TRAVELS IN ME DANUBIAN PROVINCES.* Mn. CREAGE took a run
through the Slavish provinces of Austria and the adjacent parts of the Turkish Empire last summer, and the two substantial volumes before us are the product of this little journey. He had neither time nor opportunity for extensive observations, but he brought with him to the countries he visited a stock of historical reminiscences and some well-defined political views ; and with these, a long story or two—well enough told to be welcome—and his itinerary, which supplied the usual incidents of travel, he has ti tide up this rather considerable book, and has managed, too, to make it, large as it is, more than moderately entertaining. Information of any value on the state of the Turkish provinces he does not supply, but the multitude who only read to be amused may take up his volumes fearlessly. We cannot help, however, complaining of his title,—not because it is misleading, but because it is bewildering. " Over the Borders of Christendom and Eslamiah" is almost enough to make one giddy. Would any one venture to say, " Over the Borders of England and Scotland," meaning only that he had crossed the Tweed and come back again? Mr. Creagh understands the use of words quite well enough to know that the description he has given to his work requires apology, and the defence he seems to rely upon is that a bird flying in a straight line would every now and then be over the border between Christen- dom and Eslamiah, where it is made by the winding course of the river Save. But he is not a bird, and his title conveys a puivyling suggestion of his having been in two places at a time.
What may be called the serious part of the book may be lightly dismissed. The reader will find nothing very repellent about it. In the historical excursions, the dignity of history is not too much considered. The narrative is fluent and animated, and comic passages are not infrequent. Though not professing to be exhaus- tive, the history very properly begins at the beginning, and we are told that the Slays are the descendants of the Assyrians " so often mentioned in the Bible." We had thoughtthat the Slays are admitted to be of Aryan origin, while the Assyrians "so often mentioned in the Bible " were of Semitic stock ; but Mr. Creagh may be right, and at any rate, in ethnological matters much latitude may be given to private opinion. The history of the Slays in Europe is traced at quite sufficient length, and brought down from the most ancient to recent times, the struggle for independence of the Slays of Servia being the subject of two vigorously written chapters. In these last, however, we seem to miss something. In his aris- tocratical contempt for the "pig-jobber," Kara George, and the "pig-drover," Milosch, who, between them, freed Servia from the Turkish yoke—each of whom after wards was despot of the country, while their families still dispute the sovereignty—Mr. Creagh has failed to make clear to us by what means it was that these men acquired their ascendancy over their countrymen. This matter is not without interest, at a time when anxiety is felt about the political capacity of the Slavish peoples, but it may be admitted that it is a matter on which a passing traveller need not take the trouble of informing himself. On the other hand, when his narra- tive has brought Slays and Turks into contact, Mr. Creagh perhaps gives too much space to the history and customs—the latter not edi- fying and perfectly well known—of the Krim Tartars, who would be more appropriately treated of at such length in a work on the Crimea; but we feel that this, after all, is a paltry criticism. As to the political views which he sets forth, they have at least the merit of not being unfamiliar. It is enough to say that he has the lowest opinion of all Slays, especially as regards political qualities, and a very good opinion of the Turks ; and that he considers the dream of Panslavism and the expulsion of the Turks from Europe as equally undesirable, and unlikely to be speedily realised.
The starting-point of his journey was Pesth, from which he tra- velled by steamer to Belgrade, stopping at Mohacz, at Vaucovar, and at Neusatz, by the way. Though speaking somewhat con- temptuously of the people of the country whom he met, it is evident he found them everywhere amusing and extremely polite, and that there was no lack of affability in his bearing towards them. He made merry with a club of citizens at Mohacz, he looked into a music-hall or two at Vaucovar and Neusatz, and besides dili- gently studying the recreations of the people, he went to a ball at a club at Belgrade. The Court of Prince Milan is described as observing a rigid etiquette, formed on the model of that of Louis XIV. ; but at the ball there was present a member of the royal family, and " nothing could be more simple or unassuming than his manners." " He talked freely with the subjects of his brother-
Over the Borders of Christendom and Estamiah: a Journey through Hungary, Slavonia, Scrota, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Dalmatia, and Montenegro, to the North of Albania, in the Summer of 1875. By James Omagh. London: S. Tingley.
in-law, and eat his supper at the same table with the waiters, though at the opposite end." The kolo, the favourite dance of the Servians, seemed to Mr. Creagh a slow and monotonous per- formance. Altogether, he thought the amusements of the Servians rather tiresome, but on the other hand, their political aspirations and their political institutions were extremely diverting to him. These poor Slays are absurd enough to think that their country has a great future before it—that it would become a great commercial country if the English would give them money to develop its re- sources, and the nucleus of a great empire if the English would cease helping the Sultan—and are simple enough freely to express their hopes. And meanwhile they are governed by the most un- ruly and least intelligent popular assembly in the world—which a few years ago added to a decree excluding one of the pretenders to the throne a wish " that he be eternally damned, he and all his family "—and are divided into furious partisans of the " pig- jobbing " and the " pig-driving " dynasties, besides having among them Republicans of nearly every possible shade. We do not find so much to laugh at in this as Mr. Creagh—who, when politics are in question, is as easily amused as he says the Servians are ; we confess he makes us rather sorry for the Servians. But it is time to follow him into the territory of the Sultan.
