Chapter IV

Windings of the Danube--Civility of the Moldavian--Arrival at Moldava--Arrangements for voyage to Orsova--A Wallachian beauty-- Flock of geese--Ditto of children--Woodmen--Commencement of mountain chain--Rustic sounds--Peasantry--Removal to fishing-boat--Our equipment--Accusation of robbery--Haunt of Wallachian brigands-- Romantic gorge--Caverns.

I was awoke during the night by a violent storm of thunder and lightning, which I attempted to witness from the deck. The sky was an entire field of fire, and the thunder pealed incessantly, until at length the rain fell in warm showers which soon became a deluge. I was glad to take refuge in my berth again, and slept soundly until a late hour of the morning (29th), when I found our Tyrolese and their officers all busily engaged in landing their effects at Vipalanka. The bank was converted into a marsh by the rain; but, by the assistance of planks, they succeeded in effecting their object. The village was at a distance, and its mean appearance did not induce me to pay it a visit. Nearly opposite to Vipalanka are situated the village and fortress of Rama, on the brow of a bold and lofty promontory. The fortress still looks respectable, though partly in ruins; it commands the Danube at a point where begin those amazing serpentine undulations which form, perhaps, its most striking characteristic.

♦ WINDINGS OF THE DANUBE ♦

The map will show, that, if a canal were cut in a straight line from Rama to Vidin, it would be the cord of a vast irregular arch, full of windings, which indicate the various struggles made by this river in the early ages of the globe, before and after it forced its way through the heart of the mountains below Moldava, in its efforts to reach the Black Sea. Such a canal would save the navigator a period of full three days, which the mere deviations of the river in that quarter at present consume. Such a canal would, moreover, avoid some of the most serious difficulties now impeding the passage of the Danube, especially in seasons of drought, which are peculiarly felt in the whole of that interval. I despair of such a work being undertaken for the next half-century; but I am apprehensive that, until it shall be accomplished, the steam navigation of the Danube, at least by vessels of any considerable burden, will be liable to frequent interruptions. In the river, cranes were wading without any difficulty, so low was the water in almost every direction.

♦ CIVILITY OF THE MOLDAVIAN ♦

When we departed from Vipalanka for Moldava our passengers were reduced to the Servian Jew and his pale daughter, the Moldavian adventurer, and myself. The latter contrived throughout the voyage to amuse himself and his associates by his inexhaustible stores of poetry and anecdote, but he had not hitherto addressed himself with any thing like determination to my attention, or to that of the Jew. Finding, however, that we were bound further down the river, he gradually mingled in our conversation by volunteering the information which he possessed concerning the portion of the voyage we had still to achieve, and conducted himself with so much civility, that, notwithstanding his objectionable appearance I began to like the fellow.

♦ ARRIVAL AT MOLDAVA ♦

Although the rain had ceased, the morning continued cloudy; but we were compensated in some degree for the interruption of the fine weather, which we lately enjoyed, by the agreeable change of scenery that now broke upon our view. We glided along, sounding vigilantly however, all the way, between two ranges of hill, wooded to the top, and opening now and then into valleys and ravines, in which neat white cottages were scattered, and shepherds were seen driving their flocks afield. The bendings of the river were so abrupt that sometimes we could have imagined ourselves to have entered upon an extensive lake, whence there was no outlet apparent until we reached the headland round which the current preserved its course. As soon as we turned that point the scene behind us was as completely concealed from the eye as if a curtain of cloud had been dropped upon it.

Fields of Indian corn, hills deeply indented by the rains, and exhibiting sometimes the appearance of artificial fortresses, sometimes retiring to a distance, and leaving in front abrupt mounds of the most fantastic shapes; villages with their churches and steeples on one side, and churches and minarets on the other; Servians on our right fishing in little cockle-shells of boats; Hungarians on the left tending herds of swine; mountains towering in the distance--in turn engaged our attention until we arrived at Moldava, where we cast anchor at noon.

