Chapter XIII

My companions--Kind attentions--Famine--Annihilation of a fowl--Living upon nothing--Disturbance--Still life--Consternation--A desolate town--Turks at prayers--Dinner--Alarming Rumours--Chorlu--The sea of Marmora--Silivria--Street scene--A factotum--News of the day--Tartar generosity--Negotiations.

My companions were all Turks, apparently of a very respectable class in society. Besides the divan which afforded couches to six or seven persons, two others had mattresses on the floor.

♦ MY COMPANIONS ♦

There was no want of fresh air in the room, as several panes of glass were broken in the windows. Indeed one whole frame which was papered all over fell in during the night, and had the temperature of the external atmosphere not been peculiarly mild, one of my new acquaintances, over whose face the morning breezes were playing, might have suffered from the accident.

As soon as I emerged from the folds of my cloak, I became an object of general attention to these gentlemen. One presented me immediately with his pipe, and looked very much astonished to find that the first thing I did on opening my eyes was not an act of conformity with the universal custom of smoking. Instead of a chibouke, however, I ordered a napkin and some water, which was brought to me in a pewter dish, and after making my toilet in the best manner I could, I proceeded to write my journal. My memory being full of the incidents of the preceding day, I of course wrote with great rapidity, being much more anxious to set down all the matter, than to impart to it any form of style. They followed my movements with surprise, the more especially as my mode of writing the characters from left to right was the reverse of their own, and they could not conceive how it was possible for me to create any character at all with the silver instrument which I held in my hand, and which borrowed no assistance from the ink-bottle. They smiled at each other as much as to say, “These Englishmen are the strangest beings in the world, they have ways of their own for every thing.”

♦ KIND ATTENTIONS ♦

I unscrewed my pencil and showed them the mode in which it was constructed. Simple as it was they could scarcely be made to comprehend it. I very much regretted that I had not brought a few of these instruments with me for the purpose of presenting them to such persons as these, whose civility and good nature deserved every return I could make. While I was performing my ablutions one would hold the dish, another the napkin. A third ordered coffee for me. Then the pipe was again and again offered. My objection to this grand luxury of Turkish life seemed to them unaccountable. Then my suspenders became objects of examination, as well as my moveable shirt collar, and my black silk cravat. When I finished dressing by putting on my blue cloth cap, they seemed to look upon my _tout ensemble_ as a complete puzzle.

♦ FAMINE ♦

After breakfasting on a bowl of boiled milk, three or four eggs, and very good brown bread, I proceeded on my journey through the lower ranges of the Balkans. These mountains and valleys are almost wholly unpeopled. The few huts which we passed in the course of the day were of the most miserable description. The country is every where so barren that the human beings who are scattered over it, few though they be, have scarcely any thing to live upon. We rode on until the afternoon without being able to find any accommodation either for man or horse. The fountains were all dried up, so that we could not obtain even a draught of water, which would have been the more acceptable, inasmuch as the day was inconveniently warm. At length we came to a little brook, by the side of which we were delighted to sit down. The Tartar, though much heated, stooped down and drank copiously from the spring with impunity. I did not dare to follow his example until I had rested a while, when he produced a bottle of rum. I prevailed on him and the postilion to empty it of a portion of its contents, after which I filled it with water from the brook. The mixture then was not only safe but truly delicious. It renovated my appetite, which had been sickened by long fasting and hard riding, but what was there to eat?

