Power of intoxication

A drunken man was sleeping on the highway,

overcome by the power of intoxication; a devotee

passed by, and beheld his condition with detestation. The young man lifted up

his head, and said, when you meet an inconsiderate person, pass him with kindness;

and when you see a sinner, conceal his crime and be compassionate. 0 thou, who

despisest my indiscretion, why dost thou not rather pity me? 0 holy man, avert

not thy face from a sinner, but regard him with benignity. If my manners are

unpolished, nevertheless behave yourself towards me with civility.”

Dispute Durwesh

A company of dissolute men came to dispute

with a Durwesh, and made use of improper expressions; at which being

offended, he went to his spiritual guide and complained of what had happened.

He replied, “0 my son, the habit of a Durwesh is the garment of resignation;

whoso ever weareth this garb and cannot support injuries, is an enemy to the

profession, and is not entitled to the dress. A great river is not made turbid

by a stone; the religious man who is hurt at injuries, is as yet but shallow

water. If any misfortune befilth you, bear with it, that by forgiving others

you may yourself obtain pardon. O my brother, seeing that we are at last to

return to earth, let us humble ourselves in ashes before we are changed into

dust.”

Bughdad

Attend to the following story. In the city of Bughdad there happened a contention between the Flag and the Curtain. The Flag, disgusted with the dust of the road and the fatigue of marching, said to the Curtain in displeasure, “You and myself are school-fellows, both servants of the Sultan’s court. I never enjoy a moment’s relaxation from business, being obliged to travel at all seasons ; you have not experienced the fatigue of marching, the danger of storming the fortress, the perils of the lesser, nor the inconveniences of whirlwinds and dust ; my foot is more forward in enterprise, why then is thy dignity greater than mine ?

You pass your time amongst youths beautiful as 1 he moon, and with virgins odoriferous as Jasmin; I am carried in the hands of menial S; reams, and travel with my feet in bands and my head agitated by the wind.” The Curtain replied, “My head is placed on the threshold, and not, like yours, raised up to the sky; whosoever through folly exalts his necklace, precipitates himself into distress.”

Necessary perform conditions

The following story will exemplify what has been said above:—A King, having some weighty affairs in agitation, made a vow that, in case of success, he would distribute a certain sum of money amongst men dedicated to religion. When, on his wish being accomplished, it was necessary to perform the conditions of his vow, he gave a purse of dimers to one of his favorite servants, to distribute amongst the Zahids. It was said that the youth was wise and prudent.

The whole day he wandered about, and at night, when he returned, he kissed the money, and laid it before the King, saying that he had not found any Zahids. The King replied, “What a story is this since I myself know four hundred Zahids in this city.” lie replied, “0 lord of the world those who are Zfihids will not accept of money, and they who take it are not Zahids.” The King laughed, and said to his courtiers, “So much as I want to favor this body of men, the worshippers of God, this saucy fellow thwarts my inclination, and he has justice on his side. If a Zahid accepts direms and dinars, you .must seek somewhere else for a religious man.”

Consecrated bread

They asked a certain wise man, what was his

opinion of consecrated bread? He replied, “If

they receive it in order to compose their minds and to promote their devotions,

it is lawful; but if they want nothing but bread, it is illegal. Men of piety

receive bread to enjoy religious retirement, but enter not into the cell of

devotion for the sake of obtaining bread.”

Durwesh

A Durwesh came to a place where the master of the house was of a hospitable disposition. The company consisted of persons of understanding and eloquence, who separately delivered a joke or pleasantry, in a manner becoming men of wit. The Durwesh having travelled over the desert, was fatigued, and had not eaten anything. One of the company observed to him merrily, that he also must say something.

The Durwesh replied, that he did not possess writ and eloquence like the rest, and neither being learned, he hoped they would be satisfied with his reciting a single distich. They one and all eagerly desired him to speak, when he said, “ I aiii a hungry man, in whom a table covered with food excites strong appetite, like a youth at the door of the female bath.” They all applauded, and ordered the table to be laid for him. The host said, “ 0 my friend, stop a little, as my servants are preparing some minced meat.” The Durwesh raised up his head, and said, “ Forbid them to put forced-meat on my table, for to the hungry, plain bread is a savory dish.”

