expedition, had sent the women and the children of the Triballians to the Ister, ordering them to be conveyed across to one of the islands of the river. Its name is Peuke.* In this same island the Thracians, neighbours of the Triballians, had also taken refuge on the approach of Alexander, and Syrmus himself, with his own people, had also fled thither."

From the knowledge that I have now acquired by personal examination of the ground, I prefer following the French translators, who say :—

Cependant un grand nombre de Triballiens fuit en arrière et se porte vers une autre ILE du fleuve qu'Alexandre avait abandonné la veille " (the Lyginos river, “unde Alexander pridie profectus erat—oraμóv, évbevidep tñ ιδροτεραίᾳ ιδρομήθη Αλέξανδρος).

"Informé du détour celui-ci revient sur ses pas et surprend leur camp; les barbares en désordre se rallient dans un bois voisin du fleuve."

Arrian then goes on to relate how Alexander succeeded in drawing the Triballians out of this wood, how he defeated them in the open ground beyond it, and

"they fled through the forest towards the river. Three thousand perished in the flight; few prisoners were made, because not only the thickness of the wood which lay before the river, but also the approaching night, impeded the pursuit on the part of the Macedonians.

"On the third day after this battle Alexander arrived at the Ister." †

From a careful inspection of the country, I am persuaded that the isthmus between the two lakes of Devne is the ground of Alexander's action. It is formed into an island by the two principal streams of the Paravati, or Lyginos river. The southern shore of the Lyginos is still covered by thick primæval forest, and although the northern bank, where the battle was fought, is now open ground, it bears evident marks of having been formerly covered with wood.

Arrian may now be read without omissions or transpositions, and I hold that I have shown in the annexed sketch, Alexander marched from "Amphipolis Amphipolis" (Emboli), leaving (Emboli), leaving "Philippi (Ruins of Filibé) and " Mount Orbelus" on his left, crossed the "Nesus" (Karasu), and, following the high road by the present Ferejik, Demotika, Kirk-kelesia, and Aïdos, arrived at the foot of Mount Hæmus, which he reached "on the tenth day."

Here he fought the action with "the Thracians " at Boghazdéré, or Haramdéré, forced those defiles, and crossed the Hæmus (Balkan) by the main road to Paravati" on the Lyginos."

From Paravati Alexander moved by the present high road towards Silistria, but, hearing of the retreat of the main body of the Triballians towards "the island of the river (Lyginos),‡ whence Alexander had departed the previous day," he counter

* Near Silistria, according to Barbié du Bocage. See German translation of Arrian by Professor Tafel, Edit. Stuttgard, 1829.

† Arriani Expedit., lib. i., cap. 2, 3.

"Ingens vero Triballorum multitudo per flumen ad aliam quandam insulam in Istro sitam sese contulerat, unde Alexander pridie solverat.”—ĒD.

marched also, in search of the enemy, whom he met with and defeated on the grounds between the two lakes of Devne. Thence he arrived," in 3 days," on the Danube (at Silistria), crossed that mighty river, defeated the Getæ,* repassed the Danube, and undertook his expedition against the Agriani and Pæoni.†

By referring to the annexed sketch, it will be seen that Alexander passed, in his march on Silistria, the Kamchik at Köpri-Koi, and the Lyginos at Paravati, at the same points chosen by Marshal Diebitch in his inverse operation from Silistria against the defiles of the Balkan, after the battle of Kulefcha and he capture of Silistria. Arrived at Köpri-Koi, the Russian army struck off to the E., and forced the passes of the Hamus, as was done by Darius, because it was the plan of the Russians-as formerly in that of the Persians-to occupy first the "sea towns" before continuing their operations: Darius from S. to N., Marshal Diebitch from N. to S. Nature has so strongly marked the best amongst the many difficult passes of the Hæmus, that at the distance of thousands of years the three great commanders are found to have operated by the same lines.

It remains to be observed, that whilst the Getæ, who, in the time of the expedition of Darius against the Scythæ (Herod., lib. iv.), lived S. of the Danube, were found by Alexander already on the left or northern bank of the river (in the fertile plains of Wallachia); the Triballians, on the contrary, held the former territories of the Getæ, as far S.E. as Varna.

