AN ENGLISH GOVERNESS IN BESSARABIA.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5010, 14 April 1877, Page 3

AN ENGLISH GOVERNESS IN BESSARABIA.

(From the Victoria Magazine.)

After leaving the village, or rather this collection of mud huts, with goats airing themselves on the roofs, and pigs (not like respectable English pigs, but long-bristled, longlegged animals) sunning themselves on the doorsteps, the roads became worse and worse, and the country more desolate; not a house, not a tree, not a shrub to be seen. The only human beings we met were wild-looking men dressed in sheepskins, driving large herds of cattle ; after a time even these ceased, and there was nothing to break the monotony of the dreary fields. My coachman, too, only spoke Russian, and to add to my discomfort the sky suddenly turned inky black, and a violent thunderstorm came on. We were just then on the top of a hill, no shelter near, exposed to the full fury of the weather; the lightning flashing, the thunder growling, and the wind howling and tearing at the carriage so that the horses could hardly move. The rain fell in such torrents that nothing could be seen at a yard’s distance. Towards evening the thunderstorm ceased, but it still rained, and it was so cold that my teeth chattered. I had hoped to reach my destination by the evenin,,, but just as itgrew dark we drew up before a mud-hut. Aftersomedelayandmuch knocking the door was opened, and I was invited to descend, the coachman explaining to me by signs that here we must pass the night. He then conducted me into a room lighted by a rushlight, crowded with Polish Jews, some smoking, gambling, and drinking, others lying about on the floor sleeping. The air was suffocatingly close, and filled with the fumes of tobacco, that caused my eyes to smart, and made me so giddy that I could not stand. The coachman went to look after the horses, and immediately the peasants surrounded me, screaming, chattering, and asking me questions, not a word of which I understood. I managed to ask for something to eat, for really I was almost starving, and they brought me two eggs and a morsel of dirty bread ; knife and fork were of course not to bo thought of, and I ate my supper with my fingers, the peasants pressing round me, examining my dross, my wrappings, my hat, wanting to open my travelling-bag. One man even seized my egg and began peeling it with his black lingers ; but that was

rather more than I could bear, and my patience giving way, I rose, opened the door, and by very decided gestures, scolding as loud as I could in English, I gave my tormentors to understand that I wished to be alone, so they very unwillingly trooped into the next room. A witch-like old Jewess brought in a sack containing a handful of feathers and put it on a wooden bench, which was to serve me as bed. I then proceeded to examine my means of defence for the night. There were two doors to my room, one leading into the stables, but no looks or bolts on either, so I. lay down, keeping my penknife open in my hands ; but it was not for long, for my bed seemed to be alive, and I started up again groaning in despair, for I perceived that there was no peace forme, weary as I was. My neighbors too, the peasants, quarrelled and kept up a terrible hubbub far into the night. When they at last settled into quiet, two children, ill with the whooping cough, woke up to scream and cry, and they effectually kept me awake. No one can imagine how slowly the time passed, nor with what joy I hailed the morning, and when at last, towards mid-day, I reached my new home, I felt as though all my troubles were at an end.