At length we reached Vallivoh, a pretty little town upon the confines of Hungary; where
the camp staying some days, we left them behind, and being to pass a wood near the
Christian country, doubting it to be (as confines are) full of thieves, we divided our
caravan of six score horse in two parts; half with the persons, and goods of least esteem,
we sent a day before the rest, that so the thieves, having a booty, might be gone before
we came, which happened accordingly; they were robbed; one thief, and two of ours slain;
some hundred dollars worth of goods lost. The next day we passed, and found sixteen
thieves in a narrow passage, before whom we set a good guard of harquebuzes and pistols,
till the weaker fort passed by; so in three days we came safe to Belgrada.
The city, anciently called Taurunum, or Alba Graeca, was the metropolis of Hungary, 'till won by Sultan Suleiman the second, in the year
1525. It is one of the most pleasant, stately, and commodious situations that I have seen;
it stands most in a bottom, encompassed eastward by gentle and pleasant ascents, employed
in orchards or vines; southward is an easy hill, part possessed with buildings, the rest a
burying-place of well nigh three miles in compass, so full of graves as one can be by
another; the west end yields a right magnificient aspect, by reason of an eminency of land
jetting out further than the rest, and bearing a goodly strong castle, whose walls are two
miles about, excellently fortified with a dry ditch and outworks. This castle on the west
side is washed by the great river Sava, which on the north of the city loses itself in the
Danubius, of old called Ister, now Duny, and is held the greatest river in the world, deep
and dangerous for navigation, runs eastward into the Euxine or Black Sea, in its passage
receiving fifty and odd rivers, most of them navigable. Two rarities, I was told of this
river, and with my own experience found true; one was, that at mid-day and mid-night, the
stream runs slower by much than at other times; this they find by the noise of those
boat-mills, whereof there are about twenty, like those upon the Rhone at Lyons; their
clackers beat much slower at those times than else, which argues like difference in the
motion of the wheel, and by consequence of the stream; the cause is neither any reflux,
nor stop of current by wind or otherwise, for there is no increase of water observed. The
other wonder is, that where those two great currents meet, their waters mingle no more
than water and oil; not that either floats above other, but join unmixed; so that near the
middle of the river, I have gone in a boat, and tasted of the Danuby as clear and pure as
a well; then putting my hand not an inch further, I have taken of the Sava as troubled as
a street channel, tasting the gravel in my teeth; yet it did not taste unctious, as I
expected, but hath some others secret ground of the antipathy, which though not easily
found out, is very effectual; for they run thus threescore miles together, and for a day's
journey I have been an eye-witness thereof.
The castle is excellently furnished with artillery, and at the entrance there stands an
arsenal with some forty or fifty fair brass pieces, most bearing the arms and inscription
of Ferdinand the emperor. That which to me seemed strangest in this castle (for I had free
liberty to pry up and down) was a round tower called the Zindana, a cruelty not by
them devised, and seldom practiced; it is like old Rome's Gemoniae: the tower is
large and round, but within severed into many squares of long beams, set on end about four
feet asunder; each beam was stuck frequently with great flesh hooks; the person condemned
was naked, let fall amongst those hooks, which gave him a quick or lasting misery, as he
chanced to light; then at the bottom the river is let in by grates, whereby all the
putrefaction was washed away. Within this great castle is another little one, with works
of its own; I had like to have miscarried with approaching the entrance, but the rude
noise, and worse looks of the guard, gave me a timely apprehension with sudden passage,
and humiliation, to sweeten them, and get off; for, as I after learned, there is kept
great part of the Grand Seignior=s treasure, to
be ready when he wars on that side the empire: it is death for any Turk or Christian to
enter; and the captain is never to go forth without particular license from the emperor.
Here the bashaw of Temesvar, joining the people of Buda, and his own with those of
Belgrade and Bosnah they were held encamped on the south side of the town, yet not so
severely, but the Spahies, Janisaaries, and Venturiers, had leave to go before to the
general rendezvous, as they pleased, though most of them staid to attend the bashaws; they
there expected Murath bashaw; he, five days after our arrival, came in with a few foot,
but four thousand horse, of the Spahi Timariot's; such brave horses, and men so dexterous
in the use of the launce, I had not seen. Then was made public proclamation to hang all
such Janissaries as should be found behind these forces. With them the next day we set
forward for Sofia, which in twelve days we reached.
The bashaws did not go all in company, but setting forth about an hour one after
another, drew out their troops in length without confusion, not in much exact order of
file and rank, as near no enemy. In this and our former march, I much admired that we had
a caravan loaded with clothes, silks, tissues, and other rich commodities, were so safe,
not only in the main army, but in straggling troops, amongst whom we often wandered, by
reason of recovering the Jews sabbath; but I found the cause to be the cruelty of justice;
for thieves upon the way are empaled without delay; or mercy; and there was a Saniack,
with two hundred horse, who did nothing but coast up and down the country, and every man
who could not give a fair account of his being where he found him, was presently
strangled, though not known to have offended; for their justice, although not so rash as
we suppose, yet will rather cut off two innocent men, than let one offender escape; for in
the execution of an innocent, they think if he be held guilty, the example works as well
as if he were guilty indeed; and where a constant denial makes the fact doubted, in that
execution, the resentment so violent terrifies the more: therefore to prevent disorders
sometimes, in the beginnings of war, colorable punishments are used, where just ones are
wanting. This speedy and remorseless severity makes that when then their great armies lie
about any town or pass, no man is endamaged or troubles to secure his goods; in which
respect it pretends more effect upon a bad age than our Christian compassion, which is so
easily abused, as we cannot raise two or three companies of soldiers, but they pilfer and
rifle wheresoever they pass; wherein the want of cruelty upon delinquents, causes much
more oppression of the innocent, which is the greatest cruelty of all. Yet without their
army there want not scandals, for in the way we passed by a Palanga, which is a village
fortified with mud walls against thieves, where we found a small caravan to have been
assaulted the day before, and divers remaining sore wounded; for through all Turkey,
especially in desart places, there are many mountaineers, or outlaws, like the Wild Irish,
who live upon spoil, and are not held members of the state, but enemies, and used
accordingly. In all our march, though I could not perceive much discipline, as not near an
adverse party, yet I wondered to see such a multitude so clear of confusion, violence,
want, sickness, or any other disorder; and, though we were almost three score thousand,
and sometimes found not a town in seven or eight days, yet was there such plenty of good
bisket, rice, and mutton, as wheresoever I passed up and down to view the Spahies and
others in their tents, they would often make me sit and eat with them very plentifully and
well....
Source:
From: Henry Blount, A Voyage into the Levant, (London, 1634), reprinted in A
General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyaves and Travels in All Parts of
the World, John Pinkerton, ed., (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Brown,
1811), Vol. X, pp.230-231, reprinted in Alfred J. Bannan & Achilles Edelenyi, eds., Documentary History of Eastern Europe, (New York: Twayne Publishers, 1970), pp.
100-104.
Scanned by Jerome S. Arkenberg, Cal. State Fullerton.
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