Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-07-14

suggesting . meal worthy Of any Partisan
restaurant while other walters lowered in the
background and kept away the Bosnians who
wanted to sit ct the empty places at the
same table
The next day we continued our journey to
Mostar, an old Turkish town In q valley at
the mouth Of the most magnificent gorge
know. It was higher, narrower, rocker, more
precipitous, longer and more terrifying than
anything ever have seen before. For over
20 miles the road twisted along q narrow ledge
with rocks rising thousands Of feet above and
falling for hundreds of feet into the rushing
river below. But beyond Mostar the scenery
changed from Turkish to italian, green valleys
filled with fruit trees in blossom, red-roofed
houses, terraced vineyards and olives.
National Type Hard to Find.
And then after long wet drive We reached
the Adriatic, coming upon 1t suddenly as 1t
was getting dark. 1t appeared below us,
without warning, In a cove between two huge
rocky crags, blue and romantic in spite OF the
drizzle. No wonder that in country as wild,
as varied and as isolated as this one has
difficulty in laying ones fingers on national
type; no wonder there Is strong feeling OF
independence regardless Of what government
may be in power; whether 1t Is Vienna or
Moscow, Austrian imperialism or Russian COM
munisu, the mountain peasant treats 1t much
the same. And no wonder there is virility in
the country, too, which one notices equally in
the opposition that there is to authority and
in the eagerness with which the people set
about rebuilding their country.
The Bulgarians are . tough race. too, tough
and independent, like an old farmer close to
the Macedonian border. He was lying on the
hillside dressed in his native clothes-black
fur hat, long homespun jacket and breeches
and turned-up shoes; and he was watching
his 2o-year-old grandson harrow a small patch
Of ground with . homemade wooden harrow
pulled by two bullocks. It was q peaceful scene
with the Macedonian Mountains in the back
ground, the fruit trees in full flower, sheep
bells ringing and shepherd playing his pipe
In the distance. The old man had left his
village only once-in 1915 to fight against the
British but he was glad to meet strangers and
talked freely through our interpreter, telling
us Of his farm, his family and his early life.
He had been born "a years ago, when the
Turks still were there.
Reaction to the English.
After some time he suddenly realized that
We were English The expression on his face
changed to one Of caution, and he turned to
our interpreter and exclaimed: II thought
that they were Russian! Are the English
really allowed to ask all these questions?"
But on being assured that he had done no
harm by talking so freely, he went on happily
with his "reminiscences.
These are the people-the peasants Of the
mountains and the plains-to whom the gov
ernments Of Yugoslavia and Bulgaria are trying
to show the benefits of communism They
have taken on = hard task, and it will be
interesting to see how far they will be able to
impose their will upon the people who, through
out their history, always have been dominated
by foreign power, but never yet suppressed.