Marriageable

A certain lawyer had a very ugly daughter

who was marriageable; but although he

offered a considerable dower and other valuables, no one was inclined to wed

her. Brocade and damask will appear disgusting on a bride who is ugly. In

short, through necessity, he married her to a blind man. It is said that, in

the same year there arrived from Ceylon a physician who could restore sight to

the blind. They asked the father, Why lie would not have his son-in-law cured? He

said, ‘‘ Bee: Use he was afraid that if lie should recover his sight, he would

divorce his wife. It is best that the husband of an ugly woman should be

blind.”

Conqueror of kingdoms

A certain King regarded with contempt the

society of Durweshcs; which one of them having the penetration to discover,

said, “O king in this world you have the advantages of us in external grandeur,

but with regard to the comforts of life we are your superiors : at the time of

death we shall be your equals ; and at the resurrection our state will be

preferable to yours ”

Although the conqueror of kingdoms enjoyed absolute sway at the same time that the Durwesh may be in want of bread, yet in that hour when both shall die, they will cany nothing with them but their winding-sheets. When you wish to make up your burthens for quitting this world, the state of the beggar will be preferable to that of the monarch. The Durwesh exhibits a patched garment and shaved hair, but in truth his heart is alive and his passions subdued. He is not a person that will advance his pretensions among mankind; and if men oppose his inclination, he will not engage in strife. If a mill-stone should roll down from a mountain, he has but little faith who gets out of the way of it.

The Durwcsh’s course of duty consists in invoking and praising God, in obeying and worshipping him in giving alms, in being content, in believing the unity of the Deity, and in reliance on God with patient resignation to His will. Whosoever is endowed with these qualities is a Durwesh indeed, although he be arrayed in a robe; and, on the contrary, an idle prater who neglects his prayers and is a slave to his passions, who turns day into night in sensual gratifications, and night into day in drowsy indolence, eating anything that falls in his way, and saying whatever comes uppermost, such an one is a profligate, although he wears nothing but a blanket. 0 thou, whose inward parts are void of piety and whose outside beareth the garb of hypocrisy, hang not a gorgeous curtain before the door of a house constructed of reeds.

Inquired the cause

A holy man saw a wrestler distracted and

foaming at the mouth with rage: he inquired the cause,

and was told someone had given him -abuse. He said, “This paltry fellow, who

can lift a stone of a thousand pounds’ weight, is not able to bear a single

word. Resign your boasting pretensions to strength and fortitude; you

weak-spirited Vetch what is the difference between such a man and a woman? Show

your power by engaging others to speak kindly to you; it is not courage to

drive your fist against another man’s mouth, if you are able to tear the front

of an elephant; he is no man who hath not humanity. The sons of Adam are formed

of humble earth; if you possess not humility, neither are you a man.”

Character of his brethren

They interrogated a learned man concerning

the character

of his brethren, the Soofees. He answered, “The meanest of

their excellences is, that they prefer gratifying the desire of their friends

to attending to their own affairs; and the sages have said, ‘The brother who is

intent upon his own affairs, is neither brother nor relation:’ your fellow-traveler,

if he walks faster than yourself, is not your companion; place not your

affections on any one who is not attached to you. If there be not religion and

piety amongst relatives, it is best to break off connections with our kindred.”

I recollected that an adversary objected to

the sentiment in the above distich, and said, that in the Koran the highest God

has forbidden that we should break off connection with relatives, and has

commanded us to prefer friendship with relations to that of others; and that

what I had said above was contrary to this precept. I replied, “You are

mistaken, it agrees with the Koran.

 ‘If

your parents insist that you should join as partners with me those things of

which you are ignorant, then do not obey them.’ A thousand relations, who are

ignorant of God, ought to he sacrifices for one stranger who acknowledges him.”

Merry fellow of Bughdad

A merry fellow of Bughdad married

his daughter to a shoe-maker. The little man having a flinty heart, bit the

girl’s lips in such a manner that they trickled with blood. In the morning her

father, beholding her in such plight, went to his son-in-law and said to him, “0

you worthless fellow what kind of teeth have you got thus to chew her lips, as

if they were made of leather? I am not speaking in jest; leave off’ your jokes,

and have your legal enjoyment.” When bad manners become habitual, they cannot

be got rid of until death.

