Roumania (The Border Land of The Christian & The Turk)
Roumania (The Border Land of The Christian & The Turk)
Roumania (The Border Land of The Christian & The Turk)
Contributors
Noyes, James Oscar, 1829-1872.
Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine
Publication/Creation
New York : Rudd & Carleton, 1858.
Persistent URL
https://wellcomecollection.org/works/egapu7pc
You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial
purposes, without asking permission.
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P'JRCHI!ISED FRQfo\ THE INec?fo\E C?F THE
.. {J.--
JAMES O. NOYES, M.D.,
1. . . 0 _ '" .... _ .... .... y .
NEW YORK :
Runn &- C ARLETON, 3 ) 0 BROADWAY
lIt.DCCC. LVIII.
~28
ID tbe C1ert'. Olllee of tbe Dr.lfIet Courtofthe Uult.! Statel for the SMtben
D1tl11d ofB_ York.
or C1NCINN.l.TI, OHIO,
18 R EIIPECT~'ULLY DEDICATED
lJI TU OJDllT.
PREFACE.
pastimes they amuse each other, interests us more than the dry
traveller.
In the preparation of the work, he bas derived much his-
torical infonnation from L' Urnverl, by M. Chopin and M. A.
Ubicini i La Hongrie HiBt&riqtu, edited by Le Brnn; and the
admirable volumes of Robert and Vaillant.
J. O. N.
NK'Ir You &pkmbtr 1, 161'>7.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.-Hungary, • 1
·
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
CH APTER 1.
IIUNQAUY.
•
2
• Channing.
J[CXGA\(Y. 9
•
name, swore to hare rCveuge, cven at the cost of royal
blood. But the ravisher had escaped immediately after
the commission of his crime, and his absence served
only to irritate the impatient spirit of the wretched
father, From moment to moment his fury became
more ungovernable, lUltil at last he was no longer
master of his passion. Availing himself of the mo-
ment when the royal family were at table, Zacs rushed
into the room, and in default of the victim whom he
wished to immolate, turned to the queen, and with a
single blow of his sabre severed the four fingers from
her right hand. In vain the killg sought to defend his
wife. Zacs wounded him also in the hand, and had
thrown himself upon the two sons of the p rince, when
several noblemen rushed together upon the intruder,
and hewed him into pieces,
The vi.olent death of Zacs di(l not satisfy the royal
vengeance. The attendants of the king seized the son
of the mUI"dcl"ed man, and dragged him, attached to the
tail of a horse, through the streets of the city until he
was reduced to a hideous and lifeless mass.
lllC father's crime might have excused these fright..
ful acts of vengeance committed in the first efferves-
cencc of rage, but those which followed, more terrible
c\'en thau the former, could without doubt have been
prevented by Charles Robert. Thcy cut off the DOse,
the lips, a11d the fingers of the unfortunate Clarissa,
and in Ihis mutilated cOIHlition compelled IlCr to tra-
IIUXQARY. 15
too intense for hel' on the dry cartI!. (A,orsz, with fes-
tive song!) and mcrry sounds, conveyed his beloved tip
the canal. Deli Bab was delighted with the mountains,
woods, fields, and meadows, wh ich swiftly passed her:
she was hig}l!Y amused with the obj ects wholly new to •
ller sight. Uut whell by chance she looked backward,
she beheld with terror, that behind the fleet the waters
dried UI) in the canal, and that tlms the return to her
father's real III became impossible. She never could feel
at home in the gold and salt "au lts of the Transylvania
mountai ns ; the heavy masses of the Alpsdcpl"Cssed her
soul j the w intry snow chilled her thoughts; the bum·
ing beams of the summer SUIl melted her into tears.
She never laughed, and always «reamed of her transpa-
rent abode in the sea, The love of the princely son of
the Alps remai ned sterile, Deli Bab was childless.
She melted away with longing, and was t ransformed
into the Mirage, or F ata Morgann, a dreamy appearance
of the sea which yanishes away as soon as you approach,
and which in Hu ngary yet bears the name of the fair
Deli Bab. The remai ns of the canal are still called
0801'83 iil'ka, the Canal of Csijrs7., *
The immense p1uin between the Dannbe and the
'Theiss is the elassi c Jand of the Magyars. Filled with
the souvenirs of ancient migrations and recent com-
bats, it bears the name of Ja7.,)'gia, from a wandering
tribe supposed to ha\'e settled thel'e hefore the Roman
• Memoir'!! of H ungary.
IIt:NOAItY. 37
LIFE IN SERVIA.
" Li..Q~
O'er the v,'hite walls Qf tho forlres Bo.llgrade.
Gazing there on strange enmt.'l and wonders."
