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

MONASTIR TO TEPELEN. 277 that had fallen from the mountain-side. Some of these, judging by the bushes rooted between them, had blocked the way for years; but on the maps it is a carriageable road. My companions explained to me that, previous to the Treaty of Berlin, the road-tax was paid in labour and the roads were passable. By way of 'reform' a money tax was substituted. It has been collected ever since with praiseworthy regularity, and the roads remain untouched. Such bridges as existed in the neighbourhood were built by a wealthy Beg at his own expense. We had had about eight hours of this, and I was beginning to wonder how many more I could stand, when a mosque and some ramshackle houses showed ghostly through the downpour; the leading suvarri turned his horse into an entrance, there was a parley, and I slipped out of the saddle and followed him into a little dark drink-shop, smelling strongly of petroleum, and crowded with dripping men. We were at Dragut, and this was the han and general shop. The river, we were told, was a raging torrent; we could not reach Tepelen that night; no boat could take us over. The han was crowded because the folk who had tried to reach the bazar to-day had all returned from the ferry, unable to cross. We must pass the night here. It was a dree hole-dark, chill, foodless, fireless. I wondered why I had come, and only a belief that it was not my Kismet to die in Albania cheered me up. We asked for a fire, and drank rakija.

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Title: The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham.
Author: Durham, Mary Edith, 1863-1944.
Canvas: Page 277
Publication: London :: Nelson,; [1905]
Subject terms: Eastern question (Balkan); Balkan Peninsula -- Description and travel.

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Collection: Travels in Southeastern Europe
Link to this Item: https://name.umdl.umich.edu/ans3900.0001.001
Link to this scan: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bosnia/ans3900.0001.001/284

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Full citation: "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.

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

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