As captured February 8, 2025

author: nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> 2025-02-08 06:24:22 -0800
committer: nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> 2025-02-08 06:24:22 -0800
commit: 84bc3e4729eb6a99aeb06a4d36c577c82ebc7ddd (patch)
tree: b460ee791facb256220650336da6cfc9e461b175
parent: c09ff59304c1155b430ab1ef19ffe889b412f15c (diff)
2 files changed, 15973 insertions, 15973 deletions
diff --git a/57400-0.txt b/57400-0.txt
index 1007937..7641ba5 100644
--- a/57400-0.txt
+++ b/57400-0.txt
@@ -1,5947 +1,5947 @@
-Project Gutenberg's Rambles in Istria, Dalmatia and Montenegro, by R. H. R.
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: Rambles in Istria, Dalmatia and Montenegro
-
-Author: R. H. R.
-
-Release Date: June 25, 2018 [EBook #57400]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAMBLES--ISTRIA, DALMATIA, MONTENEGRO ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed
-Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
-produced from images generously made available by The
-Internet Archive)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-Transcriber's Note:
-
-  Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have
-  been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
-
-  Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold text by =equal
-  signs=.
-
-  The following alternative spellings were identified and left
-  unchanged.
-
-     zigzags and zig-zags
-     Broniewsky and Broniewski
-     Petersburg and Petersburgh
-     Niegosh and Niegosch
-     Mahomedan and Mahommedan
-     Roganovitch and Roganovich
-     Vissegrad and Wissegrad
-     trowsers and trousers
-
-
-
-
-     RAMBLES IN ISTRIA, DALMATIA,
-     AND
-     MONTENEGRO.
-
-
-
-
-     RAMBLES IN ISTRIA,
-     DALMATIA AND MONTENEGRO.
-
-     BY
-     R. H. R.
-
-     "Dirvi ch'io sia, saria parlar indarno."—DANTE.
-
-     _IN ONE VOLUME._
-
-     LONDON:
-     HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS.
-     13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
-
-     1875.
-
-     _All rights reserved._
-
-
-
-
-PREFACE.
-
-
-Every year more and more is the constantly recurring question ever put
-"Where shall we go to this Summer?" and every year the field for selection
-gets narrower and narrower.
-
-In writing the following pages, my object has been less to make a book
-than to point out to those who are tired of the old beaten tracks,
-countries within easy reach of London, but seldom visited, and quite
-outside the lines affected by the typical tourist:—countries where at
-moderate expense and with total freedom from danger they may enjoy new
-scenery, receive fresh impressions, acquire new information; and if by
-so doing I shall have suggested to others one more field for exploration
-that shall afford them half the enjoyment which I experienced during my
-wanderings, I shall consider myself very amply rewarded.
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS.
-
-
-     CHAPTER I.
-
-     A CONVERSATION—WHERE SHALL WE GO FOR A HOLIDAY TRIP—ATTRACTIONS
-     OF LAPLAND—REMINISCENCES OF ITALY—THE GRAND TOUR IN FORMER
-     DAYS—HOW TO STUDY HISTORY—DIFFICULTY OF FINDING NEW GROUND
-     FOR TRAVEL—AN INTERESTING COUNTRY WITHIN FIVE DAYS OF TEMPLE
-     BAR                                                              1
-
-     CHAPTER II.
-
-     MAN PROPOSES, BUT GOD DISPOSES—VIENNA—ST. STEPHEN'S
-     CATHEDRAL—OLD CATHEDRALS—SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE—USES OF EAU DE
-     COLOGNE—INSECT ATTACKS—THE UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION—THE GARDENS
-     AND ACCESSORIES—THE LADIES OF VIENNA—NEW OPERA-HOUSE—ON THE
-     DANUBE—A WEALTHY PRELATE—WISSEGRAD—ARRIVAL AT PESTH             14
-
-     CHAPTER III.
-
-     PESTH—HOTEL UNGARIA—BUDA—STORY OF AN ARTIST—PROSPERITY OF THE
-     CITY—NEW BRIDGE OVER THE DANUBE—ST. MARGUERITE'S ISLAND—ANCIENT
-     ROMAN BATH—CONDITION OF HUNGARY—FIELD FOR THE JUNIOR BRANCHES
-     OF THE UPPER TEN THOUSAND—KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—THE TERMINATION
-     OF TURKISH MISRULE—FUTURE OF THE DANUBIAN PRINCIPALITIES        29
-
-     CHAPTER IV.
-
-     STEINBRÜCK—THE SÖMMERING—FIRST VIEW OF THE
-     ADRIATIC—TRIESTE—SHOCKS OF EARTHQUAKE AT BELLUNO—AUSTRIAN
-     IRONCLAD 'LISSA'—CAPTAIN R. BURTON—FLYING VISIT TO SAN
-     CANZIANO—SUBTERRANEAN COURSE OF A MOUNTAIN STREAM—THE KARST—WILD
-     SCENERY—A THUNDER-STORM—CHURCH OF SAN CANZIANO—STUD FARM        43
-
-     CHAPTER V.
-
-     THE "SAN CARLO" AND HER PASSENGERS—A DALMATIAN'S REMARKS
-     ON THE PRESERVATION OF HEALTH IN INDIA—DALMATIAN DIGGERS
-     FROM AUSTRALIA—COAST OF ISTRIA—PIRANO—CATHEDRAL OF
-     PARENZO—ROVIGNO—POLA—THE AMPHITHEATRE—PICTURESQUE SIGHT
-     —GIOVANNI ASTONISHED—MONTENEGRIN COSTUME—ZARA—EXTREME HEAT      61
-
-     CHAPTER VI.
-
-     DEPARTURE FROM ZARA—SEBENICO—PLEASANT COMPANIONS—NOBLE
-     HARBOUR—THE CATHEDRAL—CURIOUS ROOF—CORAL
-     FISHERY—SPALATO—SALONA—DIOCLETIAN'S PALACE—MR. PATON'S
-     DESCRIPTION OF IT—BEAUTIFUL SPECTACLE—THE PORTA FERREA—QUAINT
-     DWELLINGS—AMBROSIAL TOBACCO                                     79
-
-     CHAPTER VII.
-
-     A TYPE OF SHYLOCK—SCENE IN THE STREET—VARIED
-     COSTUMES—MORLACCHI—TURKS FROM THE HERZEGOVINA—WOMEN OF
-     SPALATO—INSPECTION OF THE CITY—THE PORTA AUREA—COURT OF THE
-     VESTIBULE OF THE PALACE—INTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL—ILLUSTRIOUS
-     MEN OF SPALATO—MARK ANTONY DE DOMINIS—ST. JEROME—THE MORLACCHI  94
-
-     CHAPTER VIII.
-
-     ISLAND OF LISSA—NAVAL BATTLES—A BRIDAL PARTY TAKEN ON
-     BOARD—LESINA—FORTRESS OF SAN NICOLO—THE LOGGIE—FORT
-     SPAGNUOLO—ISLAND OF CURZOLA—LA CHROMA—BEAUTIFUL SCENE—RICHARD
-     CŒUR DE LION—CATHEDRAL OF RAGUSA—EARTHQUAKE OF 1667—TERRIBLE
-     CONFLAGRATION—PRINCE MAXIMILIAN                                107
-
-     CHAPTER IX.
-
-     THE PADRE ANSELMO—HIS LIFE AND LABOURS AMONG THE AMERICAN
-     INDIANS—THE PIONEERS OF CIVILIZATION—AMERICAN INDIANS AND
-     NEGROES—PADRE ANSELMO ON PROTESTANT AND CATHOLIC MISSIONS—NATIVE
-     CHRISTIANS IN INDIA—POPE PIUS IX. ONCE A MISSIONARY—CARDINAL
-     P—.—PORT OF GRAVOSA—RAGUSA                                     125
-
-     CHAPTER X.
-
-     ATTRACTIONS OF DALMATIA—INTERESTING EXCURSION—ISLAND OF
-     LACHROMA—CLIMATE—A. A. PATON, ESQ., FORMERLY CONSUL-GENERAL
-     AT RAGUSA—AN ITALIAN DINNER—EPIDAURUS—THE CANAL OF
-     CATTARO—TERRITORY OF RAGUSA—TOWER OF PERASTO AND FORT OF SANTA
-     CROCE—STRANGELY BUILT CHURCH—A PALAZZO—SAN GIORGIO AND LA
-     MADONNA—PICTURE ATTRIBUTED TO ST. LUKE                         141
-
-     CHAPTER XI.
-
-     CITY OF CATTARO—SIGNOR JACKSCHICH—STREETS AND PIAZZAS—WALKS AND
-     FORTIFICATIONS—PUBLIC WALK—CAFÉ AND GARDENS—SONOROUS STONE—A
-     MONTENEGRIN CHIEF—A HAPPY BEGGAR BOY                           150
-
-     CHAPTER XII.
-
-     MONTENEGRIN TRADERS—LE SCALE DI CATTARO—A GORGEOUSLY-ATTIRED
-     MONK—OUR CARAVAN—MONTENEGRINS OF THE PRINCE'S
-     BODY-GUARD—INTERESTING VIEW—ABSENCE OF TREES ON THE DALMATIAN
-     COAST—A HOME FOR GERMAN EMIGRANTS—TURKISH MISRULE IN EUROPE—A
-     FUTURE EMPIRE—A MAN FIT TO RULE                                164
-
-     CHAPTER XIII.
-
-     THE PRINCE OF MONTENEGRO—UNJUST DEPRIVATION OF TERRITORY—ORIGIN
-     OF THE NAME OF THE COUNTRY—A FRIEND IN NEED—VILLAGE OF
-     NIEGOSCH—PANORAMA SEEN FROM THE TOP OF THE PASS—WILD-LOOKING
-     HERDS AND FLOCKS—MONTENEGRIN LEGEND—ARRIVAL AT CETTIGNE—THE
-     VLADIKA'S PALACE—THE TREE OF JUSTICE—TOWER OF CETTIGNE         177
-
-     CHAPTER XIV.
-
-     INSECT POWDER OF MONTENEGRO—DESCRIPTION OF THE
-     MONASTERY—ENCAMPMENTS—FESTIVAL OF ST. PETER—A SAINT BY THE
-     WILL OF THE PEOPLE—PICTURESQUE SCENE—BOSNIAN CAFÉ—THE NATIONAL
-     INSTRUMENT—A TRAVELLED DALMATIAN—TALL MONTENEGRINS             194
-
-     CHAPTER XV.
-
-     A POLYGLOT JUMBLE—WAR CUSTOMS OF THE MONTENEGRINS—DEATH
-     IN BATTLE—FORAYS FOR THE PLUNDER OF CATTLE—EQUIPAGE OF A
-     MONTENEGRIN SOLDIER—PILLAGE—MANNER OF FIGHTING—TACTICS—SIGNAL
-     CRIES—ON BOARD SHIP—DECAPITATION OF WOUNDED PRISONERS          208
-
-     CHAPTER XVI.
-
-     BATTLE BETWEEN TURKS AND MONTENEGRINS—ADDRESS OF PRINCE
-     MIRKO—HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND CHARACTER—THE PROJECTS OF
-     PRINCE DANIELO—PRINCE NICHOLAS I.—SPORT IN MONTENEGRO—INTERVIEW
-     WITH THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS—NATIONAL COSTUME—SPLENDID
-     ILLUMINATION                                                   218
-
-     CHAPTER XVII.
-
-     A WALK WITH THE PRINCE—SALUTATIONS OF THE CROWD—THE
-     GUZLA—MONTENEGRIN DANCE—THE PRINCE'S ACCOUNT OF ITS ORIGIN—THE
-     CAMP AT NIGHT—ADVENTURE WITH A MONTENEGRIN—DEVOTION OF THE
-     PEOPLE TO THEIR PRINCE                                         235
-
-     CHAPTER XVIII.
-
-     FALSE IMPRESSIONS OF MONTENEGRO—AGRICULTURE ON A
-     MINOR SCALE—FIELD-LABOURERS—MONTENEGRIN FACCHINI AT
-     CONSTANTINOPLE—FEMALE LABOUR—PRODUCTION OF SUMACH—COMMERCIAL
-     RELATIONS WITH OTHER COUNTRIES IMPEDED—IMPOSING PAGEANT        248
-
-     CHAPTER XIX.
-
-     FOOT RACES—MONASTERY OF OSTROG—OTTOMAN ADMINISTRATION—A
-     COURSE À LA MONTAGNE—RACING WITHOUT BETTING—BEN TROVATO—A FLAT
-     RACE—CONVERSATION ABOUT ENGLISH LAWS AND CUSTOMS—LAW OF HABEAS
-     CORPUS                                                         258
-
-     CHAPTER XX.
-
-     DEPARTURE FROM CETTIGNE—RUGGED ROAD—DELIGHTFUL VIEW—USEFUL
-     OLD HELMET—NIEGOSH—EXCESSIVE HEAT—THE SCALA DI CATTARO—THE
-     BOCCHESI—THE RUSSIAN CONSUL—SUNSET AT CATTARO—UNEXPECTED
-     APPEARANCE OF PERO PEJOVICH                                    268
-
-     CHAPTER XXI.
-
-     BEAUTIFUL ROAD—ATTACK OF FEVER—ARRIVAL AT BUDUA—BARON HEYDEG
-     AND SIGNOR MARCO MEDIN—A RESTAURANT—OUR HOST—DOCTOR, DENTIST
-     AND APOTHECARY—WALK ROUND THE FORTIFICATIONS—EXPLORATION OF
-     BUDUA—THE PARTING GLASS                                        280
-
-     CHAPTER XXII.
-
-     TOWN OF ANTIVARI—FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF TURKEY—ORIENTAL
-     PASSENGERS—VALUE OF A KNOWLEDGE OF ARABIC OR TURKISH—A MAHOMETAN
-     MERCHANT AND HIS FAMILY—TURKISH TROOPS IN ALBANIA—TOWN AND
-     FORTRESS OF CASTEL DURAZZO—RETURN TO TRIESTE—FAREWELL TO THE
-     READER                                                         291
-
-
-
-
-RAMBLES IN ISTRIA, DALMATIA,
-
-AND
-
-MONTENEGRO.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I.
-
-     A CONVERSATION—WHERE SHALL WE GO FOR A HOLIDAY TRIP—ATTRACTIONS
-     OF LAPLAND—REMINISCENCES OF ITALY—THE GRAND TOUR IN FORMER
-     DAYS—HOW TO STUDY HISTORY—DIFFICULTY OF FINDING NEW GROUND FOR
-     TRAVEL—AN INTERESTING COUNTRY WITHIN FIVE DAYS OF TEMPLE BAR.
-
-
-"Let us go to Lapland!" was the exclamation which rang on my ear, as I
-was entering my club, one fine morning in the early part of June, 1873.
-
-"Lapland!" said I, "what put that into your head?"
-
-"Yes," replied my friend M—, in his rich, good-humoured voice, slightly
-flavoured with Hibernian Doric. "I hear that somebody has written a book
-about it. I have been everywhere else in Europe—and it is quite the
-place to go to now, you know. We shall pic-nic on Cape North and then
-drive across to Spitzbergen in reindeer sledges on the ice, it will be
-awfully jolly!" and his joyous laugh echoed through the hall. "Do come,
-like a good fellow," said he, "there will be just the four of us, R—,
-C—, yourself, and I, and you really must not say no, for we none of us
-can speak a word of anything but English, while you speak every language
-under the sun. So agree to it at once; let us all meet here to dinner,
-to-morrow at six, and then off by the mail to Calais."
-
-At first I thought that M— was chaffing; but having now been joined by
-R— and C—, who at once chimed in on the same subject, I said,
-
-"Have you any idea about Lapland, my dear M—, do you know anything about
-it? and what do you expect to see there?"
-
-"Oh, dear me, yes," replied he, "it is a country in the North of Europe,
-surrounded on all sides either by land or by water, and inhabited by
-men who are four feet six high, and the darlingest little women just
-four feet nothing. They go to church on Sundays, riding on reindeer, and
-shoot Polar bears with bows and arrows! Oh dear, yes, I know all about
-Lapland."
-
-"Not at all a bad account," said I, "but what writes Captain Hutchinson
-in his book? Is his description of Lapland very captivating?"
-
-"Well," answered M—, "I confess I have not read his book; but go abroad
-I must, London is getting too stupid, and I have been everywhere else in
-Europe; and I want to see a country out of the beaten track, something
-I have not yet seen."
-
-"Now, my dear fellow," said I, "though I have not been exactly in Lapland,
-I have been in Finland, and that, you know, is just next door to it;
-and knowing what the mosquitoes are in those swampy northern latitudes,
-nothing could induce me to visit those countries again in Summer, except
-for very cogent reasons indeed. But come now, tell me where have you
-been, that you say you have seen every other country in Europe?"
-
-"Well," answered M—. "I have been twice to Italy, up and down, and done
-it as thoroughly as any man could do it. I have been—"
-
-"Stop a wee," said I, "how have you _done_ Italy? let me see, suppose we
-just begin in the middle, let us take Florence—no doubt you were there."
-
-"Oh dear, yes, and such a jolly place, where one could live and love
-for ever! oh, yes,
-
-     "'Of all the fairest cities of the world,
-     None is so fair as Florence!'
-
-"If it were not for the heat, and having been there twice already,
-it would beat going to see the sun at midnight, which we shall see in
-Lapland, old fellow. We shall see the sun going right round the horizon,
-neither rising nor setting—not a bit—but going just as in the old riddle
-we had when we were children, 'going round and round the house, and never
-touching the house.' So now no more 'shirking and lurking,' but let's be
-off to Lapland, and if there are a few mosquitoes, we can take plenty
-of flea-powder to protect us; there now, I'll stand the flea-powder—a
-whole pound's worth," and the laugh of that excellent fellow rings in
-my ears still.
-
-Here R— joined in the conversation; he had never been to Italy, and his
-curiosity was raised by the enthusiastic expressions of my friend M—,
-in regard to Florence.
-
-"Do tell us something about that place, where you could live and love
-for ever," said he.
-
-"Well, what _can_ I tell you?" replied M—. "Florence was the capital
-of Tuscany, and is situated on the banks of the river Arno, and it is
-a most delightful place. What more do you want? There is the charming
-Mrs. —, and her equally charming daughter, whose house opens just as
-the opera closes; and once there, one never thinks of leaving till three
-o'clock in the morning at soonest. Then there are the Cascine, the Café
-Doney, and the club, and my friend G. M—y; and then the churches and
-the galleries, and the pietre dure, &c., &c., I did every one of them."
-
-"Where did you go when you left Florence?"
-
-"To Rome, naturally."
-
-"So all you know about Tuscany and Central Italy resolves itself into
-the Cascine, the Café Doney, and our friend G. M—y. Did you not even
-visit Siena on your way to Rome?"
-
-"No, for, being fond of the sea, I went to Rome by Civita Vecchia."
-
-"When you were at Civita Vecchia, did it not come into your head to
-visit the birth-place of the Tarquins—Corneto? only a short drive from
-Civita Vecchia, and one of the most interesting places in Italy."
-
-"I never even heard of it," said M—.
-
-I was going to say _ex uno disce omnes_, this is how _la jeunesse doré_
-of the present time travel on the continent—to finish their education,
-by the way! but my remark would be of too sweeping a character, for
-there are many exceptions to be met with occasionally. Still, though
-travelling is multiplied a thousand-fold compared with what it used to
-be even only a century ago, it is doubtful, I think, if travelling is
-as fruitful of good results in our days as it used to be in the days of
-our grandfathers, when, under the guidance of a well qualified tutor,
-young men used to take the "grand tour" with a view to completing their
-education, the foundation and groundwork of which had been laid first in
-our public schools, and then in our great universities. Now my friend
-M— was a charming fellow, well educated to a certain point, pleasant,
-agreeable, and good-tempered; he had travelled a good deal, and yet I may
-safely say he had seen nothing, and simply because he had not prepared
-himself for travelling with a view to thoroughly seeing the countries
-he intended visiting, and obtaining the information they could bestow.
-And how many are there that just travel in the same way! How many are
-there among those who yearly flood the approaches to the Eternal City
-who do more than lounge about the galleries, the Campo Vaccino, or the
-Pincian Hill! and who, if asked about the City of Veii (for instance)
-will simply open their eyes and say they never heard of it, where is
-it? Why, my good fellow, Veii was a great city, and its inhabitants
-among the most civilized and luxurious in the world, long before Rome
-was built. What! before Rome was built? he will say; and then if some
-mild reminiscence of the kind comes across his memory, he may, perhaps,
-recall some fleeting visions of Agamemnon and Mycenæ, taking it for
-granted that Veii, if anterior to Rome, must have been in Greece; but
-when informed that Veii was the rival of Rome, that its ruins were within
-twenty miles of the Eternal City, he will possibly get angry and think you
-are chaffing him. He, no doubt, may have heard of Etruria, but probably
-in his mind it was jumbled up with Minton's pottery; if associated with
-Wedgewood, it will be a point in his favour. He may probably have heard
-of Etruscan cities and Etruscan vases, but all his information in this
-line is terribly hazy; and so he dawdles through his sojourn at Rome,
-goes on to Naples, perhaps to Palermo and Malta, returning to England
-by the P. and O. steamer, imagining that he has seen, or _done_, Italy,
-as he terms it.
-
-It so happened that I had made arrangements for another tour, and was
-thus unable to join my three friends in their intended expedition; but
-the following Winter M— and I went to the continent together, we spent
-four months in Italy, that Italy he had so thoroughly "done" twice before!
-and to his amazement, he had to confess that in his previous journeys
-he had simply wasted his time and his money.
-
-We visited numberless out of the way places, having made Florence
-our head-quarters for Central Italy, and there under the guidance of
-Micali's _Antichi Popoli Italiani_, we dived into the history of Italy,
-beginning with the misty periods synchronous with the siege of Troy,
-illustrating them as we went along by visits to the ancient cities and
-cemeteries of Etruria, and thence through those glorious Middle Ages and
-their unparalleled works of art, which can nowhere be so well studied
-as in Italy! It was a surpassing pleasure to him, no doubt, to see for
-the first time all those wondrous things; but it was almost as great a
-delight to me to witness his raptures, his astonishment, as city after
-city came under our examination—Fiesole, Volterra, Chiusi, Cortona.
-This last, especially, struck him with astonishment, a city co-eval with
-Ilium, and still in our days a city preserving its ancient name, while
-of Ilium, _periêre ipsæ ruinæ_, and its very existence questioned, till
-the researches of the indefatigable Schliemann brought monuments to light
-within the last few months which have clearly identified the spot, and
-proved to a demonstration that Ilium really had existed, and that the
-siege of Troy was not simply a myth, a poet's dream!
-
-I well remember helping him to measure the immense blocks of the ancient
-walls of Cortona, fitted with such wonderful exactness that the blade
-of a penknife can even at present be scarcely pushed in between them,
-and which still remain _in situ_ without mortar or other cement, though
-probably thirty centuries have rolled on since those walls were erected
-by the ancestors of their present inhabitants. How I remember the
-interest he took in scanning from the hill which looks over the rippling
-water of the Trasymene Lake, pointing out the probable spot where those
-false-hearted Romans had rested whilst the battle was raging below, only
-to be overtaken, however, on the morrow by Hannibal and his victorious
-legions, who made them pay so dearly for their treachery.
-
-"This is the way I like to study history, and this is the way never to
-forget it," said he. "I hated the very names of Tacitus and Livy, but how
-delightful I think them now!" and so we did _do_ Italy from Agrigentum
-to the Alps, and from the Adriatic to the Mediterranean, and many queer
-out-of-the-way places we visited, and such scores of sketches we carried
-away; and a more delightful trip never was made before or since.
-
-Captain Hutchinson, in his introduction to "Try Lapland," writes, "The
-difficulty of finding new ground for travel is increasing every year for
-those who, with but a limited time at their disposal, are yet tired of
-the beaten paths of Ramsgate or Scarborough, Switzerland or the Rhine,
-and pant after lands fresh and fair, of which they have never seen the
-photograph—where the gorgeous hotel with its elongated bills, and the
-pertinacious touter with his cringing greasy manners, are alike unknown."
-
-Now to a great extent that pleasant writer is correct; but the man who
-rushing away from the turmoil and bustle of London life, whether he be
-lawyer, merchant, or physician, seeking for fresh air and scenery, but
-as far away as possible from those hackneyed tracks infested by the
-typical tourist, both English and Transatlantic, and by poor Marryat's
-"shilling-seeking, napkin-holding, up-and-downstairs son of a sea-cook"
-of an hotel waiter, need not go to the Arctic Circle to find all the
-above-named advantages, unless, indeed, he is bent on also seeing the
-sun at midnight, and his own body a prey to the mosquitoes.
-
-Within five days of Temple Bar, or as we soon shall have to say, where
-Temple Bar once stood, there are as splendid countries to explore, as
-fine ruins to contemplate, as glorious scenery and as gorgeous costumes
-to admire, as the heart of man can wish for; and if the reader will trust
-himself with me for a little while, excusing the many shortcomings he
-will meet with in these pages, I will lead him over a trip I took last
-Summer which I think will fully repay him, though he will often have
-to make great allowances and deal leniently with the Author, who for
-the first time in his life rushes into print, just for the same reason
-that the stars shine above us, because he has nothing else to do! But
-if through publishing this little book he shall have opened up a new
-field of travel to those who yearly require to recruit their strength of
-body and of mind by a ramble in foreign lands, if he shall have added
-one more possible source of enjoyment to those within the reach of the
-many, he will consider himself amply repaid for whatever trouble he may
-have been put to in its compilation.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER II.
-
-     MAN PROPOSES, BUT GOD DISPOSES—VIENNA—ST. STEPHEN'S
-     CATHEDRAL—OLD CATHEDRALS—SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE—USES OF EAU DE
-     COLOGNE—INSECT ATTACKS—THE UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION—THE GARDENS
-     AND ACCESSORIES—THE LADIES OF VIENNA—NEW OPERA-HOUSE—ON THE
-     DANUBE—A WEALTHY PRELATE—WISSEGRAD—ARRIVAL AT PESTH.
-
-
-I started from London for my holiday trip early in the month of June,
-1873. The route I had laid out for myself on my departure was not exactly
-that which I eventually adopted, for nothing is truer than that man
-proposes, but God disposes. I had intended visiting the Crimea, and then
-crossing over the Straits of Kertch, I meant to have rambled over the
-Caucasus, finishing my trip with a visit to the Monastery of Echmiadzin,
-at the foot of Mount Ararat.
-
-But it was not to be; I got as far as Pesth, when the cholera, which
-was then very active, not to say raging in Hungary, barred my further
-passage down the river into the Lower Provinces of the Danube, by
-threatening me with a quarantine of eleven days in a dirty lazzaretto,
-at a temperature of at least 90° in the shade. I would have risked the
-cholera, but I could not face the loss of eleven days in the limited
-time I had at my disposal, nor could I contemplate at all the horrors
-of an Oriental lazzaretto. All my plans were therefore upset; still the
-result was eventually satisfactory, as I think I shall be able to prove
-in the following pages.
-
-After leaving London, I made straight for Vienna, by Brussels and
-Cologne, where I remained only a few hours, during which I visited for
-the twentieth time and more that exquisite specimen of ecclesiastical
-structure, its unrivalled Cathedral; every time I see it I admire it
-more and more, I think there are none to equal it, while most certainly
-none surpass it.
-
-St. Peter's at Rome is a magnificent building, astonishes one by its size
-and its rich adornments, but it fails to impress one from a religious
-point of view. It might be a church, or it might be a grand reception
-room, a _salle des ambassadeurs_, or a colossal ball-room—whereas the
-Cathedral of Cologne is a church, a place of worship, and nothing else.
-I suppose there is something in the pure Gothic architecture conducive
-to this impression. There is but one other church I know of in the world
-which has the same solemn awe-producing effect, perhaps in a greater
-degree even than the Cathedral of Cologne, and that is Santa Maria del
-Fiore, the Cathedral of Florence. I have been hundreds of times in that
-grand old edifice, but never without feeling an overwhelming sense of
-solemnity and awe. It was not only the low murmuring notes of the organ
-sounding the responses at eve to the plaintive litanies of the Virgin,
-nor the deep tones of the full accompaniment to the _Miserere mei Deus_
-in the Passion Week, which produced it, for I was perhaps oftener there
-when all was silent, than during festive times, as I have always had
-the greatest objection to going into Catholic churches during service,
-gaping about and sight-seeing, to the evident annoyance and discomfort
-of the worshippers—a habit which, I regret to say, many of our country
-people too often indulge in, greatly to our detriment, especially in the
-less frequented places of the continent, where the people have come to
-regard us as heathens, and constantly to say of us, "Non sanno meglio,
-non sono Cristiani."
-
-It was something more than all this which ever filled me with a feeling
-of intense devotion when I entered that grand old building. The severe
-simplicity of the structure, with no tawdry ornamentation to obtrude
-itself and take off the attention, may have played an important part in
-giving birth to solemn thoughts, together with the height and size of the
-three enormous pilasters which alone support the roof—the lofty arches,
-the vast depth and gloom of the aisles, the intensity of the shade, the
-deep silence made still more impressive by an occasional foot-fall—all
-would combine to proclaim this a house of prayer, and nothing else; a
-Temple in the fullest and most unequivocal sense of the word, offering
-to the old and the broken-spirited, to the infirm and to all who sought
-it in prayer, an assurance of tranquillity, consolation, and peace!
-
-Having enjoyed my oft-repeated visit, and purchased a large supply of
-Eau de Cologne from the Farina _gegenüber dem Julichs Platz_, (and don't
-you believe that the others make it near as good), I got in the train
-for Munich and for Vienna.
-
-I think I see a smile, slightly perhaps savouring of a sneer, from
-some of my readers of the masculine gender, at my purchase of a large
-supply of Eau de Cologne; but just let them hold hard, till they shall
-have endured the trials of hot winds and dusty roads in the daytime,
-stuffy cabins and the ordinary accompaniment of flea invasions and other
-entomological attacks in the night-time; and then if they have the luck
-to have any of it with them, they will discover the use of Eau de Cologne
-in allaying pain and irritation.
-
-Travellers in all Eastern countries should have with them a supply of
-good Eau de Cologne, not for scenting their pocket-handkerchiefs only,
-but principally as a remedy. Some people suffer more, some suffer less
-from insect attacks; but I have seen a man, a strong, stout, brawny
-Britisher, set nearly wild by flea-bites, and I shall never forget his
-appearance, as he stood before me one morning, after passing a restless
-night in a very wild region in the South of Europe, like a patient with
-small-pox, and scratching away at himself for bare life. I am sure he
-would have been in a high fever that night, had I not bathed him with a
-mixture of equal parts of Eau de Cologne, laurel water, and sal-volatile.
-So don't forget it, kind reader, if ever in your travels you are likely
-to be in countries infested with insect tribes; whatever their nature
-may be, whether the mosquito which flieth, the flea which hoppeth, or
-t'other thing which crawleth, my nostrum will be found a sovereign remedy
-against them all.
-
-Although the Vienna Exhibition was fully open, and that numbers were
-flocking from all parts to that most charming capital, which has so
-justly acquired the epithet of "le Paradis des Hommes," I was fortunate
-in having but one companion in the train all the way, and thus we both
-were enabled to extend our limbs and sleep as comfortably as in our
-beds. It is wonderful the amount of comfort one can obtain through life
-by the judicious distribution of a few cigars accompanied by a little
-silver!
-
-At Vienna, I went—as I always do—to the Archduke Charles' Hotel; a little
-old-fashioned, perhaps, but unquestionably the best hotel in Vienna, and
-where the cooking is always undeniable. During my short stay, I went
-every day to the Universal Exhibition—the world's fair! but don't be
-afraid that I mean to weary you by dragging you with me through those
-confusing avenues of "all sorts," where nothing that was wanted could
-be found, and everything we wanted not was sure to be everlastingly
-obtruding itself before our eyes.
-
-I confess that the Vienna Exhibition disappointed me; whereas the Paris
-one of 1867 left me nothing to desire; and all owing to the want of
-order and system in the one instance—while in the other, the arrangement
-was so perfect that there was not the smallest difficulty in getting at
-anything one wanted to find out.
-
-But if the exhibitional department was less perfect in its arrangement
-at Vienna than at Paris, the gardens and the outside accessories were
-far more beautiful at the former than the latter; while Strauss's
-delightful band always afforded an hour's luxurious enjoyment in the
-cool of the afternoon, till the fearful braying of the steam trumpet,
-(they called it a Telephone, I think) drove one out into the Prater.
-Then the restaurants and cafés of the different Nationalities were so
-well got up and so picturesquely scattered about the Gardens, as were
-also the several buildings characteristic of the different Nations, and
-among which was pre-eminent for elegance of form, design, and execution,
-the kiosk of the Pasha of Egypt.
-
-And then the Viennese ladies! I know I should have mentioned them the
-first, I confess it; _confiteor, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa_, but, gentle
-reader, it was from sheer diffidence! I did not know how to approach the
-subject, I felt myself totally incompetent, and indeed I do so now! To
-say that at Vienna there are more lovely women to be seen than in any
-other city in Europe, is not saying one half. There are loads of pretty
-women to be seen in Dublin of a fine Sunday afternoon, especially among
-the middle and lower classes; but at Vienna they are not only lovely,
-but terribly attractive, and winning, and seductive; there are none like
-them anywhere else!
-
-In the fine arts department there were many beautiful things to be seen;
-but as I promised not to drag the reader round the World's Fair, I shall
-keep my word, and shall only call his attention to two statues which
-greatly attracted me, one was a bronze figure of a Hindoo charming a
-cobra, the other a Negro running away, both figures perfectly alive!
-
-I went twice to the opera, once to hear Meyerbeer's "Africaine," which
-disappointed me; and once to see a grand ballet, I think it was called
-"Eleonora," which did not. I had not been for several years at Vienna,
-and had, therefore, not seen the new Opera House. I was greatly struck
-with its size and beauty; it is unquestionably the finest theatre in
-Europe, and the arrangements are perfect. But Vienna is now undergoing
-such a process of transformation, and to such an extent, that in a few
-years those who knew it ten or twelve years ago will be utterly unable
-to recognise it. Even now it is one of the finest capitals in Europe,
-but at the rate it is progressing, it bids fair to surpass in a short
-time every other city, when the Viennese will really be able to give
-utterance with truth to their old saying, "Gibt nur eine Kaiserstadt,
-gibt nur ein Wien!"
-
-After a very delightful week in Vienna, which seemed indeed far too short
-a time to bestow upon the most enjoyable capital in Europe, I took my
-passage in a steamer to Pesth, starting at six A.M., and arriving
-at my destination at about the same hour in the evening. The steamer
-was a very fine one, the accommodation excellent, the cuisine not good,
-but then I had been terribly spoilt at the Erz-Herzog Karl; probably had
-I been at a worse hotel, I would not have found so much fault with the
-cookery on board the steamer. The company on board was worse than the
-cookery—in all my rambles I don't think I ever met so unprepossessing
-a lot.
-
-The large steamers that navigate the Danube don't come up to Vienna,
-but lie off the Island of Lobau, to which passengers are carried in
-a smaller steamer. The morning I started was drizzling and chilly in
-the extreme, in marked contrast with the weather of the previous week,
-which had been intensely hot; and when I sat down on the deck of the
-little steamer which was to take me down a branch of the Danube to the
-main steamer, I was glad to avail myself of my top-coat and rugs. In a
-short time we reached the larger vessel, and, having all got on board,
-we started at a good round speed.
-
-From Vienna to Gran, the Danube is uninteresting so far as scenery is
-concerned. Its enormous volume of muddy water, wider than the Thames at
-Westminster, though still upwards of nine hundred miles from its entrance
-into the Black Sea, flows through a vast flat country; an interminable
-front of sallows and alders on the one side, and an interminable plain
-on the other, dotted all over with countless herds of white cattle with
-long black horns like the Tuscan oxen, and endless troops of horses;
-and as I gazed on the mighty flood of turbid waters, the old Italian
-nursery rhyme came back to my memory.
-
-     "Tre Ombroni fanno un Arno,
-     Tre Arni fanno un Tevere,
-     Tre Tevere fanno un Pò,
-     E tre Pò di Lombardia
-     Fanno un Danubio di Turchia."
-
-We passed by Pressburg where the two sides of the river are united by a
-bridge of boats. We only remained a short time and I had no opportunity
-of going ashore, so that I could form but a very inaccurate opinion of
-the place; it seemed to me from its outward look as not now prosperous,
-but had quite the appearance of having seen better days.
-
-After a time we came to Komorn, the celebrated fortress; if I had not
-been told, "There is Komorn," I might almost have passed it without
-observing it, so protected from sight are its bastions by the immense
-earthworks in front of them. Still down we steamed, and still the same
-country right and left met our view, till we came to Gran, the seat of
-the Prince-Primate of Hungary, perhaps one of the wealthiest prelates
-in the world, possessing no less an income than £90,000 per annum.
-
-Here the scenery began to improve; the Cathedral of Gran, though in
-itself unclassical, and one that in any other place might be passed by
-unnoticed, yet served to relieve the monotony of the view. The river,
-which up to this had flowed through boundless plains, became suddenly
-contracted, and consequently swifter as the high lands approached the
-edge of it; and now with every revolution of the paddles the scenery
-improved, till on reaching Vissegrad it became absolutely lovely. Instead
-of the interminable plains, we now had precipitous mountains on either
-side, some clad with forest down to the water's edge, some bare, ragged,
-and rocky, but all lovely, quite equal to the finest parts of the Rhine,
-not even lacking a Drachenfels in the beautiful ruins of the ancient
-castellated palace of the Kings of Hungary, the favourite retreat of
-the learned Matthias Corvinus.
-
-Nature has done everything to beautify this favoured spot, but man, as
-is too often the case, has done his best to mar it. At the foot of the
-cliff, the top of which is crowned by the ancient residence of the Kings
-of Hungary, on a beautifully wooded spot between the mountain and the
-rushing Danube, some enterprising German has erected, _horribile visu_,
-three villa residences, in the correct suburban style, a few yards distant
-from one another. Regardless of expense, everything about them, including
-themselves, is radiant with white-wash, except where green paint asserts
-its place. At first I thought it must be an hotel or pension, with two
-_succursales_; but no, the skipper assured me they were country houses,
-and seemed astonished when I said the man that built them deserved to
-be hanged in front of them; he could not comprehend me, he thought them
-lovely!
-
-Often during my subsequent travels I thought of that lovely country
-between Gran and Vissegrad; such exquisite scenery, so diversified; such
-a combination of rolling pastures, of glorious hills clad with forests,
-backed by rugged mountains, with that grand old Danube rushing through
-the midst; such shooting and fishing, all in a compact locality, and only
-four hours by rail from Vienna; such a spot for a country residence could
-scarcely be equalled, and certainly not surpassed. If it were within
-ten hours of London, what a fabulous price it would command! but here
-no one seems to have placed any value on it since the days of Matthias
-Corvinus.
-
-After going through this gorge, the Danube spreads itself out again,
-and the scenery becomes tame and uninteresting, and continues so till
-one reaches Pesth, where I arrived somewhat later than I expected.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III.
-
-     PESTH—HOTEL UNGARIA—BUDA—STORY OF AN ARTIST—PROSPERITY OF THE
-     CITY—NEW BRIDGE OVER THE DANUBE—ST. MARGUERITE'S ISLAND—ANCIENT
-     ROMAN BATH—CONDITION OF HUNGARY—FIELD FOR THE JUNIOR BRANCHES
-     OF THE UPPER TEN THOUSAND—KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—THE TERMINATION
-     OF TURKISH MISRULE—FUTURE OF THE DANUBIAN PRINCIPALITIES.
-
-
-I drove to the Hotel Ungaria, to which I had been recommended, and
-where a most comfortable apartment and an equally good dinner gave
-me an _avant-goût_ of a comfortable night's rest, in which I was no
-wise disappointed; and I can safely recommend the Ungaria as one of
-the finest and most comfortable hotels in Europe, without at the same
-time being extravagant in its charges. The only drawback I found was
-with the person of the porter, a most respectable man no doubt, but he
-could not speak either French or English; and I had to carry on all my
-consultations respecting my intended future progress with the hall-porter
-of the "Königin von England" hotel, close by. If that man could only
-be installed at the Ungaria, that hotel would be as near perfection as
-possible.
-
-The windows of my bedroom at the Ungaria opened out on a balcony which
-gave me a splendid view of the "blue Danube," which, however, I never saw
-of any other shade but mud colour. Across the river, and just opposite,
-I could see the ancient city of Buda, with the royal residence in front,
-and a little to the left, on the top of the hill, the celebrated fortress
-which played so important a part during the last Hungarian civil war.
-A little to my right was the grand suspension bridge, guarded at each
-end by two colossal couchant lions, about which the following improbable
-anecdote was related to me.
-
-The artist who executed them forgot to put tongues into their mouths,
-to loll out in proper heraldic fashion, and when the defect was pointed
-out to him as the lions were uncovered, he took it so to heart that he
-at once put an end to himself by plunging headlong into the river! Now
-when "le grand Vatel" committed suicide, because the turbot did not
-arrive in time for the dinner of the Most Christian King, there was some
-show of reason in the act, Vatel's credit was in some degree pledged to
-that dinner; but not one man in ten thousand would have noticed whether
-these lions had tongues or not.
-
-Pesth seems, like Vienna, to be undergoing a process of rebuilding, and
-that on a scale of considerable magnificence. I was told that its commerce
-was daily increasing, and, certainly, to judge from the immense number
-of vessels moored in the river, the ceaseless passing up and down of
-immense steamers, the piles of merchandize, and the constant bustle on
-the quays, a very considerable amount of business must be done there. The
-grand suspension bridge which spans the Danube being found insufficient
-for the increasing traffic, a new one is in process of construction,
-to be built of iron on piers, and not a suspension bridge. It is to
-cost an immense sum, and will require to be well protected against the
-action of the ice on the one hand, while on the other it may become
-the source of considerable danger to the low land in its neighbourhood
-by arresting the free passage downwards of the ice, if not well looked
-after. I went to see the works at the central pier, and remained there
-some time watching the men at the bottom of the immense caisson out of
-which a donkey engine was incessantly pumping water; outside it, the
-river was running like a mill race at not less than eight miles an hour,
-and I was assured that the depth at that spot was fully forty feet.
-
-After visiting the works at the new bridge, I went to St. Marguerite's
-Island, on which is a park beautifully laid out, and which forms one of
-the favourite promenades of the pleasure-loving inhabitants of Pesth. As
-it can only be approached by boat, it is frequented only by pedestrians;
-but in order to cater for all tastes and gratify those who enjoy a jaunt,
-there is a tramway running the whole length of the island. There are
-also some capital restaurants, and several bands play every evening in
-fine weather.
-
-There is another park on _terra firma_, an imitation of the Prater
-at Vienna, but it is small and shabby. There were a good many people
-strolling about it when I went, but I did not see even one middling-good
-turn-out, and though one constantly hears of the beautiful horses and
-rare horsemanship of the Hungarians, I was doomed to be disappointed in
-both cases.
-
-Crossing over the suspension bridge one gets into the old town of Buda or
-Ofen, in which are situated the Royal residence, the Government offices,
-and some of the palaces of the native magnates.
-
-There is a fine street by which one can drive to the upper part of the
-town, which is considerably above the level of the Danube; but for
-pedestrians there is an easy, cheap, and quick method of getting to
-the summit, by means of a small counterpoised railway, which carries
-one up and down very rapidly at an exceedingly moderate rate. There is
-a fine view from the top, and several fine old palaces, but the most
-interesting thing in the town of Buda is the old Roman bath erected over
-some sulphurous springs, celebrated for the cures they perform. It is in
-exactly the same condition as in the days of ancient Rome, and consists
-of a large vaulted apartment lit by a circular opening in the centre of
-the cupola, and containing a large hexagonal piscina with an ambulatory
-all round. None bathe there save the lower classes—men, women, and
-children promiscuously; in the immediate neighbourhood, however, there
-are some very well appointed baths which are considerably patronized,
-and bear a high reputation for the cure of skin disease.
-
-From all I could collect during the brief stay I made at Pesth, Hungary in
-general must be in a very progressive condition; and from the numbers of
-agricultural machines and implements, all of English construction, which
-I saw everywhere stacked upon the quays, not only at Pesth but at many
-other stations on the Danube, including large numbers of steam-thrashing
-and winnowing machines, a vigorous attempt is evidently being made to
-exploit the unbounded fertility of perhaps the richest soil in Europe.
-Land, however, is still cheap in Hungary, probably in consequence of
-the extreme love of pleasure of its inhabitants, who preferring to spend
-their days in the society of Vienna, Paris, or Pesth, draw exorbitantly
-on their revenues, till at last compelled to sell their lands in order
-to meet their engagements. Nice estates within twenty miles of Pesth,
-with good substantial dwelling-houses, and all the necessary offices for
-farming, with varied soil, vineyard, pasture, tillage, and forest, can
-be had sufficiently cheap to ensure a clear return of five per cent,
-free of taxes, for the capital laid out on them! A vast number of the
-agricultural community in Hungary are Jews, and it is perhaps the only
-country in Europe where we find the children of Israel as tillers of
-the soil; and I was assured by many in Pesth that they make by far the
-most satisfactory tenants—though naturally they require looking after
-occasionally, as well as their _soi-disant_ Christian brethren.
-
-When one reflects on the countless acres of the richest land in
-creation, which to a great extent are still unoccupied and uncultivated
-in the eastern and south-eastern regions of Europe, one cannot help
-regretting that some of our surplus population do not try a venture in
-those countries. I am thinking principally of that most unfortunate and
-ill-used portion of society belonging to the upper classes, and which,
-from circumstances beyond its control, is suffering from positive want in
-its struggles to keep up a respectability as necessary for its existence
-as the very air it breathes. The labourer, the artisan, the skilled
-workman are well off at the present time in our country; wages are very
-high and the friendly societies, to one of which almost every workman
-belongs, provide for them amply in cases of sickness, and in some cases
-even contribute something to the family when the illness terminates in
-death—not to mention the numerous hospitals and asylums, all open to the
-labouring classes, but which are all virtually closed to those I am now
-speaking of.
-
-The working classes, with few exceptions, are all well off at present,
-and require none of our sympathy except when in affliction, when the
-richest and poorest come to the same level. They can afford to supply
-all their wants out of their wages, and lay out _one fifth_, and in
-many cases _one fourth_, and even _one third_ (I am assured by good
-authorities) in drink, for the gratification of the only pleasure which
-they are capable of enjoying; for proof of which the police reports
-throughout the country will bear ample evidence.
-
-But I will tell who really deserve all our sympathy and all our aid,
-the junior branches of our upper ten thousand—the families of officers,
-poor clergymen, poor lawyers, &c., &c., all struggling for dear life
-against difficulties of every kind; those are the classes who claim the
-greatest share of our sympathy, and to whom the regions above mentioned
-offer advantages unequalled any where else.
-
-I remember when the Canterbury settlement was established in New Zealand,
-it was intended in a great measure to provide for the classes I have
-alluded to above; but the distance was too great, the mere cost of going
-out was a most serious drawback, at the very least _ten times_ the amount
-required to land one bag and baggage in the centre of Hungary, or better
-still in Servia, among some of the most beautiful scenery in the world,
-the richest soil, the best climate, and the finest fishing and shooting
-that could be desired, where game laws and river preserves and licences
-are still utterly unknown.
-
-I hate croaking; still, if one hears rumbling noises underground for
-any space of time, one is justified in apprehending an earthquake. For
-several years I have been hearing these subterranean noises, and year
-after year they have become more and more threatening, and the earthquake
-must come at last. But as a volcanic eruption, acting as a safety valve,
-often saves a country from the effects of a physical earthquake, so the
-timely exodus of an excessive population may save a country from a moral
-one.
-
-By the very nature of my profession, I have innumerable times been
-willingly or unwillingly let into the secrets of the private affairs of
-scores of families; and I have watched with perfect dismay the misery,
-the poverty, the utter wretchedness that were screened from the eyes of
-the world by the decent exterior which was kept up in order to preserve
-appearances.
-
-If with Asmodeus we could but lift up the roofs of a few thousands
-of houses in these prosperous islands and see the difficulties, the
-make-shifts, and the make-believes which are resorted to, and that in
-many cases where one would least expect them, it would make our very
-hearts bleed at all the anxiety, all the wretchedness, all the scalding
-tears which would be disclosed—all brought about by that great delusion
-"keeping up appearances." Well, all this living under false pretences,
-which is the distinguishing characteristic and the great evil, the real
-"social evil" of the present time cannot go on for ever. It is an evil
-of long standing, no doubt, but it has gone on increasing from year to
-year, like a falling avalanche, with constantly increasing velocity. The
-earthquake must come at last, if not averted by an emigration _en masse_
-of those educated classes to which I have alluded above; and the best,
-finest, healthiest, most fertile, and most accessible country, outside
-the British dominions, I hold to be, roughly speaking, that tract of
-Southern Europe bounded on the North by the Saave, on the South by the
-Bosphorus, on the East by the Danube, and on the West by the Adriatic.
-
-"But, my dear Sir," I think I hear some reader say, "that is Turkey in
-Europe!" No doubt it is, but the Turks won't be there for ever, their
-time is nearly run out; the period of their wretched misrule over the
-Christian populations of Europe is nearly accomplished, and I still hope
-to live long enough to see those barbarous hordes recrossing the Bosphorus
-into Asia Minor, on their way back to the Steppes of Khiva and Bokhara,
-from whence they originally emigrated. They have ever shown themselves
-irreclaimable barbarians throughout. Look at the present condition of
-European Turkey, after centuries of Ottoman dominion; contrast it with
-the nascent state of Roumania, which only quite lately succeeded in
-shaking off its Moslem chains. Let us look at both countries, as they
-present themselves opposite to each other on the banks of the Danube.
-On the left bank of that river we have Giurgevo in Roumania, the port of
-Bukharest, where, notwithstanding centuries of slavery and misgovernment,
-the natives, now under the government of an enlightened Christian Prince,
-are all activity and progress—while on the right bank at Rustchuk, just
-opposite, in dark contrast to the Christian, who is trying to turn to
-account all the advantages of his country, the indolent, uncivilized
-Turk is still lazily dozing away, leaning against his ancient painted
-and bedizened araba, drawn by a pair of patient oxen, waiting for the
-chance of some solitary, silent traveller!
-
-A new era is dawning, however, over these south-eastern regions, but
-much of their prosperity and future happiness may depend on the model
-they will propose for themselves in their efforts at civilization;
-whether the brilliant glitter of Parisian veneering and varnish, or the
-less attractive, but more solid advantages of British institutions. A
-great future is before the Danubian Principalities, may they use their
-opportunities with wisdom, and may they prosper!
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV.
-
-     STEINBRÜCK—THE SÖMMERING—FIRST VIEW OF THE
-     ADRIATIC—TRIESTE—SHOCKS OF EARTHQUAKE AT BELLUNO—AUSTRIAN
-     IRONCLAD 'LISSA'—CAPTAIN R. BURTON—FLYING VISIT TO SAN
-     CANZIANO—SUBTERRANEAN COURSE OF A MOUNTAIN STREAM—THE KARST—WILD
-     SCENERY—A THUNDER-STORM—CHURCH OF SAN CANZIANO—STUD FARM.
-
-
-That odious and useless mediæval institution, the quarantine, having
-barred my passage into the Lower Provinces of the Danube, I determined
-to go to Trieste, then proceed by sea to Constantinople, and thence to
-the Caucasus, but it was written differently in the book of Fate!
-
-The line to Trieste was full of interest; during the first portion of
-the journey I passed quite close to Lake Balaton, celebrated for its
-fish, and then after traversing some wonderfully rich plains, dotted
-here and there with patches of forest, and covered with herds of cattle,
-horses, and geese, which are kept here in vast numbers for the sake of
-their feathers, arrived at Steinbrück at one P.M., where I dined.
-Here, at the junction of the Saane and the Saave, the scenery became
-truly magnificent; we had been for some time following the banks of the
-Saane, and the mountains had been getting closer and higher with every
-mile we made, till at last they actually came down to the river, allowing
-a bare passage to the railway which followed its every bend.
-
-Having finished our mid-day meal at Steinbrück—where the Pesth line joins
-on to that miracle of engineering, the celebrated railway between Vienna
-and Trieste—we resumed our journey, the scenery retaining its grand
-features, till having topped the Sömmering, we came on to the desert
-Karst and got our first peep of the salt water—the glorious Adriatic.
-Nothing could exceed the wild grandeur of the country on both sides of the
-railway, as the engines (for we had two of them) slowly panted up those
-steep inclines, winding in and out through the gorges of the Sömmering,
-now plunging into a tunnel to traverse the heart of a mountain, and now
-crossing a viaduct between two cliffs, over a precipice hundreds of feet
-in depth. Once at the top, our pace increased considerably, and by eight
-o'clock I found myself comfortably installed at my hotel at Trieste, on
-the evening of the 29th of June.
-
-After a most refreshing night, I descended the next morning to the café
-on the ground floor of the hotel, and then heard for the first time of
-the severe shocks of earthquake at Belluno and its neighbourhood, which
-had been felt even in Trieste. Several lives had been lost, and one
-church nearly shaken to the ground.
-
-After breakfast I went to pay my respects to our excellent consul, Captain
-Burton, and then hearing that the Austrian ironclad "Lissa" was outside
-the harbour, I took a boat and went to have a look at her. She is a fine
-vessel with a long projecting prow, and looks well in the water. Having
-sent up my card, I was received and shown over the ship by Lieutenant
-Count Petruski, who was most kind in pointing out every thing of interest
-connected with it. I think he said she mounted 12 rifled fifteen-ton guns
-of our Woolwich Infant type, and was furnished with a galvanic apparatus,
-by means of which the captain could fire a whole broadside at a time.
-Although she was only in after a cruise, and consequently not in the
-best of trim for exhibition, I was much gratified by all I saw. The men
-were a very fine set of fellows, the state cabins and officers' cabins
-particularly neat and nice, and should these lines ever fall beneath
-the eye of Count Petruski or any of his brother officers on board the
-"Lissa" I beg them all to receive my warm thanks for their kindness to
-me that day. I spent a couple of very pleasant hours on board, and as
-Count Petruski spoke excellent English, it made our interview all the
-more agreeable.[1]
-
-Trieste is anything but an interesting place; though a couple of days
-may be spent pleasantly enough visiting the neighbourhood, especially
-if one has the advantage of the acquaintance and company of our consul,
-Captain R. Burton; the Burton of Harar, of Mecca, and of Medina; the
-_facile princeps_ of modern travellers and pleasant companions.
-
-Why is Captain Burton kept at Trieste? It is not a difficult post, nor
-one requiring a man with exceptional qualifications; and it does seem
-a misapplication if not a waste of _force_ to keep a man like Burton at
-Trieste, when he could be of so much greater use elsewhere. The thorough
-and intimate knowledge that he possesses of Oriental character, his
-perfect mastery of Arabic, together with the knowledge he has of Persian
-and scores of other languages, not to mention the experience he has
-acquired of Oriental affairs, customs and idiosyncrasies, all go to point
-him out emphatically as the right man in the wrong place at Trieste. I
-spent some very pleasant hours in his company during my short stay in
-that city, and shall never forget the kindness I experienced both from
-him and la bella Contessa, his most charming and accomplished lady.
-
-Thus far, my observations have been of a strictly selfish nature. I know
-Captain Burton's capabilities, I feel that he is utterly thrown away
-where he is, and I want a _quid pro quo_ for my money—consequently I want
-to see him in some post where his talents and exceptional qualifications
-may be of some profit to me. The reader will perceive that I am strictly
-selfish and utilitarian, and that in writing as above I have not been
-led away by sentimentality in any shape. Had I been in the opposite
-vein, I could have said, I met at Trieste Captain R. T. Burton, who
-undoubtedly is the greatest of _living_ travellers, and also second
-to none in that great phalanx of explorers, who from time to time have
-devoted their lives to carrying civilization to the most remote corners
-of the earth. He opened up Eastern Africa, and most probably discovered
-in Lake Tanganyika the mysterious sources of the Nile. He directly opened
-up the path and led the way which was subsequently trodden by Speke,
-Grant, Stanley, Cameron, and others; indirectly he pointed out the way
-to Baker, Schweinfurth and Gordon. To Richard Burton then is due the
-discovery of this _New Africa_, this great Lake Region, so fertile and
-so rich in the centre of a continent which fifty years ago was believed
-to be one vast uninhabitable desert. What has been his reward? He has
-been made consul at Trieste. Here is an inducement to our ardent British
-youth! I hear there is some talk of making him a K.C.B.; for myself, I
-wouldn't give a roll of ginger-bread for the distinction; however, let
-him have it by all means, but let us see him also removed to some more
-useful sphere of action where his exceptional talents and his great
-knowledge of Oriental languages may be of service to us. Let him be sent
-to Africa again—to Morocco for instance—at the first vacancy.
-
-Having still to wait a couple of days for the departure of the steamer
-which was to take me on my trip down the coast of Dalmatia, I employed my
-time in paving a flying visit to San Canziano, where a good-sized river,
-after meandering down a deep ravine like any other Christian stream,
-suddenly plunges into the bowels of the earth, and after a mysterious
-course of many miles, reappears again at the surface under a different
-name, previous to losing itself in the Adriatic.
-
-The little hamlet of San Canziano is about twenty miles from Trieste, it
-consists of a very small and meanly built church, with a good campanile
-however, with two sweetly-toned bells—why is it that ours are always so
-unmusical and woody?—a small wretched Presbytery, a roadside pot-house
-where nothing could be got for love or money, and half a dozen dilapidated
-houses. The drive however, was very pleasant, for the weather was warm
-and at the same time cloudy, so that we were never inconvenienced by
-the sun. The road, on leaving Trieste, goes by easy windings over a
-mountain clothed with oak, so beautifully kept, that it gives the idea
-of driving through some private park. On reaching the top we came into
-the open, and had a glorious view of the Styrian mountains on the one
-side, and the Adriatic on the other. After driving for a short time on
-the level, we again commenced ascending and soon got into the "Karst,"
-as it is called; a wild barren tract where little or nothing appears to
-grow, and where rocks and stones seem to have rained down from heaven,
-not unlike some other spots I visited subsequently in Dalmatia, and
-notably in Montenegro. But this bleak and barren spot owes its absolute
-desolation, not so much to the rocky nature of its soil, as to the Bora,
-a north-east wind, which often sweeps across it with the force of a West
-Indian hurricane.
-
-In many places on the road, traverses of immensely thick stone walls
-had been erected for protection against the fury of the wind, but
-notwithstanding all, the Karst is sometimes impassable when the Bora
-blows in real earnest, and heavy-laden waggons which have tried to cross
-it at such times, have been turned over and over like "leaves in Autumn
-weather." After travelling for some short time along this elevated
-plateau, we again began to descend, and soon reached our destination,
-where, having eaten the lunch I had brought with me, I started on foot,
-under the guidance of a native who could speak nothing but Styrian, to
-seek the mysterious river.
-
-In less than half an hour's walk, I found myself on a grass-covered
-plateau of some miles in extent, fringed in the distance by lofty hills,
-dotted with clumps of fir trees, and after a few minutes more walking
-in an easterly direction, I suddenly came on a perpendicular precipice,
-upwards of five hundred feet in depth, which completely barred my further
-progress. The cliff on which I stood rose in a narrow valley, or glen,
-or cleft, as if the crust of the earth had cracked here for a few miles.
-This cleft, nearly of uniform depth, was not of uniform width; in some
-places it was so narrow that the smooth river which glided through it
-completely filled it from side to side, while in other places a sufficient
-strip of soil remained between the river and the cliff to admit of some
-amount of cultivation, and here and there a cottage.
-
-This strange cleft, or valley, or crack in the plateau through which the
-river flows is of a most irregular outline, going zig-zag, in and out,
-just like the cracks one sees in a dried up pond at the end of a hot
-Summer in England. I was standing where this precipitous crack barred
-the way, by running exactly at right angles across the path, and here
-right under me at a depth of about five hundred feet, the river which
-could be seen coursing from a considerable distance at the bottom of
-the cleft, suddenly leapt into a cavern and disappeared beneath my feet.
-
-Having made a rapid sketch of this extraordinary landscape—or, more
-correctly speaking, having tried to convey on paper some faint idea of
-what the place was like—I again followed the guide, who now, turning
-his back on the precipice, led me in a westerly direction, and brought
-me in a few minutes to the brink of a fearful-looking circular chasm,
-about fifty yards in diameter, with precipitous rocky sides, and from
-the bottom of which could be heard the distant roar of the river rushing
-among the rocks. The guide threw some large stones down this yawning
-gulph, disturbing some thousands of rock-pigeons who build their nests
-in the nooks and crannies of the rocks, and having timed the fall of one
-of these stones by listening for its splash in the subterranean river,
-I noted about seven seconds as the time it took in falling.
-
-I now accompanied the guide through the little hamlet of San Canziano,
-and still going westward came just beyond the village on another chasm,
-of oblong form, about six hundred yards one way, and three hundred and
-fifty yards the other way, while in depth it was no more than about fifty
-yards. It looked to me as if this opening had been made by the subsidence
-or falling-in of the roof of some cavern, of which the limestone rock
-of these mountains, as well in Styria as in Dalmatia is so full. The
-sides of this depression were not precipitous except in some places, and
-an easy descent led me to the bottom, across which stretched from side
-to side a fantastic ridge of rock pierced by a natural arch about the
-middle, and under which an opening in the rock gave entrance to another
-cavern, through which anyone desirous of exploring it could without much
-difficulty, but at the cost of some fatigue and the risk of some falls,
-descend by a series of about six hundred high and slippery ledges of
-rock to where again the river makes its appearance after its subterranean
-course.
-
-As the day was pretty well advanced, and as the weather, which had been
-cloudy all the morning seemed now to be threatening rain, I thought it
-wisest not to venture on going further, although the guide had provided
-himself with candles for the descent. So I scrambled up the sides of
-the chasm, and was making for the roadside inn where the carriage was
-waiting for me, when the storm-clouds, which had been gathering thicker
-and thicker for some time, broke out at last into such a deluge of rain,
-accompanied by thunder and lightning, that I was glad to take refuge
-under the archway of the belfry of San Canziano, and from thence into
-the church itself, the door of which was opened for me by a queer little
-old dried-up chip of a sexton.
-
-I am sure he said to me, "Pray take shelter in here from the rain,"
-though as he spoke Styrian I could not understand a word, but his looks
-and gestures were as eloquent as words. Having walked into the little
-church, first taking off my hat, the little sexton became quite eloquent,
-and pointed out with evident satisfaction to every part of the chapel,
-which was poor and desolate in the extreme. Four white-washed walls,
-a wretched altar piece of wood painted in a few gaudy colours, and a
-crimson damask baldachino in tatters, which, stowed away in a corner,
-served to shelter the "Santissimo" when carried about in procession,
-two or three benches, a confessional box, and a lighted lamp hanging in
-front of the altar, constituted _toute la baraque_! but the poor little
-old man seemed delighted with himself and everything around him, and
-kept repeating in a shrill voice the only Italian word he apparently
-possessed "_Bella_," "_Bella_," to which I responded as in duty bound,
-"_molto bella_," and I trust I may be forgiven the cram; for I never
-told a bigger one in all my life!
-
-The floor of this little church was formed of large flag-stones, in some
-of which iron rings were inserted, while in others there only remained
-the marks of where rings had formerly been; some had inscriptions, and I
-should have been interested in hearing something of the ancient tenants
-of these graves, but here the sexton and I came completely to a dead
-lock. "_Bella_" could serve my friend no longer, still he understood
-perfectly what I required, so when he sat down on a bench, pointing to
-me to do the same, I complied at once, and all the more willingly as
-the rain was still coming down in torrents.
-
-The old fellow then commenced, and, pointing with his skinny finger to
-the central slab, entered at once into what, I presume, must have been a
-full, true, and complete history of the tenants of that grave, descanting
-probably on their virtues, and dealing gently with their faults; but
-alas! I could not understand one word. At last, I suppose the same
-thought must have struck "Old Mortality," for he suddenly stopped and
-bursting into a shrill, unearthly, and most discordant laugh, pointed
-to the sky which was now clearing, and held out his palsied hand, when
-I discovered he knew another word, not Slave, nor Italian, but this time
-German, "_Geschenk!_" I gave him the only bit of silver I possessed, an
-English sixpence, and left him seemingly contented.
-
-The clouds had all melted away, and the sun shone brilliantly when I left
-the little roadside tavern of San Canziano to return to Trieste; but,
-as I wanted to visit a stud-park which the Emperor of Austria keeps in
-this part of his dominions, we took another route on my return journey.
-The country we now drove through was prettier than what we had traversed
-in the morning, and the road passed through some fine oak woods, which
-constantly prompted one to look out for a mansion, the country appeared
-so park-like—but in vain.
-
-After a drive of an hour or so we came to the stud-farm, a collection
-of large buildings, consisting of several dwelling-houses, a spacious
-riding-house for exercising the horses in severe weather, three large
-stables intended to accommodate three hundred mares, and one lofty vaulted
-stable fitted with nice large loose boxes in which were kept the sires.
-The mares were all out at grass together with their foals, so that I did
-not see them, as I should have had to drive some miles in a different
-direction, and turn my back on Trieste in order to visit them. The sires
-I did see, but as they were not led out I could not form as accurate an
-opinion of them as I should have wished. They seemed, however, small,
-and not exactly the style of horse we would select in this country with
-a view to supplying our cavalry. The loose-boxes were commodious and the
-stable was well-ventilated; the weather being extremely hot the windows
-were closed with _tatties_, which served the double purpose of keeping
-away the flies, which always seek the light, and keeping the stable
-cool. The stable was fairly clean, but the grooming did not come up to
-our ideas. On the whole I was disappointed, and as for the produce, I
-should think that nothing but the very lightest of light cavalry horses
-could be expected from them.
-
-We returned to Trieste by nine o'clock, coming by the old post-road from
-Vienna, and passing by that wonderful quarry of limestone slabs, perhaps
-the largest in the world.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V.
-
-     THE "SAN CARLO" AND HER PASSENGERS—A DALMATIAN'S REMARKS
-     ON THE PRESERVATION OF HEALTH IN INDIA—DALMATIAN DIGGERS
-     FROM AUSTRALIA—COAST OF ISTRIA—PIRANO—CATHEDRAL OF
-     PARENZO—ROVIGNO—POLA—THE AMPHITHEATRE—PICTURESQUE SIGHT—GIOVANNI
-     ASTONISHED—MONTENEGRIN COSTUME—ZARA—EXTREME HEAT.
-
-
-On the 2nd of July I was up betimes. I had taken my place for Zara on
-board the 'San Carlo,' a small coasting steamer which trades down the
-Dalmatian side of the Adriatic, going in and out among that archipelago
-of islands which fringe the coast of Dalmatia from the mouth of the
-Guarnero to the entrance of the Gulf of Cattaro. It was a small, slow,
-and dirty little steamer, but it stopped everywhere going on its way,
-and that was just what I wanted.
-
-Small as the vessel was, we had plenty of passengers, and a strange
-lot they were. We had two Capuchin monks going to Ragusa, one of them a
-most interesting man of whom I shall have more to say by and by; his lay
-brother, a simple, ignorant monk, and no more. We had a tall, handsome
-Dalmatian from Spalato, returning home to end his days in opulence and
-comfort after spending twenty years in India, where he had accumulated
-an independence which in Dalmatia will be considered a large fortune.
-He spoke English remarkably well. Being struck by his hale and robust
-looks, I asked him how he had managed to preserve his health so well
-after residing for twenty years in India. "Many of them," added he, "in
-unhealthy localities." "Simply by not drinking," he answered. "I don't
-mean to say that I was a water-drinker—not at all, for I believe that
-water-drinking is nearly as bad as spirit-drinking, and indeed I think
-I have observed that those who were 'teatotallers' died even sooner than
-drunkards. But I never drank anything before breakfast, I drank nothing
-but good, full-bodied claret, and I never took more than two bottles of
-it a day, and seldom so much; I smoked, but always in moderation, and I
-never had a day's illness during those twenty years. India is not a bad
-climate, it is the reckless habits of Europeans that make it apparently
-so."
-
-We had two other Dalmatians from Sebenico, who also were returning home
-after residing many years abroad. These two had been in Australia; one
-had been a digger, and seemed the reverse of well-off; the other had
-kept a store at some gold-diggings, and had apparently made plenty of
-money. Both spoke English well, and the last one brought with him from
-Australia an Irish wife, who had emigrated to the Antipodes all the
-way from Lurgan. She was a fine comely young woman of about twenty-six,
-and was overjoyed at finding I knew her native place. In the afternoon
-I made some tea in my portable kitchen, and gave her a cup of it with
-some preserved milk, which she declared the most delicious thing she
-had tasted for many a long day.
-
-The rest of our passengers consisted of country people returning to
-their homes along the coast of Istria and Dalmatia, after having been
-to Trieste to dispose of the produce of their lands.
-
-As the clocks struck five, we steamed out of Trieste on one of the finest
-mornings that could be imagined. The sea was as smooth as a mirror,
-and of the most intense blue. How often we stopped as we went down the
-coast of Istria I cannot tell, as we were constantly heaving to for
-the convenience of passengers going on shore in boats which put off to
-receive them; we did stop however at Capo d'Istria, and then at Pirano,
-where I was able to take a rough sketch of that most picturesque little
-town, with its beautiful mediæval castle perched on the cliff behind it.
-
-Then we came to Parenzo, where I should very much have liked to go ashore
-for a couple of hours to look at the cathedral, of which I had heard so
-much, but unfortunately the little business the steamer had to transact
-was done in a few minutes, and the Captain would not delay (probably
-because my bribe was insufficient), so I had to comfort myself with
-the hope of seeing it on some future occasion, when I trust to be able
-again to visit all those spots which interested me so much then, as also
-many other places in the same countries, which accidental circumstances
-prevented me from seeing.
-
-The Cathedral of Parenzo, which I was so anxious to see, and which had
-been described to me by a friend at Trieste as a _meraviglia_, was founded
-by Bishop Eupatius, and completed in the year 526; it is therefore as old
-as St. Sophia of Constantinople, and older than any other Cathedral in
-Europe. "It is said to have a semicircular apse behind the altar, with
-the Bishop's throne, and seats on either side for the clergy, instances
-of which are now so rarely to be met with."[2]...
-
-"At the east end is a round apse, as glorious in its mosaics as St.
-Mark's, or St. Sophia. Every part of the wall and rounded roof is covered
-with mosaics, &c. A group of nine saints and angels surrounding the
-Blessed Virgin and Child, on a golden background, is exquisitely done.
-Heads of saints adorn the arches, all are beautiful. Below these, to about
-ten feet high, the walls are inlaid with whole shells of mother-of-pearl
-let into a dark brown stone; it looks just like a piece of Damascus
-furniture, and though rude it is effective and beautiful.
-
-"The flooring of the whole church is of course mosaic, in Byzantine
-patterns, the same as in Murano and St. Mark's; but one can scarcely look
-at anything after the wall mosaics, save the capitals of the columns.
-The pillars themselves are of a fine brown marble; the capitals are
-identically the same as those in Santa Sophia, one more exquisitely
-under-cut than the other into lace-work of leaves, flowers, birds, &c.;
-they are perhaps a little bolder than those of St. Sophia, but full of
-life and spirit, not a line wasted nor a thought thrown away. I longed
-to sketch them, but I could only hope they may one day be photographed;
-Jerusalem and Constantinople alone can rival them.
-
-"The Baldacchino is exceedingly curious and fine, as are also the very
-ancient altar hangings. There is a splendid altar front, of solid silver
-gilt, of the Renaissance date. The interest appertaining to this is
-that it is placed at the _back_ of the altar for high mass, facing the
-Bishop, who is seated _behind the altar_, as at Torcello; this is an
-ancient and I believe unique privilege.
-
-"The Chapel of St. Andrew, at the north-east corner of the church, is
-very interesting and curious. There has been a porch or cloister at the
-west entrance, but only two or three columns remain of it. I venture to
-think this church is well worth a special journey from England to see.
-I could think of nothing else the rest of the day, although our onward
-voyage was full of beauty."[3]
-
-We then came to Rovigno with its beautiful campanile, and here again I
-could not get half an hour to go on shore to look at it, though I believe
-there is not much more to be seen beside it.
-
-At three P.M. we came in sight of the harbour of Pola—the Portsmouth
-of Austria;—but Pola itself we could not see, as it lies at the bottom
-of a bay communicating with the sea by a deep and winding channel,
-apparently well defended by numerous forts which surround it. The harbour
-itself is of very considerable dimensions, and so deep that the largest
-vessels can come alongside the quays.
-
-Although so important a place, there did not appear to be much life or
-bustle about it. The country around it is flat and marshy, and sometimes
-in the year very unhealthy. It must have been, however, an important place
-in the days of ancient Rome, judging from the size of its amphitheatre,
-and the beauty of the Temple and triumphal arches which still remain, and
-which constitute after all the great attractions of Pola. They are quite
-close to the landing, so they can be visited with the utmost facility
-during the stay which the steamer generally makes there. The amphitheatre
-alone is worth a special visit, as the exterior of it is perfect, and
-at a short distance does not even look like a ruin. It dates from the
-third century and is very fine. It consists of a basement story about
-four hundred and thirty feet in length, by three hundred and fifty feet
-in width, surmounted by two tiers of arches, with half columns of the
-Tuscan order between each, all about eighty feet high.
-
-Beautifully preserved as is the exterior, the condition of the interior
-is most disappointing, as nothing remains of the internal arrangement
-except on one side, the one furthest from the sea, where there are still
-a few seats cut in the rock, some even bearing what most probably were
-the initials of their owners carved into them.
-
-What can have caused this utter ruin of all the accommodation for the
-spectators? Have the natives from time to time removed the building
-materials from the inside, for the purpose of building the modern town?
-not daring to lay a sacrilegious hand on the shell of the building
-itself, which bore no semblance to a ruin, while at the same time they
-treated the interior as a quarry! or were the seats made of woodwork,
-and destroyed by fire, as some have imagined?
-
-The steamer always remains long enough to permit the traveller to visit
-the amphitheatre and the temples, as well as the triumphal arches, and to
-take a stroll through the Piazza. I did so, and still further improved
-the passing hour by eating an excellent dinner _al fresco_ under a
-_pergola_ of vines at the _Trattoria_ of the place.
-
-It was just dark as I got on board again, having been warned by the
-unmusical steam-whistle that the vessel would soon be under way again.
-Just before starting, a military band came to play before the Commandant's
-house, which is on the quays just opposite to where the steamer was
-moored. It being now dark, the band was accompanied by a score of soldiers
-carrying a peculiarly shaped lantern fastened to the top of a pole, to
-enable the men to see their music. At first as the band came marching
-down the quays with their lights dancing high up in the air before and
-behind, I could not make out what it was, and only for the liveliness
-of the music I might have thought it was a funeral, the whole thing was
-very picturesque and the music excellent. At last we got under way and
-steamed out of the harbour on our way to the coast of Dalmatia, across
-the Gulf of the Quarnero, so well known for its dangerous navigation and
-so much dreaded even by the hardy sailors of the Adriatic, when swept
-by the fierce impetuous Bora.
-
-Fortunately for me, who am not the most intrepid of mariners, and who
-prefer admiring a tempestuous sea from off a rocky vantage point upon
-the shore, to tossing on its stormy waves, the dreaded Quarnero was as
-smooth as a millpond. The night was magnificent; the heavens cloudless,
-and studded with countless stars, but scarcely as bright as I have seen
-them at other times, owing to the intense brilliancy of the moon now
-nearly at the full. The track of the steamer was clearly marked out far
-in the rear by a broad phosphorescent wake, while the water which was
-dashed off from the paddles seemed like liquid fire.
-
-The cabins were all occupied, so I had to make my bed on deck; but even
-if I could have got one, I never could have slept below, it was so hot
-and stuffy. I was soon settled for the night; a doubled-up rug laid
-lengthwise on the deck was my bed, and my dressing-bag was my pillow.
-It was so warm that I required no covering save my light tweed suit,
-and I was no sooner down than I was fast asleep. I don't know how long
-I slept; but I would have slept still longer, if I had not been awoke
-by the steamer stopping to put down and take up passengers and goods at
-some place on the coast of Dalmatia.
-
-We had safely crossed the mouth of the Quarnero, the moon had set, and
-the blue black vault of heaven was studded with countless stars sparkling
-like diamonds. The steamer was hove to a little distance from the shore,
-while scores of boats, each with a coloured lantern at the prow, came
-and went, making as pretty a scene as can be imagined; but for all that,
-after sitting up and admiring it for a few minutes, I lay down again on
-my rug, and falling asleep never awoke again till the sun was high in
-the heavens the next morning.
-
-By degrees the passengers one by one came on deck, when by making
-interest with Giovanni, the steward, I obtained the use of a _camerino_
-(cabin) to make my toilet in. Having completed my ablutions I called in
-Giovanni to empty my tub, for as the _camerino_ was extremely small it
-was next to impossible to stand in it, unless with one's feet in the
-water. Never was steward so astonished and so puzzled as Giovanni was
-at the sight of my flimsy mackintosh tub; he had no idea of how to take
-it up to empty it, he was afraid to touch it until I had taken it up
-on three sides and showed him how to lift it, when he was so delighted
-with the whole arrangement that he placed it on the table of the cabin
-just as it was, and fetched down the passengers to see the ingenious
-English device. By the time it had been well examined and then emptied,
-I was up and dressed. When I came out of the _camerino_, I showed the
-assembled company how it could be rolled up into the smallest compass,
-and stowed away in a travelling bag.
-
-There was no regular breakfast on board, but everyone as he wanted it
-got a cup of coffee and a bit of bread or a biscuit; preserved milk also
-could be had, but of butter there was none.
-
-Our passengers had somewhat varied since leaving Trieste. We had deposited
-many on the coast of Istria as we went along, and taken up others in
-their place. We had a remarkable Oriental-looking woman, plain perhaps,
-and yet handsome, a Montenegrin of rank, a cousin of the present Prince,
-dressed in full native costume. She was on her way to her native country
-to petition the Prince to permit certain of his cousins, who had been
-expatriated for political causes, to return to their homes.
-
-The costume of the Montenegrin women is not becoming; even this handsome
-woman, and the beautiful Princess whom I subsequently had the honour of
-seeing at Montenegro, failed to render it attractive to my eyes, whereas
-the costume of the men is eminently becoming. This lady's dress consisted
-of a sort of white chemise of fine lawn, tight, but gathered very full
-round the neck, without any frill, and open down the front for six or
-eight inches, where it was closed by a row of very small buttons. This
-white garment, which reached down to the ankles, was fastened round her
-waist by a massive silver belt, made in compartments three inches by four
-and joined together by hinges. Each compartment was highly ornamented
-with rich _repoussé_ work in _alto rilievo_, and from a side-piece hung
-down several ornaments of the châtelaine species, while from the other
-side depended an exquisite little dagger in a sheath of silver _repoussé_.
-
-The sleeves of this white garment were tight at the shoulders, but grew
-wider and wider as they approached the wrist, where they were upwards of
-two feet six inches in diameter. They were bordered with a rich margin of
-embroidery in gold and silver thread, mingled with red and blue silk, in
-excellent taste, and the same embroidery was continued up the external
-seam of the sleeve on the outside of the elbow up to the shoulder. From
-below the silver belt she wore a large apron of rich black silk coming
-down to her ankles, and over all a peculiar white cloth coat without
-sleeves, the typical garment of the Montenegrins, both male and female.
-This coat was made of a very soft white cloth, so close and yet soft
-and pliable, that although sitting next to her and touching it with
-my finger, I could not at once determine if it was cloth or some sort
-of beautifully tanned leather. As I said before, this coat was without
-sleeves or collar, but scooped tight to the back of the neck. In front
-it did not come further forward than about half way between the point of
-the shoulders and the middle of the neck, and then straight down like
-a sack till just below the calf of the leg. This coat was bound right
-round the whole way with a narrow pattern of embroidery in the same style
-as round the sleeves of the muslin dress, and in addition had a row of
-very small round silver buttons down the front on one side. On her head
-she wore a very large black Indian silk kerchief fastened into her hair
-with pins, and hanging down behind her back as low as her waist.
-
-The costume is decidedly ugly, though containing the elements of great
-beauty, if only put together with taste and harmony. Nothing, for
-instance, can be more attractive and becoming than that black kerchief,
-be it of silk, gauze or lace, when gracefully put on the head, as the
-women of Spain or Genoa know so well how to wear it; but the Montenegrin
-arrangement is as clumsy and inelegant in the women as it is manly and
-picturesque in the men.
-
-We had on board also several Austrian officers going to join their
-quarters, some to Zara and some to Cattaro, Budua, and Kosmatch. Very
-nice, pleasant, gentlemanlike fellows they were, some of them speaking
-French, but all able to converse freely in Italian, and all well-informed,
-agreeable companions. Acquaintances are made much more easily abroad
-than in England, so we were soon quite at home together, and what with
-chatting, smoking and walking up and down the deck, we quickly passed
-over the time, till at ten o'clock A.M., we came in front of Zara,
-celebrated in ancient times for its long siege, when "in 1346 Marino
-Faliero earned his laurels by the most daring assault," and in modern
-times for its excellent Maraschino!
-
-Zara is an important place even at the present time. It is the capital
-of Dalmatia, and the seat of the Archbishop of the province. It is
-well-built, clean, and tolerably well-paved, and well-worth a visit. The
-time, however, allowed by the stay of the steamer is amply sufficient to
-enable one to see it; but the heat was so great that I felt more inclined
-to stay on board smoking cigarettes under the awning of the steamer than
-to go on shore. The prospect of some _café à la glace_, however, which I
-knew was to be obtained in the Piazza, added to the more important fact
-that I was to receive here a letter for the Archimandrite of Montenegro,
-induced me to shake off my apathy.
-
-Having landed on the quay, I passed through the gate over which is
-sculptured the grim effigy of the Lion of St. Mark, everywhere seen
-down the Eastern shores of the Adriatic wheresoever the Venetians had
-established their authority, I proceeded to execute my plans; but the
-heat was so intense that I was glad to come back to the steamer where I
-imagined it was something less stifling. But this day was unusually hot
-and close, and with the exception of one at Cattaro, when the thermometer
-registered at four o'clock P.M., 105° Fahrenheit, was the hottest
-I experienced in all my journey.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI.
-
-     DEPARTURE FROM ZARA—SEBENICO—PLEASANT COMPANIONS—NOBLE
-     HARBOUR—THE CATHEDRAL—CURIOUS ROOF—CORAL
-     FISHERY—SPALATO—SALONA—DIOCLETIAN'S PALACE—MR. PATON'S
-     DESCRIPTION OF IT—BEAUTIFUL SPECTACLE—THE PORTA FERREA—QUAINT
-     DWELLINGS—AMBROSIAL TOBACCO.
-
-
-AT about one o'clock P.M. we steamed away from Zara while we were
-at dinner, and at five P.M. reached Sebenico. Should I ever travel
-again in that part of the world, I think I should try to go from Zara
-to Sebenico by land in order to see the ruins of Asseria, which I learnt
-afterwards were well worth a visit; but the journey should in that case
-be undertaken earlier in the year, to avoid the oppressive heats.
-
-The afternoon between leaving Zara and arriving at Sebenico passed
-quickly away, for I had the advantage of two most agreeable companions;
-one the capuchin monk, the other a charming young fellow, an officer in
-an Austrian Jäger regiment, Baron Heyd von Heydeg.
-
-The Capuchin was a most interesting man, and we chatted many an hour
-together by moonlight on the deck, when every one else had gone to sleep,
-when I used to chaff him about the rules of his order, which forbid
-the smoking of tobacco, while they permit the use of snuff without any
-restriction. He used to take it most good-humouredly, and laughed as
-if his sides would split when I would refuse to take a pinch of his
-snuff unless he smoked one of my cigarettes. I verily think I should
-have brought him round at last, had he not been constantly under the
-surveillance, and in mortal "_soggezione_" of his lay brother.
-
-Heyd was a different fellow altogether, but most agreeable. He was going
-to join his regiment, then quartered at Budua. We travelled together as
-far as Cattaro, and I met him subsequently both at Cettigne and Budua,
-where I went expressly to pay him a visit.
-
-The time sped swiftly and most agreeably in spite of the heat, and at
-five o'clock P.M. we steamed through the narrow tortuous opening,
-bordered by steep rocky sides, which leads into the bay, at the further
-end of which stands Sebenico. It is a noble harbour, and so deep that
-a frigate can lie alongside the quay. At the narrowest part of its
-entrance, the approach is defended by what a few years ago would have
-been considered a masterpiece of fortification, but which at present
-would offer too fair a target to our projectiles to afford any great
-protection against an enemy. It is still worth a visit, as its casemates
-are perhaps among the finest in the world. It was engineered and built
-in 1546, by the celebrated architect San Micheli. The entrance to the
-fortress is surmounted by the usual Venetian Lion with the following
-inscription:—
-
-     "Pax tibi Marce Evangelista meus."[4]
-
-Having landed with Baron Heyd, who had been quartered there some time
-before, for cicerone, I proceeded to inspect the Duomo, or cathedral, the
-principal object of interest there. Some people are lost in admiration
-of this cathedral, I really could not see much about it to admire, and
-the two statues on its façade representing Adam and Eve (they might
-as well be Gog and Magog) are simply detestable. But the roof of the
-cathedral is a curiosity in itself, and worth the journey. It is of its
-kind unique, and though it is said to be perfectly safe, and I suppose
-must be so, having continued so for so many years, still I could not
-help feeling a sense of insecurity as long as I was in the church, and
-enjoyed great relief when I finally came out of it.
-
-This roof is simply a semi-cylinder made of enormous slabs of stone
-joined edge to edge, but so beautifully adapted and fitted one into the
-other that, without any other support save what they afford each other,
-they form the vault of this cathedral. I trust they may never crack;
-but I, for one, could never say my prayers with comfort under such a roof.
-
-Having taken a ramble through the streets, which were clean and contained
-many fine mansions, we went up to the fort on the hill behind the town,
-and which commands the whole place, where we passed a pleasant hour with
-the officers of the garrison.
-
-My time being limited, I was unable to make an expedition from Sebenico,
-which under different circumstances I should certainly have undertaken,
-that is to the falls of the Kerka and the monastery above them. My
-friend, the Capuchin, who had travelled a good deal both in Europe and
-America, and had a good eye for the picturesque, told me they were well
-worth seeing; but like many other interesting spots down that coast, I
-must only hope to visit them at some future time.
-
-At dusk we returned to the steamer, though we knew it would not leave
-till the following morning early, and we could have spent a most pleasant
-night on shore; but Sebenico shuts its gates at sunset, and then till
-the following sunrise no one can come in or go out, and had we attempted
-it we should only have lost our passage.
-
-Having partaken of an excellent supper, I returned to the deck, where,
-as was my wont, I sat down beside my friend the Capuchin, who always took
-a cup of coffee with me though he would not consent to smoke. We chatted
-till very late, when he went down to his _camerino_, and I settled myself
-on deck as usual for my night's sleep. It turned out awfully hot, as
-the steamer remained till break of day in the harbour of Sebenico, but
-what must it have been in the cabin?
-
-At the very earliest dawn we left our moorings, and steamed out of the
-harbour by its well guarded entrance. Just outside we passed a group of
-small islands, among which is established a considerable coral fishery.
-The coral is not however of the finest quality, mostly of the common
-deep red kind, and is principally sold on the spot or at the fair of
-Sinigaglia in the Romagna on the opposite or Italian side of the Adriatic.
-
-The dawn was just merging into daylight, when we steamed out of that
-land-locked harbour. It had been stiflingly hot as long as we had lain
-still alongside the quay, but the moment we came out into the open sea,
-the
-
-     "... Aura messaggiera ...
-     Ad annunziar che se ne vien l'Aurora,"
-
-came with a most refreshing breeze, so light, however, as not even to
-raise a "cat's paw" on the glassy waters, but still deliciously cool
-and invigorating.
-
-The steward was not long manufacturing me a good cup of coffee, after
-which, having made myself comfortable in a capital arm-chair, I again
-went to sleep, not to awake until Giovanni summoned me again, "per far
-colazione."
-
-In the course of the morning we reached Spalato, a beautiful and most
-interesting place, where an artist could with advantage spend many days.
-It was celebrated in ancient times for the gorgeous palace which the
-Emperor Diocletian built for himself after abdicating the Empire in 303
-A.D., and the magnificent remains of which still form the glory of
-the present city. After a reign of twenty years, "Diocletian executed
-his memorable resolution of abdicating the Empire," and acquired the
-glory of giving to the world the most remarkable, if not the first,
-example of a resignation which has not been very frequently imitated by
-succeeding monarchs. Withdrawing to Salona, he passed the last nine years
-of his life in seclusion—the building of a palace in the neighbourhood,
-and the superintendence of his garden, occupying his leisure hours.
-The satisfaction he derived from these pursuits is sufficiently proved
-by his well-known answer to Maximian, when urging him to re-assume the
-purple, "If I could show you the cabbages I have planted with my own
-hands at Salona, you would no longer urge me to relinquish the enjoyment
-of happiness for the pursuit of power."
-
-This immense palace, which covered very nearly nine English acres of
-ground, was almost a perfect square terminating at the four corners by a
-quadrangular tower. Its faces were directed as nearly as possible to the
-four cardinal points—the southern side being pointed to the shore and
-facing the sea. It still exists in good preservation and forms a grand
-object of attraction to the visitor entering the harbour. Two streets
-intersected each other at right angles nearly in the centre of it, which
-has lately been completely excavated and is now fully exposed to view.
-
-The following description by the late Mr. Paton (author of "Highlands and
-Islands of the Adriatic," one of the most charming books ever printed)
-will convey to the reader a far clearer impression than anything I could
-pen; I therefore make no apology for inserting it here, and whoever
-should wish to go still deeper into the matter and learn all that is
-to be learned concerning this palace, I refer him to Mr. Adams' book
-"Spalato Restored," which is a perfectly exhaustive treatise on the
-subject.
-
-"At the outset we are struck with the enormous extent of the palace,
-which is not less than nine acres and a half; so that even Constantine
-Porphyrogenitus speaks of it with admiration, as one of the greatest
-edifices then extant. In the time of Diocletian, his great retinue and a
-pretorian cohort could be lodged with convenience in it. Sixteen towers
-gave strength and elegance to the edifice, of which the largest were those
-at the four corners. The back of the edifice looked to the north-east on
-the land-side, and there was the principal entrance, the Porta Aurea,
-or golden gate, which led to the Peristylium, a great court of granite
-columns; and the cross street which intersected the principal passage
-at right angles was terminated at each end by gates, the one the Porta
-Ferrea, or iron gate, the other the Porta Ænea, or gate of brass, which
-are so called to this day.
-
-"This peristylium, or court of granite columns, was flanked by two
-temples; the greater of Jupiter, and the smaller of Esculapius; the
-former, a lofty octagon, was ascended by a stair of fifteen steps; an
-uneven number being generally found in the temples of the ancients, that,
-beginning to move with the right foot, they might, of course, place it
-first upon the uppermost step in order to enter the temple—a form which
-was accounted respectful in approaching the Deity. From the peristylium,
-or court of granite columns, the Roman entered the principal inhabited
-part of the palace; first was the porticus of Corinthian order, then the
-circular dome-covered vestibulum, with the Lares and Penates; then the
-atrium, or quadrangular hall, ninety-eight by forty-five with its arms
-and trophies dedicated to ancestry; and last of all the crypto-porticus,
-or grand gallery, looking to the south-west, thus facing the sea, and
-forming a noble promenade of five hundred and fifteen feet in length,
-in which, during the heat of Summer or inclemency of Winter, the Emperor
-could take exercise. This crypto-porticus was the principal feature of the
-palace, and the well-known taste of Diocletian leads us to suppose that
-the choicest statuary and paintings of the Old World must have adorned
-its walls. The relics of Pompeii give some idea of the classic fancy in
-ornament, the harmonizing contrasts in colour, and the consummate skill
-in tessellation employed in the domestic architecture of the ancients;
-and if we relieve these splendours with the latest fascination in the
-unpretending forms of Greek statuary, how puny is the utmost magnificence
-of Versailles compared with the dwelling of the retired Roman!
-
-"Such was the Palace of Diocletian; what now remains of the edifice?
-The shell or outer wall, of which the best preserved part is the grand
-gallery facing the sea; for Spalato like its contemporary Baalbec being
-used as a fortification, the rough stone and mortar of the middle-age
-battlements surmount in many places the massive normal masonry of the
-Roman Empire.... Within the town, fragments of Roman architecture are
-scattered thickly enough, but so obscured and mingled with modern houses
-as to present a mass of confusion."
-
-Did we stop short here, the reader might well imagine that beyond the
-shell, the walls which surrounded the palace, nothing has been preserved;
-such however is not the case, and I shall now endeavour to describe
-what I saw in Spalato the morning that I steamed into its harbour, when
-from the deck of my vessel I gazed on that sea studded all over with
-numberless boats spreading the most fantastic sails to the gentlest of
-breezes!
-
-The prevailing form, if not the only one, was the lateen in all its
-varieties, most of the boats carrying but one. But such colours and
-such devices painted on them! things that would look simply outrageous
-at Cowes or Ryde, how lovely they seemed there! Some were striped from
-above downwards with every colour of the rainbow, but only two colours
-to each sail and these always harmoniously contrasted; others of one
-uniform colour, with some fantastic ornament in sharp contrast in the
-middle; while some, all of one colour had at the topmost angle of the
-lateen a representation of the sun generally in burnished gold with its
-rays coming down a long way over the sail. The glittering golden sea,
-those fairy-looking boats gliding over it, the picturesque costumes
-of the sailors, the whole scene bathed in that golden light was a fit
-preparation for my introduction to the rare beauties of Spalato itself.
-
-As we slowly approached the quay, there was ample time to admire the
-long façade of Diocletian's Palace, with the tall and elegant campanile
-which rises inside it on the right, and the strong hexagonal machicolated
-tower on the left. The lofty steeple on the right, a very Giralda of
-elegance and airiness—the dungeon on the left a sturdy emblem of the
-iron-fisted middle ages.
-
-After some customary formalities, during which I feasted my eyes on the
-picturesque groups that crowded on the quay, permission was finally
-given to go ashore; when crossing as quickly as could be the narrow
-intervening space, I plunged through the Porta Ferrea into the vaulted
-passage which on this side gives entrance to the city of Spalato; and
-now commence the real difficulties of description, but having undertaken
-it I must only try, trusting to the kind forbearance of my readers.
-
-This vaulted entrance is narrow, perhaps not twelve feet wide, but very
-lofty and formed of immense blocks of stone put together with wonderful
-accuracy. After following it a little way, it opens out into a spacious
-round hall rising up to a considerable height, this portion being
-unroofed; from it open out several streets, all running about here and
-there, crossing and recrossing each other as if in search of light and
-air. The dwellings in these streets are full of quaint artistic beauty;
-at one point one meets a massive wall of square-cut blocks dating from
-the days of Diocletian, against which, perhaps, is built up a modern
-house with wrought-iron balconies of the most delicate workmanship;
-further on, an outside staircase of rude stone steps, partly covered
-with a roof of russet tiles, leads to a door some thirty feet above our
-heads, from which a flying buttress crosses over to an opening in an
-ancient wall beyond, where a modern habitation has been constructed in
-some mediæval donjon.
-
-Each turn brings a new surprise, and so one passes on till one comes
-to the piazza, and this day being a festival, it swarmed with natives
-from all the surrounding _campagne_. The reader must now come with me
-to the _café_, where under a thick awning and surrounded by a screen
-of oleanders and orange-trees in full bloom, we shall take a _granita
-di caffé_ (a water-ice flavoured with coffee), and study the moving
-panorama before us, whilst we slowly puff away a cigarette made with the
-ambrosial tobacco of Trebigna—a kind still unknown in London and in Paris!
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII.
-
-     A TYPE OF SHYLOCK—SCENE IN THE STREET—VARIED
-     COSTUMES—MORLACCHI—TURKS FROM THE HERZEGOVINA—WOMEN OF
-     SPALATO—INSPECTION OF THE CITY—THE PORTA AUREA—COURT OF THE
-     VESTIBULE OF THE PALACE—INTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL—ILLUSTRIOUS
-     MEN OF SPALATO—MARK ANTONY DE DOMINIS—ST. JEROME—THE MORLACCHI.
-
-
-Sitting down cross-legged on the very oldest and dirtiest of rugs, and
-just outside our fragrant hedge of oleander, is to be seen an old Jew,
-the finest type of a Shylock that could be imagined; with ample, heavy,
-flowing beard, aquiline nose with sharp cut nostril, and deep-set piercing
-eyes shadowed by an ample turban. He has before him, on his rug, a
-collection of arms, pistols of the old approved Turkish form and yataghans
-of every price, from the common horn-handled weapon in a wooden sheath
-to the jewel-hilted Kharjar in a sheath of _repoussé_ silver. Around is
-a motley group of countrymen, all talking at the top of their voices in
-their several languages, whilst examining and praising or depreciating
-the weapons there for sale, just as they are either simple _flâneurs_
-in the square, or really intending purchasers. The varieties of costume
-rendered this picturesque group most interesting, there were Morlacchi
-from the neighbouring mountains with full blue Turkish trowsers fast to
-the knee; gold embroidered crimson jackets without sleeves, and gaiters
-to match; the whole finished off by an immense Albanian scarf of many
-colours wound round the waist, holding a perfect armoury of weapons in
-the front. On the head most of them wore a small red fez, others wore
-a turban, but it was not put on like the Jews, they did not seem _au
-fait_ in settling it; but whatever head-gear they adopted they all were
-decorated with a tail—a genuine plaited tail coming down their backs with
-such luxuriance that it might have been the envy of any Celestial. I could
-not bring myself to like it—though report says that the Morlacchi are
-wonderfully attached to their tails, and cherish and pet them somewhat
-in the manner of our old tars in the days of Collingwood and Nelson.
-
-There were Turks from the Herzegovina, ill-looking, badly-clad, scowling
-Mussulmans, who would willingly have earned ten paras by sending a
-Christian to his latter home, but still gorgeous in their tatters and
-vermin. There were Christian Albanians with their white fustanellas,
-high aquiline nose, glittering eyes, and false smile, in dress somewhat
-similar to the Morlacchi, but wearing a smaller fez with a long blue
-tassel. Conspicuous above them all was a Risanese from the Gulf of
-Cattaro, in full Montenegrin costume; but with a green instead of the
-white characteristic coat, all overladen about the breast and shoulders
-with plates of solid gold of considerable thickness, especially over the
-shoulders, where they would, if required, afford some protection from
-the blow of a sabre.
-
-Mingled with the men were several women—some very good-looking—with
-golden-brown hair and dark eyes and eyelashes; their hair in plaits, not
-hanging but coiled round their heads, which were further adorned with
-Turkish piastres and other coins. The dress is a mixture of red, white,
-and blue artistically combined, with coral and coins twisted round their
-necks.
-
-The noise of this Babel of tongues was deafening, and the scene not to be
-described. One wretched, tattered old man, but armed to the teeth like
-the rest, long tried to persuade me to buy a hank of onions, and would
-not be gainsaid when told by one of the waiters of the _café_ that I
-was a traveller and did not require onions; what better or more portable
-provisions could I carry with me in my travels than onions? said he.
-
-Having finished my _granita_, I again started to explore the city; this
-time under the guidance of a most obliging gentleman, well versed in the
-antiquities of the place, and to whom I had brought an introduction.
-We first went outside the city to inspect the grand Porta Aurea. This
-had only lately been thoroughly excavated, and even in its present
-dilapidated condition, not so much the effect of time as of the plundering
-propensities of man, is still most beautiful and grand. What must it
-have been before the eight columns which decorated its front were taken
-away to adorn some modern church?
