Manasia--Has preserved its middle-age character.--Robinson
Crusoe.--Wonderful Echo.--Kindness of the
people.--Svilainitza.--Posharevatz.--Baby Giantess.
Next day, accompanied by the doctor, and a portion of the party of
yesterday, we proceeded to the convent of Manasia, five hours off; our
journey being mostly through forests, with the most wretched roads.
Sometimes we had to cross streams of considerable depth; at other
places the oaks, arching over head, almost excluded the light: at
length, on doubling a precipitous promontory of rock, a wide open
valley burst upon us, at the extremity of which we saw the donjons and
crenellated towers of a perfect feudal castle surrounding and fencing
in the domes of an antique church. Again I say, that those who wish
to see the castellated monuments of the middle ages just as they were
left by the builders, must come to this country. With us in old
Europe, they are either modernized or in ruins, and in many of them
every tower and gate reflects the taste of a separate period; some
edifices showing a grotesque progress from Gothic to Italian, and from
Italian to Roman _a la Louis Quinze_: a succession which corresponds
with the portraits within doors, which begin with coats of mail, or
padded velvet, and end with bag-wigs and shoe-buckles. But here, at
Manasia,
"The battle towers, the donjon keep,
The loophole grates, where captives weep.
The flanking walls that round it sweep,
In yellow lustre shone;"
and we were quietly carried back to the year of our Lord 1400; for
this castle and church were built by Stephan, Despot of Servia, the
son of Knes Lasar. Stephan, Instead of being "the Czar of all the
Servian lands and coasts," became a mere hospodar, who must do as he
was bid by his masters, the Turks.
Manasia being entirely secluded from the world, the monastic
establishment was of a humbler and simpler nature than that of
Ravanitza, and the monks, good honest men, but mere peasants in cowls.
After dinner, a strong broad-faced monk, whom I recognized as having
been of the company at Ravanitza, called for a bumper, and began in a
solemn matter-of-fact way, the following speech: "You are a great
traveller in our eyes; for none of us ever went further than Syrmium.
The greatest traveller of your country that we know of was that
wonderful navigator, Robinson Crusoe, of York, who, poor man, met with
many and great difficulties, but at length, by the blessing of God,
was restored to his native country, his family, and his friends. We
trust that the Almighty will guard over you, and that you will never,
in the course of your voyages and travels, be thrown like him on a
desert island; and now we drink your health, and long life to you."
When the toast was drunk, I thanked the company, but added that from
the revolutions in locomotion, I ran a far greater chance now-a-days
of being blown out of a steam-boat, or smashed to pieces on a
railway.
From the rocks above Manasia is one of the most remarkable echoes I
ever heard; at the distance of sixty or seventy yards from one of the
towers the slightest whisper is rendered with the most amusing
exactness.
From Manasia we went to Miliva, where the peasantry were standing in a
row, by the side of a rustic tent, made of branches of trees. Grapes,
roast fowl, &c. were laid out for us; but thanking them for their
proffered hospitality, we passed on. From this place the road to
Svilainitza is level, the country fertile, and more populous than we
had seen any where else in Servia. At some places the villagers had
prepared bouquets; at another place a school, of fifty or sixty
children, was drawn up in the street, and sang a hymn of welcome.
At Svilainitza the people would not allow me to go any further; and we
were conducted to the chateau of M. Ressavatz, the wealthiest man in
Servia. This villa is the _fac simile_ of the new ones in the banat of
Temesvav, having the rooms papered, a luxury in Servia, where the
most of the rooms, even in good houses, are merely size-coloured.
Svilainitza is remarkable, as the only place in Servia where silk is
cultivated to any extent, the Ressavatz family having paid especial
attention to it. In fact, Svilainitza means the place of silk.
