PICTURES OF THE NEAR EAST.*
Timm who remember Mr. Lukach'a earlier volume, The Fringe of the East, will be quite prepared to hear how delight- ful are the series of sketches which make up its successor. Not only has Mr. Lukach a real acquaintance with the places about which he writes and with the history of their inhabitants, but he has a moat sympathetic comprehension, high descriptive powers, and an unusually pure English style. Most of the sketches are concerned with Asia Minor and with Cyprus, and We can do no more than mention the subjects of one or two of them. To begin with, there is the essay, which gives the collection its attractive title, describing Konia (the Iconium of the Acts), where is situated the grave of the founder of the sect of dancing dervishes, and which is the official residence of his hereditary successor. Mr. Lukash gives a most inspiring picture of the dancing ceremony performed to the sound of fintee in the shadow of the founder's tomb. Another enter- taining chapter deals with the Kboja of Aqsliehir, a country priest who lived some five hundred years ago, round whose Willie figure innumerable adventures and anecdotes have been woven. We can give but a single instance :— "One day a camel passed along the street in which the neje lived, and one of the IChoja'e neighbours, who had never seen a camel before, ran to ask him what this strange beast might be.
• Don't you know what that is P' said the Khoja, who also had never seen a camel, but would not betray his ignorance, ' that is a hare a thousand years old.'" A discussion of the position of Christian priests of different denominations under Ottoman rale gives Mr. Lukach the opportunity of quoting the following remarkable document. It is the official form of burial order for a Christian, Al leaned to Christian priests by the Muftis of Turkey from 1695 to 1808:—
"Yen old priest of evil basisI Wearer of the tar-coloured garment, bearer of the mitre of Satan, and deprived of access to the Throne of Gmeo! It is reported that infidel —, son of infidel —, one of your abominable lot of disbelievers, has become sward [a contemptuous phrase corresponding to the French ercesr]; and although his loathsome carcass is denied reception even by the soil—yet, what remedy, what remedy, what remedy P In order that the noxious stench of it should be done away with, you are to take the corpse outside the town, dig up a ditch, and then cast it thereinto, cover it up with earth, trample, beat it down, and come back ; you old priest !"
Among the remaining chapters we may mention a picturesque description of a meeting of the Cyprus Legislature, and a touching account of the last days of Kiamil Pasha. We must not forget to add a word as to the excellence of the photographs illustrating the book. Altogether, Mr. Lukach baa shown us some brilliant glimpses of a part of the world which in its present aspect is not likely to survive much longer.
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