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 NARRATIVE 
 
 OF 
 
 A JOURNEY ACROSS 
 THE BALCAN, 
 
 BY THE 
 
 TWO PASSES OF SELIMNO AND PRAVADI; 
 
 ALSO OF 
 
 A VISIT TO AZANI, 
 
 AND OTHER 
 
 NEWLY DISCOVERED RUINS IN ASIA MINOR, 
 
 IN THE YEARS 1829-30. 
 
 MAJOR, THE HON"'-'^ GEORGE KEPPEL, F.S.A. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON : 
 HENRY COLBURN AND RICHARD BENTLEY, 
 
 NEW BURLINGTON STREET. 
 1831.
 
 DR. 
 
 US' 
 
 MZ8n 
 
 V.I 
 
 HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS 
 
 AUGUSTUS FREDERICK, 
 
 DUKE OF SUSSEX, K. G. 
 
 PKESIDEKT OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY, 
 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 
 THESE VOLUMES 
 
 ARE HUMBLY INSCRIBED, 
 WITH SINCERE FEELINGS OF AFFECTION AND RESPECT, 
 
 BY 
 
 HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS'S 
 
 EVER GRATEFUL AND DEVOTED SERVANT, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 LosDON, Marchli, 1831. 
 
 DSW 
 
 '^^7062
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Dedication v 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Introductory — Choice of Routes — Steam Packet from An- 
 cona to Corfu — General Muffling — Otranto — Corfu — 
 Zante — Embark on board H.M.S. Rattlesnake — Le- 
 panto — Corinth — A Palikari Chieftain — Garrison of 
 Corinth — American Philhellenic Association — Egina — 
 The Pireeus — A Greek Renegade and Parricide. .Page 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Expedition to Athens — A Greek's Head — Visit the Bey — 
 Ruined State of Modern Athens — Return to Egina — 
 Prince Mavrocordato — We hear of the Russians' Advance 
 across the Balcan — Napoli di Romania — Visit from 
 Admiral Miaulis — Admiral Rosamel — Count Heyden — 
 Admiral Lazaroff — Greek Legislative Assembly — Inter- 
 view with Count Capo d'Istria — His Policy — The 
 Fort of Palamedes — Civil Strife 17
 
 Vm CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER 111. 
 
 Sail in H, M. S. Samarang — Join the British Squadron — 
 Sham Fight — Arrive at Vourla — Austrian Espionage — 
 Mitylene — Tenedos — Russian Admirals — Sail up the 
 Dardanelles — Jewish Dragoman — Turkish Batteries — 
 Curious Cause of Detention Page 35 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Disembark in Asia Minor — Turkish Purveyor-General — 
 John Leach — Commencement of the Land Journey — 
 Turkhana — ■ Bourgaz — Lampsaca — A Drunken Turk — 
 Harbour-master — Virtue of a Booyoodery 53 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Turkish Song — State of Turkish Feeling — Desertion from 
 the Army — Jewish Sabbath — Population of Gallipoli — 
 A Hint to Travellers — Chersonesus of Thrace — Dellis — 
 Adrianople Army — Cavac — Our Night's Lodging — A 
 Turkish Hero — An Armenian Rogue — Mortality in Gal- 
 lipoli — Embark in a Caique 61 
 
 CHAPTER \l. 
 
 Pivates — Land at Pera — The Bosphorus — Therapia — 
 Mosque of Sultan Achmet — Turkish Mad -house — 
 Opium-eaters — Sultan Selim, his Attempts at Civilisa- 
 tion — Burying-grounds, the Lounge of Constantinople — 
 Proofs of Depopulation — Curious Tombstones — Slave 
 Market — The Bagnio Prison — A recent Fire in Ga- 
 lata — Walls of Constantinople — General Disaffection 
 throughout Turkey — Abortive Conspiracy — Executions 
 — Mr. Slade — Mode of exposing the Bodies of Turks — 
 Christians — Jews — Women — Translation of a Yafta. 72
 
 CONTENTS, IX 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Remarks on the late Executions — Anticipated Results from the 
 Destruction of the Janisaries — Observations on the Turkish 
 Empire — The Sultan — Origin of the Power of the Ule- 
 mas — They combine with the Janisaries — Result of this 
 Union to the Empire Page 92 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Seraskier's Tower — Hajee Mahomet — Illness — Doctor 
 M'Carthy — Advice to Invalids in Turkey — Reside wnth 
 the British Ambassador — Manner of passing Time — 
 Saihng Match with the Capitan Bey — Visit to the Capi- 
 tan Pasha — Our Interpreter — Sketch of the Capitan 
 Pasha's Life — Policy of Nicknames in Turkey — State 
 of the Turkish Flag-ship — A Ship-launch — State of the 
 Docks — Four Greek Murderers hanged 1 0.5 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Preparations for Departure — My Fellow-traveller, Lord Dunlo 
 
 — Our joint Servant, Enghsh Mustapha — Sketch of his 
 Adventures — Equipment for the Journey — We leave 
 Therapia — St. Stephano — Dine with the Consul-General 
 — Excellent Fish — Quail Shooting— Resume our Voyage 
 
 — Unpleasant Disaster — A Salt-water Bath — Put into 
 Selivri — A Turkish Coffee-house 117 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Resume our Journey — A second Accident — Eligree — Arrive 
 at Rodosto — A Yuz-bashee — Our Evening's Repast — 
 Mustapha's Fears — Visit the Pasha of Rodosto — Mus- 
 tapha offended 1'2.5
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Detention — Public Treasure — Deserted State of the Town 
 
 — The Inhabitants employed on the Ramparts — Desola- 
 tion observable in the Country — Scenery — Irregular 
 Cavalry — Yagee — Ben-Ali — Hirepoli — Turks dis- 
 armed — Wretched Horses — Remarks on the Turkish 
 Seat and Saddle — The " Dirty Village" — Our Lodgings 
 for the Night Page 133 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Oozan Kupri — Russian advanced Guard — General Chere- 
 metofF — Demotika — Water-mills — The River Maritza 
 dammed ; an impolitic Abuse — A Population on a 
 March — Mortality amongst them — Mustapha's Self-will 
 
 — Cross the Ferry — Arrive at Adrianople, and reside 
 with the British Consul 141 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Story of Marigo — Her Companions in Misfortune — The 
 Massacre of Scio brought on by the Greeks themselves 
 
 — Account of it by one of the Sufferers — Visit Count 
 Diebitsch — The late Campaign — General Reuchtern — 
 London Porter — The Old Seraglio — Count Diebitsch 
 receives the Order of St. George of Russia — Bulgarian 
 Dirt — Whimsical Mistake — Dirty State of the Bulgarian 
 Quarters — View from a Ruined Kiosk — Last new Fe- 
 male Fashions in Turkey — Dragoman and his Wife — 
 Fate of the Lady's Father 150 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 M. lasigi — Anecdote of a Cossack — Mosque of Ooch 
 Sherifler — Russian Barbarism — Mosque of Yeni Maret
 
 CONTENTS. XI 
 
 — Statue of Adrian — Abidy Bey, a Turkish Colonel 
 of Hussars — His Dress — A Wallachian Prince — Cap- 
 tain Alexander — Russian Cavalry — Count Pahlen's 
 Corps — Imperial Economy — Grotesque Dance — Pro- 
 tection of the Holy Virgin — Scott's Novels — A Visit to 
 the Camp Page 1 69 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Jewish Feast of the Tabernacles — Our Host — His beautiful 
 Daughters — Their Dress — Their Notions of Delicacy — 
 The poorer Class of Jews — Jewish Form of Govern- 
 ment — Anecdote of Jewish Cowardice — Mahometan 
 Service — Mosque of Sultan Selim — Visits from Russian 
 Officers — Count Diebitsch made a Field-marshal — Affair 
 between the Russians and the Pasha of Scutari — The 
 Sultan's Ideas of Etiquette 180 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Captain Alexander leaves Adrianople — A Bulgarian Fu- 
 neral — Executions on the Philippopoli Road — Howling 
 Dervishes — Mustapha's Remark — Fortune-telling — A 
 Corps of Russians leave Adrianople for Russia — Te 
 Deum — Field-Marshal Count Diebitsch Zabalcansky — 
 Count Wittginstein — General Damelousky — Karabet, 
 an Armenian — Exchange of the Russian and Turkish 
 Ratifications of Peace 196 
 
 CHAPTER XVn. 
 
 Visit the Archbishop of Adrianople — Greek Inscription — 
 Why did not the Russians advance on Constantinople? — 
 Probable Causes — Policy of the Russians — High Disci- 
 pline of their Army — Their Regard to Property — The 
 Effect of this Conduct on the Inhabitants — Russians wel-
 
 XI 1 CONTENTS. 
 
 corned by the Greeks and Bulgarians, who are disaffected 
 to the Turkish Government — The Cause — The Invasion 
 agreeable to the Turks, but not the Invaders — Turkish 
 Nicknames to the Army — The Enemy, how esteemed by 
 the Mahometan Ladies — The Sultan's Attempt at Female 
 Reform — Its Degree of Success — Adrianople Scandal. 
 
 Page 213 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Feelings of the Russian Army on the subject of the Peace 
 — Its Progress after the Passage of the Balcan — Folly 
 of the Turkish Government — The Turkish Position — 
 Strength of the Russian Army — Its unhealthy State — 
 Adoption of the Lance — Appearance of the Russians on 
 Parade — Their extreme Dirt — Mortality in the Russian 
 Army — Disgraceful State of the Medical and Commis- 
 sariat Departments — Pay and Rations — Foreigners in 
 the Russian Service — Germans 232 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 City of Adrianople — Population — Advantageous Situation 
 for Commerce — Land and Water Carriage — Maritza na- 
 vigable — Sea-port Town of Enos — Adrianople the Depot 
 of Roumelia — Fairs of Roumelia — Copper Mines of Tre- 
 bizond — Observations on the Greeks — Their original 
 Subjugation — Policy of Mahomet II. — Former Influence 
 of the Priesthood — Greeks' Activity in Commerce — 
 Their Industry and Economy — Their Intercourse with the 
 World — Consequent Diff"usion of Knowledge — Com- 
 merce of Adrianople — Imports and Exports — Policy of 
 Mr. Adair, Ambassador to the Porte in 1809 — Enter- 
 prise of Greek Merchants — Productions — Causes of the 
 Decline of Commerce — Variation of Exchange — Debase-
 
 CONTENTS. XUl 
 
 ment of the Currency — Its Effect on Trade — Impolitic 
 Cruelty of the Avania — Prohibitions and Monopoly of 
 the Turkish Government — Evils resulting therefrom — 
 — A Simile — Montesquieu's Remarks on the Effects of 
 Despotism — Taxes of Adrianople Page 250 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Preparations for Departure — Our Equipage — Our kind 
 Hosts — We leave Adrianople — Dead Cattle on the 
 Road — Russian Graves — Deserted Village — Russian 
 Quarter-Master — Mustapha's Generalship — Buyuk Der- 
 tjent— Kutchuck Derbent — Breakfast — Incessant Rain— 
 Papasli — Wretched Quarters 278 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 We leave Papasli — State of the Roads — Character of Rou- 
 melian Scenery — lanboli — Russian Picket — First Ap- 
 pearance of the Balcan — Selimno — Its weekly Fairs — 
 Trade — Manufactures — Public Khans — Decrease of 
 Population — Mosques — Russian Attack on Selimno — 
 It surrenders without Opposition — General Montresor 
 
 — Ascent of the Balcan — Soil of the Mountain — Its 
 Adaptation to Road-making — The slight Obstacles to an 
 opposing Army — Numerous Roads — Vedgerah — The 
 Bulgarian Peasantry all armed — Cloth Mills — Party of 
 Cossacks — Russian Theft — Disposition of the People 
 of the Balcan in favour of the Invasion 291 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Leave Cazan — Roads easily repairable — Chutakh — Bul- 
 garians — Their Employments — Property — Dress — 
 Marriage — Divorce — Derbent — Turkish Inhospitality 
 
 — Unpleasant Prospect — Anecdote of Mustapha —
 
 XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 A Tax-gatherer — A Turk assassinated — Mahometan 
 Disaffection — Mountain Gorge — Junia — Country fertile, 
 but depopulated — Villages rased to the Ground — Ascent 
 to the Heights above Shumla — Turks at Drill — Search 
 for a Host — A renegade Doctor — Miserable Lodgings 
 
 — Mr. Haggermann — Turkish Execution — Indifference 
 of the Bystanders — Observations on the Culprit — Agree- 
 able Termination of our Adventures Page 308 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 The Grand Vizier's Dragoman — Visit to his Highness — 
 Michalachi metamorphosed — Military Dialogue — The 
 Vizier's Mode of Signature — The Honour of Smoking 
 in the Grand Vizier's Presence — My Brother Major — 
 Turks' Opinion of British Soldiers — Turks at the Euro- 
 pean Drill — Extreme Youth of the Soldiers — The Band 
 
 — Dismissal from Parade — Observations on the Changes 
 of the Dress and Arms of the Turks — Visits from the 
 Grand Vizier's Dragoman — The Archbishop of Shumla 
 
 — The Turks' Ignorance of foreign Languages favourable 
 to the Greeks' Revolt 330 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Remarks on Taxation — Mohumud Aga — Reason for his 
 becoming a Mahometan — Postponement of a Turkish 
 Review — Visit the Fortifications of Shumla — The Town 
 has no Walls — Chunghiul Fort — Sultan Fort — Fidia, 
 Alifatah, and Shialli Forts — Operations of the Russian 
 Army before Shumla, in 1829 — Remarks on the Conduct 
 of the Russian Army before Shumla, Silistria, Varna — 
 Was the Turkish Commander at Varna bribed by the 
 Russians? — Visit a Turkish General — Manual and 
 Platoon Exercise — Usual Extent of a Turkish Officer's 
 Military Knowledge 347
 
 CONTENTS. XV 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Defective State of the Turkish Army — Prospects of its Im- 
 provement considered — The Arguments adduced — Re- 
 lative State of the Mahometan and Christian Armies — 
 Feudal System of the Turks — In what different from 
 that of the Christians — Origin of the Janisaries — Their 
 severe Discipline — Success of their Arms — Their gradual 
 Decline — Abuses — Independence of the Crimea — Con- 
 sequences to the Turks — Establishment of the new Troops 
 — Their Apathy observable in the late War — The Parallel 
 between the Destruction of the Strelitz and Janisaries con- 
 sidered — Concluding Remarks .Page 362 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. I. 
 
 Containing some Notes of Captain Arthur Gregory con- 
 cerning Count Capo d'Istrias, in the Morea 381 
 
 No. II. 
 
 Protocol of Conference with Ibrahim Pasha, at Modon, 11th 
 .June and 6th July 1828 ; and with Mehemet Ali, at Alex- 
 andria 397 
 
 No. III. 
 
 Extracts from a Letter written by Captain Arthur Gregory 
 relative to the Affairs of Greece in 1828 408 
 
 No. IV. 
 Translation of Three Yaftas 428
 
 XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 No. V. 
 
 Treaty of Peace between his Majesty and the Sublime Porte, 
 signed January 5, 1809 Page 431 
 
 No. VI. 
 
 Extracts from a Letter, relative to a Journey from Constan- 
 tinople to Semlin 436 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 1, line 5, for campaigns, read campaign. 
 
 — 63, — 20, for were speedily, read was speedily. 
 
 — 76, — 12, /or landing at the seraglio, 7rad landing at Scutari, 
 
 opposite the seraglio. 
 
 — 94, — If/or Imaun read Imaum, Iiic ft passim.
 
 NARRATIVE, 
 
 ETC. ETC. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Introductory — Choice of Routes — Steam Packet from An- 
 cona to Corfu — General Muffling — Otranto — Corfu — 
 Zante — Embark on board H.M.S. Rattlesnake — Le- 
 panto — Corinth — A Palikari Chieftain — Garrison of 
 Corinth — American Philhellenic Association — Egina — 
 Tlie Pirseus — A Greek Renegade and Parricide. 
 
 In the summer of 1829, public attention was 
 directed to the war which was then pending 
 between Russia and Turkey. 
 
 The ill success which had attended the 
 Russian arms in the preceding campaigns had 
 produced an impression unfavourable to their 
 military character, while it had proportionably 
 raised in estimation the troops to whom they 
 were opposed. 
 
 This opinion of Turkish superiority was 
 strengthened by the improvements whicli, it 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 2 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 was alleged, had been introduced into the Ma- 
 hometan army. They were formed on an Eu- 
 ropean model, and were able to compete with 
 an European force. The Turkish sovereign, 
 the destroyer of the Janizaries, had overcome 
 the prejudices of his birth and education, and 
 was one of the most enlightened monarchs in 
 Europe. By the wisdom of his measures, a 
 radical reform had been established, not only 
 in the army, but in every department of church 
 and state. 
 
 A previous intercourse with the Turks had 
 given me a more than usual interest in the 
 question : I determined to visit the country 
 myself, and to bring home a faithful record of 
 all that I saw, heard, or felt, which should 
 serve as data to ascertain how far these con- 
 jectures were founded in fact. 
 
 My first intention had been to hover on the 
 rear of the Turkish army, in order to observe 
 their operations and mode of warfare. Had 
 the campaign lasted, I feel confident that I 
 should have had no difficulty in putting my 
 projects in execution ; but the Fates ordered 
 it otherwise. The Russians spared me the
 
 STEAM-PACKET FROM ANCONA. 3 
 
 trouble, by beating the Turks before I could 
 get up to them. 
 
 My first object was to reach Constan- 
 tinople : two modes presented themselves of 
 arriving at my destination ; the one through 
 the Austrian dominions and the European pro- 
 vinces of Turkey ; the other by France, Italy, 
 Greece, and the Archipelago islands. The 
 former was uncertain and precarious. As I 
 could not learn whether the communication 
 was open between Vienna and Constantinople, 
 I adopted the latter route. 
 
 June 13, 1829. An extra mail coach leaves 
 Lombard Street for Dover every Wednesday 
 and Saturday, at a quarter of an hour after 
 midnight. By this conveyance I started on 
 the 13th of June, 1829, being the thirtieth an- 
 niversary of my birthday. I stepped on board 
 the packet, with the letters, at ten, and was 
 immediately afterwards in full steam across the 
 British Channel. I disembarked at Calais, and 
 proceeded through France, Switzerland, and 
 Italy. 
 
 I had hoped to have fallen in at Ancona 
 with the British government steam - packet,
 
 4 ANECDOTE OF GENERAL MUFFLING. 
 
 which goes periodically to and from Corfu ; 
 but I discovered that this vessel had just gone ; 
 and I learned, what may be of use to a future 
 traveller, that I could not have obtained a 
 passage on board her without either an order 
 from the Colonial Office, or from Sir Frederick 
 Adam, the lord high commissioner of the 
 Ionian islands. Foiled in this intent, I went 
 to Naples, and had secured a place in the 
 diligence to Otranto, when I heard that a 
 Neapolitan man-of-war was under sailing orders 
 for Smyrna, to convey thither a Prussian general 
 and his staff.* 
 
 * The general for whom this vessel was in readiness, was 
 of the name of Muffling. He had come round from Berlin, 
 and was going on a special mission to Constantinople from 
 the King of Prussia, to signify the Emperor of Russia's desire 
 of peace. This, of course, was before the successes of the 
 great autocrat. I heard of the general at Constantinople, 
 but did not meet him : he arrived there on the 6th of August. 
 He is a corpulent man, rather advanced in years. On his 
 first visit to the Reis Effendy, or Turkish foreign secretary, 
 that minister said to him : " Well, general, what proposal 
 from the emperor have you to lay before us with regard to 
 peace?" The general replied, that he was merely instructed 
 to assure the Porte that the emperor was pacifically inclined.
 
 ZANTE. O 
 
 As our minister, Mr. Hill, was indisposed, 
 Sir Henry Lushington was so kind as to apply 
 for a passage for me in the same ship ; but the 
 answer not arriving in the evening, I resolved 
 not to wait for it, but to proceed by the dili- 
 gence, in company with Captain Boileau, of 
 the rifle brigade, and went to Otranto, whence, 
 at the expiration of three days, we embarked 
 for Corfu, oil board a sailing packet in the 
 employment of the British government, and 
 reached that island on the evening of the 
 21st of July. On the 24th we embarked on 
 board the steam-boat which plies between 
 the Ionian Islands, and anchored off the town 
 of Zante at five in the afternoon of the fol- 
 lowing day. 
 
 July 26. Dined with Lord Charles Fitzroy, 
 the British resident of the island. Overlooking 
 the town is a conical-shaped hill, on the top of 
 which is a gibbet with three arms. From these 
 
 " Upon my word, then, general," rejoined the Reis EfFendy, 
 " I wonder that a man of your age and corpulency should 
 have undertaken so long and fatiguing a journey on so trifling 
 an errand, seeing that we have had the same assurance on the 
 faith of nearly every ambassador."
 
 b ZANTE. 
 
 the bodies of three men were suspended in 
 chains. They had been executed by order of 
 General Campbell. When I was on duty at 
 Zante, some years ago, this gibbet was called 
 by our soldiers *' General Campbell's direction- 
 post." The fatal tree, with its former comple- 
 ment of bodies, met my eye, as I was taking 
 my ride this afternoon. *' What ! my old friends 
 there still ?" was my observation to an old 
 Zantiote acquaintance. '* Oh, no," was the 
 reply : " your friends have been removed ; 
 but as fresh examples have been found neces- 
 sary, the bodies you see belong to a new set 
 of murderers !" 
 
 A scampavia, or row-boat, is employed by 
 the Ionian government to assist in maintaining 
 a communication with the British resident in 
 Greece. If the traveller could procure a pas- 
 sage in this boat, it would land him at Pyrgos ; 
 in three days' journey on horseback he would 
 cross the Morea to Argos, whence he might 
 easily obtain a passage in some vessel going 
 towards or direct to Smyrna, from which place 
 he would find no difficulty in proceeding to 
 Constantinople.
 
 EMBARK ON BOARD H. M. S. RATTLESNAKE. 7 
 
 It was by this route that I intended to have 
 gone myself, if a more agreeable mode of tra- 
 velling had not presented itself. 
 
 Captain Finucane, an old brother -officer, 
 was charged with despatches to Mr. Dawkins, 
 our resident in Greece. His majesty's ship 
 Rattlesnake was to convey him as far as Co- 
 rinth, and the captain of the Rattlesnake, the 
 Hon. Charles Bridgeman, was so obliging as to 
 give me also a passage in the frigate. 
 
 July 28. I dined this evening with Sir 
 Frederick Adam, under whose command I 
 had been at Corfu, in 1817. Captain Finu- 
 cane and myself embarked at midnight, and 
 Captain Bridgeman immediately weighed, and 
 sailed ; but, the wind blowing directly in our 
 teeth, we did not reach Cape Papas till the 
 evening. 
 
 July 29. The wind still foul. In passing 
 Missolunghi, a white house was pointed out to 
 me as that in which Byron died. When the 
 Rattlesnake was here last, a Greek army was 
 besieging the town. 
 
 At noon, we passed the castles of Roumelia 
 and Morea, which defend the mouth of the
 
 8 lepant6 and its fortifications. 
 
 Gulf of Lepaiito. We saw, flying on the ram- 
 parts of the Morea fort, the ensigns of Russia, 
 France, and England. 
 
 At Lepant6 (as the Greeks pronounce it, 
 laying a strong accent on the last syllable), 
 there were two Greek brigs of war at anchor ; 
 one of them, the Epaminondas, was commanded 
 by a son of Admiral Miaulis. There were also 
 a few gun-boats off the town. Lepanto is ap- 
 parently a wretched place, but is picturesque, 
 from its cypresses, mosques, and minarets. 
 On one of these last, the Greeks had erected a 
 cross over the crescent. 
 
 The fortifications, on the land side, consist 
 of two parallel crenellated walls, which run 
 up the side of the hill, and terminate in a 
 small heptagon fort. The place is evidently 
 commanded in several points ; yet though 
 it was garrisoned by a mere handful of 
 Turks, five thousand Greeks were compelled, 
 after many inefi'ectual attacks, to raise the 
 siege. 
 
 From the appearance of Lepantc\ I should 
 say, that three or four field-pieces might have 
 taken the citadel, and the capture of the town
 
 LAND AT CORINTH. 9 
 
 would have followed of course. The Greeks 
 had a post out of the range of the musketry 
 of the highest part of the citadel. 
 
 At eight in the evening, we arrived off 
 Vostizza. A few years ago it contained three 
 thousand inhabitants. The population is now 
 considerably reduced ; but it is better off 
 than most other towns in the Peloponnesus. 
 I believe that the neighbourhood of this 
 town was not ravaged by the troops of 
 Ibrahim Pasha ; but Patrass, which Captain 
 Finucane saw on his return, was one com- 
 plete ruin. 
 
 July 30-31. At noon we were off the bay 
 of Salona, and early the next morning we 
 anchored off Corinth. Captain Finucane and 
 myself landed at a mile and a half below the 
 town. We met on the beach a Greek engineer 
 officer, a native of Cephalonia ; he conducted 
 us to the Governor of Corinth, also a Cepha- 
 loniote. This last personage wore the highly 
 picturesque Albanian dress, which has been 
 very generally in vogue amongst the Greeks 
 since the Revolution. He was remarkably 
 civil ; but, like all his countrymen with whom
 
 10 A PALIKARI CHIEFTAIN. 
 
 I have conversed, highly discontented with the 
 arrangements of the great powers with regard to 
 Greece. 
 
 From the governor's we went to a miserable 
 coffee-house, which was filled with Palikari 
 (irregular Greek troops), a wild, undisciplined 
 banditti. They were all dressed as Albanese, 
 were covered with embroidery, and begrimed 
 with dirt. The chief of the party, already half 
 tipsy, was hastening to complete this happy 
 state. With his legs crossed, his pipe in one 
 hand, a cup of strong red wine in the other, 
 and with each arm supported by the butts of 
 his pistols, he did the honours of the coffee- 
 house to us strangers, with half-closed eyes, 
 and with a drunken formality that was highly 
 entertaining. 
 
 There were some Greeks here who spoke 
 Italian : they were very eloquent on the 
 defeat of Brama Ali, between this place and 
 Argos. 
 
 The town of Corinth is one heap of ruins ; 
 a few newly-built huts are the only habitations 
 now standing. Bones of men and horses lie 
 scattered amongst the rubbish of fallen houses.
 
 GARRISON OF CORINTH. 11 
 
 and attest the last bloody massacre which visited 
 this once prosperous town. 
 
 A Cephaloniote has been commissioned by 
 the government to erect some public buildings, 
 and the governor's house is in progress. Near the 
 site of this building, the workmen employed in 
 clearing away the rubbish have discovered five 
 Doric columns, belonging, I believe, to a temple 
 dedicated to Apollo. 
 
 There were five hundred troops in the Acro- 
 polis. They were mean, dirty-looking lads, and 
 were all wretchedly clothed. The garrison is 
 commanded by a Hanoverian. 
 
 The governor furnished us each with a 
 saddle-horse, and we hired two others for our 
 baggage. We were discussing the chance of 
 obtaining a boat on the opposite side, when an 
 old Greek called out, " I give boat, sir ; I once 
 live in Piccadilly." We immediately accepted 
 the traveller's services, who forthwith over- 
 whelmed us with gibberish, which he evidently 
 intended to pass off as English on the group 
 of staring, untravelled palikari by whom he 
 was surrounded. Our baggage packed, we
 
 12 AMERICAN PHILHELLENIC ASSOCIATION. 
 
 preceded across the isthmus. The distance is 
 six miles. 
 
 There was considerable cultivation near 
 Corinth. To the westward we observed some 
 vineyards and olive-groves. The fruit of the 
 olive is an important article of food with the 
 Greeks. 
 
 We passed the remains of an amphitheatre, 
 and afterwards came to a village founded by a 
 Philhellenic Association of Americans. It is 
 under the direction of one of their countrymen, 
 named Howe, who resided in a hut close to the 
 village. We wished much to have visited this 
 meritorious gentleman, but he was suffering for 
 his philanthropy, being confined to his bed by 
 a severe attack of fever. He had been furnished 
 with means to promote the Greek cause, but 
 found, upon his arrival, that the money would 
 be made most available in forwarding that ob- 
 ject, by bringing the people to industrious habits. 
 Accordingly, with the co-operation of Count 
 Capo d'Istria, he collected together, from dif- 
 ferent parts of Greece, such persons as had 
 neither nioney nor means of subsistence, and
 
 EMBARK FOR EGINA. 13 
 
 formed a colony of them. These plains were 
 given up to him for the purpose, free for five 
 years from all imposts. At first the colony 
 consisted of only fifty families, but they in- 
 creased to upwards of a hundred in a little more 
 than three years. I heard, afterwards, that 
 Count Capo d'Istria, its quondam protector, 
 having changed in his disposition towards this 
 nucleus of Greek regeneration, had, by various 
 means, latterly so disgusted Dr. Howe, that 
 he has determined upon withdrawing from the 
 country. 
 
 Two or three fishermen's huts on the oppo- 
 site side of the isthmus comprise the village of 
 Kerkhus. Here we dismissed the cattle, and 
 gave each two dollars for the trip. My journey 
 through Italy cost a hundred pounds, — that 
 through Greece a hundred pence. 
 
 We now embarked on board the fishing-boat 
 we had hired; but had not been more than two 
 hours under weigh when it fell calm. Our boat 
 being principally intended for sailing, we made 
 but slow progress, though our crew kept con- 
 tinually tugging at the oar ; so we were obliged 
 to pass the remainder of this day, and the whole
 
 14 ARRIVE AT EGINA. 
 
 of the following night, with our backs resting on 
 the heap of stones which formed the ballast of 
 the boat. 
 
 August 1. We arrived off Egina* at day- 
 light in the morning, immediately landed, and 
 proceeded to the house of Mr. Dawkins. Cap- 
 tain Finucane then delivered his despatches, 
 and, after dressing at the small inn in the 
 town, we returned to breakfast with the British 
 resident. 
 
 Two British men-of-war, the Wasp and the 
 Mosquito, were at anchor off the town. We 
 met their commanders. Captains Hoste and 
 Bentham, at breakfast. The former of these 
 gentlemen, himself a highly meritorious officer, 
 is the brother of the late gallant Sir William 
 Hoste, whose name holds so conspicuous a 
 place in the records of British valour, and is 
 included in that list of naval heroes for which 
 my native county of Norfolk stands so pre- 
 eminent. 
 
 We were now so near Athens, that we 
 
 * The Greeks pronounce the word Egina, and not Egina, 
 laying the stress upon the syllable over which the accent is 
 marked.
 
 LAND IN THE PIRAEUS. 15 
 
 thought it would be a pity to leave this country 
 without paying it a visit. We had but to 
 express the wish. My kind countryman. Cap- 
 tain Hoste, immediately ordered the corvette 
 to be got ready for sea, and purposed, while my 
 fellow-traveller and myself were occupied in 
 viewing the antiquities, to complete his stock 
 of water in the Pireeus. 
 
 Pipes and breakfast over, we were again 
 gliding over the deep, but in a much more 
 agreeable manner. Instead of lying exposed 
 to the influence of a burning sun on a dirty 
 open Greek boat, we were lounging under an 
 excellent awning, on the spotless deck of a 
 British man-of-war. 
 
 August 2. We landed in the Piraeus early 
 in the morning, a party of nineteen from the 
 ship. We sent to the Bey of Athens to inform 
 him of our arrival, and remained near the 
 beach awaiting his answer. 
 
 We were here joined by several of the 
 Turkish outlying picket, to whom we made 
 ourselves welcome by giving a few glasses of 
 rum. They were all Albanians, with the ex- 
 ception of the officer, who was a Turk. Behind
 
 16 A GREEK RENEGADE AND PARRICIDE. 
 
 this man was his pipe-bearer, a good-looking 
 young Greek, who had a short time before 
 robbed and murdered his father and several of 
 his family. He had adopted the usual mode 
 of evading the punishment due to his crime, — 
 he turned Mahometan. The commission of 
 these horrid acts, and of his subsequent aban- 
 donment of his religion, were so recent, that he 
 had not had time to change his dress, and still 
 retained the long hair and the small skull-cap 
 peculiar to the creed and country he had ab- 
 jured. The recital of his misdeeds, which was 
 given in his presence, attracted the eyes of our 
 party towards him : our observation of him 
 raised a blush on his guilty cheek, and caused 
 him to retire in confusion from our scrutinising 
 sraze.
 
 EXPEDITION TO ATHENS. 17 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Expedition to Athens — A Greek's Head — Visit the Bey — 
 Ruined State of Modern Athens — Return to Egina — 
 Prince Mavrocordato — We hear of the Russians' Advance 
 across the Balcan — Napoli di Romania — Visit from 
 Admiral Miaulis — Admiral Rosamel — Count Heyden — 
 Admiral LazarofF — Greek Legislative Assembly — Inter- 
 view with Count Capo d'Istria — His Policy — The 
 Fort of Palamedes — Civil Strife. 
 
 In two hours, some horses, ponies, and asses, 
 were sent down for our party, with two or 
 three Turkish horsemen as an escort. In the 
 absence of Captain Hoste, who was unwell, 
 the bey's own charger was assigned to me : 
 the rest of the party shifted for themselves ; 
 some rode and tied, others walked, and nearly 
 all the horses carried double. Behind each 
 Turkish cavalier, was a little midshipman 
 perched en croupe. The additional burden 
 seemed in no way to affect the agility of the 
 riders, who scoured across the plain full gallop, 
 
 VOL. I. c
 
 18 VISIT TO THE BEY. 
 
 brandishing their swords, discharging their 
 bullets, and occasionally halting, to detail to us, 
 in lingua franca, some lie respecting the Greeks 
 they had killed with their own hands. 
 
 We entered the gates of Athens, which 
 were guarded by regular Turkish troops, and 
 proceeded to visit the bey, who lived in a 
 house wretched enough, but the best in the 
 town. The first object that met our view in the 
 court-yard, was the head of a Greek hanging 
 up by its long hair : by the appearance of the 
 features, and the slightness of the mustachio, 
 it was that of a very young man. 
 
 We partook of pipes, coffee, and sweet- 
 meats, and offered in return that without which 
 we should have been most unwelcome visitors, 
 — a hamper containing six bottles of rum. 
 
 Our interpreter was a Frank doctor, in the 
 new Turkish uniform. The bey was very 
 anxious that we should induce our Ionian 
 traders to send some ships round laden with 
 provisions, as the garrison was in a state little 
 short of starvation. There was an Austrian 
 brig in the harbour while we were there, 
 but she was not molested, though the Greeks
 
 RUINED STATE OF MODERN ATHENS. 19 
 
 affected to declare the place in a state of 
 blockade. 
 
 The visit of ceremony performed, we went 
 over the ruins. Ancient Athens has survived its 
 successor; the pillars of majestic temples still 
 stand, while shapeless heaps are nearly the 
 only indications of the modern town. With 
 the exception of the Turkish garrison, a few 
 squalid-looking Greeks, who cultivated the 
 fields in the vicinity of the town, were the 
 only population to be seen. 
 
 After we had visited every thing worthy 
 of notice within the walls, we went outside to 
 see the superb temple of Adrian, walking in 
 perfect ease and security between the Turkish 
 garrison on our right hand, and the Greek 
 army, who were in possession of the heights, at 
 no great distance, on our left. 
 
 We were told by the doctor, that hostili- 
 ties consisted in the Greeks occasionally making 
 a sally into the plains, and attempting to carry 
 off a few head of cattle; a slight skirmish gene- 
 rally ensued, and the Greeks took or abandoned 
 their booty, as the chance of the day decided. 
 
 In returning to the ship, as we were gal-
 
 20 PRINCE MAVROCORDATO. 
 
 loping down the hill which faces the temple of 
 Theseus, the bey's horse stumbled on a loose 
 stone, fell with me under him, and laid me up 
 for a month with a sprained ancle. 
 
 We weighed and sailed, and anchored off 
 Egina the next morning. 
 
 During my stay at Egina, I had the honour 
 of being presented to Prince Mavrocordato, 
 one of the few Greeks whose honesty has 
 proved inaccessible to a bribe. 
 
 From Egina I had intended to have pro- 
 ceeded forthwith to Constantinople, in the hope 
 of being able to witness the operations of the 
 Turkish army; but this project was overturned 
 by the intelligence we here received, that the 
 Russians had crossed the Balcan. As I did 
 not consider the moment of defeat or retreat 
 the best to visit a Mahometan army, I deter- 
 mined, for the present, patiently to await the 
 tide of events. 
 
 Misfortunes never come singly : a few 
 minutes after the news of the Russians' ad-, 
 vance had reached the Grand Signior, dense 
 clouds of smoke, arising out of the town of 
 Galata, announced to him one of those tremen-
 
 NAPOLI DI ROMANIA. 21 
 
 dous tires with which the Turkish metropolis 
 and its suburbs are so frequently visited. 
 
 August 5. This evening, Le Trident, the 
 French flag-ship, with the admiral, M. Rosamel, 
 onboard, arrived here to convey M. Rouen, the 
 French minister, to Argos, where the Greek legis- 
 lative assembly was about to hold a meeting. 
 Mr. Dawkins at the same time was to take his 
 passage in the Wasp. This expedition seemed to 
 me so eligible, that I accepted Captain Hoste's 
 invitation to make the cruise with him. 
 
 August 7. Mr. Dawkins embarked on the 
 7th : we immediately weighed and sailed, and 
 anchored off Napoli di Romania on the after- 
 noon of the 8th. 
 
 We found at anchor four Russian men-of- 
 war, two line-of-battle ships, a frigate, and a 
 brig; also a few French and Greek vessels. 
 The Greek flag-ship was the Hellas, built by 
 the Americans. It is, perhaps, one of the most 
 beautiful ships in the world. It ought to be so; 
 for it is all the poor Greeks have got out of 
 their famous loan of a hundred and fifty thou- 
 sand pounds. 
 
 As we entered the harbour, the Wasp fired
 
 22 VISIT FROM ADMIRAL MIAULIS. 
 
 the customary salutes, which were returned by 
 the flag-ships of the respective nations to which 
 the compliment was paid. 
 
 We had scarcely ceased firing, when Ad- 
 miral Miaulis (for whom the honour, as highest 
 in rank, was principally intended) came on 
 board, and paid a visit to Mr. Dawkins and 
 Captain Hoste. 
 
 The admiral is a stout, square-built man, 
 with a remarkably good - humoured counte- 
 nance. He wore the Greek red scull-cap, the 
 fore-part of his head was shaved, a profu- 
 sion of bushy grey hair covered his shoulders, 
 and the space between the lip and the nostrils 
 was completely overshadowed by mustachios 
 of the same colour. A tight vest enclosed the 
 upper part of his body, a large red shawl was 
 wrapped round his loins, and the huge breeches 
 of his country added not a little to the na- 
 tural portliness of his person. He chatted 
 with us very agreeably for a quarter of an 
 hour: his manner and appearance reminded 
 us all very forcibly of Fawcett in the charac- 
 ter of Captain Copp, in the comedy of Charles 
 the Second.
 
 GREEK LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. 23 
 
 I was this afternoon introduced to Admiral 
 Rosamel, and to the Russian admirals. Count 
 Heyden and LazarofF. This last is supposed 
 to be one of the best officers in the Rus- 
 sian navy ; he learned his profession with 
 us, having served his time as a midshipman 
 with Captain (now Admiral) Maitland, C. B. 
 who, in 1829, commanded the Wellesley, one 
 of the squadron in the Archipelago. 
 
 War was at this time confidently ex- 
 pected with Russia; and many a time did I 
 hear expressed the wish, that Captain Mait- 
 land might be granted an opportunity of giv- 
 ing the finishing touch to his Russian pupil's 
 education. 
 
 Mr. Dawkins went this afternoon to Ar- 
 gos, to the house of Colonel Gordon, who 
 owns nearly the only inhabitable house in the 
 town. 
 
 August 10. The legislative assembly met 
 this morning. Captain Hoste, Mr. Magra, (the 
 surgeon of the corvette) and myself, started 
 before daylight for Argos, to be present at 
 their deliberations. The road led for a couple 
 of miles by the sea-shore, along the edge of a
 
 24 UNDER MILITARY CONTROL. 
 
 vast swamp which extends over the whole plain 
 as far as Argos. 
 
 The assembly was sitting when we arrived : 
 they had commenced their deliberations at 
 daylight, and had been called together by beat 
 of drum. The place of meeting was the an- 
 cient theatre, which (excepting those at Sparta 
 and lanina,) is the largest in European Greece. 
 A temporary building had been erected, form- 
 ing a semicircular succession of benches, on the 
 site of the scena, and facing the cavea. This 
 structure had no roof; but, like the most primi- 
 tive Greek theatres, was covered in with boughs 
 of trees. The summons to parliament by beat 
 of drum had appeared rather too military for our 
 fastidious notions of free discussion ; but a more 
 decisive mark of military interference here met 
 our view. Like many other ancient theatres, 
 this one at Argos is excavated on a hill : on 
 the brow, at the upper benches of the cavea, 
 were five pickets of jo«/iA:«n, so posted as to be 
 able to fire down upon the assembled senators 
 in case of emergency. There was, however, 
 little chance of their services being required; 
 for, by the wise arrangements of the president,
 
 CLASSICAL ASSOCIATIONS. 25 
 
 the assembly was disposed to be nearly una- 
 nimous in complying with any wish of his 
 excellency. 
 
 The members present were about two hun- 
 dred in number, and were for the most part 
 dressed in the Albanian costume, which re- 
 sembles in so many respects the ancient dress 
 as always to bring to mind classical recollec- 
 tions ; indeed, the whole scene was likely to 
 produce this effect, for the orators spoke in 
 language nearly Hellenic, and with abuse truly 
 Homeric, the subject being one on which, in 
 every age, this nation has always been most 
 eloquent — the division of spoil. A sum of 
 money had been granted to the troops who 
 had taken a part in the late war, and the pre- 
 sent meeting was to decide upon the mode in 
 which it was to be divided ; hence arose an 
 animated discussion, in which the inhabitants 
 of Peloponnesus, and other people of Greece, 
 each insisted on their respective claims; and 
 expressions of satisfaction from the one side, 
 and of discontent from the other, assailed each 
 orator in his turn. 
 
 Amongst the speakers this morning was
 
 26 INTERVIEW WITH COUNT CAPO d'iSTRIA. 
 
 Colocotroni, once a clamorous patriot, but now 
 a government man, in consideration (as report 
 whispers) of the sum of eighteen thousand 
 dollars. This man has played so conspicuous 
 a part in the late Revolution, that I could not 
 help remembering his name, though, if all who 
 had yielded to the silver persuasion of the 
 president were to be enumerated, it would be 
 necessary to go through the list of nearly the 
 whole parliament. 
 
 From the legislative assembly, our party 
 returned to breakfast with Colonel Gordon : I 
 was here presented to Monsieur Gropius, the 
 Austrian minister, the same gentleman who is 
 so roughly (and, as I was told, rather unfairly) 
 handled by Lord Byron. 
 
 Before I returned on board the ship, Mr. 
 Dawkins was so kind as to present me to Count 
 Capo d'Istria. 
 
 His excellency is a man of small stature, 
 with large dark eyes, black eyebrows, white 
 hair, a very pale face (apparently the conse- 
 quence of the anxiety attending his situation), 
 and a pair of ears whose size has already been 
 eulogised by a preceding tourist. 1 was in-
 
 INTERVIEW WITH COUNT CAPO d'iSTRIA. 27 
 
 troduced as a traveller on his way to Constan- 
 tinople, and I was gratified by about five and 
 twenty minutes' very entertaining conversation, 
 if conversation it could be called, when the 
 only part I bore in it was the occasional inter- 
 jections of " om/,'' *' mais,'' and- ** vraimenty We 
 were scarcely seated, when, without further pre- 
 face, the president entered into what appeared 
 to me to be a defence of his government. He 
 began by repeating the usual arguments against 
 the general diff'usion of knowledge, alleging that 
 instruction would be more detrimental than 
 advantageous to the happiness of the Greeks in 
 their present state : he said that it was impos- 
 sible to legislate for a people who belonged to 
 the eleventh, upon the principles of the nine- 
 teenth century. He observed that the greater 
 portion of the Greeks were but little removed 
 from the state of barbarians, but omitted to 
 mention the number of patriotic and enlight- 
 ened natives of Greece who w^ere endeavouring 
 to raise their countrymen from this degraded 
 condition, or how assiduously he had himself 
 been employed in undermining the laudable 
 efforts of all such patriots. To some of his
 
 28 CAPO d'istria's policy. 
 
 remarks the answers were so obvious, that I 
 was about to attempt a reply ; but I never 
 got further than " mais,'' for the point was 
 abandoned without a struggle, and his obser- 
 vations were dexterously shifted to another 
 subject. 
 
 Upon the whole, I was more entertained by 
 the interview than convinced by the arguments, 
 or impressed with the talents, of the speaker. 
 There was something too dramatic in his man- 
 ner, and the matter appeared to be too much 
 got up to produce the effect intended. I after- 
 wards compared notes with others who had 
 also had the honour of an interview with the 
 President of Greece, and found their reception 
 to tally very much with my own. 
 
 A few facts relating to Count Capo d'Istria 
 will illustrate his character better than a host 
 of arguments. 
 
 In 1829, previous to the election of depu- 
 ties for the Panhellenium, the president an- 
 nounced his intention of making a tour through 
 the Morea, and applied to the French political 
 agent, and to the admiral, for money to enable 
 the peasantry to cultivate the lands, many of
 
 CAPO d'istria's policy. 29 
 
 which had gone out of cultivation for want of 
 means. A large sum was advanced to him, 
 which he distributed among the electors of 
 the several places where he was doubtful of 
 obtaining votes ; the consequence of this bri- 
 bery was, that he was elected for several places, 
 which he filled with his own creatures, and 
 obtained a chamber of deputies, as much at 
 his command as if he had nominated every 
 one. For the use he made of this power, it is 
 only necessary to refer to the acts of the Pan- 
 hellenium, which gave him undivided and des- 
 potic sway, and then to trace it up to the alarm- 
 ing representations he is said to have made 
 to Prince Leopold. 
 
 I was not present when he opened the 
 assembly, but I understand he came dressed 
 in a Russian uniform. 
 
 I heard from an officer who was on board 
 the Warspite in 1828, at the time Capo d'Istria 
 was a passenger, that the conversation, almost 
 every evening, turned upon the future prospects 
 of Greece. The president discussed them with 
 apparent frankness, and always deprecated 
 that crooked policy of obtaining any thing
 
 30 CAPO d'istria's policy. 
 
 by lying* upon the principle of self-interest, 
 which could not be obtained by straight-for- 
 ward conduct. 
 
 When, however, any favourite notion was 
 combated, he would get furious, would often 
 call for his bed-candle, and retire in a passion 
 to his cabin, particularly when, in discussing 
 the limits of Greece, the Morea and its islands 
 were suggested as the probable extent. 
 
 Amongst other subjects, the question, whether 
 Candia would be included, frequently arose ; 
 and as often as it did, the president invariably 
 declared that he would on no account have it, 
 that it was too far off, and would be much 
 more embarrassing than useful to him. H. M. 
 brig Rifleman, on her return from Alexandria, 
 brought accounts of the number of men-of-war 
 and transports in the harbour, (there were 
 nearly thirty pendants flying,) taking in corn 
 and stores, and which were said to be pre- 
 paring to sail to Candia, whence they might 
 be forwarded to the Morea. This, and the 
 evasive conduct of the Pasha of Egypt, and 
 his son Ibrahim, induced the British Com- 
 mander to detach a line-of-battle ship and a
 
 CAPO d'istria's policy. 31 
 
 frigate, to blockade Suda, and by that means 
 to hasten the departure of Ibrahim. 
 
 In the course of the autumn, disturbances 
 having broken out in Candia, a German, named 
 Reineck, was sent to head the Greek insur- 
 gents, when a case of extermination took place, 
 and the number of lives lost during it exceeds 
 all belief. In no part of the struggle between 
 the Greeks and the Turks, had such horrors 
 been committed as those to which Candia was 
 then a prey. 
 
 The English officer in command did all he 
 could to check the slaughter, by remonstrating 
 in the strongest terms with the Greek chief, 
 but with no effect. During the winter an 
 Egyptian corvette arrived at Suda, and finding 
 a Greek brig at anchor, immediately boarded 
 and took possession of her. It happened that 
 the German chieftain was in the vessel. He 
 had only time to jump overboard, and save him- 
 self by swimming on shore, leaving his papers 
 in the brig : these were taken possession of, 
 and falling into the hands of those who could 
 read them, afforded the most undeniable proofs, 
 that at the very time when Capo d'Istria was
 
 32 CAPO d'istria's policy. 
 
 declaring the desire of having nothing to do with 
 Candia, he was writing to the different chiefs, 
 and preparing the insurrection. 
 
 It is a pity that those who have the papers 
 do not allow them to be published, that the 
 world may behold the Russian Greek in his 
 true colours. Forty-three (I may be incorrect 
 in the exact number) of the members of the 
 soi-disant national assembly are Candiotes, 
 named, of course, by the president. 
 
 One instance out of a thousand will give 
 an idea of the barbarities committed by the 
 Greeks in Candia : among the Turks who fell 
 into their hands, was a woman of sufficiently 
 high station to induce them to spare her life 
 in the hope of a large ransom. This was paid; 
 but no sooner had they touched the money, 
 than she was delivered over a victim to the 
 licentious passion of sixteen Greek soldiers, 
 and then released. 
 
 With a knowledge of the preceding re- 
 marks, it cannot but be supposed that the 
 president is decidedly unpopular with the 
 friends of the Greek cause. Born at Corfu, 
 and inheriting all the peculiar cunning of his
 
 CAPO d'istria's policy. 33 
 
 nation, he commenced his diplomatic educa- 
 tion at Venice, under the Austrians, and 
 finished it at St. Petersburgh, under the Rus- 
 sians, in whose employ he still is, and by 
 whose permission he at present holds the office 
 of President of Greece. Thus imbued with the 
 principles of the two most intriguing cabinets 
 of the two most despotic countries in Europe, he 
 is called upon to preside over the destinies of a 
 people who have just made a successful struggle 
 for freedom. What can be expected from such 
 a selection ? 
 
 Napoli di Romania is the strongest, perhaps 
 nearly the only strong, hold the Greeks possess. 
 The principal works consist in the fortifications 
 of Palamedes, which occupy the heights that 
 overhang the town. I was told, that a short 
 time before I came, Count Heyden, in the ex- 
 pectation of a war with England, furnished the 
 fort with guns, with the intention that they 
 should be employed against us, in case of a 
 rupture with our country. 
 
 Count Capo d'lstria has given the command 
 of this fort to a Frenchman, it being his policy 
 to conciliate France, and at the same time to 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 CIVIL STRIFE. 
 
 throw every kind of suspicion and odium upon 
 England. It was in this spirit that the presi- 
 dent dismissed General Church from the army, 
 and Lord Cochrane from the navy : indeed, his 
 whole system of politics is anti-English ; and 
 he is alike hostile to the regeneration of 
 Greece, and to the interference of the British 
 cabinet in its affairs. 
 
 While the war with Turkey was ravaging 
 this unhappy country, two Greek chieftains 
 turned the arms they should have wielded 
 against the common foe of their creed and 
 nation, against each other's breast. They 
 fought for eight successive days, for the office 
 of governor of the town — the one besieging, 
 the other defending, the fort of Palamedes: 
 
 " Delirant reges, plectuntur Achivi." 
 
 In this unnatural conflict of their leaders, four 
 hundred Greeks fell.* 
 
 * Vide Appendix.
 
 H. M. S. SAMARANG. 35 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Sail in H. M. S. Samarang — Join the British Squadron — 
 Sham Fight — Arrive at Vourla — Austrian Espionage — 
 Mitylene — Tenedos — Russian Admirals — Sail up the 
 Dardanelles — Jewish Dragoman — Turkish Batteries — 
 Curious Cause of Detention. 
 
 August 1 1 . At two o'clock this morning, arrived 
 his Majesty's ship Samarang, Captain Martin. 
 She brought here as passenger Captain Thur- 
 low, aide-de-camp to Sir Frederic Adam, with 
 despatches from our ambassador for the lord 
 high commissioner in the Ionian Islands. The 
 moment the ship anchored. Captain Thurlow 
 proceeded to Argos, whence, after an interview 
 with Mr. Dawkins, he crossed the Peloponnesus 
 to Pyrgos, and thence sailed to Corfu. This 
 afternoon. Captain Martin dined on board the 
 Wasp. Hearing of my wish to proceed to Con- 
 stantinople, he was so obliging as to offer me 
 a passage up the Archipelago, in the Samarang, 
 which was to sail the next morning. Captain
 
 36 BRITISH SQUADRON. 
 
 Bentham, who was in daily expectation of join- 
 ing the admiral, had been so kind as to propose 
 taking me in the Mosquito ; but as that oppor- 
 tunity was uncertain, I thankfully accepted 
 Captain Martin's invitation ; and after taking 
 leave of Captain Hoste and my other kind ship- 
 mates, I accompanied my new acquaintance 
 on board the Samarang. 
 
 August 12. Sailed from Napoli at day- 
 light. 
 
 August 14. Spoke a Greek brig. We were 
 told that she had left the admiral in the Darda- 
 nelles. 
 
 August 16. This morning we fell in with 
 the British squadron off the island of Scio. I 
 accompanied Captain Martin on board the Asia; 
 and presented to Sir Pulteney Malcolm letters 
 of introduction from Mr. (now Sir) Stratford 
 Canning and Sir Frederick Adam. His excel- 
 lency, with his usual kindness and attention to 
 travellers, was so kind as to beg that whenever 
 the duties of the service should require the 
 Samarang, I would consider the flag-ship as 
 my home. 
 
 We here heard that the Russians had en-
 
 SHAM FIGHT. 37 
 
 tered Adrianople, and that General Muffling, 
 the Prussian minister, was in daily conference 
 with the reis efFendy. 
 
 For the next week we were cruising with 
 the squadron, during which time I had an 
 opportunity, which I am not likely to have 
 again, of witnessing the manoeuvres of a large 
 naval force. We were kept constantly on the 
 alert, and signals were always flying : some- 
 times we sailed in line, at others in column. 
 Occasionally the signal was made of the enemy 
 in sight and to give chase. The rates of 
 sailing were tried, in which the two fine fri- 
 gates, the Madagascar, the Hon. Sir Robert 
 Spencer, and the Isis, were the competitors. 
 
 August 18. At noon on the 18th, the signal 
 was made to prepare for action. The bulk- 
 heads were taken down, and the decks were 
 cleared. The captains of the respective ships 
 then went on board the Asia, to receive the 
 admiral's instructions, and shortly after returned 
 on board. The Wellesley and Spartiate, both 
 76 guns, having some severe cases of fever on 
 board, were permitted to haul out of the line, 
 consequently the Samarang, though carrying
 
 38 SHAM FIGHT. 
 
 only 28 guns, had the honour of taking her 
 station as a line-of-battle ship. Our order of 
 battle was in two lines, the weather being 
 formed by the Asia and Ocean two-deckers, 
 the Madagascar frigate, and the Musquito and 
 Cordelia brigs : the lee line, by the Revenge 
 and Windsor Castle two-deckers, Isis and 
 Samarang frigates. At half-past twelve, we 
 of the lee line hove to on the starboard 
 tack ; and having wore, the leading ship of 
 the weather line commenced engaging us with 
 blank cartridge, and in one moment completely 
 enveloped our little craft with the smoke which 
 issued from her tremendous broadside ; each of 
 our opponents followed the example. This 
 done, we wore, and in our turn were given 
 the weather gage. We repeated the manoeuvre 
 a second time, and the firing ceased. 
 
 To a fighter by land, a sea engagement is 
 puzzling enough ; all appears to be in confusion 
 after the first few shots : the smoke is then so 
 thick, that it must be difficult for the most prac- 
 tised eye of a captain to see what is going on 
 beyond the quarter-deck of his own ship. Nel- 
 son probably thought of this when he observed.
 
 SHAM FIGHT. 39 
 
 that no officer could be far wrong who laid his 
 ship alongside of an enemy. 
 
 During this sham engagement, one of the 
 men who was coming aft was accidentally 
 knocked down by the discharge of a move- 
 able carronade, which is used for firing into 
 the enemy's tops. The poor fellow's eyes 
 were considerably injured ; but he was fast 
 recovering when I left the ship, a fortnight 
 afterwards. This was the only casualty, though 
 I nearly furnished another in my own person. 
 I was snugly seated in the stern davits of the 
 boat, and had just raised my head to take a 
 better view of the action, when the marines 
 came aft to "repel boarders," and off* went 
 two muskets, one just over my head, and 
 another across my face ; but, luckily for me, 
 without doing any damage. 
 
 The business of the day partook of all the 
 characteristics of a real action, and indeed 
 almost of the excitement of one ; for, as I said 
 before, war was confidently expected by all 
 hands, and the squadron considered this as 
 the rehearsal of a tragedy which they should 
 soon be called upon to perform.
 
 40 ANCHOR AT VOURLA. 
 
 We boarded several craft in our cruise : 
 they were principally from Constantinople, and 
 were, for the most part, filled with persons who 
 had fled, panic struck, from the capital. They 
 told us that dissatisfaction was universal; that 
 trade was at a stand ; and that the Russians were 
 within a few hours' march of Constantinople. 
 
 August 20. On the morning of the 20th the 
 squadron anchored at Vourla, a bay near the 
 mouth of the Gulf of Smyrna. 
 
 The town (Clazomene of the ancients), situ- 
 ated on the slope of a mountain, embedded in 
 evergreens, was visible a few miles distant. 
 
 As this was the first opportunity that had 
 presented itself of communicating with the other 
 ships. I sent a letter to the Hon. Buncombe 
 Pleydell Bouverie, captain of the Windsor 
 Castle, which had been given to me at Paris 
 by his brother. Lord Radnor; and I had now 
 the pleasure of making his acquaintance. I 
 dined with him in the evening, and was intro- 
 duced to Mrs. and Miss Bouverie. They had 
 been some time on board, and had had the 
 rare good fortune, for ladies, of having visited 
 almost every remarkable place in the Archi-
 
 FIGS AND GRAPES. 41 
 
 pelago at this most interesting period. At 
 Athens they were sumptuously entertained by 
 the bey. I met at dinner an old friend, one of 
 the officers of the Windsor Castle, the Hon. 
 George Grey, whom I had last seen in Calcutta. 
 
 During my stay at anchor, I made the 
 acquaintance of nearly all the officers of the 
 squadron ; amongst others, of Captain Mait- 
 land, under whom Admiral Lazaroff learned 
 seamanship. Captain Maitland is the officer 
 to whom Napoleon surrendered himself after 
 his abdication in 1815. 
 
 August 23. While we were at Vourla, the 
 inhabitants were occupied in preparing the figs 
 and sultana grapes. They are picked oif the 
 stalk, laid on a hard bed, and covered with a 
 sort of potash. The figs that are half dried in 
 the sun are delicious. 
 
 August 24. Admiral Rosamel arrived in the 
 Trident. 
 
 Despatches were received this morning from 
 the vice-consul at Smyrna, with an account of the 
 good reception of the Russians at Adrianople, 
 and of the wish of the Porte to make peace. 
 
 August2Q. His majesty's ship Isis sailed for
 
 42 ESPIONAGE OF THE AUSTRIAN NAVY. 
 
 Milo, and the Infernal bomb for Smyrna. The 
 moment they began to prepare for sailing, an 
 Austrian man-of-war schooner appeared in sight. 
 The conduct of the Austrian navy here was ex- 
 traordinary and amusing. Neither the officers 
 nor men associated with those of any other 
 nations ; but no sooner did a vessel attempt 
 to weigh, than " in dropped" an imperial Paul 
 Pry, just to see what was going on. Count 
 Heyden complained to our admiral of a vessel 
 with British colours having stretched across 
 the bay of Napoli, when he was there, to ascer- 
 tain the number of Russian vessels at anchor 
 in the bay. The logs of our ships will prove 
 that we were not the guilty persons ; and it is 
 not unfair to think that we are indebted to our 
 friends the " Imperials," as they are called, for 
 the imputation. 
 
 August 27. Sailed from Tenedos, and took 
 the outside passage of Mitylene ; so we did not 
 see the town, which I understand is not at all 
 in ruins. The island, after Scio, is the finest in 
 the Archipelago. Writers are fond of attributing 
 every beauty to the Archipelago islands : they do 
 not deserve this character. Almost every island
 
 MITYLENE. 43 
 
 is barren and rocky, without wood, and formed 
 like a gunner's quoin. The town is generally 
 about two miles from the sea, on the hill side : 
 the houses are flat roofed, and appear to lie one 
 above the other. A few gardens, with orange 
 trees, and some miserable attempts to raise corn, 
 are the only signs of cultivation. In a small, 
 sheltered bay, at the foot of the hill, is the port, 
 from which may be seen some misticoes, sac- 
 colevos, and other picturesque and piratical- 
 looking vessels. The case is diff*erent with 
 Mitylene. It is well wooded and cultivated, 
 and the interior full of clean and pretty-looking 
 villages. The opposite coast of Asia Minor, 
 which we frequently saw in our cruises off the 
 island, is very fine and bold. 
 
 August 29. We anchored on the 29th 
 within sight of the fortresses, at the mouth of 
 the Dardanelles. We passed close to the island 
 of Tenedos, and had a good view of the town. 
 It is a small, mean-looking place ; but appears 
 to advantage when compared with other ca- 
 pitals of the Archipelago islands, being some- 
 what less dilapidated than its neighbours. It 
 was, at this time, in possession of the Turks,
 
 44 VIRGIL ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 and was commanded by a pasha of three tails. 
 It was garrisoned by Turks ; and the population, 
 almost entirely Greek, comprised about five 
 thousand souls. The soldiers and inhabitants 
 were on friendly terms. The Russian blockade 
 was maintained by four sail of the line and one 
 frigate ; but Turkish boats were allowed to 
 pass and repass unmolested : indeed, the Turks 
 were the persons who supplied the blockading 
 squadron with fresh provisions. The Russians 
 were at their quarters when we anchored, and 
 were all ready for, and in full expectation of, 
 an engagement. 
 
 The navigation here is very dangerous, and 
 is what Virgil calls it, " statio maleficla carinis.'" * 
 There are abundance of sunken rocks ; and the 
 currents are so strong, that if there be not 
 sufficient wind to stem them, a ship may strike, 
 without the possibility of extricating herself. 
 The Ocean, 74, ran aground on Rabbit Island, 
 in the month of June, but sustained no damage. 
 The Russian admiral saw the impending danger, 
 but did not give the friendly warning, content- 
 
 * JEn. lib. ii, ver. 23.
 
 PLAINS OF TROY. 45 
 
 ing himself with observing afterwards to some 
 of our officers, that he was sure she would meet 
 with the accident that happened to her. 
 
 August 31. This morning we were joined 
 by the Asia, Spartiate, and Wellesley. The 
 admiral was saluted by the Pasha of Tenedos 
 with 21 guns, as he passed the fort and an- 
 chored off Alexander Troas. 
 
 September 1. Went on shore with the ad- 
 miral on the plains of Troy, and afterwards 
 dined with his excellency on board the flag- 
 ship. The dinner was given to the admiral 
 and the captains of the other ships of the 
 blockading squadron. The admiral. Monsieur 
 Ricord, spoke very good English, having served 
 six years in our navy, under Captain Parker : 
 thus, of the three senior officers in the Russian 
 squadron, the first, Count Heyden, is a Dutch- 
 man, and the two others have been indebted to 
 us for their education. The squadron in the 
 Black Sea is commanded by an Englishman, 
 Admiral (lately made Count) Greig ; and there 
 are no fewer than seven other natives of Great 
 Britain who are Russian admirals on active 
 service, namely. Admiral Greig, son of the
 
 46 RUSSIAN ADMIRALS. 
 
 commander-in-chief, and (I believe) second in 
 command to him ; Admirals Cobley and Bail- 
 lie, in the Black Sea ; and Admirals Hamilton, 
 Crown, Brown, and Chandler, in the Baltic. 
 Admiral Mercer, another Englishman, died 
 lately at Sevastopol. 
 
 In other departments there are. Sir James 
 Wylie, head of the medical military establish- 
 ment; Sir William Chieghton, physician to 
 the emperor ; Dr. Leighton, physician-in-chief 
 to the navy ; General Wilson, director of Col- 
 pena iron-works and Alexanderosky manufac- 
 tory; General Forde, chief of the arsenals; and 
 Mr. Venning, superintendent of prisons. To 
 these must be added Captain Sherwood, who 
 discovered the intended mutiny and revolt of 
 1825, and saved the lives of the present im- 
 perial family. 
 