♦ ANNIHILATION OF A FOWL ♦

My cunning Tartar then brought forth from his haversack the much-despised, the abhorred fowl of the previous evening, together with a loaf of bread and a paper of salt! After a little reflection upon the vanity of all human resolutions, I was prevailed upon to sever a wing from the breast, and to taste the inside meat, to which I could discover no just objection. I tried a similar experiment with the other wing, which I was forced to admit to be equally free from any fair ground of impeachment. Both these members being pretty well dealt with, I thought there could be no harm in extending my acquaintance to the breast, which disappeared in due time. The legs next became objects of curious inquiry, and fully answered my new-born expectations. The side-bones and “merrythought” pleasantly reminded me of the “soul,” which soon established to my entire satisfaction the truth of the Pythagorean doctrine, by migrating under my own superintendence into a different body. Finally the back yielded up its treasures, and though I was in the land of Mahomet, I could not help being Catholic enough to pay my compliments to the “pope’s nose.” When I thought of my late cackling friend, who sauntered about with so fine an air of self-complacency, now reduced to such a wonderful state of disorganization, I convinced myself that her ladyship must have been guilty of some dreadful deed in this world or some other, which caused her to be thus decapitated, drawn and quartered, I may say annihilated with a degree of expedition unprecedented in the “annals of crime.”

♦ LIVING UPON NOTHING ♦

My guide, as usual, contented himself with hard eggs. How the postilion fared it was no business of mine to inquire. I saw him at a distance, chewing something. He had plenty of water, at all events, and so had our horses; who, moreover, feasted on some brambles. I began to think that Turkish horses have the peculiar faculty of living upon nothing; and as they made no objection to going on, I thought it would be words thrown away to attempt to persuade them of their folly in resolving to gallop over these boundless wastes without so much as a straw in their inside. A fresh relay at nine o’clock, which we procured at a wretched hamlet, enabled us to pursue our journey rapidly the whole night; the moon lighted our way until the morning came, and disclosed Adrianople in the distance.

From the various descriptions which I had read of this city, second only to Stamboul itself, I had expected to find it characterized by a considerable degree of splendour. The cupolas and minarets of its numerous mosques undoubtedly do afford to the traveller, for some time before he enters it, ample grounds for believing that he is about to visit an important, well-inhabited, and flourishing town. But though not wholly disappointed, this expectation is much attenuated by the time he reaches his khan, after riding through the principal streets, which, beyond the usual variety of shops, supply no materials for admiration.

♦ DISTURBANCE ♦

I was feverish after my long uninterrupted ride, and mingled cold water copiously with my coffee. The Tartar seemed to have no intention of resting; but I insisted on being shown to a chamber, where I was determined on remaining for five or six hours, even if I could not sleep. By way of precaution I discarded all the pillows and cushions which I found in the room, as they were by no means inviting; and spreading my rug on the floor, with my carpet-bag for a pillow, I enjoyed, for about two hours, a most delicious slumber.

A rascally boy then came to knock at my door, which I had contrived, very much to his astonishment, to fasten on the inside. I pretended not to hear him for a while, suspecting he was a messenger from my more villanous Tartar. But he knocked and pushed and kicked at my barricades, until he succeeded in forcing the door a sufficient distance from the jamb to enable him to take a view of my person. This was impertinent. I therefore got up and let him in. Whereupon I laid my whip upon his shoulders until he was very glad to make his escape by jumping down a whole flight of stairs. The chatter of customers in a butcher’s shop immediately under my window, the noise of people walking and talking in the street, each group of gossips seeming to have a particular fancy for stopping in my neighbourhood, the sound of ungreased waggon-wheels, creaking over the rough roads below, the bellow of oxen, and the occasional shouts of children, all conspired to assure me that further forgetfulness was, for that day, out of the question.

♦ STILL LIFE ♦

However, I continued in the attitude of repose, and as I could not keep my eyes shut I amused myself in observing the still life of a tailor’s shop opposite, which appeared to be the favourite lounge of all the idlers of the town. The master and three journeymen were seated in the Turkish fashion, which tailors have adopted in every age and clime. Three visiters took their seats also on the board, smoking their long pipes, and looking on with profound gravity at the perpetual passing and repassing of the needles and threads through the cloth, which was destined in due season to become a waistcoat or a pair of trousers. Not a word escaped any of the party. A voluptuous, well-dressed, fine-looking man, with a long gold-headed cane balanced in one hand, and his immense pipe in the other, next made his appearance. He could not go by the shop without “looking in.” Kindling his pipe, he also took his station on the board, and while his charge of tobacco lasted, seemed the happiest of mortals. When the last puff expired he quitted his seat, walked down the street, paid a visit to a tinman, smoked another pipe, came back, sat down again in the tailor’s shop, where he found the whole party undisturbed, filled his pipe again, exhausted it, and then seemed fairly at a loss to know what he was next to do. He looked up the street, down the street, went out, came back, stood a few minutes at the door in a state of listlessness, within a degree of petrification, and, at length, resolutely disappeared.

