Down The Blue Danube

Heidelberg, Sept. 30, '96. Editoi; Couribb : So we passed the Iron tintes, the las great defile of the Danube. Now Roo mania was on our lef t and Servia, sooi to give place (o Bulgaria, was on ou right. We licúan to experience what i means to be ou the boundary line o two jealous powers. There is a guarí house every two miles or less along th shore, and if yon land, yon aliuost have to make out your naturalizaron papers Our landing at Turn Severin is a f ai sample of what we went through a every town where we stopped from the Iron Gates to the sea. I row up to land, a uniformed guard comes striding down to the water's edge. Armed witl my passport I stand unflinchingly unti I causee the whites of his eyes. Thei Iopenfire with "Sprechensiedeutsch?' Guard shakes his head. Again I fire "Parlez vous Francais?" Guard shakes his head once more. I have another shot, "Parlano Italiano?" Guard looks stupid, and in despair I fire my las shot "Well, blame it, perhaps you speak English?" The guard sees I am helpless and opens on me relentlessly with the three languages which he always has at command, Russian, Roumanian, and Servían. The three shots usually finish me and I feebly reach oui my passport. But that wou't do. The guard scowls and says, "hite" and ] "hite." That is I follow him up to his superior's office. The officer looks wisely at my pass, glances at me anc tel Is the guard to allow me the freedom of the city that day. I return to the boat and we tie up and "do" the city. Now, at Turn Severin all went according to the above program exceptthat we had gone pa6t the steamboat landing, ad the stupid guard insisted upon my rowing back up stream to the doek. His superior berated him for that. These guards are usually dressed ia a white linen suit, very dirty, and bound at the waist by a broad red belt. Their greatest peculiarity is, that they all look alike in features, and we feel like the hare in the fable, who raced with the hedgehog, and finding the wife oi the hedgehog at the end of the furrow concluded that he was beaten. We apparently find the same hedgehog in each new city. It was near Turn Severin that we 'sawa new scheme for fishing. Stakes are driven in the sand at the river's edge, and the fisherrnan throws the leaded and hooked end of 50 foot line far out in the Danube. Then he lays the other over the stake, balances a stone thereon, and goes to sleep. When the fish bites, the stone falls, the fisherman awakes, and pulls in his game. This is byone degree the laziest scheme I ever saw. . As we were passing a small Servían town at a distance of several hundred yards from the shore a guard hailed us. We paid uo attention. He came excitedly down to the shore and made moves threatening to pursue us with a boat. We continued going down stream. He called a man to bail out his boat. Meanwhile the Danube and some lusty rowing carried us out of reach of pursuit. Of course he had no right to ask us to land. The Danube here is an international waterway. One shore, the Roumanian, is low and marshy most of the way to the sea but the Servían and Bulgarian shore is very iuteresting. Xow rugged scarred hills, and now steep rocky cliffs appear. The Bulgarian hills at times look much as one imagines the moon's surface would look. They are cracked and seained, bare, pitted and seared with fantastic lines. Many hollows of the hills might be extinct volcanoes. Shephards with their flocks are the life of these hills, while fishermen literally line the shores. Where the springs bubble out at the base of the hills, we always see a picturesque group of peasants, who come from the towns built in a forest of trees on the hill side. In these groups are men in white divided skirts and long tunic. A colored sash wound many times around the waist, thick wool hose purple embroidered with pink roses and green leaves done in cross stich, a high astrachan hat, and shapeless sandals tied with thongs, complete this costutne. Yet more marvelous are the women with their white linen under-robes, over which are aprons front and back, which often look like a rugor piece of tapestry. The rear apron is ofteD replaced by gay colored woolen streamers. As these gay birds nutter about huge sweeps or creaking pulleys they make splendid game for my kodak. Well, the day before we reached Widen, we nearly famished, because we could get nothing in small towns which a human beiug would eat. But Widen was a surprise. If we had been dropped by the Arabiau Sinbad's roe into some oíd oriental city we could not have marveled more at our surrounding. An old Turkish wall and fort encompass that district of the city set apart for the sons of the prophet. Above its walls rise towers and minarets. We landed just outside of a Turkish town. OurpasRport ■nas taken in charge by an officer. Then a Germán tavern keeper huiler me as a couutryman and nsisted tha niy wiïe and selí come in and have som wine at bis expense. We accepted tli invitation for experience sake. Snch crowd. Half a dozen market nomen sat at tables and drank wine aud smoked, as tnany men did likewise We told the Germán what we wanted to buy and he sent a boy to do the marketing. Upon the boy's return we excused ourselves and nnder the guidance of a kindly Germán entered the Turkish qnarter. Going through a hnge.gate of the fortress - so damp and gloömy- we came to the streets gay with Turkish shops. Such fountains, such old, old decaying walls and houses, and in the shops were little Turks, boys, making caps and shoes. Th is all, to say nothing of a real circus and menagerie in full blast. We saw Turks of all sizes ciad in all colors, and having every shade of deviltry in their faces, but not a feminine Turk did we see, and my wife was stared and leered at as if she were aa Houri. Our guide cautjht a izard for our amusement. We bought some real cookies, just ikeAmerican cookies,'and with the good bread, fruit? and vegetables, we were about to depart. By the aid of a Germán interpreter, a young Roumanian officer, who had come to Widen on busness, asked me to take him as a passenger and land him on the Roumanian shore. I consented and we three embarked. We had not realized how small our boat was until we found that only careful balancing would prevent the boat dipping water, because of our extra load. When at last we got Uiis dainty Hotspur, with nis white duck suit, peaked blue hat with red piping, and high boots, safely ashore, he insisted upon our visiting his den, the guard house, and senthis subordinates af ter some green corn and oears. which he presented us. The hn krbor Courier