again on the morning of a beautiful day full of my old propensities for leading the life of a wanderer. Still the torrents of rain had left so many traces of its violence in the numberless tiny cataracts, that poured over our road, as to render it nearly impassable. We contrived, however, to reach an elevated plateau covered with the noblest forest trees, where a most animated scene met our view; the bivouac of a caravan, consisting of from forty to fifty kiraidjis, from the interior of Macedonia, Thessaly and Albania; they were on their way to Belgrade with the produce of their country, but, like ourselves, owing to the state of the roads they could proceed no further, and by way of passing their time, were now encamped around blazing fires, either cooking or smoking the tchibouque.

The remains of numerous fires proved that the spot, at which we had arrived, was a favourite halting place of the kiraidjis, and had been selected on account of the excellence of a fine spring of water gushing from the rock, ornamented by a fountain, the benevolent work of some pious Mussulman, as the inscription testified. The foliage of a gigantic linden shaded it from the rays of the sun; the trunk of a tree scooped out, served as a drinking-trough for our horses, and a wooden drinking-cup, secured by a chain, for the use of the traveller.

Imitating the example of our neighbours, Georgy soon made a fire, when we boiled our coffee, baked our cakes, and broiled our game.

The oaks here were really splendid, many of them

VOL. I.

F

several yards in circumference; and as the shepherds, when wandering over the mountain frequently require shelter from the storm, they had adopted the novel expedient of excavating, if I may so speak, some of the largest of these trees by means of fire, and thus converting them into houses of refuge.

A cloudless sky and a strong bracing wind at length succeeded the storm, which giving promise of a succession of fine weather, the whole caravan were soon in motion making arrangements for their departure. The first note of preparation was a most peculiar and indescribable cry, raised by all the kiraidjis of the caravan, which in a few minutes had the desired effect of reassembling the horses that had been turned into the woods to forage for themselves, all running to their respective owners; though to my obtuse oral faculties, the cry uttered by every kiraidji appeared the same, yet the unerring sagacity of instinct enabled each animal to distinguish his master, who held a little sack of corn, which the unsuspecting brute no sooner tasted, than he was caught by the mane, and obliged again to submit to the burden of the pack-saddle.

In a short space of time the packages were strapped to the saddles of the horses, and the cavalcade in motion, leaving the smouldering fires at the service of the next traveller. In a country where provender can be had in the fields for nothing, and fuel obtained for the trouble of cutting, it is very rarely that any traveller, a native of these provinces, and still more seldom a kiraidji, in fine weather seeks the shelter of

the han. They all carry their provisions and cooking utensils; and at night, surrounded by their packs with a blazing fire in the centre, and rolled up in their kabanitzas, sleep in the open air, in defiance of wind, rain and storm.

During the depth of winter every description of travelling is necessarily suspended in a country without roads, and in which the snow is often several yards in depth, not forgetting the number of wolves that, pressed with hunger, often attack the sheepfolds, unless they are defended by strong palisades, and sometimes even the traveller.

On approaching Upper Moesia and the Turkish frontier, I observed a decided improvement in the manner of cultivating the land, and also in roads; for here and there a layer of gravel had been bestowed with a view, I presume, of impressing the Osmanli with the opinion, that the emancipated Servian had made gigantic strides in civilization. But, as if they intended the roads, like everything else, should differ from those of Western Europe, they had erected large clumsy gates with still clumsier fastenings, which obliged us to descend from our horses so often to open them, that our patience was most severely tried.

Alexinitz, at which we now arrived, the frontier town of Bosnia, Bulgaria and Upper Moesia, is prettily situated on the Morava. A bold range of undulating hills here shoot up, and gradually blend with the stupendous Jaskevatz and Stara Planina of Upper Moesia, as if Nature had intended them to be the boundary of the

principality. The contrast between this town and those we had passed through in the interior was most striking. We found the hans filled with kiraidjis and commercial travellers from the interior of Turkey, and the shops displayed a better description of merchandize.

Unless some untoward circumstance should disturb the harmony that at present exists between Servia and the Ottoman Porte, Alexinitz is likely to become one of the most important towns in the principality; a direct communication opens from here to Constantinople by Sofia, in Bulgaria, and also to Macedonia, Albania and the Adriatic, by following the course of the Morava through the mountain districts of Upper Moesia, and the country of the Rasci. The soil is fertile, the climate salubrious, and the surrounding country highly romantic and picturesque. The fine prairies on the banks of the Morava offer an admirable field for the skilful agriculturist; and to judge from the luxuriance of the vines, planted on the shelving sides of the hills, it might become a most productive wine country.

The town at present contains about four hundred houses, a church, one or two public buildings recently erected, and advancing some pretensions to architectural beauty. The coffee-houses and hans, for the reception of travellers, are also of a better description than are usually found in these provinces, and I observed many indications of an approach to European usages.

During my rambles through the streets of Alexinitz, in which, like all the other towns of Servia, we are

:

certain to find something new-some feature characteristic of this primitive people-I was struck with the novel manner in which the auctioneer exercises his vocation when an article is offered for sale, whether a buffalo, a horse or a lady's bracelet, a drummer is sent forth to perambulate the town, exhibit the article, and take the biddings; if he can write, he notes them down in his tablets; if not, why a notch in a piece of wood must serve the same purpose, and when he has completed his promenade, he returns to the auctioneer, who examines the different amount of the sums which have been offered, and if approved of by his employer, a loud rat-a-tat announces that the highest bidder is the purchaser. Nor is this the only office the town drummer exercises; he is, at the same time, the crier and the gazette; he announces the promulgation of a new law by a rat-a-tat, and the most important news of the day; and it is he who summons the inhabitants to arms, should the fierce Arnout, or the Bosnian, be making preparations to cross the frontier.

The vocation of this important functionary does not end here. It is also his office to announce, at nightfall, that the hour has arrived, after which it becomes a punishable offence to be found in the streets without a lighted lantern, lamps having not yet contributed their aid to the enlightenment of Turkey. These lanterns are made of transparent paper, gaudily painted, and so folded as to be capable of being carried in the pocket. The effect of a number of these moving about in different directions, resembling so many gigantic glowworms, is exceedingly pretty.