampede into
the tank. They were so numerous that we did not think
them worth powder and ball, and their horny hides made it
more trouble to kill them than they were worth. Once, when
we were walking home, I saw my friend, who was walking
parallel to myself on the other side of the tank, which was
about fifty yards broad, take a shot at an alligator right in
front of him ; an instant afterwards I heard the ball crash
into the branches of a tree under which I was walking. It
had been deflected at right angles from the reptile's back,
and I had a narrow escape in consequence. There is a
method of catching alligators which I once saw practised in
the southern part of the island, which affords some sport to
those who are indifferent to the suffering it entails. You
take a live puppy, and strap him on to a raft, formed of two
pieces of tough wood lashed in the form of a cross. You
sharpen all the four points of this cross, and fasten to it a
hank of twine a yard long , to this you attach a rope. You
then float your puppy, who is calling attention to his unhappy
predicament by yelping loudly, on a still pool or backwater
of the stream, and tie the end of the rope to a tree. You
then see that your revolver is handy, and, with half a dozen

126 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

or more natives, you sit under the tree and watch. In a few
moments a pair of enormous jaws appear above the surface
of the water, the puppy disappears into them, but they do
not close with the facility with which they opened, for the
cross has stuck in the brute's throat, and the strands of the
hank of twine have got between his teeth. You now lay on
to the rope with a will, and slowly draw the reluctant mon-
ster to shore, while he lashes the water with his tail in impo-
tent rage. When you have got him on shore, you keep at a
respectful distance, and make ball-practice with your revolver
at his eye. If you keep on doing this long enough, you finally
kill him. The alligators in some of the rivers of Ceylon are
so voracious and numerous that the natives, who are very
fond of bathing, stake off their bathing-places. From these
strongholds you can safely taunt an alligator, should he come
and poke his nose between the bars, and sniff your tempting
flavor — even jobbing at it with a knife. Near the mouths
of the rivers I have had places pointed out to me by the na-
tives where they said it was safe to bathe, as the water was
too salt for the alligators and too fresh for the sharks. My
impression is, had I made the experiment, that I should have
found them both there.

I once made rather an interesting shooting excursion to
a rarely visited island, called Karative, on the western coast
of Ceylon. It was evidently once a mere sandbank, and
though it is fifteen miles in length, it narrows in places to a
width of fifteen or twenty yards, the sea in rough weather
making a clean breach over it. In parts it is more than a
mile wide, and is covered with a low, thick jungle, with
patches of open. It is inhabited only by a few fishermen.
It is well stocked with deer, buffalo, and wild black cattle.
These latter are doubtless the descendants of cattle that
were originally tame, but it must have been very long ago,
for their fine delicate limbs and active motions, and uniformly
black color, present marked characteristics of difference from
tame cattle ; while their great shyness renders them an ex-

SOME SPORTING REMINISCENCES. 12 7

tremely difficult animal to shoot. I only managed to bag
one, which I stalked after rather an original fashion. The
herd were grazing in the open, so far from any jungle that it
seemed impossible to get near them. It was a perfectly still
day ; the sea was like glass, as it generally was on the lee
side of the island ; and they were not above fifty yards from
its edge; so I determined to stalk them from the sea. It
was a nice sandy bottom, which did not deepen too abruptly,
and when I had waded in about fifty yards I found myself up
to the armpits. I had to wade for nearly a quarter of a mile,
always keeping nothing but my head and shoulders visible,
before I found myself opposite the herd, tormented the while
by the fear that some sporting shark might consider me as
good game as I thought the black cattle. Then, crawling
carefully shoreward, I got an easy shot at about eighty yards,
and knocked over a fine young bull. We also stalked suc-
cessfully, in the course of two days' shooting here, a couple
of wild buffalo. The natives made a very novel suggestion :
they were great fishers of porpoises, which they captured for
the sake of the oil, and possessed in consequence a quantity
of strong porpoise -nets. These they proposed to stretch
across a narrow isthmus, from sea to sea, and, staking them
firmly, to drive the deer into them. As, when thus stretched
and staked, they would be about eight feet high, there would
be no chance of escape for the deer. At each end of the
net men were stationed, who concealed themselves, as we
did ourselves, while the drive was in progress, so as to pre-
vent the deer, when they saw their clanger, making a rush for
the sea. It was a moment of great excitement, as we heard
the crackling of the jungle in advance of the beaters betoken
the presence of game ; then out rushed half a dozen noble
animals. We sprang to our feet as they crossed the narrow
patch of open at full speed, and, turning neither to the right
nor left, dashed headlong into the net. In a moment all
was confusion ; there was a heap of deer entangling them-
selves more and more in their frantic struggles to break loose

128 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

and escape, while the men ran up with ropes to bind them
and make them captive : this was no easy matter, as their
sharp hoofs and antlers inflict nasty wounds ; however, it
was at last successfully accomplished. I shall never forget
the appearance which that struggling mass of men and deer
presented, but I cannot now call to mind how many we cap-
tured — the stag with the finest antlers, I know, escaped.

Buffalo are very dangerous animals to shoot, I think more
so than elephants, as it is more difficult to get away from
them when they charge. I was once charged by one when
riding peacefully on horseback and entirely unarmed, and he
gave me an unpleasantly severe chase across country before
I could shake him off.

The easiest way to shoot bears is to smoke them out of
the holes or caves which they use as sleeping-places, and
which the natives always know, and to lie in wait for them at
the mouth ; or to watch for them by tanks — though probably
the commonest method is to drive them. This is the plan
adopted in Turkey. Seven years ago, while staying at Con-
stantinople, I was invited to join a bear-shooting expedition.
News had arrived that they were numerous on the peninsula
of Guemlik, in the Sea of Marmora, and good sport was
promised us as a certainty. Nearly twenty years had elapsed
since I had fired off a gun. I had never used a breech-
loader in my life, for they had come into fashion after my
day, and I had lost all kind of sporting enthusiasm ; but the
trip promised to be enjoyable so far as climate, new country,
and fine scenery were concerned, and I was tempted by the
society of four agreeable companions to make one of the
party, rather as a spectator than as an active participator in
the sport, which was the more reasonable as I was the only
one of the party who had ever shot a bear. We landed at
Guemlik, where H.M.S. Fazvn, then surveying the Sea of
Marmora, was lying at anchor, and adding two or three of
the officers to our party, made a night sail in a native boat
to the small fishing-village from which we were to strike in-

SOME SPORTING REMINISCENCES. 1 29

land. From this point we advanced in the early morning
through lovely scenery some three or four miles into the in-
terior, and found ourselves in the midst of a beautifully
wooded, rolling, upland country, with open grassy valleys,
rich soil, and abundance of water, almost totally uninhabited,
and only thirty miles, as the crow flies, from Constantinople.
It is one of the anomalies of Turkey that a region twenty
miles in length by about ten broad, comprising fine forests
and splendid agricultural land, should be lying waste within
so short a distance of the capital of the empire and of the
market which it affords. However, had it not been so, we
should have had to go farther afield for our bears. As it
was, with a good gang of beaters, we toiled all day without
any result except a few false alarms. En revanche we had
splendid appetites and sound slumbers on leaf-beds under
the blue canopy of heaven, for we had brought no tents with
us. Meantime I had so far caught the infection that I had
accepted the offer of his second gun from a friend, and had
occupied the post assigned to me at each beat with the most
sportsmanlike conscientiousness. Next day we tried some
new country. I had expressly asked the master of the
hounds to post the others in the best stations, and was oc-
cupying the least likely place in one of the drives, my thoughts
at the time far away from bear-shooting, when the sudden
clamor of the dogs right in front of me roused my attention.
There was no doubt about it this time. I was standing on
the slope of a valley, bare except for a few bushes, near a
path which led across a little stream into a wood on the op-
posite slope, which was now resounding with the shouts of
beaters and the yelping of clogs. As I fixed my eyes on the
point where the path entered the wood, I saw bruin emerge.
Slowly and deliberately he trotted up the path straight tow-
ards me ; slowly and deliberately I retired behind a bush
about six yards from the path, so as to screen myself from
his observation and have a shot, which, even after twenty
years without practice, it would be impossible to miss. The
6*

130 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

bear did not quicken his pace, and he was exactly abreast
of me. I fired — at least I pulled the trigger. The first bar-
rel responded with a gentle tick ; the second followed suit.
I almost fancied I could see the bear wink. At all events,
he did not quicken his pace, and I had almost time to put a
couple of cartridges into my gun — which, I need not say, did
not go off for the simple reason that there was nothing in it
— before he disappeared into some brushwood. Thus my
first and only experience of breech-loaders has not been en-
couraging. But how was I, who had never been out with a
party of breech-loading sportsmen, to suppose that, after I
had loaded my own gun, and leaned it against a tree during
luncheon, somebody else's servant would come and abstract
the cartridges and put them in his pocket, and then after
luncheon hand me the gun without saying a word about it ?
I had been accustomed to consider that when I had loaded
a gun myself it remained loaded unless I fired it off. The
idea that any one else would consider himself entitled to
draw the charge and pocket the cartridges never entered my
head ; but it seems it is the custom, for on my remonstrating
with the man, who was an Englishman, he replied,

"Well, sir, I thought you would ha' looked to see whether
the gun was loaded before you undertook to fire it off."

So I had to accept the situation, and the chaff by which it
was accompanied ; and as we none of us had another chance,
I established my reputation as a " duffer," and we returned
to Constantinople empty-handed.

The most magnificent country for sport, because the game
is both larger and of a rarer description than in Ceylon, is
in the Nepaulese Terai. Here, besides elephants, of which
there are great numbers, there are tigers and rhinoceroses,
and many other kinds of large game. In one of our beats
here, which were organized on a large scale by the late Jung
Bahadoor, whose guest I was at the time, we came upon
traces of a rhinoceros, and were in great hopes that we should
enclose him in the huge net of beaters that had been spread

SOME SPORTING REMINISCENCES. 131

to surround the game, and which consisted of four hundred
elephants and two regiments of soldiers ; but, to my great
disappointment, he managed to break through and get away.
We got, however, in the course of this beat, a couple of tigers,
and several deer and wild boar. This is the only country in
which the singular sport can be obtained of hunting wild ele-
phants with tame ones, and capturing them alive — an experi-
ence of which the Prince of Wales partook, also under the
auspices of Jung Bahadoor, on the occasion of his visit to
India. His royal highness, however, witnessed it as a spec-
tator on horseback, which is exciting enough, but nothing to
be compared to participating in it as an active combatant on
the back of one of the elephants engaged in the melee. When
I proposed that I should be allowed to make this experiment
when I was with Jung Bahadoor in the winter of 185 1, he at
first absolutely refused, on the ground that it would be too
dangerous for a novice — and was at last only induced to con-
sent on my acquitting myself creditably at a rehearsal, when
I was sent among the trees on the bare back of an elephant,
with nothing but a rope to hold on by, and made to dodge
the branches, as he was sent through them at his full speed.
But this was nothing to the difficulty of arriving sound in
wind and limb at the end of the chase on the following day,
when the elephant I bestrode, or rather upon which I squatted
monkey-fashion, formed one of a band of one hundred and
fifty, tearing at a clumsy run through the jungle after the
wild herd, which it finally overtook, and with which it en-
gaged in a pitched battle. I shall never forget the uproar
and excitement of that singular conflict ; the trumpeting of
the elephants — the screams of the mahouts — the firing by the
soldiers of blank-cartridge — the crashing of the branches as
the huge monsters, with their trunks curled up, butted into
one another like rams, and their riders deftly threw lassoes
of rope over their unwieldy heads — formed a combination of
sounds and of sights calculated to leave a lasting impression.
It is so difficult to take prisoners under these conditions

132 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

that we thought we did well in capturing four out of a herd
of twelve. The mahout of the elephant I was on had par-
ticularly distinguished himself in one encounter, and pre-
sented me with the splintered tusk of an elephant that had
been broken off in a charge upon us, as a trophy. I came
home utterly exhausted by the violent exertion which had
been necessary to escape being smashed to pieces by over-
hanging branches, or crushed by the mob of jostling ele-
phants, which must have inevitably been my fate had I lost
my grip of the loop of rope which was all there was to hold
on by. In order the better to cling on, I had taken off my
shoes, and my bleeding hands and feet bore testimony to the
violence of the struggle it had cost me to retain my preca-
rious position ; but so great was my excitement at the time
that I only discovered afterwards how much my skin was the
worse for wear.

All other sport in India of which I have partaken pales
by comparison with this experience, though I know of noth-
ing in its way to compare with a good day's pig-sticking, nor
anything more disagreeably agitating than tiger-shooting on
foot. Not being utterly reckless of existence, I was only
once induced to share in this pastime ; and as I felt that the
chances were all in favor of the tiger, I was infinitely re-
lieved to find that a rustling in the bushes within ten yards
of me proceeded from a hyena, into which I did the unsports-
manlike thing of firing promptly, thus causing the tiger,
which, I afterwards discovered, was just behind him, to head
back upon the beaters, and break through them, to the great
disgust of my poor host, a most daring sportsman and infal-
lible shot, who afterwards fell a victim in the mutiny under
the most painful circumstances. It was under his auspices
that I shot my first and only blue bull or nylgau, an ani-
mal the flesh of which is capital eating.

One of the most interesting countries I ever visited, in so
far as large game is concerned, is the Malay Peninsula. I
once took advantage of the kind invitation of the Tuman-

SOME SPORTING REMINISCENCES. 133

gong, now the Sultan of Johore, to cross over from Singapore
into his territory, and found on my arrival at a village, situ-
ated on a river a short distance in the interior, which had
been recently settled by Chinamen engaged in the cultiva-
tion of gambier, that the whole population was panic-stricken
by the depredations of tigers. No fewer than fifty men had
been carried off by these ferocious beasts during the pre-
ceding three weeks while out at work. On one day alone
five had disappeared, and the graveyard was full of umbrellas,
the sign that the bones below them had been picked by
tigers. Twenty plantations in the immediate vicinity were
deserted in consequence ; and as I had brought my rifle
with me, I proposed going to one of these with a live bait,
and watching for a marauder. The Chinamen would not
hear of beating the jungle, as they felt convinced that they
would simply fall a prey to the tigers, with which it was liter-
ally swarming. They eagerly accepted the other proposi-
tion, however, and soon secured a couple of dogs, who were
doomed for bait. With these we started for a night-watch.
Unfortunately, we had scarcely reached the deserted plan-
tation, from which three men had been taken a day or
two previously, when the sky became suddenly overcast,
and the rain came down in a tropical torrent, putting
all hope of sport out of the question. I much regretted
I had not time to prolong my visit to this village, as by
killing tigers here one would have been rendering a real
service to the people ; besides this, the surrounding coun-
try was full of other, and, in some respects, more interest-
ing game.

On the banks of these muddy rivers the sportsman, if he
is also a naturalist, will find a double interest in bashing: a
saladang or wild water-ox, a species peculiar to the Malay
Peninsula. In the recesses of these magnificent but gloomy
forests he may surprise the wary tapir ; while rhinoceroses
are abundant, and elephants and nearly all the animals known
in southern India and Ceylon are to be found besides. I do

134 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

not know how it may be now, but twenty-nine years ago,
when I was there, these jungles were untrodden by the
sportsman, and I feel convinced that any enterprising Nim-
rod who should go there now would find a happy hunting-
ground.

CHAPTER IX.

AN EPISODE WITH GARIBALDI, AND AN EXPERIENCE IN

MONTENEGRO.

The political attention of Europe was chiefly occupied
during the early part of the year i860 by negotiations of a
mysterious character, which were taking place between the
Emperor Napoleon and Count Cavour, which were consum-
mated at Plombieres, and which resulted in an arrangement
by which, in return for the services France had rendered
Italy during the war with Austria, and no doubt with a view
to further favors to come, it was arranged on the part of
Italy that Savoy and Nice should be given to France, pro-
vided that the populations of those provinces expressed their
willingness to be thus transferred from one crown to another.
The operation was one which I thought it would be interest-
ing to witness, as I felt decidedly sceptical as to the readi-
ness of a population thus to transfer their allegiance from
one sovereign to another, and exchange a nationality to
which, by tradition and association, they were attached, for
one which they had been in the habit of regarding hitherto
rather in the light of an enemy and a rival than as a friend.
I therefore went in the first instance to Savoy, satisfied my-
self that my suspicions were well founded, and that the people
in voting for annexation to France were doing so under the
most distinct pressure on the part of the Italian government
and its officials on the spot, and that the popular sentiment
was decidedly opposed to the contemplated transfer; and
then proceeded to Turin, with the intention of going on in
time to be present at the voting at Nice, after having con-

136 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

ferred with certain Nizzards to whom I had letters of intro-
duction at Turin, where the Chambers were then sitting. It
was a self-imposed mission from first to last, undertaken part-
ly to gratify curiosity, partly in the hope that I might be able
to aid those who desired to resist annexation to France, and
with whom I felt a strong sympathy, and partly to obtain
"copy" wherewith to enlighten the British public as to the
true state of the case. This I did to the best of my ability
at the time;* but it was not possible then to narrate those
more private incidents which, after the lapse of seven-and-
twenty years, as most of the actors are dead, and the whole
affair has passed into history, there is no longer any indis-
cretion in referring to.

At Turin I presented my letters of introduction to one of
the deputies from Nice, by whom I was most kindly received.
Finding how strongly my sympathies were enlisted in the
cause of his countrymen, he introduced me to several Niz-
zards, then staying in Turin for the purpose, if possible, of
thwarting the policy of Count Cavour in so far as the trans-
fer of their province to France was concerned. It is clue to
the great Italian minister and patriot to say that no one re-
gretted more deeply than he did the necessity of parting with
Nice, and of forcing from the inhabitants of that province
their consent to their separation from Italy. It was, in his
view, one of the sacrifices he was compelled to make for the
unification of Italy — or rather the price which the emperor
demanded for abstention from active opposition to the crea-
tion of a United Italy ; and even then, Napoleon never an-
ticipated that it would ultimately include the Papal States
and the kingdom of Naples. But inasmuch as it had been
agreed that this annexation should only take place with the
free consent of the populations concerned, and that, pro-
vided the Italian government abstained from influencing them

*" Universal Suffrage and Napoleon the Third." By Laurence Oli-
phant. William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh and London.

AN EPISODE WITH GARIBALDI. 137

in an opposite sense, France could not claim the provinces
if the plebiscite went against annexation, the Nizzards main-
tained that the unity of Italy would not be imperilled by al-
lowing the people freedom of choice, and that it was not fair
of the government to throw all its influence into the scale,
and to coerce them in the direction opposed to their wishes.
It was probably a question upon which no one was really
competent to form an opinion but Cavour himself. In all
likelihood the understanding between that astute Italian and
the French emperor was, that the provinces must be given
to France by fair means or foul, and that it was Cavour's
business to make them appear fair. No one knew better than
the emperor how plebiscites might be arranged. However,
this is only a conjecture : what is certain is, that the Nizzards
whom I met at Turin were as patriotic as any other Italians,
and did not wish to imperil Italian unity for the sake of Nice.
They only wanted the terms of the convention with the
French emperor fairly carried out, and the people of Nice to
be allowed to vote in entire freedom.

I confess I felt somewhat of a conspirator when, on the
second night after my arrival at Turin, in response to an in-
vitation to meet the Nizzard Committee, I was shown up a
long, dark stair to a large upper chamber, somewhere near
the top of the house, where some fourteen or sixteen men
were seated at a table. At its head was a red-bearded,
slightly bald man, in a poncho, to whom my conductor intro-
duced me. This was General Garibaldi, who, as a native
of Nice himself, was the most active and energetic of the
committee, and most intolerant of the political escamotage,
as he called it, by which his birthplace was to be handed
over to France. The point which the committee was dis-
cussing when I entered was, whether it were worth while at-
tempting any parliamentary opposition, or whether it would
not be better to organize an entente at Nice, which would at
all events have the effect of postponing the vote, and of prov-
ing a strong feeling of opposition on the part of the people.

138 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

Garibaldi was decidedly in favor of this latter course.
Though a member of the Chamber himself, he had no belief,
he said, in being able to persuade it to take any view that
the government would oppose ; nor, in fact, did he see any
form of parliamentary opposition open to him. His dislike
and contempt for all constitutional methods of proceeding,
and strong preference for the rough-and-ready way of solving
the question which he advocated, were very amusing. The
strongest argument in favor of the course he proposed lay in
the fact that on the Sunday week, or in ten days from the
night of our meeting, the vote was to take place at Nice, and
if peaceable measures were persisted in much longer, there
would be no time to organize violent ones. I had remained
silent during the whole discussion, when Garibaldi suddenly
turned to me and asked me my opinion. I ventured to say
that I thought constitutional methods should be exhausted
before violent ones were resorted to.

"Oh," he said, impatiently, " interfiellatione, sempre inter-
pellatione I I suppose a question in the Chamber is what
you propose : what is the use of questions ? what do they
ever come to ?"

" There is one question," I said, " which I think you should
ask before you take the law into your own hands, and if you
are beaten on that, you will be able to feel a clearer con-
science in taking stronger measures, for the Chamber will,
from our English constitutional standpoint, have put them-
selves in the wrong."

The fact of my being an Englishman made me an author-
ity in a small way in the matter of parliamentary proceed-
ings, and I was eagerly asked to formulate the motion which
I proposed should be laid before the Chamber. I do not at
this distance of time remember the exact wording, but the
gist of it was that the Franco-Italian Convention, which pro-
vided for a plebiscite to be taken at Nice, should be submit-
ted to the Chamber before the vote'was taken, as it seemed
contrary to all constitutional practice that a government

AN EPISODE WITH GARIBALDI. 139

should make an arrangement with a foreign power by which
two valuable provinces were to be transferred to that power,
without the Chambers of the country thus to be deprived of
them ever having an opportunity of seeing the document so
disposing of them. It took Garibaldi some time to get this
point into his head, and when he did he only gave it a very
qualified approval. However, it commended itself to the
majority of those present, was put into proper shape, and,
finally, Garibaldi consented to speak to it, but in such a half-
hearted way that I did not feel much confidence in the re-
sult.

The next night I dined with Cavour, but avoided all allu-
sion to the Nice question ; indeed, when I thought of the
magnificent services he had rendered to Italy, of the extraor-
dinary genius he had displayed in the conduct of affairs, and
of his disinterested patriotism, my conscience smote me even
for the small share I was taking in an intrigue against his
policy. But then his policy was one of intrigue from first to
last — of splendid intrigue it is true, in which the emperor of
the French was to a great extent caught in his own toils —
and one intrigue more or less would not matter, provided we
could succeed without injuring the cause we all had at heart.
Indeed, I am convinced that Cavour in his secret soul would
have been pleased at the success of a conspiracy which would
have saved Nice to Italy, if it could have been made plain
that he had no complicity in it ; though he would probably
have found a great difficulty in making the French emperor
believe this, and it might have involved him in serious com-
plications. However, the game was too interesting not to
take a hand in it, even if it were a very insignificant one ; and
the sympathy that I felt for my host, which his charming
manner and his subtle but great ability was ever sure to
win for him, in no way conflicted with the regard I was al-
ready beginning to conceive for blunt, honest Garibaldi, with
his hatred of the tortuous methods and diplomatic wiles of
the great minister. Two days after I went to the Chamber

140 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

to hear Garibaldi speak to his interpellation. I had spent
an hour or two with him in the interval talking it over. But
certainly politics were not his strong point. He would not
make a note or prepare his ideas ; he told me several times
what he intended to say, but never said twice the same thing,
and always seemed to miss the principal points. I was not
surprised, therefore, at a speech which brought down the
House with cheers from its patriotic sentiments and glowing
enthusiasm, which abounded in illogical attack upon Cavour,
but which never really touched the point of his motion.
Members who had cheered his references to United Italy
could quite logically vote against his motion, for practically
he had never spoken to it ; and when we met later, after an
ignominious defeat, he shrugged his shoulders and said,

"There, I told you so ; that is what your fine interpella-
tions and parliamentary methods always come to. I knew
it would be all a waste of time and breath."

" Not so," I said ; " at any rate, you have put yourself in
the right ; you have asked the government to let you see the
treaty under which Italy is to be despoiled of two of its fair-
est provinces, and they have refused. They have decided
to hand them over to a foreign power, without giving the
country a chance of expressing an opinion upon the bargain
which has been made, or of knowing what it is to get in re-
turn. I think, in default of this information, you can now,
with a clear conscience, take any measures which seem to
you desirable to prevent this act of arbitrary spoliation."

" Meet us to-night," he said, " and we will talk matters
over."

So we had another conference in the upper room, and all
were united in the opinion that the time had come for pre-
venting the plebiscite from being taken on the following Sun-
day.

The plan proposed was a simple one, and did not involve
any serious disturbance. It was alleged by the Nizzards
present that the local officials had instructions to mislead

AN EPISODE WITH GARIBALDI. 141

the people, by telling them'that the government ordered them
to vote "Yes;" and that, in fact, the prefect and all the sub-
ordinate employees were engaged in an active canvass among
the peasantry, who did not understand enough of the ques-
tion, which had never been explained to them, to take a line
of their own and vote " No " against the wish of the author-
ities. It was maintained that a fortnight of active canvass-
ing by Garibaldi and the Nice committee, with other patriots
— who, when they understood it, would eagerly embrace the
cause — would suffice not only to enlighten public opinion,
but completely to change it ; and that, if the day of the ple-
biscite could be postponed to the Sunday fortnight, the ple-
biscite might safely be taken on that day, with a tolerable
certainty that the popular vote would be given against the
annexation. The French troops were at this juncture on
their return, after the peace which had been concluded be-
tween Austria and France at Solferino, to France, via the
Riviera, and a large body of them were actually at Nice. It
had been arranged, however, that, to avoid all appearance of
compulsion, the town should be entirely denuded of troops
on the day of the plebiscite, and that the Italian as well as
the French soldiers should evacuate it for the day. The
coast would therefore be comparatively clear for a popular
movement, which, after all, would be on a very small scale
— for all that it was intended to accomplish was to wait until
the vote was taken, and then, before the contents could be
counted, to smash the ballot-boxes, thus rendering a new
ballot necessary. The friends of Nice at Turin would then
negotiate with the government to have the plebiscite taken a
fortnight later ; and they trusted to the effect which this dis-
turbance would produce, and to the attention that would thus
be called throughout the country to the attempt which had
been frustrated, to force a premature vote to obtain this con-
cession.

It was finally decided that, on the following Saturday, Gari-
baldi should leave Genoa, in a steamer to be chartered for

142 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

the purpose, with two hundred men, and, choosing his own
time for landing, should enter the town, and break the bal-
lot-boxes before the authorities had time to take the neces-
sary precautions. I forget now the details of the plan ; in-
deed, I am not sure that they were discussed, as the affair
was naturally one which was to be kept secret, and the exe-
cution of which was entirely to be intrusted to Garibaldi.
The general now asked me whether 1 wished to join in the
expedition, and on my expressing my readiness to do so, in-
vited me to accompany him to Genoa a day or two after-
wards. We made the journey in a carriage which had been
reserved for him, and in which there was nobody but the
general, his aide-de-camp, and myself. We had scarcely
any conversation on the way, for he had brought a packet,
containing apparently his morning's mail, and he was en-
gaged in reading letters nearly the whole way. These for
the most part he tore up into small fragments as soon as he
had made himself acquainted with their contents; and by
the time we reached Genoa the floor of the carriage was
thickly strewn with the litter, and looked like a gigantic
waste-paper basket. My curiosity was much exercised to
imagine what this enormous correspondence could be ; but I
have since had reason to believe that they were responses to
a call for volunteers, but not for the Nice expedition. " And
now," he said at last, after tearing up the last letter, as though
his mind had been occupied with some other matter, and
turning to me, " Let us consider what part you are to play
in this Nice affair." I assured him I was ready for any part
in which I could be useful. It was then arranged that im-
mediately on my arrival at Genoa I should go to the diligence
office, and try and engage at once an extra diligence to start
the same evening for Nice. When I had secured the dili-
gence, and arranged the hour for the start, I was to report
to Garibaldi, who gave me the address at which he was to be
found ; he would then instruct eight or ten of his friends to
wait for me at the outskirts of the town. These I was to

AN EPISODE WITH GARIBALDI. 1 43

pick up, and they were to prepare matters for his arrival on
the following Sunday morning with two hundred men. He
also wrote a note in pencil to a confidential friend in Nice,
introducing me to him, informing him that I was in his con-
fidence, that I would explain to him so much of the plan as
I knew, and be ready to offer any assistance in my power.
By the time all these arrangements were discussed and the
note written we reached Genoa. In order to lose no time,
as it was now getting late in the afternoon, after hurriedly
taking some refreshment, I went off to the diligence office.
Here I did not find my mission so easy of accomplishment
as I expected. I asked whether it were possible to get an
extra diligence to Nice.

" Yes," said the clerk ; " by paying for it."

" All right," I replied ; " tell me what it costs."

"How many passengers?" he asked.

Now Garibaldi had impressed upon me great reserve in
this respect.

" I do not wish," he had said, " the people at the office
to know who are going, or how many ; you must engage
the diligence, if possible, for yourself, and answer no ques-
tions."

Now that it came to the point I found this an extremely
difficult matter to do. The only plan was to fall back upon
the proverbial eccentricity of the Milord Anglais.

" Oh, I have a friend or two ; we meant to go by the dili-
gence this morning, but were detained at Turin. It is my
habit whenever I am too late for a diligence to take another.
I like having a whole diligence to myself, then I can change
about from one seat to another, and am sure not to be
crowded."

"And you are ready to pay for sixteen places and six
horses for that pleasure ?" said the clerk.

" If I like to spend my money that way, what does it mat-
ter to anybody else ?"

" What baggage have you ?"

144 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

" A portmanteau each."

" It is very irregular," persisted the clerk ; " such a thing
has never happened to me before as for a man to want to
engage a whole extra diligence to carry himself and his friend
and a couple of portmanteaus, and I cannot take the respon-
sibility of giving you one without consulting my superiors,
which it is difficult for me to do at this late hour. If you
like, I will give you a large carriage which holds six — that
ought to satisfy you."

Finally it was arranged that if I came back in an hour,
the clerk would in the interval find out whether I could have
the diligence, and I would then give him my answer in re-
gard to the carriage, in the event of the diligence being re-
fused.

I now repaired to the hotel which Garibaldi had indicated
as his address, and which was a rough, old-fashioned, second-
rate-looking place upon the quay. There was no doubt about
the general being there, for there was a great hurrying in and
out, and a buzzing of young men about the door, as though
something of importance was going on inside. Before being
admitted to the general, I was made to wait until my name
was taken in to him : it was evident that precautions were
being taken in regard to admissions into his presence. After
a few moments I was shown into a large room, in which
twenty or thirty men were at supper, and at the head of the
table sat Garibaldi. He immediately made room for me
next him ; and before I had time to tell him the result of my
mission at the diligence office, accosted me with —

" Amico mzo, I am very sorry, but we must abandon all
idea of carrying out our Nice programme. Behold these
gentlemen from Sicily. All from Sicily ! All come here to
meet me, to say that the moment is ripe, that delay would be
fatal to their hopes ; that if we are to relieve their country
from the oppression of Bomba, we must act at once. I had
hoped to be able to carry out this little Nice affair first, for
it is only a matter of a few days ; but, much as I regret it, the

AN EPISODE WITH GARIBALDI. 1 45

general opinion is that we shall lose all if we try for too
much ; and, fond as I am of my native province, I cannot
■sacrifice these greater hopes of Italy to it."

I will not vouch for these being the very words he used,
but this was their exact sense.

I suppose my face showed my disappointment, for, as I
remained silent, he continued,

" But if you desire to fight in a good cause, join us. I
know you are not a soldier, but I will keep you with me, and
find work for you."

I have never ceased regretting since that I did not accept this
offer. I should have been the only one of the eight hundred
prodi that left Genoa a fortnight later who was not an Italian.
I afterwards saw these eight hundred decorated at Naples.
It is true many followers joined Garibaldi almost immediate-
ly on his landing; but those who embarked with him from
Genoa were to a man Italians. While I was hesitating, the
general explained to the Sicilians present the circumstances
under which I was among them, and the offers he had made
me, in which they all cordially joined. I had, however, just
left England, expecting to be absent about a month, and
had made engagements there which necessitated my return.
Moreover, I had become so interested in this Nice question,
and knew so little of what the chances of success were in
Sicily, that I scarcely felt disposed to embark in an enter-
prise, which, at the first glance, seemed rash and foolhardy
in the highest degree. I wavered in my resolution, however,
a good deal during supper, under the influence of the enthu-
siasm by which I was surrounded ; and finally, bidding Gari-
baldi a cordial farewell, and wishing him and his companions
all success, beat a retreat, fearing that I should be unable
otherwise to resist the temptation, which was every moment
getting stronger, of joining them.

I went next morning to the office in time to catch the dili-
gence, and my friend the clerk received me with a compas-
sionate smile.
7

146 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

" So you have given up the idea of having a diligence to
yourself?" he remarked.

I fear he thought me not merely a very eccentric but a very
weak-minded Englishman. I humbly crawled up into the
banquette with a nod of assent, disappointed and dejected,
and more and more a prey to vain regrets that I had not
cast in my lot with the Sicilians.

At Nice I delivered the letter of introduction I had re-
ceived from Garibaldi, now become useless, and told the
gentleman to whom it was addressed the whole story. What
I heard from him, combined with what fell under my own
observation, made me feel still more regret at the abandon-
ment of the enterprise ; for it was the general opinion that
the Nice episode would not have delayed the Sicilian expedi-
tion. Half an hour would have sufficed to break the ballot-
boxes and scatter the votes ; and Garibaldi could have been
back in Genoa, and left the further details to those interested
in carrying them out. I asked why it was necessary for Gari-
baldi to be present at all at so simple an operation, and
whether there was not any one in the town who could collect
a few determined men and carry it out. But the idea was
scouted as impossible. There was only one man in all Italy
the magic of whose name and the prestige of whose presence
was sufficient for these things. In Nice itself there was no one
either with the faculty to organize, the courage to execute,
or the authority to control a movement of this sort ; and I
therefore consoled myself by taking the only revenge I could
upon a population so weak and so easily misled by their au-
thorities, by voting myself for their annexation to France.
Of course I had no right whatever to vote ; but that made no
difference, provided you voted the right way. As for vot-
ing "No," that was almost impossible. The "No" tickets
were very difficult to procure, while the " Yeses " were
thrust into your hands from every direction. If ever ballot-
boxes deserved to be smashed, and their contents scattered
to the winds, those did which contained the popular vote

AN EXPERIENCE IN MONTENEGRO. 147

under which Nice now forms part of the French republic ;
and the operation of breaking them was one which a dozen
resolute men, who were prepared to stand the consequences,
might have performed with the greatest ease.

At the same time I am bound to say that, looked at by the
light of subsequent events, and the prosperity which has at-
tended Nice since its incorporation with France, the inhabi-
tants have had no reason to regret the escamotage of which at
the time they seemed the victims.

Two or three months after my return to England, in my
quality of a rolling stone, I began rolling again. I rolled
very pleasantly through Hungary, gathering moss of various
sorts at divers hospitable Magyar country-houses. I rolled
on to Belgrade, reaching it on the day before Prince Milosch's
death, an event which it was expected would produce a revo-
lution — which, however, proved a mere flash in the pan — and
witnessed the very singular funeral of that remarkably able
and wicked old man. Here I made the acquaintance of his
son and successor Prince Michael, destined to meet a violent
death by assassination, and while staying with my old friend
Mr. Longworth, with whom I had been associated five years
before in Circassia, and who was now consul-general in Ser-
via, was joined by the late Lord Edward St. Maur ; with him
I rolled on through Bosnia and the Herzegovina, wilder and
more turbulent in those days than they are now, abounding
in brigand bands, enchanting scenery, and fleas, and in a
chronic state of guerilla warfare with the Turkish govern-
ment, which invested travelling through the country with the
pleasing charm of perpetual risk to life and limb. We sailed
down the Narenta in an open boat, cruising delightfully
through the archipelago of islands which fringed the Dal-
matian coast to Ragusa. We rolled on by way of Cattaro
into Montenegro, where I made the acquaintance of the
prince, then just married; and here I gathered a piece of
moss which was so characteristic of the scale upon which the

I48 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

administration of the principality was conducted that it is
worth narrating. The little town of Cettinje, which is its
capital, did not then contain any hotel, properly so called,
but the rare stranger who visited it was accommodated in a
sort of lodging-house, in which there were one or two spare
bedrooms ; or, if they were not actually spare, their occupants
turned out, I suppose for a consideration, on the arrival of a
guest. The chamber assigned to me had apparently been
thus vacated. Its former occupant had evidently been a
man of modest requirements, for the entire furniture con-
sisted of a bed, a huge chest, and a chair. I much won-
dered at the absence of a table and the presence of the
chest, but the latter was better than nothing ; and when a
boiled chicken was brought to me as my evening repast, I
spread one of my own towels upon it, in the absence of a
table-cloth, and, squatting uncomfortably upon the solitary
chair, proceeded to make the best of existing conditions. I
was in the act of dissecting an extremely tough wing, when
the door suddenly opened, and a stalwart Montenegrin,
looking magnificent in his national costume, stalked in. He
addressed me with great politeness in his native tongue — at
least I gathered from his manner that he was polite, for I
could not understand a word of what he said. As he was
evidently a man of some position, in other words, as he
seemed to be a gentleman of Montenegro, I rose and bowed
with much ceremony, addressing him fluently in the English
language ; upon which he drew an immense key from his
pocket, and pointed to the lock of the chest, thus giving me
to understand that he wished to open it. In order for him to
accomplish this, it was necessary for me to remove my din-
ner, an operation which was speedily performed. As he
seemed a frank and engaging sort of person without any
secrets, and as I was possessed with the natural curiosity of
a stone gathering moss, I looked over him while he opened
the chest, to see what was in it. To my astonishment it was
full to the brim of bags of money. Not only this, but my

AN EXPERIENCE IN MONTENEGRO. 149

strange visitor opened one of them, and poured out a hand-
ful of gold. They were evidently all full of gold. When
he had counted out what he wanted — which, as well as my
memory serves me, was over a hundred pounds — he tied up
the bag again, replaced it, locked up the chest, helped me
with many Sclavonic expressions, which I have no doubt
were apologies, to lay my cloth and spread my banquet
again ; and with a final polite salutation vanished, leaving
me alone, and in perfect confidence, with the untold treasure
which he had thus revealed to me. There was something al-
most uncanny in dining and sleeping alone with so much
money. At night the chest seemed to assume gigantic pro-
portions, and I felt as if I had been put into a haunted room.
The absolute confidence placed in me, an utter stranger, for
I had not been in the place a couple of hours, and had not
yet presented my letter of introduction to the prince, ap-
palled me ; and I went to sleep vainly trying to unravel a
mystery so unlike any I had expected to find in the barren
wilds of Montenegro. It was not solved until next day, when,
dining with the prince, I met my visitor of the previous even-
ing. I then acquired the information, through a Russian
gentleman present who spoke French, that the chest upon
which I had dined contained the entire finances of the prin-
cipality, and that the Montenegrin who had unlocked it,
and vacated his chamber in my behalf, was its chancellor of
the exchequer !

From Montenegro we rolled down to Corfu, where Mr.
Herbert, then attached to the legation at Athens, joined us,
and we spent some very pleasant clays together. I little
thought when I parted from my friends, to embark on board
the steamer for Ancona, how tragically their young lives were
destined to be terminated — Lord Edward to fall a victim to
a bear while shooting in India, and Herbert to be held for
ransom by brigands, and finally murdered by them near the
plains of Marathon. At Ancona I found the hospitals full
of wounded from the battle of Castel Fidardo, which had

150 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

just been fought ; then I rolled through Italy in a diligence
for three days and two nights, in company with sundry papal
sbirri as fellow-passengers, who were escaping to the shelter
of Rome from the provinces which the pope was rapidly los-
ing, in terror of their lives lest their identity should be recog-
nized by the inhabitants of the villages at which we stopped
to change horses ; and so into the sacred city, where all was
suppressed excitement at the changes which were transpir-
ing in the Italian Peninsula.

But I did not linger there, for I was anxious to see Gari-
baldi once more, now administering at Naples the kingdom
which he had conquered since we had parted a few months
before. He received me with affectionate cordiality, and
listened with interest to my account of the taking of the vote
at Nice, but insisted that he could not regret the decision he
had arrived at, as he felt convinced that his Sicilian expedi-
tion would have been marred had he involved himself in
political difficulties with his own government at such a crisis,
in which he was very possibly right. Then I rolled out to
see a little fighting near Capua, but all the serious work had
been accomplished, and I lodged a few clays with my friend
the late General Eber, who had made his headquarters in the
royal palace at Caserta ; lodged sumptuously, for every room
and every bed in the palace was occupied except the royal
bedroom and the royal bed, which the general himself had
been too modest to appropriate, and which, as it was the only
one vacant, he assigned to me — a bed so gorgeous, with its
gold and lace satin, that I doubted whether the king himself
did not keep it for show. However, it turned out a very
good one to sleep in.

At last the day came when Victor Emmanuel arrived to re-
ceive a kingdom from the hands of the Nice sailor; and as I
saw them both appear on the balcony of the palace from the
square below, I was reminded of a certain clay twelve years
before, when I formed one of a mob in that same square, at
the moment that, by Bomba's order, it was fired upon by the

AN EXPERIENCE IN MONTENEGRO. 151

troops, and I was able to identify the very port cochin into
which I had fled for refuge on that occasion. Now I was
listening to the voice of the deliverer, standing with bared
head, and in red shirt, presenting a kingdom to his sovereign,
and to the ringing cheers of the liberated multitude, as, with
enthusiastic demonstrations of joy, they welcomed their new
ruler. Thus did United Italy owe its existence to a combina-
tion of the most opposite qualities in the persons of its two
greatest patriots, who would not work together ; for it is cer-
tain that Cavour could never have created it without Gari-
baldi, or Garibaldi have achieved success without Cavour.

CHAPTER X.

THE ATTACK ON THE BRITISH LEGATION IN JAPAN IN 1 86 1.

In October, i860, Mr. de Norman, First Secretary of Le-
gation in Japan, who was temporarily attached to Lord El-
gin's second special embassy to China, was barbarously tor-
tured and murdered at Pekin ; and early in the following
year I was sent out to succeed him. Sir Rutherford Alcock,
who had been appointed minister to Japan under the treaty
which we made with that country in 1858, when I was acting
secretary to the special mission, had applied for two years'
leave ; and thus the prospect was opened to me of acting as
charge d'affaires at Yedo for that period. It was one which
my former brief experience in that interesting and compara-
tively unknown country rendered extremely tempting ; and
early in June I reached Shanghai, on my way to Yokohama.
I was extremely sorry to find that I had just missed Sir
Rutherford, who had left Shanghai only a fortnight before
for Nagasaki, from which town he intended to travel overland
to Yedo — a most interesting journey of at least a month,
through an entirely unknown country; an experience which,
in view of my future residence in it, would have been valua-
ble in many ways. There was nothing left for it but to go,
on the first opportunity, by sea ; and towards the end of the
month I reached Yokohama, from which port I lost no time
in pushing on to Yedo. Here I found the legation estab-
lished in a temple at the entrance to the city, in one of its
principal suburbs, called Sinagawa. It was separated from
the sea by a high-road, and on entering the large gateway, an
avenue, about three hundred yards long, led to a second gate-

ATTACK ON BRITISH LEGATION IN JAPAN. 153

way, behind which stood the temple buildings. In the out-
side court were the servants' offices and stables, in which
stood always, saddled and bridled, like those of the knights
of Branksome Hall, the horses of our mounted Japanese
body-guard, without whose escort no member of the legation
could at that time take a ride abroad. Besides these, there
was a foot-guard, partly composed of soldiers of the tycoon,
or temporal emperor, as he was then called, and partly by
retainers of the daimios, or feudatory chiefs of the country —
the whole amounting to one hundred and fifty men. These
guards were placed here by the government for our protec-
tion, although some of us at the time thought that the pre-
caution was altogether exaggerated and unnecessary, and
that their constant presence was intended rather as a meas-
ure of surveillance over our movements. To what extent
this latter motive operated it is impossible to conjecture, but
the sequel showed that the apprehensions of the government
for our safety were by no means unfounded. I had been ac-
companied from England by Mr. Reginald Russell, who had
been appointed attache, and it was with no little curiosity
that we rode up the avenue to what was to be our future
home.

Two or three members of the legation were waiting to re-
ceive us, and showed us over the quaint construction which
had been appropriated by the Japanese government to the
use of the first foreign minister who had ever resided in their
capital. Part of the building was still used for ecclesiastical
purposes, and haunted by priests ; but our quarters were
roomy and comfortable, the interior economy being suscepti-
ble of modification in the number, size, and arrangement of
the rooms by the simple expedient of moving the partition-
walls, which consisted of paper-screens running in grooves.
The ease with which these could be burst through, as it after-
wards proved, afforded equal facilities of escape and attack.
One felt rather as if one were living in a bandbox; and there
was an air of flimsiness about the whole construction by no
7*

154 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

means calculated to inspire a sense of security in a capital
of over two millions of people, a large proportion of whom,
we were given to understand, were thirsting for our lives.
Fortunately for our peace of mind, we did not realize this at
the time, and were taken up rather by the quaintness and nov-
elty of our new abode, and the picturesqueness of its sur-
roundings. We congratulated ourselves upon the charming
garden and grounds, comprising probably two or three acres,
abundantly furnished with magnificent wide-spreading trees,
and innumerable shrubs and plants which were new to us ;
while small ponds and tiny islands contributed a feature
which is generally to be found in the landscape-gardening
in which the Japanese are so proficient. Sir Rutherford Al-
cock was not expected to arrive for a week, and I occupied
the time in establishing myself in my new quarters, and in
exploring the neighborhood on horseback.

On these occasions we were always accompanied by an
escort of twenty or thirty horsemen, or yaconins, as they are
called, mounted on wiry ponies, shod with straw shoes, and
with a marked tendency to being vicious and unmanageable.
These exploratory rides were a great source of delight and
interest to me, for although I had been in the country be-
fore, my visit had only lasted a fortnight ; and my time had
been exclusively devoted to official work, and the examina-
tion of the city of Yedo itself, so that I had seen nothing
whatever of the surrounding country. Now we scampered
across it, to the great consternation of our escort, who found
great difficulty in keeping up with us — so much so that,
upon more than one occasion, only two or three of the orig-
inal number succeeded in reaching home with us. I had de-
termined, moreover, upon making an entomological collec-
tion for the British Museum, and set the juvenile part of the
population of the villages through which I passed to collect-
ing insects, in the hope that on subsequent visits I might
find something worth having. I was successful in almost
my first ride in finding a common-looking but very rare

ATTACK ON BRITISH LEGATION IN JAPAN. 1 55

beetle ; and in this pursuit my English servant — who had spent
his youth in the house of a naturalist and ornithologist, and
was skilled in the use of the blow-pipe, and in the cleaning
and stuffing of birds — took an eager interest.

After I had been at Yedo about a week, we received news
of the approach of Sir Rutherford Alcock and his party, and
rode out ten miles to meet them. We were delighted to see
them arrive safe and sound after a land-journey of thirty-
two days, as we had not been without anxiety on their be-
half — for Japan at that period was a region in which sinister
rumors were rife, and we never knew how much or how lit-
tie to believe of them ; but now the great experiment of trav-
ersing the country for the first time by Europeans had been
safely and successfully accomplished, and perhaps contrib-
uted to lull us into a security the fallacy of which was des-
tined so shortly to be proved to us.