-
-From the Porta Aurea, we again got into the city, proceeding straight to
-the court of the vestibule of the Palace, where all that is best worth
-seeing in Spalato is collected together. Here in front of us was the
-façade of the peristyle, consisting of four large and beautiful granite
-columns, supporting a triangular pediment, and which occupied the whole
-breadth of the court. On each side were a row of six Corinthian columns,
-equally large, and also of rose-coloured Egyptian granite, supporting
-not an architrave as is generally the case, but a series of arches
-which sprang from their capitals. On the right was the smaller temple,
-dedicated to Esculapius, now converted into a baptistry, and dedicated
-to St. John. On the left, the Temple of Jupiter—now the Cathedral of
-Spalato, by the side of which rises that most elegant campanile, the
-Giralda of Spalato, only one hundred and ninety-nine feet high, since
-the two upper stories were thrown down by lightning.
-
-The interior of the Cathedral does not offer much to admire—nevertheless
-its general effect is sufficiently imposing. But it is outside in the
-court, the present piazza, that all the beauty of the place reveals
-itself. It is not a ruin—of the sixteen original granite columns not one
-has been displaced, and this portion of the Palace of Spalato is as in
-the days when Diocletian came into his Temple to pray. Can the reader
-believe that all this is really within five days of London?
-
-Dalmatia has been the birthplace of many men of letters and science,
-and Spalato can boast of having even given a Protestant Dean to our
-royal Windsor, in the person of the celebrated Mark Anthony de Dominis,
-once Catholic Archbishop of Spalato, whose life and death would furnish
-materials for a sensational novel. As his history is not commonly known,
-it may, perhaps, interest some of my readers to hear it now.
-
-He was born about the year 1570, and educated at the Illyrian College
-of the Jesuits, in Loretto, from whence he passed to Padua, where he
-became Professor of Mathematics. In the year 1600, he was created Bishop
-of Segna, and in 1602 he was raised to the Archbishopric of Spalato,
-where, during the terrible plague of 1607, he nobly distinguished himself
-by his liberality to the poor, and his fearless and humane attendance
-on the sick in the administration of his sacerdotal duties—emulating
-the courage and devotion, under similar circumstances, of Borromeo of
-Milan. He occupied the Archiepiscopal throne of Spalato for fourteen
-years, during which period his time was divided between the performance
-of his ecclesiastical duties, and the investigations of science. He
-converted the upper part of the Palace, at Spalato, into a Laboratory
-and an Observatory, and the window is still shown where he is supposed
-to have made the discovery of the prismatic colour of light, "by the
-falling drops of water;" which discovery, including a description of the
-nature of the rainbow, he published to the world in a work printed at
-Venice in 1611. His fickleness in matters of religion, however, proved
-his ruin; his Chapter accused him of heretical opinions, upon which he
-withdrew to Venice at the close of 1615, having previously vacated his
-See in favour of his nephew Sforza Ponsoni. During his residence in that
-city, he wrote a work in favour of the Republic, which was condemned
-by the Inquisition, when he determined on withdrawing, for safety, to
-a Protestant country.
-
-He went first to Heidelberg, and thence came to England in the suite
-and at the invitation of Sir Henry Wotton, Ambassador of James I. to
-the Venetian Republic. In England, he published and dedicated to James
-I. a history of the Council of Trent, which had been lent him, it is
-said, by its author, Fra Paolo Sarpi. He also edified the Protestant
-public by an open recantation of his religion in St. Paul's Cathedral,
-and then published a work against the Papacy, entitled, "Scoglio del
-Naufragio Christiano." He was particularly well received in England;
-and was patronized by the King, who made him Dean of Windsor. He seems,
-however, to have expected more, and to have been disappointed at not
-getting a bishopric; and on Gregory XV., who was a friend and relative of
-his, succeeding him to the Papal throne, he changed his religion again,
-and yielding to the solicitations of the Pope, conveyed to him through
-the Spanish Ambassador, who promised him a Cardinal's Hat, he returned
-to Rome in 1622.
-
-Gregory XV. received him kindly, and as long as he lived De Dominis
-remained unmolested, but at his death Pope Urban VIII., who succeeded
-him, saw no reason to extend his protection over the ex-Protestant Dean
-of Windsor; he was accused of heresy, handed over to the tender mercies
-of the Holy Inquisition, and thrown into a dungeon of the Castle of St.
-Angelo, where he died in 1625—it is supposed by poison, and his body was
-subsequently burned, together with his writings, in the Campo dei Fiori.
-
-De Dominis was a very distinguished philosopher, and we must not be too
-severe when judging him by the light of the present day. There can be no
-doubt that the change from Popery to the Reformed religion was principally
-due, not to a feeling of animosity against the Church of Rome, as many
-have maintained, but chiefly to those doubts concerning the truth of the
-things taught by that church, and to its conduct in persisting to refuse
-the results of the investigations of science, as evinced by its treatment
-of Galileo and others. His return to the church is more difficult to
-account for on generous grounds; but he, himself, is stated to have said
-that by becoming a Cardinal he might be of greater use in effecting a
-reformation in that community to which he had originally belonged. The
-Holy Inquisition had hoped to have enjoyed the satisfaction of publicly
-roasting, "ad majorem Dei gloriam," a professor of Natural Science, a
-renegade Catholic Archbishop and a Protestant Dean all in one; but some
-charitable friend robbed that holy confraternity of its anticipated
-triumph by passing in some poison to the unfortunate De Dominis, who
-learnt too late that Rome never changes, "che il Lupo perde il pelo, il
-vizio no" and that according to Papal ethics to keep faith with heretics
-is at best a grievous sin.
-
-Spalato, in common with the rest of Dalmatia, has given birth to many
-able men, among which they claim even St. Jerome, the most learned of
-the ancient fathers and the talented author of the noblest translation
-of the Bible; but I fear on insufficient grounds, as all the authorities
-I have looked into seem to make him a Pannonian and not an Illyrian;
-Carrara, however, claims him as a compatriot in his "Uomini Illustri di
-Spalato."
-
-Within a few miles of Spalato are the ruins of Salona, I had not time to
-visit them. There is not comparatively very much of interest to be seen
-above ground, but I believe that methodically conducted diggings have
-yielded some valuable results. It was the Roman capital of Dalmatia and
-was destroyed by the Avars in 640, when the inhabitants who escaped from
-the slaughter took refuge in Spalato and there founded the new city,
-by grouping themselves around and under the protection of the Palace of
-Diocletian.
-
-The majority of the inhabitants of Spalato are Roman Catholics, with an
-admixture of Greeks and a good number of Jews, who wear the turban and
-the Oriental costume, and are principally descended from those who were
-expelled from Spain in 1493. For many centuries they were subjected to
-the same indignities as in other Christian countries, and compelled to
-inhabit the Ghetto where they used to be locked up at night; but such
-practices have long been abolished in Dalmatia, and the Jews of Spalato
-have enjoyed for many years the same privileges as the other citizens
-of that place.
-
-My stay at Spalato was much too short for enjoyment; I saw indeed most
-that was to be seen there, but it was not much more than a glance, and
-I longed to be sketching amongst those picturesque nooks.
-
-Having several times mentioned the Morlacchi, it will, I think, be
-interesting to my readers to know something about them. Again I have to
-regret that I was unable to visit them in their villages, and that the
-only information I can give of them is, that they are inhabitants of the
-wild mountainous district lying to the East of Dalmatia. They are a fine
-race of men, though much smaller and inferior to the Montenegrin; their
-women, on the contrary, are often very beautiful, and they have many
-strange customs in their dealings with foreigners which would make an
-excursion into the fastnesses of their mountains of more than ordinary
-interest.
-
-With the Lowland Dalmatians and the inhabitants of the towns on the
-coast, the name of Morlacchi is always associated with plunder and
-cattle-lifting, just as in Scotland a hundred years ago every Highlander,
-in the eyes of a Lowlander, was a cateran and a robber; but I heard
-from people that had been among them, that they are very hospitable, and
-that their country can be freely traversed in any direction without the
-smallest danger. They are Catholics and apparently of the same stock as
-the Montenegrins, though these latter are schismatic Greeks.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VIII.
-
-     ISLAND OF LISSA—NAVAL BATTLES—A BRIDAL PARTY TAKEN ON
-     BOARD—LESINA—FORTRESS OF SAN NICOLO—THE LOGGIE—FORT
-     SPAGNUOLO—ISLAND OF CURZOLA—LA CHROMA—BEAUTIFUL SCENE—RICHARD
-     CŒUR DE LION—CATHEDRAL OF RAGUSA—EARTHQUAKE OF 1667—TERRIBLE
-     CONFLAGRATION—PRINCE MAXIMILIAN.
-
-
-Early in the afternoon we left Spalato, and steaming away from the coast
-we stood out to sea, making for Lissa, a large island of the Adriatic,
-celebrated in the days of the first Napoleon for the stout sea fight in
-which, on the 13th of March 1811, Captain Hoste, (afterwards Sir William
-Hoste), with four ships mounting 156 guns, utterly defeated the French
-fleet of twenty-seven sail, mounting 284, having on board 500 troops.
-In 1808 we occupied Lissa, and having established free trade and other
-institutions, the island improved so much under our administration that
-in less than three years from the time we occupied it the population
-had risen to 12,000 inhabitants (at present it has scarcely 5000).
-
-The French were naturally sorely tried by the advantageous position we
-occupied in front of their coast, and the very good use we made of our
-opportunities of pushing our commerce in every direction. They determined
-therefore on expelling us from Lissa and the Adriatic, as from the
-smallness of our armament there they had no doubt as to their success.
-Swiftly and silently they fitted out an expedition at Ancona, which
-under the command of the brave Captain Dubourdieu arrived at Lissa on
-the 13th March, 1811. It consisted of four 44 gun frigates, ten 32 gun
-corvettes, one 16 gun brig, a schooner, ten gun-boats, and a xebeque,
-in all 284 guns.
-
-The British Squadron consisted of only four ships, the 'Amphion,'
-'Active,' 'Cerberus,' and 'Volage,' mounting but 156 guns all told, but
-it was commanded and manned by British seamen! the result could not be
-doubted, and although Dubourdieu fought like a gallant sailor as he was,
-the victory remained with us. Our losses were severe, and in a quiet
-retired little nook, on the left hand as one enters the land-locked
-harbour of Lissa, are buried those who fell in that engagement; while
-on the right hand side is another burial place, where under a handsome
-sepulchral monument lie the remains of those Austrians who fell in the
-latest naval engagement at Lissa when a few years ago the Italian Navy,
-the pet toy, an expensive one by the by, of King Victor Emmanuel, was
-all but annihilated by the Austrians under Admiral Tegethoff.
-
-At Lissa we remained a very short time, so short that I had not even time
-to go ashore, though I should have very much liked to visit the burial
-place of those brave English sailors who fell in the naval action of
-1811. The business of the steamer, which seemed principally to consist
-in shipping a bridal party, was soon concluded, and after a very short
-stay we were again under full steam for Lesina, another island of the
-same archipelago, but much smaller and closer in to the Dalmatian coast.
-
-The bridal party we had taken on board consisted of the bride and
-bridegroom, both very plain and very much, even tawdrily over-dressed in
-Parisian costume, and with remarkably dirty hands and otherwise unwashed
-appearance. A bishop with a couple of priests in attendance on his
-reverence, and half-a-dozen relations and friends of the newly-married
-couple, who seemed principally to study not to take any notice of each
-other but went about making themselves generally agreeable.
-
-The groom most kindly insisted on my smoking his cigars (and villainously
-bad they were, but had I declined them he would have been awfully
-offended) and drinking his maraschino, which fortunately was as good
-as his cigars were bad, whilst the bride, luckily for me, persistently
-avoided me, probably from fear of heretical contamination, and exclusively
-devoted her attentions to the Bishop and his priests.
-
-After a few hours steaming through the smoothest and bluest of seas, in
-full view of the grand mountains of Dalmatia, in due time we arrived
-at Lesina a little before sunset. This island is said to derive its
-name from being somewhat shaped like an awl, in Italian _lesina_. It
-is just a thin strip of land forty-two miles long, blunt at one end
-(which represents the handle) and sharp at the other. I doubt, however,
-the correctness of its etymology, and am inclined to think that its
-present name is more probably derived from its ancient one of "Pharos
-Insula," often reduced by elision into simply "Insula;" now the anagram
-of "Insula" is "Lusina," a word much more in harmony with the genius
-of the Italian language, and from Lusina to Lesina is but a shade. I
-think I am fortified in this etymology by the fact of at least two other
-instances in the Adriatic of this identical transposition of letters,
-and the conversion of Insula to Lusina, in the names of two islands near
-the Quarnero, named respectively Lussin Grande and Lussin Piccolo, which
-are evidently the anagram of Insula Grande and Insula Piccola.
-
-We arrived just in time to enjoy the effect of the setting sun upon
-that rocky landscape and the exquisitely pretty town at the foot of the
-mountain, and sufficiently early to be able to take a rapid sketch just
-as the sun was beginning to sink behind the tower which rises to the
-west of the town. The fort behind and above the town was still in full
-sunlight, as was also the more distant fortress of San Nicolo, brought
-forcibly into relief by a bank of dark purple clouds which were massed
-behind it. Down below, close to the water's edge, lay the town bathed
-in a flood of amber light, partly caused by the reflection of the golden
-sunset beyond, and partly by the colouring of the town itself, the houses
-of which are all painted with the warmest tints.
-
-In the middle of the town, close to the water's edge, are the "Loggie"
-or Portico, an elegant building, which in the olden times of Venetian
-supremacy was used by the merchants as an exchange to transact business
-in, as well as a hall of justice for the administration of the laws, and
-at the back a room is still shown where criminals and suspected persons
-underwent the question by torture.
-
-Immediately behind and above the Loggie rises Fort Spagnuolo, built by
-Charles V, connected with the town below by two long crenelated walls,
-enclosing in front a considerable space planted thick with colossal aloes
-(_Agave Americana_), which in case of assault would, in olden times,
-have offered a very considerable impediment to the advance of troops.
-
-The island of Lesina is barren, and its commerce very insignificant; it
-grows, however, an immense quantity of rosemary, from which is distilled
-a celebrated essential oil _Oleum Anthos_, and the _Aqua Regia_, or
-rosemary water, which are both largely exported.
-
-It was dark when we left; shaping our way for Curzola where we arrived
-about midnight. My friend, the Capuchin, who sat chatting with me till we
-arrived there, regretted I could not see it by daylight, as contrary to
-the other islands, which are conspicuous for their barrenness, Curzola
-is well wooded, and is celebrated for the size and magnificence of its
-pine trees.
-
-We did not make any long delay here, and were soon threading our course
-again between the islands and the mainland in the direction of Ragusa,
-but I know nothing about them. The Monk wished me good-night and went
-to his cabin, when again I took my usual place on deck, and was soon
-as comfortably asleep on that oaken plank as if I had been in the most
-luxurious bed in England.
-
-I was awakened from my night's sleep by my friend the Capuchin monk,
-who had been my travelling companion all the way from Trieste.
-
-"Get up, my lazy friend," said he, touching me with his foot. "We shall
-soon be entering the port of Gravosa; and there," stretching, out his
-arm towards the Dalmatian coast, "is the island of Lachroma, once the
-property of the unfortunate Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, and in ancient
-times a harbour of refuge to your great King Richard, Cœur-de-Lion."
-
-Hard though my bed had been, for nothing but my doubled up old rug had
-interposed between myself and the deck, I had slept profoundly, "_à
-la belle étoile_," and far more comfortably than if I had condescended
-to take my place in the dirty and stuffy _camerino_ down below, where
-all the other passengers, including my friend the Capuchin and his
-lay-brother, fearing bad smells, fleas, and other small game much less
-than the delicious night-air of the balmy Adriatic, had carefully stowed
-themselves away the previous night. I was up in an instant, and I shall
-not easily forget the sight that greeted my eyes from the deck of the
-little 'San Carlo.'
-
-We were about three miles from the shore; the sun, though high above the
-horizon, had not yet acquired sufficient force to destroy the freshness
-of the morning breeze which delicately rippled the surface of the sea,
-making it in the sunshine like a sheet of frosted gold, while in the
-shade it was like liquid sapphire. On my left rose the wild, rocky
-cliffs of Dalmatia, rendered still more desolate-looking by the almost
-total absence of vegetation; while in front and on my right, stretching
-away to the extreme verge of the horizon, were the sparkling waters of
-the Adriatic, thickly studded with countless islets, to the nearest of
-which, Lachroma, the Monk had drawn my attention.
-
-"It is now many years," said the Capuchin, "since your great crusading
-King found a refuge in that island."
-
-"I was not aware that King Richard was shipwrecked here," said I. "I
-knew that he met with a terrific storm in this sea on his return from
-Palestine, but I always imagined he had been wrecked near the top of
-the Adriatic, on the coast of Istria, in the neighbourhood of Aquileia."
-
-"Yes," replied the Monk, "it is not generally known that it was on the
-rocks of Lachroma that Cœur-de-Lion was cast away; and it is strange how
-this error should have crept into history and held its ground and place
-in every standard work, including your own invaluable Cyclopædias. But we
-have ample proofs of the truth of what I am telling you, and documentary
-evidence to establish the accuracy of my assertion; for your King,
-in gratitude to Divine Providence for delivering him from shipwreck,
-vowed to build a church in honour of the Blessed Virgin, on whatever
-land he should first set foot, and having safely landed at Lachroma, he
-proceeded to make good his vow by committing to the abbot and monks of
-a Benedictine monastery, which already existed on the island, the task
-of building this church, to defray the expenses of which the good King
-devoted no less than 100,000 _nummi argentei_, which sum he borrowed
-from his British lieges. But the Rettore of Ragusa (so the President
-of that ancient Republic was styled), having heard of King Richard's
-shipwreck opposite his city, went to visit him in state, with all the
-magistrates and councillors of the Republic, and invited him to Ragusa,
-where he was received with every demonstration of respect, and all the
-hospitality and attention due to so distinguished a guest.
-
-King Richard, pleased at the reception given him by the Republicans, and
-charmed by the attractive graces of the Ragusan ladies, rested there for
-some time; and then at the suggestion of these fair ones and the urgent
-entreaties of the authorities, who promised to obtain a dispensation for
-him from the Pope, he altered the terms of his donation, and founded in
-Ragusa itself the church to the Blessed Virgin which he had originally
-vowed on the island of Lachroma; on the condition, however, that the
-Benedictine Abbot of Lachroma, assisted by the monks of his convent,
-should have the privilege and the right to celebrate mass in this church
-in Ragusa every year on the day of the feast of the Purification. The gift
-of Richard Cœur-de-Lion having been further increased by donations from
-the inhabitants, this votive church grew into that celebrated cathedral
-which for so many years held the first rank among all the churches of
-Illyria.[5] At last, however, came one fatal morning, the 6th of April,
-1667, when Ragusa was all but annihilated by an earthquake. In a few
-moments all the principal edifices in the town were laid low, including
-the Cathedral of King Richard, and upwards of six thousand inhabitants,
-more than one-fifth of the entire population were buried in the ruins.
-There was not a family in the whole city which had not one or more to
-mourn for. Several of my ancestors perished, and among others a lineal
-ancestor of my mother, Simone Ghetaldi, then Rettore of the Republic;
-he and several senators were assembled in the Council Chamber, and about
-to receive the visit of a Dutch Embassy (which had stopped at Ragusa on
-its way to Constantinople, to which court it was accredited) when they
-were all engulphed; not one escaped, and it is supposed that at that spot
-the earth must have opened and closed over them again. The Archbishop
-barely escaped with his life by jumping out of a window as the floors
-of his palace were giving way beneath him, and more than nine-tenths
-of the clergy perished. We preserve in our family a manuscript which
-gives an accurate account of this terrible catastrophe; as a youngster,
-I was often made to copy it out, and I therefore know it almost off by
-heart. It tells how the morning of the 6th of April, 1667, broke calm and
-bright, and that the atmosphere was still and serene, without anything to
-indicate the approaching danger, when suddenly, without any premonitory
-sound, about two hours after sunrise, while most of the inhabitants were
-still in their houses, or in the churches hearing early mass, the earth
-shook so violently that in a few minutes the whole town was in ruins,
-with the exception of the fortress, and a few other buildings, the walls
-of which were enormously thick. In addition to the destruction caused
-by falling houses, large rocks came toppling down, detached from the
-mountain, which, as you see, apparently overhangs the city. This added
-greatly to the terror and devastation. So far as we know there was but
-_one shock_, and it lasted only a few seconds; but no where and at no
-time was so much damage done thus instantaneously.
-
-"Many harrowing scenes were recounted, but perhaps the most terrible of
-all was that of a school of boys which was swallowed up beneath the ruins.
-All the unfortunate lads perished, most of them by a miserable lingering
-death, and for days their moans and cries for help and water could be
-heard by their distracted friends, without the possibility of giving
-them any relief. One would have thought this a sufficient visitation for
-poor Ragusa, but calamities never come singly. A fire broke out on the
-same day, and towards evening a strong wind arose and fanned the flames,
-thus increasing the conflagration beyond the power of control. Night came
-on, and the whole side of the mountains was illuminated by the flames of
-the burning city. Then the wild mountaineers, the Morlacchi, came down
-in swarms to pilfer and snatch whatever they could from the universal
-wreck. The scenes then enacted defied all powers of description. The
-fires were burning with exceptional brightness and fury, in consequence
-of the conflagration having reached the stores of oil, tallow and tar
-accumulated in the Arsenal and elsewhere. Groups of Morlacchi, undeterred
-by the crumbling walls and the scorching rafters, could be seen flitting
-about among ruins regardless of the danger! Occasionally some such group
-having ventured too far, would disappear with a fearful scream into some
-yawning gulf; while in another spot two parties of the same plunderers
-might be seen in deadly conflict, fighting with their long straight
-knives over their unlawful booty. It was a fearful night.
-
-"But all this is ancient history; there is another tragic episode
-connected with Lachroma. Another calamity is brought to our minds when
-we look upon its shores. Poor Prince Maximilian!—alas! alas! he was a
-good and kind man,—and that noble unfortunate Princess Charlotte! I had
-the honour of being in their company more than once, both in Europe and
-Mexico; they were so good, so affable, so happy, till in an evil hour
-they allowed themselves to be led away by ambition. The Prince seemed
-all along to have had a presentiment of evil. I was told by one who was
-present, that nothing could be more melancholy than his departure from
-Miramar, and the leave-taking when he was waited on by a deputation from
-Trieste was the most painful scene he ever witnessed. The Prince was
-completely overcome, and fairly broke down on this occasion. After his
-assassination the island was sold, and now I hear it is for sale again."
-
-The good old Monk was silent for a few minutes, and then gently putting
-his hand on my shoulder, he said,
-
-"You are English, _non è vero_? You are not American? I would not say
-a hurtful word to mortal, but I cannot help thinking that the President
-of the United States was nearly as much to blame as the Mexican savage
-for the murder of Maximilian; one word from the United States' President
-would have saved the Emperor's life."
-
-"But what about the French Emperor?" I asked; "he who got the poor Prince
-into the scrape, and then left him to get out of it as best he could?"
-
-"Ah; true—true," repeated the Monk. "_e quell'altro birbaccione di
-Bazaine_! Ah! Providence will overtake them all. But look, see how
-beautiful Ragusa is, how picturesque! Although I am only a poor Capuchin
-monk, I feel proud of my native city—_che mi son Raguséo_!" he exclaimed,
-breaking out into his native Venetian dialect. "Though most of my life
-has been spent far away in foreign missions, I still cling with fondness
-to my native shores, and feel thankful, most thankful," he repeated,
-bending his head, "that it has pleased His Holiness and our General to
-order me back here again at last."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IX.
-
-     THE PADRE ANSELMO—HIS LIFE AND LABOURS AMONG THE AMERICAN
-     INDIANS—THE PIONEERS OF CIVILIZATION—AMERICAN INDIANS AND
-     NEGROES—PADRE ANSELMO ON PROTESTANT AND CATHOLIC MISSIONS—NATIVE
-     CHRISTIANS IN INDIA—POPE PIUS IX. ONCE A MISSIONARY—CARDINAL
-     P—.—PORT OF GRAVOSA—RAGUSA.
-
-
-I felt an unusual degree of regret, thinking I should so soon lose the
-company of Padre Anselmo; we had come all the way together from Trieste,
-and had spent many pleasant hours in genial conversation, flavoured from
-time to time with spicy, sharp, but good-humoured polemics, during which
-the Padre never lost his temper, and I had not always the best of the
-argument.
-
-He was a very remarkable man, of an ancient noble Ragusan family,
-evidently pious, yet wonderfully large-minded. I shall always remember
-with pleasure the conversations we had together on the deck of the 'San
-Carlo,' by the bright Italian moonlight, on those deep, smooth waters of
-the Adriatic that sparkled with phosphorescence at every stroke of the
-paddle-wheel. He was aware I was a Protestant, and though he had been a
-missionary for many years he knew how to avoid polemics whenever it was
-fit. He had been in South America and in North America; in the plains
-of the Amazon and the Orinoco, and among the Sierras of Mexico.
-
-I asked him about his success among the Indians, and after reflecting
-for a little he gave me a most interesting account of his life's labours
-among them. I carefully noted down each night in my diary, after we had
-parted, the principal headings of his narrative, and some day I may give
-to the public an account of the labours, trials, and sufferings of this
-good and conscientious monk.
-
-In answer to my question as to the amount of success he had obtained
-during his long intercourse with American Indians, he said,
-
-"There is a most extraordinary difference in intelligence between
-the different tribes, even among those living close together; some
-are wonderfully more intelligent than others, and, strange to say, I
-found them better the farther they were removed from the influence of
-civilization. A great deal might be made of them were it not for the
-evil influence of the traders who come among them—the most pernicious of
-whom I invariably found were those coming from the United States. These
-traders, pioneers of civilization—as they called themselves—were almost
-invariably men without any religion or principle; awful blasphemers,
-their oaths were too terrific! They generally consisted of the veriest
-scum and offscourings of commercial cities; they showed the poor savages
-the very worst examples, for fair trading was unknown to them, and lying,
-overreaching, and brow-beating were their chief characteristics, while
-of drunkenness and unblushing debauchery they were terrible examples.
-I was once asked by a chief why we came so far to teach them, and left
-our own people untaught."
-
-Padre Anselmo also told me that some of the natives had some idea of
-the Divinity, and were very teachable, not like the Negroes of the West
-Coast of Africa among whom he had laboured a short time. He contrasted
-the capabilities of both races, and shaking his head, added,
-
-"I fear it will take hundreds of centuries of incessant teaching, and
-that more by example than by word of mouth, before any good will come from
-missions among the Negroes; they seem utterly incapable of understanding
-any of the attributes of God. They look upon him invariably as one to
-be feared, and propitiated by gifts and sacrifices, so that he may be
-induced, if possible, to do them no harm."
-
-A chief came to him one night by stealth, "but not like Nicodemus," as
-the worthy Monk added; he brought various presents to the mission, some
-of considerable value, consisting of native rings of twisted gold. He
-whispered under his breath to the Monk,
-
-"You white man know everything, and you say your God rules everything.
-Tell me where I can find him, that I may kill him! he is a bad god—he
-has killed my favourite wife, and now I must kill him!"
-
-The Negro was foaming at the mouth from impotent rage, and his fearful
-language, together with the rolling of his eyes and the contortions
-of his body, impressed the Monk at first with the idea that he was an
-impersonation of the Evil One. Yet this chief had till then been the most
-promising of all those natives on whom he had been wasting his time,
-his patience, and his doctrine. In vain the Missionary tried to reason
-with the demoniac chief; his words made no impression, and the savage,
-failing to discover from the Monk the whereabouts of the white man's God,
-returned to his village, where he burned his own national fetish, and
-then cut off the heads of half-a-dozen wretches, having first charged
-them with messages to be delivered to his wife in dead-man's-land!
-
-One evening Padre Anselmo and I, after making ourselves snug on a pile
-of sacks near the binnacle, were talking about missionary work, when he
-spoke to me about our Protestant missions, and asked me many questions
-concerning them.
-
-"You work your missions differently from the way we do ours; you pay
-your missionaries well, and even allow them, I have been told, to trade
-at times, and to buy and sell and follow different callings. I have also
-heard that you send missionaries abroad without any particular regard to
-their capabilities, for instance as to their knowledge of the language
-of the country they are sent to. Now all our missionaries are strictly
-prepared for the country where they are intended to labour, and are not
-sent out until they have acquired a good knowledge of the language of
-that country. How do you find your system to work? Have you had much
-success in the East Indies during the hundred years you have had the
-opportunity of working in them?"
-
-I imagined I could detect something of a smile playing about the corners
-of his mouth as he made these remarks, and just as I was about to reply, a
-scene came to my mind of which I had read or heard an account somewhere,
-of an English missionary addressing an Arab audience in Tangier through
-the medium of a Gibraltar Jew, for the missionary was utterly innocent
-of any language but his own London English, and my innate appreciation
-of the ridiculous so overcame my sense of what was proper and decorous
-that I laughed myself nearly into fits.[6] However, having recovered my
-equanimity, I replied, "I did not know very much about the matter; but I
-had always heard that, generally speaking, the native Christians were the
-greatest blackguards in India, the least objectionable being certainly
-the Goanese Catholics," at which the good old monk seemed highly pleased.
-
-His ideas of missionary work were peculiar and interesting. "We should
-always," he said, "treat savages and the utterly uneducated, whether
-at home or abroad, who are scarcely better than savages, like little
-children, like very little children in intelligence, yet endowed with the
-passions and vices of grown up men. One should therefore, if possible,
-never try to teach them things beyond their understanding, but make
-their practical civilization proceed _pari passu_ with their religious
-training—instilling morality before preaching doctrine and dogma, both
-teachings being backed up by unexceptionable example. "These are not my
-own ideas," added Padre Anselmo, "they are the precepts of the wonderful
-man who preceded me in the Amazon Mission, the present Pontiff, His
-Holiness Pope Pius IX., whose equal will never again occupy the chair
-of St. Peter."
-
-"What! was the Pope ever a missionary?" I asked with astonishment. I knew
-he had been a soldier, and had been even assured that in his early days
-he was initiated a Freemason in a Lodge in Sicily; there was nothing very
-extraordinary in his having been a missionary, but I had never heard of
-it before, and was therefore taken by surprise.
-
-"Indeed he was," replied Padre Anselmo, "and a very zealous and
-hard-working missionary, whose memory is reverenced to this day, among
-many a wild tribe on the banks of the Amazon."
-
-Then we began to talk politics, that is to say I talked, the Monk only
-listened, till musingly I said, "I wonder who will succeed him in the
-Chair of St. Peter?"
-
-"Whoever he may be," replied the Monk, "he will have a difficult task
-coming after such a man."
-
-"Have you been lately at Rome?" said I.
-
-"I was there two months ago," he replied.
-
-"What then do you think of Cardinal P—? do you know him?"
-
-The Monk fixed his eyes on me for a moment, as if he would have read my
-most inmost thoughts, and then speaking very slowly, said:
-
-"That Sicilian Monk has long been aiming at the Tiara; he lives within
-himself, has no confidant, no intimate friend, has no talents, only plenty
-of doggedness, _vorrebbe Papeggiare_, but no, never will he occupy the
-Pontifical chair, never!" and the Monk, for a minute looked me full in
-the face.
-
-We were now getting quite close to the town, which is built on the narrow
-strip of land that lies between the Adriatic and the Dalmatian mountains,
-that here rise up almost perpendicularly behind it. The morning mists
-were clearing off, and the hazy outlines of the towers and ramparts, the
-cupolas and steeples, together with the bright colouring of the sails of
-the felucas and trabaccoli gliding out of the harbour, threading their
-way through the many islands scattered outside it, formed a picture
-that might be realized by a painter but of which I will not attempt the
-description.
-
-We were now fairly in the port of Gravosa, and the steamer was surrounded
-by native boats conveying eager candidates for the privilege of carrying
-ourselves and luggage to the shore. The real port is at Ragusa itself,
-sheltered and protected by the ancient bastions and towers of the city,
-but, though amply deep enough for its ancient galleys, and for those
-argosies (so named after this very city of Ragusa) which in ancient
-times monopolized with Venice the commerce of the world, it is not now
-large enough or deep enough to accommodate our modern practical, though
-inelegant fire-ships. It has consequently been abandoned for the port
-of Gravosa, which is not only large, safe, and commodious, but also
-exquisitely beautiful, though inconveniently distant, being nearly a
-mile from the city. An excellent road, however, originally made by the
-French and subsequently improved by the Austrians, communicates between
-the two places, and numerous small carriages drawn by one or two horses
-are constantly in readiness to convey for a trifle those who do not wish
-to walk to Ragusa.
-
-The two monks and I were soon on shore, and there I reluctantly parted
-with them; they went on foot towards their convent, while I took a small
-one-horse carriage and started off to the city.
-
-Away we went at full gallop skirting the harbour, till the rising ground
-at the end of the little valley compelled our lively little horse to
-a slower rate of progression. We soon however topped the hill, when we
-again came in view of the sea on our right hand, while on our left were
-numbers of villas peeping out through masses of oleanders and gigantic
-aloes, whose flower stems, like colossal candelabra, fifteen to twenty
-feet in height, gave a peculiarly exotic character to the scene. Many
-of these villas were in ruins, and others more or less damaged, still
-bearing evidence of the French occupation at the beginning of this
-century, and of their expulsion by the Russian and Montenegrin troops.
-
-Ragusa was now fairly again in sight, and a noble city it is, and how
-picturesque! so far as its greatness is concerned, Ragusa is now but
-the shadow of what it was in bygone days. Its political importance has
-faded away—its commercial supremacy is a thing of the past; but its
-local beauty, its domes, its campaniles, its lofty cut-stone palaces,
-its churches and public buildings, its exquisitely clean streets, its
-balmy air, its azure sea and its pleasant society—all these are things
-real and of the present. But Ragusa is not a place to be described, it
-must be seen and studied to be appreciated. See it from the land, or
-from the sea—wander through its narrow, quaint, artistic streets, ramble
-round its walls and ramparts, and you will find it from every point of
-view a most remarkable place.
-
-This grand old city, into which neither horse nor carriage is ever allowed
-to enter, was founded about the beginning of the seventh century, not
-very long after the foundation of Venice. Both cities were Republics,
-rivals in commerce and in the arts, and their people were incessantly at
-war with one another. But though Venice, by degrees, was able to subdue
-and include in her grasp almost the entire Eastern coast of the Adriatic,
-she never succeeded, either by cajolery or brute force, in conquering the
-Ragusans, who maintained their freedom till 1806; when, after existing
-as an independent State for upwards of a thousand years, during which
-time it had remained as an advanced post of European civilization on the
-borders of wild Bosnia and fierce Albania, it fell with Venice, Genoa,
-and the other free communities of Europe which Napoleon I. wiped off
-the map of the world.
-
-All down the coast of the Adriatic may be seen the winged Lion of St.
-Mark, wherever the encroaching ambition of the Venetians enabled them
-to establish themselves; but in Ragusa you will seek that grim Venetian
-effigy in vain. Ragusa never was conquered by her great rival!
-
-The carrettella came spinning, at the rate of a hunt, down the hill, at
-the bottom of which is the entrance to Ragusa, and turning sharp round
-at a speed that threatened to upset us bag and baggage into the middle
-of the road, pulled up suddenly on the right, where a very primitive
-hotel offers the only prospect of refreshment to the chance traveller
-in those parts; though, for such as intend remaining some little time,
-good accommodation can be obtained within the city. The hotel is most
-picturesquely situated on the very edge of the sea, opposite to the
-fortifications "_di mare_," and has in front a considerable plantation
-of beautiful Paolonias, then in full blossom; on the opposite side is
-the café, where of a Summer's evening congregate the rank and fashion
-of Ragusa to enjoy their ices and lemonade, and listen to the excellent
-band of the Austrian regiment quartered there, and whatever gossip,
-scandalous or otherwise, that may be buzzing about. And very enjoyable
-it must be! fine climate, pleasant society, lovely scenery, easy access
-to the rest of Europe, either East or West, and cheap living—what more
-could be desired? I would not ask for more.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER X.
-
-     ATTRACTIONS OF DALMATIA—INTERESTING EXCURSION—ISLAND OF
-     LACHROMA—CLIMATE—A. A. PATON, ESQ., FORMERLY CONSUL-GENERAL
-     AT RAGUSA—AN ITALIAN DINNER—EPIDAURUS—THE CANAL OF
-     CATTARO—TERRITORY OF RAGUSA—TOWER OF PERASTO AND FORT OF SANTA
-     CROCE—STRANGELY BUILT CHURCH—A PALAZZO—SAN GIORGIO AND LA
-     MADONNA—PICTURE ATTRIBUTED TO ST. LUKE.
-
-
-It has always been a source of much astonishment to me, seeing the
-facility with which these parts can be reached from Trieste, that so few
-of the ubiquitous English—indeed, I might say none of them,—ever visit
-them, or any of the other many beautiful and interesting localities
-which crowd the Eastern shores of the Adriatic. I really believe those
-countries are not visited because they are in a certain sense unknown.
-I trust, however, that some of my readers who may perchance be tired
-of those hackneyed tours which, year after year, are undertaken by the
-travelling multitudes, will try a venture some day in Dalmatia.
-
-Starting from Trieste in one of the many coasting steamers which trade
-to Corfu, stopping at every place on the Eastern shores of the Adriatic
-from Capo d'Istria downwards, and making excursions from each into the
-interior, anyone fond of everything beautiful and picturesque, whether
-in nature or in art, would have the most delightful trip imaginable;
-and if getting out at Cattaro he will scale those wonderful mountains
-which seem ever on the point of toppling over on that devoted city, and
-penetrate into Montenegro, coming back to the Adriatic by the Lake of
-Scutari (or Skodra as it _ought_ to be called) in Northern Albania, he
-will have made an excursion in the heart of Europe, within seven days
-from London, and in the short space of five weeks, which for beauty of
-country, wildness of scenery, novelty of life, and magnificence of native
-costumes cannot be equalled from Spain to the Caucasus, or from Norway
-to the Lebanon!
-
-Having made my adieux to Mr. Paton, our Consul at Ragusa, to whom as
-well as to Persich Effendi, the Ottoman Consul, I was largely indebted
-for much kind advice, as well as for a personal introduction to Mr.
-Yonin, Russian Consul at Ragusa, who subsequently at Cattaro and at
-Cettigne proved a kind friend and most valuable and charming companion,
-I returned on board and was soon steering south again. We steamed quite
-close inland, and had an excellent view of the ancient fortifications
-of Ragusa and its old harbour, only frequented at present by the felucas
-and trabaccoli which carry on the coasting trade of the country.
-
-We also passed close to the island of Lachroma. The Russian Consul,
-Mr. Yonin, told me it was for sale and would probably go cheap. I can't
-conceive a spot on earth where a man tired of the bustle of life and the
-feverish excitement and turmoil of cities could more delightfully spend
-the remainder of his days. There is a fairly good house on the island,
-which is itself beautifully wooded and laid-out. It is sufficiently
-near to Ragusa to enable one to obtain everything one could require from
-that city, it is right in the gangway of all the steamers going up and
-down the Adriatic, within five days of London, and with such a number
-of communications with the outer world that it would be seclusion only
-as long as one wished it to be so.
-
-As to the climate, none more beautiful could be desired—sufficiently
-warm to grow figs, grapes, and oranges, yet daily tempered in Summer by
-the delicious sea-breeze of the Adriatic, which prevents the heat from
-ever being oppressive, while of Winter there is barely the name—the
-thermometer seldom going down to frost.
-
-The sea teems with fish of the most delicious kinds, some of which are
-totally unknown among us; the dentale coronato, for instance, the true
-sardine, and the rosy mullet, the woodcock of the sea, which here grows
-to an immense size—while from the mainland one can always obtain at
-wonderfully low prices abundance of small mountain mutton, poultry, and
-game.
-
-I never was in any place that took my fancy like Ragusa and Lachroma—so
-lovely, so picturesque, so secluded, and yet so accessible!
-
-Since my return to England I have heard with deep regret of the loss we
-have sustained by the death of A. A. Paton, Esq., our Consul-General at
-Ragusa. The country has to regret in him an able and industrious servant,
-while literature has to mourn for one of its most gifted votaries, as
-his works on Egypt, Servia, and the Adriatic will amply attest; but only
-those who had the pleasure of his acquaintance can at all venture to
-measure the loss which his death must be in his own family circle!
-
-Now the bell rings, and Giovanni bustles up and down the deck, intimating,
-"_che'l pranzo ze pronto_," so down we all plunged into the saloon,
-where a good dinner, as usual, welcomed us.
-
-As the coast is uninteresting, besides which I don't want to go on deck at
-present, I may as well tell you of what our Italian dinner consisted. We
-first had an excellent Julienne soup, with abundance of grated Parmesan
-for such as appreciated it; next was served the "_fritto_," according
-to old Italian custom, which always enumerates the following dishes,
-to succeed each other in an orthodox dinner:—minestra, fritto, lesso,
-umido, arrosto, dolce, frutta, and, when in season, slices of melon, or
-fresh figs, served up immediately after the soup, to be eaten with thin
-slices of raw ham or Bologna sausage. Figs being in season they were not
-wanting, so conforming to the usage of the country I ate some with raw
-Bologna sausage, and learnt fully to appreciate the strange compound,
-which I afterwards always indulged in whenever I had a chance.
-
-The _fritto_ was delicious (assuredly nowhere else can they fry as in
-Italy); it consisted of zucchettine and fiori, _i.e._, young unexpanded
-gourd flowers and very young gourds not bigger thin an egg, cut in thin
-slices, dipped in the thinnest of batter and fried quite crisp and golden
-brown, and served dry without a particle of grease. Then came a dish of
-_gnocchi alla Milanese_, a superb dish, but difficult to explain; imagine
-the ingredients of a colossal _vol-au-vent à la financière_, replete
-with livers, cocks' combs, unborn eggs, &c., &c., surrounded by a bastion
-of a peculiar preparation, made of maize-flour, and the whole bathed in
-tomato sauce and sprinkled right over with grated Parmesan, "_proprio da
-far riavere i morti_," as the _chef_ exclaimed to me after dinner, when,
-handing him a cigar, I complimented him on his _gnocchi_. Then came the
-_arrosto_ which consisted of veal and fowls, and after that a splendid
-_piatto dolce_ of stewed peaches in an artistic cage of caramel sugar,
-ornamented with strange devices of most delicious marzapane.
-
-Having slowly worked our way through this sumptuous repast, we went on
-deck, where coffee was served with its usual accompaniment of Maraschino,
-both sweetened and unsweetened, together with the inevitable smoke, which
-contrary to reason, as one would think, is even more comforting in hot
-countries like the Levant, than it is in cold damp regions like Holland.
-
-I have a dim recollection of the captain tapping me on the shoulder
-and telling me something about Ragusa Vecchia and Epidaurus as we were
-steaming down the coast; but I was in too dreamy a state to pay much
-attention to him at the time, and as I knew the coast was uninteresting,
-I told him to call me as soon as we should come in sight of the Bocche
-and Castelnuovo, and dozed away again.
-
-I afterwards learnt that this Epidaurus, about which I was rather fretting
-for having refused to stir from my siesta to look at it, was really not
-worth seeing, though an ancient city, having been founded by a Greek
-colony somewhere about 700 years B.C., more or less; but all its
-antiquities had been removed long ago.
-
-It was between three and four in the afternoon when I awoke of my own
-accord, thus anticipating the captain, who was just coming to tell me that
-we were about entering the canal of Cattaro, as it is called, but which
-to our ear is far better described by the name of Fjord of Cattaro. It
-is to all intents and purposes a Fjord, being an arm of the sea running
-up for eighteen miles into land, between high precipitous cliffs; and
-if there is not a glacier at the end of it, but only a quaint Dalmatian
-town with the most picturesque fort and fortifications in the world, it
-does not alter the character of the inlet.
-
-The entrance to this Fjord, called "le Bocche di Cattaro," is guarded
-on the right by the Fort of Castelnuovo, and on the left is bounded by
-a narrow strip of Turkish territory, a portion of Herzegovina, which
-here comes down to the Adriatic, separating the Circolo of Ragusa from
-that of Cattaro. By some strange political arrangement, or oversight
-more probably, another narrow strip of Turkish territory comes down to
-the Adriatic on the north of Ragusa, completely isolating that ancient
-Republic which finds itself thus entirely surrounded by Ottoman territory
-on three sides, while on the fourth it is bounded by the Adriatic.
-
-The country about the entrance of the Bocche di Cattaro is fine,
-well wooded and planted with olive trees, through which can be seen
-numerous habitations, while many of the rugged heights are crowned with
-semi-fortified churches, which served as places of refuge to the women
-and children in troublous times.
-
-Proceeding onwards, the scene varies and the trees lessen in numbers,
-though the landscape loses nothing of its beauty, as by the constant
-windings of the Fjord the changes are continuous and rapid, and the
-many villages built on the edge of the water, and sharply reflected
-in it, add one more charm to the picture. At one point the Fjord is
-barely half a mile across, when suddenly it expands into a lake of many
-miles in circumference, where all the navies of the world could lie in
-safety. But now the scene changes again and the Fjord becomes a narrow
-tortuous channel, bounded on either side by naked rocky cliffs. Like
-the rest of the coast of Dalmatia it is, however, very beautiful. About
-half way between Castelnuovo and Cattaro, the Fjord expands and divides
-right and left forming two bays, that of Risano to the left, and that
-of Cattaro to the right; while in front rise the almost perpendicular
-crags of Montenegro, at the foot of which, with barely room to build
-on, so near does the mountain come to the edge of the water, stands the
-town of Perasto with the ancient fort of Santa Croce just above it.
-
-This place must have been of considerable importance within late years,
-still I never saw such a picture of poverty and desolation. The houses
-are not in ruins, but look dilapidated; the windows are broken in, the
-jalousies hanging by one hinge and in pieces, while in many places the
-roofs are stripped of their tiles. The position of Perasto cannot be
-surpassed; built on a promontory facing the west, it has the lake-like
-expansion of the Gulf of Cattaro in front and does not consequently
-labour under the disadvantage Cattaro suffers from, by having a chain of
-mountains in front of it to the westward, which deprive it of the sun in
-Winter before two o'clock in the afternoon. The style of the houses in
-Perasto shows that not long ago it could boast of an opulent population,
-which is further exemplified by the fortress built at the expense of
-the town—by its lofty steeple and by its churches. One in particular
-caught my eye from the steamer, _it had no façade_, not that it had
-fallen into ruin, neither had it been shaken down by an earthquake, but
-was built so; open to the weather with a half cupola something like one
-of those little roadside shrines dedicated to the Virgin which we meet
-with constantly in Italy and other Catholic countries, only on a very
-much larger scale.
-
-I felt quite interested in Perasto, it looked so picturesque, so noble,
-so poor! One house especially struck my fancy, but the word house does
-not convey its appearance, it was what an Italian would call a palazzo.
-The entrance was evidently from a back street, while the side which faced
-the water consisted of a _loggia_ of many pilasters and arches, into
-which opened the rooms of the ground floor, while above it were tiers
-of large and handsome windows. In front of the _loggia_ was a paved
-terrace, from which a series of steps, the whole length of the house,
-led down to the water. It was uninhabited and in fact going rapidly to
-ruin! I fancied to myself what a little paradise one could make of it;
-I saw in my mind's eye a row of orange trees growing on that terrace,
-a yacht moored close into those steps, and life and bustle in those
-chambers where all was now silence and decay. What can have brought
-such desolation on Perasto? I asked several people but I could get no
-satisfactory answer! some blamed Austria, some _il commercio_; I suppose
-I could have bought the fee simple of that house in Perasto for a £10
-note.
-
-In front of Perasto are two small islands—San Giorgio and La Madonna. In
-the church of La Madonna is to be seen an ancient picture of the Virgin,
-attributed as usual to the artistic efforts of the Evangelist Luke, who
-evidently, from what I have seen of his works of art in different places,
-was not possessed of much talent in that line. Tradition states that
-the picture was transported in 1452, by an unknown hand, from Negropont
-to this rock; and being seen amidst lighted candles by some fishermen,
-it was removed to the church of Perasto. The next night it returned to
-the island; and the same action having been repeated three times, it was
-presumed that the picture preferred remaining there; thus they built a
-church for it, which no doubt turned out a profitable speculation.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XI.
-
-     CITY OF CATTARO—SIGNOR JACKSCHICH—STREETS AND PIAZZAS—WALKS AND
-     FORTIFICATIONS—PUBLIC WALK—CAFÉ AND GARDENS—SONOROUS STONE—A
-     MONTENEGRIN CHIEF—A HAPPY BEGGAR BOY.
-
-
-Turning our backs now on that branch of the Fjord which leads to Risano,
-we steamed due south in the direction of Cattaro. Nothing could exceed
-the wild grandeur of this portion of the Gulf. The right hand shore was
-now entirely in the shade, while the crags on the left being exposed
-to the full glare of the afternoon sun showed a play of colours too
-beautiful to describe. Had these cliffs been clothed with varied foliage
-interspersed with the rocks, they would have formed a picture unequalled
-in any other place on the globe.
-
-It was six o'clock when we moored alongside the quay of Cattaro, one
-of the most picturesque cities of the whole Adriatic, so I had plenty
-of time to walk about and see the place as well as to make arrangements
-for my advance into Montenegro on the following day, as I was anxious to
-proceed at once to Cettigne, in order to be present at the festival of
-St. Peter, during which a fair is held, to which congregate thousands,
-not only from Montenegro, but from all the surrounding countries. Thanks,
-however, to Persich Effendi, the Ottoman Consul at Ragusa, to whom I had
-brought an introduction from the Ottoman Ambassador at Vienna, I found
-everything already prepared for my trip. The agent of the Austrian Lloyd
-at Cattaro, Signor Jackschich to whom I can never feel too much obliged,
-had already procured for me a guide and two horses, thus saving me all
-trouble, and allowing so much more time to look about me at Cattaro. As
-soon as we had obtained _pratique_, the formality of which we carried
-out regularly at every place we touched, though, in reality, it was a
-farce, Signor Jackschich came on board, and having introduced himself
-and told me what he had arranged, placed himself at my disposal for the
-rest of the evening. We at once went on shore, and traversing the Mall,
-which lies between the quays and the walls of the city, and which serves
-as the promenade of the _Bocchesi_, we passed through the principal gate
-of Cattaro, and entered the precincts of the fortifications.
-
-Here, as in most other cities in Dalmatia, no horse, or vehicle of
-any kind (except sedan chairs) is allowed to enter. The streets in
-consequence are beautifully clean, and the piazza, which is paved in
-squares of alternate coloured marble, is more like the floor of the
-hall of an Italian palace than anything else. The streets are narrow, as
-might have been surmised, but there are some very fine old houses, some
-exquisite bits of art hidden away in nooks and corners which one would
-have loved to sketch had there been time, half built up porticoes with
-oleanders peeping over them, and bits of lovely hammered iron work of
-the Renaissance period. But I had no time, so after making a rapid tour
-through the little city, we came out on the promenade, as I was anxious
-to have another view of Cattaro, from the outside, before it became too
-dark.
-
-My friend Paton does not render half justice to this city in his charming
-book, "The Highlands and Islands of the Adriatic;" but he is so in love
-with Ragusa—and, if truth must be told, so am I—that he has nothing to
-say for Cattaro; it is true he saw it in Winter, when it must be a dismal
-place. But Cattaro, for all that, deserves a visit, and anyone fond of
-sketching will spend, with profit, several days in and about the place.
-It is situated at the extreme end of the Fjord of that name, on a very
-narrow ledge of land at the foot of the most precipitous cliffs facing
-the west, up which it extends for a short space. It is surrounded by the
-ancient Venetian walls, bastions and fortifications, and crowned by a
-fort perched on the very summit of the rock, a thousand feet above the
-city. Looking at it from below, it seems scarcely balanced on the cliff,
-and one expects to see it come tumbling down every moment.
-
-The fortifications of the town are connected by crenelated walls with
-the fort itself on two sides, thus inclosing a considerable space on the
-face of the mountain, something in the shape of a triangle, of which
-the town would form the base, and the fort the apex, which is still
-garrisoned, and many a harmless rusty old cannon can be seen peeping
-through the embrasures. Having returned from the opposite side of the
-water, where I had gone the better to see the fortifications, we took a
-walk up and down the esplanade between the water and the walls, to look
-at the _beau monde_ on their boulevard, and then adjourned to the café
-on the same esplanade to have some ices _al fresco_, and make our final
-arrangements for the following morning.
-
-The public walk at Cattaro is very well laid out, and the most is
-made of the very contracted space at command. Two rows of large trees
-extend along the walls on each side of the gate, above which is to be
-seen, as usual, the Lion of St. Mark. Not so natural, perhaps, as Edwin
-Landseer's animals at the foot of Nelson's column; but, certainly, a
-more dignified beast than the one with straight tail which until lately
-kept watch and ward over Trafalgar Square from the top of Northumberland
-House. At the northern end of the Mall is the café, and round about it
-the grounds are laid out in gardens, where, under the shade of gigantic
-oleanders and mulberry trees, little round tables, made of enormously
-thick slabs, resting on short central pillars, for all the world like
-Brobdingnagian mushrooms, are laid out and surrounded with stools for
-the accommodation of all comers. The stone of which these round tables
-are made is powerfully sonorous, and if lightly struck, even with one's
-knuckles, gives out a beautiful soft tone. If cut into lengths and
-properly poised, excellent rock harmoniums could be made of it.
-
-Here I fell in again with the Russian Consul, who introduced me to one
-of the finest specimens of men I ever saw, a Montenegrin chief, by name
-Pero Pejovich, commandant of the Grahovo (pronounced Graho), who had
-come from Risano in a boat, and was bound for Montenegro to be present
-at the Feast. He was dressed in full gala Montenegrin costume, _plus_
-the Risano jacket of crimson cloth without sleeves, thickly embroidered
-with gold, and on it the medals and decorations he had gained in battle.
-At another table were seated, also in full costume, two Montenegrin
-ladies of a family who had been exiled for political causes, and who
-were waiting at Cattaro in hopes of obtaining an amnesty which would
-permit them to return to their homes.
-
-The sun had set, and the short twilight had nearly merged into darkness;
-the great heat of the day was now tempered by a delicious balmy feeling,
-as the cooler air from the mountains came down to mingle with that of the
-lower strata; the musical hum of the many voices, the exquisite Trebigne
-tobacco in our cigarettes, the delicious coffee, all conspired to make
-that evening one of the most delightful I ever passed. I got another
-chair, and stretched my legs on it; the natives stared—no Oriental ever
-thinks of stretching his legs—the acme of comfort for him is to tuck
-them under him. I felt supremely happy, and expressed myself so.
-
-"I could live here for ever," I said to Signor Jackschich.
-
-"Nay," rejoined Pero Pejovich, "but wait till it rains, and you will
-soon wish to run away from Cattaro. I have known it rain here for six
-weeks without stopping for a moment."
-
-At this juncture, the band of the Austrian regiment quartered here came
-on the scene, with the same lamp arrangement I had seen at Pola, and
-for upwards of an hour played the most delicious music to our intense
-delight. The Consul now reminded me that we should have to start betimes
-the following morning, if we wanted to avoid being roasted in the middle
-of the day on the rocks of Montenegro. But the sense of enjoyment was
-too great, and I could not bear to break the spell of the hour which I
-was enjoying to the fullest. That I should have an excuse for delaying
-a little longer, I began to talk in Italian to a little beggar boy who
-had quietly been asking me for something the whole evening, not with
-noisy importunate appeals, but by the eloquent look of about the finest
-pair of eyes that ever were seen.
-
-"Don't take any notice of the young ruffian," said Signor Jackschich,
-"he is the plague of the town, and the worry of his father. He won't
-work, and he is in every mischief that is going."
-
-"But I don't tell lies—neither do I steal," retorted the bold young
-brat, who could be no more than eight or nine. "It is too hot to work,
-and as to going home to sleep _la dentro_," he said, pointing over his
-shoulder with his thumb to the town, "when I can enjoy the cool nights
-under these trees _al fresco_, I would rather not!"
-
-He spoke excellent Italian, and his manner was dignified and self
-possessed.
-
-"_Diable!_" said Yonin, "_nous avons ici un philosophe!_"
-
-"Can you speak German or French, little chap?" I said.
-
-"No," he replied in Italian, "_non parlo che Illirico ed Italiano_."
-
-I gave him coins to the amount of about a franc; but when he saw so
-much money in the palm of his hand—an amount which, to his eyes, seemed
-perfectly fabulous—his first impulse was to hold it out to me again,
-thinking I was joking with him; but when I assured him it was _veramente
-tutto per lui_, he cut three capers in the air, and rushed away to where
-some other children were, to show his treasures and recount his good
-fortune. Of all the subjects of the Emperor of Austria, in all his vast
-dominions, I venture to say that the happiest on that night was that
-little beggar brat in the secluded little city of Cattaro at the far
-end of his empire in the extreme point of Dalmatia.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XII.
-
-     MONTENEGRIN TRADERS—LE SCALE DI CATTARO—A GORGEOUSLY-ATTIRED
-     MONK—OUR CARAVAN—MONTENEGRINS OF THE PRINCE'S
-     BODY-GUARD—INTERESTING VIEW—ABSENCE OF TREES ON THE DALMATIAN
-     COAST—A HOME FOR GERMAN EMIGRANTS—TURKISH MISRULE IN EUROPE—A
-     FUTURE EMPIRE—A MAN FIT TO RULE.
-
-
-At the earliest peep of day on the morning of the 9th of July, I arose
-from the deck of the steamer on which I had slept for so many pleasant
-nights, notwithstanding its hardness. Thanks to the kind attention of
-Giovanni, the steward, a cup of hot and tolerably good coffee was not
-wanting to fortify me against the effects of the morning air. He wanted
-me to add a small glass of maraschino unsweetened "_per scacciar l'aria
-cattiva_," as he said in his Venetian dialect, but not being addicted
-to _pegs_, I contented myself with the coffee and a few biscuits.
-
-The faintest tinge of rose showing in the East over the rocks which hang
-over Cattaro, seeming ever to threaten it with instant ruin, barely
-enabled me at first to distinguish objects on the mole alongside of
-which our steamer was moored; but as the light increased I could make
-out, under the shadow of the trees which form the boulevard and public
-promenade of the Bocchesi, the stalwart figures of a dozen Montenegrins
-who had come down from Cettigne to accompany the Russian Consul on his
-way to the festival of St. Peter, and the court of the illustrious Prince
-who now so wisely rules those splendid mountain tribes.
-
-Modestly drawn up on one side of them I could see my own portion of the
-caravan, consisting of only two horses, one to carry myself, the other
-to carry my luggage, all under the direction of the excellent guide
-provided for me the day before by the kindness of Signor Jackschich.
-
-Everything was now ready and myself in the saddle, when the Russian
-Consul made his appearance, and we finally started just as the dawn was
-quickening into day.
-
-Skirting by the bastions which defend Cattaro on the sea side, we crossed
-the bridge that spans the little mountain torrent which here empties
-itself into the sea, and turning sharply to the right we passed through
-the open market-place where the Montenegrins come down to sell their
-farm-produce to the Bocchesi; but who, owing to the somewhat evil name
-they have unfairly acquired, are never allowed to penetrate into the city
-unless they first deliver up their arms at the military post outside,
-just as we do at Aden with the Arabs of the surrounding districts.
-
-Having crossed the market-place, we reached in a few minutes the base of
-the rocks, and at once commenced ascending that wonderful road zig-zagged
-across the face of the mountain, and known by the name of "_Le scale
-di Cattaro_." Here we joined an additional party, also journeying to
-Cettigne for the festival of St. Peter, and among them was conspicuous
-the handsome Montenegrin Chieftain, Pero Pejovich, commandant of the
-Grahovo, whose pleasant acquaintance we had made the evening before
-under the mulberry trees of Cattaro.
-
-There was also in the same group a monk, a most picturesque looking
-individual, but certainly most unclerical-looking. He was dressed in
-a costume very much resembling the Montenegrin fashion, only of sombre
-colours, and had his jerkin trimmed with furs instead of embroideries. He
-wore on his head a sort of black fez, from under which his sable curls
-fell hanging on his neck, while his full beard, innocent of trimming,
-flowed amply on his chest. His face was handsome and swarthy, and had a
-not unkind expression. In figure he was slight, and of medium height.
-He came from a monastery in the Herzegovina, a province of Turkey in
-Europe lying co-terminous to Montenegro on its Northern border, and
-which, strange enough, comes down at one point to the very sea at the
-opening of the Fjord of Cattaro, thus thrusting itself into and dividing
-the Austrian sea-board of Dalmatia into two.
-
-What was he coming to Montenegro for? Simply to be inducted abbot of
-his own monastery, which ceremony by right should have been performed
-by the Greek Patriarch at Constantinople; but although Herzegovina is
-subject to the Sultan, yet all the Christian mountaineers of that region,
-though not Montenegrins by blood, are Montenegrins at heart, and all
-look to the Metropolitan at Cettigne as their spiritual head, while to
-the Prince they look up as the only sovereign to whom they owe absolute
-allegiance.
-
-The abbot elect rode a beautiful, small grey _entero_, wonderfully
-quick and sure-footed, caparisoned with gorgeous trappings, consisting
-of a large blue saddle-cloth embroidered with gold, over which lay an
-immense saddle of crimson velvet studded with large gilt-headed nails.
-The bridle was of the same Oriental style, while the bit was something
-to be looked at, both as regards size, ornament and power.
-
-The Abbot sat his _entero_, as if riding at the head of a party of
-Baschi-Bazouks would be quite as much, if not more to his liking, than
-leading the chaunts at matins and vespers in his own monastery. There
-was nothing fierce about his countenance, but there was a sort of "stand
-and deliver" look about his whole get up, that would have made one feel
-somewhat anxious had one chanced to meet him _a quattr'occhi_ in some
-lonely pass.
-
-Our caravan consisted in all of about twenty-five persons, as we had been
-joined by several parties all bent on the same excursion, to partake
-of the rejoicings at Cettigne. First marched four Montenegrins of the
-Prince's body-guard, splendid specimens of their race, the shortest over
-six feet high, with rich ruddy complexions, deeply bronzed by exposure
-in all weathers, with dark grey or blue eyes, dark brown, almost black
-hair, cut short, close shaved beard and large moustachios, and fine,
-open, manly countenances. They wore the national costume of the country,
-namely, loose baggy blue trousers, made very full and confined under the
-knee by a strap, below that, their legs were encased in tight-fitting
-white woollen gaiters, fastened by a row of close-set small metallic
-buttons all along the back, from the heel to below the knee, while
-on their feet they wore a peculiar pointed shoe of undressed leather,
-the upper of which is contrived of numberless small thongs plaited up
-the middle over the instep, which afford wonderful pliancy and power
-of grasping to the feet, and are quite characteristic of this region;
-a sleeveless crimson jacket, and over all the well-known long surtout
-of fine white cloth, without a collar, fastened round the waist by an
-enormous silken scarf as much as eighteen feet long, and which supported
-in front a perfect armoury of weapons. First a yataghan three feet long
-with richly ornamented sheath and handle, then two highly ornamented
-Turkish pistols nearly as long, then a poniard, and lastly a special
-pair of tongs for lifting fire into their smoking pipes, which, excepting
-when on duty, were never out of their mouths. But as if such an armoury
-were insufficient, they carried at their sides a formidable-looking,
-highly curved Turkish sabre, and over their shoulder a long, rakish,
-Albanian-looking, breech-loading gun. This last they were ever shifting
-in position, although the favourite mode of carrying it seemed to be
-across the shoulders, something like the way young ladies at properly
-conducted schools are made to shoulder their backboards, with their
-hands hanging over the stock and barrel.
-
-We all followed pell-mell, sometimes in single file, sometimes by twos,
-according as the inequality of the path or its width, either prevented
-or admitted of it, while the remainder of the guard brought up the rear.
-So up we climbed, zigzag after zigzag, some of us above and some of us
-below until we reach the top of the _scala_ where Austrian territory
-ceases and Montenegro begins.
-
-The sun was now well up above the Eastern horizon, when the sudden
-cessation of the road gave us notice of our change of territory, and
-looking round towards the Adriatic to which we mostly had been turning
-our backs during the ascent, we saw a view that I don't know which would
-be most difficult, whether to sketch or to describe.
-
-I think we must have been at least three thousand feet above the sea.
-At any rate, owing to the steepness of the rocks on which we stood,
-together with the clearness of the atmosphere, the city of Cattaro seemed
-perpendicularly beneath us, while the coast of Dalmatia, the entire
-canal of Cattaro with all its windings and the many towns scattered on
-its coast, the forts at its mouth, and the blue Adriatic beyond, seemed
-laid out like a map at our feet.
-
-The path, up which we had been toiling ever since we left the town, lay
-in zigzags before us like a white ribbon stretched out upon the face
-of the precipice. It reminded me somewhat of the pass of the Gemmi in
-Switzerland, but was far more beautiful, while the bird's-eye view of
-the town, with its fortress and its fortifications, was most novel and
-astonishing. Perched as we were almost perpendicularly over Cattaro, and
-thus looking right down over their heads, we could see its inhabitants
-only like black specks moving about its miniature squares and streets,
-while the old fortress with its crenelated walls and its antiquated
-bastions, rising out of the bluish haze which hung over the chasm that
-yawns between the rock on which it is built and the one on which we were
-standing, made such a picture as Turner would have loved to study.
-
-It was one of the most beautiful and extraordinary sights I ever saw, and
-only lacked the presence of foliage to make it perfect. But total absence
-of timber is the characteristic of the entire coast of Dalmatia, a fact
-much to be regretted not only for the loss it is to the country from a
-picturesque point of view, but principally from the economical aspect
-of the question—as well-managed forests would be of immense value both
-from the timber they would yield, and the increased humidity they would
-afford to that arid region, where a sufficient rainfall would increase
-the fertility, and consequently the revenue more than a hundredfold.
-
-If some of the millions which are yearly wasted by the Austrian
-Government, as well as by others too, in building ironclads and exploding
-torpedoes, and in many other equally unreproductive undertakings, were
-spent on the coast of Dalmatia in planting olive trees on the side of
-those mountains as far up as they could flourish, then walnut trees,
-then chestnut trees, and finally oaks and firs, I think I can safely
-assert that in thirty years the full cost of the first outlay would be
-repaid, while the benefit to the country at large would be incalculable.
-
-It is not in a book like this that the best modes for bringing about the
-cultivation of the Dalmatian shores of the Adriatic are to be discussed,
-but that it could be done and should be done, is undoubted; and not
-in Dalmatia alone, but also to the east of that country, in the lands
-beyond the Vellebitch, through Servia, and all that vast tract of country
-subject now to the impoverishing influence of Turkish mal-administration.
-
-It always makes me sad when I think of those rich countries lying
-fallow for want of hands to cultivate them, and a good government
-to encourage industry, and when I see shipload after shipload of
-hard-working industrious Germans leaving Hamburg, Bremen, and other
-German ports, risking the perils, the inconveniences, and the expenses
-of their voluntary exile, traversing thousands of miles of ocean route
-to reach at last an unknown country, from which it is doubtful if they
-will ever have a chance of returning to their Fatherland; when those
-fertile lands of Servia lie at the very threshold of their country, with
-no sea to intervene, and only a few days of rail and river to go over.
-But the present state of things cannot continue for ever; and even now
-promising signs of amendment are not wanting. The monstrous anomaly
-of some of the richest lands of Christian Europe being still in this
-nineteenth century under the misrule of barbarous Asiatic hordes, whilst
-millions of wretched Christian inhabitants are kept in the most abject
-servitude, must ere long be done away with; and all those countries,
-Servia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Roumelia, and all lying between the Danube
-and the Adriatic must before very long be amalgamated under some one
-chief. Who the man may be upon whom the noble responsibility may fall
-of governing this future empire, it is impossible now to conjecture, for
-the several countries which would go to form this new dominion are still
-scattered and disorganized; but the great bond of a common language will
-soon unite them again, when the time comes, and probably that is not
-distant, for now we do in weeks what our forefathers did in centuries.
-When that moment shall come, I venture to hope, in the interest of this
-new country, that one totally unconnected with the present contending
-clans may assume the direction of affairs.
-
-I know the man but I shall not name him. Handsome in person, brave,
-courteous, highly educated, and unsullied by any of those Eastern vices
-which so frequently shock our Western susceptibilities—equally unconnected
-with either the Kara Georgevich or the Obrenovich parties—his elevation
-to the throne of Servia would put a stop to that system of hereditary
-vendetta which seems for the present too deeply rooted in both those
-clans to permit us to hope in its extinction at least for a time, while it
-would extend to those countries the benefits of that wise administration
-which he has already so ably initiated in his own country. But I must
-pull up my hobby-horse sharp; he is already in full gallop, and if he
-once gets the bit between his teeth, he will never check his mad career
-till he stops at the gates of Stamboul.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIII.
-
-     THE PRINCE OF MONTENEGRO—UNJUST DEPRIVATION OF TERRITORY—ORIGIN
-     OF THE NAME OF THE COUNTRY—A FRIEND IN NEED—VILLAGE OF
-     NIEGOSCH—PANORAMA SEEN FROM THE TOP OF THE PASS—WILD-LOOKING
-     HERDS AND FLOCKS—MONTENEGRIN LEGEND—ARRIVAL AT CETTIGNE—THE
-     VLADIKA'S PALACE—THE TREE OF JUSTICE—TOWER OF CETTIGNE.
-
-
-During my stay in Montenegro, I had the honour of several private
-conversations with the Prince of that interesting country, and I was
-astonished at the amount of practical knowledge he possessed, and the
-advanced views he entertained, with regard to commerce, administration,
-and political economy. But he is cramped up in every way, Montenegro has
-no outlet, and though his native mountains come so near to the Adriatic
-that a man could almost spring from them into the sea, still there
-is everywhere a narrow strip of land between them and that sea, which
-effectually excludes him from direct commercial or other intercourse
-with the rest of the world.
-
-This strip of land, in some places only a few yards wide, belongs to
-Austria and forms part of the Province of Dalmatia. During the reign of
-Napoleon I. the Principality of Montenegro extended for a short period
-to the sea shore, and Cattaro was occupied by the Montenegrins till the
-14th June, 1814, when it was most unjustly taken away from them again
-and incorporated with the Austrian Empire by the Congress of Vienna. An
-act of injustice all the more flagrant, that the Turkish territory was
-allowed to come down to the sea at the opening of the Gulf of Cattaro,
-dividing the territory of Ragusa from that of Cattaro, and thus affording
-the Mahommedan rulers of a Christian land advantages which are denied
-to the neighbouring Christian Principality.
-
-But whilst I am admiring the scene before me and pondering over the
-wrongs and the resources of these interesting countries, I must not
-forget that the sun is every moment getting higher in the heavens, and
-that it is important to get on with our journey, in order to avoid being
-out on those arid rocks during the heat of the day.
-
-Our caravan was now in motion again, but the road having almost ceased
-to exist, we had to proceed more cautiously, picking our way among loose
-stones and boulders, sometimes following a sort of path, and sometimes
-climbing up the dried up water-courses of Winter torrents. After another
-short interval of clambering, we reached a fountain where everyone
-considered it his duty to dismount and drink, as did also our cattle.
-When we had refreshed ourselves with copious draughts from that cool
-spring we again faced up the mountain, but this time on foot, as owing
-to the steepness and ruggedness of the rocks, it was not deemed advisable
-to attempt it on horseback.
-
-Except climbing up the cone of Vesuvius, where one generally makes two
-steps in advance and three steps backwards, I never met anything more
-trying than some parts of this ascent into Tchernagora or the "Black
-Mountains," as the natives called this region, and which was rendered
-by the Venetians into "Montenegro," the name it retains to this day.
-
-The sun was becoming extremely hot, and I should have found it
-considerably difficult to keep my place, but for the occasional assistance
-afforded me by the powerful hand and arm of my Prince of Mountaineers,
-Pero Pejovich, who whenever I came to some rugged impediment which
-seemed to tax my energies more than usual, would quickly, with one hand
-passed under my arms close below my shoulder, lift me bodily over it,
-with his broad good-humoured face beaming with smiles; and when I tell
-you, gentle reader, that I sometimes weigh _more_ but never less than
-fourteen stone, I leave you to calculate the strength of my amiable giant.
-
-We had now topped the worst of our ascent, and remounting our horses
-commenced a short descent to a little plain surrounded by steep, rugged,
-barren rocks seemingly the bed of some ancient dried up lake. At the
-further extremity of this little plain could be seen half-a-dozen
-scattered houses forming the village of Niegosch, the birth-place of
-the Prince of Montenegro, as well as the cradle of his race, from which
-they take their patronimic of Petrovich Niegosch.
-
-We rode up straight to the principal house where we were expected and
-received by a young Petrovich, a cousin of the Prince, a very handsome
-young fellow, with whom unfortunately I could only have conversation by
-the help of Pero Pejovich, who speaking Italian as well as Montenegrin,
-always proved himself a most valuable interpreter.
-
-We made a very short stay here, as we wanted to reach Cettigne before
-the middle of the day; so having partaken of some excellent coffee,
-served up with toast and such clotted cream as I never before tasted
-out of Devonshire, and having admired the gorgeous arms which hung round
-young Petrovich's room, each of which had some story attached to it, all
-being trophies taken in battle from the Turks, we mounted our horses,
-and again plunging into a ravine recommenced the difficult ascent.
-
-After a short but arduous climb, we at length reached the top of the pass
-and the highest point between Cattaro and Cettigne. Here a wonderful
-panorama spread itself out before us—not beautiful, perhaps, but grand
-in its way. Right, left, and front, nothing could be seen but barren,
-grey mountain tops—except right in front of us, where at a short distance
-lay the valley of Cettigne, also apparently the bed of an ancient Alpine
-lake. Beyond that plain the bleak and rocky mountains closed in again;
-and beyond them, far in the hazy distance, shining in the noon-day sun,
-could be seen the glittering lake of Scutari, or more properly of Skodra,
-in Northern Albania.
-
-A scene like this could scarcely be conceived, such a wilderness of rocks,
-such a picture of sterility, had never met my eyes. Peak after peak,
-desolate and barren, rose in every direction, as far as the sight could
-reach; and as the point on which we stood must have been more than four
-thousand feet above the sea, the distance we could see in that bright
-clear atmosphere may be imagined.
-
-The rocks of which those mountains are formed looked ashy grey in the
-bright sunlight, except here and there in some of the ravines where a
-scanty, scrubby vegetation, struggling for existence, offered a precarious
-subsistence to considerable flocks of small wild goats, herded by still
-wilder-looking children. These grey rocky masses, when it rains, become
-of a dark slate colour, nearly black, and hence arose the name of the
-country, Tchernagora.
-
-To account for the presence of such immense quantities of stones in their
-country, the Montenegrins have a legend which says that after the Creator
-had made this earth, the Devil was permitted to go and scatter stones
-all over it. He carried the stones in a bag over his shoulder, but as
-he passed in his flight over their country, the bag suddenly burst, and
-thus a greater share of stones fell to their lot than they were fairly
-entitled to.
-
-I don't know which was the most fatiguing, the climb up to the top of the
-pass, or the scramble down; I think the latter, and if I did reach the
-bottom without a fall or a sprained ankle, I owe it all to my excellent
-fellow-traveller, Pero Pejovich, who kept a sturdy hold of me all through,
-and saved me, I am sure, from many an ugly tumble.
-
-At last we found ourselves in the little plain of Cettigne, and putting
-spurs to our small horses cantered over the turf till we reached the
-first houses of the straggling street which constitutes the capital of
-one of the most interesting countries in Europe.
-
-The next travellers who visit Cettigne will find there good accommodation
-in a spacious hotel, which was all but completed before I left; but when
-I was there, nothing existed in the shape of an inn except a couple of
-very wretched khans, where it would have been difficult to get rest,
-owing to the activity of the insect population and the total absence of
-every accommodation. Thanks to the liberal hospitality of His Highness,
-I was provided, by his orders, with apartments in the ancient fortified
-palace of the Vladikas, or Prince-Bishops of Montenegro, to which I was
-conducted by one of His Highness's aide-de-camps, who had come to meet
-me. This gentleman had been educated in France, at the Military School
-of St. Cyr, spoke French like a Parisian, and was most kind in never
-allowing me to want for anything. Guessing that I did not know a word
-of Slave, he had most thoughtfully appointed a man in the town, who
-could speak a few words of Italian, to attend me during my stay, and to
-provide me daily with food from a sort of very primitive restaurant in
-the place.
-
-Having rested a couple of hours after eating an early dinner, according
-to the fashion of southern countries, I received a visit from Mr. Nico
-Matanovich, the gentleman alluded to above, and to whom I was indebted
-for the comfort with which I was installed, who in company with the
-Russian Consul (who was residing at the new Palace with the Prince), came
-to propose a walk about the place as soon as the sun should be somewhat
-nearer to the horizon. Having ordered up coffee, as is always expected
-in these countries, Mr. Nico Matanovich conveyed to me the agreeable
-information that His Highness would receive me the following day at
-eleven o'clock in the morning. In reply, I begged he would present my
-humble respects to His Highness, and my unbounded thanks for the handsome
-manner in which I was treated.
-
-The sun being now sufficiently low, we sallied forth to take a turn
-round the place, and see what was to be seen. But before I leave my
-quarters, let me try to give some idea of the Vladika's Palace, where I
-was lodged. This quaint old building consists of a quadrangle of about
-a hundred and fifty paces[7] either way, surrounded by a very massive
-and high wall, pierced by two large roofed-in gateways, one in front
-and one at the side, and having at each corner a round squat tower
-with a conical roof, reminding one somewhat of those that surround, at
-intervals, the Kremlin at Moscow. Running midway from side to side, and
-dividing this enclosure into about two equal parts is the palace itself,
-which consists of two stories, the second of which is divided into a
-series of chambers, each about sixteen feet square and ten feet high,
-all opening into each other, and communicating also at the back with a
-wide corridor which goes the whole length of the building. The windows,
-of which there are two to each room, look into the front compartment of
-the quadrangle, while the windows of the corridor look on the back.
-
-The entrance is by a hall door from which one ascends at once to the
-upper story, by means of a massive wooden staircase formed of solid
-beams of timber roughly hewn. The lower story has been turned partly
-into an arsenal, principally filled with ancient weapons taken from the
-Turks, and partly into a Government school; the upper rooms are occupied
-at one end by the Archimandrite and some other officials—the rest are
-untenanted. In the centre of the front court-yard is a deep well of the
-most delicious water, and so cold that I used it to cool my wine and
-beer with nearly as much success as if I had been using snow. The back
-compartment was a kitchen-garden and orchard.
-
-Leaving the old Palace by the side gate which opens upon one of the
-two streets that constitute the town of Cettigne, we found ourselves
-opposite to the new Palace lately built by the Prince—the style of which
-I in no wise admire, though I do not doubt it is comfortable enough
-inside; but it has no character whatever, and looks insignificant when
-compared with the old Palace. If the money spent on building the new
-had been judiciously laid out in adding to the old, a truly fine Palace
-could have been erected, with all the old characteristics preserved,
-which the eyes of the people, as well as of travellers, would have had
-an historical stamp as the abode of all the old Vladikas, those ancient
-Prince-Bishops—Bishops of the Church Militant—who for many years had
-valiantly defended their country, their liberty, and their faith against
-the unceasing attacks of the Infidels.
-
-Opposite this gate, and just midway in the very broad street between the
-old and the new Palace, stands a large carob tree, with a stone bench
-of roughly hewn blocks round its trunk, and here in Summer from about
-nine o'clock every morning the Prince sits for some hours administering
-justice. I often watched him with the greatest interest from a window in
-the old Palace. It was like acting a chapter in the Old Testament—Deborah
-judging Israel under a palm tree, "between Ramah and Beth-el in Mount
-Ephraim!" Beyond the "Tree of Justice" one came to the new Palace, a
-homely structure, as I said before, and of no pretence. At the gate two
-sentries of the Prince's bodyguard, in full Montenegrin costume, mount
-guard, and are constantly relieved every hour, their barracks being
-exactly opposite. The process of relieving guard is very simple—two
-privates walk out of the barracks with their long breechloaders over
-their shoulders "_à volonté_," and take their station on each side of
-the gateway of the Palace, while the other two walk back into barracks,
-and that is all.
-
-We now turned our backs on the "Tree of Justice," and walked up the
-street, which is but short, until we came to the main street which crosses
-it at right angles. This main street is not paved, but is wide, and the
-houses on each side, though seemingly poor and wretched in the extreme
-in our eyes, are, most probably, comfortable enough in theirs; and as
-they do not even possess a word in their language to denote "comfort,"
-what we would consider such, would, perhaps, be only considered by them
-an uneasy restraint.
-
-Turning now to the right we walked to the end of the street, where
-is the new hotel with the post and telegraph office. The hotel, as I
-previously said, was not yet opened, though the building was completed,
-and when supplied with beds, tables, and chairs will be a very creditable
-affair, incomparably better than any hotel in Dalmatia. Near the hotel, a
-little to the left, is another modern institution, evincing in no small
-degree the enlightened anxiety of the Prince for the advancement of his
-country. It is a _Pensionnat de demoiselles_ for the education of the
-daughters of the better classes, both of Montenegro and the surrounding
-countries; it can accommodate forty pupils, and is superintended by a
-charming and highly accomplished Russian lady, assisted by efficient
-governesses. The charge being very small, only £20 per annum, it must
-be largely subsidized by His Highness.
-
-Being vacation time, I had not the satisfaction of seeing any of the
-boarders, much to the regret of Mademoiselle Pakievitch, who kindly
-showed me all over the institution, which was admirably neat and clean.
-She was anxious that I should have heard some of the pupils speak English
-and French. "I think you would have been both pleased and surprised,"
-said she. The majority spoke Illyrian, Russian and German, while several
-were proficient in addition with both English and French, and one with
-Albanian also. The institution is under the special patronage of the
-Empress of Russia, who takes the greatest interest in it, and constantly
-sends presents to it.
-
-Keeping now a little to the right, and following the path which leads to
-the town of Rieka, we soon came to the foot of the crags which on that
-side close in with an impassable barrier the little plain of Cettigne.
-We now turned sharp round and set our faces towards the town, as the
-lengthening shadows warned us that the sun was already setting behind
-the mountains which we had traversed in the morning. The smooth plain
-covered with short grass was delightful to walk over, though one had
-to be careful of one's steps owing to the many wells with which it is
-dotted for the purpose of getting water for the cattle, and which, quite
-level with the ground and without the semblance of a parapet, might have
-swallowed one up before one would have had time to see them.
-
-Right before us, standing a little to the left and just beyond the old
-palace, could be seen in the distance the ancient monastery which in old
-times used to be occupied by the Archimandrite, in the days when the
-Vladika used to inhabit the palace; but now that Church and State are
-separated, it is occupied by Monsignor Roganovitch, the Metropolitan of
-Montenegro.
-
-Just above it, perched upon a rock and standing out in bold relief
-against the glowing sky, could be seen the old tower of Cettigne, an
-ancient piece of masonry which until three or four years ago used to
-be constantly decorated with the heads of Turks killed and decapitated
-in their several skirmishes and forays. This barbarous custom has now
-been abandoned, never to be resumed again it is to be hoped, and the
-present Prince, further to turn away the thoughts of the natives from
-the barbarous habit of their forefathers, has caused a belfry to be
-erected on the top of the tower wherein is placed a large bell, which
-is only rung in cases of great alarm to gather the tribes. The bell is
-very heavy, and much ingenuity and labour were required to transport it
-on men's backs from Cattaro to Cettigne.
-
-By the time we got back to the Palace it was dark, so wishing good night
-to my kind friends I made a frugal supper and went to bed.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIV.
-
-     INSECT POWDER OF MONTENEGRO—DESCRIPTION OF THE
-     MONASTERY—ENCAMPMENTS—FESTIVAL OF ST. PETER—A SAINT BY THE
-     WILL OF THE PEOPLE—PICTURESQUE SCENE—BOSNIAN CAFÉ—THE NATIONAL
-     INSTRUMENT—A TRAVELLED DALMATIAN—TALL MONTENEGRINS.
-
-
-I awoke early the next morning, having slept most luxuriously on a spring
-mattress and totally unmolested by fleas, thanks to the ample supply of
-flea-powder thoughtfully strewn by my attendant, between the mattress
-and the undersheet.
-
-The insect powder of Montenegro is celebrated, you must know, in Eastern
-and Southern Europe, and I can vouch for its excellence. It consists
-simply in the small dried flower of some species of Pyrethrum, which
-when wanted for use is ground in a coffee-mill and strewed about the bed.
-The plant is found abundantly all over Montenegro, and owes its greater
-virtue to the fact of being grown in very arid soil, untempered by the
-slightest moisture, and exposed to scorching suns—everything about it
-therefore is in the most concentrated form, and hence its efficacy; it
-is a very considerable article of commerce, and is largely exported to
-Russia and the Levant.
-
-It was not therefore due to insect attacks that I was so early disturbed
-from my slumbers on the following morning; still I was disturbed,
-and that by the momentarily increasing hum of many voices and general
-bustle of the thousands who were flocking to Cettigne for the festival
-which was to take place on the morrow; but the great day of the feast
-throughout the south of Europe is invariably the day before the feast,
-"la vigilia del Santo," as the wording goes. The day of the feast itself
-one confesses, goes to mass, and does the proper; all the fun and the
-rollicking is generally the day before. So I got up, and pushing open
-the outside green shutters which secured my windows, I looked into the
-courtyard of the Palace, and over the walls beyond into the little plain,
-which was gradually filling with numberless men, women, and children,
-some on horseback, more on foot, but all gorgeously attired.
-
-The sun was now getting high on the horizon, and the scene before me
-was becoming more and more animated and interesting. In the open space
-under my window, within the high enclosure of the Palace wall, men were
-busy picketing a dozen horses, evidently from the costliness of their
-trappings belonging to Chiefs and Woyvodes. While under a group of carob
-trees, in one corner of the enclosure, were spread several rugs on which
-were sitting cross-legged some of the owners of those quadrupeds, with
-their clumsy high-backed saddles behind them, passively smoking their
-chibouks while their attendants busied themselves preparing coffee.
-
-Close on my right and just beyond the old Palace was the monastery,
-which, owing to the lateness of the hour the evening before, I had been
-unable to examine. Like the old Palace it is a sort of semi-fortified
-building, constructed more for safety than for comfort. On the right
-hand, as the observer looks at it in front, is the church, and next to
-it a tall, square, and very modern tower erected to the memory of the
-Vladika Peter, who is buried on the top of a somewhat difficult peak to
-the south-west of Cettigne and about six miles distant. The body of the
-monastery comes next, conspicuous by two rows of arched openings placed
-one over the other, and to the left of them again are the apartments of
-the Metropolitan. The whole is surrounded by a high wall, enclosing a
-primitive garden in which are located a large number of beehives, (upwards
-of a hundred). This wall is pierced by one large gateway, roofed over
-and secured by a massive door, in front of which is the circular-paved
-thrashing floor, so characteristic of the East. Every thing about the
-monastery is of the simplest and rudest construction, and the church is
-utterly unadorned, not from choice, I am assured, but from necessity.
-
-In the monastery itself are many shady corners that would well repay
-a few hours spent in transferring them to one's portfolio, and just at
-the entrance inside the building, is a most extraordinary chasm in the
-rock, through which a piercing cold wind is constantly blowing, coldest
-when the weather is hottest; and so intense is the cold in that opening
-that it is used in Summer as an ice-house for the cooling of wine and
-the preserving of food. This phenomenon has never been satisfactorily
-explained, because it is not only that the cavity is cold, but a strong
-sharp cutting wind rushes out of it. I shall not attempt to account for
-it, but will leave it as a problem for sharper wits than mine to solve.
-
-As the day waxed older the number of arrivals increased on the plain of
-Cettigne, till by eight o'clock in the morning it was dotted all over
-with picketed horses and temporary encampments of all sorts. Having had
-my simple breakfast of coffee, milk, and toast without butter—which is
-quite unknown there though cream is plentiful—but accompanied by a good
-plate of Albanian figs, I went out with Pero Pejovich, who came to fetch
-me to visit the fair. For this festival of St. Peter offers a double
-stimulus to the inhabitants of the surrounding country for a visit to
-Cettigne—a religious ceremony and a considerable fair. And it may be
-right for me to observe that this St. Peter, Patron of Montenegro, in
-whose honour this great gathering annually takes place, is a saint _sui
-generis_—indeed I was on the point of saying, when I detected and checked
-myself, that he was a saint _extra palum ecclesiæ_; for he is neither St.
-Peter the Apostle, nor St. Peter the Martyr, nor St. Peter the Hermit,
-nor even St. Peter Igneus, who in a fit of zeal for the maintenance of
-the laws relating to the temporalities of the church, walked through the
-flames at Settimo in the eleventh century, to establish a case of simony
-against another Peter, one Peter of Pavia, then Bishop of Florence; nor
-any other canonical St. Peter I ever heard of, but simply St. Peter of
-Montenegro, the old Vladika Peter I., Prince-Bishop of Montenegro, not
-yet canonized by any ecclesiastical authority or other licensing body,
-as I was assured, but simply a saint in virtue of the will of the people,
-the Plebiscite of Montenegro, who insisted _autoritate nostra_ on having
-him for their patron saint. He probably deserved to be canonized just
-as well, and perhaps better than many another saint, and if history
-tells truth, certainly better than his namesake, the so-called Peter
-the Martyr, for he wisely, mildly, and virtuously ruled in Montenegro
-for fifty-three years, viz., from 1777 to 1830, and the mountaineers
-are fully justified in reverencing his memory.
-
-Passing my arm through that of Pero Pejovich, who seemed to know and
-be known of everyone, I began my expedition through a crowd of men,
-women and children, that every moment grew denser and denser. It was the
-most picturesque scene that could be imagined; all the neighbouring and
-surrounding countries had sent their contributions to the fair—Bosnians,
-Servians, Herzegovinians, Morlacks, Dalmatians, Albanians, Roumelians,
-Turks, Greeks, Croats, Italians, &c.; but conspicuous among them all
-for height of stature and nobility of countenance were the Montenegrins
-themselves. I think that, even independent of their costume, I could
-have always singled them out by their ruddy though sunburnt complexions,
-grey or blue eyes, and open honest countenances.
-
-We went to a booth where arms were sold, and I was astounded at the
-number, variety, and richness of the weapons that were not only displayed,
-but were actually sold. They seemed to me dear. I should have much
-liked to purchase a handsome yataghan with silver hilt and in a sheath
-of _repoussé_ silver. It was a very handsome weapon, and was made by
-a celebrated artificer of Skodra, but the price was sixteen Napoleons,
-which was more than I liked to give, and I suspect I could get one just
-like it in Tichborne Street for half the money.
-
-From the armourer we went to a tailor's booth, where piles of costumes of
-different nationalities were exposed for sale; Morlack suits, Albanian
-suits, and Montenegrin suits, some of cloth and some of velvet, but
-all more or less embroidered in gold, and some literally overladen with
-plates of silver gilt. From thence we went to a Bosnian _café_ of the
-most primitive kind; a couple of large blankets stretched over a few
-poles made a pretence of shelter, and on the ground were a few Turkish
-rugs on which we squatted, while a very ugly and dirty gipsy-looking
-woman was boiling coffee outside over a small fire of sticks contrived
-between two stones; nothing could be more primitive. So we sat and
-smoked, and in due time drank our coffee, which was simply abominable. I
-remember it was, though I was not minding it much, being occupied at the
-time with listening to a man performing on the national instrument, the
-_guzla_ (pronounced goozla), whilst a girl was singing a low, monotonous,
-plaintive air.
-
-The _guzla_ is not an instrument which offers much scope to the performer;
-it is simply a very primitive fiddle, with only one string, played upon
-with an equally primitive bow; still it was surprising the amount of
-harmony the man contrived to scrape out of it. The song, as Pero Pejovich
-told me, was all about the old story, love and war, while the music, as
-is almost always the case among barbarous nations, was in a minor key.
-
-Having paid for our coffee and thrown a few paràs to the minstrels, we
-sallied forth again.
-
-"And now, friend Pero," I said, "I should like to see some of your
-Montenegrin beauties. I have seen lots of fine men this morning; but as
-to the women, friend Pero, they are a caution. I never saw so many ugly
-ones congregated together."
-
-My conductor smiled, shrugged his shoulders, and looked me in the face;
-he did not know exactly whether he ought not to be angry. However, his
-habitual good-humour prevailed, and with a loud laugh, he said:
-
-"_Avete ragione, son brutte come il Demonio._ But wait, only wait till
-you see the Princess; she is a pure Montenegrina, and beautiful enough
-for the whole nation." And he spoke truth!
-
-We now wandered away again towards a sort of native inn or khan, where
-he said we should get some good Vienna beer to wash away the taste of
-that abominable coffee. As we were passing some booths, where a variety
-of cheap Manchester goods were being displayed with some English Delft
-ware of the very commonest description, I was hailed with a "How d'ye
-do, stranger?" from a dapper, wide-awake-looking little man, who came
-out and spoke such excellent English that I took him to be a Briton
-or an American; but he was neither; he was a Dalmatian from Sebenico,
-who had been a great deal in England and America, and spoke English as
-fluently as his native Illyrian. I had a long chat with him, and asked
-him how trade was, and if he was doing well.
-
-"No," he replied; "they don't know what trade is in these countries, they
-have too many restrictions; and yet," said he, "you won't go into the
-poorest cabin that you won't find one of these," handing me a wretched
-sample of English pottery with a vile brown pattern on it; "such is
-their preference for everything of English make."
-
-Here Pero reminded me of the beer we had to drink, and that the time was
-drawing near when I was to present myself at the Palace for my audience.
-So we went off to the khan, where, having refreshed ourselves with some
-of Vienna's best, with a lump of virgin snow in it, I bid my guide good
-morning, and returned to the old Palace; when, having dressed myself, I
-crossed over to the new one to pay my respects to the Prince according
-to the orders received the day before.
-
-Having penetrated through the outer gate, where the guards, I thought,
-looked rather scowlingly on my strange attire—viz., a dark blue frock
-coat, light grey trousers, and patent leather boots, the whole topped
-with my Indian quilted helmet—I ascended to the hall door by half a dozen
-steps, where I was met by the Prince's own henchman, a brother of the
-Commandant of the Grahovo. He was yet taller than his brother, and must
-have been at least six feet eight inches. I do not say this quite by
-guess-work, though I did not actually measure him; but on a subsequent
-occasion I did measure an immense Montenegrin, and found him six feet
-seven inches without heels, and the henchman was decidedly taller than
-he.
-
-Well, _pour revenir à nos moutons_, I followed my Goliath into the
-hall, which is small and low, terminating in a double staircase, that
-bending round from each side joins again in the middle to form but one
-flight, at the top of which I found myself in a vestibule with two more
-guards on duty, and from that I was ushered into a fine large and well
-proportioned room, handsomely furnished in Viennese style, and hung all
-round with good portraits of the Prince's father, the celebrated Mirko,
-the Emperor and Empress of Russia, the Emperor and Empress of Austria,
-and many others.
-
-Rooms open right and left off this. I was conducted into a smaller room
-to the right, where, after waiting for only a few seconds, the Prince
-came in. He addressed me in French, congratulating me on my courage for
-having ventured so far into his country, not on account of the difficulty
-of the road, "for all English are good mountaineers," but from the bad
-name the country has in Europe.
-
-"Don't you know," said he, laughing, "que nous sommes des ogres, et que
-nous mangeons les enfans; however, you shall try how we cook them if
-you will dine here to-night at eight."
-
-I thanked His Highness for his kindness, adding that I had never heard
-of their cannibal propensities, but in any case I should be happy to
-eat anything His Highness also would eat, and making my bow backed out
-of the saloon.
-
-I then left my card for the Russian Consul, who was staying at the Palace,
-and afterwards went to pay the same compliment to Mr. Nico Matanovich,
-aide-de-camp to the Prince; after which I returned to my quarters, to
-convert into a luncheon the repast which otherwise would have served
-for a dinner, but for the hospitality of His Highness.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XV.
-
-     A POLYGLOT JUMBLE—WAR CUSTOMS OF THE MONTENEGRINS—DEATH
-     IN BATTLE—FORAYS FOR THE PLUNDER OF CATTLE—EQUIPAGE OF A
-     MONTENEGRIN SOLDIER—PILLAGE—MANNER OF FIGHTING—TACTICS—SIGNAL
-     CRIES—ON BOARD SHIP—DECAPITATION OF WOUNDED PRISONERS.
-
-
-I now discovered what a terrible nuisance it is to know only three
-or four languages, especially when one finds oneself in a country the
-language of which is a complete mystery. The attendant I had, who had
-been so thoughtfully provided for me by Mr. Matanovich, professed to speak
-Italian, and he did in fact know a few Italian words, but in his general
-conversation with me, as was subsequently discovered and explained to me
-by Pero Pejovich, the language in which he spoke consisted pretty much of
-the following happy mixture: six-tenths of Montenegrin, three-tenths of
-Albanian and Turkish, with one-tenth Italian! With this polyglot jumble we
-got on fairly well, as far as hot water, coffee, pipe, tobacco, pranzo;
-and he learned to appreciate eventually the American word "skedaddle,"
-but when our necessities required further intercourse, it was perfectly
-hopeless—language was utterly useless, and gesticulation the only chance
-of making oneself understood. But he was a willing poor beggar, and
-not more dishonest than the majority of his fellows. He had a wholesome
-terror of the Prince's rigorous punishment of theft. "_Niente ladri in
-Montenegro_," he used to say, "_Principe terrible_," turning up his eyes
-and distorting his countenance to a fearful degree.
-
-Now whilst my attendant is preparing and setting out my lunch, I may
-as well entertain my reader with an account of the customs in war, and
-mode of fighting of the Montenegrins, by the pen of M. Broniewsky, which
-is so graphic, and accords so literally with what the Commandant Pero
-Pejovich related to me at different times, that I cannot think I could
-do better than transcribe it.
-
-"A Montenegrin is always armed, and carries about during his most peaceful
-occupation a rifle (many of them now have breechloaders), pistol, or
-yataghan, and a cartouche-box. The Montenegrins spend their leisure time
-in firing at a target, and are accustomed to this exercise from their
-boyish years. Being inured to hardships and privations, they perform
-without fatigue, and in high spirits, very long and forced marches. They
-climb the steepest rocks with great facility, and bear with the greatest
-patience hunger, thirst, and every kind of privation. When the enemy
-is defeated and retiring, they pursue him with such rapidity that they
-supply the want of cavalry, which it is impossible to employ in their
-mountainous country.
-
-"Inhabiting mountains which present, at every step, passes where a handful
-of brave men may arrest the progress of an army, they are not afraid of a
-surprise, particularly as they have on their frontier a constant guard,
-and the whole of their force can be collected within twenty-four hours
-upon the threatened point. When the enemy is in great force, they burn
-their villages, devastate their fields, and after having enticed him
-into the mountains, they surround and attack him in the most desperate
-manner.
-
-"When the country is in danger, the Montenegrins forget all personal
-feelings of private advantage and enmity. They obey the orders of their
-chief, and like gallant Republicans, they consider it a happiness and a
-grace of God to die in battle. It is in such a case that they appear as
-real warriors; but beyond the limits of their country, they are savage
-barbarians, who destroy everything with fire and sword.
-
-"Their ideas about war are entirely different from those adopted by
-civilized nations. They cut off the heads of those enemies whom they take
-with arms in their hands, and spare only those who surrender before the
-battle. The property they take from the enemy is considered by them as
-their own, and as a reward of courage. They literally defend themselves
-to the last extremity; a Montenegrin never craves for mercy; and whenever
-one of them is severely wounded, and it is impossible to save him from the
-enemy, his own comrades cut off his head. When at the attack of Clobuk,
-a little detachment of our troops was obliged to retreat, an officer
-of stout-make and no longer young fell on the ground from exhaustion.