LIVE STOCK

The rearing of live stock constitutes an

important branch of the rural economy of the country. However, as we have seen,

pastures and fallows tend to diminish, being replaced by more elaborate

cultivation. For this reason, while decreasing his pastures, the Bulgarian

farmer increases his forage by the cultivation of various crops, the duel of

which are vetch and lucem. The total area occupied by lucem, vetch and wild

millet was, in 1892,31,342 hectares, and in 1899 88,455*84 hectares. The

quantity of these forage plants grown has, therefore, tripled in seven years.

The Ministry of Commerce and Agriculture each year distributes gratis a large

quantity of lucem seed, and exempts from all taxes ground sown with lucem.

The following table gives some idea of the

live stock of

Bulgaria:

Animal. Number

in 1893.              Number in 1900.              Proportional differenco More.

Less.

1             Horses                  343,946                494,557                4378

p  I.C.

2             Mules                   8,264    8,887     756         II

3             Donkeys              81,610  107,098                31*23    99

4             Cattle                    1,425,781           1,596,267            ii*95       99

5             Buffalos               342,193               431,487                26a09    II

6             Sheep                   6,868,291            7,015,385            2*14      II

7             Goats                    1,263,772            1,405,190            II*I9       99

8             Pigs                        461,635               367,501                —           20.39

p,

9             Poultry                 3,426,637           4,751,751            38*86    99

Improvement of the different animals

The improvement of the different animals

is brought about by means of selection. Another system that obtains in Bulgaria

is crossing native breeds with the best breeds of other countries. To this end,

the Government seconds the efforts of permanent commissions in the provinces

and of the agricultural cooperative societies. There are in the Principality

five large State depots for stallions and a certain number of stations for

cattlebreeding, especially near the agricultural colleges of Sadovo

(Philippopolis) and Roustchouk. The Government awards prizes to the breeders

who specially distinguish themselves, and helps them in the purchase of

pedigree beasts for breeding purposes. Dairies, which play so important a part

in farm management, and which, though as yet only in their beginning in

Bulgaria, will certainly develop enormously, are the object of special

attentions on the part of the Government.

On the whole, the State agricultural

institutions are rapidly developing, and so are the agricultural enterprises

due to private initiative. A special section of the Ministry of Commerce and

Agriculture (created in 1894) is concerned with the superintendence of

everything relating to agriculture in the Principality. This section is

subdivided into other sections, occupied with the respective branches of

agriculture, viticulture, fruitgrowing, cattlebreeding, and beekeeping. The

whole country is divided into fortyfour agricultural districts, under the

management of agricultural inspectors. It is the duty of these inspectors to

see to the carrying out of the various agricultural laws (village police,

phylloxera, silkworms, eggs, etc.), and to promote useful knowledge of farm

management by organising lectures, demonstrations, etc.

LANDED PROPERTY AND AGRICULTURE

With a total area of 9,570,450 hectares,

the Principality of Bulgaria contains:

(1)          2,156,701*05

hectares of inhabited area, roads, rivers, etc.; in all 22*54 per cent, of the

total area.

(2)          2,867,870*79

hectares of forest; 29*96 of the total area.

(3)          2,975,386*21

hectares of arable land; 31*09 p.c. of the total area.

(4)          352,404*36

hectares of meadow land; 3*68p.c. of the total area.

(5)          124,680*08

hectares of gardens, orchards, rose gardens and vineyards; 1*30 p.c. of the

total area.

(6)          123,207*64

hectares of marshes, reed beds, islands, thickets, and salt marshes ; 1*29 p.c.

of the total area.

(7)          970,199*87

hectares of pasture land, 10*14 p.c. of the total area.

