The Danube—Cossack Guard—Moldavian
Musquitoes—Tultzin—Galatz—Plague-Conductors—Prussian
Officer—Excursion to Silistria—Amateur Boatmen—Wretched
Hamlet—The Lame Baron—The Salute—Silistrian Peasants—A
Pic-Nic in the Wilds—The Tortoise—Canoes of the Danube—The
Moldavian State-Barge—Picturesque Boatmen—The Water
Party—Painful Politeness—Visit of the Hospodar—Suite of His
Highness—Princely Panic—The Pannonia.
At three o’clock on the following day, we entered the Ghiurchevi mouth
of the Danube, which is only two hundred fathoms in width; and extremely
difficult of access for sailing vessels. The shores at this opening are
low, marshy, and treeless, presenting as desolate an appearance as can
well be conceived; and are only relieved at intervals of about a mile,
by the rude mud huts of the _cordon sanitaire_ of Cossacks, placed along
the Moldavian coast to enforce the quarantaine. The appearance of these
reed-roofed hovels was beyond expression wretched; and the long lances
of the guard, stuck into the earth along the front of the tenement, and
the apparition of a mounted Cossack appearing and disappearing among the
tall reeds which were the solitary produce of the land, were almost
requisite to convince us that they could really be the habitations of
human beings.
Beside many of these hovels an extraordinary erection attracted our
attention; it consisted of four tall wooden stakes driven into the
ground, and supporting, at about the height of eight feet from the
earth, a small platform of wicker-work, thatched in some two feet
higher; which we ascertained were constructed as sleeping-places,
wherein the unhappy dwellers in the Moldavian marshes took refuge
against the clouds of musquitoes that infest the Danube; and which,
being of immense size, inflict a sting that is far from contemptible.
Fortunately for their human victims, these voracious insects fly low,
never trusting themselves to the current of wind that, as it sweeps
along, might overcome their strength of wing; and thus this solitary
medium of escape from their virulence is adopted all along the river.
At ten o’clock at night, we arrived off Tultzin, where we remained only
an hour; and then profited by the moonlight to pursue our voyage to
Galatz, which we reached at five in the morning, and anchored beside the
Quarantaine ground; a small space railed off for the exclusive use of
the steam company, and separated from the road leading into the town by
a double palisading of wood about breast-high.
Here commenced our land miseries! We were looked upon as a society of
plague-conductors, and treated accordingly. Parties of the Galatzians
collected along the outer fence to contemplate the infected ones whose
contact they dreaded; and meanwhile we enjoyed the privilege of walking
up and down an avenue formed of coals on the one side, and tallow packed
into skins on the other.
We were visited at the palisades by the British and Austrian Consuls;
and by a Prussian gentleman, who, on our arrival at Constantinople, had
been in the service of the Sultan, which he had now exchanged for that
of the Hospodar of Moldavia. We had made his acquaintance at the
Military College, and he had been long on the look-out for us at Galatz.
He appeared perfectly satisfied with his new speculation, and talked
much of his enjoyment of the liberty of this new locality; a liberty in
which we were unfortunately not permitted to share. And such being the
case, we bade adieu to our friends on the town side of the fence; and,
after having ascertained that the Pannonia steamer, which should have
been on the spot ready to receive us, would not reach Galatz until late
at night, we determined on rowing across to the opposite shore of
Silistria, in order to relieve our _ennui_.
Bread and wine having been provided, we accordingly prepared for our
excursion; the captain’s gig was lowered; and I had the honour of being
rowed across the Danube by the most aristocratic boat’s crew that had
probably ever “caught crabs” in its muddy waters; all the seamen
belonging to the vessel being employed in lading and unlading
merchandize.
Nothing could exceed the wretchedness of the little hamlet that was
seated along the edge of a creek, into which we passed when we had
gained the Silistrian side of the river. The low hovels, rudely built of
mud, and roofed with reeds, were lighted by windows of oiled lambskin;
the floors were of earth; and nothing more cheerful than twilight could
penetrate into the single apartment which served for “kitchen, and
parlour, and hall.” Not the slightest attempt at a garden was visible,
though the village stood upon the verge of an extensive wild, stretching
away far as the eye could reach, and covered with redundant, although
stunted, vegetation. The ground-ash, the caper-tree, the gum-cistus, the
wild hollyhock, the flag-reed, and the water-willow were abundant; while
patches of white clover and vetches were scattered about in every
direction.
As the Baron E—— was lame, and unable to undertake a long walk, he
with some difficulty procured a horse that had just been released from a
waggon, the ragged peasant to whom it belonged not being proof against
the sight of a purse, which was shook before him as the most efficient
language that could be employed to enforce the demand: and, when the
laughing German had mounted the packsaddle, armed with his meerschaum
and cane, and grasped the knotted rope that served as a substitute for a
bridle, he was by no means the least picturesque of the party.
