Scottish geographical magazine . paratus of primitive simplicity; the tailor sits cross-legged on his bench ; andthe sweetmeat-seller greets ones nostrils with the odour of ghee, to be smelt a longway off. Most characteristic of all is the be-turbaned old greybeard, seated cross-legged before his door, smoking sedately and imperturbably his cigarette or hookah,and surveying the world with the indifference of age-long philosophy. Throughthe murmur of sounds that fills the heavy air, laden with the many smells of anOriental bazaar, comes a familiar daruj—the importunate jangling of the bell of a
Scottish geographical magazine . paratus of primitive simplicity; the tailor sits cross-legged on his bench ; andthe sweetmeat-seller greets ones nostrils with the odour of ghee, to be smelt a longway off. Most characteristic of all is the be-turbaned old greybeard, seated cross-legged before his door, smoking sedately and imperturbably his cigarette or hookah,and surveying the world with the indifference of age-long philosophy. Throughthe murmur of sounds that fills the heavy air, laden with the many smells of anOriental bazaar, comes a familiar daruj—the importunate jangling of the bell of anelectric tram which glides along near by, in vivid contrast to this bit of the oldworld. The people, even in their Mussulman dresses, betray their Slavorigin very plainly. It is true one sees the dark hair and brunette com-plexion often associated with the East, but it is, in reality, the colouringof Southern Europe ; there are many more fair tj^pes and blue men and women are well grown and sturdy, and have the open. 80 SCOTTISH GEOGRAPHICAL MAGAZINE. glance of Europe, and not the inscrutable, expressionless eyes of theEast. The peasant dresses are very picturesque and distinctive, eachvillage having its own peculiarities, and a wealth of embroidery is usedto glorify the rough homespun stuffs of which clothes are made. Thepatterns are distinctly Eastern in feeling and colour, and the Austrians,who are anxious to preserve the artistic sense of the people, haveestablished schools for carpet-weaving, embroidery, and silver-work, inwhich the old Turkish designs are followed. Unfortunately the aestheticsense of the Austrians has not prevented them from building the mosthideous (though doubtless sanitary) bare barracks, government offices,and public buildings, which so grievously mar the picturesqueness ofBosnian towns. The peasantry are almost entirely illiterate, the only educationhitherto having been the provision made by each Church for teaching herown people. Like a
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectgeography, bookyear18
