there is no other 'cycler in his whole district, and hardly likely to
be for some time to corne; but I can heartily recommend him to any
wandering wheelman happening down the Danube Valley on a tour; he knows
the best wine-cellars in all the country round, and, besides being an
agreeable and accommodating road companion, will prove a salutary check
upon the headlong career of anyone disposed to over-exertion. I am not
yet to be abandoned entirely to my own resources, however; these hospitable
Servian wheelmen couldn't think of such a thing. I am to remain over as
their guest till to-morrow afternoon, when Mr. Douchan Popovitz, the
best rider in Belgrade, is delegated to escort me through Servia to the
Bulgarian frontier. When I get there I shall not be much astonished to
see a Bulgarian wheelman offer to escort me to Roumelia, and so on clear
to Constantinople; for I certainly never expected to find so jolly and
enthusiastic a company of 'cyclers in this corner of the world.

The good fellowship and hospitality of this Servian club know no bounds;
Igali and I are banqueted and driven about in carriages all day.

Belgrade is a strongly fortified city, occupying a commanding hill
overlooking the Danube; it is a rare old town, battle-scarred and rugged;
having been a frontier position of importance in a country that has been
debatable ground between Turk and Christian for centuries, it has been
a coveted prize to be won and lost on the diplomatic chess-board, or,
worse still, the foot-ball of contending armies and wrangling monarchs.
Long before the Ottoman Turks first appeared, like a small dark cloud,
no bigger than a man's hand, upon the southeastern horizon of Europe,
to extend and overwhelm the budding flower of Christianity and civilization
in these fairest portions of the continent, Belgrade was an important
Roman fortress, and to-day its national museum and antiquarian stores
are particularly rich in the treasure-trove of Byzantine antiquities,