On the night of the 5th of July a comet was visible, a cir-
cumstance to which some of us possibly owed our lives, for
we sat up till an unusually late hour looking at it. As one
of the party was gifted with a good voice and an extensive
repertory of songs, and the evening was warm and still, we
protracted our vigil in the open air until past midnight. At
our midday halt on my ride from Yokohama to Yedo, I had
acquired the affections of a stray dog, by feeding him with
our luncheon-scraps ; and this animal had permanently at-
tached himself to me, and was lying across the threshold of
the door of my room when I went to bed. I had scarcely
blown out my candle and settled myself to a grateful repose,
when this clog broke into a sudden and furious barking, and
at the same moment I heard the sounds of a watchman's rat-
tle. We had two of these functionaries, whose business it
was to perambulate the garden alternately throughout the
night, and to show that they were on the alert by springing,
from time to time, a rattle made of bamboo which they car-
ried. Roused by these noises, I listened attentively, and dis-
tinctly heard the sounds of what seemed a scuffle at the

156 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

front door. My room was on the other side of the house,
and opened on to the garden, from which quarter it was en-
tirely unprotected. It was connected with the front of the
house by a narrow passage, the walls of which, if I remember
right, were of lath-and-plaster, or at all events of some firmer
material than the usual paper screens. Thinking that the
disturbance was probably caused by some quarrel among the
servants, I jumped out of bed, intending to arm myself with
my revolver, which was lying in its case on the table. Un-
fortunately my servant had that day been cleaning it, and
after replacing it and locking the case, had put the key
where I could not lay my hand upon it. A box which con-
tained a sword and a coat of mail, which had been laughing-
ly presented to me before leaving England by an anxious
friend, had not been opened ; so, although well supplied with
means both of offence and defence, I was forced in the hurry
of the moment to content myself with a hunting-crop, the
handle of which was so heavily weighted that I considered
it a sufficiently formidable weapon with which to meet any-
body belonging to our own household that I was likely to
encounter. Meantime the dog continued to bark violently,
and to exhibit unmistakable signs of alarm. Stepping past
him, I proceeded along the passage leading to the front
of the house, which was only dimly lighted by an oil-lamp
that was standing in the dining-room ; the first room on my
left was that occupied by Russell, whom I hurriedly roused,
and then, hearing the noise increasing, rushed out towards
it. I had scarcely taken two steps, when I dimly perceived
the advancing figure of a Japanese, with uplifted arms and
sword ; and now commenced a struggle of which it is diffi-
cult to render an account. I remember feeling most unac-
countably hampered in my efforts to bring the heavy butt-
end of my hunting-whip to bear upon him, and to be aware
that he was aiming blow after blow at me, and no less unac-
countably missing me, and feeling ready to cry with vexation
at being without my revolver, and being aware that it was a

ATTACK ON BRITISH LEGATION IN JAPAN. 157

life-and-death struggle, which could only end one way, when
suddenly I was blinded by the flash of a shot, and my left
arm, which I was instinctively holding up to shield my head,
dropped disabled. I naturally thought I had been shot, but
it turned out that this shot saved my life.

Among those who had accompanied Sir Rutherford Al-
cock from Nagasaki was Mr. Morrison, then consul at that
port. His servant seems to have encountered one of our as-
sailants, masked and in chain-armor, in his first rush into the
building, about which he fortunately did not know his way,
and the servant, escaping from him, succeeded in safely
reaching his master's room, and in arousing him. Seizing
his revolver, Morrison sallied forth, and, attracted by the
noise of my struggle, approached from behind me, and, plac-
ing his revolver over my shoulder, shot my antagonist at the
very moment that he had inflicted a severe cut with his long
two-handed sword on my left arm, a little above the wrist.
A moment after, Morrison received a cut over the forehead
and across the eyebrow from another Japanese, at whom he
emptied the second barrel of his pistol. An instant lull
succeeded these shots. It was too dark to see what their
effect had been, but the narrow passage was no longer blocked
by the forms of our assailants. My impression is that one
was on the ground. We were both bleeding so profusely,
and felt so disabled, that there was nothing left for us but to
retreat, and this we instinctively did to the room which con-
tained the light. This was placed in a part of the dining-
room which had been screened off so as to make an office
for Sir Rutherford Alcock, with whose bedroom it communi-
cated. The screen reached about three fourths across the
dining-room. In this office we found Sir Rutherford, who
had just been roused, and were joined in the next minute or
two by three other members of the legation, Mr. Russell and
my servant B., all hurriedly escaping from a noise and con-
fusion which increased in intensity every moment. B., on
the first alarm, had begun to load his double-barrelled gun,

158 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

and had finished with the exception of putting on the caps —
this was before the days of breech-loaders — when two Japan-
ese jumped in at his window. Fortunately, spread out be-
fore it on a table were two open insect-cases, with the spoils
of the week impaled on pins. On these the assailants
jumped with their bare feet, and upsetting the table, came
sprawling into the room, thus giving B., who had lost the
caps in the start he received, time to spring through the pa-
per wall of his room, like a harlequin, and reach us in safety.
At this juncture the position of affairs was not reassuring.
We numbered eight behind the screen, of whom two were
hors de combat. Our available means of defence consisted of
three revolvers and a double-barrelled gun. Of the Euro-
pean inmates of the legation three were missing; one of
these was Mr. Wirgman, the artist of the Illustrated London
News, who had accompanied Sir Rutherford in his journey
from Nagasaki ; and of the two others, one lived in a cottage
somewhat detached from the temple. Meantime Sir Ruth-
erford, who fortunately possessed some surgical skill, was en-
gaged in binding up my arm. The gash was to the bone,
cutting through three of the extensor tendons, so that to this
day I am unable to hold erect three fingers of my left hand.
I should undoubtedly have bled to death had it not been for
the efficient measures thus kindly and promptly adopted to
stop the hemorrhage. As it was, I was becoming very faint
from loss of blood, as I now discovered that I had also re-
ceived another and very serious wound over the right collar-
bone, and unpleasantly near the jugular vein, of which, in the
excitement of the struggle, I had been totally unconscious.
Also a very slight tip from the sword high up on the right
arm, the mark of which, however, is still visible ; and a blow
which I did not discover till next da)', which broke several of
the metacarpal bones of the left hand. I never could imag-
ine how or when I received this blow; but it was an evi-
dence that we must have been at one moment of the struggle
at very close quarters.

ATTACK ON BRITISH LEGATION IN JAPAN. 1 59

Meantime the noise of cutting and slashing resounded
through the house ; and while it drew nearer every moment,
we were at a loss to conceive who our assailants could be,
and why the guard had not come to our rescue — unless, in-
deed, they were in the plot to murder us. At last we heard
all the glass crash on the sideboard in the dining-room, and
we knew that our moment had come. My companions had
made up their minds to sell their lives dearly; and every
man who was fortunate enough to possess one, was standing
with his finger on the trigger of his revolver, while this time
the caps were safely on B.'s double-barrelled gun. I sug-
gested to one of the party — I forget which now — that they
would have a chance for their lives by escaping into the gar-
den and hiding among the bushes, which they could easily
have done ; but the answer was that they could not take me
with them, and they had determined not to desert me, but to
stand or fall together — for which I felt at the time intensely
grateful, and do still, though I had at that moment given up
all hope of escape. I was overcome by a feeling of faintness,
which made me regard the prospect of immediate death with
complete indifference, until B., while he was giving me some
water to drink, murmured in my ear, " Do you think they
will torture us, sir, before they kill us?" This horrible sug-
gestion brought out a cold perspiration ; and I trust I may
never again experience the sensation of dread with which it
inspired me, and which I was too weak to fight against. It
did not last long, however, for almost at the same moment
there was an immense increase of noise, and the clashing of
swords, intermingled with sharp cries and ejaculations, re-
sounded from the other side of the screen, and our curiosity
and hope were excited in the highest degree, for we thought
it indicated a possible rescue. In a few moments it subsided,
and all was still, and Sir Rutherford, followed by Mr. Low-
der, went cautiously out on a reconnoitring expedition, to
find the dining-room looking like a shambles, and to discover
some Japanese retreating down the passage, at whom Mr.

l6o EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

Lowder fired a shot from his revolver. Shortly after they
returned, Mr. Macdonald, one of the gentlemen whose room
was situated out of the line of attack, appeared disguised in
a Japanese dress, accompanied by some of the guard, excited
and blood-bespattered, and we knew that we were saved by
them, though not a second too soon. Had our assailants not
been attacked in rear by the guard at the moment they were
in the dining-room, they must inevitably in a few seconds
more have discovered us behind the screen, and this account
of that eventful night's proceedings would never have been
written. We were now informed that some of our assailants
had been killed, that the guard were searching for others
in the grounds, and that reinforcements had been sent for.
These appeared soon after ; and I have never seen a more
dramatic and picturesque sight than these men, all clad in
chain-armor, with their steel head-pieces, long two-handed
swords, and Japanese lanterns, filing through the house, and
out into the starlight. It was like a scene from the " Hugue-
nots," and as I watched them from the arm-chair in which I
was still lying, swathed and bandaged, was one of the most
vivid impressions produced upon my mind on that night of
lively sensations.

About this time Mr. Wirgman, the artist of the Illustrated
London News, turned up, coated with a thick breastplate of
mud. He had taken refuge under the house, which was
raised about eighteen inches from the ground, and, crawling
in on his stomach, had remained in profound but somewhat
dirty security under the flooring. With the true spirit of his
calling he immediately set about portraying the most strik-
ing features of the episode, for the benefit of the British pub-
lic. Mr. Gower, another gentleman who lived in a little
cottage apart, also appeared safe and sound, having been
throughout removed from the scene of the strife.

It was about three o'clock in the morning that I deter-
mined to struggle back to bed ; and even then the soldiers
were hunting about the garden for concealed members of

ATTACK ON BRITISH LEGATION IN JAPAN. l6l

the gang that had attacked us, prodding the bushes with
their swords, and searching into hidden recesses. As, sup-
ported by friendly arms, I tottered round the screen into the
dining-room, a ghastly sight met my gaze. Under the side-
board, completely severed from the body, was a man's head.
The body was lying in the middle of the room. I had in the
first instance rushed out of my bedroom barefooted, and in
my night-dress. I now found myself slipping about in blood
— for butchers' work had been clone here — and feeling some-
thing like an oyster under my bare foot, I perceived it was a
human eye. One of the bodies was terribly disfigured ; the
whole of the front part of the head had been sliced off as
though with an adze, leaving only the back of the brain vis-
ible. Early in the morning I was roused from a troubled
cloze by six or eight solemn-looking elderly Japanese, who
announced that they were the imperial physicians come to
inquire after my health. I positively refused to allow them
to remove the bandages and examine the wounds; so they
contented themselves with looking very wise, examining my
tongue, and placing their ears over my heart. As the day
advanced, and I recovered somewhat from the excitement
and the exhaustion, I was surprised at finding that I suffered
so little pain, and felt so well, considering the amount of
blood that I had lost. So I scrambled out to look at the
scene of the conflict — for it was difficult under the circum-
stances to remain quietly in bed. I naturally first visited the
spot where I had met my Japanese opponent, and discovered
that the reason we had so much difficulty in getting at each
other was owing to a small beam, or rather rafter, which
spanned the narrow passage, about seven feet from the
ground. Its edge was as full of deep sword-cuts as a crimped
herring, any one of which would have been sufficient to split
open my skull, which my antagonist must have thought un-
usually hard. I evidently owed my life to the fact that I had
remained stationary under this beam, which had acted as a
permanent and most effective guard — the cuts I received being

1 62 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

merely the tips from the sword as it glanced off. There was a
plentiful bespattering of blood on the wall at the side, in which
was also indented the shape of the handle of my hunting-whip.
The blow must have been given with considerable force to
make it; but I feel convinced that under such circumstances
one is for the moment endowed with an altogether excep-
tional strength. I now pursued my investigations into some
of the other rooms, which all bore marks of the ferocious
nature of the attack. The assailants appear to have slashed
about recklessly in the dark, in the hope of striking a victim.
Some of the mattresses were prodded through and through ;
one bedpost was completely severed by a single sword-cut;
and a Bible lying on a table was cut three quarters through.
We were now in a position to add up the'list of killed and
wounded, and estimate results generally, while we also had to
calculate how they might affect our own future position and
policy.

Although one of our assailants, a stalwart young fellow
with a somewhat hang-dog countenance, was taken prisoner
and afterwards executed, we had some difficulty in making
out at the time of whom the gang was actually composed.
That they were Lonins there was no doubt. Lonins are an
outlaw class, the retainers or clansmen of Daimios who, hav-
ing committed some offence, have left the service of their
prince, and banding themselves together form a society of
desperadoes, who are employed often by their old chiefs, to
whom they continue to owe a certain allegiance, for any dai - -
ing enterprise by which, if it fails, he is not compromised,
while if they succeed in it, they have a chance of regaining
their position. The question was, to which particular Daimio
these Lonins belonged ; and upon this point our guard was
singularly reticent. Nor was any light thrown upon the mat-
ter by the following document, which was found on the body
of one of the gang who was killed, and which ran as follows :

" I, though I am a person of low standing, have not pa-
tience to stand by and see the sacred empire defiled by for-

ATTACK ON BRITISH LEGATION IN JAPAN. 1 63

eigners. This time I have determined in my heart to under-
take to follow out my master's will. Though, being altogether
humble myself, I cannot make the might of the country to
shine on foreign nations, yet with a little faith, and a little
warrior's power, I wish in my heart separately, though I am
a person of low degree, to bestow upon my country one out
of a great many benefits. If this thing from time to time
may cause the foreigners to retire, and partly tranquillize
the minds of the mikado and the government, I shall take
to myself the highest praise. Regardless of my own life,
I am determined to set out." Here follow fourteen signa-
tures.

This document, while it showed that the motive which
suggested the attack was the hope that it might frighten us
out of the country, also proved that the number who had
been engaged in it, on this occasion, was fourteen. Some
years afterwards I met several Japanese in London, and had
some opportunities of being of service to them. I happened
one day to mention to one of them that I had been in the
British legation on the night of this attack. "You don't
say so !" he replied. " How glad I am that you escaped
safely! for I, to whom you have shown so much kindness,
planned the whole affair, and was in Sinagawa, just outside
the gates, all that night, though, not being a Lonin myself, I
did not take an active part in it." He then told me that the
Lonins belonged to Prince Mito, upon whom, from his known
hostility to foreigners, our suspicion had rested from the first ;
and as a reminiscence of the event, in addition to the one I
already carried on my arm, he presented me with his photo-
graph. We now heard that three of the Lonins, to avoid be-
ing captured alive, had committed suicide by ripping them-
selves up, an example which was followed by two more a day
or two afterwards, making the total list of killed and wounded
twenty-eight, which was composed as follow;

164 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

Defenders.

Killed.

I Tycoon's guard. 1 Porter. 1 Groom.

Severely won tided.

1 Secretary of Legation. 1 Porter.

I Tycoon's guard. 2 Servants of the Legation.

1 Daimio's guard.

Slightly wounded.

1 Consul. 2 Daimio's guard.

7 Tycoon's guard. 1 Priest of the temple.

Assailants.

Killed.

2 on the spot.

3 tracked next day, committed suicide.
2 tracked later, committed suicide.

I captured, wounded, and executed.

Killed, . . . 11

Wounded, . . . 17

Total, . . 28

We heard afterwards that the six Lonins still unaccounted
for were caught and executed at intervals later, but had no
means of verifying the statement ; but whether it were true or
not, the whole forms a record of a tolerably bloody night's
work. We were strongly recommended by the government
to place three of the heads of the Lonins over our gateway
as a terror to evil-doers, but I cannot remember whether this
advice was followed or not. We were now able to gather
from our servants many incidents of the attack. It seems
that our assailants first knocked at the outside gate, but, be-
ing refused admittance, scaled the fence and killed the por-
ter. In passing up the avenue in front of the stables, they
came across a groom, whom they also killed. They then
slew a dog, and severely wounded the cook, who seems to
have heard a noise and gone out to see the cause of it. In
like manner they captured a watchman, whom they tried to
persuade to show them the way; but he managed to escape,

ATTACK ON BRITISH LEGATION IN JAPAN. 165

receiving, as he did so, two severe cuts on the back ; however,
he ultimately succeeded in concealing himself in a lotus-pond.
This man's back presented the most ghastly appearance, and
I did not think he could have lived. The Japanese have a
treatment of their own for sword-cuts, derived from much ex-
perience in them. Instead of bringing the edges of the skin
as closely together as possible, they plug the wound with
chewed paper, a method which, if it is efficacious, leaves the
most hideous marks of the gash. The band now seems to
have scattered, and to have broken into the temple in parties
of three or four, coming across an unfortunate priest as they
did so, who, however, was not very severely wounded ; and
then in the darkness they clashed into all the rooms, slashing
recklessly about them, and plunging their swords through
the mattresses in the hope of transfixing a sleeper. There
can be little doubt that they would have succeeded in their
purpose, had it not been for the lateness of the hour at which
most of us had retired to rest.

Before daybreak Sir Rutherford Alcock had despatched
an express messenger to Captain Craigie of H.M.S. Ring-
dove, then lying at Yokohama, twenty miles distant, describ-
ing the position of matters, and urgently requesting him to
come at once to our assistance. Meantime the native guards
had been increased to five hundred men. At one o'clock in
the afternoon we were cheered by the sight of twenty blue-
jackets, led by their officers, tramping up the avenue, their
faces beaming with the anticipation of a possible fight in
store. Their arrival inspired a confidence which our pre-
viously defenceless condition probably exaggerated ; for what
could so few even well-armed men do against the hostile
population by whom we were surrounded, had they chosen
to renew the attack, which we considered highly probable ?
They were accompanied by Monsieur Duchesne de Belle-
cour, the French minister, who, on learning of our adventure,
instantly put himself on board the Ringdove, bringing with
him a party of French sailors, "pour partager les dangers"

1 66 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

as he chivalrously remarked. Our most welcome reinforce-
ment instantly set to work improving our means of defence.
The palisades all round were looked to and strengthened,
and every conceivable measure of precaution taken, to pre-
pare for another attack during the night, which seemed highly
possible — for we thought that the escaped Lonins might
spend the day in recruiting their numbers, and assault us in
much stronger force. We heard, from various sources, that
the city was in the highest state of excitement, and we felt,
therefore, that we had only as yet, perhaps, been actors in
the first scene of a drama, the denouement of which it was
impossible to foresee. At the same time, we quite felt that
the decision at which our minister had arrived was the rieht
one, and that we must hold our position at all hazards, as
it would never do to allow either the Japanese government
or people to suppose that we could be frightened by isolated
acts of violence into abandoning rights which had been sol-
emnly assured to us by treaty. With the exception of the
American, there was no other foreign legation in Yedo at
the time, and it had so far escaped molestation. In antici-
pation of a lively night, an elaborate system of sentries was
organized upon a somewhat composite basis. At both the
gates, and at various points in the grounds, was a mixed
guard of Japanese and English or French, while at every
bedroom-door a Japanese and a blue-jacket kept watch to-
gether. I don't think anybody slept much that night; and
whenever I did fall into a doze, it was only to wake with a
start from a dream in which I was being attacked. The
bamboo rattle of the Japanese watchmen, associated as it
was with my first alarm, produced a painful impression upon
my weakened nervous system ; and it was a relief to gaze
at my two sentries stolidly facing each other from opposite
sides of the doorway, both armed to the teeth according to
the fashion of their respective civilizations, unable to inter-
change an intelligible word, but each, no doubt, entertaining
some curious speculations in regard to the other.

ATTACK ON BRITISH LEGATION IN JAPAN. 167

All through that first night I fancied I heard the angry
murmur of the dense population by which we were surround-
ed, who seemed to me as sleepless as ourselves ; but this
may only have been the effect of a fevered imagination.
The night passed off without an alarm, but it was only the
first of a series in which this unpleasant state of tension was
in no degree relaxed. Nor did the days bring much relief.
Sinister and unpleasant rumors were constantly reaching us
through sources of information which, it is true, were not to
be much relied upon, for they were Japanese, though in some
cases more or less secret. It was not safe for a foreigner to
show himself outside the gates, so that we felt more or less
beleagured, while official visits were paid and communica-
tions were being kept up between the minister and the Jap-
anese government. Nobody thought of laying aside his
revolver for a moment ; and whether he was eating his meals
or copying a despatch, it was always placed on the table
beside him.

Under these circumstances I was only an encumbrance,
for I was unable to use either arm, and my wounds needed
more serious attention than it was possible to give them on
shore. After the first two clays, therefore, I was put on
board the Ringdove, under the care of the assistant-surgeon.
Captain Craigie, who was living on shore, most kindly placed
his cabin at my disposal ; and here I entered upon a series
of experiences which, in their way, were the most disagree-
able which it has ever been my lot to encounter.

After the wound on my right shoulder was sewn up, my
right arm was bandaged to my side, so as not to open the
sutures; my left arm was also firmly bandaged, so that I
was deprived of the use of both, and had to be fed by my
servant. Then, from loss or poverty of blood, I became
covered with boils, which, of course, were worse just under
the bandages. In addition to this, ophthalmia broke out
among the crew, and I got it in both eyes. The thermom-
eter was standing at 95 . I was as red as a lobster from

l68 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

prickly heat, which produced an incessant irritation, and the
cabin buzzed with mosquitoes like a beehive. A bandage
over both eyes kept me in total darkness; and it was as
difficult to lie on my back on account of the boils, as on
either side because of my arms. The monotony of this exist-
ence was only relieved by having myself constantly scratched ;
by indicating the localities of mosquitoes I wished killed;
by having nitrate of silver poured into both eyes, which felt
very much as if they were being extracted with corkscrews;
by having my wounds cleaned, plastered, and attended to;
by being fed, and smoking. It is for such emergencies
that a beneficent Providence has especially provided to-
bacco.

As every available man was on shore, there was nobody
to talk to except the assistant-surgeon and the second mas-
ter. It was just when I was suffering the most acutely from
this accumulation of miseries that we had another serious
night-alarm. I was vainly trying to find the best position to
doze in when I heard a great scrimmage on deck, and some
sharp words of command given in an excited tone. Rous-
ing B., who was sleeping near me, I told him to hurry on
deck and see what was the matter. In a moment he came
back in the highest state of excitement, with the pleasing
intelligence that an armed Japanese junk was bearing down
to board us, and that everybody was on deck with pikes and
other weapons of defence. As all the combatant part of the
crew had been landed for the defence of the legation, leaving
only the engineers, stokers, cook, steward, and one or two
others on board — the Ringdove was only a gunboat — this
information was not reassuring. It seemed that sooner or
later I was destined to meet the fate of a rat in a trap.
Listening anxiously, I heard the shouting increasing, evi-
dently now proceeding from Japanese throats, and then felt
a great bump. Apparently the climax had arrived, and I
sent B. up again to assist in repelling the boarders. In two
or three minutes the noise ceased, and he reappeared, accom-

ATTACK ON BRITISH LEGATION IN JAPAN. 169

panied this time by the doctor, who told me that the junk
had sheered off. Whether the collision had been with hos-
tile intent, and those on board had changed their minds on
finding us prepared for them, and abandoned the idea of
attempting to take us, or whether it was simply the result
of clumsy navigation, remained a mystery, which the dark-
ness of the night, and the suddenness of the whole episode,
rendered it impossible to solve.

If my various tortures were severe while they lasted, the
length of their duration was fortunately short. Owing to the
fact that they were unaccompanied by any fever, and that I
could eat well, I speedily began to regain strength, and in
less than a week was able to go on deck. Here I began to
revel in a delightful feeling of security, which had become
quite a novel sensation ; the ophthalmia was cured, and I
could indulge in the full enjoyment of the novel aquatic life
by which I was surrounded— in watching the quaint-shaped
junks passing to and fro, and the no less quaint-looking fish-
ermen plying their vocation after their peculiar and original
methods, in their no less peculiar and original costume, which
often consisted of absolutely nothing except a bandage over
their noses, the reason for which I never discovered. Their
chief occupation seemed to be to prod the muddy bottom of
the bay with long tridents for eels. Then there was historic
Fusi-yama, with its beautiful conical summit towering over
all, and the city of Yedo, with its extensive suburbs strag-
gling for miles all round the margin of the bay.

A few days later I was glad to find myself able to obey a
summons from Sir Rutherford Alcock to come on shore in
order to be present at a conference with some of the chief
ministers of state on the subject of the recent attack. It
was a blazing hot day, and when I reached the shore, exactly
opposite the gate of the legation, I found the intervening
street occupied by the procession of an important daimio.
On the occasion of the progress of one of these great feudal
princes, they used to be followed by a small army of samurai
8

170 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

or clansmen, numbering sometimes as many as a thousand,
all two-sworded swash-bucklers, all ready to fight on the
smallest provocation to uphold the dignity of their chief,
and exceedingly sensitive on the point of honor. The na-
tives, on meeting a procession of this kind, were expected
either to move away from the road altogether, or humbly
to prostrate themselves while it passed. Under no circum-
stances was anybody allowed to cross it. This was an insult
which it was considered should be wiped out by the death
.of the rash man who should offer it. Since the great revo-
lution which practically extinguished the daimios, and which
was one of the results of intercourse with foreign nations, I
believe these dangerous processions have been abolished.
At the time I had no idea of the extreme tenacity of the
Japanese on this point of etiquette, or of the risk I should
run if I attempted to cross the procession. I stood for some
time watching the line, which seemed interminable, the men
marching slowly in pairs. At last the heat of the midday
sun became so overpowering that I feared I should faint.
The gate of the legation, only a dozen yards off, stood invit-
ingly ajar, and, perceiving a wider gap in the line than usual,
I made a clash through it. The samurai were so much taken
by surprise that before they could draw their swords I was
past them, but not before I had time to perceive their mur-
derous intent, and to slam the gate in the faces of two or
three that rushed after me. After our conference with the
ministers was over, I was informed by Sir Rutherford that
he had written to Sir James Hope, then admiral on the sta-
tion, requesting his presence, and that nothing could be
finally decided upon until after a consultation with him, but
that he had determined to abandon his intention of going
home on leave, and would remain at his post until he received
instructions from home ; that he had further decided on send-
ing me back to England to furnish any information which
might be required in addition to the full narrative of events
contained in his despatch, and also to be the bearer of a

ATTACK ON BRITISH LEGATION IN JAPAN. 171

personal letter from the tycoon to the queen, apologizing for
the occurrence. The question of indemnity, and the nature
of the satisfaction to be required, were matters also to be
discussed ; while the trip was one by which, under the cir-
cumstances, my health could not fail to derive benefit. Dur-
ing the month which now elapsed before the admiral arrived,
the only event of importance which occurred was the news
that two ministers of state who had come to see the tycoon
were attacked by Lonins; they were, however, bravely de-
fended by their retainers, and, after a severe struggle, the
Lonins were completely defeated, many being made prison-
ers. I now began to perceive how necessary it was, as a
measure of self-protection, for daimios always to be attended
by a large escort.

At last, about the middle of August, Admiral Hope arrived,
accompanied by Sir Hercules Robinson, then Governor of
Hong-Kong, and it was determined that we should lose no
time in paying an official visit in grand state to the Japanese
minister for foreign affairs. This involved passing through
the most crowded and disaffected quarters of the town, for a
distance of about two miles. I scarcely knew whether I were
sufficiently recovered to make this effort on horseback, but
the alternative was to be cooped up in a norimon — a sort of
palanquin, which, however, had the disadvantage of being
square, and not oblong, like the latter, and thus obliged me
to maintain a squatting position during the whole time. As
I considered that the chances were rather in favor of our be-
ing attacked than otherwise, I preferred riding, although I
had to be led, as I was unable to hold the reins. Still, with
a sharp pair of spurs, I had always the chance that my steed,
in a wild and headlong flight of his own, would carry me out
of the melee.

The party consisted of the minister, the admiral, Sir Her-
cules Robinson, several naval officers, members of the lega-
tion, and myself, escorted between two lines of marines and
blue-jackets, who certainly looked as if they were prepared

172 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

to give a good account of any Lonins who might be rash
enough to attack us. The streets through which we passed
were densely crowded with scowlfng multitudes, among whom
the two-sworded gentry, whom we knew entertained towards
us feelings of special animosity, were very numerous. Our
progress was necessarily slow, so that it was an hour before
we arrived at the building where the two ministers for for-
eign affairs were waiting to receive us. We found them at-
tended by many other officials, for it was the custom in Japan
never to allow these audiences to assume a private charac-
ter; and many of those who were present exercised the func-
tions of metsuke — in other words, of government spies or re-
porters.

After the first formal compliments had taken place, in ac-
cordance with preconcerted arrangement all the English offi-
cers and gentlemen who had accompanied us withdrew, leav-
ing only the minister, the admiral, and myself and the inter-
preters. This was a signal for all the Japanese, except the
two ministers, to retire — an unprecedented event, so far, in
the annals of Japanese diplomacy ; but it was to be account-
ed for by the fact that the ministers had a confidential com-
munication to make to us affecting another European power
which could not otherwise have been kept quiet ; it was
therefore in their own interest to break through their ordi-
nary course of procedure.

After discussing this question, Sir Rutherford Alcock in-
formed them that I was to be the bearer to England of the
imperial missive to the queen, and we talked over the possi-
ble chances of another attack, and the inconveniences which
seemed to attend an official residence in the capital of Ja-
pan. The first minister, Ando Tsusimano Kami, remarked, in
the course of this conversation, that peril to life was an inci-
dent inseparable from high office in his country, and that
everybody who filled it, whether foreign or Japanese, must,
as a matter of course, run the risk of being murdered. I
thought then that this was a mere complimentary way of rec-

ATTACK ON BRITISH LEGATION IN JAPAN. 1 73

onciling us to what was intended to be sooner or later the
invariable fate of foreign officials in Japan. But a very short
time afterwards poor Ando Tsusimano Kami proved, in his
own person, the unjustness of my suspicions ; for he was at-
tacked by a band of eight Lonins, dragged from his norimon,
and so severely wounded that for some time his life was de-
spaired of. So far as I was personally concerned, the most
important result of this interview was the decision which
was arrived at — that before going to England I should pro-
ceed in H.M.S. Ringdove to the island of Tsusima, situated
in the straits of the Corea, accompanied by Admiral Hope
in his flag-ship, to investigate the truth of the report which
we had received of the Russians having made a permanent
settlement in that island, contrary to treaty, and to take
measures accordingly. A few days afterwards I sailed from
Yedo on this most interesting mission.

CHAPTER XI.

A VISIT TO TSUSIMA : AN INCIDENT OF RUSSIAN AGGRESSION.

The circumstances under which my visit to Tsusima was
made, as the result of my interview with the Japanese minis-
ters, described in the last chapter, derive additional interest
from the fact that now, after an interval of twenty-six years,
Russia is manifesting aggressive tendencies in the same di-
rection. This is evident from the following paragraph, tak-
en from the Times of the 2d September, 1885. It was, how-
ever, in i86i,and not in the previous year, as erroneously
stated, that the incident occurred :

" Russia in the Cokea.— German papers publish the following ex-
tract from the Vladivostok— -a journal published in the seaport of the
same name at the extreme southern corner of the Russian Asiatic coast :
' The importance of Vladivostok as a seaport is seriously affected by
the fact that it is frozen in winter. Hence the opinion has been gaining
ground that either Port Lazarev, in Corea, or the island of Quelpaert
(33 11' N. lat.), or that of Tsusima (34° 40' N. lat.), should be substituted
for Vladivostok. As to Port Lazarev, it is by no means certain that it
is free from ice all the year round ; and, what is of greater moment, it
would be necessary to take possession of about the half of the Corean
peninsula in order to secure undisturbed occupation of the port — a pro-
ceeding certain to provoke the enmity of Japan. The situation of Quel-
paert is excellent, but unfortunately there is not a good haven in the isl-
and. The island of Tsusima was visited about i860 by the Russian frig-
ate PossaJnik, and the Russian flag was hoisted, but subsequently with-
drawn. It is some six hundred miles distant from our own territory, and
so could not well be made a basis of'operations. It would seem, there-
fore, unavoidable to preserve Vladivostok as the base of all serious op-
erations ; but to occupy and fortify Tsusima as a marine station, well
armed and provisioned. It would thus help to make good some of the

A VISIT TO TSUSIMA. 1 75

drawbacks of Vladivostok.' In connection with this suggestion, it may
be mentioned that the island of Tsusima is Japanese territory, and could
not be occupied except with the consent of the government of Japan."

It is to be remarked that the last sentence is the comment
of the German paper, and does not form part of the quota-
tion from the Vladivostok.

I sailed from Japan in H.M.S. Ringdove in August, under
instructions from Sir Rutherford Alcock, Admiral Hope pro-
ceeding thither at the same time in his flag-ship, to render
such assistance and advice as might seem necessary. The
timidity of the Japanese government at the time was so
great that they declined to give us any official assistance, for
fear of becoming embroiled with Russia, and I was obliged
to proceed to Nagasaki for the purpose of picking up an in-
terpreter. It is about one hundred and fifty miles from that
port to Tsusima ; and on the morning following our depart-
ure from Nagasaki we found ourselves in sight of the island,
its twin peaks rising to a height of from fifteen hundred to
eighteen hundred feet, heavily timbered to their summits,
with here and there a clearing and a wreath of smoke, indi-
cating the presence of a scattered population. We were ap-
proaching the island from the southeast, and were in entire
ignorance of its ports or centres of habitation. We knew
that it was the territory of a prince or daimio, and we pre-
sumed that it must have a capital, so we sent a boat on
shore as we neared a fishing hamlet, to ask the way to it.
In pursuance of the directions thus received, we continued
steaming for a couple of hours along the southeastern shores
of the island, and were much struck by its evident fertility,
its fine forests, and pretty scenery, as we opened up one
wooded valley after another. Suddenly we came upon a
small, semicircular harbor, affording an admirable shelter for
country craft, with a narrow entrance between projecting
wooded bluffs. At the head of this little haven, and skirting
its shore, was the town of Fatchio, a place containing possi-
bly from ten thousand to fifteen thousand inhabitants, and

176 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

the residence of the daimio, whose palace, I was afterwards
informed, was about four miles distant.

We did not go much beyond the mouth of the harbor, be-
ing entirely ignorant of its depth of water and the character
of the anchorage ; and I immediately went on shore to open
up communication with the inhabitants. This, however, did
not prove a very easy matter. First, some petty officials
came down and warned us off. Finding that we paid no at-
tention to their gesticulation, and insisted on landing, they
retreated a few yards as we jumped on shore, forming, with
the assistance of a crowd which now joined them, a semi-
circle at a distance of a few yards, without manifesting any
signs of hostility, but with the apparent intention of amiably
and good-naturedly barring our way, should we attempt to
go into the town. Our interpreter now commenced a parley,
the result of which was that we were shown into a pretty
little wooden erection like a summer-house, on the margin of
the sea, at a distance of about a quarter of a mile from the
town, and requested to wait there until our arrival and wishes
were reported in the proper quarter. Here we were objects
of interest to an admiring crowd, principally composed of
small boys, for more than an hour, when a messenger re-
turned with the information that the officials refused to re-
ceive me, and requested me to return on board the ship and
leave them in peace. This I positively declined to do. As
it was now getting on towards the afternoon, I said that, so
far from complying with their wishes, I intended to send for
my meals and sleeping arrangements, and live in the sum-
mer-house — which at that time of year formed delightfully
cool quarters — if necessary, for a week. I explained that my
patience was inexhaustible, that my time was unlimited, and
that I had the less scruple in forcing myself upon their hos-
pitality, as I should ask them for nothing, not even for pro-
tection, as I should make arrangements for a guard of blue-
jackets to be permanently stationed on shore for my protec-
tion. Whereas, if the prince would accord me an interview,

A VISIT TO TSUSIMA. 1 77

it would probably not last an hour, and we should relieve
them of our presence the same evening. The messenger
hurried off on hearing the disagreeable alternative I had pro-
posed, and in less than an hour I saw that it had produced
its effect ; for a norimon, or native palanquin, appeared on the
strand, being hurried along on the shoulders of its bearers,
and containing a two-sworded official of a very different rank
from the humble functionary with whom I had hitherto been
in communication. He was accompanied by a man of a
lower grade, and for a minute or two we vied with each other
in the lowness of our bows and the cmpressement of our salu-
tations. Then, with many apologies and compliments, I was
informed that the daimio was too ill to receive me ; and in
order to convince me that this was no sham illness contrived
for the occasion, many details were entered into which were
quite unnecessary, for they in no degree removed my suspi-
cions. The most interesting items of information which I
afterwards obtained in regard to this august personage were,
that he possessed great influence at Yedo, where his son was
retained as a hostage for his good behavior ; that he was of
gigantic stature — report said seven feet high ; that he was
afflicted with a cutaneous disease j and that he had one wife,
twelve concubines, and forty-three children. As I found that
he resolutely declined to receive me, I finally consented to
an interview with his first minister instead ; but inasmuch as
our appearance in the harbor had, according to my inform-
ant, already produced great consternation in the town, and as
the peace of mind of the inhabitants would be still further
disturbed by the presence of a foreigner in their streets — an
event hitherto unknown — and as the building in which I was
to be received lay at the other extremity of the town, I was
requested to agree to the hour for the meeting being fixed for
midnight. I was perfectly well aware that this was only an
excuse for preventing me from seeing the town or its inhab-
itants ; but I was too well satisfied at having succeeded so
far to raise any objection, and after a further interchange of

178 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

polite ceremony I returned to the ship, having spent nearly
four hours in the summer-house.

The view in Fatchio Bay as the sun set was enchanting;
the heavy vegetation coming in places to the water's edge, in
others clambering over rocks that rose precipitously from the
sea; the prettily situated little town nestling among its gar-
dens along the shore ; the wooded slopes cut up into culti-
vated valleys, and rising to a peak nearly two thousand feet
above the sea, into which a little river emptied itself— all
formed a prospect that confirmed the good taste of the Rus-
sians in selecting the island for annexation.

In my interview with the official, although pressed to state
the reasons of my visit, I had absolutely declined to do so
to any one except the prince himself or the minister he
might depute to receive me ; so that doubtless the curiosity
of the authorities was raised to the highest pitch, and the
mysterious nature of my proceedings was calculated not a
little to excite their suspicions ; but this I considered a lesser
evil than prematurely to reveal the object of my mission.
About eleven o'clock the glimmer of Japanese lanterns at
the summer-house told me that my escort had arrived to con-
duct me to the place of meeting, and that the natives in-
tended to keep faith with me, in regard to which I had been
in considerable doubt. I therefore put off for the shore, ac-
companied by the captain of the Ringdove and another boat
containing a guard of a dozen blue-jackets, as it was not con-
sidered wise to make a midnight promenade through an un-
known town totally unattended ; moreover, I considered it
advisable to invest the whole proceeding with as much im-
portance as possible.

There were, as far as I remember, about twenty samurai,
or retainers of the prince, with two or three norimons in wait-
ing, and they looked rather timidly and suspiciously at the
blue-jackets as they jumped on shore and formed in line ; and
indeed the leading official, who was the same with whom I al-
ready had had an interview, informed me that their presence

A VISIT TO TSUSIMA. 1 79

was quite unnecessary. But on this point I differed with
him; and refusing to ensconce myself in a norimon, from
which I should have failed to see even the little that was
visible in the dark, I started off on foot, between two files
of sailors, on my novel expedition.

It is difficult to judge distance at night except by time ; but
as we walked for more than half an hour, the distance trav-
ersed must have been at least three miles. More than half
of this was through the straggling town, along narrow streets
absolutely deserted. Every house had been closed by order,
no living soul was to be seen, not even a light glimmered
through the shutters. It was a brilliantly clear, starlight
night, so that I could see enough to observe that the place
differed in no respect from an ordinary Japanese third-class
town ; so we tramped silently along, the stillness only occa-
sionally disturbed by the barking of a dog, until we emerged
into what seemed a straggling suburb, when we turned sud-
denly into a gateway, went along a short avenue, and entered
a building the external characteristics of which I have for-
gotten, if, indeed, it was light enough to see them ; and so
along a passage, the walls of which were formed of paper
screens, to an apartment in which stood a group of two-
sworded officials. One of these, who proved to be the first
minister himself, now advanced to receive me. He was an
agreeable, intelligent-looking man of about five-and-forty,
very dignified and self-possessed in manner, and altogether
a good specimen of his race. After introducing me to his
colleagues, of whom there were four, if I remember rightly,
forming, I imagine, a sort of privy council to the prince, I
was conducted into another long, narrow room, the walls of
which were also of paper, and which had evidently been ar-
ranged with the idea of meeting the requirements of foreign
taste. Down the centre of this room was a long, low table,
about two feet broad and twenty feet long, covered with red
cloth, and on both sides were high benches, almost as high
as the table, also covered with red cloth. It was lighted by

l8o EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

four monster candles, each on its own huge candlestick, like
those in a Roman Catholic cathedral. The first minister in-
vited me to sit at the head of this table, which I declined to
do unless he sat by my side. This point of etiquette decid-
ed, the other functionaries, the captain and one or two offi-
cers of the Ringdove, seated themselves, and tea was brought
in. In the centre of the table was the usual smoking ar-
rangement, looking not unlike an inkstand, with a recepta-
cle for the tobacco on one side, a fire-ball on the other,
a pot to receive the ashes of the pipes in the middle, and the
pipes themselves, with their diminutive bowls, lying like
pens in the tray. As it only takes two whiffs to smoke a
pipe, one smokes at least twenty in the course of a moderate
visit. If my hosts were anxious to know the nature of my
business, they manifested no impatience. We drank several
small cups of tea, smoked several pipes, and made a great
many inane and complimentary remarks, before I felt that I
could approach the subject at issue, which I did at last with
the incidental observation that I believed we were not the
first strangers who had come to Tsusima, but that they had
already had a visit from the Russians. To my surprise the
minister opened his eyes with well-feigned astonishment, and
made the interpreter repeat the remark, as though he must
have misunderstood it.

" No," he said, when it was repeated ; " no Russians have
ever been here."

I was fairly nonplussed.

" Will you explain to him," I said to the interpreter, " that
I have had positive information that the Russians are now
in Tsusima, and I have come here to see if it is true?"

" It is not true," he said ; " they are not here, and have
never been here."

This was the promising way in which our interview began.
It lasted for more than two hours. At the expiration of that
time I had, as the result of a laborious confidence-inspiring
process, into the details of which it is not necessary to enter,

A VISIT TO TSUSIMA. l8l

extracted from this same discreet and reticent functionary
the fact that the Russians had been established in the island
for six months ; that they had built houses for themselves ;
that they had had a fight with the inhabitants, in the course
of which one of the latter had been killed ; and that the
prince and all his court were living in a chronic state of
panic and despair. My informant further admitted that they
had been desired by the Russians to keep their presence in
the island a secret, under penalty of the gravest consequences ;
and that the reason he had denied that they were here was
from the dread of punishment. Nothing could exceed the
delight and gratitude manifested by all present at the pros-
pect of being relieved of the presence of these unwelcome
visitors ; but they were still too timid to compromise them-
selves by giving us a guide to lead us to where they were.
All they would say was, that if we went round to the other
side of the island we should find a large harbor, and if we
looked for them there we should find them. At that time
this island had not been surveyed, and so our expedition par-
took largely of the character of one of exploration. The dawn
was almost breaking when our nocturnal interview came to
an end ; but the streets were still silent, and the houses still
hermetically sealed, as we passed between them once more
on our way back to the ship.

Steaming out of Fatchio harbor, we coasted round the
southern end of the island and along its western shore. As
we did so, the highlands of the Corea were distinctly visible,
and one could not but be struck with the commanding posi-
tion which this island occupies strategically, situated as it is
in the centre of the straits which separate the Corea from
Japan, and which afford access into the Yellow Sea. We
had coasted along half the length of the island, which is
about forty miles long, when we observed a large opening,
as though it wer,e divided in the middle by straits, and into
this we steamed. To our amazement we found ourselves in
a perfect labyrinth of lanes of water. In every direction to

182 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

the right and left and in front of us there spread an intricate
network of deep, narrow channels, divided by rocky promon-
tories clothed with heavy timber. Large forest-trees sprang
from the water's edge, twining their huge roots among the
rocks, and drooping their foliage into the water. It was so
deep even close to the shore that it was difficult to find anch-
orage; and our excitement was so great, in our desire to ex-
plore this strange and unknown water retreat, that we were
off in boats before the anchor was down. We found, as we
paddled along these singular channels, that we were in a har-
bor in which whole fleets might be concealed from observa-
tion — hidden away, so to speak, among the trees. Here and
there the inlets expanded, so as to form capacious harbors,
again narrowing, often to a breadth of scarce a hundred
yards. There was no sign of human habitation anywhere;
the only evidence of man were two Buddhist or Sintoo shrines,
perched upon pinnacles of rock under the shade of huge,
wide - spreading trees, and approached by rock-cut steps.
For hours we pulled about in this magnificent haven, never
tired of wondering at its capacity, its safety from storms, its
freedom from dangers to navigation, the extraordinary beauty
of the scenery by which it was surrounded, the richness of
the vegetation, and the absolute calm and stillness which
seemed to brood over the whole landscape.

But all this time we saw nothing of the Russians. We
passed from one deep creek into another, over the glassy
surface of the water, only to exchange their unbroken soli-
tudes, and to find some new and unexpected channel wind-
ing off in some fresh direction. At last, in one of these, our
attention was suddenly attracted by some tapering spars that
seemed to shoot out of the branches of a tree ; and rounding
a corner, we came upon the Russian frigate, moored literally,
stem and stern, to the branches of a pair of forest giants,
and with a plank-way to the shore. .

If we were startled to come upon her thus unexpectedly,
our surprise can have been nothing to that of those on board

A VISIT TO TSUSIMA. 183

at seeing an English man-of-war's boat pull into the sort of
pirate's cove in which they had stowed themselves away.
Indeed, the Russian captain afterwards told me that he had
been so long in solitude that he could scarcely believe his
eyes when we burst thus suddenly upon them, like visitants
from some other world. However, he was too much of a
gentleman to betray anything but pleasure and apparent
gratification at receiving me, when I stepped upon his deck
and introduced myself. He at once invited me most hospi-
tably to his cabin ; and while he entertained me with re-
freshments, we spent a few minutes in some very amusing
diplomatic fencing. He was here, he said, for hydrograph-
ical purposes, and had made a survey of the island, in obe-
dience to instructions. Looking out of the cabin window,
from which was visible a frame house with a barnyard, in
which was a cow and some poultry, I asked him if he com-
bined agriculture with hydrography, as the one pursuit im-
plied a more protracted visit to the island than the other.
He admitted that he had been here for more than six months ;
that his survey was finished, but that he had received instruc-
tions to remain till further orders ; and that, to pass away
the time, and make himself comfortable, he was doing a lit-
tle farming. I then went on shore to see his establishment.
He had got a hospital for the sick, from which a Russian
flag was flying, a dairy and poultry-yard, a Russian steam-
bath, and a little cottage, in which to vary his residence from
shipboard. There was a vegetable garden, and all the signs
of a very comfortable little naval settlement, at least so far
as it was possible for the crew of one frigate to make one.
I gently hinted at the existence of treaties, and so forth ; but
he said that he was a sailor and not a diplomatist, and knew
nothing about them. All he knew were his orders. He de-
nied that he had had any dispute of importance with the na-
tives, with whom, he declared, he was on very good terms
— though, as their nearest village was at some distance, he
saw very little of them.

184 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

The captain of the Possadnik turned out such a charming
companion, and seemed so delighted to have his monotony
varied even by an inquisitive diplomat, that I was quite
sorry when the lateness of the hour warned me that I must
return to my own ship, in which, as I explained to him, I
should be absent for a day, so that it would be useless for
him to attempt to return my visit at once, which, however,
I promised to repeat. That night we steamed out to the
offing, where the admiral was cruising in his flag-ship, and
the next morning I went on board and reported my discov-
ery. Soon after the admiral transferred himself to the Ring-
dove, and we steamed back to Tsusima harbor, finally bring-
ing her to Russian Cove, as we named the Possadnitts settle-
ment.

The Russian captain now came and called and dined with
us, and we discussed the situation in the most amicable man-
ner ■ the result at which we arrived being, that the admiral
should himself go to Olga Bay on the coast of Manchuria,
at which port the Russian admiral then was, and present the
diplomatic view of the situation to that functionary, obtain-
ing from him the necessary orders for the evacuation of the
island by the Possadnik and her crew. The captain of that
ship assured the admiral that he would receive these orders
with delight, as he was heartily sick of his exile.

Meantime our surveying parties had not been idle. It
was found that the harbor, or sound, in which we were, nearly
divided the island into two; a narrow strip of land, not half
a mile wide, alone connecting the northern with the southern
half, each section being about twenty miles long and from
ten to fifteen broad. I had no means of ascertaining the
amount of the population ; but as the island is very fertile,
and is well peopled in parts, it probably contains from thirty
to forty thousand inhabitants. From the wooded heights of
Tsusima Sound, the Corea, distant about forty miles, is very
plainly visible, and, in former clays, the inhabitants of Tsusi-
ma kept up more intercourse with that country than did any

A VISIT TO TSUSIMA. 185

other part of Japan, and the prince maintained a garrison of
three hundred men at its nearest port. He enjoyed a mo-
nopoly of trade, which consisted chiefly of tiger-skins, rice,
hides, silver, and gold. The climate in summer was perfect,
and even in winter it is extremely mild. The larger vegeta-
tion consists chiefly of evergreen oak, sycamores, maples, cy-
presses, and pines of different varieties. One of our officers,
who had been to Manchuria, said that the conifers were
of the type common in that country; while among the fera
natures the wild cats and deer differ from those of Japan.
At high water the sea covers the isthmus which connects the
two islands, and stakes are put across it to prevent the pas-
sage of boats at low tide. The highest mountain on the
island attains to the height of about twenty-five hundred
feet.