We see from these figures that the total

area of ground susceptible of cultivation is 4,422,670*52 hectares, or 46*21

p.c. of the area of the country. Governmental statistics prove that the greater

part of the arable land and of that suited to any kind of culture comes more

and more under cultivation. About the year 1892 2,623,312 hectares were being

cultivated, that is 59*30 p.c. About the year 1897 these figures rose to

3,452,470*65 hectares, 78 p.c. The remaining 22 p.c. is pasture land.

As regards ownership, the total area of the

Principality is divided into:

(1)          Private

property: 3,977,55772 hectares, or 41*56 p.c. of the total area.

(2)          Parish

property: 2,291,156*50 hectares, or 23*94 p.c. of the total area.

(3)          Inhabited

area, rivers, roads : 2,156,701*05 hectares, or 22*54 p.c. °f the total area.

(4)          State

property : 1,015,903*23 hectares, or IO*6I p.c. of the total area.

(5)          Property

belonging to churches, schools, monasteries, etc.: 29,131*50 hectares, or 1*35

p.c. of the total area.

Total: 9,570,450 hectares.

Inhabited area

So that, without counting the inhabited

area, rivers, roads, etc., the area that can be turned to account is

7,413,748*95 hectares, 3»977»5577a °f which belong to private owners;

3,428,466*9 hectares belong to 546,084 proprietors who live on their own land;

599,090*8 hectares belong to 253,504 proprietors who do not live on those

lands.

The following table gives details relating

to the distribution of the property of the former class:

                Number

of Proprietors.                Area of

each property.  Total area of the

properties of each class.

1             65,870                   up to     5 ddcar.               157,227*2

d4c.

2             37,256   from      5

to        10           99           278,367*9

..

3             59,735                   10 to     20           99           895,795’6

4             54,841   •9           20

to     30           99           1,373,820*1 „

5             49,637   99           30

to     40           99           1,735,5i5 5 ..

6             44,093   99           40

to     50           99           1,982,240*6 „

7             85,177   99           50

to     75           99           5,254.165*9 „

8             53,4*8  99           75

to     100         »»          4,618,268*4 „

9             53,oi8    99           100

to   150         99           6,419,925 »

zo           21,108   99           150

to   200         99           3,621,738*7 „

IT            14,112   f»            200

to   300         99           3,390,952*9 „

Land devoted to agriculture

The land devoted to

agriculture, strictly so called, which as we have seen was in the

year 1899 about 2,046,791 hectares, added to that under other cultivation

(vineyards, rose gardens, orchards and meadows), gives a total of 2,520,401

hectares of productive land. The following table shows the uses to which it is

put:

2 Oleaginous plants        9,883     15,89139              6079     

3 Vegetables     10,333   32,94179              21879    tt

4 Other culinary plants  20,012   31,89237              59*36    tt

5 Forage              343,342                440,85920           2840      11

6 Vines 96,000   110,94287            15*56    11

7 Roses 4,352     5,09435                1704      *t

8 Orchards ..      2,158     5,16321                13924    i)

Total      1,680,927             2,520,401*00     49*94    tt

The annual yield of cereals is calculated

at 30,000,000 hectolitres in the following proportion:

Wheat                                  12,000,000          hectolitres.

Maize                                   7,000,000            99

Barley                                   5,000,000            99

Oats                                      2,500,000            99

Rye                                        3,000,000            99

Millet                                    300,000                99

Spelt                                     200,000                99

Total                                     30,000,000          99

As regards the quantity of its cereals,

Bulgaria occupies the tenth place after Sweden. As regards wheat and maize, it

occupies the eighth, as regards oats and rye, the tenth.

According to their fertility per head of

the population, the provinces of the Principality form three groups

(1)          14

hectolitres per head : Roustchouk, Varna, Bourgas, and Pleven.

(2)          11

hectolitres per head: StaraZagora, Timova, Shoumen, Vratza.

(3)          8

hectolitres per head: Kustendil, Philippopolis, Sofia, Vidin,

The primitive form of plough is still in

use. For some time past, however, modem agricultural implements which greatly

facilitate field labour have been introduced. The following table shows the

number of agricultural implements in use:

                Implements.      In 1897.                In

190s. Proportional increase or decrease.

1             Ploughs 365,877                391,225

+           6*92 percent.

