# Adventures of Baron Wenceslas Wratislaw of Mitrowitz/Book 1

ADVENTURES OF BARON WENCESLAS WRATISLAW.
BOOK I.
Wherein is contained the Journey of the Imperial Embassy from Vienna to Constantinople.
WENCESLAS WRATISLAW of Mitrowitz was entrusted by my relatives to the care of Frederic Kregwitz, who was sent to Constantinople with rich presents, in the year 1591, by his Majesty the Roman Emperor Rudolph II, as Ambassador Extraordinary to the Turkish Emperor, Sultan Amurath III. The object of my relatives was, that I should gain experience and see eastern countries. We spent several months of that year at Vienna, waiting till the jewellery, watches, and other special presents, which our ambassa​dor was to offer, not only to the Turkish emperor, but also to his pashas and grandees, were brought from Augsburg; and in the meantime the ambassador provided himself with the barges on which we were to sail to Comorn, and with other necessaries appertaining to the journey.
When everything was in readiness, and had been brought to Vienna, Herr von Kregwitz, with all who were to travel to Constantinople, had a final audience of his Imperial Majesty and the Archduke Ernest. After kissing his Majesty’s hand, on Sept. 2, 1591, we took leave of our friends, embarked in our boats, and sailed down the Danube to an Austrian town called Wissamund, four German miles from Vienna. There an Austrian gentleman named Unverzagt (Dauntless) awaited us. We went to his chateau, where he received and entertained us with great hospitality. In this town we stayed two days, as some letters and collateral presents, which we were to distribute in the Turkish court, were still unprepared, and had not been sent to us.
When all was ready we left Wissamund for Comorn, on Sept. 4. Thence a message was sent in the morning to Mahomed Beg at Gran, and notice given of the arrival of the ambassador, in order that he might send as soon as possible boats and an escort to meet us for our better security. Meanwhile we were entertained by Herr Erasmus Braun, the mayor of Comorn. After dinner we walked about the town and inspected the fortress. Here we stayed for seven days, at the end of which intelligence came that the Turks were waiting to receive us, at the usual place, in a beautiful plain; we ​therefore set out from Comorn, our cortège on land consisting of about 300 foot-soldiers, under a captain, without firearms, and only with sidearms, and about fifty hussars on horseback; on the Danube we had fifteen boats, each carrying three guns and twenty-five Hungarian soldiers with long muskets, javelins, and their pennons. Thus we voyaged some hours down the Danube, till we espied the Turkish boats, which were ten in number.
The Turkish boats were exactly similar to ours in all respects, except in carrying only one gun each. On land about one hundred very fine-looking and well-appointed Turkish horsemen rode towards us, and, on perceiving us, set spurs to their horses and galloped to the very brink of the Danube. Herr von Kregwitz then ordered the boats to cast anchor. We disembarked on the bank and welcomed and were welcomed by our Turkish friends, and ere long partook of dinner together in the boats. It was certainly matter of wonder, to a person who had never beheld anything of the kind before, to see the beautiful horses, the lances with streaming pennons, the sabres inlaid with silver, gold, and precious stones, the magnificent cloths of blue and red, the gilded saddles and caparisons of the Turks; and I think they must have equipped themselves in this manner on purpose. While the principal Turks were dining with the ambassador the hussars of both parties walked on the plain and conversed together in a friendly manner, their horses and lances being held by jermeks or grooms. Here a quarrel arose between a Turkish hussar and one of ours. They wanted to break a lance on the spot, which, however, was strictly forbidden by their officers, ​and they deferred the matter till such time as they should meet in battle. They were both very eager to try each other’s strength, but, though we should have liked to see the fight, we did not allow them to proceed to such extremities.
After dinner we took leave of our Christian friends, and placed ourselves under the protection of the Turks. Lashing their boats to ours, they towed us down the Danube as far as Gran. Here Mahomet the sangiak (so called from a banner on the top of which is a gilt horsetail, the ensign of knighthood) sent us three janissaries, as a guard for our protection.
The janissaries are much regarded in all the Turkish dominions, as being the Turkish emperor’s household troops. They are infantry, and attend on the Sultan’s person, to the number of 12,000; the rest are dispersed through almost all his territories, whether placed in castles and fortresses as garrisons against enemies, or stationed for the protection of the Jews and Christians against the illegal violence of the mob. They wear long garments down to the instep, but of cloth, not of silk, which never comes upon them. Instead of hats they wear a kind of sleeves, into the wider end of which they put their heads; these are different at each end, and one end hangs down the neck as far as the back, whereas there is a tube of silver gilt, set with pearls and the more ordinary precious stones, in front over the forehead. In this in war time they place feathers.
These janissaries are for the most part kidnapped persons, or children of Christian peasants living under the Turkish sway. Some hundreds of these latter are assembled every third year, bringing with them their ​male children of eight, nine, or ten years old. Surgeons are on the spot, who judge of the mental capacity of each individual child from his personal appearance, and determine for what future occupation he is likely to be fit. The most promising are selected for the service of the Turkish emperor, the next class for that of the pashas and other Turkish officials; the remainder, who appear of less intellectual promise, are sold into Anatolia or Asia, to any one who chooses to purchase them, for a ducat each. There they are kept till the appointed time, i. e, till they are eighteen, or, at latest, twenty years old; are brought up in want, poverty, cold, and heat, and are altogether treated little better than dogs: only whoever takes such a boy is obliged to bring him back again to the Sultan’s court at the expiration of the above period, should the kidnapped youth still be living; should he die, his master must report the fact to the cadi or judge of the district, who keeps a register of such boys, in order that he may be struck out of the list. When about twenty years old, all embrowned with sun and heat, and accustomed to all kinds of labour, they are brought to Constantinople from the different countries in which they have thus been dispersed. There the most active are enrolled as acziam oglany, or young janissaries, and assigned to veteran janissaries to learn, under their instruction, to shoot, to use the sabre, to fling darts, to leap over trenches, and to scale walls. They are bound to obey every order given by the elder janissaries, to prepare their food, cleave wood, and perform every necessary service as long as peace lasts. When they march with the elder soldiers to war, although enrolled in their number, they ​are still obliged to wait upon them, to pitch their tents, and to look after the camels and mules which carry their provisions and necessaries. On occasion of a battle or skirmish they march in the van, and endeavour to surpass each other in valour and steadiness; nor are any of these boys taken into the number of the veteran janissaries till they have borne themselves like heroes. The younger are then bound to serve and attend upon them, as they did previously upon others. From these it is that the bravest and fiercest warriors that the Turks possess arise, and it is on these that the Turkish emperor places the greatest reliance. I have written this account of the janissaries, in recording the first occasion on which I saw them, because I was afterwards an eyewitness at Constantinople of the manner in which, from youth upwards, they are obliged to accustom themselves, not to pleasure, but to work, and are formed into the formidable soldiers which they are. I saw them here for the first time, when they kissed my lord the ambassador’s hands, and presented themselves for his service.
It was already late, so that we were unable to enter into any business on his Imperial Majesty’s behalf with the sangiak. He, however, gave orders to provide us with a sufficient supply of meat, wine, sturgeon, fish, and fowls. Here, having no feather-beds or mattresses, we for the first time began to lie on carpets and rugs, with which each prepared himself a place of repose for the night as he best could.
Early in the morning of Sept. 8 the sangiak sent to the boats fifteen extremely handsome Turkish horses, with splendid housings and saddles, all studded with ​silver, gilt, and embroidered with precious stones and pearls. These were mounted and ridden in procession by those gentlemen of equestrian rank who were accompanying the ambassador to Constantinople. After them walked the servants, two and two, bearing presents for the sangiak. Next came four boys of equestrian rank, who carried weapons before my lord the ambassador. The first bore a sabre overlaid with silver and gilt, with its scabbard set with pearls and precious stones; the second, a buzygan or mace, overlaid with silver and gilt, and set with precious stones; the third, a Hungarian battle-axe, with its handle also set with precious stones; and the fourth carried a Hungarian morgenstern, splendidly ornamented with precious stones, and gilt all over. After these rode the ambassador on a very beautiful Turkish horse, white as snow, followed by his steward or major-domo.
After riding for some time we came in sight of the sangiak’s abode, which was a common unpretending house. On arriving the ambassador went immediately upstairs, and we followed him. There the sangiak gave audience to the ambassador, and bade him sit down on a chair opposite himself. Round the sangiak stood his principal councillors and warriors, and we posted ourselves behind the ambassador. When the ambassador delivered his Imperial Majesty’s letter to the sangiak, the latter received it with due reverence and resumed his seat. The ambassador then delivered ​to him the presents from his Imperial Majesty, viz. 300 broad doubloons, a silver-gilt beaker, and a silvergilt ewer and basin.
