The Near East.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 13715, 3 October 1908, Page 4 (Supplement)

The Near East.

A Capital Where the Turk Ha 3 Ceased to Rule. (By Halyburton Low.) ' It is summer now, the turtle-dove is cooing in the palace garden, and beneath a hot sun Belgratda lies bleaching on her whalebaek promontory, along one side of which goes the broad yellow swirl of the Saya, At the extreme point, -under the shadow of the vast crumbling fort, the river joins forces with the Danube emerging from the boundless plain of Hungaiy. and in one mighty .flood the united waters sweep on down the other side. On the right hand and on the left the city trails her skirts in a river—no mere figure of speech when winter snows melt wiih the return of spring. By treaty Servia is denied the right to rebuild her fortress, and there it stands, huge and dominating, with the authentic air/ of an historic past clinging - about its mouldering , walls. Only for:y years have passed.since the Turk withdrew I'roni the capital, but it is hard to grasp the fact-even-with the" living testimony of this one who saw* - the fight at. the fountain or of that other who was chased through the streets by Turkish officers with drawn swords. But, indeed, every person over middle age is a mine, of interesting reminiscence ; ' one of the ladies who was walking in the .deer-park with Prince Michael when he was assassinated is still, alive. THE COMPLEX SF.RB. Twenty yearn ago an unhappy F.ng lishman sallied forth into the streets wearing , a .well-groomed "topper." He was piirsuecl by a hilarious throng. All this, is changed now. "top-hats have grpwn and multiplied exceedingly, bringing in their train a plentiful supply of " bowlern," soft German felt abominations, and other horrors. Belgrade, in fact, has made haste to be off with the old and on with the new ; she has performed a remarkable quick change variety turn, and the very quickness of it -" has filled the town with the most aMonishing and fascinating contrasts. Contrast—violent, glaring contrast —is Belgrade's most obvious characteristic.

The sober clothing of the> West and the brilliant colours of the East serve as a mutual foil. The American boot bent" time -on . the pavement with the native opanka; the frock-coat rubs shoulder* with the sheepskin; the "topper" clears the upper air with the fez, whilst cor-rectly-creased trousers share the lower levels with the white kilts of the pea eantry. In the country the Orient closes over the traveller at once. When the girl pours water from an earthen pot ovtr hi"? dusty hands he- u- back in the Old Testament and, if he is so minded, he may cr.nvers" with patriarchs. When one has lived in Servia lone enough to cease to be d-Teivrd by the silk hat from Vienna and the other aeee:*ories of modern civilisation, it hacomes more and more clear that the permanent character underlying these accidentals is in its essence Oriental, and that the heart beneath the frock-coal bats the same rhythm as the heart beneath the sheepskin. No man ha« ever obtained a deeper insight into the workings of the F.astern mind that Lafcadio Hearn. yet he has left on record hl« overwhelming sense of the impassable pull between his adopted countrymen and himself. Something of the same fe>-linc is apt to steel over.the nympathetie student of the simplicity and complexity, the • frankness and the inscrutability of the Serb character. Throw your eyes up to the river Sava. and there, glittering in the sun, you will see something that looks like a thread of gossamer. It is the railway bridge, and the slenderness of it symbolises trnlv Ihe nature of Srni-iv connection with the great Western world. A DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE.

In keeping with the prevailing spirit of contrast is the fact that the university overlooks the market-place. Professors and students in the dingy garment* of civilisation ar» housed not ten paces from the kaleidoscopic variety and colour of the peasant people. You may say, if you will, that a great gulf lies between them, and intellectually, of course, this is_ true; but in the things that enun*. in the qualities of heart and not of head, the difference between professor and peasant is no broader than the width of the street that separates them. This is a compliment to tb* professor, fur the countryman is one of the finet-t natural men in Europe, and the instructed Serb would be a credit- to any society.

Although Servians are far and away the most democrati* of people*, the. establishment of diplomatic relation* with other countries, and the rise of wealthy business houses has introduced thy thin cnn of the wedce, hut 'there w still a free-and easy, hail - fellow - well - nietne-B about the Serb which has much in com mon with the attitude of our own Colonists Even Ministers, important personages as they-are, have not i|U.te succeeded yet in cultivating that filmy, unseeing eye. which English tradition demand'. One can still reccgni<«-> them for human being*. An amusing insane* is that of a well knokn Charge d'Affaires whoso brother prosecute* the honourable profession of itinerant cheese vendor. " Well, brother," the great, man will ex claim when he runs up against bis bumbUrelative- in the htreet, "how',- chc-««e doing to-dav. eh?"