-A Montenegrin perceiving it (the Montenegrins were fighting with the
-Russians against the French) ran immediately to him, and having drawn
-his yataghan, said 'You are very brave and must wish that I should cut
-off your head; say a prayer and make a sign of the cross.' The officer
-horrified at the proposition made an effort to rise, and rejoined his
-comrades with the assistance of the friendly Montenegrin.
-
-"They consider all those taken by the enemy as killed. They carry out of
-the battle their wounded comrades on their shoulders; and be it said to
-their honour they acted in the same manner by our officers and soldiers.
-
-"Like the Circassians, they are constantly making forays in small
-parties, for the plunder of cattle, and consider such expeditions as
-feats of chivalry, (just as the Scotch Highlanders one hundred years
-ago). Being safe in their habitations, where nobody dares to molest
-them, they continue their depredations with impunity, disregarding the
-threats of the Divan, and the hatred of their neighbours. Arms, a small
-loaf of bread, a cheese, some garlic, a little brandy, an old garment,
-and two pair of sandals, made of raw hide, form all the equipage of a
-Montenegrin. On the march they do not seek any shelter from rain or cold.
-In rainy weather, the Montenegrin wraps up his head in his strooka, lies
-down on the ground, and sleeps very comfortably. Three or four hours'
-repose are quite sufficient for his rest, and the remainder of his time
-is occupied in constant exertion.
-
-"It is impossible to retain them in the reserve; and it seems they cannot
-calmly bear the view of the enemy. When they have expended all their
-cartouches, they humbly request every officer they meet with to give them
-some, and as soon as they have received them, they run headlong into the
-further line. When there is no enemy in sight, they sing and dance, and
-go on pillaging, in which we must give them the credit of being perfect
-masters; although they are not acquainted with the high sounding names
-of contribution, requisition, forced loan, &c., &c. They call pillage,
-simply 'pillage,' and have no hesitation in confessing it.
-
-"Their usual manner of fighting is as follows: If they are in great
-force, they conceal themselves in ravines, and send out only a small
-number of shooters, who by retreating lead the enemy into the ambush;
-here, after having surrounded him, they attack him, usually preferring
-on such occasions swords to fire-arms; because they rely on their
-personal strength and bravery, in which they generally have the advantage
-over their enemies. When their numbers are inferior, they choose some
-advantageous position on high rocks, where pronouncing every kind of abuse
-against their enemies, they challenge them to combat. Their attacks are
-mostly made during the night, because their principal system is surprise.
-
-"However small their force may be, they always try to wear out the enemy
-by constantly harassing him. The best French _voltigeurs_ in the advanced
-posts were always destroyed by them; and the enemy's generals found it
-more advantageous to remain under cover of their cannon, of which the
-Montenegrins were not at all fond. However, they soon became accustomed
-to them, and supported by our rifles, they bravely mounted the batteries.
-
-"The tactics of Montenegrins are confined to being skilful marksmen....
-In a pitched battle their movements can be ascertained only by the
-direction of their standards. They have certain signal cries, which
-are uttered when they are to join in a compact body for attacking the
-weaker points of the enemy. As soon as such a signal is given, they rush
-furiously onwards, break into the squares, and at all events create a
-deal of disorder in the enemy's ranks. It was a terrible spectacle to
-see the Montenegrins rushing forward, with heads of slaughtered enemies
-suspended from their necks and shoulders, and uttering savage yells....
-
-"The Russian commander-in-chief had much difficulty in persuading them
-not to cut off the heads of their prisoners. He finally succeeded in
-this (chiefly by paying them a ducat for every prisoner) but what he had
-more difficulty, with the assistance of the Vladika, in persuading them
-to do, was to embark for an expedition on board of ship—a thing which
-they had never done before.
-
-"Notwithstanding that they were treated with the greatest kindness,
-they proved very troublesome guests. Whenever the captains invited their
-chiefs to breakfast, they all entered the cabin, and having observed that
-more dishes were served to the officers than to common sailors, they
-wanted to have a similar fare. When the Fortress of Curzola was taken
-the feast of Easter was approaching; they gave the captain no repose,
-entreating him to return to Cattaro; but when it was explained to them
-that the vessel could not advance against the wind, they fell into great
-despondency.
-
-"When at last the ship approached the entrance of Boccha di Cattaro
-and they caught a sight of their own black mountains, they uttered
-joyous exclamations, and began to sing and dance. On taking leave they
-affectionately embraced the captain and the officers, and invited those
-to whom they had taken a liking to pay them a visit. But when the sailors
-told them they could not leave the ship without the permission of their
-superiors, they were much astonished, and said, 'If you like to do a
-thing, what right has another to forbid you?'"
-
-Does not the foregoing read like a chapter in "Waverley," or in "Rob
-Roy?" but though it is now a good many years since M. Broniewski wrote
-the foregoing, the Montenegrin is still much the same, with the exception
-of cutting off the heads of those killed in battle, which he has given
-up, principally, I believe, because he has had no fighting of late. But
-at the period of the last attempted invasion of Montenegro on the Grahovo
-side, by the Turks in, I think, 1862, heads were cut off as freely as
-ever, and were liberally paid for by the chieftains; the only difference
-was that instead of taking them to Cettigne to hang in festoons upon
-the round tower at the back of the monastery, they were allowed to rot
-on the battle-field among the rocks of the Grahovo where scores of them
-are to be seen lying about to this day.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVI.
-
-     BATTLE BETWEEN TURKS AND MONTENEGRINS—ADDRESS OF PRINCE
-     MIRKO—HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND CHARACTER—THE PROJECTS OF
-     PRINCE DANIELO—PRINCE NICHOLAS I.—SPORT IN MONTENEGRO—INTERVIEW
-     WITH THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS—NATIONAL COSTUME—SPLENDID
-     ILLUMINATION.
-
-
-I regret more than I can express having lost some interesting notes
-of several conversations I had with the Commandant Pedro Pejovich on
-the subject of the campaign of 1864(?); all the more as they were most
-graphically told me by him, who had been in the thick of the fight, and
-carried in his body, in the shape of severe wounds, proofs of the active
-part he had borne in that campaign. One only I partially remember still,
-sufficiently well to venture to retail.
-
-The Turks, apparently, were attacking the Montenegrins from the
-Herzegovina in the north of Montenegro. They numbered about twelve
-thousand men, together with a good force of Artillery; while the
-Montenegrins collected to oppose them were not more than two thousand;
-but whilst the Turks were in the plain fully exposed in sight of the
-Montenegrins, these sturdy mountaineers, finding covert behind each
-rock and bramble bush, were able to pick off the Turks with considerable
-effect. Still the disparity of force was too great, and at the end of the
-second day's fighting, although the Turks had not been able to make any
-impression on the position held by the Montenegrins, still the number of
-those killed and wounded bore a very large proportion to their numbers.
-At sunset the fight being over for the time, and sentries having been
-posted by the mountaineers as far forward as practicable to watch the
-Ottoman camp, Prince Mirko, father of the present Prince of Montenegro,
-then in command of the Montenegrins, summoned all the chiefs to a brief
-council of war, and spoke thus:
-
-"Two days we have been fighting the infidels, and the only result has
-been the losses we have sustained in killed and wounded. Another day of
-such fighting will leave us so crippled that the accursed Turks will
-walk over us into our homes and villages. There is but one plan which
-offers any hope, but if you adopt it and place faith in me, I promise
-you a complete victory before to-morrow's sun shall gild the tops of
-yonder mountains. To-morrow morning, one hour before daylight, be all
-ready to follow me, leave behind your rifles and ammunition, and follow
-me softly and stealthily, making no noise; so we shall pass the Turkish
-advanced sentries without their noticing us, and when sufficiently near
-I will call my cry, and then let you all rush forward with me, trusting
-solely to your yataghans, and give no quarter."
-
-This was carried out to the letter, and succeeded perfectly. The
-Turks, never imagining they would be attacked, kept a bad look-out.
-The Montenegrins, led on by the intrepid Mirko, rushed on the Turkish
-batteries, cutting the gunners' heads off, and having spiked the cannons
-attacked the remainder of the army with such impetuosity that they fled
-from the field in the utmost disorder.
-
-This was the last attack of the Turks against Montenegro, and I don't
-think they will ever try it again. Prince Mirko was dead before my
-visit to this country. I cannot therefore give any description of him
-personally, but from all I heard he must have been a very remarkable
-man in every way. Though small in stature and slight, contrary to the
-general build of the Montenegrins, who are mostly all very tall and
-powerful men, he had immense influence over the mountain-tribes; owing
-to his well known sagacity and his fierce courage, wherever Mirko would
-lead, the whole of Montenegro would follow. He had the eye of an eagle,
-and strength of will and determination are portrayed in every line of
-his face, as I have observed in his portrait which hangs in the Palace
-of Montenegro, as well as the photograph I have seen of him. But he was
-wise also; when Prince Danielo (the predecessor of the present ruler)
-died by the hand of an assassin at Cattaro, his widow, the Princess
-Darinka, at once caused the present Prince, Nicholas I. (nephew of the
-murdered Danielo) to be proclaimed sovereign, passing over his father
-Mirko, who, owing to the great youth of his son, might have expected and
-claimed the succession; but as I said above, Mirko was wise as well as
-valorous. He knew that from his own warlike tendencies, how much soever
-he might be acceptable to his own mountaineers, his elevation to be
-ruler of Tchernagora would be displeasing to most of his neighbours in
-Austria, Servia, and Turkey. He therefore at once consented to his son's
-promotion, and generously was the first in Montenegro to do homage to
-the young Prince.
-
-Up to the year 1850, when Prince Danielo succeeded to the throne of
-Montenegro, the country had always been ruled by a Prince-Bishop, styled
-the Vladika. This dignitary, generally, if not always, nominated his own
-successor in the person of a nephew or some other near relative, who,
-on the death of the Vladika at once took holy orders and became in his
-turn Prince-Bishop.
-
-Danielo, not wishing to give up the happiness of home and married
-life, and also perhaps with the hope of founding a dynasty of his own
-in Montenegro, which in the course of time might, by extension and the
-absorption of other principalities, become an important kingdom, repaired
-to St. Petersburgh on the death of the Vladika Peter II., his uncle, and
-there obtained the full consent of the Emperor Nicholas to his effecting
-a division between Church and State. On his return journey to Cettigne
-he married at Trieste the Princess Darinka, hoping to have founded a
-line of princes to succeed him. His hopes however were destined to be
-blighted. Darinka had no children, and after reigning eight years, he
-was murdered at Cattaro as I have related above.
-
-The young Prince, (Nicholas I.) who had already been betrothed almost
-in infancy, as is the custom among the upper classes in that country
-to a relation of his own, daughter of one of the principal Voyvodes in
-Montenegro, followed his studies under special direction in the Palace of
-his ancestors; till one day the late Emperor Napoleon III., for reasons
-of his own, proposed to have the young Prince sent to Paris, there to
-be educated under his own eye; and the offer having been accepted, a
-French man-of-war without loss of time steamed into the Gulf of Cattaro
-and carried away the young Prince, together with two companions of his
-own age, sons of two of the principal Voyvodes of the country. Whatever
-care was bestowed upon the Prince's education, he amply profited by it;
-he is an excellent French and Italian, as well as German and Russian
-scholar. He is exceptionally well informed, and on a great variety of
-subjects; and voracious to a degree for more information, especially
-concerning English laws, customs, and manners, in all of which he takes
-the greatest interest, and is most anxious that Englishmen should visit
-his country. He was good enough to have me repeatedly at his house and
-at his hospitable board, and he never omitted to repeat to me.
-
-"I shall always be glad to see English gentlemen in my country; tell
-them, when you go back, that if they are fond of shooting, they shall
-have their choice of game, from an eagle to a blackbird, and from a bear
-to a squirrel; if they prefer fishing, I promise them trout such as they
-have never dreamt of,[8] and they shall have every assistance that I can
-afford them in the way of tents to camp out, and men to guide and help
-them."
-
-In appearance, the Prince is tall and remarkably handsome; his hair is
-black, he wears both beard and moustachios, contrary to the fashion of
-his country, where only the latter are worn, often of immense size and
-length. With a commanding appearance, he still has a most benevolent
-expression of countenance, due to the softness of a very fine pair of
-eyes, and his manners are most captivating. He is very dignified, but at
-the same time most kind, without being in the least patronizing, and I
-was told by those who knew him best that he has a most equable temper,
-and that an angry word seldom was heard from him.
-
-I had been careful before leaving the Palace to set my watch exactly
-to their time, so as to ensure my punctuality in the evening; and at
-eight P.M. to the minute, I found myself in the saloon of the
-Palace. The Russian Consul was there already; he was showing me the
-different portraits which hung round it, when the Prince walked in, in
-full Montenegrin costume, but without any ceremony; and a few minutes
-after a door was thrown open from the opposite side, when in walked the
-Princess, accompanied by the widow of Prince Mirko and attended by her
-lady-in-waiting, Mademoiselle Neukomm, all in full native costume.
-
-Pero Pejovich had so often extolled the beauty of the Princess, that I
-was quite prepared to be disappointed, as is almost always the case,
-for anticipation seems invariably to exaggerate the reality; but on
-this occasion it was just the reverse. I don't think I ever saw a more
-beautiful creature than the lady to whom I was then introduced; tall,
-pale, neither thin nor stout, but beautifully formed, and with exquisite
-hands and arms. She wore a diamond ornament on her head, half hidden
-by the masses of black hair among which it was nestled, and though it
-shone at times like a star from among a mass of stormy clouds, it could
-not subdue the light which shone from her glorious dark eyes.
-
-Dinner was instantly announced, and we proceeded to the dining-hall, a
-room of good size and well-furnished. The dinner, a German one, was good,
-the wines better. The attendance consisted of two men in black and four
-in native costume. The Princess, who speaks French fluently, did the
-honours with most winning grace; and the Prince, by his affability, at
-once put every one at his ease. At dinner I sat on his left, his mother
-being on his right, with the Russian Consul _vis-à-vis_, principally, I
-suppose, to facilitate her enjoyment of the conversation, as she speaks
-only Slave.
-
-During the repast His Highness constantly asked me questions, sometimes
-about my impressions of Montenegro, which were easily enough answered,
-as I had nothing to recount of myself but enjoyment since I had entered
-his territory, having met with nothing but the most unbounded kindness
-and hospitality. But in his anxiety for knowledge, he often put questions
-which I found it difficult enough to reply to, and sometimes questions
-which I could not answer at all. Having spoken with admiration of the
-gorgeous costume of the Montenegrins, and how it set off their fine
-figures, he replied:
-
-"Yes, it is very fine; but I should be delighted to abolish it, if it
-were possible; they spend a great deal too much money on it."
-
-Being simply horrified at the idea of doing away with national dress, I
-could not avoid expressing myself unreservedly, and I said at once that
-depriving a country of its costume would be simply to destroy it.
-
-"Ah!" replied the Prince sharply, "you look upon us only from a
-picturesque point of view; in fact, you would like to keep us here like
-a sort of menagerie of wild beasts, to come and look at us occasionally
-for your amusement."
-
-The Prince was almost angry; but fortunately I had an analogous example
-to place before him, in our own Scottish Highlanders, who cling to
-their costume with such tenacity. I told him of our Highlanders, of our
-splendid Highland regiments, of how our Scottish nobility held by the
-national dress, and of how our precious Queen dressed all her boys in
-Highland costume; and yet we did not go to look at them as we would go
-to look at wild beasts in a zoological garden, but we regarded it with
-admiration, as an ancient national costume, associated in our minds with
-devoted loyalty, stirring times, and valiant deeds; as their own costume
-was also, which, I trusted, I should never live to see exchanged for a
-bad imitation of the present universally adopted French fashion, ending
-by saying that I was convinced that the supplanting of national costumes
-with imitations taken from our neighbours, was decidedly a backward step
-in civilization.
-
-He questioned me very closely upon the law of primogeniture and entail
-in our country, and could not understand how such a law did not produce
-_des jalousies terribles, et d'autres inconvenances_. I endeavoured to
-explain to him the present law of English entail, and how it differed
-from the ancient Roman law of _fidéi-commis_, which still obtains in
-Scotland, where entails are for ever. Still he did not like our system of
-primogeniture, where the eldest son, in many instances, has £100,000 per
-annum, and all the other children £10,000 each, representing about £400
-a year. He thought it terribly unfair; indeed he could not understand how
-they quietly submitted to it at all; and so we got through our dinner most
-agreeably without the least _gêne_, while the Prince's band played some
-excellent music outside, under the window. This band consisted entirely
-of Montenegrin lads, some quite young, and considering the short time
-they had been learning their new profession, was wonderfully good. The
-bandmaster was from Prague, an excellent musician, and as he was a Czech,
-he spoke a language very similar to Montenegrin, which contributed not
-a little to his success.
-
-Having left the dining-room in company with the ladies, we all adjourned
-to the saloon, and from it to the terrace in front of the Palace, where
-the Prince having lit a cigarette, offered some to me and Mr. Yonin.
-As I hesitated to light mine, after having taken one, the Princess, who
-immediately guessed that my hesitation was owing to her being present,
-at once most kindly came forward and requested me to smoke "_de suite_"
-&c. I therefore lit my cigarette at once, saying with a deep bow that
-I dared not disobey her commands. She then bid me watch, as presently
-a change would suddenly take place in the aspect of the scene.
-
-It was now quite dark, when suddenly a cannon was fired, and
-simultaneously, as if by magic, every window in the town, in the Palace
-opposite, in the monastery, in the terrace, and at every point where a
-candle could be stuck, was filled with lights, while the band played the
-grand Russian National Hymn, and the people shouted with all the power
-of their lungs, firing off their pistols in the air in every direction.
-
-The illumination was so instantaneous that the effect was charming, and
-coupled with the music, the enthusiastic cheering, and the booming of
-the cannon, which kept up a sort of "contrabasso" accompaniment to the
-whole, all contributed to produce a _coup de scène_ never to be forgotten.
-
-We now all withdrew to the drawing-room for coffee and tea, _à la Russe_,
-without cream and with a slice of lemon. I was not sorry to leave the
-balcony, for that firing of pistols in the air is not so innocent a
-pastime as might be imagined, as no Montenegrin ever dreams of loading
-his weapons with anything else than ball-cartridge.
-
-The Prince again resumed his conversation with me about English customs
-and manners. He said, "I am told that in London one policeman, unarmed,
-can control a mob, while in Paris it is very different, as nothing short
-of loaded muskets and bayonets will do for the French."
-
-I answered him that English mobs could be troublesome too, but that,
-generally speaking, owing to our constitutional respect for the majesty
-of the law, we came to look upon that solitary unarmed policeman as
-an impersonation of it, and as such he was always sure of the active
-assistance of all respectable citizens in the execution of his duty.
-
-He then began to question me about the British constitution, and I never
-felt more posed. Irish mother-wit, however, came to the rescue, and I
-said, "To explain the British Constitution I should have to be a lawyer,
-but one of the great characteristics of it, so far as a layman like me
-can explain it, consists in what is called the Law of Habeas Corpus, by
-which no man can be imprisoned by any authority whatever without being
-immediately informed of the accusation against him, and brought up before
-the constituted authorities within twenty-four hours."
-
-He said he had heard of that before, and thought it a grand law, but
-under certain circumstances he considered it might be advantageous for
-the king to have the power of arresting dangerous characters, upon which
-I told him that in certain emergencies the law of Habeas Corpus had been
-suspended, but that could only be done by Act of Parliament, and not by
-the sovereign's authority.
-
-"In short," said he, "your Chambers are the real sovereign, the King
-being only the outward and visible sign of regal authority."
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVII.
-
-     A WALK WITH THE PRINCE—SALUTATIONS OF THE CROWD—THE
-     GUZLA—MONTENEGRIN DANCE—THE PRINCE'S ACCOUNT OF ITS ORIGIN—THE
-     CAMP AT NIGHT—ADVENTURE WITH A MONTENEGRIN—DEVOTION OF THE
-     PEOPLE TO THEIR PRINCE.
-
-
-THE firing had now ceased, and the illumination was fading out by degrees,
-the band was still playing in front of the Palace, and the full moon was
-rising well up in the sky. The crowd had increased, as we could see from
-the window of the saloon, and the broad space in front of the Palace
-was literally paved with heads and up-turned faces. After looking a few
-minutes at that dense mass which was swaying to and fro and gradually
-getting closer and closer, the Prince asked me what I thought of their
-behaviour. "Most wonderfully quiet, orderly, and well behaved; but I
-can't help looking upon them all as so many powder kegs. One cross word,
-an imaginary insult, a little too much drink, one of a thousand trifling
-incidents, might set a spark going, and it will be wonderful indeed
-if among these thousands of wild and lawless men some turmoil does not
-arise, and when their Oriental blood is once up, and arms are at hand
-and ready, blood will scarcely fail to flow."
-
-"Well," said the Prince, "I venture to say there won't be the smallest
-misadventure to-night, though I haven't a policeman near here, and there
-are probably twenty thousand armed men in and about Cettigne at this
-moment. Do you think there are many Sovereigns in Europe who could with
-safety walk about in such a crowd in one of their own capitals during
-a time of excitement such as this?"
-
-"Not one, I should think," I replied.
-
-"Then," said he, "put on your hat and come along with me."
-
-I followed him into the lobby, where throwing a scarf about his shoulders
-he bid me follow him, first having told his henchman that he would go
-out alone.
-
-It was now about eleven P.M., and in a few minutes we were out
-shouldering our way in the thickest of the crowd, making for the spot
-where the band was playing. It was not long before he was recognised,
-right and left, and now began one of the most interesting scenes I ever
-witnessed. Where there had been a crowd so dense that progression seemed
-almost an impossibility, an ample space was formed, and then one by one
-men of all grades approached the Prince, and, according to their rank and
-station, one and all saluted him in the following way—they took off their
-caps, and those of the lowest grades took up the edge of his coat and
-"literally kissed the hem of his garment;" then those of somewhat better
-position kissed the same garment higher up; to others of higher rank
-still, the Prince extended his hand, which they kissed most reverently,
-and pressed to their foreheads three times; and lastly the Chiefs and
-Voyvodes, almost on an equality with him, doffed their caps, while His
-Highness did the same, and both holding each other's right hand pressed
-the side of their cheek against each other. And so I accompanied him,
-walking through that living mass, stopping every moment either to receive
-some act of homage, or to caress some bold little curly-headed fellow who
-had squeezed and wriggled himself in to get near to his Prince, and to
-whom His Highness would speak a few words, asking his name and age, and
-where he went to school, and what he could do, to the untold pride and
-joy of the parents who were watching. And so we shortly made the tour of
-the town, coming out on the plain right in front of the monastery where
-many groups were busily engaged in the performance of the national dance.
-
-The lights had now gone out, and the illumination had faded away, but
-the moon nearly at the full was high up in the heavens, and shining
-as it does not, alas! shine in these islands. The band was gone, and
-the only music to be heard was the native _guzla_, accompanied by the
-monotonous chaunt of the vocalists, interrupted occasionally by the wild
-piercing shriek of some dancer. The Prince made for one of the groups
-where apparently the dancing was most energetic, whilst I followed close
-on his heels. Being at once recognised, ample way was made for him, and
-I soon found myself alongside of him in the innermost circle of the ring.
-
-Here I had full opportunity of observing the native Montenegrin dance,
-which, if not elegant, has certainly the merit of originality. How shall
-I describe it? In the area of that ring in which we found ourselves were
-five couple of dancers, who were being constantly renewed, men and women,
-as either became exhausted by their exertions. The dance itself did not
-seem to consist of any peculiar steps, but mainly in jumping with the
-arms extended horizontally, leaping as high as each one could opposite
-the other, and twirling round at the same time like dancing dervishes,
-whilst occasionally, as either man or woman had to give in from sheer
-exhaustion, they uttered a piercing shriek. Though somewhat savage and
-uncouth to behold, there still was a weird charm about that dance. The
-tall mountaineers looked taller still from their long white surtouts in
-the bright moonlight, and as they sprang high into the air they appeared
-absolutely gigantic, while the glitter of the moon's rays on the metallic
-ornaments of their dress and their jewelled arms produced a strange and
-pleasing effect. From one group the Prince passed on to another, and
-so through all till about one in the morning, when he turned his steps
-towards the Palace,
-
-"Our dance is not an elegant one," said the Prince, "but it is
-characteristic; it is called the Dance of the Eagles, and its origin
-is thus accounted for. Many years ago the Montenegrins had no national
-dance, when some of the young men said, 'How is it all our neighbours
-have national dances of their own and we have none? Let us imagine and
-invent a dance; and, as our mountains are the country of the eagles,
-let us make it like eagles rising from the rocks, and let us scream like
-the young eagles.' And so they stretched out their arms and sprang into
-the air as high as they could, dancing their Eagle Dance, which from
-thenceforth became the national dance of the country."
-
-At the gates of the Palace I made my bow, and the Prince, putting out
-his hand, wished me good night, saying, "I must see you again before
-you leave."
-
-In a few minutes I was in my room. I required no light, the moon was so
-brilliant. The night being warm, and not feeling at all sleepy from the
-excitement I had gone through, I lit a cigar, and leaning with my elbows
-on the window-sill, I looked out into the little plain where so shortly
-before I had been walking about. The turmoil had now greatly diminished,
-and in every direction I could see that preparations were being made to
-bivouac _à la belle étoile_. The horses that up to this time had been
-allowed to roam about here and there, cropping the scanty herbage, were
-now being collected and picketed one by one near the spot which had been
-selected by the owner for his own peculiar sleeping place; while the
-court-yard of the old Palace was also fully tenanted, and apparently by
-the same party I had watched in the early morning, and which, from the
-better style of their horses, the glitter of their equipments, and the
-appearance of their attendants, seemed to belong to some of the native
-chiefs.
-
-By degrees the different noises ceased, and in less than an hour the
-whole camp was steeped in silence. Such a contrast to the noise and
-turmoil of an hour before, when twenty thousand people, men, women and
-children, were shouting, dancing, and yelling at the top of their voices!
-
-I put on my helmet, and with a short stick in my hand, simply to keep
-away any snarling dog that might be inclined to give trouble, I quickly
-crossed the court-yard and let myself out by the gate into the plain.
-The moon had barely passed the zenith, and shone almost perpendicularly
-on the prostrate groups, who, in different attitudes of sleep, were
-dotted all about; some wrapped up in their strookas, more from habit
-than necessity, as the air was warm; some turned on their faces, some on
-their back with their arms outstretched; but all profoundly asleep; and
-such was the silence that, but for the absence of blood and mutilated
-limbs and broken weapons, one could easily have imagined it the field
-of some hard-fought fight.
-
-I was surveying the placid scene and standing close to a magnificent
-mountaineer who was sleeping on his back, with his face fully upturned
-to the moon and his arms extended, when suddenly he awoke. In the
-twinkling of an eye he was on his feet and his hand on his yataghan. I
-don't imagine my life was the least in danger, even for a moment—but if
-it was, my helmet and my cigar saved me. However, I instantly saluted
-him in Slave, and with a "_Sbogo Gospodin_" he returned the compliment,
-at the same time putting out his hand he shook mine warmly, and pointing
-with the other to the ancient Palace, led me away towards it, talking
-softly the while and smiling; but unfortunately I could not understand,
-and the only response I could make was by offering him a cigar, which he
-at once lit at mine and pronouncing it "_dobre_" (good) puffed away at
-it with a will. At the great gate of the Palace he wished me good-night,
-when I begged of him by signs to take another weed, and so we parted.
-
-The next morning being the day of the feast, I was awoke pretty early by
-the repeated firing of cannon just outside the gate of the Palace and in
-front of my window. I should have been glad to have slept a few hours
-longer, but the noise was too great, and my so-called Italian-speaking
-servant coming in at the same moment, I jumped out of bed and called
-out, "_Colazione!_"
-
-I had not more than half finished, and was in the act of peeling some
-grand specimens of Albanian figs, when in walked Pero Pejovich, who
-came to tell me that the Prince and Princess, with all the notables
-and Voyvodes of Montenegro, would attend High Mass at ten, and that the
-_cortège_ would pass under my windows and would be worth seeing. He added
-that if I liked he would take me into church and get me standing-room
-inside before they arrived; but he feared the crowd and the heat would be
-something fearful. Consequently, finding it quite hot enough already, I
-determined to remain where I was and enjoy the procession from my window.
-
-I then told the Commandant of my adventure the night before. He scolded
-me awfully, but patted me on the back, as one would a child, and said
-I might have run some risk had I not been fortunately recognised as a
-guest of the Prince.
-
-"Only imagine," said he, "if anything had gone wrong, the honour of
-Montenegro might have been compromised."
-
-We then lit our cigars, and while waiting for mass-time, fell, as usual,
-into conversation about his country and its usages.
-
-"What do you think of our Prince, and the way he goes among the people? I
-saw you last night with him. Did you ever see such love, such devotion,
-as we all have for him? But he deserves it fully. There never was such
-a ruler as our Prince; we would all lay down our lives for him, and be
-proud of the honour. If he were to call us to arms, we could muster in
-twelve hours, here in this plain of Cettigne, twenty thousand able men,
-fully armed and equipped, ready to march on any point, and that without
-endangering Montenegro; for we should leave twenty thousand more behind
-us, not so well adapted for advancing in an enemy's country, but fully
-competent to guard our mountain passes and protect our strongholds."
-
-I said I hoped such a contingency might never arise; but he shook his
-head. The Turks, he said, hated them too much not to seek, sooner or
-later, for a pretext to attack them, and then he added,
-
-"But the sooner the better; we never were so well prepared to meet them.
-The Turks pretend that Montenegro is an integral portion of the Ottoman
-Empire; we insist that we have always been free, and though often hard
-pressed by Ottoman forces, have never yet been conquered. What chance
-then is there of our coming to an understanding? My great grief, however,
-is to hear that England is against us and in favour of our enemies, and
-if it were not for the friendship which Russia has ever shown us, we
-might be exterminated by the infidels before you would lift a finger to
-prevent our utter annihilation. We cannot understand it, for we read of
-how England exerts herself always in favour of oppressed nationalities,
-and how she has even spent hundreds of millions of piastres to put down
-the slave trade; and yet she favours the Turks, who are the greatest
-supporters of slavery, against us, though our religions are almost
-identical, I am told. I wish more English would come to Montenegro. I
-think they would end by appreciating us."
-
-These words of the Commandant made a deep impression on me.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVIII.
-
-     FALSE IMPRESSIONS OF MONTENEGRO—AGRICULTURE ON A
-     MINOR SCALE—FIELD-LABOURERS—MONTENEGRIN FACCHINI AT
-     CONSTANTINOPLE—FEMALE LABOUR—PRODUCTION OF SUMACH—COMMERCIAL
-     RELATIONS WITH OTHER COUNTRIES IMPEDED—IMPOSING PAGEANT.
-
-
-Truly very little is known about Montenegro and its mountaineers, and
-that little is very incorrect. They have been generally represented
-as wild, savage, bloodthirsty, thieving scoundrels, closely allied to
-Italian brigands and Greek palikari—if anything, worse than either. Fond
-of fighting for fighting's sake, and when not engaged in that amiable
-recreation, spending their time in strutting about in their fine clothes,
-peacocking in the sunshine, while those too poor to have fine trappings
-whiled away the weary hours and forgot their fleas and their sorrows
-in the tones of their national _guzla_, while the women were left to do
-all the labour in the fields.
-
-Such was certainly not my impression. The part of Montenegro through
-which I travelled, though sterile and barren to a degree, was a wonderful
-specimen of what man could do when driven to it. Every little nook, where
-the least bit of soil could be found, among that wilderness of rocks
-where stones had rained from Heaven, was carefully taken advantage of;
-the rocks adjoining these little nooks were often removed by the most
-laborious exertions, and in some instances earth was scraped up here and
-there, and carried in small baskets to these spots, in order to increase
-their depth of soil. I saw clearings of so small a size as barely to
-admit of _one potatoe plant_ or three of maize, and little fields not
-_one yard_ in diameter!
-
-Hard at work, cultivating the soil, I saw not only women but plenty
-of sturdy mountaineers. At Niegosh I observed one of the Petrovichs,
-the handsome young fellow who entertained me on my way to Cettigne,
-superintending himself a number of men who were working in a field near
-his house; and the only difference I could observe between them and our
-own labourers was that they were all fully armed, although employed at
-the peaceful occupation of agriculture. They have not yet turned their
-yataghans into spades and reaping hooks, but they have done the next
-best thing by keeping the first at ease while energetically plying the
-others.
-
-I have seen the Montenegrins in their own valleys and mountain fastnesses,
-and I utterly deny the charges brought against them. They are not
-lazy—leaving all the hard work to their women—that is utterly false, and
-the best proof I perhaps can give, lies in the self-asserting fact of the
-toiling colony of three thousand Montenegrin Facchini at Constantinople,
-well known as about the most hard-working and honest labouring men in
-that capital. It is true that they allow the women to do much of the
-heavy agricultural work, and carry heavy loads up and down the mountains;
-but it must be remembered that for years past the Montenegrins, like the
-proscribed clans of Scotland in the last century, have been treated by
-their neighbours, the Turks, very little better than wild beasts. They
-would long ago have been exterminated, but for their indomitable courage
-and constant fighting, during which period, of necessity, the agricultural
-duties fell entirely on the decrepit old men and the women, as all men
-who were at all able to carry arms were engaged in fighting—and many
-of the women too! It must also be remembered that in all mountainous
-countries the women toil more heavily than in the plains, and even in
-civilized Italy hear what a distinguished Italian, Massimo d'Azeglio,
-writes:
-
-"For example, if a faggot of wood and a bunch of chickens have to be
-carried down to the shore from one of the villages half way up the
-mountain, the labour is thus distributed in the family. The wife loads
-herself with the faggot of wood which weighs half a hundredweight, and
-the husband will take the chickens which weigh a mere nothing." The
-Montenegrins are not, therefore, singularly and atrociously barbarous
-in this respect.
-
-Considering the small extent of the Principality and its great sterility,
-it is wonderful the amount of produce they are able to export, even with
-the disabilities under which they labour, being entirely deprived of any
-seaboard, though clearly entitled to one. One of the most important of
-their natural products, one which under favourable circumstances might
-be increased a thousandfold is "sumach," a substance largely used in
-tanning the more expensive kinds of leather. A small amount is exported
-to Holland, none comes to England, but a small parcel I brought over with
-me was declared by competent judges to be equal to the best Sicilian,
-which is considered the best of all sumachs.
-
-They have vast forests of walnut trees which, under proper management and
-due facilities of exportation, might be rendered most productive, both as
-to walnut oil and timber for cabinet work. They export immense quantities
-of a small dried fish "_scoranza_," much used in the neighbouring Catholic
-and Greek countries during their religious feasts; and without further
-wearying my readers, I will simply add that but for the difficulties
-they labour under, they could export every one of the following articles
-in very considerable quantities:—
-
-Castradina (dried mutton and goat hams), honey, wax, goat and kid skins
-to any amount, as also martin, fox, and hare skins, together with many
-other substances I have forgotten.
-
-The Prince is doing all he can to spread instruction among his people.
-He has established numberless schools, and as all over the Principality
-education is compulsory, in another generation the man or woman unable
-to read and write will be a phenomenon indeed in Montenegro.
-
-The renewed booming of the cannon and the ringing of the convent bells
-now gave us warning that the Prince was going to hear Mass, and in a few
-seconds I saw the whole _cortège_ pass on foot under my window. First
-a squad of guards, then His Highness the Prince leading the beautiful
-Princess, immediately accompanied by the Russian Consul in full uniform,
-and then a number of Voyvodes in gorgeous costumes, while another squad
-of body-guards brought up the rear. They walked quickly past, and in a
-few minutes were lost completely to sight under the buttresses of the
-old Palace. The pageant was of short duration, but it was well worth
-seeing, even in that land of sunshine and gorgeous costumes.
-
-Mass over, everyone turned in for his dinner and siesta. The Commandant
-of the Grahovo went to his own abode, and I followed the general example.
-
-In the afternoon some wonderful foot races were to be held, but not till
-near sunset, when the great heat of the day would be somewhat abated. I
-determined therefore to fill up the space between the end of my siesta
-and the visit to the races, with a call on Monsignor Roganovich, the
-Metropolitan of Montenegro. I had brought letters of recommendation to
-the Archimandrite of Cettigne, and in his company I went to the monastery
-to pay my respects. We entered by the great gate, after crossing the
-threshing floor, and having crossed the court we ascended by a very
-rough stone staircase, which landed us in a sort of primitive cloister
-looking on a garden, on which opened the suite of rooms occupied by the
-Metropolitan.
-
-We were at once shown in, and had not to wait many seconds before
-Monsignor Roganovich made his appearance. His reception was most
-cordial. He took me by the hand and made me sit on the divan by his
-side, expressing his regret that he could not converse with me except
-through an interpreter, owing to his not speaking any other language than
-Illyrian and Russian. We got on, however, remarkably well, thanks to the
-rapidity with which the Archimandrite almost guessed what I was going
-to say in Italian, translating it into Illyrian with equal rapidity.
-Coffee, as usual, was served up, unaccompanied however by the customary
-pipes, as the orthodox clergy are forbidden to smoke.
-
-And now as I am sipping my coffee, let me endeavour to describe what I
-saw as my eyes wandered about. The room itself was small and low, simply
-white-washed, with no other furniture than one small table in front of
-the divan, and four rush chairs of the homeliest description. Around the
-walls were a few coloured prints of saints, and the floor was utterly
-uncarpeted. All this simplicity, however, served to bring out in greater
-contrast and relief the portly figure of Monsignor Roganovich, as he sat
-on the divan in his ample cassock and gown of violet-purple silk. He was
-not a handsome man, strictly speaking, his was more a jolly countenance
-than a handsome one, still it was a face one liked to look at, with his
-grand black beard flowing down to his waist. He wore his hair in ample
-curls down his back as if it had never known the shears, and on his head
-the little Montenegrin cap of black silk. On his breast glittered the
-star of the Montenegrin order, and round his neck a massive gold chain,
-from which depended a Panagia or image of the Virgin and Child, nearly
-as large as a saucer, surrounded with large diamonds.
-
-His manners were courtly and his smile most pleasing, and he gave me the
-idea of one who would make an excellent companion for a little dinner
-party of four, and who would be more in his element on the Boulevard
-des Italiens at Paris, than in his monastic seclusion at Cettigne. We
-conversed for half an hour or so when I rose to take my leave, and he gave
-me the Apostolic Benediction, and embraced me on both cheeks. As we walked
-back to the Palace, the Archimandrite told me he took great interest in
-the schools, which he visited daily, examining and cross-examining the
-students, to see that they made good use of their time.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIX.
-
-     FOOT RACES—MONASTERY OF OSTROG—OTTOMAN ADMINISTRATION—A
-     COURSE À LA MONTAGNE—RACING WITHOUT BETTING—BEN TROVATO—A FLAT
-     RACE—CONVERSATION ABOUT ENGLISH LAWS AND CUSTOMS—LAW OF HABEAS
-     CORPUS.
-
-
-In the afternoon I went out into the plain to see the foot races, which
-the Prince had told me would be very amusing.
-
-On my way to the plain, where the races were to take place, I rambled
-again through the fair, and a second time got into conversation with the
-fellow that spoke English so well. We chatted together on many subjects,
-all more or less connected with the country; he praised the Montenegrins
-to no end, and told me he would trust them to any amount, they were so
-thoroughly honest and scrupulous in their dealings. He wanted me to go
-with him, in a couple of days after the fair was over, to the monastery
-of Ostrog, but my time was not my own, and I could not give myself that
-additional pleasure.
-
-It was a great disappointment, however, as Ostrog is a wonderful place,
-cut out of the rock, not perched on one as some of the monasteries of
-Mount Athos are, but partly excavated at a great height out of the face
-of the rock, and partly built on a ledge which the upper part of the
-rock overhangs. It is approached by a narrow path cut into steps, where
-no more than two could walk abreast, and therefore easily defended by a
-handful of men against any number of assailants. There is an ample supply
-of water in it at all times, and it is always stored with a good supply
-of rations, and an immense quantity of ammunition. Except by starving
-out the garrison, it never could be taken.
-
-My companion wanted me then to go with him into the interior of Northern
-Albania, where he was well known, and where under his protection and
-guidance I should have been perfectly safe; while his knowledge of the
-languages, both Oriental and English, would have enabled me to make
-many interesting inquiries. When I asked him about the administration
-of those countries by the Ottoman Government, and the opening up of the
-country by the projected railway from Adrianople to Novi-Bazar which
-has already been surveyed, he shrugged his shoulders, and then, with a
-toss of his head, said:—
-
-"Railways are all very good, but they are almost useless here. What we
-want is a good Government, and that we never shall have as long as this
-Christian country is ruled by the Turks. You talk of the progress of
-civilization among them; but you simply know nothing about them. I can
-speak, for I have lived with them and among them from childhood; and as
-to their civilization, it is simply a farce. Even at Stamboul, among the
-better educated, among those who have been to Paris and London, their
-civilization is nothing more than the gilding of Brummagem jewelry—the
-slightest rubbing will cause the copper to blush out from beneath.
-Civilization indeed! See what a powerful navy they possess; but let
-Hobart Pasha go home and take with him all his European officers, men
-and engineers, leaving nothing behind but pure full-blooded Turks to man
-it, and the entire Ottoman navy would not be a match for the smallest
-British ironclad. In making this disparaging statement as to the so-called
-civilization of Turkey, I have selected the navy as an example because
-in old times the Turks were able to hold their own at sea, and showed
-a great aptitude in naval matters; but naval science has progressed
-and they have remained stationary. But so it is—their civilization is
-a dream; their finances a colossal sham; and their final exodus from
-Europe, I trust, is in the very nearest distance. In fact, if all the
-Christians in Ottoman employ—English, French, Armenian or Greek—were to
-abandon their several posts, Turkey would simply collapse in six months."
-
-I don't say that these are my opinions, but simply the clearly expressed
-convictions of a sharp trader who had long been intimate with European
-Turkey.
-
-It wanted not much more than an hour of sunset; the western crags threw
-long purple shadows along the plain of Cettigne, while the rocks which
-bound it on the east were steeped in the richest tints of gold, and
-russet, and purple. Up, near to the old Palace of the Vladikas, was a
-splendid group of native magnates with the Prince in the midst, while
-ranged in a row before them were about a hundred and fifty of the most
-athletic men in Montenegro—competitors all in a coming foot race for
-a splendid pair of silver-mounted pistols, offered by His Highness to
-him who should first lay his hands on them. The pistols were placed on
-a conspicuous rock a considerable way up the cliffs on the south-west
-side of the plain.
-
-The competitors may have been placed at a distance of three hundred
-yards from the base of those cliffs; it was, therefore, partly a flat
-race and partly a "_course à la montagne_:" as the Prince said, "_En
-Angleterre vous avez les courses au clocher_, (steeple-chases) _ici nous
-avons les courses à la montagne_." The men had divested themselves of
-their white coats, and their belts and armour. For an instant there was
-profound silence, and then, at a given signal, off they went at a good
-pace, keeping wonderfully together for the first two hundred yards or
-so; then the line began to get wavy, and with every stride more and more
-fell behind, till, when they arrived at the foot of the crags, there
-were not, perhaps, more than fifty that sprang up simultaneously to the
-cliffs. Then, indeed, began the real race, and the mountaineers took to
-it in right earnest, scaling the precipice like leopards. It was quite
-exciting to watch the rapidity with which they swung themselves from
-point to point, taking advantage of every cleft, every rootlet, that
-offered the least hold to either hand or foot. At last, three arrived
-almost simultaneously at the goal; but one, slightly in advance, made
-a vigorous spring—touched the pistols first—barely winning by a hand!
-
-It was, without exception, the prettiest thing by way of a race I ever
-saw. The whole scene was before you like a panorama; the costumes of the
-runners and the spectators; the gorgeous tints of the setting sun; the
-enthusiasm of all, together with the shouts of the multitude, rendered
-it a scene never to be forgotten; and as I watched them clambering up the
-cliffs in front of me, guessing at the chances of the race, and mentally
-gambling with myself on who would be the winner, I could not help feeling
-a certain degree of surprise that no betting was going on in any part
-of that vast assemblage. The chances were so many, the combinations
-so varied, and the probabilities so constantly changing, that a fairer
-game to try the luck of Dame Fortune could not have been devised, and
-all the more, too, as all were honestly in earnest in striving for the
-prize. There were no dark horses, no sickened favourites, no hard-pulling
-jockeys to bewilder the backers; all was before you, fair and serene,
-and the excitement was tremendous when some one fine mountaineer, well
-in advance of the rest, maybe by five or six yards, would suddenly lose
-his foothold through the giving way of some small projection of rock to
-which, he was clinging, and after remaining suspended a short time by
-his hands above his head, he would eventually have to let go his hold
-and drop down some few feet, losing all chance in the race; while those
-who had been nearest to him would redouble their efforts, and thus at
-times the one who at first starting had seemed the least likely to win
-would actually come to be in the first flight of the race; but he, in his
-turn, by some unlucky chance would slip, and another would as instantly
-get on before him. These constant changes of chances made the race a
-most exciting one; still not a bet among the multitude of lookers-on!
-
-One of the Prince's aide-de-camps having heard me express surprise at
-the absence of all betting, said, "Betting is quite a characteristic
-of you others (_vous autres_) in England. I am told you would bet on
-anything. I have heard a story of a poor girl who once threw herself off
-a bridge in London. The police-boat, fortunately, was near, and pulled
-away to her rescue, when two lords happening to pass by, stopped on the
-bridge for a bet as to whether the girl would be saved or not, and lost
-and won an immense sum on the event."
-
-I laughed, and replied,
-
-"_Se non è vero è ben trovato._"
-
-After this we had a flat race for about a mile across the plains. So
-far as running went, it was a _flat_ race indeed, and I have often seen
-better at an Irish country fair; but it was well worth seeing from the
-rich colouring of the costumes of those taking part in it, as they ran
-with their clothes on; and as every one was eligible to compete, and not
-Montenegrins alone, the effect was most singular and picturesque. The
-prize was in this case also a pair of silver-mounted Turkish pistols,
-given by the Prince, and I was glad to hear that the winner was a
-Montenegrin.
-
-In the evening I had the honour of dining at the Palace, when the Prince
-again asked me many questions concerning England, its habits and customs,
-of which, although he had read much in French books, he knew absolutely
-nothing.
-
-We again spoke about the law of primogeniture, about which he could
-not exactly make up his mind, and could not understand how it did not
-produce disastrous occurrences in families. He understood, however,
-quite well what I explained to him concerning the Law of Habeas Corpus,
-and again declared it to be a grand institution, _so far as the people
-were concerned_.
-
-I left at a late hour, after spending a most delightful evening, and
-as I went back to my rooms to pack my small valise for my early start
-next morning, I felt an undefinable regret at leaving Tchernagora and
-its interesting mountaineers. I had enjoyed among them a courteous
-hospitality and a patriarchal welcome, the prominent characteristics of
-which will, I fear, before very long disappear under the pressure and
-_vis a tergo_ of our so-called European civilization. I should like,
-above all things, to visit them again; but should it never be my lot to
-enjoy that pleasure, I cannot take leave of Montenegro without expressing
-my deep sense of the cordial reception I met with there on every side.
-
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XX.
-
-     DEPARTURE FROM CETTIGNE—RUGGED ROAD—DELIGHTFUL VIEW—USEFUL
-     OLD HELMET—NIEGOSH—EXCESSIVE HEAT—THE SCALA DI CATTARO—THE
-     BOCCHESI—THE RUSSIAN CONSUL—SUNSET AT CATTARO—UNEXPECTED
-     APPEARANCE OF PERO PEJOVICH.
-
-
-As the clock struck three in the morning of the 15th of July, 1873, the
-guide walked into my room to say it was time to start; at the same moment
-my servant brought me in a cup of _café-au-lait_ with some hot toast.
-My toilette was soon made, and my breakfast swallowed, and I moved away
-from Cettigne as the clock chimed the half-hour after three.
-
-It was still night, but not dark, as the moon had not yet set, and a
-band of rose-coloured light streaked the Eastern horizon. We started at
-a rapid trot, startling the echoes up the solitary and deserted street
-of Cettigne, and we never slackened our pace till we came to the verge
-of the little plain in which it is situated, when the path up the ravine
-which led westward to the Adriatic became so rugged that we were compelled
-to walk our horses, and in less than half-an-hour more had to dismount
-and proceed on foot.
-
-In a short time we reached the crest of the range which encircles the
-Plains of Cettigne, and the track becoming less precipitous, we remounted;
-but before leaving the spot I turned my horse round to have a last look
-at that mountain capital where I had been so hospitably entertained,
-and where, most probably, I might never have the pleasure of being again.
-
-I was now standing on the highest point of the pass, and I enjoyed a
-most delightful view. The sun was just in the act of rising. My back was
-to the Adriatic, while my face was turned to the East. At my feet lay
-the Plain of Cettigne, girt round on all sides with precipitous rocks
-and mountains. Beyond the plain, far in the hazy horizon—not foggy—but
-rendered slightly indistinct by a faint cobalt haze, I could see the Lake
-of Skodra glittering in the morning sun with the thin silver streak of
-the Zeta river losing itself in it, while in the still further distance
-I could perceive the faintest outline of the Albanian mountains. Right
-and left, as far as the eye could reach, nothing but rocky peaks and
-precipices met the view—nothing but rocks with here and there a few
-scanty bushes, on which were browsing large herds of goats tended by
-wild-looking men, carrying round their waist, as usual, the inevitable
-arsenal of weapons, and the long Albanian gun over their shoulders.
-
-I would have lingered over this scene, and I was already thinking of
-getting down and sketching it, when the guide remonstrated against any
-such proceeding on my part. "It was very near the dog days," he said,
-"and to be caught by the noon-day sun on those bare rocks, was a thing
-to be avoided;" so I was compelled to move on, after giving another long
-look at the picture to which I was about to turn my back.
-
-The guide was right; the track was abominable, and we could only proceed
-at a slow pace. At the same time, the sun was gaining strength with
-every inch it rose above the horizon, and by the time we reached the
-_clachan_ of Niegosh, its rays come down upon us like molten lead; but
-my old helmet was proof against them, and an excellent protection, while
-the faint breeze which came up from the Adriatic prevented all feeling
-of oppression.
-
-At Niegosh, where a week before I had been so kindly entertained by
-young Pejovich, we rested five minutes. I did not even dismount, but
-the guide went into the very primitive khan to light his pipe; but, by
-the way he smacked his lips on coming out, I suspect a glass of wodky
-was not forgotten, while the fire for his pipe was being handed to him.
-
-After a little, the path again became impracticable for riding, so I
-had to dismount and walk, though the heat was something marvellous (I
-afterwards heard from Signor Jackschich that in Cattaro, in the shade, the
-thermometer stood at 33° Reaumur at four o'clock in the afternoon—about
-105° Fahrenheit.) After some difficult scrambling, when I sorely felt
-the want of the stout arm of Pero Pejovich, we reached the fountain, and
-here we rested ten minutes; then having remounted, we soon arrived at
-the top of the _scala_, with the Adriatic before us and Cattaro hundreds
-of feet down below.
-
-It seemed now as if I should be at the end of my journey in a few
-minutes; the road was all before me, and I could count the zig-zags as
-they unfolded themselves on the face of the rock, still they seemed as
-if they would never come to an end. I counted one, two, three, twenty,
-thirty, fifty, up to one hundred bends, and still more appeared beneath
-me, so at last I gave it up through sheer exhaustion.
-
-Everything, however, has an end eventually, and so the apparently
-interminable Scala di Cattaro came to an end also. How I got on during
-the last few turns and twists I forget—I was in a sort of doze; all I
-remember is finding myself suddenly among those heavenly mulberry trees
-of the Esplanade, and hearing the friendly sound of Signor Jackschich's
-welcome.
-
-Cattaro is innocent of either inn, hotel, khan, or caravansary, but good
-accommodation had been prepared for me inside the town. I therefore rode
-on to the gate where I had to dismount, as no horse is allowed to enter,
-just as no carriage _can enter_ the narrow gateway.
-
-The Bocchesi (as the natives call themselves) have one cause of
-heart-burning and envy, less than we in our country; there are no
-carriage-people in Cattaro to look down upon _you_ who have to trudge
-on foot, and the nearest approach to anything of the sort is an antique
-sedan-chair mounted on wheels exactly like the celebrated old _push_ at
-Hampton Court, which was occasionally brought into requisition on gala
-days, when such happened to be wet ones also.
-
-Having reached my rooms I quickly made my toilet, and then returned to
-the mulberries, under whose welcome shade I made an excellent breakfast
-and lunch in one, while many of the natives were taking their dinner.
-
-My further steps became now somewhat uncertain. I thought I should
-have found the steamer here to take me down the Adriatic, but I had
-miscalculated; it was not due till the following day. So I determined on
-resting in Cattaro till evening, and then riding across the isthmus (about
-eighteen miles only) to Budua, where Baron von Heydeg was quartered, and
-picking up the steamer when it would call there in a couple of days. I at
-once telegraphed to Heydeg that I was going, in order that the officer
-on guard might open the gates for me on arrival, as no one is let in or
-out of Budua after sunset, without an order from the Commandant. Then I
-went to my room, and being fairly tired, I threw myself on the bed and
-slept.
-
-It was about half-past three when I was awoke by some one knocking at
-my door, and to my surprise, in walked Mr. Yonin, the Russian Consul.
-I had forgotten to mention that we had agreed to travel from Cettigne
-together, and were to have met in the street opposite the Palace at
-three A.M.; but the servants had forgotten to call him, and when
-after waiting half an hour he did not come, and the guards on duty would
-not allow my guide to knock at the Palace gate, I started without him,
-thinking he had changed his mind. He had breakfasted late and then ridden
-to Cattaro in the middle of the day in order to catch the steamer for
-Ragusa that was to leave the same evening. I told him how long I had
-waited, and how I had tried in vain to get the sentinels to allow us to
-knock. He could only lament his misfortune, as, mopping his face, he
-added, "I assure you the heat on those bare rocks was something to be
-remembered all one's life." We then arranged to dine together at five
-o'clock before parting.
-
-Punctual to the hour appointed, we met on the _marina_. The heat of the
-day had considerably diminished, for although the sun was still high in
-the horizon, it had long ago set for the good folks at Cattaro, as the
-city being built at the foot of the mountains looking to the West, and
-having a range of high cliffs in front of it, behind which the sun sinks
-long before it dips into the Adriatic, sunset at Cattaro occurs hours
-earlier than at any other place on the Adriatic. In Summer this is a
-great advantage, as it enables the inhabitants to walk out in the shade
-on the _marina_ at a much earlier hour, the opposite cliffs protecting
-them from the hot rays of the sun, and at the same time affording them
-a sort of twilight, elsewhere unknown in those latitudes; but in Winter
-it must be very gloomy, as the rising sun being shut out by the rocks
-and mountains of Montenegro till near eleven o'clock in the morning, and
-again disappearing so early in the afternoon, reduces the actual day to
-as short a space as in the latitude of St. Petersburg.
-
-Availing themselves of the comparative coolness of the hour, the _beau
-monde_ of that primitive little place, among which the Bishop and the
-Commandant of the garrison were conspicuous, had turned out for their
-evening promenade, and the esplanade presented quite a gay appearance.
-I ordered the horses for seven o'clock, and then we went to look for
-our dinner at the café; but here something of a difficulty arose. The
-Bocchesi dine at twelve noon, or at one at latest, and sup at nine, no
-one ever thinking of a meal at five! so that nothing was ready. The cook,
-however, was equal to the emergency, and in fifteen minutes served us up
-a most excellent and varied dinner, to which we were about to sit down
-and do ample justice, when who should turn up but Pero Pejovich!
-
-He was returning to his post in the Grahovo, and found it easier to get
-to it by coming round to Cattaro first, then going by sea to Risano and
-thence, as it were, coming back on his own steps, thus going a round
-of something like four times the direct distance. This will convey some
-idea of the difficulties to be encountered in endeavouring to cross some
-of the rocky regions of Montenegro.
-
-I was delighted at seeing him again; we all dined together, and enjoyed
-ourselves immensely notwithstanding the heat. After dinner, Pero Pejovich
-pulled out from among the ample folds of his sash some Trebigne tobacco,
-which had never seen the countenance of a Custom House officer, and we set
-to work to make cigarettes, when we were joined by Signor Jackschich and
-Signor Radanovich, the Prince's Agent at Cattaro. Coffee and maraschino
-were brought out, fresh relays of cigarettes were manufactured, and we
-could have enjoyed ourselves for hours more, but the inexorable bell of
-the steamer rang out a summons that bade Mr. Yonin prepare for departure,
-while the increasing darkness served to remind myself that I had yet a
-journey before me ere I should be able to lie down to rest.
-
-We stood up reluctantly, and in a body accompanied the Russian Consul
-to the steamer, and there bade him adieu, probably for ever; though who
-can tell? I have had at times the most unexpected _rencontres_ in the
-most unlikely places. I first met him at Ragusa, where also I made my
-first acquaintance with Mr. Paton, now unfortunately no more; both very
-able and highly educated men, yet they seemed not to appreciate each
-other as they might have done, perhaps from the diametrical opposition
-of their political views.
-
-Poor Paton is lost to us for ever, and we shall never have a better
-member of our Consular service; a shrewd, sagacious man, and a first-rate
-Oriental scholar.
-
-As to Mr. Yonin, I trust I may yet meet him, and renew some of the
-pleasant hours I spent with him.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXI.
-
-     BEAUTIFUL ROAD—ATTACK OF FEVER—ARRIVAL AT BUDUA—BARON HEYDEG
-     AND SIGNOR MARCO MEDIN—A RESTAURANT—OUR HOST—DOCTOR, DENTIST
-     AND APOTHECARY—WALK ROUND THE FORTIFICATIONS—EXPLORATION OF
-     BUDUA—THE PARTING GLASS.
-
-
-The twilight of Cattaro was fast merging into darkness when I returned
-with my companions to the esplanade, where my horses were ready to take
-me on to Budua. Our adieux were short but cordial, and in a few minutes
-I was cantering away in company with Signor Jackschich, who lives in a
-villa a couple of miles away from Cattaro.
-
-If the tracks and paths of Montenegro are rugged and wild, the beautiful
-road we were now travelling on made ample amends for the discomfort
-I had endured in riding during the last few days. As we passed Signor
-Jackschich's villa, I insisted on his remaining there, or his courtesy
-would have induced him to keep me company ever so much further on; so
-wishing him adieu for the twentieth time, I lit my cigar, and sticking
-spurs into my pony, cantered away on my road to Budua. The ride was not
-interesting. I started too late; I should have remembered that in those
-latitudes, except at Cattaro, there is no twilight.
-
-On leaving Cattaro the road is at first directly south, leading across
-the isthmus of the peninsula which forms the western shore of the gulf
-of that name. Having reached the sea, it continues to skirt the Adriatic,
-except in those places where to avoid rounding a headland it runs inland
-straight across the base of the promontory.
-
-The night was fine, and we got on famously, but whether in consequence of
-the good dinner, or the genial sensation produced by the atmosphere, or
-the early hour I had risen in the morning, when it came to be about eleven
-o'clock an indescribable feeling of lassitude and intense sleepiness came
-over me. I would have given anything to lie down even for half-an-hour;
-but it was out of the question, as we were at that time crossing a sort
-of marsh, and there was not a dry spot to lie down on. So I was compelled
-to ride on; but I suspect I dozed, and then during those moments of
-extreme lassitude and prostration, when my vital powers were standing
-at their lowest, I fear I imbibed some of those zymotic germs, some
-malarious molecules, which a few days later manifested themselves by a
-smart attack of fever. Thanks, however, to a good constitution and a few
-doses of quinine, I was able to cut it short in three days, though it
-stuck to me for a little while longer in the shape of an indescribable
-sort of _malaise_.
-
-At one o'clock A.M., we reached the gates of Budua, where I was met
-by Baron Heydeg and Signor Marco Medin. Heydeg was an officer quartered
-with his regiment at Budua, whose acquaintance I had made at Pola, and
-with whom I had subsequently travelled. Medin was a native of Budua, who
-had left his country many years before, had made money in California,
-had married there a buxom Irish girl, a native of Ballinrobe, and had
-now returned, a rich man, to end his days among his relations in Dalmatia.
-
-They had been waiting for me a long time, and had walked some miles on
-the road to Cattaro to meet me, but were beginning to think I was not
-going to keep my word.
-
-We were soon seated together at a comfortable supper, and at half-past
-two A.M. I was finally allowed to retire to my bed, which Medin had
-kindly procured for me in a private house—because here, as in Cattaro,
-there is no hotel of any kind.
-
-Tired and sleepy as I was, I passed but an indifferent night, for,
-notwithstanding that my room had two large windows overlooking the sea,
-and that I kept them both open, the heat was perfectly stifling.
-
-I was just thinking of going out the next morning about ten, when in
-walked the Baron and Signor Medin, and we at once adjourned for breakfast
-at the same place where we had supped the previous night; I say place,
-as it was neither an inn nor a _café_. How shall I describe it? The
-following is the way we got at it, anyhow. In the main street of Budua,
-near to the land gate, on the left hand as you come in, you meet with
-five rugged stone steps, flanked by a shaky single iron railing. These
-lead up to a strong wooden door, which at some period, of its existence
-may have enjoyed the privilege of paint, but of which no trace remains
-at the present moment, not even enough to enable one to make a guess at
-the colour it once enjoyed.
-
-Entering by this door, I found myself in a stuffy, dirty hall, "_a
-terreno_" pervaded by a multitude of vile smells, one more awful than
-the other, but all so dovetailed and commingled that it was perfectly
-impossible to tell what the composition was. Turning sharp to the left,
-we mounted a steep stone staircase, at the top of which we were greeted
-by the same odour that had met us on entering, in which now the smell
-of assafœtida and garlic clearly predominated. We found ourselves in the
-kitchen of the establishment, over which reigned supreme a good-humoured,
-fat German _Frau_ of fifty or more, assisted by two bright-eyed,
-sharp-looking Dalmatian lads, begrimed with dirt and shining with grease
-and perspiration. The _Frau_ piloted us through this kitchen, where
-the heat must have been 110°, if not more, and brought us into the
-dining-room, a pretty good-sized room with windows round the three sides
-of it, the furniture consisting solely of one long deal table down the
-middle, and a score of rush-bottomed chairs around it. At this table
-were seated a dozen or so of German officers demolishing their "early
-bit."
-
-I was here received by the _Frau's_ worse half, a portly man of sixty
-or thereabouts. His coat was off, but he had on instead a huge pair of
-silver spectacles. He at once showed me to my seat at the table, when
-I apologised, through the Baron, to the officers for disturbing them at
-their breakfast.
-
-Notwithstanding the unpromising condition of things, the breakfast was
-excellent; but mine host in the shirt sleeves, with whom I kept up a
-running conversation in Italian, was even better. An Italian by birth and
-education (for he was very well educated), he had rambled all over the
-Austrian dominions and the Turkish provinces in Europe. He had forgotten
-most of his native tongue without learning any other, and the jargon
-he spoke was something marvellous. Still, he varied this _pot-pourri_
-according to the nationality of those he addressed. The foundation was
-always Italian, but if he spoke to an Austrian the German element would
-predominate, while if he spoke to a Montenegrin the Slave would be in the
-ascendant. He was a most amusing character, and combined in himself the
-functions of doctor, dentist and apothecary, as well as that of keeper
-of a restaurant in Budua—hence the villainous combination of the odours
-of a scullery, a kitchen, and a pharmacy.
-
-In spite of his griminess and the vile odours, I had some very pleasant
-conversation with him. I found him very well informed, and he gave me a
-most interesting account of the last descent of the Montenegrins. He had
-a most unconquerable horror of my favourite mountaineers, and believed
-there could be no peace nor prosperity in that part of the world until
-they should be all exterminated.
-
-Having finished our breakfast, Heydeg and I strolled outside the walls
-to where the market is held under some magnificent old carob trees, and
-there, as at Cattaro, were numbers of Montenegrins disposing of their
-produce. Here we had some delicious fresh figs, and then lighting our
-cigars we went round the old fortifications, which are now only just
-sufficient for protection at night against any sudden incursion of the
-wild tribes of the interior. Then we had a good bathe in a most delicious
-little cove, entirely girt round with rocks, and with a sandy bottom
-that felt like velvet under our feet. We then again lit another cigar,
-and started on a tour of exploration through this old town.
-
-Budua, situated at the extreme end of Dalmatia, in what used to be called
-Northern Albania, is the last Austrian city on the coast of the Adriatic.
-It is built on a low rocky promontory, and possesses no interest, save
-in its picturesque appearance, which it derives from its mediæval walls
-and machicolated towers—useless, indeed, against a civilized enemy, but
-still offering some protection against possible irruptions from Albanian
-freebooters. It is especially picturesque as seen from the sea, with
-its rugged background of naked mountains. Immediately about it there
-is some cultivation on the narrow strip of land which lies between the
-mountains and the sea; and corn, vines, olive trees, and mulberries for
-the rearing of silk-worms, are diligently grown.
-
-Inside, it is not attractive—its streets are extremely narrow, no more
-than six feet wide in many instances; they are, however, well paved, and
-would do well enough, were it not for the utter disregard to cleanliness
-and drainage. Still there are some wealthy people living there, and many
-of the houses are very good and substantial. There are several good shops,
-(perhaps the word stores would best describe them), where a brisk trade
-seemed to be carried on. The Baron and I poked our way through all the
-nooks and crannies of the place. We found nothing to invite attention,
-but a great deal to shock the sight, and even the sense of smell. So
-we hurried on and went to pay a visit to my buxom Ballinrobe friend,
-who had not only quite forgotten her ancestral brogue, but had actually
-exchanged it for a decided American accent, which, to my ears, was not
-an improvement. She offered us neither English tea nor Irish whiskey
-punch, but gave us some delicious lemonade and maraschino; and showed
-by her manner that, if the brogue was gone, the hearty Irish welcome
-was there still.
-
-From thence I went with the Baron to his own little apartment, which
-opened on to an enchanting little terrace, covered over with a grand
-"_pergola_" of vines, under whose refreshing shade we smoked away the
-time till we should go to dinner.
-
-We had not been long enjoying an excellent repast at our pharmaceutical
-(deuced hard name to spell, by-the-by) restaurant when we were informed
-that the steamer for Corfu was entering the harbour, and would leave in
-two hours.
-
-The time for parting had come at last, fresh bottles were tapped, and
-we all drank each others' health, and a happy journey to me amidst
-noisy demonstrations and much clinking of glasses. Dinner being at last
-completed, we all arose and walked in a body to the Mole, where, my
-luggage having preceded me, I went at once on board. There was no time
-for lengthy adieux, the steamer was whistling, and almost while we were
-shaking hands she cast off her moorings, and we were off.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XXII.
-
-     TOWN OF ANTIVARI—FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF TURKEY—ORIENTAL
-     PASSENGERS—VALUE OF A KNOWLEDGE OF ARABIC OR TURKISH—A MAHOMETAN
-     MERCHANT AND HIS FAMILY—TURKISH TROOPS IN ALBANIA—TOWN AND
-     FORTRESS OF CASTEL DURAZZO—RETURN TO TRIESTE—FAREWELL TO THE
-     READER.
-
-
-After leaving Budua we kept close in shore, enjoying the wild rugged
-scenery of the Dalmatian coast till we reached Antivari, where we first
-came into immediate contact with the Turks on their own Ottoman soil.
-The first impression, I must confess, was certainly not a favourable one.
-
-Should any one of my readers, with a bias in favour of Ottomans and
-Ottoman rule, ever determine on visiting Turkey, let him not receive
-his first impression of that empire by a visit to Antivari. A few
-wretched hovels, a miserable white-washed house, with a small and dirty
-red flag over it; a group of miserably-dressed, vile-countenanced,
-ragamuffin-looking soldiers, in baggy blue trousers and crimson fezzes,
-constituted all the features of the place. The town of Antivari itself,
-I heard, was a few miles inland, but if one may judge of the town from
-its villainous port, it must be wretched in the extreme.
-
-The steamer remained here a couple of hours to land goods and take in
-passengers, but as the heat was excessive and the prospect of the country
-most unpromising, I made no attempt to land. I did not however lack
-entertainment, and while I lounged over the bulwarks on the shady side
-of the steamer, I amused myself pitching half-francs into the water,
-which was of very considerable depth and of the clearest and limpidest
-blue, to half a score or so of lads and small boys who were swimming,
-and diving, and treading the water in the most surprising manner; they
-seemed just as much at home in the sea as on the land, and fetched up
-the coins from the bottom as easily as I could have picked them up from
-the deck.
-
-When tired of looking at the swimmers, I turned to watch the new arrivals,
-of which we had a considerable number, all Orientals, and almost all
-deck passengers. The first which caught my eye, coming up the side of
-the steamer, was a wretched-looking, squalid creature, dressed in rags,
-but most picturesque withal. He was small, slight, and extremely dark,
-just short of black, but with distinctly Caucasian features, not a
-negroid by any means. He had a small bundle over his shoulders, and in
-his right hand he carried a short lance, with a very bright steel head,
-ornamented with a few lines of Damascene work in gold. His head was
-covered with a somewhat conical-shaped cap, encircled with a scanty and
-very ragged green turban, while at his side he carried a moderate sized
-bottle-gourd. He was a very singular looking being, and all I could make
-out through the captain was that he thought he was a dervish returning
-home from visiting some sacred shrine in Mahomedan Europe. As to his
-home, he suspected from his costume it might be in Kurdistan, but it
-was very much guess work, as the Captain spoke neither Arabic nor Turkish.
-
-Another interesting group consisted of three gaily dressed Orientals, in
-bag trousers tight at the knees, turban, and highly embroidered jackets.
-They made their way to the quarter-deck abaft the paddle box, and were
-about being summarily ejected by the steward in consequence of being deck
-passengers, when I interposed, and got him to let them stay for a while.
-They perfectly well understood that it was owing to my interference they
-were allowed to remain, and so we knocked up a sort of acquaintance, and
-carried on a lame, very lame conversation by the help of the youngest,
-who could speak a very few words of Italian. I could not make out any
-thing about them, whence they came, or whither they were going, but
-from their features I could easily see they were Asiatics, Arabs most
-probably, and the youngest, who was also the lightest in colour, had
-three scars on each cheek, not unlike in shape to our broad arrow.
-
-How I longed for a knowledge of Arabic, how I envied Captain Burton! If
-he had been there we should at once have known all about them, and the
-dervish and everyone else, including a tall, handsome Soudani slave,
-who kept grinning and showing his teeth from ear to ear, while I was
-carrying on my lame conversation with the Arabs.
-
-Up to this point, Italian and German had enabled me to get on famously;
-but now that I was getting among Asiatics, although I was still in
-Europe, I felt my utter helplessness, and the absolute necessity for a
-knowledge of the language of the Koran, for those who wish to visit the
-East with pleasure and profit.
-
-The whole deck forward was encumbered with passengers. In one corner
-seated on a pile of luggage, but well bolstered up by rolls of
-Persian carpets, was a most truculent-looking Oriental, attended by an
-intelligent-looking young negro, with a most astonishing Caucasian type
-of countenance. He wore nothing but a white calico sort of shirt with
-loose sleeves, and a string of red beads round his neck. He had none of
-the characteristics of the negro except the colour; had I known anything
-of Arabic, I could most probably have learnt something about his origin.
-
-In another corner of the deck a Mahomedan merchant (as I was informed he
-was) had contrived to screen off a place for himself and his family, one
-of whom, about three years old, was sprawling stark naked on a rug in
-the broiling sun, while a closely veiled female, his mother I suppose,
-was chasing small deer all over his person, which was closely spotted
-as if with measles—but they were only bites!
-
-Quite at the prow of the vessel, somewhat apart, and separated from
-the rest, was a military officer, evidently of some considerable rank,
-if one could judge by the orders and stars fastened to his breast, his
-handsome hilted sabre, and his patent leather boots. He was a heavy
-morose-looking man of about fifty, with close cropped black beard, blue
-Turkish uniform, and crimson fez. I was told he was a real pasha, and
-had with him a suite of two officers and half a dozen soldiers. He was
-only a deck passenger like the others; but whether he travelled so from
-poverty, from motives of economy, or from scorning to associate with the
-hated and _envied_ Nazarenes, I cannot tell, though I strongly suspect
-that genuine impecuniosity was the real cause of it.
-
-The Turkish troops I saw in this part of Albania were the most wretched
-specimens I ever witnessed, small, mean, dirty, disreputable-looking
-in the extreme, and their officers matched them to perfection. Having
-remarked on their appearance, I was told by the captain of the steamer
-not to form an opinion of the Ottoman army by such samples, as they
-always sent their worst regiments to Albania, and that these wretched
-troops, both officers and men, were always months in arrears of pay.
-
-At last every one was on board, the last package was hoisted over the
-side, and again we were steaming down southwards. The afternoon was very
-enjoyable, the heat much less, and as the number of cabin passengers
-was small, we were able to have our supper on deck, which we enjoyed
-immensely.
-
-After the meal was concluded, I again went forward among the natives,
-and soon made friends with many of the dusky passengers by means of a few
-signs; but our conversation was not lively—signs and gesticulations and
-dumb show were the principal means of conversation—of language we made
-little or no use. Had I known ever so little of Arabic we could have got
-on fairly enough—the pantomime of these Orientals being so wonderfully
-expressive. So I returned to the quarter-deck, where I had some coffee
-with the captain, and then feeling tired, I went down to my _camerino_,
-and was soon asleep.
-
-On awaking the next morning I found we were at anchor opposite the
-town and fortress of Castel Durazzo, telling of its Venetian origin
-by its name. Here we remained a few hours, but the place did not look
-attractive, and as I did not feel quite "the thing," I did not go on
-shore, but remained on deck looking at the motley groups as they passed
-up and down. Again we had the usual interchange of passengers and goods,
-and after a few hours' delay we were just about steaming away when the
-return steamer from Corfu came alongside of us.
-
-As chance would have it, it turned out to be the very boat which had
-brought me down to Cattaro; and no sooner did the captain spy me out
-on deck than he shouted that the quarantine had been declared at Corfu
-against all vessels coming from Trieste, and that if I went on I should
-be detained to perform fourteen days of quarantine in the Lazzaretto,
-instead of being allowed to continue my journey on to Constantinople.
-I asked him to come over, which he did at once, and having held a
-consultation with the other captain, who entirely agreed with him that I
-should most certainly be detained a fortnight at Corfu, and be compelled
-to perform my quarantine in the Lazzaretto, I determined on returning
-to Trieste. Fourteen days in a Lazzaretto anywhere would be a severe
-ordeal, but fourteen days of such an imprisonment during the dog-days
-at Corfu could not possibly have been faced; it would not only have been
-a severe trial of patience in every shape and form, but might have been
-conducive to serious illness.
-
-There was no time to be lost, so my luggage was at once put into the
-captain's boat, and in a few minutes I again found myself on board the
-old steamer, where Giovanni, the steward, greeted me as if I had been
-an old friend.
-
-At sunset we steamed away northward from Castel Durazzo. The captain
-was delighted to see me again, and Giovanni was most affable, doing his
-utmost to promote my happiness. But like Rachel of old I would not be
-comforted, all my plans were thoroughly upset; I could not bring myself
-to make fresh arrangements. I was turning my back on my beloved South
-and I was retracing my steps—both things I utterly detested. But _non
-ci era rimedio_, the quarantine and the Lazzaretto I could not face, so
-there was nothing else to do but resign oneself to the fates.
-
-The next morning we came abreast of Budua, but I did not land as I did
-not feel well. I screwed up my courage, however, and attempted a little
-sketch of its castle and harbour, with its blue sea and its background
-of rocky mountains. After a little, and just as we were leaving the
-place, I felt worse, so I took some medicine and went to lie down. In
-two hours more I was in high fever, with a racking pain in my head and
-back, and I felt my mind almost wandering. We reached the Bocche that
-evening, but the beauties of the Fjord were lost to me—I lay in my cabin
-prostrated. Giovanni came instantly to see me, trying to comfort me by
-telling me I had only caught "_la febbre_," and that I should send for
-the doctor at Cattaro to get myself bled, and take quinine, when I should
-be all right. I think that the idea of Giovanni's bringing a doctor and
-having me bled, _nolens volens_, roused me up. I made myself some tea,
-and just as we reached Cattaro I felt much better—the fever had abated,
-and now, said I, is the time to take the quinine.
-
-I had brought lots of it with me, so I measured out as much as I could
-pile upon a shilling, and bolted it. It certainly cut short the disease,
-as the fever did not set in again; but I was not well for many days
-after, and even when I arrived at Trieste I felt quite weak and out of
-sorts.
-
-The next morning early we left Cattaro, and in the afternoon got to
-Gravosa. I felt somewhat better, and hearing that Consul Paton, who was
-then alive, and his family were in a villa just opposite to where the
-steamer was moored, I took a boat and spent two delightful hours with
-them, till the steam-whistle told me how quickly the time had flown. I
-reluctantly made my adieux, and soon was steaming out of the harbour.
-
-It wanted scarcely an hour of sunset: the sun was low in the horizon—all
-the lights and shades were the more intensely marked, while the constantly
-changing tints, from brightest rose and golden yellow to the deepest
-violets and blues, created such a fairy scene that I would not venture
-to describe it.
-
-I was in the fullest enjoyment of that sunset, gazing on where the sun
-was just dipping into the sea, sending a flood of golden light along the
-surface from himself to us, when the captain tapped me on the shoulder,
-saying, "_Vada giù_, you had _la febbre_ last night; don't expose yourself
-to the air _al tramonto_;" so I took his advice, and went down below,
-notwithstanding the heat, and so ended the 23rd day of July!
-
-The following day saw us at Lesina and at Curzola, and again at Lissa. The
-day after brought us abreast of Spalato, where again I enjoyed a couple
-of hours' ramble among those glorious ruins. Then we cruised through the
-countless islands near the mouth of the Quarnero, and finally reached
-Trieste, where, after having enjoyed two pleasant days with Captain
-Burton and his charming and talented lady, I turned my steps towards home.
-
-Here I take my leave of the reader. If he shall be disappointed with my
-style and my many shortcomings I shall not be surprised; but I shall be
-disappointed indeed if, following a somewhat similar track to the one
-I have been tracing, only penetrating, if possible, more into Servia
-proper, and going across it from the Danube to the Adriatic, he shall
-not feel himself amply repaid by having taken my advice in visiting
-those countries which I have endeavoured to describe.
-
-THE END.
-
-London: Printed by A. Schulze, 13, Poland Street.
-
-
-
-
-FOOTNOTES:
-
-
-     [1] Since writing the above I have obtained the following
-     authentic description of this ship. The "Lissa" ironclad was
-     built at Trieste. She is a full-rigged casemated ironclad of
-     5950 tons, 320 feet long, 60 feet beam, and drawing 28 feet
-     of water. Armoured with 6-inch Austrian plates, the armament
-     consisting of ten 9-inch breech-loading Krupp guns in her
-     maindeck casemate, and two 9-inch breech-loading Krupp guns
-     on turn-tables in semi-circular overhanging casemates on the
-     open deck, the guns being protected from above by a sort of
-     central hurricane deck. The "Lissa" steams at the rate of
-     twelve knots, and carries coals for 420 hours; among other
-     improvements she has a powerful electric light placed on the
-     bridge, and gimballed, so as to allow it to be thrown in any
-     direction.
-
-     [2] Sir J. G. Wilkinson's "Dalmatia and Montenegro."
-
-     [3] Lady Strangford's "Eastern Shores of the Adriatic."
-
-     [4] In August, 1647, a Pasha of Bosnia, pouring an army of
-     30,000 men into the lowlands, attempted the capture of Sebenico
-     and its fort; but it was so well defended by the 6000 Venetians
-     and German mercenaries of the garrison, that after twenty-six
-     days' cannonade the Pasha was obliged to retire.
-
-     [5] The brave King Richard, having recruited himself at
-     Ragusa, is said, by some, to have gone to Aquileia by sea, by
-     others to have continued his journey by land; anyhow, it is
-     pretty certain, that having stopped to take some refreshment
-     at a way-side inn in the mountains of Dalmatia, or Styria,
-     he incautiously handed a large gold piece to the landlady to
-     change, and her suspicions being roused by this circumstance,
-     she informed the authorities; and the end was that the King was
-     seized by the treacherous Leopold of Austria, and imprisoned,
-     as everyone knows. There is a tradition, however, which is not
-     so well known, that shortly after his treacherous conduct to
-     his brother-in-arms, Leopold of Austria, when out hunting, met
-     with a severe injury to his right leg—surgery was not then what
-     it is now—the limb mortified, and it was agreed on all hands
-     that nothing could save the Prince's life but amputation. But
-     who was to do it? No one would venture—when Leopold himself
-     proposed that a sharp hatchet should be laid across his limb,
-     and that, at his word of command, it should be struck with a
-     ponderous mallet, when it was expected that the limb would be
-     severed. The operation succeeded so far as the cutting went,
-     but the bystanders were unable to staunch the blood, and the
-     Prince bled to death—a fitting retribution for his treachery.
-
-     [6] The story, as well as I remember it, was as follows:—A
-     probably well-meaning but decidedly weak-minded Protestant,
-     bent on missionary work, arrived one day at Tangier. He had
-     never been in the East, and did not know a word of Arabic. He
-     was determined, however, to improve the opportunity by letting
-     in a ray of Gospel truth into the minds of the benighted
-     Mussulmans. That he did not know a word of their native
-     language was no obstacle to this energetic missionary, he
-     would employ an interpreter. Having found one in the person
-     of a 'Gibraltar Jew,' he explained to him what he wanted;
-     the bargain was soon struck, and the Jew undertook, for a
-     consideration, to interpret for him on the next market day.
-     He, however, advised the missionary to have a certain quantity
-     of tobacco and coffee ready to treat the assembled hearers,
-     as it was always customary to do so in that country whenever
-     an important meeting was held—to which the missionary at once
-     consented. The fact of the danger he would be running into
-     himself, dragging his interpreter after him, from telling the
-     most bigoted perhaps of all Mussulmans, that their religion was
-     false, and their Prophet an emissary of the Evil One, never
-     once entered into his head; but, fortunately for them both,
-     the Jew had more brain than his employer. Market-day came,
-     and the Jew had bespoke, in a couple of cafés, a large supply
-     of coffee. The town and country people having been informed
-     that an "Effendi Engleez" would make a great speech to them,
-     they collected in large numbers in the market-place, where
-     they squatted down round a hogshead, on which the missionary
-     was mounted. He at once began in the usual terms—his religion
-     was the only true one, and all those who differed from him
-     went straight down head foremost into Gehenna, which the wise
-     Jew translated thus: "The Effendi has come all the way from
-     England to get cured; he is mad, but quite harmless, and if you
-     only have patience, you will get plenty of coffee." And so the
-     missionary went on ringing the changes on his subject, whilst
-     the wiser Jew rang the changes on his; which, however, always
-     ended in the stereotyped, "and you'll get plenty of coffee."
-     The report, probably made to head-quarters by that enterprising
-     missionary, would be interesting to read, especially by the
-     light thrown upon it by the interpreter; and how many more
-     missionary efforts might prove equally distressing could we
-     but have together with the sermon the running commentary of
-     a non-interested looker-on.
-
-     [7] I had taken exact measurements, but some of my notes were
-     unfortunately lost—the above measurements are, therefore, only
-     approximative.
-
-     [8] I was informed at Cettigne that trout were caught in the
-     Moratcha of fifty or sixty pounds weight; not salmon, for
-     the Moratcha does not go to the sea, and if it did go, there
-     are no salmon in the Adriatic. Thinking it must be a joke, I
-     asked several persons of standing, who all assured me that
-     it was perfectly true. I regret that being unprovided with
-     tackle, in addition to being short of time, I was unable to
-     test the accuracy of these assertions, mainly in reference to
-     my readers, because as to myself I have no reason whatever to
-     doubt the truth, accuracy, and bona-fides of my informants;
-     I fully accept what I heard from them, especially from my
-     previous knowledge of the amazing number and size of the trout
-     in the Servian rivers.
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Rambles in Istria, Dalmatia and
-Montenegro, by R. H. R.
-
-*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAMBLES--ISTRIA, DALMATIA, MONTENEGRO ***
-
-***** This file should be named 57400-0.txt or 57400-0.zip *****
-This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
-        http://www.gutenberg.org/5/7/4/0/57400/
-
-Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed
-Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
-produced from images generously made available by The
-Internet Archive)
-
-Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will
-be renamed.
-
-Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
-law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
-so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
-States without permission and without paying copyright
-royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
-of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
-concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
-and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive
-specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this
-eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook
-for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports,
-performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given
-away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks
-not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the
-trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.
-
-START: FULL LICENSE
-
-THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
-PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
-
-To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
-distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
-(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
-Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
-www.gutenberg.org/license.
-
-Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-
-1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
-and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
-(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
-the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
-destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your
-possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
-Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
-by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the
-person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph
-1.E.8.
-
-1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
-used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
-agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
-things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
-paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this
-agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
-
-1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the
-Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
-of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual
-works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
-States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
-United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
-claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
-displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
-all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
-that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting
-free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm
-works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
-Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily
-comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
-same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when
-you share it without charge with others.
-
-1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
-what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
-in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
-check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
-agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
-distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
-other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no
-representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
-country outside the United States.
-
-1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
-
-1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
-immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear
-prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work
-on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the
-phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed,
-performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
-
-  This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-  most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
-  restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
-  under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
-  eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
-  United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you
-  are located before using this ebook.
-
-1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is
-derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
-contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
-copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
-the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
-redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
-either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
-obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm
-trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
-with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
-must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
-additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
-will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works
-posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
-beginning of this work.
-
-1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
-License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
-work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
-
-1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
-electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
-prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
-active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm License.
-
-1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
-compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
-any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
-to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format
-other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official
-version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site
-(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
-to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
-of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain
-Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the
-full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
-
-1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
-performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
-unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
-access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-provided that
-
-* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
-  the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
-  you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
-  to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has
-  agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
-  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
-  within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
-  legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
-  payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
-  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
-  Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
-  Literary Archive Foundation."
-
-* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
-  you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
-  does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
-  License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
-  copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
-  all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm
-  works.
-
-* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
-  any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
-  electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
-  receipt of the work.
-
-* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
-  distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
-
-1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than
-are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
-from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The
-Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm
-trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
-
-1.F.
-
-1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
-effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
-works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
-Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
-contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
-or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
-intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
-other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
-cannot be read by your equipment.
-
-1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
-of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
-liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
-fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
-LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
-PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
-TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
-LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
-INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
-DAMAGE.
-
-1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
-defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
-receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
-written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
-received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
-with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
-with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
-lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
-or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
-opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
-the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
-without further opportunities to fix the problem.
-
-1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
-in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO
-OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
-LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
-
-1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
-warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
-damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
-violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
-agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
-limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
-unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
-remaining provisions.
-
-1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
-trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
-providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in
-accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
-production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
-including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
-the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
-or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or
-additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any
-Defect you cause.
-
-Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
-electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
-computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
-exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
-from people in all walks of life.
-
-Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
-assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
-goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
-remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
-and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future
-generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
-Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
-www.gutenberg.org
-
-
-
-Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
-
-The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
-501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
-state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
-Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
-number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
-U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
-
-The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the
-mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its
-volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous
-locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt
-Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to
-date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and
-official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
-
-For additional contact information:
-
-    Dr. Gregory B. Newby
-    Chief Executive and Director
-    gbnewby@pglaf.org
-
-Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
-Literary Archive Foundation
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
-spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
-increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
-freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
-array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
-($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
-status with the IRS.
-
-The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
-charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
-States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
-considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
-with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
-where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
-DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular
-state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
-have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
-against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
-approach us with offers to donate.
-
-International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
-any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
-outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
-
-Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
-methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
-ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
-donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works.
-
-Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be
-freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
-distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of
-volunteer support.
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
-editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
-the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
-necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
-edition.
-
-Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search
-facility: www.gutenberg.org
-
-This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
-including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
-subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
-
+Project Gutenberg's Rambles in Istria, Dalmatia and Montenegro, by R. H. R.
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
+other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
+the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
+to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
+
+Title: Rambles in Istria, Dalmatia and Montenegro
+
+Author: R. H. R.
+
+Release Date: June 25, 2018 [EBook #57400]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAMBLES--ISTRIA, DALMATIA, MONTENEGRO ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Note:
+
+  Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have
+  been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
+
+  Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold text by =equal
+  signs=.
+
+  The following alternative spellings were identified and left
+  unchanged.
+
+     zigzags and zig-zags
+     Broniewsky and Broniewski
+     Petersburg and Petersburgh
+     Niegosh and Niegosch
+     Mahomedan and Mahommedan
+     Roganovitch and Roganovich
+     Vissegrad and Wissegrad
+     trowsers and trousers
+
+
+
+
+     RAMBLES IN ISTRIA, DALMATIA,
+     AND
+     MONTENEGRO.
+
+
+
+
+     RAMBLES IN ISTRIA,
+     DALMATIA AND MONTENEGRO.
+
+     BY
+     R. H. R.
+
+     "Dirvi ch'io sia, saria parlar indarno."—DANTE.
+
+     _IN ONE VOLUME._
+
+     LONDON:
+     HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS.
+     13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
+
+     1875.
+
+     _All rights reserved._
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+Every year more and more is the constantly recurring question ever put
+"Where shall we go to this Summer?" and every year the field for selection
+gets narrower and narrower.
+
+In writing the following pages, my object has been less to make a book
+than to point out to those who are tired of the old beaten tracks,
+countries within easy reach of London, but seldom visited, and quite
+outside the lines affected by the typical tourist:—countries where at
+moderate expense and with total freedom from danger they may enjoy new
+scenery, receive fresh impressions, acquire new information; and if by
+so doing I shall have suggested to others one more field for exploration
+that shall afford them half the enjoyment which I experienced during my
+wanderings, I shall consider myself very amply rewarded.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+     CHAPTER I.
+
+     A CONVERSATION—WHERE SHALL WE GO FOR A HOLIDAY TRIP—ATTRACTIONS
+     OF LAPLAND—REMINISCENCES OF ITALY—THE GRAND TOUR IN FORMER
+     DAYS—HOW TO STUDY HISTORY—DIFFICULTY OF FINDING NEW GROUND
+     FOR TRAVEL—AN INTERESTING COUNTRY WITHIN FIVE DAYS OF TEMPLE
+     BAR                                                              1
+
+     CHAPTER II.
+
+     MAN PROPOSES, BUT GOD DISPOSES—VIENNA—ST. STEPHEN'S
+     CATHEDRAL—OLD CATHEDRALS—SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE—USES OF EAU DE
+     COLOGNE—INSECT ATTACKS—THE UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION—THE GARDENS
+     AND ACCESSORIES—THE LADIES OF VIENNA—NEW OPERA-HOUSE—ON THE
+     DANUBE—A WEALTHY PRELATE—WISSEGRAD—ARRIVAL AT PESTH             14
+
+     CHAPTER III.
+
+     PESTH—HOTEL UNGARIA—BUDA—STORY OF AN ARTIST—PROSPERITY OF THE
+     CITY—NEW BRIDGE OVER THE DANUBE—ST. MARGUERITE'S ISLAND—ANCIENT
+     ROMAN BATH—CONDITION OF HUNGARY—FIELD FOR THE JUNIOR BRANCHES
+     OF THE UPPER TEN THOUSAND—KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—THE TERMINATION
+     OF TURKISH MISRULE—FUTURE OF THE DANUBIAN PRINCIPALITIES        29
+
+     CHAPTER IV.
+
+     STEINBRÜCK—THE SÖMMERING—FIRST VIEW OF THE
+     ADRIATIC—TRIESTE—SHOCKS OF EARTHQUAKE AT BELLUNO—AUSTRIAN
+     IRONCLAD 'LISSA'—CAPTAIN R. BURTON—FLYING VISIT TO SAN
+     CANZIANO—SUBTERRANEAN COURSE OF A MOUNTAIN STREAM—THE KARST—WILD
+     SCENERY—A THUNDER-STORM—CHURCH OF SAN CANZIANO—STUD FARM        43
+
+     CHAPTER V.
+
+     THE "SAN CARLO" AND HER PASSENGERS—A DALMATIAN'S REMARKS
+     ON THE PRESERVATION OF HEALTH IN INDIA—DALMATIAN DIGGERS
+     FROM AUSTRALIA—COAST OF ISTRIA—PIRANO—CATHEDRAL OF
+     PARENZO—ROVIGNO—POLA—THE AMPHITHEATRE—PICTURESQUE SIGHT
+     —GIOVANNI ASTONISHED—MONTENEGRIN COSTUME—ZARA—EXTREME HEAT      61
+
+     CHAPTER VI.
+
+     DEPARTURE FROM ZARA—SEBENICO—PLEASANT COMPANIONS—NOBLE
+     HARBOUR—THE CATHEDRAL—CURIOUS ROOF—CORAL
+     FISHERY—SPALATO—SALONA—DIOCLETIAN'S PALACE—MR. PATON'S
+     DESCRIPTION OF IT—BEAUTIFUL SPECTACLE—THE PORTA FERREA—QUAINT
+     DWELLINGS—AMBROSIAL TOBACCO                                     79
+
+     CHAPTER VII.
+
+     A TYPE OF SHYLOCK—SCENE IN THE STREET—VARIED
+     COSTUMES—MORLACCHI—TURKS FROM THE HERZEGOVINA—WOMEN OF
+     SPALATO—INSPECTION OF THE CITY—THE PORTA AUREA—COURT OF THE
+     VESTIBULE OF THE PALACE—INTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL—ILLUSTRIOUS
+     MEN OF SPALATO—MARK ANTONY DE DOMINIS—ST. JEROME—THE MORLACCHI  94
+
+     CHAPTER VIII.
+
+     ISLAND OF LISSA—NAVAL BATTLES—A BRIDAL PARTY TAKEN ON
+     BOARD—LESINA—FORTRESS OF SAN NICOLO—THE LOGGIE—FORT
+     SPAGNUOLO—ISLAND OF CURZOLA—LA CHROMA—BEAUTIFUL SCENE—RICHARD
+     CŒUR DE LION—CATHEDRAL OF RAGUSA—EARTHQUAKE OF 1667—TERRIBLE
+     CONFLAGRATION—PRINCE MAXIMILIAN                                107
+
+     CHAPTER IX.
+
+     THE PADRE ANSELMO—HIS LIFE AND LABOURS AMONG THE AMERICAN
+     INDIANS—THE PIONEERS OF CIVILIZATION—AMERICAN INDIANS AND
+     NEGROES—PADRE ANSELMO ON PROTESTANT AND CATHOLIC MISSIONS—NATIVE
+     CHRISTIANS IN INDIA—POPE PIUS IX. ONCE A MISSIONARY—CARDINAL
+     P—.—PORT OF GRAVOSA—RAGUSA                                     125
+
+     CHAPTER X.
+
+     ATTRACTIONS OF DALMATIA—INTERESTING EXCURSION—ISLAND OF
+     LACHROMA—CLIMATE—A. A. PATON, ESQ., FORMERLY CONSUL-GENERAL
+     AT RAGUSA—AN ITALIAN DINNER—EPIDAURUS—THE CANAL OF
+     CATTARO—TERRITORY OF RAGUSA—TOWER OF PERASTO AND FORT OF SANTA
+     CROCE—STRANGELY BUILT CHURCH—A PALAZZO—SAN GIORGIO AND LA
+     MADONNA—PICTURE ATTRIBUTED TO ST. LUKE                         141
+
+     CHAPTER XI.
+
+     CITY OF CATTARO—SIGNOR JACKSCHICH—STREETS AND PIAZZAS—WALKS AND
+     FORTIFICATIONS—PUBLIC WALK—CAFÉ AND GARDENS—SONOROUS STONE—A
+     MONTENEGRIN CHIEF—A HAPPY BEGGAR BOY                           150
+
+     CHAPTER XII.
+
+     MONTENEGRIN TRADERS—LE SCALE DI CATTARO—A GORGEOUSLY-ATTIRED
+     MONK—OUR CARAVAN—MONTENEGRINS OF THE PRINCE'S
+     BODY-GUARD—INTERESTING VIEW—ABSENCE OF TREES ON THE DALMATIAN
+     COAST—A HOME FOR GERMAN EMIGRANTS—TURKISH MISRULE IN EUROPE—A
+     FUTURE EMPIRE—A MAN FIT TO RULE                                164
+
+     CHAPTER XIII.
+
+     THE PRINCE OF MONTENEGRO—UNJUST DEPRIVATION OF TERRITORY—ORIGIN
+     OF THE NAME OF THE COUNTRY—A FRIEND IN NEED—VILLAGE OF
+     NIEGOSCH—PANORAMA SEEN FROM THE TOP OF THE PASS—WILD-LOOKING
+     HERDS AND FLOCKS—MONTENEGRIN LEGEND—ARRIVAL AT CETTIGNE—THE
+     VLADIKA'S PALACE—THE TREE OF JUSTICE—TOWER OF CETTIGNE         177
+
+     CHAPTER XIV.
+
+     INSECT POWDER OF MONTENEGRO—DESCRIPTION OF THE
+     MONASTERY—ENCAMPMENTS—FESTIVAL OF ST. PETER—A SAINT BY THE
+     WILL OF THE PEOPLE—PICTURESQUE SCENE—BOSNIAN CAFÉ—THE NATIONAL
+     INSTRUMENT—A TRAVELLED DALMATIAN—TALL MONTENEGRINS             194
+
+     CHAPTER XV.
+
+     A POLYGLOT JUMBLE—WAR CUSTOMS OF THE MONTENEGRINS—DEATH
+     IN BATTLE—FORAYS FOR THE PLUNDER OF CATTLE—EQUIPAGE OF A
+     MONTENEGRIN SOLDIER—PILLAGE—MANNER OF FIGHTING—TACTICS—SIGNAL
+     CRIES—ON BOARD SHIP—DECAPITATION OF WOUNDED PRISONERS          208
+
+     CHAPTER XVI.
+
+     BATTLE BETWEEN TURKS AND MONTENEGRINS—ADDRESS OF PRINCE
+     MIRKO—HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND CHARACTER—THE PROJECTS OF
+     PRINCE DANIELO—PRINCE NICHOLAS I.—SPORT IN MONTENEGRO—INTERVIEW
+     WITH THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS—NATIONAL COSTUME—SPLENDID
+     ILLUMINATION                                                   218
+
+     CHAPTER XVII.
+
+     A WALK WITH THE PRINCE—SALUTATIONS OF THE CROWD—THE
+     GUZLA—MONTENEGRIN DANCE—THE PRINCE'S ACCOUNT OF ITS ORIGIN—THE
+     CAMP AT NIGHT—ADVENTURE WITH A MONTENEGRIN—DEVOTION OF THE
+     PEOPLE TO THEIR PRINCE                                         235
+
+     CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+     FALSE IMPRESSIONS OF MONTENEGRO—AGRICULTURE ON A
+     MINOR SCALE—FIELD-LABOURERS—MONTENEGRIN FACCHINI AT
+     CONSTANTINOPLE—FEMALE LABOUR—PRODUCTION OF SUMACH—COMMERCIAL
+     RELATIONS WITH OTHER COUNTRIES IMPEDED—IMPOSING PAGEANT        248
+
+     CHAPTER XIX.