When this business was ended, permission was given us to go and see the Castle of Gran, in which the archbishop formerly lived. On entering the church, in which the Turks perform their devotions, we saw a handsome chapel, cased inside with marble, in which was a beautiful representation of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, made of variegated marble. Thence we ascended by a lofty staircase into a handsome private chapel, in which were pictures of saints. Next to this chapel was a tolerably spacious palace, and in it pictures of the former kings of Hungary. Immediately behind the palace is a beautiful gallery, adorned all round with marble pillars, from which there is an extensive view of the fields and plains, as well as of the city, which is close to the Danube. Under this gallery is an extraordinary well, hewn out of the solid rock, and so deep that, when a stone is thrown into it, the splash cannot be heard for a considerable time. The water is forced up from the Danube at a vast expense. The well is a very beautiful one, and must have cost the Hungarian archbishop, who formerly had his usual abode here, many thousand ducats. After seeing what there was in the fortress, we repaired to our boats and dined. After dinner we started again down the Danube with our escort, i. e. with the ten boats, to which ours were lashed. We sailed past the Castle Wyssehrad, which is situated on a lofty eminence, and towards evening arrived at Waitzen, where also a bishop’s see formerly ​existed. Although no bishop lives there, they informed us that his revenues were regularly paid him.
We started again early on Sept. 9, and in three hours were in sight of Buda. On our arriving within about half-a-mile of the place the pasha sent nineteen barges, or ships, in excellent condition, and ornamented with flags, to meet us. These, on coming up to us, fired all their guns, both great and small, and our boats answered them in like manner; this was repeated several times. It was a wondrous spectacle when these nine-and-twenty boats placed themselves cross-wise on the Danube, and that with so many pennons, flags, and pendants, like a field of poppies in flower. There were full 700 of these on the boats, and our eyes were greatly delighted at the sight. When we approached close to Buda all the boats fired again and drew to the shore, where the pasha of Buda had given orders for us to be well supplied with provisions and necessaries, and a guard of janissaries to be assigned us.
In the morning of Sept. 10 the pasha sent down to the boats sixteen beautiful horses, splendidly caparisoned with saddles, stirrups, and other furniture richly gilt. These were mounted by the ambassador and those of his attendants who enjoyed the rank of knights. They rode off in the same manner as they had done at Gran. All the way from the suburb to the pasha’s abode stood soldiers in rows on both sides, and we rode through the midst of them. On arriving at the pasha’s house we found 200 janissaries stationed between the entrance and the staircase, as a kind of body-guard. On entering the entrance-hall we saw the pasha sitting in the midst of valuable carpets upon a divan. Round him ​sat his principal chiaouses, councillors, and chief officers, the rest standing. Opposite the pasha was a red velvet chair, in which the ambassador took his seat after giving his hand to the pasha, and about fifteen of us, who were present, stood behind the ambassador. The whole of the audience hall, spacious as it was, had the floor covered with handsome carpets and the walls hung with tapestry.
When Herr von Kregwitz delivered the letter from his Imperial Majesty to the pasha, the latter rose up, kissed the letter, placed it on his head or turban, and afterwards held it in his hand. The ambassador then delivered him the present, viz. 300 broad dollars, two large crescent-shaped silver bottles, a silver-gilt ewer and basin, and a very handsome striking-clock. After presenting these gifts he conversed for a considerable time with the pasha, and made complaints of certain Turkish soldiers, who had done us injury by carrying off cattle, demanding that this should be put a stop to and prohibited for the future. The ambassador also delivered to him a letter from Ernest, archduke of Austria, which he received politely, though not so reverentially, as that from the Emperor. We remained full three hours, while this business was being transacted. The pasha presented the ambassador in return with a Turkish caftan, or overcoat, of gold brocade, which he immediately put on, in token of acknowledgment, and rode wearing it to the boat.
On returning to the boats we learnt that one of our company, an Italian named Nicholas de Bello, a native of the island of Crete or Candy, had turned Turk. This person had been brought by the ambassador from ​Vienna at his own most earnest desire; he declared that he had a brother in captivity among the Turks, whom he wished to ransom and bring by sea back to Christendom, and thus save his soul. While we were at the pasha’s this Italian left the boat in which he was and went to the janissaries, who had been assigned us as a guard, whose tents were pitched on a hill near the Danube. There he drank and made acquaintance with them, and gave them to understand that he wanted to become a Turk, by taking his hat from his head, treading it under foot, cutting it to pieces, and finally throwing it into the Danube; he also tore his collar to pieces. As soon as he had done this the janissaries brought him a turban or round Turkish cap, placed it upon his head, and conducted him into the town. This Italian had started most devoutly upon the journey, and often used to sigh and bewail his brother’s ruin, till tears streamed from his eyes; then, however, the cunning villain forgot his own soul and became a Mahometan, though, previously to our beginning our voyage down the Danube, he had confessed and received the most holy sacrament of the altar.
The same day the pasha sent a very handsome boat for the ambassador to visit him in, which he did, taking with him only five persons. He carried with him a beautifully ornamented gun, and a large white English dog, a present from his Highness the Archduke Ernest, both which he gave the pasha.
Meanwhile, whilst the ambassador stayed transacting business with the pasha, we visited and bathed in the warm baths, which were not far from our boats. These are certainly remarkably pleasant, so warm that one ​can scarcely sit down in them, and Aowing spontaneously from a natural spring. The Turks say that, being thus naturally warm without the use of artificial means, they are extremely salubrious. Care is taken to keep them clean, and every one who uses them has all requisite attendance and comfort for a moderate sum of money. In front of the bath is a large saloon, with a broad bench all round it, where the bathers undress and leave their clothes. In the middle of this saloon stand several broadish marble cisterns, out of which you go into the bathhouse. This is much more like a circular chapel than a bath, being ornamented outside with sheet-lead and variegated marble, and paved and inlaid inside, both walls and floor. Internally the bath is like a tub, forty-three paces in circumference, and the water in it is deep enough to reach the chin of a middle-sized man. If any one does not wish to stand so deep in the water, there are two marble benches in the bath at his service, one higher than the other; thus you can sit on the one with the water up to your armpits, on the second with it up to your waist, and on the third, which is the rim, with it up to your knees. If you wish to swim and amuse yourself, there is ample space for the purpose. There are also nine circular side-rooms with two marble cisterns in each. By the wall are tin taps or cocks by which you can let hot or cold water into the cisterns. There is also provision for letting the water out again. In a word, we saw many such amusing and agreeable baths in Turkey and enjoyed the use of them.
There are, moreover, at the side of this bathhouse two other small bathhouses, also of a circular form, in which ​impotent, sick, and poor people are allowed to bathe and make themselves comfortable. The water is let out of the baths or tubs every night. They are then carefully cleaned out, and clean water is let in in the morning; a matter to which the Turks pay particular attention. If it is discovered in the least that the bath-keeper has not kept the place properly clean, or has neglected to let the water off every night, he comes in for considerable punishment. A case of this I saw with my own eyes at Constantinople, when a bath-keeper opposite our house—it was said in the imperial bath—was convicted of giving people dirty towels, and was punished as follows by the sub-pasha or supreme judge. That official ordered him to be beaten with a stick, and to receive a thousand blows, i.e. 200 on the back, 300 on the soles of the feet, 200 on the calves of the legs, and 300 on the stomach. After this he was completely swollen up, just like a newly-hatched pigeon, and no one could have told from his appearance whether he was a human being or no. Some may think this incredible and improbable, but it is really nothing more than the truth. Indeed, when I was in prison. I again saw 1,000 blows given to a German, an account of which I shall give below.
There is an innumerable multitude of these baths in Servia. Thrace, and other parts of the Turkish dominions; and I have mentioned how beautiful and clean they are in order that the reader may form some idea of their exceeding cleanliness: for the Turks, regulating their lives according to the Koran, are obliged to bathe every day. Indeed, the women make an exception in favour of the use of the bath at marriage, ​and it is then specially covenanted that their husbands shall not prevent their going to their baths, which the men dare not enter under pain of death. They obtain this privilege upon the ground that a command is given upon the subject by the Prophet Mahomet, and that women are bound to have a special love of cleanliness.
