Zitara Palanka--Turkish hospitality--Interior of a caffiné--Mahometan
devotee--Orisons--Race of Tartars--Social variety--Turkish khan--The
nargillé--Supper--Woman--Seclusion of the sex--Eating in the dark--
Visiters astonished--A general invasion--Return to the boat--New
acquaintances--Nicopoli--Night scene.
Soon after daybreak (October 9) our men were at their oars, which
they plied with a degree of vigour and determination very different
indeed from the annoying and invincible indolence of my Wallachian
acquaintances. The morning was sunny and cheerful; but the banks of the
Danube no longer presented any scenery worth observation. The Balkans
had altogether vanished from our view, and there was not a hill, or
even an eminence of any kind to be seen.
My breakfast consisted of a piece of excellent brown bread, and some
dried curds, which I afterwards often found in Turkey and Greece, as a
substitute for cheese. The captain, perceiving that I had brought no
provisions with me, seemed pleased to perform for me all the duties of
a host; placing near me a wooden bowl, filled with curds, a brown loaf,
and a wooden canteen replenished with wine. I preferred, however, the
pure element below, whenever I had occasion for it. To be sure, this
frugal fare was a change from the well-served board of the steamer; but
I consoled myself by thinking, that good living was not always conducive
to health, and that a fast now and then is among the best prescriptions
which a doctor can furnish.
♦ ZITARA PALANKA ♦
Towards noon we put in to a Turkish village, which the crew called
Zitara Palanka. We went ashore to get a supply of provisions; the
Turkish officer who wore the red Greek cap, his pistols and ataghan
stuck in the silk scarf with which his loins were belted, and his long
pipe in his hand, took me under his protection. The village was a small
straggling place, consisting of wooden houses, most of which were shops
for bread, curds, butchers’ meat, soft goods, groceries, fruit, rock
salt, dried skins, shoes, boots, and slippers. We went to the caffiné,
or coffee-house, before which we found three or four Turks sitting on a
mat, in a rude sort of balcony, the floor of which was slightly elevated
above the level of the street. They were well-looking men, and they
received my friend and myself with a salam full of good nature, and, at
the same time, not without dignity.
♦ TURKISH HOSPITALITY ♦
The pipes were all immediately put into requisition, and coffee was
brought to us in china cups, my only objection to which was their
minuteness. The beverage was served without sugar, the latter being a
luxury in which Turkish villagers seldom indulge. My friend observed,
at once, that I did not much relish my coffee in this way, and ordered
sugar to be brought. But there was none to be found in the caffiné,
until “mine host” procured some from a neighbouring shop. With that
addition the coffee was very good, and I found three or four cups no
unwelcome illustration of my philosophy of fasting. A considerable store
of curds, bread, and grapes, was purchased by my military companion,
who would not suffer me or any other person to contribute to the sum
which he paid for it, though he intended it for the common use of the
passengers and crew. The grapes were large and well flavoured, but they
would have been much better if they had been kept a little longer in the
sun. I rather pressed a few piastres on my friend, as my share of the
day’s expenses, but he would allow me to pay for nothing, and looked as
much as to say, “you will offend me if you insist.”
♦ INTERIOR OF A CAFFINÉ ♦
The interior of the caffiné consisted of one large room, divided by a
low railing into three boxes, if I may so call them, within which mats
were spread. At the side of the room, opposite to the door, was the
fireplace, arched at top, not level with the floor, but raised nearly
breast high, for the greater convenience of making coffee. The fire was
of wood, and on one side a large tin pot held water constantly boiling.
On the other side was an earthen pot, containing roasted coffee reduced
to a fine powder by the aid of a pestle and mortar. Whenever a cup of
coffee was ordered, it was prepared in two or three minutes, uniformly
by itself, in a small saucepan.
♦ MAHOMETAN DEVOTEE ♦
A beggar-woman, who shifted herself along the street upon a pair of
low crutches, exhibiting a picture of the most squalid misery; three
or four ragged boys, and a wild-eyed dwarf, came to gaze at me with
astonishment, hearing that I was an Englishman. The village has a
mosque, with the usual accompaniment of a white minaret, crowned by
a tin spire. It was a wretched building. The road through the street
was the natural sod, trod into dust and hardened by use. With all
these symptoms of poverty there appeared every where an abundance of
all the necessaries of life, and a degree of personal ease, or rather
indifference, about the inhabitants, who, by the way, were mostly armed
in the Turkish fashion, which induced me to conclude, that, though so
remote from the haunts of civilization, even Zitara Palanka was not
without its share of the general happiness bestowed by a benignant
Providence on mankind.