 September 2. I was to have dined this after- 
 noon with Admiral Ricord, to meet Sir Pulteney 
 Malcolm ; but I had occasion to change my 
 plan. His Netherland majesty's brig Echo was 
 under sailing orders for Constantinople, to re- 
 ceive on board the Dutch ambassador. Our 
 admiral was so obliging as to ask the captain
 
 DUTCH AND ENGLISH. 47 
 
 to give me a passage up the Dardanelles. The 
 request was immediately complied with. I, 
 therefore, made my excuses to Admiral Ricord, 
 and took leave of Sir Pulteney Malcolm, 
 who charged me with despatches for our 
 ambassador. 
 
 It was with much regret that I bade fare- 
 well to my kind, hospitable friend. Captain 
 Martin, whose studious attention to my com- 
 forts had made me feel, that in quitting his 
 ship I was leaving a comfortable home. 
 
 I was welcomed on board the Echo by the 
 captain and officers with so much cordiality, 
 that I at once felt myself perfectly at ease 
 in their society. I was an Englishman, a sure 
 passport to the hospitality of a Dutch man- 
 of-war ; for nothing could be more complete 
 than the harmony and good understanding 
 which subsisted between the Dutch and 
 English, whether afloat or ashore. The officers 
 of the two navies vied in little services to each 
 other, and the crews were always on the most 
 friendly terms. The Netherland ambassador 
 at Constantinople is generally understood to 
 have been highly serviceable in negotiations
 
 48 SAIL UP THE DARDANELLES. 
 
 during the absence of the British authorities ; 
 and the English are also under similar obliga- 
 tions to Monsieur Van Lennep, the Dutch con- 
 sul-general at Smyrna. 
 
 We got under-weigh at two o'clock ; and 
 taking advantage of a southerly wind, ma- 
 naged to pass the forts at the entrance of the 
 Dardanelles a little before sunset, when, as 
 the breeze became so light that we could not 
 stem the current, we cast anchor. 
 
 September 3. We sailed again the following- 
 morning. The wind was scant, and our progress 
 slow : to make amends, we enjoyed a fine view 
 of the scenery on both sides of the gulf. We saw 
 the promontory, with the tomb of Ajax, and 
 the bay, on the shores of which, it is supposed 
 by many, that the Grecian ships were hauled 
 up during the siege of Troy. Further off was 
 Cape Sigaeum and the tombs of Achilles and 
 Patroclus. In the background, the fine chain 
 of Mount Ida ; and to the north, the mountains 
 of Lemnos and Samothrace. 
 
 We were hailed this morning by a boat, in 
 which sat an old man with a long grey beard, who 
 wore on his head one of those huge, unwieldy
 
 JEWISH DRAGOMAN. 49 
 
 black caps, called calpacs, that distinguish the 
 rayah or non-Mahometan subject of Turkey. 
 This man proved to be a Jew, and a dragoman 
 to the Dutch consul in the Dardanelles, A 
 rope was thrown out to him, which knocked 
 his calpac into the water, and caused him to 
 let go the rope, to regain it. The breeze was 
 rather fresh at the moment, and we soon left 
 him a long way astern ; but he kept hallooing 
 so lustily to be taken on board, that we lay to 
 for him for nearly half an hour, which, in the 
 sequel, proved a detention of several days to 
 the brig. 
 
 We arrived, in the evening, off the inner 
 castles of the Dardanelles, and were boarded 
 by the Dutch and English consuls, and by a 
 Turkish custom-house officer. Our guns had 
 been previously dismounted, and the ports shut, 
 as the Turks allow no vessel to pass the forts 
 without complying with this formula. 
 
 The sun was just setting as we came abreast 
 of the town. By the Turkish regulations, no 
 ship is allowed to pass the forts between sunset 
 and sunrise, so we were obliged to anchor. If 
 it had not been for the Jewish dragoman, we 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 50 SESTOS AND ABYDOS. 
 
 should have been able to have continued our 
 voyage, and to have availed ourselves of a 
 strong southerly wind, which sprung up in the 
 course of the night. 
 
 Strong as the Dardanelles are, where in 
 every direction the eye rests upon guns bearing 
 on a short and very narrow passage, the most 
 dangerous part is the approach to these inner 
 castles, which are situated on, or near, the sup- 
 posed site of Sestos and Abydos. The strength 
 consists in the position of the castle of Sestos, 
 or European side, which mounts fifty guns ; 
 and to which, from the nature of the current, 
 and from the banks running far out, a ship 
 must come stem on, and inevitably be raked, 
 without the power of returning more than her 
 bow guns, until just abreast, by which time * 
 she would be dreadfully cut up, if the fire were 
 at all well directed. 
 
 The batteries are, for the most part, well 
 built, and placed in spots judiciously chosen; 
 but, from their being of stone, the splinters 
 must be very destructive. The greater number 
 of the guns, and all the very large ones, are 
 a fleiir d'eau. These last have no carriages.
 
 TURKISH BATTERIES. 51 
 
 and cannot be pointed ; but when a ship covers 
 them, they fire. After the first discharge, the 
 difficulty of reloading them must be very great; 
 and there is no parapet or breastwork to cover 
 the gunners. 
 
 From Cape Greco to Sestos and Abydos, 
 there are altogether 689 guns and 8 mortars, 
 as follow : — 
 
 In Europe. Guns. Mortars. 
 
 Cape Greco 15 
 
 Castle of Europe 70 4 
 
 A battery 12 
 
 Another near the Dardanelles 30 
 
 Dardanelles 64 
 
 Battery beyond 35 do-pounders) 
 
 Castle of Sestos 50 
 
 In Asia. Guns. Mortars. 
 
 Castle of Asia 80 4 
 
 Battery 25 
 
 Dardanelles 120 
 
 Battery 30 
 
 Battery 44 
 
 Castle of Abydos 84 
 
 In passing some of these batteries, we saw 
 several of those immense guns from which
 
 52 CURIOUS CAUSE OF DETENTION. 
 
 they discharge stone shot. The quantity of 
 powder with which these large guns are 
 charged is enormous ; the largest requires 330 
 pounds. 
 
 The use of the mortars is rather too in- 
 tricate for the limited knowledge of the Turks 
 in the art of gunnery. Baron de Tott, in his 
 Memoirs, gives some very ludicrous anecdotes 
 of their attempts to fire shells. 
 
 September 4. We weighed and sailed at 
 daylight, but soon underwent a further de- 
 tention, by a rather curious occurrence. As we 
 came abreast of the town, a gun was fired, 
 which the captain considering as a signal to 
 bring to, put the helm up : and we were soon 
 carried by the current a considerable way 
 astern. On landing afterwards, I heard this 
 circumstance explained. A short time before, 
 a Turk, of some consideration in the town, 
 had violently assaulted a girl, on her refusing 
 to marry him. He was condemned to the bow- 
 string, and the gun we heard was the signal 
 of the sentence being at that moment carried 
 into effect.
 
 DISEMBARK IN ASIA MINOR. 53 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Disembark in Asia Minor — Turkish Purveyor-General — 
 John Leach — Commencement of the Land Journey — ■ 
 Turkhana — Bourgaz — Lampsaca — A Drunken Turk — 
 Harbour-master — Virtue of a Booyoodery. 
 
 We had scarcely regained the way we had lost, 
 when the wind chopped suddenly round from 
 the northward, and sent us astern below the 
 anchorage of the preceding evening. 
 
 As the bearer of despatches, I thought it 
 better to land here, than to wait for a change 
 of the wind, which was now blowing strong 
 from the northward. After breakfast I landed 
 at the Asiatic castle of the Dardanelles, called 
 by the Turks Sultanieh Kelasi. Connected 
 with it is a small town ; its inhabitants are 
 nearly all Jews, of which there are numbers 
 on both sides of the Hellespont. 
 
 I proceeded from the boat to the British 
 consul's, who took me with him to the person
 
 54 TURKISH PURVEYOR-GENERAL. 
 
 next in rank to the pasha and his principal 
 favourite. His office was that of purveyor- 
 general to the troops in the Dardanelles. We 
 found him seated at dinner, with his sons, but 
 he made no scruple of receiving us.* I told him 
 that I had despatches, and he immediately fur- 
 nished me with a hooyoodery. The booyood^ry 
 was an order on all postmasters or other persons 
 concerned, for horses or boats, according as I 
 might require them. The common Turkish 
 passport is called a teshkery, which allows the 
 bearer to pass unmolested, but confers no other 
 advantage. The booyood^ry has more extended 
 privileges, and somewhat resembles a firman, 
 except that the former is granted by a pasha, 
 and the latter bears the imperial cipher. 
 
 I engaged four horses; one for myself, 
 another for my servant, and a third for the 
 surijee (a man who acts as a guide, and returns 
 with the horses), the fourth carried my bag- 
 gage. 
 
 * The last I heard of this man was at Smyrna, in Jan. 
 1830. The wealth he had accumulated had attracted the 
 attention of the grand signior, and his head was in the 
 greatest jeopardy in consequence.
 
 JOHN LEACH. 55 
 
 In Anatolia, or the Asiatic side of the Dar- 
 danelles, the hire of a post-horse was (prior to 
 the Russian war), thirty paras an hour, (three 
 miles), but it has now risen to one piastre, in 
 consequence of the war. The piastre may be 
 considered at three -pence halfpenny, — the 
 stages are from eight to ten hours long. The 
 buckshees, or present to the surijee, is from 
 two to five piastres, according to the time and 
 distance of the journey. 
 
 The person who accompanied me, in the 
 threefold capacity of servant, Tartar, and inter- 
 preter, resides in the Dardanelles : he is by 
 birth a Scotchman, and his name is John 
 Leach ; his look and appearance were not in 
 his favour, and were curiously contrasted with 
 the picturesque costume of the Turks. Some 
 greasy hair hung down pale, thin cheeks, one 
 of which was protruded by a quid of tobacco. 
 He wore a rusty straw hat; jacket, waistcoat, 
 and cotton trousers, neither the finest, newest, 
 nor cleanest ; dirty, worn-out boots ; and, to 
 complete the appearance of my valet, he had 
 lost his right hand. 
 
 Twelve years ago, John was the mate of a
 
 56 JOHN LEACH. 
 
 merchant vessel, trading in these seas. On 
 some occasion it was necessary to fire a gun : 
 while in the act of ramming down the charge, 
 the captain, who was drunk, set fire to the 
 priming, and shattered the poor fellow's hand 
 so terribly, that amputation became necessary. 
 The operation was performed by a Greek doc- 
 tor, who stanched the wound by dipping the 
 stump into boiling pitch. John says, that this 
 part of the operation gave him no pain, it being 
 merely like the immersion of the limb in warm 
 water. 
 
 If any future traveller should be in want 
 of a guide, and be more particular about his 
 merits than his looks, he is strongly advised to 
 employ John Leach. I found him extremely 
 honest, intelligent, and zealous ; capable of 
 enduring any fatigue, always anxious to sur- 
 mount obstacles whenever they presented them- 
 selves, and not to be deterred from continuing 
 our journey by the fear of those dangers with 
 which we were occasionally threatened. He 
 is, moreover, fully conversant with the Turkish 
 and Greek languages ; is well known to the 
 authorities on the Constantinople and Adrian-
 
 TURKHANA. 57 
 
 ople roads ; and has a competent knowledge of 
 the customs of the country. 
 
 We mounted our horses at one in the after- 
 noon : the journey from the castle to Lam- 
 psaca is called twelve hours, equal to thirty-six 
 miles. There is a good carriage road the whole 
 way. The pasha's carriage is frequently to 
 be seen here. The traveller is sure of being- 
 well supplied with water, as, very much to the 
 credit of the Turkish government, fountains are 
 erected throughout the empire. The country 
 abounds with hare, partridge, woodcock, and 
 wild turkey. Three miles from the castle 
 of the Dardanelles is the pretty village of 
 Kara-Gurgi. We saw here a man bruising 
 wheat, to separate the seed from the husk : 
 this was preparatory to making a sort of eat- 
 able, called turkhana. The seed, after being 
 exposed to the sun, is boiled with milk and 
 water ; and, after a second exposure, is fit for 
 food. John says it is a very palatable dish, 
 but I have not tasted it. The country here 
 was highly cultivated, sometimes well manured, 
 producing abundance of fruit and corn. We 
 saw extensive vineyards and stubble-fields ; and
 
 58 BOURGAZ. 
 
 among the trees I observed the oak, pine, olive, 
 cypress, cherry, pomegranate, cotton apple, and 
 apple. After leaving the village, we came to a 
 succession of plains, which were for the most 
 part a waste; though a few patches of cultivated 
 ground sufficiently bespoke the general capabi- 
 lities of the soil. The plains were separated 
 from each other by low hills, thickly covered 
 with brushwood. Seven miles from Kara-Gurgi 
 is the village of Appleduck, containing about 
 forty houses : it is situate at the extremity of 
 the plain. A little further on, we came to the 
 river Bourgaz, the Percotius of the ancients. 
 We passed over it on a wooden platform, sup- 
 ported by stone buttresses. In the winter- 
 time, this bridge is, generally speaking, not 
 fordable, as it is overflowed by the rush of 
 waters from the mountains. It is then neces- 
 sary to go round by the town, where there is 
 another bridge, of similar form, but of more 
 solid structure. 
 
 The country here was so thickly wooded as 
 to conceal from our sight the highly pictu- 
 resque town of Bourgaz, which, on emerging 
 from the wood, suddenly presented itself on
 
 LAMPSACA. 59 
 
 our right hand. It is considered half way to 
 Lampsaca, and contains about two hundred 
 houses. It is pleasantly situated amidst ex- 
 tensive vineyards, on the gentle slope of the 
 lowest of a range of hills which terminate in 
 Mount Ida. Its white mosques and minarets 
 are prettily contrasted with the extremely green 
 cypress, and with the varied foliage of the 
 other trees by which it is surrounded. At the 
 same time that we came in sight of the town, 
 the Hellespont, with its verdant banks and its 
 beautiful back-ground of mountains, opened to 
 our view. 
 
 Lampsaca, the Lampsacus of ancient his- 
 tory, is as abundant in vineyards as in the 
 time of Xerxes. We arrived there as the 
 rays of the setting sun were shedding on it 
 some of those beautiful tints so peculiar to 
 oriental scenery, which an artist's pencil would 
 be afraid to portray, and which my pen dares 
 not describe. 
 
 I found in a coffee-house near the sea- 
 shore, a drunken Turk, indulging himself with 
 a glass of wine, the produce of the same fields 
 which had formerly supplied the table of
 
 60 VIRTUE OF A BOOYOODERY. 
 
 Themistocles. He was chanting a song, with 
 the whole force of his lungs breathed through 
 his nostrils. He was joined in his potations 
 by the harbour-master, to whom I applied for 
 a boat. The tippler wished me to stay and 
 drink with him. The harbour-master appeared 
 inclined to allow me no alternative, as he did 
 not pay any attention to my civil application. 
 In this emergency I produced my booyoodery. 
 The sight of the pasha's seal was sufficient : 
 with his own hands, he hauled a boat alongside 
 the pier, and jumping on board some craft that 
 were lying at anchor, seized by the collar all 
 the boatmen he could find, and bundled them 
 into the boat allotted to me. Thus having 
 represented in his own person a whole press- 
 gang, he gave me his blessing, ordered the men 
 to shove off, and in a very few moments I found 
 myself in full sail across the Hellespont.
 
 TURKISH SONG. 61 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Turkish Song — State of Turkish Feeling — Desertion from 
 the Army — Jewish Sabbath — Population of Gallipoli — 
 A Hint to Travellers — Chersonesus of Thrace — Dellis — 
 Adrianople Array — Cavac — Our Night's Lodging — A 
 Turkish Hero — An Armenian Rogue — Mortality in Gal- 
 lipoli — Embark in a Caique — Pivates. 
 
 The distance from Lampsaca to Gallipoli is 
 about five miles ; a strong current and a light 
 wind prevented us from arriving till near ten 
 o'clock. Our boatmen whiled away the time in 
 singing. Amongst other songs, was one relating 
 to the pasha, who had superintended the mas- 
 sacre of the Greeks at Scio. Each verse de- 
 tailed some cruelty practised on the infidels, 
 and the whole party took up the chorus of 
 *' good, very good." When the last lines, 
 which described the execution of the pasha 
 himself, were sung, the singers raised the 
 chorus of " good, very good," to a discordant 
 scream.
 
 62 DESERTIONS FROM THE ARMY. 
 
 Our crew talked with much bitterness 
 against the government, and seemed elated at 
 the advance of the Russians, which they looked 
 forward to as their relief from the heavy taxes 
 incidental to the war. 
 
 They told us, that large bodies of those 
 troops, who had comprised the army at Adri- 
 anople, were daily pouring into Gallipoli, that 
 numbers had escaped, and that they themselves 
 had assisted in conveying over several hundreds 
 to the Asiatic side ; but that others, less fortu- 
 nate, had been taken by the Turkish authorities, 
 and had been forwarded to Constantinople and 
 put to death. Our informants added, that the 
 road was unsafe for travellers, as it was beset 
 with these deserters, who were committing 
 every kind of depredation. This had been 
 actually the case a short time before. Fifteen 
 hundred men had deserted from the small corps 
 d'armee stationed in the neighbourhood of Con- 
 stantinople, and had laid the whole country 
 under contribution : several had been caught, 
 and five of them had been impaled in the town 
 of Scutari. 
 
 As we approached Gallipoli, we saw two
 
 JEWISH SABBATH. 63 
 
 Turkish men-of-war at anchor off the town. 
 They were stationed to intercept all stragglers 
 from the army. 
 
 A Jew in Gallipoli is agent to the British 
 consul in the Dardanelles. At the time of our 
 arrival he was in the deepest affliction for the 
 loss of his son, a very fine young man, who had 
 died only two days before of an epidemic dis- 
 order that was carrying off numbers of the 
 inhabitants. I thought my presence could not 
 be acceptable at such a time ; I therefore, by 
 advice of John, went to the agent's cousin. 
 Notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, and 
 that all the family were in bed, the bolts of 
 the doors were immediately withdrawn by the 
 magical effect of John's voice. 
 
 The Jews of this country are all fond of 
 good living, and we came in for the benefit of 
 it. A good supper of fish, cheese, and wine, 
 were speedily placed before us. Of this, John 
 and I were obliged to partake, though certain 
 of the indigestion which would follow so late 
 a meal. We were waited upon by our host's 
 wife and daughter. This last was a pretty 
 plump damsel, with her hair divided into
 
 64 POPULATION OF GALLIPOLI. 
 
 several long plaits, which were entirely inter- 
 woven with gold coins ; and a variety of orna- 
 ments decorated her neck and arms. After 
 supper three beds were spread on the floor, 
 on which our host, John, and myself, reclined. 
 
 September 5. At daylight the next morning 
 (Saturday) I called on the British agent. It is 
 not lawful for the Jews to dress any victuals 
 on their sabbath. To reconcile their consciences 
 with their hospitality, the agent's family became 
 accessories to breaking the sabbath, leaving it 
 to John and myself to be principals in the sin. 
 They therefore introduced us into the kitchen, 
 brought us fuel for fire, a jug of water, and 
 some undressed provisions : with the assistance 
 of my servant's one hand, I put into practice 
 my skill in cookery (an accomplishment I 
 learned at Westminster), and soon produced a 
 very comfortable meal. 
 
 Gallipoli, the ancient Callipolis, is built on 
 the brow of a hill. It contains a tolerably equal 
 proportion of Jews and Turks. The population 
 is estimated at about six thousand souls. 
 
 Notwithstanding the exertions of John, I did 
 not leave Gallipoli till half-past ten, it having
 
 HINT TO TRAVELLERS. 65 
 
 been necessary to send for the post-horses to a 
 considerable distance in the plains, where they 
 were grazing. 
 
 Here it is strongly recommended to the 
 traveller in Turkey, whose object is expedition, 
 to avoid passing the night in a large town, as 
 delays of some kind are sure to impede his 
 progress, and the advantages he would derive 
 in point of comfort and accommodation are 
 very questionable ; whereas, if he would go 
 one stage before night, he might devote all 
 the period of his stay to repose, and be 
 sure of finding the horses ready whenever he 
 wished to resume his journey. The same rule 
 is applicable to Persia, and to every other 
 country in Asia through which I have travelled. 
 
 The first part of the road lay through that 
 narrow tongue of land between the Darda- 
 nelles and the Gulf of Saros, which formerly 
 comprised the Chersonesus of Thrace. The 
 country, for several miles, formed a succession 
 of plains of burnt-up grass, on which, however, 
 we saw numerous herds of cattle grazing. We 
 passed, on our road, a large body of mounted 
 dellis (or madmen). Their high caps and sin- 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 66 ADRIANOPLE ARMY. 
 
 gular costume made them a very picturesque 
 group. 
 
 A few miles from Gallipoli, we fell in with 
 a party of those regular Turkish troops who 
 had formed a portion of the army sent to 
 defend Adrianople. We continued to meet 
 other small bodies throughout this and the fol- 
 lowing day. Some were with, and some with- 
 out, arms ; they came in numbers from three 
 to twenty. We also saw some irregular ca- 
 valry; but from none of them did we suffer 
 the slightest molestation. The march passed 
 without an adventure ; once indeed we thought 
 we had encountered one. 
 
 On quitting the plains, we entered a large 
 ravine, very thickly wooded, and well adapted 
 for ambuscade. In the middle of this place, 
 some one from behind a bush called out in 
 Turkish, " Stop, you Franks !" but we paid no 
 attention to the order, and we did not see, nor 
 did we afterwards hear, any thing of him from 
 whom the voice proceeded. 
 
 We changed horses at Cavac, where we 
 were detained two hours. In the interval we 
 received visits from the principal inhabitants of
 
 OUR night's lodging. 67 
 
 the village. After leaving this place, we heard 
 that our last guide had taken us two hours out 
 of our way, being ignorant of the road to Ro- 
 dosto, though it was a regular post. We tra- 
 velled till midnight, over stony hills, so thickly 
 covered with wood that in many places our 
 horses could scarcely pass. We then arrived 
 at a village of about sixty houses ; and being- 
 unable from fatigue to proceed further, we 
 knocked at the door of a house, but received 
 no answer. We forced our way in ; and crawl- 
 ing upon our hands and knees, we had the 
 good fortune to find, not only an unoccupied 
 room, but one well furnished with mats and 
 cushions. My surijee unceremoniously made 
 a fire of some timber he found in an out- 
 house, and in a few minutes we were fast 
 asleep. 
 
 September G. We resumed our journey an 
 hour and a half before daylight. As we were 
 going away, we observed that the door opposite 
 the room we occupied, was then open, though 
 it had been closed when we arrived. From 
 this we argued, that our unknown landlord had 
 taken us for an advanced party of Cossacks.
 
 68 A TURKISH HERO. 
 
 To this mistake probably we owed the undis- 
 turbed possession of our night's quarters. 
 
 After a ride of severe suffering from cold 
 and drowsiness, we arrived at Ainadjick, where 
 we breakfasted. We continued to meet parties of 
 troops. Near Rodosto, we saw a young soldier 
 mounted on a handsome charger, the reins of 
 which were held by an old Turk with a venerable 
 white beard. They were father and son : the 
 younger man was known to John. His family 
 were rich, and lived near the Asiatic castle of 
 the Dardanelles. John asked him where he had 
 been : he replied, *' Military ardour inspired me 
 with a wish to join my brave comrades in arms ; 
 but God's providence put fear into my heart, 
 and so I returned !" 
 
 At mid-day, we reached the seaport town of 
 Rodosto. We went to the house of an Armenian, 
 who either was, or assumed to be, agent to the 
 British consul. I told him that I had a letter 
 from our admiral for the ambassador, and wished 
 to proceed to Constantinople with all despatch. 
 He tried to persuade me that the journey by 
 land was unsafe, and recommended me to go in 
 a four-oared boat, which he would procure for
 
 AN ARMENIAN ROGUE. 69 
 
 me. On inquiry, I found that the boatmen were 
 all his countrymen. The sum he demanded for 
 the hire was so exorbitant, that I had no diffi- 
 culty in divining his motives for advising the 
 sea trip ; and knowing from woful experience the 
 roguery of his class of countrymen, declined his 
 agency, and did what I ought to have done in 
 the first instance, — I begged the pasha to assist 
 me. He immediately sent an armed cavass, to 
 order the boatmen to be ready to start imme- 
 diately : the price stipulated was one half of 
 that proposed by the Armenian. The order to 
 go was easier given than obeyed : they were all 
 drunk in the wine-houses. As the wind was 
 contrary, and there was a heavy swell against 
 us, I agreed to defer my departure, and to let 
 them enjoy themselves till the evening. 
 
 I met here a young Ionian merchant, with 
 goods for the Adrianople market. The agent 
 had tried to lay him also under contribution ; 
 but by an application to the pasha, he, as 
 well as myself, became exempted from this 
 fellow's extortion. 
 
 At eight in the evening, the swell being
 
 70 PIVATES. 
 
 considerably abated, I entered my boat. It was 
 one of the larger kind of caiques. The length 
 was about twenty-eight feet, the breadth four 
 feet in midships, terminating fore and aft in 
 a graceful curve. The interior was fancifully 
 ornamented with gilding and carved oak. There 
 were four rowers, each man handling a pair of 
 light oars, the palls of which were formed like 
 clubs. This sort of craft keeps near the shore, 
 and sails very close to the wind : our boatmen 
 continued to row nearly all night. It is the cha- 
 racteristic of this climate, that though the days 
 are oppressively hot, the nights are exceedingly 
 cold. John and myself became painfully sen- 
 sible of this, as a blue cloak between us was 
 all the protection which we had from the chill 
 of the night air. 
 
 Septejnbe?' 7. The next morning, at eight 
 o'clock, we found ourselves off Selyvri. As it 
 was a Turkish town, our boatmen, who were 
 Christians, did not stop, but went six miles 
 further, to the Greek village of Pivates, Ui^drsg, 
 or Badho, as it is called in the maps. Here we 
 remained five hours. I was lodged in the house
 
 PIVATES. 71 
 
 of Apostoli Leontari, one of the wealthiest 
 Greeks of the town. His wife and children 
 welcomed me by kissing my hand. 
 
 Tired out with want of rest, I threw myself 
 on an ottoman, and slept soundly for two hours. 
 I was awoke by the apparition of one of my 
 host's daughters, a remarkably pretty girl, who 
 brought me water to wash, preparatory to my 
 meal. She would have formed a beautiful sub- 
 ject for a picture, as she presented herself to 
 my waking eyes. She was in a graceful kneel- 
 ing posture, her body inclined slightly for- 
 ward, her hair braided and reclining on her 
 shoulders ; her arms, feet, and neck bare ; her 
 robes loose and flowing, a classical zone en- 
 circling her waist, her left arm and knee sup- 
 porting a basin, and her right hand grasping 
 an ewer, resembling in shape that which is 
 occasionally seen on ancient vases.
 
 72 PIVATES. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Pivates — Land at Pera — The Bosphorous — Therapia — 
 Mosque of Sultan Achmet — Turkish Mad - house — 
 Opium-eaters — Sultan Selim, his Attempts at Civili- 
 sation — Burying -grounds, the Lounge of Constantino- 
 ple — Proofs of Depopulation — Curious Tombstones — 
 Slave Market — The Bagnio Prison — A recent Fire in 
 Galata — Walls of Constantinople — General Disaffection 
 throughout Turkey — Abortive Conspiracy — Executions 
 — Mr. Slade — Mode of exposing the Bodies of Turks — 
 Christians — Jews — Women — Translation of a Yafta. 
 
 There are abundance of vines along this coast. 
 Pivates produces 400,000 ochs* of wine, one 
 fifth of which goes to the government. 
 
 On leaving Pivates, we passed in succession 
 the villages of Yaloos, Shahteros, Koomberos, 
 and Chuplejee, the Buyuk (great) and Kutchuk 
 (little) Tchmekmedgee, and arrived at the out- 
 skirts of Constantinople at midnight. As no 
 boat can pass the seraglio after dark, I was 
 
 * The och is 2| lbs.
 
 THERAPIA. 73 
 
 reduced to another night's lodging in the boat ; 
 but was recompensed for the inconvenience by 
 entering this beautiful harbour by daylight. 
 
 At seven, I landed at Pera, and was de- 
 tained a few minutes to have my booyoodery 
 read. I then proceeded to the British palace. 
 Sir Robert Gordon was at his country seat, 
 at Therapia, so I forwarded my despatches 
 to his excellency. I met here Captain Airey, 
 aide-de-camp to Sir Frederic Adam, also in 
 charge of despatches. We breakfasted with 
 Mr. Cartwright, the consul-general, with whom 
 we had been previously acquainted in the 
 Ionian Islands. In the afternoon, we went in 
 a caique to Therapia, to pay our respects to the 
 British ambassador. 
 
 The trip occupied upwards of three hours. 
 We glided along the hilly and beautifully 
 wooded shores of the Bosphorus. It is adorned 
 the whole way with Turkish villas, barracks, and 
 palaces. Whenever we came to a valley or in- 
 equality of ground, we saw a neat village im- 
 bedded in trees, and groups of Turks smoking 
 their pipes and sipping their favourite beverage. 
 The kiosks of the sultan are very numerous, of
 
 74 THERAPIA. 
 
 a most elegant construction, and like what are 
 described on Chinese screens. 
 
 The tameness of animals on this arm of 
 the sea is very curious. The porpoises played 
 round our boat; and frequently, when, from 
 the strength of the current, it was necessary 
 to tow the caique, the birds (almost the only 
 animals protected by law from the penalty of 
 death) would hardly move out of our way till 
 the track-rope touched their breasts. 
 
 We passed, and were met on our way by 
 numerous caiques, full of Turks, Armenians, or 
 Greeks, on their return to their country houses 
 after the avocations of the day. Behind most of 
 the villas are gardens, formed on a succession of 
 terraces, which ascend the hill, and have a beau- 
 tiful appearance. Adjoining Sir Robert Gordon's 
 country seat, is that of the French ambassador. 
 It was formerly the residence of the celebrated 
 Ypsilanti, from whom it was confiscated: it has 
 since been given to the French government. 
 
 On our return to Constantinople, Captain 
 Airey and myself engaged apartments in the 
 same house, and dined in the evening with 
 Mr. Cartwright.
 
 TURKISH MAD-HOUSE. 75 
 
 September '^. We devoted this morning to 
 seeing the usual sights of the capital. 1 made 
 several other visits, but, perhaps, the result of 
 my observations had better be inserted alto- 
 gether than given piece-meal. I saw the hip- 
 podrome, the mosque of Sultan Achmet, to 
 which the grand signior goes in great state 
 during the beiram. Opposite the hippodrome 
 is a menagerie, containing a few wild beasts. 
 Near it is a mad-house, under the superin- 
 tendence of a moolah. The building is a 
 court-yard, surrounded by arcades, which open 
 upon several cells. The reputed regard of the 
 Turk for the insane is not exemplified here. 
 No attempt appears to be made to restore the 
 unfortunate inmates to reason : the cells are 
 dirty and comfortless, and the poor wretches 
 are chained by the neck to the walls. 
 
 Opposite the mosque of Sulimanieh is a 
 line of coffee-houses, the usual resort of the 
 opium-eaters. It is now forbidden to indulge 
 in that drug; and, in consequence, many of the 
 coffee-houses have been ruined. Such, how- 
 ever, is the fondness of the Turk for it, that in 
 defiance of the prohibition, many, both young
 
 76 SULTAN SELIM. 
 
 and old, may be seen enjoying that state of 
 utter abstraction which opium produces. They 
 are easily recognisable by their sallow, un- 
 healthy looks and vacant stare. 
 
 At the end of these coffee-houses is a 
 mad-house, an appropriate appendage to such 
 a neighbourhood, and the invariable retreat of 
 those whose intellects have been destroyed by 
 the use of the baneful drug. It would seem 
 placed there as if to warn them of their pro- 
 bable fate. 
 
 Landing at the seraglio point, you may see 
 several monuments of Sultan Selim's fruitless 
 attempts to civilise Turkey. From the landing- 
 place is a broad street, crossed by others equally 
 wide, and built in imitation of those in Eu- 
 ropean towns. At the end of the street is a 
 large printing-house. It has completely fallen 
 into disuse since the Revolution, which expelled 
 that really enlightened monarch from the 
 throne. To the right is a handsome barrack, 
 built by him for the new troops which he 
 had attempted to raise. A little farther is a 
 mosque, into which any one is at liberty to 
 walk : hence you can proceed to the burying-
 
 PROOFS OF DEPOPULATION. 77 
 
 ground, which forms the fashionable promenade 
 of loungers, whether Christians or Turks. 
 
 It might almost be said, that the burying- 
 grounds of the capital are as extensive as the 
 town itself. What with fire, the plague, the 
 bow-string, and the sword, the Turks have, 
 since their establishment in Europe, but more 
 especially of late years, required room to bury 
 their dead. Formerly a dense population, they 
 have now left the country almost a wilderness. 
 Even at this spot, so highly favoured by cli- 
 mate, fertility, and commercial wealth, it is 
 quite appalling to observe how few inhabit- 
 ants have been spared. During a ride of some 
 miles, you may pass through streets where 
 dogs are almost the only inhabitants. In the 
 bazaars only, which are in the neighbourhood 
 of the port, the stir and bustle of a capital can 
 be remarked. Large quarters of the town, 
 which fire has from time to time destroyed, 
 remain deserted, the receptacles for the car- 
 cases of horses and dogs, upon which crowds 
 of vultures and of dogs themselves may be 
 seen to prey. 
 
 The Turkish cemeteries, with their turbaned
 
 tS CURIOUS TOMBSTONES. 
 
 tombstones, gilded inscriptions, and their superb 
 forests of cypress which surround them, have 
 often been described. In the Jews' burying- 
 ground, the tombstones, instead of being erect, 
 like those of the Turks, are laid flat. They are 
 generally in the shape of a coffin, and are in- 
 scribed with Hebrew characters. On the Ar- 
 menian monuments the emblems of the trade 
 which the deceased formerly followed are en- 
 graved. Amongst the tombstones, two arrested 
 my attention : on one is represented a man 
 suspended from a gibbet ; on the other, the 
 body of a person, in a kneeling posture, with 
 the head lying beside it. 
 
 In a good government, executions are in- 
 tended for the prevention of crime by the force 
 of example. With us, the disgrace is also con- 
 sidered to produce its effect : but what must 
 be the wretched state of that country where 
 unjust executions have so mixed up the inno- 
 cent with the guilty, and have so done away 
 with the shame and the example, that, instead 
 of recording the virtues of the deceased, his 
 family should announce to posterity, that he had 
 died by the hand of the public executioner.
 
 SLAVE MARKET. 79 
 
 The slave bazaar is entered by a gate, 
 across which is a chain, the emblem, I suppose, 
 of the bondage of those within. It is a court, 
 surrounded by a covered gallery, where the 
 merchants and buyers, seated on their cushions, 
 smoke and transact business. Underneath this 
 gallery are the rooms where the black slaves 
 are lodged, and opening into it from behind, 
 are apartments for the Georgians, Circassians, 
 and other female slaves. From time to time, 
 one or two of them are produced and sold by 
 auction. They are nearly all children, from ten 
 to fourteen years of age. The auctioneer, a 
 servant of the dealers, walks before, and pro- 
 claims aloud the last price offered for the 
 young slave who follows. The blacks are ge- 
 nerally sold in the same manner, though both 
 are frequently disposed of by private contract ; 
 when women, whose profession it is, are sent 
 round to examine them, and see that they are 
 in good health and well formed. Numbers of 
 women on this errand are to be seen going 
 from room to room. The slaves are usually 
 sold attired in a beautiful under dress, 
 shewing the figure to advantage, and exposing
 
 80 THE BAGNIO PRISON. 
 
 the face and hair to view. When bought, they 
 are immediately put into the Turkish boots and 
 slippers, and the large, unseemly blue cloak, 
 called a beniss. They then have their heads, 
 vi^ith the exception of the eyes and upper part 
 of the nose, bound up in linen ; and thus ha- 
 bited, are carried to the harem. 
 
 Within the arsenal is the bagnio prison, the 
 horrors of which are so powerfully described in 
 Anastasius. The prison - yard is small. A 
 marble room, probably once forming part of 
 the bath, has been filled up with pictures, &c. 
 lately taken from the Russian frigate, as a 
 place of Greek worship for the Russian pri- 
 soners who belonged to it. Here they remained 
 until the peace. They occupied this dismal 
 abode with the common offenders, who were 
 all chained. The Russians looked miserable 
 enough ; but hardly deserve pity, for their 
 cowardly conduct in not fighting their ship. 
 Leading from the yard to the passage, is a 
 kind of bazaar for provisions and whatever 
 luxuries the prisoners are allowed to enjoy. 
 It is difficult to decide upon the degree of 
 suffering of a Turkish captive. Free or con-
 
 A RECENT FIRE IN GALATA. 81 
 
 fined, he has the same immovable gravity, the 
 same eternal pipe. Perhaps, from his seden- 
 tary habits, the Turk feels the privation of 
 liberty less than a native of a country accus- 
 tomed to more active pursuits. 
 
 The Russian prisoners were at liberty to 
 work or not, as they pleased : those who chose 
 to do so, could earn a fair profit. 
 
 In the course of our walk, we passed over 
 the spot where the late fire had taken place. 
 It was described to me by Lord Dunlo, with 
 whom I afterwards travelled through European 
 Turkey. The houses being chiefly of wood, 
 dried by the constant play upon them of a 
 powerful sun, the fire soon extended itself, and 
 fanned by a breeze from the north, easily tra- 
 versed the narrow streets, and was not arrested 
 till it had consumed nearly eight thousand 
 houses, and several inhabitants. The sight, 
 particularly when it became dark, must have 
 been magnificent. The unfortunate sufferers 
 from the conflagration fled to the neighbouring 
 burying-grounds with whatever property they 
 could collect. It speaks very highly for Turkish 
 honesty, that not a single attempt at pillage 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 82 WALLS OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 
 
 was made, though, in the confusion of the night, 
 it might easily have been accomplished. 
 
 Near one of the places where a fire had 
 taken place, is the base of a very handsome 
 pillar, like that of Trajan at Rome. The de- 
 structive element had calcined the very rich 
 marble of which it was formed, and but little 
 of its sculpture remained visible ; the mate- 
 rials being found of use, stone after stone had 
 been taken away by the Turks, till the base 
 alone remained. 
 
 A ride round the walls of Constantinople 
 is delightful. They are very curious, and re- 
 markably strong, There are six grand en- 
 trances, of which, however, little remains 
 except the general plan of the roads leading 
 to them. They afford superb specimens of 
 antiquity ; the ivy grows over them in the most 
 luxuriant manner imaginable. You are shewn 
 the spot where the last Greek emperor fell, 
 and where the town was stormed. Not far 
 from this place are the tombs of the famous 
 rebel Ali Pasha of lanina, and of his sons, who 
 were all beheaded a few years ago. 
 
 Our peregrination of the day was per-
 
 GENERAL DISSAFFECTION THROUGHOUT TURKEY. 83 
 
 formed without our encountering the slightest 
 molestation. Since the destruction of the ja- 
 nizaries, no Turk, except in government em- 
 ploy, is allowed to wear arms; and a Frank 
 can go all over Constantinople, not only without 
 danger, but without insult. 
 
 Crossing one of the streets, we observed the 
 ground smeared with blood. It was the spot 
 where a man had been lately executed : he 
 was one of some thousands who had been put 
 to death a few days before my arrival. 
 
 As soon as the advance of the Russians had 
 become generally known, the disaffected spirit 
 which had almost lain dormant since the de- 
 struction of the janizaries, broke out, not only 
 in European Turkey, but throughout the 
 African and Asiatic dominions of the sultan ; 
 and the news of revolt and discontent in the 
 remote provinces, were received at a time 
 when succours from those very parts were 
 most required. In the beginning of August, 
 several attempts had been made to set fire to 
 Constantinople ; and the sultan's best troops, 
 who had been previously destined to reinforce 
 the army, opposed in the field against the Rus-
 
 84 ABORTIVE CONSPIRACY. 
 
 sians, were employed in preserving peace in 
 the capital. Desertions from the regular army- 
 were numerous ; and, as I mentioned before, 
 fifteen hundred men abandoned their colours 
 from the corps d'armee, encamped at Buyuk- 
 dere, and about to be called out on active ser- 
 vice. These deserters, together with several 
 irregular troops, committed so many excesses, 
 that the neighbourhood of Constantinople be- 
 came quite insecure, and travellers could not 
 proceed without an escort. On the 12th of 
 August, the sanjak sherif, or sacred standard, 
 was taken toRamasChiflik,the principal Turkish 
 barrack. Thither also the sultan went, and made 
 it his future residence. A very few days after- 
 wards, a disturbance took place in the barracks, 
 in which thirty lives were lost. 
 
 Later in the same month, a regular con- 
 spiracy was discovered ; the objects of which 
 were, to overturn the sultan's government, to 
 re-establish the order of janizaries, to burn the 
 capital, and to retire into Asia Minor. The 
 ramifications of this plot were very extensive. 
 Most of the Asiatics, with the army at Shumla, 
 were implicated. It was discovered by the
 
 EXECUTIONS. 85 
 
 conspirators having consulted the astrologers 
 to name a propitious day for the accomplish- 
 ment of their design. Some day late in August 
 was fixed upon for the purpose. In the mean- 
 while the astrologers were arrested, and on 
 being put to the torture, confessed the whole. 
 
 I was told by Mustapha, a kavass in the 
 British service, that the next Friday, after the 
 sultan had become acquainted with the con- 
 spiracy, he went, with more than usual pomp, 
 to the mosque, and was attended by a large 
 band of music. Returning from prayers, per- 
 sons implicated in the conspiracy were seized, 
 made to kneel down, and executed on the 
 spot. 
 
 The first executions took place on board 
 the fleet, the capitan pasha putting to death 
 several of his own personal attendants. Soon 
 after, the Nasir of Buyukdere was executed, 
 and his head placed on one of the gates of the 
 seraglio. 
 
 Subsequently, the sultan devolved the office 
 of crushing the rebellion upon the seraskier 
 pasha, or commander-in-chief of the army ; a 
 man of about seventy-six years of age, and a
 
 86 EXECUTIONS. 
 
 great favourite with his sublime highness. This 
 man adopted the expedient which had been 
 acted upon by his imperial master a few years 
 before — that of extermination. From four to 
 five persons a-day were beheaded and exposed 
 in the streets ; and from fifty to a hundred 
 were every night strangled, and their bodies 
 thrown into the Bosphorus, at the seven towers. 
 From three to four thousand persons were put 
 to death. 
 
 The bodies exposed in the street were 
 seen by the English travellers who were in 
 Constantinople at the time. Lord Dunlo told 
 me, that amongst the corpses, he stumbled 
 upon that of a coffee-house keeper, whose 
 house he had once been in. It was suspected 
 of being the rendezvous of the disaffected ; it 
 had been razed to the ground, and its owner 
 beheaded. 
 
 On another occasion, he came to the spot 
 where a fine athletic young man had been put 
 to death a few minutes before. The head, 
 which had been very awkwardly severed, was 
 placed, according to custom, under the arm. 
 Near the body was the unhappy widow of
 
 MR. SLADE. 87 
 
 the deceased, the only person who dared to 
 shew any sympathy in his fate. Other persons 
 either passed on, or stopped for a moment to 
 read the yafta, or sentence of his death. 
 
 Mr. Slade, a lieutenant in the navy, was 
 accidentally present at an execution, which 
 took place on the 5th of September, two days 
 before I came to Constantinople. He was 
 entering from the fish -market, which termi- 
 nates with the custom-house, and about to 
 turn in that direction, when he remarked a 
 crowd of persons all looking towards the oppo- 
 site end of the street. He now perceived a 
 guard of about twenty men advancing towards 
 him. Curious to know what it might mean, 
 he remained where he was, at the crossing of 
 the two streets. When the guard had arrived 
 there, it halted, and the officer made signs to 
 the crowd to fall back, upon which two men 
 advanced from the guard — the executioner 
 and the victim, the latter having his hands tied 
 behind him, the former armed with a yatagan. 
 So firm and undaunted was the demeanour of 
 the condemned man, that had not his hands 
 been tied, there was nothing to indicate his
 
 88 MODE OF EXPOSING THE BODIES OF TURKS. 
 
 unhappy character. With the same unshaken 
 determination he presently knelt down, and 
 submitted his head and neck to be prepared 
 by the executioner for the blow, by removing 
 his turban and cap, and feeling the back of 
 the neck for a good place to strike. When this 
 was done, and the executioner had read over 
 the yafta, under which he was condemned, he 
 made a short prayer to Mahomet in a loud 
 and firm tone of voice ; and turning to the 
 executioner, he said he was ready ; upon 
 which, with a single blow of the yatagan, the 
 head was severed from the body : it rolled two 
 or three feet, while the trunk, instantly lifeless 
 and prostrate, emitted two copious streams of 
 blood. In the meantime the mob and guard 
 disappeared ; the executioner quietly wiped 
 his yatagan on the clothes of the deceased, 
 sheathed it, laid the body on its back, the 
 head under the arm, and the yafta on the 
 breast. 
 
 Several Greeks, Armenians, and Jews, were 
 executed at this period. Their bodies are 
 disposed of differently from the Mahometans. 
 They are laid upon their bellies, and, instead
 
 TRANSLATION OF A YAFTA. 89 
 
 of the heads being placed under the arms, 
 they are put between the legs. 
 
 Some women were also put to death; but 
 as the Turk never loses sight of the decorum 
 due to the sex, even after death, their bodies 
 were placed in a horse-hair sack, and in this 
 manner exposed, for the sake of example. 
 
 I have mentioned the yafta, or sentence of 
 death. The following is a translation of one 
 that was taken from the breast of a man executed 
 the 6th of September, and may serve as a spe- 
 cimen of Turkish criminal jurisprudence. 
 
 It will be observed, that the unfortunate 
 sufferer was put to death because another man 
 addressed seditious language to him. 
 
 ** Achmet, kiaya (chief) of the corporation of 
 merchants dealing in articles of luxury at Con- 
 stantinople. 
 
 '' This wretch obtained, some time ago, 
 through the munificence of his highness, the 
 office of kiaya of this corporation. 
 
 " Instead of shewing gratitude for the mani- 
 fold benefits he had received ; instead of thank- 
 ing God in the five prayers ; instead of praying 
 night and day with his family for his highness
 
 QO TRANSLATION OF A YAFTA. 
 
 and for the Mussulman nation, in remembrance 
 of the favours by which he had hitherto been 
 loaded ; instead of attending to his own busi- 
 ness ; instead of abstaining from criticising 
 business which did not concern him ; instead 
 of living quietly, and being more than any other 
 of the like employment attached to govern- 
 ment, as his duty and sense of obligation should 
 have compelled him ; this man, not only omitted 
 making any of these reflections, but made use 
 of seditious language, saying that the seraskier 
 pasha, or seraskier capissi, had been torn in 
 pieces ; that this and that thing had been done. 
 It is in this manner that he had the audacity to 
 cause to be circulated false intelligence, con- 
 duct tending to spread alarm amongst Maho- 
 metan people. 
 
 " The fact being alleged, and Achmet being 
 interrogated on the subject, could not deny it. 
 He only maintained that it was not he who had 
 said it, but Abdi, acavass of the imperial divan, 
 living in the quarter called Feirouz-Aga. Abdi 
 was summoned to appear, who being confronted 
 with Achmet, he also has been unable to 
 deny it.
 
 TRANSLATION OF A YAFTA. 91 
 
 *' The boldness of their infamous conduct, 
 and of the language they have held on things 
 which did not concern them, proves that these 
 men are ungrateful wretches, traitors who ought 
 to be made to disappear ; and it is thus deemed 
 necessary to execute upon them the penal laws, 
 so that good order may be maintained. In con- 
 sequence, the traitor, Abdi Cavass, has been 
 executed in another place, and the robber, 
 Achmet, has undergone the punishment here, 
 so that he might seem as an example. "
 
 92 REMARKS ON THE LATE EXECUTIONS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Remarks on the late Executions — Anticipated Results from the 
 Destruction of the Janizaries — Observations on the Turkish 
 Empire — The Sultan — Origin of the Power of the Ule- 
 mas — They combine with the Janizaries — Result of this 
 Union to the Empire. 
 
 This chapter will contain a few remarks sug- 
 gested by the events recorded in the last few 
 pages. 
 
 It would be thought that the destruction of 
 the janizaries, in 1826, would have been a suf- 
 ficient warning to the Turks not to recur to 
 those measures which had so recently cost the 
 lives of sixty thousand of their countrymen. 
 
 That dreadful, but perhaps expedient mas- 
 sacre, was, in the opinion of many, to produce 
 the greatest benefits to the country. It was 
 argued that this licentious militia had been the 
 sole bar to the improvements meditated by the 
 sultan, and that its abolition would be a death- 
 blow to the prejudice and bigotry that had so
 
 OBSERVATIONS ON THE TURKISH EMPIRE. 93 
 
 long paralysed the efforts of the Ottoman go- 
 vernment. 
 
 That this has not been the result, the cir- 
 cumstances which led to the late executions 
 sufficiently shew, and it forms one of the series 
 of examples which will appear in this narrative, 
 to prove that the " snake" of fanaticism is 
 *' scotched, not killed." 
 
 We will not here examine, how far the so- 
 vereign has directed his attention to the ame- 
 lioration of his empire ; that subject shall be 
 considered, when there shall be sufficient ex- 
 amples adduced, to form a judgment on his 
 claims to the high and enlightened character 
 which he has hitherto held. Let us at present 
 confine ourselves to a search for some of the 
 obstacles to the expected improvements, which 
 we shall find in the laws and institutions of the 
 Turkish empire. 
 
 The grand signior is considered by the Turks 
 as the legitimate successor of Mahomet and 
 the lawful caliphs. Like them, he is endowed 
 with the spiritual and temporal authority. But 
 the caliphs were of the race of Mahomet, and 
 succeeded to sovereign power in quality of first
 
 94 ORIGIN OF THE POWER OF THE ULEMAS. 
 
 imaiins, or chief priest, an office they claimed 
 as hereditary descendants of their prophet ; 
 whereas the Ottoman monarchs being of Tartar 
 origin, owed their office of chief in church and 
 state to the success of their arms. 
 
 This defect in their hereditary pretensions 
 occasioned the necessity of making some modi- 
 fications in the religious authority of the Otto- 
 man caliphs, and is the source of the importance 
 and prerogatives of the ulemas, or priesthood, in 
 whom are vested the functions of both law and 
 religion. 
 
 The first monarchs of the race of Ottoman, 
 who took possession of this empire at a time 
 when the caliphate was divided among several 
 candidates, all assuming to be the legitimate 
 successor of Mahomet, took the title of Caliph, 
 in order to enjoy uncontrolled sovereignty in 
 their dominions. 
 
 But these warlike monarchs, disdaining to 
 fill the functions of the priesthood, which be- 
 longed to them as chief imauns, delegated it to 
 the corps of ulemas. To the mufty they as- 
 signed the interpretation of the laws; to the 
 moolahs and cadis the administration of justice ;
 
 THEIR PRIVILEGES. 95 
 
 and to the sheikhs and imauns the ordinary 
 ceremonies of worship. 
 
 In process of time, the people considered 
 the ulemas as the only persons who had a right 
 to exercise the functions of law and religion ; 
 consequently, the monarch, who should have 
 been the only legal oracle, found himself 
 obliged to consult the mufty, and bound by the 
 fetfas, or edicts, of this pontiff. 
 
 It is here important to enumerate a few 
 of the privileges and advantages enjoyed by 
 the ulemas. 
 
 The mufty is the lieutenant of the grand 
 signior in the exercise of his spiritual, as the 
 grand vizier is of his temporal power. These 
 two great officers are equal in rank, and walk 
 in the same line. The mufty is the oracle of 
 the law ; all the principal offices are subject 
 to his nomination. 
 
 The ulemas pay no taxes, and are exempt 
 from public imposts ; they cannot be punished 
 with death, and are not exposed to the arbi- 
 trary law of confiscation, — a great privilege 
 in a country where death and confiscation are 
 the usual means of strengthening the power
 
 96 THEY COMBINE WITH THE JANIZARIES. 
 
 and filling the coffers of the sultan. The 
 greatest privilege is that of a real aristocracy, 
 in insuring to some families the hereditary 
 possession of the principal places of the magis- 
 tracy, and in obliging the sultan to select the 
 mufty from the classes ordained by the regu- 
 lations of their corps. 
 
 As long as the sovereigns led their armies 
 in person to the field, and returned home 
 crowned with victory, the ulemas were hum- 
 ble and obedient ; but when the sovereigns 
 delegated the command of their armies to 
 viziers and pashas, and experienced reverses 
 of fortune, the ulemas exercised all that 
 power they had acquired over a fanatical and 
 bigotted people, and caused their influence 
 severely to be felt. 
 
 Nevertheless, the ulemas, foreseeing that 
 that power must be precarious which depend- 
 ed upon the caprices of the mob, engaged the 
 janizaries in their interest. 
 
 This body was the first military corps in the 
 state. They formed the sultan's guard ; they 
 received from the imperial treasury, besides 
 food, pay, which, moderate at first, increased
 
 PRIVILEGES OF THE JANIZARIES. 97 
 
 with service ; at an advanced age they obtain- 
 ed either a pension, or a military command. 
 They formed the garrison of towns during 
 peace, and the keys could only be confided to 
 an officer of their corps. On the ascent of 
 a sovereign to the throne, they demanded, 
 like the praetorian bands, largesse from the 
 imperial treasury, which they received, until 
 the poverty of the country precluded the 
 power of acceding to this claim. 
 
 The janizaries, as well as the ulemas, owed 
 their existence and privileges to the sovereign. 
 They had gained, by their important services, 
 the esteem of the people ; they likewise con- 
 ceived a profound contempt for the degenerate 
 monarchs who preferred the pleasures of the 
 harem to the glory of the camp. 
 
 The janizaries were flattered at the advances 
 made to them by the ulemas, and were delight- 
 ed to have a sanction for their seditious acts 
 by the venerable dictum of the law. Both 
 parties became strengthened by the union ; 
 both proved detrimental to the power of 
 the sovereign and to the happiness of the 
 people. 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 DESIGNS OF THE ULEMAS. 
 
 The resistance of the priests and soldiers 
 against the legitimate head of the church and 
 the army, being the result of revolt and usur- 
 pation, instead of mitigating the despotism of 
 the sovereign, and being of benefit to the liberty 
 and to the general prosperity of the people, is 
 almost the sole cause of the w^eakness of the 
 empire, and the barbarism of the Turks. For 
 these two bodies, who should have been the 
 instruments of the monarch, in becoming his 
 rivals, left the government without power, and 
 the country without protection. 
 
 The ulemas have always done every thing 
 in their power to oppose the introduction of 
 knowledge and the study of science, which 
 must inevitably bring into contempt the Koran, 
 its numerous and obscure commentaries, the 
 immense collection of contradictory edicts of 
 the muftys, and the whole system of their 
 theological knowledge. 
 
 The janizaries, who had abandoned their 
 ancient habits of discipline, pretended that the 
 same invincible sabre which had conquered so 
 many kingdoms was sufficient for their de- 
 fence, and rejected with horror the severe
 
 THEY COxMBINE WITH THE JANIZARIES. 99 
 
 discipline of the Franks and their new system 
 of tactics. 
 
 Thus, the janizaries and ulemas, in prevent- 
 ing Turkey from putting herself on a level with 
 other European powers, and adopting their 
 useful discoveries, augmented her weakness, 
 her misery, and dependence, in the same 
 proportion as the neighbouring states raised 
 themselves by their riches, their knowledge, 
 and their rapid progress in every branch of 
 industry. 
 
 The baleful effects of the co-operation of 
 these two bodies may be traced in almost every 
 page of the Turkish history, since the first ten 
 sovereigns of the empire. 
 
 The influence of the ulemas was unseen, 
 because it acted insidiously upon the minds 
 of this fanatical people ; but the power of 
 the janizaries manifested itself in open acts 
 of violence and insubordination. Against 
 the last, therefore, the attention of the mo- 
 narchs was principally directed ; and various 
 attempts were made to abolish them, and 
 to establish in their stead a military force 
 on an European model. The sultans always
 
 100 EFFECTS OF THEIR UNION. 
 
 failed in their endeavours, and frequently- 
 lost their lives in the struggle. Their want 
 of success only tended still further to increase 
 the influence of this vicious band. The last 
 effectual attempts at resistance against the 
 sovereign authority were in 1807 and 1808. 
 The results of their opposition in those two 
 eventful years were, that two sultans were 
 deposed and strangled, five grand viziers 
 decapitated or poisoned, several subordinate 
 ministers torn in pieces by the infuriated 
 mob, and some thousands of the poorer 
 classes put to death. 
 
 The janizaries enjoyed the fruits of their 
 rebellion for eighteen years, when, in 1826, 
 Mahmoud, the present sultan, resorted to the 
 desperate measure which led to the total abo- 
 lition of this licentious corps. At the period 
 of its overthrow, the greater part of the Turkish 
 population was connected with either the 
 priesthood or the soldiery ; consequently, by 
 this act, the privileges of almost all Maho- 
 metan subjects were invaded, and every thing 
 that affected their interests, that gratified their 
 pride, and that favoured their religious preju-
 
 REMODELLING OF THE ARMY. 101 
 
 dices, were, at ** one fell swoop," completely 
 destroyed. 
 
 The abolition of the janizaries was followed 
 up by the accomplishment of that project 
 which had been so frequently in the contem- 
 plation of former sovereigns, — the establish- 
 ment of a force upon the principles of a Frank 
 army. 
 
 It was hardly to be expected that the 
 Mahometan, who found himself thus forcibly 
 deprived of all those proud marks which dis- 
 tinguished him as one of the "faithful," should 
 voluntarily enrol himself in a corps professedly 
 formed on a model which he abhorred, be- 
 cause it humiliated him, as evincing the infe- 
 riority of his own system, because it militated 
 against his habits of idleness, and because it 
 grossly offended his religious scruples, as being 
 of infidel and therefore of impious origin. 
 
 Consequently, the new levies were effected 
 by tearing young recruits from the bosoms of 
 their families, with all the impolitic and aggra- 
 vating circumstances of despotic power, when 
 exercised by a savage and ignorant race. 
 
 In the meanwhile, the ulemas, who saw
 
 102 OPPOSITION OF THE ULEMAS. 
 
 that the destruction of their former supporters, 
 and that the introduction of European know- 
 ledge, would be fatal to their power, employed 
 every art and persuasion that could render the 
 new troops dissatisfied with the innovations. 
 They represented to them that the sultan was 
 an infidel, that they were absolved from obe- 
 dience to one who had proved himself so un- 
 worthy to be a lieutenant of the holy prophet, 
 and that it was contrary to the Mahometan 
 religion to imitate the customs of the Franks. 
 They foretold that no success could possibly 
 attend their Giaour arms, and that the time 
 was fast approaching when the ancient pro- 
 phecy respecting Turkey would be fulfilled, — 
 that '*the sons of yellowness" mentioned in the 
 prediction were the Russians, who were to 
 drive them out of Europe, — a just recompense 
 for their impiety in seceding from that military 
 system which had been enjoined by their pro- 
 phet, and which had gained them the posses- 
 sion of the fairest portions of three quarters of 
 the globe. 
 
 The prediction has in part worked out its 
 own accomplishment. War broke out with
 
 ITS EFFECTS. 103 
 
 the Russians. The newly-modelled army 
 marched against them, imbued with the seeds 
 of despair and disaffection. They enjoyed 
 a partial respite from defeat in the first 
 campaign, less attributable to their own 
 valour than to the foolish vanity of the 
 Russian emperor, who checked the opera- 
 tions of his army by his personal interfer- 
 ence ; but no sooner were the Christian 
 troops relieved from the presence of their 
 meddling sovereign, than they began the war 
 in good earnest, and advanced without a 
 check into the Ottoman dominions, until 
 they had arrived within a few hours' march 
 of the capital. 
 
 The knowledge of the Russians' advance 
 was marked by revolts and discontents in the 
 Turkish provinces of Europe, Asia, and Africa, 
 and by the abortive conspiracy in the capital 
 against the sovereign and his kingdom. 
 
 In a country so vilely governed as Turkey, 
 it would be endless to enumerate all the 
 obstacles which its own wretched adminis- 
 tration offers to improvement ; but it is sub- 
 mitted, from the preceding remarks, that
 
 104 OBSTACLES TO IMPROVEMENT. 
 
 amongst the principal bars to improvement may 
 be ranked the mischievous influence of the 
 clergy, M^ho, being the only instructed class, are 
 enemies to the introduction of any knowledge 
 but their own, because their political existence 
 depends upon its suppression.
 
 THE SERASKIER's TOWER. 105 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Seraskier's Tower — Hajee Mahomet — Ilhiess — Doctor 
 M'Carthy — Advice to Invalids in Turkey — Reside with 
 the British Ambassador — Manner of passing Time — 
 Saihng Match with the Capitan Bey — Visit to the Capi- 
 tan Pasha — Our Interpreter — Sketch of the Capitan 
 Pasha's Life — Policy of Nicknames in Turkey — State 
 of the Turkish Flag-ship — A Ship-launch — State of the 
 Docks — Four Greek Murderers hanged. 
 
 We ended our morning's ramble by a visit 
 to the seraskier's tower, a building about two 
 hundred and forty feet high. At the top is 
 a circular gallery, with windows all round ; 
 whence we enjoyed a beautiful panoramic view 
 of the city and its environs, of the sea of 
 Marmora, and the coast of Asia. In our way 
 home we did not omit to smoke a pipe and 
 drink sherbet with Hajee Mahomet, perfumer 
 and beard-dyer to his sublime highness, a gen- 
 tleman whom it is as necessary for a traveller 
 to visit as any of the other lions of the town. 
 I had scarcely reached my quarters, when
 
 106 ADVICE TO INVALIDS IN TURKEY. 
 
 I was seized with a violent attack of fever, 
 which, increasing in the night, obliged me to 
 call in a physician, my kind friend. Doctor 
 McCarthy, a gentleman in high favour and 
 repute with the sultan and the principal per- 
 sons in the Turkish court. It may serve as 
 a caution to others who may be in the same 
 predicament that I was, on no account to touch 
 medicine of any kind, without the express di- 
 rections of a medical adviser. I had in the 
 first instance taken calomel, which had greatly 
 increased the fever and the difficulty of cure. 
 A surgeon in the navy, who was unwell at the 
 same time, hoped also to conquer his disease 
 by calomel ; but in his case the treatment was 
 nearly attended with fatal consequences. 
 
 Medicine is rarely resorted to by the doc- 
 tors in Turkey in common cases of the fever of 
 the country. Whatever notions professional 
 men may have formed of its efficacy before 
 their arrival, experience always induces them 
 to alter their opinion : phlebotomy is the almost 
 universal substitute, and the whole body of 
 physicians are enthusiastic advocates for the 
 Sangrado system.
 
 RESIDE WITH THE BRITISH AMBASSADOR. 107 
 
 I heard afterwards that I put my doctor 
 rather in a fright. He thought my appearance 
 was very much like that of one afflicted with the 
 plague. Impressed with this opinion, he asked 
 me if I had a sore on the leg, — the usual ap- 
 pearance of this dreadful disorder. I had been 
 suffering from boils, which the heat of travel- 
 ling had very much inflamed, so I answered, 
 *' Yes ! " For a moment his worst suspicions 
 were confirmed, and he involuntarily shrunk 
 back, until by inspection he was undeceived. 
 
 I had not been long ill, when Capt. Airey's 
 duties obliged him to leave Constantinople for 
 the Ionian Islands. I felt severely the loss of 
 his society, and was determined to avail my- 
 self, as soon as possible, of Sir Robert Gordon's 
 kind invitation to take up my residence at The- 
 rapia. It was, therefore, a high gratification to 
 me when I was able to step into a caique, to 
 quit my melancholy lodgings and the oppres- 
 sive heat of Constantinople, for agreeable quar- 
 ters in the ambassador's house, and the fine 
 bracing air of the Bosphorus. 
 
 I found at Therapia, Lord Yarmouth, Lord 
 Dunlo (afterwards my fellow-traveller), my old
 
 108 SAILING MATCH. 
 
 friend and school -fellow, the Hon. Robert 
 Grosvenor, Lieutenant - Colonel Vernon, Mr. 
 Edward Villiers, Mr. Parish, and Mr. Mellish. 
 There were, besides. Captain Lyons, and the 
 officers of his majesty's ship Blonde, which 
 lay at anchor a short distance from the 
 shore. 
 
 With such companions, the time could not 
 pass otherwise than agreeably. In the morn- 
 ings we used to wander amongst the evergreen 
 and vine-clad hills which overlook Therapia ; 
 in the afternoon we enjoyed sailing excursions 
 on the Bosphorus. 
 
