The Sun.
London, England, 1853-12-03 00:00:00

EVENIN

TVRDA

horses after four hours march is always agreeable,
especially in Turkey, where the stages are often 8, 10,
and 12 hours. The truth, however, is, that we were
obliged for this civility to the Governor of Aidos, who
did not like to incur the responsibility of furnishing me
with horses for a three days' journey, although Soliman
had found people ready to let them. In fact the roads
were far from being safe, notwithstanding the repeated
assurances of Ibrahim Bey, that this district was a per-
fect model administration according to Tanzimatschairjd
(the good estate), or the reform principles. Two people
had been murdered a few days ago between Carnabat
and Aidos ; a peasant assailed and left naked on the
road to Misivria, and the news had just arrived that in
the preceding night a neighbouring farm had been plun-
dered of 30,000 piastres, and some women violated.
Notwithstanding the Tanzimatschalrjd, a miller had been
established and quietly tolerated at Aidos for several
years, although be was well known to have committed
nine murders and robberies, which had furnished him
the necessary means to build and work his mill. The
ingenuity of the Governor of Aidos—persuaded as he
said that his head would ache him (bashimiz agrareshak)
, if anything only unpleasant should happen to his
distinguished musafir (or guest) —was therefore direc-
ted towards finding good reasons for dissuading me
from my projected excursion into the Balkan, without
betraying the real cause of his alarm, resulting from the
unsatisfactory state of his own district, as far as were
concered the life, property, and honour of the Sultan's
subjects, secured by the hatti sheriffe of Gulhane.
Threatening rain, stormy weather, impassible roads, and
want of accommodation having been unsuccessfully con-
jured up, Ibrahim Bey made a last attempt at dissuasion
by assuring me that, in an historical point of view, my
' researches would be certainly useless. " Zulkarnein
(the name given to Alexander the Great by the learned
Turks), whose line of march you are tracing," he said,
, " never came here. He was a great man • how could he
have thought of going into those wild and inaccessible
mountains ?" This last piece of historical information,
however, not having changed my mind nor itinerary,
the Governor of Aidos ordered an additional escort, with
directs to insist on having the best possible horses at
Achley, the limits of his temporary domains. From
the latter place to Misivria the roads lies in a fine, po-
pulous, cultivated, and well wooded and watered valley,
running nearly due east, between the forest-covered
main ridge of the Balkan and the Aidos branch of those
mountains. Leaving several villages at a distance on
our left, we pass through those of Tatarkol, Koperan,
Barakly, and Indg4kol, but can find no trace of the
lake laid down in the Austrian map immediately south
of those villages, all situated along the southern bank of
a dere or rivulet, coming from the village of Nadir, in
the upper valley, two hours west from Achly, and fall-
ing into the sea a little north of Misivria, where in the
winter and rainy season it forms a marsh of about one
hour long and half-an-hour broad. It was most likely
somewhere near Achly that was fought, in the begin-
ning of the 14th century, the terrible battle between the
Catalans and the Masagetae, retiring by the Haemus
into Bulgaria, from the service of the Greek Emperor
Andronicus, at Constantinople. Misivria, with some
remains of the ancient Mesambria and the ruins of some
medieval churches, is a miserable collection of 300
houses. The principal export trade in wood is mono-
polised by the Governor, Sultan Effendi, so called on
account of his family connection with the house of the
ancient Khans of the Crimea, Dtwlet Gherai. Situated
on a peninsula, Misivria would be a military position of
considerable ;importance, if it had a natural supply of
water and a good harbour. Its only two wells, how-
ever, are at ten minutes outside the western wall of the
place ; and the anchorage is so 'unsafe that the Russians
(in 1829), although they occupied Misivria, preferred for
their shipping the roadstead of Alholi. This latter city,
of 1,000 houses, is a rising town since the war. Situated
also on a peninsula, three hours south of Misivria, it
presents, in a military point of view, the advantage of
having water in its circuit. Distances—Aidos to Achly,
4 hours; Tatarkol, 5 hours ; Koperan, 5i hours ; Rarakly,
hours ; Indgekol, 71 hours ; Misivria, 8 hours. In
order to reconnoitre the important line of the Haemus
or Balkan, which is so little known that the celebrated
historian of the Turkish empire, Herr Von Hammer,
reduces erroneously to seven the number of the passages
or defiles in the principal mountain chain. I intended to
explore the whole ridge, from Cape Emineh (Finis
Haemi) to Tirnova, at the foot of the mountains between
Schibka and Dranova. I have, therefore, traversed in
zigzag, seven times, the principal chain of the Balkan,
viz. :—From Misivria to Sudshiler, from Sudshiler to
Achly, from Achly to Dobral, from Dobral to Carnabat,
from Carnabat to Kasan, from Kasan to Selimneh, from
Selimneh to Tirnova ; and seven times the minor ridges
of the Haemus, viz., from Tirnova to Osmanbazar, from
Osmanbazar to Kasan, from Kasan to Czalikavak, from
Czalikavak to Koprikol, from Koprikoi to Schumla, from
Schumla to Paraivadi, from Paraivadi to Varna. Leav-
ing Misivria, accompanied by a trusty guide of Sultan
Effendi's, we crossed the low ground (marshy in the wet
season) extending north of the Misivria, towards the
Greek village of Monastirkol, and having to our right the
scala of Ajanas, at the bottom of a fine sandy beach,
we ascended the steep vine-clad southern declivities
of the Balkan, leaving, right and left, various pretty
and picturesques villages. The highest point of the
mountain chain above Monastirkoi may be estimated at
about 2,000 feet, whilst the pass or dervend itself lies
about 1,800 feet above the sea, leading to Bana, four
hours from Misivria ; the latter two hours and three
quarters through thick forest, chiefly oak, crossed in
different directions by roads for the carts, which take
wood and timber to the neighbouring scalas of Misivria,
Ajanas, Koaluck, and Erekly. The northern branch of
the Kamshik is called the Akully or Wise Kamshik ;
its floods being generally more tranquil, and its course
wider. Both branches unite between Buyuk Chenga
and KoprikoT, and form the ancient Pamybus, falling
into the Black Sea between the Black and White Capes
(Aspro Bournou and Mavro Bournou). From Isinplu
by Sadowa, to Papaskol, the gently rising road, on the
left bank of the Kamshik, leads through the well-culti-