On Friday, Oct. 11, a day which the Turks hallow like our Sunday, we saw the pasha go to divine worship with great pomp. First rode about 300 janissaries, then a number of chiaouscs, and then came some hundred spahis or foot-soldiers. After these rode the pasha himself in a dress of gold brocade. He remained about two hours in the temple, and then returned home with a similar procession.
fter dinner we went up into the town, which, as well as the castle, is situated on a hill with the Danube on the right hand, and there are ancient Hungarian buildings still standing in it. It would be tedious to write an account of this town; I will only notice what I saw myself. The town of Buda is situated in an extremely agreeable and pleasant spot, in a very fertile and fruitful region, and is built on a rocky hill, so that vineyards adjoin it on one side, while on the other there is a view of the Danube, and beyond the Danube you see the town of Pesth. Behind and around it lie wide and extensive plains, where there was a certain spot specially chosen for the election of the kings of Hungary. In the suburbs of Buda splendid houses were formerly ​built, in which the king and other chief magnates of Hungary used to live; but these have now partly fallen and been destroyed, or are partly propped up by beams, and in these latter nobody lives but Turkish soldiers. These soldiers have no more pay per diem than is absolutely necessary for fodder, food, and drink; neither have they to make arrangements and preparations for those purposes at home. If it rains in any where through the roof, they pay but little attention thereto, if there be but a place where they can put their horses and place their own beds in the dry; hence it comes that houses and palaces are not easily found in all the Turkish empire, except in the chief cities, and then they belong to the pashas and principal officials, who alone possess handsomely built and furnished houses, the common people usually living in cottages and huts. The great lords and pashas lay out large sums on gardens, baths, and fine horses, on women and clothes, and their retainers also erect a house for themselves, in order to obtain shelter and security.
As we walked in the town past a Turkish church we saw ten Turks in a circle, holding each other by the hand, and a priest standing in the midst of them. The priest and the rest turned and twisted round, crying, with a loud voice, “Allahu,” as though they were saying, “O God, hear us,” till it echoed again; and this they continued doing till they were hoarse. The Turks say that, whenever any one falls asleep during this screaming, whatever he dreams is considered as a kind of prophecy; and it is acknowledged that this is very truth, and reveals itself at its proper time.
In the town we went into a Christian church, where ​there was a Calvinistic preacher instead of a regular parson. Attached to that church is a tolerably high tower, in which you go up 150 steps to the bell; but it is not allowed to be rung. There is also a striking clock on that tower, which was the first and last we saw in Turkey; for the Turks have no clocks at all, except small striking ones, which are sent them by Christian potentates, and they do not even know how to manage these. Some of them regulate themselves by the sun in the daytime, and by the moon at night; and more especially in the towns they have their talismans, or priests and chaplains, who divide the different parts of the day by certain measures of water, and who, knowing the hour from these, have to call out from time to time, with a loud voice, from high towers built of a circular shape close to the churches, and summon the people to divine service. They call or scream on the towers for the first time when day is about to dawn; next, instead of ringing bells, they summon the people to their churches in the middle of the space between sunrise and noon; thirdly, at noon; fourthly, at vespertime; and they call the people together for the last time at sunset, using for that purpose a loud voice with all their might and main, and stopping their own ears. Living in peace and leading an idle life, as they do at Constantinople, they are summoned to prayers seven times a day by talismans or priests, although none but courtiers, unoccupied persons, and persons of high rank, and also merchants, are in duty bound to attend them. Artizans are not obliged to pray more than five times a day, if they do not wish it. Whoever cannot pray in a church, prays, when he pleases, at home, at work in ​the fields, or wherever the cry of the priest reaches him. Their priests, when they thus summon the people to prayers, scream out like ox-drivers with us, and their voice is heard much farther than one would suppose.
Next day we went into the town again, and looked over it. As we returned to the boats we saw the Italian renegade, who had turned Turk, being conducted with a grand procession by the Turks into the town, in the following manner. First went about 300 Turkish soldiers, or azais, with long muskets, who shouted for joy, and some of whom fired; after these rode some horse-soldiers, apparently their commanders; next, five banner-bearers with red banners; after these went some disagreeable gipsy music, consisting of shawms, fiddles, and lutes; next rode the unhappy Italian renegade, on a handsomely caparisoned horse, on each side of whom rode a Turk of rank, and he in the midst, wearing a scarlet pelisse lined with foxskins, and a Turkish cap with several cranes’ feathers in it. In his hand he held an arrow, and had one finger directed upwards, thereby making profession of the Turkish religion. After him rode several trumpeters, blowing their trumpets without intermission, who were followed by about 300 Turkish hussars, ornamentally dressed in pelisses of spotted lynxskin, who sometimes shouted, sometimes sprang from their horses, and exhibited tokens of great exultation. When they rode in at the gate, they halted in the gateway, and all thrice made profession of their faith with great clamour, saying, “Allaha, illasa. Muhamet resulach!” i. e. “One true God, save him no other God, and Mahomet his chief prophet!” They also fired thrice. They then ​rode in the same order past our boats, shouting all the time, no doubt in despite of us.
Our chiaous, a German, born at Augsburg, who had renegaded some years ago, told us that the pasha had presented the Italian with a handsome horse, and promised to give him pay to the amount of twenty aspers a day; but it is incredible that he should have given orders to give him so much, for the chief janissaries do not receive so large a sum as pay; and others told us that, when the year was out, he would be in want of bread. But the chiaous told us this, perhaps, in order to persuade some one else to fall away to the Turks; but, thanks be to the Lord God, this did not happen.
After dinner we went to see the castle of Buda. When we came to the first gate, some soldiers on guard were standing by it, passing through whom we entered a handsome square, on both sides of which there stood cannons, thirty in number, and on the ground lay twenty more without wheels. Amongst the thirty were some so large that a man could get inside them. The Turks informed us that these cannons had been brought to Buda after the battle of Syget. From this square we went through a second gate into second square, and from this through a third gate into a third square. In this third square is a beautiful cistern made of bell-metal, and eight pipes fixed up above it, through which the water flows into the cistern; but just then it was not flowing. There is German writing, with an ancient inscription inside the cistern, and the Austrian arms, i. e. five larks, four serpents, cray-fish, and other animals, cast in a masterly manner. Thence we went ​up a winding staircase into a handsome and spacious gallery, and thence into a circular room, which in the time of King Mathias had been a chapel. Out of this chapel you go into another room, in which King Mathias Corvinus had his library, where the ecliptic is painted with the planets, and two astronomers facing each other. Underneath this couplet is written:—
Cum rex Mathias suscepit sceptra Boëmæ Gentis, erat similis lucida forma poli.”
“When King Mathias took Bohemia’s crown. This was the form the radiant skies did own.”
Next to the library was the royal chamber, in which the kings of Hungary used to live. It is very handsomely painted, and hung with fine tapestry along the sides, where stands a kind of throne, covered with an awning of handsome carpets, under which the pasha sits and holds his council when he comes to the castle. We then descended below, and ascended again by a wooden staircase into a tower, the dungeons in which are very deep and well secured, and in which, at that time, as the Turks told us, there were as many as seventy Christian captives, who cannot escape from it in any way except by the aid of Divine Providence itself, or by paying an enormous sum of money and ransoming themselves. Round this tower are bastions, which strengthen it exceedingly, and on it stand three cannons on wheels, one of them a piece cast by the Bishop of Gran. We afterwards went to a large palace, in which there was nothing particular to see. Lastly, returning down the Danube, we crossed to the city of ​Pesth, opposite Buda, by a bridge 600 paces long, constructed of large boats. In this city there are both Christian and Turkish merchants, but the buildings are poor. We saw nothing handsome in it, and therefore returned to our boats. That day a courier from Vienna overtook us at Buda.
On the 13th of October the pasha summoned my lord the ambassador and the courier into his presence, and sent his own boat for him, into which the ambassador got, with six persons, and went to the pasha. After settling his affairs our lord went into Buda himself, and our chaplain performed mass in a Christian church. After dinner we started from Buda; the pasha assigning us his kapigi pasha to supply us with provisions, and also four chiaouses to conduct us safely to Constantinople, and four janissaries for protection. The chiaouses perform the duty of commissaries, or ambassadors, and execute every command given by the Emperor or a pasha; and this office is very honourable in the eyes of that nation. They assigned us, also, six large boats, in which those chiaouses voyaged, fastening our boats to theirs. A provision boat also sailed after us, in which a number of poor captive Christians were being taken to Constantinople for sale, with whom, however, the Turks did not allow us to speak. On this night, for the first time, we reposed on pretty tolerable beds in the boate.
On Oct. 14 we started early from the bank, leaving a large village, called Sadum, on the right of the Danube; and here we saw the first inn, which they call a caravanserai. This was all covered with a leaden ​roof, like all their inns. At noon we stopped at some vineyards and dined; at even we sailed to a village called Little Paksha, lying on the right of the Danube, and there spent the night.