+
+     FOOT RACES—MONASTERY OF OSTROG—OTTOMAN ADMINISTRATION—A
+     COURSE À LA MONTAGNE—RACING WITHOUT BETTING—BEN TROVATO—A FLAT
+     RACE—CONVERSATION ABOUT ENGLISH LAWS AND CUSTOMS—LAW OF HABEAS
+     CORPUS                                                         258
+
+     CHAPTER XX.
+
+     DEPARTURE FROM CETTIGNE—RUGGED ROAD—DELIGHTFUL VIEW—USEFUL
+     OLD HELMET—NIEGOSH—EXCESSIVE HEAT—THE SCALA DI CATTARO—THE
+     BOCCHESI—THE RUSSIAN CONSUL—SUNSET AT CATTARO—UNEXPECTED
+     APPEARANCE OF PERO PEJOVICH                                    268
+
+     CHAPTER XXI.
+
+     BEAUTIFUL ROAD—ATTACK OF FEVER—ARRIVAL AT BUDUA—BARON HEYDEG
+     AND SIGNOR MARCO MEDIN—A RESTAURANT—OUR HOST—DOCTOR, DENTIST
+     AND APOTHECARY—WALK ROUND THE FORTIFICATIONS—EXPLORATION OF
+     BUDUA—THE PARTING GLASS                                        280
+
+     CHAPTER XXII.
+
+     TOWN OF ANTIVARI—FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF TURKEY—ORIENTAL
+     PASSENGERS—VALUE OF A KNOWLEDGE OF ARABIC OR TURKISH—A MAHOMETAN
+     MERCHANT AND HIS FAMILY—TURKISH TROOPS IN ALBANIA—TOWN AND
+     FORTRESS OF CASTEL DURAZZO—RETURN TO TRIESTE—FAREWELL TO THE
+     READER                                                         291
+
+
+
+
+RAMBLES IN ISTRIA, DALMATIA,
+
+AND
+
+MONTENEGRO.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+     A CONVERSATION—WHERE SHALL WE GO FOR A HOLIDAY TRIP—ATTRACTIONS
+     OF LAPLAND—REMINISCENCES OF ITALY—THE GRAND TOUR IN FORMER
+     DAYS—HOW TO STUDY HISTORY—DIFFICULTY OF FINDING NEW GROUND FOR
+     TRAVEL—AN INTERESTING COUNTRY WITHIN FIVE DAYS OF TEMPLE BAR.
+
+
+"Let us go to Lapland!" was the exclamation which rang on my ear, as I
+was entering my club, one fine morning in the early part of June, 1873.
+
+"Lapland!" said I, "what put that into your head?"
+
+"Yes," replied my friend M—, in his rich, good-humoured voice, slightly
+flavoured with Hibernian Doric. "I hear that somebody has written a book
+about it. I have been everywhere else in Europe—and it is quite the
+place to go to now, you know. We shall pic-nic on Cape North and then
+drive across to Spitzbergen in reindeer sledges on the ice, it will be
+awfully jolly!" and his joyous laugh echoed through the hall. "Do come,
+like a good fellow," said he, "there will be just the four of us, R—,
+C—, yourself, and I, and you really must not say no, for we none of us
+can speak a word of anything but English, while you speak every language
+under the sun. So agree to it at once; let us all meet here to dinner,
+to-morrow at six, and then off by the mail to Calais."
+
+At first I thought that M— was chaffing; but having now been joined by
+R— and C—, who at once chimed in on the same subject, I said,
+
+"Have you any idea about Lapland, my dear M—, do you know anything about
+it? and what do you expect to see there?"
+
+"Oh, dear me, yes," replied he, "it is a country in the North of Europe,
+surrounded on all sides either by land or by water, and inhabited by
+men who are four feet six high, and the darlingest little women just
+four feet nothing. They go to church on Sundays, riding on reindeer, and
+shoot Polar bears with bows and arrows! Oh dear, yes, I know all about
+Lapland."
+
+"Not at all a bad account," said I, "but what writes Captain Hutchinson
+in his book? Is his description of Lapland very captivating?"
+
+"Well," answered M—, "I confess I have not read his book; but go abroad
+I must, London is getting too stupid, and I have been everywhere else in
+Europe; and I want to see a country out of the beaten track, something
+I have not yet seen."
+
+"Now, my dear fellow," said I, "though I have not been exactly in Lapland,
+I have been in Finland, and that, you know, is just next door to it;
+and knowing what the mosquitoes are in those swampy northern latitudes,
+nothing could induce me to visit those countries again in Summer, except
+for very cogent reasons indeed. But come now, tell me where have you
+been, that you say you have seen every other country in Europe?"
+
+"Well," answered M—. "I have been twice to Italy, up and down, and done
+it as thoroughly as any man could do it. I have been—"
+
+"Stop a wee," said I, "how have you _done_ Italy? let me see, suppose we
+just begin in the middle, let us take Florence—no doubt you were there."
+
+"Oh dear, yes, and such a jolly place, where one could live and love
+for ever! oh, yes,
+
+     "'Of all the fairest cities of the world,
+     None is so fair as Florence!'
+
+"If it were not for the heat, and having been there twice already,
+it would beat going to see the sun at midnight, which we shall see in
+Lapland, old fellow. We shall see the sun going right round the horizon,
+neither rising nor setting—not a bit—but going just as in the old riddle
+we had when we were children, 'going round and round the house, and never
+touching the house.' So now no more 'shirking and lurking,' but let's be
+off to Lapland, and if there are a few mosquitoes, we can take plenty
+of flea-powder to protect us; there now, I'll stand the flea-powder—a
+whole pound's worth," and the laugh of that excellent fellow rings in
+my ears still.
+
+Here R— joined in the conversation; he had never been to Italy, and his
+curiosity was raised by the enthusiastic expressions of my friend M—,
+in regard to Florence.
+
+"Do tell us something about that place, where you could live and love
+for ever," said he.
+
+"Well, what _can_ I tell you?" replied M—. "Florence was the capital
+of Tuscany, and is situated on the banks of the river Arno, and it is
+a most delightful place. What more do you want? There is the charming
+Mrs. —, and her equally charming daughter, whose house opens just as
+the opera closes; and once there, one never thinks of leaving till three
+o'clock in the morning at soonest. Then there are the Cascine, the Café
+Doney, and the club, and my friend G. M—y; and then the churches and
+the galleries, and the pietre dure, &c., &c., I did every one of them."
+
+"Where did you go when you left Florence?"
+
+"To Rome, naturally."
+
+"So all you know about Tuscany and Central Italy resolves itself into
+the Cascine, the Café Doney, and our friend G. M—y. Did you not even
+visit Siena on your way to Rome?"
+
+"No, for, being fond of the sea, I went to Rome by Civita Vecchia."
+
+"When you were at Civita Vecchia, did it not come into your head to
+visit the birth-place of the Tarquins—Corneto? only a short drive from
+Civita Vecchia, and one of the most interesting places in Italy."
+
+"I never even heard of it," said M—.
+
+I was going to say _ex uno disce omnes_, this is how _la jeunesse doré_
+of the present time travel on the continent—to finish their education,
+by the way! but my remark would be of too sweeping a character, for
+there are many exceptions to be met with occasionally. Still, though
+travelling is multiplied a thousand-fold compared with what it used to
+be even only a century ago, it is doubtful, I think, if travelling is
+as fruitful of good results in our days as it used to be in the days of
+our grandfathers, when, under the guidance of a well qualified tutor,
+young men used to take the "grand tour" with a view to completing their
+education, the foundation and groundwork of which had been laid first in
+our public schools, and then in our great universities. Now my friend
+M— was a charming fellow, well educated to a certain point, pleasant,
+agreeable, and good-tempered; he had travelled a good deal, and yet I may
+safely say he had seen nothing, and simply because he had not prepared
+himself for travelling with a view to thoroughly seeing the countries
+he intended visiting, and obtaining the information they could bestow.
+And how many are there that just travel in the same way! How many are
+there among those who yearly flood the approaches to the Eternal City
+who do more than lounge about the galleries, the Campo Vaccino, or the
+Pincian Hill! and who, if asked about the City of Veii (for instance)
+will simply open their eyes and say they never heard of it, where is
+it? Why, my good fellow, Veii was a great city, and its inhabitants
+among the most civilized and luxurious in the world, long before Rome
+was built. What! before Rome was built? he will say; and then if some
+mild reminiscence of the kind comes across his memory, he may, perhaps,
+recall some fleeting visions of Agamemnon and Mycenæ, taking it for
+granted that Veii, if anterior to Rome, must have been in Greece; but
+when informed that Veii was the rival of Rome, that its ruins were within
+twenty miles of the Eternal City, he will possibly get angry and think you
+are chaffing him. He, no doubt, may have heard of Etruria, but probably
+in his mind it was jumbled up with Minton's pottery; if associated with
+Wedgewood, it will be a point in his favour. He may probably have heard
+of Etruscan cities and Etruscan vases, but all his information in this
+line is terribly hazy; and so he dawdles through his sojourn at Rome,
+goes on to Naples, perhaps to Palermo and Malta, returning to England
+by the P. and O. steamer, imagining that he has seen, or _done_, Italy,
+as he terms it.
+
+It so happened that I had made arrangements for another tour, and was
+thus unable to join my three friends in their intended expedition; but
+the following Winter M— and I went to the continent together, we spent
+four months in Italy, that Italy he had so thoroughly "done" twice before!
+and to his amazement, he had to confess that in his previous journeys
+he had simply wasted his time and his money.
+
+We visited numberless out of the way places, having made Florence
+our head-quarters for Central Italy, and there under the guidance of
+Micali's _Antichi Popoli Italiani_, we dived into the history of Italy,
+beginning with the misty periods synchronous with the siege of Troy,
+illustrating them as we went along by visits to the ancient cities and
+cemeteries of Etruria, and thence through those glorious Middle Ages and
+their unparalleled works of art, which can nowhere be so well studied
+as in Italy! It was a surpassing pleasure to him, no doubt, to see for
+the first time all those wondrous things; but it was almost as great a
+delight to me to witness his raptures, his astonishment, as city after
+city came under our examination—Fiesole, Volterra, Chiusi, Cortona.
+This last, especially, struck him with astonishment, a city co-eval with
+Ilium, and still in our days a city preserving its ancient name, while
+of Ilium, _periêre ipsæ ruinæ_, and its very existence questioned, till
+the researches of the indefatigable Schliemann brought monuments to light
+within the last few months which have clearly identified the spot, and
+proved to a demonstration that Ilium really had existed, and that the
+siege of Troy was not simply a myth, a poet's dream!
+
+I well remember helping him to measure the immense blocks of the ancient
+walls of Cortona, fitted with such wonderful exactness that the blade
+of a penknife can even at present be scarcely pushed in between them,
+and which still remain _in situ_ without mortar or other cement, though
+probably thirty centuries have rolled on since those walls were erected
+by the ancestors of their present inhabitants. How I remember the
+interest he took in scanning from the hill which looks over the rippling
+water of the Trasymene Lake, pointing out the probable spot where those
+false-hearted Romans had rested whilst the battle was raging below, only
+to be overtaken, however, on the morrow by Hannibal and his victorious
+legions, who made them pay so dearly for their treachery.
+
+"This is the way I like to study history, and this is the way never to
+forget it," said he. "I hated the very names of Tacitus and Livy, but how
+delightful I think them now!" and so we did _do_ Italy from Agrigentum
+to the Alps, and from the Adriatic to the Mediterranean, and many queer
+out-of-the-way places we visited, and such scores of sketches we carried
+away; and a more delightful trip never was made before or since.
+
+Captain Hutchinson, in his introduction to "Try Lapland," writes, "The
+difficulty of finding new ground for travel is increasing every year for
+those who, with but a limited time at their disposal, are yet tired of
+the beaten paths of Ramsgate or Scarborough, Switzerland or the Rhine,
+and pant after lands fresh and fair, of which they have never seen the
+photograph—where the gorgeous hotel with its elongated bills, and the
+pertinacious touter with his cringing greasy manners, are alike unknown."
+
+Now to a great extent that pleasant writer is correct; but the man who
+rushing away from the turmoil and bustle of London life, whether he be
+lawyer, merchant, or physician, seeking for fresh air and scenery, but
+as far away as possible from those hackneyed tracks infested by the
+typical tourist, both English and Transatlantic, and by poor Marryat's
+"shilling-seeking, napkin-holding, up-and-downstairs son of a sea-cook"
+of an hotel waiter, need not go to the Arctic Circle to find all the
+above-named advantages, unless, indeed, he is bent on also seeing the
+sun at midnight, and his own body a prey to the mosquitoes.
+
+Within five days of Temple Bar, or as we soon shall have to say, where
+Temple Bar once stood, there are as splendid countries to explore, as
+fine ruins to contemplate, as glorious scenery and as gorgeous costumes
+to admire, as the heart of man can wish for; and if the reader will trust
+himself with me for a little while, excusing the many shortcomings he
+will meet with in these pages, I will lead him over a trip I took last
+Summer which I think will fully repay him, though he will often have
+to make great allowances and deal leniently with the Author, who for
+the first time in his life rushes into print, just for the same reason
+that the stars shine above us, because he has nothing else to do! But
+if through publishing this little book he shall have opened up a new
+field of travel to those who yearly require to recruit their strength of
+body and of mind by a ramble in foreign lands, if he shall have added
+one more possible source of enjoyment to those within the reach of the
+many, he will consider himself amply repaid for whatever trouble he may
+have been put to in its compilation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+     MAN PROPOSES, BUT GOD DISPOSES—VIENNA—ST. STEPHEN'S
+     CATHEDRAL—OLD CATHEDRALS—SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE—USES OF EAU DE
+     COLOGNE—INSECT ATTACKS—THE UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION—THE GARDENS
+     AND ACCESSORIES—THE LADIES OF VIENNA—NEW OPERA-HOUSE—ON THE
+     DANUBE—A WEALTHY PRELATE—WISSEGRAD—ARRIVAL AT PESTH.
+
+
+I started from London for my holiday trip early in the month of June,
+1873. The route I had laid out for myself on my departure was not exactly
+that which I eventually adopted, for nothing is truer than that man
+proposes, but God disposes. I had intended visiting the Crimea, and then
+crossing over the Straits of Kertch, I meant to have rambled over the
+Caucasus, finishing my trip with a visit to the Monastery of Echmiadzin,
+at the foot of Mount Ararat.
+
+But it was not to be; I got as far as Pesth, when the cholera, which
+was then very active, not to say raging in Hungary, barred my further
+passage down the river into the Lower Provinces of the Danube, by
+threatening me with a quarantine of eleven days in a dirty lazzaretto,
+at a temperature of at least 90° in the shade. I would have risked the
+cholera, but I could not face the loss of eleven days in the limited
+time I had at my disposal, nor could I contemplate at all the horrors
+of an Oriental lazzaretto. All my plans were therefore upset; still the
+result was eventually satisfactory, as I think I shall be able to prove
+in the following pages.
+
+After leaving London, I made straight for Vienna, by Brussels and
+Cologne, where I remained only a few hours, during which I visited for
+the twentieth time and more that exquisite specimen of ecclesiastical
+structure, its unrivalled Cathedral; every time I see it I admire it
+more and more, I think there are none to equal it, while most certainly
+none surpass it.
+
+St. Peter's at Rome is a magnificent building, astonishes one by its size
+and its rich adornments, but it fails to impress one from a religious
+point of view. It might be a church, or it might be a grand reception
+room, a _salle des ambassadeurs_, or a colossal ball-room—whereas the
+Cathedral of Cologne is a church, a place of worship, and nothing else.
+I suppose there is something in the pure Gothic architecture conducive
+to this impression. There is but one other church I know of in the world
+which has the same solemn awe-producing effect, perhaps in a greater
+degree even than the Cathedral of Cologne, and that is Santa Maria del
+Fiore, the Cathedral of Florence. I have been hundreds of times in that
+grand old edifice, but never without feeling an overwhelming sense of
+solemnity and awe. It was not only the low murmuring notes of the organ
+sounding the responses at eve to the plaintive litanies of the Virgin,
+nor the deep tones of the full accompaniment to the _Miserere mei Deus_
+in the Passion Week, which produced it, for I was perhaps oftener there
+when all was silent, than during festive times, as I have always had
+the greatest objection to going into Catholic churches during service,
+gaping about and sight-seeing, to the evident annoyance and discomfort
+of the worshippers—a habit which, I regret to say, many of our country
+people too often indulge in, greatly to our detriment, especially in the
+less frequented places of the continent, where the people have come to
+regard us as heathens, and constantly to say of us, "Non sanno meglio,
+non sono Cristiani."
+
+It was something more than all this which ever filled me with a feeling
+of intense devotion when I entered that grand old building. The severe
+simplicity of the structure, with no tawdry ornamentation to obtrude
+itself and take off the attention, may have played an important part in
+giving birth to solemn thoughts, together with the height and size of the
+three enormous pilasters which alone support the roof—the lofty arches,
+the vast depth and gloom of the aisles, the intensity of the shade, the
+deep silence made still more impressive by an occasional foot-fall—all
+would combine to proclaim this a house of prayer, and nothing else; a
+Temple in the fullest and most unequivocal sense of the word, offering
+to the old and the broken-spirited, to the infirm and to all who sought
+it in prayer, an assurance of tranquillity, consolation, and peace!
+
+Having enjoyed my oft-repeated visit, and purchased a large supply of
+Eau de Cologne from the Farina _gegenüber dem Julichs Platz_, (and don't
+you believe that the others make it near as good), I got in the train
+for Munich and for Vienna.
+
+I think I see a smile, slightly perhaps savouring of a sneer, from
+some of my readers of the masculine gender, at my purchase of a large
+supply of Eau de Cologne; but just let them hold hard, till they shall
+have endured the trials of hot winds and dusty roads in the daytime,
+stuffy cabins and the ordinary accompaniment of flea invasions and other
+entomological attacks in the night-time; and then if they have the luck
+to have any of it with them, they will discover the use of Eau de Cologne
+in allaying pain and irritation.
+
+Travellers in all Eastern countries should have with them a supply of
+good Eau de Cologne, not for scenting their pocket-handkerchiefs only,
+but principally as a remedy. Some people suffer more, some suffer less
+from insect attacks; but I have seen a man, a strong, stout, brawny
+Britisher, set nearly wild by flea-bites, and I shall never forget his
+appearance, as he stood before me one morning, after passing a restless
+night in a very wild region in the South of Europe, like a patient with
+small-pox, and scratching away at himself for bare life. I am sure he
+would have been in a high fever that night, had I not bathed him with a
+mixture of equal parts of Eau de Cologne, laurel water, and sal-volatile.
+So don't forget it, kind reader, if ever in your travels you are likely
+to be in countries infested with insect tribes; whatever their nature
+may be, whether the mosquito which flieth, the flea which hoppeth, or
+t'other thing which crawleth, my nostrum will be found a sovereign remedy
+against them all.
+
+Although the Vienna Exhibition was fully open, and that numbers were
+flocking from all parts to that most charming capital, which has so
+justly acquired the epithet of "le Paradis des Hommes," I was fortunate
+in having but one companion in the train all the way, and thus we both
+were enabled to extend our limbs and sleep as comfortably as in our
+beds. It is wonderful the amount of comfort one can obtain through life
+by the judicious distribution of a few cigars accompanied by a little
+silver!
+
+At Vienna, I went—as I always do—to the Archduke Charles' Hotel; a little
+old-fashioned, perhaps, but unquestionably the best hotel in Vienna, and
+where the cooking is always undeniable. During my short stay, I went
+every day to the Universal Exhibition—the world's fair! but don't be
+afraid that I mean to weary you by dragging you with me through those
+confusing avenues of "all sorts," where nothing that was wanted could
+be found, and everything we wanted not was sure to be everlastingly
+obtruding itself before our eyes.
+
+I confess that the Vienna Exhibition disappointed me; whereas the Paris
+one of 1867 left me nothing to desire; and all owing to the want of
+order and system in the one instance—while in the other, the arrangement
+was so perfect that there was not the smallest difficulty in getting at
+anything one wanted to find out.
+
+But if the exhibitional department was less perfect in its arrangement
+at Vienna than at Paris, the gardens and the outside accessories were
+far more beautiful at the former than the latter; while Strauss's
+delightful band always afforded an hour's luxurious enjoyment in the
+cool of the afternoon, till the fearful braying of the steam trumpet,
+(they called it a Telephone, I think) drove one out into the Prater.
+Then the restaurants and cafés of the different Nationalities were so
+well got up and so picturesquely scattered about the Gardens, as were
+also the several buildings characteristic of the different Nations, and
+among which was pre-eminent for elegance of form, design, and execution,
+the kiosk of the Pasha of Egypt.
+
+And then the Viennese ladies! I know I should have mentioned them the
+first, I confess it; _confiteor, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa_, but, gentle
+reader, it was from sheer diffidence! I did not know how to approach the
+subject, I felt myself totally incompetent, and indeed I do so now! To
+say that at Vienna there are more lovely women to be seen than in any
+other city in Europe, is not saying one half. There are loads of pretty
+women to be seen in Dublin of a fine Sunday afternoon, especially among
+the middle and lower classes; but at Vienna they are not only lovely,
+but terribly attractive, and winning, and seductive; there are none like
+them anywhere else!
+
+In the fine arts department there were many beautiful things to be seen;
+but as I promised not to drag the reader round the World's Fair, I shall
+keep my word, and shall only call his attention to two statues which
+greatly attracted me, one was a bronze figure of a Hindoo charming a
+cobra, the other a Negro running away, both figures perfectly alive!
+
+I went twice to the opera, once to hear Meyerbeer's "Africaine," which
+disappointed me; and once to see a grand ballet, I think it was called
+"Eleonora," which did not. I had not been for several years at Vienna,
+and had, therefore, not seen the new Opera House. I was greatly struck
+with its size and beauty; it is unquestionably the finest theatre in
+Europe, and the arrangements are perfect. But Vienna is now undergoing
+such a process of transformation, and to such an extent, that in a few
+years those who knew it ten or twelve years ago will be utterly unable
+to recognise it. Even now it is one of the finest capitals in Europe,
+but at the rate it is progressing, it bids fair to surpass in a short
+time every other city, when the Viennese will really be able to give
+utterance with truth to their old saying, "Gibt nur eine Kaiserstadt,
+gibt nur ein Wien!"
+
+After a very delightful week in Vienna, which seemed indeed far too short
+a time to bestow upon the most enjoyable capital in Europe, I took my
+passage in a steamer to Pesth, starting at six A.M., and arriving
+at my destination at about the same hour in the evening. The steamer
+was a very fine one, the accommodation excellent, the cuisine not good,
+but then I had been terribly spoilt at the Erz-Herzog Karl; probably had
+I been at a worse hotel, I would not have found so much fault with the
+cookery on board the steamer. The company on board was worse than the
+cookery—in all my rambles I don't think I ever met so unprepossessing
+a lot.
+
+The large steamers that navigate the Danube don't come up to Vienna,
+but lie off the Island of Lobau, to which passengers are carried in
+a smaller steamer. The morning I started was drizzling and chilly in
+the extreme, in marked contrast with the weather of the previous week,
+which had been intensely hot; and when I sat down on the deck of the
+little steamer which was to take me down a branch of the Danube to the
+main steamer, I was glad to avail myself of my top-coat and rugs. In a
+short time we reached the larger vessel, and, having all got on board,
+we started at a good round speed.
+
+From Vienna to Gran, the Danube is uninteresting so far as scenery is
+concerned. Its enormous volume of muddy water, wider than the Thames at
+Westminster, though still upwards of nine hundred miles from its entrance
+into the Black Sea, flows through a vast flat country; an interminable
+front of sallows and alders on the one side, and an interminable plain
+on the other, dotted all over with countless herds of white cattle with
+long black horns like the Tuscan oxen, and endless troops of horses;
+and as I gazed on the mighty flood of turbid waters, the old Italian
+nursery rhyme came back to my memory.
+
+     "Tre Ombroni fanno un Arno,
+     Tre Arni fanno un Tevere,
+     Tre Tevere fanno un Pò,
+     E tre Pò di Lombardia
+     Fanno un Danubio di Turchia."
+
+We passed by Pressburg where the two sides of the river are united by a
+bridge of boats. We only remained a short time and I had no opportunity
+of going ashore, so that I could form but a very inaccurate opinion of
+the place; it seemed to me from its outward look as not now prosperous,
+but had quite the appearance of having seen better days.
+
+After a time we came to Komorn, the celebrated fortress; if I had not
+been told, "There is Komorn," I might almost have passed it without
+observing it, so protected from sight are its bastions by the immense
+earthworks in front of them. Still down we steamed, and still the same
+country right and left met our view, till we came to Gran, the seat of
+the Prince-Primate of Hungary, perhaps one of the wealthiest prelates
+in the world, possessing no less an income than £90,000 per annum.
+
+Here the scenery began to improve; the Cathedral of Gran, though in
+itself unclassical, and one that in any other place might be passed by
+unnoticed, yet served to relieve the monotony of the view. The river,
+which up to this had flowed through boundless plains, became suddenly
+contracted, and consequently swifter as the high lands approached the
+edge of it; and now with every revolution of the paddles the scenery
+improved, till on reaching Vissegrad it became absolutely lovely. Instead
+of the interminable plains, we now had precipitous mountains on either
+side, some clad with forest down to the water's edge, some bare, ragged,
+and rocky, but all lovely, quite equal to the finest parts of the Rhine,
+not even lacking a Drachenfels in the beautiful ruins of the ancient
+castellated palace of the Kings of Hungary, the favourite retreat of
+the learned Matthias Corvinus.
+
+Nature has done everything to beautify this favoured spot, but man, as
+is too often the case, has done his best to mar it. At the foot of the
+cliff, the top of which is crowned by the ancient residence of the Kings
+of Hungary, on a beautifully wooded spot between the mountain and the
+rushing Danube, some enterprising German has erected, _horribile visu_,
+three villa residences, in the correct suburban style, a few yards distant
+from one another. Regardless of expense, everything about them, including
+themselves, is radiant with white-wash, except where green paint asserts
+its place. At first I thought it must be an hotel or pension, with two
+_succursales_; but no, the skipper assured me they were country houses,
+and seemed astonished when I said the man that built them deserved to
+be hanged in front of them; he could not comprehend me, he thought them
+lovely!
+
+Often during my subsequent travels I thought of that lovely country
+between Gran and Vissegrad; such exquisite scenery, so diversified; such
+a combination of rolling pastures, of glorious hills clad with forests,
+backed by rugged mountains, with that grand old Danube rushing through
+the midst; such shooting and fishing, all in a compact locality, and only
+four hours by rail from Vienna; such a spot for a country residence could
+scarcely be equalled, and certainly not surpassed. If it were within
+ten hours of London, what a fabulous price it would command! but here
+no one seems to have placed any value on it since the days of Matthias
+Corvinus.
+
+After going through this gorge, the Danube spreads itself out again,
+and the scenery becomes tame and uninteresting, and continues so till
+one reaches Pesth, where I arrived somewhat later than I expected.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+     PESTH—HOTEL UNGARIA—BUDA—STORY OF AN ARTIST—PROSPERITY OF THE
+     CITY—NEW BRIDGE OVER THE DANUBE—ST. MARGUERITE'S ISLAND—ANCIENT
+     ROMAN BATH—CONDITION OF HUNGARY—FIELD FOR THE JUNIOR BRANCHES
+     OF THE UPPER TEN THOUSAND—KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—THE TERMINATION
+     OF TURKISH MISRULE—FUTURE OF THE DANUBIAN PRINCIPALITIES.
+
+
+I drove to the Hotel Ungaria, to which I had been recommended, and
+where a most comfortable apartment and an equally good dinner gave
+me an _avant-goût_ of a comfortable night's rest, in which I was no
+wise disappointed; and I can safely recommend the Ungaria as one of
+the finest and most comfortable hotels in Europe, without at the same
+time being extravagant in its charges. The only drawback I found was
+with the person of the porter, a most respectable man no doubt, but he
+could not speak either French or English; and I had to carry on all my
+consultations respecting my intended future progress with the hall-porter
+of the "Königin von England" hotel, close by. If that man could only
+be installed at the Ungaria, that hotel would be as near perfection as
+possible.
+
+The windows of my bedroom at the Ungaria opened out on a balcony which
+gave me a splendid view of the "blue Danube," which, however, I never saw
+of any other shade but mud colour. Across the river, and just opposite,
+I could see the ancient city of Buda, with the royal residence in front,
+and a little to the left, on the top of the hill, the celebrated fortress
+which played so important a part during the last Hungarian civil war.
+A little to my right was the grand suspension bridge, guarded at each
+end by two colossal couchant lions, about which the following improbable
+anecdote was related to me.
+
+The artist who executed them forgot to put tongues into their mouths,
+to loll out in proper heraldic fashion, and when the defect was pointed
+out to him as the lions were uncovered, he took it so to heart that he
+at once put an end to himself by plunging headlong into the river! Now
+when "le grand Vatel" committed suicide, because the turbot did not
+arrive in time for the dinner of the Most Christian King, there was some
+show of reason in the act, Vatel's credit was in some degree pledged to
+that dinner; but not one man in ten thousand would have noticed whether
+these lions had tongues or not.
+
+Pesth seems, like Vienna, to be undergoing a process of rebuilding, and
+that on a scale of considerable magnificence. I was told that its commerce
+was daily increasing, and, certainly, to judge from the immense number
+of vessels moored in the river, the ceaseless passing up and down of
+immense steamers, the piles of merchandize, and the constant bustle on
+the quays, a very considerable amount of business must be done there. The
+grand suspension bridge which spans the Danube being found insufficient
+for the increasing traffic, a new one is in process of construction,
+to be built of iron on piers, and not a suspension bridge. It is to
+cost an immense sum, and will require to be well protected against the
+action of the ice on the one hand, while on the other it may become
+the source of considerable danger to the low land in its neighbourhood
+by arresting the free passage downwards of the ice, if not well looked
+after. I went to see the works at the central pier, and remained there
+some time watching the men at the bottom of the immense caisson out of
+which a donkey engine was incessantly pumping water; outside it, the
+river was running like a mill race at not less than eight miles an hour,
+and I was assured that the depth at that spot was fully forty feet.
+
+After visiting the works at the new bridge, I went to St. Marguerite's
+Island, on which is a park beautifully laid out, and which forms one of
+the favourite promenades of the pleasure-loving inhabitants of Pesth. As
+it can only be approached by boat, it is frequented only by pedestrians;
+but in order to cater for all tastes and gratify those who enjoy a jaunt,
+there is a tramway running the whole length of the island. There are
+also some capital restaurants, and several bands play every evening in
+fine weather.
+
+There is another park on _terra firma_, an imitation of the Prater
+at Vienna, but it is small and shabby. There were a good many people
+strolling about it when I went, but I did not see even one middling-good
+turn-out, and though one constantly hears of the beautiful horses and
+rare horsemanship of the Hungarians, I was doomed to be disappointed in
+both cases.
+
+Crossing over the suspension bridge one gets into the old town of Buda or
+Ofen, in which are situated the Royal residence, the Government offices,
+and some of the palaces of the native magnates.
+
+There is a fine street by which one can drive to the upper part of the
+town, which is considerably above the level of the Danube; but for
+pedestrians there is an easy, cheap, and quick method of getting to
+the summit, by means of a small counterpoised railway, which carries
+one up and down very rapidly at an exceedingly moderate rate. There is
+a fine view from the top, and several fine old palaces, but the most
+interesting thing in the town of Buda is the old Roman bath erected over
+some sulphurous springs, celebrated for the cures they perform. It is in
+exactly the same condition as in the days of ancient Rome, and consists
+of a large vaulted apartment lit by a circular opening in the centre of
+the cupola, and containing a large hexagonal piscina with an ambulatory
+all round. None bathe there save the lower classes—men, women, and
+children promiscuously; in the immediate neighbourhood, however, there
+are some very well appointed baths which are considerably patronized,
+and bear a high reputation for the cure of skin disease.
+
+From all I could collect during the brief stay I made at Pesth, Hungary in
+general must be in a very progressive condition; and from the numbers of
+agricultural machines and implements, all of English construction, which
+I saw everywhere stacked upon the quays, not only at Pesth but at many
+other stations on the Danube, including large numbers of steam-thrashing
+and winnowing machines, a vigorous attempt is evidently being made to
+exploit the unbounded fertility of perhaps the richest soil in Europe.
+Land, however, is still cheap in Hungary, probably in consequence of
+the extreme love of pleasure of its inhabitants, who preferring to spend
+their days in the society of Vienna, Paris, or Pesth, draw exorbitantly
+on their revenues, till at last compelled to sell their lands in order
+to meet their engagements. Nice estates within twenty miles of Pesth,
+with good substantial dwelling-houses, and all the necessary offices for
+farming, with varied soil, vineyard, pasture, tillage, and forest, can
+be had sufficiently cheap to ensure a clear return of five per cent,
+free of taxes, for the capital laid out on them! A vast number of the
+agricultural community in Hungary are Jews, and it is perhaps the only
+country in Europe where we find the children of Israel as tillers of
+the soil; and I was assured by many in Pesth that they make by far the
+most satisfactory tenants—though naturally they require looking after
+occasionally, as well as their _soi-disant_ Christian brethren.
+
+When one reflects on the countless acres of the richest land in
+creation, which to a great extent are still unoccupied and uncultivated
+in the eastern and south-eastern regions of Europe, one cannot help
+regretting that some of our surplus population do not try a venture in
+those countries. I am thinking principally of that most unfortunate and
+ill-used portion of society belonging to the upper classes, and which,
+from circumstances beyond its control, is suffering from positive want in
+its struggles to keep up a respectability as necessary for its existence
+as the very air it breathes. The labourer, the artisan, the skilled
+workman are well off at the present time in our country; wages are very
+high and the friendly societies, to one of which almost every workman
+belongs, provide for them amply in cases of sickness, and in some cases
+even contribute something to the family when the illness terminates in
+death—not to mention the numerous hospitals and asylums, all open to the
+labouring classes, but which are all virtually closed to those I am now
+speaking of.
+
+The working classes, with few exceptions, are all well off at present,
+and require none of our sympathy except when in affliction, when the
+richest and poorest come to the same level. They can afford to supply
+all their wants out of their wages, and lay out _one fifth_, and in
+many cases _one fourth_, and even _one third_ (I am assured by good
+authorities) in drink, for the gratification of the only pleasure which
+they are capable of enjoying; for proof of which the police reports
+throughout the country will bear ample evidence.
+
+But I will tell who really deserve all our sympathy and all our aid,
+the junior branches of our upper ten thousand—the families of officers,
+poor clergymen, poor lawyers, &c., &c., all struggling for dear life
+against difficulties of every kind; those are the classes who claim the
+greatest share of our sympathy, and to whom the regions above mentioned
+offer advantages unequalled any where else.
+
+I remember when the Canterbury settlement was established in New Zealand,
+it was intended in a great measure to provide for the classes I have
+alluded to above; but the distance was too great, the mere cost of going
+out was a most serious drawback, at the very least _ten times_ the amount
+required to land one bag and baggage in the centre of Hungary, or better
+still in Servia, among some of the most beautiful scenery in the world,
+the richest soil, the best climate, and the finest fishing and shooting
+that could be desired, where game laws and river preserves and licences
+are still utterly unknown.
+
+I hate croaking; still, if one hears rumbling noises underground for
+any space of time, one is justified in apprehending an earthquake. For
+several years I have been hearing these subterranean noises, and year
+after year they have become more and more threatening, and the earthquake
+must come at last. But as a volcanic eruption, acting as a safety valve,
+often saves a country from the effects of a physical earthquake, so the
+timely exodus of an excessive population may save a country from a moral
+one.
+
+By the very nature of my profession, I have innumerable times been
+willingly or unwillingly let into the secrets of the private affairs of
+scores of families; and I have watched with perfect dismay the misery,
+the poverty, the utter wretchedness that were screened from the eyes of
+the world by the decent exterior which was kept up in order to preserve
+appearances.
+
+If with Asmodeus we could but lift up the roofs of a few thousands
+of houses in these prosperous islands and see the difficulties, the
+make-shifts, and the make-believes which are resorted to, and that in
+many cases where one would least expect them, it would make our very
+hearts bleed at all the anxiety, all the wretchedness, all the scalding
+tears which would be disclosed—all brought about by that great delusion
+"keeping up appearances." Well, all this living under false pretences,
+which is the distinguishing characteristic and the great evil, the real
+"social evil" of the present time cannot go on for ever. It is an evil
+of long standing, no doubt, but it has gone on increasing from year to
+year, like a falling avalanche, with constantly increasing velocity. The
+earthquake must come at last, if not averted by an emigration _en masse_
+of those educated classes to which I have alluded above; and the best,
+finest, healthiest, most fertile, and most accessible country, outside
+the British dominions, I hold to be, roughly speaking, that tract of
+Southern Europe bounded on the North by the Saave, on the South by the
+Bosphorus, on the East by the Danube, and on the West by the Adriatic.
+
+"But, my dear Sir," I think I hear some reader say, "that is Turkey in
+Europe!" No doubt it is, but the Turks won't be there for ever, their
+time is nearly run out; the period of their wretched misrule over the
+Christian populations of Europe is nearly accomplished, and I still hope
+to live long enough to see those barbarous hordes recrossing the Bosphorus
+into Asia Minor, on their way back to the Steppes of Khiva and Bokhara,
+from whence they originally emigrated. They have ever shown themselves
+irreclaimable barbarians throughout. Look at the present condition of
+European Turkey, after centuries of Ottoman dominion; contrast it with
+the nascent state of Roumania, which only quite lately succeeded in
+shaking off its Moslem chains. Let us look at both countries, as they
+present themselves opposite to each other on the banks of the Danube.
+On the left bank of that river we have Giurgevo in Roumania, the port of
+Bukharest, where, notwithstanding centuries of slavery and misgovernment,
+the natives, now under the government of an enlightened Christian Prince,
+are all activity and progress—while on the right bank at Rustchuk, just
+opposite, in dark contrast to the Christian, who is trying to turn to
+account all the advantages of his country, the indolent, uncivilized
+Turk is still lazily dozing away, leaning against his ancient painted
+and bedizened araba, drawn by a pair of patient oxen, waiting for the
+chance of some solitary, silent traveller!
+
+A new era is dawning, however, over these south-eastern regions, but
+much of their prosperity and future happiness may depend on the model
+they will propose for themselves in their efforts at civilization;
+whether the brilliant glitter of Parisian veneering and varnish, or the
+less attractive, but more solid advantages of British institutions. A
+great future is before the Danubian Principalities, may they use their
+opportunities with wisdom, and may they prosper!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+     STEINBRÜCK—THE SÖMMERING—FIRST VIEW OF THE
+     ADRIATIC—TRIESTE—SHOCKS OF EARTHQUAKE AT BELLUNO—AUSTRIAN
+     IRONCLAD 'LISSA'—CAPTAIN R. BURTON—FLYING VISIT TO SAN
+     CANZIANO—SUBTERRANEAN COURSE OF A MOUNTAIN STREAM—THE KARST—WILD
+     SCENERY—A THUNDER-STORM—CHURCH OF SAN CANZIANO—STUD FARM.
+
+
+That odious and useless mediæval institution, the quarantine, having
+barred my passage into the Lower Provinces of the Danube, I determined
+to go to Trieste, then proceed by sea to Constantinople, and thence to
+the Caucasus, but it was written differently in the book of Fate!
+
+The line to Trieste was full of interest; during the first portion of
+the journey I passed quite close to Lake Balaton, celebrated for its
+fish, and then after traversing some wonderfully rich plains, dotted
+here and there with patches of forest, and covered with herds of cattle,
+horses, and geese, which are kept here in vast numbers for the sake of
+their feathers, arrived at Steinbrück at one P.M., where I dined.
+Here, at the junction of the Saane and the Saave, the scenery became
+truly magnificent; we had been for some time following the banks of the
+Saane, and the mountains had been getting closer and higher with every
+mile we made, till at last they actually came down to the river, allowing
+a bare passage to the railway which followed its every bend.
+
+Having finished our mid-day meal at Steinbrück—where the Pesth line joins
+on to that miracle of engineering, the celebrated railway between Vienna
+and Trieste—we resumed our journey, the scenery retaining its grand
+features, till having topped the Sömmering, we came on to the desert
+Karst and got our first peep of the salt water—the glorious Adriatic.
+Nothing could exceed the wild grandeur of the country on both sides of the
+railway, as the engines (for we had two of them) slowly panted up those
+steep inclines, winding in and out through the gorges of the Sömmering,
+now plunging into a tunnel to traverse the heart of a mountain, and now
+crossing a viaduct between two cliffs, over a precipice hundreds of feet
+in depth. Once at the top, our pace increased considerably, and by eight
+o'clock I found myself comfortably installed at my hotel at Trieste, on
+the evening of the 29th of June.
+
+After a most refreshing night, I descended the next morning to the café
+on the ground floor of the hotel, and then heard for the first time of
+the severe shocks of earthquake at Belluno and its neighbourhood, which
+had been felt even in Trieste. Several lives had been lost, and one
+church nearly shaken to the ground.
+
+After breakfast I went to pay my respects to our excellent consul, Captain
+Burton, and then hearing that the Austrian ironclad "Lissa" was outside
+the harbour, I took a boat and went to have a look at her. She is a fine
+vessel with a long projecting prow, and looks well in the water. Having
+sent up my card, I was received and shown over the ship by Lieutenant
+Count Petruski, who was most kind in pointing out every thing of interest
+connected with it. I think he said she mounted 12 rifled fifteen-ton guns
+of our Woolwich Infant type, and was furnished with a galvanic apparatus,
+by means of which the captain could fire a whole broadside at a time.
+Although she was only in after a cruise, and consequently not in the
+best of trim for exhibition, I was much gratified by all I saw. The men
+were a very fine set of fellows, the state cabins and officers' cabins
+particularly neat and nice, and should these lines ever fall beneath
+the eye of Count Petruski or any of his brother officers on board the
+"Lissa" I beg them all to receive my warm thanks for their kindness to
+me that day. I spent a couple of very pleasant hours on board, and as
+Count Petruski spoke excellent English, it made our interview all the
+more agreeable.[1]
+
+Trieste is anything but an interesting place; though a couple of days
+may be spent pleasantly enough visiting the neighbourhood, especially
+if one has the advantage of the acquaintance and company of our consul,
+Captain R. Burton; the Burton of Harar, of Mecca, and of Medina; the
+_facile princeps_ of modern travellers and pleasant companions.
+
+Why is Captain Burton kept at Trieste? It is not a difficult post, nor
+one requiring a man with exceptional qualifications; and it does seem
+a misapplication if not a waste of _force_ to keep a man like Burton at
+Trieste, when he could be of so much greater use elsewhere. The thorough
+and intimate knowledge that he possesses of Oriental character, his
+perfect mastery of Arabic, together with the knowledge he has of Persian
+and scores of other languages, not to mention the experience he has
+acquired of Oriental affairs, customs and idiosyncrasies, all go to point
+him out emphatically as the right man in the wrong place at Trieste. I
+spent some very pleasant hours in his company during my short stay in
+that city, and shall never forget the kindness I experienced both from
+him and la bella Contessa, his most charming and accomplished lady.
+
+Thus far, my observations have been of a strictly selfish nature. I know
+Captain Burton's capabilities, I feel that he is utterly thrown away
+where he is, and I want a _quid pro quo_ for my money—consequently I want
+to see him in some post where his talents and exceptional qualifications
+may be of some profit to me. The reader will perceive that I am strictly
+selfish and utilitarian, and that in writing as above I have not been
+led away by sentimentality in any shape. Had I been in the opposite
+vein, I could have said, I met at Trieste Captain R. T. Burton, who
+undoubtedly is the greatest of _living_ travellers, and also second
+to none in that great phalanx of explorers, who from time to time have
+devoted their lives to carrying civilization to the most remote corners
+of the earth. He opened up Eastern Africa, and most probably discovered
+in Lake Tanganyika the mysterious sources of the Nile. He directly opened
+up the path and led the way which was subsequently trodden by Speke,
+Grant, Stanley, Cameron, and others; indirectly he pointed out the way
+to Baker, Schweinfurth and Gordon. To Richard Burton then is due the
+discovery of this _New Africa_, this great Lake Region, so fertile and
+so rich in the centre of a continent which fifty years ago was believed
+to be one vast uninhabitable desert. What has been his reward? He has
+been made consul at Trieste. Here is an inducement to our ardent British
+youth! I hear there is some talk of making him a K.C.B.; for myself, I
+wouldn't give a roll of ginger-bread for the distinction; however, let
+him have it by all means, but let us see him also removed to some more
+useful sphere of action where his exceptional talents and his great
+knowledge of Oriental languages may be of service to us. Let him be sent
+to Africa again—to Morocco for instance—at the first vacancy.
+
+Having still to wait a couple of days for the departure of the steamer
+which was to take me on my trip down the coast of Dalmatia, I employed my
+time in paving a flying visit to San Canziano, where a good-sized river,
+after meandering down a deep ravine like any other Christian stream,
+suddenly plunges into the bowels of the earth, and after a mysterious
+course of many miles, reappears again at the surface under a different
+name, previous to losing itself in the Adriatic.
+
+The little hamlet of San Canziano is about twenty miles from Trieste, it
+consists of a very small and meanly built church, with a good campanile
+however, with two sweetly-toned bells—why is it that ours are always so
+unmusical and woody?—a small wretched Presbytery, a roadside pot-house
+where nothing could be got for love or money, and half a dozen dilapidated
+houses. The drive however, was very pleasant, for the weather was warm
+and at the same time cloudy, so that we were never inconvenienced by
+the sun. The road, on leaving Trieste, goes by easy windings over a
+mountain clothed with oak, so beautifully kept, that it gives the idea
+of driving through some private park. On reaching the top we came into
+the open, and had a glorious view of the Styrian mountains on the one
+side, and the Adriatic on the other. After driving for a short time on
+the level, we again commenced ascending and soon got into the "Karst,"
+as it is called; a wild barren tract where little or nothing appears to
+grow, and where rocks and stones seem to have rained down from heaven,
+not unlike some other spots I visited subsequently in Dalmatia, and
+notably in Montenegro. But this bleak and barren spot owes its absolute
+desolation, not so much to the rocky nature of its soil, as to the Bora,
+a north-east wind, which often sweeps across it with the force of a West
+Indian hurricane.
+
+In many places on the road, traverses of immensely thick stone walls
+had been erected for protection against the fury of the wind, but
+notwithstanding all, the Karst is sometimes impassable when the Bora
+blows in real earnest, and heavy-laden waggons which have tried to cross
+it at such times, have been turned over and over like "leaves in Autumn
+weather." After travelling for some short time along this elevated
+plateau, we again began to descend, and soon reached our destination,
+where, having eaten the lunch I had brought with me, I started on foot,
+under the guidance of a native who could speak nothing but Styrian, to
+seek the mysterious river.
+
+In less than half an hour's walk, I found myself on a grass-covered
+plateau of some miles in extent, fringed in the distance by lofty hills,
+dotted with clumps of fir trees, and after a few minutes more walking
+in an easterly direction, I suddenly came on a perpendicular precipice,
+upwards of five hundred feet in depth, which completely barred my further
+progress. The cliff on which I stood rose in a narrow valley, or glen,
+or cleft, as if the crust of the earth had cracked here for a few miles.
+This cleft, nearly of uniform depth, was not of uniform width; in some
+places it was so narrow that the smooth river which glided through it
+completely filled it from side to side, while in other places a sufficient
+strip of soil remained between the river and the cliff to admit of some
+amount of cultivation, and here and there a cottage.
+
+This strange cleft, or valley, or crack in the plateau through which the
+river flows is of a most irregular outline, going zig-zag, in and out,
+just like the cracks one sees in a dried up pond at the end of a hot
+Summer in England. I was standing where this precipitous crack barred
+the way, by running exactly at right angles across the path, and here
+right under me at a depth of about five hundred feet, the river which
+could be seen coursing from a considerable distance at the bottom of
+the cleft, suddenly leapt into a cavern and disappeared beneath my feet.
+
+Having made a rapid sketch of this extraordinary landscape—or, more
+correctly speaking, having tried to convey on paper some faint idea of
+what the place was like—I again followed the guide, who now, turning
+his back on the precipice, led me in a westerly direction, and brought
+me in a few minutes to the brink of a fearful-looking circular chasm,
+about fifty yards in diameter, with precipitous rocky sides, and from
+the bottom of which could be heard the distant roar of the river rushing
+among the rocks. The guide threw some large stones down this yawning
+gulph, disturbing some thousands of rock-pigeons who build their nests
+in the nooks and crannies of the rocks, and having timed the fall of one
+of these stones by listening for its splash in the subterranean river,
+I noted about seven seconds as the time it took in falling.
+
+I now accompanied the guide through the little hamlet of San Canziano,
+and still going westward came just beyond the village on another chasm,
+of oblong form, about six hundred yards one way, and three hundred and
+fifty yards the other way, while in depth it was no more than about fifty
+yards. It looked to me as if this opening had been made by the subsidence
+or falling-in of the roof of some cavern, of which the limestone rock
+of these mountains, as well in Styria as in Dalmatia is so full. The
+sides of this depression were not precipitous except in some places, and
+an easy descent led me to the bottom, across which stretched from side
+to side a fantastic ridge of rock pierced by a natural arch about the
+middle, and under which an opening in the rock gave entrance to another
+cavern, through which anyone desirous of exploring it could without much
+difficulty, but at the cost of some fatigue and the risk of some falls,
+descend by a series of about six hundred high and slippery ledges of
+rock to where again the river makes its appearance after its subterranean
+course.
+
+As the day was pretty well advanced, and as the weather, which had been
+cloudy all the morning seemed now to be threatening rain, I thought it
+wisest not to venture on going further, although the guide had provided
+himself with candles for the descent. So I scrambled up the sides of
+the chasm, and was making for the roadside inn where the carriage was
+waiting for me, when the storm-clouds, which had been gathering thicker
+and thicker for some time, broke out at last into such a deluge of rain,
+accompanied by thunder and lightning, that I was glad to take refuge
+under the archway of the belfry of San Canziano, and from thence into
+the church itself, the door of which was opened for me by a queer little
+old dried-up chip of a sexton.
+
+I am sure he said to me, "Pray take shelter in here from the rain,"
+though as he spoke Styrian I could not understand a word, but his looks
+and gestures were as eloquent as words. Having walked into the little
+church, first taking off my hat, the little sexton became quite eloquent,
+and pointed out with evident satisfaction to every part of the chapel,
+which was poor and desolate in the extreme. Four white-washed walls,
+a wretched altar piece of wood painted in a few gaudy colours, and a
+crimson damask baldachino in tatters, which, stowed away in a corner,
+served to shelter the "Santissimo" when carried about in procession,
+two or three benches, a confessional box, and a lighted lamp hanging in
+front of the altar, constituted _toute la baraque_! but the poor little
+old man seemed delighted with himself and everything around him, and
+kept repeating in a shrill voice the only Italian word he apparently
+possessed "_Bella_," "_Bella_," to which I responded as in duty bound,
+"_molto bella_," and I trust I may be forgiven the cram; for I never
+told a bigger one in all my life!
+
+The floor of this little church was formed of large flag-stones, in some
+of which iron rings were inserted, while in others there only remained
+the marks of where rings had formerly been; some had inscriptions, and I
+should have been interested in hearing something of the ancient tenants
+of these graves, but here the sexton and I came completely to a dead
+lock. "_Bella_" could serve my friend no longer, still he understood
+perfectly what I required, so when he sat down on a bench, pointing to
+me to do the same, I complied at once, and all the more willingly as
+the rain was still coming down in torrents.
+
+The old fellow then commenced, and, pointing with his skinny finger to
+the central slab, entered at once into what, I presume, must have been a
+full, true, and complete history of the tenants of that grave, descanting
+probably on their virtues, and dealing gently with their faults; but
+alas! I could not understand one word. At last, I suppose the same
+thought must have struck "Old Mortality," for he suddenly stopped and
+bursting into a shrill, unearthly, and most discordant laugh, pointed
+to the sky which was now clearing, and held out his palsied hand, when
+I discovered he knew another word, not Slave, nor Italian, but this time
+German, "_Geschenk!_" I gave him the only bit of silver I possessed, an
+English sixpence, and left him seemingly contented.
+
+The clouds had all melted away, and the sun shone brilliantly when I left
+the little roadside tavern of San Canziano to return to Trieste; but,
+as I wanted to visit a stud-park which the Emperor of Austria keeps in
+this part of his dominions, we took another route on my return journey.
+The country we now drove through was prettier than what we had traversed
+in the morning, and the road passed through some fine oak woods, which
+constantly prompted one to look out for a mansion, the country appeared
+so park-like—but in vain.
+
+After a drive of an hour or so we came to the stud-farm, a collection
+of large buildings, consisting of several dwelling-houses, a spacious
+riding-house for exercising the horses in severe weather, three large
+stables intended to accommodate three hundred mares, and one lofty vaulted
+stable fitted with nice large loose boxes in which were kept the sires.
+The mares were all out at grass together with their foals, so that I did
+not see them, as I should have had to drive some miles in a different
+direction, and turn my back on Trieste in order to visit them. The sires
+I did see, but as they were not led out I could not form as accurate an
+opinion of them as I should have wished. They seemed, however, small,
+and not exactly the style of horse we would select in this country with
+a view to supplying our cavalry. The loose-boxes were commodious and the
+stable was well-ventilated; the weather being extremely hot the windows
+were closed with _tatties_, which served the double purpose of keeping
+away the flies, which always seek the light, and keeping the stable
+cool. The stable was fairly clean, but the grooming did not come up to
+our ideas. On the whole I was disappointed, and as for the produce, I
+should think that nothing but the very lightest of light cavalry horses
+could be expected from them.
+
+We returned to Trieste by nine o'clock, coming by the old post-road from
+Vienna, and passing by that wonderful quarry of limestone slabs, perhaps
+the largest in the world.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+     THE "SAN CARLO" AND HER PASSENGERS—A DALMATIAN'S REMARKS
+     ON THE PRESERVATION OF HEALTH IN INDIA—DALMATIAN DIGGERS
+     FROM AUSTRALIA—COAST OF ISTRIA—PIRANO—CATHEDRAL OF
+     PARENZO—ROVIGNO—POLA—THE AMPHITHEATRE—PICTURESQUE SIGHT—GIOVANNI
+     ASTONISHED—MONTENEGRIN COSTUME—ZARA—EXTREME HEAT.
+
+
+On the 2nd of July I was up betimes. I had taken my place for Zara on
+board the 'San Carlo,' a small coasting steamer which trades down the
+Dalmatian side of the Adriatic, going in and out among that archipelago
+of islands which fringe the coast of Dalmatia from the mouth of the
+Guarnero to the entrance of the Gulf of Cattaro. It was a small, slow,
+and dirty little steamer, but it stopped everywhere going on its way,
+and that was just what I wanted.
+
+Small as the vessel was, we had plenty of passengers, and a strange
+lot they were. We had two Capuchin monks going to Ragusa, one of them a
+most interesting man of whom I shall have more to say by and by; his lay
+brother, a simple, ignorant monk, and no more. We had a tall, handsome
+Dalmatian from Spalato, returning home to end his days in opulence and
+comfort after spending twenty years in India, where he had accumulated
+an independence which in Dalmatia will be considered a large fortune.
+He spoke English remarkably well. Being struck by his hale and robust
+looks, I asked him how he had managed to preserve his health so well
+after residing for twenty years in India. "Many of them," added he, "in
+unhealthy localities." "Simply by not drinking," he answered. "I don't
+mean to say that I was a water-drinker—not at all, for I believe that
+water-drinking is nearly as bad as spirit-drinking, and indeed I think
+I have observed that those who were 'teatotallers' died even sooner than
+drunkards. But I never drank anything before breakfast, I drank nothing
+but good, full-bodied claret, and I never took more than two bottles of
+it a day, and seldom so much; I smoked, but always in moderation, and I
+never had a day's illness during those twenty years. India is not a bad
+climate, it is the reckless habits of Europeans that make it apparently
+so."
+
+We had two other Dalmatians from Sebenico, who also were returning home
+after residing many years abroad. These two had been in Australia; one
+had been a digger, and seemed the reverse of well-off; the other had
+kept a store at some gold-diggings, and had apparently made plenty of
+money. Both spoke English well, and the last one brought with him from
+Australia an Irish wife, who had emigrated to the Antipodes all the
+way from Lurgan. She was a fine comely young woman of about twenty-six,
+and was overjoyed at finding I knew her native place. In the afternoon
+I made some tea in my portable kitchen, and gave her a cup of it with
+some preserved milk, which she declared the most delicious thing she
+had tasted for many a long day.
+
+The rest of our passengers consisted of country people returning to
+their homes along the coast of Istria and Dalmatia, after having been
+to Trieste to dispose of the produce of their lands.
+
+As the clocks struck five, we steamed out of Trieste on one of the finest
+mornings that could be imagined. The sea was as smooth as a mirror,
+and of the most intense blue. How often we stopped as we went down the
+coast of Istria I cannot tell, as we were constantly heaving to for
+the convenience of passengers going on shore in boats which put off to
+receive them; we did stop however at Capo d'Istria, and then at Pirano,
+where I was able to take a rough sketch of that most picturesque little
+town, with its beautiful mediæval castle perched on the cliff behind it.
+
+Then we came to Parenzo, where I should very much have liked to go ashore
+for a couple of hours to look at the cathedral, of which I had heard so
+much, but unfortunately the little business the steamer had to transact
+was done in a few minutes, and the Captain would not delay (probably
+because my bribe was insufficient), so I had to comfort myself with
+the hope of seeing it on some future occasion, when I trust to be able
+again to visit all those spots which interested me so much then, as also
+many other places in the same countries, which accidental circumstances
+prevented me from seeing.
+
+The Cathedral of Parenzo, which I was so anxious to see, and which had
+been described to me by a friend at Trieste as a _meraviglia_, was founded
+by Bishop Eupatius, and completed in the year 526; it is therefore as old
+as St. Sophia of Constantinople, and older than any other Cathedral in
+Europe. "It is said to have a semicircular apse behind the altar, with
+the Bishop's throne, and seats on either side for the clergy, instances
+of which are now so rarely to be met with."[2]...
+
+"At the east end is a round apse, as glorious in its mosaics as St.
+Mark's, or St. Sophia. Every part of the wall and rounded roof is covered
+with mosaics, &c. A group of nine saints and angels surrounding the
+Blessed Virgin and Child, on a golden background, is exquisitely done.
+Heads of saints adorn the arches, all are beautiful. Below these, to about
+ten feet high, the walls are inlaid with whole shells of mother-of-pearl
+let into a dark brown stone; it looks just like a piece of Damascus
+furniture, and though rude it is effective and beautiful.
+
+"The flooring of the whole church is of course mosaic, in Byzantine
+patterns, the same as in Murano and St. Mark's; but one can scarcely look
+at anything after the wall mosaics, save the capitals of the columns.
+The pillars themselves are of a fine brown marble; the capitals are
+identically the same as those in Santa Sophia, one more exquisitely
+under-cut than the other into lace-work of leaves, flowers, birds, &c.;
+they are perhaps a little bolder than those of St. Sophia, but full of
+life and spirit, not a line wasted nor a thought thrown away. I longed
+to sketch them, but I could only hope they may one day be photographed;
+Jerusalem and Constantinople alone can rival them.
+
+"The Baldacchino is exceedingly curious and fine, as are also the very
+ancient altar hangings. There is a splendid altar front, of solid silver
+gilt, of the Renaissance date. The interest appertaining to this is
+that it is placed at the _back_ of the altar for high mass, facing the
+Bishop, who is seated _behind the altar_, as at Torcello; this is an
+ancient and I believe unique privilege.
+
+"The Chapel of St. Andrew, at the north-east corner of the church, is
+very interesting and curious. There has been a porch or cloister at the
+west entrance, but only two or three columns remain of it. I venture to
+think this church is well worth a special journey from England to see.
+I could think of nothing else the rest of the day, although our onward
+voyage was full of beauty."[3]
+
+We then came to Rovigno with its beautiful campanile, and here again I
+could not get half an hour to go on shore to look at it, though I believe
+there is not much more to be seen beside it.
+
+At three P.M. we came in sight of the harbour of Pola—the Portsmouth
+of Austria;—but Pola itself we could not see, as it lies at the bottom
+of a bay communicating with the sea by a deep and winding channel,
+apparently well defended by numerous forts which surround it. The harbour
+itself is of very considerable dimensions, and so deep that the largest
+vessels can come alongside the quays.
+
+Although so important a place, there did not appear to be much life or
+bustle about it. The country around it is flat and marshy, and sometimes
+in the year very unhealthy. It must have been, however, an important place
+in the days of ancient Rome, judging from the size of its amphitheatre,
+and the beauty of the Temple and triumphal arches which still remain, and
+which constitute after all the great attractions of Pola. They are quite
+close to the landing, so they can be visited with the utmost facility
+during the stay which the steamer generally makes there. The amphitheatre
+alone is worth a special visit, as the exterior of it is perfect, and
+at a short distance does not even look like a ruin. It dates from the
+third century and is very fine. It consists of a basement story about
+four hundred and thirty feet in length, by three hundred and fifty feet
+in width, surmounted by two tiers of arches, with half columns of the
+Tuscan order between each, all about eighty feet high.
+
+Beautifully preserved as is the exterior, the condition of the interior
+is most disappointing, as nothing remains of the internal arrangement
+except on one side, the one furthest from the sea, where there are still
+a few seats cut in the rock, some even bearing what most probably were
+the initials of their owners carved into them.
+
+What can have caused this utter ruin of all the accommodation for the
+spectators? Have the natives from time to time removed the building
+materials from the inside, for the purpose of building the modern town?
+not daring to lay a sacrilegious hand on the shell of the building
+itself, which bore no semblance to a ruin, while at the same time they
+treated the interior as a quarry! or were the seats made of woodwork,
+and destroyed by fire, as some have imagined?
+
+The steamer always remains long enough to permit the traveller to visit
+the amphitheatre and the temples, as well as the triumphal arches, and to
+take a stroll through the Piazza. I did so, and still further improved
+the passing hour by eating an excellent dinner _al fresco_ under a
+_pergola_ of vines at the _Trattoria_ of the place.
+
+It was just dark as I got on board again, having been warned by the
+unmusical steam-whistle that the vessel would soon be under way again.
+Just before starting, a military band came to play before the Commandant's
+house, which is on the quays just opposite to where the steamer was
+moored. It being now dark, the band was accompanied by a score of soldiers
+carrying a peculiarly shaped lantern fastened to the top of a pole, to
+enable the men to see their music. At first as the band came marching
+down the quays with their lights dancing high up in the air before and
+behind, I could not make out what it was, and only for the liveliness
+of the music I might have thought it was a funeral, the whole thing was
+very picturesque and the music excellent. At last we got under way and
+steamed out of the harbour on our way to the coast of Dalmatia, across
+the Gulf of the Quarnero, so well known for its dangerous navigation and
+so much dreaded even by the hardy sailors of the Adriatic, when swept
+by the fierce impetuous Bora.
+
+Fortunately for me, who am not the most intrepid of mariners, and who
+prefer admiring a tempestuous sea from off a rocky vantage point upon
+the shore, to tossing on its stormy waves, the dreaded Quarnero was as
+smooth as a millpond. The night was magnificent; the heavens cloudless,
+and studded with countless stars, but scarcely as bright as I have seen
+them at other times, owing to the intense brilliancy of the moon now
+nearly at the full. The track of the steamer was clearly marked out far
+in the rear by a broad phosphorescent wake, while the water which was
+dashed off from the paddles seemed like liquid fire.
+
+The cabins were all occupied, so I had to make my bed on deck; but even
+if I could have got one, I never could have slept below, it was so hot
+and stuffy. I was soon settled for the night; a doubled-up rug laid
+lengthwise on the deck was my bed, and my dressing-bag was my pillow.
+It was so warm that I required no covering save my light tweed suit,
+and I was no sooner down than I was fast asleep. I don't know how long
+I slept; but I would have slept still longer, if I had not been awoke
+by the steamer stopping to put down and take up passengers and goods at
+some place on the coast of Dalmatia.
+
+We had safely crossed the mouth of the Quarnero, the moon had set, and
+the blue black vault of heaven was studded with countless stars sparkling
+like diamonds. The steamer was hove to a little distance from the shore,
+while scores of boats, each with a coloured lantern at the prow, came
+and went, making as pretty a scene as can be imagined; but for all that,
+after sitting up and admiring it for a few minutes, I lay down again on
+my rug, and falling asleep never awoke again till the sun was high in
+the heavens the next morning.
+
+By degrees the passengers one by one came on deck, when by making
+interest with Giovanni, the steward, I obtained the use of a _camerino_
+(cabin) to make my toilet in. Having completed my ablutions I called in
+Giovanni to empty my tub, for as the _camerino_ was extremely small it
+was next to impossible to stand in it, unless with one's feet in the
+water. Never was steward so astonished and so puzzled as Giovanni was
+at the sight of my flimsy mackintosh tub; he had no idea of how to take
+it up to empty it, he was afraid to touch it until I had taken it up
+on three sides and showed him how to lift it, when he was so delighted
+with the whole arrangement that he placed it on the table of the cabin
+just as it was, and fetched down the passengers to see the ingenious
+English device. By the time it had been well examined and then emptied,
+I was up and dressed. When I came out of the _camerino_, I showed the
+assembled company how it could be rolled up into the smallest compass,
+and stowed away in a travelling bag.
+
+There was no regular breakfast on board, but everyone as he wanted it
+got a cup of coffee and a bit of bread or a biscuit; preserved milk also
+could be had, but of butter there was none.
+
+Our passengers had somewhat varied since leaving Trieste. We had deposited
+many on the coast of Istria as we went along, and taken up others in
+their place. We had a remarkable Oriental-looking woman, plain perhaps,
+and yet handsome, a Montenegrin of rank, a cousin of the present Prince,
+dressed in full native costume. She was on her way to her native country
+to petition the Prince to permit certain of his cousins, who had been
+expatriated for political causes, to return to their homes.
+
+The costume of the Montenegrin women is not becoming; even this handsome
+woman, and the beautiful Princess whom I subsequently had the honour of
+seeing at Montenegro, failed to render it attractive to my eyes, whereas
+the costume of the men is eminently becoming. This lady's dress consisted
+of a sort of white chemise of fine lawn, tight, but gathered very full
+round the neck, without any frill, and open down the front for six or
+eight inches, where it was closed by a row of very small buttons. This
+white garment, which reached down to the ankles, was fastened round her
+waist by a massive silver belt, made in compartments three inches by four
+and joined together by hinges. Each compartment was highly ornamented
+with rich _repoussé_ work in _alto rilievo_, and from a side-piece hung
+down several ornaments of the châtelaine species, while from the other
+side depended an exquisite little dagger in a sheath of silver _repoussé_.
+
+The sleeves of this white garment were tight at the shoulders, but grew
+wider and wider as they approached the wrist, where they were upwards of
+two feet six inches in diameter. They were bordered with a rich margin of
+embroidery in gold and silver thread, mingled with red and blue silk, in
+excellent taste, and the same embroidery was continued up the external
+seam of the sleeve on the outside of the elbow up to the shoulder. From
+below the silver belt she wore a large apron of rich black silk coming
+down to her ankles, and over all a peculiar white cloth coat without
+sleeves, the typical garment of the Montenegrins, both male and female.
+This coat was made of a very soft white cloth, so close and yet soft
+and pliable, that although sitting next to her and touching it with
+my finger, I could not at once determine if it was cloth or some sort
+of beautifully tanned leather. As I said before, this coat was without
+sleeves or collar, but scooped tight to the back of the neck. In front
+it did not come further forward than about half way between the point of
+the shoulders and the middle of the neck, and then straight down like
+a sack till just below the calf of the leg. This coat was bound right
+round the whole way with a narrow pattern of embroidery in the same style
+as round the sleeves of the muslin dress, and in addition had a row of
+very small round silver buttons down the front on one side. On her head
+she wore a very large black Indian silk kerchief fastened into her hair
+with pins, and hanging down behind her back as low as her waist.
+
+The costume is decidedly ugly, though containing the elements of great
+beauty, if only put together with taste and harmony. Nothing, for
+instance, can be more attractive and becoming than that black kerchief,
+be it of silk, gauze or lace, when gracefully put on the head, as the
+women of Spain or Genoa know so well how to wear it; but the Montenegrin
+arrangement is as clumsy and inelegant in the women as it is manly and
+picturesque in the men.
+
+We had on board also several Austrian officers going to join their
+quarters, some to Zara and some to Cattaro, Budua, and Kosmatch. Very
+nice, pleasant, gentlemanlike fellows they were, some of them speaking
+French, but all able to converse freely in Italian, and all well-informed,
+agreeable companions. Acquaintances are made much more easily abroad
+than in England, so we were soon quite at home together, and what with
+chatting, smoking and walking up and down the deck, we quickly passed
+over the time, till at ten o'clock A.M., we came in front of Zara,
+celebrated in ancient times for its long siege, when "in 1346 Marino
+Faliero earned his laurels by the most daring assault," and in modern
+times for its excellent Maraschino!
+
+Zara is an important place even at the present time. It is the capital
+of Dalmatia, and the seat of the Archbishop of the province. It is
+well-built, clean, and tolerably well-paved, and well-worth a visit. The
+time, however, allowed by the stay of the steamer is amply sufficient to
+enable one to see it; but the heat was so great that I felt more inclined
+to stay on board smoking cigarettes under the awning of the steamer than
+to go on shore. The prospect of some _café à la glace_, however, which I
+knew was to be obtained in the Piazza, added to the more important fact
+that I was to receive here a letter for the Archimandrite of Montenegro,
+induced me to shake off my apathy.
+
+Having landed on the quay, I passed through the gate over which is
+sculptured the grim effigy of the Lion of St. Mark, everywhere seen
+down the Eastern shores of the Adriatic wheresoever the Venetians had
+established their authority, I proceeded to execute my plans; but the
+heat was so intense that I was glad to come back to the steamer where I
+imagined it was something less stifling. But this day was unusually hot
+and close, and with the exception of one at Cattaro, when the thermometer
+registered at four o'clock P.M., 105° Fahrenheit, was the hottest
+I experienced in all my journey.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+     DEPARTURE FROM ZARA—SEBENICO—PLEASANT COMPANIONS—NOBLE
+     HARBOUR—THE CATHEDRAL—CURIOUS ROOF—CORAL
+     FISHERY—SPALATO—SALONA—DIOCLETIAN'S PALACE—MR. PATON'S
+     DESCRIPTION OF IT—BEAUTIFUL SPECTACLE—THE PORTA FERREA—QUAINT
+     DWELLINGS—AMBROSIAL TOBACCO.
+
+
+AT about one o'clock P.M. we steamed away from Zara while we were
+at dinner, and at five P.M. reached Sebenico. Should I ever travel
+again in that part of the world, I think I should try to go from Zara
+to Sebenico by land in order to see the ruins of Asseria, which I learnt
+afterwards were well worth a visit; but the journey should in that case
+be undertaken earlier in the year, to avoid the oppressive heats.
+
+The afternoon between leaving Zara and arriving at Sebenico passed
+quickly away, for I had the advantage of two most agreeable companions;
+one the capuchin monk, the other a charming young fellow, an officer in
+an Austrian Jäger regiment, Baron Heyd von Heydeg.
+
+The Capuchin was a most interesting man, and we chatted many an hour
+together by moonlight on the deck, when every one else had gone to sleep,
+when I used to chaff him about the rules of his order, which forbid
+the smoking of tobacco, while they permit the use of snuff without any
+restriction. He used to take it most good-humouredly, and laughed as
+if his sides would split when I would refuse to take a pinch of his
+snuff unless he smoked one of my cigarettes. I verily think I should
+have brought him round at last, had he not been constantly under the
+surveillance, and in mortal "_soggezione_" of his lay brother.
+
+Heyd was a different fellow altogether, but most agreeable. He was going
+to join his regiment, then quartered at Budua. We travelled together as
+far as Cattaro, and I met him subsequently both at Cettigne and Budua,
+where I went expressly to pay him a visit.
+
+The time sped swiftly and most agreeably in spite of the heat, and at
+five o'clock P.M. we steamed through the narrow tortuous opening,
+bordered by steep rocky sides, which leads into the bay, at the further
+end of which stands Sebenico. It is a noble harbour, and so deep that
+a frigate can lie alongside the quay. At the narrowest part of its
+entrance, the approach is defended by what a few years ago would have
+been considered a masterpiece of fortification, but which at present
+would offer too fair a target to our projectiles to afford any great
+protection against an enemy. It is still worth a visit, as its casemates
+are perhaps among the finest in the world. It was engineered and built
+in 1546, by the celebrated architect San Micheli. The entrance to the
+fortress is surmounted by the usual Venetian Lion with the following
+inscription:—
+
+     "Pax tibi Marce Evangelista meus."[4]
+
+Having landed with Baron Heyd, who had been quartered there some time
+before, for cicerone, I proceeded to inspect the Duomo, or cathedral, the
+principal object of interest there. Some people are lost in admiration
+of this cathedral, I really could not see much about it to admire, and
+the two statues on its façade representing Adam and Eve (they might
+as well be Gog and Magog) are simply detestable. But the roof of the
+cathedral is a curiosity in itself, and worth the journey. It is of its
+kind unique, and though it is said to be perfectly safe, and I suppose
+must be so, having continued so for so many years, still I could not
+help feeling a sense of insecurity as long as I was in the church, and
+enjoyed great relief when I finally came out of it.
+
+This roof is simply a semi-cylinder made of enormous slabs of stone
+joined edge to edge, but so beautifully adapted and fitted one into the
+other that, without any other support save what they afford each other,
+they form the vault of this cathedral. I trust they may never crack;
+but I, for one, could never say my prayers with comfort under such a roof.
+
+Having taken a ramble through the streets, which were clean and contained
+many fine mansions, we went up to the fort on the hill behind the town,
+and which commands the whole place, where we passed a pleasant hour with
+the officers of the garrison.
+
+My time being limited, I was unable to make an expedition from Sebenico,
+which under different circumstances I should certainly have undertaken,
+that is to the falls of the Kerka and the monastery above them. My
+friend, the Capuchin, who had travelled a good deal both in Europe and
+America, and had a good eye for the picturesque, told me they were well
+worth seeing; but like many other interesting spots down that coast, I
+must only hope to visit them at some future time.
+
+At dusk we returned to the steamer, though we knew it would not leave
+till the following morning early, and we could have spent a most pleasant
+night on shore; but Sebenico shuts its gates at sunset, and then till
+the following sunrise no one can come in or go out, and had we attempted
+it we should only have lost our passage.
+
+Having partaken of an excellent supper, I returned to the deck, where,
+as was my wont, I sat down beside my friend the Capuchin, who always took
+a cup of coffee with me though he would not consent to smoke. We chatted
+till very late, when he went down to his _camerino_, and I settled myself
+on deck as usual for my night's sleep. It turned out awfully hot, as
+the steamer remained till break of day in the harbour of Sebenico, but
+what must it have been in the cabin?
+
+At the very earliest dawn we left our moorings, and steamed out of the
+harbour by its well guarded entrance. Just outside we passed a group of
+small islands, among which is established a considerable coral fishery.
+The coral is not however of the finest quality, mostly of the common
+deep red kind, and is principally sold on the spot or at the fair of
+Sinigaglia in the Romagna on the opposite or Italian side of the Adriatic.
+
+The dawn was just merging into daylight, when we steamed out of that
+land-locked harbour. It had been stiflingly hot as long as we had lain
+still alongside the quay, but the moment we came out into the open sea,
+the
+
+     "... Aura messaggiera ...
+     Ad annunziar che se ne vien l'Aurora,"
+
+came with a most refreshing breeze, so light, however, as not even to
+raise a "cat's paw" on the glassy waters, but still deliciously cool
+and invigorating.
+
+The steward was not long manufacturing me a good cup of coffee, after
+which, having made myself comfortable in a capital arm-chair, I again
+went to sleep, not to awake until Giovanni summoned me again, "per far
+colazione."
+
+In the course of the morning we reached Spalato, a beautiful and most
+interesting place, where an artist could with advantage spend many days.
+It was celebrated in ancient times for the gorgeous palace which the
+Emperor Diocletian built for himself after abdicating the Empire in 303
+A.D., and the magnificent remains of which still form the glory of
+the present city. After a reign of twenty years, "Diocletian executed
+his memorable resolution of abdicating the Empire," and acquired the
+glory of giving to the world the most remarkable, if not the first,
+example of a resignation which has not been very frequently imitated by
+succeeding monarchs. Withdrawing to Salona, he passed the last nine years
+of his life in seclusion—the building of a palace in the neighbourhood,
+and the superintendence of his garden, occupying his leisure hours.
+The satisfaction he derived from these pursuits is sufficiently proved
+by his well-known answer to Maximian, when urging him to re-assume the
+purple, "If I could show you the cabbages I have planted with my own
+hands at Salona, you would no longer urge me to relinquish the enjoyment
+of happiness for the pursuit of power."
+
+This immense palace, which covered very nearly nine English acres of
+ground, was almost a perfect square terminating at the four corners by a
+quadrangular tower. Its faces were directed as nearly as possible to the
+four cardinal points—the southern side being pointed to the shore and
+facing the sea. It still exists in good preservation and forms a grand
+object of attraction to the visitor entering the harbour. Two streets
+intersected each other at right angles nearly in the centre of it, which
+has lately been completely excavated and is now fully exposed to view.
+
+The following description by the late Mr. Paton (author of "Highlands and
+Islands of the Adriatic," one of the most charming books ever printed)
+will convey to the reader a far clearer impression than anything I could
+pen; I therefore make no apology for inserting it here, and whoever
+should wish to go still deeper into the matter and learn all that is
+to be learned concerning this palace, I refer him to Mr. Adams' book
+"Spalato Restored," which is a perfectly exhaustive treatise on the
+subject.
+
+"At the outset we are struck with the enormous extent of the palace,
+which is not less than nine acres and a half; so that even Constantine
+Porphyrogenitus speaks of it with admiration, as one of the greatest
+edifices then extant. In the time of Diocletian, his great retinue and a
+pretorian cohort could be lodged with convenience in it. Sixteen towers
+gave strength and elegance to the edifice, of which the largest were those
+at the four corners. The back of the edifice looked to the north-east on
+the land-side, and there was the principal entrance, the Porta Aurea,
+or golden gate, which led to the Peristylium, a great court of granite
+columns; and the cross street which intersected the principal passage
+at right angles was terminated at each end by gates, the one the Porta
+Ferrea, or iron gate, the other the Porta Ænea, or gate of brass, which
+are so called to this day.
+
+"This peristylium, or court of granite columns, was flanked by two
+temples; the greater of Jupiter, and the smaller of Esculapius; the
+former, a lofty octagon, was ascended by a stair of fifteen steps; an
+uneven number being generally found in the temples of the ancients, that,
+beginning to move with the right foot, they might, of course, place it
+first upon the uppermost step in order to enter the temple—a form which
+was accounted respectful in approaching the Deity. From the peristylium,
+or court of granite columns, the Roman entered the principal inhabited
+part of the palace; first was the porticus of Corinthian order, then the
+circular dome-covered vestibulum, with the Lares and Penates; then the
+atrium, or quadrangular hall, ninety-eight by forty-five with its arms
+and trophies dedicated to ancestry; and last of all the crypto-porticus,
+or grand gallery, looking to the south-west, thus facing the sea, and
+forming a noble promenade of five hundred and fifteen feet in length,
+in which, during the heat of Summer or inclemency of Winter, the Emperor
+could take exercise. This crypto-porticus was the principal feature of the
+palace, and the well-known taste of Diocletian leads us to suppose that
+the choicest statuary and paintings of the Old World must have adorned
+its walls. The relics of Pompeii give some idea of the classic fancy in
+ornament, the harmonizing contrasts in colour, and the consummate skill
+in tessellation employed in the domestic architecture of the ancients;
+and if we relieve these splendours with the latest fascination in the
+unpretending forms of Greek statuary, how puny is the utmost magnificence
+of Versailles compared with the dwelling of the retired Roman!
+
+"Such was the Palace of Diocletian; what now remains of the edifice?
+The shell or outer wall, of which the best preserved part is the grand
+gallery facing the sea; for Spalato like its contemporary Baalbec being
+used as a fortification, the rough stone and mortar of the middle-age
+battlements surmount in many places the massive normal masonry of the
+Roman Empire.... Within the town, fragments of Roman architecture are
+scattered thickly enough, but so obscured and mingled with modern houses
+as to present a mass of confusion."
+
+Did we stop short here, the reader might well imagine that beyond the
+shell, the walls which surrounded the palace, nothing has been preserved;
+such however is not the case, and I shall now endeavour to describe
+what I saw in Spalato the morning that I steamed into its harbour, when
+from the deck of my vessel I gazed on that sea studded all over with
+numberless boats spreading the most fantastic sails to the gentlest of
+breezes!
+
+The prevailing form, if not the only one, was the lateen in all its
+varieties, most of the boats carrying but one. But such colours and
+such devices painted on them! things that would look simply outrageous
+at Cowes or Ryde, how lovely they seemed there! Some were striped from
+above downwards with every colour of the rainbow, but only two colours
+to each sail and these always harmoniously contrasted; others of one
+uniform colour, with some fantastic ornament in sharp contrast in the
+middle; while some, all of one colour had at the topmost angle of the
+lateen a representation of the sun generally in burnished gold with its
+rays coming down a long way over the sail. The glittering golden sea,
+those fairy-looking boats gliding over it, the picturesque costumes
+of the sailors, the whole scene bathed in that golden light was a fit
+preparation for my introduction to the rare beauties of Spalato itself.
+
+As we slowly approached the quay, there was ample time to admire the
+long façade of Diocletian's Palace, with the tall and elegant campanile
+which rises inside it on the right, and the strong hexagonal machicolated
+tower on the left. The lofty steeple on the right, a very Giralda of
+elegance and airiness—the dungeon on the left a sturdy emblem of the
+iron-fisted middle ages.
+
+After some customary formalities, during which I feasted my eyes on the
+picturesque groups that crowded on the quay, permission was finally
+given to go ashore; when crossing as quickly as could be the narrow
+intervening space, I plunged through the Porta Ferrea into the vaulted
+passage which on this side gives entrance to the city of Spalato; and
+now commence the real difficulties of description, but having undertaken
+it I must only try, trusting to the kind forbearance of my readers.
+
+This vaulted entrance is narrow, perhaps not twelve feet wide, but very
+lofty and formed of immense blocks of stone put together with wonderful
+accuracy. After following it a little way, it opens out into a spacious
+round hall rising up to a considerable height, this portion being
+unroofed; from it open out several streets, all running about here and
+there, crossing and recrossing each other as if in search of light and
+air. The dwellings in these streets are full of quaint artistic beauty;
+at one point one meets a massive wall of square-cut blocks dating from
+the days of Diocletian, against which, perhaps, is built up a modern
+house with wrought-iron balconies of the most delicate workmanship;
+further on, an outside staircase of rude stone steps, partly covered
+with a roof of russet tiles, leads to a door some thirty feet above our
+heads, from which a flying buttress crosses over to an opening in an
+ancient wall beyond, where a modern habitation has been constructed in
+some mediæval donjon.
+
+Each turn brings a new surprise, and so one passes on till one comes
+to the piazza, and this day being a festival, it swarmed with natives
+from all the surrounding _campagne_. The reader must now come with me
+to the _café_, where under a thick awning and surrounded by a screen
+of oleanders and orange-trees in full bloom, we shall take a _granita
+di caffé_ (a water-ice flavoured with coffee), and study the moving
+panorama before us, whilst we slowly puff away a cigarette made with the
+ambrosial tobacco of Trebigna—a kind still unknown in London and in Paris!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+     A TYPE OF SHYLOCK—SCENE IN THE STREET—VARIED
+     COSTUMES—MORLACCHI—TURKS FROM THE HERZEGOVINA—WOMEN OF
+     SPALATO—INSPECTION OF THE CITY—THE PORTA AUREA—COURT OF THE
+     VESTIBULE OF THE PALACE—INTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL—ILLUSTRIOUS
+     MEN OF SPALATO—MARK ANTONY DE DOMINIS—ST. JEROME—THE MORLACCHI.
+
+
+Sitting down cross-legged on the very oldest and dirtiest of rugs, and
+just outside our fragrant hedge of oleander, is to be seen an old Jew,
+the finest type of a Shylock that could be imagined; with ample, heavy,
+flowing beard, aquiline nose with sharp cut nostril, and deep-set piercing
+eyes shadowed by an ample turban. He has before him, on his rug, a
+collection of arms, pistols of the old approved Turkish form and yataghans
+of every price, from the common horn-handled weapon in a wooden sheath
+to the jewel-hilted Kharjar in a sheath of _repoussé_ silver. Around is
+a motley group of countrymen, all talking at the top of their voices in
+their several languages, whilst examining and praising or depreciating
+the weapons there for sale, just as they are either simple _flâneurs_
+in the square, or really intending purchasers. The varieties of costume
+rendered this picturesque group most interesting, there were Morlacchi
+from the neighbouring mountains with full blue Turkish trowsers fast to
+the knee; gold embroidered crimson jackets without sleeves, and gaiters
+to match; the whole finished off by an immense Albanian scarf of many
+colours wound round the waist, holding a perfect armoury of weapons in
+the front. On the head most of them wore a small red fez, others wore
+a turban, but it was not put on like the Jews, they did not seem _au
+fait_ in settling it; but whatever head-gear they adopted they all were
+decorated with a tail—a genuine plaited tail coming down their backs with
+such luxuriance that it might have been the envy of any Celestial. I could
+not bring myself to like it—though report says that the Morlacchi are
+wonderfully attached to their tails, and cherish and pet them somewhat
+in the manner of our old tars in the days of Collingwood and Nelson.
+
+There were Turks from the Herzegovina, ill-looking, badly-clad, scowling
+Mussulmans, who would willingly have earned ten paras by sending a
+Christian to his latter home, but still gorgeous in their tatters and
+vermin. There were Christian Albanians with their white fustanellas,
+high aquiline nose, glittering eyes, and false smile, in dress somewhat
+similar to the Morlacchi, but wearing a smaller fez with a long blue
+tassel. Conspicuous above them all was a Risanese from the Gulf of
+Cattaro, in full Montenegrin costume; but with a green instead of the
+white characteristic coat, all overladen about the breast and shoulders
+with plates of solid gold of considerable thickness, especially over the
+shoulders, where they would, if required, afford some protection from
+the blow of a sabre.
+
+Mingled with the men were several women—some very good-looking—with
+golden-brown hair and dark eyes and eyelashes; their hair in plaits, not
+hanging but coiled round their heads, which were further adorned with
+Turkish piastres and other coins. The dress is a mixture of red, white,
+and blue artistically combined, with coral and coins twisted round their
+necks.
+
+The noise of this Babel of tongues was deafening, and the scene not to be
+described. One wretched, tattered old man, but armed to the teeth like
+the rest, long tried to persuade me to buy a hank of onions, and would
+not be gainsaid when told by one of the waiters of the _café_ that I
+was a traveller and did not require onions; what better or more portable
+provisions could I carry with me in my travels than onions? said he.
+
+Having finished my _granita_, I again started to explore the city; this
+time under the guidance of a most obliging gentleman, well versed in the
+antiquities of the place, and to whom I had brought an introduction.
+We first went outside the city to inspect the grand Porta Aurea. This
+had only lately been thoroughly excavated, and even in its present
+dilapidated condition, not so much the effect of time as of the plundering
+propensities of man, is still most beautiful and grand. What must it
+have been before the eight columns which decorated its front were taken
+away to adorn some modern church?
+
+From the Porta Aurea, we again got into the city, proceeding straight to
+the court of the vestibule of the Palace, where all that is best worth
+seeing in Spalato is collected together. Here in front of us was the
+façade of the peristyle, consisting of four large and beautiful granite
+columns, supporting a triangular pediment, and which occupied the whole
+breadth of the court. On each side were a row of six Corinthian columns,
+equally large, and also of rose-coloured Egyptian granite, supporting
+not an architrave as is generally the case, but a series of arches
+which sprang from their capitals. On the right was the smaller temple,
+dedicated to Esculapius, now converted into a baptistry, and dedicated
+to St. John. On the left, the Temple of Jupiter—now the Cathedral of
+Spalato, by the side of which rises that most elegant campanile, the
+Giralda of Spalato, only one hundred and ninety-nine feet high, since
+the two upper stories were thrown down by lightning.
+
+The interior of the Cathedral does not offer much to admire—nevertheless
+its general effect is sufficiently imposing. But it is outside in the
+court, the present piazza, that all the beauty of the place reveals
+itself. It is not a ruin—of the sixteen original granite columns not one
+has been displaced, and this portion of the Palace of Spalato is as in
+the days when Diocletian came into his Temple to pray. Can the reader
+believe that all this is really within five days of London?
+
+Dalmatia has been the birthplace of many men of letters and science,
+and Spalato can boast of having even given a Protestant Dean to our
+royal Windsor, in the person of the celebrated Mark Anthony de Dominis,
+once Catholic Archbishop of Spalato, whose life and death would furnish
+materials for a sensational novel. As his history is not commonly known,
+it may, perhaps, interest some of my readers to hear it now.
+
+He was born about the year 1570, and educated at the Illyrian College
+of the Jesuits, in Loretto, from whence he passed to Padua, where he
+became Professor of Mathematics. In the year 1600, he was created Bishop
+of Segna, and in 1602 he was raised to the Archbishopric of Spalato,
+where, during the terrible plague of 1607, he nobly distinguished himself
+by his liberality to the poor, and his fearless and humane attendance
+on the sick in the administration of his sacerdotal duties—emulating
+the courage and devotion, under similar circumstances, of Borromeo of
+Milan. He occupied the Archiepiscopal throne of Spalato for fourteen
+years, during which period his time was divided between the performance
+of his ecclesiastical duties, and the investigations of science. He
+converted the upper part of the Palace, at Spalato, into a Laboratory
+and an Observatory, and the window is still shown where he is supposed
+to have made the discovery of the prismatic colour of light, "by the
+falling drops of water;" which discovery, including a description of the
+nature of the rainbow, he published to the world in a work printed at
+Venice in 1611. His fickleness in matters of religion, however, proved
+his ruin; his Chapter accused him of heretical opinions, upon which he
+withdrew to Venice at the close of 1615, having previously vacated his
+See in favour of his nephew Sforza Ponsoni. During his residence in that
+city, he wrote a work in favour of the Republic, which was condemned
+by the Inquisition, when he determined on withdrawing, for safety, to
+a Protestant country.
+
+He went first to Heidelberg, and thence came to England in the suite
+and at the invitation of Sir Henry Wotton, Ambassador of James I. to
+the Venetian Republic. In England, he published and dedicated to James
+I. a history of the Council of Trent, which had been lent him, it is
+said, by its author, Fra Paolo Sarpi. He also edified the Protestant
+public by an open recantation of his religion in St. Paul's Cathedral,
+and then published a work against the Papacy, entitled, "Scoglio del
+Naufragio Christiano." He was particularly well received in England;
+and was patronized by the King, who made him Dean of Windsor. He seems,
+however, to have expected more, and to have been disappointed at not
+getting a bishopric; and on Gregory XV., who was a friend and relative of
+his, succeeding him to the Papal throne, he changed his religion again,
+and yielding to the solicitations of the Pope, conveyed to him through
+the Spanish Ambassador, who promised him a Cardinal's Hat, he returned
+to Rome in 1622.
+
+Gregory XV. received him kindly, and as long as he lived De Dominis
+remained unmolested, but at his death Pope Urban VIII., who succeeded
+him, saw no reason to extend his protection over the ex-Protestant Dean
+of Windsor; he was accused of heresy, handed over to the tender mercies
+of the Holy Inquisition, and thrown into a dungeon of the Castle of St.
+Angelo, where he died in 1625—it is supposed by poison, and his body was
+subsequently burned, together with his writings, in the Campo dei Fiori.
+
+De Dominis was a very distinguished philosopher, and we must not be too
+severe when judging him by the light of the present day. There can be no
+doubt that the change from Popery to the Reformed religion was principally
+due, not to a feeling of animosity against the Church of Rome, as many
+have maintained, but chiefly to those doubts concerning the truth of the
+things taught by that church, and to its conduct in persisting to refuse
+the results of the investigations of science, as evinced by its treatment
+of Galileo and others. His return to the church is more difficult to
+account for on generous grounds; but he, himself, is stated to have said
+that by becoming a Cardinal he might be of greater use in effecting a
+reformation in that community to which he had originally belonged. The
+Holy Inquisition had hoped to have enjoyed the satisfaction of publicly
+roasting, "ad majorem Dei gloriam," a professor of Natural Science, a
+renegade Catholic Archbishop and a Protestant Dean all in one; but some
+charitable friend robbed that holy confraternity of its anticipated
+triumph by passing in some poison to the unfortunate De Dominis, who
+learnt too late that Rome never changes, "che il Lupo perde il pelo, il
+vizio no" and that according to Papal ethics to keep faith with heretics
+is at best a grievous sin.
+
+Spalato, in common with the rest of Dalmatia, has given birth to many
+able men, among which they claim even St. Jerome, the most learned of
+the ancient fathers and the talented author of the noblest translation
+of the Bible; but I fear on insufficient grounds, as all the authorities
+I have looked into seem to make him a Pannonian and not an Illyrian;
+Carrara, however, claims him as a compatriot in his "Uomini Illustri di
+Spalato."
+
+Within a few miles of Spalato are the ruins of Salona, I had not time to
+visit them. There is not comparatively very much of interest to be seen
+above ground, but I believe that methodically conducted diggings have
+yielded some valuable results. It was the Roman capital of Dalmatia and
+was destroyed by the Avars in 640, when the inhabitants who escaped from
+the slaughter took refuge in Spalato and there founded the new city,
+by grouping themselves around and under the protection of the Palace of
+Diocletian.
+
+The majority of the inhabitants of Spalato are Roman Catholics, with an
+admixture of Greeks and a good number of Jews, who wear the turban and
+the Oriental costume, and are principally descended from those who were
+expelled from Spain in 1493. For many centuries they were subjected to
+the same indignities as in other Christian countries, and compelled to
+inhabit the Ghetto where they used to be locked up at night; but such
+practices have long been abolished in Dalmatia, and the Jews of Spalato
+have enjoyed for many years the same privileges as the other citizens
+of that place.
+
+My stay at Spalato was much too short for enjoyment; I saw indeed most
+that was to be seen there, but it was not much more than a glance, and
+I longed to be sketching amongst those picturesque nooks.
+
+Having several times mentioned the Morlacchi, it will, I think, be
+interesting to my readers to know something about them. Again I have to
+regret that I was unable to visit them in their villages, and that the
+only information I can give of them is, that they are inhabitants of the
+wild mountainous district lying to the East of Dalmatia. They are a fine
+race of men, though much smaller and inferior to the Montenegrin; their
+women, on the contrary, are often very beautiful, and they have many
+strange customs in their dealings with foreigners which would make an
+excursion into the fastnesses of their mountains of more than ordinary
+interest.
+
+With the Lowland Dalmatians and the inhabitants of the towns on the
+coast, the name of Morlacchi is always associated with plunder and
+cattle-lifting, just as in Scotland a hundred years ago every Highlander,
+in the eyes of a Lowlander, was a cateran and a robber; but I heard
+from people that had been among them, that they are very hospitable, and
+that their country can be freely traversed in any direction without the
+smallest danger. They are Catholics and apparently of the same stock as
+the Montenegrins, though these latter are schismatic Greeks.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+     ISLAND OF LISSA—NAVAL BATTLES—A BRIDAL PARTY TAKEN ON
+     BOARD—LESINA—FORTRESS OF SAN NICOLO—THE LOGGIE—FORT
+     SPAGNUOLO—ISLAND OF CURZOLA—LA CHROMA—BEAUTIFUL SCENE—RICHARD
+     CŒUR DE LION—CATHEDRAL OF RAGUSA—EARTHQUAKE OF 1667—TERRIBLE
+     CONFLAGRATION—PRINCE MAXIMILIAN.
+
+
+Early in the afternoon we left Spalato, and steaming away from the coast
+we stood out to sea, making for Lissa, a large island of the Adriatic,
+celebrated in the days of the first Napoleon for the stout sea fight in
+which, on the 13th of March 1811, Captain Hoste, (afterwards Sir William
+Hoste), with four ships mounting 156 guns, utterly defeated the French
+fleet of twenty-seven sail, mounting 284, having on board 500 troops.
+In 1808 we occupied Lissa, and having established free trade and other
+institutions, the island improved so much under our administration that
+in less than three years from the time we occupied it the population
+had risen to 12,000 inhabitants (at present it has scarcely 5000).
+
+The French were naturally sorely tried by the advantageous position we
+occupied in front of their coast, and the very good use we made of our
+opportunities of pushing our commerce in every direction. They determined
+therefore on expelling us from Lissa and the Adriatic, as from the
+smallness of our armament there they had no doubt as to their success.
+Swiftly and silently they fitted out an expedition at Ancona, which
+under the command of the brave Captain Dubourdieu arrived at Lissa on
+the 13th March, 1811. It consisted of four 44 gun frigates, ten 32 gun
+corvettes, one 16 gun brig, a schooner, ten gun-boats, and a xebeque,
+in all 284 guns.
+
+The British Squadron consisted of only four ships, the 'Amphion,'
+'Active,' 'Cerberus,' and 'Volage,' mounting but 156 guns all told, but
+it was commanded and manned by British seamen! the result could not be
+doubted, and although Dubourdieu fought like a gallant sailor as he was,
+the victory remained with us. Our losses were severe, and in a quiet
+retired little nook, on the left hand as one enters the land-locked
+harbour of Lissa, are buried those who fell in that engagement; while
+on the right hand side is another burial place, where under a handsome
+sepulchral monument lie the remains of those Austrians who fell in the
+latest naval engagement at Lissa when a few years ago the Italian Navy,
+the pet toy, an expensive one by the by, of King Victor Emmanuel, was
+all but annihilated by the Austrians under Admiral Tegethoff.
+
+At Lissa we remained a very short time, so short that I had not even time
+to go ashore, though I should have very much liked to visit the burial
+place of those brave English sailors who fell in the naval action of
+1811. The business of the steamer, which seemed principally to consist
+in shipping a bridal party, was soon concluded, and after a very short
+stay we were again under full steam for Lesina, another island of the
+same archipelago, but much smaller and closer in to the Dalmatian coast.
+
+The bridal party we had taken on board consisted of the bride and
+bridegroom, both very plain and very much, even tawdrily over-dressed in
+Parisian costume, and with remarkably dirty hands and otherwise unwashed
+appearance. A bishop with a couple of priests in attendance on his
+reverence, and half-a-dozen relations and friends of the newly-married
+couple, who seemed principally to study not to take any notice of each
+other but went about making themselves generally agreeable.
+
+The groom most kindly insisted on my smoking his cigars (and villainously
+bad they were, but had I declined them he would have been awfully
+offended) and drinking his maraschino, which fortunately was as good
+as his cigars were bad, whilst the bride, luckily for me, persistently
+avoided me, probably from fear of heretical contamination, and exclusively
+devoted her attentions to the Bishop and his priests.
+
+After a few hours steaming through the smoothest and bluest of seas, in
+full view of the grand mountains of Dalmatia, in due time we arrived
+at Lesina a little before sunset. This island is said to derive its
+name from being somewhat shaped like an awl, in Italian _lesina_. It
+is just a thin strip of land forty-two miles long, blunt at one end
+(which represents the handle) and sharp at the other. I doubt, however,
+the correctness of its etymology, and am inclined to think that its
+present name is more probably derived from its ancient one of "Pharos
+Insula," often reduced by elision into simply "Insula;" now the anagram
+of "Insula" is "Lusina," a word much more in harmony with the genius
+of the Italian language, and from Lusina to Lesina is but a shade. I
+think I am fortified in this etymology by the fact of at least two other
+instances in the Adriatic of this identical transposition of letters,
+and the conversion of Insula to Lusina, in the names of two islands near
+the Quarnero, named respectively Lussin Grande and Lussin Piccolo, which
+are evidently the anagram of Insula Grande and Insula Piccola.
