BOOKS.

SMYTH'S YEAR WITH THE TURKS.* Aianorron Mr. Smyth's volume is confined to the account of a year's journeying in European and Asiatic Turkey, it contains the result of much more experience in Eastern travelling, and of tra- velling performed in the best way to acquire a knowledge of the people. Mr. Smyth did not gallop with a Tartar, or wander about with an Eastern valet-de-place under the sounding title of drago- man, hearing with his man's tongue and seeing with his eyes. On the contrary, he dressed as a native, and journeyed as a native, sometimes with an European companion as adventurous as himself, and sometimes with natives only. In the voyage on the Danube and the Black Sea from Orsova to Constantinople, he appeared as an Englishman. How he proceeded in Egypt, Syria, and Asia Minor, is not stated; but when his second narrative opens at Aleppo, we find him living in a caravanserai, and preparing to start in company with an American botanist and a caravan across the Desert to the Euphrates and Diarbekir. From that city he re- turned through the highlands of the Kurds to Constantinople; the early part of the journey being made by himself, the latter part in company with an Austrian employed at the mines of Arganeh Maden. His homeward route from Constantinople was by way of Salonica, through Istib, Yrania, and Leskovatz, to Nissa on the frontiers of Servia, through which principality he rode to Belgrade. The first part of the last journey was made in compaily with two Turkish country gentlemen, officers in the Nizam, who were re- turning home, and whose acquaintance the traveller picked up in the steamer from Constantinople. Mr. Smyth's mode of travelling was well adapted to observe the character and condition of the people, as well as to form a judg- ment upon the mode of government and its effects. Indeed, his object in publishing his volume was less to give an account of his journeyings, than to throw what light he could upon the present state of the Turkish empire and people, as well as to expose some of the falsehoods and misrepresentations circulated by Russians or Russian agents. Here, for instance, is an example.

" A lately published work on Turkey, compiled, it would appear, chiefly from German authorities, describes an outbreak of the Mohammedan Alba- nians, and says, the Christian villages they plundered and sometimes burnt down. Yrania, a considerable town inhabited by Christians, did not escape this fate ; the churches were destroyed, the men massacred, and the women and children dragged away into slavery.'

"Now it happened that I was present at this very juncture; and although I ought, according to this veracious history, to have been massacred, I am able to observe—let, That I heard of no case of a village being plundered or burnt down ; 2dly, Vrania is not a Christian but mainly a Turkish town; 3dly ,• A church was destroyed, as will be described in Chapter IX. ; 4thly, Nobody was massacred ; the only loss of life being on the side of the Turks, with whom the quarrel commenced ; fithly, The carrying away of the women and children into slavery is a pure piece of fiction. " That there was plundering and ill-treatment will be seen in the sequel, but it was effected in despite of the Turks : and yet upon these gross ex- aggerations was founded the formal complaint and the strong language of the Russian Ambassador to the Ottoman Government."

The facts adduced by Mr. Smyth lead to the conclusion that the government of the Turks in remote places, if less bloody and cruel, is nearly as injurious as ever to the material prosperity and ad- vancement of the people. The fiscal oppression which continues this state of things is not a part of a system but the want of a system—except that of paying by means of presents for a place with uncertainty of tenure. The evil method is the remains of an old evil, and is discouraged by the present Sultan ; its eradi- cation, if it can be accomplished, will be a work of time. The more distant the place from the seat of government, the more powerful and unscrupulous the local governors; and this good fea- ture of the Sultan's-government seems incidentally established, that if the facts can be truly represented at Constantinople, the local misdoer will be removed. Notwithstanding some opinions to the contrary, the European Turk would seem from Mr. Smyth's experience to be a better and more liberal-minded man than the Asiatic, and the oppression less in Europe than in Asia, especially in the remoter provinces. Some disorder, however, even with a much stronger government than that of Turkey, can scarcely be avoided, owing to the mountainous nature of the country and the character of the tribes. There was disorder in the Scottish High- lands little more than a century ago, and in Ireland even within our own time.

In natural qualities—the raw material of citizens, subjects, or rulers—the Turk is far beyond any of the tributary races. Whether it be blood, long centuries of oppression, or religious ig- norance or indifference, the Greek and Armenian Christians are un- trustworthy, fraudulent, unscrupulous, and often intemperate. The Bulgarian is a more honest and contented man than the Greek, but by no means bright—in fact, dull. The idea of establishing a bet- ter government than that of the Turks by setting up a Greek em- pire, or any other scheme, is futile in the extreme. What the very best of Greeks can do, may be seen at Athens, where they have a fair field and no interposition from other races. To suppose that any Oriental Christian sect could rule over the other sects, with Mahometans and Yews to boot, is the idlest of dreams. Unless the empire is to be dismembered and divided, the Turkish rule must be maintained ; and it is evidently improving as fast as the nature of things admits,—for, independently of the difficulties of a transition state, the prejudices and habits of an old generation have yet to be outgrown.

