Notes of a Half-pay in search of health; or, Russia, Circassia, and the Crimea, in 1839, 40

Preface

. In the military oath administered to an officer on court martial, it is said, " You shall, well and truly, try and determine, the evidence in the matter now before you:" this I have done according to my conscience and the best of my ability. An unfavourable verdict has been the result. Many of the facts which I have now brought forward to illustrate my views of the present state of Russia came under my own observation. It is possible that the reader may not agree with me in the con clusions I have drawn from them, but I can at least claim his confidence in their accuracy. To assert that there are no Russians, (it is not of

PREFACE.

. Courlanders, Livonians, and Finlanders that I speak,) whose characters would not lead to a different estimate of the national worth, would be absurd ; there are of course, exceptions, but every disinterested observer must admit that the mass of each class are such as I have described them. In the despotism of Russia we may look in vain for the paternal character of the Austrian. She manifests no desire to ameliorate either the moral or physical condition of her serfs, or afford them protection by a just administration of the laws. The wisdom and policy of preparing them for that great change from slavery to freedom, which sooner or later must inevitably take place, appears never to have entered into the hearts of the nobility ; they debase rather than improve the mental facul ties of their dependants, and are frequently more ready to increase than diminish the burdens, which in a barbarous age, might not right enabled their fellow-men to impose upon them.

PREFACE.

. V The influence possessed by Russia in the councils of Europe is a perfect incongruity, for though her extent of territory is enormous, her natural resources great, her court surrounded by all the insignia of civilization, and her capital replete with all the luxuries of life, she is the lowest in the scale of those nations that have any claim or pretension to be called civilized. Evidence in support of this opinion will be found by the traveller at every step he takes in the country ; and if he only remains there long enough, he will very probably leave it as I did, not much disposed to speak in favourable terms of a sovereign and nobility, who, being themselves possessed to a certain extent of the benefits arising from civilization, persist in withholding, on principle, liberty and social improvement from forty-five millions of their countrymen. The excursions in Greece and the Crimea excepted, my wife was my travelling companion in k2 VI

PREFACE.

. this long but interesting tour ; and her being as sociated with so many of its incidents and recollections, will account for my having used, and in remembrance carefully retained, the plural number in various parts of these Notes. I am sensible that there must be in them much that is open to criticism, but I shall throw myself on the good nature of the reader, to whom I " Present Arms," and close my preface, trusting that my first shot, though not in the "bull's eye,", may not altogether miss the target of an author's hopes — the approbation of the Public. W. J. Junior Uniteo Service Club, November, 1841. CONTENTS OF VOL. I.

Chapter I

Motives for travelling — Effects of Dyspepsia — Departure for Rotterdam — The Batavier — Musical festival at Fraukfort — Interlaken — Pass the St. Gothard — Ancona 1

Chapter II

Corfu — Ancient bronze — Patras — Greek scenery — Approach to Athens — Bavarian justice to the Palikari — Otho and his Court — Russian influence — Sunday evening promenade — Rome and Athens — Field of Marathon . . . . . . . . .10

Chapter III

A trip to the Morea — Greek caique — A gale and its effects — Gree'k toilette — Corinth — The Acropolis — Road to Nemea — The valley — The demarch — The maids of Karabat — ArgoB— Nauplia — Road to Epidaurus — An unpleasant predicament — English hospitality . CONTENTS.

Chapter IV

H. R. H. Prince George of Cambridge— Constantinople— The city by moonlight — The Hummums of Stamboul — A party at the Sweet Waters — Evening on the Bosphorus — Leave Constantinople — Odessa steamers — A female diplomate — Serpents' island . . .39

Chapter V

Arrival at Odessa — Deck passengers — Russian decency — Spoglia — Quarantine — Marshal Marmont — Exeunt omnes — Dr. Bulard — Plague — Lord Byron — Hogarth realized — A Russian hotel — Polish prudence — An arrival ........ 53

Chapter VI

Departure for the Crimea — A " chin " — A Russian passport — Peter the Great— Cape Chersonesus — Yalta — Valley of " Noisettes " — Theodosia — Navigation of the Sea of Azoff — Russian modesty — General Riefski — A tumulus of the ancient Bosphorians — A telega — Street of tumuli — English hospitality 71

