Leave Mostar for the Frontier--Mammoth Tombstones--Stolatz--Castle
and Town--Christian Shopkeeper--Valley of the
Stolatz--Disappearance of River--Temporary Camp--My Dalmatian
Servant--Turkish Army Doctors--Numerical Force of the Turks--Health
of the Army--Bieliki--Decapitation of Prisoners--Christian Cruelty.
Day dawned on September 14, 1861, on about as cheerless a prospect as
can well be imagined. A chilly drizzle, swept hither and thither by
strong gusts of wind, did not tend to enhance the beauty of the
surrounding country, while it portended rather ominously for the success
of the operations, the first important step in the prosecution of which
may be considered to have been begun upon that day. By nine o'clock, the
hour fixed for our departure, the wind had fallen, and the rain began,
to descend in torrents, defying all precautions in the shape of cloaks
and waterproofs. So it continued until past noon, when the clouds
cleared away, and the sun shone out bright and warm.
There is little to interest the traveller in this part of the
Herzegovina, unless it be the existence of clusters of old tombstones,
which occur very frequently throughout the province. About one hour
before reaching Stolatz, which was our destination, we came upon one of
those ancient cemeteries, which is well worthy of notice from the
mammoth proportions of the tombstones. These are, as is usually the
case, adorned with primitive sculptures of men clad in armour, horses,
and dogs, and decapitated heads; dates are seldom found, but the
character of the work and the frequent occurrence of the cross confirms
the supposition that they were erected previous to the Turkish conquest.
On our approach to Stolatz we were met by a deputation of the country
people, and by bands of children sent out to greet the arrival of him
who is regarded as the general pacificator. The anxiety displayed by
these to do homage by kissing his stirrup-iron when mounted, or the hem
of his trousers, was by no means appreciated by Omer Pacha, who
possesses very Europeanised views on these subjects. The enthusiasm with
which he was received, however, could not be mistaken, and forms an
important element in his prospects of a successful termination of the
affair. Outside the walls a battalion of regulars was drawn up, and
every here and there some detachments of irregular soldiers.
Stolatz is charmingly situated on both banks of a small stream, which
are covered with fig and olive trees, and at the northern extremity of
the ravine in which it is built is the old castle for which it is
famous. This was put into repair by the rebellious Ali Pacha, and was
the last position held by him before he was taken prisoner by Omer
Pacha. It is simply a rectangular enclosure, with square towers at
intervals in place of bastions, and would afford little security against
an army provided with artillery. In addition to the weakness of its
defences, it is so situated as to be formidable only to the town which
lies beneath it, since it is commanded by several points on the
surrounding hills, where batteries might be safely erected at short
ranges. On the towers and their connecting curtains are many old guns,
some mounted, and others lying as they have probably lain for centuries.
Some of these are of the time of Maria Theresa, and nearly all were
ornamented with inscriptions and designs. The custom of naming guns or
giving them mottoes is very ancient and widely spread. I remember seeing
a number of Sardinians grouped round a gun in Capua upon the day of its
surrender to the Garibaldian and Piedmontese forces. They appeared much
amused, and on enquiring the cause of their merriment, I found it to be
the result of their appreciation of the motto upon the gun, which ran as
follows:--'Ultima ratio regum.' (the last argument of kings), an
argument which at any rate told with little effect in the case of
Francis II., for the simple reason that it was introduced at the wrong
moment. Doubtless some of these relics of Eastern warfare possessed as
pointed and applicable dicta as that of Capua, and had I had sufficient
time I should have scraped off the mould and rust of accumulated ages,
and have copied some of the inscriptions. That they could be fired was
placed beyond a doubt by the promiscuous medley of explosions which
greeted us, and which I purposely abstain from calling a salute, so
unlike was it to everything one has been wont to classify under that
name.