• A Year with the Turks; or Sketches of Travel in the European and Asiatic Do- minions of the Sultan. By Warington W. Smyth, M.A. Published by Parker and

Son.

Mr. Smyth's account of the descent of the Danube and the navi- gation of the Black Sea has an interest from its spirited sketches of the passengers and the country now the seat of war, as well as for the glimpse it gives of the Euxine even in autumnal weather. The caravan travelling and the subsequent tour in Asia furnish many pictures of manners and scenery ; but the journey from Sa- lonica to Belgrade is the most interesting part of the book, from the intimate acquaintance with Turkish life and character which it opens up. Mahmoud Beg, one of Mr. Smyth's companions, was a captain of cavalry, and a man of some local consequence, having land cultivated by lulgarians—under what precise system does not appear. He was also a man of high respeotability of character. The standing of Beykeer Aga, the other comrade, was apparently not quite equal to that of Mahmoud; but he was as friendly and hospitable, and he had imbibed a taste for strong waters, which he indulged too copiously and openly. The pictures of simple patri- archal life elicited by the visit of our author to Mahmoud Beg is very fresh and interesting. This is the arrival at the property. "At length, after seven hours, we reached the commencement of the Tschiftlik. It lay in a pretty valley, where the road-side was bordered by hemp growing to the height of ten twelve, and fourteen feet, so that man and horse were quite lost in it. ' Look,' said the Beg, unable to conceal his smiles, ' that is mine ; and this field of Indian corn is mine ; and yonder are the cottages of my peasants.' Whilst he spoke, a rough-looking Bulgarian, in cap and jacket of sheep-skin, carrying an axe over his shoulder, approached us, looked for a few seconds to make sure whether he was not deceived, and then running forward with a cry of joy, made a low bow, repeating his salu- tations in Bulgarian and Turkish, came close to the Beg, kissed his knees and hand, and pressed the latter repeatedly on his own bare head and on his heart, whilst his mouth was so occupied with laughing, congratulating, and kissing, that he could hardly speak an intelligible word.

" Mahmoud Beg, good soul, tried to keep up the stoic equanimity which is bon-ton among the Turks, but I saw the tear glisten in his eye and a glow of satisfaction suffuse his cheek, and his voice softened as he inquired after one and another of his tenants and all their family affairs.

"Even as a stranger, I could not remain uninterested in the scene ; and as we rode up a little ascent, and were joined by several more of these simple people, all testifying the same joy, I felt that my eyes also had become weak, and my heart warmed towards Mahmoud, for it was evident that he was a good and kind master to those whom fate had placed beneath him.

"When we alighted at the little dwelling-house attached to the farm, we were surrounded by above a dozen of the villagers, who all went through the same ceremony as I had observed with the first ; and though the low bow in the beginning had a too servile appearance, the manner in which they ran up, and, bowing their shorn heads, (for, like the Turks, they only allow one long lock to grow,) laid upon them and on their hearts alternately the hand of the Beg, was indicative at once of respect and love. The women, too, all unveiled, were most loud in their congratulations, and busied them- selves to clear out the two rooms of the kioschk, and to prepare us a good supper. For us the first task was to smoke two or three tchibouks, amid a continued volley of question and answer; and then Mahmoud took me up the hill to enjoy the sight of his vineyards laden with fruit, whilst the Aga preferred to sit quiet, enjoying their produce in the shape of a bottle of brandy, with which he was supplied by the peasants. "It appeared to me singular to find the greater part of a Turk's farm laid out in vineyards; but I learned that where the soil and situation are favour- able, this is one of the most lucrative modes of cultivation. The Osmanli takes no more of the grapes than are sufficient for the use of his family, and sells the rest to speculators, generally Greeks, who fabricate wine and spirits for the consumption of the Christian population, which in European Turkey forms so great a majority, and is not remarkable for the virtue of temper- ance.

" When we could no longer feast on the fowls which had been made to suffer for our arrival, we seated ourselves on mats in front of the house around a blazing fire, for it was now dark, and, smoking a tehibouk or roast- ing a head of Indian corn by turns, awaited the arrival of one of the peasants who was expected from Vrania. We had brought some coffee with us, and Mahmoud made all hands sit down to form a circle around the flaming fag- gots, and the finjians went round to all, whilst our host excited the wonder of his rude auditory by his tales of the marvels of Arabestan. Where was the haughtiness of the oppressor towards the oppressed, and the contempt of the Musliman for the Giaour? A stranger stepping suddenly into the circle would have looked upon it as a family party."

