ADA KALEH

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22435, 23 June 1938, Page 6 (Supplement)

ADA KALEH

Ada Kaleh is an island which lies in the Danube at Orsova, not far from the point where Rumania, Bulgaria,' and Jugoslavia meet. The suzerain, or sovereign, is King Carol of Rumania, The island was ceded to Rumania by the Treaty of Trianon in 1919. From 1912 it had been under Austro-Hungarian rule, and before that, back in the Middle Ages, a Turkish putpost. To-day the islanders lead an independent existence, certainly a pleasant one. Ancient privileges enjoyed since the days of Turkish dominion have been scrupulously respected by the new rulers. There are no State taxes levied in the island, which now ranks as a free port, and the only obligation imposed on Ada Kalehans by Rumania is the liability to military service. On this island a mile long and less than a mile .wide, 750 people live in comfort. They live on fish caught in the Danube, on vegetables grown in their neat little gardens and whatever they get from the summer tourists. The Ada Kaleh salesman does not push his wares. Enter his shop and he will be pleased to strike a bargain in the approved Turkish manner. But he scorns to pursue a retreating tourist with offers of a half-price cut on the original quotation. In the bazaar for sale are cigarettes as long as lead pencils, sherbet, rum, Rabat Lacoum—Turkish delight—not so good as the nutstudded variety popular in Turkey, but pleasant enough, Turkish coffee, black as ink, and full of grounds. But most interesting of all their wares is their rose-petal jam, an

exotic conserve which, by whatever secret alchemy, it is produced, combines to savour subtly of roses while remaining perfectly good jam.