me to tell you what the Turks think of the practice of duelling,
which we are accustomed to regard as the greatest proof of personal
courage. There was in a part of Hungary which adjoins our frontier, a
Sanjak-bey, famous for bodily strength, named Arslan Bey. None drew the
bow with greater strength, no one’s sword pierced deeper, or was more
formidable to the foe. Veli Bey, the governor of the next Sanjak,[188]
who coveted the same reputation, put himself forward as his rival. From
this rivalry, and possibly other differences, there arose a deadly
feud between the Sanjak-beys; they laid plots against one another, and
bloodshed was the consequence. Whether it was for this or some other
reason that Veli Bey was summoned to Constantinople is unknown to me;
at any rate he came. The Pashas in the Divan, after putting many other
questions to him, finally wished to hear about his feud with Arslan
Bey. (Arslan in Turkish means Lion.) Then he narrated at great length
the whole story of their quarrel, and to improve his case, he told
them how it ended in Arslan Bey’s lying in wait for him and wounding
him; there would have been no need, he continued, for Arslan Bey to
act thus, had he chosen to show himself worthy of his name; since for
his part he had never declined a fight with him, and indeed had many
times challenged him to a duel. The Pashas,[189] in indignation at this
speech, exclaimed, ‘Did you dare to challenge your comrade to a duel?
Were there no Christians for you to fight? Both of you live on the
bread of our Emperor, but yet you were preparing to engage in mortal
combat. By what law or precedent can you justify such conduct? Did you
not know that whichever of you fell the Emperor would lose a soldier by
his death?’ With these words they ordered him to be taken to prison,
where he was made to do penance for several months, and then having
with great difficulty obtained his discharge, was at last released
with his reputation much impaired. Among us many who have never seen a
public enemy are considered to be famous and distinguished characters,
because they have drawn their swords on a fellow-citizen or
fellow-soldier. What can you do when the sense of right is so perverted
that vices usurp the place of virtues, and what deserves punishment is
accounted a glory and an honour?
As you are eager for information of every kind, I must not deprive you
of an account of the arrival here of the king of the Colchians.[190]
He reigns on the banks of the Phasis at the corner of the Euxine, not
far from Mount Caucasus. His name is Dadian. He is a man of dignified
appearance and commanding person, but at heart they say he is a mere
savage. He was attended by a large but ragged retinue in poor and
threadbare attire.
The Colchians are now called Mingrelians by the Italians. They are one
of the tribes settled between the Caspian Gates, called by the Turks
‘Demit Capi,’ i.e., ‘Iron Gates,’ and the Black and Caspian Seas, which
are now called Georgians, either from the sect of Christianity to which
they belong, or because it is their ancient name, which last seems the
more probable theory, among whom are also included the Albanians and
Iberians (Imeritians).
The reason of Dadian’s coming is uncertain. Some suspect that he has
been summoned by the Turks; for when the Turks are at war with the
Persians, the Mingrelians and the other tribes of that region would,
if friendly, be able to render important assistance. But the general
and more probable version of the story is, that he has come to ask for
the assistance of some galleys to help him against his neighbours the
Imeritians; and that he is prepared to pay tribute to the Sultan in
return for this favour. His father was killed by the Imeritians, with
whom the Mingrelians have an ancient feud of long standing.