 September 21. Sailing in the frigate's 
 launch, cutter rigged, in passing under the 
 stern of the Turkish flag-ship, we were re- 
 cognised by the capitan bey (captain of 
 the fleet), a fine, handsome - looking man, 
 with a large black beard ; he was dressed in 
 a tight scarlet uniform, with superb diamond 
 stars and crescents on each breast, the in- 
 signia of his rank of admiral. He no sooner 
 saw us than he jumped into his own barge, 
 which was rigged with two latine sails, and 
 taking the helm himself, sailed against us. I
 
 VISIT TO THE CAPITAN PASHA. 109 
 
 fear I must add, he was the winner. The 
 match appeared to excite much interest in the 
 Turkish ships, the poops of which were lined 
 with spectators, as each boat passed under 
 their sterns. The capitan bey is nearly the 
 best sailor in the Turkish service, and is one of 
 the survivors of Navarin. 
 
 September^ 22. Mr. Grosvenor, Mr. Villiers, 
 and myself, went with Captain Lyons, in his 
 barge, to pay our respects to the capitan pasha 
 on board the flag- ship. 
 
 The Turkish fleet was anchored in the gulf 
 ofBuyukdere. It consisted of five ships of the 
 line, three frigates, three corvettes, and a num- 
 ber of smaller vessels. Decorated with their 
 red flags, they appeared to much advantage : 
 their masts were well put up, and their yards 
 squared. It was only on board that their 
 inferiority to our own ships could be per- 
 ceived. 
 
 The capitan pasha is above fifty years of 
 age, strong and well built, with a fine, manly, 
 open countenance. His manners are easy and 
 unaff*ected, and marked with that air of dignity 
 which appears to sit so naturally upon every
 
 110 OUR INTERPRETER. 
 
 Turk, whatever may be his rank in life. He was 
 simply dressed in a chocolate-coloured cloak, 
 and wore the fez, or red cap, common to persons 
 of every description in government employ. 
 
 We partook of coffee, pipes, and sweet- 
 meats, this last article of food being always 
 reserved by Turkish dignitaries for those vi- 
 siters whom they wish particularly to dis- 
 tinguish. 
 
 Our interpreter for the occasion was the 
 pilot of the Blonde, a Greek by birth, and a 
 sailor by profession : from early association, 
 therefore, the capitan pasha was, to his eyes, 
 the most formidable man in existence. That 
 he so considered him was evinced by the low 
 and agitated tone in which he spoke, by his 
 imperfect interpretation of our remarks, and by 
 the perspiration which stood in thick drops on 
 his brow. 
 
 The capitan pasha was born in Galata, 
 and was originally a paepooshjee, or slipper- 
 maker, in his native town, of which he became 
 governor, and was subsequently appointed to 
 the high office which he now enjoys. His 
 whole nautical knowledge was picked up in a
 
 POLICY OF NICKNAMES IN TURKEY. Ill 
 
 voyage which he made to Zante in the ca- 
 pacity of a menial servant to some rich Turk. 
 His name is Achmet, to which is added that of 
 ** Paepooshjee,'' in honourable commemoration 
 of his former employment. 
 
 The custom of giving nicknames is con- 
 sonant with the policy of the Turkish empire. 
 
 It was usual to confer the highest dignities 
 of the state upon the Itch-oghlans, or pages, 
 brought up in the seraglio, and actually the 
 slaves of the grand signior. Thus the title of 
 slave became rather an honour than a disgrace, 
 and every one in the service of the govern- 
 ment was so classed. The right of the master 
 over his slaves, applying in this case to the 
 sovereign over the public functionaries, pre- 
 vented any one family from rising above the 
 multitude, and laid the basis of a perfect 
 equality amongst all classes of Ottomans, 
 which it is so much the interest of the 
 Turkish despots to maintain. Upon these prin- 
 ciples, the Turks, unlike the Persians and 
 Arabs, who are proud of their genealogy, have 
 no distinguishing or hereditary name ; but, as 
 with the capitan pasha, derive an appellation.
 
 112 STATE OF THE TURKISH FLAG-SHIP. 
 
 either from some trade or from some moral 
 quality, and not unfrequently from some 
 physical defect. Hence also may be satis- 
 factorily explained that dignified manner which 
 characterises a Turk selected from the meanest 
 avocations to fill • the highest offices of the 
 state : thus, Achmet, *' the slipper-maker, " 
 may consider himself equal in origin to the 
 grand vizier and the seraskier pasha, both of 
 whom were renegado slaves. 
 
 We went over the ship after our visit. It 
 was clean and in good order. The guns, to the 
 number of one hundred and thirty, were ready 
 for immediate service : upon the lower deck 
 were four guns, two on each side, for carrying 
 stone shot of an immense size^ There were no 
 hammocks for the men, who lie about the decks 
 as they please. 
 
 The crew were in general dirty and ill 
 dressed : they were imperfectly disciplined, 
 and almost entirely ignorant of any kind of 
 seamanship. They are, however, good swords- 
 men, and would prove formidable as boarders ; 
 but as gunners, I understand them to be very 
 contemptible. Independently of their want
 
 A SHIP-LAUNCH. 113 
 
 of skill, they have other disadvantages to con- 
 tend with. The manufacture of powder is a 
 monopoly. The consequence is, that their 
 guns cannot throw a shot more than half the 
 distance of Russian cannon of the same calibre. 
 
 Their complement of men was fifteen hun- 
 dred : an English vessel of the same rate 
 would not require more than eight hundred 
 and fifty. In the event of an engagement, so 
 large a force, with so small a knowledge of 
 their business, would be very much in each 
 other's way. The flower of the fleet was de- 
 stroyed at Navarin : the deficiency is supplied 
 by Greeks, to whom they confide the charge of 
 working the vessel, while they reserve to them- 
 selves the management of the guns. 
 
 Lord Dunlo was present at the launching 
 of one of their frigates. She was launched 
 head foremost, and in her cradle. The Turks 
 attach much importance to omens, and were 
 highly grieved when, after she had commenced 
 her descent, an obstacle checked her progress, 
 and retarded the launch. It is customary, 
 after the business is over, to slay a sheep, and, 
 like the priests of old, the mufty examines 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 114 FOUR GREEK MURDERERS HANGED. 
 
 the entrails, to draw from them an omen. On 
 this occasion, the entrails were pronounced 
 unfavourable, — another evil prognostic, in ad- 
 dition to the interruption of her descent. The 
 Turks have no dry docks, and in general their 
 ships are not coppered. From want of the 
 steam-engine, nearly all the departments of 
 the dock-yard are defective. In other respects, 
 business goes on very well ; there is no want 
 of space, and what with galley-slaves and hired 
 men, labourers are abundant. The works 
 are superintended by some skilful French 
 engineers. 
 
 In lounging along the shores of the Bos- 
 phorus with Captain Lyons, Mr. Grosvenor, 
 and Mr. Villiers, we came to a village where 
 there were four men hanging. They had 
 been Greeks, in government employ, as jour- 
 neymen bakers, in the marine storehouse. 
 Their crime was murdering one of their com- 
 panions, having first robbed him of eleven hun- 
 dred piastres. We were not present at the 
 execution, which had taken place a short time 
 before. 
 
 Each man was suspended from a separate
 
 FOUR GREEK MURDERERS HANGED. 1 15 
 
 gallows. The implement of execution was of 
 the rudest description. Three posts of unequal 
 size, as if they had been found by chance on the 
 spot, had been placed on, not in the ground, and 
 meeting at the top, formed a triangle like that 
 from which weights are suspended in England. 
 The rope by which the culprit was hanging 
 was rove through a ring at the top of the tri- 
 angle, and twisted in a slovenly manner round 
 one of the posts. The perpendicular of the 
 triangle was seven feet, and the criminals were 
 hanging so low that their feet were within 
 a few inches of the ground ; so that when 
 we approached, we found ourselves face to 
 face with the bodies. Their appearance was 
 different from what I had expected ; the coun- 
 tenances were tranquil, and, except a slight 
 protrusion of the tongue between the teeth, 
 there was no distortion in the features. The 
 eyes of one of the bodies were open, and we 
 could almost imagine that they were regarding 
 us. The countenance of this man was not 
 bad, while that of the corpse beside him was 
 the vilest I ever remember to have seen. 
 Over each body a sentry was placed, who
 
 116 FOUR GREEK MURDERERS HANGED. 
 
 willingly answered every question that was put 
 to him respecting the culprits. We were told 
 that the bodies would be exposed for two 
 days, and then thrown into the Bosphorus. 
 The mode in which they are hanged is, by 
 one man pulling the rope, while another clings 
 with his whole weight to the body until life is 
 extinct.
 
 PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE. 117 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Preparations for Departure — My Fellow-traveller, Lord Dunlo 
 
 — Our joint Servant, English Mustapha — Sketch of his 
 Adventures — Equipment for the Journey — We leave 
 Therapia — St. Stephano — Dine with the Consul-General 
 — Excellent Fish — Quail Shooting — Resume our Voyage 
 
 — Unpleasant Disaster — A Salt-water Bath — Put into 
 Selivri — A Turkish Coffee-house. 
 
 A WEEK of the Bosphorus air had effected such 
 an improvement in my health, that the desire 
 of travelling, which had left me in the depres- 
 sion of illness, again returned. I began to 
 make preparations for another journey, and had 
 the good fortune to engage Lord Dunlo as a 
 fellow-traveller. Our plan was to proceed to 
 Adrianople, and to be guided by circumstances 
 for our subsequent route. Peace was not rati- 
 fied at the time, every thing was in doubt and 
 uncertainty, and there were not a few prognos- 
 tics against our safe arrival ; but my fellow- 
 traveller was not a person to be easily alarmed :
 
 118 T:NGLrSH MUSTAPHA. 
 
 for my own part, fortune had so long befriended 
 me in my travels, that I placed implicit reliance 
 on the continuance of her favours. 
 
 Our joint servant for the journey was a 
 Turk, familiarly styled English Mustapha, 
 whose name had been before the public, as Tar- 
 tar to Mr. Walsh on his journey from Constan- 
 tinople. My first acquaintance with him was 
 at the court of Persia, in 1824, where he had 
 been sent with despatches for Mr. (now Sir 
 Henry) Willock, the British charge d'affaires 
 in Persia. His life has been full of adventures, 
 which would be considered extraordinary in 
 almost any country except Turkey, where the 
 will of the sovereign renders life and property 
 of so precarious a tenure. 
 
 Mustapha is a native of Germany : at the 
 age of fourteen, he went on a voyage to Messina ; 
 the ship in which he embarked was seized by 
 some pirates of Tunis ; to which town he and 
 his shipmates were taken. Here he was kept 
 three days : he was then carried to Alexandria, 
 and put up to public auction : the bidders 
 examined his hands and feet ; and as pur- 
 chasers of a horse would look into the mouth,
 
 ENGLISH MUSTAPHA. 119 
 
 SO did they open his, — not to search for the 
 mark, but to smell his breath, in order to 
 ascertain by it, the state of his health. He 
 was bought by a dealer, who took him to 
 Cairo, and re-sold him to a bey for seventeen 
 hundred piastres. He described his new master 
 as a kind and amiable man. When the Turkish 
 army marched to Egypt, the bey joined the grand 
 vizier at Salish ; but his riches attracting the 
 cupidity of the prime minister, he immediately 
 adopted the Turkish fashion of gaining posses- 
 sion of them ; — by cutting off their owner's 
 head, and seizing on the property. In this 
 manner Mustapha, and nineteen other compa- 
 nions in misfortune, changed masters. As the 
 vizier was a Georgian, he retained all his own 
 countrymen, and gave away the other slaves 
 to his friends. Mustapha was assigned to the 
 Kiahya bey ; but he had not been long with 
 him when his appearance took the fancy of the 
 Tartar Agassi, or chief of the Tartars, who offered 
 to give in exchange a horse and nine hundred 
 piastres for him. Mustapha and the charger 
 were immediately trotted out, and in a few 
 minutes the swop between horse-flesh and man-
 
 120 ENGLISH MUSTAPHA. 
 
 flesh was completed. It was under this master 
 that Mustapha was made a Mahometan, and 
 enrolled in the corps of janizaries. At the 
 end of nine years, his master dying, gave 
 him his liberty. He has since been in the 
 service of the Pashas of Diarbekir, Suez, Da- 
 mascus, and Bagdad. 
 
 Mustapha served several campaigns, and 
 was employed against the French at St. Jean 
 d'Acre; but as love of a soldier's life is not one 
 of his characteristics, he was very glad to 
 obtain the situation of kavass in the British 
 embassy, as it exempted him from military 
 service. Even in this snug post he was not 
 free from adventures : on the departure of the 
 French and English ambassadors from Constan- 
 tinople, several persons were put to death. 
 Mustapha, and five or six others, were taken 
 up and brought before the governor of Pera, 
 in full expectation of the like fate. The place 
 where the executions had taken place was a 
 bullock's shed. One of the executioners who 
 was standing by the door, said to Mustapha 
 as he passed, *' the shed was full just now, 
 but I think we can accommodate you with a
 
 EQUIPMENT FOR THE JOURNEY. 121 
 
 Stall." This ill-timed pleasantry did not much 
 allay the agitation of him to whom it was 
 addressed ; but his good destiny prevailed, — he 
 was set at liberty : his companions, however, 
 were taken into the human slaughter-house 
 which had so alarmed him, and they entered 
 to return no more alive. 
 
 Under the direction of Mustapha, we each 
 furnished ourselves with a pair of leather bags, 
 made to fit the common pack-saddle of the 
 country ; we bought a Tartar saddle and a 
 Turkish bridle, (as the postmasters only furnish 
 horses ;) and an abba, or Bulgarian coarse cloak, 
 made of the wool of the black sheep. Our 
 articles of consumption consisted in a plentiful 
 supply of bread, cheese, colfee, sugar, grapes, 
 figs, tobacco, and gin. 
 
 As the weather was fine, and we expected 
 the wind from the north-east. Lord Dunlo con- 
 sented to go by sea as far as Rodosto; we 
 avoided by this, twenty -four hours of land 
 journey, an important saving of labour to my- 
 self, who had so recently risen from a bed of 
 sickness. 
 
 September 27. We left Thcrapia on the morn-
 
 122 QUAIL-SHOOTING. 
 
 ing of the 27th, staid a short time in Constanti- 
 nople, and then set out again on our voyage. 
 Our conveyance hence was in a three-oared 
 caique, which in three hours carried us to St. 
 Stephano : here we remained till the following 
 afternoon with the consul-general, in order to 
 take a day's quail-shooting on our way. 
 
 Amongst the good things at Mr. Cartwright's 
 table was some fish which I thought most 
 delicious ; perhaps the appetite of a conva- 
 lescent, heightened by sea air, might have 
 improved the flavour a little. It is called 
 lachierda, and is caught in abundance by the 
 fishermen of the village. Mr. Cartwright's 
 landlord had a few nights before netted six 
 hundred pair, each of which weighed on an 
 average three ochs (or eight pounds English). 
 Another villager caught nearly five times the 
 quantity : the price of one fish is a piastre, 
 or three-pence halfpenny. 
 
 September 28. We took the field a little 
 before daylight, being duly provided with 
 teshkerries, or game certificates, which the 
 Mahometan march of intellect has introduced 
 here. Tliere were about fifty shooters in the
 
 A SALT-WATER BATH. 123 
 
 field; no one thought of preserving his beat, 
 each sportsman unceremoniously passing and 
 repassing betwixt ourselves and dogs. In 
 short, it was a complete scramble for shots. 
 For three hours the firing was incessant, the 
 game abundant, and the unintermitting reports 
 of the guns sounding like the beating of 
 carpets. 
 
 At twelve o'clock we returned home, with 
 a tolerably full bag of game. Mr. Cartwright 
 gave us an early dinner, after which our caiques 
 were brought to the shore, when he stepped 
 into his to return to Constantinople, and we 
 into ours to resume our journey in an opposite 
 direction. 
 
 When night came on. Lord Dunlo and 
 myself lay down at the bottom of the boat 
 to sleep. Our slumber was of short duration : 
 we were disturbed by the boatmen pulling at 
 our feet, and awoke to a most disagreeable 
 discovery. Our frail bark had sprung a leak, 
 and was half full of water. I was the worse 
 off of the two ; for as the caique inclined to- 
 wards the side on which I was lying, I had 
 the unwished- for benefit of a salt-water bath.
 
 124 A TURKISH COFFEE-HOUSE. 
 
 In this dilemma, we ran into the harbour of 
 Selivri ; and while our boat repairs were 
 going on, we took shelter in a coffee-house 
 by the sea-side. The place was filthy in the 
 extreme ; we were cold and tired ; — but what 
 was to be done? Dirty paper, the universal 
 substitute for glass windows in a Turkish 
 coffee-house, admitted the cold night-air 
 through innumerable crannies ; and though 
 there was a mungal, or brazier of charcoal, 
 in the middle of the room, the fire was 
 nearly extinguished. As for repose, it was 
 out of the question : every inch of the benches 
 was occupied by Turkish boatmen, who were 
 lying regularly along, with their heads and 
 feet touching each other, all of whom were 
 snoring in one loud chorus. Indeed, I doubt 
 whether, even in case of a vacant space, our 
 fatigue was sufficient to tempt us into contact 
 with such questionable neighbours.
 
 ELIGREE. 125 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Resume our Journey — A second Accident — EHgree — Arrive 
 at Rodosto — A Yuz-bashee — Our Evening's Repast — 
 Mustapha's Fears — Visit the Pasha of Rodosto — Mus- 
 tapha offended. 
 
 Septe?nber 29. At dawn of day, our little vessel 
 was reported ready for sea ; but we had scarcely 
 shoved off from the shore, when we had the bad 
 fortune to spring a leak a second time. The 
 boats in the harbour were, according to Turkish 
 custom, anchored astern : at low water, the 
 flues of the anchors are almost on the sur- 
 face. It was against one of these that our 
 boat struck, and occasioned this additional 
 disaster. 
 
 After an hour's delay, we once more 
 launched into the deep, and completed our 
 voyage without any more adventures. 
 
 About noon, we passed the pretty village 
 of Eligree, situate at the slope of a hill ; and,
 
 126 ARRIVE AT RODOSTO. 
 
 a little further on, at the extreme point of 
 a promontory, Sokhmanli. 
 
 The north-east wind, which had been 
 blowing strong until our departure from St. 
 Stephano, most provokingly died away, and 
 was succeeded by a dead calm. This was 
 hard upon our boatmen, who were obhged to 
 tug at the oar until our arrival in port. In 
 fact, they had had a tolerable spell of it ; for, 
 the preceding morning, we had sent Mustapha 
 in the caique to Constantinople for something 
 we required : this trip gave them six hours' 
 additional work ; and, as we did not arrive at 
 Rodosto till six in the evening, they had been 
 labouring unremittingly for thirty-five hours. 
 
 Attached to the principal coffee-house on 
 the beach of Rodosto is a sort of roofed sum- 
 mer-house, built upon piles, round which the 
 sea flows. It is open on all sides, combining 
 the benefit of sea-air and the commercial 
 advantage of being in the immediate neigh- 
 bourhood of the port. In this building, 
 smokers and coffee-drinkers of all religions 
 were indulging in their pipes and their fa- 
 vourite beverage, presenting to the view a
 
 A YUZ-BASHEE. 127 
 
 motley group of Greeks, Armenians, and 
 Turks, in the varied costumes of their several 
 persuasions. To this place we bent our steps, 
 and were civilly treated by those around us, 
 several of whom vied with each other in 
 offering us pipes and tobacco, the two prin- 
 cipal ceremonials of a Turkish welcome. 
 
 The person we got on best with was a 
 Yuz-bashee, or *' chief of a hundred," a rank 
 corresponding with our captain. He had just 
 arrived from Shumla, and had been present at 
 the successful sortie of the Turks against the 
 Russians. He was, therefore, in high good 
 humour with himself, of which we came in for 
 a share. A slight acquaintance with Turkish 
 enabled me to be a good listener to his 
 account of the action, and to put in their 
 proper place occasional interjections of "good" 
 and ** wonderful." This praise, though not 
 bestowed with any parasitical object, answered 
 as well as if it had been ; for the young war- 
 rior was so pleased at the attention bestowed 
 on his recital, that he opened a pocket hand- 
 kerchief, none of the cleanest, in which were 
 his provisions, and laid the contents before us.
 
 128 OUR evening's repast. 
 
 They comprised some excellent bouilli beef 
 (for in this the Turk surpasses the French) ; 
 a hoorek, a very greasy description of slim 
 cake, enclosing some savoury minced meat ; 
 and some roasted quinces. Nothing could 
 come more opportunely : we had had no 
 dinner, and, from the lateness of the hour, 
 money could not procure any ; so we accepted 
 his kind hospitality, and to it we went, Mus- 
 tapha and all, " tooth and nail," in the most 
 literal acceptation of the words. 
 
 Our repast over, we offered our entertainer, 
 in return for his good cheer, a glass of our 
 gin, which, after a proper degree of flirtation, 
 he accepted ; its resemblance to water, in ap- 
 pearance, coming powerfully in aid to remove 
 his modest scruples. 
 
 It was the wish of Lord Dunlo and myself 
 to have commenced our land journey the same 
 evening, in order to avoid the delays attendant 
 on leaving a large town in the early part of the 
 day ; but there was an insuperable objection to 
 this, for Mustapha had pre-determined that we 
 should not start till the following morning; and 
 in this instance, as in many others afterwards,
 
 mustapha's fears. 129 
 
 we found how useless it would be to offer any 
 opposition to his will. The fact was, the old 
 gentleman let slip an avowal that he had a 
 great dread of the irregular troops of both 
 belligerent powers, but more particularly the 
 Cossacks, whose character, as thieves and 
 robbers, is as well known in Turkey as it is 
 in any other country they have favoured with 
 their visits. We ridiculed Mustapha's fears 
 at the time ; but subsequent experience made 
 us think his objections by no means ill 
 founded. 
 
 In these early days of the journey, our 
 Turkish fellow-traveller treated us with a 
 degree of respect which subsequent intimacy 
 made him completely throw off. On the pre- 
 sent occasion, he did by sap that which he 
 afterwards effected by storm. Pretending 
 to acquiesce in our wishes, he sent a kavass 
 to the pasha, who had evidently received 
 secret instructions from him not to demand 
 horses for us till the next day. 
 
 Anxious to expedite our departure the 
 following morning, we went to the Pasha of Ro- 
 dosto to beg his assistance, and took Mustapha 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 VISIT THE PASHA OF RODOSTO. 
 
 with US as interpreter. We visited the great man 
 at nine in the evening. The audience-chamber 
 was dirty and unadorned, and imperfectly 
 lighted by two long tallow candles, which 
 stood in the middle of the room. 
 
 Ibrahim (the pasha) is a fine, intelligent- 
 looking man, about fifty years of age. He 
 conversed with considerable acutenes's on 
 various subjects, spoke very much in praise 
 of the operations of the Russian troops, and 
 mentioned Count Diebitsch (with whom he 
 said he was acquainted) as an excellent officer ; 
 making a salvo to his conscience for praising 
 an officer in the service of Russia, by adding, 
 " But then, you know, their commander-in- 
 chief, as well as all their best generals, are 
 Germans, not Russians." The pasha next 
 complimented the English as the stanchest 
 friends to his nation, to which we made due 
 acknowledgment. We then introduced the 
 subject of being supplied with post-horses as 
 early as possible in the morning; and he made 
 us a promise that every thing should be accord- 
 ing to our wishes ; which promise, by the way, 
 he did not perform. Hearing the readiness
 
 MUSTAPHA OFFENDED. 131 
 
 with which Mustapha spoke English, he said 
 to him, " How come you to speak the Giaours' 
 (infidels') language so well?" " I am in their 
 service," was the reply. " How long have you 
 been so ? " Here Mustapha mentioned the 
 number of years. "What is your religion?" 
 was the next query. " I am a Mussulman." 
 " Nonsense ! " rejoined the pasha ; '' you are 
 an infidel, and no true believer : it is impos- 
 sible to remain long with these fellows without 
 being contaminated by the intercourse." This 
 conversation was, of course, held in the full 
 confidence that it would neither be understood 
 by us at the time, nor afterwards explained. 
 So we quitted the pasha with the same cordial 
 expressions as we entered ; as for Mustapha, 
 he retired in high dudgeon, and from that day 
 forward we could never get him to act as 
 our interpreter again. 
 
 There was at this time in the town a gar- 
 rison of six thousand men, including cavalry : 
 the consequence was, that the coffee-house 
 benches were all occupied, and we had only 
 one of two alternatives, — to go to the house 
 of the Armenian-British agent, against whom
 
 132 LODGINGS. 
 
 I had lodged a complaint, or to return to our 
 boat. We chose the latter, and were obliged 
 to sleep another night under the canopy of 
 heaven.
 
 PUBLIC TREASURE. 133 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Detention — Public Treasure — Deserted State of the Town 
 — The Inhabitants employed on the Ramparts — Desola- 
 tion observable in the Country — Scenery — Irregular 
 Cavalry — Yagee — Ben - Ali — Hirepoli — Turks dis- 
 armed — Wretched Horses — Remarks on the Turkish 
 Seat and Saddle — The " Dirty Village" — Our Lodgings 
 for the Night. 
 
 September 30. At five in the morning we 
 quitted our damp beds, proceeded straight to 
 the post-house, and asked for horses. Of these 
 there were plenty ; but we had to remain two 
 hours before we could procure a guide. 
 
 We had been waiting some little time, when 
 a long string of horses, escorted by Tartars and 
 two hundred dellis, entered the post-yard, bear- 
 ing treasure of gold and silver to Salonica. The 
 treasure was carried in small camel-hair bags, 
 and secured to the pack-saddles by cords. 
 
 The strength of the escort was a proof of 
 the still unsettled state of the country. On 
 ordinary occasions one Tartar is considered
 
 134 DESERTED STATE OF THE TOWN. 
 
 sufficient to protect treasure from one extremity 
 of the Turkish dominions to the other. 
 
 That we might not be altogether idle, we 
 breakfasted in the gateway, surrounded by 
 gaping Tartars ; and having hastily discussed 
 this meal, we went into the town to make a 
 few purchases. Here we were not a little 
 surprised at finding every shop closed, with 
 the exception of a tobacconist's and a few 
 sellers of the necessaries of life. The streets 
 were also quite deserted. We returned 
 to the post-house, and inquired the cause. 
 The answer to the question accounted also 
 for our detention, namely, that the whole 
 male population had been ordered to work at 
 the fortifications; and not only were all shop- 
 keepers, of every religion, included in this 
 order, but the surijees of the public post were 
 likewise so employed. As a proof of this, the 
 grand signior's treasure was obliged to wait 
 as well as ourselves. 
 
 In the course of two hours the requisite 
 number of surijees for the treasure and our- 
 selves were brought from the ramparts. Our 
 party required five horses ; one each for
 
 DESOLATION OF RODOSTO. 135 
 
 Lord Dunlo and myself, one for Mustapha, 
 another for the surijee, and a fifth for the 
 baggage. 
 
 At the outskirts of the town we saw several 
 parties of Greeks headed by their priests, and 
 of Turks by their imauns. They were equipped 
 with pickaxes and long wooden spades, and 
 were proceeding towards the works. 
 
 The environs presented the same scene of 
 desolation as the town itself. Most of the 
 fields, which at this time required culture, 
 were entirely deserted ; and in others there 
 were only women at work : a sure criterion of 
 distress in this country, as it is against every 
 feeling of the Turk to allow his wife to be so 
 employed. 
 
 The neighbourhood of Rodosto is, for the 
 first few miles, rich in cultivation, — large 
 orchards and vineyards being beautifully inter- 
 mixed with fields of cotton, Indian corn, and 
 melons ; but this appearance soon changes. 
 The soil, though as rich as at Rodosto, is 
 totally uncultivated, except in the vicinity of 
 the few villages which lie thinly scattered 
 over the plain ; these partial spots of fertility
 
 136 YAGEE BEN- ALT. 
 
 seeming to be placed, as it were, to shew what 
 the rest of the country is, and what it is capable 
 of being. 
 
 Parallel with the road, and about two miles 
 distant, is a beautiful bank, covered with dwarf 
 oak, small trees, and abundance of shrubs : 
 this we scarcely lost sight of till we arrived at 
 Oozan Kupri. 
 
 We met, from time to time, small parties of 
 irregular Turkish cavalry, whose loose robes, 
 embossed arms, and large turbans, formed, in 
 appearance at least, an advantageous contrast 
 with the tight jacket, the inferior European 
 weapons, and the ungraceful skull-cap, of the 
 regular troops. 
 
 At an hour's ride (about three miles) we saw 
 the small village of Yagee on our left hand. 
 At an hour and a half, we passed through 
 Osmanli ; at three hours, through Ben-Ali ; at 
 eight hours, we crossed a branch of the river 
 Erkeneh, by a stone bridge of seven arches, 
 with smaller ones intervening, and arrived at 
 the small dirty post-town of Hirepoli, where 
 we stopped to change horses. 
 
 This place is twenty-five miles from
 
 TURKS DISARMED. 137 
 
 Rodosto : here we fell in with the first Russian 
 out-posts — a sergeant's party of cavalry. We 
 saw in this town several persons with their 
 faces mutilated, and one of them appeared to 
 have had his nose only recently cut off. 
 
 I now began to discover that I had over- 
 rated my strength in leaving Therapia so soon, 
 and that I should have acted more prudently if 
 I had delayed my journey another week. Re- 
 flection, however, came too late ; I was in a 
 high fever from fatigue ; but I made the best 
 of it. I lay down for an hour, made a bad 
 attempt at sleep, a still worse at dinner, and 
 then resumed the march. 
 
 Hence onwards, all the Turks had been 
 disarmed by the Russians ; but they had no 
 other annoyance to complain of, as they were 
 paid for every thing, and had no soldiers quar- 
 tered upon them. 
 
 We recommenced our journey at five o'clock, 
 and continued marching for six hours ; and 
 a miserable time we had of it. We were 
 wretchedly mounted, our unfortunate cattle 
 being so galled in the back, that they always 
 contrived to throw the saddle on one side.
 
 138 TURKISH SEAT AND SADDLE. 
 
 which obliged us to halt every ten minutes 
 to re-adjust them; and as the poor beasts 
 soon managed to shift them as before, it was 
 with the greatest difficulty that we could keep 
 our seats ; indeed, the effort to do so, very 
 much increased the fatigue of riding in Tartar 
 saddles, at no time easy seats to unpractised 
 limbs. 
 
 The peculiarity of the Turkish seat is, that 
 the stirrup is so short, and the shovel stirrup- 
 iron placed so far back, that the calf of the 
 rider's leg almost presses the lower part of his 
 thigh. This, to an English rider, is extremely 
 irksome, and may, at first, appear to him both 
 ridiculous and unsafe ; but, on reflection, it will 
 be found the best adapted to a nation accus- 
 tomed from infancy to sit upon their hams. 
 
 In the new system of cavalry drill, the 
 Turkish recruit is taught not only the European 
 system of evolutions, but is made to conform 
 to our position on horseback. From my own 
 observations on the wonderful address with 
 which the Mahometan rider used to manage 
 his horse ; and from having also remarked the 
 awkwardness of the cavalry soldier of the new
 
 THE " DIRTY VILLAGE." 139 
 
 school ; I should say, that, as far as his horse- 
 manship is concerned, he has certainly changed 
 for the worse. 
 
 Two hours from Hirepoli, nearly on the 
 road to the right hand, is the village of Tekeh. 
 In the centre of it is a tekeh, or convent of 
 dervishes, who have the care of a cold spring, 
 celebrated for its salutary effects upon persons 
 afflicted with fever. Numbers resort hither in 
 the spring. The dervishes put a string round 
 the neck of the bather, and repeat a short 
 prayer : as they receive a remuneration for 
 this, they of course impress on the patients 
 the inefficacy of the waters without the pre- 
 liminary fee. 
 
 By eleven at night we reached the Bulgarian 
 village of Chokcheh Kien, or " dirty village," 
 as much so in fact as it was in name. We 
 knocked at the door of a cottage, and, notwith- 
 standing the lateness of the hour, were imme- 
 diately admitted. 
 
 Our apartment could boast four walls, and 
 two shelving roofs : these said roofs inclined 
 downwards to the centre of the room, but 
 not meeting, protected us almost as little
 
 140 OUR LODGINGS FOR THE NIGHT. 
 
 from the piercing night air, as if we had re- 
 mained outside. A raised mud floor, under 
 one of the roofs, was allotted to us ; and 
 the kind peasants did their best to make us 
 comfortable ; but their attentions could not dis- 
 pel the numerous enemies to rest. We made 
 several attempts at sleep, but in vain. We 
 were nearly starved with cold, and devoured 
 by bugs and fleas. The early village cock 
 did salutation to the morn at least three hours 
 before its appearance ; and to the shrill notes 
 of chanticleer were added the chorus of two 
 poor squalling children, fellow - lodgers and 
 fellow - suff^erers with ourselves.
 
 RUSSIAN ADVANCED GUARD. 141 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Oozan Kupri — Russian advanced Guard — General Chere- 
 metofF — Demotika — Water-mills — The River Maritza 
 dammed ; an impolitic Abuse — A Population on a 
 March — Mortality amongst them — Mustapha's Self-will 
 — Cross the Ferry — Arrive at Adrianople, and reside 
 with the British Consul. 
 
 October 1, With so few attractions in our 
 night's quarters, we had no great difficulty in 
 being up and ready to start before daylight. 
 At sunrise we re-mounted our jaded beasts, 
 and urged them on to Oozan Kupri, which we 
 reached at half-past seven — the distance being 
 nine miles. 
 
 The intervening country was much improved 
 in appearance, being more thickly peopled, and 
 better cultivated, than that through which we 
 had hitherto travelled. 
 
 At Oozan Kupri we found the advanced 
 guard of the Russian army, consisting of fifteen 
 hundred cavalry, under the command of General
 
 142 GENERAL CHEREMETOFF. 
 
 CheremetofF. On arriving at the post-house, 
 we sent our passports to him ; and in a 
 few moments he came himself to pay us a 
 visit. He told us that his instructions were, 
 to allow every one to pass unmolested ; and 
 unless men came in large parties, not to de- 
 mand their passports. He spoke of some Turks 
 in the neighbourhood having cut off the noses 
 and ears of some Greeks and Armenians. This 
 may account for the mutilated faces we saw at 
 Hirepoli. 
 
 The general pressed us very much to stay 
 breakfast, promising to give us some tea, of 
 which he said he knew we English were very 
 fond. As we were anxious to reach Adrian- 
 ople before sunset, we declined his hospitality ; 
 and the moment fresh horses were ready, we 
 prosecuted our journey, escorted by his orderly- 
 man, whom he sent to pass us through the 
 camp. The men and horses appeared to be in 
 good fighting order. They were encamped on 
 the banks of the river Erkeneh, on a large 
 plain, which in the winter is overflowed. The 
 road then leads over the Oozan Kupri, or 
 " long bridge," from which the town takes its
 
 DEMOTIKA. 143 
 
 name. This bridge has three hundred and 
 sixty-six arches, ten of which are over the 
 ordinary course of the Erkeneh. We crossed 
 the river at the ford near the bridge, but this 
 is only passable in the summer months : the 
 river, at the period of our crossing, was a 
 quarter of a mile wide. 
 
 Leaving Oozan Kupri, we entered at once 
 a large forest of dwarf trees, whence we 
 emerged to enter upon a beautiful and well- 
 cultivated country. At eight miles from the 
 bridge we halted at a small hamlet, on the 
 brow of a hill overhanging the river Maritza. 
 From this place we could see Demotika, a 
 large town prettily situated on an eminence. 
 
 Demotika, famous as having been the resi- 
 dence of Charles XII. of Sweden, after his 
 affair at Bender, is a Turkish state prison. 
 There are apartments regularly allotted to the 
 grand vizier, and all the principal officers of 
 the Porte. Here, in the time of the janiza- 
 ries, their chief was usually strangled. 
 
 After a dram of raki, we again pushed 
 forward, and continued along the banks of 
 the Maritza, through a rich but ill-cultivated
 
 144 RIVER MARITZA DAMMED. 
 
 country, forming, as far as Adrianople, one 
 large plain, interrupted only by occasional emi- 
 nences. 
 
 At intervals we observed the stream of the 
 river dammed up, for the purpose of turning 
 several mills then at work. These mills, of 
 which there are numbers along the Maritza, 
 the whole way from Adrianople to Enos, are 
 worked by Greeks. They are built of wood, 
 and are movable at pleasure : their founda- 
 tion is in the form of a boat ; and on the pe- 
 riodical increase of the stream, they are either 
 taken ashore, or left in the creeks. These 
 dams, which are generally formed by large 
 stakes, are very injurious to the navigation, as 
 vessels sailing up with a strong wind, are fre- 
 quently upset by them : but this is one of the 
 impolitic abuses winked at by the Turkish 
 government; as the granting permission to in- 
 tercept the stream produces a certain revenue 
 to the Pasha of Adrianople. 
 
 From a small eminence, fifteen miles dis- 
 tant, we first saw the beautiful city of Adrian- 
 ople. It is situate on the slope of a hill, and 
 appeared, from the spot whence we viewed it, to
 
 A POPULATION ON A MARCH. 145 
 
 terminate the plain through which the Maritza 
 flows. 
 
 A little further on, we fell in with a thou- 
 sand covered waggons : some were drawn by- 
 two, and others by four bullocks. Each of 
 them contained a family. We were told that 
 their occupants were peasants, who had fled 
 from Pravadi, a town eight hours distant from 
 Varna, on the approach of the Russians. They 
 were now returning back, on an assurance of 
 being allowed to remain unmolested. The 
 features of this people had all the charac- 
 teristics of Calmuc Tartars, — small eyes, 
 bridgeless noses, thick lips, and projecting 
 foreheads. We heard, however, that they were 
 Bulgarians ; but they had not the least resem- 
 blance to this people. I am disposed to think 
 they were settlers from the Crimea, many of 
 whom emigrated when their country was first 
 taken by the Russians. Being fishermen, they 
 desired to be placed on the banks of a river. 
 The grand signior granted them some land on 
 the Maritza (and I rather think on the Danube 
 also), and endowed them with considerable 
 privileges. 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 146 MORTALITY AMONGST THEM. 
 
 These poor people were very sickly ; num- 
 bers had died, and were dying by fever, on the 
 way ; and we saw, on both sides of the road, 
 graves, some of them open, and others recently 
 closed. So numerous were these humble re- 
 positories of the dead, that they might be 
 almost said to mark the direction of the 
 road. 
 
 We had yet three hours' journey to per- 
 form, and Adrianople was in front of us, when 
 Mustapha turned out of the direct road, and 
 led the way across the river. We had no 
 alternative but to follow him : we had scarcely 
 got half across, when we were over the saddle- 
 flaps. This changed Mustapha's course, for a 
 moment, but not his determination. He made 
 a second attempt to cross the river, and suc- 
 ceeded, at the expense to us of a good wet- 
 ting to our baggage-bags and their contents. 
 
 Being already well nigh worn out with 
 fatigue and intense heat, we had no inclina- 
 tion to make a circuitous route, and expostu- 
 lated rather sharply with Mustapha, who we 
 found was making direct for Kara Gatch, a 
 village in the neighbourhood of Adrianople, in
 
 mustapha's self-will. 147 
 
 which Mr. Duveluz, the British consul, had a 
 small country-seat. 
 
 Mustapha knew, some liow or other, that 
 we had a letter of introduction to Mr. Duveluz ; 
 and being feelingly alive to the superior fare 
 of a consular establishment over the public 
 khans, had settled in his own mind, that we 
 should quarter ourselves upon the consul with- 
 out invitation, not at all entering into our 
 scruples of forcing ourselves upon his hospi- 
 tality. 
 
 As Mustapha was determined to go to the 
 country-seat, and we were equally resolved not 
 to do so, we split the difference, by allowing 
 him to proceed to Kara Gatch, while we 
 loitered near the banks of the river till his 
 return. 
 
 His errand proved fruitless. The consul 
 was at his town house, and our scruples at 
 taking him by storm being removed by this 
 intelligence, we made direct for the con- 
 sulate. 
 
 We re-crossed the Maritza in a punt, with- 
 out dismounting. There are several of these 
 vessels continually plying here. They are
 
 148 CROSS THE FERRY. 
 
 capable of conveying two carriages abreast, and 
 occupy about three minutes in the passage. 
 Our boat was managed by one man ; but two 
 persons, with punt -stakes, are more usually 
 employed, one in the fore, and the other in the 
 after part of the vessel. 
 
 Not far from the ferry a wooden bridge 
 formerly stood, but it was carried away two 
 or three years ago by the breaking up of the 
 ice. Though this is a most important tho- 
 roughfare, being on the road to Enos, the Turk- 
 ish government, for the paltry profit of the 
 ferry, which goes into the pasha's coffers, has 
 been deaf to the numerous representations on 
 the subject, which the inconvenience and dan- 
 ger of the ferry have produced, and no steps 
 have been taken for rebuilding the bridge. 
 
 On crossing the river, we found a Russian 
 guard at the entrance of the town. They 
 did not stop us, though they pointed signifi- 
 cantly to my sword, orders having been given 
 that all persons should be disarmed, and not 
 foreseeing, perhaps, that (as in my own case) 
 there might be some upon whom they had no 
 right to execute this order.
 
 ARRIVE AT ADRIANOPLE. 149 
 
 We reached the British consulate at sunset, 
 and presented our letter to Mr. Duveluz, who 
 would not listen to our proposal of seeking a 
 lodging in the town, but insisted on our re- 
 maining with him during our stay.
 
 150 STORY OF MARIGO. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Story of Marigo — Her Companions in Misfortune — The 
 Massacre of Scio brought on by the Greeks themselves 
 — Account of it from one of the Sufferers — Visit Count 
 Diebitsch — The late Campaign — General Reuchtern — 
 London Porter — The Old Seraglio — Count Diebitsch 
 receives the Order of St. George of Russia — Bulgarian 
 Dirt — Whimsical Mistake — Dirty State of the Bulgarian 
 Quarters — View from a Ruined Kiosk — Last new Fe- 
 male Fashions in Turkey — Dragoman and his Wife — 
 Fate of the Lady's Father. 
 
 The consul's house is nearly the best in the 
 town. The fate of its preceding occupants is 
 an example of the uncertainty of life in this 
 country. It was successively the property of 
 two brothers. One fell a victim to the plague, 
 when that heavy scourge last visited Adrian- 
 ople ; the other, who succeeded him in his pro- 
 perty, was decapitated shortly after, before his 
 own door. 
 
 Among the servants of the consul is a beau- 
 tiful Greek of the name of Marigo, who comes
 
 STORY OF MARIGO. 151 
 
 nearer to my idea of a Hebe than almost any 
 other woman I ever saw. Moreover, she is not 
 only very pretty, but very good. Her adven- 
 tures are a picture of the country and times in 
 which she lives. I relate them as I heard 
 them, partly from Mr. Duveluz and partly from 
 her own mouth. 
 
 She was born at Scio ; her father, a man 
 in comfortable circumstances, was remarked 
 for his facetious character, even in that island, 
 the former abode of wit and mirth. At the 
 insurrection of Scio, he was one of the first 
 who fell in that terrible massacre. His un- 
 happy widow, with four children, of whom 
 Marigo was the youngest, fled into the moun- 
 tains, with a little dry bread and a pitcher 
 of water, and hid themselves in the cavity of 
 one of the highest rocks in the island. They 
 remained unmolested for two days, though 
 they were kept in dreadful alarm by the con- 
 stant report of fire-arms, the savage yells of 
 the Turks, and the despairing screams of their 
 victims. Their supply of water exhausted, the 
 mother resolved in the dead of night to refill 
 the pitcher ; but the courageous little Marigo
 
 152 STORY OF MAllIGO. 
 
 seized it from her mother's hands, said she 
 would fetch the water, that she was the lightest 
 and smallest of them all, and had the best 
 chance of escaping unseen by the Turks. 
 
 At midnight she set out on her good and 
 bold enterprise, crept down the rock, and ar- 
 rived at a spring, without any further incon- 
 venience than cutting her feet with the sharp 
 stones. As she was returning, she heard voices 
 in the Turkish language near: she threw herself 
 into a field of standing corn. She had been 
 heard, and was pursued. The Turks hunted 
 for her with their yatagans. At last one of 
 their party slightly wounded her. It was an old 
 white-bearded negro, who hurried her away to- 
 wards the town. They stopped at a house, and 
 were admitted by another negro, who proved 
 to be the son of her captor. The younger 
 black immediately conceived a violent affec- 
 tion for the pretty captive : a quarrel between 
 the men was the consequence ; and it ended 
 in the father seizing a pistol and discharging 
 the contents into his son's body. The wretched 
 old man became frantic at what he had done, 
 and mingled his yells of grief with his son's
 
 HER COMPANIONS IN MISFORTUNE. 153 
 
 dying- groans. The wounded man soon expired : 
 the old father then opened the window, took 
 up the corpse, and flung it into the street. 
 He now became more furious than ever. At 
 length he seized Marigo by her hair, dragged 
 her into the street, and offered her for sale. 
 Haji Baba, a nefarious slave-dealer of Adrian- 
 ople, bought her for a handful of paras (a few 
 pence), and took her to his dep6t, where she 
 found a number of companions in misfortune, 
 who, together with herself, were put into a 
 large boat, and landed at Gallipoli, whence she 
 was brought to Adrianople. Here she had the 
 happiness to fall into the hands of my excellent 
 friend Mr. Duveluz, who redeemed her. Ever 
 since he has treated her like a daughter, and 
 she repays his goodness with a daughter's love. 
 Several of Marigo's companions in misfor- 
 tune were sold in the Dardanelles to Turks, 
 though Haji Baba had assured them that he 
 intended to take them to Adrianople, and to 
 dispose of them only to Christians. The greater 
 portion, however, were brought to Adrianople. 
 On his arrival, Haji Baba waited upon the 
 consul, as the Christian subjects of the Porte
 
 154 HER COMPANIONS IN MISFORTUNE. 
 
 did not dare to deal with him ; and he himself 
 was under the same apprehensions of treating 
 openly with him for his slaves. The consul 
 requested to see them. He was conducted 
 to the place where they were confined. He 
 describes it as the most heart-rending scene 
 he ever beheld. They were the true picture 
 of misery. Pale, emaciated, sickly, dirty, and 
 in rags, they all flocked round him, and, with 
 the most ardent prayers, begged he would re- 
 deem them. The voice of misery never pleaded 
 in vain to my kind-hearted friend. He pur- 
 chased the redemption of the six youngest, 
 four of them (amongst whom was the pretty 
 Marigo) he sent to Mrs. Duveluz, and con- 
 signed the care of the two others to his shoe- 
 maker, a married man, and an Ionian. In a 
 very few days, through the assistance of the 
 Greek archbishop of Adrianople, together with 
 what he himself could spare, he obtained the 
 liberty of all the poor creatures. Some were 
 comfortably placed in Christian families; and 
 several of the young girls Mr. Duveluz had 
 the satisfaction of marrying well in the town, 
 and of restoring others to their relations who
 
 THE MASSACRE OF SCIO. 155 
 
 had escaped to different parts of Greece. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Duveluz brought Marigo's mother 
 from Smyrna in 1828. Her two sons, although 
 the consul offered nine thousand piastres for 
 their ransom, to a Turk at Cassaba, near 
 Smyrna, he could never prevail upon him to 
 sell them ; and the Mahometan has since in- 
 duced them to conform to his religion. Ma- 
 rigo's sister has never been heard of. 
 
 It is not fair to throw the whole odium of 
 the massacre at Scio on the Turks, inasmuch 
 as it was brought on the Greeks entirely by 
 themselves. The following remarks are from 
 Sir Pulteney Malcolm's dragoman, one of the 
 sufferers who was sent into slavery to Smyrna, 
 and purchased by Captain Hamilton, of the 
 Cambrian, for one or two dollars. 
 
 At the time of the insurrection in Samos, 
 the Greeks and Turks in Scio were living on 
 the most friendly terms, and it was the general 
 wish of the inhabitants to continue so ; the 
 Turks consequently refused to take any part 
 in the struggle, and communicated their reso- 
 lution to the constituted authorities. Greek 
 deputies from Samos arrived, and constantly
 
 156 ACCOUNT FROM ONE OF THE SUFFERERS. 
 
 succeeded in raising disturbances, in which 
 some Turks were killed, and hostilities then 
 began, which ended in a general massacre. 
 The Greeks were the aggressors, and took 
 advantage of the state of security in which 
 the few Turks in the island were living. The 
 interference of the Turks with the Sciotes, 
 previous to their insurrection, was confined to 
 a small garrison in the castle, and a tribute 
 paid in mastic to the seraglio. The prosperous 
 state of the island is a proof how little they 
 were molested. The Sciotes had few, if any, 
 sailors amongst them ; their ships, which were 
 numerous, were manned by Ipsariotes. On 
 the breaking out of the troubles, the ships 
 were withdrawn to Ipsara. At the massacre, 
 numbers who escaped from the town fled to 
 the other side of the island, opposite Ipsara, 
 from which it is separated by a very narrow 
 channel. The deplorable situation of Scio was 
 perfectly well known ; and these unhappy 
 fugitives, by their cries and motions, endea- 
 voured to persuade the Ipsariotes to come over 
 and carry them away ; not a boat shoved off, 
 and, in sight of their own vessels, the unfortu-
 
 VISIT COUNT DIEBITSCH. 157 
 
 nate Sciotes were either massacred by the Turks, 
 or obliged to throw themselves off the rocks into 
 the sea ; numbers, especially the women, pre- 
 ferred the latter alternative. By this treachery 
 the Ipsariotes kept possession of the ships, 
 whose owners were no longer in existence, and 
 to obtain which, they stained their name with a 
 crime of which history hardly affords a parallel. 
 The day of retribution soon arrived, and Ipsara 
 is now almost a desert island, — a few strag- 
 gling houses are the only remains of a once 
 flourishing town, and an occasional pirate-boat, 
 the only vessel seen coming out of a port once 
 the most frequented and busy of the Levant. 
 
 October 2. At two in the afternoon, we 
 went with the consul, in his carriage, to the 
 Russian camp. We first paid a visit to Count 
 Diebitsch, but were not admitted; he had been 
 up all night, writing despatches, and was now 
 taking a siesta, having dined at twelve, his 
 usual hour. 
 
 The commander-in-chief occupied the house 
 of the bostangee bashee, or chief gardener, an 
 officer of high rank in the Turkish court. His 
 residence formed a part of the ancient seraglio
 
 158 HEAD-QUARTERS. 
 
 of the sultans, when they had their seat of 
 government at Adrianople. I did not see the 
 dining-room of the field-marshal, but it was 
 described to me as very handsome. It is cu- 
 riously gilded : there is a handsome marble 
 fountain in the middle, where the Christian 
 general cools his wine, an appropriation that 
 the pious disciples and successors of Mahomet 
 perhaps never expected when they built it. 
 There are, besides, a large mirror, and other 
 paltry articles, the present of the Doge of 
 Venice, when in the height of his power, to the 
 Grand Turk, which said very little either for 
 the good taste or splendour of the giver, or for 
 the great importance of the receiver to whom 
 such trash was sent. 
 
 Round the house were encamped, in a kind 
 of park which encircles the seraglio, about eight 
 or nine thousand men. The whole number, 
 however, at head-quarters is very uncertain and 
 variable, as troops arriving are constantly sent 
 oif in different directions, according as reports 
 of danger arrive. At this time they were 
 in daily expectation of being attacked by the 
 Pasha of Scutari.
 
 GENERAL REUCHTERN. 159 
 
 We afterwards visited General Keuchtern. 
 We found him seated before his tent. This 
 officer, who is a native of Germany, commanded 
 the cavalry stationed at head-quarters. He is 
 an exceedingly agreeable and well-bred man ; 
 and we continued on terms of great intimacy 
 with him during the stay. We talked of the 
 late campaign. He attributed the whole merit 
 to Count Diebitsch. He represented the pas- 
 sage of the Balcan to have been effected, in a 
 very short time, with the aid of the sappers 
 and miners, who made a passage that enabled 
 the army to make a circuit, and to take the 
 enemy in flank, and at the same time to force 
 an entrance into Roumelia, and to cut off the 
 grand vizier's communication with Constan- 
 tinople. 
 
 The general gave us some very good Lon- 
 don porter. The last time I tasted this bever- 
 age in Russian company, was in a house on the 
 shores of the Caspian Sea : I little thought my 
 next would be in a Russian camp, within four 
 days' march of the Turkish capital. 
 
 From the cavalry encampment we went to 
 the old seraglio, now almost in ruins. It is
 
 160 THE OLD SERAGLIO. 
 
 enclosed by a high wall, like that at Constanti- 
 nople, and covers nearly as much ground. It 
 is approached by a spacious court, on either 
 side of which is a handsome building, one 
 story high, with a spacious arcade in front. 
 The edifice on the right was occupied by the 
 Russian plenipotentiaries. Counts Pahlen and 
 OrlofF; that on the left seemed as if intended 
 for state occasions, containing, besides other 
 openings into it, a room splendidly adorned 
 with carved and gilded wood : in the middle, 
 was the sultan's throne. Opposite to the en- 
 trance gate is the principal building of the 
 seraglio. It is entered by a long double flight 
 of steps, leading into a handsome and spacious 
 hall. On either side are large and correspond- 
 ing apartments. Above is a high square tower, 
 which is ascended by a narrow stone staircase : 
 here are four square apartments, one over the 
 other; one is without a doorway, and can only 
 be entered from the top : its appearance would 
 lead one to believe that it formerly served as a 
 prison. On the summit of the tower is a kind of 
 lantern-shaped gallery, whence may be enjoyed 
 a magnificent panoramic view of the town and
 
 THE OLD SERAGLIO. 161 
 
 environs : the seraglio, especially, is seen to 
 great advantage from this place, and appears 
 like a small town ; but from age, fire, earth- 
 quakes, and neglect, it is now completely in 
 ruins, with the exception of the buildings I 
 have particularised: even of these, the ma- 
 sonry had been considerably damaged by a 
 late earthquake, and the wood-work was so 
 rotten, that the rafters bent with us as we 
 walked over them. 
 
 The varied groups which we met with, on 
 our return to the town, were highly enter- 
 taining, — Cossacks, Tartars, Uhlans ; Dellis ; 
 Turkish and Servian troops; Russian grena- 
 diers and Turkish regulars; Greek, Armenian, 
 Catholic, Russian, and Protestant priests ; 
 passed us at every turn, and produced an 
 odd jumble of ideas, from a rapid review of 
 the events which had brought together natives 
 from so many different parts of the globe. 
 
 October 3. We received a polite message 
 this morning from General Reuchtern, who 
 sent an aide-de-camp to inquire after Lord 
 Dunlo's and my health. 
 
 October^ 4. There was to have been a 
 
 VOL. T. M
 
 162 ORDER OF ST. GEORGE. 
 
 review this morning, but it was postponed in 
 consequence of the Russian order of St. George 
 having arrived for Count Diebitsch, who assem- 
 bled all the general officers to assist at the 
 investment. The courier who brought it, made 
 the journey from St. Petersburg!! in the won- 
 derfully short space of eight days and a half — 
 an answer at once to the alleged difficulties 
 of the Balcan road, of which more hereafter. 
 
 October 5. Two English messengers arrived 
 to-day, one going to Constantinople, the other 
 to England. The courier from England states, 
 that he left the Pasha of Scutari at Philopopoli, 
 with a fine -looking army of forty thousand 
 Albanians. 
 
 October 6. This morning we were introduced 
 to several visitors ; amongst others, to a very 
 pretty Ragusan lady, who had married a native 
 of Adrianople. In the afternoon, a Russian 
 offiqer paid a visit to the consul. According 
 to the eastern custom, sweetmeats, with a num- 
 ber of spoons, were handed round on a silver 
 tray. When the dish came to the Russian, 
 he found the first mouthful so palatable, that 
 he helped himself a second time, using the
 
 WHIMSICAL MISTAKE. 163 
 
 same spoon, and returning it to the dish as 
 bright as ever by the precautionary process 
 of licking it clean with his tongue ; an act 
 which raised an expression of disgust on the 
 usually good - humoured countenance of the 
 pretty Marigo. 
 
 We heard this morning of a whimsical 
 mistake of identity which occurred a few days 
 before, and is the common talk of the town. 
 
 An officer in Uhlan's corps of cavalry, well 
 known to the consul, was walking along the 
 streets, when a Bulgarian woman rushed out 
 of her house, and ran towards him, exclaiming, 
 ** My dear boy! what! now that you are in 
 a fine dress, are you ashamed of your poor 
 mother ?" Soon after an older woman claimed 
 him for her grandson, and the younger branches 
 of the family hailed him as a brother. He 
 managed to make his escape for the time, but 
 in passing shortly after through the streets, he 
 was upbraided for his unnatural conduct in 
 disowning his relations. Thus assailed, he 
 applied to Count Diebitsch for protection. 
 An inquiry was established through the me- 
 dium of the Bulgarian archbishop. The parties
 
 164 BULGARIAN DIRT. 
 
 were confronted ; the supposed mother called 
 out, '* If it be my son, he has a scar on the 
 left side of his forehead." The officer's cap was 
 removed, and, strange to say, the scar on the 
 identical spot appeared. The woman trium- 
 phantly exclaimed, " he had that scar when 
 he was eight years old." Here several Rus- 
 sian officers interposed, and said that the officer 
 had left St. Petersburgh without the scar, and 
 had received it in an affair with the enemy 
 before Shumla. Thus ended this comedy of 
 errors. 
 
 After the departure of our visitors, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Duveluz, Lord Dunlo, and myself, took 
 an airing in the carriage, and went out by the 
 Belgrade road. Here we passed over a long 
 bridge or causeway, built by the Emperor Mi- 
 chel, whose name it still retains. Immediately 
 without the town is a large but poor suburb, 
 chiefly inhabited by Greeks and Bulgarians. 
 Amidst the most squalid poverty which per- 
 vaded the inhabitants, we recognised remark- 
 able beauty of person. So dirty was this part 
 of the town, that the mud in one of the streets 
 was over the felloes of the carriage-wheels.
 
 VIEW FROM A RUINED KIOSK. 165 
 
 We went to the summit of a hill on which 
 had formerly stood a kiosk belonging to Sultan 
 Selim, the last remains of which had been 
 carried away for the building of the barracks, 
 now serving as the hospital to the Russian 
 troops. From the site of this edifice, we had 
 another fine view of the town. To our left we 
 saw the Russian camp scattered over the large 
 plain, partly hid from view by the fine timber 
 which surrounds the seraglio, and under which 
 the cavalry of the Russian army find a salutary 
 shelter from the burning rays of a Turkish sun. 
 Amid the trees is seen the former residence 
 of the sovereigns of Turkey, and now marking 
 the head-quarters of the invading army. A 
 plain to our right was pointed out as the spot 
 occupied by Charles the Twelfth of Sweden; 
 and further on is a beautiful and well-wooded 
 village, in which a few Franks and Armenians 
 have their villas. The Maritza is seen for 
 nearly fifteen miles winding through a long 
 and fertile plain ; and its course is distin- 
 guished by the magnificent trees which grow 
 upon its banks. The town itself, of which a 
 full panorama lies before us, has a peculiarly
 
 166 FEMALE FASHIONS. 
 
 agreeable effect from being thickly studded 
 with trees, which contrast beautifully with the 
 mosques, minarets, and various colours of the 
 habitations. 
 
 October 7. Lord Dunlo went out shooting 
 this morning, in company with the brother of 
 the dragoman, by whom he was equipped for 
 the field ; but the fat pointer would not hunt, 
 and the old gun would not go off, so it was 
 a blank day with the sportsmen, who returned 
 with an empty bag and good appetites. My 
 fellow-traveller states the game to be plen- 
 tiful. 
 
 October 8. A bright-eyed young Greek 
 lady was so obliging as to indulge our curiosity 
 by appearing before us this morning in the 
 dress of the last new fashion from the grand 
 signior's seraglio. This habit is called antari: 
 the upper part, or what ladies call the body, 
 fits close to the shape, and shews the form 
 very distinctly, the neck and chest being only 
 covered with a thin gauze ; the lower part of 
 the dress is divided into three long lappets, 
 which trail on the ground, one behind and two 
 in front ; the hinder one is two feet, and the two
 
 FEMALE FASHIONS. 167 
 
 before each one foot broad. When the wearer 
 walks, she places the two lappets between 
 her legs, which, together with her capacious 
 trousers, oblige her to make a stride at each 
 step as if she were crossing a gutter. 
 
 This fashion, which is of the sultan's 
 especial choice, is of one colour ; his sublime 
 highness being a great lover of uniformity 
 in the dress as well as in the complexion of 
 his ladies : thus, he is said to be proof against 
 the most fascinating dark eyes, if the hair 
 and skin of the possessor be not found to 
 correspond. 
 
 The tightness of the body of the dress is 
 made in imitation of European fashions : as 
 a further mark of his admiration of them, the 
 sultan has lately put the whole seraglio into 
 stays : a Turkish lady recently arrived from 
 Constantinople wears a very tight pair, and 
 is said to be of a most waspish shape, very 
 different from that rotundity of form of which 
 Ottoman ladies used formerly to be so proud. 
 
 In the evening, the dragoman of the consu- 
 late and his wife came to pay their respects 
 to Mrs. Duveluz. The lady is one of the belles
 
 168 DRAGOMAN AND HIS WIFE. 
 
 of Adrianople, and looked exceedingly well in 
 the head-dress of the country — an embroidered 
 handkerchief, round which the hair is fantas- 
 tically but not ungracefully wove. The fate 
 of her father was that of which a parallel in- 
 stance might be brought forward in most of 
 the leading Greek families of Adrianople. He 
 was beheaded in the first year of the Greek 
 revolution ; his alleged crime was wearing 
 the fez or red cap, the distinguishing mark of 
 the Turk. We heard that one day, the wea- 
 ther being warm, he had taken off the calpac, 
 and had kept on the small red skull-cap which 
 is generally worn under it; but in all proba- 
 bility the accusation was only a pretext for his 
 execution : his situation as one of the principal 
 Greek merchants would naturally have sub- 
 jected him to the suspicion of being an ac- 
 cessory to the revolt ; and, in such cases, a 
 less offence would have ensured his doom.
 
 M. lASIGI. 
 
 169 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 M. lasigi — Anecdote of a Cossack — Mosque of Ooch 
 Sherifler — Russian Barbarism — Mosque of Yeni Maret 
 — Statue of Adrian — Abidy Bey, a Turkish Colonel 
 of Hussars — His Dress — A Wallachian Prince — Cap- 
 tain Alexander — Russian Cavalry — Count Pahlen's 
 Corps — Imperial Economy — Grotesque Dance — Pro- 
 tection of the Holy Virgin — Scott's Novels — A Visit to 
 the Camp. 
 
 October 9. This morning Mons. lasigi, a young 
 merchant of Smyrna, and a native of that city, 
 arrived here from Constantinople. He had 
 brought with him a considerable caravan of mer- 
 chandise, speculating upon the wants of the 
 Russian army. At Rodosto, the pasha offered 
 to send a kavass with him for some distance 
 outside the town ; and, at the same time, 
 strongly recommended him to be very careful 
 how he exposed his merchandise- to view. We 
 heard, at this time, that soldiers, belonging to 
 the Pasha of Scutari, had been committing
 
 170 MOSQUE OF OOCH SHERIFLER. 
 
 depredations in the neighbourhood of Rodosto ; 
 hence, probably the reason of the pasha's 
 friendly counsel. 
 
 At Eski Baba, Monsieur lasigi saw a Cos- 
 sack hold a Turk by the beard till he made the 
 sign of the cross. The poor Mahometan thus 
 assailed, bought his release from the grasp of 
 his captor by complying with his request. 
 The Russian savage became immediately sa- 
 tisfied ; and they both walked off in perfect 
 harmony together. 
 
 October 10. We made the round of the 
 principal mosques of the town : one of the 
 prettiest is the Ooch Sherifler, or " three gal- 
 leries," so called from the minarets of the 
 mosque having three galleries, or circular pas- 
 sages, from which the muezzim (assistant priest) 
 calls Mahometans to prayers. 
 
 The court-yard is of an oblong form, having 
 a portico supported by pillars ; those on the 
 side of the mosque are large, and of white 
 marble ; the others are of a smaller size, and 
 o{ verde antique. The entrance to the mosque 
 is by a large door of carved marble, in the 
 arabesque style. The dome is tastefully orna-
 
 RUSSIAN BARBARISxM. 171 
 
 meiited with fresco representations of flowers. 
 The kebleh, or that part of the mosque which 
 faces Mecca, the burying-place of Mahomet, 
 is like the chancel of an English church, and 
 is ascended by a low step : on the right hand, 
 is a small staircase to the koorsee, which 
 answers to our pulpit ; on the left, in a corner, 
 is a trelliced gallery, for the grand signior. 
 
 There were several Turks at prayers, but 
 they did not molest us ; nor did they require 
 Lord Dunlo or the consul to take off their 
 boots. I wore paepooshes, (Turkish slippers), 
 which I left at the door. There was little to 
 see in the ceremony, the genuflections and 
 prostrations being the same as those practised 
 in the open air. 
 
