Chapter XXXI (5)

After three days' journey, I came at last to a town named Sophia, which had been very considerable, as may be judged from the ruins of its walls, now thrown down; but it is at present the best in Bulgaria. It has a small castle, and is situated near a mountain on the southward, and at the beginning of a great plain sixty miles long by ten wide. The inhabitants are chiefly Bulgarians, as in the adjacent villages. The Turks are few in number, which causes the others to feel the greatest desire to throw off their yoke, if they could find any to assist them. I saw some Turks return from an excursion to Hungary; and a Genoese, named Nicolas Ciba, told me he had also seen those who had crossed the Danube return, and that there was not one in ten that had both bow and sword: for my part, of those I saw there were many more that had neither bow nor sword than those who were armed with both. The best equipped had a small wooden target. In truth, we must confess that it is a great shame for Christendom to suffer itself to be subjugated by such a race, for they are much below what is thought of them.

On quitting Sophia I traversed fifty miles of the plain I spoke of. The country is well inhabited by Bulgarians of the Greek religion. I then passed through a mountainous country, tolerably good for travelling on horseback, and came to a little town in a plain on the Nissave, called Pirotte. It is uninclosed, but has a small castle, defended on one side by the river, on the other by a marsh: to the north is a mountain. It is inhabited by Turks only. Beyond Pirotte the country is again mountainous, when, after a circuit, we came again to the Nissave, which runs through a beautiful valley between two tolerably high hills. At the foot of one of them was the town of Ysvouriere, now totally destroyed, even to the walls. We followed the banks of the river through the valley, and came to another mountain, difficult to pass, although cars and carts do go over it. We then arrived at an agreeable valley, still watered by the Nissave, which having crossed by a bridge, we entered Nissa. This town had a handsome castle that belonged to the despot of Servia. The Turk took it, five years ago, by storm, and entirely destroyed it. The situation is in a delightful country, abounding in rice. I continued to follow the river from Nissa, through a country equally pleasant, and well filled with villages. I at last crossed it at a ferry, and saw it no more. The mountains now commenced, and I had a long miry forest to pass, and, after ten days' journey from Adrianople, arrived at Corsebech[504], a small town situated a mile distant from the Morava.

The Morava is a large river that runs from Bosnia, and divides Bulgaria from La Rascia, or Servia, a province which indifferently bears these two names, and which the Turk conquered six years ago. Corsebech had a small castle, now demolished: it has still a double wall, but the other parts, as far as the battlements, have been thrown down. I found there Cénasin Bey, captain or commandant of this vast frontier country, that extends from Wallachia as far as Sclavonia. He resides part of the year in this town; and they told me he was originally a Greek, who did not drink wine like other Turks; that he was prudent and brave, and knew how to make himself feared and obeyed. The Turk has intrusted him with the government of this country, of which he possesses the greater part as his own property. He suffers no one to cross the river, unless they be known to him, or unless they be bearers of letters from his master, or, in his absence, from the governor of Greece. We saw there a beautiful woman, one of the Hungarian nobility, whose situation inspired us with pity. An Hungarian renegado, one of the lowest rank, had carried her off in an excursion, and treated her as his wife. On seeing us, she melted into tears, for she had not as yet renounced her religion.

On leaving Corsebech, we crossed the Morava by a ferry, and entered the territory of the despot of Servia, a fine and well-peopled country. All on this side the river belongs to him—the district on the other to the Turk; but the despot pays him an annual tribute of fifty thousand ducats. He possesses also, on this river, toward the common boundaries of Bulgaria, Sclavonia, Albania, and Bosnia, a town called Nyeuberge, which has a mine producing gold and silver at the same time. Each year it pays him more than two hundred thousand ducats, as well-informed people assured me: without this, he would be soon driven out of his dominions.

I passed on my road near to the castle of Escalache, that belongs to him. It has been a strong place, on the point of a hill, at the foot of which the Nissave forms a junction with the Morava. Part of the walls, with a tower in the form of a dungeon, are all that remain.

At the mouth of these two rivers, the Turk usually keeps from eighty to a hundred galleys, galliots, and rafts, to convey over his cavalry and army in time of war. I could not see them, as no Christian is allowed to approach them; but a man, worthy of belief, informed me there was a body of three hundred men always posted there to guard them, and that they are relieved every two months. The distance from Escalache to the Danube is one hundred miles: nevertheless, in all this distance, there does not subsist any fort, or place of defence, but a village, and a house erected by Cénasnin-Bey on the declivity of a mountain, with a mosque. I followed the course of the Morava, and with the exception of a very miry pass, that continues about a mile, caused by a mountain pressing too close on the river, I had a good road through a pleasant well-peopled country. It was not the same the second day, for I had mountains, wood, and much mud to travel through. The country, notwithstanding, was as fine as a mountainous country can be. It is full of villages, and all your wants may be there supplied.

