Travels in Southeastern Europe

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

ON THE SHORES OF LAKE PRESBA. I55 The priest filled a caldron, and we processed back to the village. Here, I was told, he would like to bless me. I said I should be very pleased, but nothing happened. Then, it appeared, he could not bless me till he knew my name and that of my father. I supplied them; he murmured a few words, he dabbed holy water on my face with a bunch of dried, sweet basil (the holy ' vasilikon '), signed me with the cross, gave me the crucifix to kiss, I dropped a coin in the water-pot, and the ceremony was complete. When we rode away the Vlah carried a bunch of the holy basil stuck triumphantly in the muzzle of his gun. At Rambi the usual state of affairs was reversed. It was a mixed village, and the Moslem half, with the exception of the mosque, had been looted and burnt by the Christians. The Moslems had retorted later by looting the Christians pretty completely, but I was told of no outrages. The place appeared to have been a very well-to-do one. It was once the local seat of Government. The headman's house was a really good one, and he valued his losses at ~TI,ooo. They included two gold-coin necklaces, In this house was a mysterious Albanian in a cartridge-belt, who was very polite to me and made me coffee. I asked about him in private. 'He is a good Turk,' I was told. 'The owner of the house pays him to live here, and gives him all his food. He protects the house from being burnt. But all his friends come to feed here, too: and now the master has hardly any money left, and does
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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 155
Publication
London :: Nelson,
[1905]
Subject terms
Eastern question (Balkan)
Balkan Peninsula -- Description and travel.

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https://name.umdl.umich.edu/ans3900.0001.001
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https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bosnia/ans3900.0001.001/162

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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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