Through the Land of the SerbDurham, M. E. (Mary Edith)
History
Through the Land of the Serb
Durham, M. E. (Mary Edith)
Montenegro -- Description and travel; Serbia -- Description and travel
At last we arrived at the Sud, went into a yard full of zaptiehs and
armed men, were sent into an office by the entrance, and told to wait a
little. We did. A man came in and said he knew nothing about an English
passport. The Iguman and I were sent up a ramshackle wooden staircase on
to a large landing crowded with awful filthy people, stinking and a-buzz
with flies, wild-eyed and apparently half starved. The air was hot and
heavy, and the constant clamour of imploring voices ceased only when
from time to time a zaptieh bounced in and bellowed. Streaming with
perspiration, I pulled out my handkerchief, and with it a little hard
crust of the day before yesterday's bread. A man snatched it almost
before it touched the floor, and bolted it like a wild beast. It was
terrible; but I dared not offer money, nor show that I had any. At last
an official asked us into an office, a stuffy den, but better than the
Inferno outside. Clerks who tried to look European on chairs, but spoilt
the effect by sitting cross-legged, were scratching backwards writing,
and passing it through "buttery hatches" with desperate energy. We were
told to "wait," and were given coffee. The Iguman up till now had shown
no signs of impatience. "They must give you permission; you are
English," was his constant cry. Now he began to ask questions of
everyone that came in. And no one had heard of an English passport. I
told him I would give up Dechani. He replied that the Turks were always
like this, "and you must see it, you must."
Then we were ordered to another office. This belonged to a very great
personage, the Pasha himself, I believe. After a hurried and whispered
conversation between several people, I was told to wait outside the
door. A voice was loudly raised within, and the Iguman came flying out.
We were to return to the first office again! We went. It was crowded,
and we were told to wait.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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