We returned to our boat, and there being a light breeze in our favour,
we hoisted a sail. I had a favourable opportunity of observing the
practical influence of the Mahometan faith, in the demeanour of one
of my fellow-passengers, named Noureddin, who wore a green turban,
long gray beard and moustaches, a tattered brown cloth pelisse, and
wide blue trousers, patched all over. I understood that he was on his
way to Constantinople, intending to ride on a donkey from Rutschuk to
Varna, whence he would proceed by sea to the Bosphorus. After visiting
the principal mosques at Stamboul, he was resolved to join one of the
parties of pilgrims who usually sailed at this season of the year for
Alexandria, thence to proceed on foot to the shrine of the prophet at
Mecca. He was therefore a “devotee;” and I must confess that I have
never seen any Christian so constantly so fervently animated as this
Mussulman was, by the all-absorbing consciousness that he lived and
moved in the presence and under the immediate protection of the great
Creator of the universe.
♦ ORISONS ♦
Noureddin watched for the rising sun having previously spread his carpet
(about the size of one of our hearth-rugs) on the floor of the boat.
Turning his face towards the east, he stood wrapped in pious meditation.
The moment the sun appeared above the horizon he knelt down, prostrated
himself three times, kissed his carpet, and then remaining on his knees,
said some prayers which were manifestly poured out from the fulness of
his heart. When these orisons were concluded he again thrice prostrated
himself, kissing his carpet each time. He next rose and repeated a few
prayers standing. Then folding up his carpet, he sat down and told his
beads.
♦ RACE OF TARTARS ♦
On the contrary, my military friend seemed to have no thought whatever
of religion. Though dressed in the scarlet uniform of an officer of
rank, and that splendidly too, his pistols, sword, and ataghan being
richly mounted in gold, and his highly ornamented cartouche-box being
suspended by a cord of gold twist, nevertheless he sometimes smiled at
the ardour displayed by Noureddin. I afterwards learned that he was in
fact a Tartar, a race of men who are met with every where in Turkey,
are usually employed in the most confidential subordinate offices of
the state, and are identified with the Turks in manners as well as in
religion. But in the practices of the prevailing faith they are cold and
negligent from habit, or rather perhaps from their general intelligence
which has elevated them above the koran. He displayed in his cincture
the oldfashioned brass case for ink, and pens formed of reeds, which
he civilly requested me to use instead of my pencil, when he saw me
writing notes in my journal. He examined my silver tube on the new plan,
containing lead alone regulated by a screw, with great curiosity. He
also looked over my journal, apparently wondering how I could make any
use of the characters, to him wholly unintelligible, with which my pages
were crowded.
♦ SOCIAL VARIETY ♦
The scenery of the Danube continued desolate on both sides. Occasionally
we saw amongst the islands immense flocks of wild ducks and geese, the
latter of an extraordinary size. Our boat proceeded down the current
at a very fair rate. I dined on bread, curds, and grapes, read for some
hours, and wrote with my friend’s reed and ink the paragraph which is
now under the eye of my “gentle” critic. In the course of the afternoon,
Noureddin twice repeated his orisons and ablutions, always with the same
unaffected sincerity of devotion. The captain of the crew, who though
their acknowledged master in all things requiring regulation, seemed in
every other respect upon an entire equality with his companions, read
to them while the distended sail permitted them to lay up their oars,
popular fables from a small octavo Romaic Greek book, which appeared to
attract their general attention. Now and then he interpolated between
the sentences a short commentary of his own, which uttered with a
roguish smile made them all laugh. The day continued to its close
warm and beautiful, and though I devoted some thoughts to the esteemed
Hungarian friends whom I had so lately left, as well as to the case
of champagne which they had not yet exhausted, yet I must acknowledge
that I shared, without a murmur, in the simple fare, as well as in the
contented, I might say the happy feelings of the people around me.
♦ TURKISH KHAN ♦
At half-past six we stopped for the night, and landed, by the light
of the moon, near a small village, where my Tartar friend gave us to
understand we should meet with excellent accommodations. The path led
us by an old fortress, near which the khan was situated, we found the
owner standing outside, and he showed us a ladder by which we ascended
to an open balcony covered with mats. He then took a key out of his
pocket and opened a door through which we entered a large room, divided
as usual by low railings into several compartments, one of which,
however, was considerably elevated above the rest, and was covered with
a finer mat. The embers were still alive in the fireplace, which exactly
resembled the hearth already described, except that it had a reservoir
beneath for the ashes. I sat down upon the edge of the elevated box. My
fellow-passengers, and most of the crew who came with us, took off their
shoes in the middle of the room, and then seated themselves in the usual
attitude of Turks, in one of the lower compartments.