Omer Pacha passed that night in the house of an opulent Mussulman, while
I was billeted upon the principal Christian inhabitant, a Greek[O]
shopkeeper. These men, one of whom is to be found in most of the
principal towns and large villages, may be regarded as the Parsees of
Turkey. Their shops are tolerably well supplied with European
commodities, and their owners are far in advance of their
fellow-townsmen in cleanliness and civilisation. Yet, in spite of this,
some of the modes in which they delight to honour even the passing
stranger are far from acceptable. Among the least objectionable of these
is the encouragement of their children to seize and slobber over his
hands, the only manner of avoiding which is to keep them thrust deeply
into his pockets--an odious custom elsewhere, but here indispensable.
Before bidding a last farewell to the house of my entertainer, I must
pay a grateful tribute to its comfort and cleanliness. In vain I
pressed him to accept some return for his hospitality, and it was at
length only in the form of a present to one of the aforesaid children
that I could induce this kind-hearted family to take any memento of
their grateful guest.
On leaving Stolatz, our route lay in a SE. direction along the
bridle-path upon the right bank of the river. During the first two
hours, the rocks on our left were quite bare and devoid of all signs of
vegetation. Afterwards they assumed a far less barren appearance, being
covered with good strong brushwood, which grows down close to the
water's edge. The water is itself clear and shallow, and at one point
suddenly disappears--an instance of that phenomenon so common in these
countries, to which allusion has already been made. Above the point of
disappearance, the valley has all the aspect of the dry bed of a river,
with its sloping banks and pebbly bottom.
Our force, which on leaving Mostar had consisted only of a small body of
cavalry for escort purposes, and some hundreds of irregulars, was
augmented at Stolatz by half a battalion of regular infantry. That the
picturesque effect produced by these Bashi Bazouks (conspicuous among
whom were the Albanian levies) was heightened by the addition of the
regulars, in their soiled garments and woollen great coats, I cannot
pretend to say; yet let no one endeavour to depreciate the Turkish
infantry who has not seen them plodding gallantly on beneath a broiling
sun, and in a country which, by its stony roughness, would tax the
energies of the stoutest Highlander.
Those first marches, before we joined the main army, were for us, who
were mounted, pleasant enough. Taking advantage of any clump of trees
which we might encounter--and these were not very numerous--the halt
would sound, and in an incredibly short space of time coffee and pipes
would be served to the General, his Secretary, and myself, the staff
forming themselves into a group a few paces distant.
During these halts children or curious adults would be seen peeping from
behind the trees, bent on catching a glimpse of the Serdar Ekrem. I
noticed that he never missed an opportunity of conversing with the
country people, who would tremblingly obey his summons to come and
receive 'Bakshish,' until reassured by his kind tone and gentle manner.
In thus speaking of Omer Pacha's moral qualities let me not be mistaken:
I do not wish to infer that he possesses a very refined mind, still less
that he is gifted with those elements which go to form the
philanthropist; but that which he does possess is much good nature, a
long-headed shrewdness, which shows him the policy of toleration, and a
general disposition to support the weak against the strong. Thus, if he
has been accused of squeezing the faithful subjects of His Imperial
Majesty the Sultan, I venture to say that these attentions on his part
have been devoted entirely to those whom he knows to have amassed money
by grinding extortion, and thus he pays them off in their own coin.