2             Iron

Ploughs ..   32,399   38,923 +              20 „

3             Harrows               5,353     38,080 +              730

4             Drills      46           89

+       93

5             Reaping

Machines           731         1,385 + 86

6             Implements.

Threshing Machines       In 1897.

94           In

190s.

125 +    Proportions!

increase or decrease.

31 per cent.

7             Bolting

Machines             1,484     3,481 + 134         M

8             Winnowing

Machines 14,233      30,117 +              112         II

9             Mowers               1,748     3,318 + 87           II

zo           Haymakers         81           104

+    23           99

11           Watercarts         66           10,782

+              —           99

12           Crushing

Machines         80           207 +15875        99

Ministry of Commerce and Agriculture

The Ministry of Commerce

and Agriculture actively encourages the introduction of perfected

machines. Its efforts in this direction are seconded by the Bulgarian

Agricultural Bank and by the National Agricultural Society.

Bulgarian farmer

The Bulgarian farmer has

not as yet quite learned the use of manures. In the province of Sofia sheep’s

dung is turned to account. In the StaraPlanina district, the Rhodopes, and

SrednaGora, where the earth is poor, and chiefly vines, roses, and fruit are

grown, manure is indispensable for fertilisation. Stable manure is the only

kind in use.

The principal industrial plants grown in

Bulgaria are tobacco, roses, and beetroot.

Tobacco culture is carried on chiefly in

the South and in the provinces of Silistria and Kustendil. The area of the

plantations is estimated at 3,000 hectares. The province of Haskovo has the

greatest yield, over 800,000 kilograms of tobacco yearly; then follows

Philippopolis, with 300,000 kilograms; Kustendil, 270,000 kilograms; Silistria,

210,000 kilograms. According to approximate calculations based on various

statistics, we may conclude that threefourths of the tobacco crop of the

Principality is consumed by the inhabitants and only a quarter is exported. In

point of view of quality, Bulgarian tobacco may be compared with the Turkish

tobacco of Macedonia and Enidj. Leaf tobacco for manufacture is sold at from 80

centimes to 1 franc 50 centimes the kilogram. The Bulgarian Government

encourages the chlture of tobacco by distributing seed of good quality, free of

cost, among the planters, by setting a bounty on the export tariff and by

authorising the Bulgarian National Bank toconsent to loans on the surety of

certificates granted to the planters until they are able to dispose of their

crops advantageously.

The rose crop is next in importance after

tobacco. The roses are used exclusively for the distilling of the famous

Bulgarian attar of roses, which is known and appreciated throughout the world,

and received the highest distinctions at the Paris Exhibition of 1900. The rose

gardens are limited to 148 parishes of the provinces of Philippopolis and

StaraZagora, and occupy a total area of 5,094 hectares. The quantity and

quality of the attar depend very much on the weather at the time of bloom and

gathering. The roses most cultivated in Bulgaria are the red rose (Rosa

damascena) and the white rose {Rosa alba). The best gardens are at Kazanlik,

Karlovo, Klissoura, and StaraZagora.

The following table shows the amount of attar exported

The cultivation of beetroot has been

introduced quite recently and is confined to the province of Sofia, where it

occupies 2,000 hectares. The sugar refinery near Sofia utilises the whole crop.

Hemp and rape are being more and more

grown—rape for exportation, and hemp for its fibre, which is used by rope

makers, especially in the large ropeworks near Sofia.

Rice is largely grown in the province of

Philippopolis and, to a certain extent, at Kotcharinova, in the province of

Kusten dil. The crop is estimated at two million kilograms yearly.

The yield of haricot beans is about eight

million kilograms yearly.

BULGARIA OF TODAY

Number of Proprietors.                Total area of the

Area of each property properties of each

class.

12           4,017     from      300

to 400          d&ar 1,372,8077 d6c.

13           1,593     >»           400

to 500          708,602 6

14           1,591                     500 to 1,000       1,051,1882

15           428         ff             1,000

to 2,000   577,745

16           96           »i            2,000

to 3,000   229,9085

17           56           ft             3,000

to 5,000   214,812 8

18           38           #t            5,000

and more               401,5861

Altogether 546,084 local proprietors,

owning 34,284,669 dicares, or 3,428,466’9 hectares.