Chapter VII

The Museum at Kertch — Cedar sarcophagus— Gold ornaments — Tartar tradition — The Macrocephali, or long heads of the ancients . 88

Chapter VIII

Governor's museum— Ancient mole — Hill of Mithridates — Breastplate of a crusader — Military undress — Suwaroff — His jewels Russians on the Indus— Khiva expedition — Cold soup Yalta Pallas — Crimean vineyards — Arrival at Chords — A verandah CONTENTS. IX

Chapter IX

Leave for Sevastopol — A Tartar village — The Princess S. M. A " tartine Anglaise " — Diplomatists in a difficulty — Alupka — Count Woronzoff's hospitality — Crimean locusts .... 122

Chapter X

Leave Moukalatka — The view from the heights aud forest of Baidar Naked contentment — Method of taking quails — Convent of St. George — Colonel Upton— Docks at Sevastopol — English engineers — Russian soldiers on fatigue- — The valley of Inkerman — References to the plan of Sevastopol — The great harbour — Military works — An antiquarian — St. Vladimir — The camp 131

Chapter XI

Leave Sevastopol — Ascend to the ruins of Mangoup Kale — Bagtche-serai — A Tartar wedding — The bath of the harem — Gypsies — Korolee and Tchoufout Kale — Karaite Jewesses — A night a Tartar house — A peep — An Indian barber — Return to Choreis . . 152

Chapter XII

Count W 's "jour-de-fete" — The Greek ritual — Prayer for the Emperor — An extraordinary scene — Collection of vines at Nikita — Crimean wines — Moscow champagne — Crimean delicacies — Return to Odessa . . . . . . . . . .166

Chapter XIII

The site of Odessa — The Sabanski granary — Streets — A sixth element — The fifth element — The General aground — The Boulevard — The CONTENTS. X " escalier monstre " — The Duke de Richelieu — Count Woronzoff's house— The bathing house — Aquatic gymnastics— Mermaids in full dress — Jellyfish . . . . . • • .1/6

Chapter XIV

The Exchange — Howard's candlestick — His last illness — Death of Howard — Itinerant musicians — Lighting the town — Flies — Scarcity of water — The vodovosks — The theatre — Private theatricals — The English club — Cafe del commercio — Import trade — A Russian free port— The tariff— Good news 190

Chapter XV

The promenade — The magic four — The rule of contrary — A Russian footman — The national vehicle — Odessa fashionables — A medley — The Emperor's birth-day — Russian shops — The bazaar — The market basket — Rabbis and their flocks 205

Chapter XVI

The currency — Gold and silver mines — Money coined — Money changers — Hiring a servant — Boulevard on a Saturday — Jews and other foreigners— Insurance offices — A Greek broker — Merchants — A sensible financier — Foreign shopkeepers — Colonists and servants — Carte de-sejour — The height of impudence .... 220

Chapter XVII

The Countess Woronzoff "at home"— Russian whist— A soiree in Lent CONTENTS. XI — A fancy ball — A lady with two husbands — Climate of Odessa — The interior of a post-house in a "mitell" — The cattle in a snowstorm on the steppe — Merinos ...... 235

Chapter XVIII

The war in Circassia — Geographical position — Ancient history and manners of the Circassians — Their fidelity and friendship— Never subjugated — Rights of the Porte — Treaty of Adrianople — Trade in slaves — Russian motives for making the war — Cossacks — Zaporogues — Their independence — Consequences — Degeneracy — A Yidette 246

Chapter XIX

Line of the Kuban — The Kabardians — Clear-sighted policy — The Cid of the Caucasus — His eyrie — Assault of Akulko — A Russian victory — General Emmanuel — Forts on the coast of Abasia — Malaria — Forage parties — Scarcity of provisions — Poles in the Caucasus — A Russian emissary — The Vixen — Forts of St. Nicholas and Abyn 264

Chapter XX

A Russian bulletin — Extraordinary philanthropy — The redoubt of Wielminoff attacked — Michailofsky redoubt taken — An agreeable proposal — A simple soldier — Assault of the fort of Navaginsky — Assault of Abinsky — Russian veracity — A year's pay — Probabili- CONTENTS. ties — A slight difference in the killed and wounded — Trebizonde smugglers — The kindjal — Circassian bravery — Kill and cure — The war unpopular — Circassian liberty — Russian tyranny — The Circassian's last hope — Hassan Bey's dispatch — Brevity, modesty, and truth