+
+We arrived just in time to enjoy the effect of the setting sun upon
+that rocky landscape and the exquisitely pretty town at the foot of the
+mountain, and sufficiently early to be able to take a rapid sketch just
+as the sun was beginning to sink behind the tower which rises to the
+west of the town. The fort behind and above the town was still in full
+sunlight, as was also the more distant fortress of San Nicolo, brought
+forcibly into relief by a bank of dark purple clouds which were massed
+behind it. Down below, close to the water's edge, lay the town bathed
+in a flood of amber light, partly caused by the reflection of the golden
+sunset beyond, and partly by the colouring of the town itself, the houses
+of which are all painted with the warmest tints.
+
+In the middle of the town, close to the water's edge, are the "Loggie"
+or Portico, an elegant building, which in the olden times of Venetian
+supremacy was used by the merchants as an exchange to transact business
+in, as well as a hall of justice for the administration of the laws, and
+at the back a room is still shown where criminals and suspected persons
+underwent the question by torture.
+
+Immediately behind and above the Loggie rises Fort Spagnuolo, built by
+Charles V, connected with the town below by two long crenelated walls,
+enclosing in front a considerable space planted thick with colossal aloes
+(_Agave Americana_), which in case of assault would, in olden times,
+have offered a very considerable impediment to the advance of troops.
+
+The island of Lesina is barren, and its commerce very insignificant; it
+grows, however, an immense quantity of rosemary, from which is distilled
+a celebrated essential oil _Oleum Anthos_, and the _Aqua Regia_, or
+rosemary water, which are both largely exported.
+
+It was dark when we left; shaping our way for Curzola where we arrived
+about midnight. My friend, the Capuchin, who sat chatting with me till we
+arrived there, regretted I could not see it by daylight, as contrary to
+the other islands, which are conspicuous for their barrenness, Curzola
+is well wooded, and is celebrated for the size and magnificence of its
+pine trees.
+
+We did not make any long delay here, and were soon threading our course
+again between the islands and the mainland in the direction of Ragusa,
+but I know nothing about them. The Monk wished me good-night and went
+to his cabin, when again I took my usual place on deck, and was soon
+as comfortably asleep on that oaken plank as if I had been in the most
+luxurious bed in England.
+
+I was awakened from my night's sleep by my friend the Capuchin monk,
+who had been my travelling companion all the way from Trieste.
+
+"Get up, my lazy friend," said he, touching me with his foot. "We shall
+soon be entering the port of Gravosa; and there," stretching, out his
+arm towards the Dalmatian coast, "is the island of Lachroma, once the
+property of the unfortunate Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, and in ancient
+times a harbour of refuge to your great King Richard, Cœur-de-Lion."
+
+Hard though my bed had been, for nothing but my doubled up old rug had
+interposed between myself and the deck, I had slept profoundly, "_à
+la belle étoile_," and far more comfortably than if I had condescended
+to take my place in the dirty and stuffy _camerino_ down below, where
+all the other passengers, including my friend the Capuchin and his
+lay-brother, fearing bad smells, fleas, and other small game much less
+than the delicious night-air of the balmy Adriatic, had carefully stowed
+themselves away the previous night. I was up in an instant, and I shall
+not easily forget the sight that greeted my eyes from the deck of the
+little 'San Carlo.'
+
+We were about three miles from the shore; the sun, though high above the
+horizon, had not yet acquired sufficient force to destroy the freshness
+of the morning breeze which delicately rippled the surface of the sea,
+making it in the sunshine like a sheet of frosted gold, while in the
+shade it was like liquid sapphire. On my left rose the wild, rocky
+cliffs of Dalmatia, rendered still more desolate-looking by the almost
+total absence of vegetation; while in front and on my right, stretching
+away to the extreme verge of the horizon, were the sparkling waters of
+the Adriatic, thickly studded with countless islets, to the nearest of
+which, Lachroma, the Monk had drawn my attention.
+
+"It is now many years," said the Capuchin, "since your great crusading
+King found a refuge in that island."
+
+"I was not aware that King Richard was shipwrecked here," said I. "I
+knew that he met with a terrific storm in this sea on his return from
+Palestine, but I always imagined he had been wrecked near the top of
+the Adriatic, on the coast of Istria, in the neighbourhood of Aquileia."
+
+"Yes," replied the Monk, "it is not generally known that it was on the
+rocks of Lachroma that Cœur-de-Lion was cast away; and it is strange how
+this error should have crept into history and held its ground and place
+in every standard work, including your own invaluable Cyclopædias. But we
+have ample proofs of the truth of what I am telling you, and documentary
+evidence to establish the accuracy of my assertion; for your King,
+in gratitude to Divine Providence for delivering him from shipwreck,
+vowed to build a church in honour of the Blessed Virgin, on whatever
+land he should first set foot, and having safely landed at Lachroma, he
+proceeded to make good his vow by committing to the abbot and monks of
+a Benedictine monastery, which already existed on the island, the task
+of building this church, to defray the expenses of which the good King
+devoted no less than 100,000 _nummi argentei_, which sum he borrowed
+from his British lieges. But the Rettore of Ragusa (so the President
+of that ancient Republic was styled), having heard of King Richard's
+shipwreck opposite his city, went to visit him in state, with all the
+magistrates and councillors of the Republic, and invited him to Ragusa,
+where he was received with every demonstration of respect, and all the
+hospitality and attention due to so distinguished a guest.
+
+King Richard, pleased at the reception given him by the Republicans, and
+charmed by the attractive graces of the Ragusan ladies, rested there for
+some time; and then at the suggestion of these fair ones and the urgent
+entreaties of the authorities, who promised to obtain a dispensation for
+him from the Pope, he altered the terms of his donation, and founded in
+Ragusa itself the church to the Blessed Virgin which he had originally
+vowed on the island of Lachroma; on the condition, however, that the
+Benedictine Abbot of Lachroma, assisted by the monks of his convent,
+should have the privilege and the right to celebrate mass in this church
+in Ragusa every year on the day of the feast of the Purification. The gift
+of Richard Cœur-de-Lion having been further increased by donations from
+the inhabitants, this votive church grew into that celebrated cathedral
+which for so many years held the first rank among all the churches of
+Illyria.[5] At last, however, came one fatal morning, the 6th of April,
+1667, when Ragusa was all but annihilated by an earthquake. In a few
+moments all the principal edifices in the town were laid low, including
+the Cathedral of King Richard, and upwards of six thousand inhabitants,
+more than one-fifth of the entire population were buried in the ruins.
+There was not a family in the whole city which had not one or more to
+mourn for. Several of my ancestors perished, and among others a lineal
+ancestor of my mother, Simone Ghetaldi, then Rettore of the Republic;
+he and several senators were assembled in the Council Chamber, and about
+to receive the visit of a Dutch Embassy (which had stopped at Ragusa on
+its way to Constantinople, to which court it was accredited) when they
+were all engulphed; not one escaped, and it is supposed that at that spot
+the earth must have opened and closed over them again. The Archbishop
+barely escaped with his life by jumping out of a window as the floors
+of his palace were giving way beneath him, and more than nine-tenths
+of the clergy perished. We preserve in our family a manuscript which
+gives an accurate account of this terrible catastrophe; as a youngster,
+I was often made to copy it out, and I therefore know it almost off by
+heart. It tells how the morning of the 6th of April, 1667, broke calm and
+bright, and that the atmosphere was still and serene, without anything to
+indicate the approaching danger, when suddenly, without any premonitory
+sound, about two hours after sunrise, while most of the inhabitants were
+still in their houses, or in the churches hearing early mass, the earth
+shook so violently that in a few minutes the whole town was in ruins,
+with the exception of the fortress, and a few other buildings, the walls
+of which were enormously thick. In addition to the destruction caused
+by falling houses, large rocks came toppling down, detached from the
+mountain, which, as you see, apparently overhangs the city. This added
+greatly to the terror and devastation. So far as we know there was but
+_one shock_, and it lasted only a few seconds; but no where and at no
+time was so much damage done thus instantaneously.
+
+"Many harrowing scenes were recounted, but perhaps the most terrible of
+all was that of a school of boys which was swallowed up beneath the ruins.
+All the unfortunate lads perished, most of them by a miserable lingering
+death, and for days their moans and cries for help and water could be
+heard by their distracted friends, without the possibility of giving
+them any relief. One would have thought this a sufficient visitation for
+poor Ragusa, but calamities never come singly. A fire broke out on the
+same day, and towards evening a strong wind arose and fanned the flames,
+thus increasing the conflagration beyond the power of control. Night came
+on, and the whole side of the mountains was illuminated by the flames of
+the burning city. Then the wild mountaineers, the Morlacchi, came down
+in swarms to pilfer and snatch whatever they could from the universal
+wreck. The scenes then enacted defied all powers of description. The
+fires were burning with exceptional brightness and fury, in consequence
+of the conflagration having reached the stores of oil, tallow and tar
+accumulated in the Arsenal and elsewhere. Groups of Morlacchi, undeterred
+by the crumbling walls and the scorching rafters, could be seen flitting
+about among ruins regardless of the danger! Occasionally some such group
+having ventured too far, would disappear with a fearful scream into some
+yawning gulf; while in another spot two parties of the same plunderers
+might be seen in deadly conflict, fighting with their long straight
+knives over their unlawful booty. It was a fearful night.
+
+"But all this is ancient history; there is another tragic episode
+connected with Lachroma. Another calamity is brought to our minds when
+we look upon its shores. Poor Prince Maximilian!—alas! alas! he was a
+good and kind man,—and that noble unfortunate Princess Charlotte! I had
+the honour of being in their company more than once, both in Europe and
+Mexico; they were so good, so affable, so happy, till in an evil hour
+they allowed themselves to be led away by ambition. The Prince seemed
+all along to have had a presentiment of evil. I was told by one who was
+present, that nothing could be more melancholy than his departure from
+Miramar, and the leave-taking when he was waited on by a deputation from
+Trieste was the most painful scene he ever witnessed. The Prince was
+completely overcome, and fairly broke down on this occasion. After his
+assassination the island was sold, and now I hear it is for sale again."
+
+The good old Monk was silent for a few minutes, and then gently putting
+his hand on my shoulder, he said,
+
+"You are English, _non è vero_? You are not American? I would not say
+a hurtful word to mortal, but I cannot help thinking that the President
+of the United States was nearly as much to blame as the Mexican savage
+for the murder of Maximilian; one word from the United States' President
+would have saved the Emperor's life."
+
+"But what about the French Emperor?" I asked; "he who got the poor Prince
+into the scrape, and then left him to get out of it as best he could?"
+
+"Ah; true—true," repeated the Monk. "_e quell'altro birbaccione di
+Bazaine_! Ah! Providence will overtake them all. But look, see how
+beautiful Ragusa is, how picturesque! Although I am only a poor Capuchin
+monk, I feel proud of my native city—_che mi son Raguséo_!" he exclaimed,
+breaking out into his native Venetian dialect. "Though most of my life
+has been spent far away in foreign missions, I still cling with fondness
+to my native shores, and feel thankful, most thankful," he repeated,
+bending his head, "that it has pleased His Holiness and our General to
+order me back here again at last."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+     THE PADRE ANSELMO—HIS LIFE AND LABOURS AMONG THE AMERICAN
+     INDIANS—THE PIONEERS OF CIVILIZATION—AMERICAN INDIANS AND
+     NEGROES—PADRE ANSELMO ON PROTESTANT AND CATHOLIC MISSIONS—NATIVE
+     CHRISTIANS IN INDIA—POPE PIUS IX. ONCE A MISSIONARY—CARDINAL
+     P—.—PORT OF GRAVOSA—RAGUSA.
+
+
+I felt an unusual degree of regret, thinking I should so soon lose the
+company of Padre Anselmo; we had come all the way together from Trieste,
+and had spent many pleasant hours in genial conversation, flavoured from
+time to time with spicy, sharp, but good-humoured polemics, during which
+the Padre never lost his temper, and I had not always the best of the
+argument.
+
+He was a very remarkable man, of an ancient noble Ragusan family,
+evidently pious, yet wonderfully large-minded. I shall always remember
+with pleasure the conversations we had together on the deck of the 'San
+Carlo,' by the bright Italian moonlight, on those deep, smooth waters of
+the Adriatic that sparkled with phosphorescence at every stroke of the
+paddle-wheel. He was aware I was a Protestant, and though he had been a
+missionary for many years he knew how to avoid polemics whenever it was
+fit. He had been in South America and in North America; in the plains
+of the Amazon and the Orinoco, and among the Sierras of Mexico.
+
+I asked him about his success among the Indians, and after reflecting
+for a little he gave me a most interesting account of his life's labours
+among them. I carefully noted down each night in my diary, after we had
+parted, the principal headings of his narrative, and some day I may give
+to the public an account of the labours, trials, and sufferings of this
+good and conscientious monk.
+
+In answer to my question as to the amount of success he had obtained
+during his long intercourse with American Indians, he said,
+
+"There is a most extraordinary difference in intelligence between
+the different tribes, even among those living close together; some
+are wonderfully more intelligent than others, and, strange to say, I
+found them better the farther they were removed from the influence of
+civilization. A great deal might be made of them were it not for the
+evil influence of the traders who come among them—the most pernicious of
+whom I invariably found were those coming from the United States. These
+traders, pioneers of civilization—as they called themselves—were almost
+invariably men without any religion or principle; awful blasphemers,
+their oaths were too terrific! They generally consisted of the veriest
+scum and offscourings of commercial cities; they showed the poor savages
+the very worst examples, for fair trading was unknown to them, and lying,
+overreaching, and brow-beating were their chief characteristics, while
+of drunkenness and unblushing debauchery they were terrible examples.
+I was once asked by a chief why we came so far to teach them, and left
+our own people untaught."
+
+Padre Anselmo also told me that some of the natives had some idea of
+the Divinity, and were very teachable, not like the Negroes of the West
+Coast of Africa among whom he had laboured a short time. He contrasted
+the capabilities of both races, and shaking his head, added,
+
+"I fear it will take hundreds of centuries of incessant teaching, and
+that more by example than by word of mouth, before any good will come from
+missions among the Negroes; they seem utterly incapable of understanding
+any of the attributes of God. They look upon him invariably as one to
+be feared, and propitiated by gifts and sacrifices, so that he may be
+induced, if possible, to do them no harm."
+
+A chief came to him one night by stealth, "but not like Nicodemus," as
+the worthy Monk added; he brought various presents to the mission, some
+of considerable value, consisting of native rings of twisted gold. He
+whispered under his breath to the Monk,
+
+"You white man know everything, and you say your God rules everything.
+Tell me where I can find him, that I may kill him! he is a bad god—he
+has killed my favourite wife, and now I must kill him!"
+
+The Negro was foaming at the mouth from impotent rage, and his fearful
+language, together with the rolling of his eyes and the contortions
+of his body, impressed the Monk at first with the idea that he was an
+impersonation of the Evil One. Yet this chief had till then been the most
+promising of all those natives on whom he had been wasting his time,
+his patience, and his doctrine. In vain the Missionary tried to reason
+with the demoniac chief; his words made no impression, and the savage,
+failing to discover from the Monk the whereabouts of the white man's God,
+returned to his village, where he burned his own national fetish, and
+then cut off the heads of half-a-dozen wretches, having first charged
+them with messages to be delivered to his wife in dead-man's-land!
+
+One evening Padre Anselmo and I, after making ourselves snug on a pile
+of sacks near the binnacle, were talking about missionary work, when he
+spoke to me about our Protestant missions, and asked me many questions
+concerning them.
+
+"You work your missions differently from the way we do ours; you pay
+your missionaries well, and even allow them, I have been told, to trade
+at times, and to buy and sell and follow different callings. I have also
+heard that you send missionaries abroad without any particular regard to
+their capabilities, for instance as to their knowledge of the language
+of the country they are sent to. Now all our missionaries are strictly
+prepared for the country where they are intended to labour, and are not
+sent out until they have acquired a good knowledge of the language of
+that country. How do you find your system to work? Have you had much
+success in the East Indies during the hundred years you have had the
+opportunity of working in them?"
+
+I imagined I could detect something of a smile playing about the corners
+of his mouth as he made these remarks, and just as I was about to reply, a
+scene came to my mind of which I had read or heard an account somewhere,
+of an English missionary addressing an Arab audience in Tangier through
+the medium of a Gibraltar Jew, for the missionary was utterly innocent
+of any language but his own London English, and my innate appreciation
+of the ridiculous so overcame my sense of what was proper and decorous
+that I laughed myself nearly into fits.[6] However, having recovered my
+equanimity, I replied, "I did not know very much about the matter; but I
+had always heard that, generally speaking, the native Christians were the
+greatest blackguards in India, the least objectionable being certainly
+the Goanese Catholics," at which the good old monk seemed highly pleased.
+
+His ideas of missionary work were peculiar and interesting. "We should
+always," he said, "treat savages and the utterly uneducated, whether
+at home or abroad, who are scarcely better than savages, like little
+children, like very little children in intelligence, yet endowed with the
+passions and vices of grown up men. One should therefore, if possible,
+never try to teach them things beyond their understanding, but make
+their practical civilization proceed _pari passu_ with their religious
+training—instilling morality before preaching doctrine and dogma, both
+teachings being backed up by unexceptionable example. "These are not my
+own ideas," added Padre Anselmo, "they are the precepts of the wonderful
+man who preceded me in the Amazon Mission, the present Pontiff, His
+Holiness Pope Pius IX., whose equal will never again occupy the chair
+of St. Peter."
+
+"What! was the Pope ever a missionary?" I asked with astonishment. I knew
+he had been a soldier, and had been even assured that in his early days
+he was initiated a Freemason in a Lodge in Sicily; there was nothing very
+extraordinary in his having been a missionary, but I had never heard of
+it before, and was therefore taken by surprise.
+
+"Indeed he was," replied Padre Anselmo, "and a very zealous and
+hard-working missionary, whose memory is reverenced to this day, among
+many a wild tribe on the banks of the Amazon."
+
+Then we began to talk politics, that is to say I talked, the Monk only
+listened, till musingly I said, "I wonder who will succeed him in the
+Chair of St. Peter?"
+
+"Whoever he may be," replied the Monk, "he will have a difficult task
+coming after such a man."
+
+"Have you been lately at Rome?" said I.
+
+"I was there two months ago," he replied.
+
+"What then do you think of Cardinal P—? do you know him?"
+
+The Monk fixed his eyes on me for a moment, as if he would have read my
+most inmost thoughts, and then speaking very slowly, said:
+
+"That Sicilian Monk has long been aiming at the Tiara; he lives within
+himself, has no confidant, no intimate friend, has no talents, only plenty
+of doggedness, _vorrebbe Papeggiare_, but no, never will he occupy the
+Pontifical chair, never!" and the Monk, for a minute looked me full in
+the face.
+
+We were now getting quite close to the town, which is built on the narrow
+strip of land that lies between the Adriatic and the Dalmatian mountains,
+that here rise up almost perpendicularly behind it. The morning mists
+were clearing off, and the hazy outlines of the towers and ramparts, the
+cupolas and steeples, together with the bright colouring of the sails of
+the felucas and trabaccoli gliding out of the harbour, threading their
+way through the many islands scattered outside it, formed a picture
+that might be realized by a painter but of which I will not attempt the
+description.
+
+We were now fairly in the port of Gravosa, and the steamer was surrounded
+by native boats conveying eager candidates for the privilege of carrying
+ourselves and luggage to the shore. The real port is at Ragusa itself,
+sheltered and protected by the ancient bastions and towers of the city,
+but, though amply deep enough for its ancient galleys, and for those
+argosies (so named after this very city of Ragusa) which in ancient
+times monopolized with Venice the commerce of the world, it is not now
+large enough or deep enough to accommodate our modern practical, though
+inelegant fire-ships. It has consequently been abandoned for the port
+of Gravosa, which is not only large, safe, and commodious, but also
+exquisitely beautiful, though inconveniently distant, being nearly a
+mile from the city. An excellent road, however, originally made by the
+French and subsequently improved by the Austrians, communicates between
+the two places, and numerous small carriages drawn by one or two horses
+are constantly in readiness to convey for a trifle those who do not wish
+to walk to Ragusa.
+
+The two monks and I were soon on shore, and there I reluctantly parted
+with them; they went on foot towards their convent, while I took a small
+one-horse carriage and started off to the city.
+
+Away we went at full gallop skirting the harbour, till the rising ground
+at the end of the little valley compelled our lively little horse to
+a slower rate of progression. We soon however topped the hill, when we
+again came in view of the sea on our right hand, while on our left were
+numbers of villas peeping out through masses of oleanders and gigantic
+aloes, whose flower stems, like colossal candelabra, fifteen to twenty
+feet in height, gave a peculiarly exotic character to the scene. Many
+of these villas were in ruins, and others more or less damaged, still
+bearing evidence of the French occupation at the beginning of this
+century, and of their expulsion by the Russian and Montenegrin troops.
+
+Ragusa was now fairly again in sight, and a noble city it is, and how
+picturesque! so far as its greatness is concerned, Ragusa is now but
+the shadow of what it was in bygone days. Its political importance has
+faded away—its commercial supremacy is a thing of the past; but its
+local beauty, its domes, its campaniles, its lofty cut-stone palaces,
+its churches and public buildings, its exquisitely clean streets, its
+balmy air, its azure sea and its pleasant society—all these are things
+real and of the present. But Ragusa is not a place to be described, it
+must be seen and studied to be appreciated. See it from the land, or
+from the sea—wander through its narrow, quaint, artistic streets, ramble
+round its walls and ramparts, and you will find it from every point of
+view a most remarkable place.
+
+This grand old city, into which neither horse nor carriage is ever allowed
+to enter, was founded about the beginning of the seventh century, not
+very long after the foundation of Venice. Both cities were Republics,
+rivals in commerce and in the arts, and their people were incessantly at
+war with one another. But though Venice, by degrees, was able to subdue
+and include in her grasp almost the entire Eastern coast of the Adriatic,
+she never succeeded, either by cajolery or brute force, in conquering the
+Ragusans, who maintained their freedom till 1806; when, after existing
+as an independent State for upwards of a thousand years, during which
+time it had remained as an advanced post of European civilization on the
+borders of wild Bosnia and fierce Albania, it fell with Venice, Genoa,
+and the other free communities of Europe which Napoleon I. wiped off
+the map of the world.
+
+All down the coast of the Adriatic may be seen the winged Lion of St.
+Mark, wherever the encroaching ambition of the Venetians enabled them
+to establish themselves; but in Ragusa you will seek that grim Venetian
+effigy in vain. Ragusa never was conquered by her great rival!
+
+The carrettella came spinning, at the rate of a hunt, down the hill, at
+the bottom of which is the entrance to Ragusa, and turning sharp round
+at a speed that threatened to upset us bag and baggage into the middle
+of the road, pulled up suddenly on the right, where a very primitive
+hotel offers the only prospect of refreshment to the chance traveller
+in those parts; though, for such as intend remaining some little time,
+good accommodation can be obtained within the city. The hotel is most
+picturesquely situated on the very edge of the sea, opposite to the
+fortifications "_di mare_," and has in front a considerable plantation
+of beautiful Paolonias, then in full blossom; on the opposite side is
+the café, where of a Summer's evening congregate the rank and fashion
+of Ragusa to enjoy their ices and lemonade, and listen to the excellent
+band of the Austrian regiment quartered there, and whatever gossip,
+scandalous or otherwise, that may be buzzing about. And very enjoyable
+it must be! fine climate, pleasant society, lovely scenery, easy access
+to the rest of Europe, either East or West, and cheap living—what more
+could be desired? I would not ask for more.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+     ATTRACTIONS OF DALMATIA—INTERESTING EXCURSION—ISLAND OF
+     LACHROMA—CLIMATE—A. A. PATON, ESQ., FORMERLY CONSUL-GENERAL
+     AT RAGUSA—AN ITALIAN DINNER—EPIDAURUS—THE CANAL OF
+     CATTARO—TERRITORY OF RAGUSA—TOWER OF PERASTO AND FORT OF SANTA
+     CROCE—STRANGELY BUILT CHURCH—A PALAZZO—SAN GIORGIO AND LA
+     MADONNA—PICTURE ATTRIBUTED TO ST. LUKE.
+
+
+It has always been a source of much astonishment to me, seeing the
+facility with which these parts can be reached from Trieste, that so few
+of the ubiquitous English—indeed, I might say none of them,—ever visit
+them, or any of the other many beautiful and interesting localities
+which crowd the Eastern shores of the Adriatic. I really believe those
+countries are not visited because they are in a certain sense unknown.
+I trust, however, that some of my readers who may perchance be tired
+of those hackneyed tours which, year after year, are undertaken by the
+travelling multitudes, will try a venture some day in Dalmatia.
+
+Starting from Trieste in one of the many coasting steamers which trade
+to Corfu, stopping at every place on the Eastern shores of the Adriatic
+from Capo d'Istria downwards, and making excursions from each into the
+interior, anyone fond of everything beautiful and picturesque, whether
+in nature or in art, would have the most delightful trip imaginable;
+and if getting out at Cattaro he will scale those wonderful mountains
+which seem ever on the point of toppling over on that devoted city, and
+penetrate into Montenegro, coming back to the Adriatic by the Lake of
+Scutari (or Skodra as it _ought_ to be called) in Northern Albania, he
+will have made an excursion in the heart of Europe, within seven days
+from London, and in the short space of five weeks, which for beauty of
+country, wildness of scenery, novelty of life, and magnificence of native
+costumes cannot be equalled from Spain to the Caucasus, or from Norway
+to the Lebanon!
+
+Having made my adieux to Mr. Paton, our Consul at Ragusa, to whom as
+well as to Persich Effendi, the Ottoman Consul, I was largely indebted
+for much kind advice, as well as for a personal introduction to Mr.
+Yonin, Russian Consul at Ragusa, who subsequently at Cattaro and at
+Cettigne proved a kind friend and most valuable and charming companion,
+I returned on board and was soon steering south again. We steamed quite
+close inland, and had an excellent view of the ancient fortifications
+of Ragusa and its old harbour, only frequented at present by the felucas
+and trabaccoli which carry on the coasting trade of the country.
+
+We also passed close to the island of Lachroma. The Russian Consul,
+Mr. Yonin, told me it was for sale and would probably go cheap. I can't
+conceive a spot on earth where a man tired of the bustle of life and the
+feverish excitement and turmoil of cities could more delightfully spend
+the remainder of his days. There is a fairly good house on the island,
+which is itself beautifully wooded and laid-out. It is sufficiently
+near to Ragusa to enable one to obtain everything one could require from
+that city, it is right in the gangway of all the steamers going up and
+down the Adriatic, within five days of London, and with such a number
+of communications with the outer world that it would be seclusion only
+as long as one wished it to be so.
+
+As to the climate, none more beautiful could be desired—sufficiently
+warm to grow figs, grapes, and oranges, yet daily tempered in Summer by
+the delicious sea-breeze of the Adriatic, which prevents the heat from
+ever being oppressive, while of Winter there is barely the name—the
+thermometer seldom going down to frost.
+
+The sea teems with fish of the most delicious kinds, some of which are
+totally unknown among us; the dentale coronato, for instance, the true
+sardine, and the rosy mullet, the woodcock of the sea, which here grows
+to an immense size—while from the mainland one can always obtain at
+wonderfully low prices abundance of small mountain mutton, poultry, and
+game.
+
+I never was in any place that took my fancy like Ragusa and Lachroma—so
+lovely, so picturesque, so secluded, and yet so accessible!
+
+Since my return to England I have heard with deep regret of the loss we
+have sustained by the death of A. A. Paton, Esq., our Consul-General at
+Ragusa. The country has to regret in him an able and industrious servant,
+while literature has to mourn for one of its most gifted votaries, as
+his works on Egypt, Servia, and the Adriatic will amply attest; but only
+those who had the pleasure of his acquaintance can at all venture to
+measure the loss which his death must be in his own family circle!
+
+Now the bell rings, and Giovanni bustles up and down the deck, intimating,
+"_che'l pranzo ze pronto_," so down we all plunged into the saloon,
+where a good dinner, as usual, welcomed us.
+
+As the coast is uninteresting, besides which I don't want to go on deck at
+present, I may as well tell you of what our Italian dinner consisted. We
+first had an excellent Julienne soup, with abundance of grated Parmesan
+for such as appreciated it; next was served the "_fritto_," according
+to old Italian custom, which always enumerates the following dishes,
+to succeed each other in an orthodox dinner:—minestra, fritto, lesso,
+umido, arrosto, dolce, frutta, and, when in season, slices of melon, or
+fresh figs, served up immediately after the soup, to be eaten with thin
+slices of raw ham or Bologna sausage. Figs being in season they were not
+wanting, so conforming to the usage of the country I ate some with raw
+Bologna sausage, and learnt fully to appreciate the strange compound,
+which I afterwards always indulged in whenever I had a chance.
+
+The _fritto_ was delicious (assuredly nowhere else can they fry as in
+Italy); it consisted of zucchettine and fiori, _i.e._, young unexpanded
+gourd flowers and very young gourds not bigger thin an egg, cut in thin
+slices, dipped in the thinnest of batter and fried quite crisp and golden
+brown, and served dry without a particle of grease. Then came a dish of
+_gnocchi alla Milanese_, a superb dish, but difficult to explain; imagine
+the ingredients of a colossal _vol-au-vent à la financière_, replete
+with livers, cocks' combs, unborn eggs, &c., &c., surrounded by a bastion
+of a peculiar preparation, made of maize-flour, and the whole bathed in
+tomato sauce and sprinkled right over with grated Parmesan, "_proprio da
+far riavere i morti_," as the _chef_ exclaimed to me after dinner, when,
+handing him a cigar, I complimented him on his _gnocchi_. Then came the
+_arrosto_ which consisted of veal and fowls, and after that a splendid
+_piatto dolce_ of stewed peaches in an artistic cage of caramel sugar,
+ornamented with strange devices of most delicious marzapane.
+
+Having slowly worked our way through this sumptuous repast, we went on
+deck, where coffee was served with its usual accompaniment of Maraschino,
+both sweetened and unsweetened, together with the inevitable smoke, which
+contrary to reason, as one would think, is even more comforting in hot
+countries like the Levant, than it is in cold damp regions like Holland.
+
+I have a dim recollection of the captain tapping me on the shoulder
+and telling me something about Ragusa Vecchia and Epidaurus as we were
+steaming down the coast; but I was in too dreamy a state to pay much
+attention to him at the time, and as I knew the coast was uninteresting,
+I told him to call me as soon as we should come in sight of the Bocche
+and Castelnuovo, and dozed away again.
+
+I afterwards learnt that this Epidaurus, about which I was rather fretting
+for having refused to stir from my siesta to look at it, was really not
+worth seeing, though an ancient city, having been founded by a Greek
+colony somewhere about 700 years B.C., more or less; but all its
+antiquities had been removed long ago.
+
+It was between three and four in the afternoon when I awoke of my own
+accord, thus anticipating the captain, who was just coming to tell me that
+we were about entering the canal of Cattaro, as it is called, but which
+to our ear is far better described by the name of Fjord of Cattaro. It
+is to all intents and purposes a Fjord, being an arm of the sea running
+up for eighteen miles into land, between high precipitous cliffs; and
+if there is not a glacier at the end of it, but only a quaint Dalmatian
+town with the most picturesque fort and fortifications in the world, it
+does not alter the character of the inlet.
+
+The entrance to this Fjord, called "le Bocche di Cattaro," is guarded
+on the right by the Fort of Castelnuovo, and on the left is bounded by
+a narrow strip of Turkish territory, a portion of Herzegovina, which
+here comes down to the Adriatic, separating the Circolo of Ragusa from
+that of Cattaro. By some strange political arrangement, or oversight
+more probably, another narrow strip of Turkish territory comes down to
+the Adriatic on the north of Ragusa, completely isolating that ancient
+Republic which finds itself thus entirely surrounded by Ottoman territory
+on three sides, while on the fourth it is bounded by the Adriatic.
+
+The country about the entrance of the Bocche di Cattaro is fine,
+well wooded and planted with olive trees, through which can be seen
+numerous habitations, while many of the rugged heights are crowned with
+semi-fortified churches, which served as places of refuge to the women
+and children in troublous times.
+
+Proceeding onwards, the scene varies and the trees lessen in numbers,
+though the landscape loses nothing of its beauty, as by the constant
+windings of the Fjord the changes are continuous and rapid, and the
+many villages built on the edge of the water, and sharply reflected
+in it, add one more charm to the picture. At one point the Fjord is
+barely half a mile across, when suddenly it expands into a lake of many
+miles in circumference, where all the navies of the world could lie in
+safety. But now the scene changes again and the Fjord becomes a narrow
+tortuous channel, bounded on either side by naked rocky cliffs. Like
+the rest of the coast of Dalmatia it is, however, very beautiful. About
+half way between Castelnuovo and Cattaro, the Fjord expands and divides
+right and left forming two bays, that of Risano to the left, and that
+of Cattaro to the right; while in front rise the almost perpendicular
+crags of Montenegro, at the foot of which, with barely room to build
+on, so near does the mountain come to the edge of the water, stands the
+town of Perasto with the ancient fort of Santa Croce just above it.
+
+This place must have been of considerable importance within late years,
+still I never saw such a picture of poverty and desolation. The houses
+are not in ruins, but look dilapidated; the windows are broken in, the
+jalousies hanging by one hinge and in pieces, while in many places the
+roofs are stripped of their tiles. The position of Perasto cannot be
+surpassed; built on a promontory facing the west, it has the lake-like
+expansion of the Gulf of Cattaro in front and does not consequently
+labour under the disadvantage Cattaro suffers from, by having a chain of
+mountains in front of it to the westward, which deprive it of the sun in
+Winter before two o'clock in the afternoon. The style of the houses in
+Perasto shows that not long ago it could boast of an opulent population,
+which is further exemplified by the fortress built at the expense of
+the town—by its lofty steeple and by its churches. One in particular
+caught my eye from the steamer, _it had no façade_, not that it had
+fallen into ruin, neither had it been shaken down by an earthquake, but
+was built so; open to the weather with a half cupola something like one
+of those little roadside shrines dedicated to the Virgin which we meet
+with constantly in Italy and other Catholic countries, only on a very
+much larger scale.
+
+I felt quite interested in Perasto, it looked so picturesque, so noble,
+so poor! One house especially struck my fancy, but the word house does
+not convey its appearance, it was what an Italian would call a palazzo.
+The entrance was evidently from a back street, while the side which faced
+the water consisted of a _loggia_ of many pilasters and arches, into
+which opened the rooms of the ground floor, while above it were tiers
+of large and handsome windows. In front of the _loggia_ was a paved
+terrace, from which a series of steps, the whole length of the house,
+led down to the water. It was uninhabited and in fact going rapidly to
+ruin! I fancied to myself what a little paradise one could make of it;
+I saw in my mind's eye a row of orange trees growing on that terrace,
+a yacht moored close into those steps, and life and bustle in those
+chambers where all was now silence and decay. What can have brought
+such desolation on Perasto? I asked several people but I could get no
+satisfactory answer! some blamed Austria, some _il commercio_; I suppose
+I could have bought the fee simple of that house in Perasto for a £10
+note.
+
+In front of Perasto are two small islands—San Giorgio and La Madonna. In
+the church of La Madonna is to be seen an ancient picture of the Virgin,
+attributed as usual to the artistic efforts of the Evangelist Luke, who
+evidently, from what I have seen of his works of art in different places,
+was not possessed of much talent in that line. Tradition states that
+the picture was transported in 1452, by an unknown hand, from Negropont
+to this rock; and being seen amidst lighted candles by some fishermen,
+it was removed to the church of Perasto. The next night it returned to
+the island; and the same action having been repeated three times, it was
+presumed that the picture preferred remaining there; thus they built a
+church for it, which no doubt turned out a profitable speculation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+     CITY OF CATTARO—SIGNOR JACKSCHICH—STREETS AND PIAZZAS—WALKS AND
+     FORTIFICATIONS—PUBLIC WALK—CAFÉ AND GARDENS—SONOROUS STONE—A
+     MONTENEGRIN CHIEF—A HAPPY BEGGAR BOY.
+
+
+Turning our backs now on that branch of the Fjord which leads to Risano,
+we steamed due south in the direction of Cattaro. Nothing could exceed
+the wild grandeur of this portion of the Gulf. The right hand shore was
+now entirely in the shade, while the crags on the left being exposed
+to the full glare of the afternoon sun showed a play of colours too
+beautiful to describe. Had these cliffs been clothed with varied foliage
+interspersed with the rocks, they would have formed a picture unequalled
+in any other place on the globe.
+
+It was six o'clock when we moored alongside the quay of Cattaro, one
+of the most picturesque cities of the whole Adriatic, so I had plenty
+of time to walk about and see the place as well as to make arrangements
+for my advance into Montenegro on the following day, as I was anxious to
+proceed at once to Cettigne, in order to be present at the festival of
+St. Peter, during which a fair is held, to which congregate thousands,
+not only from Montenegro, but from all the surrounding countries. Thanks,
+however, to Persich Effendi, the Ottoman Consul at Ragusa, to whom I had
+brought an introduction from the Ottoman Ambassador at Vienna, I found
+everything already prepared for my trip. The agent of the Austrian Lloyd
+at Cattaro, Signor Jackschich to whom I can never feel too much obliged,
+had already procured for me a guide and two horses, thus saving me all
+trouble, and allowing so much more time to look about me at Cattaro. As
+soon as we had obtained _pratique_, the formality of which we carried
+out regularly at every place we touched, though, in reality, it was a
+farce, Signor Jackschich came on board, and having introduced himself
+and told me what he had arranged, placed himself at my disposal for the
+rest of the evening. We at once went on shore, and traversing the Mall,
+which lies between the quays and the walls of the city, and which serves
+as the promenade of the _Bocchesi_, we passed through the principal gate
+of Cattaro, and entered the precincts of the fortifications.
+
+Here, as in most other cities in Dalmatia, no horse, or vehicle of
+any kind (except sedan chairs) is allowed to enter. The streets in
+consequence are beautifully clean, and the piazza, which is paved in
+squares of alternate coloured marble, is more like the floor of the
+hall of an Italian palace than anything else. The streets are narrow, as
+might have been surmised, but there are some very fine old houses, some
+exquisite bits of art hidden away in nooks and corners which one would
+have loved to sketch had there been time, half built up porticoes with
+oleanders peeping over them, and bits of lovely hammered iron work of
+the Renaissance period. But I had no time, so after making a rapid tour
+through the little city, we came out on the promenade, as I was anxious
+to have another view of Cattaro, from the outside, before it became too
+dark.
+
+My friend Paton does not render half justice to this city in his charming
+book, "The Highlands and Islands of the Adriatic;" but he is so in love
+with Ragusa—and, if truth must be told, so am I—that he has nothing to
+say for Cattaro; it is true he saw it in Winter, when it must be a dismal
+place. But Cattaro, for all that, deserves a visit, and anyone fond of
+sketching will spend, with profit, several days in and about the place.
+It is situated at the extreme end of the Fjord of that name, on a very
+narrow ledge of land at the foot of the most precipitous cliffs facing
+the west, up which it extends for a short space. It is surrounded by the
+ancient Venetian walls, bastions and fortifications, and crowned by a
+fort perched on the very summit of the rock, a thousand feet above the
+city. Looking at it from below, it seems scarcely balanced on the cliff,
+and one expects to see it come tumbling down every moment.
+
+The fortifications of the town are connected by crenelated walls with
+the fort itself on two sides, thus inclosing a considerable space on the
+face of the mountain, something in the shape of a triangle, of which
+the town would form the base, and the fort the apex, which is still
+garrisoned, and many a harmless rusty old cannon can be seen peeping
+through the embrasures. Having returned from the opposite side of the
+water, where I had gone the better to see the fortifications, we took a
+walk up and down the esplanade between the water and the walls, to look
+at the _beau monde_ on their boulevard, and then adjourned to the café
+on the same esplanade to have some ices _al fresco_, and make our final
+arrangements for the following morning.
+
+The public walk at Cattaro is very well laid out, and the most is
+made of the very contracted space at command. Two rows of large trees
+extend along the walls on each side of the gate, above which is to be
+seen, as usual, the Lion of St. Mark. Not so natural, perhaps, as Edwin
+Landseer's animals at the foot of Nelson's column; but, certainly, a
+more dignified beast than the one with straight tail which until lately
+kept watch and ward over Trafalgar Square from the top of Northumberland
+House. At the northern end of the Mall is the café, and round about it
+the grounds are laid out in gardens, where, under the shade of gigantic
+oleanders and mulberry trees, little round tables, made of enormously
+thick slabs, resting on short central pillars, for all the world like
+Brobdingnagian mushrooms, are laid out and surrounded with stools for
+the accommodation of all comers. The stone of which these round tables
+are made is powerfully sonorous, and if lightly struck, even with one's
+knuckles, gives out a beautiful soft tone. If cut into lengths and
+properly poised, excellent rock harmoniums could be made of it.
+
+Here I fell in again with the Russian Consul, who introduced me to one
+of the finest specimens of men I ever saw, a Montenegrin chief, by name
+Pero Pejovich, commandant of the Grahovo (pronounced Graho), who had
+come from Risano in a boat, and was bound for Montenegro to be present
+at the Feast. He was dressed in full gala Montenegrin costume, _plus_
+the Risano jacket of crimson cloth without sleeves, thickly embroidered
+with gold, and on it the medals and decorations he had gained in battle.
+At another table were seated, also in full costume, two Montenegrin
+ladies of a family who had been exiled for political causes, and who
+were waiting at Cattaro in hopes of obtaining an amnesty which would
+permit them to return to their homes.
+
+The sun had set, and the short twilight had nearly merged into darkness;
+the great heat of the day was now tempered by a delicious balmy feeling,
+as the cooler air from the mountains came down to mingle with that of the
+lower strata; the musical hum of the many voices, the exquisite Trebigne
+tobacco in our cigarettes, the delicious coffee, all conspired to make
+that evening one of the most delightful I ever passed. I got another
+chair, and stretched my legs on it; the natives stared—no Oriental ever
+thinks of stretching his legs—the acme of comfort for him is to tuck
+them under him. I felt supremely happy, and expressed myself so.
+
+"I could live here for ever," I said to Signor Jackschich.
+
+"Nay," rejoined Pero Pejovich, "but wait till it rains, and you will
+soon wish to run away from Cattaro. I have known it rain here for six
+weeks without stopping for a moment."
+
+At this juncture, the band of the Austrian regiment quartered here came
+on the scene, with the same lamp arrangement I had seen at Pola, and
+for upwards of an hour played the most delicious music to our intense
+delight. The Consul now reminded me that we should have to start betimes
+the following morning, if we wanted to avoid being roasted in the middle
+of the day on the rocks of Montenegro. But the sense of enjoyment was
+too great, and I could not bear to break the spell of the hour which I
+was enjoying to the fullest. That I should have an excuse for delaying
+a little longer, I began to talk in Italian to a little beggar boy who
+had quietly been asking me for something the whole evening, not with
+noisy importunate appeals, but by the eloquent look of about the finest
+pair of eyes that ever were seen.
+
+"Don't take any notice of the young ruffian," said Signor Jackschich,
+"he is the plague of the town, and the worry of his father. He won't
+work, and he is in every mischief that is going."
+
+"But I don't tell lies—neither do I steal," retorted the bold young
+brat, who could be no more than eight or nine. "It is too hot to work,
+and as to going home to sleep _la dentro_," he said, pointing over his
+shoulder with his thumb to the town, "when I can enjoy the cool nights
+under these trees _al fresco_, I would rather not!"
+
+He spoke excellent Italian, and his manner was dignified and self
+possessed.
+
+"_Diable!_" said Yonin, "_nous avons ici un philosophe!_"
+
+"Can you speak German or French, little chap?" I said.
+
+"No," he replied in Italian, "_non parlo che Illirico ed Italiano_."
+
+I gave him coins to the amount of about a franc; but when he saw so
+much money in the palm of his hand—an amount which, to his eyes, seemed
+perfectly fabulous—his first impulse was to hold it out to me again,
+thinking I was joking with him; but when I assured him it was _veramente
+tutto per lui_, he cut three capers in the air, and rushed away to where
+some other children were, to show his treasures and recount his good
+fortune. Of all the subjects of the Emperor of Austria, in all his vast
+dominions, I venture to say that the happiest on that night was that
+little beggar brat in the secluded little city of Cattaro at the far
+end of his empire in the extreme point of Dalmatia.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+     MONTENEGRIN TRADERS—LE SCALE DI CATTARO—A GORGEOUSLY-ATTIRED
+     MONK—OUR CARAVAN—MONTENEGRINS OF THE PRINCE'S
+     BODY-GUARD—INTERESTING VIEW—ABSENCE OF TREES ON THE DALMATIAN
+     COAST—A HOME FOR GERMAN EMIGRANTS—TURKISH MISRULE IN EUROPE—A
+     FUTURE EMPIRE—A MAN FIT TO RULE.
+
+
+At the earliest peep of day on the morning of the 9th of July, I arose
+from the deck of the steamer on which I had slept for so many pleasant
+nights, notwithstanding its hardness. Thanks to the kind attention of
+Giovanni, the steward, a cup of hot and tolerably good coffee was not
+wanting to fortify me against the effects of the morning air. He wanted
+me to add a small glass of maraschino unsweetened "_per scacciar l'aria
+cattiva_," as he said in his Venetian dialect, but not being addicted
+to _pegs_, I contented myself with the coffee and a few biscuits.
+
+The faintest tinge of rose showing in the East over the rocks which hang
+over Cattaro, seeming ever to threaten it with instant ruin, barely
+enabled me at first to distinguish objects on the mole alongside of
+which our steamer was moored; but as the light increased I could make
+out, under the shadow of the trees which form the boulevard and public
+promenade of the Bocchesi, the stalwart figures of a dozen Montenegrins
+who had come down from Cettigne to accompany the Russian Consul on his
+way to the festival of St. Peter, and the court of the illustrious Prince
+who now so wisely rules those splendid mountain tribes.
+
+Modestly drawn up on one side of them I could see my own portion of the
+caravan, consisting of only two horses, one to carry myself, the other
+to carry my luggage, all under the direction of the excellent guide
+provided for me the day before by the kindness of Signor Jackschich.
+
+Everything was now ready and myself in the saddle, when the Russian
+Consul made his appearance, and we finally started just as the dawn was
+quickening into day.
+
+Skirting by the bastions which defend Cattaro on the sea side, we crossed
+the bridge that spans the little mountain torrent which here empties
+itself into the sea, and turning sharply to the right we passed through
+the open market-place where the Montenegrins come down to sell their
+farm-produce to the Bocchesi; but who, owing to the somewhat evil name
+they have unfairly acquired, are never allowed to penetrate into the city
+unless they first deliver up their arms at the military post outside,
+just as we do at Aden with the Arabs of the surrounding districts.
+
+Having crossed the market-place, we reached in a few minutes the base of
+the rocks, and at once commenced ascending that wonderful road zig-zagged
+across the face of the mountain, and known by the name of "_Le scale
+di Cattaro_." Here we joined an additional party, also journeying to
+Cettigne for the festival of St. Peter, and among them was conspicuous
+the handsome Montenegrin Chieftain, Pero Pejovich, commandant of the
+Grahovo, whose pleasant acquaintance we had made the evening before
+under the mulberry trees of Cattaro.
+
+There was also in the same group a monk, a most picturesque looking
+individual, but certainly most unclerical-looking. He was dressed in
+a costume very much resembling the Montenegrin fashion, only of sombre
+colours, and had his jerkin trimmed with furs instead of embroideries. He
+wore on his head a sort of black fez, from under which his sable curls
+fell hanging on his neck, while his full beard, innocent of trimming,
+flowed amply on his chest. His face was handsome and swarthy, and had a
+not unkind expression. In figure he was slight, and of medium height.
+He came from a monastery in the Herzegovina, a province of Turkey in
+Europe lying co-terminous to Montenegro on its Northern border, and
+which, strange enough, comes down at one point to the very sea at the
+opening of the Fjord of Cattaro, thus thrusting itself into and dividing
+the Austrian sea-board of Dalmatia into two.
+
+What was he coming to Montenegro for? Simply to be inducted abbot of
+his own monastery, which ceremony by right should have been performed
+by the Greek Patriarch at Constantinople; but although Herzegovina is
+subject to the Sultan, yet all the Christian mountaineers of that region,
+though not Montenegrins by blood, are Montenegrins at heart, and all
+look to the Metropolitan at Cettigne as their spiritual head, while to
+the Prince they look up as the only sovereign to whom they owe absolute
+allegiance.
+
+The abbot elect rode a beautiful, small grey _entero_, wonderfully
+quick and sure-footed, caparisoned with gorgeous trappings, consisting
+of a large blue saddle-cloth embroidered with gold, over which lay an
+immense saddle of crimson velvet studded with large gilt-headed nails.
+The bridle was of the same Oriental style, while the bit was something
+to be looked at, both as regards size, ornament and power.
+
+The Abbot sat his _entero_, as if riding at the head of a party of
+Baschi-Bazouks would be quite as much, if not more to his liking, than
+leading the chaunts at matins and vespers in his own monastery. There
+was nothing fierce about his countenance, but there was a sort of "stand
+and deliver" look about his whole get up, that would have made one feel
+somewhat anxious had one chanced to meet him _a quattr'occhi_ in some
+lonely pass.
+
+Our caravan consisted in all of about twenty-five persons, as we had been
+joined by several parties all bent on the same excursion, to partake
+of the rejoicings at Cettigne. First marched four Montenegrins of the
+Prince's body-guard, splendid specimens of their race, the shortest over
+six feet high, with rich ruddy complexions, deeply bronzed by exposure
+in all weathers, with dark grey or blue eyes, dark brown, almost black
+hair, cut short, close shaved beard and large moustachios, and fine,
+open, manly countenances. They wore the national costume of the country,
+namely, loose baggy blue trousers, made very full and confined under the
+knee by a strap, below that, their legs were encased in tight-fitting
+white woollen gaiters, fastened by a row of close-set small metallic
+buttons all along the back, from the heel to below the knee, while
+on their feet they wore a peculiar pointed shoe of undressed leather,
+the upper of which is contrived of numberless small thongs plaited up
+the middle over the instep, which afford wonderful pliancy and power
+of grasping to the feet, and are quite characteristic of this region;
+a sleeveless crimson jacket, and over all the well-known long surtout
+of fine white cloth, without a collar, fastened round the waist by an
+enormous silken scarf as much as eighteen feet long, and which supported
+in front a perfect armoury of weapons. First a yataghan three feet long
+with richly ornamented sheath and handle, then two highly ornamented
+Turkish pistols nearly as long, then a poniard, and lastly a special
+pair of tongs for lifting fire into their smoking pipes, which, excepting
+when on duty, were never out of their mouths. But as if such an armoury
+were insufficient, they carried at their sides a formidable-looking,
+highly curved Turkish sabre, and over their shoulder a long, rakish,
+Albanian-looking, breech-loading gun. This last they were ever shifting
+in position, although the favourite mode of carrying it seemed to be
+across the shoulders, something like the way young ladies at properly
+conducted schools are made to shoulder their backboards, with their
+hands hanging over the stock and barrel.
+
+We all followed pell-mell, sometimes in single file, sometimes by twos,
+according as the inequality of the path or its width, either prevented
+or admitted of it, while the remainder of the guard brought up the rear.
+So up we climbed, zigzag after zigzag, some of us above and some of us
+below until we reach the top of the _scala_ where Austrian territory
+ceases and Montenegro begins.
+
+The sun was now well up above the Eastern horizon, when the sudden
+cessation of the road gave us notice of our change of territory, and
+looking round towards the Adriatic to which we mostly had been turning
+our backs during the ascent, we saw a view that I don't know which would
+be most difficult, whether to sketch or to describe.
+
+I think we must have been at least three thousand feet above the sea.
+At any rate, owing to the steepness of the rocks on which we stood,
+together with the clearness of the atmosphere, the city of Cattaro seemed
+perpendicularly beneath us, while the coast of Dalmatia, the entire
+canal of Cattaro with all its windings and the many towns scattered on
+its coast, the forts at its mouth, and the blue Adriatic beyond, seemed
+laid out like a map at our feet.
+
+The path, up which we had been toiling ever since we left the town, lay
+in zigzags before us like a white ribbon stretched out upon the face
+of the precipice. It reminded me somewhat of the pass of the Gemmi in
+Switzerland, but was far more beautiful, while the bird's-eye view of
+the town, with its fortress and its fortifications, was most novel and
+astonishing. Perched as we were almost perpendicularly over Cattaro, and
+thus looking right down over their heads, we could see its inhabitants
+only like black specks moving about its miniature squares and streets,
+while the old fortress with its crenelated walls and its antiquated
+bastions, rising out of the bluish haze which hung over the chasm that
+yawns between the rock on which it is built and the one on which we were
+standing, made such a picture as Turner would have loved to study.
+
+It was one of the most beautiful and extraordinary sights I ever saw, and
+only lacked the presence of foliage to make it perfect. But total absence
+of timber is the characteristic of the entire coast of Dalmatia, a fact
+much to be regretted not only for the loss it is to the country from a
+picturesque point of view, but principally from the economical aspect
+of the question—as well-managed forests would be of immense value both
+from the timber they would yield, and the increased humidity they would
+afford to that arid region, where a sufficient rainfall would increase
+the fertility, and consequently the revenue more than a hundredfold.
+
+If some of the millions which are yearly wasted by the Austrian
+Government, as well as by others too, in building ironclads and exploding
+torpedoes, and in many other equally unreproductive undertakings, were
+spent on the coast of Dalmatia in planting olive trees on the side of
+those mountains as far up as they could flourish, then walnut trees,
+then chestnut trees, and finally oaks and firs, I think I can safely
+assert that in thirty years the full cost of the first outlay would be
+repaid, while the benefit to the country at large would be incalculable.
+
+It is not in a book like this that the best modes for bringing about the
+cultivation of the Dalmatian shores of the Adriatic are to be discussed,
+but that it could be done and should be done, is undoubted; and not
+in Dalmatia alone, but also to the east of that country, in the lands
+beyond the Vellebitch, through Servia, and all that vast tract of country
+subject now to the impoverishing influence of Turkish mal-administration.
+
+It always makes me sad when I think of those rich countries lying
+fallow for want of hands to cultivate them, and a good government
+to encourage industry, and when I see shipload after shipload of
+hard-working industrious Germans leaving Hamburg, Bremen, and other
+German ports, risking the perils, the inconveniences, and the expenses
+of their voluntary exile, traversing thousands of miles of ocean route
+to reach at last an unknown country, from which it is doubtful if they
+will ever have a chance of returning to their Fatherland; when those
+fertile lands of Servia lie at the very threshold of their country, with
+no sea to intervene, and only a few days of rail and river to go over.
+But the present state of things cannot continue for ever; and even now
+promising signs of amendment are not wanting. The monstrous anomaly
+of some of the richest lands of Christian Europe being still in this
+nineteenth century under the misrule of barbarous Asiatic hordes, whilst
+millions of wretched Christian inhabitants are kept in the most abject
+servitude, must ere long be done away with; and all those countries,
+Servia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Roumelia, and all lying between the Danube
+and the Adriatic must before very long be amalgamated under some one
+chief. Who the man may be upon whom the noble responsibility may fall
+of governing this future empire, it is impossible now to conjecture, for
+the several countries which would go to form this new dominion are still
+scattered and disorganized; but the great bond of a common language will
+soon unite them again, when the time comes, and probably that is not
+distant, for now we do in weeks what our forefathers did in centuries.
+When that moment shall come, I venture to hope, in the interest of this
+new country, that one totally unconnected with the present contending
+clans may assume the direction of affairs.
+
+I know the man but I shall not name him. Handsome in person, brave,
+courteous, highly educated, and unsullied by any of those Eastern vices
+which so frequently shock our Western susceptibilities—equally unconnected
+with either the Kara Georgevich or the Obrenovich parties—his elevation
+to the throne of Servia would put a stop to that system of hereditary
+vendetta which seems for the present too deeply rooted in both those
+clans to permit us to hope in its extinction at least for a time, while it
+would extend to those countries the benefits of that wise administration
+which he has already so ably initiated in his own country. But I must
+pull up my hobby-horse sharp; he is already in full gallop, and if he
+once gets the bit between his teeth, he will never check his mad career
+till he stops at the gates of Stamboul.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+     THE PRINCE OF MONTENEGRO—UNJUST DEPRIVATION OF TERRITORY—ORIGIN
+     OF THE NAME OF THE COUNTRY—A FRIEND IN NEED—VILLAGE OF
+     NIEGOSCH—PANORAMA SEEN FROM THE TOP OF THE PASS—WILD-LOOKING
+     HERDS AND FLOCKS—MONTENEGRIN LEGEND—ARRIVAL AT CETTIGNE—THE
+     VLADIKA'S PALACE—THE TREE OF JUSTICE—TOWER OF CETTIGNE.
+
+
+During my stay in Montenegro, I had the honour of several private
+conversations with the Prince of that interesting country, and I was
+astonished at the amount of practical knowledge he possessed, and the
+advanced views he entertained, with regard to commerce, administration,
+and political economy. But he is cramped up in every way, Montenegro has
+no outlet, and though his native mountains come so near to the Adriatic
+that a man could almost spring from them into the sea, still there
+is everywhere a narrow strip of land between them and that sea, which
+effectually excludes him from direct commercial or other intercourse
+with the rest of the world.
+
+This strip of land, in some places only a few yards wide, belongs to
+Austria and forms part of the Province of Dalmatia. During the reign of
+Napoleon I. the Principality of Montenegro extended for a short period
+to the sea shore, and Cattaro was occupied by the Montenegrins till the
+14th June, 1814, when it was most unjustly taken away from them again
+and incorporated with the Austrian Empire by the Congress of Vienna. An
+act of injustice all the more flagrant, that the Turkish territory was
+allowed to come down to the sea at the opening of the Gulf of Cattaro,
+dividing the territory of Ragusa from that of Cattaro, and thus affording
+the Mahommedan rulers of a Christian land advantages which are denied
+to the neighbouring Christian Principality.
+
+But whilst I am admiring the scene before me and pondering over the
+wrongs and the resources of these interesting countries, I must not
+forget that the sun is every moment getting higher in the heavens, and
+that it is important to get on with our journey, in order to avoid being
+out on those arid rocks during the heat of the day.
+
+Our caravan was now in motion again, but the road having almost ceased
+to exist, we had to proceed more cautiously, picking our way among loose
+stones and boulders, sometimes following a sort of path, and sometimes
+climbing up the dried up water-courses of Winter torrents. After another
+short interval of clambering, we reached a fountain where everyone
+considered it his duty to dismount and drink, as did also our cattle.
+When we had refreshed ourselves with copious draughts from that cool
+spring we again faced up the mountain, but this time on foot, as owing
+to the steepness and ruggedness of the rocks, it was not deemed advisable
+to attempt it on horseback.
+
+Except climbing up the cone of Vesuvius, where one generally makes two
+steps in advance and three steps backwards, I never met anything more
+trying than some parts of this ascent into Tchernagora or the "Black
+Mountains," as the natives called this region, and which was rendered
+by the Venetians into "Montenegro," the name it retains to this day.
+
+The sun was becoming extremely hot, and I should have found it
+considerably difficult to keep my place, but for the occasional assistance
+afforded me by the powerful hand and arm of my Prince of Mountaineers,
+Pero Pejovich, who whenever I came to some rugged impediment which
+seemed to tax my energies more than usual, would quickly, with one hand
+passed under my arms close below my shoulder, lift me bodily over it,
+with his broad good-humoured face beaming with smiles; and when I tell
+you, gentle reader, that I sometimes weigh _more_ but never less than
+fourteen stone, I leave you to calculate the strength of my amiable giant.
+
+We had now topped the worst of our ascent, and remounting our horses
+commenced a short descent to a little plain surrounded by steep, rugged,
+barren rocks seemingly the bed of some ancient dried up lake. At the
+further extremity of this little plain could be seen half-a-dozen
+scattered houses forming the village of Niegosch, the birth-place of
+the Prince of Montenegro, as well as the cradle of his race, from which
+they take their patronimic of Petrovich Niegosch.
+
+We rode up straight to the principal house where we were expected and
+received by a young Petrovich, a cousin of the Prince, a very handsome
+young fellow, with whom unfortunately I could only have conversation by
+the help of Pero Pejovich, who speaking Italian as well as Montenegrin,
+always proved himself a most valuable interpreter.
+
+We made a very short stay here, as we wanted to reach Cettigne before
+the middle of the day; so having partaken of some excellent coffee,
+served up with toast and such clotted cream as I never before tasted
+out of Devonshire, and having admired the gorgeous arms which hung round
+young Petrovich's room, each of which had some story attached to it, all
+being trophies taken in battle from the Turks, we mounted our horses,
+and again plunging into a ravine recommenced the difficult ascent.
+
+After a short but arduous climb, we at length reached the top of the pass
+and the highest point between Cattaro and Cettigne. Here a wonderful
+panorama spread itself out before us—not beautiful, perhaps, but grand
+in its way. Right, left, and front, nothing could be seen but barren,
+grey mountain tops—except right in front of us, where at a short distance
+lay the valley of Cettigne, also apparently the bed of an ancient Alpine
+lake. Beyond that plain the bleak and rocky mountains closed in again;
+and beyond them, far in the hazy distance, shining in the noon-day sun,
+could be seen the glittering lake of Scutari, or more properly of Skodra,
+in Northern Albania.
+
+A scene like this could scarcely be conceived, such a wilderness of rocks,
+such a picture of sterility, had never met my eyes. Peak after peak,
+desolate and barren, rose in every direction, as far as the sight could
+reach; and as the point on which we stood must have been more than four
+thousand feet above the sea, the distance we could see in that bright
+clear atmosphere may be imagined.
+
+The rocks of which those mountains are formed looked ashy grey in the
+bright sunlight, except here and there in some of the ravines where a
+scanty, scrubby vegetation, struggling for existence, offered a precarious
+subsistence to considerable flocks of small wild goats, herded by still
+wilder-looking children. These grey rocky masses, when it rains, become
+of a dark slate colour, nearly black, and hence arose the name of the
+country, Tchernagora.
+
+To account for the presence of such immense quantities of stones in their
+country, the Montenegrins have a legend which says that after the Creator
+had made this earth, the Devil was permitted to go and scatter stones
+all over it. He carried the stones in a bag over his shoulder, but as
+he passed in his flight over their country, the bag suddenly burst, and
+thus a greater share of stones fell to their lot than they were fairly
+entitled to.
+
+I don't know which was the most fatiguing, the climb up to the top of the
+pass, or the scramble down; I think the latter, and if I did reach the
+bottom without a fall or a sprained ankle, I owe it all to my excellent
+fellow-traveller, Pero Pejovich, who kept a sturdy hold of me all through,
+and saved me, I am sure, from many an ugly tumble.
+
+At last we found ourselves in the little plain of Cettigne, and putting
+spurs to our small horses cantered over the turf till we reached the
+first houses of the straggling street which constitutes the capital of
+one of the most interesting countries in Europe.
+
+The next travellers who visit Cettigne will find there good accommodation
+in a spacious hotel, which was all but completed before I left; but when
+I was there, nothing existed in the shape of an inn except a couple of
+very wretched khans, where it would have been difficult to get rest,
+owing to the activity of the insect population and the total absence of
+every accommodation. Thanks to the liberal hospitality of His Highness,
+I was provided, by his orders, with apartments in the ancient fortified
+palace of the Vladikas, or Prince-Bishops of Montenegro, to which I was
+conducted by one of His Highness's aide-de-camps, who had come to meet
+me. This gentleman had been educated in France, at the Military School
+of St. Cyr, spoke French like a Parisian, and was most kind in never
+allowing me to want for anything. Guessing that I did not know a word
+of Slave, he had most thoughtfully appointed a man in the town, who
+could speak a few words of Italian, to attend me during my stay, and to
+provide me daily with food from a sort of very primitive restaurant in
+the place.
+
+Having rested a couple of hours after eating an early dinner, according
+to the fashion of southern countries, I received a visit from Mr. Nico
+Matanovich, the gentleman alluded to above, and to whom I was indebted
+for the comfort with which I was installed, who in company with the
+Russian Consul (who was residing at the new Palace with the Prince), came
+to propose a walk about the place as soon as the sun should be somewhat
+nearer to the horizon. Having ordered up coffee, as is always expected
+in these countries, Mr. Nico Matanovich conveyed to me the agreeable
+information that His Highness would receive me the following day at
+eleven o'clock in the morning. In reply, I begged he would present my
+humble respects to His Highness, and my unbounded thanks for the handsome
+manner in which I was treated.
+
+The sun being now sufficiently low, we sallied forth to take a turn
+round the place, and see what was to be seen. But before I leave my
+quarters, let me try to give some idea of the Vladika's Palace, where I
+was lodged. This quaint old building consists of a quadrangle of about
+a hundred and fifty paces[7] either way, surrounded by a very massive
+and high wall, pierced by two large roofed-in gateways, one in front
+and one at the side, and having at each corner a round squat tower
+with a conical roof, reminding one somewhat of those that surround, at
+intervals, the Kremlin at Moscow. Running midway from side to side, and
+dividing this enclosure into about two equal parts is the palace itself,
+which consists of two stories, the second of which is divided into a
+series of chambers, each about sixteen feet square and ten feet high,
+all opening into each other, and communicating also at the back with a
+wide corridor which goes the whole length of the building. The windows,
+of which there are two to each room, look into the front compartment of
+the quadrangle, while the windows of the corridor look on the back.
+
+The entrance is by a hall door from which one ascends at once to the
+upper story, by means of a massive wooden staircase formed of solid
+beams of timber roughly hewn. The lower story has been turned partly
+into an arsenal, principally filled with ancient weapons taken from the
+Turks, and partly into a Government school; the upper rooms are occupied
+at one end by the Archimandrite and some other officials—the rest are
+untenanted. In the centre of the front court-yard is a deep well of the
+most delicious water, and so cold that I used it to cool my wine and
+beer with nearly as much success as if I had been using snow. The back
+compartment was a kitchen-garden and orchard.
+
+Leaving the old Palace by the side gate which opens upon one of the
+two streets that constitute the town of Cettigne, we found ourselves
+opposite to the new Palace lately built by the Prince—the style of which
+I in no wise admire, though I do not doubt it is comfortable enough
+inside; but it has no character whatever, and looks insignificant when
+compared with the old Palace. If the money spent on building the new
+had been judiciously laid out in adding to the old, a truly fine Palace
+could have been erected, with all the old characteristics preserved,
+which the eyes of the people, as well as of travellers, would have had
+an historical stamp as the abode of all the old Vladikas, those ancient
+Prince-Bishops—Bishops of the Church Militant—who for many years had
+valiantly defended their country, their liberty, and their faith against
+the unceasing attacks of the Infidels.
+
+Opposite this gate, and just midway in the very broad street between the
+old and the new Palace, stands a large carob tree, with a stone bench
+of roughly hewn blocks round its trunk, and here in Summer from about
+nine o'clock every morning the Prince sits for some hours administering
+justice. I often watched him with the greatest interest from a window in
+the old Palace. It was like acting a chapter in the Old Testament—Deborah
+judging Israel under a palm tree, "between Ramah and Beth-el in Mount
+Ephraim!" Beyond the "Tree of Justice" one came to the new Palace, a
+homely structure, as I said before, and of no pretence. At the gate two
+sentries of the Prince's bodyguard, in full Montenegrin costume, mount
+guard, and are constantly relieved every hour, their barracks being
+exactly opposite. The process of relieving guard is very simple—two
+privates walk out of the barracks with their long breechloaders over
+their shoulders "_à volonté_," and take their station on each side of
+the gateway of the Palace, while the other two walk back into barracks,
+and that is all.
+
+We now turned our backs on the "Tree of Justice," and walked up the
+street, which is but short, until we came to the main street which crosses
+it at right angles. This main street is not paved, but is wide, and the
+houses on each side, though seemingly poor and wretched in the extreme
+in our eyes, are, most probably, comfortable enough in theirs; and as
+they do not even possess a word in their language to denote "comfort,"
+what we would consider such, would, perhaps, be only considered by them
+an uneasy restraint.
+
+Turning now to the right we walked to the end of the street, where
+is the new hotel with the post and telegraph office. The hotel, as I
+previously said, was not yet opened, though the building was completed,
+and when supplied with beds, tables, and chairs will be a very creditable
+affair, incomparably better than any hotel in Dalmatia. Near the hotel, a
+little to the left, is another modern institution, evincing in no small
+degree the enlightened anxiety of the Prince for the advancement of his
+country. It is a _Pensionnat de demoiselles_ for the education of the
+daughters of the better classes, both of Montenegro and the surrounding
+countries; it can accommodate forty pupils, and is superintended by a
+charming and highly accomplished Russian lady, assisted by efficient
+governesses. The charge being very small, only £20 per annum, it must
+be largely subsidized by His Highness.
+
+Being vacation time, I had not the satisfaction of seeing any of the
+boarders, much to the regret of Mademoiselle Pakievitch, who kindly
+showed me all over the institution, which was admirably neat and clean.
+She was anxious that I should have heard some of the pupils speak English
+and French. "I think you would have been both pleased and surprised,"
+said she. The majority spoke Illyrian, Russian and German, while several
+were proficient in addition with both English and French, and one with
+Albanian also. The institution is under the special patronage of the
+Empress of Russia, who takes the greatest interest in it, and constantly
+sends presents to it.
+
+Keeping now a little to the right, and following the path which leads to
+the town of Rieka, we soon came to the foot of the crags which on that
+side close in with an impassable barrier the little plain of Cettigne.
+We now turned sharp round and set our faces towards the town, as the
+lengthening shadows warned us that the sun was already setting behind
+the mountains which we had traversed in the morning. The smooth plain
+covered with short grass was delightful to walk over, though one had
+to be careful of one's steps owing to the many wells with which it is
+dotted for the purpose of getting water for the cattle, and which, quite
+level with the ground and without the semblance of a parapet, might have
+swallowed one up before one would have had time to see them.
+
+Right before us, standing a little to the left and just beyond the old
+palace, could be seen in the distance the ancient monastery which in old
+times used to be occupied by the Archimandrite, in the days when the
+Vladika used to inhabit the palace; but now that Church and State are
+separated, it is occupied by Monsignor Roganovitch, the Metropolitan of
+Montenegro.
+
+Just above it, perched upon a rock and standing out in bold relief
+against the glowing sky, could be seen the old tower of Cettigne, an
+ancient piece of masonry which until three or four years ago used to
+be constantly decorated with the heads of Turks killed and decapitated
+in their several skirmishes and forays. This barbarous custom has now
+been abandoned, never to be resumed again it is to be hoped, and the
+present Prince, further to turn away the thoughts of the natives from
+the barbarous habit of their forefathers, has caused a belfry to be
+erected on the top of the tower wherein is placed a large bell, which
+is only rung in cases of great alarm to gather the tribes. The bell is
+very heavy, and much ingenuity and labour were required to transport it
+on men's backs from Cattaro to Cettigne.
+
+By the time we got back to the Palace it was dark, so wishing good night
+to my kind friends I made a frugal supper and went to bed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+     INSECT POWDER OF MONTENEGRO—DESCRIPTION OF THE
+     MONASTERY—ENCAMPMENTS—FESTIVAL OF ST. PETER—A SAINT BY THE
+     WILL OF THE PEOPLE—PICTURESQUE SCENE—BOSNIAN CAFÉ—THE NATIONAL
+     INSTRUMENT—A TRAVELLED DALMATIAN—TALL MONTENEGRINS.
+
+
+I awoke early the next morning, having slept most luxuriously on a spring
+mattress and totally unmolested by fleas, thanks to the ample supply of
+flea-powder thoughtfully strewn by my attendant, between the mattress
+and the undersheet.
+
+The insect powder of Montenegro is celebrated, you must know, in Eastern
+and Southern Europe, and I can vouch for its excellence. It consists
+simply in the small dried flower of some species of Pyrethrum, which
+when wanted for use is ground in a coffee-mill and strewed about the bed.
+The plant is found abundantly all over Montenegro, and owes its greater
+virtue to the fact of being grown in very arid soil, untempered by the
+slightest moisture, and exposed to scorching suns—everything about it
+therefore is in the most concentrated form, and hence its efficacy; it
+is a very considerable article of commerce, and is largely exported to
+Russia and the Levant.
+
+It was not therefore due to insect attacks that I was so early disturbed
+from my slumbers on the following morning; still I was disturbed,
+and that by the momentarily increasing hum of many voices and general
+bustle of the thousands who were flocking to Cettigne for the festival
+which was to take place on the morrow; but the great day of the feast
+throughout the south of Europe is invariably the day before the feast,
+"la vigilia del Santo," as the wording goes. The day of the feast itself
+one confesses, goes to mass, and does the proper; all the fun and the
+rollicking is generally the day before. So I got up, and pushing open
+the outside green shutters which secured my windows, I looked into the
+courtyard of the Palace, and over the walls beyond into the little plain,
+which was gradually filling with numberless men, women, and children,
+some on horseback, more on foot, but all gorgeously attired.
+
+The sun was now getting high on the horizon, and the scene before me
+was becoming more and more animated and interesting. In the open space
+under my window, within the high enclosure of the Palace wall, men were
+busy picketing a dozen horses, evidently from the costliness of their
+trappings belonging to Chiefs and Woyvodes. While under a group of carob
+trees, in one corner of the enclosure, were spread several rugs on which
+were sitting cross-legged some of the owners of those quadrupeds, with
+their clumsy high-backed saddles behind them, passively smoking their
+chibouks while their attendants busied themselves preparing coffee.
+
+Close on my right and just beyond the old Palace was the monastery,
+which, owing to the lateness of the hour the evening before, I had been
+unable to examine. Like the old Palace it is a sort of semi-fortified
+building, constructed more for safety than for comfort. On the right
+hand, as the observer looks at it in front, is the church, and next to
+it a tall, square, and very modern tower erected to the memory of the
+Vladika Peter, who is buried on the top of a somewhat difficult peak to
+the south-west of Cettigne and about six miles distant. The body of the
+monastery comes next, conspicuous by two rows of arched openings placed
+one over the other, and to the left of them again are the apartments of
+the Metropolitan. The whole is surrounded by a high wall, enclosing a
+primitive garden in which are located a large number of beehives, (upwards
+of a hundred). This wall is pierced by one large gateway, roofed over
+and secured by a massive door, in front of which is the circular-paved
+thrashing floor, so characteristic of the East. Every thing about the
+monastery is of the simplest and rudest construction, and the church is
+utterly unadorned, not from choice, I am assured, but from necessity.
+
+In the monastery itself are many shady corners that would well repay
+a few hours spent in transferring them to one's portfolio, and just at
+the entrance inside the building, is a most extraordinary chasm in the
+rock, through which a piercing cold wind is constantly blowing, coldest
+when the weather is hottest; and so intense is the cold in that opening
+that it is used in Summer as an ice-house for the cooling of wine and
+the preserving of food. This phenomenon has never been satisfactorily
+explained, because it is not only that the cavity is cold, but a strong
+sharp cutting wind rushes out of it. I shall not attempt to account for
+it, but will leave it as a problem for sharper wits than mine to solve.
+
+As the day waxed older the number of arrivals increased on the plain of
+Cettigne, till by eight o'clock in the morning it was dotted all over
+with picketed horses and temporary encampments of all sorts. Having had
+my simple breakfast of coffee, milk, and toast without butter—which is
+quite unknown there though cream is plentiful—but accompanied by a good
+plate of Albanian figs, I went out with Pero Pejovich, who came to fetch
+me to visit the fair. For this festival of St. Peter offers a double
+stimulus to the inhabitants of the surrounding country for a visit to
+Cettigne—a religious ceremony and a considerable fair. And it may be
+right for me to observe that this St. Peter, Patron of Montenegro, in
+whose honour this great gathering annually takes place, is a saint _sui
+generis_—indeed I was on the point of saying, when I detected and checked
+myself, that he was a saint _extra palum ecclesiæ_; for he is neither St.
+Peter the Apostle, nor St. Peter the Martyr, nor St. Peter the Hermit,
+nor even St. Peter Igneus, who in a fit of zeal for the maintenance of
+the laws relating to the temporalities of the church, walked through the
+flames at Settimo in the eleventh century, to establish a case of simony
+against another Peter, one Peter of Pavia, then Bishop of Florence; nor
+any other canonical St. Peter I ever heard of, but simply St. Peter of
+Montenegro, the old Vladika Peter I., Prince-Bishop of Montenegro, not
+yet canonized by any ecclesiastical authority or other licensing body,
+as I was assured, but simply a saint in virtue of the will of the people,
+the Plebiscite of Montenegro, who insisted _autoritate nostra_ on having
+him for their patron saint. He probably deserved to be canonized just
+as well, and perhaps better than many another saint, and if history
+tells truth, certainly better than his namesake, the so-called Peter
+the Martyr, for he wisely, mildly, and virtuously ruled in Montenegro
+for fifty-three years, viz., from 1777 to 1830, and the mountaineers
+are fully justified in reverencing his memory.
+
+Passing my arm through that of Pero Pejovich, who seemed to know and
+be known of everyone, I began my expedition through a crowd of men,
+women and children, that every moment grew denser and denser. It was the
+most picturesque scene that could be imagined; all the neighbouring and
+surrounding countries had sent their contributions to the fair—Bosnians,
+Servians, Herzegovinians, Morlacks, Dalmatians, Albanians, Roumelians,
+Turks, Greeks, Croats, Italians, &c.; but conspicuous among them all
+for height of stature and nobility of countenance were the Montenegrins
+themselves. I think that, even independent of their costume, I could
+have always singled them out by their ruddy though sunburnt complexions,
+grey or blue eyes, and open honest countenances.
+
+We went to a booth where arms were sold, and I was astounded at the
+number, variety, and richness of the weapons that were not only displayed,
+but were actually sold. They seemed to me dear. I should have much
+liked to purchase a handsome yataghan with silver hilt and in a sheath
+of _repoussé_ silver. It was a very handsome weapon, and was made by
+a celebrated artificer of Skodra, but the price was sixteen Napoleons,
+which was more than I liked to give, and I suspect I could get one just
+like it in Tichborne Street for half the money.
+
+From the armourer we went to a tailor's booth, where piles of costumes of
+different nationalities were exposed for sale; Morlack suits, Albanian
+suits, and Montenegrin suits, some of cloth and some of velvet, but
+all more or less embroidered in gold, and some literally overladen with
+plates of silver gilt. From thence we went to a Bosnian _café_ of the
+most primitive kind; a couple of large blankets stretched over a few
+poles made a pretence of shelter, and on the ground were a few Turkish
+rugs on which we squatted, while a very ugly and dirty gipsy-looking
+woman was boiling coffee outside over a small fire of sticks contrived
+between two stones; nothing could be more primitive. So we sat and
+smoked, and in due time drank our coffee, which was simply abominable. I
+remember it was, though I was not minding it much, being occupied at the
+time with listening to a man performing on the national instrument, the
+_guzla_ (pronounced goozla), whilst a girl was singing a low, monotonous,
+plaintive air.
+
+The _guzla_ is not an instrument which offers much scope to the performer;
+it is simply a very primitive fiddle, with only one string, played upon
+with an equally primitive bow; still it was surprising the amount of
+harmony the man contrived to scrape out of it. The song, as Pero Pejovich
+told me, was all about the old story, love and war, while the music, as
+is almost always the case among barbarous nations, was in a minor key.
+
+Having paid for our coffee and thrown a few paràs to the minstrels, we
+sallied forth again.
+
+"And now, friend Pero," I said, "I should like to see some of your
+Montenegrin beauties. I have seen lots of fine men this morning; but as
+to the women, friend Pero, they are a caution. I never saw so many ugly
+ones congregated together."
+
+My conductor smiled, shrugged his shoulders, and looked me in the face;
+he did not know exactly whether he ought not to be angry. However, his
+habitual good-humour prevailed, and with a loud laugh, he said:
+
+"_Avete ragione, son brutte come il Demonio._ But wait, only wait till
+you see the Princess; she is a pure Montenegrina, and beautiful enough
+for the whole nation." And he spoke truth!
+
+We now wandered away again towards a sort of native inn or khan, where
+he said we should get some good Vienna beer to wash away the taste of
+that abominable coffee. As we were passing some booths, where a variety
+of cheap Manchester goods were being displayed with some English Delft
+ware of the very commonest description, I was hailed with a "How d'ye
+do, stranger?" from a dapper, wide-awake-looking little man, who came
+out and spoke such excellent English that I took him to be a Briton
+or an American; but he was neither; he was a Dalmatian from Sebenico,
+who had been a great deal in England and America, and spoke English as
+fluently as his native Illyrian. I had a long chat with him, and asked
+him how trade was, and if he was doing well.
+
+"No," he replied; "they don't know what trade is in these countries, they
+have too many restrictions; and yet," said he, "you won't go into the
+poorest cabin that you won't find one of these," handing me a wretched
+sample of English pottery with a vile brown pattern on it; "such is
+their preference for everything of English make."
+
+Here Pero reminded me of the beer we had to drink, and that the time was
+drawing near when I was to present myself at the Palace for my audience.
+So we went off to the khan, where, having refreshed ourselves with some
+of Vienna's best, with a lump of virgin snow in it, I bid my guide good
+morning, and returned to the old Palace; when, having dressed myself, I
+crossed over to the new one to pay my respects to the Prince according
+to the orders received the day before.
+
+Having penetrated through the outer gate, where the guards, I thought,
+looked rather scowlingly on my strange attire—viz., a dark blue frock
+coat, light grey trousers, and patent leather boots, the whole topped
+with my Indian quilted helmet—I ascended to the hall door by half a dozen
+steps, where I was met by the Prince's own henchman, a brother of the
+Commandant of the Grahovo. He was yet taller than his brother, and must
+have been at least six feet eight inches. I do not say this quite by
+guess-work, though I did not actually measure him; but on a subsequent
+occasion I did measure an immense Montenegrin, and found him six feet
+seven inches without heels, and the henchman was decidedly taller than
+he.
+
+Well, _pour revenir à nos moutons_, I followed my Goliath into the
+hall, which is small and low, terminating in a double staircase, that
+bending round from each side joins again in the middle to form but one
+flight, at the top of which I found myself in a vestibule with two more
+guards on duty, and from that I was ushered into a fine large and well
+proportioned room, handsomely furnished in Viennese style, and hung all
+round with good portraits of the Prince's father, the celebrated Mirko,
+the Emperor and Empress of Russia, the Emperor and Empress of Austria,
+and many others.
+
+Rooms open right and left off this. I was conducted into a smaller room
+to the right, where, after waiting for only a few seconds, the Prince
+came in. He addressed me in French, congratulating me on my courage for
+having ventured so far into his country, not on account of the difficulty
+of the road, "for all English are good mountaineers," but from the bad
+name the country has in Europe.
+
+"Don't you know," said he, laughing, "que nous sommes des ogres, et que
+nous mangeons les enfans; however, you shall try how we cook them if
+you will dine here to-night at eight."
+
+I thanked His Highness for his kindness, adding that I had never heard
+of their cannibal propensities, but in any case I should be happy to
+eat anything His Highness also would eat, and making my bow backed out
+of the saloon.
+
+I then left my card for the Russian Consul, who was staying at the Palace,
+and afterwards went to pay the same compliment to Mr. Nico Matanovich,
+aide-de-camp to the Prince; after which I returned to my quarters, to
+convert into a luncheon the repast which otherwise would have served
+for a dinner, but for the hospitality of His Highness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+     A POLYGLOT JUMBLE—WAR CUSTOMS OF THE MONTENEGRINS—DEATH
+     IN BATTLE—FORAYS FOR THE PLUNDER OF CATTLE—EQUIPAGE OF A
+     MONTENEGRIN SOLDIER—PILLAGE—MANNER OF FIGHTING—TACTICS—SIGNAL
+     CRIES—ON BOARD SHIP—DECAPITATION OF WOUNDED PRISONERS.
+
+
+I now discovered what a terrible nuisance it is to know only three
+or four languages, especially when one finds oneself in a country the
+language of which is a complete mystery. The attendant I had, who had
+been so thoughtfully provided for me by Mr. Matanovich, professed to speak
+Italian, and he did in fact know a few Italian words, but in his general
+conversation with me, as was subsequently discovered and explained to me
+by Pero Pejovich, the language in which he spoke consisted pretty much of
+the following happy mixture: six-tenths of Montenegrin, three-tenths of
+Albanian and Turkish, with one-tenth Italian! With this polyglot jumble we
+got on fairly well, as far as hot water, coffee, pipe, tobacco, pranzo;
+and he learned to appreciate eventually the American word "skedaddle,"
+but when our necessities required further intercourse, it was perfectly
+hopeless—language was utterly useless, and gesticulation the only chance
+of making oneself understood. But he was a willing poor beggar, and
+not more dishonest than the majority of his fellows. He had a wholesome
+terror of the Prince's rigorous punishment of theft. "_Niente ladri in
+Montenegro_," he used to say, "_Principe terrible_," turning up his eyes
+and distorting his countenance to a fearful degree.
+
+Now whilst my attendant is preparing and setting out my lunch, I may
+as well entertain my reader with an account of the customs in war, and
+mode of fighting of the Montenegrins, by the pen of M. Broniewsky, which
+is so graphic, and accords so literally with what the Commandant Pero
+Pejovich related to me at different times, that I cannot think I could
+do better than transcribe it.
+
+"A Montenegrin is always armed, and carries about during his most peaceful
+occupation a rifle (many of them now have breechloaders), pistol, or
+yataghan, and a cartouche-box. The Montenegrins spend their leisure time
+in firing at a target, and are accustomed to this exercise from their
+boyish years. Being inured to hardships and privations, they perform
+without fatigue, and in high spirits, very long and forced marches. They
+climb the steepest rocks with great facility, and bear with the greatest
+patience hunger, thirst, and every kind of privation. When the enemy
+is defeated and retiring, they pursue him with such rapidity that they
+supply the want of cavalry, which it is impossible to employ in their
+mountainous country.
+
+"Inhabiting mountains which present, at every step, passes where a handful
+of brave men may arrest the progress of an army, they are not afraid of a
+surprise, particularly as they have on their frontier a constant guard,
+and the whole of their force can be collected within twenty-four hours
+upon the threatened point. When the enemy is in great force, they burn
+their villages, devastate their fields, and after having enticed him
+into the mountains, they surround and attack him in the most desperate
+manner.
+
+"When the country is in danger, the Montenegrins forget all personal
+feelings of private advantage and enmity. They obey the orders of their
+chief, and like gallant Republicans, they consider it a happiness and a
+grace of God to die in battle. It is in such a case that they appear as
+real warriors; but beyond the limits of their country, they are savage
+barbarians, who destroy everything with fire and sword.
+
+"Their ideas about war are entirely different from those adopted by
+civilized nations. They cut off the heads of those enemies whom they take
+with arms in their hands, and spare only those who surrender before the
+battle. The property they take from the enemy is considered by them as
+their own, and as a reward of courage. They literally defend themselves
+to the last extremity; a Montenegrin never craves for mercy; and whenever
+one of them is severely wounded, and it is impossible to save him from the
+enemy, his own comrades cut off his head. When at the attack of Clobuk,
+a little detachment of our troops was obliged to retreat, an officer
+of stout-make and no longer young fell on the ground from exhaustion.
+A Montenegrin perceiving it (the Montenegrins were fighting with the
+Russians against the French) ran immediately to him, and having drawn
+his yataghan, said 'You are very brave and must wish that I should cut
+off your head; say a prayer and make a sign of the cross.' The officer
+horrified at the proposition made an effort to rise, and rejoined his
+comrades with the assistance of the friendly Montenegrin.
+
+"They consider all those taken by the enemy as killed. They carry out of
+the battle their wounded comrades on their shoulders; and be it said to
+their honour they acted in the same manner by our officers and soldiers.
+
+"Like the Circassians, they are constantly making forays in small
+parties, for the plunder of cattle, and consider such expeditions as
+feats of chivalry, (just as the Scotch Highlanders one hundred years
+ago). Being safe in their habitations, where nobody dares to molest
+them, they continue their depredations with impunity, disregarding the
+threats of the Divan, and the hatred of their neighbours. Arms, a small
+loaf of bread, a cheese, some garlic, a little brandy, an old garment,
+and two pair of sandals, made of raw hide, form all the equipage of a
+Montenegrin. On the march they do not seek any shelter from rain or cold.
+In rainy weather, the Montenegrin wraps up his head in his strooka, lies
+down on the ground, and sleeps very comfortably. Three or four hours'
+repose are quite sufficient for his rest, and the remainder of his time
+is occupied in constant exertion.
+
+"It is impossible to retain them in the reserve; and it seems they cannot
+calmly bear the view of the enemy. When they have expended all their
+cartouches, they humbly request every officer they meet with to give them
+some, and as soon as they have received them, they run headlong into the
+further line. When there is no enemy in sight, they sing and dance, and
+go on pillaging, in which we must give them the credit of being perfect
+masters; although they are not acquainted with the high sounding names
+of contribution, requisition, forced loan, &c., &c. They call pillage,
+simply 'pillage,' and have no hesitation in confessing it.
+
+"Their usual manner of fighting is as follows: If they are in great
+force, they conceal themselves in ravines, and send out only a small
+number of shooters, who by retreating lead the enemy into the ambush;
+here, after having surrounded him, they attack him, usually preferring
+on such occasions swords to fire-arms; because they rely on their
+personal strength and bravery, in which they generally have the advantage
+over their enemies. When their numbers are inferior, they choose some
+advantageous position on high rocks, where pronouncing every kind of abuse
+against their enemies, they challenge them to combat. Their attacks are
+mostly made during the night, because their principal system is surprise.
+
+"However small their force may be, they always try to wear out the enemy
+by constantly harassing him. The best French _voltigeurs_ in the advanced
+posts were always destroyed by them; and the enemy's generals found it
+more advantageous to remain under cover of their cannon, of which the
+Montenegrins were not at all fond. However, they soon became accustomed
+to them, and supported by our rifles, they bravely mounted the batteries.
+
+"The tactics of Montenegrins are confined to being skilful marksmen....
+In a pitched battle their movements can be ascertained only by the
+direction of their standards. They have certain signal cries, which
+are uttered when they are to join in a compact body for attacking the
+weaker points of the enemy. As soon as such a signal is given, they rush
+furiously onwards, break into the squares, and at all events create a
+deal of disorder in the enemy's ranks. It was a terrible spectacle to
+see the Montenegrins rushing forward, with heads of slaughtered enemies
+suspended from their necks and shoulders, and uttering savage yells....
+
+"The Russian commander-in-chief had much difficulty in persuading them
+not to cut off the heads of their prisoners. He finally succeeded in
+this (chiefly by paying them a ducat for every prisoner) but what he had
+more difficulty, with the assistance of the Vladika, in persuading them
+to do, was to embark for an expedition on board of ship—a thing which
+they had never done before.
+
+"Notwithstanding that they were treated with the greatest kindness,
+they proved very troublesome guests. Whenever the captains invited their
+chiefs to breakfast, they all entered the cabin, and having observed that
+more dishes were served to the officers than to common sailors, they
+wanted to have a similar fare. When the Fortress of Curzola was taken
+the feast of Easter was approaching; they gave the captain no repose,
+entreating him to return to Cattaro; but when it was explained to them
+that the vessel could not advance against the wind, they fell into great
+despondency.
+
+"When at last the ship approached the entrance of Boccha di Cattaro
+and they caught a sight of their own black mountains, they uttered
+joyous exclamations, and began to sing and dance. On taking leave they
+affectionately embraced the captain and the officers, and invited those
+to whom they had taken a liking to pay them a visit. But when the sailors
+told them they could not leave the ship without the permission of their
+superiors, they were much astonished, and said, 'If you like to do a
+thing, what right has another to forbid you?'"
+
+Does not the foregoing read like a chapter in "Waverley," or in "Rob
+Roy?" but though it is now a good many years since M. Broniewski wrote
+the foregoing, the Montenegrin is still much the same, with the exception
+of cutting off the heads of those killed in battle, which he has given
+up, principally, I believe, because he has had no fighting of late. But
+at the period of the last attempted invasion of Montenegro on the Grahovo
+side, by the Turks in, I think, 1862, heads were cut off as freely as
+ever, and were liberally paid for by the chieftains; the only difference
+was that instead of taking them to Cettigne to hang in festoons upon
+the round tower at the back of the monastery, they were allowed to rot
+on the battle-field among the rocks of the Grahovo where scores of them
+are to be seen lying about to this day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+     BATTLE BETWEEN TURKS AND MONTENEGRINS—ADDRESS OF PRINCE
+     MIRKO—HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND CHARACTER—THE PROJECTS OF
+     PRINCE DANIELO—PRINCE NICHOLAS I.—SPORT IN MONTENEGRO—INTERVIEW
+     WITH THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS—NATIONAL COSTUME—SPLENDID
+     ILLUMINATION.
+
+
+I regret more than I can express having lost some interesting notes
+of several conversations I had with the Commandant Pedro Pejovich on
+the subject of the campaign of 1864(?); all the more as they were most
+graphically told me by him, who had been in the thick of the fight, and
+carried in his body, in the shape of severe wounds, proofs of the active
+part he had borne in that campaign. One only I partially remember still,
+sufficiently well to venture to retail.
+
+The Turks, apparently, were attacking the Montenegrins from the
+Herzegovina in the north of Montenegro. They numbered about twelve
+thousand men, together with a good force of Artillery; while the
+Montenegrins collected to oppose them were not more than two thousand;
+but whilst the Turks were in the plain fully exposed in sight of the
+Montenegrins, these sturdy mountaineers, finding covert behind each
+rock and bramble bush, were able to pick off the Turks with considerable
+effect. Still the disparity of force was too great, and at the end of the
+second day's fighting, although the Turks had not been able to make any
+impression on the position held by the Montenegrins, still the number of
+those killed and wounded bore a very large proportion to their numbers.
+At sunset the fight being over for the time, and sentries having been
+posted by the mountaineers as far forward as practicable to watch the
+Ottoman camp, Prince Mirko, father of the present Prince of Montenegro,
+then in command of the Montenegrins, summoned all the chiefs to a brief
+council of war, and spoke thus:
+
+"Two days we have been fighting the infidels, and the only result has
+been the losses we have sustained in killed and wounded. Another day of
+such fighting will leave us so crippled that the accursed Turks will
+walk over us into our homes and villages. There is but one plan which
+offers any hope, but if you adopt it and place faith in me, I promise
+you a complete victory before to-morrow's sun shall gild the tops of
+yonder mountains. To-morrow morning, one hour before daylight, be all
+ready to follow me, leave behind your rifles and ammunition, and follow
+me softly and stealthily, making no noise; so we shall pass the Turkish
+advanced sentries without their noticing us, and when sufficiently near
+I will call my cry, and then let you all rush forward with me, trusting
+solely to your yataghans, and give no quarter."
+
+This was carried out to the letter, and succeeded perfectly. The
+Turks, never imagining they would be attacked, kept a bad look-out.
+The Montenegrins, led on by the intrepid Mirko, rushed on the Turkish
+batteries, cutting the gunners' heads off, and having spiked the cannons
+attacked the remainder of the army with such impetuosity that they fled
+from the field in the utmost disorder.
+
+This was the last attack of the Turks against Montenegro, and I don't
+think they will ever try it again. Prince Mirko was dead before my
+visit to this country. I cannot therefore give any description of him
+personally, but from all I heard he must have been a very remarkable
+man in every way. Though small in stature and slight, contrary to the
+general build of the Montenegrins, who are mostly all very tall and
+powerful men, he had immense influence over the mountain-tribes; owing
+to his well known sagacity and his fierce courage, wherever Mirko would
+lead, the whole of Montenegro would follow. He had the eye of an eagle,
+and strength of will and determination are portrayed in every line of
+his face, as I have observed in his portrait which hangs in the Palace
+of Montenegro, as well as the photograph I have seen of him. But he was
+wise also; when Prince Danielo (the predecessor of the present ruler)
+died by the hand of an assassin at Cattaro, his widow, the Princess
+Darinka, at once caused the present Prince, Nicholas I. (nephew of the
+murdered Danielo) to be proclaimed sovereign, passing over his father
+Mirko, who, owing to the great youth of his son, might have expected and
+claimed the succession; but as I said above, Mirko was wise as well as
+valorous. He knew that from his own warlike tendencies, how much soever
+he might be acceptable to his own mountaineers, his elevation to be
+ruler of Tchernagora would be displeasing to most of his neighbours in
+Austria, Servia, and Turkey. He therefore at once consented to his son's
+promotion, and generously was the first in Montenegro to do homage to
+the young Prince.
+
+Up to the year 1850, when Prince Danielo succeeded to the throne of
+Montenegro, the country had always been ruled by a Prince-Bishop, styled
+the Vladika. This dignitary, generally, if not always, nominated his own
+successor in the person of a nephew or some other near relative, who,
+on the death of the Vladika at once took holy orders and became in his
+turn Prince-Bishop.
+
+Danielo, not wishing to give up the happiness of home and married
+life, and also perhaps with the hope of founding a dynasty of his own
+in Montenegro, which in the course of time might, by extension and the
+absorption of other principalities, become an important kingdom, repaired
+to St. Petersburgh on the death of the Vladika Peter II., his uncle, and
+there obtained the full consent of the Emperor Nicholas to his effecting
+a division between Church and State. On his return journey to Cettigne
+he married at Trieste the Princess Darinka, hoping to have founded a
+line of princes to succeed him. His hopes however were destined to be
+blighted. Darinka had no children, and after reigning eight years, he
+was murdered at Cattaro as I have related above.
+
+The young Prince, (Nicholas I.) who had already been betrothed almost
+in infancy, as is the custom among the upper classes in that country
+to a relation of his own, daughter of one of the principal Voyvodes in
+Montenegro, followed his studies under special direction in the Palace of
+his ancestors; till one day the late Emperor Napoleon III., for reasons
+of his own, proposed to have the young Prince sent to Paris, there to
+be educated under his own eye; and the offer having been accepted, a
+French man-of-war without loss of time steamed into the Gulf of Cattaro
+and carried away the young Prince, together with two companions of his
+own age, sons of two of the principal Voyvodes of the country. Whatever
+care was bestowed upon the Prince's education, he amply profited by it;
+he is an excellent French and Italian, as well as German and Russian
+scholar. He is exceptionally well informed, and on a great variety of
+subjects; and voracious to a degree for more information, especially
+concerning English laws, customs, and manners, in all of which he takes
+the greatest interest, and is most anxious that Englishmen should visit
+his country. He was good enough to have me repeatedly at his house and
+at his hospitable board, and he never omitted to repeat to me.
+
+"I shall always be glad to see English gentlemen in my country; tell
+them, when you go back, that if they are fond of shooting, they shall
+have their choice of game, from an eagle to a blackbird, and from a bear
+to a squirrel; if they prefer fishing, I promise them trout such as they
+have never dreamt of,[8] and they shall have every assistance that I can
+afford them in the way of tents to camp out, and men to guide and help
+them."
+
+In appearance, the Prince is tall and remarkably handsome; his hair is
+black, he wears both beard and moustachios, contrary to the fashion of
+his country, where only the latter are worn, often of immense size and
+length. With a commanding appearance, he still has a most benevolent
+expression of countenance, due to the softness of a very fine pair of
+eyes, and his manners are most captivating. He is very dignified, but at
+the same time most kind, without being in the least patronizing, and I
+was told by those who knew him best that he has a most equable temper,
+and that an angry word seldom was heard from him.