Without reproducing the statistics

regarding the second class, we may state that the characteristic trait of

Bulgarian land tenure is the system of small holdings. The land is mostly in

thj possession of peasants. Another fact deserves attention: the nonexistence

of large estates in Bulgaria. Indeed, as we have just seal, the 34,284,669

dicares of the first class are parcelled out into 7,248,648 holdings, that is

about 4 dicares to a holding. As to the properties of the second class, their

total area of 5,490,908*2 dlcares is divided into 733,693 holdings, which

confirms the general rule.

One consequence of this parcelling out of

land in Bulgaria is the growing tendency of the more intelligent peasants to

round off their properties. As yet the attention of Bulgarian legislators has

not been arrested by this fact, and no special law has been passed dealing with

the rounding off of rural properties. Still, it is only just to mention that

the law of 1904 on the management of pasture ground contains certain clauses,

obviously meant to encourage and facilitate the rounding off of small plots of

land. In fact, this law decrees a discount of 40 per cent, in favour of

thepurchasers of small plots, when they come to an understanding with their

neighbours for the rounding off of their respective properties. Both parties

are at liberty to make one another all compensations necessary for the rounding

off of their properties. This law being of so recent a date, it is as yet

impossible to judge of its results.

Land under cultivation

We have seen that the total area of land

under cultivation about 1897 was 3,452,470*65 hectares. There

are two chief categories of cultivation : permanent cultivation (vines, roses,

orchards, natural meadows, etc.) which covers about 477,084 hectares, and

arable land, such as fields, vegetable gardens, fallows, etc., which cover the

greater area, about 2,975,386 hectares. In the latter class are the lands

devoted to agriculture strictly so called.

Our most usual system of agriculture is

that of double sowing, combined with ground tilled but left unsown (fallows).

This system is completed by pastures and natural meadows for cattlerbreeding.

In 1892, of the total area susceptible of cultivation (2,215,312 hectares),

1,272,927 were tilled and sown. At that time, therefore, about 42 50 p.c. of

the arable land lay fallow. Five years later, things were very different; of

2,975,386*21 hectares of arable land 65*11 p.c. (1,968,628*66 hectares) were

sown in 1897. Of the same quantity of arable land, 2,039,81071 hectares (67*60

p.c.) were sown in 1898 and 2,046,796*21 hectares (67*80 p.c.) in 1899. In

other words, the proportion of fallow land has been as follows :

In the eastern provinces, such as Varna and

certain provinces by the Danube, beside the system above described, there are

other combinations in use. According to one of these, the land is sown for

several successive years and then left fallow tor some time. The statistics

which we have just quoted include this class of fallow land which of course,

strictly speaking, are nof fallows. But be that as it may, the above table

shows that during the period of eight years the proportion of sown land has

increased and the fallows diminished, at the rate of 1130 per cent.; which is

an undeniable proof of progress in Bulgarian agriculture.

Women in European Turkey

The huts in which Noyes stayed were “as

clean and as neatly arranged inside as they can be made by the indefatigable

baba-Noyes agreed with Robert that Bulgarian women were “gentle, compassionate,

and laborious.

They are next to the Greeks, the handsomest

women in

European Turkey, and are especially remarkable for the length

and luxuriance of their hair, with which they could literally cover themselves

as with a garment: it often sweeps the ground below their feet.” Noyes believed

that the Bulgarians between the Danube and the Balkan mountains numbered four

and a half millions. These “cultivators of the soil” even though less civilized

than the Greeks, were “more consistent in their political views.” 

Though the Bulgarians were “wedded to

peace, they have not forgotten that their ancestors established an ancient

kingdom along the Danube; that their armies have more than once carried terror

to the rulers of Byzantium. To them belongs the northern slope of the Balkans;

but they have also penetrated Thrace, Epirus and Macedonia.” However, the

Bulgarians were “too weak to avail themselves of their numerical superiority,

too timid to fly to independence, they show a disposition to fraternize with

the Greeks and the Servians.”