From the time we had entered Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Servia, I found on our passage that the Turk every where caused proclamation to be made that whoever was bound to join the army should hold himself in readiness to march. They told us that those who, in obedience to this duty, fed a horse, were exempted from the tax of the comarch; that such Christians as were desirous of being excused from serving pay fifty aspers a head; and that some are forced to join the army, but only when it requires reinforcements. I learnt also, at the court of the despot, that the Turk has divided the guard and defence of these frontier provinces among three captains; one, called Dysem Bey, has the district from the confines of Wallachia to the Black Sea; Cénasnin Bey commands from Wallachia to the borders of Bosnia; and Isaac Bey from these frontiers as far as Sclavonia, that is to say, all beyond the Morava.

To continue the account of my journey, I shall say that I came to a town, or rather a country house, called Nicodem. It is here the despot has fixed his residence because the soil is good, and there are woods and rivers abounding with every thing needful for the pleasures of the chase and hawking, of which he is very fond. He was out hawking by the river side, attended by fifty horse, three of his children, and a Turk, who had been sent by the sultan to summon him to send his contingent to the army, under the escort of one of his sons. Independently of his tribute, this is one of the conditions imposed upon him. Every time the sultan sends him his orders, he is obliged to furnish him with eight hundred or a thousand horse, under the command of his second son. He gave the sultan one of his daughters in marriage; nevertheless, there passes not a day that he does not fear being deprived of his dominions. I have even heard say, that some wished to inspire the sultan with this idea, but that he answered, "I draw more from them now than if they were my own, for in this case I should be obliged to give them to one of my slaves, and should not receive any thing." The troops he is now raising are said to be intended against Albania. Ten thousand have already marched thither, which was the reason he had so few with him when I saw him at Lessère; but this first army had been destroyed[505].

The prince of Servia is a tall, handsome man, from fifty-eight to sixty years old; he has five children, three boys and two girls[506]. Of the boys, one is twenty years, another sixteen, and the third fourteen; and all three, like their father, have very agreeable countenances. In respect to the girls, one is married to the sultan, another to the count de Seil; but as I have not seen them I cannot describe them. When we met him hawking, the ambassador and myself took him by the hand, which I kissed, for such is the custom. On the morrow, we went to pay him our respects. He had a tolerably numerous court, composed of very handsome men, who wore the beard and hair long, as they are of the Greek church. There were in the town a bishop, and a doctor in theology, on their road to Constantinople, sent as ambassadors to the emperor, by the holy council of Basil[507].

I had employed two days in going from Corsebech to Nicodem, and from Nicodem to Belgrade half a day. There is nothing but forests, mountains, and valleys to this town, but the valleys are crowded with villages, in which provision and good wines are met with.

Belgrade is in Servia, and did belong to the despot; but four years ago he ceded it to the king of Hungary, for fear lest he should suffer it to be taken by the Turk, as he had done Coulumbach. This was a heavy loss to Christendom. The other would be still greater, because the place is stronger, and can contain from five to six thousand horse[508]. Its walls are washed on one side by a large river that comes from Bosnia, called the Save; and on the other it has a castle, near to which runs the Danube, and into this the Save flows. The town is built on the point formed by these two rivers. Within its walls the ground rises; but on the land side it is so flat that any one may march into the ditch. There is, however, a village on this side that extends from the Save to the Danube, and surrounds the town to the distance of a bow-shot. This village is inhabited by Servians, and on Easter-day I heard mass there in the Sclavonic tongue. It is under obedience to the church of Rome, and its ceremonies are nothing different from ours.

The place is strong from its situation, and by art, having ditches _en glacis_, a double wall, well kept in repair, that follows exactly the rise and fall of the ground. It has also five forts, three on the elevated ground I spoke of, and two on the river, but these last are commanded by the preceding ones. It has likewise a small harbour, that may hold from fifteen to twenty galleys, defended by towers constructed at each extremity. It is shut up by a chain from one tower to the other, at least so it was told me, for the two shores are so distant I could not see it. I saw on the Save six galleys and five galliots, near to the weakest of the five forts. In this are many Servians, but they are not permitted to enter the other forts. The whole five are well furnished with artillery. I particularly noticed three cannons of brass[509]; two of them were formed of two pieces, and one of such a size, I never before saw the like. Its mouth was forty-two inches in diameter, but it seemed short for its thickness[510]. The commandant of the place was Sir Mathico, a knight of Arragon, and he had for his lieutenant his own brother, styled my lord brother.

The Turk is in possession of the castle of Coulumbach, on the Danube, two days' journey below Belgrade. He seized it from the despot, and it is, as they say, a strong place, but easily attacked with artillery, and all succour may be cut off from it, which is a great disadvantage. He there keeps a hundred light galleys having sixteen or eighteen oars on a side, to pass over to Hungary at his pleasure. The governor of this place is Cénasnin Bey, before spoken of.