Chapter I

Motives for travelling — Effects of Dyspepsia — Departure for Rotterdam — The Batavier — Musical festival at Frankfort — Interlaken— Pass the St. Gothard — Ancona. The good old motive for travelling — to be " tried and tutored in the world " — is not now a prevailing one. How numerous and multifarious those that have arisen with the present facilities of locomotion ! Some travel to get out of debt, others to get in ; to avoid duns ; to get into the Travellers' Club ; to kill time ; to geologize or botanize ; to sketch, or fish, sometimes in troubled waters, in search of the sublime or the ridiculoro ; or any other " good male or female reason ;" and, lastly, as in my case, in search of health, which had been impaired under the following circumstances : — At sixteen, I found myself at the mess table VOL. I. E THE AUTHOR IN CANTONMENTS. of a regiment in India.

My brother officers soon initiated me into their habits, and I lost no time in adopting hot tiffins, and imbibing Hodgson's pale ale, claret cup, bishop, sangaree, and other beverages, which hot winds and no end of drill rendered almost excusable. If I add to this, snipe shooting, under a meridian sun, in paddy fields, up to the knees in water, — two fevers, the cholera morbus, and a residence of some months in a cantonment several feet below the level of an adjoining river, where the frogs in the barrack square were constantly hopping through the jil mills* into our bedrooms, I think few of my read ers (if I have the luck to have any) will deny that I have enumerated causes more than suffi cient to send me home, six years after, a confirmed dyspeptic. For six years more, spent chiefly in the monotony of country quarters, I suffered tor ments in mind and body, of which an extract from my diary of symptoms will give but a faint idea.

January 15th, 1838. — Last night, horrible dreams, and violent starts. In the morning, mouth parched, tightness in the head, singing in * Venetians. EFFECTS OF DYSPEPSIA. 3 the ears, eyes yellow and filmy, pains in the back, pulse 50, no appetite ; took fifteen drops of the muriated tincture of steel to create one, without effect ; nerves and spirits gone ! ! ! Such a state of body and mind had, fortunately, many ludicrous as well as melancholy consequences. One night, on the barrack-guard at C , I had, from sheer exhaustion, laid down on the stretcher, and fallen into one of those lethargic slumbers so common to my class of dyspeptics, when I was roused by the corporal bawling close to my ear, " Grand rounds are waiting, Sir!" Her Majesty's dip, wasted in a socket which allowed it to lean very gracefully on one side, was on the eve of expiring : I sprung to the table, where I had laid my shako and sword, and placed the former on my head.

Grasping something in my hand, which I supposed to be the latter, I rushed to the front of my guard, and by the light of a very lovely moon, most provokingly full, saluted the field officer with presented arms, brandishing, with all the increased zeal of one caught napping ■my sword ? No such thing — my violin ! The B DEPARTURE FOR ROTTERDAM. Major, a good-natured person, was, however, moon-blind on this occasion. Dismissing the guard, I retired to my room, amidst a suppressed titter from the men, a circumstance I was on the point of noticing, when, for the first time, I found myself, to my horror and consternation, grasping a favourite Amati instead of my regimental spit ! To exist under a continuance of all my sufferings, much less recover from them, I thought fairly impossible, but I lived to be agreeably sur prised.

In this state, I occasionally fell into the hands of a country apothecary, living, unlike poor Puff, not on his own, but his patients' dropsy. Had I settled in the neighbourhood of one of these gentlemen, I should verily have been a good annuity to him, provided he could have kept me alive. At last, I consulted a London physician, whose work on change of air and climate attracted my attention. My story, a long list of the various aches, pains, and ills, real or imaginary, "which flesh is heir to," was cut short in these words, "My good Sir, * throw physic to the dogs,' and amuse yourself by travelling." His certificate enabled me to retire ; so, after laying in a stock THE BATAVIER. 5 at Herries's, I went to Leadenhall-street, and, procuring a passport of May, called in the aid of Mercury, (not he of Apothecaries' Hall,) in June, and started in the Batavier, for Rotterdam.

