Although most of the Bosnians are of the same race, they are divided by religious animosities, and these account for their state of political servitude. At the first glance it may cause surprise that the Slavs of Bosnia should not have succeeded in throwing off the Turkish yoke, like their kinsmen of Servia. Their country is more remote from the capital, and far less accessible than Servia. A conquering army coming from the south has not only to force numerous defiles, but has to contend, too, with the climate, which is far more severe than that of the remainder of the Balkan peninsula. But, in spite of these great natural advantages from a defensive point of view, every revolt has hitherto failed lamentably. We need not seek far for the cause of this: Christian and Mohammedan Bosnians are at enmity, and the Christians themselves are split up into Greeks, who are led by their _popes_, and Romans, who follow blindly their Franciscan priests. In their divided state they fall an easy prey to their oppressors, and servitude has degraded their character. The Mussulmans of Bosnia call themselves Turks, but they are Slavs nevertheless, like their Christian compatriots, and, like them, speak Servian with a large admixture of Turkish words. They are the descendants of the nobles who, in {130} the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, embraced Islamism in order to save their feudal privileges. They also number amongst their ranks the descendants of brigands, who changed their religion in order to be able to continue their trade without fear of punishment. This apostacy gave to the lords even greater power over their wretched dependants than they had formerly possessed. The hatred of caste was augmented by religious animosity, and they soon surpassed in fanaticism the Mohammedan Turks, and reduced the Christian peasantry to a condition of veritable slavery. A wild pear-tree is still pointed out near one of the gates of Sarayevo, upon which the notables occasionally suspended some unfortunate raya for their amusement. Whether beys or spahis, these Mohammedan Bosnians are the most retrograde element of old Turkey, and on several occasions, as in 1851, they even rose up in rebellion in order to maintain intact their ancient feudal privileges. Sarayevo, as a Mussulman city, stood under the special protection of the Sultan’s mother, and possessed most extravagant privileges, which converted it into a state in the state more hostile to Christianity than the Sublime Porte itself.