When I quitted the caravansera, I took the road to Bursa[476], leaving that leading to Troy on my left, between the south and west points. There were many high mountains, several of which I had to pass over. I had also two days' journey through forests, after which I traversed a handsome plain, in which are some villages good enough for the country. Half a day's journey from Bursa, we came to one that supplied us with meat and grapes, which last were as fresh as in the time of vintage; this mode of preserving them is a secret they have. The Turks offered me some roast meat; but it was not half dressed, and as the meat was roasting on the spit we cut off slices. We had also some kaymack, or buffalo cream; and it was so good and sweet that I ate of it till I almost burst.
Before we entered this last village, we noticed the arrival of a Turk from Bursa, who had been sent to the wife ofHoyarbarach, to announce to her the death of her father. She showed great grief on the occasion, and I had then, for the first time, an opportunity of seeing her face uncovered. She was a most beautiful woman. There was at this place a renegado slave, a native of Bulgaria, who through affectation of zeal, and to show himself a good Saracen, reproached the Turks of the caravan for having allowed me to be in their company, saying it was sinful in them to do so, who were returning from the holy pilgrimage to Mecca. In consequence, they notified to me that we must separate, and I was obliged to set off for Bursa. I departed, therefore, on the morrow, an hour before day, with the aid of God, who had hitherto conducted me. He now guided me so well, that I never asked my road more than once on the whole way.
On entering the town, I met numbers of people coming out to meet the caravan, for such is the custom. The most considerable look on it as a duty, and it constitutes the festival. Several of them, supposing I was one of the pilgrims, kissed my hands and robe. When I had entered the town, I was greatly embarrassed, for I had come to a square that had four streets opening from it, and I knew not which to take. God again pointed out to me the right one, that which leads to the bazaar, where the merchants reside with their merchandise. I addressed myself to the first Christian I saw, and fortunately he happened to be one of the Espinolis of Genoa, the very person to whom Parvesin of Baruth had given me letters. He was much surprised to see me, and conducted me to the house of a Florentine, where I was lodged, as well as my horse. I remained there ten days, and employed that time in examining the town, being conducted by the merchants, who took great pleasure in so doing.
Of all the towns in the possession of the Turks this is the most considerable. It is of great extent, carries on considerable trade, and is situated at the foot of the north side of Mount Olympus, whence flows a river which, passing through the town, divides itself into several branches, forming, as it were, a number of small towns that make it look larger than it is. It is at Bursa that the Turkish sultans are buried. There are many handsome buildings, and particularly a great number of hospitals, among which there are four, where bread, wine, and meat are frequently distributed to thepoor who will accept of them for the sake of God. At one of the extremities of the town, towards the west, is a handsome and vast castle, built on an eminence that may well contain a thousand houses. There is also the place of the sultan, which they told me was a very delightful place within side, having a garden and pretty pond. The prince had at that time fifty wives; and he often, as they said, amuses himself in a boat with some of them on this piece of water.
Bursa was also the residence of Camurat, bashaw, or, as we should say, governor or lieutenant of Turkey. He is a very brave man, the most active the Turk has, and the most able to conduct any enterprise, which qualities have been the principal cause of his elevation to this lieutenancy. I asked if he governed the country well, and if he knew how to make himself obeyed. I was told that he was obeyed and respected like Amurath himself, and had for his salary fifty thousand ducats a year; and that, when the Turk went to war, he brought him, at his own expense, twenty thousand men; but that he had likewise his pensioners, who in this case were bound to supply him at their charges, one with a thousand men, another with two, another with three thousand, and so on with the rest.
There are in Bursa two bazaars; one where all sorts of silken stuffs, and rich and brilliant diamonds, are sold, great quantities of pearls, and cheap cotton cloths, and a variety of other merchandise, the enumeration of which would be tiresome. In the other bazaar, cotton and white soap are sold, and constitute a great article of commerce. I saw also, in a market-house, a lamentable sight—a public sale of Christians for slaves, both men and women. The custom is to make them sit down on benches, and he who comes to buy sees only the face, the hands, and a little of the arm of the females. I witnessed at Damascus the sale of a young black girl, of not more than fifteen or sixteen years of age; she was led along the streets quite naked, excepting the belly, the hinder parts, and a little below them.
It was at Bursa that I ate, for the first time, caviare and olive oil. This food is only fit for Greeks, and when nothing better can be had. Some days after the return of Hoyarbarach, I went to take leave of him, and to thank him for the means he had procured me of continuing my journey to this place. I found him in the bazaar, seated on an elevatedstone bench, with many of the principal inhabitants of the town. The merchants had accompanied me in this visit: some of them, Florentines by nation, interested themselves on behalf of a Spaniard, who, having been a slave to the sultan, found means to escape from Egypt and come to Bursa. They begged I would take him with me. I carried him at my expense as far as Constantinople, where I left him; but I am persuaded he was a renegade, and I have never heard any thing of him since.
Three Genoese had bought spices from the merchants of the caravan, and intended carrying them for sale to Pera, near Constantinople, and on the other side of the straits, which we call the Straits of St. George. Wishing to take the advantage of their company, I waited for their departure, and for this reason stayed at Bursa, for no one can pass this strait unless he be known. With this view, they procured me a letter from the governor, which I carried with me; but it was useless, for I found means to cross with them. We set out together; but they made me, for greater security, buy a high red hat, with a huvette of iron wire[477], which I wore as far as Constantinople.
On leaving Bursa, we travelled northward over a plain watered by a deep river, which, about four leagues lower down, falls into the gulf between Constantinople and Gallipoli. We had a day's journey among mountains, which wood and a clayey soil made very disagreeable. There was on the road a small tree bearing a fruit somewhat bigger than our largest cherries, and of the shape and taste of strawberries, but a little acid. It is pleasant to eat; but, if a great quantity be eaten, it mounts to the head, and intoxicates. It is ripe in November and December[478].
From the summit of the mountain, the gulf of Gallipoli is visible; and when we had descended it we entered a valley terminated by a very large lake, round which many houses are built. It was there I first saw Turkish carpets made. I passed the night in this valley, which is very fertile in rice. On pursuing our road, we came sometimes to mountains, valleys, pasture-lands, and great forests, which it would be impossible to pass without a guide, and where the horsesplunge so deeply in the soil that they can hardly extricate themselves. I believe, for my part, that is the forest spoken of in the history of Godfrey de Bouillon, which he had such difficulty to traverse. I passed the night on the further side of it, at a village within four leagues of Nicomedia, which is a large town, with a harbour for shipping. This harbour is called Lenguo, and commences at the gulf of Constantinople, and extends to the town, where it is a bow-shot in breadth. All this country is difficult to travel; but beyond Nicomedia, towards Constantinople, it is very fine, and tolerably good travelling. It is more peopled with Greeks than Turks; but these Greeks have a greater aversion to the Latin Christians than the Turks themselves.
