CHAPTER XXIX.
The Danube—Cossack Guard—Moldavian Musquitoes—Tultzin—Galatz—Plague-Conductors—Prussian Officer—Excursion to Silistria—Amateur Boatmen—Wretched Hamlet—The Lame Baron—The Salute—Silistrian Peasants—A Pic-Nic in the Wilds—The Tortoise—Canoes of the Danube—The Moldavian State-Barge—Picturesque Boatmen—The Water Party—Painful Politeness—Visit of the Hospodar—Suite of His Highness—Princely Panic—The Pannonia.
At three o’clock on the following day, we entered the Ghiurchevi mouth of the Danube, which is only two hundred fathoms in width; and extremely difficult of access for sailing vessels. The shores at this opening are low, marshy, and treeless, presenting as desolate an appearance as can well be conceived; and are only relieved at intervals of about a mile, by the rude mud huts of the cordon sanitaire of Cossacks, placed along the Moldavian coast to enforce the quarantaine. The appearance of these reed-roofed hovels was beyond expression wretched; and the long lances of the guard, stuck into the earth along the front of the tenement, and the apparition of a mounted Cossack appearing and disappearing among the tall reeds which were the solitary produce of the land, were almost requisite to convince us that they could really be the habitations of human beings.
Beside many of these hovels an extraordinary erection attracted our attention; it consisted of four tall wooden stakes driven into the ground, and supporting, at about the height of eight feet from the earth, a small platform of wicker-work, thatched in some two feet higher; which we ascertained were constructed as sleeping-places, wherein the unhappy dwellers in the Moldavian marshes took refuge against the clouds of musquitoes that infest the Danube; and which, being of immense size, inflict a sting that is far from contemptible. Fortunately for their human victims, these voracious insects fly low, never trusting themselves to the current of wind that, as it sweeps along, might overcome their strength of wing; and thus this solitary medium of escape from their virulence is adopted all along the river.
At ten o’clock at night, we arrived off Tultzin, where we remained only an hour; and then profited by the moonlight to pursue our voyage to Galatz, which we reached at five in the morning, and anchored beside the Quarantaine ground; a small space railed off for the exclusive use of the steam company, and separated from the road leading into the town by a double palisading of wood about breast-high.
Here commenced our land miseries! We were looked upon as a society of plague-conductors, and treated accordingly. Parties of the Galatzians collected along the outer fence to contemplate the infected ones whose contact they dreaded; and meanwhile we enjoyed the privilege of walking up and down an avenue formed of coals on the one side, and tallow packed into skins on the other.
We were visited at the palisades by the British and Austrian Consuls; and by a Prussian gentleman, who, on our arrival at Constantinople, had been in the service of the Sultan, which he had now exchanged for that of the Hospodar of Moldavia. We had made his acquaintance at the Military College, and he had been long on the look-out for us at Galatz.
He appeared perfectly satisfied with his new speculation, and talked much of his enjoyment of the liberty of this new locality; a liberty in which we were unfortunately not permitted to share. And such being the case, we bade adieu to our friends on the town side of the fence; and, after having ascertained that the Pannonia steamer, which should have been on the spot ready to receive us, would not reach Galatz until late at night, we determined on rowing across to the opposite shore of Silistria, in order to relieve our ennui.
Bread and wine having been provided, we accordingly prepared for our excursion; the captain’s gig was lowered; and I had the honour of being rowed across the Danube by the most aristocratic boat’s crew that had probably ever “caught crabs” in its muddy waters; all the seamen belonging to the vessel being employed in lading and unlading merchandize.
Nothing could exceed the wretchedness of the little hamlet that was seated along the edge of a creek, into which we passed when we had gained the Silistrian side of the river. The low hovels, rudely built of mud, and roofed with reeds, were lighted by windows of oiled lambskin; the floors were of earth; and nothing more cheerful than twilight could penetrate into the single apartment which served for “kitchen, and parlour, and hall.” Not the slightest attempt at a garden was visible, though the village stood upon the verge of an extensive wild, stretching away far as the eye could reach, and covered with redundant, although stunted, vegetation. The ground-ash, the caper-tree, the gum-cistus, the wild hollyhock, the flag-reed, and the water-willow were abundant; while patches of white clover and vetches were scattered about in every direction.
As the Baron E—— was lame, and unable to undertake a long walk, he with some difficulty procured a horse that had just been released from a waggon, the ragged peasant to whom it belonged not being proof against the sight of a purse, which was shook before him as the most efficient language that could be employed to enforce the demand: and, when the laughing German had mounted the packsaddle, armed with his meerschaum and cane, and grasped the knotted rope that served as a substitute for a bridle, he was by no means the least picturesque of the party.