•
52 ROUlUN IA.
floor, while the loam walls and ba.rk roof are )lackencd
with soot and smoke. The father is the pa.'riarch of
the family . 'When he dies, one of the sons appointed
by his brethren, becomes master of the house. All the
members of the family work and eat together, sharing
each other's joys, and alike independent of the world
for support. Individual interest is merged in that of
the family. Paternal and filial affection arc strong:
the brother is the chosen protector of the sister, of
whom he is the joy and the pride.
Man-iage is arranged by the fathers of the two
families. At her new abode the young bride dresses
an inf.mt, touches the walls with a distaff, and spreads
a table with food, wine, and water. Her mouth is
sealed by a piece of sngar, indicating that she should
utter only what is good. For a whole year she is
termed the "betrothed." In the presence of others
she scarccly converses with her husband.
Every family has a patron saint, and the whole
year is a round of festivals and sacred rites. They pray
three times a day j and at table no person Ycnturcs 10
accept the place of honor without being able to illl'
provise an a})prol)riate expression of thanks.
Endowed with an active imagination, the Serviaus
believe in the existence of a multitude of supernatural
beings, of hideous yampircs fond of devouri ng human
hearts, and of beautiful, though malignant vilaiJ, min·
gling their swect voices with the mnrmll!'S of torrents,
57
LA PORTE DE FER.
• R. C. McCQnnick, J r.
•
GO r:OI:.\1A:>I,\,
•
•
LA POlIn: D1-: FER .
"Sons of inanity,
Smoke and vanity.H
•
Far differ ent is tho scenery on the Bulgarian side.
Widdin is situated 011 a small plain, but the barren
hills in its rear soon sweep round, as if they loved the
Danube, and form a splendid natural defence to a con·
siderablc distance below Silistria, where t he ri ver sud-
denly bends northward, and the Dobnldscha becomes as
low and swampy as the 'Vallachian shore. This con-
tinuous bluff, three hundred miles in length, and vary-
ing from thirty to one h undred and fi fty feet in height,
rests upon a calcareous base. In some places t he
Danube is flanked for miles with a pe'1)cndicular wall
of limestone, while in others the bl ll ff retires from the
shore a short distance, g iving place to dclightflll l ittle
eyots grown up with tall grass, in which droves of
tame buffaloes or white Bulgal·iall oxen were occasion-
ally to be seen, as we swept along.
The action of water, assisted, perhaps, by otber
natural causes, has worn the Bulgarian hills into cu-
rious and fantastic shapes, having, in many instances,
the exact resemblance of military works. High walls
of earth stretch along the river or crown the rocky
eminences as evenly and regularly as if they were
artificial, while here and there natural forts, and
parapets, and towers look as if the g iants had been
at work in piling up immense fortresses to defend
Old Danubius. I can now appreci ate the tremen-
dous efforts which the Turks have repeatedly made
to protect the Bulgarian ShOI·C against the Rn!iSians
STF.,\ ~II"'O DOWN TilE ISTER. '19
has thus far been the enemy rather than the friend
of the nations inhabiting its banks. The nume-
rous islands which, in a country like our own, would
have long ago become great commercial marts, are, .
almost without an exception, uninhabited wastes ;
while ill places where the traveller expects to sec
smiling towns and cities, he fi nds nothing but silence
and solitude. l'hc fever, plague, and the mutual fear
of Turks and Christians, have, for the most part, kept i n
desolation one shore and the other. Immense regions
alollg the lower Danube, once the busy theatre of R o-
man life and industry, arc now inhabited by a few
Scrvian fishennen and "\Vallachian shepherds.
In the crowd of M ussulmans who took passage on th e
steamer, I soon learned to distinguish the E uropeanized
from the geuuine Asiatic. The latter, the Moslems of
the old school, retain the magnificent wh ite turban fold-
ed in the ancient Moslem style, the broad girdle serving
as a receptacle for weapons, p iastres, or other personal
effects, and those wonderful pantaloons, so ample below
the waist, and so llarroW above the ankle, as if pnrposc-
ly desib'1led to give the wearer an inexpressibly awkward
appearance. The tailors' shears indicate how far the
ideas of the West have gained accep tance among the
faithful. The till·bans become reduced to the close-
fitting fez, the baggy parts contract in size, the g irdle
disappears, the French coat takes the place of tile
cumbrous gown, and infidel boots supplant tile shuffl in g
STEA)[J:\G DOWN T1Il; lSTER. 81
yellow siippcrs, so easy to be cast off when the MUSSlll-
man squats upon his crooked legs, or rubs his foreheild
upon the ground in prayer. I was delighted with the
opportunity to study the eharactel-lstics of those well
bearded Orientals who still mailltained the letter and
the spirit of the Koran. It was a great pleasure tc
look upon theil· noble countenances, so honest, so digni-
fied, so unmoved by all that was passing :J.l"OlInd them
Cross-legged on little mats spread upon the deck,
they smoked their 10ngcMbouques in silence, or collected
in groups, withont leaving their national posture, con-
versed in low and earnest tones of voice, but with a
gravity unknown to the politicians of the West, how-
ever trivial the subject. There js something genuin('
in the politeness of these Orientals. They nevel· tread
lIpon each other's toes, or interrupt each other's con-
versation. Haste, they So'\y, comes of Satan, and pa-
tience is the key of reason. How different the conduct
of the Europeanized Moslems! They lounged in the
saloon, dined at the public table upon dishes declared
by the Komn to be unclean, and drank as freely of the
purple juice of the g rape, as if" the Prophet had never in-
t erdicted its use. " Wine, tobacco, coftee and opium,"
say the Oriental poets, "are the four cllshions of the
sofa of pleasure, and the chief elements of the world
of enjoyment," whilst the strict interpl·eters of the law
declare them to be "the ministers of Satan, and the
fOllr pillars of the temple of lieenti.onsncss. " Still mor~
4'
82
, s'p .... _ _
."