I coasted the gulf of Constantinople, and leaving the road to Nicea, a town situated to the southward near the Black Sea, I successively lodged at a village in ruins, inhabited solely by Greeks; then at another near to Scutari; and, lastly, at Scutari itself, on the strait, and opposite to Pera. The Turks guard this passage[479], and receive a toll from all who cross it. It has rocks that would make it easy of defence, if they were fortified. Men and horses can readily embark and disembark. My companions and I crossed in two Greek vessels. The owners of my boat took me for a Turk, and paid me great honours; but when they saw me, after landing, leave my horse at the gate of Pera to be taken care of, and inquire after a Genoese merchant named Christopher Parvesin, to whom I had letters, they suspected I was a Christian. Two of them waited for me at the gate, and when I returned for my horse they demanded more than I had agreed on for my passage, and wanted to cheat me. I believe they would even have struck me, had they dared; I had my sword and my good tarquais, but a Genoese shoemaker who lived hard by, coming to my aid, they were forced to retreat. I mention this as a warning to travellers, who, like me, may have any thing to do with the Greeks. All those with whom I have had any concerns have only made me more suspicious, for I have found more probity in the Turks. These people[480]love not the Christians of the Roman persuasion, and the submissionwhich they have since made to this church was more through self-interest than sincerity[481]. Therefore I have been told that, a little before I came to Constantinople, the pope, in a general council, had declared them schismatics and accursed, and had devoted them to be the slaves of slaves[482].
Pera is a large town, inhabited by Greeks, Jews, and Genoese; the last are masters of it, under the duke of Milan, who styles himself Lord of Pera. It has a podestat and other officers, who govern it after their manner. A great commerce is carried on with the Turks; but the latter have a singular privilege, namely, that should any of their slaves run away, and seek an asylum in Pera, they must be given up. The port is the handsomest of all that I have seen, and I believe I may add, of any in the possession of the Christians, for the largest Genoese vessels may lie alongside the quays; but, as all the world knows this, I shall not say more. It, however, seems to me, that on the land side and near the church, in the vicinity of the gate at the extremity of the haven, the place is weak.
I met at Pera an ambassador from the duke of Milan, named Sir Benedicto de Fourlino. The duke, wanting the support of the emperor Sigismond against the Venetians, and seeing Sigismond embarrassed with the defence of his kingdom of Hungary against the Turks, had sent an embassy to Amurath, to negotiate a peace between the two princes. Sir Benedicto, in honour of my lord of Burgundy, gave me a gracious reception. He even told me, that to do mischief to the Venetians he had contributed to make them lose Salonica, taken from them by the Turks; and certainly in this he actedso much the worse, for I have since seen the inhabitants of that town deny Jesus Christ and embrace the Mohammedan religion.
There was also at Pera a Neapolitan, called Peter of Naples, with whom I was acquainted. He said he was married in the country of Prester John, and made many efforts to induce me to go thither with him. I questioned him much respecting this country, and he told me many things which I shall here insert, but I know not whether what he said be the truth, and shall not therefore warrant any part of it[483].
Two days after my arrival at Pera, I crossed the haven to Constantinople, to visit that city. It is large and spacious, having the form of a triangle; one side is bounded by the Straits of St. George, another towards the south by the bay, which extends as far as Gallipoli, and on the north side is the port. There are, it is said, three large towns on the earth, each inclosing seven hills,—Rome, Constantinople, and Antioch. Rome is, I think, larger and more compact than Constantinople. As for Antioch, as I only saw it when passing by, I cannot speak of its size; its hills, however, appeared to me higher than those of the two others.
They estimate the circuit of the city of Constantinople at eighteen miles, a third of which is on the land side towards the west. It is well inclosed with walls, particularly on the land side. This extent, estimated at six miles from one angle to the other, has likewise a deep ditch,en glacis, excepting for about two hundred paces at one of its extremities, near the palace called Blaquerne. I was assured that the Turks had failed in their attempt to take the town at this weak part. Fifteen or twenty feet in front of this ditch is a false bray of a good and high wall. At the two extremities of this line were formerly handsome palaces, which, if we may judge from their present ruins, were also very strong. I was told they had been destroyed by an emperor, when taken prisoner by the Turks and in danger of his life. The conqueror insistedon his surrendering Constantinople, and, in case of refusal, threatened to put him to death. The other replied, that he preferred death to the disgrace of afflicting Christendom by so great a loss, and that his death would be nothing in comparison. When the Turk saw he could gain nothing by this means, he offered him his liberty on condition that the square in front of St. Sophia should be demolished, with the two palaces. His project was thus to weaken the town, that he might the more easily take it. The emperor accepted his offers, the proof of which exists at this day.
Constantinople is formed of many separate parts, so that it contains several open spaces to a greater extent than those built on. The largest vessels can anchor under its walls, as at Pera; it has, beside, a small harbour in the interior, capable of containing three or four galleys. This is situated to the southward, near a gate, where a hillock is pointed out composed of bones of the Christians, who, after the conquests of Jerusalem and Acre, by Godfrey de Bouillon, were returning by this strait. When the Greeks had ferried them over, they conducted them to this place, which is remote and secret, where they were murdered. The whole, although a very numerous body, would have thus perished, had not a page found means to re-cross to Asia, and inform them of the danger that awaited them. On this, they spread themselves on the shores of the Black Sea; and from them are said to be descended those rude Christians who inhabit that part of the country—Circassians, Mingrelians, Ziques, Gothlans, and Anangats. But, as this is an old story, I know of it no more than what was told me.
The city has many handsome churches, but the most remarkable and principal is that of St. Sophia, where the patriarch resides, with others of the rank of canons. It is of a circular shape, situated near the eastern point, and formed of three different parts; one subterraneous, another above the ground, and a third over that. Formerly it was surrounded by cloisters, and was three miles, as they say, in circumference. It is now of smaller extent, and only three cloisters remain, all paved, and incrusted with squares of white marble, and ornamented with large columns of various colours[484]. Thegates are remarkable for their breadth and height, and are of brass. This church, they say, possesses one of the robes of our Lord, the end of the lance that pierced his side, the sponge that was offered him to drink from, and the reed that was put into his hand. I can only say, that behind the choir, I was shown the gridiron on which St. Laurence was broiled, and a large stone in the shape of a wash-stand, on which they say Abraham gave the angels to eat, when they were going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. I was curious to witness the manner of the Greeks' performing divine service, and went to St. Sophia on a day when the patriarch officiated. The emperor was present, accompanied by his wife, his mother, and his brother, the despot of the Morea[485]. A mystery was represented, the subject of which was the three youths whom Nebuchadnezzar had ordered to be thrown into the fiery furnace[486].