♦ CONSTERNATION ♦

Being somewhat refreshed, I proceeded to what I should call the kitchen, but which the Turks treat as a coffee-room, where several Adrianopolites were assembled, sipping their universal beverage, amidst clouds of their fragrant tobacco. Here I learned, very much to my consternation, that the Russians were in the Bosphorus, preparing to take possession of Constantinople. I inquired by what means this intelligence had arrived, as when I left Vienna nothing of that kind had transpired. The answer was, that a courier from the English embassy had just passed through on his way to Semlin, and that it was expected that England would immediately declare war against the emperor. As all this was conveyed to me in broken French and Italian, I concluded at first that I misunderstood what was said, and that they were speaking of the events of 1833, not of the present year. But I was positively assured that the Russian fleet and troops had arrived a few days ago in the Bosphorus, and that unless England should in time prevent them, they would soon be the masters, not only of the capital, but of all Turkey. While this conversation was going on they gathered gradually around me, and expressed themselves quite anxious to know whether I thought that my countrymen would really come to their protection. They appeared to despair of being able to do anything in their own defence, and even accustomed to the idea of resigning themselves to Russian supremacy, unless England interposed in their behalf. I expressed my confident hope that the intelligence was at least premature; but if it were true, I conceived that not only England but France also could hardly contemplate such proceedings with indifference.

♦ A DESOLATE TOWN ♦

Our horses having been announced, we took our departure at noon, and arrived at Burgas at four o’clock. This town has more of a European aspect at a distance than any I had yet seen in Turkey. It boasts of several mosques, and other public buildings of great extent, which give it an appearance of grandeur. But on strolling through the streets I found them almost a wilderness. The edifices which I had expected to see inhabited as palaces, or used as public institutions, were abandoned to the winds and rain. The fountains, which in a former age had been beautifully decorated with marble, were thrown down and neglected. The cloisters of the mosques, which in one or two instances were upon a most magnificent scale, had become the safe abode of wild cats and dogs, owls and ravens, whose croaking added not a little to the desolation of the scene. The mosques were all out of repair.

♦ TURKS AT PRAYERS ♦

A boy proclaimed, from the top of a minaret, in the usual terms,[2] the hour of evening service while I happened to be at the gate of one of these temples. It was immediately opened. Eight or ten wretched-looking devotees emerged from different quarters of the cloisters, washed their feet at the ruinous fountain, and leaving their slippers outside the door, entered the mosque. I did not deem it prudent to follow their example, as I was alone.

But I stood unmolested at the door, which remained open. Lamps, like those we use in illuminations, were lighted, suspended from the roof, almost low enough to touch the head of a man standing. The thin congregation were arranged in a semicircle, and all joined aloud in prayers, in tones not unlike those in use among the Jews, but without being quite so boisterous, and with every external appearance, at least, of profound devotion to the great Father of the universe, towards whose abode in heaven, their eyes were constantly directed.

[2] _La Allah ila Allah, Muhammed Resoul Allah_ (No God but God,
Mahomet Prophet of God).

♦ DINNER ♦

I dined on rice and haricot mutton, which, by the way, I had great difficulty in compelling my Tartar to order, as he would have preferred limiting my fare to eggs, which cost less money. He was a most penurious caterer, and if by inflexible firmness I had not gained an ascendancy over him, he would have starved me through the whole journey. I mention these things in order that future travellers in Turkey may be prepared to adopt the same course--the only one that will satisfactorily carry them through the difficulties attending a journey in that country. I think it may be assumed as a general principle, that though your personal safety is assured in the hands of a Tartar, your digestive organs will not have much reason to thank him, if he can help it.

