Servia, Youngest Member of the European Family | Page 6

a very short neck,
surmounted by large features, coarsely chiselled; but not devoid of a
certain intelligence in his eye, and dignity in general effect. He spoke
English with a correct accent, but slowly, occasionally stopping to
remember a word; thus showing that his English was not imperfect
from want of knowledge, but rusty from want of practice. He was an
Egyptian Turk, and had been for eight years the commercial agent of
Mohammed Ali at Malta, and had, moreover, visited the principal
countries of Europe.
I then took a series of short and rapid whiffs of my pipe while I
bethought me of the best manner of treating the subject of my visit, and
then said, "that few orientals could draw a distinction between politics
and geography; but that with a man of his calibre and experience, I was

safe from misinterpretation--that I was collecting the materials for a
work on the Danubian provinces, and that for any information which he
might give me, consistently with the exigencies of his official position,
I should feel much indebted, as I thought I was least likely to be
misunderstood by stating clearly the object of my journey to the
authorities, while information derived from the fountain-head was the
most valuable."
The Deftendar, after commending my openness, said, "I suspect that
you will find very little to remark in the pashalic of Silistria. It is an
agricultural country, and the majority of the inhabitants are Turks. The
Rayahs are very peaceable, and pay very few taxes, considering the
agricultural wealth of the country. You may rest assured that there is
not a province of the Ottoman empire, which is better governed than
the pashalic of Silistria. Now and then, a rude Turk appropriates to
himself a Bulgarian girl; but the government cannot be responsible for
these individual excesses. We have no malcontents within the province;
hut there are a few Hetarist scoundrels at Braila, who wish to disturb
the tranquillity of Bulgaria: but the Wallachian government has taken
measures to prevent them from carrying their projects into execution."
After some further conversation, on indifferent topics, I took my leave.
The succeeding days were devoted to a general reconnaissance of the
place; but I must say that Roustchouk, although capital of the pashalic
of Silistria, and containing thirty or forty thousand inhabitants, pleased
me less than any town of its size that I had seen in the East. The streets
are dirty and badly paved, without a single good bazaar or cafe to kill
time in, or a single respectable edifice of any description to look at. The
redeeming resource was the promenade on the banks of the Danube,
which has here attained almost its full volume, and uniting the waters
of Alp, Carpathian, and Balkan, rushes impatiently to the Euxine.
At length the day of departure came. The attendant had just removed
the tumbler of coffee, tossing the fragments of toast into the court-yard,
an operation which appeared to have a magnetic effect on the bills of
the poultry; and then, with his accustomed impropriety, placed the plate
as a basis to my hookah, telling me that F----, a Bulgarian Christian,

wished to speak with me.
"Let him walk in," said I, as I took the first delightful whiff; and F----,
darkening the window that looked out on the verandah, gave me a
fugitive look of recognition, and then entering and making his
salutation in a kindly hearty manner, asked me to eat my mid-day meal
with him.
"Indeed," quoth I, "I accept your invitation. I have not gone to pay my
visit to the Bey, because I remain here too short a time to need his good
offices; but I am anxious to make the acquaintance of the people,--so I
am your guest."
When the hour arrived, I adjusted the tassel of my fez, put on my great
coat, and proceeded to the Christian quarter; where, after various
turnings and windings, I at length arrived at a high wooden gateway,
new and unpainted.
An uncouth tuning of fiddles, the odour of savoury fare, and a hearty
laugh from within, told me that I had no further to go; for all these
gates are so like each other, one never knows a house till after close
observation. On entering I passed over a plat of grass, and piercing a
wooden tenement by a dark passage, found myself in a three-sided
court, where several persons were sitting on rush-bottomed chairs.
F---- came forward, took both my hands in his, and then presented me
to the company. On being seated, I exchanged salutations, and then
looked round, and perceived that the three sides of the court were
composed of rambling wooden tenements; the fourth was a little garden
in which a few flowers were cultivated.
The