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Shoomly or Choumli Tuesday Dec.r 21. 5 o'clock P.M.
I have just got out of a scrape, which I shall not easily
forget. I have heard of such things as drubbings, and now
I know by experience what they are. I had been taking a short
turn into the town, with Osman (so his name is it seems, not
Hassan) a very civil good creature, to attend me. Before I
re-enter'd my Inn, I stopped at a Mosque, which is just opposite
to it. The Mosque was open: the good Musulmen were
at their devotions. I waited on the outside at a respectful
distance, not only without the door, but without the place where the
slippers were deposited. The Minaret was close on my right
hand. I had no idea of ascending it: having often heard that
such liberties were not to be taken. A young man came
up to me, and touching me at a time I was looking
another way, pointed to the Minaret, and made signs to me
to go up. I thought him very civil, and imagined that
Shoomley being a very large town, probably from its size a
place of trade, and formerly in the hands of the Russians
might have worn off some of its religious prejudices: I was
consulting with myself whether to accept of the invitation, when he renew'd
it in a pressing manner saying, Eida, Eida, Eida.
I accordingly went up; my Turkish attendant staid below. I
passed some minutes in the gallery at top in great tranquillity,
surveying the town below me. I counted 12 minarets
and do not imagine I saw all: I think the town cannot
be less than a mile square if so little. I was just coming
down, when the appearance of two men climbing the narrow
cork-screw necessarily stopt me. From their gestures and
manner of speaking though not uncivil I concluded their
errand was to hasten my descent: One of them immediately
went : I followed him, leaving the other to follow
me. I had not got down above half a dozen steps when
I felt a stick which one of them had, in size and
shape exactly like our Constable's staves, poking at me from
above. I cried out to let him know he hit me, imagining
it to be an accident: this only produced a repetition
of the blow, with a phrase of obloquy, which left
me no doubt of its being intentional. I made what haste
down I could with my Turkish Jack-boots: but my
descent was necessarily retarded by the man who proceeded
me: however the narrow spiral form of the staircase prevented
the stick above me from acting with much effect: and
luckily there was nothing harder than a few hard words
below me. This however was not the case in the street below: a crowd
was collected, and amongst them more sticks than in my
confusion I had leisure to count. One of the hardest blows
and most deliberate blows I felt proceeded from a tall
fat man, who from his handsome dress and appearance
ought to have been a little above the level of such prejudices,
or at least more temperate in his manner of giving
vent to them. I ran in confusion first one way
then another not knowing which way to turn myself
for some time, nor recollecting the in the hurry the blind
entrance that led to the Inn; a volley of hard words
with now and then a blow pursuing me. Defence
would have been madness: parly was impracticable.
I did what I could by groans and deprecating
gestures to move their pity and put a period to the storm,
as I was running in this manner here and there, I spied
at the same time, the entrance of the Inn and the Janissary
---page break---
coming out as if to met me. His appearance
seemed to cover my retreat: for they followed
me no farther. They certainly did not mean me
any serious mischief: for none of the blows fell
upon my head: fortunately in addition to a coat
lined in the arms with thick flannel, I had two
great coats on: and at now at 2 hours distance
I feel but two of the blows one on my right arm,
the other on my left shoulder. I hear my improvident
conductor who ought to have prevented my accepting
such an invitation, shared in some degree
my fate. I understand from the Janissary, that he
the Janissary has been to the Aga, and that the aggressors
are to suffer by the Six talioms.
If so, I
am sorry for it: as it may tend to stimulate revenge,
and because those who dealt the blows are
not I believe the most to blame. I have a notion
the young fellow who invited me is a Greek, &
gave me the invitation out of unprovoked malicious
sport, only to bring me into a scrape. Being
in the gallery at least ten minutes, I must
have been observed by numbers, some of which I
saw were staring at me; but this I imputed at
the time to no other than the general cause my
being a stranger.
Shoomley perfectly astonished me by its unexpected vastness:
considering its inland situation and inconsiderable
celebrity, I am afraid to say I know not how to think
less than Smyrna. Its position is . The scenery
round about to a very considerable distance not only
highly cultivated but parcelled out into small and neat
inclosures up to the tops of overhanging mountains,
the security of property and the accumulation of a large capital.
Yet here the Russians had quarters in the last war
if I am rightly informed by my servant, who says he was
here at the time in the service of an Officer of that army.
The town has or at least once had the pretence
of being fortified. Over a mass of boards that seems to
have been intended for a drawbridge we crossed a dry ditch
which a man might hop over (I believe I speak with
hyperbole) and a mud wall which he might step
over. It is to serviceable fortifications what a baby-
is to a habitable house. If Shoomley had been of Romulus's
building, Remus might here have had his joke.
This place is at least 11 good hours from Chingy, the
place of our last nights lodging. We came through
8 or 10 Bulgarian Villages, the least of them capable to all
appearance of offering as good quarters to sleep or
bait at as any of the 5 we have lodged in. Yet
would not Ahmet notwithstanding my request stop for
a moment at any one of them, though he has this was the
longest days journey we had made, and though he had
bosted or former occasions when the journey was
scarce 2/3ds so long. Distances called 6 hours have
taken us but 4 1/2 and so in proportion: but this, called
sometimes 10, sometimes 11, took us 9 1/2 at least by my
watch, 9 1/2 or rather more.
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Identifier: | JB/540/227/002 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 540.
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1785-12-10 |
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540 |
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227 |
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002 |
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Journal |
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Jeremy Bentham |
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