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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



THE FAMOUS PORTLAND VASE, NOW IN THE: BRITISH MUSEUM 



One of the most beautiful examples of ancient art is this gem of dark -blue glass, adorned 

 with matchless reliefs in opaque white glass, telling the story of the meeting of Peleus and 

 Thetis. This priceless relic from a Roman tomb was smashed into a hundred pieces by a 

 madman in 1845, but it has been repaired so skillfully that its beauty has been preserved to a 

 remarkable degree. 



villages. Through Serbia sweeps the 

 main artery of travel to the East, the line 

 of the Orient Express, which divides at 

 Nish, the ancient Serb capital in the 

 southern hills, and runs, on the one side, 

 to Bulgaria and Constantinople, and on 

 the other through Macedonia to Saloniki. 



Alone among the Balkan States, Serbia 

 achieved her independence unaided. The 

 freedom from Turkish thraldom which 

 Greece owed to the Allied fleets at Nava- 

 rino and which Bulgaria and Rumania 

 took as their share of the fruits of the 

 Russo-Turkish War, Serbia won for her- 