We had not long pursued the path leading to the village whither we were bound, when we heard the salute fired at mid-day by the Ferdinand, in honour of His Highness the Hospodar of Moldavia, who chanced to be residing temporarily at Galatz; and to whom, as he was particularly solicitous to facilitate by every means in his power the local arrangements of the steam-company, they were careful to pay all due honour; and indeed somewhat more, as they gave him a salute of one-and-twenty guns, that came booming along the wild through which we were wandering, and echoing over the waters of the little stream that bordered it; startling the birds by which the river-willows were tenanted, and dispelling momently the deep silence of the wide solitude.
When, after a walk of considerable length, we reached the hamlet that was the object of our excursion, we excited universal attention and astonishment among the women and children who crowded the cottage doors, and who were universally clad in coarse white linen; the females wearing huge silver earrings, round bracelets of coloured glass, and rings of every dimension. All were barefooted; and the children, who huddled together in groups to gaze upon the passing strangers, were wretched-looking little mortals, with their light hair hanging in elf-locks about their ears, and their rags fluttering in the breeze. The hovels were universally built of mud, and roofed with reeds and the long leaves of the Indian-corn; with chimneys of basket-work. In short, I never beheld a more thorough demonstration of the fact that human necessities actually exceed but little those of the inferior animals, and that the thousand wants which grow up around civilization are merely factitious. These isolated individuals were scantly and coarsely clothed; fed almost entirely upon vegetables and the black wheaten bread, of which the grain was grown in their own gardens; Indian corn that supplied them at once with food, fuel, and bedding; lodged in hovels better suited to cattle than to human beings: and yet they were not merely healthful and happy, but, as I have already noticed, they had their innocent vanities, and indulged in all the glories of coloured glass trinkets.
The only men whom we saw in the hamlet were engaged in packing water-melons into the wicker bullock-cars destined to convey them to the market at Galatz; and of some of these we immediately possessed ourselves. A shawl flung over the tall stems of some flag-reeds, and propped by a rake, was soon converted into an awning for me, and we made a most primitive and delicious meal, seated on the fresh grass among the wild flowers. As we sauntered quietly back to the river-side, we collected some of the shells that had been driven up the creek by the river tide; and captured a fine tortoise that was sunning itself on the turf, which we carried on board; where we returned tolerably fatigued with our ramble in the wilds of Silistria.
We were amusing ourselves on deck after dinner by watching the passage of the canoes which the natives impel by a wooden paddle precisely after the manner of the Indians, when we observed half a dozen men rushing down upon a little wooden pier immediately under the stern of the Ferdinand, where we had previously remarked two gaudy-looking boats, painted in immense stripes of red and blue. Nor were the group who sprang into the largest of them less remarkable than the boats themselves; and we had some difficulty in persuading ourselves that they were the boatmen of the Prince, and not a party of Tyrolean ballet-dancers. They wore broad flapped hats, bound by a ribbon of red and blue, hanging in long ends upon their shoulders, and ornamented in front by a large M, worked in gold: their shirts and trowsers were of white, with braces and garters of red and blue; while wide scarlet sashes, fringed at the extremities, completed their costume. The Moldavian banner was hastily affixed to the stern of the boat; and then a party of servants thronged the pier, who were succeeded by a couple of aides-de-camp, and a grave elderly gentleman in an oriental dress; and lastly arrived the Princess, a middle-aged, plain-looking person, attended by three ladies, who were duly cloaked and shawled by the obsequious aides-de-camp.
During this process the guns of the Ferdinand were once more prepared; and the fantastically-clad boatmen had not dipped their oars thrice into the stream, and Her Highness the Hospodaress was yet under the stern of the ship, when bang went the first gun, with a flash and a peal that somewhat discomposed her nerves; and she raised her arm deprecatingly towards the Captain, who stood bare-headed near the wheel; but the gesture was unheeded.
“She wishes you to desist, Captain Everson;” I remarked, as I detected the action.
“Can’t help that, Ma’am;” answered the commander of the Ferdinand: “she’s the Prince’s wife; and she shall have her thirteen guns, whether she likes them or not.”
She “had” them accordingly, and they were fired in excellent style; while the two boats of the Principality flaunted their party-coloured glories across to the other shore. I do not know whether Her Highness anticipated the probability of being compelled to “smell powder” on her return, as well as on her departure; but it is certain that she did not land near the Ferdinand when she repassed to the Moldavian side of the river.