vated tree-clad Balkan terraces. In the whole valley
are seen numerous Turkish and Bulgarian villages, in-
habited by a fine, sturdy, and, to all appearances, war-
like population (especially the Mussulman part). Papas-
koi is a large place, with one hundred Bulgarian houses
in excellent condition, mostly tile-roofed, and one story
above the ground floor, whilst the fifty Turkish families
of the village live in straw-thatched huts of a single
floor. On a height S.W. from this place are seen three
tumuli. Beyond Papaskoi begins a splendid oak forest,
and the ascent towards Kasan becomes steeper. We
cross twice the meandering course of one of the affluents
of the of the Kamshik, which runs down from Kasan,
and at three-quarters of an hour before that town we enter
a very strong and deep defile, at first magnificently wooded
on both sides, the river running on our left. A little
later we cross the torrent, and the mountain gorge
now shows trees only on its western flank, whilst its
eastern side presents a succession of naked, bold,
precipitous rocks. The scenery is awfully wild an d
grand, but the road, partly hewn in the rock, continues
practicable for carts, and measures still ten feet in its
narrowest part. On leaving the mountain pass, Kasan
is seen at a short distance, secluded in one of the most
inaccessible vales of the Balkan, and situated in a moun-
tain cahldron, into which descents from the northern or
southern slopes of the mighty Ifeemus lead only through
defiles of such natural strength that a few determined
men may arrest there entire armies. The industrious
city of Kasan owes its flourishing and prosperous state
to its municipal government, and to the circumstance
that the Sublime Porte most likely ignores its very
existence, whilst the pro tempore governor of the pacha-
lik, probably too lazy to explore a rugged mountain
region, is satisfied to know that a zabit or police officer,
and under him a dozen of dervendshisor, guardians of
the mountain passes, represent at Kazan the authority
of the Sultan. However, the Bulgarian municipality
manage the privilege of selecting themselves the zabit
and his men. They pick up as many Zinganis, or gip-
sies, as are required, dress them up as Turks, and pay
them handsomely, on condition that they are to claim
no allowance from their soi-disant master, the Pacha,
who is always found to be well pleased with an arrange-
inent which permits him to pocket the annual pay of
the public servants which the Sublime Porte is supposed
to keep in the mountain passes of Kasan for the security
of traders and travellers. If the Pacha is satisfied with
this arrangement, much more so the inhabitants of Ka-
san, who thus have secured a municipal independence,
unmolested liberty to carry on very extensive coarse
cloth (or abah) manufactures, together with the agri-
cultural and pastoral pursuits connected with this in-
dustry. Kasan, whose imrnediatevicinity is rather bare
of trees, though the mountains that enclose it are covered
with the secular forest that covers the whole eastern
P. Balkan, lies above that elevation where wine can be cul-
tivated, but the wealthy inhabitants of the town have ex-
tensive vineyards near Papaskoi. A.ll the houses of Kasan
are tile-roofed, and although the general aspect of the
place is not cheerful, the streets being narrow and irre-
gular, yet comparative comfort, and a certain feeling of
security and independence, is perceptible everywhere.
A church, built in 1834, and embellished by a Russian
eagle, a menzil chane, or post-office, and two schools,
are the public buildings. .Bulgarian and Greek are the
languages taught, Turkish being spoken occasionally,
but not studied. Bulgarian is the language of the pui-
, pit. The Bulgarians understand the Russian, and vice
versa. The virtually independent community of Kasan
has become since the last Russian war the national and
intellectual centre of Bulgaria, in lieu of Tirnova (the
residence of a Turkish Pacha), which, however, is
always mentioned, with a feeling of veneration, as the
ancient capital. The schools of Kasan furnish numerous
and the best popular teachers for Bulgaria. I admired
particularly the fine handwriting of some young girls of
13 and 14 years of age, and took several samples of it
with me. Books, especially bibles, come in great
quantities from Kiew, and in general the ties of a com-
mon, origin, language, and religion between the Rus-
sians and Bulgarians become daily stronger. General
Montresor, the Russian commander of Kasan in 1829,
is still spoken of with high praise. At this time occur-
red the great emigration of Christian subjects of Turkey
into Russia ; Kasan furnished only a share of twenty
families, because in their mountain recesses they were—
as their chiefs told me—less afraid of the oppression or
vengeance on the part of the Turkish authorities than
the poor people of the plains, and, in case of need, pre-
pared to resist it by arms. Selimneh and its neighbour-
hood has suffered a good deal from the late war ; but as
the Russians kept a strict discipline, and have paid for
all their requisites, they have remained very popular in
the country. General Montresor had had his head-quar-
ters at Mr. lowansho's house, and the latter explained
to me the details of his audacious and successful march
from Selimneh on Kasan. The Russian army being in
possession of Varna and Silistria, and having defeated
the Grand Vizier in the decisive battle of Kislevdsha, had
forced the Balkan on the 16th and 17th of July, by the
defiles of lowan Derwish to Misivria and its plains.
Having established an additional base of operation along;
the sea coast from Varna, by Misivria, Alb% Burgas,
and Sizepolis, Marshal Diebitsch beat the Turks at
Aidos, and then advanced on Selimneh whence 4,000 to