 I was somewhat astonished to find here a 
 subaltern's guard of Russians stationed in the 
 court-yard. The Turks are highly ofl'ended at 
 this insult to their religion ; but the Russians 
 excuse it on the plea of protecting the mosques 
 from insult : it is probably to prevent the 
 Mahometans from holding dangerous meetings, 
 under the disguise of assembling for prayers. 
 It would be well if this was the only insult
 
 172 RUSSIAN BARBARISM. 
 
 they have to complain of. Within the sacred 
 precincts of the mosque, there is a place called 
 abtezlick, where the Turks are in the habit of 
 performing the ablutions prescribed by their 
 religion, but which the Russians, to the dis- 
 grace of a people assuming to be civilised, have 
 appropriated to a very different purpose. 
 
 This conduct, which appears impolitic on 
 the part of the Russians, (whose whole aim 
 seems to have been conciliation) proceeds from 
 their entire ignorance of propriety. There is 
 scarcely any nation in the world so utterly 
 deficient in decency as the Russians. This 
 was the more striking at Adrianople, from 
 being so extremely at variance with the habits 
 of the people among whom they are quartered. 
 Of numerous instances, one may be cited, in 
 addition to that which I have just recorded. 
 Certain forms are considered indispensable in 
 the Turkish baths, but they were quite lost on 
 the barbarous Muscovites : the omission so 
 disgusted the natives, that they immediately 
 quitted the baths, leaving the rude stranger in 
 undisturbed possession. 
 
 From Ooch Sherifler, we went to Yeni
 
 ABIDY BEY. 173 
 
 Maret, another mosque, but very little fre- 
 quented, and fast tumbling to ruins. At the 
 corner of the gateway is a mutilated statue, 
 supposed to be that of the Emperor Adrian. 
 It is of red porphyry, and nothing but the 
 trunk now remains, which shews the drapery 
 of a Roman gown. 
 
 The Turks not only set no value on statues, 
 but they are actuated by religious prejudices 
 to destroy them as emblems of idolatry. Thus 
 it has fared with poor Adrian. The fragment 
 forms the curbstone of the court-yard, and a 
 bitch, of the breed of curs which infest every 
 Turkish town, was then giving suck to her 
 litter of puppies under protection of its shade. 
 
 October 11. Lord Dunlo had met in the 
 streets Abidy Bey, a young Turk of distinction, 
 who is aide-de-camp to the sultan, and lieu- 
 tenant-colonel of his sublime highness's own 
 regiment of hussars. In the afternoon, he paid 
 his lordship a visit, and partook of pipes and 
 coffee. This is one of the remarkable changes 
 brought about by the present sultan : formerly, 
 no Turk of rank would have condescended to 
 enter the house of a Christian.
 
 174 THE bey's dress. 
 
 The bey wore a tight braided blue jacket, 
 loose European - shaped trousers, Wellington 
 boots, and heeled spurs ; in short, there was 
 nothing Turkish about his dress but the fez, or 
 scarlet cap. He had just returned from Phi- 
 lopopoli, whither he had been on a mission to 
 the Pasha of Scutari. Happening to be in 
 uniform at the time of the bey's arrival, my 
 dress underwent a minute scrutiny, particu- 
 larly the gold-laced forage-cap, the epaulettes, 
 and the Waterloo medal : such military marks 
 of distinction are eagerly desired by the young 
 Osmanlis ; and it is generally expected that 
 the grand signior will attend to their wishes, 
 whenever he shall consider himself sufficiently 
 strong to attempt a further innovation. 
 
 October 12. We went this morning to the 
 pasha, to beg he would allow us to take pos- 
 session of Adrian's statue. He was very well 
 disposed to meet our wishes, but was so di- 
 vided between his fear of the Russians and of 
 his own government, that he declined giving us 
 a direct answer until Count Diebitsch should 
 evacuate Adrianople. 
 
 While we were here, the commander-in-
 
 A WALLACHIAN PRINCE. 175 
 
 chief's interpreter entered the room. He threw 
 himself unceremoniously on the Ottoman, close 
 to the pasha, whom he addressed in a loud 
 voice, and in an unceremonious manner, highly 
 derogatory to Turkish ideas of etiquette. It 
 was not from ignorance of Mahometan customs 
 that he did so, as he is a Wallachian prince, 
 and a native of Constantinople. The conver- 
 sation turning upon the beauties of that city, 
 we bowed assent to some remarks of the pasha, 
 but the prince said the metropolis was ex- 
 tremely dirty, and a disgrace to the govern- 
 ment. To hear his capital abused, and that 
 too by a rebel subject of the Porte, could not 
 have been very gratifying to the pasha : and it 
 was evident that the remarks were made by 
 the Greek with a view of mortifying Turkish 
 pride. 
 
 I was not a little surprised this morning to 
 fall in with an old friend, fellow-student, and 
 brother author, in the person of Captain Alex- 
 ander. On comparing notes, we found that 
 we had both left England at about the same 
 time, but had come to Adrianople by widely 
 different routes. While I had been wandering
 
 176 RUSSIAN CAVALRY. 
 
 with the Turks, he had been with their ene- 
 mies, the Russians, having travelled from 
 St. Petersburgh to the Crimea. He had lat- 
 terly been staying with the Russian squadron, 
 in the Black Sea, on board the flag-ship, with 
 Admiral Greig, whose guest he then was. 
 He had disembarked at Bourgaz, and had 
 come with a Cossack courier, on a short visit to 
 the Russian camp. 
 
 In our afternoon ride, we met a body 
 of cavalry under command of our acquaint- 
 ance, General CheremetofF, which we had left 
 at Oozan Kupri. We also saw Count Pahlen's 
 corps of the army take up their ground on the 
 Adrianople plain. 
 
 All the troops appeared to be in excellent 
 order. The cavalry marched past in squadrons : 
 the whole front rank, and every fourth man 
 of the rear-rank of each division, were armed 
 with spears, the Russians having found this 
 species of weapon highly serviceable in the 
 late campaign. 
 
 The infantry marched in columns of grand 
 divisions, in their ordinary manner of three 
 ranks. Although the day was oppressively hot.
 
 PROTECTION OF THE HOLY VIRGIN. 177 
 
 they wore their great-coats — a severe penalty 
 in such a climate as Turkey, but dictated by 
 the economy of the emperor, who thereby 
 saves their uniform green coats, which they 
 receive every two years. 
 
 Several of the regiments were preceded by 
 parties of men marching two deep, who sang in 
 parts, with considerable effect. In the front 
 of one regiment, a grenadier kept up a highly 
 grotesque national dance, consisting of a va- 
 riety of flourishings of the musket, and twirl- 
 ings of the body. 
 
 There appeared to be what we should con- 
 sider a great disproportion of officers. I un- 
 derstand a company to consist of two hundred 
 men. 
 
 October 13. **' The protection of the holy 
 virgin," a Russian holyday. One of the officers 
 told us that it was in commemoration of a 
 miracle performed by the Virgin Mary, who, at 
 a time when the Russians were threatened with 
 a Tartar invasion, * * covered them with her veil," 
 by which means they were concealed from 
 the view of their enemies ! To celebrate this 
 event, there was divine service in the metro- 
 
 VOL. I, N
 
 178 scott's novels. 
 
 politan Greek church. The ceremony wa^ 
 performed by a choir, consisting of officers 
 and men. The congregation was small, com- 
 prising, for the most part, Bulgarians. One 
 poor fellow, a Russian camp follower, who had 
 recently recovered from sickness, dedicated 
 several candles to the shrine of the Virgin, in 
 gratitude for his recovery. His prostrations 
 before her picture, which were continual, re- 
 minded me of the oriental origin of his nation : 
 he frequently threw himself on his hands and 
 knees, and struck his head against the pave- 
 ment ; and in this, as well as in several other 
 instances, adopted the same attitudes as the 
 Mahometans observe in their devotions. His 
 dress and appearance were equally illustra- 
 tive of this point, — a long beard, loose robes, 
 and a red sash round the loins. 
 
 After the ceremony, we paid a visit to 
 General Reuchtern, whom we found seated in 
 front of his tent, reading Scott's novels, — the 
 companions, as he told us, of his vacant hours. 
 
 We saw several other Russian officers in 
 the course of the day. They had received in- 
 telligence of some movement of the Pasha of
 
 A VISIT TO THE CAMP. 179 
 
 Scutari, which had evidently created a stir 
 amongst them. They stated that the pasha 
 had advanced ; that nearly half the Rus- 
 sian army had been moved in the direction 
 of his quarters to meet them, in anticipation 
 of hostilities on his part ; that considerable 
 uneasiness had for a time been felt, lest the 
 head -quarters should be attacked while its 
 detachments were at a distance ; and that the 
 pasha, if he really entertained the idea of re- 
 commencing hostilities, had let slip the favour- 
 able moment. The Russians said that the 
 effective strength of their army was thirty thou- 
 sand ; that the Servians were ready to revolt ; 
 and that four thousand Bulgarians had actually 
 imbodied themselves in rebellion against the 
 Turkish government, in the neighbourhood of 
 lanboli. This last piece of information puzzled 
 us at the time; but our subsequent journey over 
 the Balcan solved the riddle.
 
 180 JEWISH FEAST OF THE TABERNACLES. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Jewish Feast of the Tabernacles — Our Host — His beautiful 
 Daughters — Their Dress — Their Notions of Dehcacy — 
 The poorer Class of Inhabitants — Their Form of Govern- 
 ment — Anecdote of their Cowardice — Mahometan Ser- 
 vice — Mosque of Sultan Selim — Visits from Russian 
 Officers — Count Diebitsch made a Field-marshal — Affair 
 between the Russians and the Pasha of Scutari — The 
 Sultan's Ideas of Etiquette. 
 
 October 14. Yesterday commenced the Jew- 
 ish Feast of the Tabernacles, in commemoration 
 of the flight of the Israelites out of Egypt. We 
 went this morning to a Jew's house, to see what 
 might be the peculiar ceremony on the occa- 
 sion ; but we were merely shewn a small kiosk, 
 covered at the top with reeds, and furnished 
 with carpets and cushions. The Jews do not 
 sleep in these temporary dwellings, but only 
 eat their meals here during the feast, which 
 lasts ten days. 
 
 Our host introduced us to his wife and his 
 two daughters. They all wore large turbans.
 
 OUR HOST S BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS. 181 
 
 terminating in a peak, resembling those worn 
 by the Turks in the last century, as shewn 
 in the drawings of Tavernier and other old 
 travellers. 
 
 The younger ladies, who were both mothers, 
 might be called beautiful. One was fair, the 
 other dark: the latter, in particular, attracted 
 our attention. Lord Dunlo and myself both 
 agreed, that she would have been no bad per- 
 sonation of Walter Scott's Rebecca, in the 
 novel of ** Ivanhoe." 
 
 They were dressed in loose flowing robes ; 
 their necks and chests were covered with a 
 thin muslin ; they each wore a weighty neck- 
 lace, with the pendants resting on the bosom ; 
 a rich girdle encircled their loins, the clasp of 
 which fell below the stomach; on their arms 
 and wrists were a profusion of bracelets and 
 necklaces, the "badges of their tribe." Their 
 petticoats were long, and their pretty bare 
 feet were but very slightly concealed by a 
 light yellow slipper. 
 
 In consonance with the universal custom 
 of the country, we partook of pipes and coffee, 
 without which ceremonial a visit would be null
 
 182 THEIR NOTIONS OF DELICACY. 
 
 and void ; and, as a tokea of our being favoured 
 guests, we tasted sweetmeats, — not the less 
 sweet for being presented to us by the fair 
 hands of our pretty hostesses. 
 
 The ladies of the family spoke Greek, 
 which may be considered as an accomplish- 
 ment. They were very conversable, and asked 
 us several questions about the Jewesses in 
 England, and seemed much shocked at the 
 impropriety of married women having their 
 heads uncovered. The fair Israelites of my 
 own country would not have thought much 
 of their propriety, if they had seen them, as we 
 did, bare their breasts to silence the squalling 
 of two crying brats, who were interrupting the 
 conversation. 
 
 The men of the family spoke the Spanish 
 language, which has descended to them from 
 their immediate ancestors, whom a cruel and 
 barbarous policy expelled from Spain early in 
 the sixteenth century. They retain several cus- 
 toms of their former country ; and their muni- 
 cipal officers are called ** rigedors," the name 
 by which they were known in Spain. 
 
 The Turks of that period, more enlightened
 
 JEWISH FORM OF GOVERNMENT. 183 
 
 than the Spaniards, received the fugitives, and 
 granted them several privileges, many of w^hich 
 have been since taken from them, and given to 
 the Armenians. 
 
 It may be worthy of remark, that the Jews 
 here comprise perhaps the poorest class of in- 
 habitants. Among other causes, are the extra- 
 ordinary talents for business possessed by the 
 Armenians, who, both in the art of making 
 money, and in the feelings which such an occu- 
 pation too often generates, supply that place in 
 Turkey, which, in Christian kingdoms, is consi- 
 dered to belong to the Jews. 
 
 A kakam bashee, or grand rabbi, and two 
 other rabbis, chosen for life by the people, form 
 a triumvirate, charged with the principal au- 
 thority. It participates in the formation of the 
 laws, and is at the same time the supreme 
 tribunal. 
 
 A council of seven members, also elected 
 for life by the nation, forms the second branch 
 of the legislative power. It can remonstrate 
 with the triumvirate, and can convoke the 
 national assembly. 
 
 All questions agitated and approved in the
 
 184 MAHOMETAN SERVICE. 
 
 national assembly, ought to obtain the consent 
 of the triumvirate and council of seven, to 
 become binding, and to form a part of the 
 national law.* 
 
 The Turks call the Jews mustafirs, or ** vi- 
 sitors," in allusion to the emigration of their 
 ancestors. They treat them with kindness, but 
 have an utter contempt for them. They tell a 
 story, which, whether true or not, shews the 
 estimation they are held in by the Ottomans. 
 
 Thoughts had been entertained by the 
 Turkish government of employing the Jews as 
 soldiers. They were assembled, to the number 
 of some thousands, and were about to march, 
 when they desired that two armed kavasses 
 might escort them through the town, to protect 
 them from the insults of the mob ! 
 
 October 15. This day being Friday, the 
 Mahometan sabbath, I was anxious to avail 
 myself of an opportunity which rarely occurs 
 to Christian travellers, of attending the Maho- 
 metan service in the mosque. When I signi- 
 fied to Mustapha my intention of going, he 
 
 * Vide, on this subject, Jucherau, tome i. p. 161,
 
 MOSQUE OF SULTAN SELIM. 185 
 
 made me no answer, but went to Lord Dunlo, 
 and the other inmates of the house, to induce 
 them to dissuade me from my purpose. In vain 
 he pointed out the insult and danger to which 
 I should be exposed : they dived into his real 
 motive (which was, an aversion to being seen in 
 a Frank's company in a mosque), and turned a 
 deaf ear to his representations. The result 
 proved that his fears for me (if he really had 
 any) were groundless, as I went and returned 
 without meeting the slightest molestation. 
 Receiving no support in his objections, he 
 accompanied me with a tolerable grace till he 
 got near the mosque, when, telling me to take 
 no further notice of him, he gave me the dead 
 cut, hid himself from my view till the service 
 was over, and did not own me again until he 
 came to the Christian part of the town, where 
 it was no disgrace to acknowledge a Giaour. 
 
 The approach to Sultan Selim is by two 
 court-yards. In the middle of the interior one 
 is an enclosed fountain. Round this were 
 several Turks performing the ablutions enjoined 
 by the Koran, with all the peculiar gravity of 
 their nation : their demeanour was curiously
 
 186 MOSQUE OF SULTAN SELIM. 
 
 contrasted by the boisterous mirth of a group 
 of idle boys, who, not having the fear of a parish 
 beadle before their eyes, were playing at some 
 noisy game, the sound of which from without 
 seemed to drown the solemn chanting from 
 within. 
 
 The dome is supported in the interior by 
 eight large pillars, the shafts of which are 
 formed into regular pentagons, and painted 
 with large stripes of blue, and smaller ones of 
 red. On the capital of the pillars on the right 
 and left of the kebleh, are inscribed the names 
 of Allah (God) and of Mahomet. On the re- 
 maining capitals, those of Abobekir, Omar, 
 Othman, Ali, Hassan, and Hosein. The interior 
 roof of the dome is ornamented with fantastic 
 paintings in fresco of wreaths of flowers, en- 
 closing verses from the Koran. On one side 
 of the kebleh is a koorsee (pulpit) : it is as^ 
 cended by several steps, and the koorsee itself 
 is shaped like a minaret, and is ornamented 
 with gilded wood richly carved. The space 
 we should allot to windows is filled up with 
 masonry, which is perforated by a succession 
 of circular apertures, like the " bull's-eyes"
 
 MAHOMETAN SERVICE. 187 
 
 on board a ship, which admit the light : below 
 them are a few small windows of stained glass. 
 From the vertex of the dome is suspended a 
 large chandelier : it is encircled by a suc- 
 cession of several concentric circles of iron, 
 from which hang several lamps, some egg- 
 shaped ornaments, some plaited ears of corn 
 (in commemoration of deliverance from famine), 
 and a small model of Mecca. 
 
 The beauty of Sultan Selim has been much 
 over-rated ; there is nothing magnificent in the 
 decorations, and it owes less to the splendour 
 of its ornaments than to the correctness of its 
 proportions. 
 
 I attended the mid-day service : the whole 
 congregation were in the kneeling posture, their 
 insteps flat on the ground, and their bodies 
 resting on their heels. An imaun was before 
 the altar, and chanting in a strain not unlike 
 that in our cathedrals. On pronouncing the 
 words " Allah ickbar' (God is victorious), they 
 all simultaneously prostrated themselves, and 
 striking their foreheads three times against the 
 pavement, they called out '* Siibah en Allah,'" 
 (God be with us). On the repetition of the words
 
 188 MAHOMETAN SERVICE. 
 
 *' Allah ickbar'' by the imaun, who acted as 
 fugleman, they rose up with the same precision, 
 and continued standing. The effect of this 
 uniform movement in their great variety of 
 dress was exceedingly curious. 
 
 To the imaun's prayers succeeded those of 
 the muezzim, who continued chanting for 
 some time in a harsh falsetto, and a service 
 of responses then followed. An imaun now 
 ascended the koorsee: he began by invoking 
 blessings on all the sovereigns who had pre- 
 ceded Mahmoud, the present grand signior, to 
 the mention of each of whose names the people 
 called ameen (amen). The list was closed by 
 a prayer for Mahmoud himself. The imaun 
 then chanted extempore several verses from 
 the Koran. In one part of the service the 
 congregation, with uplifted hands and inverted 
 palms, called out, " Rub Illah ameen,'' (God 
 pardons every one,) a prayer in which infidels 
 are included, and a part of the creed but little 
 in unison with Mahometan intolerance. 
 
 The service ended by the priest giving the 
 benediction of ** Salam alekooniy' (Peace be 
 with you), to which the congregation all
 
 DIEBITSCH A FIELD-MARSHAL. 189 
 
 answered, " Aleikoom salam,'"' (To you also be 
 peace). 
 
 We were visited this afternoon by General 
 Reuchtern and two Russian aides-de-camp, 
 one of Count Diebitsch, the other of the Em- 
 peror of Russia. This last had just arrived 
 from St. Petersburgh, with the appointment 
 of Count Diebitsch to the rank of field-marshal. 
 By this honour, the highest that can be be- 
 stowed in Russia, the count takes precedence 
 of the imperial family, and ranks (I believe) 
 the third person in the empire, the two before 
 him being the Emperor Nicolas and the Duke 
 of Wellington. There was also a considerable 
 promotion in the army, by which our friend 
 Reuchtern became a lieutenant-general. The 
 same officer brought intelligence that the rati- 
 fication of the peace by the emperor would 
 arrive in a few days. It had been delayed 
 upon the pretext that it required some time 
 to prepare it in a manner suitable to the Ma- 
 hometan taste. A much shorter delay on the 
 part of the Turks had been greatly complained 
 of by the Russians. 
 
 October 18. One hundred and twenty
 
 190 ALBANIAN PRISONERS. 
 
 Albanian prisoners, and three pieces of cannon, 
 under a strong escort, entered Adrianople early 
 this morning, from the direction of Mustapha 
 Pasha. They had been taken in an action 
 which had occurred between the Russians 
 and the army of the Pasha of Scutari. The 
 Russian general is Geismar, the same who so 
 distinguished himself last year against the 
 Albanians at Widdin, when he defeated, as we 
 were told, an army of twenty thousand men, 
 with a force amounting to four thousand. 
 
 The accounts of the Russians' loss in the 
 late affair were various : one person informed 
 us that not one had been killed, and another 
 that the loss was very severe. The leader of 
 the Albanians is a pasha of two tails, in the 
 service of the Scutari chieftain. 
 
 Early in the month of October, the Pasha 
 of Scutari advanced on Philopopoli with fifteen 
 thousand Albanians and sixteen guns. General 
 Diebitsch sent to know his intentions : he re- 
 plied, that he was going to take up his quar- 
 ters at Demotica. A series of messages ensued 
 between the Albanian and Russian generals. 
 The pasha desired Diebitsch to evacuate
 
 ACCOUNT OF THE ACTION. 191 
 
 Adrianople, now that peace was effected be^ 
 tween Russia and Turkey. The other an- 
 swered by a threat to advance on Philopopoli, 
 if he did not quit that city. Tlie Albanian 
 then said, that his quarrel was not with the 
 Russians, but with the grand signior, from 
 whom he required pay for his troops. The 
 Albanians performing feudal service, were not 
 entitled to remuneration from the Porte. 
 Count Diebitsch, therefore, very naturally dis- 
 credited the statement of the Albanian, though 
 subsequent events have proved that he was 
 sincere in the intentions he professed. 
 
 These movements of the Pasha of Scutari, 
 accompanied by accounts of a body of troops 
 and two or three pashas having assembled at 
 Rodosto, and further, the non-arrival of the 
 ratification of the treaty by the sultan, made 
 Diebitsch imagine that something hostile was 
 intended. 
 
 To prevent the junction of the two forces, 
 the line of the Maritza, as far as Enos, was 
 occupied. Three brigades of infantry, with 
 some cavalry, were sent on the high road to 
 observe the motions of the pasha ; and General
 
 192 THE sultan's etiquette. 
 
 Geismar received orders to keep him always 
 in sight. 
 
 The ratification not arriving, an aide-de- 
 camp was despatched to Constantinople, to 
 hurry the signature of the sultan, which had 
 been protracted for a considerable time. 
 
 I must digress for a moment, to mention 
 the reason of the delay, since it is character- 
 istic of the monarch, who is alleged to have 
 risen above the prejudices of his nation. 
 
 The paper on which these documents are 
 generally written, is gilded and painted in a 
 particular manner. Unfortunately, none of the 
 precious material was ready; and some days 
 were required to manufacture it. It was in 
 vain that they represented to the sultan the 
 necessity of the signature, and not of the 
 gilded paper. Nothing would move him. Like 
 the King of Spain, who died of heat because 
 the proper attendant was not by to remove 
 his chair from the fire, this enlightened *' king 
 of kings" ran the risk of having his capital 
 taken, rather than infringe the slightest iota 
 of etiquette. 
 
 At last, the document, duly bedizened and
 
 THE PASHA OF SCUTARI. 193 
 
 gilded, made its appearance ; and lucky was 
 it for the sultan that it did so, for the 
 Russian general fully intended to have ad- 
 vanced on the capital at all hazards, if the 
 ratification had not opportunely made its ap- 
 pearance. 
 
 In the meanwhile, the Pasha of Scutari 
 continued to assume the same hostile attitude. 
 Relying on his own strength, and his master's 
 weakness, he advanced towards Adrianople; 
 and a party of his troops had reached Mus- 
 tapha Pasha, when the action which I have 
 just recorded was the consequence. 
 
 The Pasha of Scutari, since the execution 
 of the celebrated Ali of lanina, may be con- 
 sidered the most powerful chieftain of Al- 
 bania. That land of robbers has always, from 
 the turbulence of its governors, been a very 
 troublesome appendage to the Ottoman em- 
 pire. Secure in the fastnesses of their rugged 
 mountains, the pashas have ever shewn a 
 very equivocal allegiance to the Porte. Ali, 
 pasha of lanina, maintained for a series of 
 years a successful opposition to the authority 
 of the sultan ; and had almost converted his 
 
 VOL. 1. o
 
 194 CREED OF THE ARNAOUTS. 
 
 pashalic into an hereditary kingdom, when he 
 expiated his opposition with his head. 
 
 "We heard from Abidy Bey that there were 
 twelve thousand Christians in the Scutari army ; 
 and even among the Arnaouts, or tho^e Alba- 
 nians who profess the Mahometan faith, they 
 are no very zealous adherents of the Arabian 
 prophet ; for, to use the words of Anastasius, 
 " Wavering for the most part between Christ 
 and Mahomet, the worship of the Arnaouts 
 is generally determined by the master they 
 serve,"* — a circumstance that will always 
 facilitate the resistance of the chieftains to 
 an authority which depends so much on 
 the fanatic zeal of Mahometanism for its 
 support. 
 
 It was generally believed at Adrianople, 
 that the pasha was only waiting for a favour- 
 able opportunity to throw off the Turkish 
 yoke altogether, — a belief which derived some 
 colour from his conduct in the late war. 
 During the whole campaign, he made no move- 
 ment whatever to co-operate with the Turkish 
 
 * Anastasius, vol. i. p. 29.
 
 THE GRAND VIZIER's TREACHERY. 195 
 
 army, although he might have been of the 
 greatest service to the grand vizier at Shumla. 
 This neglect of aid was attributed to the known 
 hatred which subsisted between him and the 
 o-rand vizier, whom he considered as a near 
 and powerful rival when that personage was 
 Pasha of lanina. Since that period he has 
 confirmed the opinion of his disaffection, by 
 appearing in open rebellion against the Porte ; 
 and the grand vizier has also illustrated his 
 hatred of his rival, by inviting several of his 
 officers to a friendly conference, and then put- 
 ting them, every one, to death, ^ — an act of 
 semi-barbarous perfidy worthy of the times 
 of Ceesar Borgia ; which will serve as an 
 answer to the boasted honour and good faith 
 of the Turk, and to his pretensions to a place 
 amongst the civilised nations of Europe.
 
 196 CAPTAIN ALEXANDER LEAVES ADRIANOPLE. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Captain Alexander leaves Adrianople — A Bulgarian Fu- 
 neral — Executions on the Philopopoli Road — Howling 
 Dervishes — Mustapha's Remark — Fortune-telling — A 
 Corps of Russians leave Adrianople for Russia — Te 
 Deum — Field-Marshal Count Diebitsch Zabalcansky — 
 Count Wittginstein — General Damelousky — Karabet, 
 an Armenian — Exchange of the Russian and Turkish 
 Ratifications of Peace. 
 
 Soon after the arrival of the prisoners, General 
 Reuchtern sent his aide-de-camp to apologise 
 to the consul for not dining with him, having 
 received orders to march immediately to Mus- 
 tapha Pasha, to replace General Rudiger, who 
 was taken ill. 
 
 Captain Alexander took leave of Count 
 Diebitsch, preparatory to his returning on board 
 Admiral Greig's ship. The field-marshal re- 
 quested him to tell the admiral that " every 
 thing was pacific." Did General Geismar's 
 action come under this denomination?
 
 A BULGARIAN FUNERAL. 197 
 
 October 20. A hard frost during the night ; 
 the morning bitterly cold. Captain Alexander 
 left us for Bourgaz, to rejoin the Russian fleet. 
 
 In the course of the day there passed under 
 our windows the funeral of a Bulgarian child. 
 Our attention was drawn to it by a noise 
 which proceeded from the mourners, not un- 
 like the Irish howl. The coffin was open, the 
 body was decorated with flowers and ribands, 
 and the hands were made to grasp a nosegay. 
 
 The doctor to the pasha, who, from his in- 
 tercourse with the Turks, is privy to their 
 gossip, told us that the grand vizier, Redschid 
 Pasha, had been asked for his seals of office 
 by the sultan ; but that he refused to resign 
 them, on the plea that he had done nothing 
 to justify their being taken from him ; he 
 should therefore keep them, not for Mahmoud, 
 the present sultan, but for his son. 
 
 This report may or may not be true. It 
 is very generally believed that he is in disgrace 
 with the grand signior; but his command of 
 the army, and his supposed understanding with 
 the disaff'ected, would make the evincement
 
 198 HOWLING DERVISHES. 
 
 of that feeling a dangerous measure in the 
 present critical state of the empire. 
 
 October 2\. Another intensely cold morn- 
 ing. There was ice on all the water in the 
 house. 
 
 October 22. At four this afternoon, Mr. 
 Fricker, a king's messenger, arrived from 
 Semlin with despatches for our ambassador. 
 Near Philopopoli, he had seen several men 
 hanging on each side of the road. They had 
 been executed by order of the Pasha of Scutari, 
 for depredations on the highway. A place 
 was pointed out to him where the bodies of 
 eleven murdered travellers had been found, a 
 short time before. The Pasha of Scutari was 
 said to be very much dissatisfied with General 
 Geismar's late attack on his troops. 
 
 October 23. We went to see the howling 
 dervishes. The dancing sect are to be seen 
 at Constantinople ; but as the sect of howlers 
 are not so common there, we made a point of 
 being present. 
 
 The place where this strange exhibition 
 took place was a boarded room, with a railed
 
 HOWLING DERVISHES. 199 
 
 gallery on two of its sides. In one corner 
 were several flags, which had been deposited 
 there when the Turks had first entered Adrian- 
 ople. From the ceiling were suspended se- 
 veral plaits of ears of corn, to commemorate 
 the effectual interposition of the dervishes' 
 prayers in a time of famine. Near the kebleh 
 were some knives, iron skewers, pincers, and 
 other implements of torture, which the most 
 frantic occasionally use. Through a trellice- 
 work, at the lower end of the room, we saw 
 the coffins of the ancestors of the chief dervish ; 
 this office descending from father to son. 
 
 When we entered, we found about thirty 
 dervishes seated in a circle. In the midst of 
 them was the chief, and on his right hand his 
 son and official successor, a boy of about eight 
 years old. The whole party were swinging 
 their bodies from side to side, repeating at 
 each motion the word Allah ! This continued 
 some time, when the chief quoted a sentence 
 from the Koran, which was taken up by the rest, 
 who made a tolerable chorus of it, the boyish 
 tenor of the chief's son harmonising with the 
 sonorous bass of the men. They now rose up,
 
 200 HOWLING DERVISHES. 
 
 and other distiches accompanied their motions. 
 Sometimes they swung themselves from side 
 to side ; at others they moved violently back- 
 wards and forwards. As the ceremony pro- 
 ceeded, the chanting of sentences gave place 
 to convulsive sobbings, like what would be ex- 
 cited by the suffering of intense bodily pain. 
 Then followed a chorus of loud grunting, of so 
 ludicrous a nature, that it was with the great- 
 est difficulty we could refrain from bursting into 
 laughter. At intervals the motions were accele- 
 rated by the beating of drums and tambourines. 
 On these occasions they would simultaneously 
 jump from the ground, beat their breasts vio- 
 lently, assume the trembling of palsy, and 
 break out into the most frightful bowlings. 
 As the increased motion caused them to per- 
 spire profusely, they fairly stripped to their 
 work ; and an officiating dervish was ready to 
 relieve them of their caps and cloaks. Con- 
 trary to the Turkish custom of keeping the 
 head shaved, they wore their hair long; so 
 that when they uncovered their heads, they 
 exhibited long shaggy locks, which, hanging 
 over their faces, added to the wild, distracted
 
 iMUSTAPHA's REMARK. 201 
 
 appearance which they had assumed in this 
 religious farce. 
 
 The whole scene beggared description ; and 
 it would be difficult to say whether the sounds 
 they uttered bore most resemblance to the 
 braying of asses, the howling of wolves, or 
 the grunting of hogs. 
 
 On our return home, Mons. lasigi, who is 
 a Roman Catholic, asked Mustapha, in Italian, 
 what he thought of the absurd practices of 
 those rascals, the dervishes. His reply was, 
 that there was as little mention of dervishes in 
 the Koran as there was of friars in the Bible ; 
 and, added he, respecting these rascals the 
 dervishes, they are like your rascals the monks, 
 who have a thousand roguish things in their 
 books ^\\\q\\ are not to be found in the Book. 
 
 October 24. A sly-looking old dervish, of 
 reputed sanctity, came to-day to tell our for- 
 tunes. His nonsense is only worth recording 
 as shewing the universal prevalence of similar 
 superstitions. 
 
 After making a numerical calculation of 
 the letters of our names, he read our destinies 
 out of a book. Lord Dunlo's star was in
 
 202 FORTUNE-TELLING. 
 
 the sixth heavens. The writer in the second 
 heaven had decided that Wednesday is his 
 fortunate day. He w^ill be a rich and great 
 man. His commands will be obeyed, as those 
 of a king. He will have many enemies. He 
 will have strife with those with whom he eats 
 bread and salt. If he have a charm on his 
 right arm, the good peri (fairy) will protect 
 him. He had an illness at two years old ; he 
 has since been in health, and will die at a good 
 old age. 
 
 My fortunate day is Friday. The evil eye 
 has power over me. My heart is as light as 
 the wind. I am impatient, if my orders are 
 not instantly obeyed. My existence will be 
 liappy. I have royal blood in my veins. I 
 am anxious about some lady. I also have 
 enemies amongst the eaters of my bread and 
 salt. A person whom I have benefited tries 
 to injure me, but will neither succeed in this 
 world nor the next. I make the best of every 
 'thing. Late in life I am to go to the holy 
 land. My guardian angel's seal will protect 
 me from the evil eye and evil tongue. I am 
 to marry three, six, or nine wives.
 
 TE DEUM. 203 
 
 It is to be hoped, that, if I must fulfil this 
 last part of my destiny, my guardian angel's 
 seal will protect me from the penalty which 
 the laws of my country will inflict for such 
 an indulgence. 
 
 October 25. A small present that we made 
 to the dervishes, at their last exhibition, in- 
 duced them to invite us again, holding out 
 as an inducement their intention of torturing 
 themselves with red-hot irons. We went, in 
 the expectation of witnessing this exhibition, 
 which, though I hardly know whether we 
 ought to say so, we were disappointed by 
 their not performing. 
 
 October 27. The fifth corps of the Russian 
 army, seven thousand strong, marched from 
 their encampment for Russia. Previous to 
 their departure, a Te Deiim was performed. 
 The troops were formed into a large hollow 
 square, open at each of the angles. In the 
 centre were the priests in their full canonical 
 robes, an officiating choir of soldiers, and all 
 the general and principal stafl" officers. The 
 heads of the whole assembly were uncovered. 
 The appearance of the priests, with their
 
 204 TE DEUM. 
 
 oriental costume, their long hair and flowing 
 beards, like the prophets of old, was remark- 
 ably striking. The chanting was extremely 
 melodious. The principal priest, six feet five 
 inches high, was an exceedingly handsome 
 man: his light hair was parted on the forehead, 
 and allowed to hang down his shoulders ; his 
 long beard rested upon a kind of ephod, or 
 breast-plate, upon which was emblazoned a 
 golden cross. The voice of the singers harmo- 
 nised like the notes of a finely-toned organ. 
 After this service, a large metal or silver bowl, 
 full of water, was carried round the square, into 
 which the principal priests dipped a brush, and 
 with it besprinkled the soldiers as they passed. 
 The most conspicuous actor in this perform- 
 ance was Field-Marshal Diebitsch, who, though 
 a Protestant by profession, vied with the most 
 devout in the crossings, besprinklings, and 
 genuflexions. The contrast between his ap- 
 pearance and that of the principal priest was 
 highly ludicrous, he being as much below, as 
 the priest is above, the common height. But 
 the little field-marshal is too great a man not 
 to call forth a more particular description of
 
 COUNT DIEBITSCH ZABALCANSKY. 205 
 
 his personal appearance ; more especially so, 
 because, like the milk -maid in the nursery- 
 song, though in a very opposite sense, his 
 ** face " may be said to have been " his for- 
 tune." 
 
 Field-Marshal Count Diebitsch is a little, 
 fat, plethoric-looking man, something less than 
 five feet high ; he has a very large head, w^ith 
 long black hair, small piercing eyes, and a 
 complexion of the deepest scarlet, alike ex- 
 pressive of his devotion to cold punch, and 
 of a certain irascibility of temper, which has 
 elicited from the troops, to his proud title of 
 Zahalcansky (or the Trans -Balcanian), the ad- 
 ditional one of the Semavar (or the tea-kettle). 
 
 I have said that Count Diebitsch ow^es his 
 fortune to his face ; the sequel will shew how. 
 He is the second son of a Prussian officer, who 
 was on the staff of Frederic. At an early age 
 he entered the Russian army, and obtained 
 a company in the imperial guard. It was at 
 this time that the King of Prussia came on a 
 visit to the Russian autocrat, and it so hap- 
 pened that it was Captain Diebitsch's tour of 
 duty to mount guard on the royal visitor.
 
 206 COUNT DIEBITSCH ZABALCANSKY. 
 
 The emperor foresaw the ridiculous figure the 
 little captain would cut at the head of the 
 tall grenadiers, and desired a friend delicately 
 to hint to him that it would be agreeable to 
 his imperial master if he would resign the 
 guard to a brother officer. Away goes the 
 friend, meets the little captain, and bluntly 
 tells him, that the emperor wishes him not 
 to mount guard with his company ; for, adds 
 he, " I'empereur dit, et il faut convenir, que 
 vous avez I'ext^rieur terrible." This ** delicate 
 hint" that his exterior was too terrible to be 
 seen at the head of troops not remarkable for 
 good looks, so irritated the future hero of the 
 Balcan, that, with his natural warmth of tem- 
 per, he begged to resign, not his tour of duty 
 only, but the commission he held in the Russian 
 army; and being a Prussian, and not a Russian 
 subject, desired to be allowed to return to his 
 native country. 
 
 The Emperor Alexander, who appears to 
 have formed a just estimate of his talents, 
 easily found means to pacify him, by giving 
 him promotion in the line. He has subse- 
 quently made himself so useful in that part of
 
 COUNT WITTGINSTEIN. 207 
 
 the service, where beauty was not indispen- 
 sable, that the late emperor placed him at the 
 head of the general staff, which situation he 
 held when the reigning emperor appointed him 
 to succeed Count Wittginstein in the chief 
 command. 
 
 Respecting this last personage, who has 
 been much blamed for the ill success which 
 attended the Russian arms during his com- 
 mand, I should mention a belief generally 
 entertained by the Russians, that Wittginstein 
 would have done very well, if it had not been 
 for the constant interference of the Emperor 
 Nicolas. It is said that Diebitsch was fully 
 aware of this circumstance ; and on being 
 offered the command, expressly stipulated, as 
 a condition of his acceptance, that he should 
 be entirely unshackled by the imperial '* Je le 
 veux." 
 
 When the last religious rite was performed, 
 the field-marshal and his staff mounted their 
 horses, and the former, coming forward, ad- 
 dressed a few words to the soldiers, who re- 
 ceived the order from their leaders to shout 
 applause. They obeyed it, as they would any
 
 208 GENERAL DAMELOUSKY. 
 
 other command; a faint cheer issued from their 
 lips, while the rest of their immovable fea- 
 tures seemed, as they ever do, utter strangers 
 to the relaxation of a smile. 
 
 The troops now filed off, and marched past 
 the field - marshal, on their road to Selimno. 
 Their progress was enlivened by the vocal 
 bands for which the Russians are so famous. 
 The regiments were scarcely seven hundred 
 strong : their full complement is three thou- 
 sand ; but plague, disease, famine, and the 
 sword, had reduced them to their present 
 numbers. 
 
 "We were first made acquainted with Field- 
 Marshal Diebitsch, who desired our little car- 
 riage might be placed so as to have a good 
 sight of the troops marching off. 
 
 Returning home, we were overtaken by 
 General Damelousky, the chef d'Hat - major, 
 who introduced himself to Lord Dunlo as an 
 old acquaintance of his father's. Lord Clan- 
 carty, whom he had met at the congress of 
 Vienna, while in attendance on the Emperor 
 Alexander. 
 
 We fidfilled our engagement this evening
 
 KARABET, AN ARMENIAN. 209 
 
 with Karabet, a rich Armenian banker, whom 
 Lord Dunlo had seen in the streets in a 
 wretched threadbare cloak : he was now 
 in full costume : he received us in a hand- 
 some divan, furnished with ottomans, and en- 
 tertained us with sweetmeats, pipes, coffee, 
 wine, fruits, and some very palatable Turkish 
 dishes. We were waited upon by his wife and 
 daughters, who, in conformity to custom, per- 
 formed all those offices in which servants are 
 employed with us. They were, however, richly 
 dressed. Indeed, to judge by the appearance 
 of every thing around, it seemed as if the 
 Armenian was determined, by the luxury within 
 doors, to compensate for the humble appear- 
 ance which policy induces him to assume on 
 the opposite side of the threshold. 
 
 Anastasius remarks the same caution as 
 being practised by the Greeks of the Faliar. 
 In the present instance, there was an addi- 
 tional cause for this conduct. The advance of 
 the Russians had in the first case so elated 
 every class of Christians, that even the generally 
 phlegmatic Armenians were moved, and testi- 
 fied their joy in a manner most oft'ensive to 
 
 VOL. I. p
 
 210 RATIFICATIONS OF PEACE. 
 
 the Turkish government. The consequence 
 was, that they were in great apprehension for 
 their fate, when the departure of the Russians 
 should have left them at the discretion of the 
 sultan. Our host Karabet was fully impressed 
 with this fear, and wished on that account to 
 become the dragoman of Mr. Duveluz ; a situa- 
 tion of trifling emolument, but which would 
 have afl'orded him protection from the grand 
 signior's power. For the same reason, he 
 was anxious to let his house to the British 
 consul. 
 
 October 28. The Turks had, for some time 
 past, been anxiously expecting the exchange 
 of the ratifications of peace from St. Peters- 
 burgh.^ They had delayed their document a 
 considerable time ; and the Russians, whose 
 policy it doubtless suited to remain at Adrian- 
 ople, now determined to return the compli- 
 ment. To the question, " When will the 
 ratification arrive?" they had always some 
 ready answer. Sometimes it was alleged, that 
 the illuminated ornaments, to suit the Turkish 
 taste, had occupied so much time ; and when 
 the period had expired, in which they had
 
 RATIFICATIONS OF PEACE. 211 
 
 promised to evacuate the town, we heard that 
 the ratification was on its way, but that the 
 diplomatist in charge of it was in a weak state 
 of health, and was coming by easy stages. The 
 choice of such a messenger shewed the exact 
 degree of the Russians' haste. 
 
 At length the long - expected document 
 arrived ; and this morning being appointed for 
 the exchange, we all sallied forth to witness 
 the ceremony. 
 
 Escorted by a regiment of lancers, the 
 Turkish plenipotentiaries (whose full powers 
 extended not to the alteration of one iota of the 
 treaty), proceeded to the quarters of Count 
 Diebitsch ; and there, in the former palace of 
 the sultans, delivered a document that, with- 
 out the gift of prophecy, one may foretell will 
 prove the death-warrant of the Ottoman power. 
 
 These personages were received by a guard 
 of honour, with presented arms. Their horses 
 were so startled by the salute, that it was 
 with great difficulty they could be induced to 
 pass, snorting all the way, as if conscious of 
 beholding their country's foes, and shrinking 
 as it were with instinctive dislike of the busi-
 
 212 RATIFICATIONS OF PEACE. 
 
 ness in which their masters were engaged. 
 Whatever the beasts might think, the riders 
 seemed so to consider the ceremony, — the 
 habitual solemnity of each countenance having 
 darkened into the deepest gloom.
 
 ARCHBISHOP OF ADRIANOPLE. 213 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Visit the Archbishop of Adrianople — Greek Inscription — 
 Why did not the Russians advance on Constantinople? — 
 Probable Causes — Policy of the Russians — High Disci- 
 pline of their Army — Their Regard to Property — The 
 Effect of this Conduct on the Inhabitants — Russians wel- 
 comed by the Greeks and Bulgarians, who are disaffected 
 to the Turkish Government — The Cause — The Invasion 
 agreeable to the Turks, but not the Invaders — Turkish 
 Nicknames to the Array — The Enemy, how esteemed by 
 the Mahometan Ladies — The Sultan's Attempt at Female 
 Reform — Its Degree of Success — ■ Adrianople Scandal. 
 
 October 31. As our stay at Adrianople was 
 drawing to a close, we took leave of our 
 acquaintances, and paid a long visit to the 
 archbishop, with whom we had always been 
 on terms of great intimacy. This gentleman 
 is a native of Candia, an island celebrated for 
 the humour of its inhabitants ; and our reverend 
 friend is not deficient in the characteristics 
 of his country.
 
 214 ARCHBISHOP OF ADRIANOPLE. 
 
 He is a stout well-built man, with arch- 
 looking features, full sparkling gray eyes, 
 shaded by large bushy eyebrows, like those 
 of the late Dr. Parr, whom he strongly re- 
 sembles both in features and manner. His 
 usual cheerfulness had, however, forsaken him 
 this morning, and he appeared to be in con- 
 siderable alarm for his fate; not, indeed, with- 
 out some grounds for fear. The walls of his 
 house remind him that several who have filled 
 his situation have died martyrs to the cause; 
 and his immediate predecessor had, only a few 
 years back, been hanged from one of the win- 
 dows of his present residence. 
 
 His office, at all times a precarious one, 
 was still more so after the termination of 
 the late war. The Russians, on entering 
 Adriano})le, had selected the Greek cathedral 
 to celebrate the Te Deum, and the archbishop 
 had been obliged to attend. A short time 
 afterwards. Count Diebitsch had made a pro- 
 mise of redeeming some slaves of the Greek 
 islands, but the Turks refused to give them 
 up to the Bulgarians who came to demand 
 them. The Russian commandant was applied
 
 ARCHBISHOP OF ADRIANOPLE. 215 
 
 to, on the part of the Christians, for assistance, 
 and he furnished them with a guard to en- 
 force the delivery : upon this the Mahometans 
 remonstrated with the field-marshal, who de- 
 nied that he had given the commandant any 
 authority, and even threatened to reduce him 
 to the rank of a private soldier. The arch- 
 bishop had endeavoured to obtain the pardon 
 of those Greeks who had been instrumental in 
 procuring the escape of their captive fellow- 
 countrymen. These circumstances had at- 
 tracted the notice of the Turkish plenipoten- 
 tiaries, who were naturally, at this time, not 
 much disposed to look indulgently on these 
 acts of the infidel subjects of the Porte; and 
 had, as we were told, made an unfavourable 
 report of them to the grand signior. 
 
 The archbishop's flock had caused him 
 considerable anxiety, and especially the Bul- 
 garians. Shortly before our arrival, he had, 
 after Divine service, entreated them to remem- 
 ber, that though the Russians were in tem- 
 porary possession of Adrianople, it was to the 
 grand signior only that they owed allegiance. 
 
 Our interview lasted an hour and a half;
 
 216 GREEK INSCRIPTION. 
 
 and though the conversation was for the most 
 part serious, the characteristic buoyancy of the 
 Greek character would shine forth, and for a 
 few moments dispel the cloud of anxious care 
 which overshadowed his brow. 
 
 The archbishop's house is built close to the 
 wall which encloses the portion of the town 
 called the Castle. This space is occupied prin- 
 cipally by the rayah population. A short time 
 ago an earthquake shook down several stones 
 from the wall. Upon one of them is an inscrip- 
 tion, of which the following is a copy : it is writ- 
 ten in the barbarous Greek characters of the 
 Lower Empire, and appears to attribute the 
 building of a tower to Dionysius of Constantine : 
 
 "Am^ 'Mr/jx.rfk Avgovuv ovrcog fcXiog 
 
 Hv^ycio[jjCc r^yy^ Karavuvri ^u^^d^oov 
 lAocxptg TT^oc CCV700V a§TO'/]TOP za^a Ta|. 
 
 It has been asked, why did not Count 
 Diebitsch advance upon Constantinople ? 
 
 The universal opinion in Turkey was, that 
 
 * Illegible.
 
 POLICY OF THE RUSSIANS. 217 
 
 he was prevented by the representations of 
 the other European powers. This probably 
 was the principal cause ; but if we examine 
 the conduct of the Russian cabinet, we shall 
 find, that its policy has ever been to make the 
 attacked country pay, as long as it is able, the 
 expenses of the war, and to impose such terms 
 upon the invaded as they shall be unable to 
 fulfil, and by that means afford a pretext to 
 renew hostilities at pleasure. They did so 
 with respect to the Crimea, of which they 
 afterwards became the masters; and the im- 
 possible conditions of the treaty of Adrianople 
 have paved the way to a similar line of policy 
 towards Turkey. 
 
 To these considerations. Count Diebitsch 
 might probably have added, the badness of his 
 supplies, the dreadful ravages that the climate 
 was making among his soldiers, the plague 
 both in the camp and fleet ; the grand vizier 
 with the garrison of Shumla, the Pasha of 
 Scutari with the Albanians, the Pasha of 
 Servia with another force, all of them on his 
 rear ; the probability of being embroiled with 
 the most powerful European states ; and the
 
 218 POLICY OF THE RUSSIANS. 
 
 almost certain destruction of the Russian 
 squadron in the Archipelago by our navy, if 
 the troops should have attempted to advance 
 on the Turkish capital. 
 
 From the conduct of the Russians at Adrian- 
 ople, it is very evident that, although their pre- 
 sent visit has been a short one, they certainly 
 intend to make a more permanent stay when 
 they shall next honour this country w^ith their 
 company. How else should they have so far 
 constrained themselves, as to forego those habits 
 of violence and rapine which have made them 
 a by-word with civilised Europe, and appear 
 in the novel character of quiet, orderly, and 
 honest troops ? 
 
 The strictest discipline prevailed throughout 
 the army. Between Enos and Adrianople, and 
 in the neighbourhood of several large bodies of 
 troops, the plains were full of flocks of sheep 
 and cattle, principally buffaloes : in the vil- 
 lages near the bivouacs, and even in those 
 through which the troops were marching, the 
 doors of the houses were standing open, the 
 inhabitants were at their usual occupations, 
 and quantities of all sorts of poultry were run-
 
 THEIR REGARD TO PROPERTY. 219 
 
 ning about. The time I speak of is the month 
 of October, and this description is not quite 
 applicable to some other parts of the country 
 through which our route lay. 
 
 On their arrival at Adrianople, the utmost 
 regard was paid to the persons and property 
 of the inhabitants : the only casualty I heard 
 of, was relating to a Cossack, who, having forced 
 his way into a haram, was discovered by the 
 proprietor, and put to death on the spot. The 
 fact came to the ears of Count Diebitsch, who 
 applauded the Turk for the manner in which 
 he had behaved. They paid scrupulously for 
 whatever they procured ; they were encamped 
 outside the town ; and even as late as Novem- 
 ber, notwithstanding the inclemency of the 
 season, the troops were not billeted on the in- 
 habitants ; guards were placed on the mosques, 
 on the plea of defending them from insult ; and 
 the few Turkish children Count Diebitsch 
 found doing duty as troops, he disarmed, and 
 very properly sent home to their mothers. 
 
 This conduct had its due effect on every class 
 of inhabitants : that it should render them ac- 
 ceptable to the Christians, is natural enough.
 
 220 THE EFFECT ON THE INHABITANTS. 
 
 At the breaking out of the revolution in 
 1821, the Greeks of Adrianople had evinced 
 so lively an interest in the success of their 
 countrymen, as to cause the Turks to put to 
 death the principal members of nearly every 
 Greek family in the town. Still, the feelings 
 of the people remained unsubdued ; and I had 
 occasion to remark here, as I had afterwards, 
 even in the most retired villages of Asia Minor, 
 infallible indications of a secret intelligence 
 subsisting between the Greeks subject to the 
 Porte, and those who have thrown off its yoke. 
 It is hardly to be supposed that this predomi- 
 nant feeling should be dormant at a moment 
 when deliverance seemed so near at hand. 
 Numerous proclamations were issued by the 
 commander-in-chief, and constant exhortations 
 were given from the pulpit by our good friend 
 the archbishop, to remind the Greeks that they 
 still owed allegiance to the sultan : but the 
 sanguine temperament of the nation could not 
 be suppressed at such a time, and they hailed, 
 with the greatest enthusiasm, their victorious 
 fellow-Christians, as deliverers who were come 
 to release them from the chains of the tyrant.
 
 RUSSIANS WELCOMED BY GREEKS. 221 
 
 But with the Bulgarians and Russians there 
 was a still more intimate connexion : to the 
 strong tie of religion, they added that of lan- 
 guage. No sooner did the Russians appear, 
 than they were immediately claimed by their 
 fellow - Sclavonians as relations and brothers : 
 some, I heard, had actually entered their 
 army : several, while I was there, had signi- 
 fied their intention of going to Russia with the 
 troops : my last letters from Adrianople state, 
 that numbers had quitted the town, and that 
 many more were on the point of departure. 
 The joy of the usually quiet Bulgarians at the 
 appearance of Christian troops, betrayed them 
 into numerous indications of their hatred of the 
 Turkish government, so elated were they at 
 seeing their oppressors humbled. 
 
 It remains to be seen whether the sultan 
 will visit these derelictions of duty on the 
 rayahs who remain, after the final departure of 
 the Russians. He had better not, for his own 
 sake: he will no longer meet with that passive 
 obedience to which he has hitherto been accus- 
 tomed. Any act of violence on his part would.
 
 222 CAUSE OF DISAFFECTION. 
 
 in all probability, be followed by the desertion, 
 or perhaps by the open rebellion, of that class of 
 his subjects from whom he draws the greater 
 portion of his revenues. 
 
 The cause of this disaffection of the rayahs 
 may, like every other misfortune that is now 
 weighing upon the Ottoman empire, be traced 
 to its own vicious and impolitic system of go- 
 vernment. 
 
 When the Turks took possession of a 
 Christian country, the property was divided 
 into three portions ; the first belonged to the 
 mosques, the second to the crown, the third 
 to the defenders of the state. The condition 
 of the conquered people was left quite out of 
 the question : exempted by their religion (at 
 least in later years) from being employed as 
 soldiers, it was sufficient for them to cultivate 
 the land, and to devote the fruits of their labour 
 to the exigencies of the church and state, as by 
 law established. 
 
 The Turks have now to discover the wretched 
 policy of creating, by unjust restrictions, in any 
 class of people, feelings hostile to the general
 
 THE INVASION AGREEABLE TO THE TURKS. 223 
 
 welfare of the country, and of converting those 
 who might have been useful subjects into dis- 
 affected slaves. 
 
 Cultivators or sailors, the Greeks are accus- 
 tomed to fatigue : labour has furnished them 
 with all the physical, and their own active minds 
 would have given all the moral, qualities ne- 
 cessary for soldiers. Had their religion proved 
 no bar to their advancement, had they been 
 admitted to an equal participation of rights, 
 their swords might have now been successfully 
 employed in resisting the invasion of the com- 
 mon foe. 
 
 What is the result ? They have become 
 acquainted with their rights as men, they feel 
 their own strength, and are fully aware of the 
 weakness of their tyrants. One half of Euro- 
 pean Turkey has thrown off the Ottoman yoke, 
 and the subjection of the other half is little 
 more than nominal. 
 
 Before the destruction of the janizaries, the 
 Turk, influenced by his priests, who dreaded 
 the introduction of European knowledge, re- 
 garded with equal contempt the rayahs of the 
 empire, and the civilised nations of Christendom.
 
 224 THE INVASION AGREEABLE TO THE TURKS. 
 
 Proud in the fancied infallibility of his own 
 creed, and of the privileges it ensured him, the 
 orthodox Osmanli vaunted himself on his reli- 
 gious ascendency, and venerated the pious and 
 immortal memory of his predecessors, who had 
 made every religion but his own a bar of ex- 
 clusion from the honours of the state. This 
 consideration had supported him in the patient 
 endurance of the most oppressive tyranny. 
 Practically impressed with the belief that his 
 king could do no wrong, he considered his will 
 as the unerring decree of fate. He regarded 
 the approach of a Christian army as fraught 
 with the destruction of his rights and religion, 
 and rallied with pious zeal round the holy 
 standard of his prophet. 
 
 But what the enemy had been unable to 
 do, that very sovereign had effected. The 
 proud distinctions of the faith vanished with 
 the abolition of its former defenders. The 
 Turk now feels that his contest is no longer 
 pro aris et focis, but that the arms of the true 
 believer are required for the service of the 
 infidel king. 
 
 Instead, therefore, of viewing a Christian
 
 THE INVASION AGREEABLE TO THE TURKS. 225 
 
 army as the destroyers of their rights and 
 privileges, the Turk looked to their advance 
 as the only chance of deliverance from an in- 
 tolerable yoke. 
 
 Thus predisposed in favour of the Russians, 
 their arrival at Adrianople gave almost equal 
 satisfaction to Mahometan and Christian ; and 
 this feeling on the part of the former people 
 was further confirmed by the moderation of 
 the army during its stay. " If," argues the 
 Turk, '* we are to have an infidel for a king, 
 let him at least be one who will pay some 
 regard to our lives and property." 
 
 This gratification of the Turk at seeing 
 his country in the possession of the conque- 
 rors, must not be confounded with any parti- 
 cular good -will to the Russians themselves. 
 Independently of the mortification the proud 
 Mahometan must have felt at defeat by a 
 nation he despised, the characters of the two 
 people are so completely opposed, as to pre- 
 clude the possibility of a very cordial feeling 
 ever subsisting between them. Consequently, 
 the extreme filth of the Russians, their utter 
 want of decency, their notorious propensity to 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 226 TURKISH NICKNAMES TO THE ARMY, 
 
 theft, must be highly at variance with the 
 habits of a people who are enjoined by their 
 religion to wash five times a-day, whose ex^ 
 ternal propriety of conduct is equal, and in 
 some respects superior, to our own, who justly 
 pride themselves on their politeness, and who 
 in point of honesty (in all pecuniary transac- 
 tions of a private nature) are not surpassed 
 by any people in the world. 
 
 The manifestation of this impression of the 
 Russians was of course generally confined to 
 the chit-chat of the coffee-houses, though occa- 
 sionally we heard the soldiers saluted with nu- 
 merous abusive epithets, as they passed through 
 the streets; while the objects of them saun- 
 tered unconsciously along, confirming the Turk 
 in his opinion of their manners, by dipping 
 their fingers into the tallow exposed for sale, 
 and conveying the savoury morsel to their 
 mouths. 
 
 To the copious vocabulary of ofi^ensive 
 terms in the Turkish language, the inhabit- 
 ants added two punning ones on their vic- 
 tors. The word general, they pronounced 
 '' ginnavar,'" or "wild hog;" and Muscovite
 
 THE ENEMY ESTEEMED BY THE LADIES. 227 
 
 they called '* mussobeit,'' or " man of evil 
 omen." 
 
 In considering the feelings of the Turks 
 of Adrianople, that influential portion of them, 
 the ladies, must not be omitted. 
 
 We had frequent opportunities of becoming 
 acquainted with the state of the political female 
 opinions, through the means of several Greek 
 and Bulgarian ladies who used to visit Mrs. 
 Duveluz ; but mostly through the wife of the 
 pasha's physician, who, from her husband's 
 situation, was in constant intercourse with the 
 principal ladies of the city. 
 
 The state of party seemed generally to 
 depend on the age of the politicians. The old 
 ladies, like those of other countries, generally 
 inclined to the ancient order of things : they 
 looked with horror on the idea of being un- 
 veiled before a Frank ; while, on the other hand, 
 the younger ones had evidently a leaning to- 
 wards the new regulation, and thought there 
 was no harm in either seeing or being seen. 
 
 Marigo, one day, brought home a remark 
 she heard, which may shew the state of feel- 
 ing of the superannuated advocates of the old
 
 228 THE ENEMY ESTEEMED BY THE LADIES. 
 
 Turkish regime. I should premise that the 
 galentia is a sort of patten, which raises the 
 wearer half a yard from the ground, and is 
 used by the women in the baths. 
 
 The observation was from a Turkish woman 
 to a Greek girl. " When," said she, '* the 
 Greeks" (the name the Turks sometimes give 
 the Russians) " leave this town, you women 
 will be taken into slavery, and all your men 
 will be put to death ; as for us Turks, we have 
 ordered high galentias for the occasion, as, 
 Allah be praised ! Frank blood will be flow- 
 ing knee-deep in the streets of Adrianople." 
 
 That this feeling is not general amongst the 
 Mahometan ladies, a few examples will suffice 
 to prove, by which it will be seen that the 
 greater portion are favourably disposed towards 
 the infidels, who, surrounded by the pomp and 
 trappings of war, have made sad havoc among 
 the hearts of the fair, — a success for which 
 they have been principally indebted to the 
 sultan himself, who, not content with reform- 
 ing the men, must needs try his hand in the 
 dangerous and difficult task of inducing the 
 women also to adopt our manners.
 
 THE sultan's attempt AT FEMALE REFORM. 229 
 
 Montesquieu is of opinion that confinement 
 of the women is one of the natural conse- 
 quences of polygamy and despotic government; 
 and absolutely necessary, not only for the pre- 
 servation of domestic order, but for the ge- 
 neral safety of the state.* Anticipating the 
 possibility of their having the liberty of Euro- 
 peans, he asks, " Where would be the father of 
 a family who would enjoy a moment's repose ? 
 The men would be every where suspected, 
 every where enemies ; the state would be 
 overturned, and the kingdom overflowed with 
 
 rivers of blood." t 
 
 The numerous executions of women both in 
 1826 and 1829 shew, that in the capital these 
 innovations have partly led to the anticipated 
 results. Here they have only been productive 
 of minor evils. 
 
 Some of the ladies, and those too of the 
 highest consideration in the city, have shewn 
 their triumph over early prejudices, and a com- 
 pliance with the wishes of their sovereign, by a 
 
 * Spirit of Laws, book xvi. chap. 8. 
 f lb. book xvi. chap. 9.
 
 230 ADRIANOPLE SCANDAL. 
 
 more decided preference of Frank manners than 
 suits the notions of the most zealous reformer of 
 the other sex. 
 
 Meetings between Turkish ladies and Rus- 
 sian officers were the common talk of the town; 
 and a house only a few doors from the consul's 
 was mentioned as the general place of rendez- 
 vous. Report speaks highly of the successful 
 gallantry of a general who had lost a leg in 
 the service, with the wife of Loman EfFendy, 
 a Turk of rank in the town. The wife of 
 Osman, the pasha of Myssevria, told Mrs. 
 Duveluz that the Mahometan ladies of Adrian- 
 ople were very favourably disposed towards the 
 Russians. From other quarters we heard that 
 numbers of Turkish women had determined to 
 quit the country with the army. 
 
 Scandal was, moreover, very busy with the 
 fair fame of another lady of high rank, who is 
 the daughter of Kara Achmet Aga, the former 
 waiwoda (governor) of Adrianople, and wife to 
 the Itraf Agassi, or commander of the suburbs. 
 This lady, with many others, had been in 
 the habit of visiting a sheikh much famed 
 for sanctity, though rather too young, in the
 
 ADRIANOPLE SCANDAL. 231 
 
 opinion of the ladies' husbands. Guards were 
 set to watch them : some were caught : this 
 lady was one who escaped. Her husband 
 has ever since withdrawn his affections from 
 her, and transferred them to an odalic, or con- 
 cubine. The widowed wife was for some time 
 plunged in the deepest distress, and pined 
 away in solitude and grief; until the appear- 
 ance of the invaders before the town, when 
 she immediately dried her tears, and has since 
 sought and found consolation in the Russian 
 camp.
 
 232 FEELINGS OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Feelings of the Russian Army on the subject of the Peace 
 — Its Progress after the Passage of the Balcan — Folly 
 of the Turkish Government — The Turkish Position — 
 Strength of the Russian Army — Its unhealthy State — 
 Adoption of the Lance — Appearance of the Russians on 
 Parade — Their extreme Dirt — Mortality in the Russian 
 Army — Disgraceful State of the Medical and Commis- 
 sariat Departments — Pay and Rations — Foreigners ia 
 the Russian Service — Germans. 
 
 Colnt Diebitsch expressed to a friend of 
 mine,* deep regret at being obliged to give 
 up Adrianople, because of the command it 
 afforded him of the capital ; and, as he said, 
 from the protection it would have been to the 
 Christian subjects of the Porte. He should, 
 however, resign it, out of deference to the feel- 
 ings of the sultan. 
 
 * This friend is Captain Gregory, a highly intelligent 
 officer, to whom I am indebted for a considerable portion of 
 the following remarks.
 