On the Danube, but in Hungary, and opposite to Belgrade, the despot has a town and castle that were given him by the emperor[511], with several others, that afford him an income of fifty thousand ducats, on condition of his becoming his liege man, but he obeys the Turk more than the emperor.

Two days after my arrival at Belgrade I saw twenty-five men, armed after the manner of the country, enter the town, whom count Mathico the governor had sent for to remain in garrison. They told me they were Germans, although they had Servians and Hungarians so near at hand; but they said the Servians were subjects and tributaries to the Turk: of course they could not trust them; and, as for the Hungarians, they were so much afraid of him, that should he appear they would not dare to defend it, however great its strength. They were obliged therefore to call in strangers, and this measure became the more necessary from its being the only place in the possession of the emperor to enable him to pass and repass the Danube, in case of need. This conversation greatly astonished me, and caused me to make some reflections on the strange subjection in which the Turk keeps Macedonia, Bulgaria, the emperor of Constantinople, the Greeks, the despot of Servia, and his subjects. Such a dependence appeared to me a lamentable thing for Christendom; and, as I lived with the Turks, and became acquainted with their manner of living and fighting, and have frequented the company of sensible persons who have observed them narrowly in their great enterprises, I am emboldened to write something concerning them, according to the best of my abilities, under correction, however, from those better informed, and to show how it may be possible to reconquer the territories they have gained possession of, and to beat them in the field of battle. I shall begin with what regards their persons, and say they are a tolerably handsome race, with long beards, but of moderate size and strength. I know well that it is a common expression to say as strong as a Turk; nevertheless, I have seen an infinity of Christians, when strength was necessary, excel them, and I myself, who am not of the strongest make, have, when circumstances required labour, found very many weaker than me.

They are diligent, willingly rise early, and live on little, being satisfied with bread badly baked, raw flesh dried in the sun, milk curdled or not, honey, cheese, grapes, fruit, herbs, and even a handful of flour, with which they make a potage sufficient to feed six or eight for a day. Should they have a horse or camel sick without hopes of recovery, they cut its throat and eat it. I have witnessed this many and many a time. They are indifferent where they sleep, and lie on the ground. Their dress consists of two or three robes of cotton, thrown one over the other, which fall to their feet. Over these again they wear another of felt, in the manner of a mantle, called a capinat. This, though light, resists rain, and there are some very fine and handsome. Their boots come up to the knees, and they have large drawers, some of crimson velvet, others of silk or fustian and common stuffs. In war, or when travelling, to avoid being embarrassed by their robes, they tuck the ends into their drawers, by which they can move with greater freedom.

Their horses are good, cost little in food, gallop well and for a long time. They keep them very poor, never feeding them but at night, and then only giving them five or six handfuls of barley and double the quantity of chopped straw, the whole put into a bag which hangs from their ears. At break of day, they bridle, clean and curry them, but never allow them to drink before mid-day, then in the afternoon every time that they find water, and in the evening when they lodge or encamp; for they always halt early, and near a river if possible. This last time they leave them bridled for an hour like mules, and then, at a fixed moment, each gives his horse provender. During the night-time, they cover them with felt or other stuffs, and I have seen such coverings very handsome; they have the like also for their hounds, in which they are curious and have a good breed, although with long hanging ears and tufted tails, which, however they carry well. All their horses are geldings; they keep some others for stallions, but so few, that I have never seen a single one. They saddle and bridle them _à la genette_. Their saddles are commonly very rich, but hollow, having pummels before and behind, with short stirrup leathers and wide stirrups.

With regard to their accoutrements and dresses for war, I had twice an opportunity of seeing them, on the occasions of Greek renegadoes, who, renouncing their own, had embraced the Mohammedan religion. The Turks celebrate these events with much festivity. They dress themselves in their best arms, and traverse the town with as numerous a procession as possible. On these occasions I have seen them wear very handsome coats of armour like to ours, except that the links of the mail were smaller; the vambraces were the same. In one word, they resemble those pictures that represent figures of the time of Julius Cæsar. Their armour descends almost half way down the thigh, but a piece of silken stuff is attached circularly to the bottom of it, that falls down to the calf of the leg. On their head they wear a round white cap, half a foot high, terminated in a point. It is ornamented with plates of iron on all sides, to ward off from the face, neck, and cheeks, blows of the sword, and is like the helmets in France, called salades[512]. Beside this head-piece, they usually wear another over it, namely, a bonnet of iron wire. There are some of these so rich and handsome, that they cost from forty to fifty ducats, whereas the first are bought for one or two; although not so strong as the others, they resist the cut of a sword. I have spoken of their saddles, in which they sit as in an arm-chair, deep sunk in them, their knees very high, and with short stirrups, a position in which they cannot support the smallest blow from a lance without being unhorsed. The arms of those who have any fortune are a bow, a tarquais, a sword, a heavy mace with a short handle, the thick end of which is cut into many angles. This is a dangerous weapon when struck on the shoulders, or on an unguarded arm. I am convinced that a blow given with it on a head armed with a salade would stun a man. Several have small wooden bucklers, with which they cover themselves well on horseback when they draw the bow. I have been assured of this by those who have long used them, as well as from having seen it myself.