The empress, daughter to the emperor of Trebisonde, seemed very handsome, but as I was at a distance I wished to have a nearer view; and I was also desirous to see how she mounted her horse, for it was thus she had come to the church, attended only by two ladies, three old men, ministers of state, and three of that species of men to whose guard the Turks intrust their wives. On coming out of St. Sophia, she went into an adjoining house to dine, which obliged me to wait until she returned to her palace, and consequently to pass the whole day without eating or drinking. At length she appeared. A bench was brought forth and placed near her horse, which was superb, and had a magnificent saddle. When she had mounted the bench, one of the old men took the long mantle she wore, passed to the opposite side of the horse, and held it in his hands extended as high as he could; during this, she put her foot in the stirrup, and bestrode the horse like a man. When she was in her seat, the old man cast the mantle over her shoulders; after which, one of those long hats with a point, so common in Greece, was given to her; it was ornamentedat one of the extremities with three golden plumes, and was very becoming. I was so near that I was ordered to fall back, and, consequently, had a full view of her. She wore in her ears broad and flat rings, set with several precious stones, especially rubies. She looked young and fair, and handsomer than when in church. In one word, I should not have had a fault to find with her, had she not been painted, and assuredly she had not any need of it. The two ladies mounted their horses at the same time that she did; they were both handsome, and wore, like her, mantles and hats. The company returned to the palace of Blaquerne.
In the front of St. Sophia is a large and handsome square, surrounded with walls like a palace, where games were performed in ancient times[487]. I saw the brother of the emperor, the despot of the Morea, exercising himself there, with a score of other horsemen. Each had a bow, and they galloped along the inclosure, throwing their hats before them, which, when they had passed, they shot at; and he who with his arrow pierced his hat, or was nearest to it, was esteemed the most expert. This exercise they had adopted from the Turks, and it was one of which they were endeavouring to make themselves masters.
On this side, near the point of the angle, is the beautiful church of St. George, which has, fronting Turkey in Asia, a tower at the narrowest part of the straits. On the other side, to the westward, is a very high square column, with characters traced on it, and bearing on the summit an equestrian statue of Constantine, in bronze. He holds a sceptre in his left hand, with his right extended towards Turkey in Asia, and the road to Jerusalem, as if to denote that the whole of that country was under his government. Near this column are three others, placed in a line, and of one single piece, bearing three gilt horses, now at Venice[488].
In the pretty church of the Panthéacrator, occupied by Greek monks, who are what we should call in France Grey Franciscan Friars, I was shown a stone or table of divers colours, which Nicodemus had caused to be cut for his own tomb, and which he made use of to lay out the body of our Lord, when he took him down from the cross. During this operation the virgin was weeping over the body, buther tears, instead of remaining on it, fell on the stone, and they are all now to be seen upon it. I at first took them for drops of wax, and touched them with my hand, and then bended down to look at them horizontally, and against the light, when they seemed to me like drops of congealed water. This is a thing that may have been seen by many persons as well as myself. In the same church are the tombs of Constantine and of St. Helena, his mother, raised each about eight feet high on a column, having its summit terminated in a point, cut into four sides, in the fashion of a diamond. It is reported that the Venetians, while in power at Constantinople, took the body of St. Helena from its tomb, and carried it to Venice, where they say it is now entire. It is added, that they attempted the same thing in regard to the body of Constantine, but could not succeed; and this is probable enough, for to this day two broken parts are to be seen, where they made the attempt. The two tombs are of red jasper.
In the church of St. Apostola is shown the broken shaft of the column to which our Saviour was fastened when he was beaten with rods, by order of Pilate. This shaft, longer than the height of a man, is of the same stone with the two others that I have seen, at Rome and at Jerusalem; but this exceeds in size the other two put together. There are likewise in the same church, in wooden coffins, many holy bodies, very entire, and any one that chooses may see them. One of them had his head cut off, and that of another saint has been given him. The Greeks, however, have not the like devotion that we have for these relics. It is the same in respect to the stone of Nicodemus and the pillar of our Lord, which last is simply inclosed by planks, and placed upright near one of the columns on the right hand of the great entrance at the front of the church.
Among the fine churches, I shall mention one more as remarkable, namely, that called Blaquerne, from being near the imperial palace, which, although small and badly roofed, has paintings, with a pavement and incrustations of marble. I doubt not but there may be others worthy of notice, but I was unable to visit them all. The Latin merchants have one situated opposite to the passage to Pera, where mass is daily said after the Roman manner.
There are merchants from all nations in this city, but none so powerful as the Venetians, who have a bailiff toregulate all their affairs, independent of the emperor and his officers. This privilege they have enjoyed for a long time[489]. It is even said, that they have twice by their galleys saved the town from the Turks; but, for my part, I believe that God has spared it, more for the holy relics it contains than for any thing else. The Turks have also an officer to superintend their commerce, who, like the Venetian bailiff, is independent of the emperor; they have even the privilege, that if one of their slaves shall run away, and take refuge within the city, on their demanding him, the emperor is bound to give him up.
This prince must be under great subjection to the Turk, since he pays him, as I am told, a tribute of ten thousand ducats annually; and this sum is only for Constantinople, for beyond that town he possesses nothing but a castle situated three leagues to the north, and in Greece a small city called Salubria.
I was lodged with a Catalonian merchant, who having told one of the officers of the palace that I was attached to my lord of Burgundy, the emperor caused me to be asked if it were true that the duke had taken the Maid of Orleans, which the Greeks would scarcely believe. I told them truly how the matter had passed, at which they were greatly astonished[490].
The merchants informed me, that on Candlemas-day there would be a solemn service performed in the afternoon, similar to what we perform on that day, and they conducted me thither. The emperor was at one end of the hall, seated on a cushion. The empress saw the ceremony from a window in an upper apartment. The chaplains who chant the service are strangely ornamented and dressed; they sing the service by heart, "selon leurs dois."
Some days after, they carried me to see a feast given on account of the marriage of one of the emperor's relations. There was a tournament after the manner of the country, but which appeared very strange to me. I will describe it. In the middle of a square they had planted, like a quintain,a large pole, to which was fastened a plank three feet wide and five feet long. Forty cavaliers advanced to the spot, without any arms or armour whatever but a short stick. They at first amused themselves by running after each other, which lasted for about half an hour; then from sixty to fourscore rods of elder were brought, of the thickness and length of those we use for thatching. The bridegroom first took one, and set off full gallop towards the plank, to break it; as it shook in his hand, he broke it with ease, when shouts of joy resounded, and the instruments of music, namely, nacaires, like those of the Turks, began to play. Each of the other cavaliers broke their wands in the same manner. Then the bridegroom tied two of them together, which in truth were not too strong, and broke them without being wounded[491]. Thus ended the feast, and every one returned to his home safe and sound. The emperor and empress had been spectators of it from a window.
My intentions were to leave Constantinople with this Sir Benedict de Fourlino, who, as I have said, had been sent ambassador to the Turk by the duke of Milan. There was a gentleman named Jean Visconti, and seven other persons in his company, with ten led horses; for when a traveller passes through Greece, he must absolutely carry every necessary with him.