 ON THE SUBJECT OF THE PEACE. 233 
 
 The army were to winter on the southern 
 side of the Balcan, the ostensible motive being 
 to see the conditions of the treaty carried into 
 execution. A second campaign on this (Adrian- 
 ople) side of the Balcan was talked of by 
 the Russian officers as very probable, and 
 some of them seemed willing to believe that 
 the peace could not last. 
 
 The general feeling of the army at not being 
 allowed to enter Constantinople was that of ex- 
 treme disappointment and dissatisfaction. That 
 the capture of the Turkish metropolis was a 
 favourite project with the Russians, there were 
 various indications. Several officers who died 
 here, made a particular request, on their death- 
 beds, to be buried on the Constantinople road. 
 The soldiers had a favourite song, the chorus of 
 which was, Faidom Tchelegrad, " Let us go 
 to the cathedral," the name by which they 
 designate Constantinople ; and this song be- 
 came so general, that it was caught up and 
 sung by the Bulgarian children in the streets. 
 
 The field- marshal said, that he halted at 
 Adrianople out of deference to the great powers ; 
 and he professed to be astonished at what could
 
 234 FEELINGS OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY 
 
 induce them to interfere. The other officers 
 were more open in their expressions. They 
 were constantly recurring to the injustice of 
 the continental powers in stepping in to 
 save Turkey, when in their possession. It 
 was imputed entirely to the Duke of Wel- 
 lington, and the presence of our squadrons 
 off the Dardanelles. They in general spoke of 
 the moderation of their emperor, and seemed 
 to think that his character ought to have 
 saved him the mortification of being obliged to 
 forego a conquest already achieved. It was 
 asserted, that Nicolas would never have 
 thought of keeping the Turkish provinces, 
 having already more territory than he knew 
 what to do with, and very few inhabitants ; 
 that he would have made Constantinople a free 
 town, like Hamburgh, and allowed the Chris- 
 tians to govern themselves. 
 
 The greatest solace of the Russians seemed 
 to be, the anticipation of the moment when 
 England would not be so desirous, or so well 
 prepared, to prevent their driving the Turks out 
 of Europe. 
 
 One of the generals expressed his fear that
 
 ON THE SUBJECT OF THE PEACE. 235 
 
 the brilliant success of the Russian arms this 
 year might have a prejudicial effect on the 
 character of the emperor, and make him 
 anxious to try his power on a larger scale. 
 
 It is assumed by the Russians, that it re- 
 quired the greatest exertion and prudence on 
 the part of the field-marshal, to prevent the 
 Christian inhabitants from rising, and declaring 
 against the sultan. He himself said, that 
 although their co-operation would have been 
 of the greatest use to him, and that it merely 
 required a proclamation to put them in a state 
 of revolt; yet, always anticipating the proba- 
 bility of having to leave them exposed to the 
 vengeance of the sultan, he was unwilling to 
 compromise them ; and in all public notices and 
 proclamations, he had always reminded them 
 that they were subjects of the Porte, and ex- 
 horted them to do nothing against the alle- 
 giance they owed their sovereign. From my 
 subsequent journey through Roumelia and 
 Bulgaria, I am of opinion that this revolt is not 
 suppressed, but deferred ; and that though, 
 by proclamations, the field-marshal may have 
 urged the inhabitants to submission for the
 
 236 PROGRESS OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY 
 
 present, yet that his agents have successfully 
 tampered with them, and that they are only 
 waiting till their services are required. When 
 the Russians have evacuated Turkey, this riddle 
 will be solved, and the sincerity of the field- 
 marshal's professions put to the proof. 
 
 Previous to the passage of the Balcan, the 
 Russians had no idea of the weakness of the 
 Turkish empire. Accustomed to witness the 
 bravery of the Mussulmans on the banks of the 
 Danube, they believed that the country on this 
 side of the Balcan contained similar inhabitants. 
 
 From the passage of the Kamchik, no op- 
 position was met with, until the army reached 
 Aidos, where it was trifling ; but, trifling as it 
 was, it is probable, that had the sultan asked 
 for peace, the most moderate terms would have 
 been granted, and any further advance pre- 
 vented. The Russians would not then have 
 discovered that the spirit of the inhabitants was 
 either completely broken, or in favour of Russia ; 
 and that the country was totally destitute of 
 defence. 
 
 From Aidos, Count Diebitsch proceeded to 
 Selimno : had he been furnished with proper
 
 AFTER THE PASSAGE OF THE BALCAN. 237 
 
 intelligence, he would have saved himself this 
 march, as he found there scarcely any troops to 
 oppose him. This want of information seems 
 to have been a great defect in the Russian 
 army ; and is extraordinary, seeing that the 
 population of the Balcan was, for the most 
 part, composed of Bulgarians, — men professing 
 the same religion, and speaking the same lan- 
 guage, as themselves. 
 
 Finding no proposition from the Porte, 
 Count Diebitsch advanced upon Adrianople, 
 expecting hourly to come in sight of the army 
 of a hundred thousand men, which every one 
 believed was to cover Adrianople and the 
 capital. 
 
 Arrived on the heights before the town, the 
 pasha made his submission, and brought out the 
 keys. Diebitsch entered the city ; and then, 
 for the first time, the true state of the Turkish 
 empire was placed beyond a doubt. Instead 
 of the army of a hundred thousand men, 
 which the Russians had so long been expecting 
 to engage, they found about fifteen hundred 
 boys of the new troops, but so young, that, as 
 I mentioned before, the Russian commander-
 
 238 THE TURKISH POSITION. 
 
 in-chief desired the pasha to send them home 
 to their mothers. That this weakness of the 
 Ottoman dominions should have been unknown 
 to the Russians, is singular enough ; but still 
 more singular, that the other European powers, 
 almost equally interested in the event, should 
 have been in such a state of ignorance as to 
 the resources of the country and the feelings 
 of its inhabitants. 
 
 So utterly improvident were the Turkish 
 authorities for the exigencies of war, that there 
 was no attempt made to put the town in a 
 state of defence, until the Russians had ad- 
 vanced as far as Aidos. They then, according 
 to their custom, ordered all the inhabitants to 
 abandon their trades and occupations, and to 
 work at the trenches; but they had scarcely 
 commenced operations when the enemy en- 
 tered the city. The Turkish position was very 
 well taken up. The road by which the Rus- 
 sians arrived lay along the high ground, ter- 
 minating in the declivity upon which the town 
 is built. Elevated spots upon both sides of 
 the road commanded every approach, either 
 by the road or through the fields, upon each
 
 STRENGTH OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY. 239 
 
 side. A beautiful wood on the road to the 
 consul's house had been destroyed, to supply 
 the fascines of the battery. 
 
 Had the works been manned, when the 
 Russians advanced, a fire of six batteries would 
 have been opened upon them. 
 
 Besides these hasty entrenchments, there is 
 no other artificial defence of the town. In a 
 late military work, it is stated that Adrianople 
 is surrounded by a wall.* This is not the 
 case : it is an open town, in the military sense 
 of the word. In the centre there is a wall 
 that encloses a space, occupied by the rayah 
 population, comprising what is called the 
 Castle : it is the work of the sovereigns of 
 the Lower Empire. It is supported by massive 
 towers, at intervals, and might have originally 
 formed the citadel, but is now useless as a 
 defence. The army that crossed the Balcan 
 consisted of forty-five thousand men, including 
 from four to five thousand cavalry, and a hun- 
 dred and twenty guns. They suffered very 
 
 * Valentini, Precis des dernieres Guerres centre les 
 Russes.
 
 240 ITS UNHEALTHY STATE. 
 
 much from fatigue, having made forced 
 marches, with sixteen days' bread on their 
 backs at the commencement. In this manner 
 they marched twelve hours a day in a burning 
 sun ; and, being nearly dead with thirst, ate all 
 the fruits they could find, and drank of the 
 nearly stagnant water of the Toonja. A dread- 
 ful sickness followed, which carried off thou- 
 sands while we were at Adrianople. This was 
 produced partly by fatigue, and partly by the 
 unhealthy situation of their camp, under the 
 trees of the garden of the old seraglio, at the 
 confluence of the Arda and the Maritza. They 
 were, soon after their arrival, joined by a re- 
 serve of about ten thousand men, not fresh 
 battalions, but recruits to fill up the old ones. 
 
 The cavalry horses did not suffer much 
 during the campaign, owing to the green forage 
 having lasted till July. They were, however, 
 nearly one half below their proper establishment, 
 the casualties of the preceding year not having 
 been replaced. The horses were in very good 
 working condition, and the appointments, 
 though rough, in good order. 
 
 The cavalry men were very sickly. Captain
 
 ADOPTION OF THE LANCE. 241 
 
 Gregory told me that he had met on the march 
 a division of hussars, and another of uhlans, 
 in which more than one-third were led horses, 
 the riders being in hospital, or following in 
 waggons. The horse artillery has been re- 
 duced from the establishment of twenty-four 
 to sixteen guns to each division of cavalry, 
 consisting of four regiments. The whole of 
 the cavalry, with the exception of one re- 
 giment of hussars, have been armed with 
 lances. 
 
 All military writers on Turkey recommend 
 the adoption of this weapon. Montecuculli, 
 who commanded the Christian army opposed 
 to the Porte in the year 16G4, calls it the 
 " queen of arms." The Prussian general 
 Valentini, who served in the campaigns of 
 1788 and 1789, strongly recommends the use 
 of the pike. That weapon and grape-shot 
 were found most efficacious, in the late war, 
 in throwing the Turks into confusion ; indeed, 
 the Turkish cavalry is more than a match for 
 the Russian when armed only with the sabre. 
 
 The soldiers on parade were clean, and in 
 excellent order. On seeing the daily guard 
 
 VOL. I. R
 
 242 EXTREME DIRT OF THE RUSSIANS. 
 
 mount in Adrianople, with the bands of music 
 and the imposing spectacle of the long fea- 
 thers of the men, no one would suppose that 
 they had undergone so much fatigue; not the 
 most minute article of dress seemed wanting. 
 Off parade, their whole army had a most dirty, 
 slovenly appearance. On a march, the cavalry 
 wore white linen coats, something like smock- 
 frocks. 
 
 I know no people more offensive for their 
 unclean habits than the Russians. The state 
 of their camp was shameful. The putrid 
 carcasses of dead horses lay about in every 
 direction, and no one thought of removing them. 
 As for the duties connected with the cleanli- 
 ness of a camp, which devolve on our pioneers, 
 they are by the Russians entirely dispensed 
 with ; and other senses than that of the nose 
 are offended in passing their tents. 
 
 The mortality and sickness in the Russian 
 army were dreadful : there were five thousand 
 sick in the hospital when we left Adrianople ; 
 and this number, I have since heard, has 
 increased to seven thousand. There was a 
 ward in the hospital to which all access was
 
 MORTALITY IN THE RUSSIAN ARMY. 243 
 
 debarred : the Russians owned to a pestilential 
 fever raging there. We imagined it to be the 
 plague ; and, as it has visited the town since we 
 left it, it was probably that disorder with which 
 they were then afflicted. A great portion of the 
 deaths in hospital was to be attributed to the 
 disgraceful state of the commissariat and me- 
 dical departments. The principal general hos- 
 pital was in the large new barracks, capable 
 of holding ten thousand men. It was close to 
 the camp, and exposed to the same air which 
 produced the disorder. The most remarkable 
 fact connected with the organisation of the 
 Russian army, was the total absence of any 
 thing like an efficient medical staff. So en- 
 tirely were they without medical men, that 
 the Russian regimental, and many of the ge- 
 neral officers, were obliged to consult Signor 
 Farso, the pasha's physician. This man, be- 
 longing to a class proverbially ignorant, did 
 not know a single medicine by its proper name : 
 he was, however, a sharp enough fellow, but 
 hardly a proper person to be called in to a 
 consultation of Frank military doctors, except, 
 as in the present instance, where the persons
 
 244 MEDICAL AND COMMISSARIAT DEPARTMENTS. 
 
 consulting were still worse informed than 
 himself. 
 
 Previous to the commencement of the war, 
 several young medical students from the dif- 
 ferent countries of Europe entered the Rus- 
 sian service, from which they soon withdrew 
 in disgust, and the army was left in the des- 
 titute state of medicine to which it is now 
 reduced. After the campaign of 1828, a con- 
 valescent hospital, on a large scale, was estab- 
 lished at Odessa : the principal portion of the 
 medical department was composed of Germans 
 and Frenchmen. As their patients required it, 
 they ordered them a more nourishing and plen- 
 tiful diet than the common scanty allowance of 
 black biscuit; but in no instance could they 
 prevail upon the inspectors and purveyors to 
 issue it. The consequence may be anticipated: 
 the number of recoveries was very few, and the 
 loss of life immense. This took place when 
 there was the produce of upwards of two years' 
 harvest at Odessa, which had accumulated 
 during the unsettled state of affairs that pre- 
 ceded the war, and prevented its exportation. 
 It is needless to say, that the government was
 
 MEDICAL AND COMMISSARIAT DEPARTMENTS. 245 
 
 charged the same as if the issue had taken 
 place. 
 
 The same line of conduct was pursued at 
 Adrianople : the poor fellows were literally 
 dying for want of medicine, food, and fuel. 
 Notwithstanding the length of time the Rus- 
 sians had been at Adrianople, and had pos- 
 sessed every facility, being masters of the port 
 ofEnos, yet no supplies had been procured ; and 
 even to the hour of their evacuating the town, 
 this abuse still existed. Previous to their de- 
 parture, the soldiers had been repeatedly with- 
 out bread : for a fortnight they had not tasted 
 a drop of spirits or wine, though the latter 
 beverage was less than a farthing per pint. 
 The loss of the Russians in this campaign of 
 1829, from sickness alone, may be fairly rated 
 at between 80 and 90,000 men : the Russian 
 officers confess to 70,000. At Varna, the sur- 
 geon's list of deaths, between the 1st of Janu- 
 ary and 17th of November, 1829, amounted 
 to 12,666 ; a plague had broken out there, 
 differinof from the common disorder so called 
 in the East, but still a decided plague. Twelve 
 general officers had died on this side the
 
 246 MEDICAL AND COMMISSARIAT DEPARTMENTS. 
 
 Balcan, and seven of them within the space of 
 three weeks. 
 
 The horses of the army, as soon as the cam- 
 paign was over, shared the privations of the 
 men, and the consequences also, as might be 
 seen by the carcasses which lay in every direc- 
 tion. Some time before we left Adrianople, 
 the country, for a circuit of several miles, had 
 been cleared of every blade of grass ; but the 
 horses were constantly without food, although 
 Count Diebitsch had a magazine of forage at 
 Bourgaz, for twenty thousand horses for four 
 months. 
 
 In our rides through the town, we con- 
 stantly met waggon-loads of men discharged 
 from hospital, on their way to join their regi- 
 ments. They had more the appearance of men 
 going into hospital than coming out of it. The 
 stench from their bodies and clothes was per- 
 ceptible the whole length of the street : every 
 thing about them betokened the most barbarous 
 neglect. But this is perfectly in consonance 
 with the Russian character — an utter and brutal 
 insensibility, on the part of those in authority, 
 to the wants, the comforts, or even the lives, of
 
 PAY AND RATIONS. 247 
 
 those in their power. Several examples of this 
 inhuman conduct came to my knowledge during 
 my former journey through Russia, and many 
 more in the tour which I am now describing. 
 The common answer of the Russian officers 
 to our expressions of regret at the great loss 
 they had sustained, was, " that is of no con- 
 sequence ; Russia does not want for soldiers." 
 The Russians paid for their forage by an 
 order on the Turkish government, and a re- 
 ceipt ; but not a farthing will ever be received 
 by the persons who furnished it. For other sup- 
 plies the want is not great: a small quantity 
 of meat twice a -week, biscuit of the very 
 worst and blackest description, and a little 
 oatmeal, form the whole of the food obtained 
 by the Russian soldier. The ration biscuit of 
 the men looked like cow-dung, as it lay placed 
 in large heaps to air : it seemed hardly pos- 
 sible for human beings to exist on such coarse 
 food. A Prussian major attached to Count 
 Diebitsch assured Captain Gregory, that no 
 one but a Russian could undergo the fatigues 
 and privations that accompany a protracted 
 campaign in Turkey. This remark has been
 
 248 FOREIGNERS IN THE RUSSIAN SERVICE. 
 
 often made; and, great as the Russian loss 
 has been in their several campaigns, that of 
 the Germans has borne a greater proportion to 
 their numbers. 
 
 The officers w^ere ten months in arrears, 
 and M^ere to be paid out of the first indemnity- 
 money that the sultan should issue. The pay 
 of the soldier is fifty roubles a-year ; not more 
 than two pounds sterling, w^hich is hardly 
 sufficient to buy him tobacco. 
 
 The sufferings and losses of the Russian 
 army, during the campaign of 1828, have not 
 been exaggerated. Whole brigades of cavalry 
 w^ere hors de combat without having drawn a 
 sword. 
 
 A great portion of the Russian army were 
 foreigners, principally Germans. Count Die- 
 bitsch's chaplain told us, that they bore a pro- 
 portion of nine aliens to one native. He might 
 have meant officers only, though numbers of 
 the men were also Germans, as we were told 
 by Mustapha, who, with the aid of his native 
 language, never found the least difficulty in 
 making himself understood in his visits to the 
 camp. It is remarkable that the field-marshals
 
 FOREIGNERS IN THE RUSSIAN SERVICE. 249 
 
 of Russia are, except Paskevitch, all foreigners, 
 namely, Wellington, Diebitsch, Wittginstein, 
 and Sacken. 
 
 The Russians had no tents, except those 
 taken from the Turks. 
 
 It was believed in the Russian camp that 
 Count Diebitsch was to be the new king of 
 Greece.
 
 250 CITY OF ADRIANOPLE. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 City of Adrianople — Population — Advantageous Situation 
 for Commerce — Land and Water Carriage — Maritza na- 
 vigable — Sea-port Town of Enos — Adrianople the Depot 
 of Roumelia — Fairs of Roumelia — Copper Mines of Tre- 
 bizond — Observations on the Greeks — Their original 
 Subjugation — Policy of Mahomet II. — Former Influence 
 of the Priesthood — Greeks' Activity in Commerce — 
 Their Industry, Economy, and Intercourse with the 
 World — Consequent Diffusion of Knowledge — Com- 
 merce of Adrianople — Imports and Exports — Policy of 
 Mr. Adair, Ambassador to the Porte in 1809 — Enter- 
 prise of Greek Merchants — Productions — Causes of the 
 Decline of Commerce — Variation of Exchange ^ — Debase- 
 ment of the Currency — Its Effect on Trade — Impolitic 
 Cruelty of the Avania — Prohibitions and Monopoly of 
 the Turkish Government — Evils resulting therefrom — 
 — A Simile • — Montesquieu's Remarks on the Effects of 
 Despotism — Taxes of Adrianople. 
 
 The city of Adrianople occupies the sides 
 and base of a low hill. When viewed from a 
 distance, it has a beautiful and rich appearance.
 
 POPULATION. 
 
 251 
 
 It is situated at the confluence of three rivers, 
 in one of the most fertile plains in the world ; 
 and so thickly are the trees planted among the 
 houses, that it looks like a city built in a forest. 
 This promise of splendour is broken the mo- 
 ment you enter the town. The streets are 
 crooked, irregular, and narrow, and completely 
 flowing with dirt. Some of the houses are 
 three stories high: they have shelving roofs, 
 and the eaves project so as nearly to meet 
 those on the opposite side, — a mode of struc- 
 ture doubtless adopted to afl'ord protection from 
 the heat of the sun. The shops are only occu- 
 pied during the hours of sale, the merchants 
 always residing in their own houses. These 
 shops describe the form of a cube, of which 
 the front side is lifted up in the daytime, and 
 attached to the eaves of the building ; at night 
 it is let down, and closes like a box. Across 
 some of the streets a broad trellice-work is 
 thrown, to which vines are trained, and have 
 a highly agreeable appearance. 
 
 The city contains twenty -three thousand 
 houses, fifteen thousand of which are Turkish. 
 The population is computed at ninety thou-
 
 252 WATER CARRIAGE. 
 
 sand ; of this number, forty-five thousand are 
 Turks, thirty thousand Greeks and Bulgarians, 
 and the remainder Armenians or Jews. 
 
 Few towns are better adapted for commerce, 
 there being great facilities of intercourse both 
 by land and water. To the former mode the 
 soil of the country is peculiarly favourable, from 
 the facility with which roads are constructed. 
 They receive no care from the natives, but are 
 formed by the passage of arabahs, a species 
 of cart common to the country. Scarcely a 
 peasant in Bulgaria is without one of these 
 vehicles ; and so numerous are they in Adrian- 
 ople, that it is called the *' city of arabahs." 
 In the summer months, wheeled carriages are 
 employed for the conveyance of goods ; but 
 from January to April, only horse caravans are 
 available, which go from Adrianople through 
 Shumla to Bucharest. 
 
 It is also equally favourable to water com- 
 munication, from its position at the union of 
 the three rivers, which run through the town,^ 
 the Maritza (the ancient Hebrus), the Toonja, 
 and the Arda. The largest of these is the 
 Maritza, which takes its rise in the Balcan,
 
 SEA-PORT TOWN OF ENOS. 253 
 
 near Tartar Bazarjik, and disembogues into 
 the Archipelago at Enos. Captain Gregory- 
 went along the banks of this magnificent river, 
 the whole way from Enos. He saw for miles 
 forests of oak and elm of a surprising size, 
 overgrown with all sorts of luxuriant creepers, 
 into which nothing' but wild animals have ever 
 penetrated. In other parts he observed ex- 
 tensive burying-grounds, and tracts of enclosed 
 land ; proofs that this country has formerly been 
 well peopled and cultivated. The vines are now 
 become wild, growing up and clinging with in- 
 credible luxuriance round thorns of a great size. 
 All this, without the appearance of a human ha- 
 bitation, in one of the richest plains in the world, 
 will give a very fair idea of the present state 
 of the Turkish empire. The Maritza is navig- 
 able after the autumnal rains until the May- 
 following. At other seasons there is not suf- 
 ficent water. The tonnage of the boats varies 
 from twenty to two hundred. The larger kind 
 make voyages to Smyrna, and to other ports. 
 During the summer months, the sea-craft can 
 only ascend as high as Demotica. 
 
 The sea-port town of Enos is, by nature,
 
 254 COMMERCE OF ADRIANOPLE. 
 
 most advantageously situated for commerce ; 
 but owing to the blind and stupid indifference 
 of the Turks, a sand-bank, which increases 
 every year, has been allowed to form at the 
 entrance. The consequence is, that the town 
 stands in swamps and pools of water, which 
 not only produce the most pestilential fevers, 
 which extend to Adrianople, but are the great- 
 est impediments to trade. Formerly, large ves- 
 sels used to enter this port ; but now, even 
 the small craft which come from Smyrna are 
 obliged to unload below the bank. 
 
 Adrianople is the depot of Roumelia for 
 all goods that come to Constantinople from 
 England, France, and Austria. From this town 
 all the fairs are supplied. In the month of 
 July there is one held at Philopopoli, between 
 which and St. Sophia are several large iron 
 founderies. The quality of the metal is infi- 
 nitely superior to the iron of England, for 
 which there is little demand here, though it 
 finds a market at Constantinople and Smyrna. 
 There is another grand fair at Oozan Jova. In 
 the month of September merchants go thither 
 from all parts of European Turkey, as far as
 
 COMMERCE OF ADRIANOPLE. 255 
 
 Trebizond, whence is brought a vast quantity 
 of copper. 
 
 The mines in that neighbourhood were for- 
 merly the most productive in the world. The 
 owners and contractors of them are obliged, at 
 the risk of their lives, to furnish the sultan with 
 copper at the same nominal price in the debased 
 money (another abuse, which I shall mention 
 presently). Not daring to fail in their supply, 
 they have either been totally ruined, or have, 
 wherever it has been practicable, let in the 
 water and spoiled the mine, to afford an ex- 
 cuse that would save their heads; — an instance, 
 among a thousand, of the progress the Ottoman 
 emperor has made in the art of improving the 
 resources of his country. 
 
 Besides the fairs I have mentioned, there 
 are others held at Carnabat, Jumah, Louleh, 
 Bourgaz, and Bourgaz on the Black Sea. 
 
 This trade extends throughout the country, 
 bounded by Macedonia to the west, and by the 
 Danube as far as Widdin to the north. 
 
 Before mention is made of the commerce 
 of Adrianople, it is proposed to offer a few 
 observations on the Greeks, to whom this city.
 
 256 POLICY OF MAHOMET THE SECOND. 
 
 as well as most others in European Turkey, 
 is principally indebted for its trade. 
 
 For nearly three centuries, this nation, op- 
 pressed by the yoke of despotism, participated 
 in the dejection felt by the other rayahs of the 
 Porte. Like them, they extended their com- 
 merce no farther than the boundaries of the 
 empire, and were content to receive the manu- 
 factures of Europe through the hands of the 
 European merchants established in the Levant. 
 This want of enterprise arose partly from the 
 temporal oppression of their masters the Turks, 
 and partly from the spiritual ascendency gained 
 over them by their own priests. This second 
 source of subjugation was effected by the policy 
 of Mahomet the Second, who, aware of the real 
 cause of their weakness and fall, namely, the 
 yoke of the priesthood, determined to cement 
 it by issuing a khatty sherif, by which he in- 
 vested the clergy with considerable privileges, 
 while the only mention made of the people was 
 directing them to pay and to serve. Hence, like 
 the priests of nearly every country, the Greek 
 papa worked on the superstitious fears of the 
 people, and laboured to keep them in that state
 
 greeks' activity in commerce. 257 
 
 of ignorance which should be most conducive 
 to the conservation of his own power. 
 
 Within the last seventy years they have 
 roused from their lethargy, and have ever since 
 been making rapid progress in civilisation and 
 knowledge. The Greek now began to apply 
 himself to the study of European languages, 
 and gradually to adopt European customs. 
 This gave him a disposition to travel ; and the 
 advantages of a more extended commerce de- 
 veloped themselves to his view. He considered, 
 that if he went himself to the places from which 
 the European merchants derived their supplies, 
 he could compete with them in the sale, and 
 obtain considerable profits, even if he disposed 
 of his goods at a price inferior to that of his 
 rivals. 
 
 With these projects, the Greek merchant 
 attended the fairs of Leipsic, Sinigaglia, and 
 Beaucaire : subsequently, even the richest of 
 this people would traverse the principal towns 
 of Europe, living in the most sordid economy, 
 and making extensive purchases, without em- 
 ploying a single agent or clerk to assist them 
 in their labour or correspondence. In later 
 
 VOL. I. s
 
 258 CONSEQUENT DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE. 
 
 years they might be seen, accompanying their 
 waggons, in their long and weary journey 
 through Hungary and Germany, shewing as 
 much activity in their commercial arrange- 
 ments, as parsimony in their mode of living. 
 
 It was not only at Adrianople, and in the 
 other towns of Turkey, that the enterprise of 
 the Greeks became manifest. The example 
 was speedily followed by the islanders of the 
 Archipelago. Ships were built, the Mediter- 
 ranean was scoured, all Europe was visited ; 
 and the small craft of the Hydriote might be 
 seen at anchor in the principal ports of the 
 New World. 
 
 As might be expected from such an inter- 
 course, the genius of the people was not con- 
 fined entirely to commercial speculations : the 
 mighty influence of knowledge began to be 
 felt. The rich and powerful Greeks of the 
 Fanar endeavoured to diminish the influence 
 of the clergy, in order to increase their own. 
 They perceived that the best chance of success 
 would be, to spread instruction among their 
 fellow-countrymen. Schools were established 
 in Smyrna, Salonica, and in all the principal
 
 COMMERCE OF ADRIANOPLE. 259 
 
 towns of Greece. The French and Italian 
 languages, belles lettres, medicine, and the arts 
 and sciences, were assiduously and success- 
 fully taught.* 
 
 Thus, at the end of a few short years, the 
 humble and despised rayah returned home. In 
 the meanwhile he had learned the means of in- 
 creasing his own wealth, and consequently that 
 of the state ; but he had also become acquainted 
 with his own strength, and his master's weak- 
 ness. A tacit choice seemed given to the Turk, 
 to receive the Greek as a profitable servant, or 
 as a dangerous and rebellious slave. As usual, 
 the blind Mahometan chose wrong : he has, in 
 part, reaped the fruits of his selection, but the 
 cup of his destiny is not yet full. 
 
 Generally speaking, manufactures form the 
 imports, and the raw material the exports, of 
 this city. 
 
 The consumption of imports has consider- 
 ably increased since the establishment of an 
 . English factory. Formerly, the inhabitants 
 bought what they required at Constantinople, 
 
 * Vide Jucherau, tome i.
 
 260 COMMERCE OF ADRIANOPLE. 
 
 and paid the rayah duties of custom. This 
 unfair impost compels the commercial subject 
 of the Porte to pay the duties at Smyrna, 
 Constantinople, and in every province through 
 which he passes ; while the Frank merchant is 
 only obliged to pay at the first custom-house 
 of entry : he is there furnished with a teslikery, 
 or permit, which exempts him from any fur- 
 ther demands. The former mode rendered 
 the goods so dear, from the arbitrary state of 
 the prices, that there were few buyers. 
 
 The imports are the same articles as those 
 required by the Turks at Constantinople, viz. 
 woollens, calicoes, and printed linens. The 
 exports are wool, cotton, silk, and otto of roses. 
 The wool in the neighbourhood of Adrian- 
 ople is the finest in all Turkey. It is exported 
 in its raw, and imported in its manufactured, 
 state. Formerly, British cloths were much 
 used ; but they have been set aside by the 
 activity of the Greek merchants, who, thinking 
 that the cloths of Germany, though in general 
 coarse and of a bad colour, would suit them 
 better, on account of the lowness of their 
 price, and the great facility of transport by
 
 POLICY OF MR. ADAIR. 261 
 
 the Danube, than those of England, — they 
 brought a great quantity into Turkey, sold 
 them cheap, and gradually habituated the 
 Turks to use no other. Of these, the cloths 
 of Saxony are the best. 
 
 What we have lost in woollens, we have 
 gained in cotton. Up to 1809, trade was very 
 much monopolised by the Frank, and most 
 of all by the British merchant. At that period, 
 my cousin, Mr. Adair, who was then ambas- 
 sador to the Porte, foreseeing the advantages 
 that would accrue to both countries by the 
 destruction of the monopoly, stipulated in the 
 5th article of the treaty of peace,* that Otto- 
 man subjects should be admitted to reciprocal 
 rights. Our commercial countrymen were at 
 first extremely jealous at what they considered 
 an encroachment on their privileges, and an 
 injury to their interests; but the result has 
 shewn that the policy was as sound as it was 
 liberal. The same remark applies to cotton as 
 to wool : raw, it is an article of exportation ; 
 manufactured, it is one of importation. 
 
 * Vide Appendix.
 
 262 ENTERPRISE OF GREEK MERCHANTS. 
 
 Before the treaty of 1809, trade in cotton 
 had not even been contemplated by the Bri- 
 tish merchant, who was sufficiently occupied 
 with other speculations. Here, again, the 
 enterprise of the grand signior's subjects, the 
 Greeks, was called forth : it is to them that 
 England is indebted for this important article 
 of commerce. These active and intelligent 
 traders began by making purchases at Malta ; 
 and soon finding a ready sale in Turkey, they 
 communicated direct with England, and estab- 
 lished manufactories at Manchester and Glas- 
 gow, for printed calicoes and imitations of East 
 India muslins. Several large fortunes were 
 made by this branch of commerce, especially 
 by the Greeks of Scio ; and cotton has since 
 become a staple commodity in the Levant, and 
 one of the first consequence at Adrianople : 
 indeed, the poverty of the country has tended 
 rather to increase than diminish the use of cot- 
 ton ; for the Turk, unable now to afford the rich 
 dresses he used to wear, is content to put up 
 with the worst of our printed calicoes. Tanjibs 
 (English muslins) have proved very success- 
 ful. The Germans used to send muslins here;
 
 PRODUCTIONS. 263 
 
 but since ours have entered the market, theirs 
 have been entirely withdrawn. 
 
 Adrianople is surrounded on all sides by 
 plantations of mulberry-trees, which are cul- 
 tivated to furnish food for the silkworm. This 
 is done by cutting off the saplings every year. 
 The silk produced is considered to be superior 
 to any but that of Brusa, in Asia Minor : three 
 fourths of this production are sent to England 
 since the duties have been taken off. 
 
 There are several tanneries in the suburbs. 
 The yellow colour is furnished by a berry cal- 
 led the Routchouk berry, which grows in this 
 country. The best in quality is obtained at 
 Crajova, in Wallachia. It was once an article 
 of commerce with England; but would not find 
 a sale now, except at a very low price ; as the 
 Americans have found out a bark in North 
 America, which has proved to be a good sub- 
 stitute. The best berry is that called the 
 Persian, though it grows principally in Asia 
 Minor. The red is produced from cochineal, or 
 from a small insect collected from the leaves 
 of a prickly species of oak common in the 
 Levant.
 
 264 DEBASEMENT OF THE CURRENCY. 
 
 Commerce here, as well as throughout 
 Turkey, has long been on the decline : recent 
 events have accelerated its ruin. I shall men- 
 tion a fev7 of the most obvious causes. 
 
 First, the constant variation of the ex- 
 change. 
 
 In the eighteenth century, the Turkish 
 piastre was considered nearly equal to five 
 franks, (4^. 2d. English), or about 5 to the 
 pound sterling : since that time the exchange 
 has constantly risen. In 1808, it was at 15; 
 three years ago, it rose to 50; and when I 
 left Adrianople, it was as high as 73. The 
 exchange would frequently vary two or three 
 per cent in the three days which intervene 
 between the departure of the couriers for 
 Europe. 
 
 While the exchange was undergoing this 
 unnatural change, the currency itself was be- 
 coming more debased every year. 
 
 The mint is farmed from the government, on 
 the terms of paying, daily, a certain sum into 
 the treasury. For three centuries, the debase- 
 ment of the coin has been resorted to, as a 
 branch of revenue, by the Ottoman sultans.
 
 DEBASEMENT OF THE CURRENCY. 265 
 
 When Kieuperli was vizier, he coined money 
 of an inferior quality, and gave it a higher 
 vahie in circulation. By this means he relieved 
 the government from its immediate embarrass- 
 ments, but introduced so much confusion into 
 commerce, that the people and soldiery were 
 driven to rebellion. The profits of the go- 
 vernment were momentary and delusive; the 
 ministers amassed wealth, and the subjects 
 were ruined. 
 
 Baron de Tott, speaking of the debasement 
 of money (and it it worse now), says, that 
 forgers were rather beneficial than otherwise, 
 as their coin contained less alloy than the cur- 
 rency of the empire. 
 
 This pernicious system continues in full 
 force. Sultan Selim, weighed down by the 
 heavy expenses of the three wars in which 
 he had been engaged, was obliged to resort 
 to the same method of producing temporary 
 relief, though with the certainty of future 
 ruin. 
 
 By this means, the revenues of Turkey are 
 not only anticipated, but must eventually be 
 completely destroyed.
 
 266 ITS EFFECTS ON TRADE. 
 
 In a country governed by almost inva- 
 riable laws, and by a system of administration 
 founded on ancient customs, v^here the laying 
 on a new tax is always productive of a re- 
 action dangerous to the sovereign, it is quite 
 obvious that the contributions of the empire 
 can never keep pace with the depreciation of 
 its coin. 
 
 The result is, that although the government 
 derives the same nominal revenue from the 
 old imposts, and only issues the pay of the 
 troops and the salaries of public officers at 
 the former rate ; nevertheless, the products of 
 the taxes are reduced to nearly one half of their 
 real value, because the expenses of the army, 
 the necessary purchases of government, and 
 also artisans' wages, must be affected by the 
 successive variations of the intrinsic value of 
 the current money. 
 
 It need hardly be added, that commerce 
 must come in for her share of the evils of this 
 system. Under such circumstances, what mer- 
 chant will venture to give long credit ? and, 
 from the uncertainty of advantage, what specu- 
 lator will undertake any extensive enterprise ?
 
 IMPOLITIC CRUELTY OF THE AVANIA. 267 
 
 Another evil highly injurious tc commerce 
 is the avania, an unjust prosecution in a court 
 of law ; a mode of extortion constantly resorted 
 to by the Turks. 
 
 A Mahometan institutes a vexatious suit 
 against a rayah, in which he risks nothing, 
 and may eventually avail himself of all the 
 uncertainty of the law ; the least that can 
 happen to the defendant will be the payment 
 of costs ; so that he generally feels it best to 
 compound the business, and the great object 
 of the prosecutor is accomplished. The tes- 
 timony of a Turk outweighs the clearest 
 proof a rayah can adduce. The penalty of 
 perjury in the infidel is severe, if not capi- 
 tal ; but the true believer is only admonished 
 to be less confused in his statements for the 
 future.* 
 
 From the fear of this and similar imposi- 
 tions, the Christian possessor of money, instead 
 of employing it in commerce, is induced to hide 
 it, lest it should attract the avarice of his 
 
 * Memoirs of Baron de Tott ; Thornton's Turkey (vol. ii, 
 p. 37, note), vol. i. p. 203; Jucherau, tome i. p. 1'20.
 
 268 MONOPOLY OF THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT. 
 
 oppressors ; so that money remains in disuse, 
 and the owner of it lives as a pauper. 
 
 From Smyrna, fruits are allowed to be ex- 
 ported ; but at Adrianople there is a prohibition 
 on the exportation of every sort of provision : 
 thus, many articles of trade, and some of them 
 useless to themselves, are lost to the Turks. 
 
 Of these may be enumerated, the hides and 
 tallow of the black cattle, which abound in 
 this country ; the abundance of rice which 
 is grown here ; the vast variety of fruits, that 
 might vie with those of Smyrna (amongst which 
 are some grapes that make an excellent red 
 wine) : the corn of Roumelia, too, is equal to that 
 at Taganrog, whence European supplies are 
 usually drawn. The cultivator of this latter 
 article is obliged to sell the surplus, at an 
 arbitrary price, to the government agents. 
 
 The object of the prohibition is to enable 
 the sultan to have corn at a cheap rate, that 
 he may sell it again at a maximum price. It 
 might be supposed that these restrictions, 
 though highly injurious to agriculture, would 
 contribute much to the momentary supplies of 
 wealth to the Porte ; but if we examine the
 
 EVILS RESULTING THEREFROM. 269 
 
 mode in which the monopoly is conducted, 
 we shall find that a very small proportion 
 enters the public treasury. 
 
 The collector, called the istarajee, pays th e 
 proprietor an arbitrary price for his corn, which 
 he sends by sea to Constantinople, and there 
 lodges in the public granaries. As the grain so 
 collected, is considered a store for times of 
 scarcity, it is seldom sold until it is damaged, 
 unless a very extraordinary profit can be made. 
 The istarajee takes care to have full measure, 
 and equal care that it shall suffer a great dimi- 
 nution before it reaches the government store- 
 house. By virtue of his office, he is entitled to 
 purchase a tenth of the whole collected, at the 
 same rate as the government : this he imme- 
 diately sells at a very high price, and generally 
 makes three hundred per cent. These are con- 
 sidered fair gains. Among his other modes of 
 emolument are, the extortion of money from the 
 farmer, by arbitrary exactions, and the forcing 
 him to take his contribution to the sea-side. Be- 
 sides his own tenth, the istarajee generally sells 
 a tenth or fifteenth of the public store, and 
 substitutes in its stead, rye, barley, and some-
 
 270 A SIMILE. 
 
 times chaff. The remainder of the corn he 
 swells by sea-water, or by the vapour of boiling 
 vinegar, to conceal his fraud. The corn so ex- 
 torted from the provinces is placed in the care 
 of the istambol effendy, an ulema of high rank : 
 his deputy keeps a register of the supplies 
 received, and distributes to the baker such 
 quantities, and on such terms, as he pleases. 
 
 ** A government," says Montesquieu, " can- 
 not be unjust without having hands to exer- 
 cise its injustice. Now it is impossible but that 
 these hands will be grasping for themselves. 
 The embezzling of the public treasure is there- 
 fore natural in despotic states."* 
 
 This remark is capable of illustration in 
 every department of the Turkish empire. For 
 the momentary acquisition of wealth, the re- 
 sources of the country are drained, — a circum- 
 stance which exemplifies a simile from the same 
 author, who compares the conduct of despotic 
 governors to " some savages of Louisiana, who 
 cut down the trees to get at the fruit. "f 
 
 If the prohibition were taken off at Adrian- 
 
 * Spirit of Laws. f Ibid.
 
 THE PORT OF ENOS. 271 
 
 ople, and the sand-bank from Enos removed, 
 vessels might ship supplies at the latter place, 
 without encountering the obstacles to which the 
 other voyage is subject. Enos is in the same 
 parallel of longitude with the mouth of the Dar- 
 danelles, in which channel, ships are frequently- 
 obliged to wait several weeks before they can 
 get a southerly wind to stem the current. 
 Then, again, the straits are so shallow in 
 many parts, that vessels are constantly running 
 aground. Once through the gulf, they have 
 to encounter dangers and difficulties so great, 
 that ** a ship in the Black Sea," is proverbially 
 considered (next to a house in Constantinople) 
 the most insecure of all property. Between 
 the months of October and March, there is 
 very little navigation, scarcely any but English 
 ship -masters having the boldness to venture 
 there during the winter season.* From all these 
 objections the port of Enos is free. 
 
 * Mr. Thornton, speaking- of a passage he made in a 
 Greek vessel in the Black Sea, says, " They had undertaken 
 the voyage with some unwillingness ; as the Black Sea, during 
 the winter, is much more stormy than the Propontis and 
 Archipelago. From Eneada to the capes of the Bosphorus,
 
 272 MONTESQUIEU ON DESPOTISM. 
 
 In fine, by the removal of the sand-bank 
 at Enos ; by not allowing the dams in the 
 Maritza to impede the navigation ; by permit- 
 ting the export of superfluous provisions, and 
 such articles as are not used by the inhabit- 
 ants ; by foregoing the monopoly of corn ; 
 and by giving protection to agriculture, Adrian- 
 ople, instead of being poor and depopulated, 
 might be thriving and well peopled. But this 
 would be to suppose an order of things in- 
 compatible with a government constituted as 
 that of Turkey is. 
 
 Montesquieu, speaking of the effects of des- 
 potism on agriculture, draws a very correct 
 picture of the actual state of this empire. 
 *' Of all despotic governments," he observes, 
 " there is none that labours more under its 
 
 there is no harbour ; so that many of the boats of those who 
 dare to navigate during the five winter months, are dashed 
 by the N.N.E. and N.N.W. winds against the rocks and 
 sands of the southern coast. Their vessels are of the kind 
 called sa'iques, which are so constructed as not to be able to 
 keep the sea when the wind is strong ; and they are obliged 
 to bear away right before the wind, and run for a harbour." — 
 Thornton's Turkey, vol. i. p. 79.
 
 TAXES OF ADRIANOPLE. 273 
 
 own weight than that wherein the prince (as 
 is the case with the sultan) declares himself 
 the proprietor of all the lands, and heir of all 
 his subjects ; and if he intermeddles likewise 
 with trade, all manner of industry is destroyed. 
 Under this sort of government, nothing is 
 repaired or improved : houses are built only 
 for the necessity of habitation ; every thing- 
 is drawn from, but nothing restored to, the 
 earth; the land lies untilled, and the whole 
 country becomes a desert."* 
 
 In mentioning the taxes of Adrianople, their 
 real weight can hardly be appreciated without 
 a knowledge of the extreme poverty of the 
 inhabitants ; the exactions of the government 
 having risen in equal proportion to the inability 
 of the people to comply with them. 
 
 The population, consisting of ninety thou- 
 sand persons, is called upon to pay the virkee, 
 or regular tax, amounting to 200,000 piastres.'! 
 Of this, two-thirds are defrayed by the Greeks, 
 
 * Spirit of Laws, book v. chap. 14, 
 
 t At the period of which I write (October 1 829), the piastre 
 was worth about three-pence halfpenny Enc:hsh. 
 VOL. I. T
 
 274 WAR TAX. 
 
 and the remainder by the Armenians and 
 Jews. 
 
 Of the galoonjee bedeli, or war tax, which 
 amounts to 140,000 piastres, the Greeks pay 
 100,000. This tax is due every six months, 
 but is frequently levied before the time. 
 
 The last is the kharYitch, or capitation tax. 
 This is laid upon the rayah part of the com- 
 munity, and was first established by the Koran, 
 which permitted infidels to exercise the func- 
 tions of their religion on payment of a tribute. 
 It is supposed that the principal object of the 
 severe laws relative to the dress of the rayahs, 
 was in order to enable the collectors of the 
 kharatch to distinguish them from the Mussul- 
 mans. Women, children under fourteen years 
 of age, and infirm beggars, are the only per- 
 sons exempt from this tax. 
 
 The kharatch is grievous in its effect, from 
 the unequal manner in which it presses on 
 the inhabitants ; there being but a slight dis- 
 tinction in the impost on the rich and the poor 
 man. It is divided into three classes : the 
 first comprises the better sort of householders ; 
 the second, persons of middling property ; and
 
 POLL TAX. 275 
 
 the third, the poorest class. I could not, 
 however, obtain a clear definition of their re- 
 spective distinctions. 
 
 Mr. Thornton,* who wrote in 1808, says, 
 that '* the heaviest contribution does not ex- 
 ceed thirteen piastres a-year, the lightest is 
 four piastres ;" but by referring to the impost 
 of later years, we shall find how very much 
 it has increased since the period of which he 
 spoke. 
 
 In 1820, (that is, immediately before the 
 Greek revolution), the first class paid twenty- 
 eight piastres : the second, fourteen ; the third, 
 seven. 
 
 In 1828, the first paid forty; the second, 
 twenty-eight ; the third, eighteen. 
 
 In the present year (1829), the first paid 
 fifty : the second, forty ; the third, twenty- 
 five. 
 
 Since the destruction of the janizaries, the 
 Turk, who till that time had been exempted 
 from taxes, has paid a part ; but so great an 
 invasion of his privileges causes the govern- 
 
 * Thornton's Turkey, vol. i. p. 16.
 
 276 TAX-GATHERER. 
 
 ment to proceed with caution in its levies : 
 they are, consequently, very irregular and un- 
 defined. 
 
 A considerable portion of the taxes is 
 farmed, and the hire of them is disposed 
 of by public auction, at Constantinople. The 
 bidders are the grandees of the empire, with 
 whom no one dares to compete. The leases 
 are resold to subaltern agents, who have also 
 to derive their emolument from the produce 
 of the soil. Thus, the nation pays double the 
 amount of what the government receives. 
 
 The manner in which the taxes are raised 
 is this : — the order comes to the pasha, and 
 he sends it to the respective authorities of 
 the three branches of the rayah population, 
 namely, the Greeks and Bulgarians, (who, pro- 
 fessing the same religion, are classed as one 
 people,) the Armenians, and the Jews. 
 
 These three classes have each a commune, 
 consisting of four persons, who, knowing the 
 numbers of their respective sects, divide the 
 payment between them. The cooljee, or tax- 
 gatherer, who is a Turk, goes round to collect 
 the imposts, attended by the officer appointed
 
 MODE OF LEVY. 277 
 
 by the commune, and by a body of Maho- 
 metans, to enforce the levy, if necessary. This 
 cooljee receives for his pains one para in 
 each piastre, which is exclusive of the original 
 tax.
 
 278 PREPARATIONS FOR DEPARTURE. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Preparations for Departure — Our Equipage — Our kind 
 Hosts — We leave Adrianople — Dead Cattle on the 
 Road — Russian Graves — Deserted Village — Russian 
 Quarter-Master — Mustapha's Generalship — Buyuk Der- 
 bent — Kutchuck Derbent — Breakfast — Incessant Rain — 
 Papasli — Wretched Quarters. 
 
 November 1. We had intended to have left 
 Adrianople two days ago, but were deterred 
 by an unremitting storm of rain, which, in the 
 delicate state of my health, I thought it not 
 prudent to brave. 
 
 The Russians were about to celebrate the 
 ratification of peace with some splendid fire- 
 works, and the firework - makers (a regular 
 corps) had been for a length of time busied 
 in the preparations. We were much pressed 
 to delay our journey, in order to be present at 
 the show ; but we declined the invitation, to 
 the astonishment of the Russians at our want 
 of taste and curiosity.
 
 OUR EQUIPAGE. 279 
 
 Moreover, Lord Dunlo was anxious to re- 
 join the ambassador ; and we felt that, though 
 without a remedy, we had made an uncon- 
 scionably long visit ; not long enough, however, 
 to have outstaid our welcome ; for such was 
 the hospitality of our kind and amiable hosts, 
 that we should have found this a difficult 
 matter. 
 
 The advance of the Russians had frightened 
 away the greater portion of the inhabitants 
 from the several villages through which we 
 were to pass ; and the demand for horses for 
 the service of the army was so great, that we 
 had little chance of finding assistance from the 
 post-houses. 
 
 Thus situated, we engaged horses at Adri- 
 anople for the whole distance. Our bargain 
 was with an Armenian, who agreed to furnish 
 us with five horses, which were to take us to 
 Shumla, and to remain there for two days free 
 of charge, and for every day additional the 
 beasts were to be kept at our expense. 
 
 From Shumla we intended to continue our 
 journey to Louleh Bourgaz ; and then, if 
 satisfied with our agreement, we were to take
 
 280 OUR EQUIPAGE. 
 
 them on to Constantinople. The whole ex- 
 pense, according to this agreement, was six 
 hundred and fifty piastres, equal to about ten 
 pounds sterling. 
 
 As our journey was undertaken at nearly 
 the worst season of the year, we made some 
 additions to our former equipment. Besides 
 our abba cloaks, we had our coats lined with 
 fur ; we wore large fisherman-looking boots, 
 coming up to the knee, and kaulchins, or tartar 
 stockings. These are made of coarse white 
 wool, and resemble in shape the boots of 
 the cavaliers in the time of the Stuarts. 
 They are worn above the trousers and other 
 stockings, and are turned down over the boots, 
 displaying some fanciful pattern of flowers, 
 worked in worsted of difl'erent colours. We 
 were further provided with a good Witney 
 blanket each ; and thus accoutred we sallied 
 forth, prepared to encounter the keen air of the 
 Balcan. 
 
 Throughout the night preceding our depar- 
 ture, the storm seemed rather to have increased 
 than diminished ; but it was too violent to last 
 long. At dawn of day it relaxed its threat-
 
 OUR KIND HOSTS. 281 
 
 ening aspect, and the sun smiled upon us as 
 we jumped into our saddles. 
 
 It was with deep regret that we bade adieu 
 to the amiable couple under whose roof we 
 had been so kindly entertained. I will not 
 intrude upon my readers the feelings produced 
 by such a reception as we experienced. By 
 the traveller in a civilised land, who receives 
 hospitality in the common interchange of po- 
 liteness, they cannot be justly appreciated; it 
 is only by the wanderer in a barbarous region, 
 where his habits and religion draw upon him 
 the hatred and contempt of the inhabitants, 
 that the friendly welcome from a native of his 
 country, and a professor of his creed, can be 
 rightly understood. 
 
 Our hosts and their servants assembled in 
 the court-yard to see us depart : amongst the 
 party was the amiable and innocent Marigo, 
 the brightness of whose eyes were further 
 heightened by the tears which started in them 
 as we bade her farewell. 
 
 Quitting the town, we entered the high 
 road to Shumla, and proceeded along the banks 
 of the Toonja, leaving on our left the noble
 
 282 WE LEAVE ADRIANOPLE. 
 
 forest of trees which encompasses the seraglio. 
 Their appearance was beautiful, the few days' 
 previous frost having variegated their foliage 
 with the bright tints of autumn. The scene 
 was enlivened by the animating bustle of the 
 troops, who, in tents taken from the Turks in 
 the late campaign, were reclining under the 
 shade of the trees which adorn the former im- 
 perial residence of this once mighty nation. 
 
 Our road lay directly to the north, between 
 the camp and the high ground, which, ap- 
 proaching the town from the north and north- 
 east, terminates in the slope upon which the 
 town is built : there is a similar point of land 
 on the opposite side of the Toonja. 
 
 We had hardly gone half a mile when we 
 saw a dead horse, with a number of mangy 
 dogs reposing in its inside, waiting till their 
 glutted appetites should again sharpen, and 
 cordially uniting to keep away every other 
 of their species not belonging to their dainty 
 coterie. They looked very fiercely at our poor 
 beasts, and seemed to think that they were 
 fast approaching to that state when they would 
 be theirs as a matter of right. As we pro-
 
 RUSSIAN GRAVES. 283 
 
 ceeded, we found the whole road strewed with 
 the carcasses of horses, bullocks, buffaloes, and 
 camels, all of them worked to death in the 
 transportation of forage for the troop horses 
 at head-quarters. It was at the ascent of the 
 hills that we always observed the greater num- 
 ber of these unfortunate animals. We passed, 
 in the course of the day, several kibitkas laden 
 with hay, to many of which were attached 
 cattle, some dying, and nearly all so worn out 
 with fatigue, as to appear almost insensible to 
 the unceasing lash of the Cossack driver. 
 
 Occasionally we came to a newly filled 
 grave, where one vertical and two horizontal 
 sticks, in the form of the Russian cross, bespoke 
 the nation of the deceased. 
 
 The country, similar to that on the opposite 
 side of Adrianople, is so open that the largest 
 army might march in line. Our road lay 
 through plains divided by a succession of 
 gradually sloping hills. From the immediate 
 neighbourhood of the town, they are quite 
 uncultivated. The rank grass, which consti- 
 tuted the food of the Turkish cattle, had been 
 closely mowed by the Russians, to prevent the
 
 284 RUSSIAN QUARTER-MASTER. 
 
 Ottoman army from coming to Adrianople with 
 any considerable body of cavalry. We passed 
 a party of Russian infantry, marching towards 
 the same village as ourselves. 
 
 At four hours' distance from Adrianople we 
 came to the village of Aukvar, once containing 
 a population of Turks and Bulgarians ; now, 
 most of the houses are in ruins, and they all 
 appear to be deserted. 
 
 We observed at the outskirts of this village, 
 several large mounds, resembling ancient tumuli 
 or barrows. Such marks in this country are, 
 generally, indications of a Turkish camp : on 
 these eminences they fix their standards and 
 the horsetails of the pashas: here, in 1828, 
 was the encampment of the Turkish army, 
 commanded by the grand vizier. The mounds 
 have besides a more useful property : they are 
 employed, in the time of the deep snows, as 
 beacons, to indicate to the traveller the neigh- 
 bourhood of a village. For this purpose, the 
 Turks place a guard on them during the winter 
 months. 
 
 We were joined, at a short distance from 
 our halting-place, by a Russian officer, whom
 
 RUSSIAN QUARTER-MASTER. * 285 
 
 we discovered to be the quarter -master of the 
 detachment we had seen on the road. The 
 moment he reached us he addressed us in his 
 own language with the most overwhelming 
 volubility. In vain we exhausted our small 
 stock of Russ to acquaint him that we did not 
 understand him ; the notice only increased his 
 loquacity. He appeared to think every Euro- 
 pean spoke the same language. We had no- 
 thing left for it but to answer him in English ; 
 and thus we went gabbling together to the end 
 of the stage. 
 
 Six hours from Adrianople, we reached the 
 village of lenijee, where we halted for the 
 night. Our first prospects were bad enough, 
 nearly all the village having been destroyed. In 
 one of the few houses which retained a roof, 
 there was a dead horse in a putrid state, and 
 another outside of it; but even if we had desired 
 to take up our quarters there, it was impossible, 
 as it was already in the occupation of a party 
 of Russians, whose olfactory nerves appeared 
 insensible to the effluvia of a rotten carcass. 
 
 This was not the only unpromising cir- 
 cumstance : our chattering fellow-traveller had
 
 286 mustapha's generalship. 
 
 been sent forward to procure quarters for nearly 
 two hundred men ; and immediately on dis- 
 mounting, he set out on this duty, accompanied 
 by all the Bulgarians of the place. Mustapha, 
 at the same time, saUied forth in quest of a 
 lodging for us : he proved the better quar- 
 ter - master of the two, for he obtained us 
 admission to the house of the kiahya (chief 
 man) of the village, who gladly accepted us 
 as guests who would pay, to guarantee him 
 from others who were not likely to do so. 
 We occupied the apartment of the women, 
 whom he turned out to accommodate us. As 
 a further proof of Mustapha's generalship, he 
 divested me of my uniform coat and epaulettes, 
 and fixed them on a peg near the door, ex- 
 pecting that it would receive the same reverence 
 from Christian soldiers as his own holy standard 
 would from true believers. He was right : 
 several Russians attempted to make a lodge- 
 ment in our house, but the insignia of military 
 rank were no sooner beheld, than the invaders 
 successively raised the siege. 
 
 November 2. We resumed our march at 
 daylight, and entered a very wild country
 
 KUTCHUCK DERBENT. 287 
 
 covered with dwarf oak, with here and there 
 some well-grown trees. At three hours' dis- 
 tance, we reached the Buyuk Derbent, " the 
 great pass," or defile, from which the village 
 derives its name. The village is very pretty. 
 It lies in a hollow between two hills, and the 
 houses are completely imbedded in trees, 
 principally evergreens. It contains a mixed 
 population of Turks and Bulgarians. We saw 
 here some Russian troops, with a brigade of 
 artillery. 
 
 Hence onwards the country improves in 
 beauty, though not in cultivation : the hills are 
 richly covered with trees, and the road is occa- 
 sionally over a stratum of sand-stone rock. 
 
 Three hours further, we came to the village 
 of the Kutchuck Derbent, " the small pass." 
 The word derbent, literally " closed gate," 
 is generally applied to what the Turks consider 
 a defile ; but neither of these derbents deserves 
 that character. If considered in a military 
 point of view, the only obstruction to troops 
 would be the forest of trees, through which a 
 road might very speedily be made : besides, 
 there is one principal and several other parallel
 
 288 INCESSANT RAIN. 
 
 roads, which completely do away with the 
 character of a defile. 
 
 At Kutchuck Derbent, Mustapha took us 
 to a Bulgarian wine - house, where, with some 
 grease, onions, and eggs, he made a sort of 
 omelet. We relished it highly ; though it 
 would have been unpalatable enough but for 
 the aid of hunger sauce. 
 
 The wine here was execrable : we warn 
 travellers from indulgence in this beverage in 
 Roumelia and Bulgaria. It is generally new, 
 and is productive of the most distressing con- 
 sequences, as we all, from woful experience, 
 ascertained in our turn. 
 
 The rain, which we had sanguinely hoped 
 had taken leave of us, overtook us at Buyuk 
 Derbent, and forced itself on our company in 
 the most obtrusive manner, not ceasing to 
 annoy us for one minute during the day. In 
 this manner, drenched as though we had swam 
 the distance, we reached the village of Pa- 
 pasli, where the first unwelcome object that 
 met our view was a party of Russians, in 
 possession of the best quarters. 
 
 Papasli is prettily situated in a valley.
 
 PAPASLI. 289 
 
 through which runs a small river: some months 
 since it was populous ; it is now reduced 
 to a few wretched hovels. It was plundered 
 and destroyed by the Turks, to save the Rus- 
 sians the trouble. 
 
 The villages we have seen are all of the 
 most barbarous appearance. The huts seem 
 built wherever chance directs, without any 
 regard to order. They are separated from one 
 another, and around each is a public thorough- 
 fare. In general, they are constructed of bricks 
 dried in the sun, and have a thatched roof. 
 The poorer kind of habitations consist of a 
 few poles, about ten or eleven feet high, 
 meeting at the top, and from three to six feet 
 apart at bottom. Over these are fastened, as 
 a thatch, branches of oak. 
 
 In looking out for a resting-place, our eyes 
 were directed towards the roofs of the houses : 
 we fixed upon one apparently more weather- 
 tight than the rest. It belonged to a Bul- 
 garian, and we succeeded in obtaining admis- 
 sion, after having stood half an hour before 
 the door, in patient endurance of the pitiless 
 storm. 
 
 VOL. I. u
 
 290 WRETCHED QUARTERS. 
 
 Until midnight, it was one continued down- 
 pour. It then ceased, and was succeeded by 
 a heavy fall of snow, which penetrated every 
 part of our newly-thatched roof, and occupied 
 us the remainder of the night in the unavailing 
 search of a dry spot in the apartment.
 
 LEAVE PAPASLI. 291 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 We leave Papasll — State of the Roads — Character of Rou- 
 melian Scenery — lanboli — Russian Picket — First Ap- 
 pearance of the Balcan — Selimno — Its weekly Fairs 
 
 Trade — Manufactures — Public Khans — Decrease of 
 Population — Mosques — Russian Attack on Selimno — 
 It surrenders without Opposition — General Montresor 
 — Ascent of the Balcan — Soil of the Mountain — Its 
 Adaptation to Road-making — The slight Obstacles to an 
 opposing Army — Numerous Roads — Vedgerah — The 
 Bulgarian Peasantry all armed — Cloth Mills — Party of 
 Cossacks — Russian Theft — Disposition of the People 
 of the Balcan in favour of the Invasion. 
 
 November 3. We left Papasli at half- past 
 eight in the morning, chilly and uncomfortable, 
 from being obliged to resume our wet clothes. 
 Luckily for us, the wind came suddenly round 
 from the northward, and we had a fine bracing 
 breeze in exchange for the miserable weather 
 of yesterday. 
 
 The road leads over a country covered with 
 brushwood, consisting of an open plain, with
 
 292 STATE OF THE ROADS. 
 
 the occasional intervention of a gradually 
 sloping hill. 
 
 An hour from Papasli, on the left hand, is 
 a small village. We now descended into a 
 large plain, which extends to the Balcan. In 
 the middle of this, a wolf skulked across my 
 path. I followed him to some little distance, 
 and observed him make a dead halt on the 
 outskirts of a flock of sheep. 
 
 We now came to a thick tenacious soil, 
 which the late rains had rendered heavy for 
 carriages, and filled with large holes. I had 
 reason to congratulate myself on not having 
 followed my first intention of hiring a wheeled 
 conveyance for this journey. We passed, 
 however, a Russian courier, in a kibitka, 
 drawn by three horses, which, notwithstanding 
 the state of the soil, managed to keep up a 
 brisk trot. 
 
 By fragile platforms of rotten planks, trans- 
 versely placed, we crossed several streams tri- 
 butary to the Toonja. Two hours from Papasli, 
 we came in sight of the Toonja : it was about 
 five miles distant. Its course is marked by a 
 continuous forest of well -grown trees, which
 
 CHARACTER OF ROUMELIAN SCENERY. 293 
 
 cover the base of a long hill, forming the 
 boundary of the plain to the west. 
 
 The general characteristic of Roumelian 
 scenery appears to be, that the courses of 
 rivers are marked by the tall and well - grown 
 trees which grow on their banks ; while in the 
 unwatered plains, and upon the hills, the wood 
 is always stunted. This defect in their growth 
 arises probably from want of moisture during 
 the summer season. In five hours and a half, 
 we saw to the left Fundookli kieu, or Hazlenut 
 village, a long straggling place, on the banks of 
 
 the river. 
 
 Half an hour further on, we halted for a 
 few minutes at a village on the brow of a hill. 
 It was completely deserted by its inhabitants : 
 a Russian sutler, and a couple of soldiers, were 
 the only persons we saw there. 
 
 At four in the afternoon, we entered lan- 
 boli. This is a large, and has been a populous 
 town. The inhabitants were Turks and Bul- 
 garians, and there was rather a preponderating 
 number of the former nation ; but now the 
 whole Turkish population had fled, nearly 
 every shop in the town was closed, and
 
 294 lANBOLI. 
 
 the few that were open, were kept by Bul- 
 garians. The mosques had been converted 
 into magazines for provisioning the Russian 
 army. 
 
 This place, in common with most others 
 where the Russians had been, was very sickly. 
 We saw here a Russian funeral : the coffin was 
 without a lid, and was composed of a few 
 planks, rudely nailed together. It was borne 
 by four men, and was preceded by a Bulgarian 
 priest, scattering incense. We followed the 
 body to the burying -ground, where the nu- 
 merous recent graves bespoke the general 
 mortality. 
 
 lanboli is situated in a fruitful plain, on 
 the banks of the river Toonja, which is here 
 winding, large, and rapid. We saw only two 
 wooden bridges, but there may be more. In 
 the centre of the town is a large clock, — a 
 very unusual sight in Turkey. 
 
 We were lodged in the public khan, where 
 we felt ourselves happy in the possession of 
 a clean earthen floor to lie upon for the night. 
 In more prosperous days, the khan was full 
 of merchants, trading between Bulgaria and
 
 RUSSIAN PICKET. 295 
 
 Roumelia; but now we had the place to our- 
 selves. 
 