There is, however, an amusing story that, when on a certain occasion a
conference to effect a union and a reconciliation had been arranged,
and the Mingrelians on the one part and the Imeritians on the other had
assembled in large numbers, they had a match to see who should have the
honour of drinking the most; in which the Mingrelians were worsted,
and fell dead drunk under the table. But the Imeritians behaved
dishonourably, and putting the doughty Dadian, while he was sound
asleep and snoring, into a carriage, carried him off as if they had
taken him prisoner in fair fight, and shut him up in a lofty tower. To
avenge this wrong and to recover their king, the Mingrelians collected
men to the number of 30,000, commanded by the wife of the captive
prince, a woman of high spirit, who could ride a horse and wield a
sword. The chiefs of the army were equipped in cumbrous coats of mail,
and carried swords and lances tipped with iron. There was also, you
will be surprised to hear, a body of musketeers. The rest were without
any armour, and fought with arrows, or stakes hardened in the fire, and
great clubs of wood, and rode barebacked, nor was there any attempt at
order among them. When this raw and undisciplined army drew near to
the place where the king was confined, the enemy fired some cannon, at
which they took to their heels, and ran away a full mile. Then they
again plucked up courage and returned to the attack: the cannons were
again discharged; off went the Mingrelians once more, and this scene
was repeated over and over again. Dadian, however, seeing help near at
hand, cut the sheets of his bed into strips, and letting himself down
at night through a window, reached his troops in safety; an exploit,
which has made him famous in those parts.
All the country of the Mingrelians is exceedingly rich in every kind of
grain, except wheat and barley. The crops receive but little attention,
and it is supposed that if a little care were taken, wheat and barley
might also be grown. The people are incorrigibly lazy. Panic[191] is
sown in a slovenly way, but it grows with the greatest luxuriance, and
produces such a crop that one harvest is sufficient for two years’
consumption. They have got accustomed to this grain, which they eat in
large quantities, and do not wish for any better kind of corn. From
vines planted at the foot of the tallest trees, they make a great
deal of fair wine. These vines climb among the branches of the trees
to which they are trained, and last for many years. Abundance of wax
and honey may be obtained from the wild bees that work in the forests
by anyone who will take the trouble to look for their hives. The
woods also supply plenty of game, indeed the whole country is full of
pheasants and partridges. The very pumpkins show the fertility of the
soil, as they not only are of a delicious flavour, but are often quite
three feet long.
They have very little money. Few among them are acquainted with silver
coins, and still fewer with gold; hardly anyone possesses them. I am
not sure that they ought not to be called fortunate on this account.
The absence of money is the absence of that which is the chief
incentive to crime; and yet, for my part, I have my doubts whether many
of our friends at home would care for this blessing, which renders
it impossible for anyone to grow rich! Yet silver is to some extent
esteemed by them, for when any comes into the country in the course of
trade—as is necessarily the case—they dedicate it to their churches,
and it is recast into crosses, chalices, or other church ornaments. All
these the king, when he thinks proper, melts down, and converts the
bullion to his own uses. In dealing with each other, barter is their
only form of trade. Everyone brings to market the commodity of which
he has plenty, to exchange it for what he is in need of. Thus they do
not feel the want of money, since its place is supplied by barter; nay,
even the king’s tribute is paid to him in the produce of the soil.
He receives an abundant supply of what is needful in the way of food
and clothing. He has enough to eat, enough to drink, enough to clothe
himself with, and also has the means of maintaining his household and
rewarding his supporters. He has an inexhaustible store of provisions,
both from tithes and other royalties and from the presents which he
is continually receiving; yet he is no miser, and gives as freely and
readily as he takes. His palace resembles a public storehouse, being
crammed with supplies of every kind. From these stores rations are
issued to all his subjects who need them. Any who are in want, or have
fallen into poverty through the failure of their crops, are fed from
the royal granary.
It is the custom for merchants on landing to make some present to the
king; its value is unimportant, as he will accept whatever is offered,
and they are then invited to a banquet. There is a vast hall with
stables at each end, in which the king’s table is laid. It is a very
long one; he sits at the head himself, and the others at a little
distance from him. The table is loaded with game and other dishes, and
wine is liberally supplied; indeed, the hardest drinkers are considered
the most welcome guests. In the same banqueting-hall the queen likewise
dines with her train of women, but at a separate table. I am afraid I
cannot say much for the manners of the ladies. They behave quite as
badly as the men, drinking, gesticulating, tittering, nodding, and
winking, to such an extent as to make it plain that any of them would
play the Medea if a Jason[192] appeared. After the banquet the king
with his guests goes off to the chase.