Here, as the Russian paper observes, there is no fear of
frost closing the harbor, which would form one of the finest
naval stations in the world ; while the agricultural and other
resources of the island itself would make it a most valuable
acquisition to any power which might be lucky enough to
obtain possession of it. Fortunately the Japanese are fully
alive to its importance ; and under existing treaties it could
only be obtained possession of by an act of war, as the Jap-
anese government would certainly refuse to part with it for
any pecuniary consideration, and the powers which have
treaties with Japan are pledged to insure its integrity as
against each other. From the cool way in which the Rus-
sian paper mentions the possible annexation of the island,
no objections on this score seem to have occurred to it. "It
would seem, therefore," it says, "unavoidable to preserve
Vladivostok as the base of all serious operations ; but to
occupy and fortify Tsusima as a marine station well armed
and provisioned." By being thoroughly forewarned of this
intention, the powers interested may possibly make it "avoid-
able ;" and it would certainly be a gross breach of faith on
their part towards Japan to allow the harbor to be occupied

1 86 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

by force. The extreme importance of it to Russia as a win-
ter naval station is indicated by the remarks of the Russian
paper ; while there is no power more interested than Eng-
land in preventing Russia from having a port in the Eastern
seas open in winter. Our undefended colonies, our enormous
commercial interests, would render resistance to such an act
a necessary measure of self-preservation in the case of any
European power; but it is doubly so with Russia, of whose
aggressive tendencies, unhindered by scruple of any sort, we
have recently had such ample testimony. Every nation is
entitled to consider an aggressive act of another nation, even
though it is not immediately directed against its own terri-
tory, a justification for precautionary measures on the part
of the power threatened. It was for this reason that the
late Sir Harry Parkes so persistently urged upon our govern-
ment the expediency of occupying Port Hamilton ; and it is
to be hoped, if it is now decided to evacuate that island in
favor of China, it will be done under conditions which will
not strategically weaken our position in these seas. That
the annexation of Tsusima is as much part of the -programme
of the Russian government as the annexations of Khiva,
Merv, and Batoum have formerly been, there is not the
smallest doubt. Their first attempt to effect a quiet and un-
obtrusive occupation was, fortunately, frustrated in the man-
ner above described. Admiral Hope at once steamed off to
Olga Bay, and the result of his communication with the Rus-
sian admiral was an order for the immediate evacuation of
Tsusima by the Possadnik.

These are the circumstances under which, in the words of
the Vladivostok, " the Russian flag was hoisted but subse-
quently withdrawn " from the island of Tsusima, and I trust
that the hint will not be thrown away in the view of future
contingencies.

CHAPTER XII.

POLITICS AND ADVENTURE IN ALBANIA AND ITALY IN 1 862.

The circumstances under which I returned to England
from Japan and Tsusima in the autumn of 1861, and the im-
paired state of my health, resulting from the wounds I had
received during the attack on the Legation, induced Lord
Russell, then Minister for Foreign Affairs, not to insist upon
my immediate return to the East.

I was spending a few days at Vienna in the early part of
the following year, when the Prince of Wales arrived on his
way to the Holy Land, and kindly honored me with an in-
vitation to accompany him to Corfu, which was at the time
the objective point of my journey. I accordingly proceeded
with the party to Trieste, where we embarked on board the
yacht which was in waiting there for his royal highness, and,
after visiting Venice, proceeded to Pola, Ragusa, Cattaro,
Durazzo — where we had a wild-boar hunt, in which his royal
highness was successful — and so on to Corfu, from which
place I took steamer to Antivari — then a Turkish town — in
the immediate neighborhood of the since historic Dulci^no :
the district which I was now visiting has since been ceded to
Montenegro. From here I rode to Scutari, the capital of
Albania, and stayed with my old friend Captain Ricketts, at
that time our consul there. I had formed the design of visit-
ing the Miridits, a Roman Catholic tribe of Albanian moun-
taineers, who had excited my interest, both from a political
and ethnographical point of view ; but I found their chief,
Bib Dodo Pasha, at Scutari, and his absence from his moun-
tain home, where I should have been his guest, deprived the

1 88 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

trip of advantages I should otherwise have enjoyed. More-
over I obtained from him much of the information of which
I was in search. He has since died and been succeeded by
his son Prenk Dodo Pasha, who, if I mistake not, is detained
at Constantinople as a hostage for the good behavior of his
tribe. The question of the future of Montenegro, Albania,
and Epirus, with their divergent races, religions, and aspira-
tions, in which I was then interested, is too large and com-
plicated to enter upon here. It is destined before long to
force itself for a final solution upon the attention of Europe,
and it suffices here to say that if that solution is to be satis-
factory, those engaged in bringing it about must acquire a
more accurate knowledge of the local conditions and the
rival forces at work than was possessed at the period of my
visit. I was very much struck with the popular ignorance
which prevailed in this country in regard to the revolt in
Bosnia and Herzegovina, which finally led to the Russo-
Turkish war. At the outbreak of that movement, the press, so
far as I remember without an exception, assumed that it was
a revolt of Christians against Turks, and I found the same
impression existed even among members of the cabinet — the
fact being that it was an agrarian rising of Slav Christian
peasants against Slav Moslem landlords, very much analo-
gous in many respects to our own landlord-and-tenant ques-
tion in Ireland. With this difference, however, that the
British government is able to put in force coercive measures
if required, and is far more responsible for the maintenance
of law and order in Ireland than the porte was in the case of
the rebellious populations of these outlying Slav provinces.
I was a guest for a day or two in Herzegovina at the coun-
try-house of one of these Slav landlords. He was a rigorous
Moslem, but he could not speak a word of Turkish, and he
was as hostile to the Turkish government as his own peas-
antry were to him. It was a kind of triangular duel, in fact,
which, since the transfer of the provinces to Austria, the gov-
ernment of that country has had to solve. The more stringent

ALBANIA AND ITALY IN 1862. 1S9

measures they found it necessary to adopt have had the
effect of driving out the Moslem proprietary class, many of
whom have taken refuge in the Turkish dominions ; and curi-
ously enough, two years ago, I found myself once more the
guest of a Herzegovine Slav Moslem, who, with a number
of his compatriots, had established himself on the ruins of
Ccesarea in the Holy Land. Had they been among Russians
they could have made themselves understood in their native
tongue. Surrounded by Arabs, they were strangers in a
strange country — their only common tie being that of re-
ligion.

At the time of my visit to Scutari, fighting was in progress
on the Montenegrin frontier between the Turks and the
Montenegrins. I made a trip to the Turkish outpost, then
on the island of Lessandria at the northern end of the Lake
of Scutari, which has since been ceded to Montenegro. The
steamer in which I took passage was conveying troops to
this point, and the exciting incident consisted in our having
to run the gantlet of a narrow straight, on the rocky sides
of which Montenegrin sharpshooters concealed themselves,
freely playing with their rifles on the decks of passing steam-
ers. However, except for the captain and the man at the
wheel, there was not much danger, as everybody either went
below, or hid behind the bulwarks, during the few moments
it took us to rush by at full speed.

From Scutari I took a boat and sailed down the Bojanos
river back to the Bay of Antivari, thence returned to Corfu,
spending some days there with Sir Henry Storks, then Lord
Hi"h Commissioner. Thence I crossed over to Ancona.

The cordial sympathy which the British public had mani-
fested for the people of Italy in their struggle for unity and
independence had rendered England very popular at this
time, and the name of Palmerston was a talisman in Europe.
I had one or two curious evidences of the extremes of dislike
and of affection in which this venerable statesman was held.
At Trieste I met an Austrian officer who charged him with

190 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

having imported guns under his own name into Italy during
the Lombardy campaign. On my scouting this notion as
absurd, my informant said that he had a gun in his posses-
sion which had been taken from the Garibaldians, and which
would prove the truth of his assertion. This puzzled me so
much that I requested to be allowed to see it, and accom-
panied him to his house to see a gun upon which " Palmer
& Son " was engraved upon the barrel as its makers. I was
anxious to drive from Ancona through the Abruzzi to Naples,
with a view of judging for myself of Italian rule in the prov-
inces which Victor Emmanuel had so recently acquired from
the King of Naples. The difficulty about the journey was
the extreme insecurity of the roads. Upon my mentioning
this to the general commanding the troops at Ancona, he
most kindly offered to see that an escort was furnished to
me through the only district which he said was in the least
dangerous. I travelled by post, taking the coast road as far
as Pescara, and then turning off to Chieti, a most picturesque
town situated on a high hill-top, where I stayed two days, en-
joying the hospitality of the officer in command of the troops,
to whom I carried a letter of introduction from Ancona,
and who was to provide the escort. As I was anxious to
travel rapidly and to follow my own devices, I took four
horses, and had no travelling companion but my servant

B , whom I have already mentioned in my account of

the attack on the Legation in Japan. As he was as intel-
ligent as he was faithful, I often on these occasions took
him inside with me ; and it was thus that one fine after-
noon we approached the town of Salmona, our escort jing-
ling merrily behind, and the four horses clattering over
the smooth, hard road in most exhilarating style. As we
neared the town I perceived that some grand fete was in
progress. Flags were flying from 1I12 windows, which were
crowded with spectators, while the streets were lined with
soldiers, and the distant strains of a military band were au-
dible.

ALBANIA AND ITALY IN 1862. IQI

" We are in luck," I said to B ; " there is evidently

some festival in progress."

As we drove along the street people cheered, and the
women waved handkerchiefs ; but I was unable to perceive
any object calculated to excite their enthusiasm. When we
reached a square about the centre of the town the band
struck up "God Save the Queen," the troops presented arms,
the carriage was suddenly stopped, and half a dozen gentle-
men in full evening costume, with white ties and white kid
gloves, approached hat in hand, with profound salutations.
Their leader, who I afterwards discovered was the principal
civil functionary, with many polite speeches requested me to
descend from the carriage, and partake of a banquet which
had been provided for me. It now appeared that all these
military demonstrations were in my honor, and it became
evident to me that I was mistaken for somebody else — an
explanation which, in declining the proffered honor, I ven-
tured to suggest to the mayor. He received it with a polite
smile.

" We are all aware," he said, " that you desire to travel in-
cognito, but we have been unable to regard this wish. We
could not allow Lord Palmerston's nephew to pass through
our town without making some demonstration of respect,
in token of the great gratitude we feel to your illustrious
relative."

" But," I persisted, " I have not the honor of being related
in the most distant way to the great statesman."

"No doubt; we quite understand that under the circum-
stances it would not be possible for you to admit the rela-
tionship. I will not therefore again allude to it, but simply
request you to honor the repast we have prepared for you
with your presence, and receive an address, which will ac-
company one which we will beg you to transmit to Lord
Palmerston."

During the lime this colloquy was taking place, the mayor
was standing bareheaded in the square, where a great crowd

194 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

transacted by the vice-consul himself. When do you expect
him back?"

" He may be a week, he may be more ; it is impossible to
say. I am sure, signor, I could transact your business if you
would only confide it to me."

" I am equally sure, signora, that you could not ;" and I
explained to her its nature. " From which you will see that
it is imperative that I should see your husband. Perhaps
you can telegraph for him."

"Impossible, signor!" and with that she burst into a vio-
lent fit of weeping. "It is no use disguising the truth from
you any longer. My husband deserted me more than a year
ago, and I have no idea where he is."

" And have you been transacting the business of the con-
sulate ever since?" I asked.

" St, signor. There is very little to transact ; but it is al-
most all I have to live upon. Have mercy upon me, and do
not let it be known to the English government. It was I
who used to do the consular business even when my husband
was here. He was idle and worthless, and used to do many
dishonest things, which I never do."

" I have no doubt," I replied, " that you are a far more
capable and estimable person than your husband — indeed
his present conduct proves his worthlessness ; but unfortu-
nately there is still a prejudice in the world in favor of offi-
cial business being conducted by men. It is one which we
shall no doubt get over in time ; until then, I think it is the
duty of any Englishman who finds that the British vice-con-
sul has deserted his post and left his wife in charge, to let
his government know it, however capable, honest, and, allow
me to add" — and I made a polite bow — "beautiful that wife
may be."

I threw in the last words to gild the pill, but I evidently
did not succeed, for I left her weeping bitterly ; and I am
afraid she did not remain long after this British vice-consul
at Manfredonia.

ALBANIA AND ITALY IN 1862.

195

I had scarcely taken ten steps from the door of the vice-
consulate, and was still in a somewhat softened and reflective
mood, when I was accosted by another little girl, who thrust
a folded but crumpled piece of paper into my hand, on which
was the superscription "to English gentleman." Its con-
tents were as follows :

" Miss Thimbleby requests the pleasure of English gentle-
man's company to tea to-night at nine o'clock. Old English
style."

" Follow me," I said to the little girl, " and I will give you
the answer." " Who in the world can Miss Thimbleby be ?"
I ruminated. "What a name for an old maid in a novel!
It is morally impossible with such a name that she can be a
young one." At any rate, it was evident that the invitation
was one which should be promptly accepted. So I replied —
"The English gentleman has much pleasure in accepting
Miss Thimbleby's kind invitation to tea to-night. Old Eng-
lish style."

I gave the girl the note and accompanied her with it to
Miss Thimbleby's house, in order that I might know my way
there later, and also because I thought it might give me
some clew to the character of its occupant. It was a tumble-
down old palazzo, with many evidences of departed grandeur,
having probably two or three centuries ago been the town
mansion of some large landed proprietor in the neighborhood.
Altogether its aspect rather gave me a pleasant idea of Miss
Thimbleby, as being in all probability an antiquated, respect-
able old person herself, in keeping with her abode. I re-
frained from making any inquiries about her at the hotel,
as it was more agreeable to keep the edge of my curiosity
whetted by conjecture than satisfied by information; and at
the appointed hour I repaired to tea in "old English style."
On entering the house I found myself at the bottom of a
very wide, handsomely carved oak staircase, at the top of
which I could discern, by the dim lamp which lighted it, the
figure of a little old woman like a witch, bobbing and courtesy-

192 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

was collected, and I was sitting bareheaded in the carriage,
feeling it incumbent upon me, when an unusually loud viva
was shouted, to acknowledge it with a polite bow. The situ-
ation was too ridiculous to be prolonged ; there was no al-
ternative but to accept the inevitable. I promoted B on

the spot to the rank of "il Signor Segretario," in which ca-
pacity he was taken charge of by a group of polite men in
swallow-tailed coats, to his intense amazement, for I had no
time to explain the situation to him, and we passed through
a lane of spectators to a public building, in a long hall of
which a table was spread for about fifty guests. It was quite
a sumptuous repast, with champagne and all the delicacies
of the season. There was a gallery in which were ensconced
the beauty and fashion of the place at one end, and the band
came in and played at the other. The mayor seated me by
his side at the top of the table, while the Signor Segretario,
still in a state of profound bewilderment as to what was hap-
pening to him, sat at the other. When the feasting was over
the speeches began, and I was obliged, in my quality of Lord
Palmerston's nephew, to reply, in execrable Italian, to the
compliments which were lavished upon the policy of England
in general, and of that statesman in particular, and to receive
two addresses, one to his lordship and the other to myself,
with a promise that I would forward the former to its des-
tination, which I did at the earliest opportunity, with a full
account of the circumstances under which I had received it,
to Lord Palmerston's great amusement.

Snugly ensconced in the bay, beneath what is known as the
spur of Italy, on the shores of the Adriatic, lies the little sea-
port town of Manfredonia. It is a queer little out-of-the-way
place, removed from the line of all travel, and very primitive
in its manners and customs — at least it was then. I do not
know how far railways and the general march of events may
have affected it since. Notwithstanding its insignificance,
we had nevertheless a British vice-consul there, to attend to
the wants of the stray colliers or English merchant-ships

ALBANIA AND ITALY IN 1862. 193

that rarely visit the port. These vice-consuls in the smaller
ports of the Mediterranean are usually natives of the place,
and at that time their remuneration consisted chiefly of fees,
and other little perquisites, not always strictly legitimate,
which they derived from their office. It so happened that I
had an affair of some importance to transact with the vice-
consul of Manfredonia, and I rode over one day from Fog-
gia, where I had been spending a week, to see him. The
whole of the Neapolitan states were infested at this time
with bands of banditti, calling themselves Royalist troops,
and, under cover of a political character which they did not
possess, committing the most wholesale depredations. It
was not considered, under these circumstances, a very safe
proceeding to make the journey without an escort ; but I
achieved it without mishap, and putting up at a small loca?ida
— the only one of which the town could boast — went in
search of the vice-consul. A daub on a shield, bearing a
faint resemblance to the lion and the unicorn, indicated his
residence, and on knocking at the door it was opened by a
dishevelled little girl.

" Is the English consul at home ?" I inquired.

" Si, sigiwr ;" and she tripped before me up-stairs, and,
opening a door, ushered me into a room in which was a very
pretty woman in bed. I started back at the intrusion of
which I had been guilty.

" I told you I wanted to see the consul," I said, sharply,
to the little girl.

" Entrate, entrate, signor /" exclaimed a mellifluous voice
from the bedclothes. " The girl made a mistake. The con-
sul is out, and will not be back to-day ; but I am his wife,
and he has left his seal with me. If you are the captain of
a ship, and wish anything done, I can do it for you. See !"
and she stretched out her hand, and lifted a seal from a little
table by the bedside.

" I am sorry, signora," I said ; " but I am not the captain
of a ship, and my business is of a nature which can only be
13

196 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

ing all the time I was making the ascent. She shook hands
with me with the affectionate cordiality of an old acquaint-
ance, trembling either with excitement or with old age — for
she was very, very old, well on in the nineties, she afterwards
told me, but I forget her exact age. She had forgotten much
of her English, having been in the country ever since the
year 1804, when she had accompanied her brother, who was
appointed English consul at Manfredonia in that year, to
Italy. And here she had lived ever since. Her brother
and his wife had died long ago, but she was in the receipt of
a small pension from the English government, which sufficed
for her subsistence, and she was taken care of by sundry
nephews and nieces, and by the connections of her sister-
in-law, who had been a native of the place. Her brother
had been connected with the Duke of York's expedition in
some capacity, and her sister was the celebrated Mrs. Jordan,
the mistress of King William IV. Manfredonia was an odd
place to come to to gather the moss of British history, but I
really felt as if I had made a discovery, when I learned from
this most venerable and highly respectable old lady that
Mrs. Jordan the actress's maiden name was Thimbleby.
She showed me a letter from the Duke of York to her
brother, and a paper with Nelson's signature, and many an-
cient curiosities which she had hoarded up. Tea in "old
English style " seemed to consist of our partaking of that
beverage ictc-a-tete — for, except the little servant-girl, I did
not see a soul in the deserted old palace. In fact, the sur-
roundings were so much in keeping with this strange old
lady and her reminiscences, that I had a general impres-
sion of becoming fossilized. She insisted on talking Eng-
lish, profusely interlarded with Italian, and was extremely
garrulous, but her sense of time had become so confused
that she seemed in doubt in what century we were living.
Thus she asked me at what hotel I was staying. I men-
tioned the name of the only tolerably decent one in the
place.

ALBANIA AND ITALY IN 1862. 197

" Ah," she said, " that is where the English always go
when they come to Manfredonia."

"Why," I replied, with some surprise, "I did not know
that English travellers often visited Manfredonia."

" Oh, yes," she said, " there was an English family staying
there in 1829."

The ignorance of the benighted inhabitants of these small
Neapolitan towns was something incredible. I spent several
days as the guest of the mayors of the towns of Ascoli and
Candela, situated in the Capitanata, which at that time was
a hotbed of brigandage, and where, in company with a regi-
ment of Piedmontese cavalry, with which I was campaigning,
I was quartered, with some of the officers, upon the inhabi-
tants. I found the notions of the principal functionaries crude
in the extreme upon all matters affecting European politics.
This arose from the fact that during the reign of the late
King of Naples they were not allowed to take in any news-
papers. The mayor of one of these towns was ignorant that
England was an island, and I found it difficult to give him
any idea of the British Constitution. Yet this was a man
who kept his carriage-and-pair, in which his wife used to
drive about in silks and satins. It is true that her costume
in the morning was of the most scanty and primitive descrip-
tion. None of the ladies thought of really dressing for the
day until after the midday siesta, when they all regularly
turned into bed, as if for the night, for a couple of hours.
This was rendered necessary by the shortness of their nights,
for we generally supped heavily about eleven, went to bed
about one in the morning, and got up a little after daylight.

I was interested in inspecting a prison full of captured
banditti. Here I saw the beautiful wife of a notorious chief
of one of the bands, who had been captured, dressed in man's
clothes, and using her pistol with such effect that she severely
wounded a soldier before she was taken prisoner. Her hus-
band, who escaped at the time, was afterwards captured ; but
there were several chiefs of minor distinction — picturesque,

198 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

bronzed, hardened-looking ruffians. The one with the most
villainous expression, however, was the priest of one of the
bands, who, still dressed in his ragged clerical costume, as-
sumed an air of sanctimonious resignation, and who, I was
assured, had presided over the roasting alive of a man who
had been robbed, and other atrocities — going through the'
ceremony of shriving the victims before their execution, and
granting absolution to the murderers, in consideration of
which his share of the spoil was always considerable. Upon
two occasions I was present at an exciting chase after bands
of banditti, one of which numbered over two hundred strong.
As the detachment I was with was much inferior in force,
they seemed inclined to show fight. However, when we
charged they thought better of it, and scattering in all direc-
tions, gave us a run across country which was as exciting as
any fox-hunt, but which only resulted in the capture of half a
dozen of their number.

It is to be regretted that, owing to the insecurity of the
country, Calabria, with its enchanting scenery, is a sealed
book to the tourist. The habit of brigandage is so strong in
the people that nearly five-and-twenty years of the more en-
lightened rule of the Italian government has been unable to
eradicate it. It is engrained in the habits of the peasantry,
nearly every one of whom, in some parts of the province,
goes out with a band by way of a holiday for some weeks in
the year. It was not a country adapted for the operations
of cavalry, so I could only get glimpses of the scenery as we
followed the enemy occasionally to the foot of the hills — for
when hard pressed they invariably took to the mountains ;
but I saw enough to make my mouth water, and create an
intense desire to explore its romantic recesses. Traversing
the plain of Cannae, with its battle-field, I crossed the Rubi-
con, and so made my way to Bari, and from thence by a very
pretty road to Tarento, and so along the coast to Catrone,
both highly picturesque places, and well worthy a visit.
From thence I crossed over to Sicily, and posted from Ca-

ALBANIA AND ITALY IN 1862. 199

tania through the centre of the island, by way of Caltanizetta
to Palermo, arriving there without mishap from brigands, ap-
parently to the surprise of the inhabitants, who had not sup-
posed that the journey was one which it was possible to make
in safety. From Palermo I returned to Naples.

CHAPTER XIII.

CRACOW DURING THE POLISH INSURRECTION OF 1863.

On my return from Italy it became necessary for me to
decide whether I should return to my post in Japan as
charge d'affaires or resign the diplomatic service. It was
with great regret that I found myself compelled by family
considerations to adopt the latter alternative, and abandon
a career which had at that time peculiar attractions for
me, and in which, considering my age, I had made rapid
progress.

In January, 1863, the Polish insurrection broke out, and as
I had by this time acquired a habit of fishing in troubled
waters, I determined to go and see it.

The proximity of the camp of Langiewicz to the Galician
frontier induced me to hurry through Vienna in the hope of
reaching Cracow in time to see the largest insurgent army
which had as yet taken the field. The city had for some
time past been the centre from which military operations
were more especially directed, just as Warsaw had been,
since the commencement of the movement, the seat of politi-
cal and administrative action. It was, consequently, a point
of attraction for unquiet spirits from all parts of Europe.
Polish refugees, military and political adventurers, enthusi-
astic sympathizers, or reckless condottieri, were constantly
passing along the line from Vienna to Cracow; and although
my fellow-passengers were not numerous, I regarded them
with a feeling of curiosity and interest which railway pas-
sengers in these prosaic days seldom think of according to
each other. As, after a long, cold night journey, the train

CRACOW DURING THE INSURRECTION OF 1863. 201

moved slowly into the Cracow station, the groups collected
on the platform seemed to share these sentiments with refer-
ence to myself as well as to my fellow-travellers. They peered
curiously into every carriage, and had plenty of time to form
their conjectures, as no one was allowed to leave the train
until his passport had been examined ; but it is only the in-
nocent and unoffending traveller with a genuine passport
who ever has it out of order — a false passport is always a
faultless document, and can be made to do duty in a variety
of ways not necessary here to particularize. Far be it from
me to insinuate that any of my respectable companions were
thus provided, or betrayed to the inquiring gaze of a good
many officials the slightest consciousness of having their
heads in the lion's mouth. It is only when you show signs
of alarm that the animal is likely to close his jaws ; but there
is a certain air of innocent affrontery, which may be acquired
by a little practice, which disarms suspicion. I thought
the people who came to see the train arrive seemed rather
disappointed when we all passed safely through the ordeal,
and drove contentedly away in the vain hope of finding a
lodging. The hotels of Cracow are not of any remarkable
excellence, even when they are half full ; but when they are
crowded to overflowing they are insupportable. Such was
the condition in which I found them ; and I was only res-
cued at last from a clamp cellar, which I considered myself
fortunate in obtaining, through the hospitality of my friend,
the late Count Adam Potocki.

The first news I heard was not encouraging to the sight-
seer. The army of Langiewicz had been destroyed the day
before, and the dictator himself had fallen into the hands of
the Austrians. I thought, as I walked along the streets, that
I saw the painful news written in the face of every soul I met.
The sombre aspect of the population, clad in the deepest
mourning, the haggard, careworn countenances of the men,
the despondent look of the women, with eyes too often swollen
from weeping, could not fail to produce a profound impres-
T 3*

202 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

sion upon the most careless observer. At the first moment
the shock was terrible. What will the powers think? was
the first question put to the foreigner, for every one felt that
the disaster was in no way serious to the national cause, ex-
cept in so far as it affected public opinion abroad ; but inas-
much as foreign intervention was looked upon as essential to
the ultimate success of the insurrection, men's eyes were ever
more turned upon the state of feeling without, than upon the
incidents which marked the struggle within, and they feared,
with reason, that the impression might gain ground which it
would be difficult afterwards to destroy — that the capture of
Langiewicz would be a death-blow to the movement. Such,
indeed, was the tone of the public press abroad when the ca-
tastrophe became known. In order that we may understand
why the downfall of the dictator was utterly without signifi-
cance at home, it will be necessary to trace shortly the his-
tory of the movement, and the circumstances from which it
principally derived its force.

I made a careful study of this at the time, which I record-
ed in the pages of Blackwood's Magazine. Suffice it here
to say, that for some years previously the leading members
of the Polish aristocracy had been earnestly engaged in
considering how they might best advance the cause of the
national independence without exciting the suspicions of the
Russian government, and for this purpose they had devised
a species of moral crusade, the leader of which was Count
Andrew Zamoyski, and the engine used the celebrated Agri-
cultural Society. The ostensible scope of this organization
was to develop the national resources of the country ; but the
questions which came under consideration naturally involved
the discussion of social and administrative problems, the so-
lution of which directly affected the civil action of the gov-
ernment of St. Petersburg. With branch societies in every
province, its power and influence soon became widely felt,
and the moderate party, as they called themselves, formed
the most sanguine anticipations of the effect which a pres-

CRACOW DURING THE INSURRECTION OF 1863. 203

sure thus legally exercised might have upon the central gov-
ernment.

Their hopes were clashed to the ground by the appearance
of a new and important element, which threatened seriously
to disturb the political and social aspect of affairs. Thirty
years had now elapsed since the last Polish revolution, and
the interval had worked a great change upon the face of
Europe. To the superficial observer that change is purely
mechanical ; to those who connect cause with effect it is a
great moral revolution. As the art of printing changed the
current of men's ideas, and gave a stimulus to thought which
produced the greatest theological convulsion of the age; so
railways and telegraphs are working out the political prob-
lems of the day, and will mark an epoch in the moral history
of mankind. It is impossible to estimate the influence which
facility of transport must exercise upon those who, all their
lives buried in the recesses of a remote province in some
half-civilized country, are thus enabled in a few days to come
into contact with the most advanced phase of existing civili-
zation. It is diffcult to conceive the effect of the instantane-
ous interchange of enlightened and barbarous ideas, and to
follow the varied channels which are thus opened to the
spread of civilization, forcing itself, like a rising flood, slowly
but surely along wires and rails. As men's minds are dif-
ferently constituted, it is a necessary incident to the progress
of thought that it should often receive an undue impulse in
an opposite sense from that in which it has been cribbed,
cabined, and confined, and, passing the bounds of modera-
tion, find an exaggerated expression in ill-regulated and en-
thusiastic natures. It is also natural that designing men
should take advantage of this tendency to convert it to their
own purposes, and that they should endeavor, by dint of
method and organization, to consolidate it into a power
available for carrying out either their own selfish ends, or
giving effect to their political theories. Hence there had
been called into existence in almost every country in Europe

204 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

a large class of society, whose representative men compose
what is called " the party of action," and who had gradually
acquired such power and influence upon the Continent that
the most successful monarch of the time perceived from the
outset of his career the necessity of conciliating them by a
certain qualified profession of their political opinions, and by
a very large connivance in their secret schemes. The party
of action of twenty years ago have since been superseded by
a far more advanced body of theorists — they can scarcely be
called politicians — recruited from a much lower couche sociale ;
but in those days they belonged mainly to the middle class,
or, as in Poland, where the middle class properly so called
does not exist, to that grade of society which corresponds to
it in other countries — those persons, in fact, whether un-
titled nobility or not, who have no large vested interests
in the country, but who are possessed of intelligence and
education.

The growth of the urban population, and the diffusion
of knowledge, with the increased facilities of its transmis-
sion by railway and telegraph, had widely extended this
class in Poland of late years ; and the party of action saw
that a new field was open to its enterprise, and commenced
some time before its political cultivation. They had con-
siderably improved their organization since their first effort
in 1848 to carry out their European policy, and have since
then incessantly and indefatigably labored to prepare the
nations for a more successful and unanimous attempt. It
would be difficult for one not initiated to say in what coun-
tries their committees did not exist, or into what circles their
agents had not penetrated. They were the betes noircs of the
upper classes abroad, just as Jesuitism is the bugbear of Prot-
estantism in England, and with far greater reason. As may
readily be imagined, the more ardent spirits in Warsaw were
speedily initiated into the mysteries of the sect. Commit-
tees were formed, a propaganda was set on foot, and the mine
prepared here on the same scientific principles as had been

CRACOW DURING THE INSURRECTION OF 1863. 205

followed in the case of Turkey, Hungary, and Italy. In
February, 1861, the first decided demonstration was made by
this party in Warsaw. Then it was that the aristocracy, or
party of order, as represented by the Agricultural Society,
became really conscious of the existence of a powerful and
dangerous rival, and a struggle took place for the pre-em-
inence. The disturbances which ensued led to the dissolu-
tion of the Agricultural Society; but the members, unwilling
to abandon the policy they had marked out for themselves,
formed a secret committee out of their number, with the ob-
ject of counteracting the efforts which the opposition party
might make to precipitate the revolutionary crisis. They
believed that patience was all that was needed to insure die
ultimate independence of Poland, and trusted to the progress
of civilization, and to gradual measures of reform which they
hoped by legitimate pressure to extort from the Russian gov-
ernment, so to elevate the masses that the nation might be
enabled to triumph at last by a moral victory. The younger
and more ardent spirits who rallied round the other party
were not prepared to take this philosophic view of the situa-
tion ; some of them even formed a third committee, and
adopted Mieroslawski as their leader. The party of action,
unable to control the forces they had set in motion, saw the
necessity of preparing for the great struggle which was inevi-
table, and the summer of 1863 was the time fixed for the
outbreak. The danger which threatened the Russian power
in Poland was imminent. To avert it the government re-
sorted to the expedient of the Conscription Act, which con-
tained lists of the suspected and dangerous youth of the
country who were thus to be drafted off to the army serving
in the eastern provinces of Russia. By enforcing this meas-
ure in the depth of winter it was hoped that any outbreak
would be rendered impossible ; but Providence had willed
it otherwise, and Poland escaped that year almost without
a winter at all. The connection which subsisted between
most of the employees and the committee rendered the secrecy

206 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

which the government intended to maintain with reference
to the names of the conscripts impossible. Thus forewarned,
those youths who found themselves doomed determined
rather to risk the chances of existence in the woods than in-
cur a certain exile in the deserts of Orenburg. In opposi-
tion to the earnest recommendations of their own committee,
and without any kind of preparation for campaigning, a thou-
sand young men suddenly betook themselves in January to
the forests and morasses with which the country abounds ;
and, arming themselves as best they could, precipitated a
struggle which, commenced at such a season of the year and
under such auspices, seemed even to the party of action al-
most hopeless. But the mildness of the season favored
them : some unexpected successes kindled hope when it had
ceased to exist. The committee of the party of action de-
termined to make the best of it, and strained every nerve to
procure arms and ammunition, and to increase the number
of the bands. Soon one or two leaders became known to
fame by the successes they achieved, and of these Langie-
wicz was the most prominent. Meantime the party of order
stood aloof, awaiting the triumph of their policy which they
considered certain to result from the failure of the prema-
ture outbreak. So far from these expectations being realized,
the movement acquired greater proportions from day to day,
until it became evident that the patriotic sentiment of the
nation at large was roused, and that it would not do for the
most powerful and influential class to remain longer passive
spectators. Negotiations took place between the committees,
which resulted in the nomination of Langiewicz as dictator, a
good deal to the surprise of that leader, and under circum-
stances which have never been fully cleared up, and which
seem to have partaken more of accident than design. The
effect in Europe was in many respects favorable to the move-
ment. It invested it with a character of permanence and
stability abroad which riveted European interest far more
decidedly than when it was under the direction of an un-

CRACOW DURING THE INSURRECTION OF 1863. 207

known committee at Warsaw. At home, it enlisted in the
cause the moderate party, who had resisted the direction of
the opposition committee, and who accepted as a compro-
mise the dictatorship of a single individual. On the other
hand, the measure was not without its dangers. By concen-
trating public attention too closely upon the fortunes of one
individual, the success of the movement was apt to be too
much identified with his fate, and any serious disaster to
him or his army might compromise the success of the cause.
For Poland, a still greater inconvenience attended the step.
The very fact that the nomination of Langiewicz had satis-
fied the moderate party, and enlisted their sympathies in be-
half of the movement, operated against him in the minds of
those who had been the most violent opponents of that party,
and who distrusted any leader who possessed their confi-
dence, more especially when he was invested not merely
with the military direction of the insurrection, but was pos-
sessed of civil powers as well. At the head of this faction,
Mieroslawski, who already had many adherents in the coun-
try, hastened to place himself. It is unnecessary here to al-
lude to the past history of this man, or to the disasters by
which all his enterprises had been invariably characterized.
He had only once taken part in active operations during the
struggle, and his countrymen accused him of having exhibit-
ed cowardice upon that occasion, and thus lost the fortunes
of the day ; at all events, he left the band of which for a few
days he had been the leader, and repaired to Cracow, in the
neighborhood of which city his rival Langiewicz was en-
deavoring to organize an army. In spite of the efforts of the
Austrian police authorities, he managed to conceal himself
successfully there, and to carry out those intrigues in the
camp of the dictator which at last conduced largely to his
downfall. The prominence which had been given to Langie-
wicz, while it rallied to his standard volunteers from all parts
of the country, was by no means an assistance to his military
operations. His nomination was, in fact, premature, and his

2o8 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

position an impossible one, even for a man of genius. For
one of ordinary capacity, a fiasco was inevitable ; it only
needed a traitor in the camp to hasten the catastrophe. The
first elements of authority were wanting. He possessed
neither an army to carry out his military designs, nor an ad-
ministrative machinery to give effect to his political views.
Hunted from one wood to another, deprived of all regular
means of communication, how was he to assume the func-
tions of the Warsaw committee, and control or direct the
movement throughout the whole country? In the absence
of any regular base of operations, without artillery, commis-
sariat, means of transport, or any of the appliances of a regu-
lar army, how was he to undertake a campaign against Rus-
sian troops? During the few days of breathing-time al-
lowed him by the Russians, after a most trying campaign, or
rather series of forced marches, the youths of Galicia flocked
by hundreds to his standard. Without even a nucleus of
trained soldiers upon which to form them, without arms to
put into the hands of these undisciplined men, without time
to instruct them in the use of the few they had, Langiewicz
found himself compelled once more to take the field at the
head of a mob of about three thousand, persons, most of
whom had never seen a shot fired in anger, while some har-
bored designs fatal to his authority. The Russian tactics
meantime seem to have been to allow a sufficient crowd to
collect, and then to concentrate upon it an overwhelming
force. On the 17th of March Langiewicz found himself sur-
rounded by the Russians, and, after a short conflict, succeed-
ed in keeping the enemy at bay, and passing the night on
the field of battle. On the following day he was again com-
pelled to accept battle, and again his army made up by
heroic valor for their want of organization. They had now
been two clays without food, their ammunition was expended,
and the enemy, though beaten back with loss, was still re-
ceiving reinforcements, and closing round them. The mo-
ment was opportune for those who wished to work upon the

CRACOW DURING THE INSURRECTION OF 1 863. 209

feelings of men wearied and disheartened by hardship. The
murmurs which had been heard in the camp swelled omi-
nously. The dictator found his authority questioned by his
own men, while he had no means of closing their mouths
with food, or of supplying them with ammunition to repulse
another attack of the enemy. The position was one which
would have demoralized a greater spirit than that which the
partisan leader possessed. He determined to leave the or-
ders which he considered best calculated to insure the safety
of the army, and to start himself in the middle of the night
for another part of the country, with the view of appearing
as dictator in a new sphere of action. The following was
the proclamation which he left to be issued after his de-
parture :

"Buave and Faithful Companions, — My office as dictator re-
quires my attention to various civil and military matters, and to the
strengthening of our numerous bands fighting the Muscovite in other
portions of the country, all of which require abetter organization.

" This necessity forces me to leave your ranks for a short time — those
ranks in which I have been since the first night of the insurrection. I
had hoped not to have been forced to leave you without sharing in a first
victory; for this reason I sought a battle near Miechow : I stopped at
Chrobierz, and fought the bloody encounter of Grochowiska.

" I do not take leave of you. The objects of my journey requiring
secrecy, I cannot tell you whither I am directing my course. I take with
me several officers to supply other detachments with commanders.
Thirty lancers will accompany me as an escort, and will afterwards re-
turn to camp. I have divided my corps in two parts with distinct com-
manders, and I have given instructions to these.

" We have all sworn to fight. I shall keep my promise, companions,
and expect obedience on your part, and a faithful service to the cause of
our country.

" We will continue to fight Russia in the name of the Almighty, until
we obtain the liberty and independence of our country.

" (Signed) M. Langiewicz."

The intrigues which existed in the camp rendered it im-
possible for Langiewicz to stay and see these orders carried
out. He took most of his own staff with him across the

2IO EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

Galician frontier, hoping to pass unobserved into the Pala-
tinate of Lublin, and avoid the Russian troops by taking a
short cut through the Austrian province. When day broke
upon the hungry, harassed men he had left behind, their in-
dignation at finding themselves deserted by their leader
knew no bounds. Only one detachment, commanded by
Czachowski, which had left the day before, succeeded in
getting through the Russian army and reaching the moun-
tains of St. Croix. A general panic seized those who woke
on the morning of the 20th, which resulted in a scramble for
Galicia. The plans for a division of the army were disre-
garded ; the leaders who remained found themselves without
authority ; the coup was so unexpected ; the desertion, to the
great mass of persons who did not understand the intrigues
which had forced it upon Langiewicz, seemed so base that
the whole army was demoralized, and retreated precipitately
towards Cracow.

Many of them escaped capture by the Austrian patrols on
the frontier, and reached that town wearied and disheart-
ened, to spread the sad details among the anxious and
gloomy population ; but by far the greater number were
brought in as prisoners by the Austrians, and lodged in the
riding-school, and other public buildings in the town. On
the day of my arrival Langiewicz was brought in a prisoner,
and placed in the castle ; but all access to him was forbid-
den, so I contented myself with going to the riding-school to
see the debris of his late army. A company of Austrian
soldiers grouped round the entrance kept off the crowd
which had collected under the trees opposite the building,
and which was composed of a large proportion of women.
All were anxious, under various pretexts, to obtain admit-
tance, but only a certain number were let in at a time, and
these ostensibly only upon the ground of relations or friends
being among the prisoners ; but really no indisposition on
the part of the Austrians was shown to relaxing as much as
possible the strictness of their guard. The soldiers and the

' CRACOW DURING THE INSURRECTION OF 1863. 211

people seemed to understand each other perfectly, and a lit-
tle patience and civility was all that was needed to gain ad-
mittance. The interior of the building presented a curious
sight: about one hundred and fifty ragged, half-starved,
footsore young men were here collected together — some ly-
ing asleep on the straw, with which the floor was abundantly
littered — others gazing listlessly at the motley groups which
filled the body of the large room, or patching their torn gar-
ments or their blistered feet. Moving restlessly about were
women in black, with anxious, sympathizing countenances,
and with crinolines and shawls distended by articles of wear-
ing apparel or creature comforts, which they had surrepti-
tiously brought in for the famished and ragged insurgents.
Here you saw an elderly female with her petticoats over her
head, and two or three sturdy youths extracting articles from
her undergarments ; there a gentleman was putting a half-
clad figure into his own paletot, and watching the opportu-
nity when they might slip out arm-in-arm past the good-nat-
ured sentries. Here was a knot of hungry men emptying
a hamper and eagerly discussing its contents ; in one cor-
ner, with very little ceremony, two lads were changing their
trousers, and trying on boots. No sooner was a prisoner
sufficiently transmogrified to pass for a respectable member
of society, than he gave his arm to a lady and walked out
under her escort with an assumed air of dignity and noncha-
lance, flattering himself, perhaps, that the Austrian guard
did not know that he was escaping. The fact was that the
Austrians had more upon their shoulders than they could
comfortably manage. In one way or other nearly two thou-
sand men had fallen into, or rather passed through, their
hands; for a prisoner must have wanted ingenuity indeed
who remained a prisoner long. Still, so far as appearances
went, Langiewicz's army, like himself, was in captivity. The
fact that an Austrian soldier had been killed the same morn-
ing by the Russians, who had violated the frontier in pursuit
of the insurgents, was a circumstance which did not tend to

212 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

render the Austrian soldiers unnecessarily severe with the
latter. Indeed, a very strong feeling of exasperation had
sprung up between the Austrian and Russian troops ; while,
as most of the Austrian regiments employed in Galicia had
been recruited in that province, there was every inclination
to be as lenient as possible in their dealings with the insur-
gents. As all those of the more respectable classes who had
been with Langiewicz had succeeded in escaping from du-
rance during the first twenty-four hours, the men I saw were
of an inferior condition. I conversed with many who were
either domestic servants or artisans, and was surprised to find
into how low a grade in society the patriotic feeling had
spread. Most of them were from the kingdom, as Russian
Poland was always called ; and as they had no friends in
Cracow, some of them manifested no particular anxiety to
escape, as without clothes or money their predicament
would not be much improved. However, a subscription
was speedily got up in the town, charitable ladies bought
food and raiment, and ultimately the greater number were
provided for somehow or other. One man I observed whose
Tartar physiognomy plainly showed a different origin from
that of his companions ; he turned out to be a deserter from
the Russian army, belonging to one of the eastern prov-
inces of the empire. He was quite unable to make himself
understood, but seemed perfectly contented with his lot.
Soon the presence of so many refugee insurgents became ap-
parent in the streets of Cracow. It was not difficult to tell
those who had been in the wars — a very few weeks of hard-
ship and exposure leave their traces on the face; and even
though nothing in the dress indicated the recent occupation
of the wearer, it was not easily to be concealed; but many
were either without means of disguising themselves, or did
not care to take the trouble to do so. The day of mystery had
gone by ; the whole town was in a ferment ; committees were
sitting; insurgents expatiating on the pastor future; gossips
retailing news ; women engaged in acts of benevolence and

CRACOW DURING THE INSURRECTION OF 1 863. 213

charity. Everybody was in black, every countenance was
gloomy and anxious, and a feeling of despondent restlessness
pervaded the community. There is a quaint old square in
Cracow, with a cathedral on one side, some public buildings
on the other, and a large covered market-place clown the
centre. Here peasant women crowd on market days in
picturesque dresses, and sell vegetables ; at other times they
leave it to excited groups of patriots. There was always a sort
of movement going on here, and if you got tired of the soli-
tude of your chamber, you could go out and find in a mo-
ment some melancholy friend with whom to discourse on
passing events, or from whom the last piece of exciting in-
telligence might be gleaned ; but the question, as I have
already said, which chiefly agitated the public mind at this
moment, was the effect likely to be produced abroad by the
events which were now transpiring.

I have endeavored, in as condensed a form as possible,
to give the history of the movement up to this point, to con-
vey some idea of the condition of feeling in Austrian and
Russian Poland, as influenced by the different systems
adopted by the two governments, and to narrate the circum-
stances which produced the actual situation of affairs as they
existed on my arrival at Cracow. It will easily be perceived
now, why, on calm consideration, the cause itself did not seem
in the eyes of those who were most interested in the move-
ment, and most capable of judging, to have suffered by the
capture of the dictator. In the first place, the fusion of par-
ties, so essential to its ultimate success, was in a great meas-
ure achieved by the nomination of Langiewicz. During his
brief reign the aristocracy had more or less become com-
promised in the insurrection, and could not, even if they had
desired, now abandon it. In the second, with the fall of
Langiewicz, his dangerous rival, Mieroslawski, disappeared,
at all events for the present, from the scene. The party
whose bond of union was antagonism to the dictator, ceased
to exist when he resigned his functions in that capacity, be-

214 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

trayed by Mieroslawski. Discredited by his previous achieve-
ments, the latter was now execrated as the prime cause of
the late disaster, and not even the most advanced members
of the party of action would venture to acknowledge him as
a colleague. A general sentiment of cohesion was produced
by the very exigencies of the situation. The crisis was too
grave to indulge in petty animosities, or allow petty ambi-
tion to triumph. For the moment there was a universal
rush to the rescue, an earnest desire to see where the mis-
take had been, how it was to be remedied, and to think what
it was best to do next ; but, as usual when there is no leader
of decided eminence, there were a great many different opin-
ions upon the subject. Before people had had time to re-
flect, there was an impulse to appoint another dictator ; and
in spite of the failure of the last, there were those who
thought themselves capable of filling the office. Persons
like myself, who were necessarily not thoroughly informed
as to the nature of the various projects discussed by the
committees which sat at Cracow, could only follow vaguely
the course of events, or obtain a confused notion of the diffi-
culties which at such a crisis must always to a greater or
less extent impede the current of affairs. It was impossible
for the two great political sections which had hitherto al-
ways found themselves in antagonism, to forget completely
their old prejudices ; and though they were animated by the
best intentions, and were most anxious to conceal from
strangers any want of harmony in their councils, it would be
contrary to human nature to suppose that they both took the
same view as to the most expedient measures to be adopted.
It is useless now to recur to the points of difference which
arose, as they were all settled more or less satisfactorily at
last, and both sides were driven by the nature of the emer-
gency into making concessions for the common cause. The
truce was precipitated in an unexpected way by the appear-
ance of the following proclamation issued by the Warsaw
Central Committee, resuming the functions which they had
abdicated on the nomination of Langiewicz:

CRACOW DURING THE INSURRECTION OF 1863. 215

" Warsaw, 27/// March.

"PROCLAMATION.

"The Central Committee, as National government, informs the nation
that, in consequence of the arrest of the dictator, Langiewicz, by the
Austrian government, the supreme national authority has been resumed
by them. With a view to guarantee the country from the confusion that
might arise from attempts to seize the supreme power by any single in-
dividual, the assumption of dictatorial authority, or of any other form of
government, whether at home or abroad, is declared treasonable."

