In the evening the Vayvode sent a message by his pandour, to say that
he would pay me a visit along with the Agas of the town, who, six in
number, shortly afterwards came. It being now evening, they had no
objection to smoke; and as they sat round the room they related
wondrous things of Ushitza towards the close of the last century,
which being the entre-pot between Servia and Bosnia, had a great trade,
and contained then twelve thousand houses, or about sixty thousand
inhabitants; so I easily accounted for the gaps in the middle of the
town. The Vayvode complained bitterly of the inconveniencies to which
the quarantine subjected them in restricting the free communication
with the neighbouring province; but he admitted that the late
substitution of a quarantine of twenty-four hours, for one of ten days
as formerly, was a great alleviation; "but even this," added the
Vayvode, "is a hindrance: when there was no quarantine, Ushitza was
every Monday frequented by thousands of Bosniacs, whom even
twenty-four hours' quarantine deter."
I asked him if the people understood Turkish or Arabic, and if
preaching was held.
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