In this country you may see in the forests parties of the common people
lying under the shade of spreading trees, and keeping holiday with wine
and dances and songs. They stretch strings to a long pole, and strike
them with a small stick in regular time. To the accompaniment of these
rude harps they sing their love-songs and ballads in praise of heroes,
among whom, if the stories that are told are true, the name of Roland
frequently occurs.[193] How it was conveyed there I cannot conjecture,
unless it came across the sea with Godfrey de Bouillon. About this
Roland they tell many marvellous tales, even more absurd than those of
our own romances.
Where life is so easy and food so plentiful, morality suffers. A
respectable woman is not often to be met with. A man who wishes to
amuse his visitor and make his stay agreeable, introduces him to his
wife or sister, and does not trouble himself as to how far their
intimacy may go. On the contrary, they think that if their wives prove
attractive it is a compliment to themselves. Unmarried women are
allowed the same liberties, and behave just as badly as their married
sisters. Cases are often pointed out of girls of ten years old who have
got babies. When you express your surprise, and refuse to believe that
such diminutive creatures can be mothers, they produce a baby not much
bigger than a large frog, which is the more surprising, as the men and
women are generally tall, and remarkable for the symmetry of their
limbs. But they are so completely devoid of refinement and good manners
that, among other customs, they think it a compliment to make a curious
noise in the throat, something like a hiccough.
For one thing they certainly have talents, and that is stealing.
Amongst them this art is held in high esteem, and a successful pilferer
is a great man. He who is ignorant of the noble science of thieving is
despised as a mere blockhead; indeed, they hardly think him worthy of
life. So strong is this feeling, that if a man has a brother or son who
cannot steal, he considers him a hopeless case and a disgrace to his
family, and gives him away or sells him for a trifle to foreign traders
to carry him to some distant land. An Italian merchant, who had been in
that country, told me that one of their priests robbed him of his knife
in church. He perceived the theft, but pretended not to do so, and,
to show the priest he had been discovered, made him a present of the
sheath as well, that he might have something to put the knife in!
When they enter a church they do not care much for the images of the
Virgin, St. Peter, St. Paul, or other saints, but look about for
a picture of St. George on horseback. Before this they prostrate
themselves in adoration, and then kiss it all over, not omitting even
the horse’s shoes. They say that St. George was a brave soldier of
great renown, who fought several battles with the Evil Spirit on equal
terms, and always beat him, or at the worst was able to hold his own.
I will now tell you something that will surprise you. Kings in the
East expect presents from their visitors. Dadian brought Solyman a
dish hollowed out of a ruby of such brilliancy that it would make the
road by night as clear as if it were noonday. You will say, ‘I do not
believe it.’ For the matter of that, I do not either, and what is more,
I do not ask you to believe it. I only tell you there are plenty who
do. More knowing people say it is a paten of garnet, and that it was
stolen from a son of the King of Persia, who was wrecked on that coast
as he was trying to escape to Constantinople. He likewise brought
twenty white falcons, or hawks, which are said to be found in great
numbers in Mingrelia. So much for my news about the Mingrelians and
their manners.
You ask about my pursuits, and the general routine of my life, and
whether I ever go out of my house. Well, I am not in the habit of
going out, unless when despatches are received from the Emperor for me
to present to the Sultan, or instructions come to remonstrate about
the raids made and mischief done by the Turkish garrisons, and this
happens only two or three times a year. Were I to express a wish to
take a ride occasionally through the city with my keeper, it would
in all probability be granted; but I do not care to have this made a
favour of, as I want to make them think that my rigorous confinement is
no punishment to me. Besides, what pleasure would it give me to ride
about with Turks all round me, making their remarks or perhaps venting
their abuse on me? The country and the fields are what I enjoy, and
not a town; least of all one that is tumbling to pieces, and in which,
with the exception of its magnificent site, no relic of its original
splendour is left. The former rival of Rome is now crushed beneath
the yoke of the most cruel slavery. Who could see this proud city and
not pity her fall, while musing over the changes and chances of this
fleeting world? Besides, who knows how soon her fate may be ours?
