with Turkish dignitaries. Such is Omar Pacha, the Turkish Serdar. If I have at all assailed my reader's unbounded sympathies for this commander, he must remember that things, when closely inspected, frequently look very different from the aspect they assume at a distance.*

While the trumpet was blown in every quarter in honour of the living, attempts were made here and there to lop the hardly-earned laurels of a dead man-we mean Mussa Pacha-who was carried off in the mid-career of his heroic defence of Silistria. At head-quarters and elsewhere stories were told of bribery which the besiegers had attempted: Mussa Pacha had been offered 100,000 roubles to give up the fortress. It was even stated that Colonel Dieu, a Frenchman, who noticed that negotiations were going on between Mussa and the Russians, had publicly stated he would shoot the Pacha, if he saw anything suspicious. Such nursery-tales were narrated ere the grave had been closed over the brave Mussa! Mussa Pacha was one of the most active and boldest Turkish officers of artillery. He had declared, prior to the commencement of the siege, that he would not leave the fortress alive; and he kept his word, for, on the 2nd of June, a piece of shell struck him in the side, just as he was wiping his hands, and handing the towel to Lieutenant Grach, his constant companion. A few moments later he was dead. None of the officers in the fortress could remember the slightest circumstance tending to compromise Mussa Pacha; and Grach repelled the charges with horror, and asserted no attempts at corruption had been made by the besiegers. The flags sent in always referred to the burial of the dead: only once did the Russians summon the commandant to surrender; but the offer was laughingly declined. Grach managed all the negotiations. The best light is thrown on Mussa Pacha by the following circumstance: General Schilder once sent him several bottles of preserved fruit. Mussa received the envoy in the presence of all his chief officers, and had the contents of the bottles emptied before them, because they might contain something suspicious; but such was not the case.

At this period it was a matter of excessive difficulty for a European to enter the Turkish service; and Omar Pacha has made it a sine quâ non that all applicants should be acquainted with the Turkish language. Our author met on his travels a pensioned Austrian officer on his road to Shumla, who stated that he would be appointed a captain, he knew that for certain had he understood Turkish, they would have made him a major. M. Wachenhusen gave him to understand that he did not share in this certainty, for he knew several instances recently of the contrary. He met this officer again in Shumla, just as he was on the point of setting out for Varna. Finally, he saw him in Constantinople, as porter at the Hôtel de Paris. He complained that he could not get a situation at Shumla; he was sent to Constantinople; there he had found nothing but promises; and, having expended his little capital, he was only too glad to fill this humble post. In the same manner, our author met in Varna two Holstein officers, who, deceived in their expectations, were awaiting

* Our extract has grown to an unconscionable length, but it will be excused, we trust, from the interest of the subject, and the unwillingness we felt to take any of the responsibility on ourselves. It does certainly seem rather cruel to point to the "feet of clay" of such a popular idol as Omar Pacha; but our German author is to blame for it. We are only the scribe, and leave it to our readers to form their own opinion.

the formation of a foreign legion by General Yussuf, and had received satisfactory assurances from him; and, lastly, our author met with two Prussian artillery officers in Constantinople, on the point of starting for Asia, after being deluded by General Stein (Ferhad Pacha) for weeks. They went to Kars in the hope of being appointed, and eventually entered the service of the Shah of Persia.

But we are delaying most shamefully at Shumla, while metal more attractive is awaiting us at Varna. Let us then mount and be off at once with our author. The first place we meet with English troops is at Pravadi, where Colonel Newton received M. Wachenhusen most hospitably, and regaled him with a camp breakfast, consisting of ship's biscuit, a tall, splendid Cheshire cheese, cold mutton, and famous Madeira! What a feast for half-starved men, who had hitherto been glad to get yaourt. In fact, the brandy and wine had such an effect on our author, that, on the road to Varna, he pounded to dust twelve regalias, which a Lieutenant Smith, on hospitable cares intent, slipped into his pocket as a viaticum. But before leaving Devno we must find room for the following tribute of respect, probably penned with a grateful reminiscence of the brandy:

We passed five batteries which were planted here in the camp: the whole encampment offered an instance of painful precision, which was the more remarkable to me, as I was not at all accustomed to it in the Turkish camps. The regularity obtaining in an English camp is almost incredible! Astonishing to me was the colossal load the English soldier has to drag, and which is heavier than that of any other European soldier, for it weighs eighty-two pounds. The English soldier carries, in addition to his knapsack, not only his great-coat with its small collar, which gives him a very bourgeois appearance, but also a heavy woollen blanket and provisions for three days. Equally striking was the size of the Englishmen, who were perfect giants. The English guardsman, with his tall bearskin schako, appeared to me, when I saw him on guard, a true son of Anak. Equally gigantic were their horses-a colossal sight-this heavy English cavalry. However, the soldiers complained grievously, not only about their heavy baggage, but also about the uniform, which was not suited to the climate. The tall horses were also discovered to be very troublesome, as many of them fell down after the shortest march.

