Archpriest, "Jowan
Paulovich, a self-taught ecclesiastic: the room in which he received us
was filled with books, mostly Servian, but among them I perceived German
translations of Shakspeare, Young's _Night Thoughts_, and a novel of
Bulwer's." The son of this priest was studying mining engineering at the
expense of government, at Schemnitz in Hungary, a capacity in which he
may one day do good service to his country, as the great mineral riches
believed to exist in Servia are hitherto wholly unexplored. Having
completed the circuit of all the notables in Shabatz, including Luka
Lasaravich, a once redoubted lieutenant of Kara-George, and now an
octagenarian merchant, with thirteen wounds on his body, Mr Paton
prepared for a fresh start, drinking health and long life to his kind
host and hostess in a glass of _slivovitsa_, or plum brandy, the
national liqueur. But his good wishes were not destined to be fulfilled;
for within a month an abortive attempt at a rising was made by the
partisans of the exiled Obrenovich family, a troop of whom, disguised as
Austrian hussars, entered Shabatz, and shot the good collector dead as
he issued from his house to enquire the cause of the disturbance. The
attempt, however, was futile, and the whole party were taken and
executed.

The road to Losnitza, whither our traveller was now bending his way, lay
through the Banat of Matchva, a rich tract of land, with a "charmingly
accidented" chain of mountains, the Gutchevo range, in the distance.
"Even the brutes bespoke the harmony of creation; for, singular to say,
we saw several crows perched on the backs of swine!" Towards evening we
entered a region of cottages among gardens inclosed by bushes, trees,
and verdant fences, with the rural quiet and cleanliness of an English
village in the last century lighted by an Italian sunset. "In this
sylvan paradise he was encountered by a pandour, who conducted him to
the house of the _Natchalnik_, or governor of the province, a gaunt,
greyheaded follower of Kara-George, who had been selected for this post
from his courage and military experience, since the hostile
neighbourhood of the Bosniaks, on the other side the Drina, between whom
and the Servians a deadly religious and national hatred exists, rendered
it necessary to be always on the alert." But before pursuing his route
to Sokol,[4] a sky-threatening fortress, respecting which his curiosity
had been excited by the account given of it by M. Nini