•
«
STEA~IING DOWN T ilE ISTER. 83
from the banks of the OXllS and the Jaxartes, have seen
in the smoke of battle the Cossacks of the Volga a.nd
the forced recruits from the Dniester and the Dwina.
-When, oh when, shall the nations forget the dreadful art
of war, and the fair bosom of the earth no longer be stain-
ed with rivers of blood 1
After a. delay of two days, we left RU8tebuk for
Giurgevo, on the opposite side of the Danube about
three miles below. We fell down the river some distance,
and then returned by the narrow channel between the
Wallachian shore and the islands ofMokan and Smnrda.
On the latter, which were nearly covered with reeds
. and thick undertrees, I noticed the remains of the fortifi-
cations abandoned by the Russians in July. Near them
fell Burke and Arnold in tho insane attempt of the
Paeha to dislodge the Cossacks. Burke's ncrvant, who
gave me an account of the battle, bore away the body
of his master, pierced with tllirty-five wtmnd8. The
brave fellow afterward received a deC'orntion from
Orner Paeba. We landed ncar the old Ij.enocse castle
of Giu.rgevo, and after breakflWting at tJ. casino kept by
an Italian, I called npon the Commandnnt of the city.
lIe was a Hun{,-arian officer, and treated m(' with great
politeness.
CHAPTER V.
t.hen, my pet, take pity upon her SQrrow and tell her
simply that I have married the daughter of a king in B
country beuutiful as the entrance to Paradise.
"I But be careful to say that at my nuptials a star
went out, that I had for witnesses the pines and the
plane trees of the forests, for priests the high mountains,
for un orchestra myriads of birds, amI for torches the
stars of night.'"
W e met a group of peasants armed with clubs and
rusty yataghans, and h eaded by a W allaeh blowing
vigorously on a bagpipe. They were going to a be-
troth al, and my companion proposed that we should
follow. Am ong the D aco-Romans, asking in marriage,
betrothal, and the marriage ceremony itself, form curi-
ous dramas, intermi ngled with warlike contests, and
tenninating, as among the ancient Romans, with the
semblance of forcibly carrying a way the bride. Im-
mediately after she has received the proposal of mar·
riage the young man sends a number of messengers on
the errand of betrothal, likc thc company to which I
have alluded.
Arrived in front of the cottage of the parents,
the musician dro})ped his bagpi))e, and addressed tQ
them , looking mit of the door, the following senten-
tious speech :
" Ou r grandfathers, and the ancestors of our fathers,
gOing to the chase, and hunting in the woods, disco-
vered the land whieh we inhabit, and wllich gives 11 8
•
~
•!
••
•
UlW LIn; A:'tlO!,< O TilE DACO-ROlIANS. 10...
'
the enjoyment of its milk and honey. The honorable
youth, Barbo Michael, following their example, also
went forth to the chase among the forests and moull-
tains, and discovered a doe, which timidly fled fl'om
his presence, and hid itself away. But the rest of liS,
following its tracks, have been led to this honse. Give
into Ollf hands what we seek, or show us where is COIl-
cealed the doe which we have pursued with so many
fatigu es and difficulties."
"It has not entered into this house," respond tho
parents.
The musician again employs all the resources of his
eloquence, ornamenting his discourse with metaphors
and allegories peculiar to the East.
The other messengers join in with him.
The parents bring the great-grandmother of th.,
girl to the door, and ask-
"Is it she whom you seek i"
"No !"
The grandmother comes.
"Perhaps it is she f'
"No!"
The mother presents herself in turn.
The same response.
"'VeIl, then, here she is!" say they, and at tlle
same time bring forward an ugly old hag, in tatters.