On arriving at Varna, there was an exceeding difficulty about procuring lodging. A visit to the Pacha, and another to the town commandant were equally fruitless, and, at last, our travellers were compelled to take a khan by storm, where they put up with a miserable loft over a stable, and had a regular engagement with the cimici and pulci-only too glad, however, to put up with such a slight annoyance, when compared with the previous prospect of sleeping in the street. Varna, at this period, was a metropolis on a small scale: neither London, New York, nor Constantinople, could unrol such a picture as could be seen each morn in Varna. In the principal streets, especially the one leading to the port, with its French, Greek, and Turkish stores, there was a constant passage of perspiring, busy men of all nations; in the centre creaked the ox-carts of the Bulgarian, the French muleteers yelled: the whole picture was veiled in a cloud of dust, surrounded by an atmosphere of schnaps and garlic. It would have been a miracle had the epidemic not broken out which made such fearful gaps in the ranks of the Allies. The greatest confusion prevailed in the harbour: every hour ships were laden and unladen, guns and ammunition shipped, troops sent off or landed. The

English, French, and Turkish flags fluttered from the vessels of war in port; steamers came and went; military stores, sacks of corn, and pyramids of bales were piled up; among them the sailors of the various nations walked about singing or yelling: there were not gangways enough to land, hands enough to set about all that required doing. In a word, Turks, English, French, Egyptians, Greeks, camels, oxen, mules, horses, and dogs, all rushed back and forwards; all yelled or had already yelled themselves hoarse; all were sober or drunk: and over this Babylon waved the Crescent with the Star, and the French Eagle, and into the midst of the confusion Marshal St. Arnaud hurled every week a proclamation, "Comrades, we will conquer or die !"

Nothing more surprised M. Wachenhusen than to find that two nations who had not been able to agree for nine centuries, and for whose alliance a nation like the Russian was requisite, could fraternise in the way the English and French had done. He registers the fact, that he never saw English and French soldiers quarrelling in the East, and whenever there was any row, both parties forgot that the Turks were their allies as well, but pitched into them in unison. The commissariat, in addition, looked rather queer in Varna. In the khan where our author resided of course nothing was to be had, and the sole restaurants were limited to the restaurant des officiers who had first opened his establishment, and had written the above sign in letters a foot in length in front of his house. At his house you could, for a ducat, feed on a tough old poulet, which was rendered digestible by a decent Bordeaux. The second restaurant was kept by an Italian: and here, at least, it was possible to procure potatoes-a native dainty which M. Wachenhusen had dispensed with for three months. Any one, however, who did not arrive at a certain half hour in mid-day, must put up with what was left, or rather with what was not left. As a general rule, it was possible to feed here at a decent rate. Breakfast was a very simple affair: you took your seat in one of the stores the French had established, asked for a piece of cheese, a sausage, and a glass of Cognac or absinthe, and ate out of your fist. Our author, however, generally established his head-quarters at the above-mentioned restaurant des officiers. For when the vermin expelled him at night from his kennel, he retired to the salon of the restaurant, laid himself on a bench, and covered himself with the first table-cover he could lay hands on. The waiter had received a commission to sell their saddles, and they were bound to expend the proceeds in this house, which, unfortunately, was no difficult task.

Among the most original personages to be seen at this time in Varna was General Yussuf, the African, who was giving himself all possible trouble to form the unbridled bashi-bazuks into a regiment. Yussuf, although no African by birth (he was, as is well known, carried off by the Barbarese along with his parents, and afterwards entered the French service), is the true type of such a man: he is short in stature, his face is deeply bronzed, and a savage fire flashes from his eyes. In Algiers, he was known to be the severest as well as bravest French leader. Yussuf's portrait will be found very faithfully rendered in Horace Vernet's "Lion Hunt," and our readers will, probably, not have forgotten the enthusiasm which took possession of the Parisian dames when the handsome African was summoned to court by Louis Philippe. But was it astonishing?-Was there

not a story current about the amour which Yussuf carried on with the fair daughter of the Bey of Tunis, whose favourite he had been? How the princess was caught in Yussuf's arms by a Greek, who threatened to betray them, and how this amour was really discovered, although Yussuf had stabbed the Greek, and sent his inamorata "the hand which had touched her, the tongue which had slandered her, and the eye which had seen what no mortal was allowed to see?" How Yussuf was seized and would have been put to death, had he not saved himself by means of the subterraneous passage of the palace of Tunis, taken service with the French, and performed miracles of bravery? All these are things which can render a man interesting, even if he is not so handsome as the graceful little Yussuf.