I departed from Constantinople the 23rd of January, 1433, and first came to the pass of Rigory, which was formerly tolerably strong; it is formed in a valley through which runs an arm of the sea, twenty miles long. There was a tower, but the Turks have destroyed it. In this place there remains a bridge, a causeway, and a Greek village. In the way to Constantinople by land, there is but this pass, and another lower down, still more dangerous, on a river which there discharges itself into the sea. From Rigory I went to Thiras, inhabited also by Greeks; it has been a good town, and a pass as strong as the preceding one, being formed in like manner by the sea. At each end of the bridge there was a large tower; but tower and town have been entirely destroyed by the Turks.
I went from Thiras to Salubria. This town, two days' journey from Constantinople, is situated on the gulf that extends from this place as far as Gallipoli, and has a small harbour. The Turks could never take it, although it is not strong toward the sea. It belongs to the emperor, as well as the whole country hitherto; but this country is completely ruined, and has but poor villages. Thence I came to Chorleu, formerly considerable, destroyed by the Turks, and now inhabited by them and Greeks. Next to Chorleu is Misterio, a small inclosed place, inhabited only by Greeks, with one single Turk, to whom his prince has given it. From Misterio we came to Pirgasy, where there are none but Turks. The walls have been thrown down. Zambry is the next place to Pirgasy, and is equally destroyed.
We next came to Adrianople, a large commercial town, very populous, and situated on a great river called the Mariza, six days' journey from Constantinople. This is the strongest town possessed by the Turk in Greece, and here he chiefly resides. The lieutenant or governor of Greece lives here also; and many merchants from Venice, Catalonia, Genoa, and Florence are likewise residents. The country from Constantinople hither is good and well watered, but thinly peopled, having fertile valleys that produce every thing but wood. The Turk was at Lessère[492], a large town in Pyrre, near to Pharsalia, where the decisive battle was fought between Cæsar and Pompey, and Sir Benedict took the road thither to wait on him. We crossed the Mariza in a boat, and shortly after met fifty women of the Turk's seraglio, attended by about sixteen eunuchs, who told us they were escorting them to Adrianople, whither their master proposed soon following them.
We came to Dymodique[493], a good town, inclosed with a double wall. It is defended on one side by a river, and on the other by a large and strong castle, constructed on an elevation which is almost round, and which may contain within its extent three hundred houses. In the castle is a dungeon, wherein I was told the Turk keeps his treasure. From Demetica we came to Ypsala[494]; it has been a tolerable town, but is totally destroyed. I crossed the Mariza a second time.It is two days' journey from Adrianople, and the country throughout was marshy, and difficult for the horses.
Ayne[495], beyond Ypsala, is on the sea-shore, and at the mouth of the Mariza, which at this place is full two miles wide. When Troy flourished this was a powerful city, and had a king; at present its lord is brother to the lord of Matelin, and tributary to the Turk. On the circular hillock is the tomb of Polydore, the youngest of the sons of Priam. The father had sent this son during the siege of Troy, to the king of Eno, with much treasure; but, after the destruction of Troy, the king, as much through fear of the Greeks as the wish to possess this treasure, put the young prince to death.
At Eno, I crossed the Mariza in a large vessel and came to Macri, another maritime town to the westward of the first, and inhabited by Turks and Greeks. It is near to the island of Samandra[496], which belongs to the lord of Eno, and seems to have been formerly considerable; at present the whole of it is in ruins excepting a part of the castle. Caumissin, whither we came next, after having traversed a mountain, has good walls, which make it sufficiently strong although it is small. It is situated on a brook, in a fine flat country, inclosed by mountains to the westward; and this plain extends for five or six days' journey, to Lessère. Missy was equally strong, and well fortified, but part of its walls are thrown down and every thing within is destroyed; it is uninhabited.
Peritoq, an ancient town, and formerly considerable, is seated on a gulf which runs inland about forty miles, beginning at Monte Santo, where are such numbers of monks. The inhabitants are Greeks, and it is defended by good walls, which have, however, many breaches in them. Thence to Lessère, the road leads over an extensive plain. It was near Lessère, they say, that the grand battle of Pharsalia was fought.
We did not proceed to this last town; for hearing the Turk was on the road we waited for him at Yamgbatsar, a village constructed by his subjects. When he travels, his escort consists of four or five hundred horse; but, as he is passionately fond of hawking, the greater part of his troop was composedof falconers and goshawk-trainers, a people that are great favourites with him; and it is said that he keeps more than two thousand of them. Having this passion, he travels very short days' journeys, which are to him more an object of amusement and pleasure. He entered Yamgbatsar in a shower of rain, having only fifty horsemen attending him and a dozen archers, his slaves, walking on foot before him. His dress was a robe of crimson velvet, lined with sable, and on his head he wore, like the Turks, a red hat; to save himself from the rain, he had thrown over this robe another, in the manner of a mantle, after the fashion of the country.
He was encamped in a pavilion which had been brought with him; for lodgings are nowhere to be met with, nor any provision, except in the large towns, so that travellers are obliged to carry all things with them. He had numbers of camels and other beasts of burden. In the afternoon he came out of his pavilion to go to the bath, and I saw him at my ease. He was on horseback, with the same hat and crimson robe, attended by six persons on foot. I heard him speak to his attendants, and he seemed to have a deep-toned voice. He is about twenty-eight or thirty years old, and is already very fat.
The ambassador sent one of his attendants to ask him if he could have an audience, and present him the gifts he had brought. He made answer, that, being now occupied with his pleasures, he would not listen to any matters of business; that, besides, his bashaws were absent; that the ambassador must wait for them, or return to Adrianople. Sir Benedict accepted the latter proposal, and consequently we returned to Caumissin, whence, having repassed the mountain I have spoken of, we entered a road formed between two high rocks, and through them flows a river. A strong castle, called Coloung, had been built on one of these rocks for its defence, but it is now in ruins. The mountain is partly covered with wood, and is inhabited by a wicked race of assassins.
At length we arrived at Trajanopoly, a town built by the emperor Trajan, who did many things worthy of record. He was the son of the founder of Adrianople; and the Saracens say that he had an ear like to that of a sheep[497]. This townwas very large, near to the sea and the Mariza; but now nothing is seen but ruins, with a few inhabitants. A mountain rises to the east of it, and the sea lies on the south. One of its baths bears the name of Holy Water. Further on is Vyra, an ancient castle, demolished in many places. A Greek told me the church had three hundred canons attached to it. The choir is still remaining, but the Turks have converted it into a mosque. They have also surrounded the castle with a considerable town, inhabited by them and Greeks. It is seated on a mountain, near the Mariza.
On leaving Vyra, we met the lieutenant of Greece, whom the Turk had sent for, and he was on his road to him with a troop of one hundred and twenty horse. He is a handsome man, a native of Bulgaria, and had been the slave of his master; but as he has the talent of drinking hard, the prince gave him the government of Greece, with a revenue of fifty thousand ducats. Demetica, on my return, appeared much larger and handsomer than I thought it the first time; and, if it be true that the Turk has there deposited his treasure, he is certainly in the right to do so.