 November 4. The day opened with a hard 
 frost, and then suddenly the weather became 
 cloudy. We here crossed, and took leave of 
 the Toonja. On the opposite bank, at an angle 
 formed by the winding of the river, was a 
 Russian outlying picket, with two field-pieces 
 so placed as to command a bridge over which 
 we afterwards passed, as well as to sweep the 
 plain by which it is approached. 
 
 The road, throughout this day's march, was 
 excellent. The plain was quite open for two 
 hours, and then there was a slight ascent. 
 The country is covered with dwarf oak and ash. 
 In two hours and a half, we crossed a stream by 
 a bridge, that had been either newly repaired 
 or built afresh : it was guarded by a party of 
 Cossacks. We saw to the right the small village 
 of lenikieu: the wood here, and throughout the 
 Balcan, reminded me strongly of EppingForest. 
 We began a gentle and uniform ascent, and then 
 entered a forest of well-grown trees : emerging 
 from it, we entered a plain of great extent. 
 We here came in sight of the Balcan,
 
 296 FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE BALCAN. 
 
 forming the northern boundary of the plain. 
 We saw it to peculiar advantage, owing to a 
 partial fall of snow. The tops of the hills, as 
 well as the valley beneath, were enveloped in 
 clouds ; and the interval was frosted over 
 with snow, which gave an appearance of great 
 height. Had I then turned back, I should 
 have been fully impressed with the difficulties 
 an army would encounter in passing this cele- 
 brated range of hills. At the foot of the ridge 
 are seven detached hills, of a semi-globular 
 shape, which are covered with vineyards, and 
 appear like islands in the ocean. Embosomed 
 in these, we discovered the minarets of the 
 highly picturesque town of Selimno. We 
 crossed several small subsidiary streams, and 
 continued for some time along the dry bed 
 of the river, which here dwindles into a moun- 
 tain torrent. 
 
 After traversing, for the last three days, 
 what might be termed a desert, it was agree- 
 able to see something of life and activity. 
 The plain was full of peasants, tending their 
 flocks, or cutting wood ; and numerous arabahs 
 were passing to and from the town.
 
 SELIMNO, — ITS MANUFACTURES, &C. 297 
 
 We found a very good khan, where we 
 occupied a small boarded room, next door to 
 some Bulgarian merchants, who had been 
 attracted thither by the weekly fairs which 
 take place at Selimno, for the sale of a thick, 
 coarse, brown cloth, and of the Tartar woollen 
 stockings ; the one article the production of the 
 black, the other of the white sheep of the 
 country. These manufactures, as well as sheep 
 and cattle, are exchanged for such articles as 
 the maritime towns and lowlands of Roumelia 
 can produce. Wine is a staple produce of this 
 place : we tasted some very good, of this 
 year's vintage. 
 
 The khans in the town are numerous : each 
 of them has a large stable for the caravans. 
 On two sides of the court-yard there is gene- 
 rally a gallery, with several small rooms open- 
 ing into it. Underneath are magazines for 
 merchandise. 
 
 The population till lately consisted of three 
 thousand Turkish, and two thousand Bulgarian 
 families. Now, seven out of eight shops are 
 closed, and their inhabitants have fled. In our 
 stroll through the town we scarcely saw a single
 
 298 Russians' attack on selimno. 
 
 Turk. We entered two mosques in the course 
 of our walk : in one we found the pavements 
 torn up, the ornaments destroyed, the windows 
 broken, the burying-ground uprooted, and the 
 tombstones demolished : in the other so much 
 active violence had not been committed ; but 
 in the interior were heaps of filth of every de- 
 scription. We inquired of our khanjee, or inn- 
 keeper, a Bulgarian, about this. He laid it 
 to the Arnaouts ; but it is more probably the 
 work of the Bulgarians themselves, who have 
 most likely taken advantage of their Maho- 
 metan neighbours' absence, to gratify many an 
 ancient grudge. 
 
 Our khanjee told us, that previous to the 
 occupation of the town, the Russians had sus- 
 tained a defeat at lanboli ; but being rein- 
 forced, they had occupied that town. They 
 then advanced against Selimno, and entered 
 without opposition. As a matter of form, two 
 shells were discharged from the Russian bat- 
 teries, when the pasha who commanded, im- 
 mediately surrendered the town, and retreated 
 towards Eski Saghra. 
 
 Selimno at this time contained a Russian
 
 GENERAL MONTRESOR. 299 
 
 division ; it subsequently became the head- 
 quarters of the army. The garrison was com- 
 manded by General Montresor, to whom our 
 friend General Reuchtern had given us a 
 letter of introduction. Fearful of detention, 
 we sent our letter by Mustapha, with proper 
 apologies for not being ourselves the bearers. 
 
 The general was indisposed ; and being 
 unable to visit us himself, he sent his aide- 
 de-camp, a Russian prince, whom we had 
 known at Adrianople, to beg we would drink 
 tea with him; he also desired to furnish us 
 with a better quarter than that we occupied, 
 and proposed sending a party of Cossacks to 
 escort us across the Balcan. Mustapha was 
 anxious that we should accept this reinforce- 
 ment ; but as we heard there was no danger, 
 we declined the civil proposal. 
 
 We encountered in our walk a convoy of 
 two hundred camels from the Crimea, driven 
 by the scarcely human-looking natives of that 
 country. They brought stores for the Russian 
 army. 
 
 Noveynher 5. The day was just dawning 
 when we again mounted our horses, and left
 
 300 ASCENT OF THE BALCAN. 
 
 Selimno in a north-easterly direction, skirting 
 the mountains over some small abrupt hills 
 richly cultivated, principally with the vine. 
 
 The sun meanwhile rose with peculiar ma- 
 jesty, and for some time threw a tint of deep 
 red upon the mountains, similar to the painted 
 representations of the effect produced on the 
 surrounding scenery by an eruption of Mount 
 Vesuvius. 
 
 After a ride of three miles, we entered 
 upon our left a mountain gorge : the Balcan 
 here runs north-east and south-west. We went 
 N.N.E. for three miles, and then N.N.W. 
 and N.N.E. alternately, until we arrived 
 at the top. We traversed its side, which 
 was covered with vineyards from the summit 
 to the base. The road, which was paved at 
 the commencement of the ascent, was in good 
 order, and broad enough in the narrowest 
 part to allow two carriages to pass ; it is 
 practicable for artillery, and indeed for every 
 description of wheeled conveyance. The soil 
 of the country, of which the road is made, is 
 sandstone, which, containing a proportion of 
 common clay, quickly forms, when broken into
 
 SOIL OF THE MOUNTAIN. 301 
 
 pieces, a compact substance, admirably adapted 
 for the purpose. 
 
 It is impervious to damp ; for it was 
 neither affected by the rain of the four or five 
 preceding- days, nor by the fall of snow, which 
 was melting at the time. It is easily repair- 
 able, the soil itself forming the materials. With 
 so much facility is this road constructed, that 
 any arabah actually makes its own by the track 
 of its wheel. This remark is generally appli- 
 cable, not only to the Balcan, but to those 
 parts of Roumelia and Bulgaria which we tra- 
 versed. Hence it is evident, that should an 
 army wish to pass the Selimno Balcan, it has 
 nothing to do but to cut away the brushwood, 
 draw it to one side, and the baggage and bat- 
 tering trains form the road. This was the case 
 in that part of the Balcan over which the Rus- 
 sian army advanced : they cut down a few 
 trees, and filled up the inequalities of the 
 ground. The number of carriages that accom- 
 panied the army, is a proof how trifling were 
 the difficulties they had to encounter. Almost 
 every field officer had his calhche, the general
 
 302 NUMEROUS ROADS. 
 
 officers three or four, and every company a 
 cart for their camp-kettles. 
 
 On arriving at the summit of the moun- 
 tain, we continued along the side of a hill, 
 and began gradually to descend. We met 
 seven arabahs, drawn by bullocks, on their road 
 to Selmino. We were going on exceedingly 
 well, when Mustapha must needs try a short 
 cut ; and leading us, baggage and all, down 
 the steepest part of the hill, we made a dan- 
 gerously rapid journey to the bottom. Here we 
 came to a beautiful valley, watered by a rivu- 
 let, which we crossed, and then entered upon a 
 broad road that skirted the stream. Mustapha 
 declared it to be the same as that we had 
 quitted ; but this we felt to be impossible, as 
 we had left ours to the right, and the track we 
 now came upon was exactly from the contrary 
 direction. Taking that which we thought the 
 most likely, we continued marching for about 
 two miles, when a new embarrassment annoyed 
 us : the road here diverged into two others, 
 both equally good, and both apparently lead- 
 ing to our destination, — one along the plain.
 
 VEDGERAH. 303 
 
 the other over the hills. A water-mill, the 
 proof of a neighbouring village, induced us to 
 take the lower, and, as we have since dis- 
 covered, the longest route. 
 
 The various roads we here saw first stag- 
 gered our belief as to the difficulty of the pas- 
 sage of the Balcan. I have been particular in 
 the detail, because the number of roads, and 
 the facility of their construction, bear very 
 much on the question of the practicability of 
 the mountain. 
 
 A mile further on brought us to the Bul- 
 garian village of Vedgerah, where we stopped 
 to breakfast. The appearance of the village 
 is remarkably neat ; the houses are very clean, 
 and each habitation is surrounded by a high 
 wicker-work fence, like the fascines of a bat- 
 tery, plastered over, to protect their poultry 
 from the depredations of wolves and other 
 wild animals, which abound here. The pea- 
 santry, men and women, seem comfortable 
 and industrious. 
 
 We were surprised to find all the male 
 inhabitants, from the old man to the child of 
 ten years of age, with weapons in their girdles,
 
 304 BULGARIAN PEASANTRY ALL ARMED. 
 
 because, by the Turkish law, no rayah is 
 allowed to bear arms. We found, on inquiry, 
 that the Russians, on the plea of enabling the 
 Bulgarians to defend themselves against the 
 Turks, had allowed the whole peasantry to go 
 armed, having first made a register of all who 
 obtained this privilege, and taken a receipt 
 from them, together with a security, that the 
 weapons should be returned when required, 
 or that the receivers should enter the Russian 
 service. Some had declined the offer, from 
 a fear of the probable consequences, when left 
 exposed to the vengeance of the Turkish go- 
 vernment. This, then, is the available force of 
 four thousand Bulgarians, respecting which the 
 Russians threw out some hints at Adrianople. 
 
 The road from Vedgerah to Cazan leads 
 along a broad and winding valley, watered by 
 a rivulet lined with trees. The stream is very 
 shallow, and has a pebbly bottom ; we crossed 
 it several times in the course of the day. 
 
 Two hours before we came to Cazan, we 
 passed through the picturesque village of Ra~ 
 deech, containing a population of about eighty 
 Bulgarian families. Three miles from the town
 
 CAZAN. 305 
 
 we met several Bulgarians on horseback. They 
 had each a brace of pistols, a dagger in their 
 girdles, and a firelock slung at their backs. 
 Seeing my epaulettes, they mistook me for a 
 Russian officer, and immediately uncovered as 
 I passed, and addressed me very respectfully 
 in Russ. 
 
 The last part of the day's march was be- 
 tween two steep mountains. In the valley 
 below, runs a mountain torrent, which turns 
 several mills. 
 
 These machines are chiefly employed in 
 preparing the coarse brown woollen cloths, 
 of which the abba cloaks are made. The town 
 of Cazan forms one long street, on the ascent 
 of a mountain. It contains about a thousand 
 houses, principally Bulgarian, and exports a 
 considerable quantity of the cloths to which 
 I have above alluded. 
 
 There was in this town a small party of 
 Cossacks, commanded by a lieutenant, who 
 came, according to the military etiquette of 
 Russia, to wait upon me as his superior officer. 
 His interpreter was a Bulgarian, a native of 
 the town. The language of the country is 
 
 VOL. I. X
 
 306 RUSSIAN VILLAGE. 
 
 Sclavonic, which is perfectly understood by 
 all classes of Russians.* 
 
 In the evening we had a long conver- 
 sation with the master of the khan. He 
 complained bitterly of the thefts and pillage 
 of the Russians, who always professed great 
 anxiety to redress such grievances, but threw 
 every impediment in the way of their investi- 
 gation, always contriving to fail in the detec- 
 tion of the depredator. In spite of this, his 
 countrymen were highly elated at the advance 
 of the invaders, were quite ripe for revolt, and 
 were only waiting for a convenient opportunity 
 to throw off the Turkish yoke. He told us, that, 
 for his own part, he had followed the advice of 
 his old father, who had dissuaded him from 
 shewing any demonstrations of joy on the oc- 
 casion, as the Russians were but temporary 
 
 * " The Sclavonian language (or the lUyric) is spoken 
 at this day, over a greater extent of country than any other 
 living language ; for, exclusively of many countries of Asia, 
 it prevails in Dalniatia, Croatia, Epirus or Albania, Bosnia, 
 Servia, Bulgaria, Russia, Poland, Bohemia, and Silesia. It 
 has no affinity with the Turkish or Hungarian." — Thornton's 
 Turkey, vol. i. p. 61.
 
 PROVISIOMAL GOVERNMENT. 307 
 
 visiters, and that the grand signior would not 
 fail to take signal vengeance on the disaffected, 
 whenever the country should be vacated by the 
 foreign troops. Our landlord was further of 
 opinion, that the greater part of the Bulgarian 
 population would return to Russia with the 
 army. 
 
 The affairs of the Bulgarians are referred, 
 in each village, to a junta of old men, who 
 may be considered, in the absence of the 
 Turkish authorities, as a sort of provisional 
 government for the time being.
 
 308 A TURKISH FIELD-WORK. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Leave Cazan — Roads easily repairable — Chutakh — Bul- 
 garians — Their Employments — Property — Dress — 
 Marriage — Divorce — Derbent — Turkish Inhospitality 
 — Unpleasant Prospect — Anecdote of Mustapha — 
 A Tax-gatherer — A Turk assassinated — Mahometan 
 Disaffection — Mountain Gorge — Juma — Country fertile, 
 but depopulated — Villages rased to the Ground — Ascent 
 to the Heights above Shumla — Turks at Drill — Search 
 for a Host — A renegade Doctor — Miserable Lodgings 
 — Mr. Haggermann — Turkish Execution — Indifference 
 of the Bystanders — Observations on the Culprit — Agree- 
 able Termination of our Adventures. 
 
 November 6. Before we set oft, we were again 
 visited by the lieutenant in charge of the party, 
 who sent a Cossack to escort us beyond the 
 last picket, which, at about a mile from Cazan, 
 occupied a pass commanding the approach to- 
 wards the town from the north. Here, an 
 insignificant field work, pierced for three or 
 four guns, had been thrown up by Suleiman 
 Pasha. It was a tolerably strong position, 
 but assailable from several points.
 
 ROADS EASILY REPAIRED. 309 
 
 Thence we emerged into a country hilly 
 rather than mountainous ; bearing some re- 
 semblance to Devonshire. In general, where 
 the hills are not covered with wood, there is 
 considerable cultivation ; flocks and herds are 
 to be seen at pasture ; the villages, too, are 
 very neat and clean in their appearance. 
 
 In three hours' journey we came to a higher 
 hill than we had usually met with : here we 
 found a small piece of indifferent road, but it 
 might easily be repaired with the sand-stone, 
 which is the soil of the country, and of which it 
 is made : even in its present state, it was not 
 impassable for wheel carriages, as was shewn 
 by the numerous tracks of arabah wheels. 
 
 At the base of the hill we saw the pretty 
 village of Chutakh on our left. It is sepa- 
 rated from the road by a beautiful mountain 
 torrent, over which it is approached by two 
 bridges : the place contains about two hundred 
 houses. Below the village the torrent descends 
 into a kind of cascade, and turns several mills. 
 
 Throughout this journey, we have been 
 exceedingly struck with the condition of the 
 Bulgarian peasantry. They appeared very
 
 310 THE BULGARIANS. 
 
 comfortable : their cottages, both inside and 
 out, are remarkably clean ; they are well 
 dressed, and the ornaments of the women be- 
 speak them in easy circumstances. 
 
 The Bulgarians are a fine, healthy-looking 
 race, and very industrious in their habits : they 
 cultivate the land, tend their flocks, rear cattle 
 for sale, carry to market butter, cheese, and 
 poultry, and cut wood in the forest, to dis- 
 pose of it in the larger towns. At Adrianople 
 and Philopopoli, they are occupied in several 
 works of handicraft. 
 
 Generally speaking, the Bulgarians are pro- 
 prietors of the land they cultivate. They lay 
 out a portion of their grounds in flower-gardens, 
 vineyards, and corn-fields ; the remainder they 
 devote to pasture. Their live stock consists 
 of bufl'aloes, white and black sheep, goats, 
 turkeys, and fowls. Almost every peasant has 
 his own arabah. The Bulgarians' houses, which 
 are of wood and clay, are built by themselves. 
 The larger a Bulgarian's family is, the better 
 he is off", as labour can be found for all. 
 
 From choice, they are no great consumers 
 of animal food. In October they generally kill
 
 THEIR DRESS. 31 1 
 
 a COW, but this is considered rather as a luxury. 
 Their made dishes are exceedingly good, as I 
 can testify, particularly a certain sausage called 
 soochook, and some cabaubs made of fine herbs. 
 Their ordinary articles of food are cheese, 
 yaoort (curds), eggs, and a salad, which they 
 make of cucumbers, capsicums, onions, and 
 garlic. During their fasts, they subsist almost 
 entirely on beans and olives. 
 
 Their usual beverage is water, but they are 
 all drinkers of wine, and seldom get drunk, 
 except on the feast-days of their saints, and 
 especially of their general patron, Nicolas. 
 
 The dress of the cottager is made at home. 
 The principal material is the cloth woven from 
 the wool of the black sheep common to the 
 country. The women and children spin and 
 weave it, sending it to the water-mills to be 
 smoothed. 
 
 Of this cloth they make a jacket, which 
 covers the thighs : it is handsomely embroidered 
 by the women with black braid ; the waistcoat, 
 called sookar, is also fancifully worked. The 
 lower dress consists of the pootoor (breeches), 
 which is very large and full to the knee, and
 
 312 MARRIAGE. 
 
 fits tight round the leg to the ancle : they wear 
 woollen socks both in summer and -winter ; 
 the shoe is like the Italian sandal. Their shirts 
 are of cotton, the cloth of which is made by the 
 women, who adorn the sleeves and collars with 
 patterns worked in worsted of various colours. 
 The head covering of every peasant is a cylin- 
 drical-shaped cap of black sheep-skin. 
 
 The women's dress is simple, but pictu- 
 resque ; it varies a little in different parts of 
 the Balcan : some wear a cylindrical-shaped 
 bonnet of a harlequin pattern, over which they 
 put a handkerchief, and tie it under the chin. 
 The gown is black, with a broad border, on 
 which are sewn three pieces of stuff of 
 different colours. The sash round the waist 
 is broad, prettily worked, and very becoming. 
 They stick numerous coins in their hair, wear 
 large rings in their ears, and a profusion of 
 them on their fingers : their wrists are adorned 
 with bracelets of glass, and occasionally of 
 massive silver, like those cut in lava at Naples. 
 
 The Bulgarian marries very young, the 
 wives being from twelve to thirteen years 
 of age. In the villages, the Bulgarian couples
 
 DIVORCE. 
 
 313 
 
 pass their lives very amicably together ; but 
 in the larger towns, such as Adrianople, they 
 divorce on the slightest pretence ; and I must 
 be excused for saying, that it is by the ladies 
 these divorces are generally desired. They 
 very often occur six weeks after marriage. A 
 short time before we came to Adrianople, a 
 very pretty young woman had offered her 
 services to Mrs. Duveluz. She said that she 
 had been just married to a man who had pro- 
 mised her Q.feriJee(dL sort of loose cloak); but, 
 added she, "he is a poor wretch, and cannot 
 perform his promise ; so I shall get divorced, as 
 I can gain nothing by remaining longer with 
 him." 
 
 The Greek clergy are anxious to do away 
 with these divorces, but are deterred from 
 violently opposing them, lest the parties soli- 
 citing the indulgence should become Turks. 
 Our friend, the Archbishop of Adrianople, is 
 very averse to the practice, and has lately 
 obtained a firman from the Porte, to enforce 
 a stricter line of propriety from the ladies of 
 his church. If the women misbehave, they 
 are generally banished to Enos, and are not
 
 314 OSMAN BAZAAR. 
 
 unfrequently condemned to corporal punish- 
 ment. 
 
 I have been somewhat minute in my obser- 
 vations on the Bulgarians, because we passed 
 much of our time very agreeably in their 
 society, and because I am anxious to shew 
 what kind of subjects the Turks, by their own 
 folly, are about to lose. 
 
 Seven hours' march brought us to Osman 
 Bazaar, eighteen miles from Cazan. It is a 
 Turkish town, and contains a thousand houses. 
 We did not halt there : it appeared almost 
 deserted. On the opposite side we saw 
 women carrying wood, and others at work 
 in the fields. 
 
 We found here the foliage off the trees, and 
 all nature wearing the appearance of winter. 
 Unlike the southern side of the Balcan, where 
 the summer sun browns the ground, and the 
 autumnal showers give the verdure of a fresh 
 herbage ; the cold north wind and early frosts 
 destroy the green which, under favour of 
 a cooler climate, flourishes during spring and 
 summer. 
 
 We now entered a forest of oaks : on
 
 TURKISH INHOSPITALITY. 315 
 
 emerging, from it, we came to an English- 
 looking and well-cultivated country. 
 
 At a short distance from the road was a 
 Turkish boy at work : he no sooner saw us, 
 than, evidently mistaking us for Russians, he 
 fled in the greatest terror, and hid himself in 
 the wood which we had just quitted. 
 
 On the southern side of the Balcan there 
 was scarcely a Turk to be seen ; on this side 
 we hardly saw a Bulgarian. We passed se- 
 veral Christian villages, but they were mostly 
 empty, the inhabitants having been driven out 
 by their Mahometan neighbours. 
 
 An hour beyond Osman Bazaar, we passed 
 two small villages, both on the left hand. At 
 four o'clock we came to a valley, in which lies 
 the village of Derbent. 
 
 The town derives its name from its situation, 
 at the entrance of a mountain gorge, through 
 which the road to Shumla passes. The word 
 derbent, as I said before, means literally 
 ''closed door;" and literally was its signifi- 
 cation fulfilled in our case; for we had no 
 sooner made our appearance, than we saw, 
 through the crevices of the enclosures, the
 
 316 ANECDOTE OF MUSTAPHA. 
 
 respective women of the different houses shuffle 
 down to barricade their doors against us. In 
 vain we pleaded our cause as way-worn tra- 
 vellers; they were obdurate to our entreaties, 
 and answered each supplication for admit- 
 tance by the Turkish negative of yok, which 
 we heard pronounced in every note of the 
 female gamut. 
 
 The sun was fast setting, the horses were 
 too tired to proceed, we were without food, a 
 bitter sharp frost was setting in, and a bivouac 
 in the mountain at this inclement season stared 
 us in the fiace. We had already given up, in 
 despair, all hopes of a night's lodging, when 
 a miller, at the outskirts of the town, took 
 compassion on us, and great was our satisfac- 
 tion in sleeping under the shelter of a roof. 
 
 The reception we met with at Derbent 
 must not be urged against Turkish hospitality ; 
 it may serve as an exception to a general rule. 
 The truth is, that this district is proverbial 
 amongst the Turks as containing a fierce, 
 savage, and inhospitable race. 
 
 A few years ago, Mustapha was travelling 
 in company with some other Turks, and arrived
 
 A TAX-GATHERER. 317 
 
 one wretched evening at a neighbouring village 
 called Carapounhar. They solicited hospita- 
 lity, and were answered by a shot from a 
 gun. When it was dark, the travellers found 
 an unoccupied house, belonging to those who 
 had refused them admittance; into this they 
 crept, and remained in it till an hour before 
 daylight : they then remounted their horses, 
 but first set fire to the place of their night's 
 lodging, and burned it to the ground. 
 
 Our room in the evening was full of vil- 
 lagers, who appeared glad to see us in any 
 house but their own. They were all old men, 
 the younger people having been sent to the 
 army. 
 
 Amongst our visiters was a tax-gatherer from 
 Shumla, who had come to levy contributions on 
 the village. He was a gigantic Turk, armed 
 to the teeth, and in the possession of a most 
 ferocious pair of mustachios. It was ridiculous 
 to see the pomposity and assurance with which 
 this " Sir Oracle" delivered his sentiments, as 
 well as the respect and diffidence with which 
 he was listened to by his humble and oppressed 
 auditors.
 
 318 MAHOMETAN DISAFFECTION. 
 
 We were told by this man that, a short time 
 ago, a Turk of Jumah (the village through which 
 we passed in the morning), went to Oogya 
 Juah with sixty thousand piastres to purchase 
 tobacco. He took with him a Bulgarian guide, 
 appointed by the Cossack officer we had seen 
 at Cazan. When near Ferdich, his guide left 
 him. Wishing to speak to the head Bulgarian 
 of the village, he was directed by the villagers 
 to a place where they told him he would find 
 the person of whom he was in search. The 
 Turk went as directed ; but no sooner had he 
 arrived, than he was surrounded, robbed, and 
 murdered, by a gang that had been lying in 
 ambush for him. This is an illustration of the 
 consequences likely to ensue from arming one 
 class of inhabitants against the other. 
 
 From my inquiries here, and in other 
 Turkish villages in Bulgaria, I found that the 
 Mahometans entertained the same hostility to 
 their government as did their countrymen at 
 Adrianople. They are further strengthened in 
 this feeling by their commercial intercourse with 
 the Tartars of the Crimea, formerly their fellow- 
 subjects, and still the professors of the same
 
 JUMA. 319 
 
 religion. They hear from them that large 
 fortunes are made by Mahometans, whose 
 property is respected, and who are allowed 
 the free exercise of their worship. 
 
 November 7. A fine frosty morning: at an 
 hour before break of day, we left our night's 
 quarters, and passing between two mountains 
 which run parallel to each other, we entered 
 the gorge whence the name of the village is 
 derived. 
 
 The road is narrow, leading along the ridge 
 of a precipice, which the feeble light of the 
 stars scarcely enabled us to avoid. 
 
 Emerging from the pass, which was two 
 miles in length, we came, at daylight, on a 
 plain with occasional slopes, bounded on three 
 sides by mountains, forming an amphitheatre 
 of sixteen miles' diameter. 
 
 As the country was for the most part a 
 dead flat, we asked when we should complete 
 our passage through the Balcan : great was our 
 surprise at being informed, that we had already 
 crossed this celebrated chain of mountains. 
 
 We passed through Juma, a town containing
 
 320 VILLAGES RASED TO THE GROUND. 
 
 about four thousand inhabitants. We did not 
 stop here, but pushed on to the heights which 
 bound the open country surrounding the town 
 towards the east, and which command Shumla 
 from the north and west. 
 
 We saw, at intervals, five small villages, 
 two Turkish, and three Bulgarian. The Chris- 
 tian houses are generally the neater. The 
 Mahometan residence can always be distin- 
 guished by having two houses within the same 
 enclosure ; the one for the peasant himself, 
 and the other for the women of his family. 
 
 The country is particularly fertile, and, if 
 fairly treated, would be most productive ; 
 but here, as elsewhere in Turkey, the genius 
 of misrule presides : tombstones and fallow 
 lands bespeak a population that once was, but 
 has now passed away. 
 
 Our ride took us over the sites of several 
 villages which had been rased to the ground 
 by the governor of Shumla, in the disturbed 
 times of Sultan Selim. Some of the ruins 
 bore the marks of more recent destruction. 
 Foreign war had finished the ruin which
 
 HEIGHTS ABOVE SHUMLA. 321 
 
 domestic strife had begun. The license of 
 the Turkish and Russian armies has made the 
 picture of desolation complete. 
 
 The ascent to the heights above Shumla 
 is very steep ; they are separated from each 
 other by deep perpendicular rocky ravines, 
 clothed with wood. So abrupt and precipitous 
 are they, that Mustapha, who always prefers 
 a short cut, brought us, unawares, to the 
 very brink of one of these yawning chasms, to 
 the bottom of which we should have fallen, if 
 our horses had not possessed a more in- 
 stinctive knowledge of the danger than our- 
 selves. 
 
 With some difficulty we regained the road : 
 we now ascended a narrow pass. The moun- 
 tains about Shumla are covered with a thorny 
 brushwood, which forms a highly advantage- 
 ous cover for light infantry, particularly for 
 Turkish troops, who fight so much better in 
 ambuscade. The summit of the pass is crowned 
 by five Turkish field-works. This position I 
 consider to be quite impregnable, as, indeed, 
 is every advance by the mountain side. 
 Around were the sites of several encamp- 
 voL. I. y
 
 322 SEARCH FOR A HOST. 
 
 ments, which had been quitted for quarters 
 in the town. 
 
 The descent from the heights brought us 
 to Shumla. We entered the town without 
 passing through a single gate, or being asked 
 any questions. 
 
 At the outskirts we saw about four hundred 
 troops at the European drill : I was in uniform 
 at the time. No sooner were we seen than the 
 drums beat, and the troops shouldered their 
 arms, but we avoided the compliment by 
 passing to the rear. We were evidently mis- 
 taken for Russians, as the commanding officer 
 came up, and, saluting us, asked us if their 
 drill was not kurasho, Russ for " good." 
 
 The streets were so full of troops, that our 
 horses could scarcely make their way through 
 the crowd. The soldiers made no attempt 
 to annoy us, further than by an insulting 
 sound with their mouths, and crying out 
 Muscove (Muscovite) as loud as they could 
 bawl. 
 
 The number of troops stationed here pro- 
 mised badly for lodgings. Mr. Duveluz had 
 given us a letter to Mr. Haggermann, a Hano-
 
 A RENEGADE DOCTOR, 323 
 
 verian in the medical service of the Turkish 
 army. In the market-phice we met one of the 
 grand vizier's kavasses, who turned out to be 
 an acquaintance of Mustapha's. He inquired 
 of him for Mr. Haggermann. 
 
 " Of what nation is lie ?" asked the kavass. 
 
 '* He is a Nemshee'' (German), replied Mus- 
 tapha. 
 
 ** Is he a Giaour, or a Mussulman ?" 
 
 " He is a Giaour." 
 
 ** Ah ! he was an infidel once, perhaps, but 
 now he is a true believer. He is hakim bashee 
 (chief physician) to my master, the vizier, and 
 his name is Mohumud Aga. Come along with 
 me, and I will introduce you to him." 
 
 We followed our guide through several 
 winding streets. At last we gained admittance 
 into a court-yard. Ascending a kind of lad- 
 der staircase, we came to a dark room, well 
 furnished with ottomans. Here we saw an 
 oldish - looking man, with haggard features, 
 bleared grey eyes, a reddish nose, grizzly 
 mustachios overshadowing his mouth, and a 
 countenance indicating unrestrained indulgence 
 in the bottle, and in other pleasures. He was
 
 324 A RENEGADE DOCTOR. 
 
 dressed in full Turkish costume, and was sur- 
 rounded by several officers, who were all 
 smoking their pipes. 
 
 As soon as he saw us approach, he started 
 from his couch with a most un-oriental ala- 
 crity, and asked the kavass what brought us 
 there ? He was told that we came to solicit 
 his hospitality. He immediately loaded the 
 kavass with a heap of abuse, in Turkish, for 
 bringing us to him; and added, " Take these 
 fellows away, you pezavmk ; I'll have nothing 
 to say to them." Then, addressing himself to 
 us in German French, he politely apologised 
 for his inability to accommodate us in his 
 quarters. 
 
 Mr. Duveluz had represented his friend 
 Haggermann as a man of mild and amiable 
 manners. The personage we hadjust seen cer- 
 tainly did not answer this description, though 
 he did in the coincidence of language and pro- 
 fession. There was no time for debating these 
 contradictions, and the only chance of a roof 
 over our heads seemed destroyed. We wan- 
 dered about the town almost in despair. Khan 
 after khan was visited : at every gate a sen-
 
 MISERABLE LODGINGS. 325 
 
 tinel was placed, and at every one were we 
 denied admittance. After a long search, we 
 discovered, in the market-place,, a wretched 
 khan, that had been set aside for merchants. 
 We were lodged in the lower range of rooms, 
 in the court-yard, on the slope of an inclined 
 plane. Our apartment was eight feet square, 
 by six high. It was situated below the level 
 of the ground, and was so damp as to be 
 almost in a muddy state : a mat, completely 
 rotten, from the moisture of the earth, was our 
 only protection from its humid influence. A 
 few wooden bars served for a window-frame, 
 and there were no shutters ; the door was full 
 of holes, and did not meet its posts by several 
 inches ; there was no fire-place whatever ; the 
 day was as wretched and raw as the month of 
 November could make it, for though the air was 
 extremely damp, it was bitterly keen, — the 
 forerunner of the heavy snow which we shortly 
 afterwards experienced. Mustapha, the surijee, 
 and myself, were exceedingly unwell, and so 
 completely knocked up with illness, that we 
 could not have proceeded, even if our horses 
 had been competent to the journey.
 
 32G MR. HAGGERMANN. 
 
 With such sorry entertainment for man, the 
 poor beasts could not expect to be very well 
 off; and our surijee brought us the unpleasing 
 intelligence, that it would be impossible to 
 procure corn for our horses. 
 
 A beam of hope gleamed upon us, when 
 we discovered that the German renegade we 
 had seen, was not Mr. Haggermann. A person 
 proposed to shew us his quarters ; we therefore 
 remounted our horses, and proceeded with him. 
 We found the doctor, to all appearance, at 
 death's door ; he was in a burning fever, and 
 unable to speak, except in a whisper. Even 
 under such circumstances, he was not deficient 
 in that kindness and hospitality which we had 
 been assured of meeting at his hands. He sent 
 a servant with us to a friend, who proved to be 
 the identical Mohumud Aga we had seen in 
 the morning. He received us more civilly the 
 second time, and talked of some arrangements 
 about finding us a room. In the mean while, 
 we returned to our khan, and shortly after, 
 Mr. Haggermann's servant came to tell us that 
 he had prepared an apartment for us in his 
 master's house. This was joyful intelligence
 
 TURKISH EXECUTION. 327 
 
 to US ; for I feel confident, that neither Mus- 
 tapha nor myself could have survived a night's 
 lodging in the wretched hole we now quitted 
 with such satisfaction. 
 
 Within a few yards of the khan, we saw 
 eight or ten persons standing in a circle. We 
 rode up to the spot to observe what had attract- 
 ed their attention. It was a human body, with 
 the head severed from it. The neck was very 
 much jagged, and seemed as though several 
 blows had been inflicted, before the execution 
 had been effected. In Constantinople the 
 severed head is always placed under the arm, 
 but here it had been replaced on the neck. 
 The corpse was yet warm and smoking ; the 
 decapitation must therefore have taken place 
 only a few moments before our arrival. So 
 indifferent did the people seem to this spec- 
 tacle, that it caused no stir whatever in the 
 market - place ; and the master of the khan, 
 whom we had despatched for bread, went 
 out and returned without stopping to look at 
 the execution, though he must have passed 
 by the spot where it took place, both in going
 
 328 OBSERVATIONS ON THE CULPRIT. 
 
 and returning. Nor did he make allusion to 
 the circumstance in the slightest manner. 
 
 The crime of the deceased was robbery : 
 he had that moment been caught by some sol- 
 diers, on the same road as that by which we 
 entered Shumla. It is therefore possible, that 
 he was in ambush when we passed. 
 
 The gang to which this man belonged was 
 very numerous. Some had been shot by the 
 soldiers, others had been beheaded, and five 
 of them had suffered the dreadful ordeal of 
 impalement at Adrianople. We heard from 
 persons who had been present at these execu- 
 tions, that the dogs had eaten away the lower 
 extremities. 
 
 The person whose body lay before us was a 
 Turk. It is very rare that an individual of this 
 nation is guilty of robbery ; when it does occur, 
 something may generally be pleaded in exte- 
 nuation. The present sufferer was an Arnaout, 
 a Mahometan Albanian, belonging to the army 
 of the Pasha of Scutari, and therefore an ex- 
 ception to the general rule of Turkish honesty ; 
 but even for him souie excuse might be adduced.
 
 TERMINATION OF OUR ADVENTURE. 329 
 
 The corps to which he belonged had mainly 
 contributed to the defence of Shunila : at the 
 signing of the peace, the Albanians, being irre- 
 gular troops, were speedily disbanded, and sent 
 away without either thanks or remuneration. 
 Thus turned destitute on the world, many of 
 them joined some disaffected regulars of the 
 army, and forming together a banditti, resorted 
 to the desperate remedy of obtaining funds by 
 plunder to enable them to return to their own 
 country. 
 
 A short ride brought us to the residence of 
 Mr. Haggermann. Here, by the kindness of 
 our host, we partook of a Mahometan dinner, 
 seasoned with the Christian addition of wine — 
 an agreeable termination to the events of a 
 day, which had appeared so inauspicious in 
 its commencement.
 
 330 THE GRAND VIZIEr's DRAGOMAN. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 The Grand Vizier's Dragoman — Visit to his Highness — 
 Michalachi metamorphosed — Military Dialogue' — Mode 
 of Signature — The Honour of Smoking in the Grand 
 Vizier's Presence — My Brother Major — Turks' Opinion 
 of British Soldiers — Turks at the European Drill — Ex- 
 treme Youth of the Soldiers — The Band — Dismissal 
 from Parade — Observations on the Changes of the Dress 
 and Arms of the Turks — Visits from the Grand Vizier's 
 Dragoman — The Archbishop of Shumla — The Turks' 
 Ignorance of foreign Languages favourable to the Greeks' 
 Revolt. 
 
 November 9. We found our host considerably 
 better this morning. When we saw him yes- 
 terday, his malady was at the crisis ; he 
 was in the utmost danger, but his constitution 
 gained the victory, and he might now be con- 
 sidered convalescent. 
 
 We informed him of our wishes to be pre- 
 sented to the grand vizier. He advised us, 
 as a preliminary, to call upon Signor Micha- 
 lachi, the dragoman to this minister. We went,
 
 VISIT TO HIS HIGHNESS. 331 
 
 as directed. He was a true specimen of a 
 Greek in office : vain, pompous, intriguing, 
 visionary, and cunning ; and he bore the marks of 
 these qualities in his countenance. He received 
 us with an air of dignified condescension, and 
 asked what letters we had. We replied, that 
 we had no documents but our passports. As 
 travelling for pleasure in such disturbed times, 
 and in such unsettled weather, had never entered 
 his contemplation, he decided that we were 
 spies, and shewed by his manner that such was 
 his opinion. In the evening he called on us, 
 and after minutely examining our passports, 
 told us that the grand vizier would grant us 
 an interview at seven the next morning. 
 
 November 10. At the appointed hour we 
 sallied forth to pay our respects to the Turkish 
 prime minister. His residence was dirty and 
 dilapidated : it enclosed a square court, that 
 was full of cannon, some of which had been 
 taken from the Russians. We ascended a 
 flight of stairs, passed though a host of attend- 
 ants, and, without being detained a moment, 
 were ushered into the presence of his highness. 
 
 He was seated on an ottoman, in the corner
 
 332 MICHALACHI METAMORPHOSED. 
 
 of a dark unornamented room. He wore loose 
 flowing robes and the old Turkish turban ; a 
 head-dress that is held in great abhorrence at 
 the Porte, being considered a mark of janiza- 
 ryism, an order of things to which his highness 
 is supposed to be very partial. 
 
 Mahomet Redschid Pasha was seraskier 
 in Roumelia in 1825, and had not long been/ 
 promoted to the vizierate when we saw him. 
 He is a Georgian by birth, and has all the 
 characteristic appearance of his country — 
 coarse, severe, but not unhandsome features, 
 large eyes, rather an aquiline nose, and good 
 teeth. He appears to be about fifty years of 
 age ; and his originally black beard is begin- 
 ning to assume a greyish tinge. He has no affec- 
 tation in his manner, and Georgian liveliness 
 seems contending with Turkish phlegm. 
 
 As soon as we had made our obeisances, 
 he motioned us to sit down. We placed our- 
 selves on his right hand. Lord Dunio being 
 next to him ; Michalachi, the dragoman, stood 
 at a respectful distance, the haughty man in 
 office being transformed into an abject slave : 
 his arms were folded, his eyes cast down, and
 
 MILITARY DIALOGUE. 333 
 
 a thick perspiration was visible on his brow. 
 In short, the metamorphosis was perfect. 
 
 Lord Dunlo was in a European dress ; I 
 wore my uniform. The vizier made a few 
 civil speeches to my fellow-traveller, and then 
 suddenly turned from the plain blue coat to 
 the embroidered scarlet one, and the following- 
 conversation took place. I should premise, that 
 my answers were dictated by a desire to re- 
 move the suspicion of our being spies, evidently 
 entertained by the vizier. He began with — 
 
 " Do you speak Turkish ?" 
 
 '' Not a word." 
 
 " Are you a nisam (a regular) of the English 
 padishah" (king)? 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 *' What is your rank V 
 
 " A major." 
 
 " Have you served ?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Against whom ?" 
 
 " Against the French." 
 
 " Where have you ever seen the Russian 
 
 army V 
 
 " In France, Russia, and Turkey."
 
 334 MILITARY DIALOGUE. 
 
 ** Do your tactics resemble theirs ?" 
 *' In all essential points." 
 " What is the difference between them?" 
 ** 1 think ours superior. We adopt the 
 march in line more generally than the Rus- 
 sians. They form in three ranks ; whereas 
 we, by marching in two, can oppose a greater 
 extent of front to the enemy." 
 
 " Why cannot they march in two ranks?" 
 ** I do not pretend to say ; perhaps it is be- 
 cause their supernumerary commissioned officers 
 are not selected from so respectable a class of 
 society as in England, and therefore so much 
 dependence cannot be placed upon their mak- 
 ing the men do their duty. In our country, 
 an ensign, in the rear of his company, thinks 
 as much of his honour and responsibility as a 
 general officer. The same feeling could not 
 exist in the Russian army, where their offi- 
 cers of the highest rank may be reduced to 
 private soldiers, and are even liable to be 
 flogged, at the whim of a superior." 
 
 " In what other points are your manoeuvres 
 different from theirs ?" 
 
 " We have a new system of drill, by
 
 MILITARY DIALOGUE. 335 
 
 which, instead of performing movements from 
 the flanks, as the Russians do, we form on the 
 centre; a mode which insures celerity, the 
 great object of all military movements." 
 
 " Shew me one of these," said the vizier. 
 This was a startling request for me, who had 
 been so long absent from regimental duty: 
 however, there was no help for it ; and, anxious 
 to remove his suspicions, 1 began my task. 
 
 The manoeuvre I selected, not for its supe- 
 riority, but because it was the first that oc- 
 curred to me, was the advance by double 
 column from the centre. 
 
 " What is the advantage of this?" was the 
 vizier's next pertinent question. 
 
 " In a mountainous country like Turkey, 
 it might be available in the passage of a defile, 
 and would be advantageous as enabling a 
 rapid re-formation into line." 
 
 I had hitherto occupied a place on his right 
 hand, below Lord Dunlo, and was proceeding 
 slowly to explain. 
 
 *' Come close to me," said his highness. 
 I obeyed him, till our knees touched : thus, 
 without the slightest premeditation on my
 
 336 MILITARY DIALOGUE. 
 
 part, I found myself face to face with the 
 dreaded prime minister of Turkey, giving him 
 a lesson on elementary drill. 
 
 I had just broken into column of subdi- 
 visions with the motion of my hands ; when 
 the vizier, seeing the difficLdty under which I 
 laboured, lent me his chaplet of beads, to 
 facilitate the explanation. 
 
 This was of great assistance, and I got 
 through the business tolerably well. After ex- 
 plaining the manoeuvre twice over, the vizier 
 seemed to comprehend. 
 
 The only person present had been Micha- 
 lachi, the interpreter. The vizier now clapped 
 his hands, and the room immediately filled 
 with meeralis and binbashees (generals and 
 colonels). '' Look," said his highness to them, 
 '' at this young officer; he is your inferior in 
 rank, and yet he knows more about his pro- 
 fession than all of you put together." (No 
 great compliment either.) Then, turning to 
 me, he said, " It is not the fault of the Os- 
 manli soldier, for he is brave enough ; it is all 
 owing to these ignorant fellows that the duty 
 in our service is not properly carried on."
 
 MODE OF SIGNATURE. 337 
 
 The assembled officers bowed respectful- 
 ly to the reproof, but did not presume to 
 answer. 
 
 " Draw out this manoeuvre upon paper," 
 said the vizier : "in the afternoon I will send an 
 officer to you, of a rank corresponding with 
 yours; he shall shew you our own book of 
 manoeuvres ; you can then explain yourself 
 more fully." 
 
 In the course of conversation, Michalachi 
 had given a wrong interpretation to something 
 which I had said. I perceived it, and inter- 
 rupted him immediately ; forgetting that I had 
 denied all knowledge of Turkish. The in- 
 cident amused the vizier, and he laughed 
 heartily. 
 
 During our interview, several papers were 
 brought for sealing. While talking with us, he 
 held out his middle finger to an attendant, who 
 smeared it with ink : the black composition 
 was then rubbed on the seal of state, which, 
 after wetting the paper with his tongue, he put 
 upon the documents. 
 
 It is worthy of observation, that the vizier 
 presented us with pipes. This is a very great 
 
 VOL. 1. z
 
 338 MY BROTHER MAJOR. 
 
 honour, as only three persons in the empire, 
 namely, the mufti, the cadi, and the beglerbeg, 
 are allowed to smoke in his presence. To such 
 an extent is this prohibition carried, that every 
 one removes the pipe from his mouth as his 
 highness passes. 
 
 In the afternoon, my brother-major, a lad 
 of about eighteen, called upon me with the 
 Turkish drill-book. I found it to comprise all 
 the simple operations, in the book known in 
 the army as the " Eighteen Manoeuvres." 
 
 The Turks have a remarkable aptitude and 
 quickness at gaining a smattering of any thing 
 they attempt to learn. The young major not 
 only shewed himself fully conversant with the 
 manoeuvres in his own book ; but, after a very 
 few repetitions, seemed fully to comprehend 
 the manoeuvre I had given him, and to per- 
 ceive its superiority over the old mode of 
 moving from the flanks. 
 
 To facilitate his comprehension further, I 
 made a plan of the manoeuvre, and drew up 
 an explanation in Italian, which Michalachi 
 interpreted into Turkish. I afterwards heard, 
 that on the next, and for several days follow-
 
 EXTREME YOUTH OF THE SOLDIERS. 339 
 
 ing, the grand vizier had ordered the troops 
 to practise the manoeuvre, and had personally 
 superintended the instruction. 
 
 The Turkish major told me, that in their 
 army the English v^ere supposed to be good 
 sailors, but very inefficient soldiers. His autho- 
 rity for this opinion was his French instructor 
 of drill. 
 
 The knowledge of the source whence he 
 drew this remark settled some scruples of con- 
 science I had entertained of having, by shewing 
 this manoeuvre, in some way reflected upon 
 this instructor's military knowledge. 
 
 The observation did not surprise me, as I 
 have met with few Frenchmen who did not 
 think that the Duke of Wellington had no 
 business to win the battle of Waterloo. 
 
 In the middle of our lesson, we heard a 
 drum : it announced to us that troops were 
 proceeding to their exercise. At the major's 
 invitation. Lord Dunlo and myself accompanied 
 him to the ground. 
 
 We found a regiment of noisy children, from 
 twelve to twenty years of age. They were 
 dressed in the ungraceful uniform newly in-
 
 340 EXTREME YOUTH OF THE SOLDIERS. 
 
 troduced ; tight blue jackets, trousers full to 
 the knee, and fitting close to the calf of the 
 leg. This tightness is particularly unbecoming 
 to a Turkish soldier, as (owing to their seden- 
 tary habits) it exposes the worst of a very bad 
 set of limbs ; a black leather belt was worn 
 over the left shoulder, and another was strapped 
 round the loins, the one holding the cartouch- 
 box, the other the bayonet. The fez or 
 scull -cap hanging over their ears, formed a 
 very unfavourable contrast with the graceful 
 looking shako of the Russian soldier. The 
 colours of their dresses were red, blue, or 
 brown. 
 
 The troops were formed in a line of three 
 ranks ; they then broke into columns by the 
 wheel of companies, halted, and re-formed line. 
 Of the principle of this movement they seemed 
 utterly ignorant ; for one regiment took up so 
 much distance, that it was three times the ex- 
 tent of its own front from that which it ought 
 to have joined; and another so little, that it 
 lapped over the one in front of it. After much 
 chattering and bustle between officers and men, 
 they at last formed the line.
 
 THE BAND. 341 
 
 They now went through the manual and 
 platoon exercise, which they performed tole- 
 rably w^ell, considering the incessant talking 
 they kept up during the drill. The fire-lock 
 exercise over, they again wheeled into column, 
 and continued marching to music, alternately 
 wheeling to the right and left. 
 
 But I must not omit to mention the band, 
 more especially the drum -majors of the re- 
 spective corps, as these are officers held in high 
 esteem by the Turks. The first that I saw this 
 afternoon, was about fourteen years of age. He 
 was gaudily covered with embroidered straps, 
 and performed his share of the business as well 
 as the best of them, making flourishes with his 
 badge of office, that would have done honour 
 to a French tambour- major. 
 
 The whole establishment is professedly on 
 the French model, and the tunes they played 
 were principally vaudeville airs. I cannot say 
 much for their performance, though it seemed 
 adapted to the tender age of the soldiers ; for 
 what with the squeaking of their little trum- 
 pets, and the beating of their little drums, it 
 seemed as though a toy-shop had been ran-
 
 342 OBSERVATIONS ON DRESS AND ARMS. 
 
 sacked to supply the instruments that had pro- 
 duced these martial sounds. 
 
 The dismissal of the parade was like the 
 breaking up of a school : the word was no 
 sooner given, than off ran officers and privates, 
 shouting and clapping their hands. In a few 
 moments they might be seen scattered over 
 the plain, busily occupied in every species of 
 juvenile game. 
 
 The extreme youth of the soldiery is at once 
 a matter of policy and necessity on the part 
 of the Turkish government. Their own system 
 of extermination, together with the effects of 
 the climate and the sword of the enemy, have 
 destroyed nearly all the serviceable men in the 
 empire ; and the few of mature age that re- 
 main, are supposed to be disaffected to the 
 government. 
 
 By the laws of Turkey, certain colours and 
 fashions are set apart for the Mussulmans alone; 
 and the old Turk, with his splendid cachemires, 
 his turban, and richly ornamented vest, looked 
 down with contempt on the Frank, in his plain, 
 and, in their eyes, unseemly dress, and spurned 
 the rayah whose garments bore the badge of
 
 ARCHBISHOP OF SHUMLA. 343 
 
 slavery. Repeated defeat could not convince 
 them of the superiority of Frank discipline, and 
 of the bayonet over the tumultuous mode of 
 w^arfare with the sabre and yatagan. In his 
 new uncomely dress, with arms he has not 
 learned to wield, the nizaim soldier walks about 
 ashamed of his new, and regretting his old 
 costume ; and this feeling is not yet coun- 
 teracted by any perceptible advantages. Most 
 of the Turkish officers and soldiers find them- 
 selves so uncomfortable in their European 
 shoes, after being used to slippers, that they 
 almost all wear them down at heel. The 
 sultan, and some of his cavalry officers alone, 
 seem to take a pride in their European trousers 
 and Wellington boots ; the rest feel only their 
 inconvenience and absurdity. There is no 
 doubt that this feeling contributed very much 
 to the inefficient state of the Turkish army 
 during the late war ; and the change in their 
 old enemies has been particularly remarked by 
 the Russians. 
 
 November 11. We were visited this morn- 
 ing by Michalachi and the Bulgarian arch- 
 bishop of Shumla, or despot as he is called,
 
 344 ARCHBISHOP OF SHUMLA. 
 
 a title which seems assigned in derision to 
 a rayah churchman. This last is a native of 
 one of the small islands of the Archipelago. 
 He was no sooner seated, than, as is usual with 
 the Greeks, he entered at once into abuse of 
 the Turkish government, and into a long con- 
 versation on the prospects of his fellow-ray-ahs. 
 He told us that he was highly disappointed 
 at no mention having been made of his coun- 
 trymen in the treaty of Adrianople ; and hoped 
 for a renewal of the war, as the only means of 
 release from the Turkish yoke. He stated all 
 classes of the inhabitants of Shumla to be 
 utterly ruined and highly discontented. From 
 fifteen to two and twenty soldiers were billeted 
 in every house. He begged we would not think 
 of calling upon him, as he had no room to receive 
 us in, nearly all his apartments being in the 
 occupation of a meer-ali, a general officer. The 
 grand vizier had converted the metropolitan 
 Greek church into a magazine, though, as he 
 told us, there were twenty-four mosques in 
 the town. 
 
 In this conversation Michalachi joined, and 
 appeared to take a great interest, particularly
 
 GREEK INTERPRETERS. 345 
 
 in those subjects relative to Greece. The arch- 
 bishop and Michalachi seemed to be great 
 friends, for, as they expressed themselves of 
 one another, " how can we be otherwise ? we 
 are the only two well - informed men of the 
 place !" 
 
 The blind and stupid contempt of the Turk 
 for Europeans, has made him consider it a 
 disgrace to learn their language. In his re- 
 lation, therefore, with foreign powers, he re- 
 quires interpreters, in whose power, from the 
 confidential situation they hold, he must of 
 necessity be. Whom does he employ in this 
 important office ? The Greeks, who, of all 
 people, are most interested in misleading him, 
 and who, from their talent and cunning, are 
 most able to do so. 
 
 I have before alluded to the secret intel- 
 ligence which I considered to exist between 
 Greeks of all denominations. To such an un- 
 derstanding amongst this enterprising nation, 
 what facilities are not afforded by the infa- 
 tuated ignorance of their oppressors ? Suppose 
 that the Greek rayahs were now ready to rise 
 against Turkey, and then consider the advan-
 
 346 GREEK INTERPRETERS. 
 
 tages their cause would derive from the rela- 
 tion between such a man as Michalachi, a 
 Greek, (one of which people the prime vizier 
 must employ,) and the archbishop of Shumla, 
 whose office must give him such a powerful 
 and extensive influence over so large a portion 
 of his countrymen.
 
 REMARKS ON TAXATION. 347 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Remarks on Taxation — Mohumud Aga — Reason for his 
 becoming a Mahometan — Postponement of a Turkish 
 Review — Visit the Fortifications of Shumla — The town 
 has no Walls — Chunghiul Fort — Sultan Fort — Fidia, 
 Alifatah, and Shialli Forts — Operations of the Russian 
 Army before Shumla, in 1 829 — Remarks on the Conduct of 
 the Russian Army before Shumla, Silistria, Varna — Was 
 the Turkish Commander at Varna bribed by the Russians ? 
 Visit to a Turkish General — Manual and Platoon Exer- 
 cise — Usual Extent of a Turkish Officer's Military 
 Knowledge, 
 
 We mentioned to Miclialachi the Asiatic So- 
 ciety of London, and assured him that this 
 body would willingly assist the Turkish autho- 
 rities in the translation of such scientific Eng- 
 lish works as they might consider beneficial 
 to the country. " Then," said Michalachi, 
 " you would greatly please the vizier, if you 
 would have translated for him some of your 
 best works upon taxes. We know that there
 
 348 REMARKS ON TAXATION. 
 
 is no nation that pays so large a revenue, in 
 proportion to its size, as England ; and yet 
 it is not so rich, either in soil or productions, as 
 Turkey. If, therefore, your country can pro- 
 duce so much wealth from such comparatively 
 small means, what might not this vast empire 
 furnish to the treasury, if the burden of taxation 
 were properly laid on?" 
 
 We answered : " The first step towards in- 
 creasing the taxes, would be to assist the subject 
 in the means of paying them. This might be 
 done by holding out encouragement to indus- 
 try, by securing to the people their lives and 
 properties, by removing all vexatious and 
 useless prohibitions, and by the sultan's fore- 
 going the right to monopolies, and to succes- 
 sion of his subjects' lands." 
 
 We might have quoted the substance of 
 Montesquieu's remarks on this subject,* but 
 we had said enough already, for it was above 
 
 * " R^gle generale : on peut lever des tributs plus forts a 
 proportion de la liberte des sujets ; et Ton est forcee de les 
 moderer a mesure que la servitude augmente. Cela a tou- 
 jours ete, et cela sera toujours. C'est une regie tiree de la
 
 MOHUMUD AGA. 
 
 349 
 
 the comprehension of Michalachi, who turned 
 the conversation. 
 
 We received another visit from Mohumud 
 Aga, the vizier's doctor. He seemed to be a 
 man of some information. If the circumstances 
 were related which have induced each man 
 to turn Turk, what a curious volume of 
 biography it would form ! Not that the history 
 of Mohumud Aga's conversion has any thing 
 remarkable, further than as it is identified with 
 great names. He was born of a respectable 
 family in Saxe-Coburg. Twelve years ago, he 
 became a Mahometan at Widden ; whither he 
 had fled from the Austrian government, who 
 were in pursuit of him. His off'ence was 
 delivering a letter from Napoleon to Maria 
 Louisa. Redschid Pasha, the present vizier, is 
 his Turkish sponsor, and has ever since taken 
 him under his protection. He is said to be 
 on very familiar terms with his master, and 
 to give him his opinion freely on all subjects. 
 
 nature, qui ne varie point Dans ces montagnes 
 
 steriles (la Suisse) les vivres sont si chers, et le pays est si 
 peuple, qu'un Suisse paie quatre fois plus a la nature qu'un 
 Turc ne paie au sultan." — Esprit des Loix, liv. xiii. chap. xii.
 
 350 POSTPONEMENT OF A TURKISH REVIEW. 
 
 He appears to be grateful for the kindness he 
 has received, and spoke to us in the warmest 
 terms of the vizier, who, he told us, was " un 
 esp^ce de Charles XII." 
 
 November 12. We received a message this 
 morning from the grand vizier, informing us 
 that there was to be a review of the troops, 
 which he hoped we would attend. As bad 
 luck would have it, the weather was so un- 
 favourable that this exhibition was postponed. 
 Signior Michalachi, whom we saw afterwards, 
 told us that the whole garrison had been fur- 
 nished with cartridges, in order that we might 
 judge of their skill in firing. 
 
 Disappointed in the review, we went round 
 the fortifications, in company with three Frank 
 surgeons, who had all been eye-witnesses of 
 the late contests between the Russians and the 
 Turks. We entered some of the forts, but 
 in others we could not gain admission ; our 
 Frank conductors being frequently reproached 
 by the Turks, from within, for bringing Rus- 
 sians (as they supposed us to be) to visit the 
 works. 
 
 Before our arrival here, we had expected
 
 VISIT THE FORTIFICATIONS OF SHUMLA. 351 
 
 to find Shumla a strongly fortified place ; yet 
 nothing can be more paltry than its defences. 
 In the last century it could boast of walls ; 
 but, as it was the usual residence of the grand 
 vizier, the despotic jealousy of the sultan then 
 on the Ottoman throne, induced him to destroy 
 the walls, lest his minister should, in the secu- 
 rity of the fortress, be disposed to resist his 
 imperial will. 
 
 As I mentioned before, the steepness of the 
 heights, the thickness of the brushwood, and 
 the depth of the ravines, have made the ap- 
 proach to Shumla almost inaccessible by the 
 mountains, which, in the form of a horse-shoe, 
 defend it on three of its sides. 
 
 The enclosed space which Shumla occu- 
 pies is about three miles long and two broad. 
 It is situated on the slope of the mountain, 
 and the habitations extend to the plain below. 
 Within this space there were vineyards, but 
 they have been destroyed for the grand vizier's 
 encampment. A large stream flows through 
 the town : instead, however, of being of benefit 
 to the Turks, it is one of the causes of the 
 unhealthiness of their army, as it serves as a
 
 352 CHUNGHIUL FORT. 
 
 common sewer ; and dead horses, as well as 
 every other description of carrion, are allowed 
 to impede its course, and infect the air with 
 their putrid exhalations. 
 
 The defences towards the plain consist of 
 an inconsiderable ditch ; on the inside is a 
 parapet, constructed with fascines. This 
 ditch is flanked at the angles, in the Turkish 
 fashion, by bastions, capable of containing six 
 or seven men with small arms. 
 
 The other fortifications are a few field- 
 works, most of them of recent erection. These 
 I shall attempt to describe, as well as I can, 
 from the hasty glance we were permitted to 
 take of them. 
 
 Crossing the ditch, over a wooden bridge, 
 we passed through the first gate, which is 
 called Chunghiul, because it leads to a village 
 of that name. Near the village, which is now 
 in ruins, on the summit of a hill, and on the 
 left side of the Constantinople road, is a fort, 
 also called Chunghiul, forming the battery on 
 the extreme right of the Turkish works. 
 
 The ascent from the road is rather steep, 
 but on the opposite side it shelves gradually off
 
 SULTAN FORT. 353 
 
 to an open plain. It was pierced for eleven 
 guns ; they are now nearly all dismounted, 
 but they were generally eighteen pounders, 
 and there had been a few twenty - four 
 pounders. This work did not seem very 
 difficult of approach, yet the Russians made 
 six ineffectual attempts to take it. 
 
 From Chunghiul Fort, we returned nearly 
 back to the gate by which we had entered: 
 here we saw a fort called the Sultan, which 
 defends this, and a gate a short distance fur- 
 ther on. It is nearly square, and mounts 
 twelve twenty-four pounders, which bear on 
 three of its sides. This fort was not con- 
 structed till the month of August, 1829, and 
 it is difficult to imagine why the Turks did 
 not sooner think of forming a battery in such 
 an obvious position; and why the Russians, who 
 had been some time before Shumla, did not 
 march on this point previous to its erection. 
 
 Crossing a long, sloping hill, or rather 
 ridge, which runs from the town, making the 
 curve, that formed the base of the Russian 
 line of works, we came to three forts, all 
 connected by a ditch, and each supporting 
 
 VOL. r. A A
 
 354 FIDIA, ALIFATAH, AND SHIALLI FORTS. 
 
 its neighbour on one side. Into these we 
 were not permitted to enter, the Turkish 
 troops within appearing to regard even the 
 hasty view we took of the exterior with a 
 somewhat jealous eye. 
 
 The first we came to is called the Fidia. 
 It had mounted a few thirty-six, but the 
 greater number had been twenty-four pounders. 
 The second, which is a little to the rear of the 
 Fidia, appears only to have mounted two guns. 
 Still further to the rear is the Alifatah fort, 
 with several guns. Beyond this is a larger 
 fort, called Shialli; and these comprise all the 
 fortifications towards the plain. 
 
 The Russians had been originally encamped 
 at the base of a low hill, nearly opposite the 
 Sultan fort. On the 5th or 6th of August, 
 they moved from this spot, and advancing 
 towards the Chunghiul fort, were met by the 
 irregular Turkish troops, consisting of Alba- 
 nians and Dellis. A skirmish took place, in 
 which the Russians had the advantage. Two 
 days afterwards, the Russians took up a fresh 
 encampment, on a low, isolated, and circular 
 hill, not far from Chunghiul. On the third
 
 OPERATIONS OF THE RUSSIANS IN 1829. 355 
 
 day there was a skirmish between the Russian 
 and Turkish cavalry, which was not attended 
 with advantage to either party. In the midst 
 of this affair, the Russians either fled, or pre- 
 tended to fly, to their encampment on the hill, 
 and were immediately followed by the whole 
 Turkish force, who completely surrounded 
 them. From the view we had of the position 
 taken up by the Russians, it seems miracu- 
 lous how they could escape from a place 
 from which all retreat appeared to be cut off": 
 but it seems they knew the foe to whom they 
 were opposed ; for they no sooner opened a fire 
 upon the Turks, than they retreated in the 
 greatest disorder, leaving several dead upon 
 the plain, and from three to four hundred 
 prisoners in the hands of the Russians. 
 
 From the position taken up by the Rus- 
 sians, it is probable that it was their original 
 intention to make the Chunghiul fort their 
 point of attack ; but they appear to have soon 
 become sensible of the disadvantages of their 
 situation ; for immediately after this engage- 
 ment, they took up a fresh encampment.
 
 356 OPERATIONS OF THE RUSSIANS IN 1829. 
 
 For fifteen days from this action, no other 
 took place. In the course of one night the 
 Russians threw up a work opposite to the 
 Ficlia fort. While this was constructing, the 
 Turks kept up an unremitting fire, which, 
 however, was not answered by the Russians. 
 After two days, the Russians, in their turn, 
 opened their batteries ; and, under the protec- 
 tion of the fire, formed two other redoubts. For 
 the next eight days a constant fire was kept 
 up on both sides, and it then ceased. 
 