Their obedience to superiors is boundless. None dare disobey, even when their lives are at hazard; and it is chiefly owing to this steady submission that such great exploits have been performed, and such vast conquests gained, as render them masters of a more extensive and considerable country than all France. I have been assured that, whenever the Christian powers have taken up arms against them, they have always had timely information of it. In this case the sultan has their march watched by men assigned to this purpose, and he lays wait for them with his army two or three days' march from the spot where he proposes to fight them. Should he think the opportunity favourable, he falls suddenly on them; and for these occasions they have a particular kind of march, beaten on a large drum. When this signal is given, those who are to lead march quietly off, followed by the others with the same silence, without the file ever being interrupted, from the horses and men being trained to this purpose. Ten thousand Turks, on such an occasion, will make less noise than one hundred men in the Christian armies. In their ordinary marches they only walk, but in these they always gallop; and as they are beside lightly armed, they will thus advance further, from evening to day-break, than in three other days; and this is the reason why they cannot wear such complete armour as the French and Italians. They choose, also, no horses but such as walk fast, and gallop for a long time, while we select only those that gallop well and with ease. It is by these forced marches that they have succeeded in surprising and completely defeating the Christians in their different wars. It is thus they conquered Duke John, whose soul may God pardon[513]! and, again, the emperor Sigismond, so recently before Coulumbach, where Sir Advis, a Polish knight, perished. Their manner of fighting varies according to circumstances. When they find a favourable opportunity for it, they divide themselves into different troops, and thus attack many parts of an army at once. This mode is particularly used when they are among woods or mountains, from the great facility they have of uniting together again. At other times they form ambuscades, and send out scouts well mounted to observe the enemy. If their report be that he is not on his guard, they instantly form their plan and take advantage of the circumstance. Should they find the army well drawn up, they curvet round it within bow-shot, and, while thus prancing, shoot at the men and horses, and continue this manœuvre so long, that they at last throw it into disorder. If the army attempt to pursue them, they fly, and disperse each separately, even should only a fourth part of their own number be ordered against them; but it is in their flight that they are formidable, and it has been almost always then that they have defeated the Christians. In flying they have the adroitness to shoot their arrows so very true that they scarcely ever fail to hit man or horse. Each cavalier has also on the pummel of his saddle a tabolcan. When the chief, or any of his officers, perceives the enemy who pursues to be in disorder, he gives three strokes on this instrument; the others, on hearing it, do the same, and they are instantly formed round their chief like so many hogs round the old one; and then, according to circumstances, they either receive the charge of the assailants, or fall on them by troops, and attack them in different places at the same time. In pitched battles they employ another stratagem, which consists in throwing fireworks among the cavalry to frighten the horses. They often post in their front a great body of dromedaries and camels, which are bold and vicious; these they drive before them on the enemy's line of horse, and throw it into confusion.

Such are the modes of fighting the Turks have hitherto adopted against the Christians. I would not, most assuredly, wrong or depreciate them; for I must own that I have always found them, in my different connections, frank and loyal, and when it was necessary to show courage they have never failed to do so; but I am not the less convinced that it would be no difficult matter for troops, well mounted and well commanded, to defeat them: and, in regard to myself, I declare that, with one-half of their numbers, I should never hesitate to attack them. Their armies, I know, commonly consist of two hundred thousand men; but the greater part are on foot, and destitute, as I before said, of tarquais, helmets, mallets, or sword; few, indeed, being completely armed. They have, besides, among them a great number of Christians, who serve through force, Greeks, Bulgarians, Macedonians, Albanians, Sclavonians, Wallachians, Servians, and other subjects of the despots of that country. All these people detest the Turk, because he holds them in a severe captivity; and should they see the Christians march in force against him, and above all the French, I have not the smallest doubt but they would turn against him and do him great mischief.

The Turks are not, therefore, so terribly formidable as I have heard say. I own, however, that it will be necessary, if any attempt be made against them, to have a general well obeyed by his troops, and who would particularly listen to the advice of those acquainted with their mode of warfare. This was the fault, as I am informed, of the emperor Sigismond, when he was defeated by them at Coulumbach. Had he attended to the advice given him, he would not have been forced to raise the siege, since he had from twenty-five to thirty thousand Hungarians. Did not two hundred Genoese and Lombardy cross-bows alone check the enemy, overawe them, and cover his retreat, while he embarked on board the galleys that he had on the Danube; while six thousand Wallachians, under the Polish knight before mentioned, having separated and posted themselves on a small eminence, were all cut to pieces?