♦ ARRANGEMENTS ♦

Had the plan of the directors of the enterprise been duly carried into execution, we should have immediately quitted Moldava in a light boat owed by four stout Wallachians, and drawing little more than six inches of water. A neat wherry destined for that purpose was in fact lying near the village, but to our dismay we were informed that in many parts of the Danube between Moldava and Orsova, a distance of about seven leagues, there were not six inches of water, nor even three. The cargo was intended to be sent on by land, but there was no mode of conveyance for the passengers except a rough flat-bottomed boat belonging to a fisherman, who would not permit us to have the use of it, unless it was committed to his own guidance and rowed by his own comrades. We were informed by the agent of the company, an Italian, who assumed an air of great importance, that we should easily reach Orsova in eight hours at the utmost. Having no choice, therefore, save the flat-bottomed boat, or a pedestrian tour of twice the distance, over horrible mountain roads, we submitted to our fate, and it was arranged that the fisherman should take charge of us at daybreak the next morning.

♦ WALLACHIAN BEAUTY ♦

Moldava is an emporium of some commerce in its way. Several boats were moored near the bank, laden with hay, which groups of peasants were engaged in transferring to strong rude cars constructed in the form of a V. Some fifty or sixty oxen, by which these cars were to be drawn, were lying on the shore ruminating, or wandering about by way of relaxation. The cars proceeded to the waterside in succession; in one of these, which was waiting for its turn, I observed a remarkably fine Wallachian woman, spinning wool from a distaff in the primeval fashion. She was attired in a short woollen white mantle, under which was a robe of printed calico, which, without appearing in front, came down below the mantle behind. A neat linen chemise was folded in plaits upon her bosom, beneath which she sported a gay dimity apron, and a canvass petticoat. Her raven-black hair was carefully divided in front, braided over her ears, and detained in a knot behind by a tortoiseshell comb, from which was suspended a snow-white linen veil, that fell on her back gracefully. Neither shoe nor sandal served to hide her feet, which might have been chosen by Phidias for the statue of Minerva. This noble-looking woman, whose features were all of the Grecian mould, was the mother of three very fine young men, who were standing by her, accompanied by a huge mastiff, as if their purpose had been to exhibit a living _tableau_ from the pastoral age and country of Agamemnon.

♦ FLOCK OF GEESE ♦

Amongst the busy group, a young Greek priest recognised some friends. He seemed a man of authority, in his peaked Shylock-looking hat, black sutan, cincture of wide blue ribbon, comely beard, and silver-headed cane. I pitied a little boy who was employed in urging a numerous colony of geese through the crowd. They seemed very much disposed to prefer making the journey by water, while he was equally determined in favour of the dry land. Now a wild dog put them all into confusion, when off they half-waddled, half-flew, to the edge of the river. Now they were fairly on the march again, when the leader desirous of cooling his bill, suddenly gave the word of command. A general mutiny ensued,--the boy ran breathless after them, throwing sticks and stones, sand and cowdung at the fugitives, until he succeeded once more in restoring discipline. His patience was, after many severe trials, eventually rewarded by success. On another part of the shore some Servians were squatted in a line, with sacks of onions before them, which they had brought across the river for sale. A plank was placed between them and their Hungarian customers, who stood at a little distance, neither being allowed to pass over the plank which represented the quarantine. The bargains were conducted on the part of the Servians by a single spokesman, who appeared an extremely knowing sort of personage.

♦ FLOCK OF CHILDREN ♦

I walked into the village, or rather, I should say, the lower part of the “town,” which is chiefly inhabited by fishermen. It is inferior in every respect to Mohacs, the cottages having all roofs of wood, wicker walls plastered with mud, and even wicker chimneys. As I was strolling quietly along a troop of almost naked little urchins gathered, shouting, around me, and grasping my right hand kissed it with tokens of fervour, which I confess I should have excused under the circumstances, not knowing exactly what might be the practical recollections impressed on the said hand of the honours which they thought fit to bestow. A few small pieces of silver had the effect of dispersing this group, but also of diffusing information through the whole village of the arrival of a stranger. Accordingly, as I proceeded, my steps were literally beset by armies of ragged figures, who claimed my hand. I gave them to understand, in the course of a regular parley, that I had no more silver, upon which I was suffered to make a retreat, without being enabled to visit the upper part of the “town,” where, as I afterwards learned, much better houses, and a respectable class of inhabitants are to be found.