I keep at home, where I hold converse with my old friends, my books.
They are at once my companions and my solace. For the sake of my health
I have built a tennis-court, where I play before dinner. After dinner
I practise the Turkish bow, in the use of which weapon people here
are marvellously expert. From the eighth, or even the seventh, year of
their age they begin to shoot at a mark, and practise archery ten or
twelve years. This constant exercise strengthens the muscles of their
arms, and gives them such skill that they can hit the smallest marks
with their arrows. The bows they use are much stronger than ours, and
being shorter, are also much more handy; they are made not of a single
piece of wood, but of the sinews and horns of oxen fastened together
with a quantity of glue and tow. A Turk in good practice can easily
draw the string of the very stiffest of them to his ear. Without
training, however, the strongest man could do nothing with a Turkish
bow. Indeed, if a coin be set between the string and the bow close to
the notch, none but an adept could pull the string so far as would
suffice to liberate the coin. So sure is their aim, that in battle they
can hit a man in the eye or in any other exposed part they choose. At
the range where they are taught, you may see them shooting with so sure
an aim that they surround the white on the target, which is generally
smaller than a thaler, with five or six arrows, so that every arrow
touches the margin of the white, but does not break it. They seldom
use a range of more than thirty feet. On the thumb of the right hand
they wear bone rings, on which the bowstring lies when they draw it,
and the arrow is kept in its place by holding the left thumb in an
upright position and joining it to the forefinger; so that their way of
shooting is quite different from ours. The butt they use as a target
is raised four feet more or less from the ground, and consists of a
wooden frame filled with sand. Pashas and men with large households
exercise their servants in this sort of practice at home, the more
skilful being told off to act as teachers. Some of them at the feast
of Easter[194]—for the Turks have an Easter (the feast of Bairam) like
ourselves—assemble in the great plain beyond Pera, where, squatting on
the ground in a line, with their legs crossed in the Turkish manner
like tailors, they try who can shoot the furthest. I must mention that
the contest, after the usual Turkish fashion, is prefaced by prayer.
Great order and silence prevail throughout, however large the number of
spectators. On these occasions they use special bows and arrows; the
former are very short and stiff, and cannot be bent except by a man who
has had a great deal of practice. An embroidered handkerchief, such as
we use for wiping our faces, is the winner’s prize. The chief reward,
however, is the reputation which the successful archer acquires. The
range they attain with their arrows is almost incredible. The point
reached by the arrow of the longest shot in the year is marked by a
stone. Many such stones set up in former days are still standing,
several paces beyond those which are now erected. These they firmly
believe are the marks of their ancestors’ shots, to whose strength and
skill, by their own admission, they cannot aspire. Moreover, in various
streets and piazzas of Constantinople there are ranges of this sort, at
which there assemble not merely boys and young men, but also those of
more advanced age. A target-keeper is appointed, who has the charge of
keeping it in order and watering the butt every day, which otherwise
would get so dry that the blunt arrows which they use in practice would
not stick in it. It is also the keeper’s business to stand by the
target and draw out the arrows, and throw them back to the shooters
after cleaning them. In return everyone gives him a fixed fee, which
forms his salary. The front of the target is like a small door, from
which, perhaps, originated a proverb the Greeks have; when a man has
wholly missed the mark, they say ‘he is shooting against a door.’ For
I think the Greeks formerly used this sort of target, and the Turks
adopted it from them. I am well aware, of course, that the use of the
bow is very ancient among the Turks; but that does not seem to me any
reason why they should not have gone on using the sort of target and
butt which they found in the Greek cities when they took them. For
no nation in the world has shown greater readiness than the Turks to
avail themselves of the useful inventions of foreigners, as is proved
by their employment of cannons and mortars, and many other things
invented by Christians. They cannot, however, be induced as yet to use
printing, or to establish public clocks, because they think that the
scriptures—that is, their sacred books—would no longer be _scriptures_
if they were _printed_, and that, if public clocks were introduced, the
authority of their muezzins and their ancient rites would be thereby
impaired.