"No! no I Onr doe has golden hair, and the eyes
of the sparrow.hawk; her teeth are rows of pearls, her
5*
106 ROU1U...·HA.
" How dost thou feel, brothel' F alsir 1" asked one of
the monks present. At these words Alexander raised
his head, and Jetting it fall again, cried with an accent
of rage that seemed to defy death-
" Ah! if I recover, I shall make monks !"
The arc11bishop besought him to think of his ap-
proaching end.
"Hold thy tonguc, impostor!" intelTUpted the
VOlvode, his teeth chattering with the chills of death.
Then, his eyes happening to fall upon his wife, he oon·
ti nued-
"I'll quarter her with her son! No, I am not a
monk ! I am dying of thirst! 'Water! water I"
At that moment Stroica and Spancioc, two nobles
who had escaped his fury, entered the door. The
fonner handed the princess a cup into which the
other tumed a powder.
"Poison! poison!" cried Roxandra.
"Poison!" responded both.
" Choose between thy husband and thy son I"
LOW LIFE AMONG TI1E DAC<>-ROMANS. 115
her, shall lose, in case the wife dies, the income derived
from her domains.
3. If a doctor shall declare that a wound is danger-
ous when it is not, he is to be believed in preference to
a barber or a sorcerer.
4. Love, which resembles drunkenness and folly,
mitigates guilt.
5. He who commits a fault under the in:fluence of
love shall not be punished according to the full measure
of the In"'",
6. H e who meets a female in the road, and prompt-
ed by love embraces her, shall not be punished.
7. Nobility also lessens the degree of guilt. Boy-
a N s shall neither be hUllg, empaled, nor condemned to
the galleys or mines, but may be decapitated or banish-
ed from the country.
W e crossed the Argisch at Xapatschini, and forded
several other unimportant rivers that flow down from
the Carpathians. The country became more fertile as
we advanced. The plain was dotted with immense
flocks of sheep, and the dusty road almost filled with
droves of dun-colored cattle, in care of Turkish and
Arab soldiers-bleating and h orned llOloeausts for the
50,000 Ottomans encamped near Bncharest.
Towards sunset I sa,v in the distance the green tents
of Ole Arabs, ten thousand of whom, in the jght, haIf
Oriental uniform of the Egyptian troops, had been sent
from the banks of the Nile, t.o fi ght the battles of
LOW LIFE A:lIO""O TilE DAGO-ltOllAo."S. 117
•
'VmLE descending the Danube, a fellow traveller m-
formed me that Bukarest was a city of immense distances,
boasting of morc luxury than Paris or London. The
jealous, slaveholdillg nobles do not allow an accurate
census to be taken, but multiplyi ng the number of
houses in Bnkarcst by five, we have a population of
100,000 sonls. Bllkarest became the capital of Wal-
lachin in the 17th century. The city coyers almost as
milch grou nd as Paris. I t is situated on the Dllmbo-
vitza, a little river that flows dOWJ) from the Carpathians,
amI un ites with the Argish a short distance below tllC
city. According to a popular say ing, embodied in tile
distich at the bcad of the chapter, they who have
drllnk of the sweet waters of the Dumbovitza, wonld
fain linger along its banks. 11 tis may necount for tJle
fl"C(lllcnt appearance of th e Rus,..,ians in Bllkarest, but
CITY I'LAGUJ<:$ A...~ D LA.."D l'LAGUES. 121
ThE> ULlamed. horee loovell D)t the green prairie for a glittering hamellll,
The eagle lcavtlll not the I'OC.'ks of the mountain (or a gilded cage,
The child of Roma leaVCII not tho liberty of the fields for garmeuts o(
zibelille and neckJaccs of golden ducata.
•
Y'aMon, w ilt llIou go willI me t
I'll give thee pearls and diamonds,
I'll give thee a couch of purple,
I 'll give UICO a royal palace.
THE DA()()O-ROHANS.
b.ilated the IHl.tion of tho Dacre, and that :1\ less than
five years."
Next to Hannibal, Dcccbalus was the most dangerous
enemy of Rome; and had there been no Trajan 011
•..
themselves )nnstcrs of Dneia alHl P nnnoni a. Trall8yl•
I"
154 ROUlUNIA.
wbere they arc received with open anus; the men glad
of an excuse for jollity, the women anxiolls, perhaps, to
prove their power, all unite to feed and fete the "deviPs
dancers;" so tLat it is scarcely wonderful that there
should be willing slaves to so merry a servitude. When
their time is up they return home, and become quiet
peasants for the rest of their liyes. *
'TIle religious rites and ceremonies of the Transylya~
uian Wallaehs favor P aganism and Judaism, rather
than the religion which they profess. F or example,
no woman will attempt to kill an animal, whatever it
may be. They make no scruple of employing the most
shocking oaths on every trifling occasion, and carefnlly
ayoid going into Catholic churches, but jf there by
accident, purify themselves afterwards by ablutions.