On Oct. 15 we sailed past Great Paksha, which is a very handsome little town on the right of the Danube, and in which is a handsome caravanserai, or inn, and two Christian churches. At noon, as it was no longer so dangerous, we lashed all our boats together and dined, sailing on without intermission as far as Belgrade; therefore I shall not now write any more the names of the places where we dined. Towards evening we sailed up to a town called Tolna, which is the last Hungarian town, and in which, up to the present time, the greatest part of the population has been Christian, dwelling under the protection of the Turks, and possessing a church of their own, a Calvinistic minister, and a school for youth. We here procured very good wine, and filled our bottles.
On Oct. 16 we sailed on during noontide, dining on the boats; at the hour of vespers we stopped off a town called Seremian, where there is also a Christian church, but all forsaken and almost ruined; however, Christians do perform their devotions in it. And here we passed the night.
On Oct. 17 we came again to a beautiful champaign country, and sailed on amidst delicious meadows on both sides of the Danube. During this part of the journey we also saw a great many swans, geese, cranes, storks, and ducks, some of which we shot and ob​tained. The whole of that day we passed through most beautiful meadows; at night we arrived at a village called Perykmart, and took up our quarters for the night.
On Oct. 18 we did not start till about ten o’clock in the morning, and that because one of our boats, on which the horses and carriages were, as it started from the bank, stuck in the sand, and could not be moved; three Turkish boats hastened to its assistance, and were obliged to drag it by force out of the sand. Here we spent the night again in excellent beds.
On Oct. 19, with morning dawn, we sailed to the place where the river Drave falls into the Danube, half a mile above Erded; we also, afterwards, sailed past Erded. It is a castle on a hill, on the right of the Danube, and beneath it is a tolerably large village. At the hour of vespers we arrived at Walpowar, and stopped there about an hour. It is a pretty little town under a castle, and that a handsomely built castle. Close to the town is a wooden bridge, that the Turks may be able to go dryshod into the country when the Danube is flooded. Here we furnished ourselves with good provisions and wine. Towards evening we passed the village Sodin, on the right of the Danube, near which we saw a large ruined castle, and spent the night in beds not far from that village.
On Oct. 20 we sailed past Moshtin. This is a ruined castle on a hill, and a village under the castle, ​lying on the right bank of the Danube, containing a Christian church. We then sailed by Illoi, a delightful, cheerful little town, by which there is a castle on a hill, on the right side of the Danube. A bishop’s see was here in former years. After that we passed a village called Panestra, lying on the right of the Danube, by which there is a fine ruined castle. Then we sailed by Skerveta, a town on a hill with a castle in it. At nightfall we sailed to Petrowar, otherwise called Peterwardein. This is a castle on a hill, enclosed all round by a high wall, and under the castle a clean little town, where we spent the night, and purchased some provisions and wine.
On Oct. 21 we sailed past Carlovitz, which lies on the right of the Danube. This is a large town, in which are two Christian churches of the Greek religion, and a third which is Catholic. On the left side of the Danube we saw Tytel, a handsome town, as they informed us, above which stands a castle on an eminence. We afterwards sailed by Selemek, which is on a lofty hill; but now nothing remains but ruined walls and some old towers, which have not fallen down from the rain. Close to the ruined castle is a town surrounded by a wall, and embellished by numerous towers, some of which are already in ruins. Opposite this town, on the left hand, the river Tisa falls into the Danube after flowing through Transylvania and Hungary.
On Oct. 22 we started early, leaving the town of Semen on the right of the Danube; immediately afterwards we espied Belgrade, on the side on which the ​rivers Drave and Tisa fall into the Danube. Belgrade lies on the side and at the place where the river Swinie, or Sava, meets the Danube. Here, on the last corner of the promontory as it were, stands the old town, built in the ancient style, with a good many towers, and surrounded by two walls, and the rivers of which I have just mentioned flow up to it on two sides. On the side on which the land is continuous it has a strong castle, upon a tolerably lofty eminence, with many lofty towers built of hewn stone. In front of the city are numerous houses and a large suburb, in which live people of various nationalities, as Turks, Greeks, Jews, Hungarians, Dalmatians, Transylvanians, and others. Indeed, in nearly all Turkish districts the suburbs are always larger than the cities; and both at once exhibit the appearance of large cities. In this town there is nothing particular to see, only the bazaar, in which the merchants keep their wares, is covered with a lead roof, and built square; round and round, below it, are vaulted cellars for the security of the merchants’ goods, and inside, above, galleries run round with rooms and shops everywhere. In the middle of this building is a handsome square and a large cistern, into which water flows through a large round stone like an aqueduct, on which is engraved: “Qui crediderit et baptizatus fuerit salvus erit. Anno 1538.” “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved.” There is also in this city a special house, in which Christian captives are sold. The Christian merchants have no church there, but the ​Catholics perform their worship in a house, and maintain a priest at their own expense.
They would not let us all go into the castle; but we saw many pieces of ordnance standing on the walls. At last, through favour and through presents made by my lord the ambassador, I and his cousin and one chiaous were let into the castle; but they would not show us anything particular. We saw, however, that it is a well-fortified fortress, and could not be taken very easily. Within the recollection of our grandfathers this city and castle were attacked by the Turks with undoubtedly a powerful force, first by Sultan Amurath, and afterwards by Mahomet his son, who took Constantinople; but because at that time the Hungarians and crusaders defended themselves valiantly, both enterprises of the barbarous nations were in vain. Finally, Sultan Soliman, in the year 1520, immediately after the commencement of his reign, besieged it with a large army, and firstly, through the carelessness of King Lewis, then a youth, and secondly, through the disunion and discord of the Hungarian lords, who were disgracefully quarrelling amongst and conspiring against each other, this town and fortress, being unprovided with soldiers and eventually quite deserted, was subjugated by Soliman with scarcely any trouble or difficulty. By this way afterwards, as through an open gate, all the evil rushed into Hungary, by which that nation is now overwhelmed. Through that entrance, as it were, the Hungarian King Lewis was conquered and lost his life. In like manner Buda, the metropolis, was taken, the land of Transylvania subjugated, Ostrehom and other for​tresses taken; a formerly most glorious kingdom is suffering violence; the surrounding nations are fainting with excessive terror; and we poor Bohemians experienced at those times much misery and trouble through wars in Hungary; a countless sum of money has been taken out of the country; a countless number of people of note and of our dear Bohemian friends have fallen and been slain in Hungary,—sacrifices of which the land of Hungary is in no wise worthy. And, unless the Lord God pleases to aid us specially by His divine assistance, it is to be expected that these our deadly foes will force their way into Austria, and at last into our own beloved country,—which may the Most High mercifully forefend! Moreover, hitherto there has been no real love and unity amongst us; the worthy and upright Bohemians and fathers of their country have perished, and if there be any, there are very few remaining: but the majority consists of such as would be glad that foreign nations should invade these countries, and destroy this our famous Bohemian kingdom. But I have already digressed far; I will return again to Belgrade.
On Oct. 24, before we moved from Belgrade, a dispute arose between my lord the ambassador and the kapigi pasha assigned to us. It being his duty to supply us properly with provisions, he neglected to do 80, supplied us badly enough, and kept the money for himself. My lord the ambassador wished, therefore, to send a courier on horseback to Buda, and lay a complaint against him before the pasha; but the kapigi, conscious of guilt, and being a cunning fellow in such matters, contrived to prevent our obtaining any such ​courier for any sum that we offered. My lord the ambassador was, therefore, very angry with him, and threatened that, if he did not immediately supply us with better provisions, he would complain of him at the court of the Turkish emperor. The kapigi, fearing this, promised to set all to rights, and supply us with provisions with which we should be well contented.
On Oct. 27, after preparing in this city everything necessary for the journey by land, our Vienna coachmen started in good time with the horses and carriages out of the boats, and we seated ourselves in the carriages, and travelled, without intermission, by land from Belgrade to Constantinople. The same day, leaving on the left hand the castle of Smederow on the banks of the Danube, which had formerly been the abode of the despot of Servia, we arrived at our first stopping place for the night. Isanlak, or Little Palanka, a miserable village, and passed the night there.
On Oct. 28 there met us on the road a new courtofficial belonging to the pasha of Buda, called by the Turks a defterdar, whose office it is to take charge of his lord’s money, and lay it out for necessaries, according to his order. Beside him rode some Turks on horseback, and behind him five pages, who carried his lances and shields. Some camels and mules followed, and a carriage containing his wives. In the evening we arrived at Great Palanka, and then for the first time spent the night in a Turkish inn, by the side of our horses; for in the more simple inns they have no other rooms.