 On or about the night of the 15th of Sep- 
 tember, from five to six hundred Russians 
 succeeded in entering the Fidia fort. With 
 a view of intimidating the Turks, they began 
 beating their drums ; but they had soon the 
 awful experience of its producing a very con- 
 trary effect from that intended. It is not 
 often that a panic seizes the Ottoman troops 
 within the walls of a fortress, however it may 
 in the open field. Accordingly, the first tap 
 had scarcely been given, when the Turks, 
 instead of flying, immediately fell upon the 
 besiegers sword in hand, and almost literally
 
 'OPERATIONS OF THE RUSSIANS IN 1829. 357 
 
 cut them to pieces. The only person saved 
 in this disastrous affair was a little Russian 
 drummer-boy, possibly the innocent cause of 
 his brother- soldiers' fate. The next morning 
 the Mussulmans sent a flag of truce to invite 
 the Christians to take away and bury their 
 dead. This over, a continued but ineffective 
 fire was kept up on both sides during that 
 day and the whole of the following night. 
 
 Three days after the abortive attempt on 
 Fidia, the Russians again engaged the Turks, 
 and were amply revenged for their defeat, by 
 killing, wounding, and taking prisoners, more 
 Mahometans than they had done in any pre- 
 vious engagement. 
 
 A Russian general, of the name of Madatof, 
 had taken an oath that he would enter Shumla. 
 A shot from a Turkish battery set fire to an 
 ammunition waggon, the explosion of which 
 mortally wounded the general ; but he kept 
 his oath, and he entered Shumla — a corpse. 
 
 Thus ended the operations against Shumla 
 in the year 1829, in which, as in 1774 and 
 1810, the Russians gained some trifling suc- 
 cesses, but were never able to take possession
 
 358 CAPTURE OF VARNA. 
 
 of the town — a circumstance upon which, now 
 that I have seen the works, I cannot rellect 
 without extreme surprise. 
 
 Whatever credit the Russians deserve in 
 the field (and they give themselves the highest), 
 they appear to have a rooted dislike to taking 
 towns, as is proved not only by their conduct 
 at Shumla, but at Silistria and Varna. 
 
 The late operations against this last-named 
 town are still less creditable to the besiegers 
 than those to which I have just alluded. 
 A naval officer, who was lately at Varna, 
 informs me that the place might have been 
 easily taken on the side towards the sea, by 
 one line-of-battle ship; yet it was besieged by 
 sea and by land, and the expedition com- 
 manded by the great Nicolas in person. It 
 is quite notorious, that although the Russians 
 had made a breach in the wall on the land 
 side, they were two days before they had 
 the courage to take advantage of it. Fur- 
 thermore, it is credibly asserted, that what 
 neither the iron nor lead of Russia could do, 
 was effected with its gold. I observe that 
 my friend Captain Alexander is of a different
 
 VISIT A TURKISH GENERAL. 359 
 
 opinion ; but, from my observations on Rus- 
 sian policy, I find it difficult to account 
 in any other manner for the reason that in- 
 duced the emperor to send Youssouf Pasha, 
 the defender of Varna, " to Odessa, with a 
 pension for life sufficient to maintain his family 
 creditably."* 
 
 November 11. We made another excursion 
 to the Turkish drill-ground. On our return, 
 we. were accosted by a meer-ali, whose rank, 
 I believe, corresponds with that of a major- 
 general in our service. He was dressed in 
 scarlet, with silk embroidery, and appeared to 
 be about twenty-two years of age. He begged 
 us to pay him a visit in his quarters. We 
 found him billeted on the Bulgarian arch- 
 bishop, the best apartments of whose house 
 he occupied. The chamber in which he re- 
 ceived us was hung round with European 
 arms. He shewed us several French double- 
 barrelled guns, and told us that he had some 
 detonating pistols. He professed to be very 
 
 * Alexander's Travels to the Seat of War in the East, 
 vol. ii. p. 17,
 
 360 MANUAL AND PLATOON EXERCISE. 
 
 anxious to see me perform the manual and 
 platoon exercise, and sent for a musket for 
 that purpose. I endeavoured to comply with 
 his request ; but the manner in which I did it 
 was only fit for the awkward squad. My 
 failure seemed to please him exceedingly, as 
 it gave him an opportunity of shewing his 
 superiority. Relieving me from my drill, he 
 proceeded to his, and went through the fire- 
 lock exercise with a precision and smartness 
 that would have reflected no discredit upon 
 a British fugleman. 
 
 It is to such points as these that the 
 attention of the Turkish officers is almost 
 entirely directed : they seem to consider the 
 whole European system of warfare to consist 
 in the duty of a drill sergeant. I shall have 
 occasion presently to recur to this subject. 
 
 The servant who presented us with pipes, 
 coffee, and sweetmeats, was a yuz-bashee 
 (a captain). He had been severely wounded 
 in the hand in some affair before Shumla, 
 and had been promoted for his gallantry on 
 the spot, from a private soldier to his present 
 rank. The menial office which he performed
 
 TURKISH EQUALITY. 361 
 
 is not thought derogatory to his situation, 
 amongst a people where every one considers 
 himself equal by birth, and where office only 
 forms the distinction.
 
 362 DEFECTIVE STATE OF THE TURKISH ARMY. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Defective State of the Turkish Army — Prospects of its Im- 
 provement considered — The Arguments adduced — Re- 
 lative State of the Mahometan and Christian Armies — 
 Feudal System of the Turks — In what different from 
 that of the Christians — Origin of the Janizaries — Their 
 severe Discipline — Success of their Arms — Their gradual 
 Decline — Abuses — Independence of the Crimea — Con- 
 sequences to the Turks — Establishment of the new Troops 
 — Their Apathy observable in the late War — The Parallel 
 between the Destruction of the Strelitz and Janizaries con- 
 sidered — Concluding Remarks. 
 
 The events of the late war convey no very- 
 favourable impression of the present effective 
 state of the Turkish army. 
 
 There is, however, a very prevalent impres- 
 sion, that the Mahometan troops, if they have 
 but leisure, will again be able to make a suc- 
 cessful stand against a Christian force. , 
 
 The advocates for this opinion contend, that 
 the late campaign is an unfair criterion of the
 
 THE ARGUMENTS ADDUCED. 363 
 
 future capabilities of the Turkish army ; that 
 the sultan was forced into hostilities at a 
 moment when, having destroyed one army, he 
 had been unable to form another ; and that 
 time to carry into effect his plan for modelling 
 his troops on the European system of discip- 
 line is the only requisite for future success. 
 
 In support of this argument, a parallel is 
 drawn between the destruction of the Strelitz 
 by Peter the Great, and that of the Janizaries 
 by Mahmoud the Second ; and a comparison 
 is also made between the character of the 
 two monarchs. 
 
 " Russia," it is argued, " was no sooner 
 relieved from the oppression of its licentious 
 militia, than it rapidly became one of the 
 greatest military powers in the world ; and 
 now that the same obstacles to the greatness 
 of Turkey are removed, it is fair to look for- 
 ward to a similar result." 
 
 The question deducible from this argument 
 is, whether there is a reasonable prospect of 
 a sufficient improvement taking place in the 
 military system of Turkey, to enable her troops 
 to compete with the armies of Europe ?
 
 364 FEUDAL SYSTEM OF THE TURKS. 
 
 The resemblance of the character of Mah- 
 moud to that of Peter shall be considered in 
 another part of the work. 
 
 I purpose, at present, to take a cursory 
 glance at the relative state of the Mahometan 
 and Christian armies, from the period that 
 they first became opposed, to the present 
 time ; — to examine the parallel attempted to 
 be established between the destruction of the 
 militia of Russia and that of Turkey ; — and to 
 offer some remarks on the prospect of the re- 
 generation of that empire. 
 
 The original military establishment of the 
 Turks resembled our feudal tenures, but with 
 this difference, that in Europe the barons were 
 the vassals of the sovereign, and paid him the 
 same allegiance that they themselves exacted 
 from their own immediate retainers ; whereas 
 in Turkey, all grants of land being held imme- 
 diately from the sultan, returned to him on the 
 death of the incumbents. Consequently the 
 feudal obligation that reciprocally bound the 
 baron and the vassal was in Turkey unknown; 
 and between the pasha and the petty feudal 
 landholder there was no tie of benevolence
 
 ORIGIN OF THE JANIZARIES. 365 
 
 on the one hand, nor of gratitude on the other. 
 Booty was the sole bond of union ; and the 
 first conquests which the Turks gained over 
 the degenerate Greeks were effected with the 
 assistance of their Tartar fellow-countrymen, 
 whom the hope of plunder had collected under 
 their banners. The campaign over, and their 
 services requited, these mercenaries returned 
 home, and gave place to a new host of adven- 
 turers, who, in like manner, deserted their ranks 
 as soon as their rapacity was satisfied. 
 
 The defect of these imperfect and precarious 
 levies was perceived by Amurath the First, who 
 resolved to remedy the evil by establishing a 
 permanent body, which should have regular 
 pay from the imperial treasury, and which, 
 from the nature of the institution itself, should 
 be unable to possess feudal domains. 
 
 For this purpose, he selected the most ro- 
 bust of his own slaves, and ordered that the 
 fifth of the prisoners of war, and the tenth of 
 the children of the Christian and tributary 
 villages, should be incorporated into the new 
 corps. Calling in the aid of religion, he de- 
 sired Hadji Becktash, a celebrated dervish of
 
 366 THEIR SEVERE DISCIPLINE. 
 
 the period, to bless and to name this new body 
 of young warriors. He called them Janizaries 
 (new troops) ; and the sign of the white sleeve 
 of the priest, which, to the period of their ex- 
 tinction, the Janizaries wore suspended from 
 their caps, recalled to the minds of the wearers 
 the counsels and laws which they had received 
 from this holy man, and laid the foundation of 
 that intimate connexion between the church 
 and the army which has caused their fall. 
 
 The Janizaries having become a permanent 
 body, accustomed to war, and subject to a se- 
 vere discipline, acquired a formidable ascend- 
 ency over the feudal levies of the Christian 
 armies. The impenetrable solidity of the close 
 columns of their infantry, withstood, unmoved, 
 the attacks of the cavalry of the allied army of 
 the Franks. 
 
 The early history of the Janizaries presents 
 one continued series of victories. This body 
 was established in 1362. At the battle of 
 Cossova, which took place in 1389, they con- 
 quered the confederate tribes of Christians, 
 whose league and independence they com- 
 pletely crushed by this decisive victory. In
 
 SUCCESS OF THEIR ARMS. 367 
 
 1396, Bajazet, at the head of his Janizaries, 
 defeated at Nicopolis another crusade of one 
 hundred thousand Christians. 
 
 By the triumph of Tamerlane over the un- 
 fortunate Bajazet, there was a check of eleven 
 years to the succession of the descendants of 
 Osman to the Turkish throne. In 1413 the 
 hereditary dynasty was restored by the Jani- 
 zaries, who served as a rallying point to the 
 Ottomans, while they kept in awe the Byzan- 
 tian emperors and the European sovereigns, 
 who, by not availing themselves of the confu- 
 sion attendant upon the interregnum, lost the 
 opportunity of driving the Turks into Asia. 
 
 In 1444, Ladislaus, King of Poland and 
 Hungary (in violation of his oath), broke the 
 peace which he had formed with the Sultan 
 Amurath the Second, and, aided by the Emir 
 of Caramania and the Byzantian emperor, in- 
 vaded the Turkish dominions. 
 
 The hostile powers met at Varna. Ladis- 
 laus was killed. " Ten thousand Christians," 
 says Gibbon, " were slain in this disastrous 
 battle : the loss of the Turks, more consider-
 
 368 SUCCESS OF THEIR ARMS. 
 
 able in numbers, bore a smaller proportion to 
 their total strength."* 
 
 Mahomet the Second, besides the conquest 
 of Constantinople, added to the Turkish pos- 
 sessions those provinces of Europe which 
 once formed the eastern division of the Ro- 
 man empire. He drove the Genoese from 
 Koffa in the Crimea, and the Venetians 
 from the island of Negropont. He disem- 
 barked his troops in Italy, and sacked the 
 city of Otranto. 
 
 Selim the First, though one of the greatest 
 conquerors of the Ottoman dynasty, was more 
 occupied in Africa and in Asia than in Europe. 
 In his reign, the Julian Alps, the Save, and 
 the Danube, formed the Turkish frontier on 
 the side of the Venetian and Hungarian ter- 
 ritories. 
 
 The triumph of the Ottoman over the 
 Christian troops was at its zenith under So- 
 liman the Magnificent, the tenth Emperor of 
 the Turks. He commenced his reign by the 
 
 * Gibbon, vol. vi. p. 450, 4th edition.
 
 THEIR GRADUAL DECLINE. 369 
 
 important conquest of Belgrade, and subju- 
 gated the island of Rhodes. 
 
 In 1526 he gained a complete victory at 
 Mohatz, in which action twenty thousand 
 Hungarians fell. Two years after the victory 
 of Mohatz, he arrived at the gates of Vienna ; 
 and but for the loss of his heavy artillery, 
 which had been intercepted in its passage up 
 the Danube, he would probably have suc- 
 ceeded in rendering himself master of that 
 city, and perhaps of fulfilling his ambitious 
 project of subjecting all Germany to the Ot- 
 toman rule. 
 
 The Mahometans continued to maintain 
 a superiority until the seventeenth century, 
 when the scale began to turn in favour of 
 the Christian arms. This advantage was 
 mainly attributable to the change which had 
 taken place in the military organisation of the 
 latter. Released from the trammels of the 
 feudal system, the sovereigns of Europe began 
 to set on foot permanent armies, and to esta- 
 blish large forces of infantry, who, constantly 
 occupied in operations and military manoeuvres, 
 acquired the important qualities of unity of 
 
 VOL. I. B B
 
 370 IMPROVEMENT IN EUROPEAN DISCIPLINE. 
 
 action and celerity of movements. Tactics, 
 stratagem, attack, and defence, were studied 
 with care and success. The chances of war 
 did not so much depend upon numbers, and 
 were more capable of being reduced to calcu- 
 lation. 
 
 The skill which some European nations ac- 
 quired in the art of war, soon became general 
 to the other Christian powers, whose religion 
 opposed no barrier to the advancement of 
 knowledo^e. But these discoveries were lost 
 to the Turks, whose minds had been impressed 
 by their priests with a fanatical horror of every 
 thing of Christian invention. 
 
 While the Frank armies were thus gra- 
 dually making progress in military knowledge, 
 not only did the janizaries make no further 
 advancement, but they were gradually losing 
 all those qualities which for so long a period 
 had gained them the ascendency over the 
 troops to whom they had been opposed. They 
 had hitherto been remarkable for their bravery, 
 their discipline, and their devotion to their 
 sovereign, because they had hitherto formed 
 a body of young slaves, who, having neither
 
 RELAXATION OF JANIZARY DISCIPLINE. 371 
 
 country, relations, nor fortune, looked to their 
 corps as their country, to the grand signior 
 as their father, and to their own valour as the 
 only means of acquiring wealth and distinc- 
 tion. But the sultans who succeeded the 
 early conquerors, ceased to command their 
 armies in person, discipline became relaxed, 
 the daily drill was not enforced, the troops 
 were allowed to pass in idleness that time 
 which had been previously directed to military 
 exercise, and were permitted to exchange the 
 duties of the soldier for the occupation of the 
 mechanic. 
 
 The privileges granted to the janizaries 
 as a military band of slaves, soon excited a 
 wish amongst free-born Mahometans to be 
 enrolled in the corps : a few were at first ad- 
 mitted ; and prisoners of war were no longer 
 incorporated. 
 
 The number of Mussulmans increasing, the 
 levies of recruits on the Christian villages 
 were dispensed with, and at length entirely 
 abolished. Abuses rapidly crept into the 
 corps ; the chiefs of regiments were allowed 
 to enrol numbers of volunteers, who neither
 
 372 JANIZARY ABUSES. 
 
 performed service nor received pay, but, proud 
 of the title of janizary, were certain of finding 
 among the soldiery zealous protectors, to whom 
 they in their turn became highly useful in 
 the times of insurrection. 
 
 As the option was granted to the volun- 
 teers to choose their own regiments, in some 
 there were ten thousand, in others scarcely 
 two hundred. The original plan, which only 
 admitted slaves and prisoners of war, being 
 lost sight of, this militia ceased to be an 
 instrument easy of management ; and, com- 
 prising gradually the whole Turkish popu- 
 lation, became entirely under the influence of 
 popular feeling. Free-born men refused to 
 submit to the discipline exacted from slaves, 
 the laws of celibacy were disregarded, and the 
 barracks became inhabited by married men. 
 
 Residence in quarters not being indispen- 
 sable to receive pay, all the principal officers 
 of government inscribed the names of their 
 own servants, who were thus supported at 
 the public charge. The pensions of several 
 veterans were frequently heaped upon some 
 favoured domestic. The pay being granted by
 
 INDEPENDENCE OF THE CRIMEA. 373 
 
 certificates from the chiefs of the corps, paved 
 the way to peculation, and became ruinous to 
 the troops. Thus, the glory, the discipline, 
 the moral and physical power of the janizaries 
 disappeared; while their pride, their political 
 importance, and the expense of their main- 
 tenance, instead of diminishing, rapidly in- 
 creased. 
 
 The first heavy reverse of fortune with which 
 Turkey was visited, arose from the defeat by 
 the Russians that led to the treaty of Kainardje, 
 in 1774, by which the Ottomans were obliged 
 to recognise the independence of the Crimea. 
 
 This treaty was most disastrous in its effects 
 on the Turkish empire, not only on account of 
 the loss of territory, but also of the political 
 embarrassments to which it paved the way. 
 I shall, however, at present consider this ques- 
 tion only in a military point of view. 
 
 Previous to the conquest of the Crimea, the 
 Tartars of that country were subject to the 
 Sublime Porte, and proved of the utmost ser- 
 vice to their allies, from the numerous hosts of 
 light cavalry which they contributed. 
 
 These auxiliaries, by their rapid, tiiough
 
 374 CONSEQUENCES TO THE TURKS. 
 
 irregular system of warfare, effectually defended 
 the Turkish frontiers, and allowed the armies 
 of the sultan to remain in full security against 
 invasion. 
 
 By the cession of the Crimea, these Tartar 
 tribes transferred their allegiance to their new 
 masters ; and under their more modern appel- 
 lation of Cossacks, have been employed by the 
 Russians to perform those services against the 
 Turks which they had previously used with 
 such success in their favour. 
 
 Thus, while the Christians became pos- 
 sessed of those light troops which they so much 
 required, the Turks were deprived of a people 
 whose method of fighting was peculiarly ad- 
 vantageous to them in their operations against 
 their northern neighbours, and who were now 
 become doubly formidable to their former mas- 
 ters, inasmuch as they had acquired a know- 
 ledge of European military improvement, with- 
 out losing any of the advantages of their own 
 national mode of warfare. 
 
 From this period, the janizaries gradually 
 became more dangerous to the government 
 from their frequent revolts, and less useful to
 
 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NEW TROOPS. 375 
 
 its defence from their ignorance and want of 
 discipline. 
 
 The defection of the janizaries had been 
 long felt by the Turkish monarchs, several of 
 whom had lost their lives in endeavouring to 
 rid themselves of this licentious corps. The 
 formation of troops upon European principles, 
 which had caused the deaths of so many of 
 his predecessors, was at length effected by the 
 present sultan. 
 
 I have already alluded to the feeling which 
 pervades the Mahometan army relative to the 
 new system of warfare. The fanaticism which 
 had led to the former rise of the Turks as a 
 military nation, has also mainly contributed to 
 its fall. The religious zeal of the nation lies 
 buried with the national corps. The "Russian 
 officers particularly remark on the diminution 
 of energy and pride which formerly distin- 
 guished their ancient foe ; for although, on one 
 or two occasions, great obstinacy and courage 
 were displayed by them, they could no longer 
 recognise the energy of the old Turk in the 
 new levies. This observation was fully con- 
 firmed by the Frank surgeons of the Turkish
 
 376 APATHY OBSERVABLE IN THE LATE WAR. 
 
 army, who were eye-witnesses of their ope- 
 rations. From both these authorities, I heard 
 that almost every act of valour was performed 
 by the Albanians and other irregular troops. 
 
 The apathy displayed by the regular Otto- 
 man soldiers was particularly observable at the 
 battle near Pravadi, which took place on the 
 11th of June (1829). All the Russian regiments 
 of cavalry were brought into action, and made 
 several unsuccessful charges, but were allowed 
 to re-form without any molestation, although 
 they frequently had no second line to cover 
 them ; a circumstance almost without parallel 
 in former wars. 
 
 During the whole war, among the quantity 
 of baggage and number of fortresses taken, 
 neither map nor plan of any description was 
 found or heard of. 
 
 From the foregoing remarks, may we not 
 fairly conclude, that Turkey has reached the 
 highest degree of military excellence of which 
 the nation is capable ; that it has been long on 
 the decline; and that, borne down by the weight 
 of its institutions, no reasonable expectation 
 can be entertained of its again rising from the
 
 OBSERVATIONS. 377 
 
 abject state into which it has fallen, unless, in- 
 deed, the present system of government should 
 undergo a complete change ? 
 
 Let us now examine the correctness of the 
 parallel between the abolition of the Strelitz 
 and the Janizaries. 
 
 The destruction of the strelitz affected only 
 the clergy and soldiery ; the landholders were 
 interested in defending the empire from these 
 two bodies ; as for their slaves, they had only 
 to obey the commands of their lords. 
 
 The destruction of the janizaries involved 
 the interests of every class of Turks. 
 
 The Russians being Christians, had no re- 
 ligious prejudices to overcome in adopting the 
 military innovations of the czar. 
 
 For the reasons alluded to in a former 
 chapter, the religious prejudices of the whole 
 Turkish nation were affected by the military 
 innovations of the sultan. 
 
 When the strelitz were destroyed, the new 
 Russian force consisted almost entirely of fo- 
 reigners. 
 
 The bigoted pride of the Turks allows no 
 infidel to enter their armies.
 
 378 CONCLUDING REMARKS. 
 
 Peter had to deal with a people just 
 emerged from barbarism ; Mahmoud with a 
 nation which had long since been verging to 
 decay. Russia exhibits despotism in its in- 
 fancy, Turkey in its old age ; and who does 
 not foresee that a country where luxury and 
 profligacy precede civilisation, where the will 
 of the tyrant is the only law, — must in time re- 
 turn to that rude state from which it has hardly 
 emerged? 
 
 What has been said relates to the state of 
 Turkey under its actual form of government. 
 If at any future period the Turks should be 
 emancipated from their present degraded con- 
 dition, — if they should be released from the 
 cruel yoke of the despot, and still more from 
 the religious thraldom of their priesthood, — we 
 may then look with confidence to their rege- 
 neration. They comprise all the materials for 
 a great and powerful people : their chivalrous 
 sense of honour, their undaunted valour, even 
 their overweening pride, would powerfully con- 
 tribute to give them a distinguished place in 
 the scale of nations.
 
 APPENDIX.
 
 APPENDIX, 381 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Nos. I. II. III. relate to the Affairs of Greece in 1828. 
 
 No. I. contains some Notes of my friend Captain Ar- 
 thur Gregory, concerning Count Capo d'Is- 
 TRiA.s, in the Morea. 
 
 No. I. 
 
 On the 14th of December 1827, His Majesty's ship 
 Warspite, commanded by Capt. William Parker, C.B. 
 was detached from Malta, by Sir Edward Codring- 
 ton, to receive on board Count Capo d'Istrias, who was 
 to embark on board His Majesty's sloop Wolf, at 
 Ancona. 
 
 The two ships met off Otranto, on the 6th of 
 January, 1828, when his excellency and suite re- 
 moved to the Warspite, and on the 9th arrived at 
 Malta, for the purpose of communicating with the 
 naval commander-in-chief on the subject of suppres- 
 sing the atrocious and frequent acts of piracy which 
 were at this time practised by the small armed Greek 
 vessels. 
 
 On the 14th January, the Warspite again sailed 
 with Count Capo d'Istrias, for Egina. A violent
 
 382 APPENDIX. 
 
 gale of wind induced them to take shelter on the 18th 
 in the gulf of Napoli di Romania, an event which, in 
 the miserable and oppressed state of that part of the 
 country, was hailed with joy by the unfortunate inha- 
 bitants, and enabled the count to communicate with 
 the chiefs of the different parties. 
 
 At this time the Palamedes, the principal fortress, 
 and from its position almost impregnable, was held by 
 Grivas, whilst Strata occupied the citadel. These two 
 chiefs had been in a state of open hostility; but 
 although the actual cannonading had ceased, the 
 spirit of jealousy existed, and the place was found 
 to be in a state of the greatest anarchy and dis- 
 organisation. 
 
 On the night preceding the arrival of the War- 
 spite, fifteen men had been killed in an attempt to 
 resist the predatory sorties of the troops from the 
 forts ; and the unhappy inhabitants had come to the 
 resolution of abandoning the town, without any means 
 of shelter, or a place to retire to, preferring exposure 
 to the weather, even at this inclement season, and the 
 misery of starvation, to the tyranny they were hourly 
 exposed to from the contending chiefs. 
 
 The seasonable arrival of the Warspite, and the 
 conference held with the chiefs, prevented the despe- 
 rate determination from being carried into execution, 
 and inspired the inhabitants with confidence. 
 
 After receiving on board the various authorities and
 
 APPENDIX. 383 
 
 heads of parties, his excellency landed under salutes, 
 amidst the acclamations of the assembled inhabitants, 
 and found means to obtain assurance from the chiefs 
 that they would recognise his authority as president. 
 They attempted to excuse their depredations, on the 
 plea of necessity. 
 
 On the 21st, the Warspite again sailed, and reached 
 the anchorage at Egina on the 23d. She had hardly 
 dropped her anchor, when four members of the exe- 
 cutive government came on board to wait upon his 
 excellency, who expressed in strong terms the indig- 
 nation of the allied powers as well as his own, at the 
 disgraceful system of robbery and piracy that was car- 
 ried on both by land and by sea, and which it was 
 their determination to put a stop to. 
 
 Early the following morning, the executive go- 
 vernment came on board to pay their formal respects 
 to the president elect, who landed at 11 a.m. in the 
 Warspite's barge, under salutes from that ship, and 
 the French and Russian men of war that were at 
 anchor there. 
 
 The same joyful feeling that had been manifested 
 by the inhabitants of Napoli, was displayed by those 
 of Egina. On this occasion, the whole followed him 
 in procession to the door of the church, where he 
 was received by the papas, singing hymns in honour 
 of his arrival, and of the allied sovereigns. After a 
 long extemporaneous harangue from a priest, exhorting
 
 384 APPENDIX. 
 
 the people to submission and confidence in their 
 president, he repaired to the house prepared for 
 him. 
 
 The whole town exhibited a lamentable picture of 
 filth, poverty, and wretchedness ; and the president's, 
 although the best house in the place, and rendered 
 inhabitable by means of furniture sent to it, was, in 
 every sense, a most miserable abode. 
 
 On the 7th of February the ceremony of inau- 
 gurating the president took place, which was attend- 
 ed by the officers of the different men of war of the 
 allied powers in the roads ; which contributed by 
 salutes, and every mark of respect, to inspire the 
 Greek people with confidence in the protecting in- 
 fluence of the aUied sovereigns. 
 
 From the moment of his landing, the president 
 applied himself most incessantly to investigate and 
 correct the abuses of the preceding government, and 
 to establish order in the provinces by repressing the 
 system of plunder and peculation that pervaded every 
 branch of the administration. He was at every step 
 thwarted in his ])lans by the interested views of those 
 who had benefited by the system of misrule he was 
 at such pains to destroy, and whose influence gave 
 them but too many opportunities of doing so success- 
 fully. 
 
 From the barbarous system of government under 
 which the Greeks have so long lived, the president
 
 APPENDIX. . 385 
 
 was aware that little could ever be expected from 
 the present grown-up generation, and his hopes were 
 limited to being able to prevent them from throwing 
 impediments in the way of his plans of ameliora- 
 tion. 
 
 At an early period he applied himself to the pro- 
 motion of national schools, making roads, encourage- 
 ment of agriculture, and to the adoption of all those 
 means by which the rising generation might be 
 brought up in a spirit of order and civilisation ; and 
 the present be encouraged to honesty and industry by 
 being enabled to reap the fruit of their labours. The 
 president also endeavoured to inculcate those principles 
 of morality and good faith hitherto totally unknown, 
 or at least totally unpractised and disregarded. 
 
 But to these plans of amelioration, the presence of 
 Ibrahim Pasha, with his army, and the great want of 
 any pecuniary supplies, offered insuperable obstacles. 
 The English and French government had given neither 
 support nor money beyond that moral assistance 
 afforded by the presence of the Warspite and the 
 Junon French frigate ; and although the Russian ad- 
 miral's instructions authorised him to relieve any 
 Greek fortress in danger of falling into the hands 
 of the Turks, and to advance a sum of money, if 
 necessary, the supply was much too small to afford 
 any real or effective assistance. 
 
 Count Capo d'lstrias had very much augmented 
 
 VOL. I. c c
 
 386 APPENDIX. 
 
 the revenue, by annulling all the contracts for farming 
 the taxes, granted by the late government to their 
 relatives, and which brought in little or nothing ; and 
 by declaring illegal the sale of national lands, mostly 
 purchased by members of the government themselves, 
 and not a farthing of the purchase-money had ever 
 been received or accounted for : but this was pro- 
 spective, and gave no present assistance. 
 
 The president's efforts were also directed towards 
 placing the fortresses occupied by the Greeks in a 
 state of effective defence, and expelling the Egyp- 
 tian troops from the Morea. To effect the former, the 
 removal of many chiefs, and the garrison under their 
 orders, was indispensably necessary. 
 
 With this view, and to quiet the demands of the 
 troops for their arrears of pay, the military leaders 
 were convoked to a meeting on the plains of Damata, 
 in the neighbourhood of which about 2000 Roume- 
 liot troops, under the orders of the Prince Deme- 
 trius Ypsilanti, were assembled. 
 
 The president repaired to Poros for this purpose, 
 accompanied by the Junon, Helen, and Acasta fri- 
 gates. On the 28th he inspected the troops, who 
 took the oath to obey his government ; he promised 
 them provision immediately, and to pay up their 
 arrears whenever the state of the finances permitted. 
 The reception of the president by the chief was not 
 very enthusiastic ; but, after dining with him, they
 
 APPENDIX. 387 
 
 parted very good friends. The troops were sent off 
 into Attica, to occupy the passes and to commence 
 the blockade of Athens.* 
 
 On the 29th, the allied squadron sailed from 
 Poros, and on the 2d of March arrived at Napoli di 
 Romania, for the purpose of getting possession of the 
 forts. 
 
 Notwithstanding the previous promises of the 
 chiefs. Strata and Grivas, it was very evident, that 
 had the president arrived unaccompanied by the 
 allied ships, he would not have had them given 
 up to him. On the 7th, however, the Palamedes 
 and citadel were delivered up, and immediately 
 garrisoned by detachments of Hydriots, Spezziots, 
 and Ipsariots, under Admiral Sactouris and Capt. 
 Kaica. The whole department of Napoli was placed 
 under the command of Colonel Heidegger, a most 
 distinguished Bavarian officer, who by his firmness 
 and abilities soon introduced a spirit of order, and 
 kept the turbulent chiefs in awe of him, by obliging 
 them to dismiss their numerous personal followers, 
 restricting the arms they carried about them to a 
 sabre, and punishing with heavy fines every one who 
 disturbed the peace by firing muskets, pistols, &c. 
 
 * After the blockade liad been established, Greek vessels were 
 discovered carrying supplies to the Turks at Athens.
 
 388 APPENDIX. 
 
 within the walls. Grivas had a staff appointment about 
 the president, and Strata joined General Church at 
 Dragueraestre. 
 
 Previous to giving up the forts, these chiefs had 
 disposed of most of the brass guns and stores, with 
 which they were well supplied, on their own account. 
 The motive assigned by the Roumeliots for not giving 
 up their strongholds sooner, was the uncertainty that 
 existed of the boundaries of Greece, and the fear 
 that they should find themselves excluded. 
 
 A short time before this, an expedition under 
 Sir Thomas Staines was sent to destroy the fort 
 and shipping at Carabusa, situated at the west end 
 of Candia, and which was the rendezvous and 
 asylum of the pirates that had so long infested the 
 entrance of the Archipelago. This was most effec- 
 tually accomplished ; and in the fort, plunder of every 
 description, to an immense amount, was found. On 
 this occasion, the Cambrian frigate was unfortunately 
 lost ; and the Rattlesnake, on board of which was 
 embarked the greater part of the Cambrian's crew, 
 was nearly sharing a similar fate, from which it was 
 saved by the valour and exertions of Captain the 
 Hon. Charles Bridgeman, and of the officers and men. 
 Col. Urquhart, an English officer, and about seventy 
 or eighty of the troops, in whom the president had 
 the greatest confidence, were chosen to garrison it.
 
 APPENDIX. 389 
 
 Col. Urquhart was unfortunately killed by a house 
 blowing down, against which he had taken shelter 
 in going down to dine on board the Isis. 
 
 Previous to this, an expedition was fitted out at 
 Hydra and Spezzia, under the command of Col. Fab- 
 vier, for the alleged purpose of driving the Turks oat 
 of the island; but it turned out a mere speculation on 
 the part of those who furnished the ship, to gather 
 the crop of mastic, with which, when gathered, they 
 sailed, leaving the troops to their fate, who were got 
 off with great difficulty. 
 
 Before the Palamedes was given up, intelligence 
 was received at Napoli from Candia, that a fleet 
 of thirty or forty sail, including two large frigates, 
 and several smaller Egyptian men-of-war, with provi- 
 sions for Ibrahim, had sailed from Alexandria, and 
 that fifteen of them had actually reached Suda, in 
 Candia. At the same time, notice was also received 
 from the heights of Arcadia, that a fleet corresponding 
 with the above account was seen off" the harbour of 
 Navarino on the 1st inst. 
 
 The immediate evacuation of the forts of Napoli 
 became at this moment an object of so much anxiety 
 to the president — and he had little hopes of gaining 
 possession of them if the Warspite withdrew before 
 they were given up — that it aflbrded the greatest 
 satisfaction when it was known, on the evening of the 
 7th of March, that the president was put in posses-
 
 390 APPENDIX. 
 
 sion of them; and that ship put to sea immediately, 
 to proceed off Navarino, in order to ascertain the 
 fact, and to prevent, as far as possible, further sup- 
 plies of troops or provision from entering any of the 
 ports occupied by Ibrahim Pasha. On the arrival 
 of the Warspite off Navarino, on the 12th, Captain 
 Parker learnt from Captain Latreyte, command- 
 ing the Iphigenie, cruising off the port, that the 
 fleet seen off Navarino on the 1st was a French 
 convoy. 
 
 The Warspite continued cruising close off Navarino 
 and Modon, from the 12th of March until the 6th of 
 April, and turned back some Egyptian vessels laden 
 with stores. The Rifleman, which had been despatched 
 to Suda, having brought back accounts that the fleet 
 which had arrived there, after landing its stores had 
 returned to Alexandria, the Warspite sailed for Cara- 
 busa and Egina, leaving the Rifleman off Navarino; 
 and from this time the port of Navarino was con- 
 stantly blockaded by vessels of the allied powers. 
 
 Sir Frederick Adam had a conference with Ibrahim 
 Pasha at Modon, in the beginning of February, but 
 without any result. His excellency had the satisfac- 
 tion of finding the port of Modon full of vessels, under 
 the Ionian flag, which kept Ibrahim regularly supplied 
 with provisions of every sort. 
 
 The president left Egina in the middle of April for 
 Napoli. He proposed visiting each of the islands ; and
 
 APPENDIX. 391 
 
 thinking he should be better received, and his autho- 
 rity more firmly established, if he went in a British 
 line-of-battle ship, the Warspite, accompanied by the 
 Isis and Musquito, left Egina on the 28th of April 
 for Napoli. A gale of wind obliged the ship to anchor 
 on the 29th in Garden Bay, opposite the town of 
 Hydra. On the 30th they again got under weigh ; 
 and the Musquito arriving off Spezzia before the other, 
 lay to, and Captain Martin got into his gig for the 
 purpose of landing. When in the act of quitting 
 his boat, an old pirate captain, whom he had taken, 
 and had had some time on board his brig, ran out of 
 the crowd, and told him on no account to land, as 
 the plague had broken out both there and at Hydra. 
 On the arrival of the squadron off Napoli, all commu- 
 nication with the shore was forbidden, and the yellow 
 flag hoisted. 
 
 On the morning of the 2d, Captain Parker sent 
 a boat with a letter to the president, to make inqui- 
 ries about the plague. In a short time, the secretary of 
 state, Tricoupi, came down, told the officer who went 
 in the boat that they had known of it for some time, 
 and that precautionary measures had been taken by 
 putting Hydra near Spezzia in quarantine, on the 
 24th inst., as well as Cranidi and Poros. The presi- 
 dent requested an interview any time after twelve 
 o'clock : half-past two was appointed, when an answer 
 was sent, to say it was too late that day ; but that at
 
 392 APPENDIX. 
 
 ten o'ciock on the following morning he would be at 
 the Bourdgi Fort, at the entrance of the harbour. The 
 interview was very curious : Count Capo d'Istrias at 
 first seemed to treat it very lightly, and said that ships 
 coming to help him must be exposed to contact with 
 the plague, or any thing that might happen ; but on 
 being told the best assistance ships could give him, 
 would be by keeping themselves efficient, he turned 
 the subject. His secretary of state denied that he had 
 said that precautionary measures had been taken on 
 the 24th ; but fortunately there were two or three 
 witnesses of it. It appeared that none whatever had 
 been taken until after the delivery of Captain Parker's 
 letter yesterday ; and the reason of the president's 
 deferring the interview until to-day became very 
 evident. After all the lies and evasions of the official 
 and medical men who accompanied the president had 
 been exposed, he shifted his ground, and became 
 an object of pity. He said that no order existed 
 in the country ; that he had no confidence in his 
 agents ; that he could not carry his measures into 
 effect avec des feuilles de papier. He stamped with 
 his foot, drew a most melancholy picture of the state 
 of the country, and concluded by saying, Que voulez 
 vous que je J'asse dans uii pays ou chacun est menteur ? 
 He acknowledged what he should have owned at first, 
 namely, that any attempt to form a cordon would be a 
 delusion ; but he said he would go himself to the in-
 
 APPENDIX. 393 
 
 fected island, and if he fell a victim, should at least die 
 en honmte homme. On being asked by Captain Martin 
 where the Revel, a Russian sloop of war, was gone 
 to, he broke out into a most violent rage; and, after 
 saying it was a question trh dtplacte, he never re- 
 covered himself. This extreme sensibility on all 
 questions relative to the Russians, was far from con- 
 vincing those who heard him, that the report of his 
 great predilection for Russia was not well founded, 
 and in so finished a diplomatist excited no small sur- 
 prise. Indeed, to put him at any moment off his 
 guard, it was only necessary to allude to Sir Thomas 
 Maitland and the Ionian Islands, or to ask him about 
 the Russians. Upon almost every occasion when 
 thwarted, the violence of his temper quite overcame 
 the assumed placidity of the statesman. 
 
 The accounts received from all parts are most me- 
 lancholy. Plague, famine, and every horror, appear 
 to be visiting this devoted territory. 
 
 On the 8th of May we got under weigh, and on 
 the 9th anchored in Garden Bay, where Count Heiden, 
 with part of his squadron, had arrived from Malta. 
 We weighed, with the Russian squadron, on the 10th. 
 On the 11th we arrived at Egina. On the 15th a 
 letter was received from the president, setting forth the 
 lamentable state of Greece : although highly coloured, 
 it was too true. During the whole winter, the ports of 
 Navarino, Modon, 8tc. were only partially blockaded,
 
 394 APPENDIX. 
 
 and supplies came in to Ibrahim from every part, but 
 particularly from Zante, under the Ionian flag. 
 
 When the harvest was nearly ripe in the Morea, the 
 ports were strictly blockaded, and Ibrahim could supply 
 his army only by devastating the country ; for which pur- 
 pose he is said to have caused 4000 sickles and sithes to 
 be made; and he called upon the allied admirals to en- 
 deavour to persuade the pasha to come to terms before 
 devastating and ruining the country. The Russian 
 admiral fully agreed to it, and wrote to Admiral de 
 Rigny to join him in a letter to Ibrahim to that effect. 
 The state of misery in the country is dreadful. A 
 hundred bags of bread were landed from the War- 
 spite, for which the president expressed the greatest 
 gratitude. 
 
 We sailed on the 24th to join Admiral Sir E. 
 Codrington, who is off Navarino. Arrived on the 
 29th off that place ; but the admiral had returned to 
 Malta, after writing a very strong letter to Ibrahim, 
 upon the system of devastation and cruelty he had 
 adopted. The Rattlesnake, Etna, a French frigate, 
 and brig, were blockading the port. 
 
 On the 6th of June, the Rifleman sloop and a 
 French brig arrived with a Turkish flag of truce, 
 which had been sent up to Corfu to obtain a relaxa- 
 tion of the blockade, but which had been refused by 
 Sir Frederick Adam and Count Guilleminot. We went 
 into the harbour of Navarino. At day-break on the
 
 APPENDIX. 395 
 
 7tli, two Egyptian corvettes attempted to get into 
 Navarino, by running close along the shore ; but the 
 Warspite being near the land, fired some shots over 
 them, to which they paid no attention, and it became 
 necessary to open the main and lower deck guns upon 
 them. The leading corvette soon bore up, and in a 
 few minutes the other did the same. Upon their 
 being boarded, they were found to be from Alexandria, 
 with stores fox Ibrahim. They had suffered very much, 
 and had four men killed and some wounded; but 
 neither a surgeon nor carpenter was on board either 
 vessel. They sustained the heavy fire with the 
 greatest gallantry ; and a certificate of his good con- 
 duct, accompanied by a warning not to return, was 
 given to the senior captain, who said he ate the 
 Pasha of Egypt's bread, and if he desired him to 
 return he certainly would. After repairing their 
 damage, they were sent off to Alexandria, under con- 
 voy of the Rattlesnake, which was to see them off 
 Candia. The island of Sparteria was covered with 
 troops looking on, and several shots fell among 
 them. 
 
 On the 8th a boat, with a flag of truce, came 
 out of Modon, bearing a letter and message from 
 Ibrahim Pasha, which announced the mutiny of the 
 Albanians at Coron, and their determination of re- 
 turning to Roumelia. He attested, before the uni- 
 verse, that he ought not to be held responsible for
 
 396 APPENDIX. 
 
 the excesses they might commit in crossing the 
 Morea. He requested a conference on shore, and 
 a ship to take despatches to Alexandria. The answer 
 he received from Corfu, backed by the affairs of 
 yesterday, have shewn him that the blockade is 
 begun in earnest. On the 11th the conference took 
 place.
 
 APPENDIX. 397 
 
 No. II. 
 
 PROTOCOL OF CONFERENCE WITH IBRAHIM PASHA, 
 AT MODON, 11th JUNE AND 6th JULY; AND WITH 
 MEHEMET ALI, AT ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 Heads of a Conference held at Modon^ on the Wth of 
 June, 1828, between His Highness Ibrahim Pasha 
 and Captains Parker, C.B., and the Honourable 
 Charles Bridgeman, on the part of England ; 
 Captain Latreyte, of the Iphigenie, on the part 
 of France; and Captain EpANCHIN, of the Ezekiel, 
 on the part of Russia. 
 
 After the offer of pipes and coffee, (which was 
 refused, on account of the quarantine), and the usual 
 Turkish ceremonies, Ibrahim repeated nearly what 
 was contained in the message sent out with the flao- 
 of truce on the 8th ult. On being requested to send 
 an agent to warn the Albanians of the consequence 
 of committing any devastations, he replied, they 
 were a parcel of scoundrels, without any chief 
 (whom they had imprisoned), and would stone his 
 messenger ; and that he would not expose himself to 
 any insult. That the allied officers might do what 
 they pleased with them, but, for his part, he had
 
 398 APPENDIX 
 
 quite done with them, and should offer no opposi- 
 tion to their retreat across the Morea, in order to 
 embark for Roumelia. 
 
 On repeating his wish to send despatches to 
 Egypt by one of his officers, objection was made 
 to receive any one on board, on account of the plague, 
 but that his despatches should be taken care of. 
 He replied, " he had many things to communicate 
 which could not be written." A pause followed, — 
 the pasha then said, " I wish to have a conference 
 with the allied admirals : manna not being rained 
 down from heaven, as in ancient times, the now 
 strict blockade is felt, and my colonels and troops 
 manifest a great desire to return home. I had rather 
 not wait for the arrival of the admirals to forward 
 my despatches to Egypt;" and gave the alHed offi- 
 cers to understand, that what he had to communicate 
 to the pasha of Egypt was what had been above 
 stated. 
 
 His highness was told, that now the important 
 nature of the despatches he wished to forward was 
 known, his request should be complied with, and it 
 was hoped he would take every precaution in the 
 selection of the person who was to be intrusted with 
 them. 
 
 It was answered, that the pasha, and those about 
 him, used every precaution against the disease, and 
 no one took greater pains to guard against it than
 
 APPENDIX. 399 
 
 himself; that he should never forgive himself, and 
 consider his honour lost, if he had been the means of 
 introducing the plague on board ; that he would 
 strip the clothes off his own back to clothe the mes- 
 senger, rather than that any risk should be incurred. 
 
 With respect to the affair of the 7th, he said, that 
 all parties had done their duty ; and although that 
 on the part of the Warspite had been rather rigidly 
 performed, no complaint could be made. 
 
 He then said we had talked long enough on 
 business, and wished to talk on something more 
 agreeable. 
 
 After a general conversation, all the parties took 
 their leave. 
 
 The Rifleman arrived at Alexandria on the 17th of 
 June, 1828, and landed the bearer of Ibrahim's des- 
 patches, Baki Effendi, and his servant. 
 
 The pasha, Mehemet Ali, appointed eleven o'clock 
 on the following day to receive Captain Michell, at 
 his palace on the sea side. 
 
 On the 18th, Captains Michell, Richards, and 
 Rooke, accompanied by the British consul and his 
 dragoman, had an audience of the pasha. 
 
 After coffee, and the usual Turkish ceremonies. 
 Captain Michell requested to know when he might 
 expect an answer to the despatch brought by him. 
 The pasha replied, he could give no answer under 
 twenty-five days.
 
 400 APPENDIX. 
 
 Captain Michell then said, that Ibrahim Pasha 
 had given the alhed officers to understand, at their 
 conference on the 11th, that the despatches he wished 
 to send were of the last importance, and they had 
 hoped a speedy answer would be sent to them. 
 
 Mehemet Ah admitted the importance of the des- 
 patches to all parties. Captain Michell then further 
 said, that as the allied admirals would be assembled 
 off Navarino before his return, they might expect an 
 answer. Mehemet replied, that whether he sent an 
 answer or not, the admirals would carry into effect 
 any thing they might have decided upon, and that he 
 could send no reply under twenty-five days. 
 
 Not being able to obtain any more satisfactory 
 answers from the pasha, who immediately changed 
 the conversation, the above mentioned took their 
 leave. 
 
 It having been thought possible that the presence 
 of the consul, and one or two others, might have 
 prevented the pasha from entering into the nature of 
 the communication brought from Ibrahim, Captain 
 Michell requested an audience of Mehemet, under 
 the pretext of taking leave, which was fixed by the 
 pasha an hour after sunrise, on the 22d, when Cap- 
 tain Michell saw the pasha, unaccompanied by any 
 one except the dragoman and Captain Gregory. 
 
 The interview was very short, and Mehemet did 
 not allude, in the remotest manner, to the affairs of
 
 APPENDIX. 401 
 
 Greece, or tlie answer to his son, except by informing 
 Captain Michell, that the Baki Effendi was to remain 
 at Alexandria on account of some family affairs, and 
 the man who was sent with him as his servant, 
 was now said to be a person of some consequence, 
 who would take charge of the despatches for 
 Ibrahim. 
 
 When Captain Michell was going on shore, the 
 French corvette, La Diligente, was getting under 
 weigh : he had scarcely left the pasha's palace, when 
 she was under sail. Before the Rifleman had got her 
 anchor up, the corvette cleared the harbour and 
 shoals. 
 
 Heads of a Conference held at the Camp, near Modon, 
 on the 6th July, 1828, betiveen His Highness Ibra- 
 him Pasha, and Admirals Count Heiben and 
 De Rigny, Commodore Campbell and Captain 
 Parker. 
 
 After the usual compliments, M. de Rigny said the 
 interview had been requested, in order to know what 
 answer had been brought by the messenger who arrived 
 in the Rifleman. 
 
 The pasha replied, that he had written for sup- 
 plies, and that Mehemet had referred him to the 
 allied admirals. 
 
 VOL. I. no
 
 402 APPENDIX. 
 
 He was told that the allied squadrons were sta- 
 tioned off Navarino in order to prevent supplies from 
 coming in, and that most assuredly the blockade 
 would be continued with the greatest rigour : Count 
 Heiden added, that the time probably was not far 
 distant when a body of troops would be landed to 
 assist the naval forces. 
 
 To these, and other remarks and questions, the 
 following is the substance of the pasha's answers : — 
 " If troops be landed, we (the Turkish troops) will 
 know how to defend ourselves ; we have sabres in our 
 hands, and can die but once. I am fully aware of 
 the kind intentions of the allies towards me : I have 
 given a proof of it by remaining quiet, without making 
 any movement, for eight months, and in releasing 
 800 Greek slaves, without requiring ransom, which 
 is very different from the conduct of the Greeks to- 
 wards myself. The time is not yet arrived for me to 
 yield to the pressure of famine, and I will convince 
 you of it, by conducting you round my magazines. 
 I am not in the situation of European generals, who 
 may capitulate, as in their countries there are laws, 
 customs, and order, that enable them to do so with 
 honour, none of which exist in this country, and 
 under the government I serve : whatever my own 
 wishes may be, I must consult the prejudices of those 
 about me. The pashas who have capitulated did not 
 do so until they were reduced to eat human flesh
 
 APPENtHX. '403 
 
 and the leaves of trees, but I am not yet reduced 
 to that alternative." 
 
 In answer to some questions from Captain Parker 
 requesting to know whether he did not inform the 
 commanding officers of the allied squadron, at their 
 last conference, on tlie 11th of June, that he was 
 very badly off for provisions, and his troops and 
 officers discontented, and desirous of returnino- to 
 Egypt; and that the object of his wishing to send a 
 messenger to Alexandria, was to inform his father, 
 Mehemet Ali, of his real situation, — he said it was 
 true. 
 
 He explained the late affair with the Albanians 
 from Coron. He acknowledged he had promised 
 not to interfere with them on their retreat across 
 the Morea, but described the recent skirmishes as 
 accidental : he repeated his intention of offering no 
 obstruction to their retreat from Karitena, or to their 
 embarkation at whatever point the commissioners of 
 the Greek government might conduct them. 
 
 He refused, or postponed the compliance with, 
 the request of Count Heiden, to exchange four Greeks 
 (who were named) against some Turkish or Arab 
 prisoners, and made several allusions to the corvette 
 that had been detained by Count Heiden. He also 
 alluded, very sarcastically, to the Greek squadron. 
 Many of these remarks, and much irritation that he 
 displayed, were subsequently accounted for, by hearing
 
 404 APPENDIX. 
 
 that he had mistaken M. de Catacazy, who accom- 
 panied Count Heiden, for the President of Greece, 
 Count Capo d'Istria, who he knew to be on board 
 the squadron, from the Greek flag flying at the fore- 
 mast of the Warspite. 
 
 By this time the conversation had become general; 
 and M. de Rigny was talking very earnestly, in a 
 low tone of voice, to the pasha's dragoman, when he 
 suddenly called every one's attention to what he 
 said was an important fact, and might be of service, 
 and desired the dragoman to repeat an answer the 
 pasha had just given him, which was, that he was 
 quite ready and willing to embark and evacuate the 
 Morea, the moment a fleet arrived to carry him 
 away ; but that he came in a Turkish ship, and would 
 return in no other ; that the conditions could be made, 
 and guarantees for the evacuation given, when the 
 fleet arrived : it would then be time enough to enter 
 into details ; but that he was quite ready to go. 
 
 On Captain Michell observing (in answer to a re- 
 mark of Admiral de Rigny, that he had private intel- 
 ligence that the Pasha of Egypt intended to send 
 vessels in thirty days, to bring away Ibrahim's troops,) 
 that the pasha had held language to him (Captain 
 Michell) which did not tend to confirm such a report, 
 Ibrahim was again asked to declare frankly what 
 answer he had received from Alexandria. He replied, 
 that he should receive an answer in twenty-five days.
 
 APPENDIX. 405 
 
 M. de Rigny again said, he understood Mehemet 
 had consented to send shijDS to bring him away in 
 thirty days ; to which the pasha replied (turning to 
 M. de Rigny), " if you have such intelligence, why 
 press me any further ?" 
 
 Sulyman Bey then said, that he spoke in the 
 name of the colonels and chiefs of the army, who 
 were all tired with the service upon which they were 
 employed, and would embark the moment sl.ips ar- 
 rived for them ; and if Ibrahim made any opposition 
 to it, they would bind him hand and foot, and carry 
 him on board. That the answer received yesterday 
 merely desired them to have patience, and care should 
 be taken of them. 
 
 This having caused some interruption, during the 
 time that every one was standing. Commodore Camp- 
 bell told Admiral de Rigny, that Ibrahim must be 
 informed, in order to be aware of the conditions upon 
 which Mehemet's fleet would be allowed to enter 
 Navarino, and of which (condition) nothing had yet 
 been said ; that such a step could not be allowed, 
 until sufficient guarantees had been given, both by 
 himself and Mehemet Ali, for the restitution of the 
 Greek slaves, both those in the Morea and those 
 already conveyed to Egypt, as the instructions of the 
 British commodore did not authorise him to close any 
 negociation without these being agreed upon. It 
 was explained, that although it was not positive that
 
 406 APPENDIX. 
 
 such a condition would be required, it still was one 
 which the government might insist upon, before 
 coming to any decisive engagement ; and that he 
 (Commodore Campbell) thought it right not to quit 
 his highness without making him acquainted with it, 
 that if the negociation was renewed, the pasha might 
 not complain of a fresh condition being imposed since 
 the present conference. 
 
 M. de Rigny evinced the greatest reluctance to 
 this being communicated to the pasha, and mentioned 
 several objections his highness would make to it; 
 but on being told, such objections had better come 
 from the pasha than any body else, he finally, though 
 very reluctantly, mentioned it to the dragoman. 
 
 The pasha protested strongly against it. He said 
 he was perfectly willing to give up all the slaves he 
 had with him in the Morea, but to make such a request 
 for those already conveyed to Egypt, was a blow 
 at their religion and their customs, and would be 
 looked upon as the greatest of exactions, and the 
 grossest injustice ; that it would come in contact with 
 their most inveterate prejudices, and would infal- 
 libly create confusion and revolution from one end 
 of the country to the other ; and that, however willing 
 to give up their own slaves here, they would all 
 rather die than consent to a proposition they deemed 
 so monstrous. That it ought not to be proposed; 
 and was an act of injustice, as regarded the time
 
 APPENDIX. 407 
 
 of making- it, which should have been immediately 
 after the battle of Navarino, and before those slaves 
 had been sent over to Egypt. 
 
 The anger evinced by the pasha, which made 
 him walk about the room with his hands lifted up, 
 put an end to the conference ; and, after taking, 
 leave, the allied officers departed in the same order 
 they arrived, M. de Rigny putting himself at the 
 head, " because," as he said, " he was in pratique." 
 
 On arriving at the place of embarkation, sheep, 
 poultry, and vegetables, were brought down to the dif- 
 ferent boats as presents from the pasha : they were, 
 however, rejected. 
 
 The British officers embarked on board the Ala- 
 crity, which had come close in to receive them, where 
 they were shortly afterwards joined by Count Heiden 
 and his officers. The Russian admiral was in a state 
 of great excitement, having learnt from an attache of 
 M. de Ribeaupierre, who accompanied him, that M. 
 de Rigny had told the pasha, if any conditions were 
 made relative to Mehemet's fleet entering the port of 
 Navarino under convoy of the allied squadron, to 
 object to the Russians forming part of it.
 
 408 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. III. 
 
 Extracts from a Letter written hy Captain ARTHUR 
 Gregory, relative to the Affairs of Greece in 
 1828. 
 
 Warspite, Malta, July 26, 1828. 
 Since I wrote to you I have hardly been out of the 
 ship, except on occasional short excursions : we have 
 been principally employed in blockading Navarino, 
 Modon, and Coron : the whole scene was quite new, 
 and very interesting to me. We stopped a great many 
 vessels, and had a regular skirmish with two Turkish 
 corvettes, that would persist in trying to get in : they 
 would have succeeded, as they were close under their 
 own batteries, but from the heavy and well-directed 
 fire from this ship, which in a few minutes longer 
 would have sunk them both ; so that, on the whole, I 
 have passed my time very agreeably. We had two 
 conferences with Ibrahim Pasha, both of which, and 
 particularly the second, were highly interesting and 
 curious. The first took place, at his own request, a 
 day or two after the affair with the corvettes. We 
 were conducted in great state through the fortress of 
 Modon, into his camp, to a pavihon, where he passes
 
 APPENDIX. 409 
 
 his time during the heat of the day. He received us 
 standing, with the chiefs of his array on his left 
 hand ; they were in splendid dresses, and had each 
 of them the order of the crescent and star, in diamonds, 
 on their breasts. 
 
 The pasha is a large, bulky figure, strongly marked 
 with the small-pox, but with an expression of coun- 
 tenance far from disagreeable : his was a face, however, 
 that I thought at the time must be terrible when his 
 angry passions were roused, and in which I was fully 
 persuaded at our second conference. His beard was 
 very thin and scanty ; but whether that was natural, or 
 caused by his having plucked it up by the roots, under 
 the influence of passion, I do not know. His dress 
 was apparently plain, but all the garments were of 
 the richest stuffs ; and he wore the finest shawl I 
 ever saw, and which I quite envied him the pos- 
 session of. 
 
 After many compliments, and most tender inquiries 
 respecting our health, and fears that we led a triste sort 
 of life in watching him so closely, he offered us pipes 
 and coffee : we refused them on account of the plague. 
 He then sat down, begging us to do the same, and 
 assumed an attitude, leaning on his sword, com- 
 pletely what I remember as a child to have thought 
 the appearance of a grand Turk. 
 
 I was very much amused at an expression he 
 used in urging a request to be allowed to send an
 
 410 APPENDIX. 
 
 officer of distinction to Egypt in one of the ships of 
 the allied squadron. He said, " As manna is not rained 
 down from Heaven, as in ancient times, and the block- 
 ade has of late been very strict, I am much straitened 
 for provisions, and my colonels and officers wish to 
 return to Egypt." He was told, that now, as the 
 important nature of the despatches he was anxious to 
 send was known, his wish should be complied with. 
 He then said, he had talked long enough on business, 
 and he was desirous of changing the conversation to 
 something more agreeable ; and a regular sort of chit- 
 chat began, which was rather difficult to keep up. 
 
 Two days afterwards I embarked in the Rifleman 
 sloop-of-war, which went into Modon, and took on 
 board an officer of Ibrahim's ; we sailed for Alexandria, 
 where we arrived in three days, having had a beau- 
 tiful passage. I was very much amused with all I 
 saw there, so totally different to any thing I had ever 
 seen before. 
 
 We had two audiences of the pasha, in his palace, 
 where he comes to pass the day : I was very much 
 amused and diverted at the time he named for our 
 second audience — one hour after sunrise, by which 
 time the old gentleman had come in from his country 
 seraglio, (where our janizary assured us that he had 
 not more than four hundred wives, as all the rest were 
 at Cairo) : he had already despatched a good deal of 
 business.
 
 APPENDIX. 4 I 1 
 
 At the gate of the palace were numerous beggars, 
 sitting on the ground. The gaberdines of the men, 
 and the costume of the women, reminded me very 
 forcibly of the scene in which the chorus of Israelites 
 is introduced in " Mose in Egitto." Close to them 
 were the beautiful Arabian chargers of the officers and 
 great men who were with the pasha : their magnificent 
 housings and trappings covered with precious stones 
 and embroidery, and the dress of the Arabs, who were 
 leading them about, formed a very striking contrast 
 to the group of miserable Egyptian beggars. 
 
 On mounting a large marble staircase, we met 
 several of the principal officers, Moharem Bey, the 
 Capitan Bey, and others, followed by their pipe- 
 bearers, carrying silver tobacco-boxes, and pipes which 
 had costly amber mouth-pieces, and were studded 
 with precious stones. The antichamber was full of 
 all sorts of officers of state, and others, waiting to pay 
 their court to the pasha. At the door of the grand 
 audience-chamber were the slippers of all the persons 
 who were in attendance. We were preceded thus far 
 by our janizary, but he left us at the door, and we 
 were introduced by the dragoman. 
 
 The saloon was very large, and the ceiling gaudily 
 painted and gilt, with no other furniture than a divan 
 of rich silk and gold-embroidered cushions. In one 
 corner, between two windows, the pasha Mehemet 
 Ali sat, cross-legged, on a satin cushion : he had a
 
 412 APPENDIX. 
 
 magnificent chibouque, or long pipe, in his mouth, 
 his white beard flowed down to his knees, and he con- 
 tinually stroked it with his hand. 
 
 He had the appearance of a mild, amiable, old 
 man. In conversing with him no one would have 
 suspected he was a perfect monster, whose life had 
 been one continued scene of cruelty and perfidy ; one 
 who, by an act of almost unparalleled treason, had 
 massacred all the beys of Egypt, when under his roof, 
 with as much unconcern as lie received us. 
 
 The ministers and officers whose business had not 
 been despatched, were standing before him, without 
 their slippers, with their eyes on the ground, and 
 their hands crossed over their breasts and long beards. 
 He motioned to us to sit down ; and on a wave of 
 his hand, the room was soon cleared of every one but 
 the pasha and his body attendants. 
 
 After many inquiries about our health, he ordered 
 coffee. One of the officers went to the door, and we 
 heard a loud shouting, that lasted some time, which 
 we were told was to announce to all those who had 
 the honour of preparing and serving coffee for the 
 pasha and his illustrious guests, to bring in a certain 
 number of cups : in a short time an officer entered, 
 carrying something in both his hands, carefully co- 
 vered over with a richly embroidered satin napkin, 
 preceded by the grand officers of state, with splendid 
 sabres, and large silver-headed canes. After perform-
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 413 
 
 ino- their obeisance to his hidiness, the napkin was 
 removed, and discovered a large silver salver, with 
 the cofFee-pot, and a number of beautiful little china 
 cups, with oval bottoms, and a corresponding quantity 
 of small things like egg-cups, of gold and silver filigree 
 work, studded with precious stones, to hold the china 
 one. The coffee, no doubt, was the finest Mocha; 
 but I thought it horrid stuff,— very thick, and no 
 sugar. 
 
 We then tried to get to business with him, which 
 he parried and evaded in every way, telling us anec- 
 dotes about himself, and laughing immoderately. 
 Finding all hints and leading questions useless, we 
 were obhged to tell him that, having seen his son a 
 few days ago, he had imparted to us the important 
 nature of his despatches, and led us to hope we 
 might bring back an answer ; that the allied admirals 
 would be off Navarino before our return, and would 
 expect an answer. The only thing he would say 
 was, that he could not give any answer under twenty- 
 five days (the time necessary for a Tartar to go to 
 Constantinople and return); and as for the admirals^ 
 they would do whatever they had decided upon, 
 whether he sent an answer or not. This was all 
 we could get from him, and we literally extracted it 
 almost by a word at a time. 
 
 Finding nothing more could be done with him, 
 we took our leave, and he told us he should send
 
 414 APPENDIX. 
 
 liis chief builder with us, to shew us all over a new 
 harem or palace for his wives, that he is building ; 
 as it appears he feels great inconvenience in having' 
 so few women with him. The forms and arrangement 
 of the rooms, — the gaudy painting and gilding, — 
 the attendance of men with sabres and turbans, and 
 two or three Ethiopian slaves, put me in mind of a 
 scene out of the Arabian Nights. The baths are quite 
 delicious, and luxurious to a degree ; they are all of 
 white marble, with perfuming rooms, &c., and so con- 
 trived, that though perfectly well lighted, and exposed 
 to the sea breezes, not a ray of the sun could penetrate. 
 One suite of rooms was fitted up w^ith a dark-coloured 
 paint, which was appropriated for the pasha when in 
 distress. I was very fortunate in seeing all this under 
 such favourable circumstances. 
 
 Finding nothing was to be done with Mehemet, 
 and that he was playing his old game, putting forward 
 his dependence, as a vassal, on the Porte, when it did 
 not suit his purpose to act for himself, and firing up 
 when it did, at the supposition of his being in a 
 state of dependence, when it was more convenient to 
 assume an independent attitude, it was decided to 
 have a second interview, quite alone, that is, the 
 Captain of the Rifleman and myself, and if nothing 
 more could be got from him, to sail directly for Na- 
 varino. This time he would not say a syllable, except 
 in regular gossip, merely observing, he would send back
 
 APPENDIX. 415 
 
 an officer, who came down with us, with a letter to 
 his son. 
 