While I was engaged at my humble meal, several persons, as usual, came to witness my operations. A meat dinner appears to be in Turkey a public exhibition; but I must do my spectators the justice to say, that the chief attraction of the scene was the national character of the principal performer, whom they treated with the utmost respect. I began to feel myself somebody of distinction, and to have doubts of my personal identity, as all my habits and tastes were formed amid the shades of life, wherever I could find them. But here I was invested with a character which seemed, in the opinion of the Turks, to place me at an immeasurable distance above themselves on the scale of existence. They saw in me--a simple, dusty-coated, jack-booted, unshaven, travel-stained equestrian--nothing but my country, of whose power to accomplish whatever she resolves to do in any quarter of the world, they appeared to entertain the most entire conviction.

♦ ALARMING RUMOURS ♦

The report of the Russians being at Constantinople was here repeated by every tongue. It was added, that a conspiracy had broken out there about a fortnight before; that there had been much fighting in the streets; that Pera had been again laid waste by flames; that the sultan was a prisoner in the seraglio; and that the imperial flag of Russia was waving over the seven towers. These additional circumstances seriously affected the obstinacy with which I had hitherto treated the whole story as a fabrication; I even began to think whether I ought to proceed any further, as, if the news thus thickening upon me were true, a solitary Briton would have little chance of safety within the walls of Constantinople. However, I resolved to go on. As I was mounting my horse, several of my new friends pressed their hands on my shoulder in a warm and even affectionate manner, exclaiming, in energetic terms, “England and the Sultan at Stamboul--the Russians _in the sea_!” There was a slight “hurra!” when we rode off; and one of the Turks accompanied me through the streets, pressing his hand upon my knee. The excitement of this scene rendered me extremely anxious to learn the real state of affairs at the capital. My host had procured for me, without any solicitation on my part, the best horse he could find at Burgas--a fine Arabian, as gentle as a child, as fleet as the wind, and almost as indefatigable.

♦ CHORLU ♦

We rode, without cessation, through the bright night for eight hours, and arrived about three o’clock in the morning at Chorlu, where I was shown into a filthy room in an outhouse, as I had no fancy for sleeping in a stable. I lay down upon a mat on the floor, and slept soundly until seven, when, after a good breakfast on eggs, brown bread, syllabub, and grapes, which I found here remarkably fine, we resumed our journey with fresh horses, very much inferior to those we had during the night.

♦ SILIVRIA ♦

The morning was misty, but the sun soon shone out, and my heart bounded with delight, when, on galloping along the ridge of an eminence, I beheld, glittering in the distance, on my right, the waters of the sea of Marmora. They appeared through the refraction of the misty air as if they were in the sky, but the white sails stealing over their surface convinced me that I was under no delusion. Those waters would soon mingle with the Mediterranean, the Mediterranean with the Atlantic, which washed my native shores. Some of those sails were most probably lately from England, or now returning thither. These are the associations which make an Englishman feel every where, when he approaches the sea, as if he were once more at home!

Our horses being very sorry animals, we were obliged, after the first hour or two, to ride at a snail’s pace. Silivria, with its picturesque castle and fortifications reposing on the vast blue lake of Marmora, was in sight all day, but we did not arrive there until two o’clock in the afternoon. The town was filled with Turkish soldiers, dressed in the new uniform of the country--blue round jacket, vest, and trousers, the red Greek cap with blue silk tassel, strong square-toed shoes, and white cotton stockings. They presented a most unmilitary appearance, and I concluded at once, from the reports with which my mind had been filled, that they were flying in dismay from Constantinople.

♦ STREET SCENE ♦

On dismounting at a caravanserai, which was midway down the principal street, I was conducted to an open balcony, where mats were spread. The scene before me was not magnificent. The street was shaded by a few large trees, planted on each side. You may imagine how it was paved, if you have ever seen a street in London when the pavement is _taken up_. A stream of muddy water ran through the middle, leaving in its course a pool near a dunghill, on the top of which an old pelican was strutting, apparently the master of that position, much to the envy of a poor hen, who was looking up at him wistfully, and also of a cat, who seemed to be thinking how she could best dislodge the usurper. But he was on his guard against both his enemies, now looking down on one, now on the other, fiercely.