+
+I had been careful before leaving the Palace to set my watch exactly
+to their time, so as to ensure my punctuality in the evening; and at
+eight P.M. to the minute, I found myself in the saloon of the
+Palace. The Russian Consul was there already; he was showing me the
+different portraits which hung round it, when the Prince walked in, in
+full Montenegrin costume, but without any ceremony; and a few minutes
+after a door was thrown open from the opposite side, when in walked the
+Princess, accompanied by the widow of Prince Mirko and attended by her
+lady-in-waiting, Mademoiselle Neukomm, all in full native costume.
+
+Pero Pejovich had so often extolled the beauty of the Princess, that I
+was quite prepared to be disappointed, as is almost always the case,
+for anticipation seems invariably to exaggerate the reality; but on
+this occasion it was just the reverse. I don't think I ever saw a more
+beautiful creature than the lady to whom I was then introduced; tall,
+pale, neither thin nor stout, but beautifully formed, and with exquisite
+hands and arms. She wore a diamond ornament on her head, half hidden
+by the masses of black hair among which it was nestled, and though it
+shone at times like a star from among a mass of stormy clouds, it could
+not subdue the light which shone from her glorious dark eyes.
+
+Dinner was instantly announced, and we proceeded to the dining-hall, a
+room of good size and well-furnished. The dinner, a German one, was good,
+the wines better. The attendance consisted of two men in black and four
+in native costume. The Princess, who speaks French fluently, did the
+honours with most winning grace; and the Prince, by his affability, at
+once put every one at his ease. At dinner I sat on his left, his mother
+being on his right, with the Russian Consul _vis-à-vis_, principally, I
+suppose, to facilitate her enjoyment of the conversation, as she speaks
+only Slave.
+
+During the repast His Highness constantly asked me questions, sometimes
+about my impressions of Montenegro, which were easily enough answered,
+as I had nothing to recount of myself but enjoyment since I had entered
+his territory, having met with nothing but the most unbounded kindness
+and hospitality. But in his anxiety for knowledge, he often put questions
+which I found it difficult enough to reply to, and sometimes questions
+which I could not answer at all. Having spoken with admiration of the
+gorgeous costume of the Montenegrins, and how it set off their fine
+figures, he replied:
+
+"Yes, it is very fine; but I should be delighted to abolish it, if it
+were possible; they spend a great deal too much money on it."
+
+Being simply horrified at the idea of doing away with national dress, I
+could not avoid expressing myself unreservedly, and I said at once that
+depriving a country of its costume would be simply to destroy it.
+
+"Ah!" replied the Prince sharply, "you look upon us only from a
+picturesque point of view; in fact, you would like to keep us here like
+a sort of menagerie of wild beasts, to come and look at us occasionally
+for your amusement."
+
+The Prince was almost angry; but fortunately I had an analogous example
+to place before him, in our own Scottish Highlanders, who cling to
+their costume with such tenacity. I told him of our Highlanders, of our
+splendid Highland regiments, of how our Scottish nobility held by the
+national dress, and of how our precious Queen dressed all her boys in
+Highland costume; and yet we did not go to look at them as we would go
+to look at wild beasts in a zoological garden, but we regarded it with
+admiration, as an ancient national costume, associated in our minds with
+devoted loyalty, stirring times, and valiant deeds; as their own costume
+was also, which, I trusted, I should never live to see exchanged for a
+bad imitation of the present universally adopted French fashion, ending
+by saying that I was convinced that the supplanting of national costumes
+with imitations taken from our neighbours, was decidedly a backward step
+in civilization.
+
+He questioned me very closely upon the law of primogeniture and entail
+in our country, and could not understand how such a law did not produce
+_des jalousies terribles, et d'autres inconvenances_. I endeavoured to
+explain to him the present law of English entail, and how it differed
+from the ancient Roman law of _fidéi-commis_, which still obtains in
+Scotland, where entails are for ever. Still he did not like our system of
+primogeniture, where the eldest son, in many instances, has £100,000 per
+annum, and all the other children £10,000 each, representing about £400
+a year. He thought it terribly unfair; indeed he could not understand how
+they quietly submitted to it at all; and so we got through our dinner most
+agreeably without the least _gêne_, while the Prince's band played some
+excellent music outside, under the window. This band consisted entirely
+of Montenegrin lads, some quite young, and considering the short time
+they had been learning their new profession, was wonderfully good. The
+bandmaster was from Prague, an excellent musician, and as he was a Czech,
+he spoke a language very similar to Montenegrin, which contributed not
+a little to his success.
+
+Having left the dining-room in company with the ladies, we all adjourned
+to the saloon, and from it to the terrace in front of the Palace, where
+the Prince having lit a cigarette, offered some to me and Mr. Yonin.
+As I hesitated to light mine, after having taken one, the Princess, who
+immediately guessed that my hesitation was owing to her being present,
+at once most kindly came forward and requested me to smoke "_de suite_"
+&c. I therefore lit my cigarette at once, saying with a deep bow that
+I dared not disobey her commands. She then bid me watch, as presently
+a change would suddenly take place in the aspect of the scene.
+
+It was now quite dark, when suddenly a cannon was fired, and
+simultaneously, as if by magic, every window in the town, in the Palace
+opposite, in the monastery, in the terrace, and at every point where a
+candle could be stuck, was filled with lights, while the band played the
+grand Russian National Hymn, and the people shouted with all the power
+of their lungs, firing off their pistols in the air in every direction.
+
+The illumination was so instantaneous that the effect was charming, and
+coupled with the music, the enthusiastic cheering, and the booming of
+the cannon, which kept up a sort of "contrabasso" accompaniment to the
+whole, all contributed to produce a _coup de scène_ never to be forgotten.
+
+We now all withdrew to the drawing-room for coffee and tea, _à la Russe_,
+without cream and with a slice of lemon. I was not sorry to leave the
+balcony, for that firing of pistols in the air is not so innocent a
+pastime as might be imagined, as no Montenegrin ever dreams of loading
+his weapons with anything else than ball-cartridge.
+
+The Prince again resumed his conversation with me about English customs
+and manners. He said, "I am told that in London one policeman, unarmed,
+can control a mob, while in Paris it is very different, as nothing short
+of loaded muskets and bayonets will do for the French."
+
+I answered him that English mobs could be troublesome too, but that,
+generally speaking, owing to our constitutional respect for the majesty
+of the law, we came to look upon that solitary unarmed policeman as
+an impersonation of it, and as such he was always sure of the active
+assistance of all respectable citizens in the execution of his duty.
+
+He then began to question me about the British constitution, and I never
+felt more posed. Irish mother-wit, however, came to the rescue, and I
+said, "To explain the British Constitution I should have to be a lawyer,
+but one of the great characteristics of it, so far as a layman like me
+can explain it, consists in what is called the Law of Habeas Corpus, by
+which no man can be imprisoned by any authority whatever without being
+immediately informed of the accusation against him, and brought up before
+the constituted authorities within twenty-four hours."
+
+He said he had heard of that before, and thought it a grand law, but
+under certain circumstances he considered it might be advantageous for
+the king to have the power of arresting dangerous characters, upon which
+I told him that in certain emergencies the law of Habeas Corpus had been
+suspended, but that could only be done by Act of Parliament, and not by
+the sovereign's authority.
+
+"In short," said he, "your Chambers are the real sovereign, the King
+being only the outward and visible sign of regal authority."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+     A WALK WITH THE PRINCE—SALUTATIONS OF THE CROWD—THE
+     GUZLA—MONTENEGRIN DANCE—THE PRINCE'S ACCOUNT OF ITS ORIGIN—THE
+     CAMP AT NIGHT—ADVENTURE WITH A MONTENEGRIN—DEVOTION OF THE
+     PEOPLE TO THEIR PRINCE.
+
+
+THE firing had now ceased, and the illumination was fading out by degrees,
+the band was still playing in front of the Palace, and the full moon was
+rising well up in the sky. The crowd had increased, as we could see from
+the window of the saloon, and the broad space in front of the Palace
+was literally paved with heads and up-turned faces. After looking a few
+minutes at that dense mass which was swaying to and fro and gradually
+getting closer and closer, the Prince asked me what I thought of their
+behaviour. "Most wonderfully quiet, orderly, and well behaved; but I
+can't help looking upon them all as so many powder kegs. One cross word,
+an imaginary insult, a little too much drink, one of a thousand trifling
+incidents, might set a spark going, and it will be wonderful indeed
+if among these thousands of wild and lawless men some turmoil does not
+arise, and when their Oriental blood is once up, and arms are at hand
+and ready, blood will scarcely fail to flow."
+
+"Well," said the Prince, "I venture to say there won't be the smallest
+misadventure to-night, though I haven't a policeman near here, and there
+are probably twenty thousand armed men in and about Cettigne at this
+moment. Do you think there are many Sovereigns in Europe who could with
+safety walk about in such a crowd in one of their own capitals during
+a time of excitement such as this?"
+
+"Not one, I should think," I replied.
+
+"Then," said he, "put on your hat and come along with me."
+
+I followed him into the lobby, where throwing a scarf about his shoulders
+he bid me follow him, first having told his henchman that he would go
+out alone.
+
+It was now about eleven P.M., and in a few minutes we were out
+shouldering our way in the thickest of the crowd, making for the spot
+where the band was playing. It was not long before he was recognised,
+right and left, and now began one of the most interesting scenes I ever
+witnessed. Where there had been a crowd so dense that progression seemed
+almost an impossibility, an ample space was formed, and then one by one
+men of all grades approached the Prince, and, according to their rank and
+station, one and all saluted him in the following way—they took off their
+caps, and those of the lowest grades took up the edge of his coat and
+"literally kissed the hem of his garment;" then those of somewhat better
+position kissed the same garment higher up; to others of higher rank
+still, the Prince extended his hand, which they kissed most reverently,
+and pressed to their foreheads three times; and lastly the Chiefs and
+Voyvodes, almost on an equality with him, doffed their caps, while His
+Highness did the same, and both holding each other's right hand pressed
+the side of their cheek against each other. And so I accompanied him,
+walking through that living mass, stopping every moment either to receive
+some act of homage, or to caress some bold little curly-headed fellow who
+had squeezed and wriggled himself in to get near to his Prince, and to
+whom His Highness would speak a few words, asking his name and age, and
+where he went to school, and what he could do, to the untold pride and
+joy of the parents who were watching. And so we shortly made the tour of
+the town, coming out on the plain right in front of the monastery where
+many groups were busily engaged in the performance of the national dance.
+
+The lights had now gone out, and the illumination had faded away, but
+the moon nearly at the full was high up in the heavens, and shining
+as it does not, alas! shine in these islands. The band was gone, and
+the only music to be heard was the native _guzla_, accompanied by the
+monotonous chaunt of the vocalists, interrupted occasionally by the wild
+piercing shriek of some dancer. The Prince made for one of the groups
+where apparently the dancing was most energetic, whilst I followed close
+on his heels. Being at once recognised, ample way was made for him, and
+I soon found myself alongside of him in the innermost circle of the ring.
+
+Here I had full opportunity of observing the native Montenegrin dance,
+which, if not elegant, has certainly the merit of originality. How shall
+I describe it? In the area of that ring in which we found ourselves were
+five couple of dancers, who were being constantly renewed, men and women,
+as either became exhausted by their exertions. The dance itself did not
+seem to consist of any peculiar steps, but mainly in jumping with the
+arms extended horizontally, leaping as high as each one could opposite
+the other, and twirling round at the same time like dancing dervishes,
+whilst occasionally, as either man or woman had to give in from sheer
+exhaustion, they uttered a piercing shriek. Though somewhat savage and
+uncouth to behold, there still was a weird charm about that dance. The
+tall mountaineers looked taller still from their long white surtouts in
+the bright moonlight, and as they sprang high into the air they appeared
+absolutely gigantic, while the glitter of the moon's rays on the metallic
+ornaments of their dress and their jewelled arms produced a strange and
+pleasing effect. From one group the Prince passed on to another, and
+so through all till about one in the morning, when he turned his steps
+towards the Palace,
+
+"Our dance is not an elegant one," said the Prince, "but it is
+characteristic; it is called the Dance of the Eagles, and its origin
+is thus accounted for. Many years ago the Montenegrins had no national
+dance, when some of the young men said, 'How is it all our neighbours
+have national dances of their own and we have none? Let us imagine and
+invent a dance; and, as our mountains are the country of the eagles,
+let us make it like eagles rising from the rocks, and let us scream like
+the young eagles.' And so they stretched out their arms and sprang into
+the air as high as they could, dancing their Eagle Dance, which from
+thenceforth became the national dance of the country."
+
+At the gates of the Palace I made my bow, and the Prince, putting out
+his hand, wished me good night, saying, "I must see you again before
+you leave."
+
+In a few minutes I was in my room. I required no light, the moon was so
+brilliant. The night being warm, and not feeling at all sleepy from the
+excitement I had gone through, I lit a cigar, and leaning with my elbows
+on the window-sill, I looked out into the little plain where so shortly
+before I had been walking about. The turmoil had now greatly diminished,
+and in every direction I could see that preparations were being made to
+bivouac _à la belle étoile_. The horses that up to this time had been
+allowed to roam about here and there, cropping the scanty herbage, were
+now being collected and picketed one by one near the spot which had been
+selected by the owner for his own peculiar sleeping place; while the
+court-yard of the old Palace was also fully tenanted, and apparently by
+the same party I had watched in the early morning, and which, from the
+better style of their horses, the glitter of their equipments, and the
+appearance of their attendants, seemed to belong to some of the native
+chiefs.
+
+By degrees the different noises ceased, and in less than an hour the
+whole camp was steeped in silence. Such a contrast to the noise and
+turmoil of an hour before, when twenty thousand people, men, women and
+children, were shouting, dancing, and yelling at the top of their voices!
+
+I put on my helmet, and with a short stick in my hand, simply to keep
+away any snarling dog that might be inclined to give trouble, I quickly
+crossed the court-yard and let myself out by the gate into the plain.
+The moon had barely passed the zenith, and shone almost perpendicularly
+on the prostrate groups, who, in different attitudes of sleep, were
+dotted all about; some wrapped up in their strookas, more from habit
+than necessity, as the air was warm; some turned on their faces, some on
+their back with their arms outstretched; but all profoundly asleep; and
+such was the silence that, but for the absence of blood and mutilated
+limbs and broken weapons, one could easily have imagined it the field
+of some hard-fought fight.
+
+I was surveying the placid scene and standing close to a magnificent
+mountaineer who was sleeping on his back, with his face fully upturned
+to the moon and his arms extended, when suddenly he awoke. In the
+twinkling of an eye he was on his feet and his hand on his yataghan. I
+don't imagine my life was the least in danger, even for a moment—but if
+it was, my helmet and my cigar saved me. However, I instantly saluted
+him in Slave, and with a "_Sbogo Gospodin_" he returned the compliment,
+at the same time putting out his hand he shook mine warmly, and pointing
+with the other to the ancient Palace, led me away towards it, talking
+softly the while and smiling; but unfortunately I could not understand,
+and the only response I could make was by offering him a cigar, which he
+at once lit at mine and pronouncing it "_dobre_" (good) puffed away at
+it with a will. At the great gate of the Palace he wished me good-night,
+when I begged of him by signs to take another weed, and so we parted.
+
+The next morning being the day of the feast, I was awoke pretty early by
+the repeated firing of cannon just outside the gate of the Palace and in
+front of my window. I should have been glad to have slept a few hours
+longer, but the noise was too great, and my so-called Italian-speaking
+servant coming in at the same moment, I jumped out of bed and called
+out, "_Colazione!_"
+
+I had not more than half finished, and was in the act of peeling some
+grand specimens of Albanian figs, when in walked Pero Pejovich, who
+came to tell me that the Prince and Princess, with all the notables
+and Voyvodes of Montenegro, would attend High Mass at ten, and that the
+_cortège_ would pass under my windows and would be worth seeing. He added
+that if I liked he would take me into church and get me standing-room
+inside before they arrived; but he feared the crowd and the heat would be
+something fearful. Consequently, finding it quite hot enough already, I
+determined to remain where I was and enjoy the procession from my window.
+
+I then told the Commandant of my adventure the night before. He scolded
+me awfully, but patted me on the back, as one would a child, and said
+I might have run some risk had I not been fortunately recognised as a
+guest of the Prince.
+
+"Only imagine," said he, "if anything had gone wrong, the honour of
+Montenegro might have been compromised."
+
+We then lit our cigars, and while waiting for mass-time, fell, as usual,
+into conversation about his country and its usages.
+
+"What do you think of our Prince, and the way he goes among the people? I
+saw you last night with him. Did you ever see such love, such devotion,
+as we all have for him? But he deserves it fully. There never was such
+a ruler as our Prince; we would all lay down our lives for him, and be
+proud of the honour. If he were to call us to arms, we could muster in
+twelve hours, here in this plain of Cettigne, twenty thousand able men,
+fully armed and equipped, ready to march on any point, and that without
+endangering Montenegro; for we should leave twenty thousand more behind
+us, not so well adapted for advancing in an enemy's country, but fully
+competent to guard our mountain passes and protect our strongholds."
+
+I said I hoped such a contingency might never arise; but he shook his
+head. The Turks, he said, hated them too much not to seek, sooner or
+later, for a pretext to attack them, and then he added,
+
+"But the sooner the better; we never were so well prepared to meet them.
+The Turks pretend that Montenegro is an integral portion of the Ottoman
+Empire; we insist that we have always been free, and though often hard
+pressed by Ottoman forces, have never yet been conquered. What chance
+then is there of our coming to an understanding? My great grief, however,
+is to hear that England is against us and in favour of our enemies, and
+if it were not for the friendship which Russia has ever shown us, we
+might be exterminated by the infidels before you would lift a finger to
+prevent our utter annihilation. We cannot understand it, for we read of
+how England exerts herself always in favour of oppressed nationalities,
+and how she has even spent hundreds of millions of piastres to put down
+the slave trade; and yet she favours the Turks, who are the greatest
+supporters of slavery, against us, though our religions are almost
+identical, I am told. I wish more English would come to Montenegro. I
+think they would end by appreciating us."
+
+These words of the Commandant made a deep impression on me.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+     FALSE IMPRESSIONS OF MONTENEGRO—AGRICULTURE ON A
+     MINOR SCALE—FIELD-LABOURERS—MONTENEGRIN FACCHINI AT
+     CONSTANTINOPLE—FEMALE LABOUR—PRODUCTION OF SUMACH—COMMERCIAL
+     RELATIONS WITH OTHER COUNTRIES IMPEDED—IMPOSING PAGEANT.
+
+
+Truly very little is known about Montenegro and its mountaineers, and
+that little is very incorrect. They have been generally represented
+as wild, savage, bloodthirsty, thieving scoundrels, closely allied to
+Italian brigands and Greek palikari—if anything, worse than either. Fond
+of fighting for fighting's sake, and when not engaged in that amiable
+recreation, spending their time in strutting about in their fine clothes,
+peacocking in the sunshine, while those too poor to have fine trappings
+whiled away the weary hours and forgot their fleas and their sorrows
+in the tones of their national _guzla_, while the women were left to do
+all the labour in the fields.
+
+Such was certainly not my impression. The part of Montenegro through
+which I travelled, though sterile and barren to a degree, was a wonderful
+specimen of what man could do when driven to it. Every little nook, where
+the least bit of soil could be found, among that wilderness of rocks
+where stones had rained from Heaven, was carefully taken advantage of;
+the rocks adjoining these little nooks were often removed by the most
+laborious exertions, and in some instances earth was scraped up here and
+there, and carried in small baskets to these spots, in order to increase
+their depth of soil. I saw clearings of so small a size as barely to
+admit of _one potatoe plant_ or three of maize, and little fields not
+_one yard_ in diameter!
+
+Hard at work, cultivating the soil, I saw not only women but plenty
+of sturdy mountaineers. At Niegosh I observed one of the Petrovichs,
+the handsome young fellow who entertained me on my way to Cettigne,
+superintending himself a number of men who were working in a field near
+his house; and the only difference I could observe between them and our
+own labourers was that they were all fully armed, although employed at
+the peaceful occupation of agriculture. They have not yet turned their
+yataghans into spades and reaping hooks, but they have done the next
+best thing by keeping the first at ease while energetically plying the
+others.
+
+I have seen the Montenegrins in their own valleys and mountain fastnesses,
+and I utterly deny the charges brought against them. They are not
+lazy—leaving all the hard work to their women—that is utterly false, and
+the best proof I perhaps can give, lies in the self-asserting fact of the
+toiling colony of three thousand Montenegrin Facchini at Constantinople,
+well known as about the most hard-working and honest labouring men in
+that capital. It is true that they allow the women to do much of the
+heavy agricultural work, and carry heavy loads up and down the mountains;
+but it must be remembered that for years past the Montenegrins, like the
+proscribed clans of Scotland in the last century, have been treated by
+their neighbours, the Turks, very little better than wild beasts. They
+would long ago have been exterminated, but for their indomitable courage
+and constant fighting, during which period, of necessity, the agricultural
+duties fell entirely on the decrepit old men and the women, as all men
+who were at all able to carry arms were engaged in fighting—and many
+of the women too! It must also be remembered that in all mountainous
+countries the women toil more heavily than in the plains, and even in
+civilized Italy hear what a distinguished Italian, Massimo d'Azeglio,
+writes:
+
+"For example, if a faggot of wood and a bunch of chickens have to be
+carried down to the shore from one of the villages half way up the
+mountain, the labour is thus distributed in the family. The wife loads
+herself with the faggot of wood which weighs half a hundredweight, and
+the husband will take the chickens which weigh a mere nothing." The
+Montenegrins are not, therefore, singularly and atrociously barbarous
+in this respect.
+
+Considering the small extent of the Principality and its great sterility,
+it is wonderful the amount of produce they are able to export, even with
+the disabilities under which they labour, being entirely deprived of any
+seaboard, though clearly entitled to one. One of the most important of
+their natural products, one which under favourable circumstances might
+be increased a thousandfold is "sumach," a substance largely used in
+tanning the more expensive kinds of leather. A small amount is exported
+to Holland, none comes to England, but a small parcel I brought over with
+me was declared by competent judges to be equal to the best Sicilian,
+which is considered the best of all sumachs.
+
+They have vast forests of walnut trees which, under proper management and
+due facilities of exportation, might be rendered most productive, both as
+to walnut oil and timber for cabinet work. They export immense quantities
+of a small dried fish "_scoranza_," much used in the neighbouring Catholic
+and Greek countries during their religious feasts; and without further
+wearying my readers, I will simply add that but for the difficulties
+they labour under, they could export every one of the following articles
+in very considerable quantities:—
+
+Castradina (dried mutton and goat hams), honey, wax, goat and kid skins
+to any amount, as also martin, fox, and hare skins, together with many
+other substances I have forgotten.
+
+The Prince is doing all he can to spread instruction among his people.
+He has established numberless schools, and as all over the Principality
+education is compulsory, in another generation the man or woman unable
+to read and write will be a phenomenon indeed in Montenegro.
+
+The renewed booming of the cannon and the ringing of the convent bells
+now gave us warning that the Prince was going to hear Mass, and in a few
+seconds I saw the whole _cortège_ pass on foot under my window. First
+a squad of guards, then His Highness the Prince leading the beautiful
+Princess, immediately accompanied by the Russian Consul in full uniform,
+and then a number of Voyvodes in gorgeous costumes, while another squad
+of body-guards brought up the rear. They walked quickly past, and in a
+few minutes were lost completely to sight under the buttresses of the
+old Palace. The pageant was of short duration, but it was well worth
+seeing, even in that land of sunshine and gorgeous costumes.
+
+Mass over, everyone turned in for his dinner and siesta. The Commandant
+of the Grahovo went to his own abode, and I followed the general example.
+
+In the afternoon some wonderful foot races were to be held, but not till
+near sunset, when the great heat of the day would be somewhat abated. I
+determined therefore to fill up the space between the end of my siesta
+and the visit to the races, with a call on Monsignor Roganovich, the
+Metropolitan of Montenegro. I had brought letters of recommendation to
+the Archimandrite of Cettigne, and in his company I went to the monastery
+to pay my respects. We entered by the great gate, after crossing the
+threshing floor, and having crossed the court we ascended by a very
+rough stone staircase, which landed us in a sort of primitive cloister
+looking on a garden, on which opened the suite of rooms occupied by the
+Metropolitan.
+
+We were at once shown in, and had not to wait many seconds before
+Monsignor Roganovich made his appearance. His reception was most
+cordial. He took me by the hand and made me sit on the divan by his
+side, expressing his regret that he could not converse with me except
+through an interpreter, owing to his not speaking any other language than
+Illyrian and Russian. We got on, however, remarkably well, thanks to the
+rapidity with which the Archimandrite almost guessed what I was going
+to say in Italian, translating it into Illyrian with equal rapidity.
+Coffee, as usual, was served up, unaccompanied however by the customary
+pipes, as the orthodox clergy are forbidden to smoke.
+
+And now as I am sipping my coffee, let me endeavour to describe what I
+saw as my eyes wandered about. The room itself was small and low, simply
+white-washed, with no other furniture than one small table in front of
+the divan, and four rush chairs of the homeliest description. Around the
+walls were a few coloured prints of saints, and the floor was utterly
+uncarpeted. All this simplicity, however, served to bring out in greater
+contrast and relief the portly figure of Monsignor Roganovich, as he sat
+on the divan in his ample cassock and gown of violet-purple silk. He was
+not a handsome man, strictly speaking, his was more a jolly countenance
+than a handsome one, still it was a face one liked to look at, with his
+grand black beard flowing down to his waist. He wore his hair in ample
+curls down his back as if it had never known the shears, and on his head
+the little Montenegrin cap of black silk. On his breast glittered the
+star of the Montenegrin order, and round his neck a massive gold chain,
+from which depended a Panagia or image of the Virgin and Child, nearly
+as large as a saucer, surrounded with large diamonds.
+
+His manners were courtly and his smile most pleasing, and he gave me the
+idea of one who would make an excellent companion for a little dinner
+party of four, and who would be more in his element on the Boulevard
+des Italiens at Paris, than in his monastic seclusion at Cettigne. We
+conversed for half an hour or so when I rose to take my leave, and he gave
+me the Apostolic Benediction, and embraced me on both cheeks. As we walked
+back to the Palace, the Archimandrite told me he took great interest in
+the schools, which he visited daily, examining and cross-examining the
+students, to see that they made good use of their time.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+     FOOT RACES—MONASTERY OF OSTROG—OTTOMAN ADMINISTRATION—A
+     COURSE À LA MONTAGNE—RACING WITHOUT BETTING—BEN TROVATO—A FLAT
+     RACE—CONVERSATION ABOUT ENGLISH LAWS AND CUSTOMS—LAW OF HABEAS
+     CORPUS.
+
+
+In the afternoon I went out into the plain to see the foot races, which
+the Prince had told me would be very amusing.
+
+On my way to the plain, where the races were to take place, I rambled
+again through the fair, and a second time got into conversation with the
+fellow that spoke English so well. We chatted together on many subjects,
+all more or less connected with the country; he praised the Montenegrins
+to no end, and told me he would trust them to any amount, they were so
+thoroughly honest and scrupulous in their dealings. He wanted me to go
+with him, in a couple of days after the fair was over, to the monastery
+of Ostrog, but my time was not my own, and I could not give myself that
+additional pleasure.
+
+It was a great disappointment, however, as Ostrog is a wonderful place,
+cut out of the rock, not perched on one as some of the monasteries of
+Mount Athos are, but partly excavated at a great height out of the face
+of the rock, and partly built on a ledge which the upper part of the
+rock overhangs. It is approached by a narrow path cut into steps, where
+no more than two could walk abreast, and therefore easily defended by a
+handful of men against any number of assailants. There is an ample supply
+of water in it at all times, and it is always stored with a good supply
+of rations, and an immense quantity of ammunition. Except by starving
+out the garrison, it never could be taken.
+
+My companion wanted me then to go with him into the interior of Northern
+Albania, where he was well known, and where under his protection and
+guidance I should have been perfectly safe; while his knowledge of the
+languages, both Oriental and English, would have enabled me to make
+many interesting inquiries. When I asked him about the administration
+of those countries by the Ottoman Government, and the opening up of the
+country by the projected railway from Adrianople to Novi-Bazar which
+has already been surveyed, he shrugged his shoulders, and then, with a
+toss of his head, said:—
+
+"Railways are all very good, but they are almost useless here. What we
+want is a good Government, and that we never shall have as long as this
+Christian country is ruled by the Turks. You talk of the progress of
+civilization among them; but you simply know nothing about them. I can
+speak, for I have lived with them and among them from childhood; and as
+to their civilization, it is simply a farce. Even at Stamboul, among the
+better educated, among those who have been to Paris and London, their
+civilization is nothing more than the gilding of Brummagem jewelry—the
+slightest rubbing will cause the copper to blush out from beneath.
+Civilization indeed! See what a powerful navy they possess; but let
+Hobart Pasha go home and take with him all his European officers, men
+and engineers, leaving nothing behind but pure full-blooded Turks to man
+it, and the entire Ottoman navy would not be a match for the smallest
+British ironclad. In making this disparaging statement as to the so-called
+civilization of Turkey, I have selected the navy as an example because
+in old times the Turks were able to hold their own at sea, and showed
+a great aptitude in naval matters; but naval science has progressed
+and they have remained stationary. But so it is—their civilization is
+a dream; their finances a colossal sham; and their final exodus from
+Europe, I trust, is in the very nearest distance. In fact, if all the
+Christians in Ottoman employ—English, French, Armenian or Greek—were to
+abandon their several posts, Turkey would simply collapse in six months."
+
+I don't say that these are my opinions, but simply the clearly expressed
+convictions of a sharp trader who had long been intimate with European
+Turkey.
+
+It wanted not much more than an hour of sunset; the western crags threw
+long purple shadows along the plain of Cettigne, while the rocks which
+bound it on the east were steeped in the richest tints of gold, and
+russet, and purple. Up, near to the old Palace of the Vladikas, was a
+splendid group of native magnates with the Prince in the midst, while
+ranged in a row before them were about a hundred and fifty of the most
+athletic men in Montenegro—competitors all in a coming foot race for
+a splendid pair of silver-mounted pistols, offered by His Highness to
+him who should first lay his hands on them. The pistols were placed on
+a conspicuous rock a considerable way up the cliffs on the south-west
+side of the plain.
+
+The competitors may have been placed at a distance of three hundred
+yards from the base of those cliffs; it was, therefore, partly a flat
+race and partly a "_course à la montagne_:" as the Prince said, "_En
+Angleterre vous avez les courses au clocher_, (steeple-chases) _ici nous
+avons les courses à la montagne_." The men had divested themselves of
+their white coats, and their belts and armour. For an instant there was
+profound silence, and then, at a given signal, off they went at a good
+pace, keeping wonderfully together for the first two hundred yards or
+so; then the line began to get wavy, and with every stride more and more
+fell behind, till, when they arrived at the foot of the crags, there
+were not, perhaps, more than fifty that sprang up simultaneously to the
+cliffs. Then, indeed, began the real race, and the mountaineers took to
+it in right earnest, scaling the precipice like leopards. It was quite
+exciting to watch the rapidity with which they swung themselves from
+point to point, taking advantage of every cleft, every rootlet, that
+offered the least hold to either hand or foot. At last, three arrived
+almost simultaneously at the goal; but one, slightly in advance, made
+a vigorous spring—touched the pistols first—barely winning by a hand!
+
+It was, without exception, the prettiest thing by way of a race I ever
+saw. The whole scene was before you like a panorama; the costumes of the
+runners and the spectators; the gorgeous tints of the setting sun; the
+enthusiasm of all, together with the shouts of the multitude, rendered
+it a scene never to be forgotten; and as I watched them clambering up the
+cliffs in front of me, guessing at the chances of the race, and mentally
+gambling with myself on who would be the winner, I could not help feeling
+a certain degree of surprise that no betting was going on in any part
+of that vast assemblage. The chances were so many, the combinations
+so varied, and the probabilities so constantly changing, that a fairer
+game to try the luck of Dame Fortune could not have been devised, and
+all the more, too, as all were honestly in earnest in striving for the
+prize. There were no dark horses, no sickened favourites, no hard-pulling
+jockeys to bewilder the backers; all was before you, fair and serene,
+and the excitement was tremendous when some one fine mountaineer, well
+in advance of the rest, maybe by five or six yards, would suddenly lose
+his foothold through the giving way of some small projection of rock to
+which, he was clinging, and after remaining suspended a short time by
+his hands above his head, he would eventually have to let go his hold
+and drop down some few feet, losing all chance in the race; while those
+who had been nearest to him would redouble their efforts, and thus at
+times the one who at first starting had seemed the least likely to win
+would actually come to be in the first flight of the race; but he, in his
+turn, by some unlucky chance would slip, and another would as instantly
+get on before him. These constant changes of chances made the race a
+most exciting one; still not a bet among the multitude of lookers-on!
+
+One of the Prince's aide-de-camps having heard me express surprise at
+the absence of all betting, said, "Betting is quite a characteristic
+of you others (_vous autres_) in England. I am told you would bet on
+anything. I have heard a story of a poor girl who once threw herself off
+a bridge in London. The police-boat, fortunately, was near, and pulled
+away to her rescue, when two lords happening to pass by, stopped on the
+bridge for a bet as to whether the girl would be saved or not, and lost
+and won an immense sum on the event."
+
+I laughed, and replied,
+
+"_Se non è vero è ben trovato._"
+
+After this we had a flat race for about a mile across the plains. So
+far as running went, it was a _flat_ race indeed, and I have often seen
+better at an Irish country fair; but it was well worth seeing from the
+rich colouring of the costumes of those taking part in it, as they ran
+with their clothes on; and as every one was eligible to compete, and not
+Montenegrins alone, the effect was most singular and picturesque. The
+prize was in this case also a pair of silver-mounted Turkish pistols,
+given by the Prince, and I was glad to hear that the winner was a
+Montenegrin.
+
+In the evening I had the honour of dining at the Palace, when the Prince
+again asked me many questions concerning England, its habits and customs,
+of which, although he had read much in French books, he knew absolutely
+nothing.
+
+We again spoke about the law of primogeniture, about which he could
+not exactly make up his mind, and could not understand how it did not
+produce disastrous occurrences in families. He understood, however,
+quite well what I explained to him concerning the Law of Habeas Corpus,
+and again declared it to be a grand institution, _so far as the people
+were concerned_.
+
+I left at a late hour, after spending a most delightful evening, and
+as I went back to my rooms to pack my small valise for my early start
+next morning, I felt an undefinable regret at leaving Tchernagora and
+its interesting mountaineers. I had enjoyed among them a courteous
+hospitality and a patriarchal welcome, the prominent characteristics of
+which will, I fear, before very long disappear under the pressure and
+_vis a tergo_ of our so-called European civilization. I should like,
+above all things, to visit them again; but should it never be my lot to
+enjoy that pleasure, I cannot take leave of Montenegro without expressing
+my deep sense of the cordial reception I met with there on every side.
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+     DEPARTURE FROM CETTIGNE—RUGGED ROAD—DELIGHTFUL VIEW—USEFUL
+     OLD HELMET—NIEGOSH—EXCESSIVE HEAT—THE SCALA DI CATTARO—THE
+     BOCCHESI—THE RUSSIAN CONSUL—SUNSET AT CATTARO—UNEXPECTED
+     APPEARANCE OF PERO PEJOVICH.
+
+
+As the clock struck three in the morning of the 15th of July, 1873, the
+guide walked into my room to say it was time to start; at the same moment
+my servant brought me in a cup of _café-au-lait_ with some hot toast.
+My toilette was soon made, and my breakfast swallowed, and I moved away
+from Cettigne as the clock chimed the half-hour after three.
+
+It was still night, but not dark, as the moon had not yet set, and a
+band of rose-coloured light streaked the Eastern horizon. We started at
+a rapid trot, startling the echoes up the solitary and deserted street
+of Cettigne, and we never slackened our pace till we came to the verge
+of the little plain in which it is situated, when the path up the ravine
+which led westward to the Adriatic became so rugged that we were compelled
+to walk our horses, and in less than half-an-hour more had to dismount
+and proceed on foot.
+
+In a short time we reached the crest of the range which encircles the
+Plains of Cettigne, and the track becoming less precipitous, we remounted;
+but before leaving the spot I turned my horse round to have a last look
+at that mountain capital where I had been so hospitably entertained,
+and where, most probably, I might never have the pleasure of being again.
+
+I was now standing on the highest point of the pass, and I enjoyed a
+most delightful view. The sun was just in the act of rising. My back was
+to the Adriatic, while my face was turned to the East. At my feet lay
+the Plain of Cettigne, girt round on all sides with precipitous rocks
+and mountains. Beyond the plain, far in the hazy horizon—not foggy—but
+rendered slightly indistinct by a faint cobalt haze, I could see the Lake
+of Skodra glittering in the morning sun with the thin silver streak of
+the Zeta river losing itself in it, while in the still further distance
+I could perceive the faintest outline of the Albanian mountains. Right
+and left, as far as the eye could reach, nothing but rocky peaks and
+precipices met the view—nothing but rocks with here and there a few
+scanty bushes, on which were browsing large herds of goats tended by
+wild-looking men, carrying round their waist, as usual, the inevitable
+arsenal of weapons, and the long Albanian gun over their shoulders.
+
+I would have lingered over this scene, and I was already thinking of
+getting down and sketching it, when the guide remonstrated against any
+such proceeding on my part. "It was very near the dog days," he said,
+"and to be caught by the noon-day sun on those bare rocks, was a thing
+to be avoided;" so I was compelled to move on, after giving another long
+look at the picture to which I was about to turn my back.
+
+The guide was right; the track was abominable, and we could only proceed
+at a slow pace. At the same time, the sun was gaining strength with
+every inch it rose above the horizon, and by the time we reached the
+_clachan_ of Niegosh, its rays come down upon us like molten lead; but
+my old helmet was proof against them, and an excellent protection, while
+the faint breeze which came up from the Adriatic prevented all feeling
+of oppression.
+
+At Niegosh, where a week before I had been so kindly entertained by
+young Pejovich, we rested five minutes. I did not even dismount, but
+the guide went into the very primitive khan to light his pipe; but, by
+the way he smacked his lips on coming out, I suspect a glass of wodky
+was not forgotten, while the fire for his pipe was being handed to him.
+
+After a little, the path again became impracticable for riding, so I
+had to dismount and walk, though the heat was something marvellous (I
+afterwards heard from Signor Jackschich that in Cattaro, in the shade, the
+thermometer stood at 33° Reaumur at four o'clock in the afternoon—about
+105° Fahrenheit.) After some difficult scrambling, when I sorely felt
+the want of the stout arm of Pero Pejovich, we reached the fountain, and
+here we rested ten minutes; then having remounted, we soon arrived at
+the top of the _scala_, with the Adriatic before us and Cattaro hundreds
+of feet down below.
+
+It seemed now as if I should be at the end of my journey in a few
+minutes; the road was all before me, and I could count the zig-zags as
+they unfolded themselves on the face of the rock, still they seemed as
+if they would never come to an end. I counted one, two, three, twenty,
+thirty, fifty, up to one hundred bends, and still more appeared beneath
+me, so at last I gave it up through sheer exhaustion.
+
+Everything, however, has an end eventually, and so the apparently
+interminable Scala di Cattaro came to an end also. How I got on during
+the last few turns and twists I forget—I was in a sort of doze; all I
+remember is finding myself suddenly among those heavenly mulberry trees
+of the Esplanade, and hearing the friendly sound of Signor Jackschich's
+welcome.
+
+Cattaro is innocent of either inn, hotel, khan, or caravansary, but good
+accommodation had been prepared for me inside the town. I therefore rode
+on to the gate where I had to dismount, as no horse is allowed to enter,
+just as no carriage _can enter_ the narrow gateway.
+
+The Bocchesi (as the natives call themselves) have one cause of
+heart-burning and envy, less than we in our country; there are no
+carriage-people in Cattaro to look down upon _you_ who have to trudge
+on foot, and the nearest approach to anything of the sort is an antique
+sedan-chair mounted on wheels exactly like the celebrated old _push_ at
+Hampton Court, which was occasionally brought into requisition on gala
+days, when such happened to be wet ones also.
+
+Having reached my rooms I quickly made my toilet, and then returned to
+the mulberries, under whose welcome shade I made an excellent breakfast
+and lunch in one, while many of the natives were taking their dinner.
+
+My further steps became now somewhat uncertain. I thought I should
+have found the steamer here to take me down the Adriatic, but I had
+miscalculated; it was not due till the following day. So I determined on
+resting in Cattaro till evening, and then riding across the isthmus (about
+eighteen miles only) to Budua, where Baron von Heydeg was quartered, and
+picking up the steamer when it would call there in a couple of days. I at
+once telegraphed to Heydeg that I was going, in order that the officer
+on guard might open the gates for me on arrival, as no one is let in or
+out of Budua after sunset, without an order from the Commandant. Then I
+went to my room, and being fairly tired, I threw myself on the bed and
+slept.
+
+It was about half-past three when I was awoke by some one knocking at
+my door, and to my surprise, in walked Mr. Yonin, the Russian Consul.
+I had forgotten to mention that we had agreed to travel from Cettigne
+together, and were to have met in the street opposite the Palace at
+three A.M.; but the servants had forgotten to call him, and when
+after waiting half an hour he did not come, and the guards on duty would
+not allow my guide to knock at the Palace gate, I started without him,
+thinking he had changed his mind. He had breakfasted late and then ridden
+to Cattaro in the middle of the day in order to catch the steamer for
+Ragusa that was to leave the same evening. I told him how long I had
+waited, and how I had tried in vain to get the sentinels to allow us to
+knock. He could only lament his misfortune, as, mopping his face, he
+added, "I assure you the heat on those bare rocks was something to be
+remembered all one's life." We then arranged to dine together at five
+o'clock before parting.
+
+Punctual to the hour appointed, we met on the _marina_. The heat of the
+day had considerably diminished, for although the sun was still high in
+the horizon, it had long ago set for the good folks at Cattaro, as the
+city being built at the foot of the mountains looking to the West, and
+having a range of high cliffs in front of it, behind which the sun sinks
+long before it dips into the Adriatic, sunset at Cattaro occurs hours
+earlier than at any other place on the Adriatic. In Summer this is a
+great advantage, as it enables the inhabitants to walk out in the shade
+on the _marina_ at a much earlier hour, the opposite cliffs protecting
+them from the hot rays of the sun, and at the same time affording them
+a sort of twilight, elsewhere unknown in those latitudes; but in Winter
+it must be very gloomy, as the rising sun being shut out by the rocks
+and mountains of Montenegro till near eleven o'clock in the morning, and
+again disappearing so early in the afternoon, reduces the actual day to
+as short a space as in the latitude of St. Petersburg.
+
+Availing themselves of the comparative coolness of the hour, the _beau
+monde_ of that primitive little place, among which the Bishop and the
+Commandant of the garrison were conspicuous, had turned out for their
+evening promenade, and the esplanade presented quite a gay appearance.
+I ordered the horses for seven o'clock, and then we went to look for
+our dinner at the café; but here something of a difficulty arose. The
+Bocchesi dine at twelve noon, or at one at latest, and sup at nine, no
+one ever thinking of a meal at five! so that nothing was ready. The cook,
+however, was equal to the emergency, and in fifteen minutes served us up
+a most excellent and varied dinner, to which we were about to sit down
+and do ample justice, when who should turn up but Pero Pejovich!
+
+He was returning to his post in the Grahovo, and found it easier to get
+to it by coming round to Cattaro first, then going by sea to Risano and
+thence, as it were, coming back on his own steps, thus going a round
+of something like four times the direct distance. This will convey some
+idea of the difficulties to be encountered in endeavouring to cross some
+of the rocky regions of Montenegro.
+
+I was delighted at seeing him again; we all dined together, and enjoyed
+ourselves immensely notwithstanding the heat. After dinner, Pero Pejovich
+pulled out from among the ample folds of his sash some Trebigne tobacco,
+which had never seen the countenance of a Custom House officer, and we set
+to work to make cigarettes, when we were joined by Signor Jackschich and
+Signor Radanovich, the Prince's Agent at Cattaro. Coffee and maraschino
+were brought out, fresh relays of cigarettes were manufactured, and we
+could have enjoyed ourselves for hours more, but the inexorable bell of
+the steamer rang out a summons that bade Mr. Yonin prepare for departure,
+while the increasing darkness served to remind myself that I had yet a
+journey before me ere I should be able to lie down to rest.
+
+We stood up reluctantly, and in a body accompanied the Russian Consul
+to the steamer, and there bade him adieu, probably for ever; though who
+can tell? I have had at times the most unexpected _rencontres_ in the
+most unlikely places. I first met him at Ragusa, where also I made my
+first acquaintance with Mr. Paton, now unfortunately no more; both very
+able and highly educated men, yet they seemed not to appreciate each
+other as they might have done, perhaps from the diametrical opposition
+of their political views.
+
+Poor Paton is lost to us for ever, and we shall never have a better
+member of our Consular service; a shrewd, sagacious man, and a first-rate
+Oriental scholar.
+
+As to Mr. Yonin, I trust I may yet meet him, and renew some of the
+pleasant hours I spent with him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+     BEAUTIFUL ROAD—ATTACK OF FEVER—ARRIVAL AT BUDUA—BARON HEYDEG
+     AND SIGNOR MARCO MEDIN—A RESTAURANT—OUR HOST—DOCTOR, DENTIST
+     AND APOTHECARY—WALK ROUND THE FORTIFICATIONS—EXPLORATION OF
+     BUDUA—THE PARTING GLASS.
+
+
+The twilight of Cattaro was fast merging into darkness when I returned
+with my companions to the esplanade, where my horses were ready to take
+me on to Budua. Our adieux were short but cordial, and in a few minutes
+I was cantering away in company with Signor Jackschich, who lives in a
+villa a couple of miles away from Cattaro.
+
+If the tracks and paths of Montenegro are rugged and wild, the beautiful
+road we were now travelling on made ample amends for the discomfort
+I had endured in riding during the last few days. As we passed Signor
+Jackschich's villa, I insisted on his remaining there, or his courtesy
+would have induced him to keep me company ever so much further on; so
+wishing him adieu for the twentieth time, I lit my cigar, and sticking
+spurs into my pony, cantered away on my road to Budua. The ride was not
+interesting. I started too late; I should have remembered that in those
+latitudes, except at Cattaro, there is no twilight.
+
+On leaving Cattaro the road is at first directly south, leading across
+the isthmus of the peninsula which forms the western shore of the gulf
+of that name. Having reached the sea, it continues to skirt the Adriatic,
+except in those places where to avoid rounding a headland it runs inland
+straight across the base of the promontory.
+
+The night was fine, and we got on famously, but whether in consequence of
+the good dinner, or the genial sensation produced by the atmosphere, or
+the early hour I had risen in the morning, when it came to be about eleven
+o'clock an indescribable feeling of lassitude and intense sleepiness came
+over me. I would have given anything to lie down even for half-an-hour;
+but it was out of the question, as we were at that time crossing a sort
+of marsh, and there was not a dry spot to lie down on. So I was compelled
+to ride on; but I suspect I dozed, and then during those moments of
+extreme lassitude and prostration, when my vital powers were standing
+at their lowest, I fear I imbibed some of those zymotic germs, some
+malarious molecules, which a few days later manifested themselves by a
+smart attack of fever. Thanks, however, to a good constitution and a few
+doses of quinine, I was able to cut it short in three days, though it
+stuck to me for a little while longer in the shape of an indescribable
+sort of _malaise_.
+
+At one o'clock A.M., we reached the gates of Budua, where I was met
+by Baron Heydeg and Signor Marco Medin. Heydeg was an officer quartered
+with his regiment at Budua, whose acquaintance I had made at Pola, and
+with whom I had subsequently travelled. Medin was a native of Budua, who
+had left his country many years before, had made money in California,
+had married there a buxom Irish girl, a native of Ballinrobe, and had
+now returned, a rich man, to end his days among his relations in Dalmatia.
+
+They had been waiting for me a long time, and had walked some miles on
+the road to Cattaro to meet me, but were beginning to think I was not
+going to keep my word.
+
+We were soon seated together at a comfortable supper, and at half-past
+two A.M. I was finally allowed to retire to my bed, which Medin had
+kindly procured for me in a private house—because here, as in Cattaro,
+there is no hotel of any kind.
+
+Tired and sleepy as I was, I passed but an indifferent night, for,
+notwithstanding that my room had two large windows overlooking the sea,
+and that I kept them both open, the heat was perfectly stifling.
+
+I was just thinking of going out the next morning about ten, when in
+walked the Baron and Signor Medin, and we at once adjourned for breakfast
+at the same place where we had supped the previous night; I say place,
+as it was neither an inn nor a _café_. How shall I describe it? The
+following is the way we got at it, anyhow. In the main street of Budua,
+near to the land gate, on the left hand as you come in, you meet with
+five rugged stone steps, flanked by a shaky single iron railing. These
+lead up to a strong wooden door, which at some period, of its existence
+may have enjoyed the privilege of paint, but of which no trace remains
+at the present moment, not even enough to enable one to make a guess at
+the colour it once enjoyed.
+
+Entering by this door, I found myself in a stuffy, dirty hall, "_a
+terreno_" pervaded by a multitude of vile smells, one more awful than
+the other, but all so dovetailed and commingled that it was perfectly
+impossible to tell what the composition was. Turning sharp to the left,
+we mounted a steep stone staircase, at the top of which we were greeted
+by the same odour that had met us on entering, in which now the smell
+of assafœtida and garlic clearly predominated. We found ourselves in the
+kitchen of the establishment, over which reigned supreme a good-humoured,
+fat German _Frau_ of fifty or more, assisted by two bright-eyed,
+sharp-looking Dalmatian lads, begrimed with dirt and shining with grease
+and perspiration. The _Frau_ piloted us through this kitchen, where
+the heat must have been 110°, if not more, and brought us into the
+dining-room, a pretty good-sized room with windows round the three sides
+of it, the furniture consisting solely of one long deal table down the
+middle, and a score of rush-bottomed chairs around it. At this table
+were seated a dozen or so of German officers demolishing their "early
+bit."
+
+I was here received by the _Frau's_ worse half, a portly man of sixty
+or thereabouts. His coat was off, but he had on instead a huge pair of
+silver spectacles. He at once showed me to my seat at the table, when
+I apologised, through the Baron, to the officers for disturbing them at
+their breakfast.
+
+Notwithstanding the unpromising condition of things, the breakfast was
+excellent; but mine host in the shirt sleeves, with whom I kept up a
+running conversation in Italian, was even better. An Italian by birth and
+education (for he was very well educated), he had rambled all over the
+Austrian dominions and the Turkish provinces in Europe. He had forgotten
+most of his native tongue without learning any other, and the jargon
+he spoke was something marvellous. Still, he varied this _pot-pourri_
+according to the nationality of those he addressed. The foundation was
+always Italian, but if he spoke to an Austrian the German element would
+predominate, while if he spoke to a Montenegrin the Slave would be in the
+ascendant. He was a most amusing character, and combined in himself the
+functions of doctor, dentist and apothecary, as well as that of keeper
+of a restaurant in Budua—hence the villainous combination of the odours
+of a scullery, a kitchen, and a pharmacy.
+
+In spite of his griminess and the vile odours, I had some very pleasant
+conversation with him. I found him very well informed, and he gave me a
+most interesting account of the last descent of the Montenegrins. He had
+a most unconquerable horror of my favourite mountaineers, and believed
+there could be no peace nor prosperity in that part of the world until
+they should be all exterminated.
+
+Having finished our breakfast, Heydeg and I strolled outside the walls
+to where the market is held under some magnificent old carob trees, and
+there, as at Cattaro, were numbers of Montenegrins disposing of their
+produce. Here we had some delicious fresh figs, and then lighting our
+cigars we went round the old fortifications, which are now only just
+sufficient for protection at night against any sudden incursion of the
+wild tribes of the interior. Then we had a good bathe in a most delicious
+little cove, entirely girt round with rocks, and with a sandy bottom
+that felt like velvet under our feet. We then again lit another cigar,
+and started on a tour of exploration through this old town.
+
+Budua, situated at the extreme end of Dalmatia, in what used to be called
+Northern Albania, is the last Austrian city on the coast of the Adriatic.
+It is built on a low rocky promontory, and possesses no interest, save
+in its picturesque appearance, which it derives from its mediæval walls
+and machicolated towers—useless, indeed, against a civilized enemy, but
+still offering some protection against possible irruptions from Albanian
+freebooters. It is especially picturesque as seen from the sea, with
+its rugged background of naked mountains. Immediately about it there
+is some cultivation on the narrow strip of land which lies between the
+mountains and the sea; and corn, vines, olive trees, and mulberries for
+the rearing of silk-worms, are diligently grown.
+
+Inside, it is not attractive—its streets are extremely narrow, no more
+than six feet wide in many instances; they are, however, well paved, and
+would do well enough, were it not for the utter disregard to cleanliness
+and drainage. Still there are some wealthy people living there, and many
+of the houses are very good and substantial. There are several good shops,
+(perhaps the word stores would best describe them), where a brisk trade
+seemed to be carried on. The Baron and I poked our way through all the
+nooks and crannies of the place. We found nothing to invite attention,
+but a great deal to shock the sight, and even the sense of smell. So
+we hurried on and went to pay a visit to my buxom Ballinrobe friend,
+who had not only quite forgotten her ancestral brogue, but had actually
+exchanged it for a decided American accent, which, to my ears, was not
+an improvement. She offered us neither English tea nor Irish whiskey
+punch, but gave us some delicious lemonade and maraschino; and showed
+by her manner that, if the brogue was gone, the hearty Irish welcome
+was there still.
+
+From thence I went with the Baron to his own little apartment, which
+opened on to an enchanting little terrace, covered over with a grand
+"_pergola_" of vines, under whose refreshing shade we smoked away the
+time till we should go to dinner.
+
+We had not been long enjoying an excellent repast at our pharmaceutical
+(deuced hard name to spell, by-the-by) restaurant when we were informed
+that the steamer for Corfu was entering the harbour, and would leave in
+two hours.
+
+The time for parting had come at last, fresh bottles were tapped, and
+we all drank each others' health, and a happy journey to me amidst
+noisy demonstrations and much clinking of glasses. Dinner being at last
+completed, we all arose and walked in a body to the Mole, where, my
+luggage having preceded me, I went at once on board. There was no time
+for lengthy adieux, the steamer was whistling, and almost while we were
+shaking hands she cast off her moorings, and we were off.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+     TOWN OF ANTIVARI—FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF TURKEY—ORIENTAL
+     PASSENGERS—VALUE OF A KNOWLEDGE OF ARABIC OR TURKISH—A MAHOMETAN
+     MERCHANT AND HIS FAMILY—TURKISH TROOPS IN ALBANIA—TOWN AND
+     FORTRESS OF CASTEL DURAZZO—RETURN TO TRIESTE—FAREWELL TO THE
+     READER.
+
+
+After leaving Budua we kept close in shore, enjoying the wild rugged
+scenery of the Dalmatian coast till we reached Antivari, where we first
+came into immediate contact with the Turks on their own Ottoman soil.
+The first impression, I must confess, was certainly not a favourable one.
+
+Should any one of my readers, with a bias in favour of Ottomans and
+Ottoman rule, ever determine on visiting Turkey, let him not receive
+his first impression of that empire by a visit to Antivari. A few
+wretched hovels, a miserable white-washed house, with a small and dirty
+red flag over it; a group of miserably-dressed, vile-countenanced,
+ragamuffin-looking soldiers, in baggy blue trousers and crimson fezzes,
+constituted all the features of the place. The town of Antivari itself,
+I heard, was a few miles inland, but if one may judge of the town from
+its villainous port, it must be wretched in the extreme.
+
+The steamer remained here a couple of hours to land goods and take in
+passengers, but as the heat was excessive and the prospect of the country
+most unpromising, I made no attempt to land. I did not however lack
+entertainment, and while I lounged over the bulwarks on the shady side
+of the steamer, I amused myself pitching half-francs into the water,
+which was of very considerable depth and of the clearest and limpidest
+blue, to half a score or so of lads and small boys who were swimming,
+and diving, and treading the water in the most surprising manner; they
+seemed just as much at home in the sea as on the land, and fetched up
+the coins from the bottom as easily as I could have picked them up from
+the deck.
+
+When tired of looking at the swimmers, I turned to watch the new arrivals,
+of which we had a considerable number, all Orientals, and almost all
+deck passengers. The first which caught my eye, coming up the side of
+the steamer, was a wretched-looking, squalid creature, dressed in rags,
+but most picturesque withal. He was small, slight, and extremely dark,
+just short of black, but with distinctly Caucasian features, not a
+negroid by any means. He had a small bundle over his shoulders, and in
+his right hand he carried a short lance, with a very bright steel head,
+ornamented with a few lines of Damascene work in gold. His head was
+covered with a somewhat conical-shaped cap, encircled with a scanty and
+very ragged green turban, while at his side he carried a moderate sized
+bottle-gourd. He was a very singular looking being, and all I could make
+out through the captain was that he thought he was a dervish returning
+home from visiting some sacred shrine in Mahomedan Europe. As to his
+home, he suspected from his costume it might be in Kurdistan, but it
+was very much guess work, as the Captain spoke neither Arabic nor Turkish.
+
+Another interesting group consisted of three gaily dressed Orientals, in
+bag trousers tight at the knees, turban, and highly embroidered jackets.
+They made their way to the quarter-deck abaft the paddle box, and were
+about being summarily ejected by the steward in consequence of being deck
+passengers, when I interposed, and got him to let them stay for a while.
+They perfectly well understood that it was owing to my interference they
+were allowed to remain, and so we knocked up a sort of acquaintance, and
+carried on a lame, very lame conversation by the help of the youngest,
+who could speak a very few words of Italian. I could not make out any
+thing about them, whence they came, or whither they were going, but
+from their features I could easily see they were Asiatics, Arabs most
+probably, and the youngest, who was also the lightest in colour, had
+three scars on each cheek, not unlike in shape to our broad arrow.
+
+How I longed for a knowledge of Arabic, how I envied Captain Burton! If
+he had been there we should at once have known all about them, and the
+dervish and everyone else, including a tall, handsome Soudani slave,
+who kept grinning and showing his teeth from ear to ear, while I was
+carrying on my lame conversation with the Arabs.
+
+Up to this point, Italian and German had enabled me to get on famously;
+but now that I was getting among Asiatics, although I was still in
+Europe, I felt my utter helplessness, and the absolute necessity for a
+knowledge of the language of the Koran, for those who wish to visit the
+East with pleasure and profit.
+
+The whole deck forward was encumbered with passengers. In one corner
+seated on a pile of luggage, but well bolstered up by rolls of
+Persian carpets, was a most truculent-looking Oriental, attended by an
+intelligent-looking young negro, with a most astonishing Caucasian type
+of countenance. He wore nothing but a white calico sort of shirt with
+loose sleeves, and a string of red beads round his neck. He had none of
+the characteristics of the negro except the colour; had I known anything
+of Arabic, I could most probably have learnt something about his origin.
+
+In another corner of the deck a Mahomedan merchant (as I was informed he
+was) had contrived to screen off a place for himself and his family, one
+of whom, about three years old, was sprawling stark naked on a rug in
+the broiling sun, while a closely veiled female, his mother I suppose,
+was chasing small deer all over his person, which was closely spotted
+as if with measles—but they were only bites!
+
+Quite at the prow of the vessel, somewhat apart, and separated from
+the rest, was a military officer, evidently of some considerable rank,
+if one could judge by the orders and stars fastened to his breast, his
+handsome hilted sabre, and his patent leather boots. He was a heavy
+morose-looking man of about fifty, with close cropped black beard, blue
+Turkish uniform, and crimson fez. I was told he was a real pasha, and
+had with him a suite of two officers and half a dozen soldiers. He was
+only a deck passenger like the others; but whether he travelled so from
+poverty, from motives of economy, or from scorning to associate with the
+hated and _envied_ Nazarenes, I cannot tell, though I strongly suspect
+that genuine impecuniosity was the real cause of it.
+
+The Turkish troops I saw in this part of Albania were the most wretched
+specimens I ever witnessed, small, mean, dirty, disreputable-looking
+in the extreme, and their officers matched them to perfection. Having
+remarked on their appearance, I was told by the captain of the steamer
+not to form an opinion of the Ottoman army by such samples, as they
+always sent their worst regiments to Albania, and that these wretched
+troops, both officers and men, were always months in arrears of pay.
+
+At last every one was on board, the last package was hoisted over the
+side, and again we were steaming down southwards. The afternoon was very
+enjoyable, the heat much less, and as the number of cabin passengers
+was small, we were able to have our supper on deck, which we enjoyed
+immensely.
+
+After the meal was concluded, I again went forward among the natives,
+and soon made friends with many of the dusky passengers by means of a few
+signs; but our conversation was not lively—signs and gesticulations and
+dumb show were the principal means of conversation—of language we made
+little or no use. Had I known ever so little of Arabic we could have got
+on fairly enough—the pantomime of these Orientals being so wonderfully
+expressive. So I returned to the quarter-deck, where I had some coffee
+with the captain, and then feeling tired, I went down to my _camerino_,
+and was soon asleep.
+
+On awaking the next morning I found we were at anchor opposite the
+town and fortress of Castel Durazzo, telling of its Venetian origin
+by its name. Here we remained a few hours, but the place did not look
+attractive, and as I did not feel quite "the thing," I did not go on
+shore, but remained on deck looking at the motley groups as they passed
+up and down. Again we had the usual interchange of passengers and goods,
+and after a few hours' delay we were just about steaming away when the
+return steamer from Corfu came alongside of us.
+
+As chance would have it, it turned out to be the very boat which had
+brought me down to Cattaro; and no sooner did the captain spy me out
+on deck than he shouted that the quarantine had been declared at Corfu
+against all vessels coming from Trieste, and that if I went on I should
+be detained to perform fourteen days of quarantine in the Lazzaretto,
+instead of being allowed to continue my journey on to Constantinople.
+I asked him to come over, which he did at once, and having held a
+consultation with the other captain, who entirely agreed with him that I
+should most certainly be detained a fortnight at Corfu, and be compelled
+to perform my quarantine in the Lazzaretto, I determined on returning
+to Trieste. Fourteen days in a Lazzaretto anywhere would be a severe
+ordeal, but fourteen days of such an imprisonment during the dog-days
+at Corfu could not possibly have been faced; it would not only have been
+a severe trial of patience in every shape and form, but might have been
+conducive to serious illness.
+
+There was no time to be lost, so my luggage was at once put into the
+captain's boat, and in a few minutes I again found myself on board the
+old steamer, where Giovanni, the steward, greeted me as if I had been
+an old friend.
+
+At sunset we steamed away northward from Castel Durazzo. The captain
+was delighted to see me again, and Giovanni was most affable, doing his
+utmost to promote my happiness. But like Rachel of old I would not be
+comforted, all my plans were thoroughly upset; I could not bring myself
+to make fresh arrangements. I was turning my back on my beloved South
+and I was retracing my steps—both things I utterly detested. But _non
+ci era rimedio_, the quarantine and the Lazzaretto I could not face, so
+there was nothing else to do but resign oneself to the fates.
+
+The next morning we came abreast of Budua, but I did not land as I did
+not feel well. I screwed up my courage, however, and attempted a little
+sketch of its castle and harbour, with its blue sea and its background
+of rocky mountains. After a little, and just as we were leaving the
+place, I felt worse, so I took some medicine and went to lie down. In
+two hours more I was in high fever, with a racking pain in my head and
+back, and I felt my mind almost wandering. We reached the Bocche that
+evening, but the beauties of the Fjord were lost to me—I lay in my cabin
+prostrated. Giovanni came instantly to see me, trying to comfort me by
+telling me I had only caught "_la febbre_," and that I should send for
+the doctor at Cattaro to get myself bled, and take quinine, when I should
+be all right. I think that the idea of Giovanni's bringing a doctor and
+having me bled, _nolens volens_, roused me up. I made myself some tea,
+and just as we reached Cattaro I felt much better—the fever had abated,
+and now, said I, is the time to take the quinine.
+
+I had brought lots of it with me, so I measured out as much as I could
+pile upon a shilling, and bolted it. It certainly cut short the disease,
+as the fever did not set in again; but I was not well for many days
+after, and even when I arrived at Trieste I felt quite weak and out of
+sorts.
+
+The next morning early we left Cattaro, and in the afternoon got to
+Gravosa. I felt somewhat better, and hearing that Consul Paton, who was
+then alive, and his family were in a villa just opposite to where the
+steamer was moored, I took a boat and spent two delightful hours with
+them, till the steam-whistle told me how quickly the time had flown. I
+reluctantly made my adieux, and soon was steaming out of the harbour.
+
+It wanted scarcely an hour of sunset: the sun was low in the horizon—all
+the lights and shades were the more intensely marked, while the constantly
+changing tints, from brightest rose and golden yellow to the deepest
+violets and blues, created such a fairy scene that I would not venture
+to describe it.
+
+I was in the fullest enjoyment of that sunset, gazing on where the sun
+was just dipping into the sea, sending a flood of golden light along the
+surface from himself to us, when the captain tapped me on the shoulder,
+saying, "_Vada giù_, you had _la febbre_ last night; don't expose yourself
+to the air _al tramonto_;" so I took his advice, and went down below,
+notwithstanding the heat, and so ended the 23rd day of July!
+
+The following day saw us at Lesina and at Curzola, and again at Lissa. The
+day after brought us abreast of Spalato, where again I enjoyed a couple
+of hours' ramble among those glorious ruins. Then we cruised through the
+countless islands near the mouth of the Quarnero, and finally reached
+Trieste, where, after having enjoyed two pleasant days with Captain
+Burton and his charming and talented lady, I turned my steps towards home.
+
+Here I take my leave of the reader. If he shall be disappointed with my
+style and my many shortcomings I shall not be surprised; but I shall be
+disappointed indeed if, following a somewhat similar track to the one
+I have been tracing, only penetrating, if possible, more into Servia
+proper, and going across it from the Danube to the Adriatic, he shall
+not feel himself amply repaid by having taken my advice in visiting
+those countries which I have endeavoured to describe.
+
+THE END.
+
+London: Printed by A. Schulze, 13, Poland Street.
+
+
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+
+     [1] Since writing the above I have obtained the following
+     authentic description of this ship. The "Lissa" ironclad was
+     built at Trieste. She is a full-rigged casemated ironclad of
+     5950 tons, 320 feet long, 60 feet beam, and drawing 28 feet
+     of water. Armoured with 6-inch Austrian plates, the armament
+     consisting of ten 9-inch breech-loading Krupp guns in her
+     maindeck casemate, and two 9-inch breech-loading Krupp guns
+     on turn-tables in semi-circular overhanging casemates on the
+     open deck, the guns being protected from above by a sort of
+     central hurricane deck. The "Lissa" steams at the rate of
+     twelve knots, and carries coals for 420 hours; among other
+     improvements she has a powerful electric light placed on the
+     bridge, and gimballed, so as to allow it to be thrown in any
+     direction.
+
+     [2] Sir J. G. Wilkinson's "Dalmatia and Montenegro."
+
+     [3] Lady Strangford's "Eastern Shores of the Adriatic."
+
+     [4] In August, 1647, a Pasha of Bosnia, pouring an army of
+     30,000 men into the lowlands, attempted the capture of Sebenico
+     and its fort; but it was so well defended by the 6000 Venetians
+     and German mercenaries of the garrison, that after twenty-six
+     days' cannonade the Pasha was obliged to retire.
+
+     [5] The brave King Richard, having recruited himself at
+     Ragusa, is said, by some, to have gone to Aquileia by sea, by
+     others to have continued his journey by land; anyhow, it is
+     pretty certain, that having stopped to take some refreshment
+     at a way-side inn in the mountains of Dalmatia, or Styria,
+     he incautiously handed a large gold piece to the landlady to
+     change, and her suspicions being roused by this circumstance,
+     she informed the authorities; and the end was that the King was
+     seized by the treacherous Leopold of Austria, and imprisoned,
+     as everyone knows. There is a tradition, however, which is not
+     so well known, that shortly after his treacherous conduct to
+     his brother-in-arms, Leopold of Austria, when out hunting, met
+     with a severe injury to his right leg—surgery was not then what
+     it is now—the limb mortified, and it was agreed on all hands
+     that nothing could save the Prince's life but amputation. But
+     who was to do it? No one would venture—when Leopold himself
+     proposed that a sharp hatchet should be laid across his limb,
+     and that, at his word of command, it should be struck with a
+     ponderous mallet, when it was expected that the limb would be
+     severed. The operation succeeded so far as the cutting went,
+     but the bystanders were unable to staunch the blood, and the
+     Prince bled to death—a fitting retribution for his treachery.
+
+     [6] The story, as well as I remember it, was as follows:—A
+     probably well-meaning but decidedly weak-minded Protestant,
+     bent on missionary work, arrived one day at Tangier. He had
+     never been in the East, and did not know a word of Arabic. He
+     was determined, however, to improve the opportunity by letting
+     in a ray of Gospel truth into the minds of the benighted
+     Mussulmans. That he did not know a word of their native
+     language was no obstacle to this energetic missionary, he
+     would employ an interpreter. Having found one in the person
+     of a 'Gibraltar Jew,' he explained to him what he wanted;
+     the bargain was soon struck, and the Jew undertook, for a
+     consideration, to interpret for him on the next market day.
+     He, however, advised the missionary to have a certain quantity
+     of tobacco and coffee ready to treat the assembled hearers,
+     as it was always customary to do so in that country whenever
+     an important meeting was held—to which the missionary at once
+     consented. The fact of the danger he would be running into
+     himself, dragging his interpreter after him, from telling the
+     most bigoted perhaps of all Mussulmans, that their religion was
+     false, and their Prophet an emissary of the Evil One, never
+     once entered into his head; but, fortunately for them both,
+     the Jew had more brain than his employer. Market-day came,
+     and the Jew had bespoke, in a couple of cafés, a large supply
+     of coffee. The town and country people having been informed
+     that an "Effendi Engleez" would make a great speech to them,
+     they collected in large numbers in the market-place, where
+     they squatted down round a hogshead, on which the missionary
+     was mounted. He at once began in the usual terms—his religion
+     was the only true one, and all those who differed from him
+     went straight down head foremost into Gehenna, which the wise
+     Jew translated thus: "The Effendi has come all the way from
+     England to get cured; he is mad, but quite harmless, and if you
+     only have patience, you will get plenty of coffee." And so the
+     missionary went on ringing the changes on his subject, whilst
+     the wiser Jew rang the changes on his; which, however, always
+     ended in the stereotyped, "and you'll get plenty of coffee."
+     The report, probably made to head-quarters by that enterprising
+     missionary, would be interesting to read, especially by the
+     light thrown upon it by the interpreter; and how many more
+     missionary efforts might prove equally distressing could we
+     but have together with the sermon the running commentary of
+     a non-interested looker-on.
+
+     [7] I had taken exact measurements, but some of my notes were
+     unfortunately lost—the above measurements are, therefore, only
+     approximative.
+
+     [8] I was informed at Cettigne that trout were caught in the
+     Moratcha of fifty or sixty pounds weight; not salmon, for
+     the Moratcha does not go to the sea, and if it did go, there
+     are no salmon in the Adriatic. Thinking it must be a joke, I
+     asked several persons of standing, who all assured me that
+     it was perfectly true. I regret that being unprovided with
+     tackle, in addition to being short of time, I was unable to
+     test the accuracy of these assertions, mainly in reference to
+     my readers, because as to myself I have no reason whatever to
+     doubt the truth, accuracy, and bona-fides of my informants;
+     I fully accept what I heard from them, especially from my
+     previous knowledge of the amazing number and size of the trout
+     in the Servian rivers.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Rambles in Istria, Dalmatia and
+Montenegro, by R. H. R.
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAMBLES--ISTRIA, DALMATIA, MONTENEGRO ***
+
+***** This file should be named 57400-0.txt or 57400-0.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/5/7/4/0/57400/
+
+Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will
+be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
+law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
+so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
+States without permission and without paying copyright
+royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
+of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
+concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
+and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive
+specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this
+eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook
+for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports,
+performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given
+away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks
+not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the
+trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.
+
+START: FULL LICENSE
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
+Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
+www.gutenberg.org/license.
+
+Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+
+1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
+destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your
+possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
+Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
+by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the
+person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph
+1.E.8.
+
+1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
+paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this
+agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the
+Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
+of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual
+works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
+States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
+United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
+claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
+displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
+all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
+that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting
+free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm
+works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
+Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily
+comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
+same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when
+you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
+in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
+check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
+agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
+distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
+other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no
+representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
+country outside the United States.
+
+1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
+immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear
+prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work
+on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed,
+performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
+
+  This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+  most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
+  restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
+  under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
+  eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
+  United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you
+  are located before using this ebook.
+
+1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is
+derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
+contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
+copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
+the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
+redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
+either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
+obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm
+trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
+additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
+will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works
+posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
+beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
+any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
+to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format
+other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official
+version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site
+(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
+to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
+of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain
+Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the
+full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+provided that
+
+* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+  the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+  you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
+  to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has
+  agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
+  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
+  within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
+  legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
+  payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
+  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
+  Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
+  Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+  you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+  does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+  License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
+  copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
+  all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm
+  works.
+
+* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
+  any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+  electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
+  receipt of the work.
+
+* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+  distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than
+are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
+from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The
+Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
+Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
+contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
+or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
+intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
+other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
+cannot be read by your equipment.
+
+1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
+with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
+with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
+lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
+or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
+opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
+the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
+without further opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO
+OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
+damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
+violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
+agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
+limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
+unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
+remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in
+accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
+production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
+including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
+the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
+or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or
+additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any
+Defect you cause.
+
+Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
+computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
+exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
+from people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future
+generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
+Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
+www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
+U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the
+mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its
+volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous
+locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt
+Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to
+date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and
+official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
+
+For additional contact information:
+
+    Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+    Chief Executive and Director
+    gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
+DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular
+state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
+donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
+
+Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be
+freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
+distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of
+volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
+the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
+necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
+edition.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search
+facility: www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
diff --git a/57400-h/57400-h.htm b/57400-h/57400-h.htm
index 3d89629..8abde34 100644
--- a/57400-h/57400-h.htm
+++ b/57400-h/57400-h.htm
@@ -1,10026 +1,10026 @@
-<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
-    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
-
-<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
-  <head>
-    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" />
-    <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" />
-    <title>
-      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Rambles in Istria, Dalmatia, and Montenegro., by R. H. R..
-    </title>
-    <link rel="coverpage" href="images/title-page.jpg" />
-    <style type="text/css">
-
-body {
-    margin-left: 10%;
-    margin-right: 10%;
-}
-
-h1,h2 {
-    text-align: center;
-    clear: both;
-}
-
-h2 {
-    margin-top: 4em;}
-
-.fntitle {margin-top: 1em;
-        font-size: 1.1em;}
-
-p {
-    margin-top: .75em;
-    margin-bottom: .75em;
-    line-height: 1.3em;
-    text-align: justify;
-    text-indent: 1.75em;
-}
-
-p.post {text-indent: 0em;}
-
-.pagenum {
-    position: absolute;
-    left: 92%;
-    font-size: smaller;
-    text-align: right;
-    text-indent: 1.75em;
-}
-hr {
-    width: 33%;
-    margin-top: 4em;
-    margin-bottom: 0em;
-    margin-left: auto;
-    margin-right: auto;
-    clear: both;
-}
-
-hr.l15 {
-    width: 15%;
-}
-
-.center {
-    text-align: center;
-}
-
-.smcap {
-	font-variant: small-caps;
-}
-
-.figcenter {
-    margin: auto;
-    text-align: center;
-    margin-top: 4em;
-}
-
-.footnote {
-	margin-left: 10%;
-	margin-right: 10%;
-	margin-top: 1em;
-	font-size: 0.9em;
-          text-indent: 0em;
-}
-
-.footnotes {
-         margin-top: 6em;
-	border: dashed 1px;
-}
-
-.footnote .fnlabel {
-	position: absolute;
-	right: 84%;
-	text-align: right;
-}
-
-.fnanchor {
-    vertical-align: super;
-    font-size: .8em;
-    text-decoration:
-    none;
-}
-
-.poetry-container {  text-align: center; }
-
-.poem {
-    display: inline-block;
-	font-size: 95%;
-	margin-bottom: 1em;
-	text-align: left; }
-
-.poem p {
-	margin: 0;
-	padding-left: 3em;
-	text-indent: -3em; }
-
-
-.poem p.o1  {
-	margin-left: -.4em;
-}
-
-.p2   {margin-top: 2em;}
-.p4   {margin-top: 4em;}
-.p6   {margin-top: 6em;}
-
-.b20	{font-size:2.0em;}
-.s08 	{font-size:.8em;}
-.s05 	{font-size:.5em;}
-
-table {
-	margin-left: auto;
-	margin-right: auto;
-	empty-cells: show;
-}
-
-td {padding-left: 1em;
-    padding-right: 1em;
-    vertical-align: top;
-}
-
-.tdr {
-	text-align: right;
-          vertical-align: bottom;
-}
-
-.tdchap { text-align: center;
-          padding-top: .75em;}
-
-.tdh { text-indent: -1em;
-       text-align: left;
-       margin-left: 1em;}
-
-img.drop-cap
-{
- float: left;
- margin: 0 0.5em 0 0;
-}
-
-p.drop-cap:first-letter
-{
- color: transparent;
- visibility: hidden;
- margin-left: -0.9em;
-}
-
-p.drop-cap {text-indent: .25em;}
-
-.tnbox {
-   margin-left: 5%;
-   margin-right: 5%;
-   margin-bottom: 8em;
-   margin-top: 4em;
-   text-align: center;
-   border: 1px solid;
-   padding: 1em;
-   color: black;
-   background-color: #f6f2f2;
-}
-
-ul.none {
-	list-style-type:none;
-          text-align: left;
-}
-
-.ch_summ {
-    font-size: .85em;
-    margin-left: 1em;
-    margin-top: 1.5em;
-    margin-bottom: 2.5em;
-    text-indent: -1em;
-    text-align: left;
-}
-
-.hidev {visibility: hidden;}
-
-@media print, handheld
-{
-    h1 {page-break-before: always;}
-
-    p {
-        margin-top: .5em;
-        text-align:  justify;
-        margin-bottom: .25em;
-    }
-
-    table {width: 100%; max-width: 100%;}
-
-}
-
-@media handheld
-{
-    body {margin: 0;}
-
-    hr {
-        margin-top: .1em;
-        margin-bottom: .1em;
-        visibility: hidden;
-        color: white;
-        width: .01em;
-        display: none;
-    }
-
-    .tnbox {
-        page-break-inside: avoid;
-        margin-left: 2%;
-        margin-right: 2%;
-        margin-top: 1em;
-        margin-bottom: 1em;
-        padding: .5em;
-    }
-
-    img.drop-cap
-    {
-      display: none;
-    }
-
-    p.drop-cap:first-letter
-    {
-      color: inherit;
-      visibility: visible;
-      margin-left: 0;
-    }
-
-    .poem  {
-           display: block;
-           margin-left: 5%;
-           margin-right: 10%;
-     }
-
-
-}
-
-    </style>
-  </head>
-<body>
-
-
-<pre>
-
-Project Gutenberg's Rambles in Istria, Dalmatia and Montenegro, by R. H. R.
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: Rambles in Istria, Dalmatia and Montenegro
-
-Author: R. H. R.
-
-Release Date: June 25, 2018 [EBook #57400]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAMBLES--ISTRIA, DALMATIA, MONTENEGRO ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed
-Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
-produced from images generously made available by The
-Internet Archive)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-</pre>
-
-
-<div class="tnbox">
-<p class="center">
-<b>Transcriber's Note:</b>
-</p>
-<p>
-  Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have
-  been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
-</p>
-<p>
-  The following alternative spellings were identified and left
-  unchanged.
-</p>
-<ul class="none">
-<li>zigzags and zig-zags</li>
-<li>Broniewsky and Broniewski</li>
-<li>Petersburg and Petersburgh</li>
-<li>Niegosh and Niegosch</li>
-<li>Mahomedan and Mahommedan</li>
-<li>Roganovitch and Roganovich</li>
-<li>Vissegrad and Wissegrad</li>
-<li>trowsers and trousers</li>
-</ul>
-
-</div>
-
-<h1>
-RAMBLES IN ISTRIA, DALMATIA,<br />
-<span class="s05">AND</span><br />
-MONTENEGRO.
-</h1>
-
-<p class="post center b20 p6">
-RAMBLES IN ISTRIA,
-<br />
-DALMATIA AND MONTENEGRO.
-</p>
-<p class="post center p4">
-<span class="s08">BY</span>
-<br />
-R. H. R.
-</p>
-
-<p class="post center s08 p4">
-"<span lang="it_IT">Dirvi ch'io sia, saria parlar indarno.</span>"—<span class="smcap">DANTE.</span>
-</p>
-
-<p class="post center p4">
-<i>IN ONE VOLUME.</i>
-</p>
-<p class="post center p4">
-LONDON:<br />
-HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS.<br />
-13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.<br />
-1875.<br />
-<span class="s05"><i>All rights reserved.</i></span>
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p6">
-<img src="images/wroughtiron.jpg" width="400" height="87" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<h2>
-PREFACE.
-</h2>
-
-<div>
-  <img class="drop-cap" src="images/drope.jpg" width="100" height="111" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p class="drop-cap">
-Every year more and more is the constantly
-recurring question ever put
-"Where shall we go to this Summer?"
-and every year the field for selection gets narrower
-and narrower.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-In writing the following pages, my object has
-been less to make a book than to point out to those
-who are tired of the old beaten tracks, countries
-within easy reach of London, but seldom visited,
-and quite outside the lines affected by the typical
-tourist:—countries where at moderate expense and
-with total freedom from danger they may enjoy new
-scenery, receive fresh impressions, acquire new
-information; and if by so doing I shall have
-suggested to others one more field for exploration
-that shall afford them half the enjoyment which I
-experienced during my wanderings, I shall consider
-myself very amply rewarded.
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p4">
-<img src="images/oak.jpg" width="141" height="52" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter p6">
-<img src="images/dragons.jpg" width="400" height="86" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<h2>
-CONTENTS.
-</h2>
-
-<hr class="l15" />
-
-<table summary="Table of Contents">
-<tr>
-<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER I.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">
-A CONVERSATION—WHERE SHALL WE GO FOR A HOLIDAY TRIP—ATTRACTIONS
-OF LAPLAND—REMINISCENCES OF ITALY—THE
-GRAND TOUR IN FORMER DAYS—HOW TO STUDY HISTORY—DIFFICULTY
-OF FINDING NEW GROUND FOR TRAVEL—AN
-INTERESTING COUNTRY WITHIN FIVE DAYS OF TEMPLE
-BAR</td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER II.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">MAN PROPOSES, BUT GOD DISPOSES—VIENNA—ST. STEPHEN'S
-CATHEDRAL—OLD CATHEDRALS—SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE—USES
-OF EAU DE COLOGNE—INSECT ATTACKS—THE UNIVERSAL
-EXHIBITION—THE GARDENS AND ACCESSORIES—THE
-LADIES OF VIENNA—NEW OPERA-HOUSE—ON THE
-DANUBE—A WEALTHY PRELATE—WISSEGRAD—ARRIVAL AT
-PESTH</td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_14">14</a>
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_viii' name='Page_viii' href='#Page_viii'>viii</a></span></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER III.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">PESTH—HOTEL UNGARIA—BUDA—STORY OF AN ARTIST—PROSPERITY
-OF THE CITY—NEW BRIDGE OVER THE DANUBE—ST.
-MARGUERITE'S ISLAND—ANCIENT ROMAN BATH—CONDITION
-OF HUNGARY—FIELD FOR THE JUNIOR BRANCHES
-OF THE UPPER TEN THOUSAND—KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—THE
-TERMINATION OF TURKISH MISRULE—FUTURE OF
-THE DANUBIAN PRINCIPALITIES</td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER IV.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">STEINBRÜCK—THE SÖMMERING—FIRST VIEW OF THE ADRIATIC—TRIESTE—SHOCKS
-OF EARTHQUAKE AT BELLUNO—AUSTRIAN
-IRONCLAD 'LISSA'—CAPTAIN R. BURTON—FLYING VISIT TO
-SAN CANZIANO—SUBTERRANEAN COURSE OF A MOUNTAIN
-STREAM—THE KARST—WILD SCENERY—A THUNDER-STORM—CHURCH
-OF SAN CANZIANO—STUD FARM</td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_43">43</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER V.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">THE "SAN CARLO" AND HER PASSENGERS—A DALMATIAN'S
-REMARKS ON THE PRESERVATION OF HEALTH IN INDIA—DALMATIAN
-DIGGERS FROM AUSTRALIA—COAST OF ISTRIA—PIRANO—CATHEDRAL
-OF PARENZO—ROVIGNO—POLA—THE
-AMPHITHEATRE—PICTURESQUE SIGHT—GIOVANNI ASTONISHED—MONTENEGRIN
-COSTUME—ZARA—EXTREME
-HEAT</td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_61">61</a>
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_ix' name='Page_ix' href='#Page_ix'>ix</a></span></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER VI.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">DEPARTURE FROM ZARA—SEBENICO—PLEASANT COMPANIONS—NOBLE
-HARBOUR—THE CATHEDRAL—CURIOUS ROOF—CORAL
-FISHERY—SPALATO—SALONA—DIOCLETIAN'S PALACE—MR.
-PATON'S DESCRIPTION OF IT—BEAUTIFUL SPECTACLE—THE
-PORTA FERREA—QUAINT DWELLINGS—AMBROSIAL TOBACCO</td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_79">79</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER VII.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">A TYPE OF SHYLOCK—SCENE IN THE STREET—VARIED COSTUMES—MORLACCHI—TURKS
-FROM THE HERZEGOVINA—WOMEN OF
-SPALATO—INSPECTION OF THE CITY—THE PORTA AUREA—COURT
-OF THE VESTIBULE OF THE PALACE—INTERIOR OF
-THE CATHEDRAL—ILLUSTRIOUS MEN OF SPALATO—MARK
-ANTONY DE DOMINIS—ST. JEROME—THE MORLACCHI</td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER VIII.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">ISLAND OF LISSA—NAVAL BATTLES—A BRIDAL PARTY TAKEN ON
-BOARD—LESINA—FORTRESS OF SAN NICOLO—THE LOGGIE—FORT
-SPAGNUOLO—ISLAND OF CURZOLA—LA CHROMA—BEAUTIFUL
-SCENE—RICHARD CŒUR DE LION—CATHEDRAL OF
-RAGUSA—EARTHQUAKE OF 1667—TERRIBLE CONFLAGRATION—PRINCE
-MAXIMILIAN</td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_107">107</a>
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_x' name='Page_x' href='#Page_x'>x</a></span></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER IX.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">THE PADRE ANSELMO—HIS LIFE AND LABOURS AMONG THE
-AMERICAN INDIANS—THE PIONEERS OF CIVILIZATION—AMERICAN
-INDIANS AND NEGROES—PADRE ANSELMO ON PROTESTANT
-AND CATHOLIC MISSIONS—NATIVE CHRISTIANS IN
-INDIA—POPE PIUS IX. ONCE A MISSIONARY—CARDINAL P—.—PORT
-OF GRAVOSA—RAGUSA</td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_125">125</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER X.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">ATTRACTIONS OF DALMATIA—INTERESTING EXCURSION—ISLAND
-OF LACHROMA—CLIMATE—A. A. PATON, ESQ., FORMERLY
-CONSUL-GENERAL AT RAGUSA—AN ITALIAN DINNER—EPIDAURUS—THE
-CANAL OF CATTARO—TERRITORY OF RAGUSA—TOWER
-OF PERASTO AND FORT OF SANTA CROCE—STRANGELY
-BUILT CHURCH—A PALAZZO—SAN GIORGIO AND LA MADONNA—PICTURE
-ATTRIBUTED TO ST. LUKE</td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XI.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">CITY OF CATTARO—SIGNOR JACKSCHICH—STREETS AND PIAZZAS—WALKS
-AND FORTIFICATIONS—PUBLIC WALK—CAFÉ AND
-GARDENS—SONOROUS STONE—A MONTENEGRIN CHIEF—A
-HAPPY BEGGAR BOY</td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_154">150</a>
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_xi' name='Page_xi' href='#Page_xi'>xi</a></span></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XII.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">MONTENEGRIN TRADERS—LE SCALE DI CATTARO—A GORGEOUSLY-ATTIRED
-MONK—OUR CARAVAN—MONTENEGRINS OF
-THE PRINCE'S BODY-GUARD—INTERESTING VIEW—ABSENCE
-OF TREES ON THE DALMATIAN COAST—A HOME FOR GERMAN
-EMIGRANTS—TURKISH MISRULE IN EUROPE—A FUTURE EMPIRE—A
-MAN FIT TO RULE</td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_164">164</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XIII.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">THE PRINCE OF MONTENEGRO—UNJUST DEPRIVATION OF TERRITORY—ORIGIN
-OF THE NAME OF THE COUNTRY—A FRIEND
-IN NEED—VILLAGE OF NIEGOSCH—PANORAMA SEEN FROM
-THE TOP OF THE PASS—WILD-LOOKING HERDS AND FLOCKS—MONTENEGRIN
-LEGEND—ARRIVAL AT CETTIGNE—THE
-VLADIKA'S PALACE—THE TREE OF JUSTICE—TOWER OF CETTIGNE</td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_177">177</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XIV.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">INSECT POWDER OF MONTENEGRO—DESCRIPTION OF THE MONASTERY—ENCAMPMENTS—FESTIVAL
-OF ST. PETER—A SAINT
-BY THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE—PICTURESQUE SCENE—BOSNIAN
-CAFÉ—THE NATIONAL INSTRUMENT—A TRAVELLED
-DALMATIAN—TALL MONTENEGRINS</td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_194">194</a>
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_xii' name='Page_xii' href='#Page_xii'>xii</a></span></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XV.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">A POLYGLOT JUMBLE—WAR CUSTOMS OF THE MONTENEGRINS—DEATH
-IN BATTLE—FORAYS FOR THE PLUNDER OF CATTLE—EQUIPAGE
-OF A MONTENEGRIN SOLDIER—PILLAGE—MANNER
-OF FIGHTING—TACTICS—SIGNAL CRIES—ON BOARD
-SHIP—DECAPITATION OF WOUNDED PRISONERS</td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_208">208</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XVI.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">BATTLE BETWEEN TURKS AND MONTENEGRINS—ADDRESS OF
-PRINCE MIRKO—HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND CHARACTER—THE
-PROJECTS OF PRINCE DANIELO—PRINCE NICHOLAS I.—SPORT
-IN MONTENEGRO—INTERVIEW WITH THE PRINCE
-AND PRINCESS—NATIONAL COSTUME—SPLENDID ILLUMINATION</td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_218">218</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XVII.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">A WALK WITH THE PRINCE—SALUTATIONS OF THE CROWD—THE
-GUZLA—MONTENEGRIN DANCE—THE PRINCE'S ACCOUNT
-OF ITS ORIGIN—THE CAMP AT NIGHT—ADVENTURE WITH A
-MONTENEGRIN—DEVOTION OF THE PEOPLE TO THEIR
-PRINCE</td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_235">235</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XVIII.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">FALSE IMPRESSIONS OF MONTENEGRO—AGRICULTURE ON A
-MINOR SCALE—FIELD-LABOURERS—MONTENEGRIN FACCHINI
-AT CONSTANTINOPLE—FEMALE LABOUR—PRODUCTION OF
-SUMACH—COMMERCIAL RELATIONS WITH OTHER COUNTRIES
-IMPEDED—IMPOSING PAGEANT</td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_248">248</a>
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_xiii' name='Page_xiii' href='#Page_xiii'>xiii</a></span></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XIX.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">FOOT RACES—MONASTERY OF OSTROG—OTTOMAN ADMINISTRATION—A
-COURSE À LA MONTAGNE—RACING WITHOUT BETTING—BEN
-TROVATO—A FLAT RACE—CONVERSATION ABOUT
-ENGLISH LAWS AND CUSTOMS—LAW OF HABEAS CORPUS</td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_258">258</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XX.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">DEPARTURE FROM CETTIGNE—RUGGED ROAD—DELIGHTFUL
-VIEW—USEFUL OLD HELMET—NIEGOSH—EXCESSIVE HEAT—THE
-SCALA DI CATTARO—THE BOCCHESI—THE RUSSIAN
-CONSUL—SUNSET AT CATTARO—UNEXPECTED APPEARANCE
-OF PERO PEJOVICH</td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_268">268</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XXI.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">BEAUTIFUL ROAD—ATTACK OF FEVER—ARRIVAL AT BUDUA—BARON
-HEYDEG AND SIGNOR MARCO MEDIN—A RESTAURANT—OUR
-HOST—DOCTOR, DENTIST AND APOTHECARY—WALK
-ROUND THE FORTIFICATIONS—EXPLORATION OF BUDUA—THE
-PARTING GLASS</td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_280">280</a></td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XXII.</td>
-</tr>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdh">TOWN OF ANTIVARI—FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF TURKEY—ORIENTAL
-PASSENGERS—VALUE OF A KNOWLEDGE OF ARABIC OR
-TURKISH—A MAHOMETAN MERCHANT AND HIS FAMILY—TURKISH
-TROOPS IN ALBANIA—TOWN AND FORTRESS OF
-CASTEL DURAZZO—RETURN TO TRIESTE—FAREWELL TO THE
-READER</td>
-<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_291">291</a></td>
-</tr>
-</table>
-
-<p class="post">
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_1' name='Page_1' href='#Page_1'>1</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p6">
-<img src="images/fish.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<p class="center p2 b20 post">
-RAMBLES IN ISTRIA, DALMATIA,
-<br />
-<span class="s05">AND</span>
-<br />
-MONTENEGRO.
-</p>
-
-<hr class="l15" />
-
-<h2>
-CHAPTER I.
-</h2>
-
-<p class="ch_summ">
-A CONVERSATION—WHERE SHALL WE GO FOR A HOLIDAY TRIP—ATTRACTIONS
-OF LAPLAND—REMINISCENCES OF ITALY—THE
-GRAND TOUR IN FORMER DAYS—HOW TO STUDY HISTORY—DIFFICULTY
-OF FINDING NEW GROUND FOR TRAVEL—AN
-INTERESTING COUNTRY WITHIN FIVE DAYS OF TEMPLE BAR.
-</p>
-
-<div>
-<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropl.jpg" width="100" height="104" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p class="drop-cap">
-"LET us go to Lapland!" was the
-exclamation which rang on my ear,
-as I was entering my club, one
-fine morning in the early part of June, 1873.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Lapland!" said I, "what put that into your
-head?"
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_2' name='Page_2' href='#Page_2'>2</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Yes," replied my friend M—, in his rich, good-humoured
-voice, slightly flavoured with Hibernian
-Doric. "I hear that somebody has written a
-book about it. I have been everywhere else
-in Europe—and it is quite the place to go to
-now, you know. We shall pic-nic on Cape North
-and then drive across to Spitzbergen in reindeer
-sledges on the ice, it will be awfully jolly!"
-and his joyous laugh echoed through the hall.
-"Do come, like a good fellow," said he, "there
-will be just the four of us, R—, C—, yourself,
-and I, and you really must not say no, for
-we none of us can speak a word of anything
-but English, while you speak every language
-under the sun. So agree to it at once; let us
-all meet here to dinner, to-morrow at six, and then
-off by the mail to Calais."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-At first I thought that M— was chaffing;
-but having now been joined by R— and
-C—, who at once chimed in on the same
-subject, I said,
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Have you any idea about Lapland, my
-dear M—, do you know anything about it?
-and what do you expect to see there?"
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_3' name='Page_3' href='#Page_3'>3</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Oh, dear me, yes," replied he, "it is a
-country in the North of Europe, surrounded on
-all sides either by land or by water, and inhabited
-by men who are four feet six high, and the
-darlingest little women just four feet nothing.
-They go to church on Sundays, riding on reindeer,
-and shoot Polar bears with bows and
-arrows! Oh dear, yes, I know all about Lapland."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Not at all a bad account," said I, "but
-what writes Captain Hutchinson in his book?
-Is his description of Lapland very captivating?"
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Well," answered M—, "I confess I have
-not read his book; but go abroad I must,
-London is getting too stupid, and I have been
-everywhere else in Europe; and I want to see
-a country out of the beaten track, something I
-have not yet seen."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Now, my dear fellow," said I, "though I
-have not been exactly in Lapland, I have been
-in Finland, and that, you know, is just next
-door to it; and knowing what the mosquitoes
-are in those swampy northern latitudes, nothing
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_4' name='Page_4' href='#Page_4'>4</a></span>
-could induce me to visit those countries again
-in Summer, except for very cogent reasons
-indeed. But come now, tell me where have
-you been, that you say you have seen every
-other country in Europe?"
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Well," answered M—. "I have been twice
-to Italy, up and down, and done it as thoroughly
-as any man could do it. I have been—"
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Stop a wee," said I, "how have you <i>done</i>
-Italy? let me see, suppose we just begin in the
-middle, let us take Florence—no doubt you
-were there."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Oh dear, yes, and such a jolly place, where
-one could live and love for ever! oh, yes,
-</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poem">
-<p class="o1">"'Of all the fairest cities of the world,</p>
-<p>None is so fair as Florence!'</p>
-</div></div>
-
-<p class="post">
-"If it were not for the heat, and having been
-there twice already, it would beat going to see
-the sun at midnight, which we shall see in
-Lapland, old fellow. We shall see the sun
-going right round the horizon, neither rising
-nor setting—not a bit—but going just as
-in the old riddle we had when we were
-children, 'going round and round the house, and
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_5' name='Page_5' href='#Page_5'>5</a></span>
-never touching the house.' So now no more
-'shirking and lurking,' but let's be off to
-Lapland, and if there are a few mosquitoes, we
-can take plenty of flea-powder to protect us;
-there now, I'll stand the flea-powder—a whole
-pound's worth," and the laugh of that excellent
-fellow rings in my ears still.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Here R— joined in the conversation; he had
-never been to Italy, and his curiosity was raised
-by the enthusiastic expressions of my friend
-M—, in regard to Florence.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Do tell us something about that place,
-where you could live and love for ever," said
-he.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Well, what <i>can</i> I tell you?" replied M—.
-"Florence was the capital of Tuscany, and is
-situated on the banks of the river Arno, and it
-is a most delightful place. What more do you
-want? There is the charming Mrs. —, and
-her equally charming daughter, whose house opens
-just as the opera closes; and once there, one
-never thinks of leaving till three o'clock in
-the morning at soonest. Then there are the
-Cascine, the Café Doney, and the club, and my
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_6' name='Page_6' href='#Page_6'>6</a></span>
-friend G. M—y; and then the churches and
-the galleries, and the <span lang="it_IT">pietre dure</span>, &amp;c., &amp;c., I
-did every one of them."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Where did you go when you left Florence?"
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"To Rome, naturally."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"So all you know about Tuscany and Central
-Italy resolves itself into the Cascine, the Café
-Doney, and our friend G. M—y. Did you
-not even visit Siena on your way to Rome?"
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"No, for, being fond of the sea, I went to
-Rome by Civita Vecchia."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"When you were at Civita Vecchia, did it not
-come into your head to visit the birth-place of
-the Tarquins—Corneto? only a short drive from
-Civita Vecchia, and one of the most interesting
-places in Italy."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"I never even heard of it," said M—.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I was going to say <i><span lang="la">ex uno disce omnes</span></i>, this is
-how <i><span lang="fr_FR">la jeunesse doré</span></i> of the present time travel on
-the continent—to finish their education, by the way!