♦ THE NARGILLÉ ♦
Coffee was served without sugar, but my friend, more provident than
myself, produced from beneath his cincture a little paper of sugar,
which he gave me. Noureddin smoked the hooka, or nargillé (_i. e._ fire
and water), the bubbling noise of which was peculiarly disagreeable
to my ear. This instrument resembles a large carved glass decanter,
in the neck of which two small tubes are inserted. One of these tubes
communicates with an elastic pipe which reaches the mouth of the smoker;
the other tube terminates at the top of the decanter in a small cup,
called the _loulé_, in which the dried leaves are placed, whose essence
is to be extracted. These leaves usually come from Shiraz; they are a
species of tobacco much relished by Turks, but when ignited, the smoke
is so rancid that they are obliged to purify and mitigate it by passing
it through water. The two tubes inserted in the neck of the decanter
descend halfway down the vessel, and the remaining half is _nearly_
filled with water. Thus the suction through the elastic pipe and one
of the small tubes draws down the smoke from the loulé, which, after
depositing all its impurities in the water, passes into the mouth of the
operator.
♦ SUPPER ♦
In the course of an hour supper was brought in, which consisted of
chicken stewed and served in a savoury sauce, hot bread, hot buttered
cakes, and boiled rice, which I found by no means unpalatable,
notwithstanding my recent conversion to the Pythagorean system. These
dishes were cooked by the female branches of the family, in the lower
apartments of the house, which to us of course were inaccessible. Even
in the most obscure villages of Turkey the custom of secluding the
women from every place frequented by man is most rigidly observed.
I began already to feel the sombre colour, which this national law
imparts to the external appearance of every Turkish community I visited.
Men--constantly men, and nothing but men, were to be seen every
where--so much so that I got quite tired of looking at them.
♦ WOMAN ♦
I am one of those who think that without Eve there could have been no
Paradise. Indeed, I sincerely consider woman as a creation standing in
the scale of existence between us and the celestial spirits. She excels
us greatly in purity and ardour of feeling, in tenderness of heart, in
absolute unchangeable devotion to every object of her affections. As
parent, wife, or daughter, there is a sacred intensity of soul in the
performance of all her duties, that prevents her from bestowing even
a thought upon the exertion or the difficulties with which they are
attended. If there were no female in the world there could have been
no genuine religion. She has received from her Creator a temperament
for the belief in mysteries, and for the conversion of the most sublime
doctrine into practice, which man will never rival. Equally fitted for
society or solitude, the ornament of the cottage as well as the palace,
guided by the impulses of good sense, which are better for the routine
of every day than our most elaborate reflections, the calm and secure
harbour of every good and noble thought amid the storms of life, woman
was given to us that she might constantly point the way to a better
world.
♦ SECLUSION OF THE SEX ♦
The systematic absence, therefore, of that portion of the inhabitants
from the group which were to be met with in the bazaars and shops
and coffee-houses, often cast a cloud upon the enjoyment which I
might otherwise have derived from the novelty of the scene. It is
not, however, as some travellers have represented, a custom peculiar
to Mahometan manners. It existed in ancient Greece, and continues
there still. It prevails very much in Wallachia, where the religion
of the prophet never acquired any influence. In fact, all over the
East, as I am informed, it is deemed a violation of traditional and
well-established notions of delicacy, rather than of any rule of the
koran, for a female, especially before marriage, to appear in public
without an imperative necessity, and then not without being closely
veiled.
Before we dipped our fingers in the dish, we washed them, our host
pouring out water on them from a jar with one hand, while the other
supplied us with a towel. This operation tended in some degree--a very,
very small degree I must confess, to reconcile me to the further process
of dividing the members of our prey with my greasy friend Noureddin, and
two or three of our crew. I could also have excused the attentions of
the Tartar, who really meant to be most friendly, when he selected from
the middle of the stew a couple of legs for my approbation. However,
cautiously avoiding the part which he touched, I found the remainder
very pleasant.