♦ A FACTOTUM ♦

Two little pug-dogs were busy at a game of romps, running here and there, grappling with each other, rolling each other over, biting the back of each other’s neck, leg, or tail, without hurting it, barking in well-feigned passion, the fugitive turning on the pursuer, who, in his turn, affected a retreat. Some sturdy cocks were gadding about, crowing at intervals, to remind the world of their importance. Geese and ducks frequented the pool, and every time a cock crew they gabbled in chorus. The sound made the pelican tremble on his throne.

Seated on a stone near a gateway was a genteel, well-dressed Turkish boy, afflicted by a nervous affection in the face, which every two or three minutes drew up the right corner of his mouth close to his ear. His whole occupation was looking at me, an occupation which detained him on his stone three hours without a moment’s interruption. A little way down the street was the tomb of a saint, a circular edifice, roofed with wood, and railed all round; upon an elevated platform within, the holy man was laid out in the dress in which he died a century ago. He presented as yet no visible signs of decay, which proved his title to canonization!

An Italian, half idiot, half knave, wretchedly attired, the factotum of the caravanserai, introduced himself to my acquaintance, and asked me if I were not much fatigued, offering at the same time his services to procure me some seawater, which he strongly recommended as an application of sovereign power to any part of my frame that might have been affected by the saddle. Although somewhat jaded I had no occasion to accept his advice, though I should have been extremely glad to dip in a warm sea-bath if such a thing were to be found in Silivria. Nothing of the sort was to be had, but there was a vapour-bath, in which I might be shampooed if I thought fit. But the sense of suffocation with which that operation is attended, forbade the experiment.

♦ NEWS OF THE DAY ♦

I inquired the news from Constantinople. “All quiet.”--“What! no revolution?”--“Revolution! Oh yes; that was all over.”--“And the Russians have come to Constantinople!”--“Yes; the Russians came, and have gone again, Signor!”--“How long is it since they went away?”--“A year ago, Signor.”--“A year ago! what do you mean?”--“I mean two years ago, Signor.”--“What are all these soldiers about?”--“Some are getting shaved, Signor.”--“Poh! I mean, where are they going?”--“I saw two of them just now going to bed, Signor.”--“But whither are they marching?”--“Nowhere, Signor, for they are all boys and have not learned to march yet?”--“Where have they come from?”--“Stamboul.”--“Oh! I see you are a Turk, though you have not put on the turban.”--“Sometimes a Turk, Signor, sometimes nothing at all.”--“What are these soldiers about?”--“Do you see these men coming up the street, Signor, one of them with half a sheep on his back?”--“I do.”--“Well, Signor, those men are about to get their supper.”

♦ TARTAR GENEROSITY ♦

Finding that I had no prospect of extorting any political information from this addlepated Italian, I engaged his services in the culinary line, desiring him to proceed forthwith to the cook’s-shop and get me some stewed mutton for dinner. He fled, delighted with his mission, already contemplating with such an eye as his mind possessed, the probability of there being fragments which might fall to his share. He returned immediately, however, rather downcast, followed by my Tartar, who with an effrontery too ridiculous for anger, assured me that not a morsel of mutton, or of meat of any kind was to be had in the town, the troops having consumed the whole stock of that article in the trade. I directed their attention to a butcher’s stall opposite, where two men were engaged cutting up or rather cutting _down_, a sheep with a sabre, and to another shop in the lower part of the street where similar operations were in progress. “Those sheep,” said the Tartar, “are all bought up for the army, which is going to Adrianople: I can get nothing for you but some eggs.”

♦ NEGOTIATIONS ♦

I rose from my mat, and bade them attend me to one of the shops which I had noticed, where, through the medium of the Italian, no unwilling interpreter on the occasion, a negotiation was immediately concluded upon the subject of a leg of the said mutton, which being separated from the other members by a sabre, was taken possession of by my accomplice, who triumphantly posted away with it to the cook’s-shop at the further end of the street.