SCENES AT THE SEAT OF WAR.

Inangahua Times, Volume V, Issue 10, 17 December 1877, Page 2

SCENES AT THE SEAT OF WAR.

Tbe amount cvf distress clififlorered by tbe distuibutors. of tbe Hrkisb Belief I'U.nds- i» truJy apallina. By way of 1<" lustration, vie- shall select two- paragraphs from aloHsf Itetter sent to the- Times from ouo of tlie relief camps :— "lhe desolation of desola-lion was reached at Sopot. 'It am used to tbe phrases'—- lazed to tbe .gwmnd,' 'utterly destroyed,!" • savagefiy,' o-udi' utter Vandalism,' but what is there left bo give bha reader an idea ofvwhafc has ' happened to- Sopot? I remember the , feeling of mdiignation with which Ustopped' the burning embers of Bazeille^ and I am old enoiigh to remember every street in. . Sebastopool ;; but I declare without exaggeraibibn, that compared witb tbe complete destruction* of Sopot, both these modern instances of gutting were, after their so» oalled destruction, well preserved and uninjured, Scarcely one stone adheres to another. How men unbelpodi by the devil, could have done the mere- mechanic ■ cal part o£tbe vork is a mysteny. Every ! bousQ' ia a» town of some SUOO) or 6000' sculs> seems without any exception to be well Built, witlt- pleasant, but well-kept * gardens around? it, and, with scarcely an esoeption that w-o could make- outj every Bulgawan home- has been reduced to a heap of stones, bricks, and tiles. We bad to leave or horses- and scramble over the mounds on foot.. Corpses- have been buried just in the way Orietibalsdb everything — that is to say by halves. The' air is simply poisoned.. In one garden into which Mr Fawoett and I want while the relief was d^led* out, we had no difficulty in making our way straight to a fresh'/ turned' up part where two long fair plaits of a woman's hair.w-ere protruding through

the soil, la nother part of the saiae «i garden a human skull lay iv tin* grass as cleanly picked by the dogs as if the busy brain, within., instead of being at work six short wt'pks ago, had nested fur a generalioo. We went info no. more gardens ; but vnio several' which we looked the dreadful dogs were busy. We found &tf> slarvißg Bulgaria!*, wossen and children, and a&out hnlf were relieved' with She ten arab< toads we Ivad sent, and 1 the restore being attended to> to-day. It was ft moving si-ght bo-see the weeping gratitude and listen bo-the blessings of those hundre.ls i af poor creatures. With womattfy wv stinet, most of them- brou^h-t their childpeiiiii* their arms,, or led th.em by. the hand*,, and if those who sa>y che Bulgarians 1 aye rao gratitude had witnessed what we did, I nm sure- they would* not s<iy so an>y hi ore."" The- second 1 picture of distress- is even, a more touching oive than the scene at Sopot :r—' A JPferbaps the most distressing case which Game to our notice was that ©f some members of a nunnery and clwirch destroyed. 'I'here were 6(& of then*, and they were reputed to have been a wealthy cnmmuiity, a-nd were good' to the poor.. "We found these in an. advanced state of destitution, their poor old frames- but skin and bone: forly fifed <®» the- hillsides-, and--the survivors of those are now skulkiag among the cave* and rocks wiih the res-t of the people who lubve left ©arlova and* Sopot. They were making a tUin soupof tomatoes and water w-h-en we armed* pad declared they had not tasted bread for five weeks. The chia-Ti'fl. had evidently; been au extremely substantial and>beauli» ful building, but it is mow thi'ee walls, and one of then* is totlerring. The- expressions of gratitude from E&ost of the poor women whose necessities we ware able to relieve at Sopot were very io*i*tb ing. *As you have done to us, so God will do to you. Gyd has sent you here ; we thank you, and will' always- prroy for you, governor* and saviours. Our c il> dien shall always call En>gli-»li peo-ple bkssed»' and so on.' 1 A PITIFITL TAIV. The story told by Consul - Genera Fawcett of tine- condition of the onunfry and of the people of the Eefjuilik and Yeni Saghra d'iwfcnk-tg is a mo 4 pitiful tale. It presents in us littlo informitinn that is new, but rb amply confirm* the harrowiiig aGCO^int^ of th« paisdcdls whio-'i liave been jiierpefcrated, and, but for the Bulgarian massacres of last year, we should 9-i y the an pa relied ithscimps on* d u red duriuig the terrible killing tinjie of 137". That tintia-meHble «troci(res hiive been eysteiEfltically committed, alike by the I'ulnavian Govps of Avpngers, wliidi followed in the renr of G'Mieral Gourka's ■ nrmv. and by the aiadriened Turks alter the llussians hadbeen oblijied to retreat to the Ifolkn'ns, is placed boy on a dtoubt. i Here is an illustrntioa of the former class ! of outrages :— %u^r:it mernvK-* at ©(.CO' I got to Muklis. Tlww thriving Turkish » vilbue lias* been wholly destroyed, with i the rsception>of sis oivse?en houses- into whidi are crowded the s.iwvwoi f s> of the j villat;p r in a.d'readfu4 &Ja-te of mbery.. This is the place whore sixty wonnem and children, Mussulmans, were taken to the Balkans and muirdefed in cold- blood after j! toeing; violated. Most of the- villagers also murdered.?' And here iis an illusbna- !• tion of the second :.— " utUalp er, I a la'i'ua village nearly as largo aa-Carlova. I This ))lace is totally burnt aad destroyad - r it was principally Bulgarian,, and we were informed it had been bombarded* andi burnt by aP'nsha ii> consequence- of the 1 attack made by Bulgarians on soldiers, stationed bh&re, 100 of whom were killed by then*. "We did not notice r.ne house inbact ;; there were parties of Ch'sassians and Sashi Bazoa.k» prowling about the ruics.. Of the condition of the country Cnosu.l IFawcett thus writes :s— ' The road from SLipka to Kezanlik is- strewed oa' each side of the way witk festering 1 corpses-. The osimtry is lovely — groves of walnut and plane trees — whieli< makes the scene,, if possible,, ths more horrible. KezanHk is a )»rgo place, beauiifdilly situated,. half buined by the Hussiao^and Bulgarians. At present it is simply, a large pest-house ;: wounded soldiers, i'evm nnd dysentery pntients in every house which has a roof. We saw ia different ootirtNyards doang- oS dead laid ou/fc waiiiuig! burial, 'J ho- stencli of tlie whele place was 3ickenii»t{, and' bow malignant typhus lias not appeared I cannot iinngine.. Passed' ai burnt Turk vilh*ge, and close to- bodies oP women rofcliog; ia the sun."