From Svilainitza, we next morning started for Posharevatz, or
Passarovitz, by an excellent macadamized road, through a country
richly cultivated and interspersed with lofty oaks. I arrived at
mid-day, and was taken to the house of M. Tutsakovitch, the president
of the court of appeal, who had expected us on the preceding evening.
He was quite a man of the world, having studied jurisprudence in the
Austrian Universities. The outer chamber, or hall of his house, was
ranged with shining pewter plates in the olden manner, and his best
room was furnished in the best German style.
In a few minutes M. Ressavatz, the Natchalnik, came, a serious but
friendly man, with an eye that bespoke an expansive intellect.
"This part of Servia," said I, "is _Ressavatz qua_, _Ressavatz la_.
We last night slept at your brother's house, at Svilainitza, which is
the only chateau I have seen in Servia; and to-day the rapid and
agreeable journey I made hither was due to the macadamized road,
which, I am told, you were the means of constructing."
The Natchalnik bowed, and the president said, "This road originated
entirely with M. Ressavatz, who went through a world of trouble before
he could get the peasantry of the intervening villages to lend their
assistance. Great was the first opposition to the novelty; but now the
people are all delighted at being able to drive in winter without
sinking up to their horses' knees in mud."
We now proceeded to view the government buildings, which are all new,
and in good order, being somewhat more extensive than those elsewhere;
for Posharevatz, besides having ninety thousand inhabitants in its own
_nahie_,[16] or government, is a sort of judicial capital for Eastern
Servia.
The principal edifice is a barrack, but the regular troops were at
this time all at Shabatz. The president showed me through the court of
appeal. Most of the apartments were occupied with clerks, and fitted
up with shelves for registers. The court of justice was an apartment
larger than the rest, without a raised bench, having merely a long
table, covered with a green cloth, at one end of which was a crucifix
and Gospels, for the taking of oaths, and the seats for the president
and assessors.
We then went to the billiard-room with the Natchalnik, and played a
couple of games, both of which I lost, although the Natchalnik, from
sheer politeness, played badly; and at sunset we returned to the
president's house, where a large party was assembled to dinner. We
then adjourned to the comfortable inner apartment, where, as the chill
of autumn was beginning to creep over us, we found a blazing fire; and
the president having made some punch, that showed profound
acquaintance with the jurisprudence of conviviality, the best amateurs
of Posharevatz sang their best songs, which pleased me somewhat, for
my ears had gradually been broken into the habits of the Servian muse.
Being pressed myself to sing an English national song, I gratified
their curiosity with "God save the Queen," and "Rule Britannia,"
explaining that these two songs contained the essence of English
nationality: the one expressive of our unbounded loyalty, the other of
our equally unbounded ocean dominion.
_President_. "You have been visiting the rocks and mountains of
Servia; but there is a natural curiosity in this neighbourhood, which
is much more wonderful. Have you heard of the baby giantess?"
_Author_. "Yes, I have. I was told that a child was six feet high, and
a perfect woman."
_President_. "No, a child of two years and three months is as big as
other children of six or seven years, and her womanhood such as is
usual in girls of sixteen."
_Author_. "It is almost incredible."
_President_. "Well, you may convince yourself with your own eyes,
before you leave this blessed town."
The Natchalnik then called a Momke, and gave orders for the child to
be brought next day. At the appointed hour the father and mother came
with the child. It was indeed a baby giantess, higher than its
brother, who was six years of age. Its hands were thick and strong,
the flesh plump, and the mammae most prominently developed. Seeing the
room filled with people, it began to cry, but its attention being
diverted by a nodding mandarin of stucco provided for the purpose, the
nurse enabled us to verify all the president had said. This phenomenon
was born the 29th of June, 1842, old style, and the lunar influences
were in operation on the tenth month after birth. I remarked to the
president, that if the father had more avarice than decency, he might
go to Europe, and return with his weight in gold.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 16: _Nahie_ is a Turkish word, and meant "_district_." The
original word means "_direction_," and is applied to winds, and the
point of the compass.]