There were doubtless those at Cracow who were discon-
certed at the suddenness of the measure, which was in fact
the act of a single individual, since killed in a duel, but
which produced a good effect in one respect, that it recalled
to the minds of the Cracow people the existence of a very
influential body at Warsaw ; for it was not unnatural that,
Cracow being for the time the centre of the movement, the
persons interested in it there should have assumed to them-
selves the initiative. Anything, however, was better than
chaos ; and for the first three or four days after the resig-
nation of Langiewicz, there was a period when everybody
wanted to do what was best, but no one knew how to do it,
and there was no one to tell them. Now, at least, there was a
point (Vappui. No doubt there were prejudices to be got over
on the part of those who had all along objected to the direc-
tion of affairs being undertaken by any secret society ; on the
other hand, their alternative had been tried and had failed.
The only thing remaining was a compromise between the
two rival committees, and discussions to bring this about oc-
cupied the leaders of the parties during that moment of lull
which succeeded the downfall of Langiewicz. The pressure
of public opinion without, no less than the magnitude of
the crisis within, tended to facilitate this fusion. Both
parties felt that the eyes of Europe were upon them ; that
nothing would be more fatal to the good opinion they de-
sired to obtain than the idea of any split in the camp. The
aristocracy were extremely anxious to dissipate any impres-

2l6 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

sion which might exist abroad that the movement was revo-
lutionary in the democratic sense of the term. They were
fairly committed to it, and could best prove its true character
by going thoroughly along with it, and using their influence
as best they might with those they had formerly opposed.
Their antagonists were too glad to obtain such valuable co-
operation to make any unnecessary difficulties. They too
decided on substituting for political theories practical exe-
cution ; and both sides at once recognized the strength
which such a union would give them, and the beneficial ef-
fect it would produce upon foreign cabinets. Henceforward'
there was to be no party of action, no moderate party ; each
and all were to combine to make Poland independent of
Russia, and to allow no sectional jealousy to interfere with
the one great national aim.

There was one other respect in which the experience
gained during the dictatorship was most useful. The inex-
pediency of massing together large bodies of undisciplined
men had been made apparent by the disaster which befell
Langiewicz's army. Hitherto the Poles had regarded with
feelings akin to discontent the scattered bands which might
harass the enemy, but could not signalize the insurrection
by any grand military operation. Unused to guerilla tac-
tics, and imbued with the traditions and associations of reg-
ular warfare, their ambition was to form an army which
might meet the Russians in the field, and settle, by a few de-
cisive actions, the fate of their country. Any such hope was
now clearly delusive : circumstances rendered the formation
of an army impossible, and victory must be considered to
consist, not in meeting and defeating the enemy, but in co-
existing with him, and keeping the country in a state of
chronic disorganization. Cracow was the natural and most
available centre for concerting the measures necessary to
this system of partisan warfare, and it was therefore my first
point of observation. After I had learned all that was to
be discovered here, I determined to push on to Warsaw.

CHAPTER XIV.

EXPERIENCE DURING THE POLISH INSURRECTION : WARSAW.

If it was impossible, without visiting Poland, to obtain an
accurate idea of the true character of the insurrection, and
of the nature of the obstacles with which it had to contend, it
was still more difficult for me to convey in any satisfactory
form the result of my observations. As an essential con-
dition to the ultimate success of the movement was secrecy,
a stranger must enjoy peculiar advantages to acquire infor-
mation of any real value, and could only expect to be let in
behind the scenes upon the assumption, not merely that he
was thoroughly trustworthy, but that his sympathies were en-
tirely with the insurgents. He was thus naturally expected
to tell only what might advance the cause > and to color,
with a pardonable enthusiasm, his narration of the events
which had come under his notice. Under no circumstances
was he regarded as an impartial observer, whose only object
was the discovery of truth : if he was not a frantic and un-
reasoning partisan either of one side or the other, he could
be nothing else than a political spy. In that case, it was
probable that both parties would tell him just so much as
they thought proper, and might possibly also take great pains
to mislead him, where it might seem to serve their ends.
Neither Russians nor Poles would ever believe that an Eng-
lishman should have no other object in visiting them than
that of relieving the monotony of the London season by a
little mild excitement likely to be afforded by the investiga-
tion of the country in a state of revolution, or that he should
be animated by the still more natural and worthy motive of
10

2l8 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

improving his mind, and forming his own opinions upon the
political events of the day. That he should travel on beaten
paths for the mere purpose of sight-seeing, is in their eyes a
silly English eccentricity, to which they have got accus-
tomed; but that he should take an abstract interest in the
moral, political, social, or religious condition of foreign na-
tions, is to them incomprehensible. That one should not be
contented with learning geography at school, but choose as
a pursuit the observation of men, and the study of the work-
ing and effects of their institutions in different countries, is
in their eyes simply ludicrous; and yet it is only the ex-
ploratory tendency cropping out in another form. Instead
of plunging into the centre of Africa to discover the source
of the Nile, like Speke and Grant, why not dive into the
sources of revolutions? Why confine exploration to physi-
cal geography, when there are so many moral and political
geographical problems yet unsolved ? When does human
nature lie more open to philosophical examination than when
convulsed by mixed and violent passions ? When is the
value of political institutions better tested than during a
revolution ? When is the national character more easily
read? What is more exciting than the acquisition of knowl-
edge when everybody conspires to retain it from you ? What
more interesting than those speculations upon the future, to
which the most critical moments in a nation's history give
rise? There was a fermentation in political opinion upon
the Continent in 1863 which promised to be a fruitful source
of revolution, but each movement would owe its origin to
different causes ; it would be marked by its own special con-
ditions; and just in proportion as his former experience has
enabled the observer to arrive at just and accurate conclu-
sions, would he find an interest in bringing his knowledge to
bear on each successive occasion, and thus be better able to
examine, with the calm and impartial scrutiny of a surgeon,
the seat of the disease, watch its progress, and predict its
result.

POLISH INSURRECTION: WARSAW. 219

The happy privilege which Englishmen possess of being
able to travel without restraint, and to express their opin-
ions openly and without reserve, is calculated to puzzle and
mislead foreigners who have lived in the retirement of op-
pressed nationalities. The impossibility of being frank and
open among themselves renders them suspicious of those
who come without arriere pensee to visit them, and have no
reason to disguise their feelings on political subjects.

Thus, I was not surprised to find in the Czas, a Polish
newspaper published at Cracow, the following paragraph,
sent to it from Warsaw, on the occasion of my visit to that
city, by its special correspondent, who evidently could not
conceive it possible that I should go there at such a time
for my own amusement, and, when there, that I should say
what I thought :

" Warsaw, 25//* April.
" I have some further news to announce to you respecting , the Eng-
lishman who, ostensibly in the character of an ordinary tourist and ob-
server, but really, I believe, with an object well known to Palmerston, has
arrived here to have a nearer view of us. In general, he expressed him-
self with great hostility towards France ; he thinks we ought to turn out
the Russians by every possible means — even the least proper; at the
same time he tried very hard to frighten us by detailing the sad conse-
quences of an eventful French intervention, pointing out with much in-
dignation the traditional policy of the Napoleonic race, whose members,
while constantly making use of us, always ended by leaving us to our own
efforts. He expressed much love for us in the name of the three United
Kingdoms of Great Britain; it was, however, not difficult to perceive be-
neath this fine appearance of sympathy a much deeper object."

In other words, I only expressed the sentiments of nine
Englishmen out of ten, when I told those Poles with whom
I conversed that they possessed the sympathies of the Eng-
lish generally, and that they would retain those sympathies
more surely by trusting to their own efforts alone to expel
the Russians from Poland, than by looking to the French
emperor for assistance, while, like the Italians, they might
feel the weight of their obligations to France little less op-

2 20 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

pressive than the tyranny from which they escaped, if they
owed anything to her. It was, indeed, rather trying to the
temper of a Briton to be informed at every turn that England
was the only obstacle in the way of the reconstitution of Po-
land, and that our selfish policy prevented a magnanimous
and disinterested power from liberating the Poles, and ad-
vancing the cause of progress and humanity in Europe. The
familiarity of the Poles with the French language, and the
traditional and historical associations connected with France,
drew their sympathies strongly towards that country. Deriv-
ing all their ideas of European policy through French news-
papers, they were in general ignorant of any other views than
those which were put forward in them, and united a profound
respect for the French emperor with an intense admiration for
the people he governed. It is difficult to say whether my
supposed capacity of political intriguer facilitated or impeded
my very harmless investigations ; on the one hand, I found
no difficulty whatever in hearing a vast number of political
opinions, but there was no great variety in them, and an utter
absence of facts. I was perpetually grasping at shadows;
the realities were there, but they were difficult to lay hold of.
There was a great deal going on while I was at Cracow;
bands were forming, people were plotting, and important
measures being adopted, and yet a stranger, while over-
whelmed with kindness and hospitality, was groping in the
dark. Perhaps this was only natural, and the prudence and
reticence which characterized the leaders of the movement
had been taught by bitter experience ; but it stimulated one's
faculties all the more, and I regret that the most interest-
ing items of information which I ultimately obtained I am
not, even at this distance of time, at liberty to disclose. The
delicacy of the situation arose out of the relations in which
the Galician Poles, who were co-operating in every possible
way with those in Russia, stood with reference to Austria.
It was of the utmost importance that the measures under-
taken in Cracow should be of such a nature that the jeal-

POLISH INSURRECTION: WARSAW. 22 1

ousy or suspicion of the Austrian government should not be
aroused — that nothing, in fact, should be done which should
induce the Austrian government to interpose greater difficul-
ties to the formation of bands and the transmission of arms
than those which already existed. Cracow was essential as
a base of operations ; the policy of Prussia had increased the
value of Galicia in this respect; and the most serious blow
which the movement could receive, it was in the power of
Austria to inflict. Every day almost indicated some change
in the policy of this latter power. At one moment the
restrictions were relaxed, and there seemed a tendency to
srive the greatest latitude to the stipulations which exist be-
tween Russia and Austria, in favor of the movement ; at an-
other the reins were unexpectedly tightened, and people who
had been encouraged into imprudence found themselves suf-
ferers for their temerity. It did not do to trust to appear-
ances. Sometimes they seemed to cloze at Vienna, but it
was only to wake up suddenly with a start. No doubt this
sort of spasmodic action on the part of the Austrian govern-
ment was in a great measure forced upon it by the represen-
tations of M. de Balabine. The Russian minister at Vienna
was better served, by his agents at Cracow than Count Rech-
berg, probably because he paid them better. Indeed, the
Austrian police in Galicia had a profitable time of it, as in
addition to their regular pay they were largely subsidized in
secret by the Russian government. Cracow swarmed with
spies in Russian pay, and thus the government at St. Peters-
burg was kept far more accurately informed of the proceed-
ings of the insurgents who were in Galicia than of those who
were in Russian Poland, inasmuch as it was always easy to
find Germans who would serve as spies — not so easy to find
Poles. It was necessary, then, to make arrangements for
the collecting and arming of bands with all possible secrecy,
and every description of device was resorted to in order to
elude the vigilance of the Austrian government and the ob-
servations of the Russian spies. In order to appreciate the

2 22 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

difficulties incidental to the equipment and despatch of a
band under these conditions, we must consider in detail the
modus operandi. First of all, inasmuch as the Russians
lined the Galician frontier in considerable force at the time
of my visit to Cracow, it was necessary for any band which
crossed into the kingdom to be sufficiently numerous to be
able to repel the troops they might encounter on the other
side. Of course, just in proportion to the size of the band
did the difficulties increase. It was impossible to form
them in Cracow. All that the leader could know through
the recognized channel was, that a certain number of men
had enrolled themselves as his followers. Most of them,
perhaps, he had never seen. Some had obtained arms from
their own sources, others were directed to the quarter from
whence they could be in secret supplied. In the middle of
the night groups of young men might occasionally be seen
stealing out of Cracow in different directions, and making
their way to the frontier. As the country is undulating and
well wooded, the impossibility of the Austrian patrols guard-
ing its whole extent on a dark night is manifest ; besides,
there can be no doubt that the patrols would often look the
other way when they suspected that insurgents were cross-
ing in the vicinity. At daybreak the band would have ar-
rived at the rendezvous — perhaps a wood a mile or two in-
side the frontier. Here they would be joined by the leader,
who would look over the men and material he found at his
disposition, and examine their nondescript arms. Two or
three wagons loaded with ammunition, which had been
dragged along by-lanes and passed the frontier in safety,
would now be unloaded, and their contents distributed.
Sometimes all their munitions of war would be intercepted,
and the band, after having crossed, would be obliged to re-
turn, and await a more auspicious occasion ; but supposing
the spot to be happily chosen, and everything to have gone
smoothly thus far, the next object was to We perdu as long as
possible, and hidden from Russian observation. A day or

POLISH INSURRECTION: WARSAW. 223

two thus gained was of infinite value. A messenger would
go back to Cracow, to report proceedings. More men, arms,
and ammunition would cross over next night, while the day
would be occupied by the leader in the endeavor to impart
some kind of discipline to the men, and in instructing them
in the use of their weapons. With a new, raw band the
leader was unwise if he removed from his base of operations,
which was Cracow, a day sooner than he was obliged. But
he could not hope for a respite of more than three or four
days ; he then found himself called upon to exercise all his
ingenuity to avoid meeting the enemy, which is beginning
to close round him ; for the peasants, not well disposed in
these parts, are not long in conveying the news. However,
he has supplied himself with a few carts and horses, though,
as his men have no clothes except those they have on, and
carry a great proportion of their ammunition, his necessity
for land-transport is not very great. If he could manage
to get away into the mountains of St. Croix, or to bury him-
self in some of the woods and morasses with which the in-
terior of the country abounds, he was comparatively safe ; if
his band was not too large, he found no very great difficulty
in procuring supplies; and if he was a prudent leader, his
whole object was to keep out of the way of Russians for
weeks to come. As it was of the utmost importance that
he and his men should get to know and have confidence in
each other, and acquire some slight knowledge of the kind
of work before them, at first he confined himself to opera-
tions on a very small scale, and contented himself rather
with a trifling success than with risking the morale of the
band by attempting too ambitious an enterprise. Such had
been the experience of Jezioranski, Lelewel, and other
leaders. But the majority of the bands which left Cracow
were not so fortunate. Either they were unable to convey
their ammunition across the frontier, or they were attacked
so immediately after crossing that they were not in a posi-
tion to defend themselves, and although behaving with great

224 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

courage, were obliged to fall back before disciplined troops.
Sometimes on these occasions they succeeded in burying
their arms, more often they fell into the hands of the Aus-
trians, who made prisoners of them as they retreated in con-
fusion upon the frontier. Such was the fate of a portion of
Gregovicz's band, which was attacked so close to Cracow
that the firing could be heard in the town. Unfortunately,
as I left the same day, I was unable to go to the frontier to
witness the skirmish, which, however, though it resulted in
the dispersion of the band, was more serious in its results of
killed and wounded to the Russians than to the Poles. A large
city naturally possesses greater facilities for the despatch of
a band than the country villages; but, on the other hand,
the Russian troops were generally collected in greater num-
bers on the frontier in the neighborhood of Cracow than
elsewhere. Bands were therefore often formed at other
points, but here greater circumspection was required. The
men were lodged in farmhouses, or even camped in woods,
for a night or two on the Galician side.

In spite, however, of every precaution and of the most
cunning devices, a great quantity of arms were constantly
being seized in transitu by the Austrian government ; and
it was calculated that it was necessary to add a sovereign to
the price of every rifle or musket conveyed in safety across
the frontier, after all other expenses were paid, in order to
cover the loss sustained by those intercepted. It is al-
most impossible to estimate rightly, unless one has been
upon the spot, the enormous disadvantages under which the
insurgents labored in being deprived of any safe base of
operations. They were perpetually exchanging the frying-
pan for the fire. The position of an Austrian Pole who
took part in the movement was bad enough, but that of the
Russian Pole was still worse. The Austrian who had been
fighting with the insurgents, when desiring repose, could at
least return to his home, and hope to remain there unmo-
lested ; but the Russian no sooner found himself a refugee in

POLISH INSURRECTION : WARSAW. 225

Cracow than he had to scramble across the frontier into the
kingdom for safety. I have conversed with some who be-
longed to Langiewicz's army, and had succeeded in reach-
ing Cracow ; here they were lying hidden, afraid of being
arrested and thrown into prison, for the Austrian govern-
ment drew a broad distinction between their own and Rus-
sian subjects. The latter they were bound by the conven-
tion to arrest, if not to give up. It is due to the Austrians to
say that they did not interpret this obligation too strictly:
but if a Russian Pole would persist in living in Cracow, he
could not expect unlimited grace. The consequence was,
that his only plan was to put his head back into the lion's
jaws, and make the best of his way to the nearest insurgent
band in the kingdom with the least possible delay. Unfort-
unately for the Poles, although they have shown the greatest
aptitude as contrabandistas, they do not seem to possess an
equal instinct for guerilla warfare. In this respect their
habits are French : they like fighting in masses, they glory in
the rules of regular warfare, and, with a strong military in-
stinct and unlimited courage, insist upon undertaking opera-
tions upon a larger scale than the conditions under which
they are fighting will admit of. It was rare to find a chief
who could resist accessions to his band, which at the very
moment possessed neither discipline, ammunition, nor food;
rarer still to find a man who would not sacrifice half his
band for the glory of taking a couple of cannon, which
would be of no earthly use to him after he had got them.
The disastrous attack of Miechow was, perhaps, one of the
most painful illustrations of this blundering style of warfare.
The insurgents could not be brought to understand that the
great object of guerilla warfare is to be invisible ; that vic-
tories are only one shade less disastrous than defeats, be-
cause you cannot afford the men they cost; that while dis-
cipline is necessary to keep a band in order, drill is abso-
lute ruin to it, because the men will immediately fancy them-
selves soldiers ; that excess of courage is a positive nuisance
10*

2 26 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

where you want to teach men the art of killing others with-
out being killed themselves ; that large bodies of human be-
ings without guns are only food for the artillery of the enemy;
whereas if the whole country is kept alive with scattered
guerillas, their artillery arm is paralyzed, for you give them
nothing to fire at.

Thus there was an absence of ingenuity in their mode of
conducting their operations. The essence of partisan war-
fare is ruse, but very little strategy was displayed ; while it is
due to the insurgents to say that their proceedings were al-
ways characterized by the utmost humanity. They almost
invariably, after depriving their prisoners of arms, restored
them to liberty ; and some of the leaders even expressed
horror at the idea, which very naturally occurred to me, that
they should follow our example in the Crimea, and choose
the Russian Easter, when the enemy would be engaged in
celebrating that feast, to make a general attack upon him. I
received abundant and convincing testimony that no such
scruples of humanity animated the Russians, who committed
atrocities which were not justified by the exigencies of the
situation, and who could not complain if the Poles were
driven to retaliative measures, as severe as those which we
inflicted upon the rebels during the Indian Mutiny.

Again, the desire for military distinction is a principle so
firmly rooted in the heart of every Pole that it sometimes in-
terferes with his love of country. Not only does the leader
despise the petty achievements to which a guerilla warfare
should be confined, and from which he cannot acquire re-
nown ; not only does he love to augment his band even at
the sacrifice of its efficiency, but he finds it difficult to hear
of the success of rivals without a certain degree of jealousy :
his ambition is to be the commander-in-chief of a Polish
army ; and although this struggle had been the means of
calling forth in many instances a display of magnificent self-
sacrifice, and neither life nor liberty were considered where
the interests of the country were concerned, there could be

POLISH INSURRECTION : WARSAW. 227

no doubt that a danger existed of personal feelings being ex-
cited among the leaders, which prejudiced the success of the
cause they all had at heart.

I crossed the Russian frontier at two points while at Cra-
cow, but upon neither occasion did I see any troops. The
nearest barrier was Michaelowice, and here there was a mile
or so between the Austrian and Russian guardhouses. At
the former was a patrol, and we were a good deal cross-ex-
amined before we were allowed to pass it, although promis-
ing to limit our explorations to a short drive.. A number of
peasants' carts laden with country produce was all we met,
and my curiosity was considerably excited as we approached
the Russian barrier, as it had been reported that the enemy
was still there. However, beyond a dirty Jew leaning over
the bar which crossed the road, and a few mangy curs, the
place was deserted. Not a soul inhabited the handsome
block of building, the official character of which was denoted
by the imperial eagle ; the windows were many of them
broken, and all was silent and forlorn. Taking courage from
the desolate aspect of this post, we ventured on, and found
ourselves in the kingdom. The coachman now began to
think that we had gone far enough, but the temptation was
too great to turn back at once, and we continued till we
reached a hill from which we obtained a good view of the
surrounding country. Not a Cossack was to be seen, scarcely
a living creature; still the silence might be treacherous, so
we turned back, to the immense relief of our coachman,
whose speed was considerably accelerated until he found
himself once more safe in Galicia. Practically, travelling in
this part of the kingdom was impossible, except by railway,
and then it was uncertain. Every peasant had a right to
stop any one dressed respectably whom he might chance to
meet, and bring him up to the nearest Russian post. One
gentleman whom I saw, and who was harmlessly proceeding
to his farm, was thus arrested, and he informed me that the
Russian officer blamed his captors for having brought him

2 28 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

in alive. They were informed that they would be considered
to have rendered better service if they would spare the Rus-
sians the responsibility and trouble of executing persons.
As my informant could under no pretext be considered an
insurgent, he was allowed to go ; but so unsafe were the
streets of the small town in which he lived during its occu-
pation by Russian troops, that he was obliged to beg two
Russian officers to accompany him across the road, as a pro-
tection from their own men. I was prevented, from the ut-
ter disorganization of the Russian army upon this frontier,
from visiting Miechow, then the headquarters of General
Szachowsky, as, although I might have obtained a safe-con-
duct from this officer, it was not considered by the Russians
themselves a sufficient protection. Even the wives of Rus-
sians employed in the kingdom were removed from places
likely to be occupied by the imperial troops. There is no
doubt that this insubordination was due to an order issued
by the Grand-duke Constantine at the commencement of the
outbreak, in which the men were enjoined not to place too
much confidence in their officers. It seems that the govern-
ment had some reason to suspect the fidelity of the latter;
certainly such an order was not likely to confirm it. The
result was, that in several instances officers have been shot
by men ; and the account which Mr. Bielski, in whose veracity
I have every confidence, gave me of the attack upon his own
country-house at Gibultow, vividly illustrated the utter de-
moralization of the Russian army.

It would appear that the proximity of Langiewicz's camp
induced four of the insurgents to pay him a visit, the more
especially as his own son, who had joined the army of the
dictator, was of the number. Mr. Bielski, who had a wife
and daughter, was naturally alarmed at such dangerous visit-
ors, and implored them not to prolong their stay, as it was
known that the Russian army was in the neighborhood : how-
ever, they lingered a little, and were just preparing to start,
when a number of Cossacks and infantry were seen approach-

POLISH insurrection: WARSAW. 229

ing from all sides. The first impulse of Mr. Bielski's guests
was to jump upon their horses and escape; this, however,
they found impossible. A gentleman, unconnected with the
insurgents, who was a visitor in the house, managed to jump
into a bed and feign illness, the others endeavored to hide
themselves in a ravine. Of these Mr. Bielski's son alone
eluded the vigilance of the Russians, who, having secured
his three companions as prisoners, now approached, in order
to ransack the house. Meantime the ladies had taken refuge
in the chapel, where they were praying, while Mr. Bielski
went out to try and parley with the officer. As, unfortunately,
he had a boil on his face, and a handkerchief stained with
blood round it, he was mistaken at first for a wounded in-
surgent, and the officer could with difficulty prevent the Cos-
sacks from shooting him. Seeing that his life was in danger,
he hastily retreated, and the house was entered by two offi-
cers and six men. Those outside clamored furiously for the
work of destruction to begin, shouting Rubac ! (pillage), Re-
zac ! (murder), Palic ! (burn); and for more than an hour
did the horrified inmates listen to these ominous cries, ex-
pecting every moment that the officers would cease to have
any control over the men. Meantime the house was searched,
the six Cossacks filling their pockets with everything that
appeared of any value, and utterly disregarding the threats
and injunctions of the officers. The gentleman in bed was
turned out, and every room ransacked, the officers apologiz-
ing for the painful task which was forced upon them, and the
impossibility of executing it in any other way. Ultimately,
but not until the officers had threatened to shoot the men,
one of whom replied that his carbine also contained a ball,
they were induced to leave the house. As they were leaving,
Mr. Bielski, who felt some gratitude to the officers for their
endeavors to mitigate the ferocity of the men, offered one of
them cigars. On their being declined, Mr. Bielski said, ironi-
cally, " Why do you refuse them ? do you think they are
poisoned ?" On which the officer answered, " Had they been

230 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

poisoned, I would gladly have smoked one, and thus relieved
myself from any more of this hateful work."

A violent altercation next ensued between the officers and
the men outside, who refused to take charge of the prisoners
unless they were first allowed to plunder the house. When
at last the latter were removed into the high-road, they found
a certain Mr. Finkenstein, who was a British subject, and a
lady in a cart, surrounded by soldiers. What then tran-
spired I had from the lips of one of the prisoners, who de-
clared that he heard an officer give the order for their mas-
sacre. Mr. Finkenstein, on the other hand, assured me that
the officer, who was endeavoring to protect him, presented a
revolver at the men who first attacked him : however that
may be, the whole party were attacked — three of the Poles
were killed on the spot. My informant, after receiving thir-
teen wounds, managed to shelter himself under Mr. Finken-
stein's wagon, out of which Mr. F. was dragged and left for
dead, with thirty-two wounds, the lady who was with him
having been stabbed in three places.

Another history, the details of which were of the most har-
rowing description, was narrated to me by Mr. Woyciachowski,
whose son was murdered before his eyes, but that has already
appeared in print. Indeed, there was no lack of evidence in
Cracow confirmatory of the worst accounts we read at the
time in the public prints of the barbarity of the Russian sol-
diery. The hotels were crowded with refugees, all of whom
had some instances to relate ; while the hospitals were filled
to overflowing with young men, not merely wounded in the
ordinary course of fighting, but often covered with wounds
they received after having been captured and disabled. Un-
fortunately, the length of the interval which usually elapsed
between the time when the wounds were inflicted, and when
they could be attended to, caused them in a very undue pro-
portion to terminate fatally. Not a day passed without my
being attracted to the window by the mournful chant of a
funeral procession, winding its solemn way to the cemetery

POLISH INSURRECTION: WARSAW. 23 I

outside the town, one portion of which was devoted to the
interment of those killed for the national cause. Almost
every evening I met in that gloomy society persons who had
some new tale of distress to recount, or the loss of some near
relative or friend to bewail. Still there was no symptom of
flinching ; those who were recovering from their wounds
were only yearning to be back to the scene of action. The
hardships they had undergone could not deter them from
seeking to rejoin their comrades who were in the field ; and
the hotels swarmed with ardent young men either just re-
turned from camp for a moment's respite, or just starting to
take their share in the movement. It was difficult to be an
indifferent spectator of so much misery and so much de-
votion.

The concentration of Russian troops in the neighborhood
of Cracow, and the obstacles in the way of despatching bands
from that city, had induced the insurgents to commence op-
erations upon other points of the frontier, so I went to Lem-
berg to see what was going on in the eastern part of Galicia.
A ten hours' railway journey takes one to this outpost of
Austrian civilization. The contrast between the provincial
capital and the old city of Cracow is sufficiently marked.
Containing a population of nearly ninety thousand inhabit-
ants, Lemberg possesses none of the grand historic associa-
tions of Cracow, and can boast none of its picturesque effect.
The houses are large, white, palatial structures, the shops gay
and well furnished, the streets broad, and the city generally
modern-looking and handsome. In Cracow the whole world
seemed to live in the central square and the streets running
into it. Everybody knew everybody, and everybody was in
the movement : nothing else was thought of or talked of;
youths in unmistakable insurgent costume were swarming
everywhere, and the committees were in constant delibera-
tion. In Lemberg the streets were busy with people going
about their usual avocations. For all that a stranger could
discover, there might have been no national movement in

232 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

existence : except the predominant black, there was nothing
to indicate Poland. It is true that its official character
obliges a number of Germans to live at Lemberg, and that
the large garrison may give a greater air of animation to the
scene ; but one felt, on walking about the streets, that one
had got out of the movement. Nevertheless there was some-
thing going on, and arrangements were being made here as
at Cracow to equip bands.

The weather was so bitterly cold during the period of my
visit to Lemberg that the camp of Lelewel, which I had in-
tended visiting, and which was just upon the other side of
the frontier, in the Palatinate of Lublin, was dissolved. It
was almost impossible to keep the field with the driving
snow and piercing wind, which seemed to penetrate one's
whole system. It should be remarked, that the dispersion
of a band by no means implied its extinction. When either
an overwhelming force, inclement weather, or the absence
of supplies or ammunition, rendered it impossible for a band
to keep the field, they buried or concealed their arms; and,
if in the neighborhood of Galicia, crossed the frontier, and
rested themselves for a while, or, if in the kingdom, scat-
tered temporarily, but only to reunite at a given rendezvous
on a more convenient occasion. Thus at Easter numbers
of insurgents went home and spent the feast with their friends
and relations ; and just at the moment of my visit to Lem-
berg there was a lull in affairs in consequence. After stay-
ing a few days, I therefore decided upon going direct to
Warsaw, and proceeded to arrange my luggage, in antici-
pation of the ordeal to which I understood travellers were
subjected on entering Russian Poland. I was reluctantly
compelled to refuse to be the bearer of sealed letters, as of
course the only safe means of communication between Poles
was by private entremise; and they were so skilled in con-
cealing correspondence that the Russians seldom succeeded
in intercepting the letters. I did not feel the same confi-
dence in being able to elude the vigilance of the frontier

POLISH INSURRECTION : WARSAW. 233

officials, though, had I possessed my subsequent experience,
I need not have been so prudent. The force of circum-
stances had obliged the Poles, when they wrote by post to
each other, to convey their political intelligence in the shape
of domestic details, so cunningly worded that they possessed
no meaning to any one not initiated in the family affairs, and
the ideas which they can be made to represent. The num-
ber of deaths, funerals, illnesses, and misfortunes which oc-
casionally overtook a family, would appal a stranger who
read the letter, and did not know that these domestic afflic-
tions were only fabricated to convey news of national dis-
aster.

As the through trains from Cracow to Warsaw had ceased
to run, I was obliged to pass the night at the miserable fron-
tier station of Graniza, where a gaunt building, inhabited by
a deaf old woman and a sulky, barefooted maid, did duty for
a hotel, and where my evening meal consisted of junks of
ham and tea, and my bed of a very narrow stretcher, with
thickly-populated, dirty sheets. Only two other travellers
were in the train, and they were both insurgents, on their
way from a camp to spend Easter at home, as I afterwards
discovered. None of us had any difficulty with our pass-
ports, and my luggage was subjected to a mere formal exam-
ination. My companions dispensed with any such encum-
brance, and walked about the platform, on which a company
of ill-favored Russian soldiers were drawn up, with the utmost
effrontery.

The fact that insurgents were reported to be hovering about
the line, that they had already interrupted the communication
upon several occasions, and that they had a disagreeable
habit of firing upon the trains as they passed through the
dense pine-woods, invested railway travelling in Poland with
a novel sort of interest. Only three days had elapsed since
the bridges destroyed by the insurgents had been repaired,
and we did not know that we might not find some new inter-
ruption established.

234 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

At eight o'clock A. m. we collected on the platform. When
I say "we," I mean one company of Russian soldiers who
were in permanent occupation of the station ; one company
who mounted the open fourth-class carriages, and were to
be considered as our protectors; an officer with a revolver,
and three soldiers, who got upon the engine to see that the
engineers and firemen did not play tricks; the two above-
mentioned insurgents, who were not deterred by the presence
of the Russian escort from going to Warsaw to see their
friends, and who had only left their camp two days before;
and a small group of Polish railway officials, who, I presume,
had no more idea than the Russians of the real character
of their passengers, otherwise they would have insisted upon
asking to see the tickets the insurgents had no money to
purchase; for we will not do them the injustice of insinuat-
ing any complicity with their penniless compatriots; though
the chief of a station on another line, I won't say where, did
inform me that he could take ninety guards and employees
off their duty at any moment, and make a band of insurgents
of them, only he thought they were more useful passing
insurgents up and down the line under the noses of the Rus-
sian troops.

With a puff and a shriek we dashed off with our light
freight over the dreary flat country, across vast open plains
thickly dotted with habitations and with peasants tilling the
ground, through dark woods, across marshes, and over trestle-
bridges, till we got to a station where another company of
grim, dirty, Mongol-looking soldiers were waiting to receive
us, and a few wild-looking Cossacks, with horses fastened to
trees close by, were lounging about; while in the fields, a
few hundred yards off, pickets were posted — for the insur-
gents like dashing suddenly upon isolated stations where a
company of men may be surprised ; then they have been
known to jump into the train and make it take them up or
down the line as their fancy may direct. They have played
all sorts of pranks on the railways; hence the strong guard,

POLISH INSURRECTION : WARSAW. 235

consisting of seldom less than a hundred men, by which
each train is accompanied. The spruce officer, with spot-
less uniform and patent-leather boots, looks rather out of
place in these wild regions, and in command of these wild,
Tartar-looking men; and we cannot wonder that sometimes
they will not obey his orders, and that lady-passengers do
not much like trusting themselves along a line where there
is more to be feared from the troops who protect, than from
the insurgents who threaten it. The mayor of a small town
sent the following rather characteristic account of events
which transpired in his arrondissement : "At twelve o'clock
on such a day," he reported, '"the destroyers of order' (in-
surgents) arrived; they took so much flour, so much brandy,
so many pigs, etc., for all of which they paid, and they then
retired : and at four o'clock in the afternoon of the same day,
'the preservers of order' (Russians) arrived; they took so
much flour, so much brandy, so many pigs, etc., for which
they did not pay ; they then burned the town to the ground
and retired."

At every station there is the same smart officer and the
same company of soldiers; two or three times between the
frontier and Warsaw the escort is changed, and as we pro-
ceed more passengers get in. Every soul, man or woman,
is in the movement, and talks about it freely; they hand
photographs of celebrated insurgents about, and upon one
occasion the man whose likeness was being discussed was
sitting placidly opposite, and did not attempt to conceal from
his neighbors that he was the very individual whose figure,
bristling with revolvers, we were inspecting. There can be
no greater proof of the unanimity of the popular sentiment
than the mutual confidence which all classes display in each
other, and the freedom with which the most compromising
topics are discussed. When surrounded by Russian soldiers,
insurgents who were lounging about the platforms were open-
ly pointed out and introduced to me. I felt the only coward
of the part\ r , and could scarcely believe that all the rest of

236 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

the people who were in the secret were to be trusted. Upon
one occasion I saw the insurgent whom we had recognized
by his photograph in the most amicable and confidential
conversation with the Russian officer commanding the com-
pany, and was laughed at for excessive caution when I ex-
pressed my surprise at his imprudence. I afterwards learned
that no fewer than three thousand insurgents on leave from
their bands had arrived by the three different railways which
centre at Warsaw, to spend Easter in that city, and that so
inefficient were the police, or rather so much implicated
themselves in the movement, that the government could not
lay hands on any of them. One young man, who had been
wounded in an encounter with Russians, was actually lying
ill of his wound in Warsaw, and being attended for it under
the nose of the Russian authority. How, upon our arrival
at Warsaw, all those who had come with us managed to get
passports which should satisfy the authorities, was a mys-
tery; but my friend of the photograph, who had never from
the beginning owned a ticket, was careering along trium-
phantly in a cab before I had extricated myself from the
police formalities.

Before the government adopted the plan of sending escorts
with the train, it was stopped one clay by the insurgents,
about fifty of whom availed themselves of it. As it ap-
proached the station, the engineer perceived that the author-
ities had got some suspicion of its contents, and that the
platform was lined with troops. There was still time to
allow the occupants to creep out of the doors on the opposite
side, and hide themselves in the luggage-van. This opera-
tion was barely accomplished before the train slowly entered
the station. No suspicious passengers were found in the
carriages, and the officer was at a nonplus, when it occurred
to him to search the luggage-van. No sooner did the en-
gineer hear the order given than he quickly attached the
van to the engine, and, detaching the rest of the train,
steamed down to get water, taking the luggage-van with him

POLISH INSURRECTION: WARSAW. 237

as if by mistake. After watering the engine, he was obliged
to come back to the station ; and as they had been all the
time in sight of the troops, no opportunity had been afforded
to the insurgents to escape. Their situation was becoming
critical as they re-entered the station ; but, to the astonish-
ment of every one, the guard again reattached the empty
train, and off it went at full speed. No sooner did the train
arrive at a turn which hid it from the station, than the van
was opened, the insurgents jumped out, and the train once
more entered the station amid a general volley of abuse, the
guard accusing the engineer of stupidity, the engineer laying
the fault on the guard, and all, secretly amused, indulging,
for the benefit of the Russians, in the loudest mutual recrim-
ination.

Upon another occasion the line had been destroyed by
the insurgents, and a party of engineers were sent down to
repair it. In the day they worked at the demolished bridge,
but in the night they proceeded to another bridge farther on,
which they broke down, and next day pointed out to the
Russians what they pretended had been a fresh work of the
insurgents. These latter naturally aimed, in the first in-
stance, at supplying themselves with funds ; and two or three
young men called upon an official one day to hand over the
treasure-chest of a small town. As they were too few in
number to resort to force and make a tumult, they were
rather disconcerted at his refusal, and were going away with-
out it, when he called them back and said, " I can't give you
the box unless you present a pistol at my head." This was
done at once, and the box handed over. The youths, being
inexperienced, then asked him for the keys, which he also
refused. Here was another puzzle ; and the good-natured
official was actually obliged to remark, " I shall certainly not
give you the keys, nor can you get the money unless indeed
you break open the lock." In this fashion did the Polish
officials of the Russian government serve their masters.

The air seemed heavy with suspicion when I at last got

238 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

away from the station, with the sort of feeling of having
escaped some danger, and of being still a very guilty person-
age. I imagined that everybody was narrowly examining
me, and that all the waiters in the hotel were spies. And
when I drove along the wide streets, crowded with foot-pas-
sengers in black, and met here and there a patrol of Russian
infantry, or a few Cossacks with ragged ponies and long
lances, there was something in the close proximity of these
antagonistic forces which gave me the same sort of sensation
I once experienced in America, when a gentleman informed
me that the barrel upon which I was sitting smoking a cigar
contained gunpowder.

The two first essentials to the traveller's comfort in War-
saw were, a lantern, and a permit to be out after ten o'clock
at night. After seven the streets presented a most singular
aspect ; everybody was compelled to carry a lantern, and the
town seemed inhabited by a population of lively glow-worms.
After ten o'clock all this disappeared; here and there at long
intervals a stray lantern might be seen, but the bearer of it
carried in his pocket a permit to be in the streets at all hours.
Very few Poles carried these, as it implied too great a famil-
iarity with the Russian authorities, and loyal Poles prided
themselves upon not having sufficient interest to obtain
one.

With a pair of colored trousers and a hat, however, one
might do a good deal without a permit, as no native would
be seen in either the one or the other. The wearer, there-
fore, must expect black looks from the townspeople ; but, en
revanche, he was not so likely to be molested by the police.
Upon one or two occasions I was out late without a permit,
but escaped observation by getting into the deep shadow
when any one passed. I found several people doing the
same thing: they were apt to bolt to some other corner on
a new arrival, and it became quite an interesting amusement
to dodge about, not unlike the game of "post," the usual
forfeit being a night in prison. The police, however, were

POLISH INSURRECTION : WARSAW. 239

not stricter than was necessary to keep up appearances, as
they were all in the movement : one of them informed a
friend of mine that the muzzle of a rifle that he was endeav-
oring to smuggle home beneath his greatcoat was visible
above the collar, and he had better hide it before the patrol
came, for the patrol were disagreeably personal in their
investigations, particularly when they were not sufficiently
educated to read the permits.

In spite of all their endeavors, the united exertions of the
Grand -duke Constantine, General Berg, and the Marquis
Wielopolski were incapable of suppressing the central com-
mittee, or of preventing that occult body from governing, not
only Warsaw, but Poland, just as it pleased. It made use
of the government telegraph for the transmission of its in-
formation, of the government post-office for the forwarding
of its despatches, of the government machinery for the pro-
mulgation of its orders, of the government clerks for the ob-
taining of official information, of the government police for
carrying out its secret designs — in fact, of everybody in Po-
land, whether in government employ or not, except the Rus-
sian army, the Marquis Wielopolski, and the peasants of some
districts. The proclamations of the central committee were
freely circulated, and passports issued by it, which facilitated
the movements of the stranger anxious to visit their camps,
but involved his speedy execution if they were discovered
upon him by the Russian soldiery. I therefore declined
burdening myself with so dangerous a document. At the
period of my visit, among other proclamations issued by the
central committee, was one warning the people against
spurious documents emanating from the Russian government,
but which purported to be promulgated by the central com-
mittee, and to which a stamp in imitation of the one used by
that body was appended. The idea of the authorities in re-
sorting to this ruse was characteristic; but the stamp was
badly imitated, and though for the moment it created some
little confusion, the public were soon on their guard against

240 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

similar forgeries. Another announced the death of two per-
sons who were executed as spies in the streets of Warsaw
by order of the central committee ; the warrant for their exe-
cution was found pinned upon their dead bodies. It is
probable that the police on duty at the time looked the other
way.

Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the whole of this
movement was the continued existence of this committee for
more than a year, in spite of all the efforts of the govern-
ment to suppress it. The authority it wielded over the Poles
was marvellous. Every order was executed as soon as it was
given, and it possessed the confidence of the country so com-
pletely that an order from it at any moment would have sus-
pended operations. Many are the stories told of the mys-
terious working of this secret council. Some asserted that
it consisted really of only one man, who was known only to
two other men, who in their turn were known to four others,
and so on, each set being bound not to reveal the particular
link in the chain with which they had to deal, so that the first
man would be unknown to the four. But these were the fa-
bles with which wonder-loving gossips delighted to amuse
strangers. The fact is, that the members of the central coun-
cil were very well known to a great number of persons, and
that practically it was merely a sort of upper house to the more
active and intelligent spirits of Warsaw, who discussed in pri-
vate the measures to which the central committee gave effect.
Latterly the aristocratic element predominated in its coun-
cils, and there was probably scarcely a single individual on
the committee at the close of the movement who was on it
when it commenced. This was not on account of any wide
divergence of opinion, although there was an essential differ-
ence in the views of the two parties, so much as in the fact of
every original member having been either executed, impris-
oned, exiled, or obliged to join an insurgent band. The odd
thing was, that there was no difficulty whatever in communi-
cating with it. It lived nowhere, but was to be found every-

POLISH INSURRECTION: WARSAW. 24 1

where. A band of insurgents having occasion to take some
forage, etc., from a peasant, gave him an order for payment
on the central committee. He being as ignorant of politics
as most of his class, came into Warsaw and asked the first
person he met which was the way to the central committee :
people laughed and passed on ; at last he went to the Rus-
sian police office and inquired there, ingenuously remarking
that he had a claim on it for some money. The police could
give him no assistance ; but requested him, should he ever
find the committee, to come back and tell them where it was.
So he wandered disconsolately on till he came to a group of
persons in one of the public squares, and asked one of them
if he could direct him to the central committee. The gen-
tleman he addressed took him at once up a by-street and in-
quired his reason for wishing to find it, on which the peasant
pulled out his order for payment for forage received by in-
surgents. The gentleman immediately took the order, pulled
out his purse, paid the money, and made the man put his mark
in pencil to a formal central committee receipt which he had
in his pocket. Half an hour later a body of police were
crossing the square under the guidance of the ungrateful rus-
tic, and minutely examining the by-streets ; but the group of
persons had vanished, and the gentleman who had repre-
sented the central committee upon the occasion was nowhere
to be seen.

A glacis, about half a mile wide, separates the city of War-
saw from the citadel. It was filled to overflowing with polit-
ical prisoners, and every morning crowds of women were to
be seen clustered round the prison doors, who had brought
comforts to their relatives and friends, with whom, by special
favor, they w r ere sometimes permitted to communicate. In
the event of a popular movement in the city, the guns of the
fort could lay it in ruins ; but it would not offer any very
formidable resistance to the siege operations of a regular
army. A barrier round the town was guarded by Russian
sentries, and they examined minutely the passes of persons
11

242 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

who might wish to go into the country for a drive. This was,
however, a luxury very rarely indulged in by the inhabitants,
partly because a pass was not a very easy thing for a Pole
to get, and partly because the country, even close up to the
city, was by no means safe. The insurgents came to within
two or three miles of it, and Cossacks, not very scrupulous
in their treatment of harmless wayfarers, scoured the neigh-
borhood. The insurgents themselves, however, found very
little difficulty in going in and out of the town as they pleased.
The sentries were all to be bought, and in the night could
easily be induced for a consideration to look the other way
while their enemies were passing to or from their camps.
Indeed, so ready were the Russian soldiers to provide them-
selves with the means of procuring brandy, that they willing-
ly sold their ammunition to the insurgents, and were only pre-
vented from selling their arms as well, by the impossibility
of accounting for the absence of them to the military authori-
ties.

General Berg was sent expressly from St. Petersburg to
assist in the military administration of Poland, and arrived
in Warsaw about the same time as myself. He is reported
to have said, after his first week's experience of the difficul-
ties with which he had to contend, from the unanimity among
all classes of Poles, whether employed by the government or
not, in favor of the movement, that there was only one other
man in Warsaw upon whom he could depend beside himself,
and that this was the Grand -duke Constantine. The re-
mark was aimed specially at the Marquis Wielopolski, the
civil governor, between whom and General Berg an intense
jealousy existed, notwithstanding the fact of both being in-
cluded in an order from St. Petersburg, which commanded
the inhabitants of Warsaw to take off their hats whenever
they met either the grand-duke, Berg, or Wielopolski. The
poor " marquis," as he was called, par excellence, because he
was the only noble of that rank in Poland, enjoyed a most
unenviable distinction anion" both the Russians and his

POLISH INSURRECTION : WARSAW. 243

own countrymen, the Poles. The former distrusted him be-
cause he was a Pole, and was engaged in the revolution of
1830-1831; the latter called him a traitor, and the author
of all the misery which had latterly fallen upon their unhappy
country. It was sufficient for the "marquis" to propose a
measure to insure the opposition of Berg ; but as the latter
had also an opponent to his policy in the grand-duke, Wielo-
polski had, in the long run, been triumphant. However much
it was to be regretted that the most remarkable Pole which
this century has produced should have placed himself in a
false position with reference to his country, we are bound to
accord him a certain qualified admiration. There was some-
thing grand in his imperturbable stubbornness, in his egre-
gious self-sufficiency, and in his indomitable courage. In
his ponderous figure, massive brow and chin, and shrewd
eyes, there was an individuality that imposed upon those who
came under his influence. His appearance reminded me at
the same time of Yeh and Cavour, and his character did not
belie his looks. It contained about equal proportions of
the Chinaman and the Italian ; with the pride and obstinacy
of the one he combined the finesse and intelligence of the
other. Stolid and reflective, he elaborated a policy repug-
nant to his country, and trusted to the strength of his will
and the inflexibility of his character to force it upon the na-
tion ; but he overestimated his power, the nation refused to
bend, and Wielopolski, too proud to yield, became the ser-
vant of Russia. Phrenologically speaking, the inordinate
development of the organ of self-esteem neutralized all the
grand qualities which might have made him the saviour
and the blessing of his country. The scheme to which he
sacrificed his own reputation and his country's well-being
was a vast conception, and seems to have been suggested
by the Galician massacres in 1846. Then it was that he
addressed to Prince Metternich a celebrated letter, which
ended in an exordium to his countrymen : " We must take a
line. Instead of the irregular and haphazard course we have

244 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

been hitherto pursuing, we must, by a bold stroke which may
cause our hearts to bleed, substitute for it a line of conduct
which is safe, and which is marked out for us by events."
And then he proposed to Poland to abdicate its pretensions
as a distinct nationality, and to put itself at the head of
Sclavonia. His idea was, in other words, that the superior
moral and intellectual resources of Poland should be directed
to the annexation of Russia — that the Poles, identifying
themselves with the aspirations and aims of the Sclavonic
nationalities, should, as their most civilized representative,
control the destinies of Eastern Europe. "The nobility of
Poland," he writes, " will surely prefer to march with Russia
at the head of a Sclavonic civilization, young, vigorous, and
with a great future before it, than to be dragged, jostled, de-
spised, hated, and insulted, at the tail of a decrepit, intrigu-
ing, and presuming civilization." But the Poles, however
much they might hate Germany, could not make common
cause with Russia against it. They still clung to the tradi-
tions of their former independence, and preferred rather to
fight single-handed against three enemies, than to identify
themselves with one in the hope of crushing the other two.
Wielopolski was too enamoured of himself and his plan to
abandon it. If Poland declined to found Panslavonia, Wielo-
polski would found it by himself; and he went to St. Peters-
burg to take the preliminary steps. The first was the sub-
jugation of Poland by force, as argument had proved of no
avail ; and in order to carry this out thoroughly, he suc-
ceeded in getting named the governor of the country. Of
course he found himself placed in a position of direct antag-
onism with the whole nation, and could only rely on Russian
bayonets to give effect to his will. This he never scrupled
to do. He never hesitated to trample on anything, so that
he could keep his own head erect. It became a struggle be-
tween the nation and the man. We cannot but wonder
whether there was not a fiercer struggle going on within the
man himself. Did he never feel, now that he had laid the

POLISH INSURRECTION : WARSAW. 245

country he so undoubtedly loved, prostrate and bleeding at his
feet, one twinge of remorse ? Did he never think of the day
when he fought for the liberties he was now crushing, when
he was the ambassador to England of the same people, en-
gaged in the same struggle that they were now, and when he
pleaded for them so eloquently? Did he never inwardly
curse that pride of his nature which so blinded and hardened
him that he thought he could change the aspirations of a
nation, and did not shrink from massacring them when he
failed ? Unfortunately, Wielopolski had not been long in
Warsaw before his amour propre became involved in another
direction. He had assured the emperor that he understood
the Poles, and could govern the country ; but every day was
proving the contrary, and the imminence of an outbreak
threatened altogether to destroy his credit and his prestige.
Then it was that he proposed the Conscription Act in the
dead of winter. No wonder his countrymen called him
traitor. And they were right. A man who will not sacrifice
his own pride to the good of his country is a traitor — not,
perhaps, in the worst sense, but in one equally fatal to the
cause he ought, if necessary, to die for. And Wielopolski
would have died sooner than give in ; so he clung to War-
saw, and drove about the streets surrounded by a Russian
escort to protect him from the bullets of his countrymen.