Of the many steamers, ships, and tubs I had rolled in, this vessel struck me as being decidedly the most uncomfortable. She was dirty, and redolent of stinks; schnappes, bad tobacco, and bilge-water, being the prevailing odours. The roundhouse, or upper cabin on the deck, appeared remarkably well constructed for preventing the free circulation of air below ; but amongst her numerous deficiencies, she had one good qualifica tion, the principal one — she was safe. The cabins, quite full, presented the usual routine attending persons undergoing, for pleasure, all the horrors of sea-sickness, from the serio-qualmish face to the stomach in brisk action, or a state of syncope or lethargic sleep. After leaving the Nore, the noise in the ladies' cabin became terrific, twenty, at least, calling for the stewardess at once.

Three French ladies' maids were vowing candles to the Virgin, and the door intended to admit air (every thing being hermetically closed above) was beset MUSICAL FESTIVAL AT FRANKFORT. (i by solicitous husbands making tender inquiries for their wives, steamboat etiquette not permit ting their entrance into this Elysium. My observ ations, however, were soon brought to a close ; no sound, much less a dyspeptic stomach, could have stood the increasing motion, and, finding myself sensibly affected by the good examples before me, I retired to five feet by two, in the main cabin, and awoke off the Brill. Our progress up the Rhine was retarded by drawing a halt at each of the principal towns on its banks ; and at each I lost a dyspeptic symptom. From Manheim we visited Heidelburg; and at Frankfort, to which we turned from Mayence, had the good fortune to arrive just in time for a grand musical festival, in commemoration of Mozart.

Six hundred voices, the elite of Germany, and forty wind instruments, with the organ of St. Catherine's, poured forth, in a paraphrased psalm of Spohr's, a stream of harmony so melodious and touching, that the eyes of many around us were moistened with tears. Our route continued via Strasburg, Friburg, Basle, Soleure, and Berne to Thun, and taking INTERLAKEN. 7 up our quarters at the village inn of Oberhofen, about a league from the latter place, we made from there our excursions to the Oberland. I selected this beautiful and retired spot for our temporary residence in preference to Interlaken, which is considered unhealthy by the Swiss medical men ; the air there is hot and damp, and struck me as being more favourable to the rearing of Orchidei, than the cure of my complaint. We were also glad to avoid the Smiths, Simpkinses, Jen kinses, foreign ladies' maids, and English grooms, and gentlemen in brown holland blouses with long poles and green goggles, who crowded every street and lodging-house in the place.

Some of them evidently of the Pickwickian school, having' laid aside their specs and substituted a butterfly net for their ice poles, were occasionally to be seen careering over the green turf in eager pursuit of an insect, from which they had frequently turned in their own gardens with the greatest indiffer ence and contempt ; but which was now to be added to a collection to be shown to their friends on their return, as the result of their persevering labours in entomological research. I soon found PASS THE ST. G0THARD. 8 that the climate of Switzerland was a great deal too variable for me; we therefore hurried over the picturesque, and leaving our hostess of the Black Bear with many regrets, took the road to Lucerne, scaled the St. Gothard, and slipping down on the other side without a drag, entered the more genial clime of Italy by the valley of Ticino.

The classical associations, the numerous splendid galleries, churches, and monuments of ancient and modern art at Milan, Bologna, Florence, and Rome, and the novelty of scenery, manners, and language diverted my thoughts from my old miseries, and in the following spring, " Richard was himself again." Up to this point of my journey I make no remarks, so much has been well said and well written on such well-beaten ground. Being in possession of health and spirits, we now meditated lengthening our tour, and meeting some Russians at Rome who described the south of their country as a paradise, and the whole as well worth visiting, we resolved on continuing our journey through the Levant and the Crimea, and returning to England by the northern capitals. Leaving Naples for a future opportunity, we ANC0NA. 9 took our road to Ancona, by the far-famed shrine of Loretto, which still has its devotees and pil grims.

