With the Serbs in Macedonia

210 WITH THE SERBS IN MACEDONIA
Paprika stew was the favourite meat dish—
an event which seldom happened more than
once a week. These people lived mainly on
bread. A smoky lamp, used only in the depth
of winter, was the sole means of illumination
after dark. A more animal-like and comfortless
existence it would be impossible to imagine.
Its squalor was as appalling as the smells. It
was easy to understand why nearly every family
had a son who had gone to America to make
his fortune. What was more difficult to understand
was why they came back, as they so often
did, and drifted once more into the old insanitary,
uncomfortable ways. How people were
ill or had babies in such places one dare not
conceive.
Things, of course, are different in the towns,
though goodness knows these are squalid enough.
But most people have beds and a certain amount
of furniture. The treasure of treasures among
the poorer classes are sewing-machines and
German-made wardrobes with mirror doors.
These latter take the place of the piano in the
hearts of our own working-people.
Monastir, in New Serbia, was the most
interesting Macedonian town we saw. Most of
it was very Turkish, the principal mosque
was a quite imposing building, and the resi-
dential quarter contained many fascinating