Notwithstanding the rigorous measures adopted by the
Russian government, and the stringency of the rules to which
everybody was obliged to conform in Warsaw, there was an
entire freedom in the expression of opinion. It is only be-
fore a popular outbreak, when public feeling, seething and
fermenting, has not yet found a vent, that people are afraid
to speak. When the surface is still calm, any solitary indi-
vidual venturing to express an opinion is at once seized, so
that it is generally difficult beforehand to predict a revolution.
There is always a moment of lull, and the police are doubly
active, while the masses are nerving themselves silently for
the final effort. No sooner is that made than the tongues of

346 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

the most prudent are loosened. In proportion as the prisons
are filled, and arrests increase, do men become reckless, until
the government gives up in despair the attempt to control
the freedom of speech. When one common sentiment ani-
mates a whole population, and each individual is determined
to express it, imprisonment becomes impossible. Thus it
happened that treason and revolution, so far as Russia was
concerned, were openly talked in Warsaw ; spies were of but
little avail, because they would have been obliged to report
everybody in the town for the same offence. But the office
of a spy was not coveted ; even Jews were not to be bribed.
The police of the central committee was so much more effi-
cient than that of the Russian government, that sooner or
later the doom of a spy was certain. So far, then, as the
liberty of discussing openly the situation was concerned,
there was no difficulty. Every one was glad to give a stran-
ger the benefit of his patriotic opinions. The Warsaw so-
ciety met at each other's houses ; triumphed over the news
of victories gained by insurgents ; mourned over defeats ;
anathematized Russia in general, and Berg and Wielopolski
in particular ; canvassed the probabilities of aid from without,
and the expediency of the policy to be adopted by the cen-
tral committee. It was strange to be in a room with thirty
or forty persons, all of whom were uttering sentiments which
would have infallibly consigned them to Siberia if they had
been heard by a Russian ; and yet so thoroughly confident
of each other that no man hesitated to say exactly what he
thought; and interesting to observe the phases of character
as indicated by the nature of the views expressed — some so
sanguine of the power of the internal forces at work that they
were comparatively indifferent to foreign intervention ; others
so earnestly anxious for an indication from any Western
power of a disposition to take up their cause; some gloomy
and despondent of the whole affair; some alarmed at the
strong infusion of the middle-class element, to which the
movement owed so much of its force ; all interested in hear-

POLISH INSURRECTION : WARSAW. 247

ing what impression a stranger had received, and in discov-
ering what he considered to be their ultimate chances of
success.

It was indeed difficult for a traveller to arrive, on such
short notice, at any definite conclusion ; but no one could
be long in the country without perceiving that one ingredient
most essential to a successful revolution was wanting. The
leading spirit had not appeared — the movement had not yet
found a living representative. For a moment, persons look-
ing on from abroad expected to find in Langievvicz a second
Garibaldi, but Poland did not produce either a Garibaldi or
a Cavour. The central government at Warsaw proved it-
self a most admirably contrived machine for the manage-
ment of internal affairs, but the wisdom of its measures was
not in proportion to the adroitness which was exhibited in
carrying out its organization. To make it effective it should
have been the tool of one man, and he a man of consummate
genius. In supreme moments, if the ship is to weather the
storm, it must be steered by one hand and one head ; and it
does not seem that there was any political leader of surpass-
ing ability, who, by means of the central committee, governed
the country. Hence the very composition of the national
government underwent change, and there was not that con-
sistency and decision in its policy which would have given
confidence had it been under the guidance of one man.

Hitherto my observations had been confined to the men
of council. I now wished, before leaving the country, to see
the men of action at work in the field.

CHAPTER XV.

A VISIT TO AN INSURGENT CAMP.

Scarcely a week had elapsed after my arrival at Warsaw
before the opportunity ysihich I had so long desired, and had
vainly attempted to find in Galicia, presented itself of visit-
ing a camp of insurgents. I therefore got my passport vised,
as though I were going to leave the country altogether, and
went through the usual police formalities which were neces-
sary for that purpose ; then I took a ticket for Berlin, and
bade adieu to Warsaw, without exciting any suspicion. After
travelling a few hours we arrived at a station too small and
lonely for the Russians to care to defend it with the usual
company of soldiers. My companion was a Polish gentle-
man, who did not take so much trouble to disguise our des-
tination as I could have wished ; and there was probably
scarcely a passenger that saw us alight who did not guess
where we were going. A light, open, country cart, without
springs, but plentifully provided with straw, and drawn by a
pair of spirited young horses, jolted us first along a rough
road, then through a small town inhabited entirely by Jews,
where greasy -looking women inspected the heads of their
progeny in the sun, and their fathers, in long coats, long
beards, and long curled locks, smoked long pipes in all the
luxury of dolce far niente ; for this was their Sabbath. Then
we dived into a pine-and-birch wood, dexterously threading
our way between the trees — for there was no road — and so
again out into the open, till we came to a most picturesque
old chateau, with "bridge, and moat, and donjon keep •" but
prudence prevents my describing it so accurately as I could

A VISIT TO AN INSURGENT CAMP. 249

wish, for fear of compromising my host. The camp we had
expected to find in the neighborhood had moved, so we de-
termined to drive on and spend the night at a country-house
about fifteen miles distant. My host could, indeed, not offer
me very much hospitality, as he found that, during his absence
in Warsaw, nearly all his servants had disappeared and joined
the insurgents ; his cook was at this moment exercising his
culinary talents for the benefit of a band ; his groom, mounted
on one of his master's best horses, was perhaps chasing a
Cossack, while the footman might be leading a body of
scythemen on to glory. However, the coachman had re-
mained, being an elderly individual, with a wife and family.
It was twilight ere we were en route, this time in a civilized
landau, which needed four strong, well-bred horses to drag it
along the deep, sandy roads. We kept a bright lookout for
Cossacks as the shades of evening closed in upon us ; but
latterly the insurgents had taken so much to night-work, that
the Cossacks preferred staying at home to incurring the risk
of meeting them, so that we felt pretty safe, and arrived, with-
out any other incident than one or two false alarms, at our
journey's end just as the family were going to bed. Their
astonishment at the arrival of an English traveller on so
strange an errand soon gave place to the rites of hospitality,
and before going to bed the programme for the following
day was already arranged. My new host was a small coun-
try gentleman, too devoted to his farm and his country's
cause to take refuge, like many of the larger landed pro-
prietors, in Warsaw. His wife was a genuine specimen of a
Polish woman, enthusiastically patriotic, high-couraged, self-
sacrificing, and energetic in giving aid and encouragement to
the insurgents. Though living in the midst of a perpetual
scene of guerilla warfare, and liable at any moment to be
subjected to outrages such as those which she believed had
already been perpetrated on her countrywomen by the Rus-
sian soldiery, she showed no symptom of flinching or desert-
ing her post. Already, upon several occasions, at all hours
n*

250 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

of the day and night, her house had been invaded by Cos-
sacks, who only abstained from massacre and pillage because
no evidence could be discovered of complicity with the in-
surgents. Fortunately the house lay a little distance off the
high-road, and was therefore often passed unperceived by the
Russian marauding parties : but the occupants could never
feel themselves safe ; and as every day brought tidings of
unsuspecting families falling victims to the rapacity and lust
of a disorganized soldiery, the chances of this unprotected
little mansion escaping seemed diminished. It was, indeed,
little better than a farmhouse, and consisted of only one
story; but it was surrounded by a well -stocked steading,
and fields that bore evidence of a muster's eye and careful
cultivation. In one direction a long, unbroken line of dense
pine forest shut out the horizon : in the other, sandy, undulat-
ing downs stretched away indefinitely. The scenery would
have been tame and uninteresting, were it not that its wild,
desolate character gave it a peculiar charm: this was height-
ened by the circumstances under which we saw it. A soli-
tary horseman appearing upon the distant landscape caused
as much sensation in the household as a suspicious-looking
craft in the West Indian seas would to a Spanish galleon in
the clays of Kidd. There was a constant succession of emo-
tions ; and I thought my hostess must have been endowed,
in the first instance, with strong nerves, to have been able to
undergo the constant wear and tear to which she was daily
subjected. An ardent devotion to the cause, and a plentiful
indulgence in large, strong cigars, however, sustained her
through the various exciting events by which her life was
checkered. There can be little doubt that the constant prox-
imity of danger at last renders one callous to it, and that
by a providential arrangement the nervous system becomes
so accustomed to tension where it is sufficiently protracted,
that in the end it ceases to suffer from it. I sat up till a late
hour listening to " the sensation anecdotes " which formed
the staple of my host's conversation — stories of the robbery

A VISIT TO AN INSURGENT CAMP. 25 1

and pillage of neighboring houses by Russians, of deeds of
heroism performed by individual insurgents, of skirmishes
which had already taken place, and of those which were
daily anticipated ; of friends who had been arrested, of oth-
ers who had joined bands, of others who were killed or
wounded ; of the movements of the insurgents, of farms vis-
ited, of horses taken, of peasants hung, of arms concealed;
of every variety of incident with which such exciting times
must necessarily abound. It was long past midnight before
I sought the detached building which contained my bed-
room. As I crossed the lawn the sound of a distant chorus
fell faintly upon my ear. I stopped to listen. It was a
bright, calm, moonlight night, and for a moment all was pro-
foundly silent ; then gradually the swelling strains of the
magnificent Polish national anthem broke the stillness for a
moment, and died away again in the extreme distance. We
had to listen intently to catch the notes ; but it was evident
that many voices joined in that midnight chant; and as the
sounds grew fainter, we found that they were not stationary.
It was, in fact, a body of mounted insurgents on a midnight
raid ; and as at the moment the nearest Russian force was
supposed to be at least four miles off, they were beguiling the
way by almost the only song a Pole ever sung in those days
— the prayer for the deliverance of his country. I thought,
nevertheless, that the proceeding, though most romantic in
its effect, was somewhat rash, and was confirmed in this im-
pression by the next sound which broke the nocturnal si-
lence, and which was nothing less than the sharp report of a
rifle. To a person not accustomed to them, it must be ad-
mitted that these were somewhat disturbing influences under
which to court repose ; however, the clay had been a long
and an eventful one, so exhausted nature soon triumphed
over every other sentiment, and I fell asleep while vainly en-
deavoring to keep awake and listen for the report of another
shot.

Breakfast is almost as substantial a meal in Poland as it

252 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

is in England, and the disturbed state of the country did not
prevent my hosts from loading the table with most excellent
fare. The master of the house was in a condition to do full
justice to it, for he had already made a pilgrimage to the
camp to prepare the way for my visit. It was indeed neces-
sary that the band should have some information as to my
object and intentions, for in spite of the severe measures
adopted by the insurgents, there are spies in every form and
under every guise, against whom they are constantly on their
guard ; and it was some time after my arrival before even my
hostess could divest herself of some suspicion as to my real
character. It chanced to be Sunday, and a number of peas-
ants came on their way to church to pay their respects to
their master. They were fine, stalwart men, with long coats,
big boots, round caps trimmed with fur, and honest, cheery
faces, not by any means devoid of intelligence. Their mode
of salutation is to touch the ground at your feet with their
caps. They looked with considerable interest at the English
traveller who had come to this out-of-the-way spot to see
what was going on. Nor did my host neglect to take ad-
vantage of the circumstance, and instance it as a proof of
the sympathy which England felt for the cause of Polish in-
dependence. I asked the most intelligent-looking among
them why he had not joined the insurgents? He answered,
with a sly look at his master, " Because my master has not.
When my master does, I will." From what I could gather,
the peasants of this part of the country were not indisposed
towards the insurrection ; but they had been too long accus-
tomed to regard the power of Russia with an awe amount-
ing almost to superstition, to venture, at the outset of the
movement, to set it at defiance. It was only natural that
they should feel no very keen interest in the success of a
cause which would produce no immediate material change
in their condition. It is not until a man becomes more or
less educated that he knows the difference between one form
of government and another; but whether the seat of govern-

A VISIT TO AN INSURGENT CAMP. 253

ment be St. Petersburg or Warsaw, and whether the head of it
be a Russian emperor or a Polish king, makes very little dif-
ference to the rustic, who would be at the tail of the same
plough, driving along the same furrow, whoever was the su-
preme authority. The only questions which touch persons
of this class are those connected with religion or with prop-
erty. A peasant will be profoundly indifferent whether he
is under a responsible or an irresponsible government ; but
when it comes to making the sign of the cross with three fin-
gers or with two, he enters keenly into the question at once.
Thus in Samogitia and other parts of Lithuania the peasants
were the prime movers of the insurrection, because they were
compelled to become members of the Russian Greek Church,
and to abandon the United Greek persuasion, to which they
originally belonged. As they were pagans only three hun-
dred years ago, they were the more tenacious upon the point,
and had taken advantage of the movement in Poland to rise
all through the provinces. Russia had lately succeeded in
exciting some of the Greek dissenting sects to attack the
Roman Catholic proprietary, and had inaugurated a system
of jacquerie* which had been productive of the most frightful
results in Lithuania and the provinces. That this policy of
annihilation emanated from the highest sources, is proved by
the following paragraph contained in the instructions issued
by the czar to General Mouravieff: "His excellency should
take every opportunity of acquainting the peasants with the
paternal intentions of the czar towards them, and of demon-
strating that the landowners are their enemies and oppress-
ors. If his excellency considers it advisable, he can also
furnish arms to those among the peasants who are attached
to the czar and to Russia." In other words, having demon-
strated to the peasant who were his natural enemies and op-
pressors, he was provided by a considerate government with
the means of exterminating them from off the face of the
earth, and encouraged to do so by the prospect of plunder
which this process would insure to him.

254 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

In the kingdom of Poland, where the tenure of land is not
the same, and the peasants are already proprietors of the
soil, the government could not hold out the same temptation
to them to murder their masters. In fact, the national gov-
ernment had outbid the czar in an attempt to secure the
good-will of the peasantry ; for whereas the latter had been
obliged to pay into the imperial treasury a certain propor-
tion of their profits, to be accumulated into a sum for the re-
demption of the land which formerly belonged to the nobles,
and out of which they were to receive compensation, the
national government proclaimed that this obligation was no
longer binding upon the peasant, who would thus become a
landowner without ever having paid for his property. The
struggle between the Poles and the Russian government for
the good-will of the rural population began with the Agri-
cultural Society, and there can be no doubt that the efforts
of that body, and the subsequent policy pursued by the
national government, did much to conciliate this large and
important section of the population.

For example, the hostility of the peasants to the national
movement in the district I was now visiting had been loudly
insisted upon by the few persons I had met who were them-
selves indifferent to the cause of Polish independence ; but
we received practical evidence to the contrary when our ar-
rangements for visiting the camp were completed. As some
friends from a neighboring country-house were expected to
come and spend the day, we delayed in the hope of their
joining, and finally started in four light, open, country carts,
each drawn by four horses, for the recesses of the forest,
which rose in a sombre mass upon the distant margin of the
cultivated plain.

It was not to be supposed that we could thus ostentatious-
ly depart without every servant in the house being aware of
our destination ; indeed, there was a flutter and excitement
in their movements which plainly showed the interest they
felt in the expedition. The coachman looked eager and

A VISIT TO AN INSURGENT CAMP. 255

self-satisfied, and there was quite a group collected to see us
off. With the loud cracking of whips our primitive cortege
dashed off along the sandy roads. There were no less than
seven ladies of the party, looking brave and animated, for
the expedition was a novelty even to them. Notwithstand-
ing the constant proximity of insurgent camps for months
past, upon no former occasion had any of them ever ven-
tured to visit one. Now their eyes sparkled and their faces
flushed, as they felt the risk they were incurring, and cal-
culated the chances of a safe return. We passed through
two populous villages, every man and woman in which knew
where we were going, and ran to see us pass ; and any of
whom would have received a large reward had they carried
the intelligence to a Russian force of six thousand men,
quartered in a town not five miles distant. Had they done
so, and had we encountered a party of Cossacks on our way
back, the murder of every member of the party was a moral
certainty.

Even the men did not feel quite comfortable at the possi-
bility of such a contingency, and could only express their be-
lief in the loyalty and affection of the peasants. When it is
remembered that these latter were invested with the functions
of police, and were actually liable to be severely punished
for not informing against us, it cannot be said that the rural
population, in a district where they had the reputation of
being most hostile, were so very decidedly opposed to the
movement.

At last we arrived at the outskirts of the wood, and came
to a farmhouse, where the proprietor, a sort of gentleman-
farmer, was waiting to be our guide. This man and his
wife, a large, fearless woman, were practically the commis-
sariat department of the neighboring camp. He made all
the arrangements for the purchase and transmission of sup-
plies ; and while he had placed all his resources at the dis-
posal of the insurgents, and nearly ruined himself for the
cause, he was daily risking life and liberty by the active and

256 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

energetic assistance he afforded in giving information, con-
veying intelligence, and making himself generally useful.
In everything he. was ably and courageously seconded by
his wife, who would not hesitate to drive a cart of provisions
into the wood by herself, and was unremitting in motherly
care and kindness to the members of the band, many of
whom were young enough to need it, and whom she regarded
with as much affection as if they were her own family. It
was only to be expected that they cordially reciprocated these
sentiments.

Half a mile from this farm we plunged into the woods.
The country here was thinly populated ; the last village we
passed was four or five miles distant, and we did not meet a
soul as we jogged along in our springless carts over a road
that was now a mere track. Suddenly a halt was called
from behind, and a panic spread d©wn the line. The women's
faces blanched, but they said nothing ; the one prominent
thought was " Cossacks." We passed the word along to the
leading cart to stop, and waited breathlessly. We were now so
deeply buried in the wood that the last cart was not visible,
for we had added to our procession by our guide and his wife
in one vehicle, and by a large cart full of provisions, which we
were taking to the band. The cause of our stoppage was
quickly explained — we were waiting for a further accession to
our party, which appeared in the forms of an old gentleman
and his two sons, who were going to join the band as insur-
gents, and who had stumbled on us while endeavoring to find
the way. After some little parley between them and our guide,
who wished apparently to be quite satisfied as to their real
character, he told them to fall in behind with their cart, and
we once more went on threading our way between the trees,
not a little relieved at finding the interruption to our progress
did not arise from any more serious cause. Suddenly, on
emerging from a thicket, we came upon a mounted picket,
who halted us. It consisted of two mere boys, neither of
them twenty years old, each armed with rifle, sword, and

A VISIT TO AN INSURGENT CAMP. 257

pistol, and on excellent horses. The well-known face of
our guide was a guarantee of our good faith, but still we were
not allowed to proceed till the band was informed of our
proximity, and one of them galloped off with the news. We
had not waited a quarter of an hour before a dozen mounted
men came dashing through the woods towards us. They
seemed scarcely able to restrain their high-mettled horses,
which were all in first-rate condition, and would have been a
credit to Rotten Row. With little flags waving from their
lances, and tricolored ribbons fluttering from their square fur
caps, with long jack-boots and massive spurs, and broad
belts garnished with revolvers, and swords jingling from their
sides, they came on us as suddenly from the depths of the
woods as if they had been waiting in the side-scene of a play
to come upon the stage with due eclat. The whole effect was
most theatrical ; but at the moment we felt its thrilling reality,
and some of the women burst into tears.

Under the guidance of these cavaliers we penetrated still
farther into the gloomy recesses of the forest, until at last
the way became too intricate for the wagons, and we walked
to what, by a figure of speech, might be called the camp, but
which consisted merely of a number of horses tethered to
trees, and a number of men grouped around them. There
was not a sign of a tent, or even of a " lean-to " of branches
and leaves to shelter the men from the weather. One was:-
on, loaded with bundles and greatcoats, formed the impedi-
menta of the band, which was a very small one, but was com-
posed of veteran guerillas, if men who had not been under a
roof since the first day of the insurrection could be dignified
by that title. The weather was now so warm and bright
that they scorned the idea of sleeping under any kind of
cover ; and so used were they to the mode of life, that they
ceased to feel its hardship. Both men and horses seemed in
first-rate condition ; the horses were the best which the
estates of the neighboring proprietors could furnish ; the
men were nearly all under twenty-five ; the leader of the

258 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

band, who was away on a reconnaissance, being exactly that
age. A few were the sons of country gentlemen ; one had
been a railway official ; two others employed in government
offices ; many were the sons of shopkeepers, some students,
and others domestic servants ; but they all lived together on
terms of perfect friendship and equality, and seemed to enjoy
the wild, adventurous life. One of them, who spoke French
admirably, told me that he was a student only nineteen years
of age; he had left Warsaw on the famous 226. of January,
and had been in the woods ever since. He considered that
three months of incessant skirmishing had formed him into
an experienced warrior. His arms consisted of a brand-new
Dean & Adams revolver, a very fair carbine, and a sword.
"I slept in a house the other night," he said, "and felt al-
most stifled ; and I shall be quite sorry when the war is over,
and puts an end to this free life in the woods. I have not
been a clay ill except when I received a trifling wound. We
sing and sleep in the daytime, and gallop about the country at
night. I have, moreover, already killed six Russians, and
expect to change my carbine for a new rifle, as I am getting
such a good shot that I am to be allowed one." When I
contrasted the melancholy groups in the market-places of
Warsaw and Cracow with this jolly band of Robin-Hoods,
I did not doubt who had the best of it. These men, from
having been all their lives accustomed to a life of repression
and surveillance, revel in their newly-found freedom. To be
sure, they can only enjoy it under difficulties ; but the ground
they stand on is their own, and with fleet horses to ride, and
impenetrable woods to hide in, they run but little risk except
from their own rashness or negligence. They change about
from day to day ; if the weather is very inclement they ap-
propriate barns, make leaf huts, or sleep under the lee of hay-
stacks ; but generally they keep moving at night, and in the
daytime make roaring fires, and comfort themselves with
warmth and tobacco. They live on the fat of the land, and
are never at loss for supplies ; this is the great advantage of

A VISIT TO AN INSURGENT CAMP. 259

a small band. The chief had limited his number to forty,
and upon no pretext whatever would he add another to it,
although he was most urgently pressed to do so.

Generally the neighboring gentlemen and farmers are only
too glad to furnish the little troop with provisions; but if
they run short they pay a nocturnal visit to a proprietor,
from whom they take as much forage as they want, and with
whom, boil gr'e mal gre, they regale themselves till the small
hours, when each man, filling his haversack with the good
things of this life, and loading his nag with fodder, trots
back to his nest in the woods, leaving with their late host an
order on the national government to repay " Mr. Soandso-
sky " for food furnished to the band commanded by " Such-
anonesky." This order " Soandsosky " most carefully con-
ceals, as, if it is ever found among his papers, his property
is inevitably confiscated by the Russian government. On
the occasion of my visit, three of my companions were coun-
try gentlemen of the neighborhood, each of whom pulled out
his pocket-book and wrote an order for a supply of forage
and provisions, to be obeyed by the servants in the event of
" Suchanonesky " or any of his band visiting his house dur-
ing the absence of the master. Almost every day the band
changes its habitat, which, as they have nothing to carry, is
a very simple proceeding. As the wood in which they live
is about eighty miles long by twenty broad, and as they know
every nook and corner in it, there is not much chance of
their ever being caught by the numerous Russian garrisons
which are posted in the vicinity, and which they amuse them-
selves by annoying at night. My observation of this band
proved to demonstration the erroneous principle upon which
the war had been conducted by the insurgents in most parts
of the country hitherto. Instead of multiplying, to an indef-
inite extent, these small cavalry bands, they would collect
great masses of men together, of whom scythemen are the
least adapted to the style of warfare they wish to wage. In
a flat country of woods and plains, it is perfectly clear that

260 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

a weapon which can only be used by a man on foot at close
quarters is about the worst which could possibly be devised
for undisciplined men to wield against regular troops. It is
true that a great difficulty has existed in procuring rifles ;
but it would have been better to have fewer and smaller
bands well armed, than to waste unnecessarily the best blood
in the country. With a good horse and a good rifle a man
is more or less independent, and may act singly or in com-
pany, as his fancy dictates ; but men on foot must act to-
gether, and have no means of escape from Cossacks. In a
country so admirably adapted for cavalry, and where horses
are so abundant, it is surprising that more bands formed on
the principle of the one I was now visiting should not have
been raised : so far as I could learn, it was the only one of
the sort which existed. Many were the feats of prowess
which its members had performed singly. Upon one occa-
sion two of them had encountered five Cossacks, who imme-
diately gave chase. As the Cossacks are mounted on po-
nies, the insurgents would have had no difficulty in escaping ;
but this was not their object : they reined in, and tempted
their pursuers to discharge their five carbines at them ; then,
before they could reload, they wheeled round, and shot the
whole five with their revolvers. I found a good many of the
band spoke French, and our visit was quite an episode in
the routine of their daily life. They clustered round, showed
me their arms, and seemed delighted at the courage which
the women had displayed in visiting them, and in the inter-
est manifested by a foreigner in their proceedings. Mean-
while the contents of the commissariat wagon we had brought
with us were spread upon the ground, and the more hungry
portion of the community began to discuss them ; others,
however, declared that our company was so much more
to their taste than food, that they devoted themselves to us
instead of to the cold beef and large jars of pickled cu-
cumbers which their less sentimental comrades were de-
vouring.

A VISIT TO AN INSURGENT CAMP. 261

When they had concluded their repast they grouped them-
selves in an open space among the tall trees, and " the lofty
aisles of the dim woods rang," as, inspired with patriotic ar-
dor, they burst out with the magnificent chant which so well
conveys the mournful meaning of the words of the national
anthem — "Boje cos Polske" — when all joined in the grand
prayer to God which forms the swelling chorus, and the men,
with swords drawn, uplifted their arms in supplication ; then
tears streamed clown the cheeks of the women as they sang,
for they remembered their sisters slain on their knees in the
churches at Warsaw for doing the same, and bloody memo-
ries crowded on them, as, with voices trembling from emo-
tion, they besought, in solemn strains, the mercy of the Most
High.

The scene was so full of dramatic effect that I scarcely
believed in its reality till I remembered the existence of six
thousand Russian soldiers in the immediate neighborhood,
who were thirsting for the blood of this little band of men
and women. There was something practical in this consid-
eration, calculated to captivate a mind too prosaic to be stirred
by theatrical representations ; for I confess I find it gener-
ally more easy to delude myself by believing in the sham of
a reality than in the reality of a sham. However, upon this
occasion he must have been a most uncompromising stoic
who was not touched and impressed. Those bronzed and
weather-beaten features, and those wet cheeks, told their
own tale ; and as, with each succeeding verse, the enthusiasm
of the singers rose, and their countenances glowed with the
fervor of their emotion, and men who, tired with their night-
forays, were lying listlessly on the ground, unable to restrain
themselves, sprang to their feet and joined, and every voice
trembled and every pulse throbbed, I felt that patriotism was
a sentiment in which one could believe — not merely as an
abstract principle, but as the most absorbing passion which
could stir the human breast. I soon after had a proof of the
devoted self-sacrifice to which it gives rise. The old gentle-

262 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

man who, with his two sons, had joined our cortege, stepped
forward when the anthem was finished, and in broken accents
consigned the young men to their country's cause. "I de-
voutly hope," he said, " that it may please God to spare at
least one of my sons to my declining years, but rather a thou-
sand times that both should perish than that either should
venture to appear before me while the battles of his country
still remained to be fought." Then, with trembling hands, he
drew them each to his breast, and, straining them in a last
embrace, turned abruptly away, and was no more seen till
we returned to the wagons. I no longer wondered that deeds
of heroism should be performed by men thus solemnly con-
secrated to their country's cause. Usually before leaving
home they receive the benediction of their priest, then the
blessings and injunctions of parents ; and now, under the
greenwood-tree, the prayers and the tears of women, and the
hearty welcome of their new comrades, conspired to impress
them with the determination to do or die. Under such cir-
cumstances, even if there were the will, it would be difficult
to shirk. With a keenly imaginative people it may be con-
ceived how stimulating to enterprise is the romantic charac-
ter which attaches to this mode of life, and the auspices un-
der which they adopt it. Many of them are accompanied by
their wives or by their fiancees to the camps — some bands
are led by priests, who, with the emblem of their faith up-
lifted, are ever to be found in the post of danger. With the
band I was now visiting a young Amazon in male attire had
done good service. She was reported pretty, an excellent
shot and horsewoman ; but as she was absent with the leader
on a reconnaissance, I unfortunately lost the opportunity of
making her acquaintance. But it is in homes, in hospitals,
in prisons, and in hiding-places, that the women of Poland
have served the cause. They stir up the ardor of the men
round their own firesides ; they fan the martial spirit of their
own husbands, lovers, sons, or brothers ; they watch over
beds where men unknown to them, except as wounded in

A VISIT TO AN INSURGENT CAMP. 263

their country's cause, groan and die. All the tenderness of
the women, combined with intense sympathy for the cause,
and an inextinguishable patriotism, stimulate them to acts of
unwearying devotion and self-sacrifice. For hours do they
stand in all weathers in the prison-yards, waiting for permis-
sion to visit prisoners in their cells, and to minister to them,
like angels of mercy. Wherever a patriot is in distress,
hunted, or hiding, or sick, women are the first to come to his
rescue ; their ready wit and instinctive tact are invaluable ;
and it may safely be said that without their encouragement
the movement never would have begun, and without their
devotion and co-operation it could never have lasted as it
did. Who are the most courageous and intelligent spies ?
who are the surest messengers with important news ? on
whom do the national government most surely rely for many
a delicate negotiation ? whose fertile brains devise new com-
binations for strong arms to carry out ? — the women of Po-
land. Therefore it is that they are considered worthy of be-
ing flogged by the Russian authorities. Therefore it is that
young girls of eighteen have already been shot by the orders
of Russian officers, and that they are imprisoned and exiled.
They are a power not to be despised, and certainly not to
be intimidated, now that, like tigresses robbed of their
whelps, they are pushed to the extremity of frenzy and de-
spair.

When I saw the ladies who had accompanied us to the
camp, each surrounded by a group of insurgents, eagerly
narrating their achievements, or asking for news of home,
and heard words of encouragement and approval drop from
pretty lips into the ears of men so seldom brought into con-
tact now with such a grateful and softening influence, I
thought that these well-born women had not incurred the
risk in vain, and that long after our departure the memory of
our visit would remain a bright speck in the hard lives of our
entertainers. When at last we thought it time to move,
nearly the whole band accompanied us, not merely to the

264 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

wagons, but they insisted upon escorting us to the edge of
the wood. Nothing but a plain four miles broad then di-
vided us from a Russian army; so we thought they had
pushed politeness to its utmost limits consistent with pru-
dence ; and with many warm hand-shakings and expressions
of gratitude on their part, and good wishes for their success
on ours, we left them drawn up in line, and looking after us
for a moment with longing eyes before they slowly wheeled
round and disappeared in the forest.

Our journey home was even more exciting than the morn-
ing one had been. The chances of meeting Cossacks were
considerably increased; and we had so much to say about
the band that our attention was a good deal distracted.

On our arrival my host showed me where arms were se-
creted in the establishment, in localities which had hitherto
defied the most minute examination by the Russian soldiery,
who had already favored him with sundry nocturnal visits.
This habit might have been attended with results most in-
convenient to the whole party, had we been favored with a
domiciliary visit an hour or two later. We were all seated
at dinner, discussing the events of the day, when suddenly
the clattering of horses' hoofs and the jingling of swords
were heard outside the window, as the dining-room was on
the ground-floor. There was an instant commotion, not un-
mingled with alarm. Our guilty consciences pictured fero-
cious Cossacks surrounding the mansion, as they had already
clone in so many instances ; and we felt that we had given
them some excuse. I fumbled in my pocket for my pass-
port, to display in case of necessity ; though, as I had al-
ready seen a man, in the person of Mr. Finkenstein, who re-
ceived thirty-three wounds after he had shown his British
passport, and had not been in an insurgent camp, I did not
feel much confidence in its protection. The cold touch of
my revolver in the same pocket afforded me more satisfac-
tion, though the fact of a weapon of any kind being found
upon the person is considered proof presumptive that its

A VISIT TO AN INSURGENT CAMP. 265

possessor is an insurgent, and warrants his instant execution.
Some of us ran to the hall, and there, sure enough, were
three men bristling with arms ; but to our intense relief they
turned out to be the chief of the band we had visited in the
morning, accompanied by his two aides-de-camp. On his
return to the band he was so much touched and gratified by
our visit that he determined instantly to repay it; and al-
though this was an honor so excessively compromising that
we could willingly have dispensed with it, I was not sorry
for the opportunity which it afforded me of making the per-
sonal acquaintance of a man of whom I had only heard by rep-
utation. After an immense deal of kissing on both cheeks,
the chief apologized for having taken, in the dead of night,
four of his best horses out of the stables of one of the gentle-
men present, who immediately jumped up and embraced him
again, saying, " My dear fellow, you're welcome to them all ;
the more robberies of that kind you make the better." And
then they all laughed at the same thing having happened to
a stingy and rather unpatriotic neighbor, whose stables had
been altogether cleared out ; for the insurgents appropriate
property very much according to the sympathies of the owner.
A selfish and unpopular skinflint they denude unmercifully;
but a hearty, good-natured patriot, who is doing all he can
for the movement, they let off as easily as they can. A good
deal has been said by persons, ignorant of the conditions
under which the struggle was conducted, of the apparent
apathy of the landed proprietary, who, except in very rare
instances, did not take the field themselves. This was not
from any indifference to the cause, but from the fact that the
movement depended upon the wealth of the country for its
resources ; and as the property of any one taking an active
share in hostilities would have been immediately confiscated,
the national government would have been deprived of its
revenue, and the bands have lost those facilities for procur-
ing supplies, concealing wounded, accumulating arms, etc.,
which they enjoyed. Every country-house was a harbor of
12

266 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

refuge, and the proprietors who lived upon them could be
of far more use to the insurgents in a variety of ways than
if they merely helped to swell the number of a band. As it
was, half the fighting population was unable to go into the
woods for want of arms and ammunition. There was no
lack of volunteers — quite the contrary. The leader, who
took his place next me at dinner, when the excitement atten-
dant upon his arrival had subsided, informed me that he re-
fused as many as eight and ten applications every day of
men anxious to join his band, some of whom were experi-
enced men, and had been officers in other bands ; but that
he had decided upon not adding to his numbers, partly be-
cause he felt that a larger body of men would be unwieldy,
and partly because he had neither the requisite arms nor
ammunition. " Though," he said, slyly, " I did a good stroke
of business to-day. I went down to the railway station, put
on a paletot, and took thirty carbines out of a train under
the eyes of a company of Russian soldiers, without their sus-
pecting what I was about." I asked him how much ammu-
nition he had got, and where he kept it. He said that it
was buried in different parts of the wood, and that he had
enough to last his present band three months. It is only
natural, where collisions are of daily occurrence, with ever-
varying results, that the composition of bands should be
constantly changing. When a body of insurgents are hard
pressed, or run out of ammunition, they disband entirely,
and each man looks about for a leader that he likes, just as
sailors choose their captains. Some of the men I conversed
with in the wood had been in half a dozen bands, and had
fought in every palatinate in the kingdom. The united ages
of the leader and his two aides-de-camp did not amount to
seventy years, and they had all the confidence and buoyancy
of youth. There was evidently a refreshing novelty about
sitting at a civilized table, and they did ample justice to the
good things with which it was loaded • while they were ap-
parently quite unconscious of our regarding them with feel-

A VISIT TO AN INSURGENT CAMP. 267

ings in which terror combined with a desire to make our-
selves agreeable. Our poor hostess sat and did the honors
white with anxiety. She would have infinitely preferred an
open barrel of gunpowder on the table to her three danger-
ous guests, but no words escaped her lips except those which
were kind and hospitable. At any moment we might ex-
pect a visit from Russians, and then every soul would have
been slaughtered. There were already too many precedents
to render our fate doubtful ; but still we laughed over our
wine, and sipped our coffee, as if we liked it ; and indeed I
was hearing so much that was curious and interesting from
the chief that I should have regretted anything that would
have curtailed his visit. He had been educated at the Po-
lish Military College, established by the Italian government
at Cuneo, and which has since been abolished. He spoke,
therefore, very fair Italian, and a little French, and was most
intelligent in his observations, and in the ideas he had formed
as to the mode of conducting the war. Some of them were
eminently original ; but they showed that he thought and
acted on a principle which he understood — not a common
quality among Polish insurgent leaders. We discussed a
variety of stratagems and ruses which might be effectively
practised upon an unsuspicious enemy. The Russians have
an intense dislike to nocturnal operations, in which my
young friend especially delighted ; and he related with satis-
faction the numerous plans he had devised for keeping them
awake. Not that he spoke with any excitability or swagger :
his tone was calm and measured, his eye deep and thought-
ful. He impressed me at once as a man of great force and
individuality of character ; and I afterwards understood that
he possessed the most complete ascendency over his band,
especially since he had shot one or two for breach of disci-
pline.

The glance of his eye was enough to make an aide-de-
camp jump, and I was rather amused to see it ; for he was
descanting at the time on the democratic constitution of his

268 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

band. " I am only the leader in the field ; we are all really
upon an equality. Only some one must direct, otherwise
we dislike all distinctions of rank." A Garibaldian shirt
corresponded to all these opinions ; a brace of revolvers,
jack-boots, spurs, braided trousers, a handkerchief loosely
knotted round his neck, and a coquettish square Polish cap
on a beautifully shaped head, completed a very picturesque
attire ; and although there was nothing foppish about his
dress, it was evident that he had rummaged the one wagon
containing the clothing of the band before he presented him-
self to the ladies. But he became as timid as a girl, not-
withstanding, when any of them spoke to him ; and he made
a complete conquest of one enthusiastic young lady — prin-
cipally, I think, by blushing and looking down whenever she
addressed him. Handsome, dashing, brave, and gentle, with
eyes that flashed now and then with subdued fire, a tender
voice, and only twenty-five, no wonder he was irresistible,
and all the more so from seeming utterly unconscious of his
personal attractions. His aides-de-camp, neither of whom
were troubled with bashfulness, and one of whom was at-
tired in all the elegancies of the camp, had not a chance
with their quiet leader. They laughed and chatted, while he
rarely smiled ; but when he spoke all listened, and what he
said was always worth listening to. His whole soul was ab-
sorbed in his occupation ; the admiring glances of women,
and the complimentary phrases of the men, were alike un-
heeded. He made me describe how Indians fight, how
Caffres fight, how Chinamen fight ; we discussed guerilla
warfare under every phase as practised in different coun-
tries, and I saw he was making mental memoranda for future
use. He assured me that he felt that, if any mishap befell
either himself or his band, it would be their own fault. With
fleet horses, and an extensive forest to hide in, he could defy
the whole Russian army ; and, in his opinion, the whole in-
surgent forces should be mounted and equipped upon the
principle he had adopted. In each district there might be

A VISIT TO AN INSURGENT CAMP. 269

ten or twelve such bands, under the control of a general-in-
chief, but each acting independently, except when some com-
bined operation rendered union necessary. All the insur-
gent bands were of course under the direct control of the
national government, which appointed the local, civil, and
military authorities throughout the country. They reported
officially upon the strength of the bands, the nature of the
operations which are to be undertaken, and the extent of
war material available. The leader was at liberty to act ac-
cording as circumstances might direct, but he only held his
position at the pleasure of the national government. My
informant told me that he had great difficulty in getting per-
mission from Warsaw to carry out the formation of his band
on his own system ; that in the first instance they had
pressed upon him the leadership of a band of two hundred
men, half of whom were Kossinieri, but that he had refused
to take any command except as organized by himself. Upon
every occasion where serious disaster had befallen the na-
tional arms, it was to be traced to the same cause, the mass-
ing together of too many undisciplined men.

It was late before we brought our interesting discussion to
a close, and my hostess heaved a sigh of relief as her guests
rose to take their departure. Embracing each other as men
only do where there is small chance of their ever meeting
again, all the gentlemen present bade adieu to the three in-
surgents, whose fiery steeds seemed impatient for the mid-
night gallop which was to take their masters to roost among
the trees. I could not help congratulating myself upon the
prospect of a comfortable bed. It seemed cruel to turn out
of a luxurious country-house and go to sleep in a wood with-
out even the covering of a tent ; and yet I doubt whether
any of the three would have changed their mode of life for
any that could have been suggested to them. We all
grouped round the door to wave our farewells as they dashed
off into the darkness, the women heaping blessings upon
their heads, and offering up prayers for their safety.

270 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

Next morning, as I crossed the yard to breakfast, I saw a
poor woman sitting crying in the porch. I inquired of my
host, who was cross-questioning her, what her distress arose
from. She said that about midnight three insurgents had
come to the door of her cottage and woke herself and her
husband ; that he had got out of bed, when he was immedi-
ately seized, carried off between them to the edge of the
wood, and then and there hung. And she added, weeping
bitterly, " I know he must have done something very wrong
to deserve it, or they never would have hung him." I was
rather shocked at this piece of retributive justice, so prompt-
ly executed by my three young friends of the night before.
It appeared that, on their way back to camp after dining
with us, they received undoubted information that the pro-
ceedings of the day had been reported to the Russians by
this peasant, who was in the employ of my host, and had
long been mistrusted by him ; and as the execution of spies
is an essential condition to the safety of every one connected
with the movement, the disagreeable necessity of hanging
them is forced upon the insurgents against their inclination.
In fact, the story was not likely to make my host feel very
comfortable. True, the man was hung, and could not give
evidence against him ; but we had done a good many com-
promising things during the last twenty-four hours, known to
numbers of people, and it was not reassuring to feel that the
Russians had been made aware of them. I began to think
it quite time for the carriage to appear which was to carry
me away from a locality where I had been treated with such
unbounded confidence and hospitality, but which was getting
rather too warm to be pleasant. It seemed ungrateful to
get all one could out of people, and then to desert them ;
but they said I had seen everything, and that it would be
folly to stay longer in the country — "unless, indeed," said
one gentleman, "you would like to take your chances with
me, and drive into Lithuania in my carriage, visiting camps
en route" The proposal was tempting ; but I hardly think

A VISIT TO AN INSURGENT CAMP. 27 1

it was really expected that I should accept it, the more es-
pecially as he never drove into Lithuania at all, but went
peaceably back to his wife in Warsaw. So I contented my-
self with a twenty-mile drive in his company, parting from
my late host with many cordial expressions of good-will and
mutual kind wishes.

On arriving at the country mansion of my next host, the
first intelligence which greeted us was another case of hang-
ing. It seemed that his footman had been campaigning for
a week with the insurgents, and had returned home for a
rest, preparatory to starting off afresh. One of the farm-
laborers, who bore him a grudge, informed the Russians in
the neighborhood of the circumstance, and he was made
prisoner in the night by a patrol, and walked off to be exe-
cuted. A few members of the band we had visited in the
wood, reconnoitring close by at the time, on hearing of this,
at once retaliated on the informer, who was at the moment
swinging from the branch of a tree in a wood near by.

Incidents of this tragical nature were constantly happen-
ing. My host deeply lamented the loss of his domestic
servant, but did not the least seem to regret the fate which
had overtaken the peasant, " who," he said, " richly merited
it." The insurgents had also taken the opportunity of ab-
stracting two of his best horses, at which he only laughed.
We now debated the possibility of witnessing a skirmish, re-
ported to be going on in the neighborhood between a band
of seven hundred insurgents, of whom two hundred were
peasants, and the Russian troops. When we reached the
railway, we found a train full of the latter hastening to the
scene of action. But on approaching it ourselves matters
did not look propitious : inquisitive Poles, not wanting in
daring, had found the vicinity of the fighting too dangerous
for spectators to remain. There was no alternative between
taking an active part with the insurgents and keeping out
of the way altogether. Every Russian soldier we saw looked
at us with suspicion. The platform of the station at which

272 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

they alighted to march down to the fighting was crowded
with scowling, ill-favored-looking men, who only wanted an
excuse to be let loose on society ; and the whole country
within a radius of five miles of the scene of action was de-
serted. Moreover, the Russians were between us and the
insurgents, and anybody travelling towards the latter would
be almost certainly arrested ; so we contented ourselves
with picking up scraps of news. My friend determined to
remain in the little country town to hear the result before re-
turning to Warsaw; but as every stranger in it was sus-
pected, and the whole neighborhood had become more or
less informed of my proceedings, the notoriety might prove
inconvenient, as an Englishman was naturally an object of
curiosity : so, as I was near the frontier at any rate, I thought
the wiser course would be to cross it while it was yet time,
and make my final exit from Poland. Every guard and con-
ductor on the line knew where I had been, and was over-
whelmingly civil in consequence : a ticket was considered a
superfluity, the examination of luggage a solemn sham. My
passport might have been a piece of waste paper. Had I
not been to a camp? was I not a well-wisher to Poland?
was not that passport and railway-ticket enough ? And to
avoid a shower of benedictions, and the most profuse ex-
pressions of gratitude for having ever taken the trouble to
come to their country, I left it a wiser and a sadder man
than when I had crossed the frontier from Galicia, scarce a
fortnight before.

CHAPTER XVI.

TWENTY-FOUR HOURS IN VOLHYNIA.

For the six months which followed my visit to Poland
during the insurrection, I watched its progress with a keen
and unflagging interest. I heard that one friend, with whom
I had been most intimate, had been arrested and placed au
secret in a cell, where all access was denied to him ; that the
daring young leader of the band I had visited, after perform-
ing many feats of valor, which were chronicled in some of the
papers, had been captured and shot by a file of Russian
soldiery ; that the chief of the band of seven hundred, who
were successful in the fight I did not see, had been accused
by his men of treachery, and was in confinement by the or-
ders of the national government, no one knew where, and
was to be tried by court-martial, no one knew when ; that the
venerable archbishop who had discussed with me in Warsaw
the prospect of the insurrection in broken and despondent
tones, had been exiled to Siberia ; that women whom I had
met were in prison ; and that the list of men whose acquaint-
ance I had made or whose names were familiar to me, who
had been shot, was daily increasing — but that, in spite of all
this, the Poles were still sanguine of intervention in their
favor on the part either of France or of England, or of both
jointly. The only intervention they craved was protection
for the introduction of arms and the munitions of war, either
by the Baltic or across the Austrian frontier. For the re-
sistance which they had offered to the Russian troops for
nearly a year, armed only with scythes, and with rifles smug-
gled into the country, had convinced them that they only

12*

2 74 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

needed artillery, and a sufficient supply of ammunition, to
achieve their own freedom. Meantime the efforts of the in-
surgents had latterly been directed mainly towards spread-
ins the flame of revolt into Ruthenia, and the various rumors
I heard of the condition of that part of Russia induced me
in the autumn of the same year to make a trip in that direc-
tion.

