With respect to my Arabian, so long the companion of a kind master, and the playmate of his little family, now that he felt assured he had nothing to fear from having fallen into the hands of a stranger, every day developed in him some new trait of sagacity and affection. Let the reader imagine me bivouacking in the mountains, under the shade of a group of noble trees, with a stream of clear water flowing at our feet, my kiraidji and myself busily employed in turning a wooden spit run through a quarter of a lamb, or a kid, over a large fire, with my horse stretched by my side, his head resting on my shoulder, eagerly watching the savoury dish till it was cooked, and then, after eating a mouthful or two, and taking a piece of sugar, and drinking a cup of wine, scampering off to forage for himself, and again coming, frisking to my side, on hearing my whistle, like a spaniel dog.▸ Finding we could not attempt the passage of the Great Isker, we returned to the village of Jeni-han, where we remained till early dawn, knowing that a few hours' fair weather would be sufficient to reduce the volume of the mountain torrent. The event justified our expectations, a strong breeze having sprung up during the night, we easily found a place where we could conveniently ford it, and continue our route to Sophia, distant only a few leagues. The little province of Sophia, hemmed in on every side by a chain of hills, over which rises the snowcrested summit of the stupendous Rilo Planina, may be termed the real home and capital of the Bulgarian, for VOL. II. BB when nearly all was lost, here they made their last stand against the Turks, and maintained themselves till they were shut out from all communication with the world and their friends. However, in those days, nothing could withstand Osmanli enterprize and persevering energy; they were not then the indolent, degenerate, tchibouque-smoking, coffee-bibbing race we now find them; nor were their chiefs the effeminate inmates of a harem, better fitted for weaving a web of intrigue on the velvet cushion of a divan, than taking a bold active part in the regeneration of a country. CHAPTER XX. Arrival at Sophia-Its ancient and modern history-Sketch of the Bulgarian nationality-Public buildings at Sophia-The cholera and the plague-Turkish fatalism and indolenceJourney through the mountains to Ternova-Some account of the capital of the ancient Krals of Bulgaria-Sketch of the Bulgarian revolution of 1838-40. THE first view of Sophia, rising up in the centre of a vast basin, with its domes and minarets picturing their fair forms on the horizon; over which we behold, in picturesque grandeur the encircling chain of the Balkan, is one of surprizing beauty. As we descend into the plain, the eye loves to dwell on the number of villages shaded with groves of fruit trees, and the rich fields of maize, and every species of grain that lie dotted about in every direction-the true ornament of a landscape, as they tell of man's patient industry, and we hope his happy home. On approaching the capital of the mountain districts of Bulgaria, as if by enchantment we enter a dreary waste, which encircles the town, and to increase the tristeness, pass through a funereal forest of turbanned pillars, to remind the traveller how fleeting is the life of man. But a cemetery harmonizes with the gloomy character of an Osmanli, and is at all times, and in all places, his favourite promenade, and no Christian dare desecrate the soil by tilling the ground within miles of the "city of his ancestors." Out of compassion for the bones of their fathers, we would recommend them to enclose these cities within high walls, and a more contracted space, since the number of dogs one sees prowling about, creates uncomfortable apprehensions which the stranger cannot easily dismiss from his mind. The miserable wooden bridge thrown over the Isker, and still more miserable wooden gate, with the dilapidated fortifications, that a child might leap over, entirely dispel, on a near approach, the illusion of the traveller, who may imagine from a more distant view that he is approaching a rich and flourishing city. Still Sophia, however decayed an appearance it may present to the eyes of the traveller from the west, has by no means lost its local importance, and the associations connected with it must ever be interesting when we remember the degree of commercial prosperity it had attained long before London, the mighty emporium of modern commerce, was even heard of. Sophia, like every other ancient town in this land of mythology and tradition, claims the honour of having been founded by a celestial being; and as we do not pretend to be so matter-of-fact as to exclude from our pages all that belongs to the ideal world, we feel that were it only for the sake of our fair readers, we cannot but relate the romantic tradition connected with the foundation of Sophia. It appears that the beauty of Serdicé, the daughter of Illyria, which according to tradition was such as might "raise a mortal to the skies, or call an angel down," having, like her mother, as we related in the preceding pages, captivated one of those angelic youths of old, who "Burning for maids of mortal mould, And lost their heaven fo woman's eyes.” Having, doubtless, not without great difficulty, persuaded the fair maiden to elope, the celestial paramour bore her on his pinions aloft into the regions of upper air, where, after hovering some time butterfly-like in search of a pretty retired spot wherein to pass their honeymoon, the loving couple at length alighted in the beautiful basin which Sophia now occupies. Here they built their bower of love, which, however, truth compels us to confess was in all probability about as picturesque and comfortable as a log but, since a genius for architecture never seems to have distinguished these immortal founders of the great cities of the East, it however formed the nucleus of similar structures, and as small beginnings often lead to great ends, Sophia gradually became the flourishing city it was in the time of the great Macedonian, Alexander, when it was known as |