We were forced to wait eleven days in Adrianople. At length he arrived, on the first day of Lent. The mufti, who is with them what the pope is to us, went out to meet him, accompanied by the principal persons of the town, who formed a long procession. He was already near the town when they met him, but had halted to take some refreshment, and had sent forward part of his attendants. He did not make his entry until night-fall.
During my stay at Adrianople I had the opportunity of making acquaintance with several persons who had resided at his court, and consequently knew him well, and who told me many particulars about him. In the first place, as I have seen him frequently, I shall say that he is a little, short, thick man, with the physiognomy of a Tartar. He has a broad and brown face, high cheek bones, a round beard, a great and crooked nose, with little eyes; but they say he is kind, good, generous, and willingly gives away lands and money. Hisrevenues are two millions and a half of ducats, including twenty-five thousand received as tribute-money[498]. Besides, when he raises an army, it not only costs him nothing, but he gains by it; for the troops that are brought him from Turkey in Europe, pay at Gallipoli, the comarch, which is three aspers for each man, and five for each horse. It is the same at the passage of the Danube. Whenever his soldiers go on an expedition, and make a capture of slaves, he has the right of choosing one out of every five. He is, nevertheless, thought not to love war, and this seems to me well founded. He has, in fact, hitherto met with such trifling resistance from Christendom that, were he to employ all his power and wealth on this object, it would be easy for him to conquer great part of it[499]. His favourite pleasures are hunting and hawking; and he has, as they say, upwards of a thousand hounds, and two thousand trained hawks of different sorts, of which I have seen very many. He loves liquor and those who drink hard; as for himself, he can easily quaff off from ten to twelve gondils of wine, which amount to six or seven quarts[500]. When he has drunk much, he becomes generous, and distributes his great gifts; his attendants, therefore, are very happy when they hear him call for wine. Last year, a Moor took it into his head to preach to him on this subject, admonishing him that wine was forbidden by the prophet, and that those who drank it were not good Saracens. The only answer the prince gave was to order him to prison: he then banished him his territories, with orders never again to set his foot on them. He unites to his love for women a tastefor boys, and has three hundred of the former and about thirty of the latter, which he prefers, and when they are grown up he recompenses them with rich presents and lordships. One of them he married to a sister of his, with an annual income of 25,000 ducats. Some persons estimate his treasure at half a million of ducats, others at a million. This is exclusive of his plate, his slaves, the jewels for his women, which last article is estimated alone at a million of gold. I am convinced that if he would for one year abstain from thus giving away blindly, and hold his hand, he would lay by a million of ducats without wronging any one.
Every now and then he makes great and remarkable examples of justice, which procures him perfect obedience at home and abroad. He likewise knows how to keep his country in an excellent state of defence, without oppressing his Turkish subjects by taxes or other modes of extortion. His household is composed of five thousand persons, as well horse as foot; but in war-time he does not augment their pay, so that he does not expend more than in time of peace, contrary to what happens in other nations. His principal officers are three bashaws, or visir bashaws. The visir is a counsellor; the bashaw a sort of chief, or lieutenant. These three have the charge of all that concerns himself or his household, and no one can speak with him but through them. When he is in Greece, the lieutenant of Greece has the superintendence of the army; and when in Turkey, the lieutenant of Turkey. He has given away great possessions, but he may resume them at pleasure. Besides, those to whom they have been given are bound to serve him in war, with a certain number of troops, at their own expense.
It is thus that Greece annually supplies him with thirty thousand men, whom he may lead whither he pleases; and Turkey ten thousand, for whom he only finds provisions. Should he want a more considerable army, Greece alone, as they tell me, can then furnish him with one hundred and twenty thousand more; but he is obliged to pay for these. The pay is five aspers for the infantry, and eight for the cavalry. I have, however, heard, that of these hundred and twenty thousand there was but half, that is to say, the cavalry, that were properly equipped, and well armed with tarquais and sword; the rest were composed of men on foot miserably accoutered; some having swords without bows, others withoutswords, bows, or any arms whatever, many having only staves. It is the same with the infantry supplied by Turkey, one-half armed with staves. This Turkish infantry is nevertheless more esteemed than the Greek, and considered as better soldiers.
Other persons, whose testimony I regard as authentic, have since told me, that the troops Turkey is obliged to furnish, when the prince wants to form an army, amount to thirty thousand men, and those from Greece to twenty, without including two or three thousand slaves of his own, whom he arms well. Among these slaves are many Christians; and there are likewise numbers of them among the troops from Greece, Albanians, Bulgarians, and from other countries. In the last army from Greece, there were three thousand Servian horse, which the despot of the province had sent under the command of one of his sons. It was with great regret that these people came to serve him, but they dared not refuse.
The bashaws arrived at Adrianople three days after their lord, bringing with them part of his people and his baggage. This baggage consists of about a hundred camels, and two hundred and fifty mules and sumpter horses, as the nation does not use wagons.
Sir Benedict was impatient to have an audience, and made inquiries of the bashaws if he could see the prince: their answer was a negative. The reason of this refusal was, that they had been drinking with him, and were all intoxicated. They, however, sent on the morrow to the ambassador to let him know they were visible, when he instantly waited on each with his presents; for such is the custom of the country, that no one can speak to them without bringing something; even the slaves who guard their gates are not exempted from it. I accompanied him on this visit. On the following day, in the afternoon, he was informed that he might come to the palace. He instantly mounted his horse to go thither with his attendants, and I joined the company; but we were all on foot, he alone being on horseback.
In front of the court we found a great number of men and horses. The gate was guarded by about thirty slaves, under the command of a chief, armed with staves. Should any person offer to enter without permission, they bid him retire: if he persist, they drive him away with their staves. What we call the court of the king, the Turks call "Porte du Seigneur."[501]Every time the prince receives a message or an embassy, which happens almost daily, "il fait porte." "Faire porte," is for him the same as when our kings of France hold royal state and open court, although there is much difference between the two ceremonies, as I shall presently show.
When the ambassador had entered, they made him sit down near the gate, with many other persons who were waiting for the prince to quit his apartment and hold his court. The three bashaws first entered, with the governor of Greece and others of the great lords. His chamber looked into a very large court; the governor went thither to wait for him. At length he appeared. His dress was, as usual, a crimson satin robe, over which he had, by way of mantle, another of green figured satin, lined with sable. His young boys accompanied him, but no further than to the entrance of the apartment, when they returned. There was nobody with him but a small dwarf, and two young persons who acted the part of fools[502]. He walked across an angle of the court to a gallery, where a seat had been prepared for him. It was a kind of couch covered with velvet, and four or five steps to mount to it. He seated himself on it, like to our tailors when they are going to work, and the three bashaws took their places a little way from him. The other officers, who on these days make part of the attendants, likewise entered the gallery, and posted themselves along the walls as far from him as they could. Without, but fronting him, were twenty Wallachian gentlemen seated, who had been detained by him as hostages for the good conduct of their countrymen. Within this apartment were placed about a hundred dishes of tin, each containing a piece of mutton and rice. When all were placed, a lord from Bosnia was introduced, who pretended that the crown of that country belonged to him, and came in consequence to do homage for it to the Turk, and ask succour from him against the present king. He was conducted to a seat near the bashaws; and, when his attendants had made their appearance, the ambassador from Milan was sent for. He advanced, followed by his presents, which were set down near the tin dishes. Persons appointed to receive them raisedthem above their heads, as high as they could, that the prince and his court might see them. While this was passing, sir Benedict walked slowly toward the gallery. A person of distinction came to introduce him.
