Chapter X

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.