Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 November 1884 — Reminiscences of Herzegovina. [ARTICLE]

Reminiscences of Herzegovina.

• There were about, twenty-five of us,’ and for eight days not one of us ate anything except boiled mutton. Every night a sheep was killed; a fire kindled in side-a tent ta-keep tire blaze from the wato Irful eyes of the Turk; post whose -stationsWqArere running; and the,flesh of the sheep, before rit had been, an dead,, was cut into lumps and thrown intfi a cauldron of boiling water. After three 'days of this diet I could - stand it no longer, and for the next five days I rode down the country without tasting a bite of anything. I' had alittle rum-and-water, but that was all. Hunger is the worst on the second day. On the third day you cease to feel hunger, and you begin to lose flesli, but I kept going. Splendid savages were some of those insurgents; although some were perfect gentlemen, others were magnificent brutes. Peko Pavlovitch was one of the latter. He could neither read nor write, stood about six feet six inches, wore armor on his body, and although personally most courteous to me, was the purest savage I have ever seen in a white skin. I was sitting beside him when a soldier came with a flag of truce from Mouklitar PtisHa asking for permission to send victuals to the beleagured fortress of GovfrnskO. Peko Pavlovitch could not read, but lie looked at the paper while the contents were being Interpreted to him. He then tore it into fragments, flung the pieees into the messenger’s face, and waving his hand with a savage expression declared, “That is my answer.” The messenger went down stairs. Before lie reached thq landing I heard a grOan, The man was killed. Another specimen of Peko’s mode qf warfare which I witnessed was an unfortunate Turk, whose back Peko had with| Iris kntfeiftnd ripped off three long strips of skin with his hands. The poor wretch was more dead than alive.