S6 REPORT— 1853. 



high road straight on to 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 countermarches also in search of the enemy, whom he meets 

 and defeats on the grounds between the two lakes of Devno. Thence he arrives ' in 

 three days' on the Danube (at Silistria), crosses that mighty river, defeats the 

 Getse* ; repasses the Danube, and undertakes his expedition against the Agriani and 

 Paeoni." (Arrian, Exped. lib. i. c. 1-5.) " It remains," continued the author, 

 " to be observed, that whilst the Getse, who in the time of the expedition of Darius 

 against the Scythee (Herod, lib. iv.) lived south of the Danube, are found by 

 Alexander already on the left or northern bank of the river, in the fertile plains of 

 Wallachia, the Triballians, on the contrary, hold the former territories of the Getae 

 as far south-east as Varna." 



It is therefore "seen that Alexander has passed in his march on Silistria the 

 Kamshik at Koprikoi, and the Lyginos at Parawadi, at the same points chosen by 

 Marshal Diebitsch in his reverse operation from Silistria, against the defiles of the 

 Balkan after the battle of Kulerdja and the capture of Silistria. Arrived at Kopri- 

 koi, the Russian array strikes off to the east, and forces those passes of the Haemua 

 chosen by Darius, because it lay in the plan of the Russians, as it did formerly in those 

 of the Persians, to occupy first the ' sea-towns,' before continuing their operations, 

 — Darius from south to north, Marshal Diebitsch from north to south. Nature has 

 so strongly marked the best amongst the difiicult passes of the Heemus, that, at the 

 distance of very many centuries, the three great commanders are found to operate 

 by the same lines." 



General Jochmus, returning to Varna from the isthmus between the upper and 

 lower Devno lakes, his guide " indicated the grounds, north of the village of 

 Jenishekoi', as the scene of the great battle of the 10th November 1444, a.d. Two 

 tumuli were pointed out to him by the denomination of Sandshak Tepe, and Murad 

 Tep^. They are about the centre of the line which Sultan Murad's army of 40,000 

 men must have occupied." The last named Tep^ he holds " to be the spot where 

 that Sultan had ordered the lance with the treaty to be exposed to the sight of his 

 indignant army, and where King Wladislaw's head was planted by its side. The 

 Sandshak Tepe is the neighbouring mound, where, according to the Turkish war- 

 custom, the great imperial standard was displayed." 



The ground there, as laid down in a plan in Hellert's French translation of Von 

 Hammer's 'History of the Ottoman Empire,' was found to be "altogether fictitious;" 

 and it is a very incorrect representation of the "battle of Varna." The General 

 then gives further details of this great battle, and describes the present condition of 

 the fortifications of Varna. He also mentions the attack of the Russians in 1828. 



General Jochmus made many remarks of a military nature respecting the chief 

 positions, towns, and stations in this part of the Turkish dominions ; and also many 

 accurate personal observations on the routes and natural features of the Balkan, 

 which contribute a valuable addition at this time to our present knowledge of that 

 mountainous range. There are likewise interspersed throughout his communication 

 many interesting accounts of the political condition and manners of the different races 

 whom he visited. 



Three neatly drawn and coloured plans illustrated the paper ; the first, a map of 

 the Great Balkan from Varna to Tirnova, and from Varna to Burgas on the Black 

 Sea, with the names written in Turkish ; the second, a " Sketch of the Ground 

 near Varna, 1847," showing the lakes, sites of the battles, tumuli, &c. ; and the 

 third gave a " Sketch of the marches of Darius and Alexander to the Danube, 

 and of the passage of the Balkan by Marshal Diebitsch." 



On certain Localities not in Siveden occupied by Svjedish Populations^ and 

 on certain Ethnological Questions connected with the Coasts of Livonia, 

 Esthonia, Courland, and Gothland. By R. G. Latham, M.I). 



A short pamphlet 'On the Remains of Swedish Nationality in Esthonia and Livonia,' 

 by Aug. Sohlman {Om Lemningar af Svensk NationaUtct uti Estland och Liffiand), 



* "According to Barbie du Bocage, near a place opposite to Silistria, where now is the 

 village of Kornizel." 