We had not long pursued the path leading to the village whither we were
bound, when we heard the salute fired at mid-day by the Ferdinand, in
honour of His Highness the Hospodar of Moldavia, who chanced to be
residing temporarily at Galatz; and to whom, as he was particularly
solicitous to facilitate by every means in his power the local
arrangements of the steam-company, they were careful to pay all due
honour; and indeed somewhat more, as they gave him a salute of
one-and-twenty guns, that came booming along the wild through which we
were wandering, and echoing over the waters of the little stream that
bordered it; startling the birds by which the river-willows were
tenanted, and dispelling momently the deep silence of the wide solitude.
When, after a walk of considerable length, we reached the hamlet that
was the object of our excursion, we excited universal attention and
astonishment among the women and children who crowded the cottage doors,
and who were universally clad in coarse white linen; the females
wearing huge silver earrings, round bracelets of coloured glass, and
rings of every dimension. All were barefooted; and the children, who
huddled together in groups to gaze upon the passing strangers, were
wretched-looking little mortals, with their light hair hanging in
elf-locks about their ears, and their rags fluttering in the breeze. The
hovels were universally built of mud, and roofed with reeds and the long
leaves of the Indian-corn; with chimneys of basket-work. In short, I
never beheld a more thorough demonstration of the fact that human
necessities actually exceed but little those of the inferior animals,
and that the thousand wants which grow up around civilization are merely
factitious. These isolated individuals were scantly and coarsely
clothed; fed almost entirely upon vegetables and the black wheaten
bread, of which the grain was grown in their own gardens; Indian corn
that supplied them at once with food, fuel, and bedding; lodged in
hovels better suited to cattle than to human beings: and yet they were
not merely healthful and happy, but, as I have already noticed, they had
their innocent vanities, and indulged in all the glories of coloured
glass trinkets.
The only men whom we saw in the hamlet were engaged in packing
water-melons into the wicker bullock-cars destined to convey them to
the market at Galatz; and of some of these we immediately possessed
ourselves. A shawl flung over the tall stems of some flag-reeds, and
propped by a rake, was soon converted into an awning for me, and we made
a most primitive and delicious meal, seated on the fresh grass among the
wild flowers. As we sauntered quietly back to the river-side, we
collected some of the shells that had been driven up the creek by the
river tide; and captured a fine tortoise that was sunning itself on the
turf, which we carried on board; where we returned tolerably fatigued
with our ramble in the wilds of Silistria.
We were amusing ourselves on deck after dinner by watching the passage
of the canoes which the natives impel by a wooden paddle precisely after
the manner of the Indians, when we observed half a dozen men rushing
down upon a little wooden pier immediately under the stern of the
Ferdinand, where we had previously remarked two gaudy-looking boats,
painted in immense stripes of red and blue. Nor were the group who
sprang into the largest of them less remarkable than the boats
themselves; and we had some difficulty in persuading ourselves that they
were the boatmen of the Prince, and not a party of Tyrolean
ballet-dancers. They wore broad flapped hats, bound by a ribbon of red
and blue, hanging in long ends upon their shoulders, and ornamented in
front by a large M, worked in gold: their shirts and trowsers were of
white, with braces and garters of red and blue; while wide scarlet
sashes, fringed at the extremities, completed their costume. The
Moldavian banner was hastily affixed to the stern of the boat; and then
a party of servants thronged the pier, who were succeeded by a couple of
aides-de-camp, and a grave elderly gentleman in an oriental dress; and
lastly arrived the Princess, a middle-aged, plain-looking person,
attended by three ladies, who were duly cloaked and shawled by the
obsequious aides-de-camp.
During this process the guns of the Ferdinand were once more prepared;
and the fantastically-clad boatmen had not dipped their oars thrice into
the stream, and Her Highness the Hospodar_ess_ was yet under the stern
of the ship, when bang went the first gun, with a flash and a peal that
somewhat discomposed her nerves; and she raised her arm deprecatingly
towards the Captain, who stood bare-headed near the wheel; but the
gesture was unheeded.
“She wishes you to desist, Captain Everson;” I remarked, as I detected
the action.
“Can’t help that, Ma’am;” answered the commander of the Ferdinand:
“she’s the Prince’s wife; and she shall have her thirteen guns, whether
she likes them or not.”
She “had” them accordingly, and they were fired in excellent style;
while the two boats of the Principality flaunted their party-coloured
glories across to the other shore. I do not know whether Her Highness
anticipated the probability of being compelled to “smell powder” on her
return, as well as on her departure; but it is certain that she did not
land near the Ferdinand when she repassed to the Moldavian side of the
river.