To be sprinkled in a Catholic church, or to undergo
any ceremonies with con~crated water, is a matter of
the greatest h orror to t hem, for t he reason that the
water is sprinkled about with an instrument made of
pork-bristles. This, in their own opinion, renders them
highly impure. The dresses contaminated by such an
accident cannot be worn again without being washed.
Their papa8 (Greek priests) distribute the consecrated
water by means of a brancb, or a llosegay of hyssop,
as is directed in the P salm. Stealing and adultery are
looked upon as trifling crimes. Their papas cannot
grant absolution for murder, that being left to God
... PageL
168 ROtlJA:>IA.
•
TIU: DACO-ROYA~ S. 171
has nny day neglected to set nside food lUld drink for
the hideous vampyres which suck out men's blood by
night, or for the malevolent spirits dwelling among
nlins in solitary places, and waging implacable warfare
upon the human race. No neighborhood is so dreadful
as theirs.
Unless t.he peasant has worn for three weeks a
talismanic paper dipped in consecrated oil by his
priest, folded in a mysterious manner, and tied to his
forehead by seven hairs, he is momentarily in fear of
being gulped down by a dragon of such cnormous
proportions that one of his jaws touches the heavens
while the other rests upon the earth. These fabulous
monsters are for ever intercepting adventurous tra-
vellers and ballad-sung heroes, and getting themsel ves
cut into a thousand pieces, but the dismembered parts
are so endowed with vitality tbat they speedily grow
together, if the sun do but happen to shine upon
them.
Has the Wallach tasted a drop of milk during
Lent, or forgotten to make the sign of the cross from
right to left in the presence of his priest 1 Until the
sin is absolved he is in constant apprehension of being
picked up by winged monsters of supernatural size,
that live in impenetrable foresta, where they conceal
their treasures, as well as the princesses of royal blood
whom they have earned away.
Usually in affairs of the heart
179
"Tbe villago IDaid
~k. tho dark giJllly'lI I'carlul aid."
.. Papulunga I
Go up to Heaven,
Open its windows
And let the rain de wn,
Tilat the corn and the wheat
lIay grow well and ripeo."
•
TilE (lRl:J;K CHURCD. 197
•
CHAPTER IX.
,.
tacluwIMca (assistant) slips t hc conaz'S ovcr their heads,
•
202 l wu:o.r.\NIA.
" - - be bottled up
And sold fQf Tyrian dye."
•
21 6 ROUlIlAN I A.
" I will tell yon. After his escape from the Turks
on the Pruth, he lived for some time inCOflnito at Kis-
senief. He and his companions spent their days in the
coffee·houses, smoking long pipes and entertaining each
other with long storics of adventure. They wore their
old Alb.'mian costume with girdles glittering with
pistols a nd yataghans, and though apparently poor, bore
themselves as proudly as in tJw days of their prosperity.
It came to be wh ispered that Kirj:lli was among them.
220 lI.OliMA~' I,\ .
•
•-
A NIGIIT mOE IS RODMANIA. 237
SILI STRI A.
•
246 ROUlIANI,\.
•
SII.ISTRIA. 2<7
•
248 ROUKANU.
•
SILISTRIA. 249
from the fact that the discase does not belong to the
class in question.
P oujulat relates an incident which came under his
observation i n the slave·market in Constantinople and
illustrates the occasional cruelty of the Turks in the
cmployment of remedial agents :-
A female Abyssinian was suffering from an inflam-
matory tumor on the right arm. TIer muster, suppos-
ing it to be a pl ague-spot, ordered molten lead to b e
poured upon the afi'e eted part.. 'Illis heroic treatment
caused the most exquisite suffering, and the poor slave
besought her master, with tears and cries, to desist.
r oujuillt inquired, through his dragoman, if molten lead
was efficaciows in the treatment of the plague. " It
either kills or cnres at once," replied the Mussulman;
"and, by Allah, that is what I want."
Comparatively few Turks practise medicine. The
professors of the healing art in T llrkey are mostly Greek
and I talian adventurers who make the simple M081eUlS
the dupes of their charlatanism. Even those who are
employed Pl'OfCllSionally in the Seraglio, and penetrate
the mysteriolls harems of the Turkish grandees, do not
Ilesitate to administer pl'eparations followed by the most
fata l effects. The I mperial license to practise any-
where in the Sultan's dominions can be obtained for a
few piastres. The Turks do, indeed, profess to teach me-
(licine in tl lo school s attached tl) the 1l1 f)Sq n ('S lifter th e
doctl'inc;; of the old Artib authors, but the p rncticc is
Sll.ISTj:J,\, 265
R.AliBI..ES IN BUI.OAlUA.