It was a short distance to the westward of the Turkish village of Buyuk Aladin that the action of Alexander ‡ and the Triballians was fought, and, returning from this hamlet to Varna, my guide pointed out the ground N. of the village of Yenije-Koi as the scene of the great modern battle of the 10th of November, 1444. Two tumuli (marked Y in my sketch) were pointed out to me

* Arriani Expedit., lib. i., cap. 1-5.

According to Barbié du Bocage, near a place opposite Silistria, where now is the village of Kornizel,

"Alexander, the son of Philip, in his campaign against the Thracians beyond Mount Hæmus, is said to have penetrated as far as this in an incursion into the country of the Triballi, and observed that they occupied the territory as far as the Danube and the island Peuce (Piezina), which is in it; and that the Getæ possessed the country beyond that river; he was, however, unable to pass into the island for want of a sufficient number of ships, and because Syrmus, the king of the Triballi, who had taken refuge in that place, resisted the undertaking; but Alexander crossed over into the country of the Gete and took their city, after which he returned home in haste, carrying with him presents from those nations, and also from Syrmus." See Strabo, by Hamilton and Falconer, vol. i. p. 463.Again, at p. 469. "Near the mouth of the Danube is the large island of Peuce. This the Bastarnæ possessed, and were hence called Peucini. There are also other islands much smaller, some above this, and others nearer the sea. The Danube has seven mouths: the largest is called the Sacred Mouth, the passage by which to Peuce is 120 stadia. At the lower part of this island Darius made his bridge.”— ED.

of

by the denomination of Sanjak Tépé and Murad Tépé. They are about the centre of the line which Sultan Murad's army 40,000 men must have occupied on the slightly undulating ground of one of the last spurs of the mountain ridge which runs nearly E. and W. parallel with the lakes of Devne.

Opposite to the Mussulman line of battle King Vladislav and the Great Hunyades had drawn up their army of about 15,000 men on another easy slope, now occupied on its southern point by the hamlet of Kadi-Koi. The Turks stood in their usual order of battle when fighting in Europe:* the troops of Rumili forming the right, the Janissaries the centre, and the troops of Anatoli the left wing. The right wing was secured by the lake of Devne; the centre was protected by a palisaded ditch, the lines of which are still traceable in some parts near the Sanjak and Murad Tépés; and the left wing rested on the mountains.

The extent of the Turkish position, from 'the lake to the foot of the mountains, is about 2 English miles, or 3400 yards.

On the other side, the left wing of the Hungarian army was safely flanked by the marshy stream of the lake of Devne; in the centre stood the choice troops, commanded by King Vladislav in person; and the right wing-towards the mountains, but evidently the weakest part of their order of battle-was reclined a little backwards in the direction of Varna,

The position of Kadi-Koi is of an extent of about 2200 yards. The tumulus, or the elevation, marked X, in the rear of their right wing, is, in all probability, the spot where the Hungarians had made their "wagenburg," or fortification of chariots.

The two armies were separated by a very shallow dip of the ground, which is dry, sandy, and well adapted for fighting and manoeuvring, Hammer is evidently mistaken in calling this great action "the battle of the Swamps," for the only swamps near the field are the marshy borders of the lake of Devne, on which rested the right wing of the Turks and the left of the Hungarians.

Notwithstanding, or perhaps on account of, the inferiority of the Christians in numbers, Hunyades had decided to act offensively, and both his wings were for a time victorious, but the general onset was broken by the steady and valorous resistance of the Janissaries.

King Vladislav was killed in his impetuous attack on that body; an old Janissary, Khoja Hisr, cut off his head, and stuck it on a lance by the side of a pike, on which was attached the broken treaty of peace.

I consider the Murad Tépé to be the spot where Sultan Murad had ordered the lance with the treaty to be exposed to the sight of his indignant army, and where King Vladislav's head was

* In Asia, according to the old regulations, the Beglerbeg of Anatoli commanded the right wing, and the Beglerbeg of Rumili the left.

planted by its side. The Sanjak-Tépé is the neighbouring mount, where, according to the Turkish war custom, the great imperial standard was displayed. Hence the traditional appellation of the two tumuli.

Hellert's French translation of M. de Hammer's celebrated "History of the Ottoman Empire' is enriched with a plan of the battle of Varna. The ground laid down is altogether fictitious; in the neighbourhood of Varna there are neither lakes, rivers, nor mountains, like those indicated in that sketch.