♦ WOODMEN ♦

The mountainous scenery of the Danube commences a little below Moldava. I set out to climb one of the eminences, from which I might command a view of the country. I had no gun, no arms of any description; nothing except an umbrella, which I might use in self-defence.--I never, by the way, encountered an Englishman travelling abroad or at home without an umbrella: it seems a national distinction.--I do not know that I acted with much prudence in thus wandering alone and unarmed in a strange, and I may add, a more than semibarbarous region; the more especially, as in the course of my excursion among these mountains, I met now and then savage-looking woodmen returning home from the neighbouring thickets, driving before them donkies almost hidden beneath their burdens of brambly firewood, and bearing on their shoulders heavy axes, with which, if they were so disposed, they might have annihilated me without the slightest danger of discovery. But in all such cases I was circumspect, and being nearly as tall and as strong as the ordinary run of men, I had few apprehensions about encountering at least a single foe, if not taken unawares.

♦ MOUNTAIN CHAIN ♦

As I ascended I found that the mountains which I trod were but steps to higher and higher ranges, which rose dimly in the distance, and appeared to occupy a considerable portion of the country on both sides of the Danube. By what process the river forced its way among them--whether they were violently separated from each other by repeated volcanic operations, or whether the flood created its own channel by loosening masses of rock and driving them before it--I had no means of conjecturing. The chain commences here almost like a wall at either side of the current; but the undulations of the hills which I had observed on our approach to Moldava, as well as of the lower mountains at some distance from the banks, strongly favour the supposition that a vast inundation had accumulated in all that region before an opening was found for it to the Euxine.

♦ RUSTIC SOUNDS ♦

A few white cottages were sprinkled on the declivities, and swineherds were seen here and there driving their undisciplined companions homeward. A train of waggons laden with woolpacks, and drawn by oxen, whose bells tinkled in the air, was descending from the northern heights; but on the Servian side of the river all was silence and desolation. I thought the evening was about to close in abruptly, as after a slight shower of rain the mountains and hills around me suddenly put on their mantles of mist. The sun setting with great splendour soon, however, changed the scene, arraying their prominent slopes in robes of light, and dispersing the vapours which were fast gathering all round the horizon.

♦ PEASANTRY ♦

As I returned to my temporary home I loitered, not unpleased, to listen to the variety of rustic noises which the close of the day brought with it--the barking of dogs, the still tinkling bells of the oxen already arrived at the river-side, the crack of the swineherd’s whip, the distant calls of voices echoing in the mountains, the rare and sleepy twitter of the birds, the shouts of children in the village, and the merry sounds of a violin. A few old men and their grown-up hardy daughters were dredging for minnows in the river, apparently with little success. The woolpacks were all discharged on the bank, in order to be loaded the next morning on board the steam-boat, which was to depart without delay on its return to Pesth. The peasants who had arrived with the waggons exhibited, to me at least, a singular appearance. Some were in canvass shirts, trousers, and round woolly caps, without any other protection against cold or rain; others added to this attire a goatskin in its natural condition, without being even trimmed of its superfluities. I could not have distinguished the women from the men, had not the hair of the former been platted and fastened under a small linen cap, which was fitted closely on the top of the head. I soon lost sight of the whole of this motley assemblage in the dusk of night, when I resumed my old station in the cabin, there being no such thing as an inn at Moldava.

The Servian Jew found an opportunity of sending his daughter, with some friends, across the river: he intended to proceed to Vidin. The poet also was fated to be my companion, as his object was to get back to Jassy. I own that with all my respect for his talents, and with all the philosophic patience which I have acquired from some little experience in travelling, I could not enter into discussion with him, as to the arrangements necessary to be made for the following morning, without considerable twinges of reluctance. I had no thought of preparing stores for the expedition, as I presumed that we should reach Orsova early in the afternoon. He advised me, however, to provide myself with a cold chicken or two, and a bottle of rum, a suggestion which I took care to adopt, though it left me to suspect that my period of inevitable companionship with himself would be rather longer than I had already apprehended.

♦ FISHING-BOAT ♦

The morning came in all the breathing brightness of summer, though we were just on the eve of October. It had been arranged that the fisherman and his associates should be with us at five o’clock, but they failed to make their appearance until seven. They excused themselves by asking, whether any body could have expected that they should commence their labours before they had breakfasted? Our luggage having been removed into the flat-bottomed barge, the poet, the Jew, and I assumed our places, after taking a friendly leave of the captain and the engineer, from both of whom I experienced every kind of civility which they could possibly show to a countryman.