Even in the case of other nations, it is their habit to pay great
respect to ancient usages. This principle they carry so far as almost
to infringe the precepts of their own religion. Remember, in saying
this, I am speaking of the practice of the ordinary Turk. As an
example, of course everyone knows that they have not the slightest
sympathy with Christian worship, but notwithstanding, as the Greek
priests have a custom of opening, as it were, the closed sea at a
fixed time in spring by blessing the waters, before which the Greeks
are afraid to trust themselves to the waves, even the Turks have some
superstitious regard for this ceremony. Accordingly, as soon as they
have made their preparations for a voyage, they go to the Greeks, and
inquire if the waters have yet been blessed. It they say no, they put
off their voyage; if they are answered in the affirmative, they embark
and set sail.
It was also a custom among the Greeks that the cave in Lemnos from
which is extracted the earth they call ‘goat’s seal,’[195] should not
be opened except on August 6, the feast of the Transfiguration of our
Lord. This custom the Turks observe to this very day; and they think it
proper that a service should even now be performed there by a priest of
the Greek Church in the same manner as it used to be, while they remain
at a distance as spectators of the sacred rites in which they cannot
join. But if one should ask why they do so, they reply that there exist
many customs ordained of yore, the advantage of which is proved by long
experience, though the reasons for them are unknown. The ancients, they
say, knew more and saw further than they do, and what they had approved
of ought not to be abolished. They prefer to keep such customs rather
than run the risk of changing them. Some carry this way of thinking
so far, that I have known instances of Turks who had their children
secretly baptised; their notion being that there must be some advantage
in this rite, or otherwise it would never have been instituted.
But, by the way, I must not fail, when speaking of Turkish drill,
to mention a very ancient manœuvre which has been handed down from
the time of the Parthians; namely, for the cavalry to pretend to
fly, and to shoot down their unwary enemies when they attempt to
pursue. The following is the method by which they acquire the art of
rapidly executing this manœuvre. They put a brass ball on the top
of a very high pole, erected on level ground, and galloping past it
at full speed, they then turn suddenly, and bending back shoot an
arrow at the ball, without drawing bridle; and by practising this
exercise constantly they acquire such skill, that they can without any
difficulty shoot behind them, and send an arrow into their enemy when
he least expects it.
But it is time for me to return to our lodging, or my keeper will be
angry with me! Whatever time I have left unoccupied by the exercises
I mentioned, is spent in reading, or talking with the citizens of
Pera, who are Genoese by origin, or with other friends; but for this
the cavasses’ leave is necessary. Their temper is indeed somewhat
uncertain, but they occasionally have lucid intervals, during which
they prove more reasonable. Accordingly, when they are in a good
humour, Ragusans, Florentines, Venetians, and sometimes also Greeks,
and men of other nations come in numbers, either to pay a visit or on
some business. Hither flock also men from yet more distant lands, whose
conversation has great attractions for me. A few months ago there came
an amber merchant of Dantzic, who had bought up the whole supply of
amber. As a great quantity of this article is sent to Turkey, he was
very curious to know what it was used for here, or if exported, to
what country it was taken. At last he ascertained that it is conveyed
into Persia, where it is highly prized, and where they ornament their
rooms, cabinets, and shrines with it. He gave me a barrel of the beer
they call Juppenbier (sprucebeer), which is certainly capital stuff.
But I had a hearty laugh at my Greek and Italian guests, who, having
never met with such a beverage, could not find a name for it. At last,
as they heard from me that it was good for one’s health, they thought
it a kind of medicine, and called it Sirup; and as they kept on asking
for ‘a little more of the same mixture,’ by repeated tastings, like the
lady in Terence,[196] they finally finished my barrel at one sitting.