-but my remark would be of too sweeping a
-character, for there are many exceptions to be met
-with occasionally. Still, though travelling is multiplied
-a thousand-fold compared with what it used to
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_7' name='Page_7' href='#Page_7'>7</a></span>
-be even only a century ago, it is doubtful, I think,
-if travelling is as fruitful of good results in our
-days as it used to be in the days of our grandfathers,
-when, under the guidance of a well qualified
-tutor, young men used to take the "grand
-tour" with a view to completing their education,
-the foundation and groundwork of which had been
-laid first in our public schools, and then in
-our great universities. Now my friend M—
-was a charming fellow, well educated to a certain
-point, pleasant, agreeable, and good-tempered; he
-had travelled a good deal, and yet I may safely
-say he had seen nothing, and simply because he
-had not prepared himself for travelling with a
-view to thoroughly seeing the countries he intended
-visiting, and obtaining the information they could
-bestow. And how many are there that just travel
-in the same way! How many are there among
-those who yearly flood the approaches to the
-Eternal City who do more than lounge about the
-galleries, the Campo Vaccino, or the Pincian Hill!
-and who, if asked about the City of Veii (for
-instance) will simply open their eyes and say they
-never heard of it, where is it? Why, my good
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_8' name='Page_8' href='#Page_8'>8</a></span>
-fellow, Veii was a great city, and its inhabitants
-among the most civilized and luxurious in the
-world, long before Rome was built. What! before
-Rome was built? he will say; and then if some
-mild reminiscence of the kind comes across his
-memory, he may, perhaps, recall some fleeting
-visions of Agamemnon and Mycenæ, taking it
-for granted that Veii, if anterior to Rome, must
-have been in Greece; but when informed that
-Veii was the rival of Rome, that its ruins were
-within twenty miles of the Eternal City, he will
-possibly get angry and think you are chaffing him.
-He, no doubt, may have heard of Etruria, but
-probably in his mind it was jumbled up with
-Minton's pottery; if associated with Wedgewood,
-it will be a point in his favour. He may probably
-have heard of Etruscan cities and Etruscan vases,
-but all his information in this line is terribly hazy;
-and so he dawdles through his sojourn at Rome,
-goes on to Naples, perhaps to Palermo and Malta,
-returning to England by the P. and O. steamer,
-imagining that he has seen, or <i>done</i>, Italy, as he
-terms it.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-It so happened that I had made arrangements
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_9' name='Page_9' href='#Page_9'>9</a></span>
-for another tour, and was thus unable to join my
-three friends in their intended expedition; but the
-following Winter M— and I went to the
-continent together, we spent four months in Italy,
-that Italy he had so thoroughly "done" twice
-before! and to his amazement, he had to confess
-that in his previous journeys he had simply wasted
-his time and his money.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We visited numberless out of the way places,
-having made Florence our head-quarters for
-Central Italy, and there under the guidance of
-Micali's <i><span lang="it_IT">Antichi Popoli Italiani</span></i>, we dived into the
-history of Italy, beginning with the misty periods
-synchronous with the siege of Troy, illustrating
-them as we went along by visits to the ancient
-cities and cemeteries of Etruria, and thence through
-those glorious Middle Ages and their unparalleled
-works of art, which can nowhere be so well studied
-as in Italy! It was a surpassing pleasure to him,
-no doubt, to see for the first time all those wondrous
-things; but it was almost as great a delight
-to me to witness his raptures, his astonishment,
-as city after city came under our examination—Fiesole,
-Volterra, Chiusi, Cortona. This last,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_10' name='Page_10' href='#Page_10'>10</a></span>
-especially, struck him with astonishment, a city
-co-eval with Ilium, and still in our days a city
-preserving its ancient name, while of Ilium, <i><span lang="la">periêre
-ipsæ ruinæ</span></i>, and its very existence questioned, till the
-researches of the indefatigable Schliemann brought
-monuments to light within the last few months
-which have clearly identified the spot, and proved
-to a demonstration that Ilium really had existed,
-and that the siege of Troy was not simply a
-myth, a poet's dream!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I well remember helping him to measure the
-immense blocks of the ancient walls of Cortona,
-fitted with such wonderful exactness that the
-blade of a penknife can even at present be scarcely
-pushed in between them, and which still remain
-<i><span lang="la">in situ</span></i> without mortar or other cement, though
-probably thirty centuries have rolled on since those
-walls were erected by the ancestors of their present
-inhabitants. How I remember the interest he
-took in scanning from the hill which looks over the
-rippling water of the Trasymene Lake, pointing
-out the probable spot where those false-hearted
-Romans had rested whilst the battle was raging
-below, only to be overtaken, however, on the
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_11' name='Page_11' href='#Page_11'>11</a></span>
-morrow by Hannibal and his victorious legions,
-who made them pay so dearly for their
-treachery.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"This is the way I like to study history, and
-this is the way never to forget it," said he. "I
-hated the very names of Tacitus and Livy, but
-how delightful I think them now!" and so we
-did <i>do</i> Italy from Agrigentum to the Alps, and
-from the Adriatic to the Mediterranean, and many
-queer out-of-the-way places we visited, and such
-scores of sketches we carried away; and a
-more delightful trip never was made before or
-since.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Captain Hutchinson, in his introduction to
-"Try Lapland," writes, "The difficulty of finding
-new ground for travel is increasing every year
-for those who, with but a limited time at their
-disposal, are yet tired of the beaten paths of
-Ramsgate or Scarborough, Switzerland or the Rhine,
-and pant after lands fresh and fair, of which they
-have never seen the photograph—where the
-gorgeous hotel with its elongated bills, and the
-pertinacious touter with his cringing greasy manners,
-are alike unknown."
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_12' name='Page_12' href='#Page_12'>12</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Now to a great extent that pleasant writer
-is correct; but the man who rushing away from
-the turmoil and bustle of London life, whether he
-be lawyer, merchant, or physician, seeking for
-fresh air and scenery, but as far away as possible
-from those hackneyed tracks infested by the
-typical tourist, both English and Transatlantic,
-and by poor Marryat's "shilling-seeking, napkin-holding,
-up-and-downstairs son of a sea-cook"
-of an hotel waiter, need not go to the Arctic
-Circle to find all the above-named advantages, unless,
-indeed, he is bent on also seeing the sun at
-midnight, and his own body a prey to the
-mosquitoes.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Within five days of Temple Bar, or as we
-soon shall have to say, where Temple Bar once
-stood, there are as splendid countries to explore, as
-fine ruins to contemplate, as glorious scenery and
-as gorgeous costumes to admire, as the heart of man
-can wish for; and if the reader will trust himself
-with me for a little while, excusing the many shortcomings
-he will meet with in these pages, I will
-lead him over a trip I took last Summer which I
-think will fully repay him, though he will often
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_13' name='Page_13' href='#Page_13'>13</a></span>
-have to make great allowances and deal leniently
-with the Author, who for the first time in his
-life rushes into print, just for the same reason
-that the stars shine above us, because he has
-nothing else to do! But if through publishing
-this little book he shall have opened up a new
-field of travel to those who yearly require to
-recruit their strength of body and of mind by
-a ramble in foreign lands, if he shall have added
-one more possible source of enjoyment to those
-within the reach of the many, he will consider
-himself amply repaid for whatever trouble he may
-have been put to in its compilation.
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p4">
-<img src="images/oak.jpg" width="141" height="52" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-<p>
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_14' name='Page_14' href='#Page_14'>14</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p6">
-<img src="images/cornucopia.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<h2>
-CHAPTER II.
-</h2>
-
-<p class="ch_summ">
-MAN PROPOSES, BUT GOD DISPOSES—VIENNA—ST. STEPHEN'S
-CATHEDRAL—OLD CATHEDRALS—SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE—USES
-OF EAU DE COLOGNE—INSECT ATTACKS—THE UNIVERSAL
-EXHIBITION—THE GARDENS AND ACCESSORIES—THE
-LADIES OF VIENNA—NEW OPERA-HOUSE—ON THE
-DANUBE—A WEALTHY PRELATE—WISSEGRAD—ARRIVAL AT
-PESTH.
-</p>
-
-<div>
-<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropi.jpg" width="100" height="112" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p class="drop-cap">
-I STARTED from London for my
-holiday trip early in the month of
-June, 1873. The route I had laid
-out for myself on my departure was
-not exactly that which I eventually adopted,
-for nothing is truer than that man proposes,
-but God disposes. I had intended visiting the
-Crimea, and then crossing over the Straits of
-Kertch, I meant to have rambled over
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_15' name='Page_15' href='#Page_15'>15</a></span>
-the Caucasus, finishing my trip with a visit to
-the Monastery of Echmiadzin, at the foot of Mount
-Ararat.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-But it was not to be; I got as far as Pesth,
-when the cholera, which was then very active,
-not to say raging in Hungary, barred my further
-passage down the river into the Lower Provinces
-of the Danube, by threatening me with a
-quarantine of eleven days in a dirty lazzaretto,
-at a temperature of at least 90° in the shade. I
-would have risked the cholera, but I could not
-face the loss of eleven days in the limited time
-I had at my disposal, nor could I contemplate
-at all the horrors of an Oriental lazzaretto.
-All my plans were therefore upset; still
-the result was eventually satisfactory, as I
-think I shall be able to prove in the following
-pages.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-After leaving London, I made straight for
-Vienna, by Brussels and Cologne, where I remained
-only a few hours, during which I visited
-for the twentieth time and more that exquisite
-specimen of ecclesiastical structure, its unrivalled
-Cathedral; every time I see it I admire it more
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_16' name='Page_16' href='#Page_16'>16</a></span>
-and more, I think there are none to equal it,
-while most certainly none surpass it.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-St. Peter's at Rome is a magnificent building,
-astonishes one by its size and its rich adornments,
-but it fails to impress one from a religious point of
-view. It might be a church, or it might be a grand
-reception room, a <i><span lang="fr_FR">salle des ambassadeurs</span></i>, or a colossal
-ball-room—whereas the Cathedral of Cologne is a
-church, a place of worship, and nothing else. I suppose
-there is something in the pure Gothic architecture
-conducive to this impression. There is
-but one other church I know of in the world
-which has the same solemn awe-producing effect,
-perhaps in a greater degree even than the Cathedral
-of Cologne, and that is Santa Maria del Fiore,
-the Cathedral of Florence. I have been hundreds
-of times in that grand old edifice, but
-never without feeling an overwhelming sense of
-solemnity and awe. It was not only the low
-murmuring notes of the organ sounding the
-responses at eve to the plaintive litanies of the
-Virgin, nor the deep tones of the full accompaniment
-to the <i><span lang="la">Miserere mei Deus</span></i> in the
-Passion Week, which produced it, for I was
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_17' name='Page_17' href='#Page_17'>17</a></span>
-perhaps oftener there when all was silent, than
-during festive times, as I have always had the
-greatest objection to going into Catholic churches
-during service, gaping about and sight-seeing, to
-the evident annoyance and discomfort of the
-worshippers—a habit which, I regret to say,
-many of our country people too often indulge
-in, greatly to our detriment, especially in the
-less frequented places of the continent, where
-the people have come to regard us as heathens,
-and constantly to say of us, "<span lang="it_IT">Non sanno meglio,
-non sono Cristiani</span>."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-It was something more than all this which
-ever filled me with a feeling of intense devotion
-when I entered that grand old building.
-The severe simplicity of the structure, with no
-tawdry ornamentation to obtrude itself and take
-off the attention, may have played an important
-part in giving birth to solemn thoughts, together
-with the height and size of the three enormous
-pilasters which alone support the roof—the lofty
-arches, the vast depth and gloom of the aisles,
-the intensity of the shade, the deep silence
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_18' name='Page_18' href='#Page_18'>18</a></span>
-made still more impressive by an occasional foot-fall—all
-would combine to proclaim this a house
-of prayer, and nothing else; a Temple in the
-fullest and most unequivocal sense of the word,
-offering to the old and the broken-spirited, to
-the infirm and to all who sought it in prayer, an
-assurance of tranquillity, consolation, and peace!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Having enjoyed my oft-repeated visit, and purchased
-a large supply of Eau de Cologne from
-the Farina <i><span lang="de_DE">gegenüber dem Julichs Platz</span></i>, (and don't
-you believe that the others make it near as good),
-I got in the train for Munich and for Vienna.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I think I see a smile, slightly perhaps savouring
-of a sneer, from some of my readers of the
-masculine gender, at my purchase of a large
-supply of Eau de Cologne; but just let them
-hold hard, till they shall have endured the trials
-of hot winds and dusty roads in the daytime,
-stuffy cabins and the ordinary accompaniment of
-flea invasions and other entomological attacks in
-the night-time; and then if they have the luck
-to have any of it with them, they will discover
-the use of Eau de Cologne in allaying pain and
-irritation.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_19' name='Page_19' href='#Page_19'>19</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Travellers in all Eastern countries should have
-with them a supply of good Eau de Cologne,
-not for scenting their pocket-handkerchiefs only,
-but principally as a remedy. Some people suffer
-more, some suffer less from insect attacks; but
-I have seen a man, a strong, stout, brawny
-Britisher, set nearly wild by flea-bites, and I
-shall never forget his appearance, as he stood
-before me one morning, after passing a restless night
-in a very wild region in the South of Europe, like
-a patient with small-pox, and scratching away at
-himself for bare life. I am sure he would have
-been in a high fever that night, had I not
-bathed him with a mixture of equal parts of
-Eau de Cologne, laurel water, and sal-volatile.
-So don't forget it, kind reader, if ever in your
-travels you are likely to be in countries infested
-with insect tribes; whatever their nature may be,
-whether the mosquito which flieth, the flea which
-hoppeth, or t'other thing which crawleth, my nostrum
-will be found a sovereign remedy against them all.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Although the Vienna Exhibition was fully
-open, and that numbers were flocking from all
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_20' name='Page_20' href='#Page_20'>20</a></span>
-parts to that most charming capital, which has
-so justly acquired the epithet of "<span lang="fr_FR">le Paradis
-des Hommes</span>," I was fortunate in having but
-one companion in the train all the way, and
-thus we both were enabled to extend our limbs
-and sleep as comfortably as in our beds. It is
-wonderful the amount of comfort one can
-obtain through life by the judicious distribution
-of a few cigars accompanied by a little
-silver!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-At Vienna, I went—as I always do—to the
-Archduke Charles' Hotel; a little old-fashioned,
-perhaps, but unquestionably the best hotel in
-Vienna, and where the cooking is always undeniable.
-During my short stay, I went every
-day to the Universal Exhibition—the world's
-fair! but don't be afraid that I mean to weary you by
-dragging you with me through those confusing
-avenues of "all sorts," where nothing that was
-wanted could be found, and everything we wanted
-not was sure to be everlastingly obtruding itself
-before our eyes.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I confess that the Vienna Exhibition disappointed
-me; whereas the Paris one of 1867 left me
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_21' name='Page_21' href='#Page_21'>21</a></span>
-nothing to desire; and all owing to the want
-of order and system in the one instance—while
-in the other, the arrangement was so perfect
-that there was not the smallest difficulty in
-getting at anything one wanted to find
-out.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-But if the exhibitional department was less
-perfect in its arrangement at Vienna than at
-Paris, the gardens and the outside accessories
-were far more beautiful at the former than the
-latter; while Strauss's delightful band always
-afforded an hour's luxurious enjoyment in the cool
-of the afternoon, till the fearful braying of the steam
-trumpet, (they called it a Telephone, I think) drove
-one out into the Prater. Then the restaurants
-and cafés of the different Nationalities were so
-well got up and so picturesquely scattered about
-the Gardens, as were also the several buildings
-characteristic of the different Nations, and among
-which was pre-eminent for elegance of form,
-design, and execution, the kiosk of the Pasha of
-Egypt.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-And then the Viennese ladies! I know I
-should have mentioned them the first, I confess
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_22' name='Page_22' href='#Page_22'>22</a></span>
-it; <i><span lang="la">confiteor, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa</span></i>, but,
-gentle reader, it was from sheer diffidence! I did
-not know how to approach the subject, I felt
-myself totally incompetent, and indeed I do so
-now! To say that at Vienna there are more
-lovely women to be seen than in any other
-city in Europe, is not saying one half. There
-are loads of pretty women to be seen in Dublin
-of a fine Sunday afternoon, especially among the
-middle and lower classes; but at Vienna they
-are not only lovely, but terribly attractive, and
-winning, and seductive; there are none like them
-anywhere else!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-In the fine arts department there were many
-beautiful things to be seen; but as I promised not
-to drag the reader round the World's Fair, I shall
-keep my word, and shall only call his attention
-to two statues which greatly attracted me, one
-was a bronze figure of a Hindoo charming a
-cobra, the other a Negro running away, both
-figures perfectly alive!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I went twice to the opera, once to hear
-Meyerbeer's "Africaine," which disappointed me;
-and once to see a grand ballet, I think it was
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_23' name='Page_23' href='#Page_23'>23</a></span>
-called "Eleonora," which did not. I had not
-been for several years at Vienna, and had, therefore,
-not seen the new Opera House. I was
-greatly struck with its size and beauty; it is
-unquestionably the finest theatre in Europe, and
-the arrangements are perfect. But Vienna is
-now undergoing such a process of transformation,
-and to such an extent, that in a few years
-those who knew it ten or twelve years ago will
-be utterly unable to recognise it. Even now it is
-one of the finest capitals in Europe, but at the
-rate it is progressing, it bids fair to surpass in
-a short time every other city, when the Viennese
-will really be able to give utterance with truth to
-their old saying, "<span lang="de_DE">Gibt nur eine Kaiserstadt, gibt
-nur ein Wien</span>!"
-</p>
-
-<p>
-After a very delightful week in Vienna, which
-seemed indeed far too short a time to bestow
-upon the most enjoyable capital in Europe, I
-took my passage in a steamer to Pesth, starting
-at six <span class="smcap">a.m.</span>, and arriving at my destination at about
-the same hour in the evening. The steamer was
-a very fine one, the accommodation excellent,
-the cuisine not good, but then I had been
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_24' name='Page_24' href='#Page_24'>24</a></span>
-terribly spoilt at the Erz-Herzog Karl; probably
-had I been at a worse hotel, I would not have
-found so much fault with the cookery on board
-the steamer. The company on board was
-worse than the cookery—in all my rambles
-I don't think I ever met so unprepossessing
-a lot.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The large steamers that navigate the Danube
-don't come up to Vienna, but lie off the Island
-of Lobau, to which passengers are carried in a
-smaller steamer. The morning I started was
-drizzling and chilly in the extreme, in marked
-contrast with the weather of the previous week,
-which had been intensely hot; and when I sat
-down on the deck of the little steamer which was
-to take me down a branch of the Danube to the
-main steamer, I was glad to avail myself of my
-top-coat and rugs. In a short time we reached
-the larger vessel, and, having all got on board, we
-started at a good round speed.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-From Vienna to Gran, the Danube is uninteresting
-so far as scenery is concerned. Its enormous
-volume of muddy water, wider than the Thames
-at Westminster, though still upwards of nine
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_25' name='Page_25' href='#Page_25'>25</a></span>
-hundred miles from its entrance into the Black
-Sea, flows through a vast flat country; an interminable
-front of sallows and alders on the one
-side, and an interminable plain on the other,
-dotted all over with countless herds of white
-cattle with long black horns like the Tuscan
-oxen, and endless troops of horses; and as I
-gazed on the mighty flood of turbid waters,
-the old Italian nursery rhyme came back to my
-memory.
-</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poem">
-<p class="o1">"<span lang="it_IT">Tre Ombroni fanno un Arno</span>,</p>
-<p><span lang="it_IT">Tre Arni fanno un Tevere</span>,</p>
-<p><span lang="it_IT">Tre Tevere fanno un Pò</span>,</p>
-<p><span lang="it_IT">E tre Pò di Lombardia</span></p>
-<p><span lang="it_IT">Fanno un Danubio di Turchia</span>."</p>
-</div></div>
-
-<p>
-We passed by Pressburg where the two sides
-of the river are united by a bridge of boats. We
-only remained a short time and I had no opportunity
-of going ashore, so that I could form but
-a very inaccurate opinion of the place; it seemed
-to me from its outward look as not now prosperous,
-but had quite the appearance of having seen
-better days.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-After a time we came to Komorn, the celebrated
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_26' name='Page_26' href='#Page_26'>26</a></span>
-fortress; if I had not been told, "There is
-Komorn," I might almost have passed it without
-observing it, so protected from sight are its bastions
-by the immense earthworks in front of them. Still
-down we steamed, and still the same country
-right and left met our view, till we came to Gran,
-the seat of the Prince-Primate of Hungary,
-perhaps one of the wealthiest prelates in the world,
-possessing no less an income than £90,000
-per annum.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Here the scenery began to improve; the Cathedral
-of Gran, though in itself unclassical, and one that
-in any other place might be passed by unnoticed,
-yet served to relieve the monotony of the view.
-The river, which up to this had flowed through
-boundless plains, became suddenly contracted, and
-consequently swifter as the high lands approached
-the edge of it; and now with every revolution
-of the paddles the scenery improved, till
-on reaching Vissegrad it became absolutely
-lovely. Instead of the interminable plains, we now
-had precipitous mountains on either side, some
-clad with forest down to the water's edge, some
-bare, ragged, and rocky, but all lovely, quite
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_27' name='Page_27' href='#Page_27'>27</a></span>
-equal to the finest parts of the Rhine, not
-even lacking a Drachenfels in the beautiful ruins
-of the ancient castellated palace of the Kings of
-Hungary, the favourite retreat of the learned
-Matthias Corvinus.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Nature has done everything to beautify this
-favoured spot, but man, as is too often the case,
-has done his best to mar it. At the foot of the
-cliff, the top of which is crowned by the ancient
-residence of the Kings of Hungary, on a beautifully
-wooded spot between the mountain and the rushing
-Danube, some enterprising German has erected,
-<i><span lang="la">horribile visu</span></i>, three villa residences, in the correct
-suburban style, a few yards distant from one
-another. Regardless of expense, everything about
-them, including themselves, is radiant with white-wash,
-except where green paint asserts its place.
-At first I thought it must be an hotel or pension,
-with two <i>succursales</i>; but no, the skipper assured
-me they were country houses, and seemed astonished
-when I said the man that built them deserved
-to be hanged in front of them; he could not
-comprehend me, he thought them lovely!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Often during my subsequent travels I thought
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_28' name='Page_28' href='#Page_28'>28</a></span>
-of that lovely country between Gran and Vissegrad;
-such exquisite scenery, so diversified; such a
-combination of rolling pastures, of glorious hills
-clad with forests, backed by rugged mountains,
-with that grand old Danube rushing through the
-midst; such shooting and fishing, all in a
-compact locality, and only four hours by rail from
-Vienna; such a spot for a country residence
-could scarcely be equalled, and certainly not
-surpassed. If it were within ten hours of
-London, what a fabulous price it would command!
-but here no one seems to have
-placed any value on it since the days of Matthias
-Corvinus.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-After going through this gorge, the Danube
-spreads itself out again, and the scenery becomes
-tame and uninteresting, and continues so till one
-reaches Pesth, where I arrived somewhat later
-than I expected.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_29' name='Page_29' href='#Page_29'>29</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p6">
-<img src="images/dragons.jpg" width="400" height="86" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<h2>
-CHAPTER III.
-</h2>
-
-<p class="ch_summ">
-PESTH—HOTEL UNGARIA—BUDA—STORY OF AN ARTIST—PROSPERITY
-OF THE CITY—NEW BRIDGE OVER THE DANUBE—ST.
-MARGUERITE'S ISLAND—ANCIENT ROMAN BATH—CONDITION
-OF HUNGARY—FIELD FOR THE JUNIOR BRANCHES
-OF THE UPPER TEN THOUSAND—KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—THE
-TERMINATION OF TURKISH MISRULE—FUTURE OF
-THE DANUBIAN PRINCIPALITIES.
-</p>
-
-<div>
-<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropi.jpg" width="100" height="112" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p class="drop-cap">
-I DROVE to the Hotel Ungaria, to
-which I had been recommended, and
-where a most comfortable apartment
-and an equally good dinner gave me an <i><span lang="fr_FR">avant-goût</span></i>
-of a comfortable night's rest, in which I was
-no wise disappointed; and I can safely recommend
-the Ungaria as one of the finest and most
-comfortable hotels in Europe, without at the same
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_30' name='Page_30' href='#Page_30'>30</a></span>
-time being extravagant in its charges. The only
-drawback I found was with the person of the porter,
-a most respectable man no doubt, but he could
-not speak either French or English; and I had
-to carry on all my consultations respecting my
-intended future progress with the hall-porter of
-the "Königin von England" hotel, close by.
-If that man could only be installed at the Ungaria,
-that hotel would be as near perfection as
-possible.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The windows of my bedroom at the Ungaria
-opened out on a balcony which gave me a
-splendid view of the "blue Danube," which, however,
-I never saw of any other shade but mud
-colour. Across the river, and just opposite, I
-could see the ancient city of Buda, with the royal
-residence in front, and a little to the left, on
-the top of the hill, the celebrated fortress which
-played so important a part during the last
-Hungarian civil war. A little to my right was
-the grand suspension bridge, guarded at each
-end by two colossal couchant lions, about which
-the following improbable anecdote was related to
-me.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_31' name='Page_31' href='#Page_31'>31</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The artist who executed them forgot to put
-tongues into their mouths, to loll out in proper
-heraldic fashion, and when the defect was pointed
-out to him as the lions were uncovered, he took
-it so to heart that he at once put an end to
-himself by plunging headlong into the river!
-Now when "le grand Vatel" committed suicide,
-because the turbot did not arrive in time for
-the dinner of the Most Christian King, there
-was some show of reason in the act, Vatel's
-credit was in some degree pledged to that dinner;
-but not one man in ten thousand would
-have noticed whether these lions had tongues
-or not.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Pesth seems, like Vienna, to be undergoing a
-process of rebuilding, and that on a scale of
-considerable magnificence. I was told that its
-commerce was daily increasing, and, certainly, to
-judge from the immense number of vessels
-moored in the river, the ceaseless passing up
-and down of immense steamers, the piles of
-merchandize, and the constant bustle on the
-quays, a very considerable amount of business
-must be done there. The grand suspension
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_32' name='Page_32' href='#Page_32'>32</a></span>
-bridge which spans the Danube being found
-insufficient for the increasing traffic, a new one
-is in process of construction, to be built of
-iron on piers, and not a suspension bridge. It
-is to cost an immense sum, and will require
-to be well protected against the action of the
-ice on the one hand, while on the other it
-may become the source of considerable danger
-to the low land in its neighbourhood by
-arresting the free passage downwards of the
-ice, if not well looked after. I went to see
-the works at the central pier, and remained there
-some time watching the men at the bottom of
-the immense caisson out of which a donkey
-engine was incessantly pumping water; outside it,
-the river was running like a mill race at not
-less than eight miles an hour, and I was
-assured that the depth at that spot was fully forty
-feet.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-After visiting the works at the new bridge,
-I went to St. Marguerite's Island, on which
-is a park beautifully laid out, and which forms
-one of the favourite promenades of the pleasure-loving
-inhabitants of Pesth. As it can only
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_33' name='Page_33' href='#Page_33'>33</a></span>
-be approached by boat, it is frequented only
-by pedestrians; but in order to cater for all
-tastes and gratify those who enjoy a jaunt,
-there is a tramway running the whole length
-of the island. There are also some capital
-restaurants, and several bands play every evening
-in fine weather.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-There is another park on <i><span lang="it_IT">terra firma</span></i>, an
-imitation of the Prater at Vienna, but it is
-small and shabby. There were a good many
-people strolling about it when I went, but
-I did not see even one middling-good turn-out,
-and though one constantly hears of the
-beautiful horses and rare horsemanship of the
-Hungarians, I was doomed to be disappointed in
-both cases.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Crossing over the suspension bridge one gets
-into the old town of Buda or Ofen, in which
-are situated the Royal residence, the Government
-offices, and some of the palaces of the native
-magnates.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-There is a fine street by which one can drive
-to the upper part of the town, which is considerably
-above the level of the Danube; but for
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_34' name='Page_34' href='#Page_34'>34</a></span>
-pedestrians there is an easy, cheap, and quick
-method of getting to the summit, by means of a
-small counterpoised railway, which carries one up
-and down very rapidly at an exceedingly moderate
-rate. There is a fine view from the top, and
-several fine old palaces, but the most interesting
-thing in the town of Buda is the old Roman
-bath erected over some sulphurous springs, celebrated
-for the cures they perform. It is in exactly
-the same condition as in the days of ancient Rome,
-and consists of a large vaulted apartment lit by a
-circular opening in the centre of the cupola, and
-containing a large hexagonal piscina with an
-ambulatory all round. None bathe there save the
-lower classes—men, women, and children promiscuously;
-in the immediate neighbourhood,
-however, there are some very well appointed
-baths which are considerably patronized, and
-bear a high reputation for the cure of skin
-disease.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-From all I could collect during the brief stay
-I made at Pesth, Hungary in general must be
-in a very progressive condition; and from the
-numbers of agricultural machines and implements,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_35' name='Page_35' href='#Page_35'>35</a></span>
-all of English construction, which I saw everywhere
-stacked upon the quays, not only at Pesth
-but at many other stations on the Danube,
-including large numbers of steam-thrashing and
-winnowing machines, a vigorous attempt is evidently
-being made to exploit the unbounded fertility of
-perhaps the richest soil in Europe. Land, however,
-is still cheap in Hungary, probably in consequence
-of the extreme love of pleasure of its
-inhabitants, who preferring to spend their days
-in the society of Vienna, Paris, or Pesth, draw
-exorbitantly on their revenues, till at last compelled
-to sell their lands in order to meet their engagements.
-Nice estates within twenty miles of Pesth,
-with good substantial dwelling-houses, and all the
-necessary offices for farming, with varied soil,
-vineyard, pasture, tillage, and forest, can be had
-sufficiently cheap to ensure a clear return of five
-per cent, free of taxes, for the capital laid out
-on them! A vast number of the agricultural
-community in Hungary are Jews, and it is perhaps
-the only country in Europe where we find the
-children of Israel as tillers of the soil; and I was
-assured by many in Pesth that they make by
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_36' name='Page_36' href='#Page_36'>36</a></span>
-far the most satisfactory tenants—though naturally
-they require looking after occasionally, as well as
-their <i>soi-disant</i> Christian brethren.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-When one reflects on the countless acres of the
-richest land in creation, which to a great extent
-are still unoccupied and uncultivated in the eastern
-and south-eastern regions of Europe, one cannot
-help regretting that some of our surplus population
-do not try a venture in those countries. I
-am thinking principally of that most unfortunate
-and ill-used portion of society belonging to the
-upper classes, and which, from circumstances beyond
-its control, is suffering from positive want in its
-struggles to keep up a respectability as necessary
-for its existence as the very air it breathes. The
-labourer, the artisan, the skilled workman are well
-off at the present time in our country; wages are
-very high and the friendly societies, to one of
-which almost every workman belongs, provide for
-them amply in cases of sickness, and in some
-cases even contribute something to the family
-when the illness terminates in death—not to
-mention the numerous hospitals and asylums, all
-open to the labouring classes, but which are
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_37' name='Page_37' href='#Page_37'>37</a></span>
-all virtually closed to those I am now speaking
-of.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The working classes, with few exceptions, are
-all well off at present, and require none of our
-sympathy except when in affliction, when the richest
-and poorest come to the same level. They can
-afford to supply all their wants out of their
-wages, and lay out <i>one fifth</i>, and in many cases
-<i>one fourth</i>, and even <i>one third</i> (I am assured by
-good authorities) in drink, for the gratification
-of the only pleasure which they are capable
-of enjoying; for proof of which the police
-reports throughout the country will bear ample
-evidence.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-But I will tell who really deserve all our
-sympathy and all our aid, the junior branches of
-our upper ten thousand—the families of officers,
-poor clergymen, poor lawyers, &amp;c., &amp;c., all
-struggling for dear life against difficulties of every
-kind; those are the classes who claim the greatest
-share of our sympathy, and to whom the regions
-above mentioned offer advantages unequalled any
-where else.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I remember when the Canterbury settlement
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_38' name='Page_38' href='#Page_38'>38</a></span>
-was established in New Zealand, it was intended
-in a great measure to provide for the classes I
-have alluded to above; but the distance was too
-great, the mere cost of going out was a most
-serious drawback, at the very least <i>ten times</i> the
-amount required to land one bag and baggage in the
-centre of Hungary, or better still in Servia, among
-some of the most beautiful scenery in the world,
-the richest soil, the best climate, and the finest
-fishing and shooting that could be desired, where
-game laws and river preserves and licences are
-still utterly unknown.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I hate croaking; still, if one hears rumbling
-noises underground for any space of time, one
-is justified in apprehending an earthquake. For
-several years I have been hearing these subterranean
-noises, and year after year they have
-become more and more threatening, and the
-earthquake must come at last. But as a volcanic
-eruption, acting as a safety valve, often saves a
-country from the effects of a physical earthquake,
-so the timely exodus of an excessive
-population may save a country from a moral
-one.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_39' name='Page_39' href='#Page_39'>39</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-By the very nature of my profession, I have
-innumerable times been willingly or unwillingly
-let into the secrets of the private affairs of
-scores of families; and I have watched with
-perfect dismay the misery, the poverty, the utter
-wretchedness that were screened from the eyes of
-the world by the decent exterior which was kept
-up in order to preserve appearances.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-If with Asmodeus we could but lift up the
-roofs of a few thousands of houses in these
-prosperous islands and see the difficulties, the
-make-shifts, and the make-believes which are
-resorted to, and that in many cases where one would
-least expect them, it would make our very hearts
-bleed at all the anxiety, all the wretchedness, all
-the scalding tears which would be disclosed—all
-brought about by that great delusion "keeping
-up appearances." Well, all this living under false
-pretences, which is the distinguishing characteristic
-and the great evil, the real "social evil" of the
-present time cannot go on for ever. It is an
-evil of long standing, no doubt, but it has gone
-on increasing from year to year, like a falling
-avalanche, with constantly increasing velocity.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_40' name='Page_40' href='#Page_40'>40</a></span>
-The earthquake must come at last, if not averted
-by an emigration <i><span lang="fr_FR">en masse</span></i> of those educated
-classes to which I have alluded above; and
-the best, finest, healthiest, most fertile, and most
-accessible country, outside the British dominions,
-I hold to be, roughly speaking, that tract of
-Southern Europe bounded on the North by the
-Saave, on the South by the Bosphorus, on the
-East by the Danube, and on the West by the
-Adriatic.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"But, my dear Sir," I think I hear some
-reader say, "that is Turkey in Europe!" No
-doubt it is, but the Turks won't be there for
-ever, their time is nearly run out; the period of
-their wretched misrule over the Christian populations
-of Europe is nearly accomplished, and I
-still hope to live long enough to see those
-barbarous hordes recrossing the Bosphorus into
-Asia Minor, on their way back to the Steppes of
-Khiva and Bokhara, from whence they originally
-emigrated. They have ever shown themselves
-irreclaimable barbarians throughout. Look at the
-present condition of European Turkey, after centuries
-of Ottoman dominion; contrast it with the
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_41' name='Page_41' href='#Page_41'>41</a></span>
-nascent state of Roumania, which only quite lately
-succeeded in shaking off its Moslem chains. Let
-us look at both countries, as they present themselves
-opposite to each other on the banks of
-the Danube. On the left bank of that river we
-have Giurgevo in Roumania, the port of Bukharest,
-where, notwithstanding centuries of slavery and
-misgovernment, the natives, now under the government
-of an enlightened Christian Prince, are all
-activity and progress—while on the right bank at
-Rustchuk, just opposite, in dark contrast to the
-Christian, who is trying to turn to account all
-the advantages of his country, the indolent, uncivilized
-Turk is still lazily dozing away,
-leaning against his ancient painted and bedizened
-araba, drawn by a pair of patient oxen,
-waiting for the chance of some solitary, silent
-traveller!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-A new era is dawning, however, over these
-south-eastern regions, but much of their prosperity
-and future happiness may depend on the model
-they will propose for themselves in their efforts
-at civilization; whether the brilliant glitter of
-Parisian veneering and varnish, or the less attractive,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_42' name='Page_42' href='#Page_42'>42</a></span>
-but more solid advantages of British institutions.
-A great future is before the Danubian
-Principalities, may they use their opportunities with
-wisdom, and may they prosper!
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_43' name='Page_43' href='#Page_43'>43</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p6">
-<img src="images/flowers.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<h2>
-CHAPTER IV.
-</h2>
-
-<p class="ch_summ">
-STEINBRÜCK—THE SÖMMERING—FIRST VIEW OF THE ADRIATIC—TRIESTE—SHOCKS
-OF EARTHQUAKE AT BELLUNO—AUSTRIAN
-IRONCLAD 'LISSA'—CAPTAIN R. BURTON—FLYING VISIT TO
-SAN CANZIANO—SUBTERRANEAN COURSE OF A MOUNTAIN
-STREAM—THE KARST—WILD SCENERY—A THUNDER-STORM—CHURCH
-OF SAN CANZIANO—STUD FARM.
-</p>
-
-<div>
-<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropt.jpg" width="100" height="102" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p class="drop-cap">
-THAT odious and useless mediæval
-institution, the quarantine, having
-barred my passage into the Lower
-Provinces of the Danube, I determined
-to go to Trieste, then proceed by sea
-to Constantinople, and thence to the Caucasus,
-but it was written differently in the book of
-Fate!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The line to Trieste was full of interest; during
-the first portion of the journey I passed quite
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_44' name='Page_44' href='#Page_44'>44</a></span>
-close to Lake Balaton, celebrated for its fish, and
-then after traversing some wonderfully rich plains,
-dotted here and there with patches of forest, and
-covered with herds of cattle, horses, and geese,
-which are kept here in vast numbers for the
-sake of their feathers, arrived at Steinbrück at
-one <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>, where I dined. Here, at the junction
-of the Saane and the Saave, the scenery became
-truly magnificent; we had been for some time
-following the banks of the Saane, and the
-mountains had been getting closer and higher
-with every mile we made, till at last they
-actually came down to the river, allowing a bare
-passage to the railway which followed its every
-bend.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Having finished our mid-day meal at Steinbrück—where
-the Pesth line joins on to that
-miracle of engineering, the celebrated railway
-between Vienna and Trieste—we resumed our
-journey, the scenery retaining its grand features,
-till having topped the Sömmering, we came on
-to the desert Karst and got our first peep of
-the salt water—the glorious Adriatic. Nothing
-could exceed the wild grandeur of the country
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_45' name='Page_45' href='#Page_45'>45</a></span>
-on both sides of the railway, as the engines (for
-we had two of them) slowly panted up those
-steep inclines, winding in and out through the
-gorges of the Sömmering, now plunging into a
-tunnel to traverse the heart of a mountain, and
-now crossing a viaduct between two cliffs, over a
-precipice hundreds of feet in depth. Once at the
-top, our pace increased considerably, and by eight
-o'clock I found myself comfortably installed at
-my hotel at Trieste, on the evening of the 29th
-of June.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-After a most refreshing night, I descended
-the next morning to the café on the ground
-floor of the hotel, and then heard for the first
-time of the severe shocks of earthquake at
-Belluno and its neighbourhood, which had been
-felt even in Trieste. Several lives had been
-lost, and one church nearly shaken to the
-ground.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-After breakfast I went to pay my respects to
-our excellent consul, Captain Burton, and then
-hearing that the Austrian ironclad "Lissa" was
-outside the harbour, I took a boat and went to
-have a look at her. She is a fine vessel with a
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_46' name='Page_46' href='#Page_46'>46</a></span>
-long projecting prow, and looks well in the water.
-Having sent up my card, I was received and shown
-over the ship by Lieutenant Count Petruski, who
-was most kind in pointing out every thing of
-interest connected with it. I think he said she
-mounted 12 rifled fifteen-ton guns of our
-Woolwich Infant type, and was furnished with
-a galvanic apparatus, by means of which the
-captain could fire a whole broadside at a time.
-Although she was only in after a cruise, and
-consequently not in the best of trim for exhibition,
-I was much gratified by all I saw. The men were
-a very fine set of fellows, the state cabins and
-officers' cabins particularly neat and nice, and
-should these lines ever fall beneath the eye of
-Count Petruski or any of his brother officers on
-board the "Lissa" I beg them all to receive my
-warm thanks for their kindness to me that day.
-I spent a couple of very pleasant hours on
-board, and as Count Petruski spoke excellent
-English, it made our interview all the more
-agreeable.<a name='FA_1' id='FA_1' href='#FN_1' class='fnanchor'>[1]</a>
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_47' name='Page_47' href='#Page_47'>47</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Trieste is anything but an interesting place;
-though a couple of days may be spent pleasantly
-enough visiting the neighbourhood, especially if one
-has the advantage of the acquaintance and company
-of our consul, Captain R. Burton; the Burton
-of Harar, of Mecca, and of Medina; the
-<i><span lang="la">facile princeps</span></i> of modern travellers and pleasant
-companions.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Why is Captain Burton kept at Trieste? It is
-not a difficult post, nor one requiring a man with
-exceptional qualifications; and it does seem a
-misapplication if not a waste of <i>force</i> to keep a
-man like Burton at Trieste, when he could be of
-so much greater use elsewhere. The thorough
-and intimate knowledge that he possesses of
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_48' name='Page_48' href='#Page_48'>48</a></span>
-Oriental character, his perfect mastery of Arabic,
-together with the knowledge he has of Persian
-and scores of other languages, not to mention the
-experience he has acquired of Oriental affairs,
-customs and idiosyncrasies, all go to point him
-out emphatically as the right man in the wrong
-place at Trieste. I spent some very pleasant hours
-in his company during my short stay in that
-city, and shall never forget the kindness I
-experienced both from him and la bella
-Contessa, his most charming and accomplished
-lady.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Thus far, my observations have been of a
-strictly selfish nature. I know Captain Burton's
-capabilities, I feel that he is utterly thrown away
-where he is, and I want a <i><span lang="la">quid pro quo</span></i> for my
-money—consequently I want to see him in some
-post where his talents and exceptional qualifications
-may be of some profit to me. The reader will
-perceive that I am strictly selfish and utilitarian,
-and that in writing as above I have not been
-led away by sentimentality in any shape. Had I
-been in the opposite vein, I could have said,
-I met at Trieste Captain R. T. Burton, who
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_49' name='Page_49' href='#Page_49'>49</a></span>
-undoubtedly is the greatest of <i>living</i> travellers, and
-also second to none in that great phalanx of
-explorers, who from time to time have devoted
-their lives to carrying civilization to the most
-remote corners of the earth. He opened up
-Eastern Africa, and most probably discovered in
-Lake Tanganyika the mysterious sources of the
-Nile. He directly opened up the path and led
-the way which was subsequently trodden by Speke,
-Grant, Stanley, Cameron, and others; indirectly
-he pointed out the way to Baker, Schweinfurth and
-Gordon. To Richard Burton then is due the
-discovery of this <i>New Africa</i>, this great Lake
-Region, so fertile and so rich in the centre of a
-continent which fifty years ago was believed
-to be one vast uninhabitable desert. What has been
-his reward? He has been made consul at Trieste.
-Here is an inducement to our ardent British
-youth! I hear there is some talk of making him
-a K.C.B.; for myself, I wouldn't give a roll of
-ginger-bread for the distinction; however, let him
-have it by all means, but let us see him also
-removed to some more useful sphere of action
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_50' name='Page_50' href='#Page_50'>50</a></span>
-where his exceptional talents and his great
-knowledge of Oriental languages may be of
-service to us. Let him be sent to Africa
-again—to Morocco for instance—at the first
-vacancy.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Having still to wait a couple of days for the
-departure of the steamer which was to take me
-on my trip down the coast of Dalmatia, I employed
-my time in paving a flying visit to San Canziano,
-where a good-sized river, after meandering down
-a deep ravine like any other Christian stream,
-suddenly plunges into the bowels of the earth,
-and after a mysterious course of many miles, reappears
-again at the surface under a different
-name, previous to losing itself in the
-Adriatic.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The little hamlet of San Canziano is about
-twenty miles from Trieste, it consists of a very small
-and meanly built church, with a good campanile
-however, with two sweetly-toned bells—why is
-it that ours are always so unmusical and woody?—a
-small wretched Presbytery, a roadside pot-house
-where nothing could be got for love or money,
-and half a dozen dilapidated houses. The drive
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_51' name='Page_51' href='#Page_51'>51</a></span>
-however, was very pleasant, for the weather was
-warm and at the same time cloudy, so that we
-were never inconvenienced by the sun. The road,
-on leaving Trieste, goes by easy windings over a
-mountain clothed with oak, so beautifully kept,
-that it gives the idea of driving through some
-private park. On reaching the top we came into
-the open, and had a glorious view of the Styrian
-mountains on the one side, and the Adriatic on the
-other. After driving for a short time on the
-level, we again commenced ascending and soon got
-into the "Karst," as it is called; a wild barren
-tract where little or nothing appears to grow,
-and where rocks and stones seem to have rained
-down from heaven, not unlike some other spots I
-visited subsequently in Dalmatia, and notably in
-Montenegro. But this bleak and barren spot
-owes its absolute desolation, not so much to the
-rocky nature of its soil, as to the Bora, a north-east
-wind, which often sweeps across it with the force
-of a West Indian hurricane.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-In many places on the road, traverses of immensely
-thick stone walls had been erected for
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_52' name='Page_52' href='#Page_52'>52</a></span>
-protection against the fury of the wind, but
-notwithstanding all, the Karst is sometimes impassable
-when the Bora blows in real earnest,
-and heavy-laden waggons which have tried to
-cross it at such times, have been turned over
-and over like "leaves in Autumn weather."
-After travelling for some short time along this
-elevated plateau, we again began to descend, and
-soon reached our destination, where, having eaten
-the lunch I had brought with me, I started on
-foot, under the guidance of a native who could
-speak nothing but Styrian, to seek the mysterious
-river.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-In less than half an hour's walk, I found
-myself on a grass-covered plateau of some miles
-in extent, fringed in the distance by lofty hills,
-dotted with clumps of fir trees, and after a few
-minutes more walking in an easterly direction,
-I suddenly came on a perpendicular precipice,
-upwards of five hundred feet in depth, which
-completely barred my further progress. The cliff
-on which I stood rose in a narrow valley, or
-glen, or cleft, as if the crust of the earth had
-cracked here for a few miles. This cleft, nearly of
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_53' name='Page_53' href='#Page_53'>53</a></span>
-uniform depth, was not of uniform width; in
-some places it was so narrow that the smooth river
-which glided through it completely filled it from
-side to side, while in other places a sufficient strip
-of soil remained between the river and the cliff to
-admit of some amount of cultivation, and here
-and there a cottage.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-This strange cleft, or valley, or crack in the
-plateau through which the river flows is of a most
-irregular outline, going zig-zag, in and out, just
-like the cracks one sees in a dried up pond at the
-end of a hot Summer in England. I was standing
-where this precipitous crack barred the way, by
-running exactly at right angles across the path, and
-here right under me at a depth of about five hundred
-feet, the river which could be seen coursing from a
-considerable distance at the bottom of the cleft,
-suddenly leapt into a cavern and disappeared
-beneath my feet.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Having made a rapid sketch of this extraordinary
-landscape—or, more correctly speaking, having
-tried to convey on paper some faint idea of what
-the place was like—I again followed the guide, who
-now, turning his back on the precipice, led me
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_54' name='Page_54' href='#Page_54'>54</a></span>
-in a westerly direction, and brought me in a few
-minutes to the brink of a fearful-looking circular
-chasm, about fifty yards in diameter, with precipitous
-rocky sides, and from the bottom of which
-could be heard the distant roar of the river
-rushing among the rocks. The guide threw some
-large stones down this yawning gulph, disturbing
-some thousands of rock-pigeons who build their
-nests in the nooks and crannies of the rocks, and
-having timed the fall of one of these stones by
-listening for its splash in the subterranean river,
-I noted about seven seconds as the time it took
-in falling.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I now accompanied the guide through the little
-hamlet of San Canziano, and still going westward
-came just beyond the village on another chasm,
-of oblong form, about six hundred yards one way,
-and three hundred and fifty yards the other way,
-while in depth it was no more than about fifty
-yards. It looked to me as if this opening had been
-made by the subsidence or falling-in of the roof
-of some cavern, of which the limestone rock of
-these mountains, as well in Styria as in Dalmatia
-is so full. The sides of this depression were not
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_55' name='Page_55' href='#Page_55'>55</a></span>
-precipitous except in some places, and an easy
-descent led me to the bottom, across which stretched
-from side to side a fantastic ridge of rock pierced
-by a natural arch about the middle, and under
-which an opening in the rock gave entrance to
-another cavern, through which anyone desirous of
-exploring it could without much difficulty, but at the
-cost of some fatigue and the risk of some falls,
-descend by a series of about six hundred high and
-slippery ledges of rock to where again the river
-makes its appearance after its subterranean course.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-As the day was pretty well advanced, and as
-the weather, which had been cloudy all the morning
-seemed now to be threatening rain, I thought it
-wisest not to venture on going further, although the
-guide had provided himself with candles for the
-descent. So I scrambled up the sides of the
-chasm, and was making for the roadside inn where
-the carriage was waiting for me, when the storm-clouds,
-which had been gathering thicker and thicker
-for some time, broke out at last into such a deluge
-of rain, accompanied by thunder and lightning,
-that I was glad to take refuge under the archway
-of the belfry of San Canziano, and from thence into
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_56' name='Page_56' href='#Page_56'>56</a></span>
-the church itself, the door of which was opened
-for me by a queer little old dried-up chip of a
-sexton.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I am sure he said to me, "Pray take shelter in
-here from the rain," though as he spoke Styrian
-I could not understand a word, but his looks and
-gestures were as eloquent as words. Having
-walked into the little church, first taking off my
-hat, the little sexton became quite eloquent, and
-pointed out with evident satisfaction to every
-part of the chapel, which was poor and desolate in
-the extreme. Four white-washed walls, a wretched
-altar piece of wood painted in a few gaudy colours, and
-a crimson damask baldachino in tatters, which, stowed
-away in a corner, served to shelter the "Santissimo"
-when carried about in procession, two or three
-benches, a confessional box, and a lighted lamp
-hanging in front of the altar, constituted <i><span lang="fr_FR">toute la
-baraque</span></i>! but the poor little old man seemed delighted
-with himself and everything around him,
-and kept repeating in a shrill voice the only Italian
-word he apparently possessed "<i>Bella</i>," "<i>Bella</i>," to
-which I responded as in duty bound, "<i><span lang="it_IT">molto
-bella</span></i>," and I trust I may be forgiven the
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_57' name='Page_57' href='#Page_57'>57</a></span>
-cram; for I never told a bigger one in all my
-life!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The floor of this little church was formed of
-large flag-stones, in some of which iron rings were
-inserted, while in others there only remained the
-marks of where rings had formerly been; some had
-inscriptions, and I should have been interested in
-hearing something of the ancient tenants of these
-graves, but here the sexton and I came completely
-to a dead lock. "<i>Bella</i>" could serve my friend
-no longer, still he understood perfectly what I
-required, so when he sat down on a bench, pointing
-to me to do the same, I complied at once, and all
-the more willingly as the rain was still coming down
-in torrents.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The old fellow then commenced, and, pointing
-with his skinny finger to the central slab, entered
-at once into what, I presume, must have been a
-full, true, and complete history of the tenants of that
-grave, descanting probably on their virtues, and
-dealing gently with their faults; but alas! I could
-not understand one word. At last, I suppose the same
-thought must have struck "Old Mortality," for
-he suddenly stopped and bursting into a shrill,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_58' name='Page_58' href='#Page_58'>58</a></span>
-unearthly, and most discordant laugh, pointed to
-the sky which was now clearing, and held out
-his palsied hand, when I discovered he knew
-another word, not Slave, nor Italian, but this
-time German, "<i>Geschenk!</i>" I gave him the only
-bit of silver I possessed, an English sixpence, and
-left him seemingly contented.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The clouds had all melted away, and the sun
-shone brilliantly when I left the little roadside
-tavern of San Canziano to return to Trieste; but,
-as I wanted to visit a stud-park which the Emperor
-of Austria keeps in this part of his dominions, we
-took another route on my return journey. The
-country we now drove through was prettier than what
-we had traversed in the morning, and the road
-passed through some fine oak woods, which constantly
-prompted one to look out for a mansion,
-the country appeared so park-like—but in
-vain.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-After a drive of an hour or so we came to
-the stud-farm, a collection of large buildings,
-consisting of several dwelling-houses, a spacious riding-house
-for exercising the horses in severe weather,
-three large stables intended to accommodate three
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_59' name='Page_59' href='#Page_59'>59</a></span>
-hundred mares, and one lofty vaulted stable
-fitted with nice large loose boxes in which were
-kept the sires. The mares were all out at grass
-together with their foals, so that I did not see them,
-as I should have had to drive some miles in a
-different direction, and turn my back on Trieste
-in order to visit them. The sires I did see, but
-as they were not led out I could not form as
-accurate an opinion of them as I should have
-wished. They seemed, however, small, and not
-exactly the style of horse we would select in
-this country with a view to supplying our cavalry.
-The loose-boxes were commodious and the stable
-was well-ventilated; the weather being extremely
-hot the windows were closed with <i>tatties</i>, which
-served the double purpose of keeping away the
-flies, which always seek the light, and keeping
-the stable cool. The stable was fairly clean,
-but the grooming did not come up to our ideas.
-On the whole I was disappointed, and as for
-the produce, I should think that nothing but the
-very lightest of light cavalry horses could be
-expected from them.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We returned to Trieste by nine o'clock, coming
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_60' name='Page_60' href='#Page_60'>60</a></span>
-by the old post-road from Vienna, and passing
-by that wonderful quarry of limestone slabs, perhaps
-the largest in the world.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_61' name='Page_61' href='#Page_61'>61</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p6">
-<img src="images/cornucopia.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<h2>
-CHAPTER V.
-</h2>
-
-<p class="ch_summ">
-THE "SAN CARLO" AND HER PASSENGERS—A DALMATIAN'S
-REMARKS ON THE PRESERVATION OF HEALTH IN INDIA—DALMATIAN
-DIGGERS FROM AUSTRALIA—COAST OF ISTRIA—PIRANO—CATHEDRAL
-OF PARENZO—ROVIGNO—POLA—THE
-AMPHITHEATRE—PICTURESQUE SIGHT—GIOVANNI ASTONISHED—MONTENEGRIN
-COSTUME—ZARA—EXTREME HEAT.
-</p>
-
-<div>
-<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropo.jpg" width="100" height="94" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p class="drop-cap">
-On the 2nd of July I was up betimes.
-I had taken my place for Zara on
-board the 'San Carlo,' a small coasting
-steamer which trades down the Dalmatian side of
-the Adriatic, going in and out among that archipelago
-of islands which fringe the coast of
-Dalmatia from the mouth of the Guarnero to the
-entrance of the Gulf of Cattaro. It was a small,
-slow, and dirty little steamer, but it stopped
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_62' name='Page_62' href='#Page_62'>62</a></span>
-everywhere going on its way, and that was just
-what I wanted.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Small as the vessel was, we had plenty of
-passengers, and a strange lot they were. We had
-two Capuchin monks going to Ragusa, one of them
-a most interesting man of whom I shall have more
-to say by and by; his lay brother, a simple,
-ignorant monk, and no more. We had a tall,
-handsome Dalmatian from Spalato, returning home
-to end his days in opulence and comfort after
-spending twenty years in India, where he had
-accumulated an independence which in Dalmatia
-will be considered a large fortune. He spoke
-English remarkably well. Being struck by his
-hale and robust looks, I asked him how he had
-managed to preserve his health so well after residing
-for twenty years in India. "Many of them," added he,
-"in unhealthy localities." "Simply by not drinking,"
-he answered. "I don't mean to say that I was
-a water-drinker—not at all, for I believe that
-water-drinking is nearly as bad as spirit-drinking,
-and indeed I think I have observed that
-those who were 'teatotallers' died even sooner
-than drunkards. But I never drank anything
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_63' name='Page_63' href='#Page_63'>63</a></span>
-before breakfast, I drank nothing but good, full-bodied
-claret, and I never took more than two
-bottles of it a day, and seldom so much; I smoked,
-but always in moderation, and I never had a day's
-illness during those twenty years. India is not a
-bad climate, it is the reckless habits of Europeans
-that make it apparently so."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We had two other Dalmatians from Sebenico,
-who also were returning home after residing many
-years abroad. These two had been in Australia;
-one had been a digger, and seemed the reverse of
-well-off; the other had kept a store at some gold-diggings,
-and had apparently made plenty of money.
-Both spoke English well, and the last one brought
-with him from Australia an Irish wife, who had
-emigrated to the Antipodes all the way from
-Lurgan. She was a fine comely young woman
-of about twenty-six, and was overjoyed at finding
-I knew her native place. In the afternoon I made
-some tea in my portable kitchen, and gave her a
-cup of it with some preserved milk, which she
-declared the most delicious thing she had tasted
-for many a long day.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The rest of our passengers consisted of country
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_64' name='Page_64' href='#Page_64'>64</a></span>
-people returning to their homes along the
-coast of Istria and Dalmatia, after having been
-to Trieste to dispose of the produce of their
-lands.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-As the clocks struck five, we steamed out of
-Trieste on one of the finest mornings that could
-be imagined. The sea was as smooth as a mirror,
-and of the most intense blue. How often we
-stopped as we went down the coast of Istria I
-cannot tell, as we were constantly heaving to
-for the convenience of passengers going on shore
-in boats which put off to receive them; we did stop
-however at Capo d'Istria, and then at Pirano,
-where I was able to take a rough sketch of that
-most picturesque little town, with its beautiful
-mediæval castle perched on the cliff behind
-it.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Then we came to Parenzo, where I should very
-much have liked to go ashore for a couple of
-hours to look at the cathedral, of which I had
-heard so much, but unfortunately the little business
-the steamer had to transact was done in a few
-minutes, and the Captain would not delay (probably
-because my bribe was insufficient), so I had
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_65' name='Page_65' href='#Page_65'>65</a></span>
-to comfort myself with the hope of seeing it on
-some future occasion, when I trust to be able
-again to visit all those spots which interested me
-so much then, as also many other places in the
-same countries, which accidental circumstances prevented
-me from seeing.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The Cathedral of Parenzo, which I was so
-anxious to see, and which had been described to
-me by a friend at Trieste as a <i><span lang="it_IT">meraviglia</span></i>, was
-founded by Bishop Eupatius, and completed in the
-year 526; it is therefore as old as St. Sophia of
-Constantinople, and older than any other Cathedral
-in Europe. "It is said to have a semicircular
-apse behind the altar, with the Bishop's throne,
-and seats on either side for the clergy, instances of
-which are now so rarely to be met with."<a name='FA_2' id='FA_2' href='#FN_2' class='fnanchor'>[2]</a>...
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"At the east end is a round apse, as glorious
-in its mosaics as St. Mark's, or St. Sophia. Every
-part of the wall and rounded roof is covered with
-mosaics, &amp;c. A group of nine saints and angels
-surrounding the Blessed Virgin and Child, on a
-golden background, is exquisitely done. Heads of
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_66' name='Page_66' href='#Page_66'>66</a></span>
-saints adorn the arches, all are beautiful. Below
-these, to about ten feet high, the walls are inlaid
-with whole shells of mother-of-pearl let into a dark
-brown stone; it looks just like a piece of Damascus
-furniture, and though rude it is effective and
-beautiful.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"The flooring of the whole church is of course
-mosaic, in Byzantine patterns, the same as in
-Murano and St. Mark's; but one can scarcely
-look at anything after the wall mosaics, save the
-capitals of the columns. The pillars themselves
-are of a fine brown marble; the capitals are
-identically the same as those in Santa Sophia,
-one more exquisitely under-cut than the other
-into lace-work of leaves, flowers, birds, &amp;c.;
-they are perhaps a little bolder than those of
-St. Sophia, but full of life and spirit, not a line
-wasted nor a thought thrown away. I longed
-to sketch them, but I could only hope they may
-one day be photographed; Jerusalem and Constantinople
-alone can rival them.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"The Baldacchino is exceedingly curious and fine,
-as are also the very ancient altar hangings.
-There is a splendid altar front, of solid silver
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_67' name='Page_67' href='#Page_67'>67</a></span>
-gilt, of the Renaissance date. The interest appertaining
-to this is that it is placed at the <i>back</i>
-of the altar for high mass, facing the Bishop,
-who is seated <i>behind the altar</i>, as at Torcello;
-this is an ancient and I believe unique privilege.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"The Chapel of St. Andrew, at the north-east
-corner of the church, is very interesting and
-curious. There has been a porch or cloister at the
-west entrance, but only two or three columns
-remain of it. I venture to think this church
-is well worth a special journey from England to see.
-I could think of nothing else the rest of the day,
-although our onward voyage was full of beauty."<a name='FA_3' id='FA_3' href='#FN_3' class='fnanchor'>[3]</a>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We then came to Rovigno with its beautiful
-campanile, and here again I could not get half
-an hour to go on shore to look at it, though
-I believe there is not much more to be seen
-beside it.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-At three <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> we came in sight of the harbour
-of Pola—the Portsmouth of Austria;—but Pola
-itself we could not see, as it lies at the bottom
-of a bay communicating with the sea by a deep
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_68' name='Page_68' href='#Page_68'>68</a></span>
-and winding channel, apparently well defended by
-numerous forts which surround it. The harbour
-itself is of very considerable dimensions, and so
-deep that the largest vessels can come alongside
-the quays.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Although so important a place, there did not
-appear to be much life or bustle about it. The
-country around it is flat and marshy, and sometimes
-in the year very unhealthy. It must have
-been, however, an important place in the days of
-ancient Rome, judging from the size of its amphitheatre,
-and the beauty of the Temple and
-triumphal arches which still remain, and which
-constitute after all the great attractions of Pola.
-They are quite close to the landing, so they can be
-visited with the utmost facility during the stay
-which the steamer generally makes there. The
-amphitheatre alone is worth a special visit, as the
-exterior of it is perfect, and at a short distance does
-not even look like a ruin. It dates from the third
-century and is very fine. It consists of a basement
-story about four hundred and thirty feet in
-length, by three hundred and fifty feet in width,
-surmounted by two tiers of arches, with half columns
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_69' name='Page_69' href='#Page_69'>69</a></span>
-of the Tuscan order between each, all about eighty
-feet high.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Beautifully preserved as is the exterior, the
-condition of the interior is most disappointing,
-as nothing remains of the internal arrangement
-except on one side, the one furthest from the
-sea, where there are still a few seats cut in
-the rock, some even bearing what most probably
-were the initials of their owners carved into
-them.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-What can have caused this utter ruin of all
-the accommodation for the spectators? Have the
-natives from time to time removed the building
-materials from the inside, for the purpose of
-building the modern town? not daring to lay
-a sacrilegious hand on the shell of the building
-itself, which bore no semblance to a ruin, while
-at the same time they treated the interior as
-a quarry! or were the seats made of woodwork,
-and destroyed by fire, as some have
-imagined?
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The steamer always remains long enough to
-permit the traveller to visit the amphitheatre and
-the temples, as well as the triumphal arches, and
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_70' name='Page_70' href='#Page_70'>70</a></span>
-to take a stroll through the Piazza. I did so, and
-still further improved the passing hour by eating an
-excellent dinner <i>al fresco</i> under a <i>pergola</i> of vines at
-the <i>Trattoria</i> of the place.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-It was just dark as I got on board again, having
-been warned by the unmusical steam-whistle that
-the vessel would soon be under way again. Just
-before starting, a military band came to play
-before the Commandant's house, which is on the
-quays just opposite to where the steamer was
-moored. It being now dark, the band was
-accompanied by a score of soldiers carrying a
-peculiarly shaped lantern fastened to the top of a
-pole, to enable the men to see their music. At
-first as the band came marching down the quays
-with their lights dancing high up in the air before
-and behind, I could not make out what it was,
-and only for the liveliness of the music I might
-have thought it was a funeral, the whole thing was
-very picturesque and the music excellent. At last
-we got under way and steamed out of the
-harbour on our way to the coast of Dalmatia,
-across the Gulf of the Quarnero, so well known
-for its dangerous navigation and so much dreaded
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_71' name='Page_71' href='#Page_71'>71</a></span>
-even by the hardy sailors of the Adriatic, when
-swept by the fierce impetuous Bora.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Fortunately for me, who am not the most
-intrepid of mariners, and who prefer admiring a
-tempestuous sea from off a rocky vantage point
-upon the shore, to tossing on its stormy waves,
-the dreaded Quarnero was as smooth as a millpond.
-The night was magnificent; the heavens
-cloudless, and studded with countless stars, but
-scarcely as bright as I have seen them at other
-times, owing to the intense brilliancy of the
-moon now nearly at the full. The track of the
-steamer was clearly marked out far in the rear
-by a broad phosphorescent wake, while the water
-which was dashed off from the paddles seemed like
-liquid fire.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The cabins were all occupied, so I had to make
-my bed on deck; but even if I could have got
-one, I never could have slept below, it was so
-hot and stuffy. I was soon settled for the night;
-a doubled-up rug laid lengthwise on the deck
-was my bed, and my dressing-bag was my pillow.
-It was so warm that I required no covering save
-my light tweed suit, and I was no sooner down
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_72' name='Page_72' href='#Page_72'>72</a></span>
-than I was fast asleep. I don't know how long
-I slept; but I would have slept still longer, if I
-had not been awoke by the steamer stopping to
-put down and take up passengers and goods at
-some place on the coast of Dalmatia.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We had safely crossed the mouth of the Quarnero,
-the moon had set, and the blue black vault of
-heaven was studded with countless stars sparkling
-like diamonds. The steamer was hove to a little
-distance from the shore, while scores of boats, each
-with a coloured lantern at the prow, came and
-went, making as pretty a scene as can be imagined;
-but for all that, after sitting up and admiring it
-for a few minutes, I lay down again on my rug,
-and falling asleep never awoke again till the sun was
-high in the heavens the next morning.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-By degrees the passengers one by one came on
-deck, when by making interest with Giovanni, the
-steward, I obtained the use of a <i>camerino</i> (cabin)
-to make my toilet in. Having completed my
-ablutions I called in Giovanni to empty my tub,
-for as the <i>camerino</i> was extremely small it was
-next to impossible to stand in it, unless with one's
-feet in the water. Never was steward so astonished
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_73' name='Page_73' href='#Page_73'>73</a></span>
-and so puzzled as Giovanni was at the sight of
-my flimsy mackintosh tub; he had no idea of how
-to take it up to empty it, he was afraid to touch
-it until I had taken it up on three sides and showed
-him how to lift it, when he was so delighted
-with the whole arrangement that he placed it
-on the table of the cabin just as it was, and
-fetched down the passengers to see the ingenious
-English device. By the time it had been well
-examined and then emptied, I was up and dressed.
-When I came out of the <i>camerino</i>, I showed the
-assembled company how it could be rolled up
-into the smallest compass, and stowed away in a
-travelling bag.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-There was no regular breakfast on board,
-but everyone as he wanted it got a cup of
-coffee and a bit of bread or a biscuit; preserved
-milk also could be had, but of butter there was
-none.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Our passengers had somewhat varied since leaving
-Trieste. We had deposited many on the coast of
-Istria as we went along, and taken up others in
-their place. We had a remarkable Oriental-looking
-woman, plain perhaps, and yet handsome, a
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_74' name='Page_74' href='#Page_74'>74</a></span>
-Montenegrin of rank, a cousin of the present
-Prince, dressed in full native costume. She was
-on her way to her native country to petition
-the Prince to permit certain of his cousins, who
-had been expatriated for political causes, to return
-to their homes.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The costume of the Montenegrin women is not
-becoming; even this handsome woman, and the
-beautiful Princess whom I subsequently had the
-honour of seeing at Montenegro, failed to render
-it attractive to my eyes, whereas the costume of the
-men is eminently becoming. This lady's dress
-consisted of a sort of white chemise of fine lawn,
-tight, but gathered very full round the neck,
-without any frill, and open down the front for
-six or eight inches, where it was closed by a row
-of very small buttons. This white garment, which
-reached down to the ankles, was fastened round
-her waist by a massive silver belt, made in compartments
-three inches by four and joined together
-by hinges. Each compartment was highly ornamented
-with rich <i><span lang="fr_FR">repoussé</span></i> work in <i><span lang="it_IT">alto rilievo</span></i>, and
-from a side-piece hung down several ornaments of
-the châtelaine species, while from the other side
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_75' name='Page_75' href='#Page_75'>75</a></span>
-depended an exquisite little dagger in a sheath of
-silver <i><span lang="fr_FR">repoussé</span></i>.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The sleeves of this white garment were tight
-at the shoulders, but grew wider and wider as
-they approached the wrist, where they were
-upwards of two feet six inches in diameter. They
-were bordered with a rich margin of embroidery
-in gold and silver thread, mingled with red and
-blue silk, in excellent taste, and the same embroidery
-was continued up the external seam of the
-sleeve on the outside of the elbow up to the
-shoulder. From below the silver belt she wore
-a large apron of rich black silk coming down to
-her ankles, and over all a peculiar white cloth
-coat without sleeves, the typical garment of the
-Montenegrins, both male and female. This coat
-was made of a very soft white cloth, so close and
-yet soft and pliable, that although sitting next to
-her and touching it with my finger, I could not at
-once determine if it was cloth or some sort of
-beautifully tanned leather. As I said before, this
-coat was without sleeves or collar, but scooped
-tight to the back of the neck. In front it did
-not come further forward than about half way
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_76' name='Page_76' href='#Page_76'>76</a></span>
-between the point of the shoulders and the middle
-of the neck, and then straight down like a sack
-till just below the calf of the leg. This coat was
-bound right round the whole way with a narrow
-pattern of embroidery in the same style as round
-the sleeves of the muslin dress, and in addition
-had a row of very small round silver buttons down
-the front on one side. On her head she wore a
-very large black Indian silk kerchief fastened into
-her hair with pins, and hanging down behind her
-back as low as her waist.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The costume is decidedly ugly, though containing
-the elements of great beauty, if only put
-together with taste and harmony. Nothing, for
-instance, can be more attractive and becoming than
-that black kerchief, be it of silk, gauze or lace,
-when gracefully put on the head, as the women
-of Spain or Genoa know so well how to wear it;
-but the Montenegrin arrangement is as clumsy
-and inelegant in the women as it is manly and
-picturesque in the men.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We had on board also several Austrian officers
-going to join their quarters, some to Zara and
-some to Cattaro, Budua, and Kosmatch. Very
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_77' name='Page_77' href='#Page_77'>77</a></span>
-nice, pleasant, gentlemanlike fellows they were,
-some of them speaking French, but all able to
-converse freely in Italian, and all well-informed,
-agreeable companions. Acquaintances are made
-much more easily abroad than in England, so we
-were soon quite at home together, and what with
-chatting, smoking and walking up and down the
-deck, we quickly passed over the time, till at ten
-o'clock <span class="smcap">a.m.</span>, we came in front of Zara, celebrated
-in ancient times for its long siege, when "in
-1346 Marino Faliero earned his laurels by the
-most daring assault," and in modern times for its
-excellent Maraschino!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Zara is an important place even at the present
-time. It is the capital of Dalmatia, and the seat
-of the Archbishop of the province. It is well-built,
-clean, and tolerably well-paved, and well-worth
-a visit. The time, however, allowed by
-the stay of the steamer is amply sufficient to
-enable one to see it; but the heat was so great
-that I felt more inclined to stay on board smoking
-cigarettes under the awning of the steamer than
-to go on shore. The prospect of some <i><span lang="fr_FR">café à la
-glace</span></i>, however, which I knew was to be obtained
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_78' name='Page_78' href='#Page_78'>78</a></span>
-in the Piazza, added to the more important fact
-that I was to receive here a letter for the Archimandrite
-of Montenegro, induced me to shake off
-my apathy.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Having landed on the quay, I passed through
-the gate over which is sculptured the grim effigy
-of the Lion of St. Mark, everywhere seen down
-the Eastern shores of the Adriatic wheresoever the
-Venetians had established their authority, I proceeded
-to execute my plans; but the heat was so
-intense that I was glad to come back to the steamer
-where I imagined it was something less stifling.
-But this day was unusually hot and close, and
-with the exception of one at Cattaro, when the
-thermometer registered at four o'clock <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>,
-105° Fahrenheit, was the hottest I experienced in
-all my journey.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_79' name='Page_79' href='#Page_79'>79</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p6">
-<img src="images/wroughtiron.jpg" width="400" height="87" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<h2>
-CHAPTER VI.
-</h2>
-
-<p class="ch_summ">
-DEPARTURE FROM ZARA—SEBENICO—PLEASANT COMPANIONS—NOBLE
-HARBOUR—THE CATHEDRAL—CURIOUS ROOF—CORAL
-FISHERY—SPALATO—SALONA—DIOCLETIAN'S PALACE—MR.
-PATON'S DESCRIPTION OF IT—BEAUTIFUL SPECTACLE—THE
-PORTA FERREA—QUAINT DWELLINGS—AMBROSIAL TOBACCO.
-</p>
-
-<div>
-<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropa.jpg" width="100" height="108" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p class="drop-cap">
-AT about one o'clock <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> we steamed
-away from Zara while we were at
-dinner, and at five <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> reached Sebenico.
-Should I ever travel again in
-that part of the world, I think I should try to go
-from Zara to Sebenico by land in order to see the
-ruins of Asseria, which I learnt afterwards were
-well worth a visit; but the journey should in that
-case be undertaken earlier in the year, to avoid the
-oppressive heats.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_80' name='Page_80' href='#Page_80'>80</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The afternoon between leaving Zara and arriving
-at Sebenico passed quickly away, for I had the
-advantage of two most agreeable companions; one
-the capuchin monk, the other a charming young
-fellow, an officer in an Austrian Jäger regiment,
-Baron Heyd von Heydeg.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The Capuchin was a most interesting man, and
-we chatted many an hour together by moonlight on
-the deck, when every one else had gone to sleep,
-when I used to chaff him about the rules of his
-order, which forbid the smoking of tobacco, while
-they permit the use of snuff without any restriction.
-He used to take it most good-humouredly,
-and laughed as if his sides would split
-when I would refuse to take a pinch of his snuff
-unless he smoked one of my cigarettes. I verily
-think I should have brought him round at last,
-had he not been constantly under the surveillance,
-and in mortal "<i><span lang="it_IT">soggezione</span></i>" of his lay
-brother.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Heyd was a different fellow altogether, but
-most agreeable. He was going to join his regiment,
-then quartered at Budua. We travelled
-together as far as Cattaro, and I met him subsequently
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_81' name='Page_81' href='#Page_81'>81</a></span>
-both at Cettigne and Budua, where I
-went expressly to pay him a visit.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The time sped swiftly and most agreeably in
-spite of the heat, and at five o'clock <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> we
-steamed through the narrow tortuous opening,
-bordered by steep rocky sides, which leads into
-the bay, at the further end of which stands
-Sebenico. It is a noble harbour, and so deep
-that a frigate can lie alongside the quay. At
-the narrowest part of its entrance, the approach
-is defended by what a few years ago would have
-been considered a masterpiece of fortification, but
-which at present would offer too fair a target to
-our projectiles to afford any great protection against
-an enemy. It is still worth a visit, as its casemates
-are perhaps among the finest in the world.
-It was engineered and built in 1546, by the celebrated
-architect San Micheli. The entrance to the
-fortress is surmounted by the usual Venetian Lion
-with the following inscription:—
-</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poem">
-<p>"<span lang="la">Pax tibi Marce Evangelista meus</span>."<a name='FA_4' id='FA_4' href='#FN_4' class='fnanchor'>[4]</a></p>
-</div></div>
-<p>
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_82' name='Page_82' href='#Page_82'>82</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Having landed with Baron Heyd, who had been
-quartered there some time before, for cicerone, I proceeded
-to inspect the Duomo, or cathedral, the
-principal object of interest there. Some people
-are lost in admiration of this cathedral, I really
-could not see much about it to admire, and the two
-statues on its façade representing Adam and Eve
-(they might as well be Gog and Magog) are simply
-detestable. But the roof of the cathedral is a
-curiosity in itself, and worth the journey. It
-is of its kind unique, and though it is said to
-be perfectly safe, and I suppose must be so,
-having continued so for so many years, still I could
-not help feeling a sense of insecurity as long as I
-was in the church, and enjoyed great relief when I
-finally came out of it.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-This roof is simply a semi-cylinder made of
-enormous slabs of stone joined edge to edge, but
-so beautifully adapted and fitted one into the
-other that, without any other support save what
-they afford each other, they form the vault of this
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_83' name='Page_83' href='#Page_83'>83</a></span>
-cathedral. I trust they may never crack; but I,
-for one, could never say my prayers with comfort
-under such a roof.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Having taken a ramble through the streets, which
-were clean and contained many fine mansions, we
-went up to the fort on the hill behind the town,
-and which commands the whole place, where we
-passed a pleasant hour with the officers of the
-garrison.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-My time being limited, I was unable to make
-an expedition from Sebenico, which under different
-circumstances I should certainly have undertaken,
-that is to the falls of the Kerka and the monastery
-above them. My friend, the Capuchin, who had
-travelled a good deal both in Europe and America,
-and had a good eye for the picturesque, told me
-they were well worth seeing; but like many
-other interesting spots down that coast, I
-must only hope to visit them at some future
-time.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-At dusk we returned to the steamer, though
-we knew it would not leave till the following
-morning early, and we could have spent a most
-pleasant night on shore; but Sebenico shuts its
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_84' name='Page_84' href='#Page_84'>84</a></span>
-gates at sunset, and then till the following sunrise
-no one can come in or go out, and had we
-attempted it we should only have lost our
-passage.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Having partaken of an excellent supper, I
-returned to the deck, where, as was my wont, I
-sat down beside my friend the Capuchin, who
-always took a cup of coffee with me though he
-would not consent to smoke. We chatted till very
-late, when he went down to his <i>camerino</i>, and I
-settled myself on deck as usual for my night's sleep.
-It turned out awfully hot, as the steamer remained
-till break of day in the harbour of Sebenico, but
-what must it have been in the cabin?
-</p>
-
-<p>
-At the very earliest dawn we left our moorings,
-and steamed out of the harbour by its well guarded
-entrance. Just outside we passed a group of small
-islands, among which is established a considerable
-coral fishery. The coral is not however of the
-finest quality, mostly of the common deep red
-kind, and is principally sold on the spot or at
-the fair of Sinigaglia in the Romagna on the
-opposite or Italian side of the Adriatic.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The dawn was just merging into daylight, when
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_85' name='Page_85' href='#Page_85'>85</a></span>
-we steamed out of that land-locked harbour. It
-had been stiflingly hot as long as we had lain still
-alongside the quay, but the moment we came out
-into the open sea, the
-</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poem">
-<p class="o1">".&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. <span lang="it_IT">Aura messaggiera</span> .&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.</p>
-<p><span lang="it_IT">Ad annunziar che se ne vien l'Aurora</span>,"</p>
-</div></div>
-
-<p class="post">
-came with a most refreshing breeze, so light, however,
-as not even to raise a "cat's paw" on the
-glassy waters, but still deliciously cool and invigorating.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The steward was not long manufacturing me a
-good cup of coffee, after which, having made
-myself comfortable in a capital arm-chair, I again
-went to sleep, not to awake until Giovanni summoned
-me again, "<span lang="it_IT">per far colazione</span>."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-In the course of the morning we reached
-Spalato, a beautiful and most interesting place,
-where an artist could with advantage spend many
-days. It was celebrated in ancient times for the
-gorgeous palace which the Emperor Diocletian
-built for himself after abdicating the Empire in
-303 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, and the magnificent remains of which
-still form the glory of the present city. After a
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_86' name='Page_86' href='#Page_86'>86</a></span>
-reign of twenty years, "Diocletian executed his
-memorable resolution of abdicating the Empire,"
-and acquired the glory of giving to the world the
-most remarkable, if not the first, example of a
-resignation which has not been very frequently
-imitated by succeeding monarchs. Withdrawing
-to Salona, he passed the last nine years of his life
-in seclusion—the building of a palace in the
-neighbourhood, and the superintendence of his
-garden, occupying his leisure hours. The
-satisfaction he derived from these pursuits is
-sufficiently proved by his well-known answer to
-Maximian, when urging him to re-assume the
-purple, "If I could show you the cabbages I have
-planted with my own hands at Salona, you would
-no longer urge me to relinquish the enjoyment of
-happiness for the pursuit of power."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-This immense palace, which covered very nearly
-nine English acres of ground, was almost a perfect
-square terminating at the four corners by a quadrangular
-tower. Its faces were directed as nearly
-as possible to the four cardinal points—the southern
-side being pointed to the shore and facing the sea.
-It still exists in good preservation and forms a grand
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_87' name='Page_87' href='#Page_87'>87</a></span>
-object of attraction to the visitor entering the
-harbour. Two streets intersected each other at
-right angles nearly in the centre of it, which has
-lately been completely excavated and is now fully
-exposed to view.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The following description by the late Mr. Paton
-(author of "Highlands and Islands of the Adriatic,"
-one of the most charming books ever printed)
-will convey to the reader a far clearer impression
-than anything I could pen; I therefore make
-no apology for inserting it here, and whoever
-should wish to go still deeper into the matter
-and learn all that is to be learned concerning
-this palace, I refer him to Mr. Adams' book
-"Spalato Restored," which is a perfectly exhaustive
-treatise on the subject.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"At the outset we are struck with the enormous
-extent of the palace, which is not less
-than nine acres and a half; so that even Constantine
-Porphyrogenitus speaks of it with admiration,
-as one of the greatest edifices then extant.
-In the time of Diocletian, his great retinue and
-a pretorian cohort could be lodged with convenience
-in it. Sixteen towers gave strength and elegance
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_88' name='Page_88' href='#Page_88'>88</a></span>
-to the edifice, of which the largest were those
-at the four corners. The back of the edifice looked
-to the north-east on the land-side, and there was the
-principal entrance, the Porta Aurea, or golden gate,
-which led to the Peristylium, a great court of
-granite columns; and the cross street which intersected
-the principal passage at right angles was
-terminated at each end by gates, the one the
-Porta Ferrea, or iron gate, the other the Porta
-Ænea, or gate of brass, which are so called to this
-day.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"This peristylium, or court of granite columns,
-was flanked by two temples; the greater of Jupiter,
-and the smaller of Esculapius; the former, a
-lofty octagon, was ascended by a stair of fifteen
-steps; an uneven number being generally found in
-the temples of the ancients, that, beginning to
-move with the right foot, they might, of course,
-place it first upon the uppermost step in order to
-enter the temple—a form which was accounted
-respectful in approaching the Deity. From the
-peristylium, or court of granite columns, the Roman
-entered the principal inhabited part of the palace;
-first was the porticus of Corinthian order, then the
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_89' name='Page_89' href='#Page_89'>89</a></span>
-circular dome-covered vestibulum, with the Lares
-and Penates; then the atrium, or quadrangular
-hall, ninety-eight by forty-five with its arms and
-trophies dedicated to ancestry; and last of all
-the crypto-porticus, or grand gallery, looking to
-the south-west, thus facing the sea, and forming
-a noble promenade of five hundred and fifteen feet
-in length, in which, during the heat of Summer
-or inclemency of Winter, the Emperor could take
-exercise. This crypto-porticus was the principal
-feature of the palace, and the well-known taste
-of Diocletian leads us to suppose that the choicest
-statuary and paintings of the Old World must have
-adorned its walls. The relics of Pompeii give
-some idea of the classic fancy in ornament, the
-harmonizing contrasts in colour, and the consummate
-skill in tessellation employed in the domestic
-architecture of the ancients; and if we relieve these
-splendours with the latest fascination in the
-unpretending forms of Greek statuary, how puny
-is the utmost magnificence of Versailles compared
-with the dwelling of the retired Roman!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Such was the Palace of Diocletian; what now
-remains of the edifice? The shell or outer wall,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_90' name='Page_90' href='#Page_90'>90</a></span>
-of which the best preserved part is the grand
-gallery facing the sea; for Spalato like its
-contemporary Baalbec being used as a fortification,
-the rough stone and mortar of the middle-age
-battlements surmount in many places the massive
-normal masonry of the Roman Empire....
-Within the town, fragments of Roman architecture
-are scattered thickly enough, but so obscured and
-mingled with modern houses as to present a mass
-of confusion."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Did we stop short here, the reader might well
-imagine that beyond the shell, the walls which
-surrounded the palace, nothing has been preserved;
-such however is not the case, and I shall now
-endeavour to describe what I saw in Spalato the
-morning that I steamed into its harbour, when from
-the deck of my vessel I gazed on that sea studded
-all over with numberless boats spreading the most
-fantastic sails to the gentlest of breezes!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The prevailing form, if not the only one, was the
-lateen in all its varieties, most of the boats carrying
-but one. But such colours and such devices
-painted on them! things that would look simply
-outrageous at Cowes or Ryde, how lovely they
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_91' name='Page_91' href='#Page_91'>91</a></span>
-seemed there! Some were striped from above
-downwards with every colour of the rainbow, but
-only two colours to each sail and these always
-harmoniously contrasted; others of one uniform
-colour, with some fantastic ornament in sharp
-contrast in the middle; while some, all of one colour
-had at the topmost angle of the lateen a representation
-of the sun generally in burnished gold with its
-rays coming down a long way over the sail. The
-glittering golden sea, those fairy-looking boats
-gliding over it, the picturesque costumes of the
-sailors, the whole scene bathed in that golden light
-was a fit preparation for my introduction to the rare
-beauties of Spalato itself.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-As we slowly approached the quay, there was
-ample time to admire the long façade of Diocletian's
-Palace, with the tall and elegant campanile which
-rises inside it on the right, and the strong hexagonal
-machicolated tower on the left. The lofty steeple
-on the right, a very Giralda of elegance and
-airiness—the dungeon on the left a sturdy emblem
-of the iron-fisted middle ages.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-After some customary formalities, during which
-I feasted my eyes on the picturesque groups that
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_92' name='Page_92' href='#Page_92'>92</a></span>
-crowded on the quay, permission was finally given
-to go ashore; when crossing as quickly as could be
-the narrow intervening space, I plunged through the
-Porta Ferrea into the vaulted passage which on this
-side gives entrance to the city of Spalato; and now
-commence the real difficulties of description, but
-having undertaken it I must only try, trusting to the
-kind forbearance of my readers.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-This vaulted entrance is narrow, perhaps not twelve
-feet wide, but very lofty and formed of immense
-blocks of stone put together with wonderful
-accuracy. After following it a little way, it opens
-out into a spacious round hall rising up to a
-considerable height, this portion being unroofed;
-from it open out several streets, all running about
-here and there, crossing and recrossing each other
-as if in search of light and air. The dwellings
-in these streets are full of quaint artistic beauty;
-at one point one meets a massive wall of square-cut
-blocks dating from the days of Diocletian, against
-which, perhaps, is built up a modern house with
-wrought-iron balconies of the most delicate
-workmanship; further on, an outside staircase of
-rude stone steps, partly covered with a roof of
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_93' name='Page_93' href='#Page_93'>93</a></span>
-russet tiles, leads to a door some thirty feet above
-our heads, from which a flying buttress crosses
-over to an opening in an ancient wall beyond, where
-a modern habitation has been constructed in some
-mediæval donjon.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Each turn brings a new surprise, and so one
-passes on till one comes to the piazza, and this
-day being a festival, it swarmed with natives from
-all the surrounding <i><span lang="it_IT">campagne</span></i>. The reader must
-now come with me to the <i><span lang="fr_FR">café</span></i>, where under a
-thick awning and surrounded by a screen of
-oleanders and orange-trees in full bloom, we shall
-take a <i><span lang="it_IT">granita di caffé</span></i> (a water-ice flavoured with
-coffee), and study the moving panorama before us,
-whilst we slowly puff away a cigarette made with
-the ambrosial tobacco of Trebigna—a kind still
-unknown in London and in Paris!
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p4">
-<img src="images/oak.jpg" width="141" height="52" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter p6">
-<img src="images/fish.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_94' name='Page_94' href='#Page_94'>94</a></span>
-</div>
-
-<h2>
-CHAPTER VII.
-</h2>
-
-<p class="ch_summ">
-A TYPE OF SHYLOCK—SCENE IN THE STREET—VARIED COSTUMES—MORLACCHI—TURKS
-FROM THE HERZEGOVINA—WOMEN OF
-SPALATO—INSPECTION OF THE CITY—THE PORTA AUREA—COURT
-OF THE VESTIBULE OF THE PALACE—INTERIOR OF
-THE CATHEDRAL—ILLUSTRIOUS MEN OF SPALATO—MARK
-ANTONY DE DOMINIS—ST. JEROME—THE MORLACCHI.
-</p>
-
-<div>
-<img class="drop-cap" src="images/drops.jpg" width="100" height="118" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p class="drop-cap">
-SITTING down cross-legged on the
-very oldest and dirtiest of rugs, and
-just outside our fragrant hedge of
-oleander, is to be seen an old Jew,
-the finest type of a Shylock that could be imagined;
-with ample, heavy, flowing beard, aquiline nose
-with sharp cut nostril, and deep-set piercing eyes
-shadowed by an ample turban. He has before him,
-on his rug, a collection of arms, pistols of the old
-approved Turkish form and yataghans of every
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_95' name='Page_95' href='#Page_95'>95</a></span>
-price, from the common horn-handled weapon in a
-wooden sheath to the jewel-hilted Kharjar in a
-sheath of <i><span lang="fr_FR">repoussé</span></i> silver. Around is a motley
-group of countrymen, all talking at the top of
-their voices in their several languages, whilst
-examining and praising or depreciating the weapons
-there for sale, just as they are either simple <i><span lang="fr_FR">flâneurs</span></i>
-in the square, or really intending purchasers. The
-varieties of costume rendered this picturesque
-group most interesting, there were Morlacchi from
-the neighbouring mountains with full blue Turkish
-trowsers fast to the knee; gold embroidered
-crimson jackets without sleeves, and gaiters to
-match; the whole finished off by an immense Albanian
-scarf of many colours wound round the waist,
-holding a perfect armoury of weapons in the front.
-On the head most of them wore a small red fez,
-others wore a turban, but it was not put on like
-the Jews, they did not seem <i><span lang="fr_FR">au fait</span></i> in settling it;
-but whatever head-gear they adopted they all were
-decorated with a tail—a genuine plaited tail coming
-down their backs with such luxuriance that it might
-have been the envy of any Celestial. I could not
-bring myself to like it—though report says that
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_96' name='Page_96' href='#Page_96'>96</a></span>
-the Morlacchi are wonderfully attached to their
-tails, and cherish and pet them somewhat in the
-manner of our old tars in the days of Collingwood
-and Nelson.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-There were Turks from the Herzegovina, ill-looking,
-badly-clad, scowling Mussulmans, who
-would willingly have earned ten paras by sending
-a Christian to his latter home, but still gorgeous
-in their tatters and vermin. There were Christian
-Albanians with their white fustanellas, high aquiline
-nose, glittering eyes, and false smile, in dress
-somewhat similar to the Morlacchi, but wearing a
-smaller fez with a long blue tassel. Conspicuous
-above them all was a Risanese from the Gulf of
-Cattaro, in full Montenegrin costume; but with
-a green instead of the white characteristic coat, all
-overladen about the breast and shoulders with
-plates of solid gold of considerable thickness,
-especially over the shoulders, where they would,
-if required, afford some protection from the blow of
-a sabre.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Mingled with the men were several women—some
-very good-looking—with golden-brown hair
-and dark eyes and eyelashes; their hair in plaits,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_97' name='Page_97' href='#Page_97'>97</a></span>
-not hanging but coiled round their heads, which
-were further adorned with Turkish piastres and
-other coins. The dress is a mixture of red, white,
-and blue artistically combined, with coral and
-coins twisted round their necks.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The noise of this Babel of tongues was deafening,
-and the scene not to be described. One wretched,
-tattered old man, but armed to the teeth like the
-rest, long tried to persuade me to buy a hank
-of onions, and would not be gainsaid when told by
-one of the waiters of the <i><span lang="fr_FR">café</span></i> that I was a traveller
-and did not require onions; what better or more
-portable provisions could I carry with me in my
-travels than onions? said he.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Having finished my <i><span lang="it_IT">granita</span></i>, I again started
-to explore the city; this time under the guidance of
-a most obliging gentleman, well versed in the
-antiquities of the place, and to whom I had brought
-an introduction. We first went outside the city
-to inspect the grand Porta Aurea. This had only
-lately been thoroughly excavated, and even in its
-present dilapidated condition, not so much the
-effect of time as of the plundering propensities of
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_98' name='Page_98' href='#Page_98'>98</a></span>
-man, is still most beautiful and grand. What
-must it have been before the eight columns which
-decorated its front were taken away to adorn some
-modern church?
-</p>
-
-<p>
-From the Porta Aurea, we again got into the
-city, proceeding straight to the court of the vestibule
-of the Palace, where all that is best worth seeing
-in Spalato is collected together. Here in front of
-us was the façade of the peristyle, consisting of
-four large and beautiful granite columns, supporting
-a triangular pediment, and which occupied the
-whole breadth of the court. On each side were
-a row of six Corinthian columns, equally large, and
-also of rose-coloured Egyptian granite, supporting
-not an architrave as is generally the case, but a
-series of arches which sprang from their capitals.
-On the right was the smaller temple, dedicated to
-Esculapius, now converted into a baptistry, and dedicated
-to St. John. On the left, the Temple of
-Jupiter—now the Cathedral of Spalato, by the side
-of which rises that most elegant campanile, the
-Giralda of Spalato, only one hundred and ninety-nine
-feet high, since the two upper stories were
-thrown down by lightning.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_99' name='Page_99' href='#Page_99'>99</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The interior of the Cathedral does not offer
-much to admire—nevertheless its general effect is
-sufficiently imposing. But it is outside in the court,
-the present piazza, that all the beauty of the place
-reveals itself. It is not a ruin—of the sixteen
-original granite columns not one has been displaced,
-and this portion of the Palace of Spalato
-is as in the days when Diocletian came into his
-Temple to pray. Can the reader believe that all
-this is really within five days of London?
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Dalmatia has been the birthplace of many men
-of letters and science, and Spalato can boast of
-having even given a Protestant Dean to our royal
-Windsor, in the person of the celebrated Mark
-Anthony de Dominis, once Catholic Archbishop
-of Spalato, whose life and death would furnish
-materials for a sensational novel. As his history
-is not commonly known, it may, perhaps, interest
-some of my readers to hear it now.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-He was born about the year 1570, and educated
-at the Illyrian College of the Jesuits, in Loretto,
-from whence he passed to Padua, where he became
-Professor of Mathematics. In the year 1600, he
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_100' name='Page_100' href='#Page_100'>100</a></span>
-was created Bishop of Segna, and in 1602 he was
-raised to the Archbishopric of Spalato, where,
-during the terrible plague of 1607, he nobly distinguished
-himself by his liberality to the poor, and
-his fearless and humane attendance on the sick in
-the administration of his sacerdotal duties—emulating
-the courage and devotion, under similar
-circumstances, of Borromeo of Milan. He occupied
-the Archiepiscopal throne of Spalato for fourteen
-years, during which period his time was divided
-between the performance of his ecclesiastical duties,
-and the investigations of science. He converted
-the upper part of the Palace, at Spalato, into a
-Laboratory and an Observatory, and the window
-is still shown where he is supposed to have made
-the discovery of the prismatic colour of light, "by
-the falling drops of water;" which discovery, including
-a description of the nature of the rainbow,
-he published to the world in a work printed at
-Venice in 1611. His fickleness in matters of
-religion, however, proved his ruin; his Chapter
-accused him of heretical opinions, upon which he
-withdrew to Venice at the close of 1615, having
-previously vacated his See in favour of his nephew
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_101' name='Page_101' href='#Page_101'>101</a></span>
-Sforza Ponsoni. During his residence in that city,
-he wrote a work in favour of the Republic, which
-was condemned by the Inquisition, when he determined
-on withdrawing, for safety, to a Protestant
-country.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-He went first to Heidelberg, and thence came
-to England in the suite and at the invitation of
-Sir Henry Wotton, Ambassador of James I. to the
-Venetian Republic. In England, he published and
-dedicated to James I. a history of the Council of
-Trent, which had been lent him, it is said, by its
-author, Fra Paolo Sarpi. He also edified the
-Protestant public by an open recantation of his
-religion in St. Paul's Cathedral, and then published
-a work against the Papacy, entitled, "Scoglio del
-Naufragio Christiano." He was particularly well
-received in England; and was patronized by the
-King, who made him Dean of Windsor. He
-seems, however, to have expected more, and to
-have been disappointed at not getting a bishopric;
-and on Gregory XV., who was a friend and relative
-of his, succeeding him to the Papal throne,
-he changed his religion again, and yielding to the
-solicitations of the Pope, conveyed to him through
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_102' name='Page_102' href='#Page_102'>102</a></span>
-the Spanish Ambassador, who promised him a Cardinal's
-Hat, he returned to Rome in 1622.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Gregory XV. received him kindly, and as long
-as he lived De Dominis remained unmolested, but
-at his death Pope Urban VIII., who succeeded
-him, saw no reason to extend his protection over
-the ex-Protestant Dean of Windsor; he was accused
-of heresy, handed over to the tender mercies of
-the Holy Inquisition, and thrown into a dungeon
-of the Castle of St. Angelo, where he died in 1625—it
-is supposed by poison, and his body was subsequently
-burned, together with his writings, in the
-Campo dei Fiori.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-De Dominis was a very distinguished philosopher,
-and we must not be too severe when judging him
-by the light of the present day. There can be
-no doubt that the change from Popery to the Reformed
-religion was principally due, not to a feeling
-of animosity against the Church of Rome, as many
-have maintained, but chiefly to those doubts
-concerning the truth of the things taught by
-that church, and to its conduct in persisting to
-refuse the results of the investigations of science,
-as evinced by its treatment of Galileo and others.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_103' name='Page_103' href='#Page_103'>103</a></span>
-His return to the church is more difficult to
-account for on generous grounds; but he, himself,
-is stated to have said that by becoming a
-Cardinal he might be of greater use in effecting a
-reformation in that community to which he had
-originally belonged. The Holy Inquisition had
-hoped to have enjoyed the satisfaction of publicly
-roasting, "<span lang="la">ad majorem Dei gloriam</span>," a professor of
-Natural Science, a renegade Catholic Archbishop and
-a Protestant Dean all in one; but some charitable
-friend robbed that holy confraternity of its anticipated
-triumph by passing in some poison to the
-unfortunate De Dominis, who learnt too late that
-Rome never changes, "<span lang="it_IT">che il Lupo perde il pelo, il
-vizio no</span>" and that according to Papal ethics to keep
-faith with heretics is at best a grievous sin.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Spalato, in common with the rest of Dalmatia,
-has given birth to many able men, among which
-they claim even St. Jerome, the most learned of
-the ancient fathers and the talented author of the
-noblest translation of the Bible; but I fear on
-insufficient grounds, as all the authorities I have
-looked into seem to make him a Pannonian and
-not an Illyrian; Carrara, however, claims him as
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_104' name='Page_104' href='#Page_104'>104</a></span>
-a compatriot in his "<span lang="it_IT">Uomini Illustri di Spalato</span>."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Within a few miles of Spalato are the ruins of
-Salona, I had not time to visit them. There is not
-comparatively very much of interest to be seen
-above ground, but I believe that methodically
-conducted diggings have yielded some valuable
-results. It was the Roman capital of Dalmatia and
-was destroyed by the Avars in 640, when the
-inhabitants who escaped from the slaughter took
-refuge in Spalato and there founded the new city,
-by grouping themselves around and under the
-protection of the Palace of Diocletian.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The majority of the inhabitants of Spalato are
-Roman Catholics, with an admixture of Greeks and
-a good number of Jews, who wear the turban and
-the Oriental costume, and are principally descended
-from those who were expelled from Spain in 1493.