On the following morning, it was announced to us that His Highness the Hospodar intended to honour the vessel with a visit; and we were particularly requested to avoid coming in contact with himself or suite, lest we might bequeath the plague to his Principality in return for his politeness. Of course we promised compliance; and as the Pannonia had not yet made her appearance, we were glad of any excitement to relieve the tedium of our detention. At eleven o’clock the wretched drums and fifes of the garrison announced that the Prince was approaching. The guard at the entrance of the quarantaine ground was turned out; officers, covered with tags, aiguilettes, and embroidery passed and repassed the palisade; a crowd of idlers lined the road; the Tyrolean boatmen were once more at their post; the trading vessels in the port, which were lading with wheat, had their decks clean washed, and their colours hoisted.—In short, the harbour of Galatz was in the full enjoyment of “a sensation,” when the gates of the enclosure were thrown back, and into the infected space walked His Highness, a little sandy-haired man, with huge whiskers and mustachioes, perfectly matched in tint to the enormous pair of golden epaulettes that he wore on a plain blue frock coat.—On his right stood his Russian Dragoman, covered with a dozen ribbons, clasps, and medals; who never opened his mouth without lifting his cap, and uttering “Mon Prince” in an accent of the most fulsome adulation: and on his left walked his physician, a fine young man of very gentlemanlike manners and appearance. Immediately behind him came the Moldavian Minister of the Interior, all furs and wadded silk; and the procession was closed by a score of Aides-de-camp, Officers of the Household, and hangers-on.
The party remained a considerable time in the quarantaine-enclosure ere they came on board; and I suspect that His Highness began to repent that he had volunteered so perilous a visit; but as it was too late to recede, he at length ventured to trust “Caesar and his fortunes” to the temporary keeping of the Plague-ship; and advancing to the stern of the vessel where our party were standing, he very graciously expressed his regret that he could not avail himself, as he should have been delighted to do, of our presence in the Principality, by claiming us as guests during our stay, owing to the unhappy prevalence of plague in the country that we had left. After this he talked very solemnly of the necessity of strictly observing the quarantaine; made two or three more bows in a peculiarly ungraceful style; declined the champaigne that had been prepared for him in the great cabin; and made his exit with infinitely more alacrity than he had made his entry; only pausing in the enclosure to lift his hat as the first gun was fired, of the salute which celebrated his visit.
When His Highness had departed, and that the last scene of this Moldavian comedy had been enacted, we had nothing left to do but to walk the deck, and contemplate the muddiest-looking of all rivers. Unlike the Pasha of Varna, the Hospodar made no inquiry into our wants and wishes, and no offer of the local milk and honey that might have tended to increase our comfort on board; although the Captain of the Ferdinand sent him a bushel basket of magnificent grapes, which, after they had been subjected to repeated immersion, were declared to be non-conductors, and were admitted to pratique accordingly.
It was not until five o’clock in the afternoon of the second day, that the Pannonia anchored beside us; and, as she had to take her coals on board, she could not sail until eight and forty hours after her arrival. The transfer of passengers did not take place until late on the morrow; for when the inferiority of her accommodations became apparent, we of the Ferdinand were in no haste to change our quarters.
We had left Constantinople in a fine, well-kept ship; where a barrier was erected which preserved the after-deck from the intrusion of the inferior passengers: and where the cabins were comfortably fitted up, and supplied in the most liberal manner with every thing that could contribute to the convenience of their occupants; and, although we were quite prepared for less space in the Pannonia, from the fact of her being merely a river boat, we were by no means satisfied on discovering the confusion that existed on her decks; where groups of dirty Turks, and noisy Greeks, were squatted from her funnel to her stern; blocking up the path of the cabin-passengers, and filling their clothes with vermin, and their atmosphere with the fumes of bad tobacco; nor the cheerless discomfort below, where not even a washing-stand had been provided; and we were suddenly thrown upon our own resources for all those little comforts, that from the arrangement of the vessel in which we left the port of Constantinople, we were entitled to expect throughout the voyage. Thus much for the disarray of the Pannonia; and I mention it in order to prepare future travellers on the Danube not to be misled, as we ourselves were by the satisfactory aspect of the Ferdinand, into a belief that such will continue to gladden them on the river; while on the other hand I am bound in justice to add that the table is infinitely better served than that of the first vessel; a fact that may perhaps compensate to many individuals for the absence of those personal comforts of which our own party so bitterly felt the want.
Nor must I omit to make honourable mention of the artiste to whom this department was confided. An Italian by birth, and a wit by nature, as well as a cook by profession, we were indebted to him and his guitar for many a pleasant hour that would otherwise have passed heavily enough. As the dusk grew into darkness, he used to come upon deck with his instrument, and sing Neapolitan buffo songs, with a spirit and gusto that almost convulsed us with laughter. And as we stood about him, listening to his minstrelsy, and looking on the bright moonlight silvering along the river-tide, where it was not overshadowed by the tall trees that fringed the bank beside which we were gliding; and startling with our somewhat noisy merriment the deep silence of those scantily-peopled shores; the effect upon my mind was most extraordinary.