♦ EQUIPMENT ♦

The master, or patron of the boat as he is more usually called, was a short weatherbeaten old man, who had already counted more than seventy winters. The pupil of one eye was completely dimmed, and of the other scarcely sufficient remained sound to admit more than a single ray of light. Yet through that small aperture he issued glances of authority, which enforced by an imprecation or two, sometimes made the fellows at the oars wince. His helm was a long oar, which he moved to either side of the stern as occasion required. The rest of our equipage was in a very simple, or rather in a very unworkmanlike style. The oars which were just like our fireshovels, with short handles, were passed through a noose of thong or rope, tied to a peg in the edge of the vessel, which noose, or which peg, or which said thong or rope gave way about every quarter of an hour, another quarter being required for its restoration. We had three rowers, the excess of velocity at one side being corrected by the long oar of the patron at the stern.

♦ ACCUSATION OF ROBBERY ♦

We had not gone above two hundred yards from the place of embarkation when a man came running and shouting after us. We took no notice of him for a while, thinking that he must have been out of his senses, so furious were his gesticulations. At length, however, he made us understand that we had stolen one of his oars, and we were obliged to put in to shore to answer this charge. After a long controversy, if controversy that can be called in which our patron and his men, and their accuser were all talking, scolding, and shouting together, we gave him up an old oar which he took very discontentedly. About eight o’clock we were once more fairly on our way.

There being no sort of accommodation for passengers in our bark, I sat on my portmanteau; the Jew disposed of himself on a piece of carpet beside me, and in front of him the poet on the bare plank. A space near the prow was occupied by a woman and her two children. Much to my surprise, when we arrived in the middle of the river, and I began to hope our men were resolved to regain the time we had already lost, they deliberately took in their oars, and opening a wallet of bread, garlic, and cold fried fish, they proceeded to breakfast. The poet asked whether they had not performed that operation already, to which they replied that they had been disturbed at their morning meal, and that they must now finish it. Our precious bark was therefore left to make its own way down the river, a mode of travelling at all events possessed of the advantages of enabling us to observe at our leisure the scenery amidst which we entered.

♦ WALLACHIAN BRIGANDS ♦

At the entrance of the mountain gorge through which the Danube here finds its course, stand the ruins of Kolubatz, a pile of castles built on an almost inaccessible rock, which about a century ago, were occupied by a band of Wallachian brigands, under the command of Borichour, a name still repeated with a traditional sort of terror in all that neighbourhood. His depredations were carried on upon a princely scale, as he affected to consider himself the legitimate sovereign of the country around him, as far as he could reach without endangering the safety of retreat to his own fortress, which he deemed impregnable. The fishermen tell numberless stories of this celebrated robber and of his banditti, who are said to have often fought against disciplined troops, five times their number, with invariable success. When once shut up within their drawbridge, they defied their enemies, however numerous these might be, for even if their castles had been all demolished, they had secret passages through the interior of their rock leading to caverns in the adjacent mountains, where they had always ample store of provisions, and feared no pursuit. The ruins are highly picturesque, and by their formidable position give probability to the wildest tales that are related of Borichour and his Wallachians.

♦ ROMANTIC GORGE ♦

The Austrian guardhouse on the opposite bank exhibited a miserable appearance, when compared with these remains of chivalry. It was built loosely of uncemented stones, with a wooden roof and even a wooden chimney. A sentinel was looking out lazily at the door, in front of which was a stand for arms. Near the house an angle of an old castle attests, that that side of the river also had its fortress in former days, though not so extensive as Kolubatz.

As we proceeded through this romantic gorge, within which the Danube was pressed by mountains rising on each side to a considerable height, we heard repeated explosions, which we might easily have mistaken for discharges of artillery besieging a citadel. We soon observed, however, a number of men at work on the Hungarian bank, engaged in widening the carriage-road, and were informed that further down the river it was necessary to blow up the rocks for that purpose. The echoes of these detonations resounding among the mountains and along the waters, gave peculiar interest to the scene; they spoke of enterprise and industry well applied, and were the harbingers of national prosperity, civilization and happiness.

♦ CAVERNS ♦

I observed several caverns in our mountain banks as we went along, and was informed that some of the boldest rocks which shot up in the most fantastic peaks were all hollow inside, and occasionally inhabited by fishermen. In the days of brigandage they served as retreats for pirates, and all sorts of marauders, who rendered the passage of this part of the Danube an affair of no slight danger. Occasionally masses of rock appeared above our heads, depending for support on rude pillars, in which capitals wrought by the hand of nature might be descried. One immense buttress rose in the shape of a round tower, near the top of which a large cavern was visible, accessible by a gateway naturally arched in the Gothic style.