I speak nothing here but what I have seen myself, or heard from undoubted authority; therefore, in case any Christian prince or general may wish to attempt the conquest of Turkey in Europe, or even to penetrate further, I think I am able to give much information on this subject. I shall, however, speak according to my abilities; and, should any thing escape me that may be displeasing to some of my readers, I beg they will excuse it, and pass it by, as if I had said nothing.

The monarch who should form such a project ought at first to propose to himself for his object, not glory and renown, but God, religion, and the salvation of so many souls that are in the road to perdition. He must be well assured, beforehand, that the regular payment of his troops is provided for, and that he carries with him none but such as have a fair reputation, with a good will for the purpose, and, above all, that they be not pillagers. With regard to the payment of them, I think it should depend on the holy father to see that it be regularly made; but, until the moment when the army enters the Turkish territory, there should be made a strict law that no one take any thing without paying for it. No person likes to see his property stolen; and I have heard that those who have been guilty of such things have not found themselves the better for it. I, however, refer these things to the prince and the lords of his council; I shall confine myself to speak of the sort of troops I think proper for such an attempt, and whom, if I had the choice, I should like to accompany.

I would, in the first place, select from France men at arms, archers, and cross-bows, in as great numbers as possible and of the sort mentioned above. Secondly, from England, a thousand men at arms and ten thousand archers. Thirdly, from Germany, the greatest number possible of gentlemen, with their cross-bowmen on horse and foot. Collect together from fifteen to twenty thousand archers and cross-bows of these three nations, adding thereto from two to three hundred light troops; and I will ask from God the grace to march with them, and engage they shall advance without difficulty from Belgrade to Constantinople. They will require but light armour, as I have before observed that the Turkish bow has no great strength. When near, their archers shoot true and quick; but they do not shoot nearly so far as we do. Their bows are thick and short, and their arrows thin and of no length; their iron heads are stuck into the wood, which cannot bear a great blow nor make a deep wound, even on an unarmed place. From this it will be seen slight armour only is wanted for the troops, that is to say, light greaves for the legs and thighs, thin plate armour for the body, with helmets having light vizor-pieces. A Turkish arrow would perhaps pierce a light coat of mail, but would be turned aside by plate-armour, however thin. I shall add that, in case of necessity, our archers can make use of the arrows of the Turks; but that they cannot do the same with ours, because the notch is not sufficiently wide, and the strings of their bows, being made of sinews, are too thick.

According to my opinion, our cavalry should be armed with light, sharp-headed lances, and with strong, well-tempered swords. It may be also advantageous to have small battle-axes on the wrist. The infantry should have double-headed battle-axes, and a long and sharp spear, both having their hands defended with gauntlets. With regard to this last article, I own I have seen some in Germany, made of boiled leather, that I consider as effectual as those of iron.

When the army shall come to an open plain, where a combat may be fought with advantage, it should be done; but then the whole should be formed into one body; the van and rear guards should be employed on the wings. The pikemen to be intermixed in the line, unless it should be preferred to post them otherwise to skirmish; but the general will be careful not thus to post the men at arms. In front of the line, and on the wings, the light troops will be scattered; and every one must be strictly forbidden, under pain of death, to pursue the runaways.

It is the policy of the Turks to have their armies twice as numerous as those of the Christians. This superiority of numbers augments their courage, and allows them to form different corps, and to make their attack on various parts at the same time. Should they once force an opening, they rush through in incredible crowds, and it is then a miracle if all be not lost. To prevent this misfortune, the light troops should be numerously posted on the angles of the line of battle, and, by this means, keep it compact, so as not to suffer it to be broken. This manœuvre seems to me to be the more easily executed from these light troops not being sufficiently armed to form a column capable, by its weight, of any great impulsion. The Turkish lances are worth nothing; their archers are the best troops they have, and these do not shoot so strong nor so far as ours do. They have a more numerous cavalry; and their horses, though inferior in strength to ours, and incapable of bearing such heavy weights, gallop better, and skirmish for a longer time without losing their wind. This is an additional reason for the army always keeping in a close and good order. When this method is constantly followed, they will be forced to combat disadvantageously, and, consequently, to risk every thing or retreat before the army. Should this last be the case, the cavalry must be sent in pursuit; but it must always march in good order, and be ever ready to fight and receive them well should they turn about. With such conduct it is no way doubtful but they must always be defeated; and if a contrary one be followed they will beat us, as has ever happened.