On the night of the 15th we halted in a small encampment about five
hours beyond Stolatz, where tents were already pitched for our
reception. Here one of those sights met our view so characteristic of
the country, and so unlike anything one is accustomed to see in regular
armies. A certain amount of hay and barley had been collected, and,
having been warned to do so by one of the staff, I ordered my servant to
push on ahead, that he might make sure of a portion of the spoil. On my
arrival I went down to watch operations, and vastly amusing it was to
see the scuffle which was going on--black servants, privates of
dragoons, and staff officers all helping themselves in a manner that
would have wrung the heart of the most generous forage contractor or
commissariat officer. Here I discovered the sort of stuff of which my
servant, a Dalmatian, was made. Some one, it appears, had told him, with
what truth I know not, that a party of Greek Christians had lately made
an incursion into this very camp, killing several Turks. This, and the
reports of a few muskets, so completely unmanned him, that he stoutly
declared his intention of remaining awake during the night; and it was
only by allowing him to lie in the tent by my side that I could induce
him to try and sleep. The abject cowardice of this youth on subsequent
occasions gave me but a poor impression of the modern Dalmatian--an idea
which was confirmed by the conduct of his successor, who was, if
possible, a more pitiable poltroon than Michaele. That the position of a
servant whose master was without bed or coverlet was not particularly
enviable, I am ready to admit, and many a time did he come to complain
of incipient starvation; but at the moment it was difficult to make
allowance for these little inconveniences, which were common to us all.
We were now approaching Bieliki, where a considerable body of troops was
massed under Dervisch Pacha, a General of Division. The character of the
country through which we passed continued the same--stony and rough,
varied only by a little low wood.
The last march was doubly as long as its precursors, and it was late in
the evening before we reached the camp. Excepting several detachments of
irregulars posted at intervals, the country presented a most deserted
appearance; and, from accounts which I have since heard, I cannot help
fancying that the cause and effect were very closely allied, or, in
other words, that the presence of the irregulars accounted for the
absence of the general population. The semi-feudal spirit, which was in
great measure extinguished elsewhere with the destruction of the
Janissaries, is still rife in this portion of the empire; and it seems
to me that more real danger is to be apprehended by the Porte from this
independent spirit in the Mussulman population than from the
bloodthirsty hatred of the Christians.
About four hours from Bieliki we were met by Dervisch Pacha. Here,
again, we found more Bashi Bazouks, both horse and foot, as well as a
battalion of chasseurs of the army of Constantinople. On arriving in
camp, I was told off to share the tent of a Colonel-Doctor, by name Rali
Bey, who received me most hospitably. He is a young Greek, who has
served about eight years, having entered as a Major-Doctor. (Be not
horrified, O Surgeon-Major, at so unheard-of a proceeding! Doubtless
your privileges are far greater than his, save that you have the Major
as an appendage in place of a prefix.) The aforesaid Rali Bey was far
the best specimen of a Turkish military doctor whom I ever met. As a
rule, they are not an attractive set. Almost invariably
Constantinopolitans, they jabber execrable French fluently enough, and
affect European manners in a way which is truly disgusting: add to this
a natural disregard of cleanliness, and an obtrusive familiarity, and
nothing more is wanted to complete the picture. Of their professional
capacity I am unable to speak, never, I am thankful to say, having been
compelled to intrust my constitution to their hands; but, judging from
the fact that, on leaving college, they dispense with books, I felt
inclined to attribute the singularly small amount of sickness in camp
more to fortuitous circumstances than to the _ars medendi_, as practised
by these ingenuous young men.
The sanitary state of the army at that time contrasted very favourably
with its condition some two months later in the year. At the first
period to which I allude there were only seventy men actually in
hospital, the whole force at Bieliki amounting to 8,047 regulars and
2,900 Bashi Bazouks. Of the twelve battalions of regular infantry which
composed the force five were armed with rifles, and were termed
chasseurs in consequence. At the same time, it is fair to add that
special attention has been paid to this arm, and the naturally keen eye
of the Turkish soldiers renders their education a matter of comparative
facility.
The night which followed our arrival at Bieliki was, I think, the most
sleepless I have ever experienced. So thoroughly tired was I, that the
deafening crashes of thunder, the forked lightning, and the deluge of
rain, which poured in torrents through the tent, might have passed
unheeded, but for the mass of minute life, which defied sleep. With
early dawn I wandered off, too glad to escape from my tormentors, and
went through the hospitals, surgery, and other buildings connected with
the permanent encampment. The irregular lines of tents gave a
picturesque appearance to the camp, which was heightened by the
configuration of the surrounding hills. Far off to the SE. rise the
rugged mountains of Montenegro, at the foot of which lies the plain of
Grahovo, a spot fraught with disastrous reminiscences to the Turks.
