Travels in Southeastern Europe

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

ELBASAN TO SKODRA. 337 can teach us,' said someone passionately to me. 'I tell you there is no one here that would commit crimes such as are found in London. There you can find men who live by selling the honour of women. This has been printed in your own newspapers. You have no feeling of honour. How do you punish such a man? You make him pay money and put him in prison! You let him live, and he is a disgrace to humanity. Bah! we would shoot him like a wild beast! Our brigands are poor men. By working hard in the fields they can only just live. They are quite ignorant, and have never been to any school. They rob to live, and do so at the risk of their lives. But your brigands have often been to a university, and rob to obtain luxuries by lies and false promises. You have had all the advantages of education and civilization for years, and this is what you do. But you call us savages because we shoot people! ' And it all depends upon the point of view. I was eager to see the Shpatiotes at home. The Muttasarif sent the Police Commissary and two gendarmes with me, as he said the people were entirely unused to strangers; and we started early, that we might visit two villages and return before nightfall. I was told not to hire a horse, as I was to be lent the best one in the town. It turned out to be a very handsome gray, and had it not been bitted with a curb that would hold leviathan, would have been very many sizes too good for me. It began
/ 395
Pages

Actions

file_download Download Options Download this page PDF - Page 337 Image - Page 337 Plain Text - Page 337

About this Item

Title
The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham.
Author
Durham, Mary Edith, 1863-1944.
Canvas
Page 337
Publication
London :: Nelson,
[1905]
Subject terms
Eastern question (Balkan)
Balkan Peninsula -- Description and travel.

Technical Details

Link to this Item
https://name.umdl.umich.edu/ans3900.0001.001
Link to this scan
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bosnia/ans3900.0001.001/344

Rights and Permissions

The University of Michigan Library provides access to these materials for educational and research purposes. These materials are likely in the public domain. If you decide to use any of these materials, you are responsible for making your own legal assessment and securing any necessary permission. If you have questions about the collection, please contact [email protected] . If you have concerns about the inclusion of an item in this collection, please contact [email protected] .

DPLA Rights Statement: No Copyright - United States

Related Links

Manifest
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/api/manifest/bosnia:ans3900.0001.001

Cite this Item

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.
Do you have questions about this content? Need to report a problem? Please contact us.