Here it seems to me requisite to give some account of these inns or caravanserais, which we made use of on this journey, and which are most peculiar to Turkey. ​Such an inn is a large building, somewhat broader than long; in the midst it has a wide level space, in which the guests place all their baggage, and put up their camels and mules. Round this space is a wall about three feet high, reaching to the walls, which contain the whole building, and constructed like a kind of bench. This wall is, moreover, level, and four feet wide; on it the Turks have their beds, their kitchens, and their eating-rooms; for, as has been related, the whole building is contained by walls. Here are constructed fire-places with chimneys, at which the guests prepare their food; neither do they separate themselves from their camels, mules, and horses, by anything more than the space of the wall, although they tether their horses so close to it, that those animals can stretch their heads and necks over it and stand like servants before their masters, or act as such, when they are playing or supping. Not having any troughs, these animals eat their fodder out of knapsacks, and stand so close by their masters that they can now and then take a piece of bread, an apple, or anything else out of their hands. On this wall the travellers arrange their beds as follows: first they spread a carpet, which they carry with them for the purpose, fastened on a horse; upon this they place their talaman, or mantle, and instead of a pillow put a saddle under their heads: they then cover themselves for the night with a long, lined pelisse, (in which they ride and walk,) instead of a feather bed. Lying down in this position they sleep so pleasantly that they have no need of any luxuries. Nothing is secret there, ​everything is done openly; no one can do anything apart from the eyes of others, except in the night and darkness.
There are abundance of such inns in Turkey; and because all the Turks that were there stared at us when we ate, and wondered at our customs, our ambassador would not willingly spend the night in them. A further reason was, that no small stench proceeded from both human beings and cattle; and we, therefore, always looked out to procure my lord a night’s lodging in some Christian cottage: but these huts were so confined and narrow that there was frequently nowhere to place a bed. When, therefore, my lord the ambassador had been provided for, we, the rest of the company, prepared our night’s lodging on rugs and carpets in the carriages, under the carriages, and wherever we could. Sometimes, however, we spent the night in Turkish hospitals, which are handsomely built, covered with a lead roof, and very comfortable for travellers, because a number of empty rooms are found in them, which are shut to no one; but, be he Christian or be he Jew, be he rich or be he a beggar, they are open for the convenience of all alike. The pashas, sangiaks, and other Turkish gentlemen also make use of them, when they travel across the country, and cause this kind of building to be erected for the comfort of travellers. We, too, frequently had a good and quiet night’s lodging in them, and slept our sleep out as long as we liked. The following custom is also observed in these hospitals, viz, that the Turks give food to whoever comes there. When the hour of the evening meal comes, each of the superintendents of the hospital brings a tray or broad plate, (in some places ​they have tin ones,) with a rim round it two fingers high, like a moderate-sized round table, on which, in the middle, stands a dishful of boiled grains of barley, or sometimes of rice, boiled down to soup, and a tolerably large piece of mutton. Round the dish are cakes of nice-looking bread. Sometimes, in addition to this, they brought a small dish of honey or honey-comb, and begged us not to despise their food. My lord the ambassador, certainly, declined, but we of the suite, having healthy stomachs, accepted it very gratefully from them, and they brought us a third and even a fourth dish. We liked it very well, ate it up, and, after thanking them, gave them an asper or kreutzer as a trinkgeld. They prepared similar food for all the Turks who travelled with us. A stranger may make use of this comfortable provision for three days gratis, but immediately after that must change his inn. These hospitals have large endowments and revenues, for the principal and more religious pashas and Turkish grandees have them built, assign them revenues, purchase villages for them, in their lifetime, and after their death leave them no small sum of ready money. Let this be enough about the inns and hospitals, and also about the nights’ lodgings, which we made use of on our journey, as opportunity offered.
On Oct. 29 we arrived at Budesin, which is a simple village, and in it an inn, which is not a very good one; and here we found six Christians, who had been captured by the Turks at Vesprim in Hungary, and were being taken to the city of Sophia for sale. In the evening my lord the ambassador summoned the four chiaouses, or commissaries, and the four janissaries, ​and in their presence complained how meanly and improperly he was supplied with food, though no small sum of money for expenses had been given by the pasha of Buda to the kapigi pasha, and, therefore, he was determined not to allow his suite to perish of hunger. Thereupon he had a casket brought and opened in their presence, containing the ready money intended for the Turkish emperor, and took out thence a bag of money, in which were more than 2,300 florins, and gave notice that he, the ambassador, would spend that money in the purchase of food and other necessaries, keep an account of it, and complain of the kapigi pasha at the Turkish court, and that should the matter in any way come home to him, he must not blame anybody but himself. The chiaouses said nothing in reply, but that the kapigi had orders to provide us with proper food. On that day's journey, though at a great distance, the Turks showed us from the higher ground the mountains of Transylvania, almost at the place in which stood the pillars of the bridge of the Roman Emperor Trajan.
On Oct. 30 we arrived at the village of Jagoden, which is tolerably large and handsome. Immediately as you enter it stands a handsome Turkish mosque, or church, with a lead roof. There is also a spacious caravanserai, where we kept our horses, but we ourselves lay outside of it in a peasant's house, rather than in the stench. Opposite our inn was a second Turkish church, and in front of it a cistern, ornamentally constructed of white marble, in which the Turks, according to their ​custom, wash and purify themselves before they go into the church; for they maintain and believe that, if they pray without washing, their devotions are of no value. They also leave their shoes outside in front of the church, and go in barefoot. It is incredible how they hold to cleanliness in their churches; they do not suffer any dirt, cobwebs, or rubbish to be in them, neither do they allow a Christian to enter them, unless he has obtained leave by presents. Moreover, they do not permit any dog or domestic animal to go in. They enter the church with the following humility and lowliness, after taking off their shoes. They prostrate themselves silently on the ground, kiss it, and pray as fervently as if they saw God there with their own eyes. No one lounges or walks about in church, no one chatters with another, and nothing else is heard but fervent prayer. All of their temples are carpeted on the ground, or covered all over with matting, on which, according to their custom, they stand with bare feet, kneel, or sit crosslegged. No snifting or spitting is to be heard there, for they consider it a great sin. If it happens to any one that he has sneezed involuntarily or spit upon the ground, he immediately goes out of the temple, purifies himself again, and washes himself with water. Let me speak briefly. These Pagans are more fervent in their religion than we Christians, who have the true knowledge of the Lord God Almighty, and ought, therefore, day and night to give thanks to his Holy Majesty that we have come to that true knowledge, and be more fervent in our prayers than we are.
On Oct. 31 we were ferried across the river Morava, not far from Jagoden. This river divides Servia, or ​Serbsko, from Bulgaria. The country is very beautiful but desolate, for the Turks do not cultivate much of the plains, and do not willingly practise agriculture, and the Christian peasants are nearly the only people who work in the fields. Having ferried our horses and carriages across the river, we arrived at night at a village called Kasen, which is miserable and in ruins; and, there then being no inn in it, we were obliged to go to rest as we could, some of us in cottages, others in the open air, and others under the carriages.
On Nov. 1 we came to the brook Nyssus, which flowed almost always on our right, till we arrived at the town. Here they reckon it to be half-way between Vienna and Constantinople. When we came to the inn the grooms, unharnessing the horses, rode carelessly with them into the stream, which flows through the town, and is fifty paces wide or more, in order to water and wash them. A servant of Herr Hoffman’s fell unexpectedly into a deep place, lost his seat, and shouted for help. A groom, wishing to help him, threw him a horse’s halter, which Herr Hoffman’s servant clutched so tight that he dragged the groom also from his horse. The horses swam out, but it was impossible to help the men, and they were both drowned. My lord the ambassador gave orders afterwards that they should be sought for, taken out of the water, and buried. On the bank of this stream, in the town, where signs of a Roman road are still found, we saw a lofty marble pillar, with an inscription in Latin letters, but already so damaged and obliterated that they could not be read. Nyssa is a tolerably populous place, and there we rested.
​On Nov. 3 we came to a small town called Kurichesme, in which there is no inn. On the left hand flows a stream called the Zukava. On the 4th we started early, and by vespers saw the town of Pirot, but, without halting, dined off what we each had on the carriages. Close to this town, on a height, is a ruined castle, of which only the walls are standing. In the evening we arrived at Tambrod, a miserable village without an inn; and here we spent the night.