 During the time we were with the pasha. La Dili- 
 gente, French corvette, got under weigh, and sailed, 
 as we supposed, for Milo or Smyrna, as the French 
 commodore sent his despatches for Admiral de Rigny, 
 and the letters for the squadron off Navarino, on board 
 the Rifleman, during the time his corvette was getting 
 up her anchor. 
 
 We had a long passage back, owing to the winds 
 that always blow in the Mediterranean at this time of 
 the year : this enabled me to see a great deal of the coast 
 of Asia Minor, Rhodes, and some other of the islands of 
 the Archipelago on that coast, as also the site of several 
 celebrated cities, Candia, and the famous Mount Ida. 
 Between Cerigo and Cape St. Angelo, we had the 
 good fortune to fall in with the Warspite, and I was 
 not sorry to shift to my comfortable cabin in a line-of- 
 battle ship. She was on her way from Paros to Sni- 
 tika, on the coast of Acarnania, with the president of 
 Greece on board, going to inspect General Church's 
 army, and the state of that part of Greece. The fol- 
 lowing day we were joined by Count Heiden and M.de 
 Rigny; the latter informed us he was going to Corfu, 
 to join Sir Edward Codrington, and we gave him 
 our letters. On the following day he chased us again, 
 and made a sign to Parker to come alongside in his 
 boat, when, with a most secret and affaire manner, he
 
 416 appendix: 
 
 told us he had just received most important news from 
 Egypt by La Diligente, that Mehemet had consented to 
 withdraw his troops from the Morea, and would send 
 ships for them in a month, but that he could not give 
 up the fortresses, which belonged to the grand signior ; 
 that a brig had been despatched to France with these 
 propositions, and that he thought of going on shore at 
 Modon, and of having an interview with Ibrahim. 
 
 As soon as Parker could edge in a word, for M. de 
 Rigny has a regular French tongue, he told him our 
 intelhgence was quite the reverse; and I detailed all 
 that had taken place with the pasha : it was told 
 him, that little reliance could be placed in promises 
 made, or intelligence that was withheld from an officer 
 sent down in the name of the allies, but which was 
 communicated to one of the three powers separately. 
 With regard to the interview, he talked of going 
 alone : he was told he had better wait until the Russian 
 admiral and British commander, who were in sight, 
 had joined : he appeared quite struck, and said, in that 
 case he should go direct on to Corfu ; he was, how- 
 ever, persuaded to wait : a flag of truce was sent in, and 
 a conference fixed for the next day. Early in the 
 morning the three allied squadrons stood close in with 
 Modon, and lay to : it was one of the most interesting 
 and picturesque sights I ever witnessed : there were 
 twenty-three men-of-war, including seven sail of the 
 line, and six or eight large frigates.
 
 APPENDIX. 417 
 
 The coast of the Morea is very fine and bold, with 
 high mountains in the background in every direction. 
 A little to our left was Navarino, with a half-destroyed 
 line-of-battle ship and some corvettes in the harbour; 
 in front of us, almost within musket-shot, the fortress 
 of Modon and the Turkish camp, crowded with troops 
 assembled in clusters to look at the ships : the large 
 green marquees of the officers had a very pretty effect. 
 Whilst we were assembled on board the flag-ship, a 
 Turkish man-of-war was brought in by one of the 
 cruisers, and the captain sent to the Azoff to decide 
 upon what was to be done with him. On being shewn 
 into the cabin, he did not change a muscle : he was 
 upwards of six feet high, with an enormous beard. 
 Although in an enemy's ship, and threatened by the 
 Russian, it had not the slightest effect upon him : the 
 important gravity of the Turks is astonishing, as, by 
 constant habit, it appears impossible for them to relax 
 their muscles so as to afford the slightest index of what 
 is passing in their minds. 
 
 We were followed into Modon by the Alacrity sloop, 
 and were received on the beach by the pasha's principal 
 officers and the band; the troops were drawn up on each 
 side from the landing place to the camp. Preceded by 
 these uncouth fellows and their barbarous music, we 
 were conducted to the same pavilion where we had been 
 received at the first conference. Ibrahim was more 
 splendidly dressed than before; the rest of tiie cere- 
 
 VOL. 1. E E
 
 418 APPENDIX, 
 
 mony was the same, and the same Turkish chiefs were 
 present. The object of our interview was, to find out 
 what answer had been received from Mehemet by the 
 Turkish officer who came back in the Rifleman, and to 
 afford an opportunity to Ibrahim of making any propo- 
 sitions for retiring, if he should be so disposed. 
 
 He gave two or three contradictory and evasive an- 
 swers; but on being pressed, particularly by Captain 
 Parker, who reminded him what he had said at the first 
 conference, relative to the nature of the despatches sent 
 down to Egypt, Ibrahim admitted that the answer was, 
 that no reply could be given under twenty-five days. 
 
 M. de Rigny endeavoured, by leading questions, and 
 every means, to obtain answers from the pasha that 
 would give an appearance of correctness to his private 
 intelligence from Alexandria. When the captain of the 
 Rifleman and myself stated what had passed between 
 Mehmet AH and ourselves, and observed how very little 
 reliance could be placed on private information obtained 
 under such circumstances. Admiral de Rigny was very 
 much offended. 
 
 To the intimation of Count Heiden, that probably 
 troops would soon be landed, Ibrahim replied by giving 
 the Russian admiral a look of defiance, grasping his 
 sabre, and declaring his determination and readiness to 
 die at his post, saying he could die but once. 
 
 To remonstrances on the absurdity of holding out 
 against famine, he offered to give us a proof that he
 
 APPENDIX. 419 
 
 was not yet so far reduced, by conveying us round his 
 magazines. He argued very sensibly on the difference 
 between himself, the servant of a government without 
 order or regularity, and an officer of a well-ordered 
 European country. He spoke of the necessity, what- 
 ever his own opinion and condition might be, of con- 
 sulting the prejudices of those about him. He said 
 that none of the pashas who had capitulated had done 
 so till they had been reduced to eat the leaves of trees, 
 and human flesh : this last observation he accompanied 
 by a strong gesture, putting his bare arm between his 
 teeth. He said he was quite ready to go, whenever 
 ships were sent for him ; but that he came in Turkish 
 ships, and would return in no other. All at once, one 
 of the chiefs stood up and said, looking at the pasha, 
 who seemed very much astonished, " The fact is, we 
 are all tired to death with this business ; we came to 
 fight, and not to be starved ; and the very moment any 
 ships come for us, we will embark. I speak in the 
 name of the chiefs and of the whole army; if he 
 (pointing to Ibrahim,) offer any opposition, we will bind 
 him hand and foot, and carry him on board : the an- 
 swer we received yesterday from Egypt merely desired 
 us to have patience, and we should be taken care of." 
 
 This burst caused great surprise, and we were all 
 looking to see what would follow. The pasha gave 
 him a look of scorn, and, turning his back to him, be- 
 gan playing with a string of pearl beads ho had in his
 
 420 APPENDIX. 
 
 hand. During the pause which followed, an officer 
 told M. de Rigny, that it was quite idle talking about 
 ships coming to carry Ibrahim and his army away, as 
 no fleet would be allowed to enter Navarino until some 
 guarantees were given for the conditions, and, among 
 them, that the Greek slaves must be released, those in 
 the Morea, as well as those that had been sent over to 
 Egypt; and that although it was not positive that the 
 latter would be insisted upon, still, as it was possible 
 such a condition might be required by the government, 
 it was proper to inform Ibrahim of it now, that if the 
 negotiation should be renewed, and such a stipulation 
 required, he might not complain of its never having 
 been mentioned to him before. 
 
 By a most unaccountable perverseness, M. de Rigny 
 objected to any thing of the sort being mentioned, and 
 kept saving that such and such objections would be made 
 by Ibrahim ; and it was almost in vain to tell him that 
 very possibly they would, but that they would come 
 better from the pasha than any one else, and would 
 prepare the way for their being insisted upon, if the 
 governments should think proper. The French ad- 
 miral's conduct was the more extraordinary, because 
 the evening before our first conference, when off Nava- 
 rino, (and then he thought it better to let his senior 
 captain go there to present himself,) he was told, in 
 his own cabin on board the Conquerant, by Captain 
 Parker, that if Ibrahim had requested to open any
 
 APPENDIX. 421 
 
 negotiations relative to his evacuating the Moiea, he 
 (Parker) should mention the releasing of the slaves in 
 Egypt as one of the conditions, and if objected to by 
 the pasha, should directly break up the interview, as 
 his instructions did not allow him to conclude any 
 thing without that condition. 
 
 M. de Rigny, on that occasion, desired me to tell 
 Captain Parker that he was perfectly right, and that 
 he himself had the same orders from his own court. 
 As, however, our officers insisted upon it, it was com- 
 municated to the pasha. The immediate change that 
 took place in his countenance and manner is indescri- 
 bable ; from a mildness and courtesy, with the excep- 
 tion of an occasional display of irritation towards Count 
 Heiden, he became a perfect fury, started up from his 
 chair, and, pacing up and down the room until he be- 
 came covered with perspiration, talking vehemently, 
 and repeatedly lifting up his hands, calling out Allah, 
 Allah (God) ; in short, he seemed quite frantic. What 
 he said was curious; and although I fear you will think 
 me very prosy and boring, I will repeat it, as far as I 
 can recollect. 
 
 He protested against the condition ; he was perfectly 
 willing to give up all the slaves he had with him in 
 the Morea, but to require those already conveyed to 
 Egypt was a blow at their religion and customs, and 
 would be looked upon as the greatest exaction and 
 grossest injustice ; it would come in contact with their
 
 422 APPENDIX. 
 
 most inveterate prejudices, and would infallibly create 
 confusion and revolution from one end of the country 
 to the other, and that they would all rather die than 
 consent to a proposition they deemed monstrous — it 
 ought not to be proposed, and was an act of injustice 
 as regarded the time of making it, which ought to have 
 been immediately after the battle of Navarino, and be- 
 fore the slaves had been sent over; that we allowed 
 him to send them over, and now they had become pri- 
 vate property asked for them ; that a female once mar- 
 ried or appropriated by a Mussulman, he thought his 
 honour concerned that she should never be seen by 
 any other man : his mode of expressing this was very 
 quaint. 
 
 This broke up the conference: M. de Rigny was 
 so much annoyed, that he did not take leave of any 
 one. On our arrival at the beach there were sheep, 
 poultry, and vegetables, as presents, to prove, I suppose, 
 that he was not in want of provisions : they were, of 
 course, all refused. 
 
 We embarked on board the Alacrity, when we were 
 shortly afterwards joined by Count Heiden and the Rus- 
 sian diplomatists, who had accompanied him on shore : 
 he was in a great fury, having just heard from an 
 attache of M. Ribeaupierre, who understood Turkish, 
 that, during the conference, the dragoman had told the 
 pasha, De Rigny advised him, if the Egyptian fleet were 
 allowed to enter Navarino under convoy of the nllied
 
 APPENDIX. 423 
 
 squadron, to object to the Russians forming part of it. 
 The old admiral was so indignant when he heard it, 
 that it was with the utmost difficulty they could pre- 
 vent him from rowing alongside the Frenchman's barge 
 and demanding an explanation. 
 
 Thus the conference ended, in which two of the 
 parties of alliance returned fully persuaded of the in- 
 sincerity of the third. To our great surprise, soon after 
 dinner, M. de Rigny came alongside in perfect good 
 humour, saying, he had drawn up a protocol of the 
 proceedings, to be signed for the different governments. 
 Shortly after, old Count Heiden came on board ; I hap- 
 pened to be on the quarter deck 5 he took me by the 
 hand, swearing in his English most furiously, saying 
 that the Frenchman had drawn up a paper full of lies, 
 and made the English hold language they never uttered ; 
 in fact, Admiral de Rigny had drawn up his protocol 
 so worded as to throw any consequence of a failure, and 
 not coming to any conclusion, upon the British officers, 
 and Ibrahim's answers, so as to square with the version 
 he wished to be believed of Mehemet Ali's intentions. 
 It was, however, immediately altered, and, on the altera- 
 tions being shewn to him, he said they were charmantes, 
 forgot all his sulkiness, and took leave of us all with 
 the greatest humour. 
 
 I have been thus particular in giving you details 
 which, I fear, will bore you, as I cannot help tiiinking 
 that the French government are playing a game very
 
 424 APPENDIX. 
 
 much at variance with the common interest of the 
 alliance in which they are engaged. Some impute the 
 strange conduct of the French officers and agents 
 to the meddling, intriguing character of their admi- 
 ral ; but if it were that alone, it might, indeed, have 
 lasted a short time, but as soon (as soon it inevitably- 
 must) become known to the French government, it 
 would have been stopped, had it not been in con- 
 formity with their views. Their conduct during the 
 blockade was very extraordinary, particularly the day 
 of the Warspite's affair with the corvettes, when a 
 French brig of war that was nearer to them than we 
 were, as soon as our fire opened, made sail, and went 
 away before the wind to the N.W. 
 
 They had been coquetting with Egypt for years, 
 always with the same agent, M. Drovetti ; and every 
 thing we heard at Alexandria tended to confirm these 
 suspicions, which are not lessened by the very extraor- 
 dinary conduct of M. de Rigny on the 6th, the French 
 consul sending ofF separate propositions to his govern- 
 ment, and the pasha conceding to him what he refused 
 to the officer sent down in the name of the allies (the 
 captain of the Rifleman). These impressions were fur- 
 ther strengthened by M. de Rigny not shewing the 
 letter brought by la Diligente, whose destination, on 
 sailing from Alexandria, was attempted to be concealed 
 from us. Most probably his withdrawing his troops 
 from the Peloponnesus, formed only a part of M. Dro-
 
 APPENDIX. 425 
 
 vetti's communications to his admiral ; the rest, no 
 doubt, was not fit for the allies of France to see. 
 
 The sight at Modon was very interesting and cu- 
 rious. On the one side were the two admirals and one 
 commodore (Campbell), with many of their officers, 
 and almost within musket-shot of their numerous and 
 well-appointed ships; on the other these barbarians, 
 hardly wortliy the name of soldiers, weak and ineffi- 
 cient, and badly appointed. Yet weeks and months 
 have passed away ; and although there is no doubt they 
 are straitened for provisions, and would be very glad to 
 return, the obstinacy they evince on the score of the 
 slaves in Egypt thro^vs great difficulty in the way of 
 coming to any agreement, as it is to be hoped, for 
 humanity's sake, they will not be allowed to keep them. 
 It is a melancholy reflection, that with our numerous 
 ships, they should have been allowed, even after the 
 dispersion of their fleet by the battle of Navarino, to 
 carry off so many poor creatures from their families, to 
 undergo cruelties too dreadful to think of without shud- 
 dering. The slaves are almost all boys and young- 
 women ; and the consul at Alexandria told me he could 
 not, after the strictest enquiry, rate them at fewer than 
 near four thousand. 
 
 Had the ports of the Morea been blockaded from 
 the moment of the battle of Navarino, Ibrahim would 
 have been starved out months before ; as the whole 
 winter he was supplied by lonians, Athenians, and
 
 426 APPENDIX. 
 
 neutrals of every nation. It was not until the Warspite 
 came before Navarino, in March, and that entirely on 
 the responsibility of Captain Parker, who had no orders, 
 that the least attempt was made to cut off his supplies. 
 Whoever it is that has been to blame for allowing all 
 this, which every one thinks must arise from a want of - 
 decision of the cabinets, they, I hope, will incur the 
 odium. The battle of Navarino appears to have turned 
 every one's head that was in it, as, instead of that total 
 destruction of the fleet that was generally believed, the 
 greater part had got to Alexandria or Candia ; at 
 least five large frigates and a line-of-battle ship are at 
 the former, with a host of small fry, corvettes, brigs, 
 &,c. ; in fact the harbour was full of men-of-war. At 
 Candia there are some also. 
 
 I have seen a great deal of the President of Greece, 
 and found him a very well-informed, amusing man, 
 full of anecdotes of the world and of the great charac- 
 ters with whom the greater part of his life has been 
 passed. But I must confess, although in general very 
 open and frank, with the good sense of not making a 
 mystery of what it cannot do any mischief to make 
 known, I can hardly look upon him in any other light 
 than as an agent of Russia, though every allowance is 
 to be made for old association, and the effective support 
 furnished by that country to Greece in every way, 
 money, ammunition, &c., whilst our own policy has 
 been uncertain, apparently more guided by caprice than
 
 APPENDIX. 427 
 
 any fixed principles, which may perhaps have arisen 
 from the frequent change of ministry. 
 
 Count Capo d'Istrias has done a great deal for Greece, 
 but there is much, almost every thing to be recognised ; 
 and when Ibrahim goes, as he must shortly, if the 
 allies do not fall out, his difficulties will require no 
 ordinary degree of talent and patience to overcome. 
 By means principally of this ship he has got possession 
 of some of the strongest holds, and has turned out the 
 robbers and pirates, under the name of Capitani, who 
 had possession of them. There is not a single Greek 
 upon whom the president can rely; he is feared by 
 them all, because the allies support him ; but he is as 
 much hated as feared : at the moment of disunion be- 
 tween the three powers, every thing would relapse 
 into the state of anarchy from which it is gradually 
 escaping.
 
 428 APPENDIX, 
 
 No. IV. 
 
 [I consider the Yaftas so illustrative of the Turkish 
 mode of dispensing justice, that I here give transla- 
 tions of three others, that relate to some of those who 
 vv^ere executed during the troubles of 1829.] 
 
 I. 
 
 Translation of a Yafta placed upon the body of Deli 
 Salih, a Slave Merchant. 
 
 Deli Salih, a slave merchant, through the malice 
 and perversity that are innate in him, having dared to 
 spread false and seditious reports, and to advance that 
 there existed in the Russian army twenty thousand 
 men of the janisary corps, which, with the general 
 assent of the nation, had been previously annihilated; 
 and his crime having been evidenced by the testimony 
 of several Mussulmans, it has been judged neces- 
 sary, for example's sake, that the impure body of this 
 wretch, author of so many disorders, should be re- 
 moved from the surface of the earth, for which reason 
 the above-named Salih has undergone capital punish- 
 ment in this manner.
 
 APPENDIX. 429 
 
 II. 
 
 Yafta on the body of Ismail, a Cafeji. 
 The wretched Ismail, the son of Suleiman, who kept 
 a coffee-house Coum Capi, belonged to the 64th com- 
 pany of the corps of janisaries suppressed, was banished 
 to Rodosto, being a partisan of that body, in punish- 
 ment for his crimes, by order of the Sublime Porte, 
 who thus shewed great clemency towards him. 
 
 Ismail, however, during his banishment, hesitated 
 not to make use of seditious language, and to speak 
 of whatever came into his head, saying, that the Otto- 
 man people had risen to re-establish the janisaries; 
 that the palace and person of the Seraskier Pasha 
 had been attacked; and, not satisfied with this, at a 
 moment when it was most eminently necessary for 
 every good Mussulman to obey the constituted autho- 
 rities, Ismail returned to Constantinople, without any 
 permission whatever, spread a thousand false reports, 
 tending to alarm the Ottoman subjects, which wise 
 and good men do not even listen to. Being interro- 
 gated upon his arrest, Ismail was unable to deny any 
 of these accusations. In consequence whereof, seeing 
 that he is an incorrigible man, and that the govern- 
 ment is forced to take the severest measures, as well 
 against the inventors of such false rumours, as against 
 those who, instead of quietly following their avoca- 
 tions, dare to repeat them, Ismail has been punished 
 in the manner you see, to serve as an example.
 
 430 APPENDIX. 
 
 III. 
 
 Yaftu on the body of Hassan, a boot-maker. 
 The wretch Hassan, a member of the corporation of 
 boot-makers, belonged to the 71st company of that 
 detestable military corps, that has been destroyed with 
 the assent of the whole nation. Having heard in these 
 latter days, the false reports which the disturbers of 
 the public peace, men of his own class, have dared 
 to utter, this miscreant has uncovered his arms, and 
 displayed with vanity before the public the odious 
 marks called nishauns* which were there imprinted. 
 He has, moreover, dared to hold improper language, 
 and to spread (may the Most High preserve us from 
 them !) a thousand wicked and false notions, which 
 it is unlawful to entertain. When this was heard of, 
 he was arrested, and the following reproaches addressed 
 to him : "Hassan, thou hadst a trade to follow; couldst 
 thou not occupy thyself in gaining thy livelihood by 
 industry, and conduct thyself in a peaceable and be- 
 coming manner?" Hassan could deny nothing, and 
 confessed every thing. In consequence, and because 
 this man is an old offender, who, as it appears, is 
 quite incorrigible, he has thus undergone capital 
 punishment. 
 
 * Nishau7is, marks worn on the arm by the janisaries, to denote 
 the regiments to which tliey belonged. They were pricked in with 
 gunpowder, in the same manner as is practised by our sailors.
 
 APPENDIX. 431 
 
 No. V. 
 
 TREATY OF PEACE BETWEEN HIS MAJESTY AND 
 THE SUBLIME PORTE, SIGNED JANUARY 5, 1809. 
 
 " All nom de Dieu trts misericordieux. 
 
 " L'oBJET de cet instrument fidele et authentique 
 est ce qui suit : — 
 
 " Nonobstant les apparences d'une mesintelligence 
 survenue a la suite des evenemens du terns entre la 
 Cour de la Grande Bretagne et la Sublime Porte Otto- 
 niane, ces deux puissances, egalement arrivees au desir 
 sincere de retablir I'ancienne amitie qui subsistoit 
 entr'elles, out nomme, pour cet effet, leurs plenipo- 
 tentiaires respectifs ; savoir, sa Majeste le tres auguste 
 et tres honore George III. Roi (Padishah) du Royaume 
 Unide la Grande Bretagne et d'Irlande, a nomme pour 
 son plenipotentiaire Robert Adair, Ecuyer, Membre 
 du Parlement Imperial de la Grande Bretagne ; et sa 
 Majeste le tres majestueux, tres puissant, et tres ma- 
 gnifique Sultan Mahmoud Han II., Empereur des 
 Ottomans, a nomme pour son plenipotentiaire Sejid 
 Mehemmed Emir Vahid Efendi, directeur et in- 
 specteur du departement appele Mercoufat, et revetu 
 du rang de Nichanji du divan imperial ; lesquels
 
 432 APPENDIX. 
 
 s'etant reciproquement communiques leurs pleins pou- 
 voirs, ont, apres plusieurs conferences et discussions, 
 conclu la paix egalement desiree des deux puissances, 
 et sont convenus des articles suivans. 
 
 " Article I. — Du moment de la signature du 
 present traite, tout acte d'hostilite doit cesser entre 
 I'Angleterre et la Turquie ; et les prisonniers de part 
 et d'autre doivent, en vertu de cette heureuse paix, 
 etre echanges, sans hesitation, en trente-et-un jours 
 apres I'epoque de la signature de ce traite, ou plutot 
 si faire se pourra. 
 
 " Article II. — S'il se trouvera des places appar- 
 tenantes a la Sublime Porte dans I'occupation de la 
 Grande Bretagne, elles devront etre restitutees et re- 
 mises a la Sublime Porte, avec tous les canons, muni- 
 tions, et autres eflfets, dans la meme condition oii elles 
 se trouvaient lors de leur occupation par I'Angleterre; 
 et cette restitution devra se faire dans I'espace de 
 trente-et-un jours apres la signature de ce present 
 traite . 
 
 " Article III. — S'il y auraient des efFets et pro- 
 prietes appartenans aux negocians Anglais en se- 
 questre sous la jurisdiction de la Sublime Porte, ils 
 doivent etre entierement rendus et remis aux proprie- 
 taires • et pareillement s'il y auraient des efFets, pro- 
 prietes, et vaisseaux, appartenans aux negocians et 
 sujets de la Sublime Porte, en sequestre a Malthe, 
 ou dans les autres iles et etats de sa Majeste Bri-
 
 APPENDIX. 433 
 
 tannique ils doivent etre egalement entierement rendus 
 et remis a leurs proprietaires. 
 
 " Article IV. — Le traite des capitulations stipules 
 en I'annee Turque mil quatre-vingt-six, a la mi de la 
 lune Gemmaziel Ahir, ainsi que Facte relatif au com- 
 merce de la Mer Noire, et les autres privileges 
 (imtiazat) egalement etablis par des actes a des 
 6poques subsequentes, doivent etre observes et main- 
 tenus comme par le passe, comme s'ils n'avaient souffert 
 aucune interruption. 
 
 " Article V. — En vertu du bon traitement et 
 de la faveur accorde par la Sublime Porte aux ne- 
 gocians Anglais, a I'egard de leurs marchandises et 
 proprietes, et par rapport a tout ce dont leurs vais- 
 seaux ont besoin, ainsi que dans tous les objets 
 tendant a facillter leur commerce ; I'Angleterre ac- 
 cordera r^ciproquement a pleine faveur, et un traite- 
 ment amical aux pavilions sujets et negocians de la 
 Sublime Porte, qui dorenavant frequenteront les etats 
 de sa Majeste Britannique, poury exercer le commerce. 
 ** Article VI. — Le tarif de la douane, qui a 
 ^te fixe a Constantinople en dernier lieu sur I'ancien 
 taux de trois pour cent, et specialement Particle qui 
 regarde le commerce interieur, seront observes pour 
 toujours ainsi qu'ils ont ete regies; ce a quoi I'Angle- 
 terre promet de se conformer. 
 
 " Article VII. — Les ambassadeurs de sa Ma- 
 
 VOL. I. F F
 
 434 APPENDIX. 
 
 jeste le Roi de la Grande Bretagne jouiront pleine- 
 ment des honneurs dont jouissent les ambassadeurs 
 des autres nations pres la Sublime Porte; et reci- 
 proquement les ambassadeurs de la Sublime Porte pres 
 la cour de Londres jouiront pleinement de tous les 
 honneurs qui seront accordes aux ambassadeurs de 
 la Grande Bretagne. 
 
 "Article VIII. — II sera permis de nommer des 
 Shahbenders (consuls) a Malthe et dans les etats de" 
 sa Majeste Britannique oii il sera necessaire pour 
 gerer et inspecter les affaires et les interets des nego- 
 cians de la Sublime Porte ; et les memes traitemens 
 et immunites qui sont pratiques envers les consuls 
 d'Angleterre, residents dans les etats Ottomans, seront 
 exactement observes envers les Shahbenders de la 
 Sublime Porte. 
 
 '^ Article IX. — Les ambassadeurs et consuls 
 d'Angleterre pourront, selon I'usage, se servir des 
 dragomans dont ils ont besoin ; mais comme il a 
 ete arrete ci-devant d'un commun accord que la Sub- 
 lime Porte n'accordera point de Barat de dragoman 
 en faveur d'individus qui n'exerceront point cette 
 fonction dans le lieu de leur destination, il est con- 
 venu, conformement a ce principe, que dorenavant il 
 ne sera accorde de Barat a personne de la classe des 
 artisans et banquiers, ni a quiconque tiendra de 
 boutique et de fabrique dans les marches publics, ou
 
 APPENDIX. 435 
 
 qui pretcra la main aux affaires de cette nature ; et 
 il ne sera pas nomme non plus des consuls Anglais 
 d'entre les sujets de la Sublime Porte. 
 
 " Article X. — La patente de protection Anglaise 
 ne sera accordee a personne d'entre les dependans et 
 negocians sujets de la Sublime Porte, et il ne seva 
 livre a ceux-ci aucun passeport de la part des am- 
 bassadeurs ou consuls sans la permission prealable de 
 la Sublime Porte. 
 
 " Article XI. — Comme il a ete de tout terns 
 defendu aux vaisseaux de guerre d'entrer dans le 
 canal de Constantinople ; savoir, dans le detroit des 
 Dardanelles, et dans celui de la Mer Noire, et comme 
 cette ancienne regie de I'empire Ottoman doit etre de 
 meme observ^e dorenavant en tems de paix, vis-a-vis 
 de toute puissance quelconque, la cour Britannique 
 promet aussi de so conformer a ce principe. 
 
 '^ Article XII. — Les ratifications du present 
 traite de paix, entre les hautes parties contractantes, 
 seront echangees a Constantinople, dans I'espace de 
 quatre-vingt-onze jours depuis la date du present traite, 
 ou plutot si faire se pourra. 
 
 '* En foi de quoi, &c. 
 
 '' (Signe) 
 " Sejid Mehemmed, Emir Vahid Efendi. 
 
 " Fait pres des Chateaux des Dardanelles, le 
 5 Janvier 1809, qui correspond a I'an de I'Hegire 
 1223, le 19 de la lune Zilhoade."
 
 436 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. VI. 
 
 Exh-acts from a private Letter, relative to a Journey 
 from Constantinople to Semlin. 
 
 Thinking my readers would like to know the na- 
 ture of a journey from Constantinople to the Austrian 
 frontier, I here give the following extracts from a 
 letter, which one of my friends wrote home from the 
 quarantine houses at Semlin. I have only given the 
 traveller's account of his trip from Adrianople, because 
 my own journal will give the necessary information of 
 the greater portion of the country lying between that 
 city and the Turkish capital. 
 
 '' The next morning, at about seven o'clock, 
 
 we quitted Adrianople, and, after two hours' ride, we 
 came to a very curious ancient khan. I had neither 
 pencil nor paper ready, or I should have endeavoured 
 to take a sketch of it, particularly on account of its 
 very extraordinary architecture. It is allowed to go 
 to ruin, as every other institution, civil or political, 
 in Turkey. 
 
 We here left the Maritza, which we only rejoined 
 four hours before Philippopoli, and turned off by the 
 most abominable road, over some hills to the left.
 
 APPENDIX. 437 
 
 After crossing them with the greatest difficulty, fearing 
 lest our horses might drop every instant, we arrived 
 at a valley, by far the best cultivated and richest- 
 looking we had yet met with ; several water-mills, 
 and extensive flocks and herds, proved it to belong 
 to some rich proprietor. Among the flocks I ob- 
 served an immense number of the most beautiful 
 goats I ever beheld; their hair was long and silky, 
 and of a bright fawn colour. I subsequently ascer- 
 tained at Philippopoli, that these goats were prin- 
 cipally bred for the sake of their skins, from which 
 the morocco leather is prepared. Philippopoli supplies 
 almost all Germany with this article of trade. 
 
 In this plain our guide's horse dropped, and we 
 left the fellow in a Bulgarian village on the road, and 
 went on by ourselves to the post town. We arrived 
 there about six in the evening. The post-master very 
 good-naturedly shared his room with us : it was some- 
 what better than the coffee-house. He was certainly 
 the handsomest man I ever saw : about five-and- 
 thirty, with a black silky beard, reaching to his 
 middle. Luckily he had better horses than we had 
 hitherto found, and we went off" briskly, at about five 
 in the morning, having ten hours to perform to reach 
 Philippopoli. 
 
 On our road we continually niet immense caravans 
 of carts, drawn by buff'alos, returning from Philip-
 
 438 APPENDIX. 
 
 popoli, where the peasants had been for the first time 
 for some months, to procure necessaries for their 
 families, the operations of the war having prevented 
 any intercourse between the detached villages and the 
 towns. We also occasionally met parties of Turkish 
 soldiers ; and we saw, in carts very much resembling 
 those which in England convey beasts from one 
 fair to another, the harams of several Turkish chiefs 
 returning from Shumla. The Turks had preferred 
 making the circuit of Philippopoli, rather than fall in 
 with the Russians stationed at Selimno, lanboli, and 
 Karnabat. A vast deal of chattering ensued at our 
 appearance;- and the Turkish ladies, rather more free 
 on their march than at home, did us the honour to 
 vmcover their faces. They might as well have kept 
 their veils on, for the features we saw would cer- 
 tainly have better been concealed. 
 
 At noon we stopped at a Bulgarian village, where 
 our Tartar found an acquaintance. In the small 
 hut were four generations housed. The women's dress 
 is by no means unbecoming : a young mother and 
 her sister, a girl of about eighteen, were really very 
 pretty. They were much ornamented with rings, 
 and very curious massive silver bracelets, representing 
 two fishes (dolphins), joined at their heads and tails. 
 The old women boiled a large pan of buffalo's milk 
 (which is excellent) for us, and poached us some eggs j
 
 APPENDIX. 439 
 
 SO that by the time our horses had rested, we were 
 quite ready to start again, although the snow now 
 fell rather thick. 
 
 After four hours we arrived at a Turkish village, 
 where we intended putting up for the night, as my 
 fellow-traveller was rather fatigued, his saddle being- 
 very uncomfortable. We however found every hole 
 filled with the retainers of a pasha on his march. 
 We therefore turned off to the left, to a Bulgarian 
 village, about half an hour's ride from the high road, 
 in the hopes of finding accommodation. While yet 
 at a distance, we could see the people occupied about 
 their houses ; but scarcely had we approached, before 
 the village became as it were deserted. The men fled, 
 the women locked their houses and barricaded the 
 doors. The fire remained unextinguished in the ovens ; 
 in some of them the bread was baking, but not a 
 human being was to be seen. To account for this, 
 I ought to observe, that we had Turkish cloaks and 
 caps on, so that our party was mistaken for part of 
 the retinue of the pasha ; and as these gentry take 
 every thing without payment, beat the peasantry, and 
 ill use the women, it is not surprising that so sudden 
 a panic should have seized every one. We had sub- 
 sequently but too often occasion to observe the terror 
 which these poor people shew on the approach of their 
 masters. 
 
 My Tartar had forced open a cottage without my
 
 440 APPENDIX. 
 
 knowledge ; and the tears of the poor women who 
 inhabited it shocked me very much. I gave them 
 some money, but could not make up my mind to 
 stay where I had witnessed such a scene ; so having 
 persuaded my fellow-traveller to push on, we proceeded 
 towards Philippopoli. In the mean time the sun had 
 set; and as we advanced, the cold became intense. 
 The roads, which had been partially thawed, were 
 now frozen again, and, with their ruts and holes, 
 became very dangerous. 
 
 At nine o'clock, when about one hour from Phi- 
 lipopoli, our horses knocked up, having performed 
 above fifty miles that day; luckily, a small Turkish 
 coffee-house offered us shelter ; but we were obliged 
 to lie down pell mell with a dozen Turks. 
 
 We here found a Greek merchant of Philippopoli, 
 who anxiously inquired about the particulars of the 
 treaty. He said : "And has nothing been done for us? 
 What will become of us?" He spoke German; his 
 partner being permitted to live at Vienna, on leaving 
 his house, wife, children, and property, as guarantees 
 for his return, in the hands of the Turks. We asked 
 him if he could recommend us to a house where we 
 could be lodged for a day or two, as I intended to 
 rest a little ; but he answered in the negative. Next 
 morning I was very well satisfied that we had not 
 entered Philippopoli at night. Its situation is so very 
 extraordinary, that I should have been extremely
 
 APPENDIX. 441 
 
 sorry not to have seen the approach to it. In an 
 immense plain, watered by the Maritza, you see three 
 rocky elevations, perhaps 800 to 1000 feet high, totally 
 unconnected with any range of hills, the nearest being 
 fifteen miles distant. On the sides of these the town 
 of Philippopoli is built. Like all Turkish towns, it 
 is very picturesque at a distance. 
 
 Sallying forth from our night's lodging, we found 
 ourselves in the middle of the suite of the camp of 
 Mustapha Pasha. He and his 25,000 Albanians had 
 only left it about a fortnight ; and thousands of crows, 
 vultures, and half-starved dogs, were tearing the car- 
 casses of dead horses and cattle from under the 
 snow. 
 
 We next passed through extensive burying- 
 grounds, and entered the town (which is only de- 
 fended by a miserable mud wall,) about nine in the 
 morning. We immediately found ourselves up to our 
 horses' bellies in that vile mud which disgraces every 
 Turkish town, and picked our way with the greatest 
 difficulty to the pasha's residence, where, on exhi- 
 bition of our firman, a Turkish guard was sent with 
 us to quarter us in some respectable house. 
 
 We proceeded up the rock, and arrived at a part 
 where the houses, being built of stone, had a somewhat 
 better appearance, though we could not but remark the 
 paucity of windows towards the streets. It was the 
 Christian quarter.
 
 442 APPENDIX. 
 
 On arriving at the house which was destined for 
 us, we found it barricaded, and shrill women's voices 
 from within refused us admittance. It was not till 
 several Greeks of respectable appearance had repeat- 
 edly assured the garrison that we were not Turks, and 
 after we had been carefully surveyed from divers loop- 
 holes, that a back-door was opened, and our whole 
 party admitted into the spacious court-yard of a good 
 house. The mistress, a very respectable - looking, 
 middle-aged woman, seemed still very much alarmed; 
 but after we became better acquainted, she asked 
 our pardon for having kept us waiting ; stating, that 
 latterly so many Turks had been quartered upon her, 
 who had robbed her, and ill-used her family, that she 
 had determined to resist similar visitations. A large, 
 roomy apartment, on the ground-floor, was given up 
 to us, cushions were laid round it, and we soon 
 arranged ourselves in our new domicile. To my great 
 amusement, our hostess proved to be the wife of the 
 Greek merchant at Vienna, whose partner we had 
 met the day before, and who said he could not pro- 
 cure us lodgings. 
 
 During the evening we received the visits of a 
 French quack-doctor, of a Greek schoolmaster, who 
 spoke French and Italian, and several traders, besides 
 our friend of the day before. The tenor of their 
 inquiries was always the same; viz. — the political 
 state of the country. Repeatedly they asked us.
 
 APPENDIX. 443 
 
 whether nothing had been done for the Christian 
 population of Turkey ? I pointed out to them the 
 impossibihty of interfering in the interior administra- 
 tion of every part of the grand signior's dominions, 
 and ventured to hope that the Ottoman government 
 would now of itself see the necessity of placing their 
 Christian subjects upon an equality with the Osmanlis. 
 Upon which, a young man, the brother of the master 
 of the house, could not contain his tears, and ex- 
 claimed, " Oh, why did God permit me to be born 
 on this side the Danube ? Here is hell, on the other 
 heaven." I felt much for these poor people, but of 
 course could not recommend to them the line of con- 
 duct which I should have been inclined to follow 
 myself, viz. to trample the oppressor under foot. 
 
 The French quack amused me greatly; his adven- 
 tures would really furnish materials for a good novel. 
 We engaged him as a cicerone for my fellow-traveller, 
 who intended examining the town minutely after ray 
 departure, on the following day. We slept, as every 
 body does in this country, on the cushions, in our 
 clothes, so that I was obliged to give up every chance 
 of a bed till I should arrive at Semlin. 
 
 At noon, on the same evening, I parted from my 
 fellow-traveller, who intended staying two more days, 
 and then proceeding by Teriiova to Shumla. I was able 
 to shew myself thankful to our hostess for receiving 
 us, by promising to forward a letter she gave me to
 
 444 APPENDIX. 
 
 her husband at Vienna. Of course, I reimbursed her 
 for every expense which our visit had occasioned. 
 
 I rode melancholy enough for the first three hours 
 through vast rice-fields, which were terminated, at 
 about fifteen to thirty miles distance, by the snow- 
 covered mountain usually called the Balcan, and cer- 
 tainly expected that the remainder of my journey would 
 prove very dull, as I had now no companion but my 
 Tartar and my guide. I was, however, soon unde- 
 ceived. At a small coffee-house, three hours from 
 
 Philippopoli, I overtook M. , Courier du Cabinet 
 
 de S. M. le Roi de France, ^' qui avait fait ses epreuves, 
 il y a trente-cinq ans, avec la grande armee," fifty-five 
 years old, and weighing eighteen stone at least. 
 Such a caricature of a king's messenger I never 
 beheld. He had left ^Constantinople three days and 
 a half after me, and had overtaken me in conse- 
 quence of my stay at Adrianople and Philippopoli. 
 If I were in want of conversation before, I certainly 
 had plenty of it now ; that is to say, if listening to 
 the disjointed chat of a Gascon can be called conver- 
 sation. I let the old man talk ; it was always plea- 
 santer to have a companion, on a journey like the 
 one I was engaged in, than to be alone; so I deter- 
 mined, if possible, to keep up with him, which I had 
 very little doubt of doing, owing to his corpulency, 
 and the little speed he had hitherto made from Con- 
 stantinople. My leg was very bad, an old shot wound
 
 APPENDIX. 445 
 
 having re-opened ; but as I could gain nothing by 
 staying on the road, I determined to push on to where 
 I might be able to procure surgical assistance. A little 
 after six we reached Tatar Bazarjik, the post-town, 
 having made about twenty-one miles since noon, 
 through the most horrible roads. 
 
 We found better accommodation at the post-house 
 than usual, and determined to start atfour the next morn- 
 ing, it not being possible for us to proceed that night, 
 as the governor of the place insisted upon giving us 
 an escort, the road being very dangerous; and the 
 cavalry having only just come in, it would be necessary 
 to let their horses rest for six or eight hours. The fat 
 courier shewed himself very eager for this protection ; 
 and I at first could not imagine what made an old 
 hero of the grande armee so very solicitous about the 
 safety of his person. A few days afterwards I dis- 
 covered the secret. 
 
 During the course of the evening a young Greek 
 merchant from Constantinople came in. He had been 
 two years a resident at Tatar Bazarjik, in the hopes of 
 inducing the aga of that place to pay his family a large 
 sum which he owed them for goods delivered, but 
 in vain. In the mean time his father died, and my Tar* 
 tar brought him the letter containing the intelligence. 
 The grief of the young man was very great. Another 
 curse upon the head of this hard-hearted generation, 
 thought I ; and soon, I hope, the weight of all their
 
 446 APPENDIX, 
 
 long-accumulated sins will bow this once proud nation 
 down to the dust. 
 
 The next day we set forward at five o'clock, our 
 party being augmented by five stout troopers, armed to 
 the teeth. As daylight began to appear, we ap- 
 proached the mountains. At the foot of the Balcan 
 we stopped at a small Bulgarian village for food. A 
 ride of eighteen miles, without any thing to eat, had 
 sharpened our appetites ; but we were on the point of 
 being disappointed. The village was deserted, and 
 the houses barricaded, at our approach ; and I could 
 not prevent our escort from forcing an entrance into 
 one hut. The alarmed females, very good-looking 
 young women, set up a most alarming outcry, which 
 we, however, soon stopped, by making a liberal dis- 
 tribution of piasters among the children. Eggs, 
 cheese, bread, and curds, then made their appearance, 
 and we parted on the best terms. 
 
 While I was in this village I had occasion to 
 remark on the singular abstinence practised by the 
 votaries of the Greek church during their fasts. For 
 four weeks before Christmas, and forty days before 
 Easter, they touch nothing but bread, roots, or ears 
 of Indian corn ; no milk, no eggs, no fish, no cheese. 
 In fact, it is surprising how they can follow their 
 several laborious avocations with the food to which 
 they are confined. I offered a half-starved brat a bit 
 of cheese and bread, when the mother, in the utmost
 
 APPENDIX. 447 
 
 horror, snatched it away, and would not permit the 
 poor child to touch it. 
 
 We now commenced ascending rather a steep 
 mountain; a safe carriage - road could, however, be 
 easily made : this applies to the whole distance from 
 Constantinople to Belgrade. After about an hour's 
 ride, we reached the first summit, on which stands an 
 ancient Roman archway. Close by is a Turkish guard- 
 house, where our horses were all furnished with spikes 
 to their shoes, to enable them to walk safe through 
 the mountains, the roads being covered with ice. 
 
 The iron of Turkey is so very good, that their 
 nails and horse-shoes are forged without fire ; another 
 of the valuable blessings bestowed upon this country 
 by Providence, of which the barbarous inhabitants 
 scarcely avail themselves. 
 
 We continued ascending and descending for about 
 five hours longer, when we finally emerged in a plain 
 of about ten miles in diameter, in which stands the 
 little post-town of Ichtiman. As it was only half- 
 past four when we arrived there, we determined on 
 proceeding, but were prevented by the want of horses; 
 and, as none came in till seven o'clock, we were 
 obliged to delay our departure till two in the morning. 
 We accomplished twelve Turkish hours this day. 
 
 My leg was so inflamed here, that I cut off my 
 stocking, and trousers below the knee; and determined, 
 by the advice of the courier, to ride on in my boot
 
 448 APPENDIX. 
 
 and poultice. I had every reason to be satisfied with 
 this arrangement. At three in the morning, on the 
 21st, we resumed our journey; and after having tra- 
 versed the plain in which Ichtiman stands, began to 
 ascend the second range of mountains. The scenery in 
 these passes would be very pretty if the trees were of 
 a larger size ; but we scarcely saw any one larger 
 than what we should call a shrub, and yet all were 
 oak. 
 
 We were obliged to content ourselves with a cup 
 of Turkish coffee, in one of the guard -houses, for our 
 breakfast, and proceeded at a brisk trot into the plain 
 of Sophia, which presented the same features, viz. 
 signs of the greatest fertility, and of very scanty 
 cultivation. 
 
 We arrived at Sophia at half-past twelve, having 
 accomplished twelve hours; we accordingly flattered 
 ourselves that we should be able to go at least six 
 more, but were again most grievously mistaken. 
 In the stables of the post-house were thirty horses, 
 but all at the point of death ; it was morally impos- 
 sible to get them alive through the next stage to 
 Rockoy, which was sixteen hours distant. We sent 
 to the Tartar aga, and exhibited our firman to the 
 pasha, who told us that we were at liberty to kill as 
 many of the thirty horses as we chose, but better 
 ones could not be had till night, and that it would 
 be dangerous to proceed in the dark, as we had to
 
 APPENDIX. 449 
 
 cross a rapid and rather deep river three times. As I 
 had no special reason for wishing to get on, I thought 
 it foolish to run any risk, merely for the sake of not 
 leaving my companion : it seemed, however, that he also 
 had weighty reasons for not wishing to wet his baggage, 
 of which more anon ; so we both agreed to stay. 
 
 The Tartar aga shewed me the most beautiful 
 Arabian I had yet seen in Turkey. I do not think 
 any of the sultan's horses to be compared to it. How I 
 wished myself on his back, instead of wearying myself 
 by spurring and thumping the wretched animals I 
 usually strode ! 
 
 They gave us a miserable room at the post-house; 
 and having endeavoured to warm it with pans of char- 
 coal, we went to sleep. In the middle of the night 
 I awoke, by feeling nearly suffocated. All I could do 
 was to reach the door, and to force it open and let 
 in the cold night air. It was well I did so ; in another 
 moment I should have fainted. I found the French 
 messenger black in the face ; but the fresh air soon 
 recovered him. This is a very common occurrence 
 in Turkey, where, from the constant use of charcoal, 
 you frequently find the inmates of a house dead in 
 the morning. 
 
 The weather was any thing but promising : a cold 
 drizzling rain bid us prepare for a most uncomfortable 
 day's ride, and so we truly found it. On leaving the 
 town, of which, by the by, I have said nothing, as 
 
 VOL. I. G G
 
 450 APPENDIX. 
 
 nothing can be said, we were encountered by a furious 
 north wind, which cut us nearly in two, and which 
 very soon changed the rain to hail. This it drove 
 with such astonishing violence into our faces, that 
 mine was literally cut open in several places. 
 
 We forded the river in safety, though after consi- 
 derable difficulty ; and on arriving at a Turkish coifee- 
 house, six hours' distant from Sophia, my capote pre- 
 sented a surface of ice at least an inch thick, engen- 
 dered by the rain, hail, frost, and river water. Here 
 we staid an hour to refresh ourselves, and then pro- 
 ceeded to ascend the third range of mountains. 
 
 The scenery was extremely barren and sterile, al- 
 though there were some picturesque rocks, perhaps six 
 or seven hundred feet high, on one side of the brook 
 we followed. All along this torrent we found small 
 miserable huts, inhabited by Sclavonians ; and the lan- 
 guage, as well as the dress, underwent a very per- 
 ceptible change, though we did not enter Servia till 
 thirty hours later. Near one of these, just in the 
 middle of a lecture on horsemanship, the French- 
 man's horse stumbled, and, to his utter confusion, 
 he measured his breadth on the earth. He cut him- 
 self a little, but did not sustain any serious injury ; 
 so that after washing him, we proceeded ; I patiently 
 submitting to two hours' French oaths and invectives 
 against the horses, the country, the Tartars, and the 
 guides.
 
 APPENDIX. 451 
 
 At seven we arrived at a small village ; and our 
 horses being completely tired, we agreed to remain 
 there till the following morning, having rode twelve 
 Turkish hours that day, in very disagreeable weather, 
 and through dreadful roads. We found a species of 
 amusement in the coffee-house, which we certainly 
 had not expected, viz. a Turkish musician ; and, as 
 the Frenchman expressed it, a farceur. The per- 
 former's instrument was a species of guitar, with a 
 very long neck, which he managed with considerable 
 skill. His attempts at vocal performance were, how- 
 ever, truly ridiculous, — doleful, I might say ; and the 
 extravagant grimaces which he made, which were 
 intended to represent to his phlegmatic Turkish au- 
 dience the ecstasies of mirth, were so absurd, that 
 they certainly produced them upon us. I added con- 
 siderably to the hilarity of the evening by making 
 the songster drunk with French brandy, of which 
 1 had a large store with me, without ever having 
 had occasion to make use of it myself. 
 
 At five the next morning, we resumed our journey. 
 The frost, which had become intense, had made the 
 roads truly dangerous. It was pitch dark, and every 
 instant our horses slipped into holes, which threatened 
 to break their legs. As, however, day-light appeared, 
 we were able to pick our way ; and we soon saw a sight 
 which was sufficiently interesting to draw our attention 
 from our difficulties. After meeting a very large train
 
 452 APPENDIX. 
 
 of baggage, horses, and mules, a body of, perhaps four 
 hundred, splendidly equipped Turkish cavalry approach- 
 ed us. We soon perceived that it vv^as the suite of a 
 pasha of some distinction, from seeing his standard- 
 bearer surrounded by a great number of delhis, with 
 long lances. A most grotesque carriage, drawn by four 
 horses, and a great number of splendid led horses, soon 
 confirmed this opinion. It turned out to be Hussein 
 Pasha, returning from the war, accompanied by Osman 
 Pasha of Nissa. Among the numerous animals, biped 
 and quadruped, none struck me more than a great num- 
 ber of the Negropont greyhounds. Imagine a grey- 
 hound, of the highest breed, cream coloured, having the 
 most beautiful silky fringe along his belly, tail, and ears, 
 the rest of his body smooth as a mirror. These dogs are 
 extremely fleet, and very highly prized. He also had a 
 great number of pointers, fox-hounds, and other dogs, 
 with him; so I suppose he is a sportsman. This was 
 all very pretty ; but it plainly indicated to us what 
 was to be our fate at the post-town of Charkoy, which 
 we reached at about nine o'clock. After considerable 
 expostulation and three hours' delay, we, however, 
 ultimately succeeded in getting a number of peasants' 
 horses to convey us on, together with permission to 
 seize any return post-horses we might fall in with upon 
 the road. 
 
 On leaving the town, we passed a strong stone 
 castle, seemingly of not very ancient date, but very
 
 APPENDIX. 453 
 
 similar to those you so often see in ruins in Germany. 
 Like them, this was situated on a rocky projection, and 
 its foundations were washed by a rapid stream. After 
 proceeding about three hours, at a snail's pace, the 
 peasants, to whom our horses belonged, being at least 
 a mile in advance, they descried a considerable num- 
 ber of post-horses returning; but as it was suspected 
 that the guides or post-boys, who had not been out 
 of the saddle for three or four days and nights, would 
 resist our attempt to kidnap them, and make their 
 retreat through the open country, we formed a most 
 scientific ambush among the copse-woods, and suc- 
 ceeded in capturing our prey. 
 
 After considerable swearing, lamenting, and noise, 
 during which I seized the horse which appeared 
 freshest, every thing was amicably settled by the 
 distribution of a few piasters, and we proceeded at 
 a much better pace, although with tired horses; for 
 the peasants' ponies were totally unable to carry us. 
 
 We had been for some time ascending and de- 
 scending rocky hills, and at last again emerged into 
 one of the fertile plains with which this country 
 abounds; but here an accident occurred which dis- 
 turbed our harmony a little, and led to future dis- 
 agreement between the courier and myself. We had 
 to cross a brook partially frozen over, and between 
 two and three feet deep in the middle. The two 
 Tartars, two guides, four baggage - horses, and four
 
 454 APPENDIX. 
 
 men escort, had safely passed. I also got over safely; 
 but the poor fat Frenchman being rather timid, chose 
 to remain on the edge of the broken ice, instead of 
 forcing his horse at once into the deep part; the con- 
 sequence was, that the ice gave way, and the horse 
 losing its balance by an unexpected drop of two feet, 
 spilt its rider into the middle. One of the escort 
 had him out in a moment ; but the poor fellow was 
 doomed to many mortifications. He had not long 
 before boasted to me of the peculiar safety of the place 
 where he kept his despatches — a huge pocket in his 
 pelisse, under his left arm : that being the side on 
 which he fell into the water, you may imagine in 
 what state they have arrived at Paris, particularly 
 after being smoked at Semlin. Any thing like the 
 volubility and pertinacity with which he now con- 
 tinued to pour forth every French oath and invective 
 in common use in the grande armee, I never witnessed. 
 For two hours, which we had to ride before we ar- 
 rived at a coffee-house, he never ceased for one instant 
 abusing the country, the horses, the brooks, the Tar- 
 tars, the escort, the guide ; and although to get a 
 wetting on a cold day is sufficient to spoil a man's 
 temper for a time, yet my fat friend never recovered 
 his during the remainder of our journey. His disaster, 
 together with a violent storm which commenced just 
 as the night set in, induced us to remain at the coffee- 
 house ; so that we only performed ten hours, or eighty-
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 455 
 
 five miles, during this day of mishaps. I gave the 
 old man blankets to wrap himself in, while his clothes 
 were drying; cooked him a mess of tea, eggs, and 
 brandy, to secure him against cold ; but all would 
 not do, he remained as sulky as ever. 
 
 Next morning we ascended by far the most pic- 
 turesque range of mountains we had yet seen. This 
 outline was really magnificent, something like parts 
 of the Jura, or perhaps the Lower Alps. On descend- 
 ing by a very bad road, which it certainly would 
 have been dangerous to pass in the night-time, we 
 heard the report of heavy artillery towards Nissa; and 
 as I had frequently observed during our journey the 
 timidity of my companion, I could not help paying 
 him off for the bearish manner in which he had re- 
 ceived all my deeds of charity towards him the night 
 before. I accordingly observed, it was very likely 
 that some popular tumult had broken out at Nissa, 
 during the absence of the pasha, whom we had met. 
 The discovery which I accidentally made, on hazarding 
 this observation, amused me not a little. Dieu ! Dieu ! 
 mes pauvres schals ! The rascal had twenty-two Indian 
 and Persian shawls with him, which he was going to 
 smuggle into France, on a speculation of his own. 
 Hence the reason of his hydro- and robber-phobia. 
 I roared with laughter, which he took very much 
 amiss. We found Nissa, however, as quiet as pos- 
 sible, and dined very comfortably, while our horses
 
 456 APPENDIX. 
 
 were getting ready, for which we had to wait three 
 hours, as usual. A short distance from Nissa, we 
 observed the monument formed of the skulls of the 
 Servians slaughtered by the Turks in one of the 
 great battles which took place between them. 
 
 We left Nissa at three in the afternoon ; and I 
 observed that the town was both cleaner and the 
 houses better than is usual in Turkish towns. The 
 citadel struck me as very strong; and as the only 
 tolerable specimen of fortification which I had seen 
 on the whole road. The country we now entered 
 differed in some respects from that which we had 
 passed ; trees became more frequent, and we were 
 surrounded by low oak brushwood for many miles 
 on each side of us. On leaving the town, my Tartar 
 had forgot something, and sent back our guide. This 
 hugely displeased my companion, particularly as I 
 determined to await the guide's return. I repeatedly 
 requested the courier to proceed, as I should certainly 
 overtake him ; but his answer was, Non, monsieur ; 
 quand je suis en route, on ne ni" attrappe pas ! J'ai ete 
 trop long- terns courier, pour qu'on m'attrappe, — and 
 he then poured out such a string of gross abuse against 
 my Tartar, that I was obliged to inform him that I was 
 tired of listening to him, and that if the Tartar deserved 
 abuse, it was my business to give it, and not his ; but 
 that as I was perfectly content with him, I begged he 
 would keep his choice epithets for himself and party.
 
 APPENDIX. 457 
 
 Upon this he rode off in a huff. My guide certainly 
 kept me waiting a long time; but I nevertheless was 
 at Rasna at one o'clock at night, and the courier did 
 not arrive till half an hour later. As he did not choose 
 to reply to a civil observation of mine, I of course 
 took no further notice of him, but inwardly deter- 
 mined to humble him. I had ridden fifty-six miles 
 this day, on very bad horses ; and I slept, as you may 
 imagine, very soundly, on the bare floor, from near 
 two to half-past six. When I awoke, I found that the 
 Frenchman had just stolen away. It was Christmas 
 morning; and I had scarcely sufficiently awoke to be 
 aware of it, when orie of our king's messengers arrived, 
 and delivered to me a letter in duplicate from ray dear 
 
 friend announcing to me, with his usual 
 
 kindness, that he had that instant heard of the safety 
 of one of my family. 
 
 Elated with the good news I received, I can safely 
 say that I never passed a Christmas day more truly 
 happily. The exuberance of my spirits was soon felt 
 by the poor jade under me; and I galloped merrily 
 through forests of oak, and large pastures covered 
 with snow. The Frenchman had started an hour and 
 a half before me ; but I caught him at a village twenty- 
 one miles from our place of rest. I stopped to refresh 
 myself and horses, and passed the old man at a round 
 trot, before we got to the Morave, which we traversed 
 by a good bridge. The courier, black in the face with
 
 458 APPENDIX. 
 
 rage, endeavoured to make his horse keep up with 
 mine, but in vain; he only got another tumble. We 
 had now entered fairly Servia, and observed an attempt 
 at the execution of justice by the road side. Three 
 men were impaled for highway robbery and murder: 
 I, however, ascertained that they had been shot pre- 
 vious to the infliction of this horrible operation. 
 
 About three I arrived at lagotin, being half an 
 hour a-head of the Frenchman. The postmaster here 
 spoke German, and the people were evidently quite a 
 different race. Our Tartars seemed conscious that 
 they could not exercise in this country the same 
 unlimited authority as elsewhere. The Prince of 
 Novia Milosh certainly is endeavouring to civilise 
 this country ; and as a commencement, has begun to 
 cut a straight and convenient road through the im- 
 mense oak forests which cover the face of the whole 
 country between this and Belgrade. The vast quantity 
 of timber which lay felled on the side of this road to 
 rot, made my heart sore. If we had but all these use- 
 less trees in England ! 
 
 We did not leave lagotin till near sunset. During 
 my ride this night, I had occasion several times to 
 observe of how little value timber is in this country. 
 We repeatedly saw the finest oak trees in a blaze : 
 a hole is cut near the bottom, and a fire lighted in 
 it. This is the easiest way of clearing the ground. 
 I arrived at the post-house in the middle of the forest
 
 APPENDIX. 459 
 
 at about eleven o'clock, being again half an hour a- 
 head of my companion. 
 
 I had ridden fifty-eight miles this day, with very 
 little food, and could not obtain any thing at this 
 place. Luckily, I still had some portable soup, on 
 which I made a tolerable meal, adding a few crusts 
 of bread. In consequence of this cooking, and the 
 care I was obliged to take in dressing my leg, it was 
 again one o'clock before I could get to sleep ; and 
 on awaking, I found the Frenchman had played me 
 the same trick, and was off. I started at half-past 
 seven, having dressed my leg, and drank a little tea : 
 so I was again an hour and a half behind him ; but 
 it was written in the book of fate that he should not 
 escape me. I felt extremely unwell and feverish this 
 morning; but attributing it partly to want of nou- 
 rishment, I stopped at a cook's shop in a neighbour- 
 ing village, and devoured a certainly not very tempt- 
 ing looking preparation of meat. This, and a large 
 bottle of the wine of the country, completely set me 
 up again, and I arrived at the post-town of Hussein 
 Pasha Aga before the courier. Here we were obliged 
 to wait five hours for horses ; and being determined 
 to lay in a stock of viands, in case I should find 
 nothing at night, I approached a peasant who had 
 just killed a sheep, and purchased a leg. This I 
 cut into slices, and fried, or rather broiled on the coals, 
 with the assistance of my Tartar. I also employed
 
 460 APPENDIX. 
 
 the time I thus unexpectedly got in again dressing 
 my leg. The wounds with which I had left Con- 
 stantinople were completely healed ; but my old shot 
 wound had opened, and gave me considerable un- 
 easiness; I was therefore not a little glad that I had 
 only fifteen hours more to Belgrade, and I deter- 
 mined to do as many of them as possible during the 
 night. I pushed on, therefore, briskly ; but nature 
 would not. I am convinced I slept for near an hour, 
 while my horse was trotting on in the dark. I at 
 last determined to stop at a village at eleven o'clock, 
 and take a few hours' rest ; as the two nights pre- 
 vious I had only slept about four hours each, and 
 had rode fifty-eight miles each of the days preceding. 
 This day I had only rode forty-two miles, on account 
 of the delay experienced in procuring horses at Hussein 
 Pasha. After all, one hundred and sixty miles riding, 
 with only about eight hours and half sleep, is pretty 
 fair. I threw myself on the floor, and was fast asleep 
 in a minute, so as not even to notice the arrival of 
 the courier, who had had another tumble, and had 
 also determined to bring up at the village. I enjoyed 
 this night the sweetest sleep of seven hours I ever 
 remember to have had, and jumped up quite fresh 
 again. Before I started, it was one hour and three 
 quarters since the fat Frenchman left; but as I gal- 
 loped up and down hill, without fearing a fall, I 
 managed to get to the post-house, fourteen miles,
 
 APPENDIX. 461 
 
 in two hours, while he had taken nearly four. I 
 was lucky enough to find some milk here; and after 
 a hearty breakfast, I started to finish my short dis- 
 tance of five hours (seventeen miles and half) to 
 Belgrade. I had already obtained a sight of the 
 Danube on coming down the heights, behind the 
 post-house; and the prospect of my soon leaving 
 that mismanaged country Turkey, raised my spirits 
 not a little. 
 
 My road lay over extensive downs, which suddenly 
 drop towards the river Save : on this declivity stands 
 the famous fortress of Belgrade. The fortifications, 
 all but the citadel, are in the most wretched state 
 of ruin; and the town itself would be every thing 
 that is vile, if the monotony of Turkish wooden archi- 
 tecture were not here and there broken in upon by 
 houses belonging to Christians, and built on models 
 brought from the other side of the river. 
 
 On arriving at the banks of the Save, I found 
 that, owing to the ice, it was impossible for a boat to 
 get as far as the quarantine establishment at Semlin, 
 and that I should be obliged to walk at least three 
 miles over the snow. This was out of the question, 
 on account of my leg: I accordingly sent a Turk 
 over with a letter to the authorities, requesting them 
 to prepare a room for me, and send a sledge, stating 
 my reasons for not being able to walk. While I was 
 in anxious expectation of the appearance of this sledge,
 
 462 APPENDIX. 
 
 arrives the courier, who, hearing of my dilemma, im- 
 mediately hires six stout porters for his baggage, 
 and crosses the river to walk to Semlin, chuckling 
 at being the first there, after all. Me voild plante, 
 thought I : but happily my sledge arrived ; and before 
 we had proceeded two miles, I found the courier 
 stuck fast in the snow, exclaiming. Ah, monsieur! je 
 lie puis plus, je suis acheve ! I took pity on him, and 
 took him and his baggage on my sledge to the qua- 
 rantine. I went further : night having set in, and 
 only one fire being lighted for me, I permitted him 
 to remain the first night in my room ; but observing 
 the next morning evident signs of an intention to 
 establish himself with me, I requested him to retire, 
 as I had written to the commander-in-chief for a few 
 days' grace, and must, on that account, not remain 
 in communication with any other person. 
 
 The hole I am in is truly miserable. Conceive 
 a stone room, with two small windows, a brick floor, 
 and a wooden platform, such as you see in soldiers' 
 guard-rooms, running round two sides of the room. 
 This, and a stove, formed the only furniture I had the 
 first night. I have since bought a mat for the floor, a 
 table, a chair, and a mattress, together with a wash- 
 hand basin and jug; for I literally found nothing. My 
 dinner is brought me daily from an inn nearly a 
 mile distant, greasy and cold; and I am not allowed 
 to stir out of a courtyard five yards by six. It is
 
 APPENDIX. 463 
 
 really a blessing that I have received five days' 
 grace. 
 
 The day after my arrival here, an English mes- 
 senger, who left Constantinople two days later than 
 the French courier, brought me your letter, which 
 had arrived a few days after my departure. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
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