Their observation prompted the American to

state that in the maritime character of the Greeks, the pastoral disposition of

the Serbs and the agricultural tendency of the Bulgarians can be found “the

elements of a great people, for the establishment of whose power nothing but

union is necessary.” If these three peoples become “amalgamated” then Ottoman

authority in Europe would come to an end.

Bulgarians better than any other American

Noyes, who came to know the Bulgarians

better than any other American until the arrival of the

missionaries, sympathized with their struggle for independence, recognized

their right as well as the right of all oppressed peoples to free themselves.

The American wrote in his travel account: “Every stroke of the axe, every stroke

upon the anvil is, from the mysterious connection of things, a blow upon the

brazen shield of tyranny.

When the last despot shall have passed

away, and men learn the art of war no more, the nations can beat their swords

into ploughshares: but before the dawn of that auspicious day the down-trodden

millions of Europe must beat ploughshares into swords and reach freedom through

the red waves and fiery surges of revolution.”

Travelling and living in Bulgaria during

the Crimean War, Noyes could not but make observation on the Eastern Question

and the role the great powers played in Southeastern Europe. England and France

as the allies of Turkey were attempting to prevent Russia from gaining a

decisive position in Southeastern Europe. Noyes recognized Russia’s role in the

Balkans.

Ottoman system

The twenty thousand Servian and Bulgarian

warriors who fell, fighting heroically on the plain of Nissa, were worthy of a

better mausoleum. The Turks point to it proudly to this moment of their own

erecting as a memorial of their prowess.

The Servians, now independent, point to it

with equal pride as proof of the cost of liberty, and an eloquent incentive to

its preservation. Bulgaria will likewise one day be free, and her rude children

will chant the songs of liberty, around this monument of cruelty.” 

Noyes not only condemned the Ottoman

system but he believed that the Bulgarian people would, one

day, be free and independent. He was aware of the existence of haiduks in the

Bulgarian lands and of the striving of the people to be free. Not all

Bulgarians had totally submitted to the conquerors. In the Balkan Mountains,

which “signify mountains of defense,” the Bulgarians retained “to a greater or

lesser extend their ancient privileges.”

American physician

The American physician was

very impressed with the natural beauty of the land and its rich resources. He

thought that there can be “no fairer” place than the Balkans: “It is endowed

with the eternal advantages of nature. Washed by the Euxine, the Aegean, and

the Adriatic, and boasting of the noblest rivers and richest plains, its

commercial and agricultural resources are not surpassed by any other part of the

globe. The northern slope of the Balkans is covered with rich forests.

A deep humus extends almost up to their

summits. And southward, ‘while the mountaineer kindles his fire on the

glaciers, the olive, the fig, and the pomegranate grow below in the valleys

that know no winter.’ There is a land of gentle breezes, of purple skies, of

all the soft delights of the great-eyed Orient.” However, under Turkish rule,

“which consuming forever, the monuments of ancient art and power have moldered

away.” The former hum of business and noise of commerce had been replaced by

“the silence of death” and the sites of populous cities were marked only by

“the silent cities of the dead.”

Noyes was not just a spectator of the

pastor of nature. He attempted to become acquainted with the life of the simple

Bulgarian peasant. At one time instead of staying in Turkish khans, he “sought

out the humble cottages of the Bulgarians, experiencing everywhere the

hospitality which is proverbial in the East.” He quoted with great approval

“the poetical description” of the Bulgarian way of life by a previous and

illustrious visitor of this land Cyprian Robert.

Ottoman Danubean Bulgaria

Mutchmore arrived in Ruse from Romania. He

wrote that the city was “full of the history of long and dreary oppressions and

atrocities.” Ruse, the author said, was situated upon as “pretty a spot as is

to be found on the globe, on an abrupt bank of limestone rocks high above the

Danube, so that the stretches of the beautiful river may be seen for

miles.” 

The environmental beauty could not be

matched with the city itself because the former capital of Ottoman Danubean Bulgaria was

“a heap of Turkish dirt and ruins, for the Turk never cleans away anything, he

simply climbs upon it.” He was impressed by the work of the new Bulgarian

administration. He wrote that in “free Bulgaria” the city was going through a

“metamorphosis.” He saw new and beautiful buildings being built in the city by

the Bulgarians themselves.  