Mahmoud's residence was at Yrania, the town said to have been destroyed and its inhabitants massacred or enslaved. There is a full account of the siege or besetting by the Arnaoots ; their main ground of quarrel being the taxes of the Turkish Governor. The incidents connected with this local insurrection are not with- out character and spirit; but we will take a fresher picture of home life in the house of a Turkish gentlemen, novel, and, it ap- pears to us, interesting.

" Mahmoud Beg remained all kindness and hospitality, and the amiable character of his children smoothed the passage of many an hour. His eldest son, Mustafa Beg, was a great sportsman in embryo, and employed most of his time in training a falcon ; the second, Mehemet Beg, was a handsome and particularly intelligent boy of twelve years old, who was very desirous of learning something of the vaguely-known Ingleez memleket. After him followed four girls, the eldest about eleven years of age, who were allowed to come and play with us in the konak, and much amused me with their. simplicity and softly accented Turkish, as they sat here, or in the shady kioschk, habited in loose trousers and little jackets trimmed with gold cord. The eldest, Bembi, would often take my hand, and, turning her large dark eyes on my face, ask questions about the great world outside Vrania, which she was probably destined to know nothing of except by hearsay. A present of a Venetian bead-necklace, which I fortunately had by me, excited a lively satisfaction among the denizens of the harem - and the three wives of the Beg, although they never appeared in the konak, took occasion at different times to address me to satisfy their natural curiosity. " The constant passing and repasaing of visitors upset all studious habits; but one day I struck upon a rude literary work, to the great delight of my friends. They had often questioned me on geographical subjects; and, in order to throw a light upon their doubts, I took advantage of the back of a large letter of introduction which I had:by me, (for paper was scarce,) and drew a map of Europe, distinguishing the countries by a bright wash of water-colours, and adding their names and those of the principal towns in the Turkish character. When it was completed, Mahmoud was the first to examine it; but, though he was pleased as a child with bright hues, it re- vealed the sad fact, which he had studiously concealed from me, that the captain of cavalry was unable to read! Very different was the delight of the hodjia or tutor ; he laboured through the whole performance, reading off

the names from beginning to end, and obtained, for the first time he assured me, a clear idea of the difference between Malta and England; for, like other Orientals, hearing that our ships move between their ports and Malta, he had imagined that Malta was the capital of the Inglees country. The worthy instructor studied, and harangued the bystanders, elated evidently by two feelings, the honest pride of exhibiting his own knowledge and the satisfaction of meeting with a brother scholar.

" But the best geographers in prospectu were Mehemet and Bembi ; for, seeing the positions of Urania, Salonik, Stamboul, and Belgrade, they prac- tised imaginary journies on paper ; and in the course of a day or two the natural acuteness of the children was well exhibited by the progress they had made in so novel a subject."

Beykeer Aga resided at Leskovatz, the principal town between Urania and Nissa. The Aga was quite as hospitable as the Beg, and would not hear of our author's departure till he had resided with him too ; and when he departed, speeded him on his journey, though he could only hand him over to Greek Christians, who formed an indifferent contrast to the Mahometans.

" Beykeer Aga found out for me some Greek merchants, who were setting off for Belgrade to buy Austrian goods ; and as they were to take a spare horse with them, it was arranged that I should hire it. He gave me a part- ing feast in his konak, and then took me to a wine-shop near his house, where he entered a spacious and cool back-room, and tasted sundry brandies from the wood. When the merchants were at last ready I took my leave amid the injunctions of the Aga to my future fellow-travellers to take every care of his friend, and to bring back with them a written testimonial of my satisfaction with their conduct.

"'.What's in a name ?' Well had Mahmoud Beg observed to me, that as regarded religion, it mattered little to Allah what we call ourselves. My good Mohammedan friends, to say nothing of their hospitality, had been so scrupulously honourable on the journey, that my share of the expenses, cal- culated to the uttermost farthing, had amounted to an absurdly minute sum. I was now to see what the nominal profession of a purer creed would do. The Greeks received me at a house in the outskirts of the town, with frater- nizing expressions to welcome the brother Christian. But scarcely a quarter of an hour passed before they took advantage of my haste and inability to trade elsewhere ; and as their horse was provided with a samar or pack- saddle, cheated me outrageously in the price they gave for the saddle which I was obliged to leave behind. It was the first specimen, and far from the last, of the dirty meannesses and trickeries, which they allowed were not practised by the Turks, because, forsooth, the Mohammedan religion strictly forbade any deviation from honesty ! '" It will be seen from these extracts that Mr. Smyth has a plea- sant, picturesque, and direct style. He has also that knowledge of the past which is necessary to make travel profitable, but he does not overlay his subjects with history. A Year with the Turks may be recommended as an agreeable and informing volume, full of .pictures of Turkish manners and characters, as well as of those singular adventurers who try their fortunes in the East after failing in Europe.