EASTERN EUROPE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 3001, 12 September 1888, Page 3

EASTERN EUROPE.

' _ Porlißps ono of the strangest sights in travelling in Eastorn Europo is to sen the temporary camps formed upon Iho dock of (ho Austrian Lloyd's .. Btoftiners running from Conslunlinoi>lo to Trieste. The wholo of tlio middle . decks ure covered in at the side with .-Jwtunga, and beneath these on thoir '■flftch varied colored rugs, lie Syrian, Turk, and Greek—nxm . nnd women; the Turkish women in vivid colours, their faces half, and sometimes wholly veiled. The Tifrks wenr red fezes, with great folds of while twisted around them, and' brilliant niauvo jackets and gold embroidery; " loose baggy trousers, and long flowing oloaks. Tho Greeks chant their low hyuin like songs, that sound liko the drone and hum of bagpipes in thu distance, as they sustain tho final j notes of each line. Tho Turk at his stated hours take up his holy carpet, tnd retires perchance, if it be calm, lo . the extreme bows of tho ship, seeks out tho cast, and, turning to it, re- % moves his shoes from his feet, and 1 down, resting upon his heels, with hands folded before him, prays lo Allah and bows low, even until his forehead touches his sacred carpet; many a timo is ilic triple bow repeated, and then with Outstretched upturned palms, he f seoms to hold forth his hands to roceive tho blessings lie lias prayed for, The ship is oft-times full of music, for Austrians and Germans are travelling; and frequently the still night is broken by tho sound of cheralo or glee. On ono. steamer a troupe of ffandering singers, who had been performing before tho Sultan, wero making their way up to Trieste; and night after night when tho lonian or Adriatic Seas were calm, tho wholo ship was filled with the well-sung choruses and part-songs of this troupe, who were it appeared under the direction of a Herr Semel. Waltz, son?, and jodcl, Hungarian and Kussiun airs, and the German plaintive chorus or opera-parody burst forth from them for they seem lo love their music. How much the charm, of music, well- - Bung, adds to the enjoyment of life I When shall "we English learn that music blends well with tho free air of heaven, and when will our vales and riversecho with well-sung harmonious raasic ? Yorkshire is noted for her A^singers; let her set the example, and v '' by good choral music in tho open air in the summer, crush out the howling inharmonius, so-called unison now so often heard,