My travelling companion upon this occasion was the Hon.
Evelyn Ashley. Our intention was to traverse the Russian
province of Volhynia as far as Kamienetz Podolsky, as the
accounts which were published with reference to the condi-
tion of that part of the country were the most conflicting, the
Poles maintaining that the elements of insurrection existed
abundantly, and only required encouragement to blaze forth ;
the Russians, on the other hand, declaring that the province
was profoundly tranquil, and that, with the exception of a few
landed proprietors, the loyalty of the population was to be
thoroughly counted upon. That the Poles were sincere in
believing in the possibility of spreading the revolt into this
part of the Russian dominions, is sufficiently demonstrated
by the fact that they organized a large band under Wysocki
for the purpose of invading it ; while the disaster which over-
whelmed the expedition at its outset strengthened the public
conviction in favor of the correctness of the Russian state-
ments on the subject. In this latter case, however, it would
scarcely seem that the internal condition of the province
warranted the extreme measures resorted to by the Russians
to maintain a tranquillity which, according to their own as-
sertions, was not in danger ; and I was anxious to judge for
myself whether the charges of cruelty brought against the
Russian administration were true, so far as they applied to
Volhynia, and to what extent the population sympathized in
the national movement. As the scene of our projected ex-
pedition was beyond railways, or even the appliances of post-
ing in civilized countries, it became necessary to invest in a
carriage at Lemberg; and we employed two mornings in in-

TWENTY-FOUR HOURS IN VOLHYNIA. 275

vestigating the mysterious workings of the Jewish mind in
the matter of bargain and sale. It was only after two clays
of patient, and I may say conscientious, intrigue, and after
having explored the recesses of almost every coach-house in
Lemberg, that we ultimately purchased, for the sum of £g,
an excellent roomy conveyance, with C springs and strong
axles, in which we journeyed for more than a month — trav-
ersing upwards of a thousand miles, and never once having
to do more than tighten the screws. The Jew who ultimate-
ly effected this bargain for us received a tenth of the sum as
his commission. It took us a night to post from Lemberg
to Brody, a Jew-inhabited town, containing the usual square,
with arcades all round, and arcades forming a market-place
in the centre, where only this one class of the population buzz
and swarm, and almost forcibly drag you into odoriferous
corners to buy things you don't want ; and where the women,
with greasy plaits of false hair, which last them a lifetime,
twined round their heads, try to persuade you, with soft
glances, to leave some of your riches on their counter. As
we were both ignorant of Russian, we had procured a servant
at Lemberg, a snub-nosed individual, who gave a somewhat
indistinct account of his former life, was vague as to his na-
tionality, and incoherent in his general conversation. How-
ever, we were obliged to close with him at the last moment
for want of a better ; and with this questionable addition to
our party we started about ten o'clock one fine autumn morn-
ing for the Russian frontier; four little rats of ponies dragged
us painfully across the sandy plain, which extends eastward,
and which near the frontier is covered with a dense pine
forest. Here the deep sand forces us to walk, and our coach-
man explains to us that in these extensive woods the ill-fated
expedition of Wysocki collected prior to their attack upon
Radziviloff. Emerging from their dark recesses, we debouch
upon a plain which was the scene of the disaster. But first
we are detained at the Austrian frontier, and go through the
necessary passport formalities ; a mile beyond it is the first

276 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

Russian picket, where an ill-looking Mongol is keeping
guard over a sentry-box made of the boughs of trees : in the
distance a group of Cossacks, with long lances and shaggy
ponies, are struggling over the plain towards the town of
Radziviloff, now visible in the distance. In crossing this
piece of country the Poles suffered severely from the Rus-
sian artillery, but they were not finally checked, as we were,
at the barrier. This is placed on a narrow strip of land
which divides a marshy pond from a reedy lake — a dismal
swamp extending indefinitely round the position, and ren-
dering it in every respect one most undesirable to attack,
and easy to defend.

We were detained for some time outside the high gate
which, flanked by stiff palisades and guarded by a couple of
sentries, barred our farther progress ; and if we could only
have foreseen the annoyance to which we were to be exposed
upon the other side, we should not have been so anxious to
pass through. However, we waited patiently, until, at the ex-
piration of an hour, we received permission to drive on, when
the gates were instantly closed behind us, and we found our-
selves impounded in an enclosure, the exit from which was
also a guarded gate, while there was just room on the cause-
way for a custom-house and guard-room. We were instantly
surrounded by half a dozen officials, and our luggage was
soon ranged in the veranda for inspection, and became a cen-
tre of attraction for other wayfarers, impounded like ourselves,
waiting for their passports, and who were glad of the distrac-
tion which the examination of our effects afforded. These
were, for the most part, Jews or peasants — the former especial-
ly swarmed here as elsewhere. Meanwhile the carriage was
being minutely examined, the pockets and lining were care-
fully inspected, and then the attention of the authorities was
concentrated upon ourselves. Just as the operation was be-
ginning, however, our feelings received a sudden shock by the
announcement that our servant was found to be a compro-
mised person, if not an actual insurgent — that his name was

TWENTY-FOUR HOURS IN VOLHYNIA. 277

down in the police records, that he was a Russian subject,
and that we should, in all probability, be deprived of his
services, after having enjoyed them only a few hours. In
vain did he protest that they must have mistaken him for
somebody else ; his forbidding countenance seemed to give
the lie to his assertions ; and we felt that his connection
with us threw a serious doubt over the respectability of his
masters. All this time our clothes were beingtaken out of our
portmanteaus, and, after being separately examined, thrown
in a pile in the yard. The shirts were carefully shaken out,
the lining of the coats was felt; a piece of old newspaper,
in which boots had been wrapped up, was laid on one side
for further inspection ; a very harmless map of the country,
a " Bradshaw's Railway Guide," a French novel, and half a
sheet of note-paper, which was written over, and which I had
accidentally left in my blotting-book, were all placed together
as objects of suspicion. Still we were sanguine as to the ul-
timate result, when suddenly a breastpin — which I had bought
some months previously, on account of its antique form, at
Cracow — was seized upon triumphantly. I could not deny
that the device was a Polish eagle; and when I offered to
present it to the inspector as a proof of the little value I
placed upon it, he shrank back with horror. From this mo-
ment the chain of evidence against us was complete : a rebel
servant, a map, a breastpin, and a " Bradshaw." Our treach-
erous intentions were indeed made so clear by these last
three articles that the servant was no longer necessary, and
the head official frankly told us that it was all a mistake, and
that he was not known to them at all. It was evident that
they had begun with securing something fatal against us, in
case they should fail in seizing anything really dangerous ;
but having got the breastpin, it was no longer necessary to
assert that we had an insurgent for a domestic. Our fate
was already sealed ; still our ordeal was not ended. Leav-
ing our raiment piled outside, we were now each ushered
separately into a small room, and, accompanied by an in-

278 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

spector and a searcher, were submitted to a close personal
examination. Every pocket was turned out, our arms and
legs carefully felt, strange hands dexterously explored hid-
den recesses under our waistcoats and between our shoul-
ders • but the only objects found in my pocket were a metal-
lic note-book, and a note containing a few simple lines of in-
troduction to a gentleman in Volhynia who had never taken
part in the movement, and was then residing at large on his
property. With these trophies added to the list, the inspect-
or took his final leave, and we returned to sit in our carriage
and await the result. The process above described had al-
ready lasted three hours, and time wore on without any pros-
pect of release. Our only amusement was watching the in-
spection of fresh passengers, as others had watched us. We
saw sacks of produce prodded with iron rods, and an admoni-
tory prod given to the owner as a finish ; we saw one male
stripped after another, for the common herd were not treated
as we were to a private room, but made to undress uncere-
moniously in the road ; and we saw females subjected to ex-
amination in public — not, indeed, to the extent of undress-
ing, but of a personal inspection too minute to be pleasant,
while every article of their wearing apparel was shaken out,
as ours had been, for the benefit of the bystanders. And we
saw Jews kicked and cuffed more heartily than usually falls
even to their lot ; but they drive a thriving traffic on these
frontiers in times too trying for any other merchant ; and if
they receive abundance of kicks, they make halfpence to an
extent which fully compensates them, and thus reverse the
old proverb. But even these scenes after a time became
monotonous, and the feeling of indignation they occasionally
roused was not calculated to allay our growing impatience.
We had arrived at the frontier at midday, and had now been
just eight hours confined to our carriage. We could hear
nothing as to our fate ; the evening was rapidly closing in ;
it was twelve hours since we had eaten a light breakfast ;
and what with hunger, vexation, and uncertainty, the stock

TWENTY-FOUR HOURS IN VOLHYNIA. 279

of philosophy which had supported us through the trials of
the day was beginning to be exhausted. Then we were ob-
jects of derision, curiosity, or compassion to the crowd, ac-
cording to the temperament of the individuals who composed
it. The soldiers grinned at us in evident amusement at our
predicament, until we came to hate them separately and col-
lectively. I can even now recall to my recollection the re-
pulsive lineaments of their respective Tartar physiognomies.
The employees looked at us with curiosity, wondering what
on earth induced two Englishmen to place themselves vol-
untarily in their clutches, a sentiment in which I began
equally to share : the Christian passengers felt for us prob-
ably as much compassion as we did for them ; while the
Jews vainly strove to hit upon some device by which we
might be turned to pecuniary account.

At last came a message from the general commanding in
chief, to the effect that he would be glad to see us. The long-
closed portals opened wide to let us through, and we found
ourselves in the broad, muddy streets of the straggling Rus-
sian town. Upon reaching the general's residence, we were
given to understand by an aide-de-camp that the eight hours'
delay had been caused by a deliberation on the part of Gen-
eral Kreuter as to whether, considering our evidently dan-
gerous character, he could permit us to enter the country,
and that he had reluctantly been compelled to decide against
our admission. As this seemed scarcely warranted by the
objects found in our luggage, we asked permission to see his
excellency, who shortly afterwards appeared himself, and in-
formed us that the only concession he could make in our fa-
vor was to send us to Kief, the seat of government, to which
city the breastpin, the piece of old newspaper, the " Brad-
shaw," the sheet of note-paper, the map, the French novel, and
the metallic note-book would be safely forwarded, and there
delivered to us, if in the opinion of General Annenkoff, the
governor, we deserved to have them back. We now began
to suspect the real cause of the delay. It was evident that

280 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

General Kreuter and General Annenkoff had been in hot
telegraphic communication on our account, and that the re-
sult was the alternative now presented to us, of proceeding
to Kief or returning to Austria. As Kief was distant about
four days' journey in exactly the opposite direction to that
in which we wished to go, we declined the opportunity af-
forded to us of seeing this part of Russia, and requested to
know exactly the reason of our not being allowed to go to
Kamienetz. Even the general could hardly venture to find
in the confiscated articles alone a sufficient cause for our
prohibition, so he added to it a paternal solicitude for our
safety. The country, he said, was in such a disturbed condi-
tion that he could not answer for our safety. As at this
time the St. Petersburg journals were insisting that Volhynia
was profoundly tranquil, we were rather surprised to find the
assertions of the Poles to the contrary thus strongly corrobo-
rated by so good an authority — at the same time, we ex-
pressed our willingness to incur the risk. It did indeed seem
curious, if, as was assumed, we were dangerous Polish emis-
saries, that our safety should be a matter of much concern to
the Russians ; while it was evident that in that character the
only thing we had to fear was from their own soldiery, who,
if they murdered two unarmed travellers, would fully justify
the reports which were current of their cruelty. However,
we did not think it expedient to submit these arguments ;
probably the order, and not the logic, had been transmitted
by telegraph, and both we and the general had to obey it :
indeed, we had no reason to complain of the latter, who had
treated us with much civility, and most likely exceeded his
instructions when he good-naturedly gave us permission to
pass the night in the village. It was now late, and we were
famishing : as usual, we had recourse to a Jew in our extrem-
ity, who possessed a miserable cottage, which he called an
inn, and where at least we found tough meat and dirty mat-
tresses. Our Brody driver, who had been in a state of revolt
all day, was soothed by a large gratuity ; and the wretched

TWENTY-FOUR HOURS IN VOLHYNIA. 28f

nags which had shared our misery were at last detached
from the carriage in which they had spent twelve hours with-
out food. Finally, under the benign influence of a Russian
somovar and tobacco, we consoled ourselves for the fatigues
and disappointments of the day.

We employed our first hour of the following morning in
strolling about the village. There was not much to be seen
— low houses in ragged gardens, or rather waste plots of
ground, detached from each other and separated by walls
from the streets, which are overshadowed by avenues of trees,
and in winter are knee-deep in mud, that is exchanged for
dust in summer. The principal element in the population
seemed to be military; soldiers were loitering in every direc-
tion, as it was rumored that another expedition was destined
to cross the frontier in the neighborhood ; troops were massed
here in large quantities, and all the necessary dispositions
made to give the insurgents a warm reception. I afterwards
heard that an attempt was subsequently made to cross the
frontier higher up, which had resulted in failure. The streets
of Radziviloff had been the scene of bloody fighting a few
weeks prior to our visit, in consequence of the ill-judged at-
tempts on the part of Wysocki and the leaders of the expe-
dition to take possession of the town. Not warned by the fa-
tal disaster of Miechow, which cost the lives of so many brave
men, the Poles seemed to think that the capture of a town
was a profitable military operation. As the Russians were
nearly always superior in numbers, they only needed the ad-
vantageous position afforded by the streets of a town to ren-
der the chances of their assailants hopeless ; and it did not
require a military eye to see that Radziviloff might be suc-
cessfully defended against a much larger force than the
Poles could possibly bring against it. On our return to our
humble abode, we found a Polish gentleman who had ar-
rived for the purpose of paying his contribution into the cof-
fers of the Russian government, for the suppression of the
rebellion in whioh he sympathized. He was afraid to be

282 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

seen speaking to us ; indeed, we had already found, on the
previous evening, that we were spurned by one or two of the
"respectable" inhabitants; but this poor man would have
been only too glad to pour out his woes to us had he dared,
for he soon saw that we were to be trusted ; but he hurried
away after giving vent to a curse and a groan, saying he had
already lingered in our company too long.

We were by this time more anxious to leave Russia than
we had been to enter it ; indeed, in the course of several
visits to that country, I have invariably found this to be the
case. The only inconvenience is, that instead of being glad
to get rid of one, the officials make as many difficulties in
letting you out as they do in letting you in. We had given
up our passports on the previous morning, and had never
seen them since, and of course we could not leave the coun-
try until they had been returned to us. So we found our-
selves again sitting disconsolately in our carriage between
the wooden gates. The real object of this detention was to
extort a heavy bribe, without which, we were assured, we
should never get our passports : indeed, one of the minor
employees, taking compassion upon us, informed us in an un-
dertone that if we wished to get our passports back we must
make it worth the director's while to give them up. If our
informant expected a fee for this piece of intelligence, he
was disappointed ; and the rapid transition from silkiness to
sulkiness which his manner underwent when he found we
were obdurate, warranted the suspicion. If we were to be
treated to twenty-four hours of worry in Russia, we deter-
mined not to pay for the luxury as well. The only melan-
choly satisfaction remaining to us was the reflection that we
had caused a great deal of trouble to everybody, and been a
source of profit to no one. So we sat obstinately in our car-
riage, and the crowd of the clay before stared and laughed
and wondered. It was a mystery to the whole world of Rad-
ziviloff, employees included, that we should be too danger-
ous to be admitted into the country, and yet not dangerous

TWENTY-FOUR HOURS IN VOLHYNIA* 283

enough to be imprisoned. It did not seem that the middle
course of turning people back had ever yet been adopted at
Radziviloff, and the speculations of the night before as to
our character and purpose reached a much higher pitch in
the morning. At last our patience was exhausted, and be-
fore either the guard or the officials suspected our design,
we jumped out of the carriage, ran back through the wicket
which led into the town, and hurried straight to the general's
house, with the view of laying our complaints before him.
Just as we reached the gate the shout of a breathless official
reached our ears ; the sulky had again become the silky one.
" Our passports were ready ;" " what a hurry we were in !" " the
director was waiting to offer us every facility," etc. We
found on our return that our rush towards the general's had
produced quite a magical effect; there was empressement
everywhere. One man handed us our passports, covered
with Russian writing, another presented me with my breast-
pin and letter of introduction, together with the metallic
note-book. The map had been altogether confiscated, and
forwarded to Kief as a glaring evidence of the deep-laid
plot in which we had been implicated. As this map had
been bought by a friend at Artaria's in Vienna, and chosen
expressly because it was devoid of every political character,
we may hope that the official mind of Kief was long intently
absorbed in the futile attempt to discover the hidden signifi-
cance which it might contain. But the most singular in-
stance of aberration of intellect on the part of frontier func-
tionaries which ever came under my notice was to be found
in the importance which they attached to the " Bradshaw," the
French novel, and the piece of dirty old newspaper : these
were carefully made into a packet, and intrusted to the charge
of a mounted Cossack, who was to accompany us to the Aus-
trian frontier. On no account would they trust these dan-
gerous books in the carriage with us. We even offered to
leave " Bradshaw " behind us as a token of our friendship, on
condition that they would read it; but, seeing that we had de-

2S4 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

termined not to corrupt them with money, they became in-
corruptible when it came to taking a literary present, and
conscientiously insisted upon returning us that valuable work.
Thus, after having spent exactly twenty-four hours in Vol-
hynia, the greater part of the time between two gates, we
bade a final farewell to the provinces of Russian Poland, and
careered over the plain towards Brody, preceded always by a
ferocious-looking Cossack carrying " Bradshaw." On arriving
at the Austrian frontier, he presented it to us with great form
and ceremony, as if he were restoring us our swords, of which,
after an unsuccessful combat with an honorable enemy, we
had been temporarily deprived ; while we, once more armed
with our Railway Guide, bade him a reckless and defiant
adieu, and hugged to our grateful bosoms that true evidence
of an enlightened country in an advanced state of civilization.
In the meantime we had a month's journey with post-horses
to look forward to, before we were again likely to hear the
familiar scream of the locomotive.

I think it likely that the real cause of our arrest on this
occasion was the result of an episode which had occurred to
me in Cracow in the spring. I received a peremptory sum-
mons one morning to present myself at the police office, and
my heart throbbed with the beating of a guilty conscience,
for, to oblige a lady, I had so far compromised myself as to
be the means of secretly conveying a note to a prisoner to
whom she was attached ; but how could I have been inhuman
enough to resist the pleading voice of so charming a creature?
Now I thought it just possible that this correspondence might
have been discovered, and that, instead of conveying the
expression of a tender sentiment, it might have had some
deep political significance. Patriotic young Polish ladies
were capable of anything in their country's cause at that
time. So, with inward trembling, but with an outwardly de-
fiant attitude, I appeared before the herr inspector. I was
relieved to find that he was a feeble-looking old man, with
large goggle spectacles. After solemnly considering me from

TWENTY-FOUR HOURS IN VOLHYNIA. 285

head to foot, he opened a large book, and with serious im-
pressiveness asked me where I was born.

"Am Cap ter guter Hoffnung" I answered, flippantly.
The idea of any one having been born at the Cape of Good
Hope was so amazing that he ejaculated, "Herr YeV and
took off his spectacles in his astonishment, on which a bright
idea suddenly flashed upon me, for it was evident that my
interrogator was an impressionable and somewhat simple
person. After my nationality had been established, he ques-
tioned me as to whether I was married.

" Vier" I promptly replied, holding up four fingers.

"Is one alive now?" he asked.

"Oh, they are all alive."

" Impossible," he said ; " nobody is allowed more than
one wife at a time."

"Oh, pardon me, Mohammedans are allowed four, and I
am a Mohammedan naturally; being born at the Cape of
Good Hope, you know I must be j" and I went off at score
in abominable German in an attempt to explain to him the
merits of the Moslem faith. He was evidently rapidly com-
ing to the conclusion that I was mad, which was the one I
was anxious he should arrive at.

"What are you doing here?" he interrupted, impatiently.
"We have reason to think you are meddling with politics."

" Reason to think !" I exclaimed, " why, I am the heart
and soul of the movement ; there would have been no Polish
insurrection but for me." I then went on in a ramblins:
manner to discourse upon my own importance, during which
I observed him writing.

" What are you writing ?" I inquired.
" I am saying that you came to Cracow to see the antiqui-
ties."

To this I vehemently objected, adhering strongly to my
political motives ; but he would not listen, and benevolent-
ly waved me out of the room as a hopeless and harmless
lunatic.

286 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

I left the clay after for Warsaw ; but as the Russian and
Austrian police were in close relations, it is not impossible
that this incident, taken in conjunction with my visit to the
insurgent band, may both have come to the knowledge of
the Russian police, and that my name was inscribed in their
books as being not so harmless as the Cracow inspector had
imagined.

It is a long day's journey from Brody to Tarnopol; the
road first ascends a range of wooded hills, on the summit
of which stands the old castle of Podhorsce, commanding
a magnificent view, and full of old armor and relics of the
Middle Ages. Then, winding down through romantic glens,
it debouches on the undulating corn-country which extends
in uniform monotony all the way to the Black Sea. There
is nothing, in a picturesque point of view, to interest the trav-
eller as he journeys over these boundless steppes; but he
will be struck with amazement at their vast cereal resources,
which the railway, since completed, has clone so much to
develop. Tarnopol is a dull, dirty town, with a large central
square, and a population of about twenty thousand inhabi-
tants ; of which eight thousand are Poles, two thousand for-
eigners, and the rest Jews. It was only interesting in a
political point of view, from the fact that a large expedition
was supposed to be collecting in the neighborhood for the
purpose of crossing the Russian frontier, distant about twenty
miles. As, however, this rumor was in everybody's mouth,
and even the waiter of the hotel gave us confidential infor-
mation on the subject, we did not think that a project, if it
really existed, which was already so public, was ever likely
to be put into execution ; and, in fact, we have never after-
wards heard of the operations of any band from this quarter.
It is possible that, had we tried, we should have been more
fortunate in an attempt to penetrate into Volhynia from this
point ; but we were satisfied with the experiences I have
already recounted, and contented ourselves with obtaining
information with reference to the state of the province from

TWENTY-FOUR HOURS IN VOLHYNIA. 287

Poles who had just left it, or who owned property in it. It
would seem that the danger to which, probably, General
Kreuter alluded, and which we had to fear in travelling
through the country, consisted in the chance of meeting with
armed bands of peasants, invested by the Russian govern-
ment with the functions of police, which they exercised much
to the benefit of their own pockets and the detriment of
peaceable wayfarers. While all the landed proprietary of
the' province are Poles, the peasantry are for the most part
Ruthenian, who had no sympathy with the movement; and
who, although by no means attached to the Russian govern-
ment, had been easily bribed by the latter, by the prospect of
plunder, to side with it. It is only due to the peasantry to say
that in many instances they had resisted every temptation,
and remained faithful to their masters. One of our motives
for visiting the country just at this period was a desire to be
present at some of the sales of sequestrated property, which
were taking place daily. These sales were expressly arranged
for the benefit of the peasantry. One of my friends, for in-
stance, who was a Galician as well as a Volhynian proprietor,
was called upon to pay to the Russian government a sum
equal to ^8000 for the suppression of the rebellion. As he
had carefully abstained from taking part in the movement,
the amount of this tax in itself was sufficiently onerous; but
lest he should be in a condition to procure that sum at short
notice, he was only allowed three days to raise It 3, and as he
was not resident in Volhynia, it was manifestly impossible
for him to make the necessary arrangements. In default of
prompt payment the live-stock of the proprietor was put up
at auction among the peasants, who were thus enabled to
purchase their masters' horses at a shilling apiece ; and
merino sheep have been known to sell for as little as three-
halfpence each. In other words, the peasantry receive a
present of their master's stock, while he is deprived of the
means of getting in his crop or working his land, and is still
obliged to pay the difference between the trifling amount

288 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

which his property has realized, and the sum originally de-
manded by the government. We heard, however, that the
peasantry were becoming unmanageable and independent in
their bearing towards the government which has thus spoiled
them, and complained of being obliged to pay to the govern-
ment the tax properly due to the proprietor, in compensation
for the land which was originally his, and had by a recent
arrangement been transferred to the peasant. Having paid
only a nominal sum for their cattle, they now wanted to "get
the land for nothing as well ; and it was some consolation
to the proprietor, who had been robbed of both, to see the
thieves fall out. The position of a country gentleman in
these provinces was in fact becoming intolerable : not allowed
to leave the country, he was constantly subjected to the sus-
picion of the government while he remained in it, and too
often found himself at last an unwilling occupant of a dismal
cell, or one of a melancholy cortege on its way to Siberia.
Those who were fortunate enough to procure passports at
the commencement of the movement fled the country; those
who were left were in most instances arrested, so that scarce-
ly a property remained tenanted. Any who had been dis-
creet or lucky enough to be left at liberty had been called
upon, on the one hand by the Russian, and on the other by
the Polish national government, to pay heavy contributions.
In both instances the payment was compulsory, while the
constant presence of armed bands of disorderly peasants, or
of Cossacks, rendered daily life unsafe. One gentleman,
who had been most fortunately circumstanced throughout
in comparison with many of his compatriots, assured me
that the movement had already been a clear loss to him of
.£25,000 ; and that, in the event of its lasting through another
year, he would be a sufferer to a still greater amount.

From Tarnopol we posted through to Jassy, travelling
only by day, and enabled by our method of locomotion to
come into closer contact with the population which inhabits
the comparatively little known districts 'of the Bukovine and

TWENTY-FOUR HOURS IN VOLHYNIA. 289

Moldavia that we traversed, than is possible now that one
is whirled by railway, with no other variety than a different
station and station-master. This consideration was very for-
cibly impressed upon my mind five years ago, when I again
had occasion to visit Brody, this time as the emissary of the
Mansion House Committee, for the purpose of distributing
relief to some fifteen thousand distressed Russian refugee
Jews, who had taken refuge there in a starving condition,
and when my experiences, had I time to narrate them here,
were as painful as they were novel and interesting. I then
made the journey from Brody to Jassy by rail; and so in-
tensely wrought up were the expectations of the much-suffer-
ing race who form the largest proportion of the population
of this part of Europe, that at every station they were assem-
bled in crowds with petitions to be transported to Palestine,
the conviction apparently having taken possession of their
minds that the time appointed for their return to the land
of their ancestors had arrived, and that I was to be their
Moses on the occasion.

The nineteen years which elapsed between my two visits
to Jassy had worked a great change in this latter town, which
on the first occasion still retained many of its Eastern char-
acteristics, and was, in comparison to what it is now, in a
condition of relative barbarism. From a mere tourist point
of view, it was, however, far more interesting; and during
our stay in it for a week, we had abundant opportunity of
testing its peculiar social characteristics and attractions.
One night at the opera, in the box of a friend, much to our
surprise, we met a nun, a very charming person, to whom
we were introduced, and who explained that she was on three
weeks' leave from her convent, which was situated in a val-
ley of the Carpathian mountains. She further explained
that it was the custom in Moldavia for nuns to invite their
gentlemen friends to pay them visits in their nunneries.
She hoped we would accept her invitation to pay Agapia,
which was the name of her nunnery, a visit, and spend there

290 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

as many days as we liked. She only regretted her own un-
avoidable absence. There was a refreshing novelty about
such an invitation which it was quite impossible to resist.
We were assured by those who knew all about it that we
should find the scenery most attractive, the hospitality un-
bounded, and that on the way we should have an opportunity
of visiting a most interesting monastery called Nyamptz,
while some kind friends offered us letters of introduction to
another convent, by name Veratica; and so it came about
that, instead of looking for bands of Polish insurgents in the
Ruthenian provinces of Russia, we found ourselves bound
on a tour of visits to Greek monasteries and convents in the
wild Moldavian valleys of the Carpathian Mountains. We
soon made our preparations to post to Nyamptz, two of our
Jassy friends kindly volunteering to accompany us to that
monastery, and do the honors of the establishment.

CHAPTER XVII.

A VISIT TO THE CONVENTS OF MOLDAVIA.

It was ten o'clock at night before we had bidden our last
adieux and galloped out of Jassy. I say galloped advisedly,
for we were in two light, open carriages and four, and Mol-
davian postilions have no notion of letting the grass grow
under their wheels. Indeed, it is to be regretted it does not,
for one would be spared the dust. It does not, however,
produce the slightest effect upon the picturesque-looking
ruffian who, riding one horse, does nothing but yell and crack
his whip over the other three ; and whose chief object seems
to be, not only to make as much dust as possible himself,
but to keep well in the cloud caused by the carriage ahead.
Any how, it is exhilarating to whisk through the crisp night
air, ventre d, terre, even though one is half choked. When
day broke, Jassy was sixty miles off. We had been dreamily
conscious of having changed horses occasionally, and of hav-
ing undergone violent jolting, and now we felt the need of
something warm. A Moldavian post-house is generally a
thatched hut, the inside of which consists of a large fireplace,
big enough to dine in as well as to cook one's dinner ; and
at this early hour the family was lying asleep promiscuously.
However, they gave us hot water and milk, and wondered in-
tensely at such singular specimens of humanity as we seemed
to them. Then we descended into the pretty valley of the
Moldavia, and, crossing that stream, entered the town of
Nyamptz just as a heavy shower of rain came down to turn
the dust into mud all over our bodies. Nyamptz is prettily
situated at the foot of the lowest spur of the Carpathians, on

292 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

the river of the same name. Our intended visit had been
notified to the sub-prefect from Jassy, and we found that
worthy waiting, in the most obsequious attitude, for our ar-
rival. The whole town was in a fever of excitement at the
unwonted event of a visit from distinguished strangers, and
any one who was in an official position cringed and crawled
about us after the manner of Neapolitan impiegnati, in the
hope that we might possess influence and use it to their ad-
vantage. Nothing would induce them to leave us alone. Not
only would they stand over us while at breakfast, but insisted
upon accompanying us to the convents, attended by a mount-
ed escort. The standard of intelligence of these gentry may
be judged of by the answer which the chief official gave when
we asked him what o'clock it was? With the utmost naivete
he informed us that the only people who knew the time were
the Jews ; and as it was a Jews' holiday, and they were all in
their houses, it was not possible for him to let us know what
the hour was. He was extremely proud of two schools, how-
ever — one containing one hundred boys, and the other sixty
girls — of which this town of eight thousand inhabitants could
boast ; but his statistical knowledge in other respects was
limited.

The whole population turned out to see the cortege as we
drove away. Half a dozen imposing horsemen, in a sort of
janissary uniform, and with immense swagger, led the way ;
then followed sundry carriages and carts full of officials, and
then ourselves, with postilions very highly decorated for the
occasion. We might have been Garibaldi, so humbly did
the people bow before us, and with such gracious dignity did
we return their salutes. Whether they supposed we had
come to annex them, or whether they were simply overawed
by the majesty of our appearance, must forever remain a
mystery ; certain it is, we acted royally all the way down the
long street, and bowed ourselves into the ford of the river,
and away into the happy valley beyond, at the head of which
the monastery of Nyamptz is situated. Here we had noth-

A VISIT TO THE CONVENTS OF MOLDAVIA. 293

ing to do but revel in the glorious scenery, doubly refreshing
after the monotony to which for some weeks past we had
been doomed. Swelling hills, rising into blue mountains in
the distance, but near us covered with oak and maple woods,
bright with the fiery tints of autumn ; green meadows and
fields of melons and Indian corn ; cottages half concealed by
orchards, from which smoke curled languidly in the humid
air — for the rain had ceased, and left a fresh, soft feeling, de-
lightful after long days of blazing sun ; a precipice rising
abruptly from the river-bed, and the crumbling ruins of the
once extensive Castle of Nyamptz perched on its dizzy edge
— these were sights that made our drive along the grassy
track up the valley a perfect luxury ; and when at last it nar-
rowed, and we dived into a wood, and came out of a green
glade upon a massive, straggling pile of white buildings, with
tin cupolas glittering in a sudden gleam of sunshine, we
thought that these Nyamptz monks had not denied them-
selves the most exhaustless of pleasurable emotions — the
enjoyment of nature under its fairest aspect. Five members
of the committee of direction were standing upon the veran-
da of the superior's house as we drove up, and, in the absence
of that dignitary, the dean, a man with meek brown eyes, a
gentle smile, and an auburn beard, did the honors. Service
was going on, so we were delayed till it was over, and re-
galed with the invariable preserve and water, which is the
first form of Moldavian hospitality. Whether the sweet-
meats are an excuse for the water, or the water for the sweet-
meats, or both for the cigarettes which immediately follow, is
a subject open to discussion ; but when conversation is apt
to flag from ignorance of the language on both sides, sweet-
meats and water create a diversion, and rolling cigarettes
and making profuse apologies for wanting a light, help to
make the visit go off. As none of our hosts could speak
anything but Moldavian, we were dependent entirely upon
one of our companions from Jassy to interpret, and the whole
committee seemed to think it necessary to sit in solemn

294 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

silence, and inspect us while the dean answered our ques-
tions. At last the superior, a heavy, unamiable-looking man,
with an iron-gray beard, appeared, and listened while our
letter of introduction was read aloud to him, his own literary
acquirements being of the most meagre description ; then we
ate more jam together, and he led the way to show us over
the establishment. Scarcely three months had elapsed
since a large part of the building had been burned down ;
the consequence was, that a great deal of carpentering and
rebuilding was going on in all directions. Unfortunately
the library had been destroyed, and, besides the books, much
of the picturesque effect of the monastery had been lost. In
the centre of the principal courtyard stands the church, un-
touched by the fire, and upwards of four hundred years old.
We went up a narrow stair, heavy with the fumes of incense,
where a large collection of jewelry and ornaments, the gifts
of devoted women, were displayed before us. Enormous
Bibles covered with jewels, and ponderous with gold and
silver decorations, were pulled out, and the quaint MS., and
illuminated parchments turned over for our inspection. The
oldest Bible was one in Bulgarian MS., dating from the mid-
dle of the fifteenth century. Then we were taken to another
smaller church, and there, with great form and ceremony
our cicerones exhibited their principal curiosity, a priest's
robe worked by the hands of the Empress Catherine herself,
and presented to the monastery. There were until quite
lately nine hundred monks in the monastery of Nyamptz ;
but the intrigues of a much-abused priest, called Vernouf,
caused a secession of more than two hundred, who have
joined the affiliated monasteries. The merits of this quarrel
were too complicated for me to understand ; moreover, I had
no opportunity of hearing Vernouf's side of it. The result
has been a deplorable split. Nyamptz itself, as the parent
monastery, contains the largest number of monks. At the
time of my visit there were four hundred and seventy in resi-
dence, but a good many get leave and take a turn in the

A VISIT TO THE CONVENTS OF MOLDAVIA. 295

world by way of a change. There are six similar monas-
teries affiliated to Nyamptz, containing between them seven
hundred and sixty monks. They are all situated in neigh-
boring valleys. Surrounding the main building are grouped
about three hundred separate cottages, called, by a figure of
speech, cells, but really charming little abodes, covered with
honeysuckle and jasmine, and surrounded by flowers or vege-
tables, according to the aesthetic or material tendencies of
the owner. Almost every monk has thus his own little abode,
with a neat wooden palisading round it, high enough to pre-
vent curious eyes from prying, and enclosing a good garden ;
besides which, he can cultivate the neighboring land to any
extent he likes. This village of scattered cottages, with neat
lanes leading between them, adds indescribably to the charm
of the scene. We inspected the hospital, which was very
clean and admirably kept ; also a madhouse, which con-
tained sixty patients, chiefly epileptic. Then they showed us
the lock-up for refractory monks, four of whom were at that
moment expiating their sins on bread and water. By a new
law no monk is allowed to take the vows till he is fifty ; for-
merly there was no restriction, and several of the monks at
Nyamptz were young men. We were informed that there
were upwards of a hundred who were more than a hundred
years of age, and I certainly observed some very patriarchal
specimens. The revenues of Nyamptz amounted nominally
to a sum equal to about ,£20,000 a year. Prince Couza had,
however, appropriated the greater portion of this sum, and
made an allowance to each monk of three piastres a day, and
two hundred and fifty ducats a year for his clothes. With
this arrangement they seemed perfectly satisfied. To ac-
count for what appears an anomaly, it would be necessary to
enter upon the question of the dedicated convents, which,
however, is too dry and complicated to discuss here.

We had not time to linger long at the monastery of Ny-
amptz, though we were hospitably pressed by the superior to
stay there for as many days as we chose. Among the monks

296 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

who had done the honors was a fair-haired, intelligent man
of about forty, who had passed many years of his life in wan-
dering over the world. He had made a pilgrimage to Mount
Sinai, and visited the Greek monasteries in Turkey and the
East generally. Then, obtaining a dispensation of two years
for the benefit of his health, he travelled through Europe, and,
doffing the long serge robe which he wore now as a monk,
and which became him as a pilgrim, had visited, as a layman,
most of the capitals of Europe ; had flatted upon the boule-
vards in Paris; had sat upon iron chairs in Rotten Row;
and had even pushed his explorations as far as Cremorne.
The consequence was that he was a thorough man of the
world. He spoke French perfectly ; was extremely tolerant
in his religious opinions, and enlightened in his political and
theological views. There were few subjects he could not
converse upon, and I was never tired of listening to the sin-
gular experiences of his adventurous life. When, therefore,
the superior attached him to us as guide, philosopher, and
friend, during our monastic and conventual tour, we were
well satisfied with so agreeable and intelligent a compan-
ion, and put him in our open carriage with pleasure. We
got rid of our officious friends from Nyamptz here, and, fur-
nished with eight horses by the monastery, we spun in our
light carriage over grassy glades or along the beds of moun-
tain-torrents with equal indifference. The wild post-boys
never looked to see whether we were jolting about on our
seats, like peas on a frying-pan — little recked they how our
springs liked it — away we went, now through fiery-leaved oak
woods, now along dark valleys, where dense pine forests
gave warning of a higher elevation, deeper and farther into
the wild Carpathians, till, as the shades of evening were
drawing in, we took the steep pitch of hill at a gallop, on the
top of which is situated the monastery of Seku, and dashed
through the old archway into a courtyard, where a group of
monks gazed opened-mouthed at the unexpected apparition.
Since leaving Nyamptz we had not met a soul, and we felt

A VISIT TO THE CONVENTS OF MOLDAVIA. 297

that Seku, buried in its narrow valley, with only a rough track
to the monastery, and no road beyond, with high pine-clad
hills all round, and only one outlet to the world, was, in-
deed, a retreat so secluded that we deserved some credit
for having found it.

Seku is one of the affiliated monasteries, and only con-
tains two hundred and fifty monks ; unlike Nyamptz, the
monks do not live in cottages apart, except in a few in-
stances. A large courtyard, enclosed by a double -storied
range of buildings with two galleries, and the dormitory
doors opening on to them, furnishes accommodation to the
monks; and in the centre, as usual, surmounted with tin
cupolas, and highly ornamented within, is the church. The
great curiosity here was a magnificent piece of gold embroid-
ery presented by the foundress of the monastery two hun-
dred and fifty years ago; besides were many quaint old
MSS. on vellum, gorgeously bound, and the usual collection
of jewels and altar ornaments, all stored away in old presses,
and each produced in due form for our inspection — a crowd
of admiring monks examining us the while more narrowly
than we examined their ecclesiastical treasures. To me the
romantic situation of this monastery, the utter silence of the
scene, as darkness fell upon the sombre hillsides and only
the distant murmur of the mountain torrent broke the still-
ness, was more impressive than the wealth of " the founda-
tion." It recalled to my mind a similar scene in the remote
valleys of the province of Kiang-su in China, where I had
been the guest of Buddhist monks ; nor to the uninitiated in
the externals of their respective theologies was there any
difference to be seen between my former hosts and those I
was now visiting. The same courtyards and sacred edifices
in the middle, heavy with the perfume of incense , the same
presses stored with ornaments ; richly decorated altars and
monster candles ; above all, the same lazy group of long-
robed brothers, who chose the most out-of-the-way corner of

the world they could find to live in and do nothing. Inas-
I3 *

298 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

much as many of the Moldavian monks cannot read, and
none of them, with one or two exceptions, know any other
language than Moldavian, they have not even the excuse of
study to justify their life of utter sloth. With the Buddhist,
it is more or less conducive to that state of "Nirvana" which it
is the object of his ambition in this life and the next to attain.
But the Greek monk attains it in spite of himself. To all in-
tents and purposes he is as much buried, and as utterly use-
less to the world at large shut up in this valley, as if he were
actually under the sod. Nor can one discover any palpable
difference between religions which produce such exactly
similar results. It is true that the Greek monks appear to
wash more than the Buddhist, and never cut their hair, in-
stead of shaving their heads ; otherwise the cut of the robe is
exactly the same, only in China it is either yellow or lavender,
here it is a reddish brown. The service in a Buddhist place
of worship is intoned in the same key as here, nor do the
priests seem to attend more to what they are saying among
the Greeks than among the Buddhists ; but it is performed
more constantly among the latter, and, of course, the divini-
ties invoked go under other names. To the ignorant and
impartial spectator these are the only observable points of
distinction between the two establishments.

Altogether we were not captivated by anything we saw at
Seku except its position, and resisted the invitation of the
monks to pass the night there. A bright full moon tempted
us to drive on to Agapia, and for two hours we tore along at
the usual pace, regardless of no roads, and the uncertain
light which, even when they existed, made them difficult to
find. At last, like a fairy scene, the convent of Agapia burst
upon our delighted gaze. Never, during a long and varied
course of travel, have I felt more thoroughly rewarded for
undertaking a journey than I did when this novel and unex-
pected picture was presented to me. The glittering spires
and cupolas of the churches seemed to rise like monuments
of burnished silver out of the dark pine-woods. Hundreds

A VISIT TO THE CONVENTS OF MOLDAVIA. 299

of little cottages, in close proximity to each other, clung to the
hillside, the white walls gleaming out amid the foliage ; the
convent itself, a massive, irregular pile of building, with its
great archway facing us, and looming large in the moonlight,
was lighted up at every window ; and dark female figures
fluttered along balconies, as the bells on our horses gave
warning of our approach. Our visit had been already noti-
fied by the metropolitan, so the whole place was on the qui
vive; at all cottage windows white faces, half shrouded in the
nun's hood, peered curiously out — till we felt guilty of the
perturbation and excitement which our unusual visit was
likely to cause among the fair devotees, who were supposed
to have retired from the world expressly to avoid such dis-
turbing influences. Our postilions, who belonged to Nyamptz,
knew the right door at which to draw up inside the court,
and here, grouped at the foot of the staircase, were five or six
elderly nuns waiting to receive us. Our travelled monk pre-
sented us, and, after kissing the hand of each, we ascended
by an outside staircase to the wooden corridors which ran
all round the interior of the court, and upon which opened
the rooms set apart for our accommodation. Both in the
monasteries and convents the stranger has the right to claim
three days' hospitality ; so in all the establishments there
are regular guests' rooms, and not unfrequently the natives
of the country take advantage of the privilege to spend
months in making a tour of visits, staying in each until even
the good-nature of the monks or nuns is exhausted. There
was therefore nothing unusual in the fact of our visit ; the
interest lay in the circumstance of our being foreigners and
Englishmen. Few of the nuns had ever seen specimens of
a race of which they had heard a great deal ; and even the
middle-aged ladies who were now waiting upon us examined
us as narrowly as good-breeding would permit. It was use-
less to explain that our object in visiting these secluded val-
leys was sheer curiosity. They were firmly persuaded that
we were commissioners sent by England to make inquiries

300 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

into the confiscation of ecclesiastical properly by Prince
Couza, which was at that time agitating the whole country,
and causing great dissension among the protecting powers.
As we naturally wished to understand the question for its
own sake, our incessant queries, and the interest we showed
in it, only confirmed their suspicions and increased their re-
spect. Indeed, we found our greatness inconvenient upon
several occasions, though it was not without its advantages.
In the first place, the most elaborate arrangements had been
made for our reception. The table in the large dining-room
groaned under an extensive assortment of the good things
of this life. Everything was scrupulously clean, and the din-
ner, for which our long drive had prepared us, admirably well
cooked. All round the room were broad, soft divans, and in
the next room, in which we were to sleep, luxurious beds with
fine linen had been made up. There was an air of abun-
dance and comfort truly refreshing, and the gentle attend-
ants who waited upon us, anticipating every wish and spar-
ing themselves no pains or trouble to please us, imparted to
their hospitality a charm all its own. While we were doing
ample justice to the viands they had prepared for us, they
sat in a row on the opposite divan, applauding our appetites
and conversing with us by means of our friend the travelled
monk and one of the gentlemen who had accompanied us
from Jassy. We discovered that they were the committee
of direction for the affairs of the convent, and we were prom-
ised an interview with the lady superior on the following
day. They were all members of the best families of Molda-
via, and had been dedicated to the conventual life from their
earliest childhood, whether they liked it or not. At the age
of five they had been put to school in the convent, and when
they reached eighteen had been compelled to take the veil;
so that, except when they obtained leave for a month or two
to go and see their friends, they had never known any other
existence than that which we now saw them leading — had
never had any other excitement than that caused by the ad-

A VISIT TO THE CONVENTS OF MOLDAVIA. 301

mission of a new sister, the arrival of relatives or travellers,
a dissension among themselves, or a metropolitan visitation.
To them the lovely valley at the head of which the convent
was situated had been the whole world from their earliest
infancy. If they were not so strict as those nuns who retire
to convents because they are disgusted with the world, it was
because they scarcely knew what the world meant. They
were all still artless children, happy, pleased, and natural ;
there were no downcast eyes or gloomy penitential expres-
sion. They were as delighted to see us as children would
be with a new toy, and we had not been an hour in their
company before we felt thoroughly at home. Unfortunately
there was only one of them who could talk a little French;
and another, but she was not a lady director, who spoke
German. Presently appeared — the last of the committee,
whom we had not yet seen — a beautiful woman, in the prime
of womanhood, with the softest eyes, the sweetest smile, the
gentlest and at the same time most distinguished manner:
a border of pale yellow round her hood, which was coquet-
tishly arranged, and a slight expansion in the skirt of her
reddish - brown serge robe, indicated a tendency towards a
cap and crinoline, and accounted for the slight delay in her
arrival. After we had satisfied the cravings of nature, they
took us out to the upper balconies to look over the convent
by moonlight. If the scene had seemed unreal when we first
came upon it, the magic panorama upon which we now gazed
was still more enchanting. All round us dark woods — at
our feet, and half concealed in their recesses, three hundred
and fifty little separate cottages, each with its balcony, its
shingle roof, its white walls, and its overhanging foliage.
Now all the lights were extinguished, and the most profound
stillness reigned — not even the barking of a dog was to be
heard. Except ourselves, there was not a man within two
hours' walk of where four hundred women were sleeping
among the trees of their own quiet valley. The moon was
at the full, and poured floods of light into every nook and

302 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

corner — into the courtyard, with its quaint old carved wood-
en balconies — into the long, narrow windows of the church,
throwing silver rays into its gloomy recesses — doubtless fall-
ing softly upon the face of many a sleeping nun, as it did
upon the river that gleamed and shimmered in its light under
the black shadow of the steep mountain-side.