♦ EATING IN THE DARK ♦
From circumstances which afterwards took place, I inferred that perhaps
it was as well that while we sat upon the mat to supper, I could not see
all the contents of our dish very plainly. The light, a solitary candle,
was stuck in a sconce by the side of the elevated fireplace, and lent to
us but a feeble ray. Nor can I even now think without horror upon the
courage with which, adopting the manners of my companions, I immersed
my bread in the sauce after the more solid materials had vanished. The
bread was unleavened, and hot, having been just baked for us on the
hearth in the harem below. It was prepared in large cakes, which were
broken into pieces, and arranged round the dish. The buttered cakes
formed the second course, but I did not touch them, as they appeared not
to have been cleanly made. I supped chiefly on the boiled rice, which
I ate with a wooden spoon, and finished off with grapes and coffee.
When the pipes and hooka were again resorted to, some Turks came in
who seemed to be acquaintances of the Tartar. They appeared glad to
see him, and after conversing with him at some length, one of them who
spoke a little Italian, asked me if I were an Englishman. I answered of
course in the affirmative. He then asked me how long it was since I left
England. I told him that after my departure from London I spent some
time in Paris, which I had quitted exactly a month ago. My interrogator
and his friends looked quite astonished at the expedition with which I
had so far accomplished my journey. But when I added that I lost nearly
the half of that month in delays of one kind or another, and that when
the steam navigation of the Danube should be completed, I might hope to
make the whole journey from London to Constantinople in fourteen days,
they gave up any further inquiry into the matter; it was altogether
beyond their comprehension.
♦ VISITERS ASTONISHED ♦
Preparations were made for our stay at the khan during the remainder
of the night. A flock bed was brought up from below and spread for
me in the elevated compartment. It was covered with a wadded silk
counterpane, to which a foul sheet was sown on the inside. A large
greasy-looking pillow was placed at the head. I felt an instinctive
reluctance to commit myself for some hours of unconsciousness to the
keeping of this concern; but as all my companions were either preparing
for repose on the mats which they occupied, or were already wrapped
in sleep, I took off my coat, hung up my cloak over my head, and got
under the counterpane. But I was not long in my position before I was
apprized of the presence of numerous intruders. The reader may imagine
my uneasiness, although they did me the honour of simply marching in
multitudes over my face and hands, for I happen to be one of the human
race whose blood, for some unaccountable cause, they are uniformly
compelled to spare. An immense cat came also to share my couch; but to
her company I objected at once without the least ceremony.
♦ A GENERAL INVASION ♦
Matters being in this situation, and new colonies swarming around me
every moment, I started up and performed a series of pirouettes on my
bed, until I disencumbered myself of some at least of my too curious
acquaintances. Noureddin meanwhile awoke, and having succeeded in
lighting the candle by blowing into a flame an almost extinguished
ember, which reflected a Rembrandt brightness on his gray beard and
swarthy cheek, proceeded to smoke his hooka, whose bubbling sounds were
by no means music to my ear. I hid myself in my cloak, applying to my
soul the flattering unction that I might thus avoid all my enemies,
and laid down outside the counterpane. Happily the dogs of the village
had held an aggregate meeting, wherein they agreed that the Englishman
should have no sleep that night, and straightway they despatched a
radical deputation to present to me their impertinent address. I say
“happily,” because I had scarcely remained half an hour listening
to their clamour, when, peeping out from my place of concealment, I
beheld the walls at my head and at my left hand literally black with
many armies, bent on fresh hostilities. I was struck with horror. Even
Noureddin was astonished. There was no alternative but to return to
the boat, and I cannot soon forget the obliging manner in which my
proposition to that effect was immediately adopted by all parties, but
not before my cloak had undergone a thorough cleansing.
♦ RETURN TO THE BOAT ♦
♦ NEW ACQUAINTANCES ♦
It was midnight when we found ourselves once more beneath our matted
canopy. The pure atmosphere, and my couch formed of my portmanteau,
carpet-bag, and pillow of walnuts, were delicious after the close and
populous prison from which we had just effected our escape. I fell
into a profound sleep, from which I never awoke until six o’clock
in the morning. I then washed my face and hands in the Danube, and
felt as joyous as the day itself, which was splendid. As the men had
resumed their oars soon after our return to the boat, we had made
good way during the night. The banks of the river continued flat and
wholly devoid of interest. We did not meet even a single wherry on the
water to interrupt the dulness of the scene. Now and then, indeed, we
encountered large dark green water-snakes, swimming against the current,
by the undulating motion of their tails, holding their heads carefully
out of the element. If we attempted to strike them with an oar, they
dived instantly, and reappeared a few minutes after at a considerable
distance. Large flocks of wild ducks also passed, high over our heads,
which sometimes produced a singular effect by their wings glistening in
the distant hazy air.