TURKISII Tlt.AJ)ITlON8.
• • • • • •
Li.6tcn to theao wild traditions,
Stay and read Ibis rude inllCriptiou.'·
that the evening meal was ready. The :hl ussulmuns llSO
neither tables, napkins, knives, nor forks. 'V c squatted
arou nd the circular b(lard, elevated a few inches abo\'e
the fl oor by a single leg, and with left hands thrust int(l
our pockets, ()r under the folds of Ol1 r garments-for
with the Moslems the left hand is unclean-proceeded
to discuss the meal. The fi rst dish was a species (If fast·
day soup, of an infinitesimal degree of fatness and
solidity, and eaten with w(loden spoons, whieh my com-
panions were careful to turn upside down wilen not in
use. 'Vhat true Mussulman, 0 reader, would be guilty
of sumptuary extravag:mce, in view (If the awfltl de·
duration of the P rophet, " V eriiy, the fires of hell
shall roar like the lowings of a camel in the bellies of
sneh as use vessels of gold and silver !"
Then followed bl ack Bulgarian bread, exhibiting
the obvious qualities of petrifaction , and mysterious
compounds of meats and vegetables, evidently not a
product (If that celestial cuisine, the secret of which
the angels arc said to ha\'e imparted to Abraham. The
Turks boast of fift.y p reparations of milk, bllt my sonl
longed fo r a little butter devoid of capill ary illgredients.
The long ride and the indescribable motion (If the
araba,
"Taking rue here when I meant there, ~
find the West, and the Korth :md the South, to fCClL
upon our bounty! Behold how the infidclllatiolls are
destroying each other! Let us devoutly thank God
who, in this war, hath been pleased to bring about a
state of things for the benefit of our cause, wherein one
kind of infidel dog is fast killing off anothCf kind, so
that we may soon expect to see the entire face of unhe-
lievers exterminated 1"
11ms spoke my companions between coffee and
tobacco. Remember, reader, they were simple Mussul-
luan s of the old school-i nhabitants of a town in a
remote province of European Turkey, still retaining a
fanatical belief in t]lC superiority of Islam. How dif-
ferently converse the Europeanized dwellers along tlle
Bosphorns, who have tasted the bitterness of Navarino
and Sinope, and in their humiliation lost-utterly 10st-
both the enthusiasm of their once victorious faith, and
the illusion of Empire !
One or two of my turbaned friends, more inquisi-
tive than the rest, ventured to inqllire ab01lt my country.
"0 Effendis," I replied, Abdallah translating what I
said into Turkish, " our Padisha dweJleth in the mun·
sions of intelligence and understanding! One and
thirty nations obey him, and in n land that extends
from the rising to the setting sun new cities and em-
pires afC ever springing up as if by magic to lay their
golden seeptres at Ilis feet. Eacll subject is eqml.l to a
paeha ; and lJ.e SUll , wherever he shines, beams not
T (jl~K ! SI[ TI1.\D1T!OX S . 201
~, 'Thy father.'
" , And the God of my father l'
" 'Nimrod.'
'" And the God of Nimrod l'
"His mother, unable to answer the last question,
gave him a box on the car, and remained silent. But
Abraham said to himself, 'I know no other God than
he who hath created the heavens and the carth.'
"Several years afterwards his fath er, who was a
sculptor, charged him with the selling of idols. Abra-
ham carried them in the public p1o.cc, and cried, 'Who
will buy a vile merchandise most prej udicial to whom-
soever may keep it in his house r With this announce-
ment he was sure to return home with all tIle images.
"On a certain day when the inhabitants of the
city w~ gone on a pilgrimage to one of their heathen
edifices, Abraham secretly entered the temple and
broke into pieces seventy-two idols. Arrested and
brought befl'lre Nimrod, he was condemned to be burned
alive--bnrned solemnly npon an immense funeral pil e
of such enormons size that forty days were required to
collect the most combustible materials. The infernal pile
was lighted. Nimrod eansedAbraham to be brought for-
ward, and in sight of the whirlwinds of flame bade him
declare who was his God. 'My God,' responded Abra-
ham, 'is he who hath the power to create and the
power to destroy.'
" 'Then,' cried Nimrod, ' I am God j I hold in my
i
i
•
i;
•
TU1~KISII TI!.\llrrlQ XS. 303
hands lifo and dcatll,' and ordering two slaycs to bo
brought he cut off the head of olle and set the other at
liberty.
" 'Thou canst slay,' replied Abraham, 'but thon
callst not make alive. Let them bring me four bi l'ds,
and in the n)lme of my God thon shalt see what miracle
I can accomplish.'
"The fonr birds were brought. Abraham ent them
into a thousand pieces, and then calling each bird by
:ts proper name he bade them come to life, when forth-
with they rose towards the heayens, singing ns they took
their flight.