The inn at Ancona, the " Pace," is ex cellent, and finding ourselves in such good quarters, we remained a month to rest ourselves from the fatigues of lionizing the eternal city. Our stay was rendered more agreeable by the kind attentions of G. Moore, Esq., the English vice consul. Trajan's arch excepted, the only objects that attracted our observation, were the immense frogs, and the profusion of violets which covered the banks of every lane in the environs of the town. In May we embarked for Corfu by the Austrian steamer. The passage was much en livened by the sociable and friendly disposition of two of the garrison returning from leave ; and their kindness and attention to us during the fort night we remained in the island conduced greatly to our pleasure. b CHAPTEE II. Corfu — Ancient bronze — Patras — Greek scenery — Approach to Athens — Bavarian justice to the Palikari — Otho and his Court— Russian influence — Sunday evening promenade — Rome and Athens — Field of Marathon.

In the hospitable invitations given to us by the " Lord High," we had an opportunity of seeing a relic of antiquity, which very justly formed a con spicuous ornament on one of the tables in the drawing-room at the palace. It had been fished up about two years before by the Ionian steamer, which was in the habit of trawling over and near the spot where the battle of Actium was fought. This valuable antique, the bronze beak of a galley, is two feet in length; the point, about eight inches long, represents the half-length figure of a soldier in his cuirass ; the features are youth ful, and admirably moulded, and though it has been immersed for ages in the briny deep, this CORFU. 11 interesting specimen of Roman art is in a high state of preservation. The holes for the admission of the rivets that fastened it to the prow of the galley are plainly to be seen at the lower end; it is slightly encrusted with marine formations.

The beak, and a few vases, are the only objects that have been brought up by the trawl. The bells of Corfu reminded me of " la ville sonnante," and the cocks crowed as incessantly as they rang. This beautiful island, and the gay, courteous, and hospitable inmates of the citadel, amongst whom I found some old friends, were left with many regrets. The day of our departure was a lovely one, the sea breeze moderated the mid-day heat, and enabled us to enjoy the splen did scenery of the Albanian coast, of which Parga was one of the brightest ornaments. The cliffs of the little island of Paxo brought those of Dover to our minds. Cape Leucadia was in sight during the early part of the night ; its dark outline clearly defined against the sky. I was too tired to dream of the lady, and awoke next morning in Patras roads.

The town, like most of very recent date, is laid out with too much regularity to be picturesque ; PATRAS AND CASTLE. the principal streets are wide and at right angles, but in wretched order ; the houses are of a humble character. Trade appeared to be brisk, but the manufactured articles exposed in the shops were of a very ordinary description. As the steamer was to remain here some hours, we landed, and in spite of the oppressive heat, commenced our ascent to the castle, which crowns the hill above the town ; the ground, for several hundred yards in front of it, was covered with a bright yellow flower like the marigold. The interior of the fort is fast going to decay, the walls in many places have fallen in, and are covered with rank vege tation. Not a creature was to be seen about the place, when on turning an angle of the rampart, on our way to the highest bastion, to perpetrate asketch, we came full upon a blue Ajax, at the charge, who signified in modern Greek, and by suiting the action to the word, that our walk must terminate at the point of his bayonet.

My alpha and omega, and all between, were, with French and Italian, useless, and Romaic was beyond my ken. In despair I pulled out a visiting card, which to my great surprise he took, and disap- GREEK SCENERY. 13 pearing for a moment, returned and led us into a dark and dirty bomb-proof guard-house, where he presented us to the " Commandant " of the fort, in rank a corporal ; he was sitting cross-legged on his great coat with all the dignity of a pacha. King Otho's deputy granted our request, and ac companied us on our stroll. The view from the Cavalier repaid us for a very fatiguing walk ; the castles on either side which marked the entrance to the Gulf of Lepanto, were backed by a noble range of hills, with Parnassus in the distance, and the islands of Ithaca and Cephalonia to the left, with Missolonghi and its soul-stirring reminiscences to the front, formed with the town and shipping in the roads, a splendid introduction to Greek scenery.

It blew " a favouring gale " as we left the bay, and steam in addition, soon carried us round Cape Cologria. I stole out very early from my berth to get a glimpse of Navarino, and returned to it musing on that " untoward event." The fare on board this Austrian steamer was excellent, and our Ragusan skipper, a merry fellow, con tributed much to our amusement. Nothing could exceed the loveliness of the evening, the air APPROACH TO ATHENS. 14 though soft, was elastic, and as we passed under the bold headland of St. Angelo, which threw its dark shadow far over the water, the sun sunk " in one unclouded blaze of Hving light " behind the hills of Sparta. With Athens so near, our slumbers were light, and rising before day-break, we were amply repaid for such an unusual pro ceeding by the glorious scene that opened upon us as we approached the Piræus.

