Servia amd Montenegro 



779 



THE TOWER OF SKUIAS, NISCH, SERVIA 



"The Tower of Skulls, for which Nisch is famous, is now a mere name for a column of 

 bricks and clay about twelve feet high, where niches once occupied by the heads are the only 

 traces left of this Turkish trophy, gruesome enough when seen by Lamartine, early in the 

 last century. The sight was then a sickening one, for many of the skulls were furnished with 

 hair and hundreds of grinning rows of teeth added to the horror of the spectacle. The story 

 connected with the place is a romantic one, and goes to prove that Servian warriors of olden 

 days were anything but the poltroons they are said to have become in modern warfare. One 

 Stefan Sidielitch, commander of a brave little band, after stoutly defending an outpost near 

 Nisch, was defeated by overwhelming odds, and sooner than surrender exploded the powder 

 magazine, killing himself, his gallant followers, and an even greater number of the enemy. 

 The Pasha, infuriated at the loss of his men, resolved to punish the Christian population by 

 collecting the heads of their vanquished ones, and erecting this ghastly monument — now 

 barely visible for the wreaths which have been placed on it. A few years ago a pretty chapel 

 was erected over this spot by order of the late King Alexander, and. the collection of grin- 

 ning skulls which once formed the tower have now been burned." — H. De Windt in "The 

 Balkan Trail." 



times severely, away from the railway, 

 and some of the country roads are not 

 over-safe at night-time. 



"Servia is an agricultural El Dorado, 

 and if the untutored peasant can now 

 make a living by antediluvian methods, 

 what might not be accomplished with 

 capital and machinery? I doubt whether 

 there is at present a steam plough 

 throughout the whole country, and yet I 



met at least half a dozen farmers at 

 Kragujevatz with incomes ranging from 

 300 pounds to 500 pounds a year. Every 

 season there are two crops of hay, wheat, 

 and barley ; while maize, oats, hemp, and 

 tobacco grow like weeds. In pig-breeding 

 alone there are millions to be made, and 

 the rearing of horses and cattle on a 

 large scale would be equally lucrative." — 

 H. De Windt. 