Monday, October 25th.-The modern fortifications of Varna, reconstructed since 1828-29, have not strengthened the place. On the contrary, the bastioned "enceinte" has been considerably extended, and although the lines may thus hold a larger garrison, the defences of the northern side have been brought several hundred yards nearer to the heights from whence they can be most effectively battered. The weakest point of the new fortress is now its north-eastern angle, the most exposed to a marine attack, as ships of war can approach it, and enfilade within about 700 yards.

The main attack of the Russians in 1828, against the old fortress, was from the N.; they had also a strong corps established S. of Varna. Their communication was kept up by the fords of the Paravati or Lyginos river (2 feet deep in summer, 3 feet in winter), between the two lakes of Devne (3 hours from Varna). On this point they had also a pontoon bridge, and, besides, an easy communication of 2 to 3 miles by water for messengers in boats across the lake, beyond the immediate reach of the guns of the fortress.

Formerly a stone bridge was thrown over the Lyginos, near the fords, and close to the present mills between Buyuk Aladin and Yenibekje-Koi; but the inhabitants of the latter place purposely destroyed the bridge, in order that troops, Government messengers, and travellers might not be induced to go by their village to Paravati-a road nearer by about a quarter of an hour than the present highway by the northern shore of the upper lake of Devne.

The voluntary destruction of a stone bridge by the neighbouring villagers, with the view of obstructing and avoiding the daily and, in well regulated countries, most profitable, intercourse between such important places as Varna and Shumla (viâ Paravati) is the strongest testimony of the present misrule on the part of the Government in these provinces.

On the arrival of the Austrian steamer from Galatz we embarked, in the afternoon of the 25th of October, for Constantinople, and a pleasant run, with a smooth sea, brought us to the Bosphorus and Golden Horn early the next day.

III.—Extracts from a Journal up the Koladyn River, Aracan, in 1851. By Capt. S. R. TICKELL, B.N.I.

Communicated through the SECRETARY.

Read April 23, 1853.

[THE province of Aracan is divided into four districts:-1. Akyab (the principal one); 2. Aeng, or Kyuk-phu; 3. Ramree; and, 4. Thandowy. The whole province is governed by a commissioner, who exercises the powers and duties of a civil and sessions judge, and commissioner of revenue, together with a general superintendence over matters connected with the marine department in the province. Under this officer, and at the head of each district, is placed a principal assistant commissioner, who performs the functions of civil judge, magistrate, and collector of revenue within his jurisdiction. In the exercise of these duties the political assistant has to visit, during the cool and healthy part of the year, the interior of his district; and it was during a tour of this nature, made in 1850-51, that the notes and remarks on the scenery, topography, inhabitants and products of the principal river of the country were made, and are now offered to the Royal Geographical Society. The, at the time, irremediable want of proper instruments incapacitated the author from recording such data as to the heights of mountains, latitudes of places, temperature and humidity of the air, &c. as are essential to the completeness of a traveller's diary. The hill-people described are one of a great number of tribes inhabiting the vast ranges of the Himmalaya mountains and their offshoots, most of whom, from Assam northward and westward, have been already described, but nothing has been published yet, the author believes, on the mountaineers or aborigines of Aracan; and the following crude observations will, he trusts, fill up in some measure this hiatus in ethnology.-S. R. T.]

Akyab, Feb. 3rd, Monday. -Weighed at 7 A.M., in the H. C. schooner Petrel, with a fresh breeze from the N.E., and, after running large to clear the shipping above us, braced up on the larboard tack and stood across the estuary of the Koladyn, here about 5 miles wide. The cold north-easterly monsoon blowing freshly against a flowing spring-tide made a "bit of a sea," and we cracked on merrily, the waves sparkling with blue and silver, and sending their spray over the decks of our little craft. The view of the station and town of Akyab was exceedingly pretty. The bungālās of the residents peeping from the trees-the smooth, regularly-planned roads, avenued by noble casuarinas-the few white-washed "pukka" bridges and edifices-all sparkled cheerily in the sun; and even the interminable masses of mat huts and houses, composing the town and bazaar, assumed a gay air in the lovely morning. The beach was crowded with busy multitudes, occupied in the grand staple commerce of the place-loading, husking, piling, measuring, and packing rice. The mass of the crowd was composed of Chittagong coolies (who come in shiploads during the working season), but amongst them might be seen groups of other nations in their various costumes-Arabs, Madrassies, Malays, Javanese, Chinese, and Mongols, mixed with the "Mughs" (the