Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1877-07-06
DanubiAn Life.
Edward King in Boston Journal.

EuW;irO Ming III boston journal.
The journey from Orsova to Belgrade
is exceedingly picturesque and gives
one fine chance to study the bold Ser
Wan headlands, which are just out into
the stream, and are here and there
crowned with ruins of old castles and
forts. The Servian population along the
Danube is devoted exclusively to agri-
culture Of rather the rudest sort. I
was even astonished to see winnowing
machines from England in use at Grad
istic-one Of the small towns at which
we made a landing-because l did not
think the Servians so remote from large
towns would submit to innovations.
Most Of the tiny towns along the river
are composed Of strip of whitewash-
ed cottages near Greek church, whose
dubious spire suggests the idea of kind
OF emancipated mosque; of a wharf on
which half hundred bare-limbed girls
and a dozen rough fellows in national
costume are gathered to see the arrivals,
and one or two small shops, in which
the articles brought hundreds, some
times thousands of miles-for Servia
has no manufactures-are sold at exag-
gerated prices. Some Of the towns seem
ed standing in the water, the Danube is
so very high at present; but as we ap-
preached them, we discovered that they
were just above the water level, and
that some levees had here and there
been constructed. Every Servian man
carried small knife dangling from his
belt, and the mountaineers whom we
saw trotting along the hilly roads by the
Danube side, mounted on tough little
ponies, generally carried rifles.
The Bosnian men and women carry
these knives above mentioned; and my
Russian fellow companion told me sto-
ry of plucky girl in the province, who,
in hand to hand encounter last year
with Turk over the dead body of her
father managed to route the assassin,
inficting on him such wounds that he
will never kill anyone else. Our boat
load from Orsova to the Russian capt
tai was curious medley of people.
There were half dozen young Bulgar-
ians, dressed, or rather undressed, in
rags; the lamb-like expression of the
countenances of these young persons,
and their almost frightened demeanOr
when any one approached them, made it
sufficiently evident how far the Turks
had succeeded in degrading them There
were Roumanians fleeing from the wrath
to come, with rather more precipitation
than seemed necessary; mild-eyed men
with symmetrical boards, and stately
women, dressed in black, and evidently
unconscious that their charms had faded
at an early day. There were Polish
Jews, painfully working their way back
from Roumanian villages, where they
been to speculate, but where they dis
covered that the native Hebrew had
forestalled them. There were Servian
merchants and Russian agents-men
who laughed loudly and talked in rough,
robust voices, which could be heard
above the widest roar of the river
There were little Servian maidens, coy
and rather ferocious if stared at-maid-
ems with ducats braided in their hair,
and with the national red cap used as a
kind of net in which to contain their
luxuriant braids. These ladies, who
carry their wealth thus displayed upon
their heads, astonished me when l first
saw them; but now it seems to me quite
as sensible as that ladies should wear a
few thousands of dollars in the shape Of
diamonds.