On entering, he made a reverence without taking off the bonnet from his head, and when near the steps of the couch he made another very low one. The prince then rose, descended two steps to come nearer to the ambassador, and took him by the hand. The ambassador wished to kiss his hand, but he refused it; and by means of a Jew interpreter, who understood the Turkish and Italian languages, asked how his good brother and neighbour the duke of Milan was in health. The ambassador having replied to this question, he was conducted to a seat near the Bosnian, but walking backwards, with his face towards the prince, according to the custom of the country. The prince waited to reseat himself, until the ambassador had sat down; then the different officers on duty who were in the apartment sat down on the floor; and the person who had introduced the ambassador went to seek for us his attendants, and placed us near the Bosnians.
In the meantime a silken napkin was attached to the prince, and a round piece of thin red leather was placed before him, for their usage is to eat only from table-coverings of leather; then some dressed meat was brought to him in two gilded dishes. When he was served, his officers went and took the tin dishes I have spoken of, and distributed them to the persons in the hall, one dish among four. There was in each a piece of mutton, and some clear rice, but neither bread nor any thing to drink. I saw, however, in a corner of the court a high buffet with shelves, which had some little plate on them, and at the foot was a large silver vase, in the shape of a drinking cup, which I perceived many to drink out of, but whether water or wine I know not. With regard to the meat on the dishes, some tasted of it, others not; but, before all were served, it was necessary to take away, for the prince had not been inclined to eat. He never takes any thing in public, and there are very few persons who can boast of having heard him speak, or of having seen him eat or drink. On his going away, the musicians, who were placed in the court near the buffet, began to play. They played on instruments, and sung songs that celebrated the heroic actions of Turkish warriors. When those in the gallery heard anything that pleased them, they shouted, after their manner, most horrid cries. Being ignorant on what they were playing, I went into the court, and saw they were stringed instruments, and of a large size. The musicians entered the apartment, and ate whatever they could find. At length the meat was taken away, when every one rose up, and the ambassador retired without having said a word respecting his embassy, which is never customary at a first audience. There is also another custom, that when an ambassador has been presented to the prince, this latter, until he shall have given him his answer, sends him wherewith to pay his daily expenses, and the sum is two hundred aspers. On the morrow, therefore, one of the officers of the treasury, the same who had conducted sir Benedict to the court, came to him with the above sum. Shortly after, the slaves who guarded the gate came for what is usually given them; they are, however, satisfied with a little.
On the third day, the bashaws let the ambassador know, they were ready to learn from him the subject of his embassy. He immediately went to the court, and I accompanied him; but the prince had closed his audience, and was just retired, and only the three bashaws, with the beguelar or governor of Greece, were now remaining. When we had passed the gate, we found these four seated on a piece of wood that happened to be outside of the gallery. They sent to desire the ambassador would come forward, and had a carpet placed on the ground before them, on which they made him seat himself, like to a criminal before his judge, notwithstanding there were present great numbers of people. He explained to them the object of his mission, which was, as I heard, to entreat their lord, on the part of the duke of Milan, to consent to yield up, to the Roman emperor Sigismond, Hungary, Wallachia, Bulgaria, as far as Sophia, Bosnia, and the part of Albania he now possessed, which was dependant on Sclavonia. They replied they could not at that moment inform the prince of his request, as he was occupied; but that within ten days he should have his answer, if they should then have received it from him. There is likewise another custom; that from the time when an ambassador is announced as such, he can never speak with the prince personally. This regulation was made since the grandfather of the present prince was murdered by an ambassador from Servia. That envoyhad come to solicit from him some alleviation in favour of his countrymen, whom the prince wanted to reduce to slavery. In despair at not obtaining his object, he stabbed him, and was himself massacred the instant after[503].
On the tenth day we went to the court to receive the answer. The prince was there, as at the first time, seated on his couch; but he had with him in the gallery only those that served his table. I saw neither buffet, minstrels, nor the lord of Bosnia, nor the Wallachians, but only Magnoly, brother to the duke of Cephalonia, whose manners to the prince were those of a respectful servant. Even the bashaws were without, and standing at a distance, as well as the greater part of the persons whom I had before seen in the interior, but their number was much lessened. During the time we were made to wait without, the chief cadi, with his assessors, administered justice at the outward gate of the palace, when I saw some foreign Christians come to plead their cause before him: but, when the prince rose up, the judges ended their sittings and retired to their homes. I saw the prince pass with his attendants to the great court, which I was unable to do the first time. He wore a robe of cloth of gold and green, somewhat rich, and he seemed to me to have a hasty step. When he had re-entered his apartments, the bashaws, seated as on the preceding day on the piece of wood,sent for the ambassador. Their answer was that their master charged him to salute, in his name, his brother the duke of Milan; that he was very desirous of doing much for him, but that his present request was unreasonable; that from regard to him their prince had frequently abstained from pushing his conquests further in Hungary, which he might easily have done, and such a sacrifice ought to satisfy him; that it would be too hard for him to surrender all he had won by the sword; and that, in the present circumstances, he and his soldiers had no other theatre to occupy their courage besides the territories of the emperor, and that he should be the more unwilling to renounce them, because hitherto he had never met the emperor's forces without beating them, or putting them to flight, as was well known to all the world.
The ambassador, in fact, knew this personally, for, in the last defeat of Sigismond before Couloubath, he had witnessed his disaster: he had even, the night preceding the battle, quitted his camp, to wait on the Turk. In our conversations, he told me many particulars on this subject. I saw also two Genoese cross-bowmen, who related to me how the emperor and his army had repassed the Danube in his galleys.
The ambassador, having received his answer from the bashaws, returned to his lodgings; but he was scarcely arrived, when he received, on the part of the sultan, five thousand aspers, with a robe of crimson camocas lined with yellow calimanco. Thirty-six aspers are worth a Venetian ducat; but, of the five thousand aspers, the treasurer deducted ten per cent. as fees of office. I saw also, during my stay at Adrianople, a present of another sort, made likewise by the sultan to a bride on her wedding day. This bride was daughter to the Begler Bey, governor of Greece; and the daughter of one of the bashaws, attended by upwards of thirty other women, had been charged to offer it. Her dress was of crimson tissue and gold: her face was covered, according to custom, with a very rich veil ornamented with diamonds. The attendant ladies had magnificent veils, and their dresses were robes of crimson velvet, and robes of cloth of gold without fur. They were all on horseback, riding astride like men, and some of them had superb saddles. In front of the procession marched thirteen or fourteen horsemen, and two minstrels also on horseback, as well as other musicians carrying a trumpet, a very large drum, and about eight pairs of cymbals,which altogether made a most abominable noise. After the musicians came the present, and then the ladies. This present consisted of seventy broad platters of tin loaded with different sorts of sweetmeats, wet and dry, and of twenty other platters having on them sheep skinned, painted red and white, and all had a silver ring suspended from the nose, and two others in the ears. I had an opportunity of seeing, while at Adrianople, numbers of Christians chained, who were brought thither for sale. They begged for alms in the street; but my heart bleeds when I think of the shocking hardships they suffer.