On Nov. 5 we spent the night in the village called Bobitza, and next day arrived at the city of Sophia. This is tolerably large and populous, and in it resides the Beglerbeg of Greece. It formerly belonged to the kings of Hungary, then to the despots, or princes, of Servia, as long as their dynasty lasted, and till it perished through the Turkish wars. The beglerbeg ordered us to be welcomed by his chiaouses. Early in the morning he sent several handsome horses to our inn, on which our principal personages mounted; and my lord the ambassador seated himself on the beglerbeg’s own riding-horse, which was a very handsome one; the saddle, reins, and all the trappings were studded with precious stones, and certainly cost many thousands. Mounting these Turkish horses, we rode to the beglerbeg in the same manner as at Buda, and on arriving at his abode saw on one side about 100 janissaries, on the other, the same number of spahis standing in a long row up to his chamber. When we entered the hall we found it hung round with handsome Persian tapestry. There sat the beglerbeg on a chair, and my lord the ambassador also seated himself on a chair opposite to him. Behind the beglerbeg stood two boys, dressed, ​like most beautiful maidens, in gold brocade, with broad girdles set with precious stones. The beglerbeg himself had on his head a large cap, and at the back of it a handsome plume of cranes’ feathers. He was a particularly clean-made man, of good stature, of handsome and cheerful aspect, and we had not seen a better-looking Turk upon our journey. According to the Turks’ account he was to marry a daughter of the Turkish emperor. When my lord the ambassador presented the letter to him, he received it very reverently, conversed cheerfully with my lord, cut several jokes, and it was immediately apparent that he was a courtier. After this my lord the ambassador delivered to him the presents from his Imperial Majesty, viz. two silver-gilt bottles, after that a large gilt striking-clock, shaped like a Turkish turban, upon which stood a chamois, which turned its eyes backwards and forwards, and when the hour struck pawed with its foot and opened its mouth, and under this gilt serpents and scorpions twisted about.
After our return to the inn, the beglerbeg sent to us, requesting my lord the ambassador to present him, according to former custom, with 200 broad dollars, and asking whether he was inferior to his predecessors. But my lord excused himself, saying that he had at that time no money for him, but only for the Sultan, but the deficiency should be made good for him. The beglerbeg was thus avaricious and greedy of money because he had not long obtained this office, and had been obliged to pay well for it. In this town we stayed in a very handsome and lofty inn, with galleries inside, and clean private apartments; nowhere else during our ​journey did we enjoy such comfortable accommodation in any inn as there.
On Nov. 8 we started from Sophia, leaving the small town of Bossen on a height on the right. In the evening we saw another small town. Falup, on the right, and at a well found an old Turk, born at Vienna, who had been captured and carried off at the siege of Vienna, and, being unable to withstand the Turkish tyranny, had turned Turk, and had now almost forgotten the German language. During this day’s journey, as on we went, we saw cleaner villages and towns, of which there were as many as seven, than at any other time. We had a pleasant day’s journey; the plains were beautiful and fertile, and also the Bulgarian vales. In these localities we ate, for some days in succession, loaves baked under the ashes, which the Turks call “fugatia.” These loaves are baked and sold by the wives and daughters of the people, because in these regions there are no bakers. When, therefore, the women learn that strangers have arrived, from whom there is a prospect of earning money, they hastily make up meal with water, and without leaven, put the dough into hot ashes, and while it is still hot—or, as we say, bread from the oven—sell it at no great price. Other eatables, e. g. mutton, fowls, hens, and eggs, are sufficiently cheap there, and could at that time be bought, for the present wars had not yet begun. That night we lodged in the village of Jessiman.
I cannot here forbear mentioning the dress of the peasant women in this district. They go in white shirts or smocks, which are of corded linen, not very thin, and of all colours, embroidered with Turkey yarn ​made of plain silk upon the seams, round the hem and waist, and almost everywhere. In these they are extremely well satisfied with themselves, and despise our plain thin shirts. Their head-dresses are tower-shaped, very comical, and covered with hats of platted straw and lined with linen, just as the peasant children with us make hats of green rushes. The part which with us is broad below, and meets the head, they wear wide above, and top-shaped, in a manner more suitable for catching the sun and rain than for any other purpose. These hats stand about one and a half or two Prague ells above their heads. They have also glass beads round the neck and in the ears, and ear-rings hanging from the ears to the shoulders, like a variegated rosary; and in these they are just as satisfied with themselves as if they were queens of Bulgaria, and walk as grandly amongst strange people.
Of this Bulgarian nation it is related that, when divers nations changed their abodes, either voluntarily, or driven from their homes by other nations, it migrated from the Scythian river, called the Volga, to these parts. Thus these Bulgarians are so called, quasi Vulgarians, or Vulharians, from the river Volga. They established themselves in the mountains called Hæmus, and between the city of Sophia and Philippopolis, in places naturally strong and defensible, where they lived, and for a considerable time paid no regard to the power of the Greek emperors. They captured in battle and put to death Baldwin the Elder, count of Flanders, who ruled the Empire of Constantinople; but not being able to withstand and resist the Turkish power, were overcome, and obliged to endure the miserable and heavy ​servitude which they suffer up to this day. They use a Slavonic language, so that we Bohemians can converse with them.
On Nov. 9 we travelled over mountains without intermission. At noon a chiaous from the beglerbeg caught us up, and brought after us the clock which had been presented to him, as the Turks, not knowing how to manage it, had overwound it and broken a string, which our clockmaker was obliged to put to rights when we stopped for the night. Before we arrived at the plain, which surrounds the city of Philippopolis, we were obliged to travel by a narrow road, over a steep mountain, where there still stands in the midst an ancient stone gateway, called Derwent Kapi, the gate of the narrow way. Here lived the last despot, or prince, of Bulgaria, Mark Karlovitz; but now the whole building is so ruined and desolate that it presents no likeness to a fortress. We spent the night in the village of Janika, without an inn.
On Nov. 10, after starting, we saw the river Hebrus, which takes its rise in Mount Rhodope, not far off, and a handsome stone bridge over the same river, which the Turks call the Maritza. In the evening we arrived at the city of Philippopolis. This city lies on one of three heights, distant, and, as it were, separated, from the other mountains, and which were purposely digni​fied by building the town, and placing, as it were, a beautiful crown upon them. In the suburb is a second wooden bridge over the river Hebrus, which flows alongside the city; not far from this we lodged in an inn, and stayed two days in the city.
On Nov. 12, on starting from Philippopolis, we saw rice growing like wheat in swampy places. The plain is full of small hillocks, or mounds, raised above the ground, like a kind of graves, which the Turks assert to be barrows thrown up in memory of battles which took place in those plains. They also believe that these mounds are the graves of people slain there in battle. That day we crossed the river Hæmus by a handsome bridge of hewn stone, and afterwards travelled through a beautiful wood or forest. Leaving the river on the left, we spent the night in the village of Papasly, where there is no inn. At that village a chiaous came to us from Constantinople, bringing my lord the ambassador a letter from Herr Petsch, who had been there several years continuously as imperial resident, and was now very anxious to be replaced by another ambassador, and return home.
On Nov. 13 we arrived at the village of Usum Shavas, in which there is a well-built inn, with handsome apartments; and there we spent the night. The next day we came to Harmandli, a pretty village, where is a bridge 160 paces long, and a handsome inn, with a lead roof, where we lay during the night.
On Nov. 15, keeping close to the river Hebrus, which flowed again on our right, and leaving, on the left, the mountains of Hæmus, which extend to the Black Sea, ​we went over the celebrated stone bridge, called Mustapha Pasha’s bridge. In this bridge there are twentytwo arches, and the bridge itself is above 404 paces long. We next arrived at the village of Shimpry, where there is a handsome inn, and a Turkish temple; and we spent the night in that village.
On Nov. 16 we arrived at the city of Adrianople, in Turkish Ændrene. This place was called Oresa before it was enlarged by and named after the Emperor Adrian. It is situated just where the Hebrus meets its tributaries, the Tunya and the Harda, and thence the united streams flow together into the Ægean Sea, which separates Asia from Europe. The city is not very large in circumference, but there are extensive suburbs round it; and it is owing to the buildings constructed by the Turks that it has grown to its present magnitude and extent. Over the river there is a very large stone bridge. Here we had an inn of no great excellence, although there were many others handsomely built; this being, next to Constantinople, the largest city in these countries. On Nov. 17 we rested there and looked over the city, where there is nothing particular to see, except the inns, and two temples, very handsomely built of stone. These temples are circular inside, and in them are three galleries, with large pillars, built of white and red marble, round which are iron rings, at the bottom of which hang 326 handsome glass lamps. Higher over these is a second set of rings, from which ostrich-eggs and balls of looking-glass are suspended by silken straps. Over this, again, is a second gallery, all ​round which is a set of rings with lamps, and above a second set of rings with ostrich-eggs and balls of looking-glass. On the third and highest gallery is a set of iron rings, and lamps all round suspended from them. Highest of all, in the midst, hangs a gilt ball. All these galleries are adorned with remarkable marble pillars. In the lowest sits the Turkish emperor, where there is a kind of alcove. The Turks told us that these lamps, of which there are over 2,000, burn day and night, and that they require seventy pounds of olive oil a day. In the middle of the church are two handsome cisterns of white marble, into which water flows through pipes. Next to them is a pulpit of white marble, into which no one enters except their highest priest, who goes up twenty-five marble steps, and reads and expounds the Alcoran to them. Sultan Selim had this new church thus ornamentally built at the time when he wrested the kingdom of Cyprus from the Venetians. He assigned it large revenues from the resources of that kingdom, which are transmitted every year to Adrianople. There are four very high and slender towers, and in them three galleries, as in a church, one above the other, from which the priests summon the people to prayers; and when they hold the annual festival, called Bairam, lamps are hung out at night from the towers. From these towers we had a view of the whole city. In this city there is also a palace belonging to the Turkish emperor, on that side of the river on which Sultan Selim dwelt; but they would not allow us to enter it.