Magnificent country

Mutchmore was very impressed by the natural

beauty of the “magnificent country” from Ruse to the Black Sea,

with its “wealth of fruit and its lines of beauty.” However, in “this beautiful

country, as God has made it,” the one-handled wooden ploughs were “still used

as they appear in the hieroglyphic inscriptions in Egypt.” The Bulgarians had

no incentive to change, to enrich themselves because “the struggle has only

been for existence since the Turk conquered” them, for had they produced more

the Turks would take it.

In Bulgaria, from end to end “one sees mud

or stone huts about ten feet high, hatched with reeds, or the stocks of marsh

flags or bulrushes, with the ground for the floor, teeming with fleas and often

reeking in dirt.” The author blamed the Turks for all these huts which

“disfigure the finest country on earth.”3&

One of Mutchmore’s favorite topics was

Orthodoxy and the work of the American missionaries in Bulgaria. While visiting

Romania, Mutchmore already in describing Romanian Orthodoxy, wrote that “the

Greek priest lives nowhere where there is any progress; he would not be healthy

in it.”  He had a preconceived view that

Orthodoxy must be replaced by Protestantism in its American versions. Writing

about the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, Mutchmore stated that it was “a bundle of

dissolving ignorance, its life is malicious.”

With very few exceptions, he said, the

Bulgarian clergymen, were “ignorant, superstitious, lazy and low, and often

came out of the dregs rather than the heads of society.” This was the reason

for the “demoralization” of the masses. The American clergyman believed and

hoped that the power of the Orthodox Church would be broken. In his view this

was not too difficult because there was no real religion in the country.

Ottoman administrators

Noyes was critical of the Turkish rule of

Bulgaria. He stated that Ottoman administrators, like the governor of

Silistra, Ibrahim Pasha, were people of “the most profound incapacity.”  Most of the officials, the author wrote, were

“taken from the very dregs of society” who “suck the very vitals of their

provinces.” 

From the conquest to the present, he wrote,

Bulgaria has suffered under the Ottomans: “Bulgaria is a desert of Islam not a

desert of sand but of rich, uncultivated waster. Populous cities sprang up in

the time of the ancient kings, some of which did not lose their importance

until long after the Turks encamped in Europe. With the Moslem invasion,

however, expired the Bulgarian spirit. Their ancient renown passed away before

the rapid lessor of Ottoman conquest. Many of their cities and villages were

swept away, while others, left untenanted and alone, have so moldered into dust

that not a trace of them remains.”

Monuments of her ancient power

The American had an inquisitive mind and

could not but search for Bulgaria’s “monuments of her

ancient power”. Although he could not find much, Noyes noted that

“among the Balkans the traveler now and then meets with reminiscences of the

Slavo-Bulgaric rule in the primitive customs, and traditons of the people, and

the crumbling remains of a rude and ancient architecture.” 

Noyes observed the existence of a large

number of tumuli, conical mounds (tepe in Turkish and Hunkain Bulgarian or

graves of the Huns) in the Bulgarian countryside: “Ask the Bulgarian peasant

who erected them, and he will answer, ‘God only knows…’ My imagination,

however, associated these mysterious monuments with ancient Scythian heroes and

Bulgarians kings. . . These silent watchmen of the Bulgarian plains may had

witnessed adieux as touching as those of Hector and Andromache; heroes as noble

as Ajax and Ileus may sleep beneath them; but unlike Ajax Telamon and the

Trojan kings, their deeds have been embalmed in no immortal Iliad.”

Noyes could not but notice the memorials of

cruelty and oppression in more modern times. He described one such monument for

the American reader in very emotional terms: “Far away in the northward, near

the Servo-Bulgarian frontier, there is an immense conical mound formed of

twenty thousand human skulls. Whitened by the snow and rain, it gleams on the

plains of Nissa like a tower of Parian marble. The winds from the mountains,

sighing through the innumerable cavities of the skeleton heads, give them

doleful, doleful voices. To a few still cling locks of hair, like mosses and

lichens, which, floating in the wind, add unspeakable horror to this most

barbarous monument.