The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1877-08-22
AT THE FRONT.
The Herald Correspondent with the
Gear at Bjela.
BLEAK AND BARREN BULGARIA.
A Poetic Picture Of Camp
Life.
WHERE ARE THE PRETTY WOMEN 3?
Recollections Of Rachel, the
Queen of Bucharest.
ARE THE PRETTY WOMEN ?

y
eight hours IRON Simntza TO Bjsa, At present the
headquarters OF tho Emperor. On tho entire route
thero 10 only vilsgs, Pavio, whore neither food
for horses nor men rs DO had for good Will for
money. Bjela itself s only slight improvement on
Pavlo for although larger IL next to impossible to
get stables for horses or lodgings for ones self All
tho stables, all the courysrds are fully occu-
p,ed by the horses belonging TO the imperial
train and all the spare have been taken by the
sanitary department. for tho reception Of wounded OK
pected hourly from the vicinity OF Rustchuk. The
Emperor himself lives In house o sho most modest
presensions General Ighsticr has established him.
sell In small mud~allcd mouse, which was found
deserted by its owner; while most OF tho generals
prefer their own tents to tho neas and other
vermiu Of the mud huts Of Bjela.
THE SNoL,sH ArrAoan
Colonel Wellesley, the English military commits
Toner with she Russian army, has planted his spa
cious aud com ortAbe tent In tho yard Of PEASANTS
house, with his wagon as base OF supplies. Tho
Coone lett Blola ana Bulgaria last night for England,
on leave Of absence from the Russian headquarters.
Tho Colonel excellent type Of the ED gish ofcor.
soldery in bearing courtiy in manners and his usual
quite becomes his position Inc representa-
tive of nation which IL not at present on tho best Of
terms with the Power whose guest he is.
NOT A HAPPY LAND
does envy Colonel Wellesley HE brief release from
lite in Bulgar =; who would not prefer to SIT IN
his breakfast ROOM in the caf6s or IN tho beer halls
and read there tho accounts OF Ihs mon ot0nous
pa,gn, than stay in this God forsakcn land Of
endless plains, barren hills. heas, mosquitoes.
bugs, fies hunger, thirst and Bulgarian Chris
tiauity. There 10 little to choose betwixt
Roumunia and Bulgaria. the only difference being low
barren hills instead Of the sandy plains the other
side Of the Danube As for anything calculated 70
excite the sighsest enthusiasm, either among the tn
haoi.snts or their manners and customs, ono must
search long proceed iurther for must admit that
oorrespondents speak In terms OF eulogy about
Trpova It's mountainous surroundings But then,
alter vearying plans and ioodless villages these
lstless men and ugly women, Tmbuctoo might DO .
paradise.
AFTER rHls-wHAr?
have heard more than correspondent declare
that he found striking resemblance between Rou-
mania and this part Of Bulgaria to certain parts Of
Central Africa described by travellers, aud in truth
one would not imagine, II he hsd not seen, in what
low degree OF civilization both the waachans and the
Bugariaus exist This low degree Tor degraded
civilization may be due, indeed, to the long
supremacy Of the TURK over tho Christian; but
there is evidently funaamenta lack Bulgarian
walachian humanity possessed BY other races who
lived equally long under quito degrading oppression
But for his dress you would take every Bulgarian here
for tull-booded Turk. HIS religion u different, in
decd, and may DO Of better quality, but his habits
are the same; he lives In tho same manner the
Turk sits legged all day long thinks chairs and
tables superb uous, will cheat you with quite
much intelligence as his Mohanmsdan countryman.
LOVE LOST
The Russian, with all his enthusiasm for the Greek
faith feels personal friendship either for the WALL
rht ~ QulU Ho tho sua
pit,cs the other But for considering either
equal either In religious earnestness the attain
ments Of civilization, he does not do It, Considered
from a high religious standpoint I cannot gather
inspiration enough TO write the briefes euory about
these my fellow Christians. In iact good undiluted
Turk would be, imagine quite as preferable
''Ar the SIGN THE CROSS"
There is u Christian seller Of strong drinks who
lives opposite my window. burly bloated unshaven,
unkcmpt who fumes and swears at the soldiers all day
long has the sign Of the not merely painted in
red his door, but piece representing that mystic
sign OF salvation cut out Of every door in his house
admire the Christianity OF the man exceedingly. In
fact, gets startled at the amount Of Christianity
staring in the face at every All the Bulga-
ran houses have red crosses painted on tho
doors inform the invaders that they who
dwell therein'arc fellows in faith. The little chlren
70 about 10 Turkish fezzes ChrsuanIzed by having
tho mark OF the rudely painted them
The whole tbng reminds you OF the story Of the
Israees Of old who marked their doors,lIs with the
hood Of the lamb whom the angel of death was passing
over The place
DEVOTION or
On the other hand one rather pleased than othor-
wise the rude devotion of the Russian sol.
diers At Pavio the other day, while
horses were feeding, watched a company OF
They took up position IN nne then took OF their
white caps and commenced TO chant solemn kind Of
grace before meat. rnis ended, soup duly served
Here, in my little Turkish room on the hill side,
heard every evening, about eight beautiful singing
in the camps rst the ordinary songs nj the soldiers
recountng the deeds Of the army, then closing with
the chanting OF solemn ana earnest prayer, before
"turnIng in" for rest, Tho effect the quiet valley
is beautiful IN the extreme. II Russian soldier
goes to battle In the river he rcverenty
makes the sign OF tho before jumping into the
water. He makes the same mystic sign before enter
ing battle commencing himself TO tho mercy Of tho
Higher Power All this, though quite medieval in
tone. is Interesting 10 observe
SACRED Mysic.
On sunday evenings the imperial band down n the
valley discourses sacred music Of a religious semi.
religious character much to Tho comfort Of the Rus
tho BuIgarians, who imagined that this sad
music celebrated q Russian defeat. The band
played the melody which IN dcrmsn is connected with
the words When the swallows homcwsrd ny." This
~ the arst line: the Russiun additional line may per-
haps be-. "Then Turk we'll still bo nigh" intended
10 make more Of this but unfortunately have been
interrupted by my Bulgarian landlord fleeing into my
room out Of The WY Of An Infatuated Tcherkess,
VINO knocked the man down several times on account
OF some disagreement or other aboot purchase New
the old woman 10 blutbcring and screaming and scod
Ing too but have no pity tor her. she 80 infinitely
ugly.
BEAUTY ABSENT.
You cannot imagine how very ugly tho bulgarian
women are about here. Even bashibazouk on
stroci,ics bent would shuddsr on confronting one Of
these ancient vixens. have seen faces that startled
me by their wcrd, deep usliness have searched In
vain for q pretty lace The Turkish women very
wis.Iv conceal tnoir faccx entrey. Tho BULGARIAN