On Nov. 18 we started from Adrianople, and travelled to Hapsala, a small town, in which is a handsome temple, ​an inn, and a hospital, erected and endowed with large revenues by Mahomet Pasha, in which a dish of rice or soup and a piece of mutton must be given to every comer till the third day.
On Nov. 19 we passed through the town of Esky Baba, in which is a handsome church, and an inn, ornamentally built by Ali Pasha. Here a beg from Moldavia had taken up his lodging, who had formerly been a prince there; but having been accused before the Sultan, by another Moldavian prince, of wishing to cause a disturbance, draw the people from their obedience, and revolt, he was sent for by the Sultan, who intended to have him beheaded. Seeing that there was no escape, he then turned Turk to save his neck, but only on condition that he was to be reinstated in Moldavia. This renegade prince had taken up his quarters with some thousands of Turks, not only in the town, but also in the neighbouring district, otherwise we should have spent the night there. The other, who had accused him before the Sultan, hearing that he was to be reinstated in his office, escaped with all his property into Christendom. Not being able to stay there the night, we went to the village of Bulgagium, which is principally inhabited by Greeks, and spent the night there.
On Nov. 20 we passed through the town of Burgash, which lies in a plain, and in front of which is a stone bridge thirty-seven paces long. Immediately after leaving Adrianople, whithersoever we went we saw abundance of flowers, which was to our no small astonishment, because it was the month of November. In Greece there is an abundance of the sweet-smelling narcissus and hyacinth, so that through their numbers ​they affect the head and brain of a person unaccustomed to the scent. The Turkish tulip has hardly any scent, and yet many people value it for its beauty and the variety of its colours. The Turks are fond of sur rounding themselves with fiowers, and, though they are notover-prodigal of their money, still they do not grudge laying out a few aspers, or kreutzers, for an inconsider able flower. Flowers, and presents also, cost my lord the ambassador, and ourselves, a good deal; for when the janissaries and other Turks brought them as pre sents, we were obliged immediately to give an asper or so in return, and thus show that we were grateful for the gift.
And, in truth, whoever wishes to dwell amongst the Turks cannot help himself, but, as soon as he enters into their territories, must immediately open his purse, and not shut it till he leaves them again, and must con stantly be sowing money as a kind of seed, since for money he can procure himself favour, love, and every thing that he wants. And, if no other advantage comes ‘1 therefrom, at any rate this does, that there is no other: means of successfully taming and quieting the Turks, g who are of a ferocious character from their birth, and different from other nations. The Turks allow themsrh selves to be calmed by money, as by some delightful strain, otherwise it would be impossible to have any dealings or transact any business with them. Without money foreigners would scarcely be able to live amongst them, or visit those regions, for the Turks are shameless and immoderate in taking money and presents. Even pashas and other great lords, when no present is made them, have the audacity to ask for presents through ​their underlings, and sometimes gratefully accept very miserable donations. For instance, one day at Constantinople, when my lord the ambassador wished to have a brief conversation with Synan Pasha, and we were waiting before his apartment, a shepherd, who was an achamolglan, i. e. a kidnapped Christian, who had already become a Turk, came into the room amidst ourselves and the Turks, carrying a live sheep on his shoulders, and walked, without intermission, in front of the door, when it was opened for people to go into the pasha, till the pasha noticed him. The pasha immediately ordered him to be admitted, sheep and all, into his presence, thankfully received the sheep, and gave audience to a shepherd in preference to the imperial ambassador. But, to tell the truth, my lord the ambassador had no worse fault than stinginess and unwillingness to spend money, though he knew that love is bought from the Turks by presents; a thing which afterwards the unhappy man, as well as ourselves, had bitterly to pay for; an account whereof will be given in the proper place. That day we travelled to Karystra, a simple village without an inn, whence my lord the ambassador sent a horseman to Constantinople, and gave notice of his approach to Petsch, who was there as imperial resident.
On Nov. 21 we came to the town of Churli, or Korlii, a good memorial of the unfortunate war which Sultan Selim waged in those regions with the pasha, his father, when he escaped out of battle by means of his horse Karavulik, i. e. black wolf, saved his neck, and took refuge among the Tartars of Perecop, where his father-inlaw ruled. After some years, by dint of great promises ​and gifts, this same Selim obtained the throne, drove his father out, and ordered him to be poisoned in this town, as the Turkish chronicles describe at length. Here, for the first time, we saw the sea, and had it always on the right hand. We spent the night in the town.
On Nov. 22, before we arrived at Selebrya, a town on the sea, we saw manifest tokens of ancient earthworks, or walls, which were constructed from this city to the Danube, by order of the last Greek emperors, in order that the district might be surrounded and enclosed with fortifications, that is, that the villages, lands, and property of the people of Constantinople might be safe from the incursions of foreign and barbarous nations. In Selebrya we were much delighted by the cheerful and pleasant prospect over the calm sea, so that I could not restrain myself from running down with some of the rest, without the leave and knowledge of my lord the ambassador, or his steward, and gazing upon the sea, of which I had never had a glimpse before, till I was satisfied. We ran down to the shore, and wondered at the swimming and leaping of the dolphins and other fish, and I collected some very beautiful striped shells, and forgot to return to the town. Meanwhile, the Turks in the town saw a caicque, or pirate boat, making straight for the shore, with its sails spread. The chiaouses pointed the boat out to my lord the ambassador, and warned him not to allow any of his suite to go far from the town, affirming that the pirates sometimes stayed the night somewhere on the coast, and lay in wait to kidnap people and carry them off. When this prohibition was issued, and not till then, I and my companions were missed. It being ascertained that we ​had gone to the sea, the chiaouses and janissaries immediately mounted their horses, and, taking their weapons, raised a shout, and galloped to the sea. There they found us admiring the boat, which was still about three hons from us, and drove us to the town. Upon this the pirates shot about three arrows from a bow at the shore, and a janissary fired his gun at them in return. Here we were welcomed by my lord the ambassador; some of the elder of our party were beaten with a stick, and I was to have a whipping with a horsewhip, because no birch grew in that place. However, I had first a long lecture from my lord, and he was then going to have me whipped, although, conformably to my uncle’s orders, I had always endeavoured to conduct myself so faithfully and obediently towards him that he might not have any reason to scold me. I was always ready to perform his wishes, if I did but know them; and day and night I endeavoured to serve and satisfy him above all others, and he was consequently very kind to me. On the present occasion, being dreadfully frightened, I did not know what else to do but humble myself, and promise that, to the day of my death, I would never allow myself to do anything of the kind without his leave and knowledge. The Turks also spoke in my favour, laying it to my youth and folly, so that I was excused the whipping; but, nevertheless, a lecture was read me till my ears tingled. Thus my curiosity and running wild, because I wanted to see the sea before the rest, almost brought me to the point of being captured by those sea-thieves; and had our friends not known of us in good time. God knows whither I ​might not have been taken and sold. Here we afterwards spent the night.
On Nov. 23 a courier on horseback again arrived from Herr Petsch. For our night’s lodging we went to the town of Ponte Grando, where there is a stone bridge 787 paces long, with twenty arches, over an arm of the sea.
On Nov. 24 we arrived at the town of Ponte Picolo, or Little Bridge, for there, too, you must go over a bridge. These two arms of the sea are very pleasant, and if they were to be adorned by human aid and labour, and if human intelligence and cleverness were to assist their natural features, I do not know that there would be anything more beautiful under the sun; now, however, left, as it were, forlorn, they give tokens how they bewail and lament their forsaken condition, because, on account of the servitude whereby they are bound to a barbarous lord, people hate them, dislike them, and, finally, take no notice of them. Here we saw fish caught with large nets in the sea: the fishermen caught a large number of very good and well-flavoured fish, and sold us those which we wished, and as many as we wished. At this town Herr Petsch had ordered his steward to welcome us, and furnish us with good provisions.