We left that town on the 12th of March, under the escort of a slave whom the sultan had ordered to accompany the ambassador. This man was of great utility to us on the road, more especially in regard to lodgings—for, wherever he demanded any thing for us, it was eagerly and instantly granted. Our first day's journey was through a beautiful country ascending the Mariza, which we crossed at a ferry; the second, though the roads were good, was employed in passing through woods. At length we entered Macedonia, between two mountains opening to an extensive plain, which may be forty miles wide, and is watered by the Mariza. I there met fifteen men and ten women chained by the neck, inhabitants of Bosnia, whom the Turks had just carried off in an excursion which they had made thither. Two Turks were leading them for sale to Adrianople.
Shortly after, we arrived at Philopopoli, the capital of Macedonia, and built by king Philip. It is situated in a plain on the Mariza, in an excellent country, where all sorts of provision are sold very cheap. It was formerly a considerable town, and indeed is so now. Within it are three mountains, two of which are at one of its extremities toward the southward, and the other in the centre. On this last had been constructed a large castle, in the form of a crescent, now destroyed. I was shown the situation of king Philip's palace, which has been demolished, but the walls still remain. Philopopoli is inhabited chiefly by Bulgarians, who follow the Greek ritual.
I crossed the Mariza by a bridge, on leaving Philopopoli, and rode a whole day over the plain I mentioned: it terminates at a mountain sixteen or twenty miles in length, covered with wood. This place was in former times infested byrobbers, and very dangerous to pass. The Turk has ordered that whoever inhabits these parts shall be free: in consequence, two villages have been erected and inhabited by Bulgarians, in one of which, situated on the confines of Bulgaria and Macedonia, I passed the night. Having crossed the mountain, we came to a plain six miles long by two broad—then to a forest sixteen miles in length—then to another great plain wholly shut in by mountains, well peopled with Bulgarians, and having a river running through it.
After three days' journey, I came at last to a town named Sophia, which had been very considerable, as may be judged from the ruins of its walls, now thrown down; but it is at present the best in Bulgaria. It has a small castle, and is situated near a mountain on the southward, and at the beginning of a great plain sixty miles long by ten wide. The inhabitants are chiefly Bulgarians, as in the adjacent villages. The Turks are few in number, which causes the others to feel the greatest desire to throw off their yoke, if they could find any to assist them. I saw some Turks return from an excursion to Hungary; and a Genoese, named Nicolas Ciba, told me he had also seen those who had crossed the Danube return, and that there was not one in ten that had both bow and sword: for my part, of those I saw there were many more that had neither bow nor sword than those who were armed with both. The best equipped had a small wooden target. In truth, we must confess that it is a great shame for Christendom to suffer itself to be subjugated by such a race, for they are much below what is thought of them.
On quitting Sophia I traversed fifty miles of the plain I spoke of. The country is well inhabited by Bulgarians of the Greek religion. I then passed through a mountainous country, tolerably good for travelling on horseback, and came to a little town in a plain on the Nissave, called Pirotte. It is uninclosed, but has a small castle, defended on one side by the river, on the other by a marsh: to the north is a mountain. It is inhabited by Turks only. Beyond Pirotte the country is again mountainous, when, after a circuit, we came again to the Nissave, which runs through a beautiful valley between two tolerably high hills. At the foot of one of them was the town of Ysvouriere, now totally destroyed, even to the walls. We followed the banks of the river through the valley, and came to another mountain, difficult to pass, althoughcars and carts do go over it. We then arrived at an agreeable valley, still watered by the Nissave, which having crossed by a bridge, we entered Nissa. This town had a handsome castle that belonged to the despot of Servia. The Turk took it, five years ago, by storm, and entirely destroyed it. The situation is in a delightful country, abounding in rice. I continued to follow the river from Nissa, through a country equally pleasant, and well filled with villages. I at last crossed it at a ferry, and saw it no more. The mountains now commenced, and I had a long miry forest to pass, and, after ten days' journey from Adrianople, arrived at Corsebech[504], a small town situated a mile distant from the Morava.
The Morava is a large river that runs from Bosnia, and divides Bulgaria from La Rascia, or Servia, a province which indifferently bears these two names, and which the Turk conquered six years ago. Corsebech had a small castle, now demolished: it has still a double wall, but the other parts, as far as the battlements, have been thrown down. I found there Cénasin Bey, captain or commandant of this vast frontier country, that extends from Wallachia as far as Sclavonia. He resides part of the year in this town; and they told me he was originally a Greek, who did not drink wine like other Turks; that he was prudent and brave, and knew how to make himself feared and obeyed. The Turk has intrusted him with the government of this country, of which he possesses the greater part as his own property. He suffers no one to cross the river, unless they be known to him, or unless they be bearers of letters from his master, or, in his absence, from the governor of Greece. We saw there a beautiful woman, one of the Hungarian nobility, whose situation inspired us with pity. An Hungarian renegado, one of the lowest rank, had carried her off in an excursion, and treated her as his wife. On seeing us, she melted into tears, for she had not as yet renounced her religion.
On leaving Corsebech, we crossed the Morava by a ferry, and entered the territory of the despot of Servia, a fine and well-peopled country. All on this side the river belongs to him—the district on the other to the Turk; but the despot pays him an annual tribute of fifty thousand ducats. He possesses also, on this river, toward the common boundaries ofBulgaria, Sclavonia, Albania, and Bosnia, a town called Nyeuberge, which has a mine producing gold and silver at the same time. Each year it pays him more than two hundred thousand ducats, as well-informed people assured me: without this, he would be soon driven out of his dominions.
I passed on my road near to the castle of Escalache, that belongs to him. It has been a strong place, on the point of a hill, at the foot of which the Nissave forms a junction with the Morava. Part of the walls, with a tower in the form of a dungeon, are all that remain.
At the mouth of these two rivers, the Turk usually keeps from eighty to a hundred galleys, galliots, and rafts, to convey over his cavalry and army in time of war. I could not see them, as no Christian is allowed to approach them; but a man, worthy of belief, informed me there was a body of three hundred men always posted there to guard them, and that they are relieved every two months. The distance from Escalache to the Danube is one hundred miles: nevertheless, in all this distance, there does not subsist any fort, or place of defence, but a village, and a house erected by Cénasnin-Bey on the declivity of a mountain, with a mosque. I followed the course of the Morava, and with the exception of a very miry pass, that continues about a mile, caused by a mountain pressing too close on the river, I had a good road through a pleasant well-peopled country. It was not the same the second day, for I had mountains, wood, and much mud to travel through. The country, notwithstanding, was as fine as a mountainous country can be. It is full of villages, and all your wants may be there supplied.