Though the day had been a long and tiring one, and it
was now late, we lingered long upon these balconies, walking
all round them, and finding, as each corner that we turned
disclosed a new picture, fresh inducement to remain. The
nuns, amused at our enthusiasm, asked us if we could con-
tinue to enjoy the view until it was time for the midnight ser-
vice ; and on our professing our readiness to remain up in
spite of our heavy eyelids, they most considerately promised
to have prayers half an hour earlier for our especial benefit ;
so at half-past eleven the absolute stillness was suddenly
broken. First an old nun with a lantern flitted like a black
spectre from door to door, and chanted the reveille at each
in a voice loud and harsh enough to wake the soundest
sleeper. She looked like an old witch hobbling silently and
rapidly on her rounds, and bursting out periodically with the
same nasal refrain, holding her lamp the while high above
her head. As we were watching the operations of this old
creature, we were startled by a sound resembling the taps of
a very powerful and rather musical woodpecker. First shrill
and sharp, rising to a high key, then with a dull and muffled
sound, tap, tap, tap, came from the quadrangle below us ;
then a rattle so quick that I imagined it must be somebody
playing on a wooden drum. The cadence was wild, but not
irregular ; and the effect of the roll dying away until it was
scarcely audible, and then breaking out at its full strength,
was most peculiar. Watching and wondering, the mystery
was solved by the appearance of a stately nun stepping out
from the dark shadows of the church, and bearing upon her
shoulders what seemed in the uncertain light a long white
plank. This she poised in a peculiar way, and with a short

A VISIT TO THE CONVENTS OF MOLDAVIA. 303

stick tapped a tune upon it. On the following morning I
examined the apparatus, and found the board about twelve
feet long, extremely thin and light, and pierced from the cen-
tre towards the extremities with a series of holes gradually
increasing in size, so that it was really a musical plank, and,
in the hands of an experienced player, could be made to
convey the idea of a tune ; but the chief feature of the per-
formance was the tremendous noise it made. What between
the old woman screaming her waking chant, and two nuns
walking about the court tapping musical planks, there was no
fear of any sleeping sister remaining unaware that her prayer-
time had arrived ; and, sure enough, a very few minutes
elapsed before, from all corners, they came tripping, or rather
gliding, like dark ghosts, to the church -door. They must
sleep in their dress, or else have acquired the art of making
a toilet as rapid as that of an undergraduate late for chapel,
so speedily did they obey the summons. It was now time
for us to follow. The old woman and the plank were still,
and the swelling tones of a sacred chant warned us that the
service had commenced. Modestly, and with downcast eyes,
did we pass between two motionless rows of fair worshippers,
until we reached the place of honor among the elder sisters.
Here in a little carpeted niche we stood meekly — the only
men — and listened to the women's voices repeating in high,
monotonous key the perpetual refrain. By degrees we ac-
quired courage, and were rewarded for our boldness in look-
ing up by detecting stolen glances shot at us from every
quarter. The principal performer of the service was a lovely
girl, apparently of eighteen or nineteen, who was standing in
a group of young sisters when we came in, and whose turn it
seemed to be to officiate, for she slipped out of her corner
and donned over her hood a sort of surplice, then, advancing
to the desk in the middle of the church, she opened the
massive, ornamented volume before her, and went off at
score. I could not have imagined that those ruby lips could
have moved with such extraordinary rapidity, that the ex-

304 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

quisitely chiselled nose should prove an organ for conveying
the shrillest and most unpleasant sounds at a pace which
was quite electrifying. Whenever the moment for a response
came, the chorus "cut in" with something "Gospodin," as
if the whole thing were being done for a wager. She never
paused nor flagged in her harsh, nasal rattle of Moldavian
prayer, worked up now and then to a shrill invocation, and
varied with prostrations, the extinction and lighting of can-
dles, and full choruses. An hour seemed to pass, neverthe-
less, like a few moments. There was something fascinating
in watching these fair devotees managing all their own mat-
ters without male interference ; and I could conceive from
the scene before me what that might be so well imagined by
Tennyson. Those

" Prudes for proctors, dowagers for deans,
And sweet girl-graduates in their golden hair,"

only needed to be transported to a wild Carpathian valley to
realize the poetic fancy.

I should remark, however, that there is one priest in Aga-
pia who officiates at mass, and who is a married man. Not-
withstanding the rumor which had got abroad that we were
to be present, there was a smaller congregation than I ex-
pected ; but I was assured that some of the nuns were per-
forming service in another church, and the rest saying their
prayers at home. This last I take to be the most common
practice ; for, on subsequent occasions, on dropping inciden-
tally in for service, I have found no audience at all ; the of-
ficiating nuns make up a little congregation in themselves,
as there must be a certain number for the church and a cer-
tain number to read in turn. It was one o'clock in the
morning before I sought my divan bed, after one of the most
novel and interesting day's experiences I ever remember to
have passed. Nothing but downright fatigue would have
enabled me to sleep with so many quaint sights and sounds
dancing before my eyes and ringing in my ears ; but our time
was short, and there was much to be seen, so we slept as fast

A VISIT TO THE CONVENTS OF MOLDAVIA. 305

as possible, and were up in time for matins at six o'clock.
Here we saw a number of new nuns, with some of whom we
made acquaintance; but the absence of any common lan-
guage was a terrible drawback to our intercourse. Never
having received an education to fit them for society, they
knew no language but Moldavian ; and though we applied
ourselves to the acquirement of that tongue under their tui-
tion with the utmost diligence, our time was too short to
make progress.

After matins we paid a visit to the lady superior, a dear
old lady, who gave us sweetmeats and cigarettes, and kissed
our foreheads when we were presented and when we took
leave. She was very anxious that we should prolong our
stay for as many weeks as we liked, and was quite hurt when
we told her how hurried our visit must necessarily be. Anx-
ious to carry away a memento of the place, we prevailed
upon her to give us an old-fashioned daguerreotype of the
convent, which was fading rapidly, and which we promised
to have photographed in England and sent back. Most un-
fortunately, some weeks afterwards, the portmanteau contain-
ing it was cut off the back of our carriage by thieves in the
night, and we proved, to our regret, unavoidably faithless.

We now went on a round of visits, and were delighted with
the charming little cottages, each in its own garden, and con-
taining one or two fair occupants, sometimes a young girl
quite by herself. The rich ones are waited upon by the
needy sisters, but at Veratica, which we afterwards visited,
there was a much greater profusion of wealth than here.
Some of our friends proposed a picnic for the afternoon, and
we started off, a merry party of eight or ten, on foot for a ro-
mantic rock in the woods, from the summit of which a mag-
nificent view was obtained of the valley and convent. After
a regular scramble, we were rewarded for our exertions by
finding that our kind hosts had sent on a hamper with sun-
dry delicacies — that hot coffee was prepared, and a brisk fire
ready for the emergencies of our repast.

306 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

So we chatted and refreshed, and were smoking tran-
quilly, when, to my astonishment, I observed some of the
ladies engaged in dragging dead branches to the base of a
lofty pine-tree, and piling them round it. On inquiring the
reason of this proceeding, they informed us that it was great
fun burning a pine-tree, and assured us, if we had never seen
it, that we should enjoy the spectacle. We suggested the
possibility of the whole forest catching fire ; but they said they
had chosen an isolated tree, and that even if it did run along
the hillside, what would that matter — pine-trees were cheap
in the Carpathians. So we heaped up branches round the
old forest giant, and doomed him to a splendid but lingering
death. Then we threw blazing logs into the dry mass, and
the flame leaped crackling up to the highest branches. Our
fair companions clapped their hands with delight as the fire
roared and darted out angry forks of flame with each fresh
gust of wind, and a spiral column of dense smoke burst in
jets from the top, and, spreading like a pall over the grave
of the dying patriarch, gave notice far and wide of the sacri-
lege which was being perpetrated.

The term employed in addressing our companions was
always Mika (mother) • and there was something quaint,
considering the age of some of them, in bestowing the ap-
pellation. Nevertheless, it was pleasant to be called " Son,"
even by a girl of nineteen, and gave one the impression of
having inspired an affectionate interest. From our present
elevated position the convent appeared to great advantage.
Instead of the gaunt, solitary building usual on such occa-
sions, the large collection of little cottages, prettily distributed
and divided by the neatest of fences, clustered round the
convent like chickens round a hen. Instead of a barred
doorway with a " grille," and a stern " janitress," the fair occu-
pants were free to roam about the valley where they pleased
and with whom they pleased. Instead of'lugubrious counte-
nances and an air of general mortification in dress and man-
ner, there were laughing merry faces, and numerous innova-

A VISIT TO THE CONVENTS OF MOLDAVIA. 307

tions upon strict conventual costume, of which the most
serious was crinoline. Only a few weeks before our visit
the metropolitan had made a tour of inspection, and con-
fiscated every "cage" he could lay his hands on. Still
there was abundant evidence that some had escaped the
sweeping measure. Where were there ever such " cells " as
the lovely little boudoirs to be found in some of these cot-
tages ? Alas ! the palmy days of the convents have gone
by. Before long there will be a railway-station within two
hours' drive of Agapia ; and a recent order has been passed
prohibiting any religiously minded young person from being
compelled by her parents to take the veil until she is forty-
five. This is practically putting an end to the system of
convents altogether — as old maids don't exist in the princi-
palities — happy land! — and widows are extremely rare.
The only chance of catching a nun is to get her quite young,
when she is a trouble to her family ; now they can no longer
be turned into religieuses as of old ; and as infanticide is not
in vogue in these parts, as in China, their prospects are ex-
tremely questionable. Under the old system, what between
having plenty of visitors from Jassy during the summer, and
getting leave to spend a little of the season in the gay cap-
ital themselves in winter, they make life pass pleasantly
enough. I have more than once met in society at Jassy
"recluses" from these establishments, only to be distin-
guished by their hoods, as they wear silk and crinoline when
they are on leave, and doff the hood if they go to the theatre
or any evening entertainments. In fact, they hold much the
same position in society that the Chanoinesses used to do in
France — except that in their case, unlike these latter, matri-
mony is of course impossible. Perhaps that is no great
drawback, seeing that they enjoy all the freedom of married
women, without any of the cares and responsibilities.

As the most touching memento we could take from Aga-
pia, we obtained from the nuns enough of the serge they
weave and wear themselves to make us a shooting - suit

308 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

apiece, and then with heavy hearts swallowed our last meal
under the same anxious superintendence as ever, and
awaited the summons to our vehicles. Although our visit
had not been long, we had made many friends, who all as-
sembled to bid us adieu. The form of parting salutation is
touching, and when extended along a row of nuns, produces
a singular effect. We reverently kissed their hands, and
they bent over and kissed our heads. It is easy to conceive
how strong was the temptation to linger before this one, to
hurry past another — how difficult to collect one's ideas in
the confusion of such a moment, for a strict sense of pro-
priety prevented any outward manifestation of partiality.
Persons who have never known before what it is to have a
great many pairs of lips, some fresh and ruddy, others old
and wrinkled, pressed in rapid succession upon their fore-
heads, will be conscious of a sensation of numbness in the
scalp at last, arising probably from a conflict of emotions ;
nor, if the head be bald, as mine was, will it be possible to
prevent its becoming red. But why dwell upon such har-
rowing details? We found the good-will of our fair enter-
tainers extended itself to our equipages. Each carriage was
furnished with nine horses belonging to the convent, and
three gypsy postilions of wild and uncouth aspect and some-
what rugged attire. Then with loud cries and sharp whip-
crackings we dashed out of the convent-yard, and all the
bells burst forth with a merry peal, and we frantically waved
our hats as we passed by well-known balconies and under the
windows of the charming cottage where the dear old lady
superior stood kissing her hand to us in final adieu. Our
gypsy riders and their rugged team did not allow us much
time to collect our scattered faculties. They evidently were
impressed with a great idea of our importance, and thought
that exactly in proportion as we were great ought our move-
ments to be rapid ; so we flew down the beds of mountain
torrents, between lofty wooded hills, and finally emerged from
the mountains on to the undulating rich country, which
stretched away to the plains we had originally traversed.

A VISIT TO THE CONVENTS OF MOLDAVIA. 309

We were bound to Veratica, another convent not so
prettily situated, but even more celebrated than the last.
On the way we passed several villages and a good deal of
land, producing Indian corn, melons, and grain, and towards
evening reached our destination — a larger collection of cot-
tages than at Agapia, only placed not in a ad dc sac, but on
the slope of a hill commanding an extensive prospect over
the lowlands of Moldavia, and altogether comparatively in
the world. A village almost at the gates of the convent dis-
pelled the delusion of complete isolation, and of seclusion so
striking as at Agapia ; and when the atmosphere was clear,
even the town of Nyamptz was visible in the far distance, to
remind us of the busy haunts of men. Here there was no
conventual building at all as at Agapia, where a certain
small proportion of nuns lived in the convent, properly so
called. All the nuns of Veratica lived in their own cottages,
of which there were upwards of four hundred. It is true
that some of them were ranged in the form of a square, in
the centre of which was a church, and which was entered
under an archway; but the general aspect of the place re-
minded me of some of the mission establishments I had
seen in India. There were no less than four churches in
Veratica for the benefit of six hundred resident nuns, who
never seemed to me to attend them ; and there was a school
for girls, presided over by the prettiest woman in the con-
vent. There was every indication of greater wealth and
luxe here than at the establishment we had just left ; and
we were put up, not in any suite of apartments destined to
strangers, but by one of the principal nuns, to whom we had
a letter of introduction, and who in the kindest way gave up
half her house to us. Nor would it have been possible to
conceive anything more perfect and artistic than the taste
with which her little abode was arranged. Half a dozen
really good pictures, picked up in Italy by some one who
knew what he was about, and others from Paris, a piano, a
handsome Turkey carpet, heavy curtains of silk brocade,

310 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

spring couches and arm-chairs richly covered, some valuable
little bits of old China, a goodly sprinkling of small Parisian
looking-glasses in ornamented frames, composed the furni-
ture of the two " cells" to which my friend and I were
doomed. These opened out upon a balcony in front, over-
looking a flower-garden and the convent square ; and here
we used to sit and smoke cigarettes, for the fragrant weed
is much in vogue among the recluses, and their tobacco was
always unexceptionable. Our first duty was to call upon
the lady superior, who received us as kindly as her sister at
Agapia. She told us that she had entered the convent at
the age of thirteen — she was now seventy ; and, except an
occasional trip to Jassy, had passed the whole of her exist-
ence in religious exercises. She, as well as several of the
committee of direction, were keen politicians, and discussed
with eagerness and a great deal of knowledge of affairs the
intrigues of Prince Couza and the abuses of his government.
Nor were they at all sparing in the epithets they applied to
the chief of the state. As many of the ladies at Veratica
were nearly connected with families who have wielded abso-
lute power in one or other principality, they were entitled to
speak with a certain amount of bitterness ; and as they
maintained a hot correspondence with their relations, some
of whom are the wealthiest and most powerful boyards, their
information was generally pretty accurate. The brother of
my hostess held a very high official position ; she herself
was very wealthy; and besides her delightful little house,
she had a carriage-and-pair, a lady's-maid who was not a
nun, and dressed in the last Parisian fashion ; a very excel-
lent cook, as I have good reason to remember, and most at-
tentive servants. Altogether it was quite clear that between
Veratica and Agapia there was as great a difference as be-
tween Trinity College and Emmanuel, or Christchurch and
Wadham. There was no doubt which was the more aristo-
cratic, the more wealthy, and the more mundane of the two.
Still I looked back with regret to the unsophisticated atmos-

A VISIT TO THE CONVENTS OF MOLDAVIA. 3II

phere of " the happy valley " of Agapia. How easy it is to
be hypercritical on these occasions ! How romantic and
overwhelming in its novelty should we have found Veratica
had we paid it our first visit ! now there was something flat
and vapid about it. There was not quite enough of the
odor of sanctity in the air to suit our refined tastes. We
felt as if we had almost got back to the world, and were
sorely tempted to plunge into the wild valleys of the Bis-
tritz, where convents nestle in unexplored recesses, ap-
proached by rock-cut steps overhung by glaciers, and where
the occupants would really appreciate the visits of a stranger;
where one may shoot chamois or catch trout, hunt bears or
go picnics, sketch lovely scenery or learn Moldavian under
pleasant auspices, scramble over mountain-passes, and gen-
erally find on the other side an ecclesiastical bed not yet
confiscated by Prince Couza ; where the monks are all really
"good fellows," and only too glad to put you up, and for-
ward your views, whatever they may be, to the best of their
ability ; where letters can't reach you, and the cares of this
life cannot penetrate ; where comfort is combined with econ-
omy, and the only way of gliding back to the world is down
the river on a raft.

Valley of Bistritz ! if an inexorable fate — and the ap-
proach of winter — compelled me once to turn my back upon
you, may the day yet come when I may take another siesta
under the conventual shadow, and awake from a dream as
pleasant as this last.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE WAR IN SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN : THE BATTLE OF MISSUNDE.

From Jassy we posted on to Bucharest, and after spending
a few days at the City of Pleasure, and making acquaintance
with Prince Couza, an adventurer whose corrupt rule was
not long after brought to an end by a coup d'ttat, we crossed
the Carpathians into Transylvania at Cronstadt, then drove
on to Hermanstadt, and went on a sporting trip into the
mountains. On our return, we presented the carriage which
had served us so faithfully all the way from Lemburg to the
landlord of our hotel, and took train to Pesth. Here Mr.
Ashley left me to return home, and I visited some old Hun-
garian friends, and so worked my way into Silesia. It was
while staying at Primkenau, the country-seat of the late Duke
of Augustenburg, that the news arrived of the death of the
King of Denmark. This event let loose upon Europe the
Schleswig-Holstein question, with all its complications, and
called Prince Frederick, the eldest son of my host, from his
retirement into a position of prominence ; for, in the opinion
of the best German jurists, he now, in consequence of his
father's abdication of his rights, became the lawful heir to
the duchies. The question was one which, under the cir-
cumstances, I was naturally induced to study, and in regard
to which I could only come to one conclusion. As confess-
edly it was one which the British statesmen of the day con-
sidered beyond their comprehension, and as the British pub-
lic never even tried to understand it, it was no wonder that
our policy was mistaken throughout. When a question has
more than two sides, the popular intelligence fails to grasp
it. As most questions of foreign policy have generally three

THE WAR IN SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN. 313

at least, and sometimes more, and as ministers are compelled
to adopt the popular view, if they wish to retain office, the
foreign policy of England is usually characterized by a
charming simplicity, not always conducive to the highest in-
terests of the country. Fortunately on this occasion minis-
ters were saved, by the exercise of an authority higher than
their own, from plunging the country into a futile and dis-
astrous war. It is not necessary here, however, to recur to
the political aspects of the question, which were ably and
conclusively dealt with at the time in a pamphlet by Mr.
Morier (now Sir Robert Morier, our ambassador at St. Pe-
tersburg), and by Mr. Kinglake in the House of Commons,
while I contributed my quota in the public press.

It was at Gotha, under the auspices of the present Duke
of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who was the first to recognize Duke
Frederick as having succeeded to the duchies, that a decis-
ion was arrived at in regard to the policy to be pursued,
and here were gathered many eminent patriots, who met in
conclave — an assemblage which I was very glad to have an
opportunity of joining.

It was as the result of these deliberations that upon the
last day but one of the year 1863 three strangers might have
been observed by the inhabitants of Harburg embarking on
board a little river steamer lying at the wharf with her steam
up. But the inhabitants of Harburg observed nothing, for
they are a phlegmatic commercial race, who do not trouble
themselves with the concerns of other people ; and although
there was something unusual in these gentlemen taking a
trip down the Elbe in a steamer chartered expressly for
themselves in mid-winter, no curious questions were asked
as to who they were, or where they were going. They were
a very quiet, unpretending trio, with no display of luggage
or attendants ; and the captain of the steamer understood
them to be public functionaries, employed in making an
official tour of investigation upon the river. So he steamed
unsuspiciously clown to Gluckstadt through a stream already
14

314 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

cumbered with blocks of ice ; and his passengers went ashore
in a little boat, and were met on the pier by one or two gen-
tlemen who apparently had received notice of their intended
arrival, and were there to meet them. Up to this moment
the little town of Gluckstadt had been as quiet and indiffer-
ent to the approach of the steamer as Harburg had been to
its departure. It is true that the inhabitants had scarcely
recovered the breath expended in cheering the entry of Ger-
man troops upon the departure of the Danes, and shouting
the Schlcswig-Holstein anthem; but they knew no reason
why they should regard the gentlemen walking along the
pier with any unusual interest. Suddenly a sort of electric
shock seemed to thrill through the town ; people began
frantically to run towards the market-place ; the three gen-
tlemen found themselves surrounded by an enthusiastic and
excited multitude, who could scarcely realize the fact that he
whom they maintained to be their lawful sovereign had come
to claim his own, and had been compelled, in order to avoid
the traps laid for him by his enemies, thus to steal into the
country No one could visit Holstein at such a moment
without catching the infection. Who can stand by and watch
unmoved the progress of a game when the stake played for
is a crown ? Who can live in an atmosphere of shouting and
cheering and wild excitement, and remain indifferent to the
popular emotion ? How is it possible to see a whole nation
testifying its unanimous desire for some one thing upon
which they have set their affections, and not join in "wish-
ing they may get it ?" It may be bad for them, or they may
have no right to it; but when nearly a million of wills are
all turned in the same direction, there is generally a good
deal to be said in their favor. Whole nations are not unan-
imous without some cause. And although we may not al-
ways trust the wisdom of popular movements, and generally
disapprove of the means they employ to achieve their ends,
they deserve to be respected when they represent the aspi-
rations of every class of society.

THE WAR IN SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN. 315

When I arrived at Kiel, the day after the Duke of Augus-
tenburg had made his triumphant entry into the town, the
Holsteiners were still giving vent to the redundancy of their
enthusiasm. They had been passing from one phase of
patriotic excitement to another. First of all, the sullen de-
parture of the Danish garrisons put them in good spirits, and
they chuckled inwardly as they watched the retiring regiments.
Then, almost before the last Danish soldier had disappeared,
from every window fluttered the national banner. The whole
town instantaneously broke out into rejoicing. The shops
were shut, and the population gave themselves up with one
consent to singing, upon all possible occasions and without
intermission, " Schleswig-Holstein meer umschlungen." The
Saxon and Hanoverian troops were welcomed as deliverers,
and overwhelmed with civilities. Every Danish emblem
disappeared ; the word Kongliche was taken down from all
the public buildings, and, with a levity characteristic of all
popular emotion, the people of Kiel thought that their cause
was won, that their anxieties were at an end, and that noth-
ing more remained but for Duke Frederick to come and take
possession of his own ; so that when that prince did unex-
pectedly make his appearance, the town went off into a new
series of demonstrations ; and as I entered it at eight o'clock
in the evening, I found the streets illuminated by a torch-
light procession. Five hundred waving torches cast a lurid
glare upon the snow-clad houses and whitened streets ; and
when they all collected in front of the Bahnhoffs Hotel, at
which the duke had taken up his abode, and broke out into
enthusiastic cheers, and bands played, and banners fluttered,
and a venerable citizen, with a voice trembling from emotion,
in a few touching words welcomed back to his own capital
the prince who had been in exile from it for fourteen years,
it was difficult to deny the genuineness of the popular senti-
ment, or to remain an indifferent spectator to this develop-
ment of it. The duke, standing at a window, addressed the
crowd, which, with eager, upturned faces, were gazing upon

316 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

and listening to him for the first time. To judge by the
cheers at the conclusion of his speech, they were satisfied
with their inspection, and dispersed, not to go to bed, but to
parade the streets and lanes. It was the last night of the
year, and there seemed something hopeful in the auspices
under which 1864 was being ushered in. I adjourned, with
a number of excited citizens, to a club, or harmonia, as it
was called ; and here, under the influence of beer, and in an
atmosphere of smoke, patriotic speeches were made, toasts
proposed, and the old year satisfactorily disposed of. Little
did the worthy citizens of Kiel then imagine that before
many weeks were over all would be changed ; that they
would be taking down instead of putting up flags, ceasing to
apostrophize " Schleswig-Holstein sea-embraced," and meet-
ing in the harmonia, not to congratulate, but to condole with
each other — to drink no longer to the health of Saxon and
of Hanoverian, but confusion to the Austrian and the Prussian.
However, they did right not to anticipate misfortunes. They
took advantage of the bright sun to make what little hay
they could, and every demonstration that could be imagined
was made. Twenty-four fair maids of Kiel, dressed in white,
with tricolor ribbons, came and tendered their homage to the
duke on behalf of the sex generally. A grand patriotic rep-
resentation was given at the theatre, with a tableau emblem-
atical of the inseparable union of Schleswig with Holstein ;
while deputations succeeded each other in unvaried succes-
sion, not merely from all parts of Holstein, but from Schles-
wig as well. One of the most interesting of these consisted
of a procession of four hundred yeomen and small country
proprietors, who rode into the town, and formed with mili-
tary precision before the hotel. It was impossible to look
upon these sturdy agriculturists, and not see in them the
type of the British farmer. Schleswig-Holstein is indeed the
cradle of the Anglo-Saxon race ; their oldest national songs
were preserved, not in their own country, but in ours ; and
our chronicler, the Venerable Bede, furnishes the most au-

THE WAR IN SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN. 317

(hentic traditions of their early history. The language of the
Frisen and the Angeln is full of words which are to be found,
not in German, but in English ; and both the rural and mar-
itime populations of these provinces bear the strongest re-
semblance to our own.

It was exactly a month before the Austrian and Prussian
armies crossed the Eider that I found myself performing
that historical operation at Rendsburg. Contrary to my ex-
pectation, I crossed it without opposition. It is true that, in-
asmuch as the Eider was frozen over from one end to the
other, a solitary invader might enter Schleswig in spite of the
whole Danish army; and so probably they made a merit of
necessity, and pretended not to care who entered and who
left the province. Considering the critical state of the rela-
tions of Denmark with Germany at the moment, I was much
struck with the enlightened and civilized treatment which
the traveller met with on both sides. Although pontoon-
trains were rumbling through the streets of Rendsburg, and
engineers were taking the preliminary steps to erecting bat-
teries which should command the Kronewerke, and the town
was full of Saxon and Hanoverian troops, and every outward
indication was in favor of a speedy outbreak of hostilities,
not the slightest suspicion attached to those who crossed
or recrossed the frontiers. A drawbridge not twenty yards
long separated the German from the Danish sentry ; every
time they paced it they almost met in the centre. At one
end of the bridge floated the German, at the other the Dan-
ish, flag. Groups of Danish soldiers inspected groups of
German soldiers, at twenty yards apart, as prize-fighters do
before the fight begins ; and the peaceable inhabitants of the
town came to look at the combatants eying each other.
One seemed to be standing on a volcano with a very thin
crust, indeed. Observing people pass both sentries unchal-
lenged, I followed the example, and in two minutes found
myself in Schleswig. Soldiers, with the little red-and-white

318 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

cockade of Denmark in their caps, were far more occupied,
it seemed to me, in making preparations to resist the expect-
ed attack than their opponents were in carrying out their
aggressive works.

Two strong lines of palisades, loop-holed for musketry,
flanked the bridge ; and an erection of some description,
the nature of which I could not exactly discover, was in prog-
ress on a commanding position. The Kronewerke is. the
tete de pont on the Schleswig side of the bridge which crosses
the Eider ; there were a few buildings used for barracks near
it, and in a semicircular form surrounding it was the district
claimed by Holstein, and which contained six villages, in
most of which, at the moment of my visit, Danish troops
were billeted. It was then reported to be the intention of
General Hake, commanding the Federal army of execution,
to summon the Danish general to evacuate the position ;
and the Danish general having announced his determination
not to comply with this summons, a conflict was considered
imminent. It did not ultimately take place, because the
Federals were not in sufficient force, and the Saxon general
did not wish to summon either the Prussian or Austrian
contingents to his assistance. The jealousy which then
existed between the Federals and the armies of the two
great German powers might have been exasperated with
immense advantage to the Danes at this early stage of the
war.

It was never properly understood in this country that both
the Federal-German army and the Danish army had a common
enemy which they hated more even than they hated each
other, and this was the Prussian army. They both had the
same policy in one respect, and this was to keep their quar-
rel to themselves, and not allow the two great powers to in-
terfere with overpowering force, and settle the matter off-hand
in their own sense. It is most probable that, had Prussia
and Austria never meddled in the affair, the Germans and
Danes would have fought out the matter with pretty equal

THE WAR IN SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN. 3 10.

chances of success ; but the moment these two absolute gov-
ernments were permitted to take the affair in hand and set-
tle it according to treaty, they obtained the control of the
situation, and the power of abusing to an unlimited extent
the confidence reposed in them.

After an unmolested exploration of the Kronewerke, I re-
turned to Holstein by way of the railway bridge. Here, too,
German and Danish sentries were keeping amicable guard,
and on each side the river expanded into a sort of lagoon,
covered with ice, on which boys were skating ; and firmly
frozen in were the small craft which represented the maritime
commerce of Rendsburg. Although trains were running reg-
ularly at this time from Rendsburg to Schleswig, I preferred
making the journey in an open wagon, partly for the sake of
seeing the country, and partly for the convenience of being able
to choose my own hour of starting. Rumbling once more over
the drawbridge, we soon found ourselves beyond the limits of
the six villages, and traversed a hard frozen road, over which
our well-roughed horses made good progress. The fields on
each side were covered with a thin coating of snow, and divided
with hedges as in England. Farmhouses were few and far be-
tween, and villages, or more properly hamlets, very rare. In
the first one through which we passed we observed a battery of
field-artillery ; but soldiers were not moving along the line, and
there did not seem any intention to reinforce the troops then
occupying the Kronewerke. According to the usual habit
of the country, we stopped at a half-way house, after an hour
and a half's drive, for a glass of schnapps and a bait, and then,
once more facing the bleak, cutting wind, we trundled merri-
ly along, by the light of a rising moon, into Schleswig. On
the way we passed the railway junction of Kloster Krug, the
scene of rather a sharp combat, a month later, between the
Danes and the Austrians ; then winding between the low
hills crowned with the batteries of the Dannevirke, we entered
the long town of Schleswig, and found its single street
encumbered with troops, and its not very spacious hotels

320 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

crowded with officers. We were upwards of an hour vainly
trying to persuade inhospitable hotel-keepers to take us in.
Being all German in sympathy, they were in no very amiable
mood at finding themselves obliged to provide accommoda-
tion for their enemies ; and it was only after much persua-
sion that my German companion induced a stanch patriot to
turn his two daughters out of their bedroom, and place the
accommodation at our disposal. This mark of friendship
and confidence warmed our hearts to our host, and he and a
waiter with strong political feelings entertained us with an
account of their grievances till a late hour. Considering that
the room in which we dined was crowded with Danish officers,
and that our political conversation was by no means carried
on in a subdued tone, I was struck with the proof which
this episode afforded of the leniency of the Danish rule. As
compared with the tyranny of despotic governments, the ad-
ministration of these provinces by Denmark contrasted most
favorably ; but unfortunately there is no amount of political
liberty which will satisfy the sentiment of national indepen-
dence, which is in most instances unreasonable ; for it may be
safely laid down as an axiom, that people would rather gov-
ern themselves badly than let other people govern them well.
However, I do not mean to imply by this that Holstein,
as a sovereign German duchy separated from Denmark,
would not be governed upon liberal and enlightened princi-
ples, nor can it be said that the rule of Denmark has been
altogether unexceptionable. No doubt many serious griev-
ances have existed : still, at such a moment of political agita-
tion, the freedom of speech and of action permitted to a
population avowedly hostile was remarkable.

We were roused at an early hour the following morning by
strains of martial music, and looking out of the window we
observed regiments forming in the open space in front of the
hotel, and the street already crowded with a train of artil-
lery and ammunition wagons. Every outward indication be-
tokened the confident anticipation of the speedy outbreak of

THE WAR IN SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN. 32 I

hostilities ; and the contrast with the German preparations
which were going on at Renclsburg was very remarkable.
There, it is true, things looked warlike, but it was in a sleepy,
uncertain sort of way : here everything was activity and bustle.
The men looked bright and cheery, the officers seemed in
high spirits at the prospect of a fight. The laurels of their
former campaign were still unwithered ; and they believed
they would reap a fresh supply whenever the attack from
Germany should come. They little thought then that the
overwhelming armies of the two great German powers would
be employed to crush them, and rightly judged that, so long
as they only had the Federal troops to deal with, their chances
of success were not unequal. Finding a battery of artillery
bound apparently upon a military promenade, my friend and
I followed it upon speculation, passing the old castle of Got-
torp, a huge, ugly building, like a factor}', prettily situated.
We found ourselves winding along some narrow country
lanes, and afraid that the officer in command of the battery
might imagine we were spies, we kept at a respectful distance,
scrambling across ploughed fields and over deep-rutted coun-
try roads, until the glitter of bayonets in another direction re-
vealed to us the objects of the promenade. On striking a
high-road we found troops moving in large masses into the
batteries of the Dannevirke, which crowned the hills we had
been ascending. Although we were the only civilians, no
notice was taken of us, and we were allowed to explore at
leisure this celebrated fortification. As I walked along the
covered ways which connected together the nineteen or twen-
ty separate forts, each bristling with cannon and surrounded
by ditches and chevaux de /rises, I thought I saw in prospec-
tive the grave of many of the brave men who were now drawn
up within the lines in all the display of a grand military re-
view; but even then the inadequacy of the force was ap-
parent to the most unskilled in military matters. The de-
fences of the Dannevirke consisted of no less than three dif-
ferent ramparts, one four miles long, one two miles long, and
14*

322 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

one fourteen miles long. When in addition to this twenty
miles of earthwork is added the position of Frederickstadt
and the whole line of the Schlei, it is difficult to comprehend
why the Danes should ever have seriously thought of making
a stand against an overwhelming force, with the troops at
their disposal. That a hundred thousand men could make
the position impregnable is scarcely to be doubted ; and
from the earliest times this line of defence has been regarded
by the Danes as their natural military frontier. Traditions
as far back as the tenth century exist to prove that, even at
that remote period, the military instinct of the people had
led them to execute a line of defence which the most ad-
vanced stage of civilization should adopt, and render cele-
brated in the future history of the country. The subsequent
evacuation of the Dannevirke divested it, however, of that in-
terest which, before the war began, it possessed in the eyes
of those who considered that the tide of German invasion
would meet here its first check.

I cannot say that, standing on the crisp snow which cov-
ered the heights of the Dannevirke, and looking on the proud
array of men drawn up behind its intrenchments, I antici-
pated that in less than two months they would be struggling
for bare life in Jutland. I have seldom seen an army which
looked more business-like and full of fight ; nor, it must be
admitted, did they afterwards show themselves wanting in
any of the finer qualities of a soldier. Numbers alone drove
them to their last intrenchments, and the want of numbers
alone compelled them to evacuate the strong position they
were now holding. In a plain on the extreme right were
drawn up the cavalry, and behind the batteries upon the
heights were massed the artillery and infantry. About mid-
day the king, surrounded by his staff, and accompanied by
the crown-prince and the unfortunate General de Meza, who
afterwards had reason to regret that he ever had any con-
nection with the Dannevirke, rode along the line ; but pre-
vious to his arrival a general order, in the patriotic sense, was

THE WAR IN SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN. 323

read by the colonels to each regiment formed into square.
Then the king himself passed them in review, and ad-
dressed to each division a few stirring words, which were
received with cheers and every appearance of enthusiasm.
It was an interesting and exciting spectacle, not so much
on account of the display itself, as from the political sig-
nificance which attached to it. It was a hard day's work
scrambling over the stiff, half-frozen ground from one bat-
tery to another, along the ridges of hills for miles ; but we
were repaid, as well by the good-fortune which had led us
so opportunely to the spot, as by the lovely view over the
town of Schleswig, the broad frozen Schlei, and the wood-
crowned hills in rear ; and when at last we reached the town
hungry and tired, we were more than consoled by our clay's
work, and gained much interesting information from a young
Danish officer, whose sanguine anticipations of the result of
the impending hostilities have certainly not been realized.
The trains continued to run between Schleswig and Rends-
burg exactly as if those two towns were not occupied by hos-
tile armies ; and there was no hinderance to my walking
straight out of the Dannevirke down to the booking-office,
and being within an hour in the office of General Hake at
Rendsburg, narrating my experiences, if so it had pleased me.
However, the liberality and unsuspiciousness of the Danes
were so great, it would have been most unworthy to abuse it ;
and I went back to Holstein in a reticent frame of mind, with
a higher opinion of the Danish army, and of their powers of
resistance, than I had before, and with a stronger conviction
of the inevitable certainty of a speedy outbreak of hostilities.
As, at this crisis in the Dano-German question, European
diplomacy had taken the complication fairly in hand, and
was disporting itself recklessly in its meshes, a residence
in Kiel lost a good deal of the piquancy which the popular
enthusiasm, and the uncertainty of political events, had
imparted to it on the occasion of my first arrival. I got
tired of skating out to sea, down the magnificent harbor of

324 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

Kiel, over miles of unsurpassed ice ; of listening to canards,
which proved oftener false than true ; and of getting up in
my leisure hours the genealogical tree of the House of Old-
enburg. But while Holstein was hushed in the calm which
preceded the storm, the Prussian Prime-Minister, Count Bis-
marck, was arranging some very lively combinations indeed at
Berlin. The operations of so skilled an artist could not be
other than a profitable study, so I repaired to that extremely
dull and pedantic city, and watched with interest the progress
of that diplomacy which resulted in the precipitate and unex-
pected crossing of the Eider. The general impression which
prevailed in Berlin just before that event took place was that
it could not possibly come off until the middle of February.
Indeed, a review of the army was fixed for the 2d, and an-
nounced as publicly as possible, in order that the Danes
might be thrown off their guard, and the crossing effected on
the 1st with less chance of opposition. The fact was, that
Berlin had been worked up to a martial furor ; the military
element, which is largely preponderating and highly influen-
tial, was burning for distinction. It had found its only de-
velopment, for many years past, in the tightness of the uni-
form which, in the mind of the Prussian officer, at once ele-
vates him into a cherub, or some such superior order of being
— though it did seem unnatural that, being already provided
with wings, he should wish to add spurs. The fact is, that
except in the last Holstein war, when they were beaten by
the Danes, the Prussians had seen no fighting, and it would
have cost even Bismarck his place had he attempted to stem
the torrent of military ardor which his policy had excited,
which carried away society, and which sent even the stalwart
prime-minister whirling down the flood rather faster than he
originally intended.

As I found everybody of distinction going to Holstein, and
as I had good reason to believe that the public was purpose-
ly left: in error with reference to the crossing of the Eider, I
started off once more to the scene of action, and arrived in

THE WAR IN SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN. 325

Kiel on the night of the 31st of January. The news brought
in by the waiter, with coffee, was that a sanguinary battle had
taken place at 5 a.m., and that the Danish army was routed
and retreating. This ultimately dwindled down to two shots
exchanged and a Dane slightly wounded. But the important
fact remained — the Eider had been crossed, and the right
thing to do was clearly to cross it also. So thought a knot
of friends collected in the street, which, although the hour
was early, was already full of gossiping groups ; so, after
swallowing a hasty breakfast, I found myself, with four eager
patriots and Mr. Hardman, the Times correspondent, seated
in an open cart of the country, provided with three cross
benches, rattling over the hard frozen road as rapidly as a
pair of stout nags could drag us.

In an hour we had reached the Eider, which here pre-
sented the appearance of a canal rather than of a river, and
is spanned by a drawbridge to allow the passage of boats.
The bridge-keeper, who had been accused of spying for the
Danes, was already in custody, and his family, grouped around
the door of their abode, watched the invading battalions cross-
ing the narrow bridge. Since seven o'clock in the morning,
when the leading regiments crossed without resistance, one
incessant stream of troops had been pouring into Schleswig,
and we arrived just in time to hear the triumphant cheers of
the rear-guard as they passed out of one duchy into the oth-
er. Soon we overtook the artillery, and our pace was re-
duced to a walk. The roads were like ice, and the unroughed
artillery and cavalry horses slipped about terribly ; but every
face beamed with animation, and it was easy to perceive in
the ruddy, youthful countenances of the men, full of hope and
eagerness, that they were new to the work. Here were
no rugged, furrowed visages, such as betoken a veteran
army. The serious business of war was to these men as yet
a holiday pastime : laughter and songs rang in the clear,
frosty air, and our unpretending wagon, with its six " civil "
occupants, was the subject of an incessant volley of chaff as

326 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

we squeezed our way to the front. There was a goodly
sprinkling of Kielers on foot, making their way to see the
fun ; students of the college, with little red caps, trudged
along with newspaper correspondents and amateur specta-
tors. The boom of distant cannon sent a thrill down the line
as it broke in upon the merriment, and a cart conveying a
sick dragoon to the rear gave matters a serious look, for we
supposed him to be wounded. Everybody was eager to
push on, and a little after midday we entered the half-way
village of Gettorf. Here the population was in a condi-
tion of frantic enthusiasm ; the taproom of the village inn
was filled with a noisy multitude of soldiers and country peo-
ple fraternizing, drinking, and singing " Schleswig-Holstein
meer umschlungen." Flags were waving, and Duke Fred-
erick had been already proclaimed amid the applause of the
populace. Taking advantage of a halt in the line, we pushed
on through scenery less tame than that through which we
had already passed ; the country became more undulating,
and at one point the road passed through a thick wood, and
over a hill which would have afforded a defensible position.
Probably the movement on the part of the Prussians had
been too sudden to admit of the Danes profiting by it; the
firing had long since ceased ; indeed, we had only heard
one or two shots ; but now we met two carriages driving in
all haste towards Kiel. These contained the Austrian and
Prussian ministers on their way from Copenhagen. We
were also informed that the firing we had heard proceeded,
in the first instance, from two Danish war-steamers, which
had thus greeted the leading columns of the Prussian army
as they debouched from the wood on to the shores of the
bay. Except slightly wounding a horse, they did no dam-
age ; and on the artillery coming up and opening fire, the
wooden ships were compelled to get under way; and when
we came upon the scene of action they were no more visi-
ble. The artillery which had been so recently engaged were
in position on a range of hills overlooking the harbor, and

THE WAR IN SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN. 327

two or three round-shot were embedded by the side of the
road which ran along their base. We had now passed the
whole of the column which had originally impeded our prog-
ress, and drove into Eckernfiorde in style. As only quite the
leading regiments had entered, and were still billeting them-
selves, we were fortunate enough to find accommodation,
but not repose. The town presented a scene of confusion
and excitement perfectly bewildering; the whole population
seemed bent upon forcing the Prussian soldiers to share
their patriotic emotion. They embraced them, drank with
them, sang with them, cheered them, and paraded the streets
with them. The population of the town is only about six
thousand ; but they made noise enough for ten times that
number. Flags were being hung out in every direction ; prov-
ident patriots had brought some from Kiel : stripes of red,
white, and blue were being hastily patched together, and flut-
tered from every house-top, except from the mansion imme-
diately opposite the hotel, which was inhabited by a medical
man with Danish sympathies — because, as I understood, his
practice had been chiefly among Danish employees. How-
ever that may be, it spoke well both for Danes and Germans
that he should at such a moment have the courage to stand
alone. He could not, however, prevent a number of pretty
daughters looking out upon, and taking a lively interest in,
the animated scene below. For just in front of the hotel
popular demonstrations kept going off like fireworks; every
now and then a stern officer dashed through the crowd on
special service, and scorned to notice the political excitement
around him. Probably he had very vague ideas on the sub-
ject, and knew as little of the Schleswig-Holstein question as
the British public or the officers of the Austrian army, who
"wondered how it was that, being in an enemy's country,
the people should all be so civil." Presently a great crowd
gathered at the hotel door, and forming into a sort of pro-
cession, went off to the market-place singing the national
anthem. I followed it, and was chiefly struck by the stern re-

328 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

bukes which respectable citizens administered to any member
of the crowd disposed to be too boisterous, and the submis-
sive way in which the more rowdy element received reproof.
Still nothing could prevent the triumph of dragging Prussian
soldiers along to assist in proclaiming Duke Frederick ; for
these simple people seemed to think that Bismarck might be
touched by this exhibition of sympathy on the part of the
Prussian army.

The town-hall of Eckernfiorde is a queer, ramshackle old
place, with a broad flight of stone steps leading up to it ;
and on this the corporation took its stand ; while a band
played vigorously, and people shouted themselves hoarse,
until the order for silence was given, and a burly burgher
addressed his fellow-citizens in a stentorian voice, congratu-
lating them upon the recovery of their ancient liberties, com-
plimenting the Prussian army upon having taken the matter
so decidedly in hand, expressing his sense of the obligation
they were under to them for rendering possible the proclama-
tion of Duke Frederick, whose name was coupled with many
endearing epithets, and was received with most enthusiastic
applause. " Finally," said the speaker, " we have still in the
town a rascally Danish burgomaster, who must be instantly
requested to leave ; but of course the people will not think
of meddling — my colleagues and myself are men enough for
the task of ejecting him !" The band then struck up a sa-
cred anthem, and every head was bared, while all joined in the
well-known words of the hymn, "God our strong tower."
After which the mob betook themselves again to parading
the streets and singing ; while, curious to see the result of
the burgomaster episode, I inquired where might be the resi-
dence of that worthy; and, having found it, lingered in a
promiscuous manner at a neighboring corner. I found a
good many other persons similarly occupied ; and in a few
minutes the late orator and his friends entered the silent
mansion, from which, of course, no popular flag was waving,
and which was conspicuous by its gloomy aspect. I don't

THE WAR IN SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN. 329

exactly know what there was to expect. I am half afraid I
had thought a stand-up fight possible at the top of the steps.
At all events, I felt rather ashamed of the idle curiosity
which tempted me to wait for a report of the interview. It
was satisfactory to those interested, as the burgomaster prom-
ised to vacate the premises at 10 p.m. ; meantime some
citizens were left with him to take over the records. This
man had contrived, apart from being a Dane, to make him-
self extremely unpopular in the province, and many were the
stories current of his cruelty and injustice. As, however, I
.am not aware how far they are to be relied upon, and as
whatever may have been his misdeeds he has suffered for
them, it will be unnecessary here to repeat them. At a later
period of the evening, when I passed the house, I saw two
sentries at the door, so that he had applied for protection,
fearing some popular ebullition of feeling ; ■ but the alarm
was Groundless. Even the Danes must render justice to the
people of both the duchies for the moderation they dis-
played in the moments of their triumph. A very primitive
description of illumination, consisting simply of candles in all
the windows, closed the day's proceedings ; but all night
singing went on, and once the town was thrown into a state
of excitement by the report of the return of the Danish men-
of-war in the darkness, for the purpose of bombarding it.

As it was understood that the army was to continue its
march on the following morning, and that the Danes were to
be attacked in a position called Kochendorf, distant only a
few miles from the town, we secured a light trap, and, with a
pair of wretched-looking nags, started at an early hour in rear
of the army. The weather was still cold, but raw and foggy,
and the road as slippery as ever, so that our progress was
slow. We were somewhat puzzled, after getting past one
division, to meet some batteries which had received the
order to countermarch, and none of the officers whom we
asked seemed to know the reason. It turned out afterwards
that Kochendorf was evacuated, and that Prince Frederick

32,0 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.'

