New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-01-05
N,m71ork daily Gribmirs
1HE SCENE OF WAR IN TURKEY.
nm, naruprAN MUNICIPALITIES
,HEIR PEOPLE, FOR7InCA7lOSS. RESOURCES
. from Our Own Correspondent

TurxrI SEVERN, NaIsc@i"' -
r.. D,nu,e. after rolling 'lugsshiy more 'nan
.oo ,nv., through the plains ct Hungary III
;, ,,.s,e.t below Belgrade, and, IN Its pas
..., the Cupatbians and Balkans a.
,.,, ,urpsssipg everything OF tie KIND
in Europe or America. AS Sue steamer
lang the servisn hills rise into mountains
.N.h are equally matched BY the masnnce"
.y.r,.,hians on the left bank OF Die riVer' Inc
,.,, ,ummit Of grandeur is reached at the fs''
AZ I.l,, and the Iron Gate the former above ths
latter below Orsovs the last town 10 Au'rA
I0.r passing Ssmepdria, one of the four lnrAlsn
e,,,,s,.,, in servis, and q few unmPorsanf towns
=, ,ha Au,t,,an side. Our steamer touched
At Drepiova, a town consisting OF three hours'
Int ,ituatsd at the base OF COLOSSAL mountain
from which point 1t is usual, when the water 10
low. 10 proceed to Orsova in email boat or Ia
carriages along the left shore OF the river. AS the
steamer wasnew, and our Captain had oa'h OF
bravery, it was determined to run the rapids Az
one time the magnificent river Is contracted to the
width Of few hundred feet, and dashes. Ike an
Angry food, through gorge, walled by PreciPlce'
Of astonishing hight, at another, dartiDg IKE an
arrow, beyond a projecting cliii we are aunched
into broad, smooth BASIN surrounded by al am
phi,heatre q lofty mountains. This KIDD Of
scenery continues for miles, changing its character
exerv moment. The Danube winds Ike huge
serpent and the mountains on either side rise up
ike Titans, now clothed in green, aud smiling as
if ui,biyp 10 embrace each other, and again black
and angry with rugged crags, as if the peaks in
in a
each others hoary locks over the writing VIC
fin below. Tie very skeleton OF the earth seems
"a be laid bare, and its huge rertebTe made
the silent spectators OF an eternal cohiict pc
tween rock and food. An occasional eagle,
percbcd upon crsg or soaring among the cliffs OF
The Csrpathians, and now and then fisherman,
bslfnaked and wretched, were the only evi.
dences Of animate creation around us. The sound
of dsshinp waters is heard as we approach the
Isas or first rapids. All at once the wheels
cease their revolutions, and the steamer darts like
an arrow through the pass where the current Is
torn BY projecting rocks and white with foam.
IL was at this place that Mr. Chamberlain, OF
North Carolina, with some twenty fellow pa'sen-
GERS was drowned in 1899 while being tOwcd up
the river in d small boat. The English consul at
Bucharest buried him near the place Of the unior'
tunate accident. The lslas being passed, the
steamer approaches the pass of Rattan, If any
thing, more grand than the one above. Mount
Sterbecz fronts the river with wall OF rock
1890 feet in hight, and presents sight OF indie
scribable magnifcence 1t il on the Servian SIDE
and along its base, as well as along the rocky
wall. miles above and below, ! noticed the re-
mains Of Traian's Way" In many places, gal
lery had been formed by excavatlng the granite
rocks; but where these had been too solid, beams
were so inserted as 10 project over the Hood be.
meath and thus form the skeleton OF covered
road along which Roman legions once marched,
10 subdue new provinces and Consus and Pro-
consuls took their route to Rome, in order TO
march in triumph down the Sacred Way. The
Katzan is hardly passed before we reach Ira
clans Table "a deep inscription on the rock made
level for that purpose, and thanked by represen-
tation of the Roman eagle Shepherds and fisher
men have built their fires, for centuries, against
the now backened wall, but the inscription can
still be decipbered. twas made to cOmmcmo
rate the first Daeian Campaign of Traan, and
the opening Of "Traiaus Way" in the year lO3.
The latter magnificent project, as il was in the
time of the Romans is fully equaled by the Aus
TRAN road on the opposite side OF the rver' de
signed like every other Improvement along the
Danube, by Count Szecheny, Of Hungary, and
constructed at an immense expense by the
Government
At Orsova we were obliged to leave the steamer
and pass the Iron Gate in a wretched cOntriyance
resembling Il canal boat, which was r0wed ly
eieh, men, and had TO be towcd back from Iurnul
SEVERN by oxen. Most of the passengers were
crowded into the little cabin; but in order to lose
nothing took up somewhat dangerous position
on the contracted deck. The Principally of Wal
lachia is entered two miles below Orsoya. A
piece of territory one mile wide is neutral ground
for Austrians and Wallachs. When passing the
latter the man ut the helm, at my request pointed
out the exact spot where, IN September last, the
Austrians found the iron box containing the Hun
sarian crown aud regaa, after a search OF more
than three years The history of those royal Jew
els " hich the Hungarians regard as the Palladium
of Liberty, and the incidents connected with their
discovery formed the subject of my first letter to
THE TRIBUNE last year. Ii is astonishing that
Kossuth did not carry the crown and regalia into
Turkey or at least bury them in d more retired
place. They were secTeted at the base OF Mount
Alion, and at a point in plain sight of Orsovo.
New. Orsova is situated on an island opposite the
neutral territory above mentioned and is the seat
Of Turkish fortress. The Turks have also fort
on the Servian side, and small piece ofand along
the shore beyond which the jealous mountaineers
do not allow the garrison to pass The fortress is
little more than pile Of ruins. During the win
ter, eighteen COssacks appeared on the Walla-
chan shore for the purpose, doubtless, of recon
noiterne the works. The Turks opened battery
upon the party, and nothing was aiterward seen
Of them in the yiciEiy
A company of ragged, Withholding Arnauts
were marching along the shore and cheered us a.
we passed by. A single cannon was also fired
from the fort, the repeated echoes of which died
away among the mountains. The latter were still
lofty, but by no means so grand and imposing as
those above Orsova. Two huge sentnels one
belonging to the Carpathian. the other TO the Bal
kan range, guard the world renowned Iron Gate.
The ancients considered this point to be the terIni
nation OF the Danube, and the beginning of the
lister. The name owes its origin to Oriental exag-