EAST OF THE ADRIATIC 



1185 



vosa, the train passes along the pictur- 

 esque River Ombla, mounting rapidly, 

 and soon crossing the frontier of Her- 

 zegovina. The scenery for the most part 

 is arid and desolate ; sometimes there are 

 flourishing fields of wheat or tobacco, en- 

 closed by bare mountains ; at other times 

 not a vestige of vegetation is to be seen. 

 On reaching the River Narenta the road 

 turns to the northeast, and follows the 

 river as far as Mostar, the capital of 

 Herzegovina. 



Mostar is a thriving town, built on 

 both sides of the river, and shut in by 

 bare hills. The chief sight in the town 

 is a famous stone bridge, crossing the 

 river with a single lofty span of about a 

 hundred feet in width. The bridge has 

 been called Roman, but more probably it 

 was built by the Turks in the middle ages. 

 The town itself has a Mohammedan 

 quarter, with the usual characteristics 

 familiar in the Orient, and a European 

 quarter, Austrian in character. Here, as 

 at all the chief places in Bosnia, af^ ex- 

 cellent hotels belonging to the govern- 

 ment. 



The Mohammedan women of Herze- 

 govina wear a remarkable hood ; other- 

 wise all the peculiarities of costume seen 

 here will be found again in greater pro- 

 fusion at Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. 



Throughout the provinces the most 

 striking architectural feature is the slen- 

 der white minarets of numerous mosques. 

 Cypress trees have been planted around 

 the mosques either with the perfection of 

 art or with a most happy instinct for 

 effect, and the ^/aried groupings of the 

 slender dark green trecb with the domes 

 and minarets are ravishingly beautiful. 

 The court-yards of the mosques, with 

 the prescribed fountains and the interior 

 decorations, are also extremely attractive. 

 The houses are small, usually with steep 

 thatched roofs. 



The people are generally indifferent, 

 but courteous. Germans who have lived 

 among them speak in the highest terms 

 of the Bosnian Turks. They are excel- 

 lent craftsmen, and Oriental rugs, em- 

 broideries, brass, copper, and silver work, 

 and fabrics, all of Turkish or Arabic 

 style, but of local workmanship, can be 

 found in the shops. The chief resource 



of the provinces at present is agriculture. 

 It is curious 'to see Turks in heavy tur- 

 bans, baggy trousers, and flowing robes 

 gathering hay or grain in the fields, and 

 the first thought of the traveler is that 

 those costumes, beautiful as they are, 

 must be hot and uncomfortable under the 

 summer sun. 



The railroad is narrow-gauge, and at 

 times fitted with the cog-wheel system 

 where the grade is steep. Our observa- 

 tion and experience led us to prefer third 

 class, where our fellow-travelers were 

 the people of the country, invariably 

 clean and perfectly polite. First class 

 was expensive, and nobody used it; 

 second class was patronized chiefly by 

 German commercial traveler?, and fourth 

 class, otherwise quite possible, had no 

 seats in the cars. The road from Mostar 

 to Sarajevo follows the Narenta, which 

 flows through a rocky gorge for many 

 miles. At one point a powerful water- 

 fall bursts directly out of the face of the 

 cliff on the opposite side of the gorge. 

 At other places the banks are soft, and 

 the river has undermined them. 



Sarajevo is splendidly situated in a 

 basin of mountains, with the river rush- 

 ing through the middle of the city. Its 

 bazaar affords a satisfactory view of Ori- 

 ental life, while the well-paved streets 

 and substantial buildings of the Euro- 

 pean quarter suggest comfort and wealth. 

 The churches and mosques, the museum 

 of national costumes, and the hills around 

 the city offer varied interests, but most 

 travelers will be chiefly fascinated by the 

 Mohammedan quarter. 



From Sarajevo the railroad goes north 

 to Hungary, joining the main lines of 

 travel. The interesting way to leave 

 Bosnia, however, is to take the branch 

 line to Jajce, thence drive by stage over 

 an excellent road in eight hours to Banja- 

 luka, and there take the train for Agram, 

 on the line from Budapest to Fiume. 



Jajce affords the most beautiful scenery 

 that can be imagined. The town rises 

 steeply from the river to the top of a 

 hill crowned by an old Turkish fort, the 

 pointed roofs of the houses are half hid- 

 den in trees, and beyond are mountains. 

 Around one side of the town flows a 

 stream that plunges over the lofty bank 