Important as that affair was, since Grahovo was ceded to the
Montenegrins in consequence, its details have been grossly exaggerated.
It is currently accepted that 7,000 Turks were cut to pieces by 4,500
mountaineers, the real truth being that the latter were probably nearly
as numerous as their opponents. The Turkish force consisted of two
entire battalions and a portion of a third, and, from the impracticable
nature of the country, it would have been strange had the result been
otherwise than it was. Hemmed in and mowed down from all sides by an
unseen foe, the Turkish soldiers lost all self-reliance, it is true, and
the panic which ensued must have tended considerably to increase the
magnitude of their loss. In justice to Hussein Pacha, the Turkish
General, it should be known that the operations which placed his army in
this false position were not of his planning, but were carried out in
deference to the wishes of the Civil Governor, and against his advice.
From the above remarks I would not have it supposed that I am desirous
of detracting from the well-merited praise to which the Montenegrins are
entitled for their long and successful resistance to the Turkish arms.
Their gloriously stalwart frames, and their independent spirit, both of
which they inherit with their mountain air, entitle them to admiration
and esteem; but an undue appreciation of these should not be allowed to
warp the judgement or prejudice the mind. Some there are who invest them
with almost supernaturally noble qualities, while they attribute every
conceivable enormity to their enemies the Turks. Each of these views is
incorrect. The Osmanlis, whether it be from a consciousness of their own
decrepitude, or some other cause, appear to have lost the spirit of
cruelty which characterised their more successful days; and it is a
matter of fact that the atrocities committed by their Christian
antagonists in the Greek War of Independence, during the incursion of
the Hellenic bands into Thessaly and Epirus in 1854, or in the present
_émeute_, equal, if they do not surpass, anything which they can lay to
the charge of the Turks. Travellers are apt to form their opinions upon
the evidence of their own senses; and when such is the case, their
verdict cannot fail to be favourable to the Moslems: for things seen
with one's own eyes will always make a deeper and more lasting
impression than the most harrowing details, the scene of which is laid
in times gone by.
It may be urged that the want of power has caused this increased
humanity; and in part it may be so, for the nature of a people can never
undergo a sudden and entire change. But I can myself vouch for the
lenity which they displayed when they have had the power, and to wit
great provocation, to have acted otherwise. The incontrovertible facts,
too, remain that Mussulman Turkey has been the first to relinquish the
unchristian custom of decapitating prisoners, and other inhuman
practices, which the so-called Christians appear little inclined to
renounce. This will, of course, meet with an indignant denial on the
part of their supporters; but it must be a strong argument which can
overcome the disgust occasioned by the sight of women without ears,
children without noses, and bleeding corpses of soldiers literally hewn
to pieces with knives, all of which I have witnessed with my own eyes.
In matters which do not immediately concern England, no opinion is
probably entitled to so much reliance as that of a Briton, even allowing
for a certain tendency, which he often has, to measure all people and
things by his own standard; and for this reason, that he is probably
free from all political and religious bias, while we know that he cannot
be actuated by prejudices resulting from community of origin, which
invalidates the testimony of the subjects of so many other European
states. However narrow-minded Englishmen may be in their own affairs,
they are generally capable of taking a broader and sounder view of those
of their neighbours than any other people. I think, therefore, that it
speaks strongly in favour of the opinions which I have advanced, that
they are shared by all those few Englishmen whose calling has brought
them into connection with these countries, or the still smaller number
who have gone thither for their own gratification. To the former class,
more especially, I can unhesitatingly appeal, to bear me out in the
heterodox assertion that the Christians are, as a mass, greater enemies
to progress than the Turks.
[Footnote O: I.e. of the Greek Church.]