At two o’clock in the morning we arrived at Silistria, a small town surrounded by outworks, and celebrated for the brave resistance of its garrison of twelve thousand men, to an army of fifty thousand Russians. A resistance so obstinate, or I should rather say, so heroic, as to endure for nine long months; and to be terminated only by the utter destruction of the town, and the partial demolition of its defences. Ruin still cowers among its desolate dwellings, and Silistria is now peopled only by three thousand inhabitants; but it has earned for itself a place in the page of history, which could not be more worthily filled up. At half past two in the afternoon we were off Turtuki; a very extensive village, presenting a most singular appearance; almost every cottage having a large haystack within the little garden fence, as large as the dwelling itself; and many of the cottages being hollowed in the rock; while strings of red capsicums wreathed most of the doorways, and gave a holyday aspect to the scene. A numerous population thronged the shore and the streets, who only paused in their several occupations for a moment as we passed, to watch our progress; and then resumed their primitive occupation of reed-thatching the cottages, or driving forth their cattle to the high lands in search of pasturage. Such herds of horses, oxen, buffaloes, and pigs; such flocks of goats and sheep, as are scattered along the whole of the Bulgarian shore, I never saw in my life! The land in the immediate vicinity of Turtuki was highly cultivated, and abounded in corn-fields and vineyards; giving evidence of much greater energy and industry in its peasantry than any locality that we had yet witnessed. About half a mile above the village a row of water-mills, six in number, were moored across the current; each mill was supported on two floating barges of very curious construction, and as they were all at work they presented a singular appearance. Shortly after we had passed Turtuki, we saw about twenty pelicans congregated on a bar of sand which projected into the river. And during the day we remarked several eagles on the wing; and numbers of the beautiful white aigrette herons, whose gleaming plumage glistened in the sunshine.