After the Russo-Turkish War, at the peace of San
Stefano, the historic claims of Bulgaria were recog-
nized. Bulgarian Nationalism received its next great
impulse from the victories of Slivnitza, Zaroibrod and
Pirot, during Prince 'Alexander of Battenberg's con-
quering march on Nish. It was only before the gates
of that city that his advance was stopped by the inter-
vention of the Austro-Hungarian ambassador.
When one arrives in Bulgaria from western Europe
one can hardly see anything "Oriental." The tour-
ist from the West is in this respect somewhat disap-
pointed, especially at the outset. To find anything of
the kind one must cross the Rhodope, say, for instance,
to Kirdjali, where European surroundings come to an
end. But it is a far cry to Adrianople. We have to
speak first of the Bulgarians.
The first impression one has of them is that they



THE BULGARIANS 67

are easy-going Southerners with a full, sonorous way
of talking. In their faces one sees above all the expres-
sion of strength, and this harmonizes with their phy-
sical build. Except in a few towns and villages on the
Southern slope of the Balkans, where the roses bloom
60 freely, the warm rays of the sun and the dry cold of
Vdnter have tended to maintain their ancestral hardi-
liood. If one studies the Bulgarian national type, one
thinks at once of the mixed elements in the race,
which is not like the other Slavonic peoples. One
recognizes in them Bulgarian, Hungarian, and Slav
traits, and sometimes a touch of the Latin race. When
one hears them speak, one notices that the general
tone of the language is much more energetic than the
Servian and more sonorous than the softer Russian.