From the time we had entered Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Servia, I found on our passage that the Turk every where caused proclamation to be made that whoever was bound to join the army should hold himself in readiness to march. They told us that those who, in obedience to this duty, fed a horse, were exempted from the tax of the comarch; that such Christians as were desirous of being excused from serving pay fifty aspers a head; and that some are forced to join the army, but only when it requires reinforcements. I learnt also, at the court of the despot, that the Turk has divided the guard and defence of these frontier provinces among three captains; one, called Dysem Bey, has the district from the confines of Wallachia to the Black Sea; Cénasnin Beycommands from Wallachia to the borders of Bosnia; and Isaac Bey from these frontiers as far as Sclavonia, that is to say, all beyond the Morava.
To continue the account of my journey, I shall say that I came to a town, or rather a country house, called Nicodem. It is here the despot has fixed his residence because the soil is good, and there are woods and rivers abounding with every thing needful for the pleasures of the chase and hawking, of which he is very fond. He was out hawking by the river side, attended by fifty horse, three of his children, and a Turk, who had been sent by the sultan to summon him to send his contingent to the army, under the escort of one of his sons. Independently of his tribute, this is one of the conditions imposed upon him. Every time the sultan sends him his orders, he is obliged to furnish him with eight hundred or a thousand horse, under the command of his second son. He gave the sultan one of his daughters in marriage; nevertheless, there passes not a day that he does not fear being deprived of his dominions. I have even heard say, that some wished to inspire the sultan with this idea, but that he answered, "I draw more from them now than if they were my own, for in this case I should be obliged to give them to one of my slaves, and should not receive any thing." The troops he is now raising are said to be intended against Albania. Ten thousand have already marched thither, which was the reason he had so few with him when I saw him at Lessère; but this first army had been destroyed[505].
The prince of Servia is a tall, handsome man, from fifty-eight to sixty years old; he has five children, three boys and two girls[506]. Of the boys, one is twenty years, another sixteen, and the third fourteen; and all three, like their father, have very agreeable countenances. In respect to the girls, one is married to the sultan, another to the count de Seil; but as I have not seen them I cannot describe them. When we met him hawking, the ambassador and myself took him bythe hand, which I kissed, for such is the custom. On the morrow, we went to pay him our respects. He had a tolerably numerous court, composed of very handsome men, who wore the beard and hair long, as they are of the Greek church. There were in the town a bishop, and a doctor in theology, on their road to Constantinople, sent as ambassadors to the emperor, by the holy council of Basil[507].
I had employed two days in going from Corsebech to Nicodem, and from Nicodem to Belgrade half a day. There is nothing but forests, mountains, and valleys to this town, but the valleys are crowded with villages, in which provision and good wines are met with.
Belgrade is in Servia, and did belong to the despot; but four years ago he ceded it to the king of Hungary, for fear lest he should suffer it to be taken by the Turk, as he had done Coulumbach. This was a heavy loss to Christendom. The other would be still greater, because the place is stronger, and can contain from five to six thousand horse[508]. Its walls are washed on one side by a large river that comes from Bosnia, called the Save; and on the other it has a castle, near to which runs the Danube, and into this the Save flows. The town is built on the point formed by these two rivers. Within its walls the ground rises; but on the land side it is so flat that any one may march into the ditch. There is, however, a village on this side that extends from the Save to the Danube, and surrounds the town to the distance of a bow-shot. This village is inhabited by Servians, and on Easter-day I heard mass there in the Sclavonic tongue. It is under obedience to the church of Rome, and its ceremonies are nothing different from ours.
The place is strong from its situation, and by art, havingditchesen glacis, a double wall, well kept in repair, that follows exactly the rise and fall of the ground. It has also five forts, three on the elevated ground I spoke of, and two on the river, but these last are commanded by the preceding ones. It has likewise a small harbour, that may hold from fifteen to twenty galleys, defended by towers constructed at each extremity. It is shut up by a chain from one tower to the other, at least so it was told me, for the two shores are so distant I could not see it. I saw on the Save six galleys and five galliots, near to the weakest of the five forts. In this are many Servians, but they are not permitted to enter the other forts. The whole five are well furnished with artillery. I particularly noticed three cannons of brass[509]; two of them were formed of two pieces, and one of such a size, I never before saw the like. Its mouth was forty-two inches in diameter, but it seemed short for its thickness[510]. The commandant of the place was Sir Mathico, a knight of Arragon, and he had for his lieutenant his own brother, styled my lord brother.
The Turk is in possession of the castle of Coulumbach, on the Danube, two days' journey below Belgrade. He seized it from the despot, and it is, as they say, a strong place, but easily attacked with artillery, and all succour may be cut off from it, which is a great disadvantage. He there keeps a hundred light galleys having sixteen or eighteen oars on a side, to pass over to Hungary at his pleasure. The governor of this place is Cénasnin Bey, before spoken of.
On the Danube, but in Hungary, and opposite to Belgrade, the despot has a town and castle that were given him by the emperor[511], with several others, that afford him an income offifty thousand ducats, on condition of his becoming his liege man, but he obeys the Turk more than the emperor.
Two days after my arrival at Belgrade I saw twenty-five men, armed after the manner of the country, enter the town, whom count Mathico the governor had sent for to remain in garrison. They told me they were Germans, although they had Servians and Hungarians so near at hand; but they said the Servians were subjects and tributaries to the Turk: of course they could not trust them; and, as for the Hungarians, they were so much afraid of him, that should he appear they would not dare to defend it, however great its strength. They were obliged therefore to call in strangers, and this measure became the more necessary from its being the only place in the possession of the emperor to enable him to pass and repass the Danube, in case of need. This conversation greatly astonished me, and caused me to make some reflections on the strange subjection in which the Turk keeps Macedonia, Bulgaria, the emperor of Constantinople, the Greeks, the despot of Servia, and his subjects. Such a dependence appeared to me a lamentable thing for Christendom; and, as I lived with the Turks, and became acquainted with their manner of living and fighting, and have frequented the company of sensible persons who have observed them narrowly in their great enterprises, I am emboldened to write something concerning them, according to the best of my abilities, under correction, however, from those better informed, and to show how it may be possible to reconquer the territories they have gained possession of, and to beat them in the field of battle. I shall begin with what regards their persons, and say they are a tolerably handsome race, with long beards, but of moderate size and strength. I know well that it is a common expression to say as strong as a Turk; nevertheless, I have seen an infinity of Christians, when strength was necessary, excel them, and I myself, who am not of the strongest make, have, when circumstances required labour, found very many weaker than me.