You must be prv pared tit be pr>-f:s-.l 3< friend and brother by lititt her. b'!:• r and catidl<i.tH'kii):ikt-r: you ev.-n rvu ih.risk -incredible t.i tli.- in-alar mind ot finding yourself dinini; with i.ne or .ill of tlwt«> worthifi. It i. rev-a'a-d i,. y..n tint all iii'-n art- iuemb-r« »i th«- human family. Th- >orry ihiiiK '« <ha: r-l-i----lives should oft time* i!.-e one allot hi de-spitt-fully f.T the S.rviin i* a born gi«viip. Everybody know?, .-veivbulv el«e, not a nr.ul but i- i>ti-ped in politic. and the live prditici.il parties ie|-re--tit {■etiuinal low* and hate*; iinnh mop- than different politic*. There are a_ «.-.-r- •■'. thi* k. a town of 70.i ■■".*'< it. habitant.'—and st. the I'te-u is ab-dutely free- and entirely un» i-rupnloiv.. you may imagine, it the air is thi.k With . c mdal.-i and back biting:. caff .\xn rnrp.cn TK-- .-itmwph-r- that ol.t.uip ,u ().-.• eai-r. and ir>taur.iii!> inn- b bs-ati.i-.l to be b.-heved. and it ». a< miu ii .m. your lif-- ik worth to attetiip: tli.- opening ..I a window lh- taiib- ban tried, ami be know* Th-tv are romp, u ati Mi*. iu.v. • Ver. lu.- in tie-'e deti'--. niuloih.rout. r-tr-at- ate t.. b-: found all i-I .-xtia ordinary human I>. :iii.'.'iv.; mil fr. «h iioni Macedonian li-.r rorr., itnp-iiini-.il-from P-cnii. and a hundred other' Sot. r-a U.U7. i s r " ''<•• -tu.i- i.t Na-i.f.h .-.,; i,-te .\ «hii:y. t> »p--i ta.i--i . r-attir---iti-i wh<> to Servian .--• he ? He was graciously

pleased to accept meat and drink, and was prepared,'- for a' cr.nsideiatiori,"t(>'.giv<e Ue'.ailo o{ an Austro-Montenegrin--'pfoi- to blow up King Peter- in. h.'n:•. palace.. The eon.sideiatiori not being forthcoming, >i:us-tit-ph,, an ?AuytJ-Lin ijpnrned- -lo his taskmasters, and the wdjJd learned with litupelaction that ihc Crown; frince of Servia had coroipired to' blow up Prince Xicholas of : Montenegro ! : ; In Servia.' the . Church is an estrepely curinus' institution, and, spiritually, 'fe uj diad as.a-door-nail.. 'lh=.p--oplc .are proud of Trafalgar Squaie, and tluy think ■ they have done tleir duty when .they.- put their .hands, into their pockets. It . is no exaggeration to say that it is positively bad form to attend divine service regularly. -"The-.priests- are paid -to do the praying," explained a native, "so why should we trouble about it?" Gypsies are conspicuous figures in the life* of the capital. They are all musicians, and every evening you can hear the wail of their melancholy mesfc. Most of the native music is sad, but for poignant expression of secular woes 'surely nothing can equal the song of the pheasant returning across the fields at nightfall. Sometimes you may- happen on a blind; guslar, playing the- gusla. and chanting mteiminab!e talis of-the deeds of and of the .glories of Old Then there is Hausan. the Turk—there is is .just now, unlimbering his huge,, zither-like box in front of the cafe. His voice rises in a beautiful tremlo to the stars, and he throws his whole sould into- the passionate words. What is it all about? Listen ! How can I help loving her? For she is tame, yea, and beautiful, ! And her walk is like unto the walk of i a duck. • Hassan! Hassan! We had thought bet j ter things of you. Farewell!! Servians may not be able t« command I success in the future, but ihey . have striven, on the whole, to deserve it. From Ihe airy uplands of the Banyitsa. Belgrade takes on the SemWance of a while bird, whose drooping wings tkim the encircling waters. Whither does i-he. speed.?