On Nov. 25 we started at three o’clock, and about ten o’clock saw Doctor Petsch, the resident at Constantinople. He had with him a good many horsemen both from the Turks and from his own suite, and, in particular, about forty chiaouses, or courtiers, of the Turkish emperor had been sent to meet us, who welcomed us, and rode before us into Constantinople. Here, first of all, when my lords the ambassadors saw ​each other, they dismounted from their horses, and embraced each other with great joy, as if they had long known each other. Herr Petsch was more especially delighted, as he was aware that there was something brewing among the Turks before it broke out, and knew that he was to return to Christendom in a few days.
During this day’s journey we lost two of our company, the clerk of the kitchen and a Hungarian tailor. These persons, wishing to get to Constantinople before us, left the road and were seized by the Turks, who imprisoned them in one of the emperor’s summer-houses, went off, and rode to Constantinople to ask Bostangi Pasha what they were to do with them. Meanwhile the Hungarian tailor broke loose, and helped his companion to break loose from his bonds. Being thus freed from their fetters, they fled and concealed themselves; nor was it till the third day afterwards that they got to us at Constantinople. Moreover, the Turks took from them all the money they had with them, at least thirty ducats, and it is a certainty that, had they not broken loose, they would have been taken and sold somewhere beyond the sea.
This day we went for a long time through the city of Constantinople before we arrived at the hotel assigned to us, which was built of square red stone, and covered in with a lead roof. Immediately as you enter it, through a great gate, is a clean and tolerably spacious square, with gates on each side, and a stone staircase, by which you can ascend to the gallery, which is of stone, and runs all round. Underneath is a kitchen, wine-cellars, and stabling for 200 horses. Above, on ​the same floor as the gallery, are very comfortable rooms all round, with Italian stoves in them. In these my lord the ambassador took up his abode facing the street, and we were distributed by threes and fours in different apartments, according to our personal dignity and position. Whoever goes to court must go past this house, which is built in so convenient a situation, close to the principal street, that everything can be seen from it.
As regards the situation of the city, it seems to me that the place is prepared by nature for the site of an imperial metropolis. It certainly lies in Europe, but has Asia and Egypt almost before its eyes, and Africa on the right hand. Though these lands do not adjoin the city, yet they are, as it were, united to it by the sea, and an easy voyage. On the left are the Pontus Euxinus and the Lake Mæotis, or, as the Turks name them. Karantegise, or the Black Sea, beside the waters of which many nations dwell, and into which many rivers flow on all sides. Moreover, there is nothing produced in these regions for the use of man that cannot be easily conveyed in boats to Constantinople. From one side of the city stretches the Propontis, or Sea of St. George; on another, a harbour for vessels is formed by a river which Strabo, from its shape, called the Golden Horn; the third side of the city joins the land: so that the city itself has the appearance of a peninsula, and, with its whole elevation, forms a promontory running into the sea, or an arm of the sea.
​From the midst of Constantinople is a very pleasant and delightful view over the sea, and of Mount Olympus in Asia, which is constantly white with snow. The sea contains a great abundance of fish, which at one time swim from the Lake Mæotis, or the Black Sea, through the straits of the Bosphorus into the Ægean and Mediterranean, and at another, turn back again, as is the nature of fish, in such immense numbers that abundance of them can be taken by the haul of a very small net. Thus it is that there is such an abundant fishery of divers fish, and that they sell them so cheap. The fishermen are usually Greeks, and are also well acquainted with the art of cooking fish. Neither do the Turks despise fish, when they are well cooked, especially those which they consider clean. Still, it is not every natural-born Turk who is fond of them, but rather the renegade, or Christian who has turned Turk. Moreover, frogs, snails, tortoises, oysters, and the like, a born Turk not only will not eat, but will not even touch. In fact, in the Alcoran unclean fish and wine-drinking are alike prohibited to the Turks, and no one in any official position whatsoever drinks wine, except in secret. This is usually done by renegades, who used to come to us in secret, drink for whole nights, return secretly home before dawn, and beg us earnestly to let no one know of it. But the unruly youth and the soldiers do not allow themselves to be kept in order; nay, they go into Christian taverns, eat as much as they please, and pay nothing; and if the host does not wish to be beaten he ​must not say a single word. And, when they get drunk, every Christian or Jew whom they meet gets as far out of their way as he can, otherwise, if you have not a janissary with you, you meet immediately with a box on the ear, or a stab. Such persons, when they commit any misdemeanour, are immediately put into prison, and thrashed with a stick for the crime of drinking wine. But I will now return again to our house.
My lord the ambassador, wishing to have access to, and an audience of, Ferhat, the chief pasha, who was of Albanian extraction, a tall, black, long-toothed, and disagreeable man, was obliged to present him beforehand with the gifts sent by his Imperial Majesty; nor till this was done did my lords the new and old ambassadors, and we with them, ride to Ferhat, in the same fashion as at Buda and Sophia. When we had kissed his hand, and the hands of all the other pashas present, our ambassador delivered to him the imperial letter, which he received reverently, but the presents much more reverently, viz. 3,000 broad dollars, two silver-gilt jugs, with basins, two large gilt beakers, two others, like large gilt bunches of grapes, two large silver-gilt pails, or cans, two large silver-gilt bottles, a large clock in the form of a gilt horse, on which sat a Turk with an arrow drawn to the head, a square striking-clock, on which two men stood and moved, and, when it struck, opened their mouths, a hexagonal ball, like a buzygan, or Turk​ish mace, in which was a gilt striking-clock, and so forth. From Ferhat we afterwards rode to the Vizier Muhamet, who had been barber to the preceding emperor, and, after kissing his hand, gave him from his Imperial Majesty 1,000 rix-dollars, an ewer with a silvergilt basin, and a large clock in the shape of a sea-horse, adorned all round with various shells. Having transacted all necessary business with him,—(he was a born Hungarian, but had turned Turk,)—we returned to our hotel.
Another day we went to three other pashas, and also to a chiaous, who was by birth a Croat, and had a daughter of the Turkish emperor to wife; to Ibrahim Pasha, who was also a Croat; and to Cykula Pasha, who was by birth an Italian, from Messina, and at that time captain, or high admiral. Having saluted these pashas, we gave them 1,000 dollars a-piece, a silver-gilt jug, with a basin, a silver-gilt bottle, in the shape of a moon, two large double-gilt beakers, a clock like a Moor leading an English dog by a chain, and another clock, on which was a Turk sitting on horseback, and behind him a lion overpowering another Turk, all which moved when the clock struck, and the horse pawed with his foot, and turned his eyes every minute. To other officials simpler presents were delivered by the steward, dragoman, or interpreter of my lord.
* ↑ Wacleslaw or Waclaw is the Bohemian; Wenceslaw is the Polish name; and Wenceslas or Wenceslaus is the Latinized form best known in England.
* ↑ With a pear-shaped head, almost like a hammer, according to Jungman.
* ↑ A kind of mace studded with sharp points at the end.
* ↑ Literally, “chalk.”
* ↑ High castle.
* ↑ The month here changes in the original from Zari, September, to Rijen, October; the German translator has Weinmonat, October, throughout.
* ↑ Szegedin.
* ↑ White castle.
* ↑ Sirmien.
* ↑ Pringwart.
* ↑ Erdody.
* ↑ The German translator says that this and the following day’s journal describe circumstances entirely different from those existing two centuries later.
* ↑ Theiss.
* ↑ White castle.
* ↑ This is not correct, as the Drave and Theiss fall into the Danube on opposite sides.
* ↑ In the battle of Mohacz.
* ↑ An Englishman would have said, coverlet or counterpane.
* ↑ The exact sum is 200 meissen kopy, or rouleaux containing 60 pieces of money. Jungman gives each kopa at 11 florins 40 kreutzers, which gives 2,333 florins 20 kreutzers, or £233 6s. 8d.
* ↑ In 1852, I received by post two copies of a Grammar of the Bulgarian language, by A. and D. Cankof. It exhibits every appearance of being a corrupted Slavonic; but there are many non-Slavonic roots in it. In Aug. 1861, I had the pleasure of meeting a Bulgarian gentleman at Prague; but his language was unintelligible to the Bohemians, and vice versâ. Our medium of communication was Polish, which he spoke well.
* ↑ Orator.
* ↑ I have pretty uniformly translated the word kostel by “church,” and chram by “temple.”
* ↑ A hon is 125 paces.
* ↑ This is not quite correct; but in several places the author seems a little at fault in his geography. Perhaps the words “and Egypt” should be omitted.
* ↑ The German translator says, “Olivet!”
* ↑ The different fish are enumerated; but their names are not all in Jungmann’s Lexicon, so I have thought it best to omit them.
* ↑ It is not necessary to suppose that the ambassador himself did this, if it was done literally by any of his suite. “Polibuju varnostiruku,”—“I kiss your hand,” is a common form of politeness in Bohemia from an inferior to a superior. It might probably be translated simply, “saluted.”