"Nimrod, whose pride was only irritated by this
miracle, ordered the soldiers to seize Abraham and
throw him into the flames by means of a machine
whose model h ad beell furni shed by Satan himself.
Abraham invoked the aid of God, and instantly the
flames were extinguished. III the place of the fnneral
pile leaped forth a fountain of perfumed water, and
A braham appeared by its side clothed in tl. caftan of
silk bl'ollght by Gabl'icl from Paradise.
"Abraham was so jealous of his wives tllftt he COil-
structed for them a magiccity- a cit.yofiron, whose walls
were so high that the light of the sun could lIot pCllctrntc
within. 11lC sombre rooms of this nncient hm'em, in
which the wives of the Patriarch wcre imprisoned, were
lighted with garlands of pearls and crowlls of diamonds.
Our father Abrnham was a grcat traveller. Sara, his
30! ltOlll£AX L\.
'Open the door towards the earth, and tell what thon
seest.'
" 'I sec the earth, 0 Prince, and the dust; replied
the latter. They continued to wander during another
day aod night, aud the vizier again opened the door
towards the earth, and responded to Nimrod, 'What I
behold, 0 King, r esembles smoke.' He was then
ordered to open the door towards the heavens, and
having done so, replied, 'I behold what I saw when
looking upon the earth.' After another day aud night,
when nothing was to be seen either in the direction of
the heavens or the earth, the king drew his bow and
shot aloft three arrows. The Almighty sent baek by
Gabriel the same arrows, after their points had been
stained with blood. ,! have destroyed the God of
Abraham,' cried Nimrod, and forthwith he changed
their direction towards the earth, to which he returned
without harm.
"Nimrod , persisting in his blindnese, att(:mpted
wi th sacrilegious audacity to build a tower that would
reach the stars. H is edifice fell in ruins upon the work-
men. Abraham had already gained a. mnltitude of
disciples, and scorned the power of the king. The
latter collected an army in order to captm·e the prophet;
and resolved to destroy him hy the most cruel punish-
m ent..
" To overcome this proud sovereign Abraham asked
of God only the aid of a fly.
TU:R KIS If TRAl)JTfONS . 307
trod the Cl )11'11 ullder his feet, and on one occasion thr<.:w
Pharaoh himself from the throne. After his return
from the Jand of the Midianites, he confou n~ ed by his
miracles the seventy thousand magicians of the king.
" H aving delivered his people from their cruel bon-
dage, Moses was summoned to receive the laws of God,
and the Angel Gabriel raised him so high, that he
plainly distinguished the movement of the kalam (the
pen) with which the sccretary of the celestial host
'~'Tote down the Ten Commandments. In the con-
fidence inspired by such favor from Allah, he asked
that h is nation might become the first p eople upon the
globe. But Allah responded;
'" Thon askest what is impossible. I have already
granted that supremney to the followers of Mohammed,
who shall one day be masters of the universe.'
"Wbile the Israelites were marching to the conquest
of the promised land, Moses, desirous of contemplating
the wondrous works of Q-od, set out 10 travel. TIe
voya~d for thirty years in the east and west, in the
north and the south. After many wanderings in dis-
tant countries, the Patriarch returned to his tribe, but
instead of being received as the wisest of men alHi the
first of legislators, he saw his fame as a prophet and a
traveller eclipsed by the gold of a bankeI'. During his
absence there had risen lip a Ulan among the Israelites
-a man who had never ventured near the flames of
Sinai . alld had not the least admiration for the wonder-
312
the Turks would haye despised had they known its real
strength.
Darius, in his memorable expedition against the
Scythi:ms morc th:tll twenty-three centuries ~, also
crossed the Balkans, but in an opposite direction. He
passed the Danube, u.s he had already tll(~ Thracian
Bosphorus, on a bridge of boats, but his immense anny
soon melted away in the swamps of Moldavia, beneath
clouds of Scythian arrows. Forced to retreat, the
monarch overran Thrace and Maccdon.ia-to have his
hosts ehi vered in battle by the Greeks on the plain of
Marathon. H linyad crossed the Balkans from north to
south, in the year 1443, and the Sultan Amuratb fifty-
three years earlier in the opposite direction.
There arC many souvenirs of the poet O vid in East-
ern E urope. The IIungarian lloinls proudly to his
supposed tomb at Szombathely. The 'Vallaehian pea--
sant) able at this day to comprehend the language of
Ovid, conducts the traveller to his so-called tower and
prison at Kan:msebes in the valley of Tomes, which,
according to the tradition of the country, the Roman
soldiers hastened to visit wIwn l'rajan led them into
Daeia_ A smaU lake in n cssarabi~\ still bc:l.TS the name
of the poot. Thero is a tradition tllat he learned
the language of the Gotm and composed poems that
moved the hearts of the barbariar,s. 'lllC poet himself
says-
"Didlci gcticc aarmaticoquo loqul."