Charles, afterwards known as the Red Prince, rather than
return to Eckernfiorde re infecta, had determined to attack
Missunde. This necessitated another disposition of troops,
and we shortly after came upon the vanguard at some cross-
roads near the village of Kosel, and were brought to a halt.
Thinking we should be more independent without it, we left
our wagon at this point, and, when the order was given
to advance, accompanied the head of the column on foot.
Passing through the village, the inhabitants of which were
all excitedly collected to witness from afar the coming en-
gagement, I ascended a hill, on which stood a picturesque
church, and from the churchyard, filled with spectators, was
just able to distinguish with my glass the indistinct forms of
the Danish skirmishers. Unfortunately the mist lay so heavy
over the landscape that the fortifications of Missunde itself
were not visible; and after leaving the churchyard we felt
very much as though we were groping our way in the dark
as we approached the enemy's position. Soon a shot from
the Danish batteries enlightened us as to their exact where-
abouts, and our artillery was brought up into position, ex-
tending itself in the form of a semicircle along the crest of
the hill. Fortunately the frost had hardened the surface of
the ploughed land across which the guns were to be dragged.
The fields were divided by mud-banks surmounted by hedges,
and pioneers were actively employed cutting gaps through
them. These banks afforded very comfortable shelter for
amateurs ; but the firing was not hot enough to drive one
behind them for long. I afterwards understood that no
fewer than seventy-four pieces of ordnance were engaged in
the bombardment ; but I only counted six batteries, and the
fire was not kept up with much spirit. In fact, the fog
seemed to exercise a depressing influence upon all con-
cerned ; our extremities were very cold ; but there was not
even excitement enough to make one forget one's "poor
feet." The unhappy Danes did not the least know where
the infantry was massed, and could only judge what to fire

THE WAR IN SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN. 33 1

at by the flashes of our heavy guns. The flashes of theirs
alone revealed the position of Missunde, and the consequence
was that comparatively little damage was done on either side.
The enemy's fire was necessarily feeble, as they had but few
guns in position ; but the sound of shot and shell was evi-
dently new to the young soldiers who composed the Prussian
army, and who paid the tribute of respect to a whistling shell
common to novices. Once I perceived, advancing dimly
through the fog, the line of Danish skirmishers, and thought
that some life was about to be infused into the monotonous
artillery combat, which had lasted for about two hours; but
they halted two fields distant, and retreated in good order,
having apparently made themselves acquainted with our posi-
tion. On the extreme right, picturesquely situated by the
side of a small frozen ?neer, stood a mill ; and we determined
to explore in that direction, as the fire had slackened on the
left. Making a short cut across the ice, which in one or two
places had been split with round-shot, we found a regiment
of cavalry galloping in hot haste along a narrow lane tow-
ards the enemy, and two regiments drawn up in a field, ap-
parently waiting the order for an attack. The Danes had
got the range pretty well, and their riflemen were keeping up
a well-sustained fire. Though we could not make out the
direction from which they came, so thick was the fog, their
hissing little messengers went flying about like invisible
grasshoppers j and wounded men went scrambling to the
rear, or got their comrades to carry them there in their great-
coats ; for no stretchers had come up, and ambulances were
nowhere to be seen — in fact, nothing could have been worse
than the arrangements for the wounded. Now and then one
went to the rear attended by quite an unnecessary quantity
of comrades ; but, on the whole, the men behaved quite as
well as could have been expected of raw troops ; and when
at last the order came to advance on the intrenchments, they
skirmished up with alacrity to within three hundred yards of
the enemy, losing in so doing a good many men. The ob-

332 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

ject of the move was to cover the retreat of the artillery. It
had never from the first been intended to storm Missunde.
As the result proved, this, as well as every other fortification
on the line, would inevitably have to be evacuated; and it
would have been difficult to have suggested a more useless
afternoon's amusement than was provided for the Prussian
army on the 2d of February, 1864. The men with whom I
conversed, as we toiled back towards the village, seemed
rather mystified, as well they might be, with the whole opera-
tion. We had neither achieved a success, nor been repulsed,
nor done anything except to stand to be fired at throughout
the greater part of a raw, misty afternoon. And now, the
fact that our shells had set fire to some houses in Missunde,
which were blazing luridly through the fog, was a poor tri-
umph. Fighting on these terms was not such good fun after
all. Though it had not been attended with much danger —
for the official list only gave forty killed, and one hundred
and eighty wounded — we had been the only spectators at all
near the front, and we found a cloud of German newspaper
correspondents and citizens of Kiel in the village eager for
sensation intelligence, which, under the circumstances, it was
difficult to provide. However, a great deal of sanguinary
hand-to-hand fighting, which never took place, was reported,
with many graphic details, to have occurred in the trenches.
The Prussian army was supposed to have covered itself with
glory, though, even at this moment of anti-Danish excitement,
the anti-Prussian feeling was so strong among the Holstein-
ers that there were many present who would have chuckled
over any decided reverse which could have happened to the
Prussian army.

The little village of Kosel did not promise well for a night's
accommodation ; the road back to Eckernfiorde would be
impassable for some hours, and it was getting late enough
to make us feel nervous at the prospect of a good deal of
scrambling and discomfort before we should discover quar-
ters. Fortunately we found our trap with the two rosinantes,

THE WAR IN SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN. 333

and were sitting speculating in what direction to go, when
we saw a road leading towards the enemy's position free of
all encumbrance. Along this we determined to proceed, in
hopes of finding a village unoccupied by troops. There was
so much confusion that no one thought of preventing our
taking a line which led us straight to the enemy; and in five
minutes we had left the din and bustle of the retreating army
behind us. There was something startling in the sudden
change to solitude ; and in about half an hour we began to
wonder how far we might be from the nearest Danes. A
clean little village, a charming old-fashioned roadside inn,
and a group of peasants collected round the porch, was a
welcome sight. They raised their hands in astonishment
at our appearance, and in deprecation of our venturing any
farther. The Danes, they said, were not above a quarter of
an hour distant, and we had better stay at the inn for the
night. The driver, who, like a true patriot, had a cockade
in his hat, was recommended to dispense with that little ad-
dition, and he became altogether very piano at the unpleasant
neighborhood in which he found himself. If any of the vil-
lagers had been spies, we might easily have been made pris-
oners, had that been worth anybody's while ; but, so far from
this being the case, the rustics seemed to take courage. We
were the first " Germans " they had seen. Their faces beamed
with joy at the proof which our presence afforded of the real-
ity of a speedy deliverance from their present masters; and,
to my great regret, they began to sing, in subdued voices it
is true, that eternal " Schleswig- Holstein meer umschlun-
gen," with the air of which by this time I had become disa-
greeably familiar. The empressement of our host and hostess,
the alacrity of a neatly-dressed, sprightly Hebe, who lin-
gered in the room a great deal more than was actually neces-
sary, to gossip with us about the Danes, and to hear our
news about the battle, made us congratulate ourselves upon
our good-fortune. While those with the army were lodging
in barns, we had a most luxurious inn all to ourselves. And

334 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

when, after the fatigues of the clay, we had discussed an ad-
mirably cooked dinner, and drew round the fire, with the
usual accompaniments to the digestive process, we thought
that there were worse places in the world than Fleckeby,
and that it was decidedly pleasanter to be in front of an ad-
vancing army than in rear. The line, it must be admitted,
is rather a delicate one to hit : for armies in this relative
position to each other are constantly performing the process
known as " feeling each other ;" and if they " feel you " be-
tween them, the results are not satisfactory. However, there
is an excitement in being ahead of everything, which, added
to the extra comfort, makes the alternative, even though the
risk be added, the most agreeable. We had a long discus-
sion, before " turning in," upon our plans for the morrow, the
question being whether it were better to return to the Prus-
sian army, on the chance of another attack on Missunde,
and the crossing of the Schlei, or whether we should not make
an exploration towards the Austrian headquarters, on the
chance of an attack upon the Dannevirke coming off. We
were about an hour's drive from the Dannevirke in our pres-
ent position ; and although our host gave us very precise
information as to the whereabouts of the Danes, one was
never sure of escaping reconnoitring parties. There is no
doubt that, as amateurs, we should have been much better
treated in the Danish than in the Prussian army, so that it
would have been rather good policy to have "fallen" into
the hands of the enemy, had it not involved a return to Eng-
land by way of Copenhagen, an operation for which I could
not afford the time. All our plans were frustrated next morn-
ing by the change in the weather. The mists of the day be-
fore were succeeded by hurricanes of wind, with a violent
beating rain, that made campaigning a most unpleasant occu-
pation. Another attack on Missunde or the crossing of the
Schlei was clearly out of the question, so we decided in favor
of the left wing. While we were standing watching discon-
solately the storm-gusts succeeding each other, the familiar

THE WAR IN SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN. 335

uniform of the Austrian army suddenly turned a corner of
the road, and an officer in command of a picket rushed up
the steps of our cheery hostel to find warmth and food. Al-
though, when he gave his orders to the sergeant, his mouth
was full of beefsteak, I understood the Italian in which they
were conveyed ; and he started when, after having allowed
him to enter into details, I made a remark in the same lan-
guage. He had not calculated upon this in a remote corner
of Schleswig, and evidently at once set me down as a spy.
It was in vain to attempt afterwards to extract a word of
information from him. He would neither say where he had
come from, where he was going to, which roads were safe,
which occupied by the enemy. The more questions I asked,
the more suspicious naturally did he become, and he declined
at last even to condole with me on the state of the weather.
Getting impatient of inaction, we determined on being storm-
stayed no longer ;. and being assured by our host that the
Austrian headquarters were at a village called Lottorf, we
ordered our driver to take us there. For more than an hour
we followed lanes and cross-roads without meeting a soul :
at last I became sceptical about the direction, and we stopped
at a hamlet, and were informed that we had passed the turn-
ing to Lottorf some time since; that no troops had appeared
in the immediate neighborhood, but that firing had been
heard. As whenever hostile armies are at all near each
other, firing is always being heard by the country people,
whether there is any or not, we did not believe this latter
part of the story, and decided, as we had passed Lottorf,
not to go back there, but to push on and trust to Providence.
It afterwards turned out that, had we gone to Lottorf, we
should have gone straight into the Danish lines, as the ene-
my was holding the position in force. However, in blissful
ignorance of this narrow escape, we kept on, still wondering
where any army was. We were in the very middle of the
position, and could not see a uniform of any kind. It was
not until we reached the village of Breckendorf that we ob-

336 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

served some Austrian vedettes on the hilltops, and saw men
creeping about in the fields reconnoitring. Still we could
not believe in the proximity of the Danes, unless, indeed,
we had come through them without knowing it. We said
as much to the Austrian officer in command, who replied
that he did not know what had become of the enemy, and
that he was going to call in his scouts. If we could only
have suspected that we had actually been passing over ground
which in another hour was to be one of the most hotly con-
tested fields of the war, we should have looked at it with
greater interest. If we had left Fleckeby an hour or two
later, we should have tumbled into the middle of the battle
of Ober Selk; as it was, the villainous weather and the ab-
sence of any sign of the enemy induced us to push on to
headquarters, in the hope of getting some good information.
The difficulty was to find out where headquarters were. Ev-
ery officer we asked told us a different place: some thought
we were spies, others did not know themselves, or pretended
they did not ; so we found ourselves approaching Rendsburg,
simply because there was no other place to go to.

The country through which we had passed since leaving
Fleckeby was not devoid of a rugged beauty, and, from its
diversified character, formed a pleasing contrast to other
parts of Holstein. The hills, though not high, were in places
scarped, and granite boulders lay strewn at their base ; while
here and there we observed tumuli which had all the ap-
pearance of having been artificially constructed. However,
we had neither time nor inclination for geological observa-
tion. From a military point of view, the country was ad-
mirably adapted for skirmishing, and the battle, which took
place at midday, was a sort of running fight over the hills,
the Danes slowly retreating upon the Dannevirke, some five
or six miles distant, standing on the hilltops, and pouring
down upon the advancing Austrians destructive volleys of
musketry. They disputed effectively one position after an-
other all through the afternoon, the Austrians only achiev-

THE WAR IN SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN. 337

ing their day's success at the price of thirty officers and
upwards of five hundred men killed and wounded. It was
in a narrow lane that we met the division of Gondecourt,
on whom this loss was inflicted, marching unconsciously to
their fate. We had as little idea as they seemed to have of
the bloody work awaiting them ; and as regiment after regi-
ment passed, and the officers inquired of us how far it was
to their night-quarters, neither they nor we suspected the
long sleep on the hillside that was in store for many of them.
At the head of the column rode Gondecourt himself, and
splashing through the deep mire after him came regiments
of Galicians, Hungarians, and Styrians, the latter with sprigs
of pine in their caps. We were obliged to draw up for nearly
an hour to let the long train of artillery and transport go by,
and as we watched the various nationalities pass, we could
not help being struck with the strange political inconsistency
which enabled the oppressors to use the oppressed to fight
against oppression. It was a curious feature of the Schles-
wig-Holstein question that it should have reversed all our
positions ; and that while the Prussians and Austrians appa-
rently found themselves contending for the cause of national-
ity, we should so vehemently have expressed our sympathies
against it.

Having only the day before been present with the Prussian
army, I had a good opportunity of comparing it with the
Austrian troops who were now marching past. The differ-
ence was sufficiently marked. The youthful, light-hearted
Prussian seemed to go into action as a new experience, but
did not inspire much confidence in his steadiness; the Aus-
trian, on the other hand, worn and rugged, often brutalized
in expression, plodded on like a machine. The Prussian ,
looked intelligent enough to understand the Schleswig-Hol-
stein question : the Austrian looked as if brandy and tobacco
constituted the sum total of his ideas; but he was every inch
a "professional," the others looked like amateurs. Never-
theless, two years afterwards the amateurs gave the profes-

338 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

sionals a bad time of it. How it was we did not hear the
firing which took place a short time after we had passed the
column we could not make out, so close to it must we have
been. However, we pushed on to Rendsburg, more for the
purpose of dining than anything else ; and afterwards having
received definite information as to the locality of the head-
quarters, we started once more along by-lanes, which brought
us out ultimately on the pretty, undulating shores of the Wit-
tensee, a very considerable lake. By this time it was getting
dark, but we were far from the end of our fatigues. Follow-
ing the somewhat vague directions of a jovial innkeeper, we
finally, more by good luck than good management, discov-
ered the remote hamlet of Damendorf, where General Von
Wrangel had fixed his headquarters; but he and his staff,
having heard the firing, were witnessing the battle which we
had missed, and came back late with the news. As there
was no corner in which to lay our heads, we had nothing for
it but to push on to Eckernfiorde. Here, again, every table
was occupied, to say nothing of the beds. Our horses were
incapable of moving another yard, but we determined to
struggle on to Kiel, and about midnight were once more en
route with fresh nags. Our bad luck this night pursued us ;
for we met a train of no less than fifteen hundred wagons,
conveying stores to the army, and spent the whole night
scraping past them, at the constant risk of finding an unex-
pected bed in a ditch. It was 4 a.m. before I was once more
ensconced in a snug bed, after twenty hours spent in an open
wagon — the greater number of them in storms of rain or
sleet.

As we received positive information at Kiel that the grand
attack on the Dannevirke was to take place on the following
day, we made another night -journey by carriage to Rends-
burg, reaching that town at three in the morning, and leaving
it again shortly after daybreak in a pitiless snow-storm. We
followed the high-road to Schleswig, the same which I had trav-
ersed more than a month before ; but which, as we soon found

THE WAR IN SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN. 339

to our cost, was no longer free to the traveller. To the Prus-
sian guards which protected the rear of the army was assigned
the duty of making war upon Germany, while the front was
conquering the Danes. Not even officers of the Federal
army in uniform were allowed by these jealous guardsmen
to penetrate their lines, and every civilian was regarded
either as a Danish spy or, what was still more odious, a
member of the National Verein. We were the first of a se-
ries who were subsequently expelled from the neighborhood
of military operations for our political opinions. Not that
the intelligent colonel who refused to allow us to pass had
the least idea what our sentiments were ; but all Englishmen
are, in the eyes of the Yunker, revolutionary, and a danger
not merely to society, but even to the discipline of an army.
The Prussian officer, as a rule — which, like every other, has
brilliant exceptions — prides himself upon being a soldier and
nothing else. He generally succeeds to admiration in this
limited ambition, so far as his bearing to the rest of the world
is concerned ; but the fact to some extent accounts for the
unpopularity of the class generally. One may affect military
precision without allowing it to degenerate into rudeness,
and maintain the dignity of one's profession without showing
contempt for all who do not belong to it — all which reflec-
tions were suggested to me by the extremely uncivil treat-
ment I received, first from a colonel, and then from a general,
simply because I asked to be allowed to go, as I had done
two days before, to headquarters. The elements combining
with the colonels to make any connection with the fortunes
of the Prussian army most disagreeable, I determined to quit
the scene of operations; and, as it turned out afterwards, I
missed nothing, for the night I left Schleswig the Dannevirke
was evacuated, and I should have been detained some time
longer had I waited to see the subsequent operations in Jut-
land. I therefore lost no time in making the best of my way
home.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE MORAL OF IT ALL.

One result of the erratic and somewhat turbulent life I
had been leading, described in the foregoing pages, was to
place me in communication with sources of political infor-
mation of altogether exceptional value. The misfortune was
that it was of so confidential a character that it was difficult
to use it to advantage in any organ of the public press of
which one had not absolute control. For instance, a confer-
ence was at that time sitting in London on the Schleswig-
Holstein question, consisting of plenipotentiaries of all the
European powers who had been parties to the Treaty of Lon-
don, the proceedings at which were kept absolutely secret ;
yet a few days after each meeting I received from abroad an
accurate report of everything that had transpired at it— and
this, I hasten to say, through no one connected with our own
Foreign Office. I felt bursting with all sorts of valuable knowl-
edge, with no means of imparting it in a manner which suited
me, when one clay, at a little dinner at which Sir Algernon
Borthwick, Mr. Evelyn Ashley, and the late Mr. James Stew-
art Wortley were present, when the denseness of the British
public in matters of foreign policy was being discussed, it
was suggested that a little paper should be started by way
of a skit, in which the most outrageous canards should be given
as serious, and serious news should be disguised in a most
grotesque form. In fact, we wanted to see to what extent
society could be mystified. Sir A. Borthwick kindly under-
took to print the absurd little sheet, which appeared a week
or two after under the name of The Owl, and which, I think,

THE MORAL OF IT ALL. 341

was the only instance of a paper on record which paid all its
expenses — which, if I remember right, amounted to ,£15 — by
the sale of its first number. When it was found that it was
likely to be profitable, we arranged that the proceeds should
be applied to our common entertainment ; and while we in-
trigued politicians by the accuracy of our information, we ex-
cited the curiosity of society to the highest pitch, not merely
by maintaining our anonymity, but by the evidences which
our spasmodic little publication afforded that we were thor-
oughly behind the scenes. With the close of the season
The Owl retired to roost for the time, and I made a trip into
Italy to watch the progress of events in the Peninsula. In
the following year a general election took place, and I entered
Parliament.

Most people are, I suppose, more or less conscious of
leading a sort of double life — an outside one and an inside
one. The more I raced about the world, and took as active
a part as I could in its dramatic performances, the more
profoundly did the conviction force itself upon me, that if it
was indeed a stage, and all the men and women only play-
ers, there must be a real life somewhere. And I was always
groping after it in a blind, dumb sort of way — not likely, cer-
tainly, to find it in battle-fields or ballrooms, but yet the re-
flection was more likely to force itself upon me when I was
among murderers or butterflies than at any other time.
Now that I found myself among politicians, I think it forced
itself upon me more strongly than ever. Here was a stage,
indeed, on which I had proposed to myself to play a serious
part. It was for this I had applied myself to the study of
European politics, for this I had supplied myself with valu-
able sources of information. I had learned my part, but
when it came to acting, it seemed to dwindle into most mi-
nute proportions. It is true that just at this juncture the
British legislature was far more occupied with the cattle-
plague than with foreign affairs, and that the disinfecting of
railway trucks was regarded as a subject of absorbing inter-

34 2 EPISODES IN A LIFE OF ADVENTURE.

est, second only in importance to the Reform Bill which fol-
lowed. The House of Commons does not yet seem to have
learned the lesson that voters are like playing-cards. The
more you shuffle them the dirtier they get. When it became
clear to me that, in order to succeed, party must be put be-
fore country, and self before everything, and that success
could only be purchased at the price of convictions, which
were expected to change with those of the leader of the
party — these, as it happened, were of an extremely fluctu-
ating character, and were never to be relied upon from one
session to another — my thirst to find something that was not
a sham or a contradiction in terms increased. The world,
with its bloody wars, its political intrigues, its social evils,
its religious cant, its financial frauds, and its glaring anoma-
lies, assumed in my eyes more and more the aspect of a gi-
gantic lunatic asylum. And the question occurred to me
whether there might not be latent forces in nature, by the
application of which this profound moral malady might be
reached. To the existence of such forces we have the testi-
mony of the ages. It was by the invocation of these that
Christ founded the religion of which the popular theology
has become a travesty, and it appeared to me that it could
only be by a reinvocation of these same forces — a belief in
which seemed rapidly dying out — that a restoration of that
religion to its pristine purity could be hoped for.

I had long been interested in a class of psychic phenome-
na which, under the names of magnetism, hypnotism, and
spiritualism, have since been forcing themselves upon public
attention, and had even been conscious of these phenomena
in my own experiences, and of the existence of forces in
my own organism which science was utterly unable to ac-
count for, and therefore turned its back upon, and relegated
to the domain of the unknowable. Into this region — mis-
called mystic — I determined to try and penetrate. Look-
ing back upon the period of my life described in the
foregoing pages, it appeared to me distinctly a most insane

THE MORAL OF IT ALL. 343

period. I therefore decided upon retiring from public life
and the confused turmoil of a mad world, into a seclusion
where, under the most favorable conditions I could find, I
could prosecute my researches into the more hidden laws
which govern human action and control events. For more
than twenty years I have devoted myself to this pursuit ; and
though from time to time I have been suddenly forced from
retirement into some of the most stirring scenes which have
agitated Europe, the reasons which compelled me to partici-
pate in them were closely connected with the investigation
in which I was engaged, the nature of which is so absorbing,
and its results so encouraging, that it would not be possible
for me now to abandon it, or to relinquish the hope which it
has inspired, that a new moral future is dawning upon the
human race — one certainly of which it stands much in need.
As, however, this latter conviction has not yet forced itself
upon a majority of my fellow-men, who continue to think the
world is a very good world as it is, and that the invention
of new machines and explosives for the destruction of their
fellow-men is a perfectly sane and even laudable pursuit, I
will refrain from entering further for the present upon such
an unpopular theme. Perhaps the day may come, though it
cannot be for many years, when I may take up the thread of
my life where I have dropped it here, and narrate some epi-
sodes which have occurred since, which I venture to hope
that the public of that day will be more ready to appreciate
than those to whom, with the warmest feelings of attach-
ment and compassion, I respectfully dedicate these pages.

THE END.

HAIFA; OR, LIFE IN MODERN PALESTINE.

By Laurence Oliphant, Author of "Altiora Peto,' 1
"Piccadilly," etc. Edited, with Introduction, by
Charles A. Dana. pp. viii., 370. Crown 8vo,
Cloth, $1 75.

" Mr. Oliphant, during his residence of more than three years in the
Holy Land, explored the country thoroughly. He studied the domestic
and religious life of the people, visited the places connected with moment-
ous events in Bible history, and he writes in the light of the latest re-
searches. From the first page to the last the reader's interest is stimulated
by the charm of personal adventure which gives to the author's descrip-
tions a fascinating reality."

Mr. Oliphant is a delightful writer, full of enthusiasm which he knows
how to make others feel. ... As a book of travels alone it is deeply inter-
esting, whether read in the easy-chair or used by tourists as a learned
and accurate guide to the Holy Land. To Biblical students it is indispen-
sable, bringing up to a late date the authentic intelligence of investiga-
tions which throw so much light on the Scripture narratives. — iV. Y.
Journal of Commerce.

The pages of this book are crowded with descriptions, rich in Oriental
color, as well as with legends and anecdotes of the most interesting kind.
Mr. Oliphant certainly knows the secret of keeping up the reader's interest,
for before you begin to tire of one scene he hurries you by camel or mule
across the plain or over the mountain to another. . . . The work is as en-
tertaining as good fiction, and whoever reads it will leave its last page with
regret.— The Epoch, N. Y.

A work of interest, in which life in modern Palestine is described from
the point of view of a writer who is both man of the world and religious
enthusiast. — Philadelphia Press.

The result of the personal observation of the writer during a recent
residence of three or four years in the Holy Land. It is the most distinct
and interesting account yet published of the country and its people, of
the remains of antiquity to be found there, and of the questions which
explorers are called to consider regarding them. — Saturday Evening Ga-
zette, Boston.

A vivid account of the Holy Land of to-day, as seen by an enthusiastic
lover of the country. — Critic, N. Y.

It is the most distinct and interesting account yet published of the
country and its people, of the remains of antiquity to be found there, and
of the questions which explorers are called to consider regarding them. —
Christian at Work, N. Y.

Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York.

#S~ The above work sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States
or Canada, on receipt of the price.

SOME LITERAEY RECOLLECTIONS.

By James Payn, Author of " A Beggar on Horseback,"
" By Proxy," etc. With Portrait, pp. 205. 12mo,
Cloth, $1 00.

" This book contains a slight but most entertaining account of Mr.
Payn's life, recounting in a very humorous manner the experiences of his
boyhood, at home and in the various schools where he received his early
education ; his first literary aspirations and achievements ; the difficulties
and discouragements which he encountered at the outset of his career in
the domain of letters, and his gradual progress to a position of assured
success. Upon this autobiographical thread arc skilfully strung brilliant
and graphic descriptions of eminent authors with whom he was brought
into contact, professionally and socially, as a writer and an editor; remi-
niscences of his intercourse with them ; information as to their peculiar-
ities and manner of work ; and occasional critical comments upon their
productions. The recollections embrace Whewell, De Quincey, Miss Mit-
ford, Miss Martineau, William and Robert Chambers, Dean Ramsay, Alex-
ander Smith, Dickens, Leech, Reade, Trollope, Collins, Thackeray, and
many others of lesser note. The spirit in which Mr. Payn writes of his
fellow-craftsmen is one of the most generous and enthusiastic appreciation
and sympathy. The book sparkles with wit, is full of clever anecdotes,
and is extremely bright and vivacious from begiuning to end."

The fine portrait is a pleasure to begin with; then follow two hundred
pages of anecdote and recollection and comment, all the more delightful
for being rambling and desultory to a degree that excludes even a thread
of connection. The greatest charm of the book is even less its humor
than the tender gentleness and good-will of its tone about everybody and
everything. — The Critic, N. Y.

One of the most charming little books that have come under our notice
for some time. A bright, breezy style, a delightful naturalness, and a
joyousness of spirit pervade the reminiscences. — Boston Advertiser.

His sketches of his contemporaries, great and small, are among the
most entertaining things that he has ever written. His sketch of the de-
lightful old Englishwoman, Mary Russell Mitford, is the finest tribute that
has yet been paid to her memory. Charming also, in another way, is his
portrait of that hearty, overgrown boy, William Makepeace Thackeray. —
N. Y. Mail and Express.

His style is bright and free, what he says is always said to the point,
and he does not make a great ado about himself. — N. Y. World.

No more delightful compend of reminiscences has been given us for
many years. — N. Y. Sun.

Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York.

The above work sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United, States
or Canada, on receipt of the price.

A MEMOIR OF CHARLES READE.

Charles Reade, D.C.L., Dramatist, Novelist, Journalist.
A Memoir compiled «clriefTy from his Literary He-
mains. By Charles L. Reade and the Rev. Coup-
ton Reade. pp. x., 448. 12mo, Cloth, $1 25 ; 4to,
Paper, 25 cents.

We may congratulate ourselves on the fact that this memoir has been
written by two of his nearest relatives, who have had access to all his
private papers, in addition to an intimate acquaintance with Mr. Reade.
They have thus been able to give us, not one of the great biographies of
men of letters, but a very racy and amusing book. — Examiner, N. Y.

It has been long, though rather vaguely, known that the late Charles
Reade not only possessed a crisp and biting style of his own, but a strong-
ly marked individuality, and that his life, far from being a commonplace,
conventional existence, would, considered merely as a story, be well worth
telling.— N. Y. San.

One of the most deeply interesting biographies of the day. It gives an
insight into a life strongly individual, electric, with swift sympathies and
vivid impressions, erratic at times, yet always essentially noble and gen-
erous. It is a life that impresses the reader, and whose interest is almost
as graphic as that of a romance. . . . The work is one of marvellous in-
terest and fulness. It throws side-lights on literary life, reveals the inner
side of dramatic production, and is a wonderfully many-colored and many-
sided work. — Boston Evening Traveller.

It will be read with unusual interest on account of the abiding popu-
larity of Charles Reade's writings and the strength and individuality of
his character. Like other biographies issued within recent years of the
great literary workers of the past generation, it throws much light upon a
period which will rank as among the most important and influential pe-
riods in the history of English literature. — Albany limes.

This book, besides being strange, is wonderfully interesting. It pictures
a human life that not only touched, but was interwoven with, the lives of
numbers of the most remarkable persons of the last two generations.
Bulwer, Dickens, Thackeray, Macaulay, Edwin Arnold, Wilkie Collins, Dion
Boucicault, Ellen Terry, John Oxenford, Macready, Anthony Trollope, Bur-
nand — who wrote in Punch " Chicken Hazard," as a burlesque on the
story of "Foul Play," written by Reade and Boucicault in collaboration —
are but a few of the figures who are dealt with in these pages ; and there
is not only something about all of them that most people will want to
read, but something that tends to define and make clear Charles Reade's
true literary position. — N. Y. Herald.

Published by HARPER <fc BROTHERS, New York.

V3T The above work sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United, States
or Canada, on receipt of the price.

FROM THE FORECASTLE TO THE CABIN.

By Captain S. Samuels. Illustrated, pp. xviii., 30S.
12mo, Extra Cloth, $1 50.

" The record of a life of stirring adventure. Captain Samuels began
Lis career by running away to sea at the age of eleven years as a cabin-
boy ; at twenty-one he was captain of a fine ship, and he retired from
the active pursuit of his profession when commander of the famous clip-
per Dreadnought. He tells his experiences in tempests and mutinies, in
fights with pirates and street ruffians, in romantic escapades, in collisions,
and in battles with cannibals. As a yachting commander, Captain Sam-
uels sailed the Henrietta, which won the ocean sweepstakes in 1866, and
he commanded the Dauntless in her race with the Coronet.' 1 ''

"Captain Samuels has given me the privilege of reading the proof-sheets
of the following pages, and has asked me to introduce him to the public.
I cannot conceive of a more unnecessary ceremony. ' Good wine needs no
bush,' and 'From the Forecastle to the Cabin' has not a dull line in it.
The art of telling a story is, after all, as an Irishman would say, a gift,
and Captain Samuels certainly has that gift. I read to some friends of
not uncritical disposition the tale to be found in chapters twelve and thir-
teen, and they paid it the rare compliment of asking to hear it again the
next evening. In fact, a volume crowded with so much and such various
incidents, graphically told, could not fail to be interesting." — Bishop Pot-
ter's Introductory Note.

A vivid picture of life on shipboard, and a stirring narrative of personal
experience. . . . Bishop Potter well says that the book has not a dull line
in it. The captain has the art of telling a story in high perfection. —
N. Y. Tribune.

The story is full of interest and excitement. ... It is a charming book.
— N. Y. Commercial Advertiser.

The book is one of great interest. ... It is the story of a famous and
able sailor, told by himself in his own way, and has incident enough to
fix the attention and set going the imagination of anybody. — N. Y. Sun.

It will take the front rank among the books of adventure on the sea. —
Boston Courier.

Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York.

The above work sent oy mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States
or Canada, on receipt of the price.

THE STARTLING EXPLOITS OF
DR. J. B. QUIES.

From the French of Paul Celiere. By Mrs. Cashel
IIoey and Mr. John Lillie. Profusely illustrated,
pp. xii., 328. Crown Svo, Extra Cloth, $1 75.

"The hero of the story, Dr. Quies, is a wealthy Frenchman, a resident
of a provincial town, who is addicted to archaeology and has a mortal an-
tipathy to travel. But in an unlucky hour he is induced to take a jour-
ney by rail some distance from home ; and partly by the malicious con-
trivance of a rival archaeologist who is jealous of his fame, and partly in
consequence of a series of mishaps, he becomes involved in a course of in-
voluntary wanderings. The book abounds in laughable situations, arising
from the conflict between the doctor's desire to be at rest and the per-
verse fate which urges him on, and it will be read with unflagging inter-
est. The illustrations are numerous and characteristic."

All is as simple and as natural as the tales that children love, and there
seems to have been pleasure rather than pride in the telling. The person
who cannot enjoy pure fun in such guise is an object for commiseration. —
iV. Y. Commercial Advertiser.

A most amusing and fantastic book, illustrated with great cleverness.
... It would be hard to find any emanation from the French press of the
day more harmlessly entertaining, and, it may be added, instructive. —
Brooklyn Eagle.

It is by all odds the most amusing book of the season. The illustra-
tions are numerous and striking, and fit in as appropriately to the text as
the familiar Pickwick pictures. — Boston Post.

It is intensely funny. — Commercial Bulletin, Boston.

The obese doctor's exploits in Algeria are all so unique and well told
that the volume is made at once a thing of beauty and a joy — let us hope
— forever. — Philadelphia Press.

As entertaining a book as has been written since the Pickwick Papers,
and the central figure, although his adventures are of quite a different
kind, will inevitably suggest the President of the Pickwick Club. . . . The
humor is delightful, and is admirably sustained from beginning to end. —
Boston Journal.

A book which has much of the wild imagination as well as the elastic
power of Jules Verne. — San Francisco Chronicle.

Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York.

83* The above work sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States
or Canada, on receipt of the price.

A TRAMP TRIP.

How to See Europe on Fifty Cents a Day. By Lee
Meriwether. With Portrait pp. 276. 12mo,
Ornamental Cloth, $1 25.

" In the garb of a working-man Mr. Meriwether spent a year on a tramp
trip from Gibraltar to the Bosporus. His book overflows with entertain-
ing incidents and amusing descriptions, and it is of particular value in its
hints and suggestions to would-be pedestrians, and to others who wish to
travel wisely and economically."

An uncommonly interesting volume. — iV. Y. Tribune.

The book is full of interesting incidents and accidents that befell the
writer on his trip, and contains many entertaining stories of the manner of
life of the peasants, as well as many facts and figures on the much dis-
cussed " Labor Question." — Independent, N. Y.

The book is altogether quite out of the range of and above ordinary
volumes of travel, and will give a fair, comprehensive idea of the hard
labor and miserable poverty of the European masses. To do this was
worth all the trials and hardships of the plucky explorer, who seems to
have enjoyed his uncomfortable days with a light heart. — Nation, N. Y.

There is not a dull page in the whole book ; the style is simple and per-
spicuous, the portrayal of character keen and incisive, the deductions from
facts clear and logical, and no one who reads it can help envying a man
who succeeded in seeing so much that many travellers have passed by
without notice, and who has been able to give us such graphic pictures of
the home life and the simple manners and customs of toiling millions be-
yond the sea. — Philadelphia Record.

Every one interested in travel or fond of out-door sport will enjoy it
immensely. — Bostoii Globe.

Is as bright and wide-awake in its style as it is unique in its subject.
— Boston Daily Advertiser.

All of it is intensely interesting, and we congratulate the young fellow
that has pluck enough to carry out such a remarkable scheme. — Troy Press.

There will be hundreds, thousands who will go abroad next summer to
whom this book may give advice of a very useful sort. — Brooklyn Times.

A thoroughly readable and entertaining book. . . . The writer put on
blouse and knapsack and wandered through parts of Italy and Germany
and Russia, seeking the humblest lodgings and putting up with the least
inviting fare in order to be near the people, to see them in their homes, to
learn how they earned their daily bread and how they ate it, and to get at
their views of life. With sharp eyes and a ready wit and a robust diges-
tion, he saw many things which the ordinary traveller would never notice
or indeed care to see, and he has written about them in a gay and jovial
vein. — N. Y. Commercial Advertiser.

Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York.

The above work sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States
or Canada, on receipt of the price.

WASTE -LAND WANDERINGS.

By Chakles C. Abbott, M.D., Author of " Upland and
Meadow," &c. pp. xii., 312. Post 8vo, Orna-
mental Cloth, $1 50.

" Dr. Charles C. Abbott's recent work, " Upland and Meadow," was pro-
nounced by enthusiastic English critics to be " the best book of its kind
America has yet produced." Its reception from the press in this coun-
try was scarcely less flattering, and in the course of a few months it has
won recognition as a worthy fellow to the works of Thoreau and Bur-
roughs. The reputation thus obtained by Dr. Abbott as a sympathetic
student of nature will be confirmed, if not greatly enhanced, by this work.
. . . Crosslands Creek, on and about which these wanderings occurred, is a
meandering stream in central New Jersey, " that flows for leagues through
a wilderness of waste land" into the Delaware. Here the naturalist spent
tl*e days of which he tells in his new volume, cautiously paddling his canoe
from point to point, idly floating with the stream, or loitering over the ad-
joining woods and meadows, while with untiring patience he watched the
habits and dispositions of birds, beasts, fishes, and insects. The volume is
written in the easy and graphic style which lent a charm to Mr. Abbott's
previous book, and its descriptions are happily interspersed with quaint
reflections and amusing anecdotes."

Dr. Abbott is a true lover of nature, an enthusiast, and a poet. Many
passages in his works are purely idyllic in tone and sentiment, and there is
everywhere delicacy of perception, sprightly fancy and imagination. ... It
will lead men to love nature who have never loved it before. It is simply
an entrancing book.— The Observer, N. Y.

It is a delightful volume for the sea-side, the mountains, the home, for
a pleasant day and a stormy one. ... It suits all times, places, and moods,
and will be pretty sure to please the most exacting reader. — Christian at
Work, N. Y.

The style and matter are both so captivating that we place this book
in the first rank of works of its class. Water-snakes, buzzards, thrushes,
herons, flowers of all kinds, insects, tortoises, gallinules, sand-pipers, mead-
ow-mice, bill-fish, eels, worm-fences, and catalpas, with many other matters,
are here so lucidly described and entertainingly pictured that the reader
is beguiled from page to page. As a book for summer reading, and as a
stimulus to scientific inquiry, it is admirable. — Christian Advocate, N. Y.

It is a charming book, introducing the reader to the interesting guests
and dwellers in the forests, upon the downs, and by the river-side. All
lovers of nature will find an abundant source of instruction and pleasure
in it. — Ziori's Herald, Boston.

Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York.

The above loork sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States
or Canada, on receipt of the price.

THEIR PILGRIMAGE.

By Charles Dudley Warner. Richly Illustrated by C. S.
Reinhart. pp. viii., 36-4. 8vo, Half Leather, $2 00.

Aside from the delicious story — its wonderful portraitures of character
and its dramatic development — the book is precious to all who know any-
thing about the great American watering-plaoes, for it contains incompar-
able descriptions of those famous resorts and their frequenters. Even
without the aid of Mr. Reinhart's brilliant drawings, Mr. Warner conjures
up word-pictures of Cape May, Newport, Saratoga, Lake George, Richfield
Springs, Niagara, the White Mountains, and all the rest, which strike the
eye like photographs, so clear is every outline. But Mr. Reinhart's de-
signs fit into the text so closely that we could not bear to part with a
single one of them. "Their Pilgrimage" is destined, for an indefinite
succession of summers, to be a ruling favorite with all visitors of the
mountains, the beaches, and the spas which are so marvellously reflected
in its pages. — iV. Y. Journal of Commerce.

The author touches the canvas here and there with lines of color that
fix and identify American character. Herein is the real charm for those
who like it best, and for this one may anticipate that it will be one of the
prominent books of the time. Of the fancy and humor of Mr. Warner,
which in witchery of their play and power are quite independent of this
or that subject, there is nothing to add. But acknowledgment is due Mr.
Reinhart for nearly eighty finely conceived drawings, and to the publishers
for the substantial and rich letter-press and covers. — Boston Globe.

No more entertaining travelling companions for a tour of pleasure re-
sorts could be wished for than those who in Mr. Warner's pages chat and
laugh, and skim the cream of all the enjoyment to be found from Mount
Washington to the Sulphur Springs. . . . His pen-pictures of the charac-
ters typical of each resort, of the manner of life followed at each, of the
humor and absurdities peculiar to Saratoga, or Newport, or Bar Harbor,
as the case may be, are as good-natured as they are clever. The satire,
when there is any, is of the mildest, and the general tone is that of one
glad to look on the brightest side of the cheerful, pleasure-seeking world
with which he mingles. ... In Mr. Reinhart the author has an assistant
who has done with his pencil almost exactly what Mr. Warner has accom-
plished with his pen. His drawings are spirited, catch with wonderful
success the tone and costume of each place visited, and abound in good-
natured fun. — Christian Union, N. Y.

Mr. Reinhart's spirited and realistic illustrations are very attractive, and
contribute to make an unusually handsome book. We have already com-
mented upon the earlier chapters of the text; and the happy blending of
travel and fiction which we looked forward to with confidence did, in fact,
distinguish this story among the serials of the year. — N. Y. Evening Post.

Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York.

The above work sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States
or Canada, on receipt of the price.

UPLAND AND MEADOW.

A Poaetquissings Chronicle. By Charles C. Abbott,
M.D. pp. x., 398. 12mo, Ornamental Cloth, $1 50.

Dr. Abbott studies most delightfully the question of whether birds re-
main with us during the winter ; whether hibernation is as fixed a habit
with any creature as is supposed. Then follow studies of the habits of
marsh -wrens, grakles, red -birds, toads, humming-birds; and an autumn
diary remarkably full of interest and with many delightfully poetical hab-
its of expression, together with accounts of conversations with the country
people so quaint and curious as to give a great personal interest to these
studies. Any one with the slightest interest in natural history will be
charmed with this book ; and those who care very little for natural his-
tory in itself will find so much other matter that whoever and of whatever
turn of mind takes up this book will not willingly lay it down. — Christian
A dvocate, N. Y.

We commend this book as inspiring, refreshing, and delightful in its
record and humor both. — Philadelphia Ledger and Transcript.

The author has a faculty for using his eyes and ears to excellent advan-
tage in his rambles over " Upland and Meadow," and a very entertaining
way of recording what he sees and hears. ... It is worth reading indeed.
— The Examiner, N. Y.

Here is a modern Thoreau with an imagination the like of which Tho-
reau did not possess. Things happen to him in the most accommodating
way, for they manage to give each story of bird or beast a point. — N. Y.
Times.

Delightful reading for students and lovers of out-door nature. . . . Here
the author discourses with the greatest charm of style about wood and
stream, marsh-wrens, the spade-foot toad, summer, winter, trumpet-creepers
and ruby throats, September sunshine, a colony of grakles, the queer little
dwellers in the water, and countless other things that the ordinary eye
passes by without notice. . . . The book may be heartily commended to
every reader of taste, and to every admirer of graceful and nervous En<*.
lish. — Saturday Evening Gazette, Boston.

l
Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York.

j&S~ IlAiirEK & Brotiiebs will send the above ivork by mail, postage prepaid, to
any part of the United States or Canada, on receipt of the price.

K. D. BLACKMOKE'S NOVELS.

Mr. Blackmore always writes like a scholar and a gentleman.— Athenceum,
London.

His descriptions are wonderfully vivid and natural. His pages are bright-
ened everywhere with great humor; the quaint, dry turns of thought remind
you occasionally of Fielding London Times.

His tales, all of them, are pre-eminently meritorious. They are remark-
able for their careful elaboration, the conscientious finish of their workman-
ship, their affluence of striking dramatic and narrative incident, their close
observation and general interpretation of nature, their profusion of pictur-
esque description, and their quiet and sustained humor. Besides, they are
pervaded by a bright and elastic atmosphere which diffuses a cheery feeling
of healthful and robust vigor. While they charm us by their sprightly vivac-
ity and their naturalness, they never in the slightest degree transcend the
limits of delicacy or good taste. While radiating warmth and brightness, they
are as pure as the new-fallen snow. . . . Their literary execution is admirable,
and their dramatic power is as exceptional as their moral purity. — Christian
Intelligence; N. Y.

ALICE LORRAINE. A Tale of the South Downs. 8vo, Pa-
per, 50 cents.

CHRISTOWELL. 4to, Paper, 20 cents.

CLARA VAUGHAN. 4to, Paper, 15 cents.

CRADOCK NO WELL. 8vo, Paper, 60 cents.

CRIPPS, THE CARRIER. A Woodland Tale. Illustrated.
8vo, Paper, 50 cents.

EREMA ; Or, My Father's Sin. 8vo, Paper, 50 cents.

LORNA DOONE. 8vo, Paper, 25 cents ; 12mo, Cloth, $1 00.

MARY ANERLEY. A Yorkshire Tale. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00;
4to, Paper, 15 cents.

SPRINGHAVEN. A Tale of. the Great War. 12mo, Cloth,
Illustrated by Alfred Parsons and F. Barnard, $1 50;
4to, Paper, 20 cents.

THE MAID OF SKER. 8vo, Paper, 50 cents.

THE REMARKABLE HISTORY OF SIR THOMAS UP-
MORE, BART., M.P. 4to, Paper, 20 cents ; 16mo, Paper,

35 cents ; Cloth, 50 cents.

Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York.

Any of the above loorks sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the
United States or Canada, on receipt of the price.

H. RIDER HAGGARD'S NOVELS.

SHE : A HISTORY OF ADVENTURE. Profusely Illustrat-
ed. 4to, Paper, 25 cents; 16mo, Half Bound. (In Press.)

There are color, splendor, and passion everywhere; action in abundance;
constant variety and absorbing interest. Mr. Haggard does not err on the
side of niggardliness ; he is only too affluent in description and ornament. . . .
There is a largeness, a freshness, and a strength about him which are full of
promise and encouragement, the more since he has placed himself so unmis-
takably on the romantic side of fiction ; that is, on the side of truth and per-
manent value. ... He is already one of the foremost modern romance writers.
— iV. Y. World.

It seeni3 to me that Mr. Haggard has supplied to us in this book the com-
plement of " Dr. Jeckyl." He has shown us what woman's love for man real-
ly means. — The Journalist.

One cannot too much applaud Mr. Haggard for his power in working up to
a weird situation and holding the reader at the ghost-story pitch without ever
absolutely entering the realm of the supernatural. ... It is a story to be read
at one sitting, not in weekly parts. But its sensationalism is fresh and stir-
ring; its philosophy is conveyed in pages that glow with tine images and
charm the reader like the melodious verse of Swinburne. — X Y. Times.

Oue of the most peculiar, vivid, and absorbing stories we have read for a
long time.— Boston Times.

JESS. A Novel. 4to, Paper, 15 cents ; 16mo, Half Bound, 75
cents.

Mr. Haggard has a genius, not to say a great talent, for story-telling. . . .
That he should have a large circle of readers in England and this country,
where so many are trying to tell stories with no stories to tell, is a healthy
sign, in that it shows that the love of fiction, pure and simple, is as strong as
it was in the days of Dickens and Thackeray and Scott, the older days of
Smollett and Fielding, aud the old, old days of Le Sage and Cervantes.— XF.
Mail and Express.

This bare sketch of the story gives no conception of the beauty of the love-
passages between Jess and Niel, or of the many fine touches interpolated by
the author. — »S'(. Louis Republican.

Another feast of South African life and marvel for those who revelled in
" She."— Brooklyn Eagle.

The story has special and novel interest for the spirited reproduction of life,
character, scenes, and incidents peculiar to the Transvaal. — Boston Advertiser.

Mr. Haggard is remarkable for his fertility of invention. . . . The story, like
the rest of his stories, is full of romance, movement, action, color, passion.
"Jess" is to be commended because it is what it pretends to be — a story. —
Philadelphia Times.

KINO SOLOMON'S MINES. A Novel. 4to, Paper, 20 cents;
lGmo, Half Bound. (In Press.)

Few stories of the season are more exciting than this, for it contains an
account of the discovery of the legendary mines of King Solomon iu South
Africa. The style is quaint and realistic throughout, and the adventures of
the explorers in the land of the Kukuana are full of stirring incidents. The
characters, too, are vigorously drawn. — News and Courier, Charleston.

This novel has achieved a wonderful popularity. It is one of the best sell-
ing books of the season, and it deserves its great success.— Troy Daily Press.

PrjBLisriED by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York.

Any of the above works sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of tha
United States or Canada, on receipt of the price.

BEN-HUR: A TALE OF THE CHRIST.

By Lew. Wallace. New Edition, pp. 552. lGmo,
' Cloth, $1 50. ...

Anything so startling, new, and distinctive as the leading feature of this
romance does not often appear in works of fiction. . . . Some of Mr. Wal-
lace's writing is remarkable for its pathetic eloquence. The scenes de-
scribed in the New Testament are rewritten with the power and skill of
an accomplished master of style. — 2V. Y. Times.

Its real basis is a description of the life of the Jews and Romans at the
beginning of the Christian era, and this is both forcible and brilliant. . . .
We are carried through a surprising variety of scenes ; we witness a sea-
fight, a chariot-race, the internal economy of a Roman galley, domestic in-
teriors at Antioch, at Jerusalem, and among the tribes of the desert; pal-
aces, prisons, the haunts of dissipated Roman youth, the houses of pious
families of Israel. There is plenty of exciting incident; everything is
animated, vivid, and glowing. — N. Y. Tribune.

From the opening of the volume to the very close the reader's interest
will be kept at the highest pitch, and the novel will be pronounced by all
one of the greatest novels of the day. — Boston Post.

It is full of poetic beauty, as though born of an Eastern sage, and there
is sufficient of Oriental customs, geography, nomenclature, etc., to greatly
strengthen the semblance. — Boston Commonwealth.

"Ben-Hur" is interesting, and its characterization is fine and strong.
Meanwhile .t evinces caref ui study of the period in which the scene is laid,
and will help those who read it with reasonable attention to realize the
nature and conditions of Hebrew life in Jerusalem and Roman life at
Antioch at the time of our Saviour's advent. — Examiner, N. Y.

It is really Scripture history of Christ's time clothed gracefully and
delicately in the flowing and loose drapery of modern fiction. . . . Few late
works of fiction excel it in genuine ability and interest. — N. Y. Graphic.

One of the most remarkable and delightful books. It is as real and
warm as life itself, and as attractive as the grandest and most heroic
chapters of history. — Indianapolis Journal.

The book is one of unquestionable power, and will be read with un-
wonted interest by many readers who are weary of the conventional novel
and romance. — Boston Journal.

Published by HARPER & BROTHERS, New York.

j*y The above work sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States
or Canada, on receipt of the price.

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