It was at Brod, which he reached by a steamboat journey up the Save, that he first came upon Turkish soil. There is a German Brod and a Turkish Brod, separated from each other by the river, and on crossing from one to the other, he felt at once that he had stepped from the West into the East. In Turkish Brod " a man with a hat is as much an object of cariosity as if he were in Bagdad." Indian fakirs, according to Mr. Creagh, often come there, and " feel as much at home there as they do in Hyderabad.', The large proportion of Christians in the population affects appearances in Bosnia less than might be expected, for Mussul- mans and Christians dress very much alike ; and "I was often surprised," says Mr. Creagh, " to hear from the mouth of a person who looked like a bearded true-believer, that he was a Christian of the Orthodox or Catholic Church." He had had some dismal warnings about the dangers of travel in Bosnia, but in fact, he met with no dangers but those incident to break-neck roads and reckless driving ; and the jolting of his cart by day and the dis- comforts of the Turkish Hans at night, were nearly all there was to mar the pleasure of a journey in lovely weather through a very striking country. Seraijevo was the first place at which he made a stay ; from that he travelled to Mostar, the capital of Bosnia ; and thence through the Herzegovina, he made his way to the Austrian territory at Metcovitch. On the whole, he had an un- eventful journey. A Turkish marriage procession, presenting no unfamiliar features—an armed party carrying home the bride with much discharging of fire-arms, and other martial display—was the most remarkable sight on the road to Seraijevo; and just before reaching Mostar he was overtaken by the Tartar post, which he accompanied in its triumphal entry into the town. The curiosity of the Turks was sometimes a little troublesome, but even on his entry into Seraijevo, when he found himself looked upon as a suspicious person by the idlers in the streets, he was not seriously molested. A visit from an aide-de-camp of Dervish Pasha, on this occasion, cleared his character, and promptly freed him from intrusion. He afterwards paid a visit to the Pasha, who received him very civilly, and impressed him as being a humane and gentlemanlike man, though somewhat ignorant ; and he made friends among the European residents in Seraijevo, the Consuls and their families, with whom he made some excursions into the neighbouring country. On one of these he fell in with a Bosnian bey, a descendant of one of the feudal chiefs, Mohammedans of Slav descent, who, up to a period not remote, were all- powerful in the country. It Was not till 1848, indeed, that their power was finally broken. Now many of them are down in the world, like the bey described by Mr. Creagh, and equally discontented with their fallen fortunes :—" Although the head of a clan that was once very powerful, he is reduced to ex- treme poverty ; but the pride of this highland chieftain is not humbled, for he sat proudly on his well-bred pony, and looked haughtily at the passers-by, as if he thought that they were far beneath him. He often goes to look at the ruined little castle of his father, where he was born ; he keeps, as a sacred treasure, which he hopes to unfurl again, the old banner borne before his ancestors in many a desperate fight ; but his income is reduced to about five-and-twenty pounds a year. He had the manners, if not the appearance of a gentleman, and notwitatanding a bold and defiant aspect, he saluted us with great courtesy." In the motley crowd which thronged the streets and bazaars of Serai- jevo, amid Greeks, Jews, Christians, and Turks, Mr. Creagh saw several Indian Mussuhnans, " the history of whose adventurous: lives would doubtless, if written, be extremely interesting." Of the native population in town or country he saw little or nothing.. A frequenter of the bath, however, he found that it was thought he must always have been a very healthy man, because he had, never been " fired, or stoned, or rubbed," and this led to his- picking up a little knowledge of Bosnian medical practice, which is certainly more active than Western opinion approves. Brandy, mixed with gunpowder and pepper, is considered an infallible cure- for most internal disorders ; constipation is treated with a red- hot stone fastened on the stomach, rheumatism with a red-hot iron applied to the afflicted limb ; and lumbago "is said to disap- pear before a rubbing which takes the skin off a person's back."
The seclusion of the women is much less complete than it is. further East. Young girls are not even veiled, wearing only a shawl about the bead. Married women are allowed perfect liberty, and "unrecognisable in their white shrouds, go wherever they please, and stay away from home in the day-time as long as they like." Mr. Creagh says that the morals of the Bosnians, like those- of their Slavish kinsfolk in Servia, are extremely lax.
From Metcovitch Mr. Creagh travelled to Cattaro, and from. that he went up to Tstinie, the capital of Montenegro, making: his way thence, after a short stay, by boat to Scutari, with his- description of which his narrative closes. Wishing to part from him in peace, we shall pass over this portion of his journey,. merely remarking that if he has scourged the Servians with whips,. he has scourged the poor Montenegrins with scorpions, and that while perhaps the Montenegrins are none the worse for his bitter- report of them, his book is certainly none the better for it-- dullness itself being preferable to smart writing which reads like a savage libel on a people who, poor and backward as they may be, disproportioned as may be their resources to the ends of which they dream, are animated by a generous desire to give- succour to Christian races of their blood, and earnestly dis- ciplining their energies for this task. To conclude, if Mr. Creagh will write stories—and he can write them very well—why does he- not publish them by themselves ? We are not finding fault with what he has done in his present work, but a story more than fifty pages long does seem out of place in an account of travel on the• Austro-Turkish frontier.
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