LIFE I X J;ULGAI:IA. 339
p. III
TilE EUXl:SE A:>I) TilE noSl'II0IWS. 369
I
CHAPrER xv.
S'fAMOOUL.
"Thougb all ~tb<:r cIties havo pcriodg of government and aro subjeet to
tho decays orume, Collstautinoplo alooo sooms to claim to IU.!l'gelf a. kiDd
of immortality, and will continue :I, city M long as the moo of mankind
ahallliyc (lither to inhabit or build her." GYLLIUB.
,. Gy!li\l~ .
384 IWUMANIA.
STAllOOUJ.. 401
•
CHAPTER XVI.
"A chaam,
As of two mountaillS, in tho wall of Stamboul,
ADd iu that ghastly hreach, tho;) I slamitcs,
Like gianta Oil the ruina of III world."
- -
•
TIIB WALLS ()Io' CON$1'ANTISO f'LL 413
AS'A.
•I
ASIA. 435
to T . GIOUt.itr.
ASIA. 439
454 ROUMANU.
ISLAM •
... Verily the true \'(!jigion in the ~ight of God ill hlnm l"-K OItAIf.
"Scat thyself by tho side of the poor, IUld thou wilt augment the value
of thy bounty."- ALI.
460 ROUMANlA.
• VOll flammer.
ISLAM. ·jJil
MOSQm; OF ACRMET.
,
• .r . "
ISI.AlI. 467
•e
•
ISLAM. 479
lI eya and labors, evel' delighting him with its beauti ful
thonghts, e,"er consoling him with its sweet words of
prOllllse.
Mohammedanism has accomplished much good in
the Orient. Amollg the 110,000,000 Moslems who re-
eei,'e the Koran, it has abolished idolatry. It has t:mght
that man can worship God without an infallibl e church
.and sin-forgi vi ng priest.. But thc despotic systems of
the East arc as unchangeable in character a$ the bases
of the H imalaya, and to the despotism of the K oran
must be attributed the present condition of the Ottoman
Empire. 11lC idea of religion is so strongly impressed on
the Ottoman mind, that without a change in faith there
can be no essential ebange in the modes of thQught and
things pertaining to outward l ife.
The original purpose of Mohammed was to convert
a fe\v of the neighboring tribes from idolatry to the
belief in one God, The idea of universal, or even of
extensive dominion, was purely an after thOl1ght with
t he Camel-driver of Mecca, or rather with his succee-
SOfS. This is evident from the precepts of the Koran,
and the" acts and sayings" of the Prophet. Duri ng
the lunar month of R amazan, the Turkish Lent, a rigid
fast is enjoined upon the faithful. No one is allowed
to eat, drink, smoke, enjoy the fragrance of a rose, or
gratify any appetite whatever, from sunrise to the time
when, as ~(u ~sn 1m:\Ilf'; say, "a ",ldte thread ca n no longer
be distin; uished from ono that is black." Trying as
2t
482 JIOI:ltANIA.
,
•
CHAPTER XIX.
neration.
Every stroke of the axe, every stroke upon the
anvil is, from the mystel·iolls eonnexion of things, a
blow UpOIl the hmzen shield of tyranny. When the
• lalUSSULUANS A..'W NON-lIUSSULMANS. 519
last despot slul.ll have passed away, and men learn the
alt of war no more, the nations can beat their swords
into ploughshares: bllt before the dawn of that auspi-
cious day the down-tl"Odden millions of Europe must
beat plquglultal'ea into 8WQ1·da, and reach freedom
through the red waves and fi ery Stlrgcs of revolution.
Russia, lying between the Occident and O rient,
extends her arms to both. On one side she has the
enlightened nations of Europe, on the other the noma-
dic Ii·ibes of the Asiatic 1)lains_ She has the energy
and civilization of the west., but in soil, in climate, in
political and national chamcteristics is far more closely
allied to Asia Ihan to Europe.
I t is affirmed tha t Rnssia is a barrier against the
irruptions of castel"ll barbarians. Tims fur, howevm·,
slle has rendered them more dangerous by imparting
to them ideas of government and military organiza-
tion-clements of civilization that strengthen without
enervating.
Defeated in her plans of conquest it is to be hoped
that R ussia will cuter upon the mission whieh Turkey
should have undertaken-the blending of the East and
the W est. Becoming thoroughly civilized herself, she
may arouse the .Asiatic nations fl·om their lethargic sleep
of centuries, engraft upon them the ci vi lization of the
west, and impart to our too material conceptions some-
thing of the dreamy imagination and "mystic spirit of
the Orient als.
520 ROlj lf AN l A.