- Turkish Vessels
Just below Widdin, at the Bulgarian town of Arčer Palanka, the general course of the Danube changes from the south to the east; and to the town of Cernavoda, in the Dobrudscha, about 300 miles below, the river keeps the latter direction with few and slight deviations. The long, straight reaches were here enlivened by many sailing-vessels of the fifteenth-century type, with high ornate sterns, and single mast set midway between the bow and stern. Sometimes we met them gayly ploughing their way up-stream, with every bellying sail drawing full, and again we saw them dragged slowly against the current by a long line of patient Turkish sailors harnessed to a tow-rope; or else we came across them tied to the trees in some quiet spot awaiting a favorable wind, the decks covered with sleeping sailors, no man on watch. - A Sprinkle or Hand-Flail of bronze
From the Museum of Mitau in Courland - Lumber Raft
Lumber Raft - Europe and Asia, 1200
Europe and Asia, 1200 - The Ferry
Our afternoon cruise was not further remarkable except for the sight of various immense ferry-boats swinging across the stream attached to wire guys and bearing two great loads of hay, cattle and all, and for a visit to Ingolstadt, a military post of great importance and correspondingly unattractive aspect. - On the Tile-boat
On the Tile-boat - Loading Grain at Braila
Loading Grain at Braila - Europe at the Fall of Constantinople
Europe at the Fall of Constantinople - Wood-sawyer at Ulm
A woman sawing wood - Returning from Market
Woman returning from market pushing a barrow with empty baskets - The Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland - Mosque in Silistria
Mosque in Silistria - Water-carriers, Duna Földvár
Women water carriers - Washer-women
At every available point of the crowded river-front washerwomen, with their petticoats wet to the waist, stood knee-deep in the stream, and accompanied their lively chatter with the vigorous tattoo of their active mallets. In the shadow of the houses near the landing great piles of watermelons were the centres of groups of all ages, every individual busy with the luscious, juicy fruit. - Finns Singing.
The Finns love song and poetry. It is said that every village has one poet, or more, and that he prepares a new song whenever aught of importance occurs. Besides these new songs they have many ancient songs, of which they never tire. When they sing the songs of the olden time, two men seat themselves face to face upon a bench, join hands, and rock backward and forward in time to the song. First one sings a line or passage, and then the other repeats the same, and so they continue, rocking back and forth and singing the whole night through. Sometimes a third man plays upon the kantele, while the others sing. This kantele is somewhat like a zither; it has a flat sounding-body upon which are strung from three to eight strings of different lengths. It is usually picked with the fingers like a guitar. It is said that the first kantele was made of fish-bones, though it is not easy to see how that could be. - Swords
Fig. 7. Norwegian Sword. The pommel and cross-piece are of iron. Figs. 8 to 11. From Livonian graves : the originals are in the British Museum. Fig. 10 is single-edged : its pommel and the chape of the scabbard are of bronze. Fig. 11 has its pommel and guard ornamented with silver - Bulgarian Fisherman Basket-making
Bulgarian Fisherman Basket-making - The Natural Political Map of Europe
It is worth while for the reader to compare the treaty maps we give with what we have called the natural political map of Europe. The new arrangements do approach this latter more closely than any previous system of boundaries. It may be a necessary preliminary to any satisfactory league of peoples, that each people should first be in something like complete possession of its own household. - Peasant Wagon, Hainburg
Peasant Wagon, Hainburg - The Trail of Napoleon
Showing the chief places of importance in his life - Roumanian Peasants Selling Flowers and Fruit
Roumanian Peasants Selling Flowers and Fruit - The World According to Eratosthenes, 200 B.C.
The World According to Eratosthenes, 200 B.C. - Knights
Knights and Men-at-arms cased in Mail, in the Reign of Louis le Gros, from a Miniature in a Psalter written towards the End of the Twelfth Century. - The Turkish Treaty, 1920
The Turkish Treaty, 1920 - The First Crusade
They came by diverse routes from France, Normandy, Flanders, England, Southern Italy, and Sicily, and the will and power of them were the Normans. They crossed the Bosphorus and captured Nicæa, which Alexius snatched away from them before they could loot it. They then went on by much the same route as Alexander the Great, through the Cilician Gates, leaving the Turks in Konia unconquered, past the battle-fields of the Issus, and so to Antioch, which they took after nearly a year’s siege. Then they defeated a great relieving army from Mosul. A large part of the Crusaders remained in Antioch, a smaller force under Godfrey of Bouillon (in Belgium) went on to Jerusalem. “After a little more than a month’s siege, the city was finally captured (July 15). The slaughter was terrible; the blood of the conquered ran down the streets, until men splashed in blood as they rode. At nightfall, ‘sobbing for excess of joy,’ the crusaders came to the Sepulchre from their treading of the wine-press, and put their blood-stained hands together in prayer. So, on that day of July, the First Crusade came to an end.” - Germany after the Peace Treaty, 1919
Germany after the Peace Treaty, 1919 - King or Chief of Franks armed with the Seramasax, from a Miniature of the Ninth Century
When the Franks took root in Gaul, their dress and institutions were adopted by the Roman society. This had the most disastrous influence in every point of view, and it is easy to prove that civilisation did not emerge from this chaos until by degrees the Teutonic spirit disappeared from the world. As long as this spirit reigned, neither private nor public liberty existed. Individual patriotism only extended as far as the border of a man's family, and the nation became broken up into clans. Gaul soon found itself parcelled off into domains which were almost independent of one another. It was thus that Germanic genius became developed. - Tie-back skirt
Tie-back skirt Late '7o's and Early '8o's The bustle remained an important feature after the panier effect had been discarded. The skirts were made severely plain and were pulled back by strings, so as to fit with extreme snugness in the front. At the back, however, they were drawn out over a bustle of such extent that the fashion plates of the late '70's now have the appearance of caricatures. - The Western Front, 1915-18
The Western Front, 1915-18 For a year and a half, until July, 1916, the Western front remained in a state of indecisive tension. There were heavy attacks on either side that ended in bloody repulses. The French made costly{v2-517} but glorious thrusts at Arras and in Champagne in 1915, the British at Loos. - Map of Europe, Asia, Africa 15,000 Years Ago
Map of Europe, Asia, Africa 15,000 Years Ago - Time-chart A.D. 800-A.D. 1500
Time-chart A.D. 800-A.D. 1500