I may, perhaps, be told that it would be disgraceful thus to remain on the defensive when in presence of the enemy; and that, living as they do on little, they would starve us, unless we quitted our intrenchment to fight with them. I shall answer that it is not customary for them to remain long in one place; that to-day they are at this place, to-morrow a day and a half's march off; they reappear again as suddenly as they disappeared; and that, if an army be not continually on its guard, it will run great risks. The important point is, to be ever on the watch from the moment they appear in sight, and ready to mount for the combat. Should there be any difficult passage on the line of march, as many men at arms and archers must be sent thither as the situation will allow for a combat, and they must be continually in order of battle until the whole be passed. No foragers must ever be sent out, for they would be as so many lost men; and besides they would find nothing abroad, for in war-time the Turks transport every thing into towns.

With all these precautions the conquest of Turkey in Europe would not be a difficult enterprise, provided—I repeat it—that the army be kept in one body, never divided, and no detachments ever sent after the enemy. Should I be asked how I would secure provision, I answer that Turkey and Servia have navigable rivers, and Bulgaria, Macedonia, and the Greek provinces are fertile. The army advancing always thus in a mass, the Turks would be forced to retreat; and they must of necessity choose one of two extremities, as I have before said; either to re-cross into Asia, and abandon their properties, their wives, and their children, since the country is, as may be seen from my description of it, defenceless, or risk a battle, as they have always done, when they have passed the Danube. I conclude, therefore, that with good troops, composed from the three nations I have named, French, English, and Germans, success would be certain; and that, if they were sufficiently numerous, well united, and commanded, they might march to Jerusalem. But I shall now return to my travels.

I crossed the Danube at Belgrade. It was at this moment exceedingly swollen, and may have been twelve miles broad. Never in the memory of man had such a flood been seen. Being unable to travel to Buda by the direct road, I went to a village called Pensey. On leaving Pensey, I came to the most level plain I ever saw, and, after being ferried over a river, arrived at the town of Beurquerel, which belongs to the despot of Servia, and where I crossed two other rivers by a bridge. From Beurquerel I came to Verchet, belonging also to the despot; there I crossed the Theis, a wide and deep river, and at length I arrived at Zegedin, situated upon it. In the whole length of this road, with the exception of two small woods inclosed by a rivulet, I did not see a single tree. The natives use, for firing, straw or reeds, collected from the banks of rivers, or from their numerous marshes. They eat, instead of bread, soft cakes; but they have not much food.

Zegedin is a large country town, of a single street, that seems about a league in length. It is in a fertile country, abounding with all sorts of provision. Many cranes and bustards are taken here, and I saw the market-place full of them; but they dress and eat them in a filthy manner. The Theis abounds in fish, and I have nowhere seen a river that produces such large ones. Many wild horses are brought thither for sale, and their manner of conquering and taming them is curious. I have been told that, should any one want three or four thousand, they could be procured within the town; and they are so cheap that a very good road horse may be bought for ten Hungarian florins. The emperor, as I heard, had given Zegedin to a bishop. I saw this bishop, and he seemed a man of a broad conscience. The Cordelier friars have a handsome church in this town, where I heard service; but it was performed a little after the Hungarian mode.

From Zegedin I came to Pest, a tolerably good country town on the Danube, opposite to Buda. The country, from one town to the other, was good and level, and full of immense herds of horses, that live wild on these plains like savage animals; and hence the numbers seen at the markets of Zegedin. I crossed the Danube at Pest, and entered Buda seven days after my departure from Belgrade. Buda is the capital of Hungary, situated on an eminence, and longer than it is broad. To the east is the Danube, to the west a valley, to the south a palace, which commands the gate of the town. It was begun by the present emperor, and, when he shall have finished it, will be extensive and strong. On this side, but without the walls, are very handsome hot baths. There are also others along the banks of the Danube to the eastward; but these are not so good as the preceding ones. The town is governed by Germans, as well in respect to police as commerce, and what regards the different professions. Many Jews live there who speak French well, several of them being descendants of those driven formerly from France. I found, also, there a merchant from Arras, called Clays Davion. He was one of those whom the emperor Sigismond had brought from France, to establish manufactories in his country. Clays was a tapestry weaver[514].

The environs of Buda are agreeable, and its territory fertile in all sorts of provision, especially in white wines; but they are somewhat fiery, which is attributed to the adjacent hot springs, and to the sulphur they emit. One league from the town is the body of St. Paul the hermit, which is in a perfect state of preservation.

I returned to Pest, where I also found six or eight French families, whom the emperor had sent thither to construct on the Danube, and opposite to his palace, a large tower. His intentions were to shut up the river with a chain, extending from it; and I should suppose he wanted to imitate what had been done from the town of Burgundy, that fronts the fort of L'Ecluse; but I do not believe it is practicable here, for the river is too broad. I had the curiosity to visit the tower, which is about the length of three lances high, and round about were quantities of hewn stone; but it had remained some time in this state, because the masons who had begun the work were dead, and those that had survived them were said not to have knowledge enough to continue it. Pest is inhabited by many horse-dealers; and, whoever may want two thousand good horses, they can furnish the quantity. They sell them by stables full, containing ten horses; and their price for each stable is two hundred florins. I looked into several, where two or three horses alone were worth that price. They come for the most part from the mountains of Transylvania, which bound Hungary to the eastward. I purchased one that galloped well, as indeed they almost all do. The country is excellent for breeding them, from the quantity of grass it produces; but they have the fault of being a little headstrong, and particularly difficult to shoe; so that I have sometimes seen them obliged to be cast on the ground to be shod.