On the following morning, it was announced to us that His Highness the
Hospodar intended to honour the vessel with a visit; and we were
particularly requested to avoid coming in contact with himself or suite,
lest we might bequeath the plague to his Principality in return for his
politeness. Of course we promised compliance; and as the Pannonia had
not yet made her appearance, we were glad of any excitement to relieve
the tedium of our detention. At eleven o’clock the wretched drums and
fifes of the garrison announced that the Prince was approaching. The
guard at the entrance of the quarantaine ground was turned out;
officers, covered with tags, aiguilettes, and embroidery passed and
repassed the palisade; a crowd of idlers lined the road; the Tyrolean
boatmen were once more at their post; the trading vessels in the port,
which were lading with wheat, had their decks clean washed, and their
colours hoisted.—In short, the harbour of Galatz was in the full
enjoyment of “a sensation,” when the gates of the enclosure were thrown
back, and into the infected space walked His Highness, a little
sandy-haired man, with huge whiskers and mustachioes, perfectly matched
in tint to the enormous pair of golden epaulettes that he wore on a
plain blue frock coat.—On his right stood his Russian Dragoman, covered
with a dozen ribbons, clasps, and medals; who never opened his mouth
without lifting his cap, and uttering “Mon Prince” in an accent of the
most fulsome adulation: and on his left walked his physician, a fine
young man of very gentlemanlike manners and appearance. Immediately
behind him came the Moldavian Minister of the Interior, all furs and
wadded silk; and the procession was closed by a score of Aides-de-camp,
Officers of the Household, and hangers-on.
The party remained a considerable time in the quarantaine-enclosure ere
they came on board; and I suspect that His Highness began to repent that
he had volunteered so perilous a visit; but as it was too late to
recede, he at length ventured to trust “Caesar and his fortunes” to the
temporary keeping of the Plague-ship; and advancing to the stern of the
vessel where our party were standing, he very graciously expressed his
regret that he could not avail himself, as he should have been delighted
to do, of our presence in the Principality, by claiming us as guests
during our stay, owing to the unhappy prevalence of plague in the
country that we had left. After this he talked very solemnly of the
necessity of strictly observing the quarantaine; made two or three more
bows in a peculiarly ungraceful style; declined the champaigne that had
been prepared for him in the great cabin; and made his exit with
infinitely more alacrity than he had made his entry; only pausing in the
enclosure to lift his hat as the first gun was fired, of the salute
which celebrated his visit.
When His Highness had departed, and that the last scene of this
Moldavian comedy had been enacted, we had nothing left to do but to walk
the deck, and contemplate the muddiest-looking of all rivers. Unlike the
Pasha of Varna, the Hospodar made no inquiry into our wants and wishes,
and no offer of the local milk and honey that might have tended to
increase our comfort on board; although the Captain of the Ferdinand
sent him a bushel basket of magnificent grapes, which, after they had
been subjected to repeated immersion, were declared to be
non-conductors, and were admitted to _pratique_ accordingly.
It was not until five o’clock in the afternoon of the second day, that
the Pannonia anchored beside us; and, as she had to take her coals on
board, she could not sail until eight and forty hours after her arrival.
The transfer of passengers did not take place until late on the morrow;
for when the inferiority of her accommodations became apparent, we of
the Ferdinand were in no haste to change our quarters.
We had left Constantinople in a fine, well-kept ship; where a barrier
was erected which preserved the after-deck from the intrusion of the
inferior passengers: and where the cabins were comfortably fitted up,
and supplied in the most liberal manner with every thing that could
contribute to the convenience of their occupants; and, although we were
quite prepared for less space in the Pannonia, from the fact of her
being merely a river boat, we were by no means satisfied on discovering
the confusion that existed on her decks; where groups of dirty Turks,
and noisy Greeks, were squatted from her funnel to her stern; blocking
up the path of the cabin-passengers, and filling their clothes with
vermin, and their atmosphere with the fumes of bad tobacco; nor the
cheerless discomfort below, where not even a washing-stand had been
provided; and we were suddenly thrown upon our own resources for all
those little comforts, that from the arrangement of the vessel in which
we left the port of Constantinople, we were entitled to expect
throughout the voyage. Thus much for the disarray of the Pannonia; and I
mention it in order to prepare future travellers on the Danube not to be
misled, as we ourselves were by the satisfactory aspect of the
Ferdinand, into a belief that such will continue to gladden them on the
river; while on the other hand I am bound in justice to add that the
table is infinitely better served than that of the first vessel; a fact
that may perhaps compensate to many individuals for the absence of those
personal comforts of which our own party so bitterly felt the want.
Nor must I omit to make honourable mention of the _artiste_ to whom this
department was confided. An Italian by birth, and a wit by nature, as
well as a cook by profession, we were indebted to him and his guitar for
many a pleasant hour that would otherwise have passed heavily enough. As
the dusk grew into darkness, he used to come upon deck with his
instrument, and sing Neapolitan _buffo_ songs, with a spirit and _gusto_
that almost convulsed us with laughter. And as we stood about him,
listening to his minstrelsy, and looking on the bright moonlight
silvering along the river-tide, where it was not overshadowed by the
tall trees that fringed the bank beside which we were gliding; and
startling with our somewhat noisy merriment the deep silence of those
scantily-peopled shores; the effect upon my mind was most
extraordinary.