That luminary which had gone down with so much majesty on the preceding evening, gradually re-appeared above Hymettus, gilding first the Parthenon, as if in homage of its beauty; his rays rapidly dis persed the wreaths of mist which hung around it, and left the chaste and noble ruin " looking tran quillity." Our fellow passengers, a motley as semblage, soon made their appearance on the deck, and overwhelmed us with their historical quotations and allusions. The heroes of ancient Greece, and the scenes of their triumphs, were named with a volubility truly surprising ; it was a kind of classical file-firing ; but not a word was said in praise of the gallant Miaulis, whose resting-place lay full in view, unhonoured ATHENIAN " JAR VIES." 15 by a tomb, and the very spot itself only saved from oblivion by the bounty of a noble female, a foreigner.

These reflections were interrupted by the Health officer, who went through the usual forms, and the luggage having been well searched, we were soon making our way through clouds of dust to Athens. Our coachman, like a tailor, sat cross legged on the box, with the slack of his enormous blue breeches gathered well to the front. About half-way, we found the road stopped up by a number of carts and hack carriages, and on in quiring the reason, I found that the hut by the road-side was the house of call and Tom and Jerry shop of the Athenian "jarvies," for even in Attica they must whet their whistles, not with porter, but a composition of sour grapes, rosin, and water. Having, with some difficulty, made them clear the way, we arrived at our hotel, the Reine d'Angleterre, kept by a Madame Casali, one of the " vivandiere " tribe ; her husband, not her better half, for they are both equally bad and consummate rogues, is landlord of the Royal.

This rascal, on one occasion, happened to have an BAVARIAN JUSTICE English nobleman staying in his house, and it was not until after his departure that he was made acquainted with his rank: "Ah," observed the Signor, " si j'aurai su que c'etait un Milord, je lui aurai fait payer cent drachmes ; mais comme je ne le savais pas, je lui ai fait payer seulement cin quante ! " Finding every thing dirty in this vil lanous hotel, I got into private lodgings. During my six weeks' residence in Athens, I soon found that the gallant survivors of that con test which again made Greece a nation, were not only neglected, but treated with contumely and injustice. To be a Greek, appeared the worst recommend ation for advancement ; and few Greek officers held any important command. Almost all the best appointments were held by Bavarians, to the exclusion even of those who served through the war ; and of others who, though not person ally engaged, freely sacrificed their property in supplying the necessities of the troops.

On the arrival of Otho in Greece, to take possession of a throne which these men had won for him, their various claims were submitted to a military com- TO THE PALIKARI. 17 mission, the members of which had been eye-wit nesses of their services. Many of the claimants were, in consequence, admitted into the Grecian Phalanx, the absolute qualification for this honour being, services performed in the field during the war ; and yet, in defiance of this regulation, two hundred Bavarians, who had never seen a shot fired, were drafted into the corps, which has extra pay, and other privileges attached to it. In numerous instances, the recommendations made by the commission have met with no attention ; and several of the most distinguished officers are living in the greatest poverty and obscurity. Their arrears of pay have never been liquidated, and they drag on a miserable existence at Athens, under the surveillance of the police, in fruitless endeavours to obtain their rights.

A few acres of the national lands, called " crown lands," by the Bavarian party, have been occasionally offered to them in lieu of a half-pay, which they never re ceive ; but these acres are of no use to men with out capital. A Bavarian corporal, however, who has only served two years in Greece, called by them a campaign, is presented with all the " materiel " KING OTHO AND HIS COURT. 18 of a farm. Greece is, in fact, little more than a Bavarian colony. The higher functionaries hoard up their salaries, with a view of returning to Munich as soon as possible. There is no society : the king has dinner parties about half-a-dozen times in the year, to which the ladies of the am bassadors are rarely, if ever, invited; and the minister of war lives in one room ! If, by some extraordinary accident, a ball is given at the palace, there are no refreshments ; and the pretty, but inconsiderate queen enlarges the circle of the waltzers, of whom she is always one, by treading, sans ceremonie, on the toes of her guests ; many of them, more accustomed to the camp than the ball-room, having, in their eagerness to see the fun, crowded too much upon the dancers.