The mountains just spoken of contain mines of gold and salt, each of which pay annually to the king one hundred Hungarian florins. He had given up that of gold to the lord of Prussia and to count Mathico, on condition that the first would guard the frontier against the Turk, and the second Belgrade. The queen had reserved to her own use the revenue from salt. The salt is beautiful. It is cut out of a rock like freestone, into pieces of about a foot long, squared, but a little convex on the upper side. Whoever should see them in a cart would take them for stone. It is afterwards pounded in a mortar, and turns out tolerably white, but finer and better than any I have elsewhere tasted.

In my road through Hungary I have frequently met wagons with six, seven, or eight persons in them, and drawn by only a single horse; for it is customary with them, when they make long journeys, to use only one. They universally have the hind wheels higher than the fore wheels. There are some covered in their country manner, which are very handsome, and so light that, including wheels, it seemed that a man could carry one of them suspended to his neck. As the country is perfectly smooth and level, there is nothing to prevent the horse from being always on the trot. It is from this great evenness of the ground that, when they plough, they draw furrows of an extraordinary length. Until I came to Pest I had no servant; but there I treated myself with one, and took one of those French masons into my service whom I found at Pest. He was from Brai-sur-Somme.

On my return to Buda I accompanied the Milanese ambassador to pay our compliments to the grand count of Hungary, a title which answers to that of lieutenant of the emperor. The grand count received me with much distinction, because, from my dress, he took me for a Turk; but, when he learnt I was a Christian, he was somewhat colder. I was told that he was a man whose conversation was little to be depended on, and that no great trust must be placed in his promises. This is somewhat generally the reproach made of the Hungarians; and, for my own part, I own that, after the idea given me of them by my acquaintance, I should have less confidence in an Hungarian than in a Turk. The grand count is an old man. It was he, as I heard, who formerly arrested Sigismond, king of Bohemia and Hungary, and afterwards emperor, and threw him into prison, whence he afterwards released him by an amicable agreement. His son was just married to a beautiful Hungarian lady. I saw him at a tournament after their manner, when the combatants were mounted on small horses and low saddles. They were gallantly dressed, and had strong and short lances. It was a pleasing spectacle. Whenever the two champions hit, both perhaps, but certainly one of them, must be unhorsed; and it is then seen who has the firmest seat[515].

When they tilt for golden wands, all the horses are of the same size, all the saddles of the same form; and they are drawn for by lot, and the jousters are taken by pairs. Should one of two adversaries fall, the victor is obliged to retire, and is not permitted to tilt again.

I had never quitted the company of the Milanese ambassador until we came to Buda; but he had told me on the road that we must there separate, that he might continue his route to Milan. Soon after my return to Buda I called, in consequence, on Clays Davion, who gave me a letter of recommendation to a merchant of his acquaintance at Vienna. As I had fully opened myself to him, not thinking it right to make a secret of my rank, my name, or the country I had come from, or the honour I had of belonging to my lord duke of Burgundy, he had inserted all this in his letter, and I profited from it.

From Buda I came to Thiat, a country town, where the king is said to be fond of residing; then to Janiz, in German, "Jane,"[516] a town on the Danube. I afterwards passed by another town, built on an island in that river, which had been given by the emperor to one of the dependants of the duke of Burgundy, whom I believe to be Sir Renier Pot. I also passed through Brut[517], situated on a river that divides the kingdom of Hungary from the duchy of Austria. The river runs through a marsh, where a long and narrow causeway has been constructed. This is an important place; and I am convinced that a small body of men could effectually defend it on the Austrian side.

Two leagues further the ambassador took leave of me, and followed another road to return to the duke of Milan, his lord. I took that leading to Vienna, where I arrived after five days' journey. On my entering the town no one would lodge me, supposing I was a Turk. At last, by accident, some one pointed out to me an inn, where I was received. Fortunately my servant, whom I had hired at Pest, knew the Hungarian and high German languages. He desired that the merchant to whom I had a letter might be sent for. On seeking him he came, and not only offered me every service in his power, but went to inform my lord duke Albert[518], cousin-german to my lord, of my arrival, who instantly despatched to me a poursuivant-at-arms, and shortly after Sir Albrech de Potadorf. Not two hours after my arrival I saw Sir Albrech dismount at the gate of my inn, and, hearing him ask for me, I thought myself undone. A little before my departure for the Holy Land, I, with some others, had arrested him between Flanders and Brabant, because we thought him a subject of Frederic of Austria[519], who had challenged my lord; and I now doubted not but that he was come, in his turn, to arrest me, and perhaps do worse. He told me, however, that his lord, duke Albert, having learned that I was attached to the duke of Burgundy, had sent him to me to offer, on his part, every service that was in his power; that he desired me to ask whatever I might want as boldly from him as from my own lord; for that he wished to treat his servants in the same manner as he would his own. Sir Albrech then spoke for himself. He presented me with money, and offered me horses or any thing else. In short, he rendered me good for evil; although, after all, I had not done any thing to him but what honour permitted and even obliged me to do.