♦ NICOPOLI ♦
About five o’clock in the afternoon we came in sight of Nicopoli, a
considerable Turkish town, remarkably well situated upon a range of
hills rising above a bay in the river. The Wallachian shore looked
marshy and desolate; but on our right the hills were abrupt, and so
chalky in appearance as to remind me of the cliffs at Dover. The whole
range forms a semicircle, at the foot of which are the waters of the
bay. At a distance these hills looked like a series of fortresses, each
cluster of cliffs resembling redoubts and towers admirably adapted for
defence. The town is surrounded by strong ramparts in good repair, and
well mounted with cannon. We landed. My Tartar friend, having procured
a donkey, rode away after consigning me to the care of Noureddin, and
wishing me farewell in his best manner. The crew laid in a fresh stock
of bread and grapes. Noureddin led the way to a caffiné where the
nargillé seemed all the rage. It was crowded with Turks. This (Friday)
being their sabbath, all the shops with the exception of those of
the butchers, bakers, and fruiterers, were shut in the market-place.
Noureddin ordered coffee and a sausage. When the latter was produced,
half heated through, I did not much relish its appearance; it found
still less favour in my eyes when I saw that Noureddin had no other
means of dividing it than by pulling it asunder. The coffee I could not
take, as it was without sugar, and, the grocers’ shops being closed,
none was to be had.
I was proceeding alone to take a view of the interior of the town,
when I met a Moldavian, who addressed me in French. He advised me not
to go into the town, as the Turks were extremely jealous of strangers.
He told me that he had come from Galacz, on his way to Giurgeva, where
he had business, but that the boat in which he performed the voyage
was prevented from going further than Nicopoli by the want of water
in the Danube. He added that it would be quite impossible for us to
proceed further down the river, as a little below Nicopoli there was
hardly any water at all. While we were talking, a Servian, dressed in
the European fashion came up, who also spoke French. I inquired of him
whether it would be possible for me to procure any thing in the shape
of a good dinner in the town; he answered with a smile that the thing
was quite impossible. I expressed my regret that I could not even get a
cup of coffee, as there was no sugar to be found any where; upon which
he pulled a piece of dirty blue paper out of his pocket, in which was
carefully wrapped a small lump of sugar. He very kindly offered it to
me, but as the article was so scarce, and in his sample of it not very
inviting, I declined his civility. The Moldavian hung about me for some
time, for what purpose I could not guess, until at length he produced
what he called a coin of the Byzantine empire, which he offered me for a
Napoleon. I was too well prepared for this species of dealing, to afford
his bargaining propensity the slightest encouragement.
The captain of our vessel came to me to state that as the river was so
extremely low, he could not think of departing from Nicopoli until next
morning. But as I did not choose to put up with this delay, I insisted
on our resuming our voyage without further loss of time. As to the
deficiency of water, we did not require more than two or three inches
to keep our boat afloat: if we could not find that depth we must drag
the boat along until we passed the shallow, which had been described to
me as extending to no great distance. The moon would soon be up, and
therefore we could make the experiment by night as well as by day, and
at all events it would be attended by no danger. He pointed out to me
eight or ten vessels in the little bay, which it was found impossible to
move: nevertheless he yielded to my wishes, and we set off at half-past
seven in the evening.
♦ NIGHT SCENE ♦
For about an hour after our departure the bottom of our bark was
perpetually in contact with the rocky bed of the Danube; so much so
that we were pushed rather than rowed along We then found ourselves in
deep water, and as there was no further difficulty to be encountered,
I consigned myself to repose. I awoke, however, about eleven, when I
perceived that the helm was abandoned, the crew were all fast asleep,
and the vessel was left to take its own course down the current. The
moon exhibited but half its orb, and veiled behind a thin haze was
lingering on the edge of the horizon. I took the helm for a while,
but every thing in nature looked so sleepy, that I returned to my
couch, and gathering my cloak and blanket around me submitted to the
general destiny. I opened my eyes again about two o’clock, when I
beheld Noureddin standing near the helm, praying in an audible voice,
his hands stretched towards the stars which were glowing in all their
splendour above his head. The boat was still gadding slowly wherever
the stream directed it: so turning away from the starlight, I again
courted, and not in vain, the charms of forgetfulness.