The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-07-11
A RIDE ACROSS BULGARTA.
EXPERIENCE or A wan OoRRB-
sPOyDENT nv a RAYA6 ED LAND.

Who Hnd Deaigta OF HIS Own.
Soon after the outbreak Of tho wnr between
Russia and Turkey in 1877 I found myself at
the old Turkish fortress Of widdin, ncnr the
Scrvlan frontier, which / had crossed, In
tho northwestern corner Of Bulgaria. r I was on
my way to the Turkish headquarters at Shumla,
one Of tho fortresses of tho old quadrilateral
that played so important n part in previous
wars, hut delayed o short time with tho army
Of osmAn Pashn, who just then and during the
past winter had his headquarters ut Widdir-
The troops under his command numbered
something like 10000 mon, OF which tho bulk
were in and about Widdin, while tho rcst were
in observation on tho Scrvian frontier opposite
Zaitchar, and at points on tho Danube MS far
cast rs Nicopolis. There wos nothing In tho
disposition of tho Turkish troops undor his
orders to indicate in any way that the eyes and
mind Of tho Turkish General were fixed on tho
quiet, picturesquely situated town Of Plovna on
tho vid. All attention was given to tho OBJ
scrvntion Of the points at which 1t was thought
likely tho Russian army would make is cross.
ing from Roumania, and as time wore on and
the Russian preparations developed, II became
plain that the passage OF the Danube was to
DO attempted from somewhere between tho
mouths of tho rivers Aluta and vedc.
Ono day a little stir was caused by the do.
parture from widdin of the division OF Hassan
Pasha to Nicopolis, and then It was understood
the crisis was approaching. A few days later
the telegraph wires were kept hard at work
with messages coming and going in all diroc-
lions, and q whisper that 1t was expected the
crossing would take place in n few days some
whore about Zimnitza, opposite Sistova, de-
cided me on transferring myself to the other
sido Of tho country AZ soon as possible. Tho
journey was bound to DO a troublesome one,
with the possibility of obstacles and perhaps
danger, as there was a good deal Of bad fooling
between the Mussulmans and Christian inhabi-
tants, arising out of the massacres Of tho pre-
vious year. and the lawless Circassians who
were planted in colonies all along the Danube
were roaming tho country at will, levying con.
tributions and driving Off cattle, and not in
every instance those belonging to Christians.
However, the journey had to bo made, and that
without loss of time.
As / rode out of Widdin my party consisted
of Ave persons--m yso,f and servant, the Gus
tomary mounted Zaptich as escort, and an AL
bantam CANVASS, for whom l bought a horse,
though l have never been able yet to explain
to myself why. l allowed the follow to foist
himself on me. He turned out to be a danger
Gus rascal. The fifth was an excellent spoci-
men of the Grim Tartar 6miGrEs who wers
Obliged to leave the Crimoa after the war. and
were scattered through European Turkey. but
mostly in tho D9brudja, in 5egYla, colonies,
mcnt. They were q valuable addition to the
population. being Industrious, thrifty, and hon
Christians. Tartar Ali drove the covered
ARABIA, which. with tho horses, WINS his own prop
crty, in which my small stock of baggage ant
supplies, including II mnttress, was packed. 1t
was late In tho afternoon before VIC could get
started. so the first stage of tho journey was a
full view of the river, and 1t was amusing tc
sec the interest caused by tho parry among the
Who Kept watch along the Roun1nian bank sae'a as
we moved on. and were after a while joined by
q sSnadr%Sni55caf, a ea wal tina, WAS out on pa,roI
for the night, and where l was courtcousiy en-
tcrtnincd by the Bimbashi commanding the
next day., journey lay along the river, with a
,wcli;scitled and populated country on the right
hand hand, This fx sOnmtTTy had 4fl been greatly dis
quen;ly rode up TO satisfy their curiosity and
hear the news of the day, The second days
teres,ing village on the tho high bank over
looking the Danube and the Wallachian plains
hova. one of tho minor Danube fortress cs.
without any INCIDENT of note. AT the mouth
Of the SchyI, which runs into the Danube OPP:
positc Rahova, We saw the charred remains OF
ube Navigation Company of Mango and Fos-
SSiS' Talsn Hi By tthe ' WId sf%" 5"t,e ri = a sh ieR
nights before We left there, only to be totally
destroyed BY the fire &c Ct the nnhoys batter,os;
ross down the Danube. 1t was my intention to
continue down the river as far as Nicopolif,
good fortune turned me aside. for by orders OF
ABDUL Kerim. the COMMANDMENT CHIEF Of The
rivers had been taken away and tho ferries
closed. There was then nothing LETT but 10
strike into the interior and make for Plevna,
the nearest place OF Importance, and on the main
road constructed by Midhat Paahn whcn Vail
Of The vilryc Of the Danube. from. Rustchuk to
Sofia, so ON the morning Of the fourth day we
struck inland, For IA ehOrt distance after
leaving ~Itahoya the road lay among swamps
and reeds, but soon rose onto tho plain, where
the thistles that reminded one OF the stories OF
the South American pampas. The country
Circassian marauder was met with. It was
not until reaching the ferry at Giava, on the
habitations were to be teen, and nothing much
more wretched than those hereabouts could be
Ionnd anywhere. Many of the dwellings were
hillside, with holes sunk into them fIom above
for ~cbInneys and ,ventilators. After we had
soIne Of the high handed treatment to which the
Bulgarian peasants had to submit from their
Of a Christian, no matter what his station.
had given the poor Bulgarian ferryman what
for him was n most liberal recompense for
lance up the bank OF the river, when, turning
round. saw my Albanian CANVASS and zaptieh
money, and the zaptieh give him a cuff with
his fist. Under the circumstances there wRs
IOtnlnB 10 DC done, Tor Whatever i might do, IL
would all be revongcd on tho ferryman when
my Rahova zaptich passed the next day on his
way back to that place from Plevna. and | re.
fcctcd that, anyway, the era OF that kin of
rule was nearly at an end.
Pushing on VIC arrived at q scattered settle
nlont and stopped ut n han kept by q Bulgari-
an, ordering Refreshments, such as they were,
black bread, hard goats milk cheese, and Turk
ish coffee, nj round. We were soon Joined by
u lordly Circassian, who ordered what he
wanted, and having satisfied his appetite and
curiosity went of without paying, as we dis.
covered, from tho lamentations Of the Bulgari-
an, was his habit. Continuing our Journey, wo
order TO be en- ,rGglc, ] called at once on tho
Knimakan, Shukri Boy, who had served in
some capacity with tho English army In the
Crin'oan war. and still remembered a tow Eng
lish sentences, which, however. were not great
aids to conyeTsation. BY way, of showing mo
up my Gnario's ut q han. and planted mo on
one OF the leading inhabila ants, who ut first did
not appear overwhelmed h. the honor con-
fcrrcd, on him. However, i was soon able TO
establish tho best relations with him. Al tho
evening meal my host gave expression TO his bo-
lief that Turkish rule IN bulgaria WAS near lis
end, and IN Oriental phraseo!ogy gave me TO
Among other incidents no related was 4 thing
that had happened to himself and his brother
a few DAYS before. They had. 10 90 IN NIcono.