The

Our tale is nearly told. With the departure of the Russians from Silistria the campaign on the Danube appeared to be terminated. reconnoitring parties sent out from Varna proved that the enemy had quitted the Dobrudja, the Turks were en route for the Danube, and simultaneously the news was spread-though rather prematurely-that the Austrians were on the point of entering Wallachia from Transylvania. Our author, therefore, desirous of fresh fields and pastures new, set sail for Constantinople, whither our limits will not allow us to accompany him.

THE ZOUAVES.

MUCH difference of opinion prevails as to the nature and character of the renowned Zouaves; some assert that they are Africans, others that they are Europeans, and, strange to say, both are right, for they are, or at least were, a semi-African, semi-European, corps. In their origin the Zouaves were almost purely African. When in July, 1830, Louis Philippe became King of the French, and Marshal Clausel was appointed to the command in Algeria, the Turks had been expelled the country, but the French were not sufficiently numerous to keep the Arab and Berber populations in subjection. The marshal resolved upon organising a native corps of cavalry and infantry. A decree, dated October 1st, 1830, and approved of by royal proclamation, dated March 21st, 1831, created two battalions, which received the name of Zouaves, from the Arabic Zouaoua.

This word is fearfully mutilated in its transformation into French. Zawawah is the name of a very ancient Berber, or as the French have it, Kabyle tribe in Marocco (Mughribu l'Aksa), but still more particularly in Algiers (Mughribu l'Ausat). Count Graberg notices this ancient tribe under this name in his " 'Vocabulary of Names and Places, &c., in the Empire of Marocco." ("Journal of the Royal Geographical Society," vol. vii. p. 270.) Out of Zawawah, we might by elision make Zawaws or Zuaves; but we cannot make Zouaves, if the ou is to be pronounced as in out, ounce, hound, mound, or as it is indeed commonly pronounced in English.

The word, however, with its French pronunciation, is now so univer

sally accepted, that after protesting against its correctness, we must accept it, as we do Bombay for Mambij. The Zouaves of Algiers resided chiefly in the most remote parts of the Jurjura, and they were particu. larly known as an industrious, brave, haughty people, whose subjection to the Turks had never been but nominal, but who often came to Algiers to exchange their oils and other produce for such things as their rugged mountains did not afford them. As they had the reputation of being the best soldiers in the regency, and as they had under certain circumstances granted their military services to Barbaresque princes, their name was given to the new militia. This corps, however, received into its ranks natives of all kinds, without distinction of origin: mountaineers or dwellers on the plains, townspeople or countrymen, Kabyles, Arabs, or Coulouglis (Kuluglis). French officers were appointed to instruct them, and to command them. They were volunteers from the army: and among the first were Levaillant, at present in command of the 5th division of the army of the East; Vergé, also general of brigade; Mallière, who died after the siege of Rome; and Lamoricière, who has made for himself a name in history, albeit an exile. These were all at that time young men, full of courage and energy, perfectly disinterested, and who, in the charge they entered upon, neither looked to an advance of pay or to more comfortable quarters, but embraced cheerfully a career of continuous difficulties, certain privations, and incessant perils, sure, in the French military system, of promotion for services rendered.

The command of the 1st battalion was given to a distinguished staff officer, M. Maumet; that of the 2nd, to the captain of Engineers, afterwards General, Duvivier, who died of his wounds in Paris in 1848. As the enlistment of the native population went on very slowly, and as it was moreover felt to be dangerous to leave a handful of officers isolated among men in whose fidelity no great confidence could be placed, and whose language was even unknown to the Frenchmen, a plan was adopted which might probably be also turned to good account in the constitution of a Turkish legion: it was that of enlisting Europeans into the ranks. A political body which had been troublesome in France, under the name of the Volunteers of the Charter (Volontaires de la Charte), had been lately transhipped to Algeria, and it was thought that the best thing that could be done with these hot-brained politicians would be to incorporate them into the Zouaves. Strangers from other countries, refugees from political and other causes, were also admitted into the ranks, till the numbers became so great that some sifting took place. The Europeans, not of French origin, were incorporated into the foreign legion, whilst a portion of the French were organised into a 67th regiment of the line. The first principle of the organisation of the Zouaves remained the same, and in the words of a writer in the Revue des Deux Mondes, to whom we are indebted for this information, on peut dire que le noyau des Zouaves fut composé d'enfans de Paris et d'indigènes des environs d'Alger."*

The corps

66

had been barely organised for six weeks when it was led by

* This article is attributed to the Duc d'Aumale, and it would appear, from the predilections of the author to Orleanist generals, with some justice. It is, however, in every respect, in an historical and military point of view, as also in the credit meted out to each and all, most honourable to its author.