Two days after duke Albert sent to say he wished to speak with me; and Sir Albrech again came to conduct me to him. I presented myself to him the moment he came from mass, attended by eight or ten old knights of a respectable appearance. Scarcely had I made my reverence when he took me by the hand, and would not suffer me to speak to him on my knees. He asked many questions, particularly about my lord, which induced me to think he had a great affection for him.

He was of a tolerably good size, brown complexion, good-humoured, affable, valiant, and generous, and was said to possess every good quality. Among the persons who accompanied him were some lords from Bohemia, whom the Hussites had expelled from that country because they would not be of their religion. At the same time a great lord of that country, called Paanepot, was presented to him, who had come with several others, on the part of the Hussites, to treat with him and establish peace. These last proposed to march to the assistance of the king of Poland, against the lords of Prussia, and made, as I heard, great offers to duke Albert, if he would second them; but he replied, according to my information, that, until they submitted themselves to the religion of Jesus Christ, he would never make truce nor peace with them as long as he should live. In fact, at this very time, he had twice beaten them in battle; had conquered from them all Moravia; and, by his conduct and valour, had aggrandized himself at their expense.

On quitting his presence, I was conducted to that of the duchess, a tall, handsome woman, daughter to the emperor, and heiress, after him, to the kingdoms of Hungary and Bohemia and their dependencies. She had just been brought to bed of a daughter, which had occasioned festivals and tournaments, that were the more numerously attended because, hitherto, she had not had any children.

On the morrow the duke sent Sir Albrech to invite me to dinner, and made me sit at his table with an Hungarian lord and another, an Austrian. All his attendants are on board wages, and no one dines with him unless invited by the master of his household. The table was square; and the custom is, for one dish to be brought at a time, and for him who is nearest to eat of it, which supplies the place of a taster[520]. Fish and flesh were served; and, above all, a quantity of meat, strongly seasoned, but always dish by dish. After the dinner I was carried to see the dancing in the apartments of the duchess. She gave me a bonnet of gold thread and silk, a ring, and a diamond to wear on my head, according to the fashion of the country. There were present many nobles of each sex; and I saw there some very handsome women, with the finest heads of hair that can be conceived. When I had remained in these apartments some time, a gentleman named Payser, who, though but a squire, was a chamberlain and keeper of the jewels of the duke of Austria, came, by his orders, to show them to me. I saw the crown of Bohemia, which has some very fine diamonds, and the largest ruby I ever saw. It seemed bigger than a full-sized date; but it is not clear, and there are some cavities toward the bottom that show a few black spots. The keeper then carried me to see the wague-bonnes[521], which the duke of Austria had constructed to combat the Bohemians. I perceived none that could hold more than twenty men; but he assured me there was one that would contain three hundred, and did not require more than eighteen horses to draw it.

I met at this court the lord de Valse, a gallant knight, and the greatest baron in Austria after the duke. I saw there, also, Sir Jacques Trousset, a handsome Swabian knight; but there was another, named Le Chant, hereditary cup-bearer to the emperor, who having lost his brother and many friends at the battle of Bar, and hearing that I belonged to my lord of Burgundy, caused me to be watched, to know the day of my departure, that he might seize me as I was travelling through Bavaria. Luckily for me, the duke of Austria was informed of his intentions, and sent him away, making me stay longer at Vienna than I intended, to wait for the departure of the lord de Valse and Sir Jacques Trousset, that I might accompany them.

During my stay I witnessed three of the tournaments I mentioned, with small horses and low saddles. One took place at court, the others in the streets; but at the last several were unhorsed so heavily that they were dangerously wounded.

The duke of Austria made me, in private, offers of money. I received similar offers from Sir Albert and Sir Robert Daurestoff, a great lord in Austria, who, the preceding year, had travelled in disguise through Flanders, and had there seen my lord duke, and spoke very handsomely of him. In short, I received very pressing ones from a poursuivant of lower Brittany, named Toutseul, who, after having served under the admiral of Spain, was now in the service of the duke of Austria. This Breton called on me every day to go to mass, and attended me wherever I wished to go. Persuaded that I must have expended on my journey all the money I had, a little before my departure he presented me with the value of fifty marcs in enamels, and insisted that I should sell them for my profit; but, as I equally refused to accept them or to borrow, he protested that no one should ever know any thing of it.