battles, since the days of Philip of Macedon down to the last great conflict between the Turks and the Servians, have been decided.

The plain of Cossova is presumed to be ten leagues in length, and when seen in its full size from any of the surrounding heights, bears the form of an oblong basin; in fact it is nothing more nor less than the bed of a vast lake, like several others of a similar description I passed over in these provinces. The soil is alluvial, and of immense depth, and notwithstanding the plain is situated at a height not far short of two thousand feet, it is everywhere extraordinarily fertile, and appropriated, for the most part, to agriculture and grazinggrounds. The prospect from this plain in every direction is extremely beautiful: there is the vast amphitheatre of the mighty Kopaonik, rising to a height of six thousand feet; the pinnacled cliffs of the Bosnian mountains; the Arnoutska Planina, in Upper Albania; the lesser heights, in Bulgaria and Macedonia; and, perhaps not the least interesting, the gigantic Scardus.

At Gazimestan, a few leagues from Pristina, we visited the teké of Sultan Amurath, erected on the spot where that heroic son of Othman was assassinated in his tent by a treacherous friend, Milosh Obilitsch, a chieftain of Servia. The Osmanli, furious at the loss of their glorious Sultan, fought like demons during the tremendous battle which ensued on the 15th of June,

1389, when the Servians were totally routed, their Kral Lazar killed, and every prisoner put to the sword.

The Servian patriot, that he might destroy the Sultan, sacrificed himself, hoping thereby to deliver his country from the rule of the infidel; but alas! his illadvised enthusiasm only entailed upon his land and race centuries of woe and degradation. To murder the man with whom you had broken bread and exchanged the cup of hospitality, was a crime in those days unknown among the virtuous horde of Othman. The Turks revenged themselves by the total destruction of the Servian empire; and at the death of Sultan Amurath may be said to have commenced those horrible persecutions of the Christians, which have been carried on with greater or less violence down to the present day. A neat building, furnished with a mat, carpet and chandelier, containing a sarcophagus, has been raised to the memory of the Turkish hero, whose remains, after lying in state on the field of battle, were removed for interment to the burial-place of his ancestors at Broussa.

Not many years since, this famous field was again the theatre of a severe conflict. The Mussulman-Servians of Bosnia assembled here to the number of twentyfive thousand well-appointed warriors, and completely defeated the Nizam sent against them. They were commanded by a chief who styled himself Zmai od Bosna (the Dragon of Bosnia). He was descended from a member of the princely house of Brankowich,

so well known in the history of Servia as the traitor Brankowich, who, having abjured Christianity, betrayed his country to the Turks. The Zmai od Bosna of our day, however, was highly popular with his fanatic followers, and appeared to be advancing rapidly to sovereign power.

Reschid Mehmet Pacha, who was then Grand Vizier, unable to attack the rebels, owing to the demoralized state of the Nizam, despatched against them a large army of Albanian volunteers, commanded by two Pachas; but instead of fighting, they fraternized with the insurgents of Bosnia; and now, heaping maledictions on the Giaour Sultan and his reforms, the united army prepared to march on Constantinople, with the intention of dethroning him. At this critical moment, the "Dragon of Bosnia," who appears to have possessed more the spirit of a hero than the subtlety of a diplomatist, instead of elevating himself, like his neighbour Milosh of Servia, to the dignity of Sovereign Prince of Bosnia, was completely caught in the net of the wily Asiatic, and accepted from him the mantle of Vizier and Lord of Bosnia.

Elated with his new dignity, and relying on the good faith of the Grand Vizier, our too-confiding chieftain separated his interests from those of his allies, disbanded the greatest part of his troops, formed his court as Vizier, appointed his officers of state, and remained for some weeks in his pleasant city of tents, amusing

himself with feasting, drinking and military exercises.

During this time, the Grand Vizier had collected together the broken fragments of the Nizam, placed another Vizier over Bosnia, on whose fidelity he could depend, and, in conjunction with a host of Beys and Spahis with their followers, advanced in battle-array from Novi-bazar towards the field of Cossova, where he defeated the Dragon and his followers. The hero himself fought with the energy of desperation, and after performing prodigies of valour, succeeded in cutting his way, with two hundred of his principal Beys and Kapitans, through the Nizam, and reaching the mountains. At length, after many adventures, he was obliged to escape into Austria, and eventually owed his pardon and exile into Asia to the intercession of the Grand Vizier.

My communicative companion, Veli Bey, who was a native of these provinces, while he dwelt with pride on the extraordinary bravery and gallantry of the "Dragon of Bosnia," eulogized in the highest terms the artful Asiatic, Reschid, who he pronounced to be a man of transcendent genius, able to accomplish the destruction of his enemy, even when victory appeared to have placed him beyond his grasp. I could not help thinking what a very elastic thing political honesty was in the opinion of a Mussulman, and how easily it was made to bend to circumstances.

Veli Bey, who was an admirable cicerone, and knew the ground well over which we now travelled, pointed out to me the remains of entrenchments and the various sites of pitched battles, in fields where perhaps more of man's blood has been shed than in any other part of the world, when we remember that this was the gatheringplace of the half-wild tribes of these provinces, in their numberless encounters with their more civilized neighbours the Greeks, Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, Turks, &c., &c.

We encamped for the night in the vicinity of Vouschitrin, the ancient Viciternum; a small town with two mosques, a Greek church, and some remains of antiquity. We had now fairly entered Bosnia, but as yet everything wore the appearance of tranquillity; the Governor of the town, with the Aga, the Cadi and Moullah, visited us in our tents, bringing with them pack-horses laden with a choice supply of dainties and luxuries to comfort our Beys, under the fatigue of the rebel-hunting expedition in which they were engaged.

An Arnout camp of white tents, each surmounted by its little white and red banner, and spread out like a fan, is a very pretty object in the landscape; these hardy soldiers, however, rarely make use of one, unless compelled by the cold or rainy weather, or when a storm threatens, as was the case this evening; a carpet spread on the grass, and a thick mantle, suffice for all their wants. However indifferent they may be to the comforts

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