--Valley of the Ybar.--First view of the High
Balkan.--Convent of Studenitza.--Byzantine Architecture.--Phlegmatic
Monk.--Servian Frontier.--New Quarantine.--Russian Major.
We again started after mid-day, with the captain and his momkes, and,
proceeding through meadows, arrived at Zhitchka Jicha. This is an
ancient Servian convent, of Byzantine architecture, where seven kings
of Servia were crowned, a door being broken into the wall for the
entrance of each sovereign, and built up again on his departure. It is
situated on a rising ground, just where the river Ybar enters the
plain of Karanovatz. The environs are beautiful. The hills are of
moderate height, covered with verdure and foliage; only campaniles
were wanting to the illusion of my being in Italy, somewhere about
Verona or Vicenza, where the last picturesque undulations of the Alps
meet the bountiful alluvia of the Po. Quitting the valley of the
Morava, we struck southwards into the highlands. Here the scene
changed; the valley of the Ybar became narrow, the vegetation scanty;
and, at evening, we arrived at a tent made of thick matted branches of
trees, which had been strewn for us with fresh hay.
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