Travels in Southeastern Europe

The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham.

0oo THE BURDEN OF THE BALKANS. very well and rode a very beautiful little horse which he loved dearly, explained that he did not depend on his pay for a living-that merely served to fatten his horse. He ran contraband tobacco and did very well. Before he had the brilliant idea of enlisting, he had led an exciting and very adventurous life, as he had to dodge the gendarmerie as well as the local brigands. As we filed through a thick wood he was much excited. Here, a few years back, he had fought hard for his life. With eight friends and a kirijee he was escorting two pack-mules, loaded with tobacco, to the coast, where, under cover of night, he meant to ship it on a fishing-boat. Some other fellows got wind of the enterprise: 'As we came round the corner here, piff-paff a bullet from behind that tree. The kirijee was hit; he ran all along the path and dropped just over there. We got the mules under cover. We fought for two hours. My God, I did not think we should get through! I wasn't hit, but one of my friends was, badly. We hit a lot of the others; I don't know how many. We dodged about behind the trees on either side the path, firing at each other. At last they gave up and let us through.' He burst into a merry laugh. 'It makes me sweat to ride along here now. I didn't think then I should be here again. We picked up the kirijee. He was quite dead, so we buried him. There is his grave.' He pointed to a long heap of stones by the path-side. 'We sold the tobacco very well, but he did not get much good out of it.'
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About this Item

Title
The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham.
Author
Durham, Mary Edith, 1863-1944.
Canvas
Page 100
Publication
London :: Nelson,
[1905]
Subject terms
Eastern question (Balkan)
Balkan Peninsula -- Description and travel.

Technical Details

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https://name.umdl.umich.edu/ans3900.0001.001
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https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bosnia/ans3900.0001.001/107

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"The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham." In the digital collection Travels in Southeastern Europe. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/ans3900.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 30, 2025.
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