-For many centuries they were subjected to the same
-indignities as in other Christian countries, and compelled
-to inhabit the Ghetto where they used to be
-locked up at night; but such practices have long
-been abolished in Dalmatia, and the Jews of Spalato
-have enjoyed for many years the same privileges as
-the other citizens of that place.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_105' name='Page_105' href='#Page_105'>105</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-My stay at Spalato was much too short for
-enjoyment; I saw indeed most that was to be seen
-there, but it was not much more than a glance,
-and I longed to be sketching amongst those picturesque
-nooks.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Having several times mentioned the Morlacchi,
-it will, I think, be interesting to my readers to
-know something about them. Again I have to
-regret that I was unable to visit them in their
-villages, and that the only information I can give
-of them is, that they are inhabitants of the wild
-mountainous district lying to the East of Dalmatia.
-They are a fine race of men, though much smaller
-and inferior to the Montenegrin; their women, on
-the contrary, are often very beautiful, and they
-have many strange customs in their dealings with
-foreigners which would make an excursion into
-the fastnesses of their mountains of more than
-ordinary interest.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-With the Lowland Dalmatians and the inhabitants
-of the towns on the coast, the name of
-Morlacchi is always associated with plunder and
-cattle-lifting, just as in Scotland a hundred years
-ago every Highlander, in the eyes of a Lowlander,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_106' name='Page_106' href='#Page_106'>106</a></span>
-was a cateran and a robber; but I heard from
-people that had been among them, that they are
-very hospitable, and that their country can be
-freely traversed in any direction without the
-smallest danger. They are Catholics and apparently
-of the same stock as the Montenegrins, though these
-latter are schismatic Greeks.
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p4">
-<img src="images/i-056.jpg" width="150" height="112" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter p6">
-<img src="images/flowers.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_107' name='Page_107' href='#Page_107'>107</a></span>
-</div>
-
-<h2>
-CHAPTER VIII.
-</h2>
-
-<p class="ch_summ">
-ISLAND OF LISSA—NAVAL BATTLES—A BRIDAL PARTY TAKEN ON
-BOARD—LESINA—FORTRESS OF SAN NICOLO—THE LOGGIE—FORT
-SPAGNUOLO—ISLAND OF CURZOLA—LA CHROMA—BEAUTIFUL
-SCENE—RICHARD CŒUR DE LION—CATHEDRAL OF
-RAGUSA—EARTHQUAKE OF 1667—TERRIBLE CONFLAGRATION—PRINCE
-MAXIMILIAN.
-</p>
-
-<div>
-<img class="drop-cap" src="images/drope.jpg" width="100" height="111" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p class="drop-cap">
-EARLY in the afternoon we left Spalato,
-and steaming away from the coast we
-stood out to sea, making for Lissa, a
-large island of the Adriatic, celebrated
-in the days of the first Napoleon for the stout
-sea fight in which, on the 13th of March 1811,
-Captain Hoste, (afterwards Sir William Hoste),
-with four ships mounting 156 guns, utterly defeated
-the French fleet of twenty-seven sail, mounting 284,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_108' name='Page_108' href='#Page_108'>108</a></span>
-having on board 500 troops. In 1808 we occupied
-Lissa, and having established free trade and other
-institutions, the island improved so much under our
-administration that in less than three years from
-the time we occupied it the population had risen
-to 12,000 inhabitants (at present it has scarcely
-5000).
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The French were naturally sorely tried by the
-advantageous position we occupied in front of their
-coast, and the very good use we made of our
-opportunities of pushing our commerce in every
-direction. They determined therefore on expelling
-us from Lissa and the Adriatic, as from the smallness
-of our armament there they had no doubt as
-to their success. Swiftly and silently they fitted out
-an expedition at Ancona, which under the command
-of the brave Captain Dubourdieu arrived at Lissa
-on the 13th March, 1811. It consisted of four
-44 gun frigates, ten 32 gun corvettes, one 16 gun
-brig, a schooner, ten gun-boats, and a xebeque, in
-all 284 guns.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The British Squadron consisted of only four
-ships, the 'Amphion,' 'Active,' 'Cerberus,' and
-'Volage,' mounting but 156 guns all told, but it
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_109' name='Page_109' href='#Page_109'>109</a></span>
-was commanded and manned by British seamen!
-the result could not be doubted, and although
-Dubourdieu fought like a gallant sailor as he was,
-the victory remained with us. Our losses were
-severe, and in a quiet retired little nook, on the
-left hand as one enters the land-locked harbour of
-Lissa, are buried those who fell in that engagement;
-while on the right hand side is another
-burial place, where under a handsome sepulchral
-monument lie the remains of those Austrians who
-fell in the latest naval engagement at Lissa when a
-few years ago the Italian Navy, the pet toy, an
-expensive one by the by, of King Victor Emmanuel,
-was all but annihilated by the Austrians under
-Admiral Tegethoff.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-At Lissa we remained a very short time, so
-short that I had not even time to go ashore, though
-I should have very much liked to visit the burial
-place of those brave English sailors who fell in the
-naval action of 1811. The business of the
-steamer, which seemed principally to consist in
-shipping a bridal party, was soon concluded, and
-after a very short stay we were again under full
-steam for Lesina, another island of the same
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_110' name='Page_110' href='#Page_110'>110</a></span>
-archipelago, but much smaller and closer in to the
-Dalmatian coast.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The bridal party we had taken on board consisted
-of the bride and bridegroom, both very plain and
-very much, even tawdrily over-dressed in Parisian
-costume, and with remarkably dirty hands and
-otherwise unwashed appearance. A bishop with
-a couple of priests in attendance on his reverence,
-and half-a-dozen relations and friends of the newly-married
-couple, who seemed principally to study
-not to take any notice of each other but went
-about making themselves generally agreeable.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The groom most kindly insisted on my smoking
-his cigars (and villainously bad they were,
-but had I declined them he would have been
-awfully offended) and drinking his maraschino,
-which fortunately was as good as his cigars were
-bad, whilst the bride, luckily for me, persistently
-avoided me, probably from fear of heretical contamination,
-and exclusively devoted her attentions
-to the Bishop and his priests.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-After a few hours steaming through the smoothest
-and bluest of seas, in full view of the grand mountains
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_111' name='Page_111' href='#Page_111'>111</a></span>
-of Dalmatia, in due time we arrived at
-Lesina a little before sunset. This island is said
-to derive its name from being somewhat shaped
-like an awl, in Italian <i><span lang="it_IT">lesina</span></i>. It is just a thin strip
-of land forty-two miles long, blunt at one end
-(which represents the handle) and sharp at the
-other. I doubt, however, the correctness of its
-etymology, and am inclined to think that its
-present name is more probably derived from its
-ancient one of "Pharos Insula," often reduced by
-elision into simply "Insula;" now the anagram
-of "Insula" is "Lusina," a word much more in
-harmony with the genius of the Italian language,
-and from Lusina to Lesina is but a shade. I think
-I am fortified in this etymology by the fact of
-at least two other instances in the Adriatic
-of this identical transposition of letters, and
-the conversion of Insula to Lusina, in the names
-of two islands near the Quarnero, named
-respectively Lussin Grande and Lussin Piccolo,
-which are evidently the anagram of Insula Grande
-and Insula Piccola.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We arrived just in time to enjoy the effect of
-the setting sun upon that rocky landscape and the
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_112' name='Page_112' href='#Page_112'>112</a></span>
-exquisitely pretty town at the foot of the mountain,
-and sufficiently early to be able to take a
-rapid sketch just as the sun was beginning to sink
-behind the tower which rises to the west of the
-town. The fort behind and above the town was
-still in full sunlight, as was also the more distant
-fortress of San Nicolo, brought forcibly into relief
-by a bank of dark purple clouds which were massed
-behind it. Down below, close to the water's
-edge, lay the town bathed in a flood of amber light,
-partly caused by the reflection of the golden sunset
-beyond, and partly by the colouring of the town
-itself, the houses of which are all painted with the
-warmest tints.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-In the middle of the town, close to the water's
-edge, are the "Loggie" or Portico, an elegant
-building, which in the olden times of Venetian
-supremacy was used by the merchants as an exchange
-to transact business in, as well as a hall of
-justice for the administration of the laws, and at
-the back a room is still shown where criminals
-and suspected persons underwent the question by
-torture.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Immediately behind and above the Loggie rises
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_113' name='Page_113' href='#Page_113'>113</a></span>
-Fort Spagnuolo, built by Charles V, connected
-with the town below by two long crenelated walls,
-enclosing in front a considerable space planted thick
-with colossal aloes (<i>Agave Americana</i>), which in
-case of assault would, in olden times, have offered
-a very considerable impediment to the advance of
-troops.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The island of Lesina is barren, and its commerce
-very insignificant; it grows, however, an immense
-quantity of rosemary, from which is distilled a
-celebrated essential oil <i>Oleum Anthos</i>, and the <i>Aqua
-Regia</i>, or rosemary water, which are both largely
-exported.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-It was dark when we left; shaping our way for
-Curzola where we arrived about midnight. My
-friend, the Capuchin, who sat chatting with me
-till we arrived there, regretted I could not
-see it by daylight, as contrary to the other
-islands, which are conspicuous for their barrenness,
-Curzola is well wooded, and is celebrated
-for the size and magnificence of its pine
-trees.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We did not make any long delay here, and
-were soon threading our course again between the
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_114' name='Page_114' href='#Page_114'>114</a></span>
-islands and the mainland in the direction of
-Ragusa, but I know nothing about them. The
-Monk wished me good-night and went to his
-cabin, when again I took my usual place on deck,
-and was soon as comfortably asleep on that oaken
-plank as if I had been in the most luxurious bed
-in England.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I was awakened from my night's sleep by my
-friend the Capuchin monk, who had been my
-travelling companion all the way from Trieste.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Get up, my lazy friend," said he, touching me
-with his foot. "We shall soon be entering
-the port of Gravosa; and there," stretching, out his
-arm towards the Dalmatian coast, "is the island of
-Lachroma, once the property of the unfortunate
-Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, and in ancient times
-a harbour of refuge to your great King Richard,
-Cœur-de-Lion."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Hard though my bed had been, for nothing but
-my doubled up old rug had interposed between
-myself and the deck, I had slept profoundly, "<i><span lang="fr_FR">à la
-belle étoile</span></i>," and far more comfortably than if I had
-condescended to take my place in the dirty and
-stuffy <i><span lang="it_IT">camerino</span></i> down below, where all the other
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_115' name='Page_115' href='#Page_115'>115</a></span>
-passengers, including my friend the Capuchin
-and his lay-brother, fearing bad smells, fleas, and
-other small game much less than the delicious
-night-air of the balmy Adriatic, had carefully stowed
-themselves away the previous night. I was up in
-an instant, and I shall not easily forget the sight
-that greeted my eyes from the deck of the little
-'San Carlo.'
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We were about three miles from the shore; the
-sun, though high above the horizon, had not yet
-acquired sufficient force to destroy the freshness of
-the morning breeze which delicately rippled the
-surface of the sea, making it in the sunshine like
-a sheet of frosted gold, while in the shade it was
-like liquid sapphire. On my left rose the wild,
-rocky cliffs of Dalmatia, rendered still more desolate-looking
-by the almost total absence of vegetation;
-while in front and on my right, stretching
-away to the extreme verge of the horizon, were
-the sparkling waters of the Adriatic, thickly
-studded with countless islets, to the nearest of
-which, Lachroma, the Monk had drawn my
-attention.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"It is now many years," said the Capuchin,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_116' name='Page_116' href='#Page_116'>116</a></span>
-"since your great crusading King found a refuge
-in that island."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"I was not aware that King Richard was shipwrecked
-here," said I. "I knew that he met with
-a terrific storm in this sea on his return from
-Palestine, but I always imagined he had been
-wrecked near the top of the Adriatic, on
-the coast of Istria, in the neighbourhood of
-Aquileia."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Yes," replied the Monk, "it is not generally
-known that it was on the rocks of Lachroma that
-Cœur-de-Lion was cast away; and it is strange how
-this error should have crept into history and held
-its ground and place in every standard work,
-including your own invaluable Cyclopædias. But
-we have ample proofs of the truth of what I am
-telling you, and documentary evidence to establish
-the accuracy of my assertion; for your King, in
-gratitude to Divine Providence for delivering him
-from shipwreck, vowed to build a church in
-honour of the Blessed Virgin, on whatever land
-he should first set foot, and having safely landed
-at Lachroma, he proceeded to make good his vow
-by committing to the abbot and monks of a
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_117' name='Page_117' href='#Page_117'>117</a></span>
-Benedictine monastery, which already existed on
-the island, the task of building this church, to
-defray the expenses of which the good King devoted
-no less than 100,000 <i><span lang="la">nummi argentei</span></i>, which sum
-he borrowed from his British lieges. But the
-Rettore of Ragusa (so the President of that ancient
-Republic was styled), having heard of King
-Richard's shipwreck opposite his city, went to visit
-him in state, with all the magistrates and councillors
-of the Republic, and invited him to Ragusa, where
-he was received with every demonstration of
-respect, and all the hospitality and attention due
-to so distinguished a guest.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-King Richard, pleased at the reception given
-him by the Republicans, and charmed by the
-attractive graces of the Ragusan ladies, rested there
-for some time; and then at the suggestion of these
-fair ones and the urgent entreaties of the authorities,
-who promised to obtain a dispensation for him from
-the Pope, he altered the terms of his donation, and
-founded in Ragusa itself the church to the Blessed
-Virgin which he had originally vowed on the
-island of Lachroma; on the condition, however, that
-the Benedictine Abbot of Lachroma, assisted by the
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_118' name='Page_118' href='#Page_118'>118</a></span>
-monks of his convent, should have the privilege
-and the right to celebrate mass in this church in
-Ragusa every year on the day of the feast of the
-Purification. The gift of Richard Cœur-de-Lion
-having been further increased by donations from the
-inhabitants, this votive church grew into that
-celebrated cathedral which for so many years held
-the first rank among all the churches of Illyria.<a name='FA_5' id='FA_5' href='#FN_5' class='fnanchor'>[5]</a>
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_119' name='Page_119' href='#Page_119'>119</a></span>
-At last, however, came one fatal morning, the 6th
-of April, 1667, when Ragusa was all but annihilated
-by an earthquake. In a few moments all the
-principal edifices in the town were laid low, including
-the Cathedral of King Richard, and upwards of six
-thousand inhabitants, more than one-fifth of the
-entire population were buried in the ruins. There
-was not a family in the whole city which had not
-one or more to mourn for. Several of my ancestors
-perished, and among others a lineal ancestor of my
-mother, Simone Ghetaldi, then Rettore of the
-Republic; he and several senators were assembled
-in the Council Chamber, and about to receive the
-visit of a Dutch Embassy (which had stopped at
-Ragusa on its way to Constantinople, to which
-court it was accredited) when they were all engulphed;
-not one escaped, and it is supposed that
-at that spot the earth must have opened and closed
-over them again. The Archbishop barely escaped
-with his life by jumping out of a window as the
-floors of his palace were giving way beneath him,
-and more than nine-tenths of the clergy perished.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_120' name='Page_120' href='#Page_120'>120</a></span>
-We preserve in our family a manuscript which
-gives an accurate account of this terrible catastrophe;
-as a youngster, I was often made to copy
-it out, and I therefore know it almost off by
-heart. It tells how the morning of the 6th of
-April, 1667, broke calm and bright, and that the
-atmosphere was still and serene, without anything
-to indicate the approaching danger, when suddenly,
-without any premonitory sound, about two hours
-after sunrise, while most of the inhabitants were
-still in their houses, or in the churches hearing
-early mass, the earth shook so violently that in a
-few minutes the whole town was in ruins, with the
-exception of the fortress, and a few other buildings,
-the walls of which were enormously thick. In
-addition to the destruction caused by falling houses,
-large rocks came toppling down, detached from the
-mountain, which, as you see, apparently overhangs
-the city. This added greatly to the terror and
-devastation. So far as we know there was but
-<i>one shock</i>, and it lasted only a few seconds; but no
-where and at no time was so much damage done thus
-instantaneously.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Many harrowing scenes were recounted, but
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_121' name='Page_121' href='#Page_121'>121</a></span>
-perhaps the most terrible of all was that of a school
-of boys which was swallowed up beneath the ruins.
-All the unfortunate lads perished, most of them
-by a miserable lingering death, and for days their
-moans and cries for help and water could be heard
-by their distracted friends, without the possibility
-of giving them any relief. One would have
-thought this a sufficient visitation for poor Ragusa,
-but calamities never come singly. A fire broke out
-on the same day, and towards evening a strong
-wind arose and fanned the flames, thus increasing
-the conflagration beyond the power of control.
-Night came on, and the whole side of the mountains
-was illuminated by the flames of the burning city.
-Then the wild mountaineers, the Morlacchi, came
-down in swarms to pilfer and snatch whatever they
-could from the universal wreck. The scenes then
-enacted defied all powers of description. The fires
-were burning with exceptional brightness and fury,
-in consequence of the conflagration having reached
-the stores of oil, tallow and tar accumulated in
-the Arsenal and elsewhere. Groups of Morlacchi,
-undeterred by the crumbling walls and the scorching
-rafters, could be seen flitting about among ruins
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_122' name='Page_122' href='#Page_122'>122</a></span>
-regardless of the danger! Occasionally some such
-group having ventured too far, would disappear
-with a fearful scream into some yawning gulf;
-while in another spot two parties of the same
-plunderers might be seen in deadly conflict, fighting
-with their long straight knives over their unlawful
-booty. It was a fearful night.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"But all this is ancient history; there is another
-tragic episode connected with Lachroma. Another
-calamity is brought to our minds when we look
-upon its shores. Poor Prince Maximilian!—alas!
-alas! he was a good and kind man,—and that noble
-unfortunate Princess Charlotte! I had the honour
-of being in their company more than once, both in
-Europe and Mexico; they were so good, so affable,
-so happy, till in an evil hour they allowed
-themselves to be led away by ambition. The Prince
-seemed all along to have had a presentiment of evil.
-I was told by one who was present, that
-nothing could be more melancholy than his
-departure from Miramar, and the leave-taking
-when he was waited on by a deputation from Trieste
-was the most painful scene he ever witnessed. The
-Prince was completely overcome, and fairly broke
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_123' name='Page_123' href='#Page_123'>123</a></span>
-down on this occasion. After his assassination
-the island was sold, and now I hear it is for sale
-again."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The good old Monk was silent for a few minutes,
-and then gently putting his hand on my shoulder,
-he said,
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"You are English, <i><span lang="it_IT">non è vero</span></i>? You are not
-American? I would not say a hurtful word to
-mortal, but I cannot help thinking that the President
-of the United States was nearly as much to
-blame as the Mexican savage for the murder of
-Maximilian; one word from the United States'
-President would have saved the Emperor's
-life."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"But what about the French Emperor?" I
-asked; "he who got the poor Prince into the
-scrape, and then left him to get out of it as best
-he could?"
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Ah; true—true," repeated the Monk. "<i><span lang="it_IT">e quell'altro
-birbaccione di Bazaine</span></i>! Ah! Providence will
-overtake them all. But look, see how beautiful
-Ragusa is, how picturesque! Although I am only
-a poor Capuchin monk, I feel proud of my native
-city—<i><span lang="it_IT">che mi son Raguséo</span></i>!" he exclaimed, breaking
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_124' name='Page_124' href='#Page_124'>124</a></span>
-out into his native Venetian dialect. "Though
-most of my life has been spent far away in foreign
-missions, I still cling with fondness to my native
-shores, and feel thankful, most thankful," he
-repeated, bending his head, "that it has pleased His
-Holiness and our General to order me back here
-again at last."
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_125' name='Page_125' href='#Page_125'>125</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter">
-<img src="images/putti.jpg" width="400" height="94" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<h2>
-CHAPTER IX.
-</h2>
-
-<p class="ch_summ">
-THE PADRE ANSELMO—HIS LIFE AND LABOURS AMONG THE
-AMERICAN INDIANS—THE PIONEERS OF CIVILIZATION—AMERICAN
-INDIANS AND NEGROES—PADRE ANSELMO ON PROTESTANT
-AND CATHOLIC MISSIONS—NATIVE CHRISTIANS IN
-INDIA—POPE PIUS IX. ONCE A MISSIONARY—CARDINAL P—.—PORT
-OF GRAVOSA—RAGUSA.
-</p>
-
-<div>
-<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropi.jpg" width="100" height="112" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p class="drop-cap">
-I FELT an unusual degree of regret,
-thinking I should so soon lose the
-company of Padre Anselmo; we had
-come all the way together from Trieste,
-and had spent many pleasant hours in genial conversation,
-flavoured from time to time with spicy,
-sharp, but good-humoured polemics, during which
-the Padre never lost his temper, and I had not
-always the best of the argument.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-He was a very remarkable man, of an ancient
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_126' name='Page_126' href='#Page_126'>126</a></span>
-noble Ragusan family, evidently pious, yet wonderfully
-large-minded. I shall always remember with
-pleasure the conversations we had together on the
-deck of the 'San Carlo,' by the bright Italian moonlight,
-on those deep, smooth waters of the Adriatic
-that sparkled with phosphorescence at every stroke of
-the paddle-wheel. He was aware I was a Protestant,
-and though he had been a missionary for many
-years he knew how to avoid polemics whenever
-it was fit. He had been in South America and
-in North America; in the plains of the Amazon
-and the Orinoco, and among the Sierras of
-Mexico.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I asked him about his success among the Indians,
-and after reflecting for a little he gave me a most
-interesting account of his life's labours among
-them. I carefully noted down each night in my
-diary, after we had parted, the principal headings
-of his narrative, and some day I may give to the
-public an account of the labours, trials, and sufferings
-of this good and conscientious monk.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-In answer to my question as to the amount of
-success he had obtained during his long intercourse
-with American Indians, he said,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_127' name='Page_127' href='#Page_127'>127</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"There is a most extraordinary difference in
-intelligence between the different tribes, even among
-those living close together; some are wonderfully
-more intelligent than others, and, strange to say,
-I found them better the farther they were removed
-from the influence of civilization. A great deal
-might be made of them were it not for the evil
-influence of the traders who come among them—the
-most pernicious of whom I invariably found
-were those coming from the United States. These
-traders, pioneers of civilization—as they called
-themselves—were almost invariably men without
-any religion or principle; awful blasphemers, their
-oaths were too terrific! They generally consisted
-of the veriest scum and offscourings of commercial
-cities; they showed the poor savages the very worst
-examples, for fair trading was unknown to them,
-and lying, overreaching, and brow-beating were
-their chief characteristics, while of drunkenness and
-unblushing debauchery they were terrible examples.
-I was once asked by a chief why we came so
-far to teach them, and left our own people untaught."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Padre Anselmo also told me that some of the
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_128' name='Page_128' href='#Page_128'>128</a></span>
-natives had some idea of the Divinity, and
-were very teachable, not like the Negroes of
-the West Coast of Africa among whom he had
-laboured a short time. He contrasted the capabilities
-of both races, and shaking his head,
-added,
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"I fear it will take hundreds of centuries of incessant
-teaching, and that more by example than by
-word of mouth, before any good will come from
-missions among the Negroes; they seem utterly
-incapable of understanding any of the attributes of
-God. They look upon him invariably as one to
-be feared, and propitiated by gifts and sacrifices,
-so that he may be induced, if possible, to do them
-no harm."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-A chief came to him one night by stealth, "but
-not like Nicodemus," as the worthy Monk added;
-he brought various presents to the mission, some
-of considerable value, consisting of native rings of
-twisted gold. He whispered under his breath to
-the Monk,
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"You white man know everything, and you say
-your God rules everything. Tell me where I can
-find him, that I may kill him! he is a bad god—he
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_129' name='Page_129' href='#Page_129'>129</a></span>
-has killed my favourite wife, and now I must
-kill him!"
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The Negro was foaming at the mouth from
-impotent rage, and his fearful language, together
-with the rolling of his eyes and the contortions
-of his body, impressed the Monk at first with the
-idea that he was an impersonation of the Evil One.
-Yet this chief had till then been the most promising
-of all those natives on whom he had been wasting
-his time, his patience, and his doctrine. In vain
-the Missionary tried to reason with the demoniac
-chief; his words made no impression, and the
-savage, failing to discover from the Monk the whereabouts
-of the white man's God, returned to his
-village, where he burned his own national fetish,
-and then cut off the heads of half-a-dozen
-wretches, having first charged them with messages
-to be delivered to his wife in dead-man's-land!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-One evening Padre Anselmo and I, after
-making ourselves snug on a pile of sacks near
-the binnacle, were talking about missionary
-work, when he spoke to me about our Protestant
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_130' name='Page_130' href='#Page_130'>130</a></span>
-missions, and asked me many questions
-concerning them.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"You work your missions differently from the
-way we do ours; you pay your missionaries well,
-and even allow them, I have been told, to trade
-at times, and to buy and sell and follow different
-callings. I have also heard that you send missionaries
-abroad without any particular regard to
-their capabilities, for instance as to their knowledge
-of the language of the country they are sent to.
-Now all our missionaries are strictly prepared
-for the country where they are intended to labour,
-and are not sent out until they have acquired
-a good knowledge of the language of that country.
-How do you find your system to work? Have
-you had much success in the East Indies during
-the hundred years you have had the opportunity of
-working in them?"
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I imagined I could detect something of a smile
-playing about the corners of his mouth as he made
-these remarks, and just as I was about to reply,
-a scene came to my mind of which I had read or
-heard an account somewhere, of an English
-missionary addressing an Arab audience in Tangier
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_131' name='Page_131' href='#Page_131'>131</a></span>
-through the medium of a Gibraltar Jew, for the
-missionary was utterly innocent of any language
-but his own London English, and my innate
-appreciation of the ridiculous so overcame my
-sense of what was proper and decorous that I
-laughed myself nearly into fits.<a name='FA_6' id='FA_6' href='#FN_6' class='fnanchor'>[6]</a> However,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_132' name='Page_132' href='#Page_132'>132</a></span>
-having recovered my equanimity, I replied, "I
-did not know very much about the matter; but
-I had always heard that, generally speaking, the
-native Christians were the greatest blackguards
-in India, the least objectionable being certainly
-the Goanese Catholics," at which the good old monk
-seemed highly pleased.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-His ideas of missionary work were peculiar and
-interesting. "We should always," he said, "treat
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_133' name='Page_133' href='#Page_133'>133</a></span>
-savages and the utterly uneducated, whether at
-home or abroad, who are scarcely better than
-savages, like little children, like very little children
-in intelligence, yet endowed with the passions and
-vices of grown up men. One should therefore,
-if possible, never try to teach them things beyond
-their understanding, but make their practical
-civilization proceed <i><span lang="la">pari passu</span></i> with their religious
-training—instilling morality before preaching
-doctrine and dogma, both teachings being backed
-up by unexceptionable example. "These are not
-my own ideas," added Padre Anselmo, "they are
-the precepts of the wonderful man who preceded
-me in the Amazon Mission, the present Pontiff,
-His Holiness Pope Pius IX., whose equal will never
-again occupy the chair of St. Peter."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"What! was the Pope ever a missionary?" I
-asked with astonishment. I knew he had been a
-soldier, and had been even assured that in his early
-days he was initiated a Freemason in a Lodge
-in Sicily; there was nothing very extraordinary
-in his having been a missionary, but I had never
-heard of it before, and was therefore taken by
-surprise.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_134' name='Page_134' href='#Page_134'>134</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Indeed he was," replied Padre Anselmo,
-"and a very zealous and hard-working missionary,
-whose memory is reverenced to this day,
-among many a wild tribe on the banks of the
-Amazon."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Then we began to talk politics, that is to say I
-talked, the Monk only listened, till musingly I said,
-"I wonder who will succeed him in the Chair of
-St. Peter?"
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Whoever he may be," replied the Monk,
-"he will have a difficult task coming after such
-a man."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Have you been lately at Rome?" said I.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"I was there two months ago," he replied.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"What then do you think of Cardinal P—?
-do you know him?"
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The Monk fixed his eyes on me for a moment,
-as if he would have read my most inmost thoughts,
-and then speaking very slowly, said:
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"That Sicilian Monk has long been aiming at
-the Tiara; he lives within himself, has no confidant,
-no intimate friend, has no talents, only plenty
-of doggedness, <i><span lang="it_IT">vorrebbe Papeggiare</span></i>, but no,
-never will he occupy the Pontifical chair, never!"
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_135' name='Page_135' href='#Page_135'>135</a></span>
-and the Monk, for a minute looked me full in the
-face.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We were now getting quite close to the town,
-which is built on the narrow strip of land that
-lies between the Adriatic and the Dalmatian
-mountains, that here rise up almost perpendicularly
-behind it. The morning mists were
-clearing off, and the hazy outlines of the towers
-and ramparts, the cupolas and steeples, together
-with the bright colouring of the sails of the
-felucas and trabaccoli gliding out of the harbour,
-threading their way through the many islands
-scattered outside it, formed a picture that might be
-realized by a painter but of which I will not
-attempt the description.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We were now fairly in the port of Gravosa, and
-the steamer was surrounded by native boats conveying
-eager candidates for the privilege of carrying ourselves
-and luggage to the shore. The real port is
-at Ragusa itself, sheltered and protected by the
-ancient bastions and towers of the city, but, though
-amply deep enough for its ancient galleys, and for
-those argosies (so named after this very city of
-Ragusa) which in ancient times monopolized with
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_136' name='Page_136' href='#Page_136'>136</a></span>
-Venice the commerce of the world, it is not now
-large enough or deep enough to accommodate our
-modern practical, though inelegant fire-ships. It
-has consequently been abandoned for the port of
-Gravosa, which is not only large, safe, and
-commodious, but also exquisitely beautiful, though
-inconveniently distant, being nearly a mile from
-the city. An excellent road, however, originally
-made by the French and subsequently improved by
-the Austrians, communicates between the two
-places, and numerous small carriages drawn by
-one or two horses are constantly in readiness to
-convey for a trifle those who do not wish to walk
-to Ragusa.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The two monks and I were soon on shore,
-and there I reluctantly parted with them; they
-went on foot towards their convent, while I
-took a small one-horse carriage and started off to
-the city.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Away we went at full gallop skirting the
-harbour, till the rising ground at the end of the
-little valley compelled our lively little horse to a
-slower rate of progression. We soon however
-topped the hill, when we again came in view of
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_137' name='Page_137' href='#Page_137'>137</a></span>
-the sea on our right hand, while on our left were
-numbers of villas peeping out through masses of
-oleanders and gigantic aloes, whose flower stems,
-like colossal candelabra, fifteen to twenty feet
-in height, gave a peculiarly exotic character to the
-scene. Many of these villas were in ruins, and
-others more or less damaged, still bearing evidence
-of the French occupation at the beginning of this
-century, and of their expulsion by the Russian and
-Montenegrin troops.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Ragusa was now fairly again in sight, and a noble
-city it is, and how picturesque! so far as its greatness
-is concerned, Ragusa is now but the shadow
-of what it was in bygone days. Its political importance
-has faded away—its commercial supremacy is
-a thing of the past; but its local beauty, its domes,
-its campaniles, its lofty cut-stone palaces, its
-churches and public buildings, its exquisitely clean
-streets, its balmy air, its azure sea and its pleasant
-society—all these are things real and of the present.
-But Ragusa is not a place to be described, it must
-be seen and studied to be appreciated. See it from
-the land, or from the sea—wander through its
-narrow, quaint, artistic streets, ramble round its
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_138' name='Page_138' href='#Page_138'>138</a></span>
-walls and ramparts, and you will find it from every
-point of view a most remarkable place.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-This grand old city, into which neither horse
-nor carriage is ever allowed to enter, was founded
-about the beginning of the seventh century, not
-very long after the foundation of Venice. Both
-cities were Republics, rivals in commerce and
-in the arts, and their people were incessantly at
-war with one another. But though Venice, by
-degrees, was able to subdue and include in her grasp
-almost the entire Eastern coast of the Adriatic, she
-never succeeded, either by cajolery or brute force,
-in conquering the Ragusans, who maintained their
-freedom till 1806; when, after existing as an independent
-State for upwards of a thousand years,
-during which time it had remained as an advanced
-post of European civilization on the borders of
-wild Bosnia and fierce Albania, it fell with Venice,
-Genoa, and the other free communities of Europe
-which Napoleon I. wiped off the map of the
-world.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-All down the coast of the Adriatic may be seen
-the winged Lion of St. Mark, wherever the encroaching
-ambition of the Venetians enabled them
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_139' name='Page_139' href='#Page_139'>139</a></span>
-to establish themselves; but in Ragusa you will
-seek that grim Venetian effigy in vain. Ragusa
-never was conquered by her great rival!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The carrettella came spinning, at the rate of a
-hunt, down the hill, at the bottom of which is the
-entrance to Ragusa, and turning sharp round at
-a speed that threatened to upset us bag and baggage
-into the middle of the road, pulled up suddenly
-on the right, where a very primitive hotel offers
-the only prospect of refreshment to the chance traveller
-in those parts; though, for such as intend
-remaining some little time, good accommodation
-can be obtained within the city. The hotel is most
-picturesquely situated on the very edge of the sea,
-opposite to the fortifications "<i>di mare</i>," and has in
-front a considerable plantation of beautiful Paolonias,
-then in full blossom; on the opposite side
-is the café, where of a Summer's evening congregate
-the rank and fashion of Ragusa to enjoy their
-ices and lemonade, and listen to the excellent band
-of the Austrian regiment quartered there, and whatever
-gossip, scandalous or otherwise, that may be
-buzzing about. And very enjoyable it must be!
-fine climate, pleasant society, lovely scenery, easy
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_140' name='Page_140' href='#Page_140'>140</a></span>
-access to the rest of Europe, either East or West,
-and cheap living—what more could be desired?
-I would not ask for more.
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p4">
-<img src="images/primrose.jpg" width="125" height="139" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter p6">
-<img src="images/cornucopia.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_141' name='Page_141' href='#Page_141'>141</a></span>
-</div>
-
-<h2>
-CHAPTER X.
-</h2>
-
-<p class="ch_summ">
-ATTRACTIONS OF DALMATIA—INTERESTING EXCURSION—ISLAND
-OF LACHROMA—CLIMATE—A. A. PATON, ESQ., FORMERLY
-CONSUL-GENERAL AT RAGUSA—AN ITALIAN DINNER—EPIDAURUS—THE
-CANAL OF CATTARO—TERRITORY OF RAGUSA—TOWER
-OF PERASTO AND FORT OF SANTA CROCE—STRANGELY
-BUILT CHURCH—A PALAZZO—SAN GIORGIO AND LA MADONNA—PICTURE
-ATTRIBUTED TO ST. LUKE.
-</p>
-
-<div>
-<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropi.jpg" width="100" height="112" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p class="drop-cap">
-IT has always been a source of much
-astonishment to me, seeing the facility
-with which these parts can be reached
-from Trieste, that so few of the
-ubiquitous English—indeed, I might say none of
-them,—ever visit them, or any of the other many
-beautiful and interesting localities which crowd the
-Eastern shores of the Adriatic. I really believe
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_142' name='Page_142' href='#Page_142'>142</a></span>
-those countries are not visited because they are
-in a certain sense unknown. I trust, however, that
-some of my readers who may perchance be tired
-of those hackneyed tours which, year after year,
-are undertaken by the travelling multitudes, will
-try a venture some day in Dalmatia.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Starting from Trieste in one of the many coasting
-steamers which trade to Corfu, stopping at every
-place on the Eastern shores of the Adriatic from
-Capo d'Istria downwards, and making excursions
-from each into the interior, anyone fond of everything
-beautiful and picturesque, whether in nature
-or in art, would have the most delightful trip
-imaginable; and if getting out at Cattaro he will
-scale those wonderful mountains which seem ever
-on the point of toppling over on that devoted city,
-and penetrate into Montenegro, coming back to the
-Adriatic by the Lake of Scutari (or Skodra as it
-<i>ought</i> to be called) in Northern Albania, he will
-have made an excursion in the heart of Europe,
-within seven days from London, and in the short
-space of five weeks, which for beauty of country,
-wildness of scenery, novelty of life, and magnificence
-of native costumes cannot be equalled from
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_143' name='Page_143' href='#Page_143'>143</a></span>
-Spain to the Caucasus, or from Norway to the
-Lebanon!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Having made my adieux to Mr. Paton, our Consul
-at Ragusa, to whom as well as to Persich Effendi,
-the Ottoman Consul, I was largely indebted for
-much kind advice, as well as for a personal introduction
-to Mr. Yonin, Russian Consul at Ragusa,
-who subsequently at Cattaro and at Cettigne proved
-a kind friend and most valuable and charming
-companion, I returned on board and was soon
-steering south again. We steamed quite close
-inland, and had an excellent view of the ancient
-fortifications of Ragusa and its old harbour,
-only frequented at present by the felucas and
-trabaccoli which carry on the coasting trade of the
-country.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We also passed close to the island of Lachroma.
-The Russian Consul, Mr. Yonin, told me it was
-for sale and would probably go cheap. I can't
-conceive a spot on earth where a man tired of the
-bustle of life and the feverish excitement and turmoil
-of cities could more delightfully spend the
-remainder of his days. There is a fairly good
-house on the island, which is itself beautifully
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_144' name='Page_144' href='#Page_144'>144</a></span>
-wooded and laid-out. It is sufficiently near to
-Ragusa to enable one to obtain everything one
-could require from that city, it is right in the
-gangway of all the steamers going up and down
-the Adriatic, within five days of London, and
-with such a number of communications with the
-outer world that it would be seclusion only as long
-as one wished it to be so.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-As to the climate, none more beautiful could
-be desired—sufficiently warm to grow figs, grapes,
-and oranges, yet daily tempered in Summer by
-the delicious sea-breeze of the Adriatic, which
-prevents the heat from ever being oppressive, while
-of Winter there is barely the name—the thermometer
-seldom going down to frost.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The sea teems with fish of the most delicious
-kinds, some of which are totally unknown among
-us; the dentale coronato, for instance, the true
-sardine, and the rosy mullet, the woodcock of the
-sea, which here grows to an immense size—while
-from the mainland one can always obtain at
-wonderfully low prices abundance of small mountain
-mutton, poultry, and game.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I never was in any place that took my fancy like
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_145' name='Page_145' href='#Page_145'>145</a></span>
-Ragusa and Lachroma—so lovely, so picturesque,
-so secluded, and yet so accessible!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Since my return to England I have heard with
-deep regret of the loss we have sustained by the
-death of A. A. Paton, Esq., our Consul-General at
-Ragusa. The country has to regret in him an able
-and industrious servant, while literature has to
-mourn for one of its most gifted votaries, as his
-works on Egypt, Servia, and the Adriatic will
-amply attest; but only those who had the pleasure
-of his acquaintance can at all venture to measure
-the loss which his death must be in his own family
-circle!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Now the bell rings, and Giovanni bustles up
-and down the deck, intimating, "<i><span lang="it_IT">che'l pranzo ze
-pronto</span></i>," so down we all plunged into the saloon,
-where a good dinner, as usual, welcomed us.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-As the coast is uninteresting, besides which
-I don't want to go on deck at present, I may as
-well tell you of what our Italian dinner consisted.
-We first had an excellent Julienne soup, with
-abundance of grated Parmesan for such as appreciated
-it; next was served the "<i><span lang="it_IT">fritto</span></i>," according
-to old Italian custom, which always enumerates the
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_146' name='Page_146' href='#Page_146'>146</a></span>
-following dishes, to succeed each other in an
-orthodox dinner:—<span lang="it_IT">minestra, fritto, lesso, umido,
-arrosto, dolce, frutta</span>, and, when in season, slices
-of melon, or fresh figs, served up immediately after
-the soup, to be eaten with thin slices of raw ham
-or Bologna sausage. Figs being in season they
-were not wanting, so conforming to the usage of
-the country I ate some with raw Bologna sausage,
-and learnt fully to appreciate the strange compound,
-which I afterwards always indulged in whenever I
-had a chance.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The <i><span lang="it_IT">fritto</span></i> was delicious (assuredly nowhere else
-can they fry as in Italy); it consisted of <span lang="it_IT">zucchettine</span>
-and <span lang="it_IT">fiori</span>, <i>i.e.</i>, young unexpanded gourd flowers
-and very young gourds not bigger thin an egg,
-cut in thin slices, dipped in the thinnest of batter
-and fried quite crisp and golden brown, and served
-dry without a particle of grease. Then came a dish
-of <i><span lang="it_IT">gnocchi alla Milanese</span></i>, a superb dish, but difficult
-to explain; imagine the ingredients of a colossal
-<i><span lang="fr_FR">vol-au-vent à la financière</span></i>, replete with livers, cocks'
-combs, unborn eggs, &amp;c., &amp;c., surrounded by a
-bastion of a peculiar preparation, made of maize-flour,
-and the whole bathed in tomato sauce and
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_147' name='Page_147' href='#Page_147'>147</a></span>
-sprinkled right over with grated Parmesan, "<i><span lang="it_IT">proprio
-da far riavere i morti</span></i>," as the <i>chef</i> exclaimed to me
-after dinner, when, handing him a cigar, I complimented
-him on his <i><span lang="it_IT">gnocchi</span></i>. Then came the <i><span lang="it_IT">arrosto</span></i>
-which consisted of veal and fowls, and after
-that a splendid <i><span lang="it_IT">piatto dolce</span></i> of stewed peaches
-in an artistic cage of caramel sugar, ornamented
-with strange devices of most delicious marzapane.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Having slowly worked our way through this
-sumptuous repast, we went on deck, where coffee
-was served with its usual accompaniment of
-Maraschino, both sweetened and unsweetened,
-together with the inevitable smoke, which contrary
-to reason, as one would think, is even more
-comforting in hot countries like the Levant,
-than it is in cold damp regions like Holland.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I have a dim recollection of the captain tapping
-me on the shoulder and telling me something about
-Ragusa Vecchia and Epidaurus as we were
-steaming down the coast; but I was in too dreamy
-a state to pay much attention to him at the time,
-and as I knew the coast was uninteresting, I told
-him to call me as soon as we should come in sight
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_148' name='Page_148' href='#Page_148'>148</a></span>
-of the Bocche and Castelnuovo, and dozed away
-again.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I afterwards learnt that this Epidaurus, about
-which I was rather fretting for having refused to
-stir from my siesta to look at it, was really not
-worth seeing, though an ancient city, having been
-founded by a Greek colony somewhere about 700
-years <span class="smcap">b.c.</span>, more or less; but all its antiquities had
-been removed long ago.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-It was between three and four in the afternoon
-when I awoke of my own accord, thus anticipating
-the captain, who was just coming to tell me that
-we were about entering the canal of Cattaro, as it
-is called, but which to our ear is far better
-described by the name of Fjord of Cattaro. It
-is to all intents and purposes a Fjord, being an
-arm of the sea running up for eighteen miles into
-land, between high precipitous cliffs; and if there
-is not a glacier at the end of it, but only a quaint
-Dalmatian town with the most picturesque fort and
-fortifications in the world, it does not alter the
-character of the inlet.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The entrance to this Fjord, called "le Bocche di
-Cattaro," is guarded on the right by the Fort of
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_149' name='Page_149' href='#Page_149'>149</a></span>
-Castelnuovo, and on the left is bounded by a narrow
-strip of Turkish territory, a portion of Herzegovina,
-which here comes down to the Adriatic, separating
-the Circolo of Ragusa from that of Cattaro. By
-some strange political arrangement, or oversight
-more probably, another narrow strip of Turkish
-territory comes down to the Adriatic on the
-north of Ragusa, completely isolating that ancient
-Republic which finds itself thus entirely surrounded
-by Ottoman territory on three sides, while on the
-fourth it is bounded by the Adriatic.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The country about the entrance of the Bocche di
-Cattaro is fine, well wooded and planted with olive
-trees, through which can be seen numerous habitations,
-while many of the rugged heights are crowned
-with semi-fortified churches, which served as places
-of refuge to the women and children in troublous
-times.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Proceeding onwards, the scene varies and the
-trees lessen in numbers, though the landscape
-loses nothing of its beauty, as by the constant
-windings of the Fjord the changes are continuous
-and rapid, and the many villages built on the
-edge of the water, and sharply reflected in it,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_150' name='Page_150' href='#Page_150'>150</a></span>
-add one more charm to the picture. At one point
-the Fjord is barely half a mile across, when suddenly
-it expands into a lake of many miles in circumference,
-where all the navies of the world could lie
-in safety. But now the scene changes again and
-the Fjord becomes a narrow tortuous channel,
-bounded on either side by naked rocky cliffs. Like
-the rest of the coast of Dalmatia it is, however,
-very beautiful. About half way between Castelnuovo
-and Cattaro, the Fjord expands and divides
-right and left forming two bays, that of Risano
-to the left, and that of Cattaro to the right;
-while in front rise the almost perpendicular crags of
-Montenegro, at the foot of which, with barely
-room to build on, so near does the mountain
-come to the edge of the water, stands the town
-of Perasto with the ancient fort of Santa Croce just
-above it.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-This place must have been of considerable
-importance within late years, still I never saw such
-a picture of poverty and desolation. The houses
-are not in ruins, but look dilapidated; the windows
-are broken in, the jalousies hanging by one hinge
-and in pieces, while in many places the roofs are
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_151' name='Page_151' href='#Page_151'>151</a></span>
-stripped of their tiles. The position of Perasto
-cannot be surpassed; built on a promontory
-facing the west, it has the lake-like expansion
-of the Gulf of Cattaro in front and does not
-consequently labour under the disadvantage Cattaro
-suffers from, by having a chain of mountains in
-front of it to the westward, which deprive it of
-the sun in Winter before two o'clock in the afternoon.
-The style of the houses in Perasto shows
-that not long ago it could boast of an opulent
-population, which is further exemplified by the
-fortress built at the expense of the town—by its
-lofty steeple and by its churches. One in particular
-caught my eye from the steamer, <i>it had no façade</i>,
-not that it had fallen into ruin, neither had it been
-shaken down by an earthquake, but was built so;
-open to the weather with a half cupola something
-like one of those little roadside shrines dedicated
-to the Virgin which we meet with constantly in
-Italy and other Catholic countries, only on a very
-much larger scale.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I felt quite interested in Perasto, it looked so
-picturesque, so noble, so poor! One house
-especially struck my fancy, but the word house
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_152' name='Page_152' href='#Page_152'>152</a></span>
-does not convey its appearance, it was what an
-Italian would call a palazzo. The entrance was
-evidently from a back street, while the side which
-faced the water consisted of a <i>loggia</i> of many
-pilasters and arches, into which opened the rooms
-of the ground floor, while above it were tiers
-of large and handsome windows. In front of the
-<i>loggia</i> was a paved terrace, from which a series
-of steps, the whole length of the house, led down
-to the water. It was uninhabited and in fact
-going rapidly to ruin! I fancied to myself what
-a little paradise one could make of it; I saw in
-my mind's eye a row of orange trees growing on
-that terrace, a yacht moored close into those
-steps, and life and bustle in those chambers
-where all was now silence and decay. What can
-have brought such desolation on Perasto? I
-asked several people but I could get no satisfactory
-answer! some blamed Austria, some <i><span lang="it_IT">il commercio</span></i>;
-I suppose I could have bought the fee simple of that
-house in Perasto for a £10 note.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-In front of Perasto are two small islands—San
-Giorgio and La Madonna. In the church of
-La Madonna is to be seen an ancient picture
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_153' name='Page_153' href='#Page_153'>153</a></span>
-of the Virgin, attributed as usual to the artistic
-efforts of the Evangelist Luke, who evidently,
-from what I have seen of his works of art in
-different places, was not possessed of much talent
-in that line. Tradition states that the picture was
-transported in 1452, by an unknown hand, from
-Negropont to this rock; and being seen amidst
-lighted candles by some fishermen, it was removed
-to the church of Perasto. The next night it
-returned to the island; and the same action having
-been repeated three times, it was presumed that the
-picture preferred remaining there; thus they built
-a church for it, which no doubt turned out a profitable
-speculation.
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p4">
-<a name="thistle" id="thistle"></a>
-<img src="images/thistle.jpg" width="200" height="52" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter p6">
-<img src="images/wroughtiron.jpg" width="400" height="87" alt="Decoration" />
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_154' name='Page_154' href='#Page_154'>154</a></span>
-</div>
-
-<h2>
-CHAPTER XI.
-</h2>
-
-<p class="ch_summ">
-CITY OF CATTARO—SIGNOR JACKSCHICH—STREETS AND PIAZZAS—WALKS
-AND FORTIFICATIONS—PUBLIC WALK—CAFÉ AND
-GARDENS—SONOROUS STONE—A MONTENEGRIN CHIEF—A
-HAPPY BEGGAR BOY.
-</p>
-
-<div>
-<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropt.jpg" width="100" height="102" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p class="drop-cap">
-TURNING our backs now on that
-branch of the Fjord which leads to
-Risano, we steamed due south in
-the direction of Cattaro. Nothing
-could exceed the wild grandeur of this portion of
-the Gulf. The right hand shore was now entirely
-in the shade, while the crags on the left being
-exposed to the full glare of the afternoon sun
-showed a play of colours too beautiful to describe.
-Had these cliffs been clothed with varied foliage
-interspersed with the rocks, they would have
-formed a picture unequalled in any other place on
-the globe.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_155' name='Page_155' href='#Page_155'>155</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-It was six o'clock when we moored alongside the
-quay of Cattaro, one of the most picturesque cities
-of the whole Adriatic, so I had plenty of time to
-walk about and see the place as well as to make
-arrangements for my advance into Montenegro
-on the following day, as I was anxious to proceed
-at once to Cettigne, in order to be present at the
-festival of St. Peter, during which a fair is held,
-to which congregate thousands, not only from Montenegro,
-but from all the surrounding countries.
-Thanks, however, to Persich Effendi, the Ottoman
-Consul at Ragusa, to whom I had brought an
-introduction from the Ottoman Ambassador at
-Vienna, I found everything already prepared for
-my trip. The agent of the Austrian Lloyd at
-Cattaro, Signor Jackschich to whom I can never
-feel too much obliged, had already procured for
-me a guide and two horses, thus saving me all
-trouble, and allowing so much more time to look
-about me at Cattaro. As soon as we had obtained
-<i><span lang="fr_FR">pratique</span></i>, the formality of which we carried out
-regularly at every place we touched, though, in
-reality, it was a farce, Signor Jackschich came on
-board, and having introduced himself and told me
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_156' name='Page_156' href='#Page_156'>156</a></span>
-what he had arranged, placed himself at my
-disposal for the rest of the evening. We at
-once went on shore, and traversing the Mall,
-which lies between the quays and the walls of
-the city, and which serves as the promenade of
-the <i>Bocchesi</i>, we passed through the principal gate
-of Cattaro, and entered the precincts of the fortifications.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Here, as in most other cities in Dalmatia, no
-horse, or vehicle of any kind (except sedan chairs)
-is allowed to enter. The streets in consequence are
-beautifully clean, and the piazza, which is paved
-in squares of alternate coloured marble, is more
-like the floor of the hall of an Italian palace than
-anything else. The streets are narrow, as might
-have been surmised, but there are some very fine
-old houses, some exquisite bits of art hidden
-away in nooks and corners which one would have
-loved to sketch had there been time, half built up
-porticoes with oleanders peeping over them, and
-bits of lovely hammered iron work of the Renaissance
-period. But I had no time, so after making
-a rapid tour through the little city, we came out
-on the promenade, as I was anxious to have another
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_157' name='Page_157' href='#Page_157'>157</a></span>
-view of Cattaro, from the outside, before it
-became too dark.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-My friend Paton does not render half justice to
-this city in his charming book, "The Highlands
-and Islands of the Adriatic;" but he is so in love
-with Ragusa—and, if truth must be told, so am I—that
-he has nothing to say for Cattaro; it is
-true he saw it in Winter, when it must be a dismal
-place. But Cattaro, for all that, deserves a visit,
-and anyone fond of sketching will spend, with
-profit, several days in and about the place. It is
-situated at the extreme end of the Fjord of that
-name, on a very narrow ledge of land at the foot
-of the most precipitous cliffs facing the west,
-up which it extends for a short space. It
-is surrounded by the ancient Venetian walls, bastions
-and fortifications, and crowned by a fort
-perched on the very summit of the rock, a thousand
-feet above the city. Looking at it from
-below, it seems scarcely balanced on the cliff, and
-one expects to see it come tumbling down every
-moment.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The fortifications of the town are connected by
-crenelated walls with the fort itself on two sides,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_158' name='Page_158' href='#Page_158'>158</a></span>
-thus inclosing a considerable space on the face of
-the mountain, something in the shape of a triangle,
-of which the town would form the base, and the
-fort the apex, which is still garrisoned, and many
-a harmless rusty old cannon can be seen peeping
-through the embrasures. Having returned from
-the opposite side of the water, where I had gone
-the better to see the fortifications, we took a walk
-up and down the esplanade between the water and
-the walls, to look at the <i>beau monde</i> on their boulevard,
-and then adjourned to the café on the same
-esplanade to have some ices <i>al fresco</i>, and make
-our final arrangements for the following morning.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The public walk at Cattaro is very well laid
-out, and the most is made of the very contracted
-space at command. Two rows of large trees extend
-along the walls on each side of the gate, above
-which is to be seen, as usual, the Lion of St. Mark.
-Not so natural, perhaps, as Edwin Landseer's animals
-at the foot of Nelson's column; but, certainly,
-a more dignified beast than the one with straight
-tail which until lately kept watch and ward over
-Trafalgar Square from the top of Northumberland
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_159' name='Page_159' href='#Page_159'>159</a></span>
-House. At the northern end of the Mall is the
-café, and round about it the grounds are laid out
-in gardens, where, under the shade of gigantic
-oleanders and mulberry trees, little round tables,
-made of enormously thick slabs, resting on short
-central pillars, for all the world like Brobdingnagian
-mushrooms, are laid out and surrounded with
-stools for the accommodation of all comers. The
-stone of which these round tables are made is
-powerfully sonorous, and if lightly struck, even
-with one's knuckles, gives out a beautiful soft
-tone. If cut into lengths and properly poised,
-excellent rock harmoniums could be made of
-it.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Here I fell in again with the Russian Consul,
-who introduced me to one of the finest specimens
-of men I ever saw, a Montenegrin chief, by name
-Pero Pejovich, commandant of the Grahovo (pronounced
-Graho), who had come from Risano in a
-boat, and was bound for Montenegro to be present
-at the Feast. He was dressed in full gala
-Montenegrin costume, <i>plus</i> the Risano jacket of
-crimson cloth without sleeves, thickly embroidered
-with gold, and on it the medals and decorations
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_160' name='Page_160' href='#Page_160'>160</a></span>
-he had gained in battle. At another table were
-seated, also in full costume, two Montenegrin ladies
-of a family who had been exiled for political causes,
-and who were waiting at Cattaro in hopes of
-obtaining an amnesty which would permit them
-to return to their homes.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The sun had set, and the short twilight had
-nearly merged into darkness; the great heat of the
-day was now tempered by a delicious balmy feeling,
-as the cooler air from the mountains came
-down to mingle with that of the lower strata; the
-musical hum of the many voices, the exquisite
-Trebigne tobacco in our cigarettes, the delicious
-coffee, all conspired to make that evening one of
-the most delightful I ever passed. I got another
-chair, and stretched my legs on it; the natives
-stared—no Oriental ever thinks of stretching his
-legs—the acme of comfort for him is to tuck them
-under him. I felt supremely happy, and expressed
-myself so.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"I could live here for ever," I said to Signor
-Jackschich.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Nay," rejoined Pero Pejovich, "but wait till
-it rains, and you will soon wish to run away from
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_161' name='Page_161' href='#Page_161'>161</a></span>
-Cattaro. I have known it rain here for six weeks
-without stopping for a moment."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-At this juncture, the band of the Austrian regiment
-quartered here came on the scene, with the
-same lamp arrangement I had seen at Pola, and
-for upwards of an hour played the most delicious
-music to our intense delight. The Consul
-now reminded me that we should have to start
-betimes the following morning, if we wanted
-to avoid being roasted in the middle of the day
-on the rocks of Montenegro. But the sense of
-enjoyment was too great, and I could not bear to
-break the spell of the hour which I was enjoying
-to the fullest. That I should have an excuse for delaying
-a little longer, I began to talk in Italian to a
-little beggar boy who had quietly been asking me
-for something the whole evening, not with noisy
-importunate appeals, but by the eloquent look
-of about the finest pair of eyes that ever were
-seen.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Don't take any notice of the young ruffian,"
-said Signor Jackschich, "he is the plague of the
-town, and the worry of his father. He won't
-work, and he is in every mischief that is going."
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_162' name='Page_162' href='#Page_162'>162</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"But I don't tell lies—neither do I steal," retorted
-the bold young brat, who could be no
-more than eight or nine. "It is too hot to work,
-and as to going home to sleep <i><span lang="it_IT">la dentro</span></i>," he
-said, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb
-to the town, "when I can enjoy the cool nights
-under these trees <i><span lang="it_IT">al fresco</span></i>, I would rather not!"
-</p>
-
-<p>
-He spoke excellent Italian, and his manner was
-dignified and self possessed.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"<i><span lang="fr_FR">Diable</span>!</i>" said Yonin, "<i><span lang="fr_FR">nous avons ici un philosophe</span>!</i>"
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Can you speak German or French, little chap?"
-I said.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"No," he replied in Italian, "<i><span lang="it_IT">non parlo che Illirico
-ed Italiano</span></i>."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I gave him coins to the amount of about a franc;
-but when he saw so much money in the palm of
-his hand—an amount which, to his eyes, seemed
-perfectly fabulous—his first impulse was to hold
-it out to me again, thinking I was joking with
-him; but when I assured him it was <i><span lang="it_IT">veramente tutto
-per lui</span></i>, he cut three capers in the air, and rushed
-away to where some other children were, to show
-his treasures and recount his good fortune. Of
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_163' name='Page_163' href='#Page_163'>163</a></span>
-all the subjects of the Emperor of Austria, in all
-his vast dominions, I venture to say that the
-happiest on that night was that little beggar brat
-in the secluded little city of Cattaro at the far
-end of his empire in the extreme point of Dalmatia.
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p4">
-<img src="images/i-056.jpg" width="150" height="112" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter p6">
-<img src="images/dragons.jpg" width="400" height="86" alt="Decoration" />
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_164' name='Page_164' href='#Page_164'>164</a></span>
-</div>
-
-<h2>
-CHAPTER XII.
-</h2>
-
-<p class="ch_summ">
-MONTENEGRIN TRADERS—LE SCALE DI CATTARO—A GORGEOUSLY-ATTIRED
-MONK—OUR CARAVAN—MONTENEGRINS OF
-THE PRINCE'S BODY-GUARD—INTERESTING VIEW—ABSENCE
-OF TREES ON THE DALMATIAN COAST—A HOME FOR GERMAN
-EMIGRANTS—TURKISH MISRULE IN EUROPE—A FUTURE EMPIRE—A
-MAN FIT TO RULE.
-</p>
-
-<div>
-<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropa.jpg" width="100" height="108" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p class="drop-cap">
-AT the earliest peep of day on the
-morning of the 9th of July, I arose
-from the deck of the steamer on
-which I had slept for so many pleasant
-nights, notwithstanding its hardness. Thanks
-to the kind attention of Giovanni, the steward, a
-cup of hot and tolerably good coffee was not
-wanting to fortify me against the effects of the
-morning air. He wanted me to add a small glass
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_165' name='Page_165' href='#Page_165'>165</a></span>
-of maraschino unsweetened "<i><span lang="it_IT">per scacciar l'aria
-cattiva</span></i>," as he said in his Venetian dialect, but not
-being addicted to <i>pegs</i>, I contented myself with the
-coffee and a few biscuits.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The faintest tinge of rose showing in the East
-over the rocks which hang over Cattaro, seeming
-ever to threaten it with instant ruin, barely enabled
-me at first to distinguish objects on the mole
-alongside of which our steamer was moored; but
-as the light increased I could make out, under the
-shadow of the trees which form the boulevard and
-public promenade of the Bocchesi, the stalwart
-figures of a dozen Montenegrins who had come
-down from Cettigne to accompany the Russian
-Consul on his way to the festival of St. Peter, and
-the court of the illustrious Prince who now so
-wisely rules those splendid mountain tribes.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Modestly drawn up on one side of them I could
-see my own portion of the caravan, consisting of
-only two horses, one to carry myself, the other to
-carry my luggage, all under the direction of the
-excellent guide provided for me the day before by
-the kindness of Signor Jackschich.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Everything was now ready and myself in the
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_166' name='Page_166' href='#Page_166'>166</a></span>
-saddle, when the Russian Consul made his appearance,
-and we finally started just as the dawn
-was quickening into day.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Skirting by the bastions which defend Cattaro
-on the sea side, we crossed the bridge that spans
-the little mountain torrent which here empties itself
-into the sea, and turning sharply to the right we
-passed through the open market-place where the
-Montenegrins come down to sell their farm-produce
-to the Bocchesi; but who, owing to the somewhat
-evil name they have unfairly acquired, are never
-allowed to penetrate into the city unless they first
-deliver up their arms at the military post outside,
-just as we do at Aden with the Arabs of the surrounding
-districts.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Having crossed the market-place, we reached in
-a few minutes the base of the rocks, and at once
-commenced ascending that wonderful road zig-zagged
-across the face of the mountain, and known
-by the name of "<i>Le scale di Cattaro</i>." Here we
-joined an additional party, also journeying to
-Cettigne for the festival of St. Peter, and among
-them was conspicuous the handsome Montenegrin
-Chieftain, Pero Pejovich, commandant of the
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_167' name='Page_167' href='#Page_167'>167</a></span>
-Grahovo, whose pleasant acquaintance we had made
-the evening before under the mulberry trees of
-Cattaro.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-There was also in the same group a monk, a
-most picturesque looking individual, but certainly
-most unclerical-looking. He was dressed in a
-costume very much resembling the Montenegrin
-fashion, only of sombre colours, and had his jerkin
-trimmed with furs instead of embroideries. He
-wore on his head a sort of black fez, from under
-which his sable curls fell hanging on his neck, while
-his full beard, innocent of trimming, flowed amply
-on his chest. His face was handsome and swarthy,
-and had a not unkind expression. In figure he was
-slight, and of medium height. He came from a
-monastery in the Herzegovina, a province of Turkey
-in Europe lying co-terminous to Montenegro on its
-Northern border, and which, strange enough,
-comes down at one point to the very sea at the
-opening of the Fjord of Cattaro, thus thrusting
-itself into and dividing the Austrian sea-board of
-Dalmatia into two.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-What was he coming to Montenegro for? Simply
-to be inducted abbot of his own monastery, which
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_168' name='Page_168' href='#Page_168'>168</a></span>
-ceremony by right should have been performed
-by the Greek Patriarch at Constantinople; but
-although Herzegovina is subject to the Sultan, yet
-all the Christian mountaineers of that region, though
-not Montenegrins by blood, are Montenegrins at
-heart, and all look to the Metropolitan at Cettigne
-as their spiritual head, while to the Prince they
-look up as the only sovereign to whom they owe
-absolute allegiance.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The abbot elect rode a beautiful, small grey
-<i>entero</i>, wonderfully quick and sure-footed, caparisoned
-with gorgeous trappings, consisting of a
-large blue saddle-cloth embroidered with gold, over
-which lay an immense saddle of crimson velvet
-studded with large gilt-headed nails. The bridle
-was of the same Oriental style, while the bit was
-something to be looked at, both as regards size,
-ornament and power.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The Abbot sat his <i>entero</i>, as if riding at the
-head of a party of Baschi-Bazouks would be quite
-as much, if not more to his liking, than leading
-the chaunts at matins and vespers in his own
-monastery. There was nothing fierce about his
-countenance, but there was a sort of "stand and
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_169' name='Page_169' href='#Page_169'>169</a></span>
-deliver" look about his whole get up, that would
-have made one feel somewhat anxious had one
-chanced to meet him <i><span lang="it_IT">a quattr'occhi</span></i> in some lonely
-pass.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Our caravan consisted in all of about twenty-five
-persons, as we had been joined by several
-parties all bent on the same excursion, to partake
-of the rejoicings at Cettigne. First marched four
-Montenegrins of the Prince's body-guard, splendid
-specimens of their race, the shortest over six feet
-high, with rich ruddy complexions, deeply bronzed
-by exposure in all weathers, with dark grey or
-blue eyes, dark brown, almost black hair, cut short,
-close shaved beard and large moustachios, and
-fine, open, manly countenances. They wore the
-national costume of the country, namely, loose
-baggy blue trousers, made very full and confined
-under the knee by a strap, below that, their
-legs were encased in tight-fitting white woollen
-gaiters, fastened by a row of close-set small
-metallic buttons all along the back, from the heel
-to below the knee, while on their feet they
-wore a peculiar pointed shoe of undressed leather,
-the upper of which is contrived of numberless
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_170' name='Page_170' href='#Page_170'>170</a></span>
-small thongs plaited up the middle over the
-instep, which afford wonderful pliancy and power
-of grasping to the feet, and are quite characteristic
-of this region; a sleeveless crimson jacket, and
-over all the well-known long surtout of fine white
-cloth, without a collar, fastened round the waist
-by an enormous silken scarf as much as eighteen
-feet long, and which supported in front a perfect
-armoury of weapons. First a yataghan three feet
-long with richly ornamented sheath and handle,
-then two highly ornamented Turkish pistols nearly
-as long, then a poniard, and lastly a special pair
-of tongs for lifting fire into their smoking pipes,
-which, excepting when on duty, were never out
-of their mouths. But as if such an armoury
-were insufficient, they carried at their sides a
-formidable-looking, highly curved Turkish sabre,
-and over their shoulder a long, rakish, Albanian-looking,
-breech-loading gun. This last they were
-ever shifting in position, although the favourite
-mode of carrying it seemed to be across the
-shoulders, something like the way young ladies at
-properly conducted schools are made to shoulder
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_171' name='Page_171' href='#Page_171'>171</a></span>
-their backboards, with their hands hanging over
-the stock and barrel.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We all followed pell-mell, sometimes in single
-file, sometimes by twos, according as the inequality
-of the path or its width, either prevented or
-admitted of it, while the remainder of the guard
-brought up the rear. So up we climbed, zigzag
-after zigzag, some of us above and some of us
-below until we reach the top of the <i>scala</i>
-where Austrian territory ceases and Montenegro
-begins.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The sun was now well up above the Eastern
-horizon, when the sudden cessation of the road
-gave us notice of our change of territory, and
-looking round towards the Adriatic to which we
-mostly had been turning our backs during the
-ascent, we saw a view that I don't know which
-would be most difficult, whether to sketch or to
-describe.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I think we must have been at least three
-thousand feet above the sea. At any rate,
-owing to the steepness of the rocks on which
-we stood, together with the clearness of the atmosphere,
-the city of Cattaro seemed perpendicularly
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_172' name='Page_172' href='#Page_172'>172</a></span>
-beneath us, while the coast of Dalmatia, the entire
-canal of Cattaro with all its windings and the
-many towns scattered on its coast, the forts at its
-mouth, and the blue Adriatic beyond, seemed laid
-out like a map at our feet.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The path, up which we had been toiling ever
-since we left the town, lay in zigzags before
-us like a white ribbon stretched out upon the
-face of the precipice. It reminded me somewhat
-of the pass of the Gemmi in Switzerland, but
-was far more beautiful, while the bird's-eye view
-of the town, with its fortress and its fortifications,
-was most novel and astonishing. Perched as
-we were almost perpendicularly over Cattaro,
-and thus looking right down over their heads,
-we could see its inhabitants only like black
-specks moving about its miniature squares and
-streets, while the old fortress with its crenelated
-walls and its antiquated bastions, rising out of the
-bluish haze which hung over the chasm that
-yawns between the rock on which it is built
-and the one on which we were standing, made
-such a picture as Turner would have loved to
-study.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_173' name='Page_173' href='#Page_173'>173</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-It was one of the most beautiful and extraordinary
-sights I ever saw, and only lacked the
-presence of foliage to make it perfect. But
-total absence of timber is the characteristic of
-the entire coast of Dalmatia, a fact much to be
-regretted not only for the loss it is to the
-country from a picturesque point of view, but
-principally from the economical aspect of the
-question—as well-managed forests would be of
-immense value both from the timber they would
-yield, and the increased humidity they would
-afford to that arid region, where a sufficient rainfall
-would increase the fertility, and consequently
-the revenue more than a hundredfold.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-If some of the millions which are yearly
-wasted by the Austrian Government, as well as
-by others too, in building ironclads and exploding
-torpedoes, and in many other equally unreproductive
-undertakings, were spent on the coast of
-Dalmatia in planting olive trees on the side of
-those mountains as far up as they could flourish,
-then walnut trees, then chestnut trees, and
-finally oaks and firs, I think I can safely assert
-that in thirty years the full cost of the first
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_174' name='Page_174' href='#Page_174'>174</a></span>
-outlay would be repaid, while the benefit to the
-country at large would be incalculable.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-It is not in a book like this that the best
-modes for bringing about the cultivation of the
-Dalmatian shores of the Adriatic are to be discussed,
-but that it could be done and should be done, is
-undoubted; and not in Dalmatia alone, but also
-to the east of that country, in the lands beyond
-the Vellebitch, through Servia, and all that vast
-tract of country subject now to the impoverishing
-influence of Turkish mal-administration.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-It always makes me sad when I think of those
-rich countries lying fallow for want of hands to
-cultivate them, and a good government to encourage
-industry, and when I see shipload after shipload
-of hard-working industrious Germans leaving
-Hamburg, Bremen, and other German ports,
-risking the perils, the inconveniences, and the
-expenses of their voluntary exile, traversing
-thousands of miles of ocean route to reach at
-last an unknown country, from which it is
-doubtful if they will ever have a chance of returning
-to their Fatherland; when those fertile lands
-of Servia lie at the very threshold of their
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_175' name='Page_175' href='#Page_175'>175</a></span>
-country, with no sea to intervene, and only a few
-days of rail and river to go over. But the present
-state of things cannot continue for ever; and even
-now promising signs of amendment are not wanting.
-The monstrous anomaly of some of the richest
-lands of Christian Europe being still in this
-nineteenth century under the misrule of barbarous
-Asiatic hordes, whilst millions of wretched Christian
-inhabitants are kept in the most abject servitude,
-must ere long be done away with; and all those
-countries, Servia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Roumelia,
-and all lying between the Danube and the Adriatic
-must before very long be amalgamated under some
-one chief. Who the man may be upon whom the
-noble responsibility may fall of governing this
-future empire, it is impossible now to conjecture,
-for the several countries which would go to form
-this new dominion are still scattered and disorganized;
-but the great bond of a common
-language will soon unite them again, when the time
-comes, and probably that is not distant, for now we
-do in weeks what our forefathers did in centuries.
-When that moment shall come, I venture to
-hope, in the interest of this new country, that one
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_176' name='Page_176' href='#Page_176'>176</a></span>
-totally unconnected with the present contending
-clans may assume the direction of affairs.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I know the man but I shall not name him.
-Handsome in person, brave, courteous, highly
-educated, and unsullied by any of those Eastern
-vices which so frequently shock our Western
-susceptibilities—equally unconnected with either
-the Kara Georgevich or the Obrenovich parties—his
-elevation to the throne of Servia would put a
-stop to that system of hereditary vendetta which
-seems for the present too deeply rooted in both
-those clans to permit us to hope in its extinction at
-least for a time, while it would extend to those
-countries the benefits of that wise administration
-which he has already so ably initiated in his own
-country. But I must pull up my hobby-horse
-sharp; he is already in full gallop, and if he once
-gets the bit between his teeth, he will never check
-his mad career till he stops at the gates of
-Stamboul.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_177' name='Page_177' href='#Page_177'>177</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p6">
-<img src="images/fish.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<h2>
-CHAPTER XIII.
-</h2>
-
-<p class="ch_summ">
-THE PRINCE OF MONTENEGRO—UNJUST DEPRIVATION OF TERRITORY—ORIGIN
-OF THE NAME OF THE COUNTRY—A FRIEND
-IN NEED—VILLAGE OF NIEGOSCH—PANORAMA SEEN FROM
-THE TOP OF THE PASS—WILD-LOOKING HERDS AND FLOCKS—MONTENEGRIN
-LEGEND—ARRIVAL AT CETTIGNE—THE
-VLADIKA'S PALACE—THE TREE OF JUSTICE—TOWER OF CETTIGNE.
-</p>
-
-<div>
-<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropd.jpg" width="100" height="106" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p class="drop-cap">
-DURING my stay in Montenegro, I
-had the honour of several private
-conversations with the Prince of that
-interesting country, and I was astonished
-at the amount of practical knowledge he
-possessed, and the advanced views he entertained,
-with regard to commerce, administration, and
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_178' name='Page_178' href='#Page_178'>178</a></span>
-political economy. But he is cramped up in every
-way, Montenegro has no outlet, and though his
-native mountains come so near to the Adriatic that
-a man could almost spring from them into the
-sea, still there is everywhere a narrow strip of
-land between them and that sea, which effectually
-excludes him from direct commercial or other intercourse
-with the rest of the world.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-This strip of land, in some places only a few
-yards wide, belongs to Austria and forms part of
-the Province of Dalmatia. During the reign of
-Napoleon I. the Principality of Montenegro extended
-for a short period to the sea shore, and Cattaro was
-occupied by the Montenegrins till the 14th June,
-1814, when it was most unjustly taken away from
-them again and incorporated with the Austrian
-Empire by the Congress of Vienna. An act of
-injustice all the more flagrant, that the Turkish
-territory was allowed to come down to the sea at
-the opening of the Gulf of Cattaro, dividing the
-territory of Ragusa from that of Cattaro, and thus
-affording the Mahommedan rulers of a Christian
-land advantages which are denied to the neighbouring
-Christian Principality.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_179' name='Page_179' href='#Page_179'>179</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-But whilst I am admiring the scene before me
-and pondering over the wrongs and the resources of
-these interesting countries, I must not forget that
-the sun is every moment getting higher in the
-heavens, and that it is important to get on with
-our journey, in order to avoid being out on those arid
-rocks during the heat of the day.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Our caravan was now in motion again, but the
-road having almost ceased to exist, we had to proceed
-more cautiously, picking our way among loose
-stones and boulders, sometimes following a sort of
-path, and sometimes climbing up the dried up
-water-courses of Winter torrents. After another
-short interval of clambering, we reached a fountain
-where everyone considered it his duty to dismount
-and drink, as did also our cattle. When we had
-refreshed ourselves with copious draughts from that
-cool spring we again faced up the mountain, but
-this time on foot, as owing to the steepness and
-ruggedness of the rocks, it was not deemed
-advisable to attempt it on horseback.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Except climbing up the cone of Vesuvius, where
-one generally makes two steps in advance and three
-steps backwards, I never met anything more trying
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_180' name='Page_180' href='#Page_180'>180</a></span>
-than some parts of this ascent into Tchernagora
-or the "Black Mountains," as the natives called
-this region, and which was rendered by the Venetians
-into "Montenegro," the name it retains to
-this day.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The sun was becoming extremely hot, and I
-should have found it considerably difficult to keep
-my place, but for the occasional assistance afforded
-me by the powerful hand and arm of my Prince
-of Mountaineers, Pero Pejovich, who whenever
-I came to some rugged impediment which seemed
-to tax my energies more than usual, would quickly,
-with one hand passed under my arms close below
-my shoulder, lift me bodily over it, with his broad
-good-humoured face beaming with smiles; and
-when I tell you, gentle reader, that I sometimes
-weigh <i>more</i> but never less than fourteen stone, I
-leave you to calculate the strength of my amiable
-giant.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We had now topped the worst of our ascent,
-and remounting our horses commenced a short descent
-to a little plain surrounded by steep, rugged, barren
-rocks seemingly the bed of some ancient dried up
-lake. At the further extremity of this little plain
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_181' name='Page_181' href='#Page_181'>181</a></span>
-could be seen half-a-dozen scattered houses forming
-the village of Niegosch, the birth-place of the
-Prince of Montenegro, as well as the cradle of his
-race, from which they take their patronimic of
-Petrovich Niegosch.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We rode up straight to the principal house where
-we were expected and received by a young
-Petrovich, a cousin of the Prince, a very handsome
-young fellow, with whom unfortunately I could
-only have conversation by the help of Pero
-Pejovich, who speaking Italian as well as Montenegrin,
-always proved himself a most valuable
-interpreter.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We made a very short stay here, as we wanted
-to reach Cettigne before the middle of the day; so
-having partaken of some excellent coffee, served up
-with toast and such clotted cream as I never before
-tasted out of Devonshire, and having admired the
-gorgeous arms which hung round young Petrovich's
-room, each of which had some story attached to it,
-all being trophies taken in battle from the Turks,
-we mounted our horses, and again plunging into
-a ravine recommenced the difficult ascent.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-After a short but arduous climb, we at length
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_182' name='Page_182' href='#Page_182'>182</a></span>
-reached the top of the pass and the highest point
-between Cattaro and Cettigne. Here a wonderful
-panorama spread itself out before us—not beautiful,
-perhaps, but grand in its way. Right, left, and
-front, nothing could be seen but barren, grey
-mountain tops—except right in front of us, where
-at a short distance lay the valley of Cettigne, also
-apparently the bed of an ancient Alpine lake.
-Beyond that plain the bleak and rocky mountains
-closed in again; and beyond them, far in
-the hazy distance, shining in the noon-day sun,
-could be seen the glittering lake of Scutari,
-or more properly of Skodra, in Northern
-Albania.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-A scene like this could scarcely be conceived, such
-a wilderness of rocks, such a picture of sterility,
-had never met my eyes. Peak after peak, desolate
-and barren, rose in every direction, as far as the
-sight could reach; and as the point on which
-we stood must have been more than four thousand
-feet above the sea, the distance we could
-see in that bright clear atmosphere may be
-imagined.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The rocks of which those mountains are formed
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_183' name='Page_183' href='#Page_183'>183</a></span>
-looked ashy grey in the bright sunlight, except here
-and there in some of the ravines where a scanty,
-scrubby vegetation, struggling for existence, offered
-a precarious subsistence to considerable flocks of
-small wild goats, herded by still wilder-looking
-children. These grey rocky masses, when it rains,
-become of a dark slate colour, nearly black, and
-hence arose the name of the country, Tchernagora.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-To account for the presence of such immense
-quantities of stones in their country, the Montenegrins
-have a legend which says that after the Creator
-had made this earth, the Devil was permitted to go
-and scatter stones all over it. He carried the stones
-in a bag over his shoulder, but as he passed in his
-flight over their country, the bag suddenly
-burst, and thus a greater share of stones fell
-to their lot than they were fairly entitled
-to.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I don't know which was the most fatiguing, the
-climb up to the top of the pass, or the scramble
-down; I think the latter, and if I did reach the
-bottom without a fall or a sprained ankle, I owe
-it all to my excellent fellow-traveller, Pero Pejovich,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_184' name='Page_184' href='#Page_184'>184</a></span>
-who kept a sturdy hold of me all through, and
-saved me, I am sure, from many an ugly
-tumble.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-At last we found ourselves in the little plain of
-Cettigne, and putting spurs to our small horses
-cantered over the turf till we reached the first
-houses of the straggling street which constitutes the
-capital of one of the most interesting countries in
-Europe.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The next travellers who visit Cettigne will find
-there good accommodation in a spacious hotel,
-which was all but completed before I left; but
-when I was there, nothing existed in the shape of
-an inn except a couple of very wretched khans,
-where it would have been difficult to get rest,
-owing to the activity of the insect population and
-the total absence of every accommodation. Thanks
-to the liberal hospitality of His Highness, I was
-provided, by his orders, with apartments in the
-ancient fortified palace of the Vladikas, or Prince-Bishops
-of Montenegro, to which I was conducted
-by one of His Highness's aide-de-camps, who
-had come to meet me. This gentleman had been
-educated in France, at the Military School of St.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_185' name='Page_185' href='#Page_185'>185</a></span>
-Cyr, spoke French like a Parisian, and was most
-kind in never allowing me to want for anything.
-Guessing that I did not know a word of Slave, he
-had most thoughtfully appointed a man in the
-town, who could speak a few words of Italian, to
-attend me during my stay, and to provide me daily
-with food from a sort of very primitive restaurant
-in the place.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Having rested a couple of hours after eating an
-early dinner, according to the fashion of southern
-countries, I received a visit from Mr. Nico Matanovich,
-the gentleman alluded to above, and to
-whom I was indebted for the comfort with which
-I was installed, who in company with the Russian
-Consul (who was residing at the new Palace with
-the Prince), came to propose a walk about the
-place as soon as the sun should be somewhat nearer
-to the horizon. Having ordered up coffee, as is
-always expected in these countries, Mr. Nico Matanovich
-conveyed to me the agreeable information
-that His Highness would receive me the following
-day at eleven o'clock in the morning. In reply,
-I begged he would present my humble respects to
-His Highness, and my unbounded thanks for
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_186' name='Page_186' href='#Page_186'>186</a></span>
-the handsome manner in which I was treated.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The sun being now sufficiently low, we sallied
-forth to take a turn round the place, and see what
-was to be seen. But before I leave my quarters,
-let me try to give some idea of the Vladika's
-Palace, where I was lodged. This quaint old
-building consists of a quadrangle of about a hundred
-and fifty paces<a name='FA_7' id='FA_7' href='#FN_7' class='fnanchor'>[7]</a> either way, surrounded by a
-very massive and high wall, pierced by two large
-roofed-in gateways, one in front and one at the
-side, and having at each corner a round squat
-tower with a conical roof, reminding one somewhat
-of those that surround, at intervals, the Kremlin at
-Moscow. Running midway from side to side, and
-dividing this enclosure into about two equal parts is
-the palace itself, which consists of two stories, the
-second of which is divided into a series of chambers,
-each about sixteen feet square and ten feet high,
-all opening into each other, and communicating
-also at the back with a wide corridor which goes
-the whole length of the building. The windows,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_187' name='Page_187' href='#Page_187'>187</a></span>
-of which there are two to each room, look into
-the front compartment of the quadrangle, while
-the windows of the corridor look on the back.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The entrance is by a hall door from which one
-ascends at once to the upper story, by means of a
-massive wooden staircase formed of solid beams of
-timber roughly hewn. The lower story has been
-turned partly into an arsenal, principally filled with
-ancient weapons taken from the Turks, and partly
-into a Government school; the upper rooms are
-occupied at one end by the Archimandrite and
-some other officials—the rest are untenanted. In
-the centre of the front court-yard is a deep well of
-the most delicious water, and so cold that I used
-it to cool my wine and beer with nearly as much
-success as if I had been using snow. The back
-compartment was a kitchen-garden and orchard.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Leaving the old Palace by the side gate which
-opens upon one of the two streets that constitute
-the town of Cettigne, we found ourselves opposite
-to the new Palace lately built by the Prince—the
-style of which I in no wise admire, though I do
-not doubt it is comfortable enough inside; but it
-has no character whatever, and looks insignificant
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_188' name='Page_188' href='#Page_188'>188</a></span>
-when compared with the old Palace. If the money
-spent on building the new had been judiciously
-laid out in adding to the old, a truly fine Palace
-could have been erected, with all the old characteristics
-preserved, which the eyes of the people,
-as well as of travellers, would have had an historical
-stamp as the abode of all the old Vladikas, those
-ancient Prince-Bishops—Bishops of the Church
-Militant—who for many years had valiantly defended
-their country, their liberty, and their faith
-against the unceasing attacks of the Infidels.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Opposite this gate, and just midway in the very
-broad street between the old and the new Palace,
-stands a large carob tree, with a stone bench of
-roughly hewn blocks round its trunk, and here in
-Summer from about nine o'clock every morning
-the Prince sits for some hours administering justice.
-I often watched him with the greatest interest from
-a window in the old Palace. It was like acting a
-chapter in the Old Testament—Deborah judging
-Israel under a palm tree, "between Ramah and
-Beth-el in Mount Ephraim!" Beyond the "Tree
-of Justice" one came to the new Palace, a homely
-structure, as I said before, and of no pretence.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_189' name='Page_189' href='#Page_189'>189</a></span>
-At the gate two sentries of the Prince's bodyguard,
-in full Montenegrin costume, mount guard,
-and are constantly relieved every hour, their
-barracks being exactly opposite. The process of
-relieving guard is very simple—two privates walk
-out of the barracks with their long breechloaders
-over their shoulders "<i><span lang="fr_FR">à volonté</span></i>," and take their
-station on each side of the gateway of the Palace,
-while the other two walk back into barracks,
-and that is all.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We now turned our backs on the "Tree of Justice,"
-and walked up the street, which is but short,
-until we came to the main street which crosses it
-at right angles. This main street is not paved, but
-is wide, and the houses on each side, though
-seemingly poor and wretched in the extreme in our
-eyes, are, most probably, comfortable enough in
-theirs; and as they do not even possess a word in
-their language to denote "comfort," what we would
-consider such, would, perhaps, be only considered
-by them an uneasy restraint.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Turning now to the right we walked to the
-end of the street, where is the new hotel with
-the post and telegraph office. The hotel, as I
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_190' name='Page_190' href='#Page_190'>190</a></span>
-previously said, was not yet opened, though the
-building was completed, and when supplied with
-beds, tables, and chairs will be a very creditable
-affair, incomparably better than any hotel in
-Dalmatia. Near the hotel, a little to the left, is
-another modern institution, evincing in no small
-degree the enlightened anxiety of the Prince for
-the advancement of his country. It is a <i><span lang="fr_FR">Pensionnat
-de demoiselles</span></i> for the education of the daughters of
-the better classes, both of Montenegro and the
-surrounding countries; it can accommodate forty
-pupils, and is superintended by a charming and
-highly accomplished Russian lady, assisted by
-efficient governesses. The charge being very small,
-only £20 per annum, it must be largely subsidized
-by His Highness.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Being vacation time, I had not the satisfaction
-of seeing any of the boarders, much to the regret
-of Mademoiselle Pakievitch, who kindly showed
-me all over the institution, which was admirably
-neat and clean. She was anxious that I should
-have heard some of the pupils speak English and
-French. "I think you would have been both
-pleased and surprised," said she. The majority
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_191' name='Page_191' href='#Page_191'>191</a></span>
-spoke Illyrian, Russian and German, while several
-were proficient in addition with both English and
-French, and one with Albanian also. The institution
-is under the special patronage of the Empress of
-Russia, who takes the greatest interest in it, and constantly
-sends presents to it.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Keeping now a little to the right, and following
-the path which leads to the town of Rieka,
-we soon came to the foot of the crags which on
-that side close in with an impassable barrier the
-little plain of Cettigne. We now turned sharp
-round and set our faces towards the town, as the
-lengthening shadows warned us that the sun was
-already setting behind the mountains which we had
-traversed in the morning. The smooth plain
-covered with short grass was delightful to walk
-over, though one had to be careful of one's steps
-owing to the many wells with which it is dotted
-for the purpose of getting water for the cattle,
-and which, quite level with the ground and without
-the semblance of a parapet, might have swallowed
-one up before one would have had time to see
-them.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Right before us, standing a little to the left and
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_192' name='Page_192' href='#Page_192'>192</a></span>
-just beyond the old palace, could be seen in the
-distance the ancient monastery which in old times
-used to be occupied by the Archimandrite, in the
-days when the Vladika used to inhabit the palace;
-but now that Church and State are separated, it is
-occupied by Monsignor Roganovitch, the Metropolitan
-of Montenegro.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Just above it, perched upon a rock and standing
-out in bold relief against the glowing sky, could
-be seen the old tower of Cettigne, an ancient piece
-of masonry which until three or four years ago
-used to be constantly decorated with the heads of
-Turks killed and decapitated in their several
-skirmishes and forays. This barbarous custom
-has now been abandoned, never to be resumed again
-it is to be hoped, and the present Prince, further to
-turn away the thoughts of the natives from the
-barbarous habit of their forefathers, has caused a
-belfry to be erected on the top of the tower wherein
-is placed a large bell, which is only rung in cases
-of great alarm to gather the tribes. The bell is
-very heavy, and much ingenuity and labour were
-required to transport it on men's backs from Cattaro
-to Cettigne.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_193' name='Page_193' href='#Page_193'>193</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-By the time we got back to the Palace it
-was dark, so wishing good night to my kind
-friends I made a frugal supper and went to
-bed.
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p4">
-<img src="images/primrose.jpg" width="125" height="139" alt="Decoration" />
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_194' name='Page_194' href='#Page_194'>194</a></span>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter p6">
-<img src="images/putti.jpg" width="400" height="94" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<h2>
-CHAPTER XIV.
-</h2>
-
-<p class="ch_summ">
-INSECT POWDER OF MONTENEGRO—DESCRIPTION OF THE MONASTERY—ENCAMPMENTS—FESTIVAL
-OF ST. PETER—A SAINT
-BY THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE—PICTURESQUE SCENE—BOSNIAN
-CAFÉ—THE NATIONAL INSTRUMENT—A TRAVELLED
-DALMATIAN—TALL MONTENEGRINS.
-</p>
-
-<div>
-<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropi.jpg" width="100" height="112" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p class="drop-cap">
-I AWOKE early the next morning,
-having slept most luxuriously on a
-spring mattress and totally unmolested
-by fleas, thanks to the ample supply
-of flea-powder thoughtfully strewn by my attendant,
-between the mattress and the undersheet.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The insect powder of Montenegro is celebrated,
-you must know, in Eastern and Southern Europe,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_195' name='Page_195' href='#Page_195'>195</a></span>
-and I can vouch for its excellence. It consists
-simply in the small dried flower of some species of
-Pyrethrum, which when wanted for use is ground
-in a coffee-mill and strewed about the bed. The
-plant is found abundantly all over Montenegro,
-and owes its greater virtue to the fact of being
-grown in very arid soil, untempered by the slightest
-moisture, and exposed to scorching suns—everything
-about it therefore is in the most concentrated
-form, and hence its efficacy; it is a very considerable
-article of commerce, and is largely exported to
-Russia and the Levant.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-It was not therefore due to insect attacks that I
-was so early disturbed from my slumbers on
-the following morning; still I was disturbed, and
-that by the momentarily increasing hum of
-many voices and general bustle of the thousands
-who were flocking to Cettigne for the festival
-which was to take place on the morrow; but the
-great day of the feast throughout the south of
-Europe is invariably the day before the feast, "<span lang="it_IT">la
-vigilia del Santo</span>," as the wording goes. The day
-of the feast itself one confesses, goes to mass, and
-does the proper; all the fun and the rollicking
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_196' name='Page_196' href='#Page_196'>196</a></span>
-is generally the day before. So I got up, and
-pushing open the outside green shutters which
-secured my windows, I looked into the courtyard of
-the Palace, and over the walls beyond into the little
-plain, which was gradually filling with numberless
-men, women, and children, some on horseback,
-more on foot, but all gorgeously attired.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The sun was now getting high on the horizon,
-and the scene before me was becoming more and
-more animated and interesting. In the open space
-under my window, within the high enclosure of
-the Palace wall, men were busy picketing a dozen
-horses, evidently from the costliness of their trappings
-belonging to Chiefs and Woyvodes. While
-under a group of carob trees, in one corner of
-the enclosure, were spread several rugs on which
-were sitting cross-legged some of the owners
-of those quadrupeds, with their clumsy high-backed
-saddles behind them, passively smoking their
-chibouks while their attendants busied themselves
-preparing coffee.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Close on my right and just beyond the old Palace
-was the monastery, which, owing to the lateness of
-the hour the evening before, I had been unable to
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_197' name='Page_197' href='#Page_197'>197</a></span>
-examine. Like the old Palace it is a sort of semi-fortified
-building, constructed more for safety than
-for comfort. On the right hand, as the observer
-looks at it in front, is the church, and next to it a
-tall, square, and very modern tower erected to the
-memory of the Vladika Peter, who is buried on the
-top of a somewhat difficult peak to the south-west
-of Cettigne and about six miles distant. The body
-of the monastery comes next, conspicuous by two
-rows of arched openings placed one over the other,
-and to the left of them again are the apartments
-of the Metropolitan. The whole is surrounded by
-a high wall, enclosing a primitive garden in which
-are located a large number of beehives, (upwards of
-a hundred). This wall is pierced by one large
-gateway, roofed over and secured by a massive
-door, in front of which is the circular-paved
-thrashing floor, so characteristic of the East. Every
-thing about the monastery is of the simplest and
-rudest construction, and the church is utterly unadorned,
-not from choice, I am assured, but from
-necessity.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-In the monastery itself are many shady corners
-that would well repay a few hours spent in transferring
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_198' name='Page_198' href='#Page_198'>198</a></span>
-them to one's portfolio, and just at the
-entrance inside the building, is a most extraordinary
-chasm in the rock, through which a piercing cold
-wind is constantly blowing, coldest when the
-weather is hottest; and so intense is the cold in
-that opening that it is used in Summer as an
-ice-house for the cooling of wine and the preserving
-of food. This phenomenon has never been satisfactorily
-explained, because it is not only that the
-cavity is cold, but a strong sharp cutting wind
-rushes out of it. I shall not attempt to account for
-it, but will leave it as a problem for sharper wits
-than mine to solve.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-As the day waxed older the number of arrivals
-increased on the plain of Cettigne, till by eight
-o'clock in the morning it was dotted all over
-with picketed horses and temporary encampments
-of all sorts. Having had my simple breakfast of
-coffee, milk, and toast without butter—which is
-quite unknown there though cream is plentiful—but
-accompanied by a good plate of Albanian figs,
-I went out with Pero Pejovich, who came to fetch
-me to visit the fair. For this festival of St. Peter
-offers a double stimulus to the inhabitants of the
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_199' name='Page_199' href='#Page_199'>199</a></span>
-surrounding country for a visit to Cettigne—a
-religious ceremony and a considerable fair. And it
-may be right for me to observe that this St.
-Peter, Patron of Montenegro, in whose honour
-this great gathering annually takes place, is a saint
-<i><span lang="la">sui generis</span></i>—indeed I was on the point of saying,
-when I detected and checked myself, that he was
-a saint <i><span lang="la">extra palum ecclesiæ</span></i>; for he is neither St.
-Peter the Apostle, nor St. Peter the Martyr, nor
-St. Peter the Hermit, nor even St. Peter Igneus,
-who in a fit of zeal for the maintenance of the
-laws relating to the temporalities of the church,
-walked through the flames at Settimo in the
-eleventh century, to establish a case of simony
-against another Peter, one Peter of Pavia, then
-Bishop of Florence; nor any other canonical St.
-Peter I ever heard of, but simply St. Peter of
-Montenegro, the old Vladika Peter I., Prince-Bishop
-of Montenegro, not yet canonized by any
-ecclesiastical authority or other licensing body, as I
-was assured, but simply a saint in virtue of the will of
-the people, the Plebiscite of Montenegro, who insisted
-<i><span lang="it_IT">autoritate nostra</span></i> on having him for their patron
-saint. He probably deserved to be canonized just as
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_200' name='Page_200' href='#Page_200'>200</a></span>
-well, and perhaps better than many another saint,
-and if history tells truth, certainly better than his
-namesake, the so-called Peter the Martyr, for he
-wisely, mildly, and virtuously ruled in Montenegro
-for fifty-three years, viz., from 1777 to 1830, and
-the mountaineers are fully justified in reverencing
-his memory.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Passing my arm through that of Pero Pejovich,
-who seemed to know and be known of everyone,
-I began my expedition through a crowd of men,
-women and children, that every moment grew
-denser and denser. It was the most picturesque
-scene that could be imagined; all the neighbouring
-and surrounding countries had sent their contributions
-to the fair—Bosnians, Servians, Herzegovinians,
-Morlacks, Dalmatians, Albanians, Roumelians,
-Turks, Greeks, Croats, Italians, &amp;c.; but
-conspicuous among them all for height of stature
-and nobility of countenance were the Montenegrins
-themselves. I think that, even independent
-of their costume, I could have always singled
-them out by their ruddy though sunburnt complexions,
-grey or blue eyes, and open honest
-countenances.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_201' name='Page_201' href='#Page_201'>201</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We went to a booth where arms were sold,
-and I was astounded at the number, variety, and
-richness of the weapons that were not only displayed,
-but were actually sold. They seemed to
-me dear. I should have much liked to purchase
-a handsome yataghan with silver hilt and in a
-sheath of <i>repoussé</i> silver. It was a very handsome
-weapon, and was made by a celebrated artificer of
-Skodra, but the price was sixteen Napoleons, which
-was more than I liked to give, and I suspect I could
-get one just like it in Tichborne Street for half the
-money.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-From the armourer we went to a tailor's booth,
-where piles of costumes of different nationalities
-were exposed for sale; Morlack suits, Albanian
-suits, and Montenegrin suits, some of cloth and
-some of velvet, but all more or less embroidered
-in gold, and some literally overladen with plates
-of silver gilt. From thence we went to a Bosnian
-<i>café</i> of the most primitive kind; a couple of large
-blankets stretched over a few poles made a
-pretence of shelter, and on the ground were
-a few Turkish rugs on which we squatted, while
-a very ugly and dirty gipsy-looking woman was
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_202' name='Page_202' href='#Page_202'>202</a></span>
-boiling coffee outside over a small fire of sticks
-contrived between two stones; nothing could be
-more primitive. So we sat and smoked, and in
-due time drank our coffee, which was simply
-abominable. I remember it was, though I was
-not minding it much, being occupied at the time
-with listening to a man performing on the national
-instrument, the <i>guzla</i> (pronounced goozla), whilst
-a girl was singing a low, monotonous, plaintive
-air.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The <i>guzla</i> is not an instrument which offers
-much scope to the performer; it is simply a very
-primitive fiddle, with only one string, played upon
-with an equally primitive bow; still it was surprising
-the amount of harmony the man contrived
-to scrape out of it. The song, as Pero Pejovich
-told me, was all about the old story, love and
-war, while the music, as is almost always the
-case among barbarous nations, was in a minor
-key.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Having paid for our coffee and thrown a
-few paràs to the minstrels, we sallied forth
-again.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"And now, friend Pero," I said, "I should
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_203' name='Page_203' href='#Page_203'>203</a></span>
-like to see some of your Montenegrin beauties. I
-have seen lots of fine men this morning; but as to
-the women, friend Pero, they are a caution.
-I never saw so many ugly ones congregated together."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-My conductor smiled, shrugged his shoulders,
-and looked me in the face; he did not know exactly
-whether he ought not to be angry. However, his
-habitual good-humour prevailed, and with a loud
-laugh, he said:
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"<i><span lang="it_IT">Avete ragione, son brutte come il Demonio</span>.</i> But
-wait, only wait till you see the Princess; she is a
-pure Montenegrina, and beautiful enough for the
-whole nation." And he spoke truth!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We now wandered away again towards a sort
-of native inn or khan, where he said we should get
-some good Vienna beer to wash away the taste
-of that abominable coffee. As we were passing
-some booths, where a variety of cheap Manchester
-goods were being displayed with some English Delft
-ware of the very commonest description, I was
-hailed with a "How d'ye do, stranger?" from a
-dapper, wide-awake-looking little man, who came
-out and spoke such excellent English that I took
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_204' name='Page_204' href='#Page_204'>204</a></span>
-him to be a Briton or an American; but he was
-neither; he was a Dalmatian from Sebenico, who
-had been a great deal in England and America,
-and spoke English as fluently as his native Illyrian.
-I had a long chat with him, and asked him how trade
-was, and if he was doing well.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"No," he replied; "they don't know what trade
-is in these countries, they have too many restrictions;
-and yet," said he, "you won't go into the poorest
-cabin that you won't find one of these," handing
-me a wretched sample of English pottery with a
-vile brown pattern on it; "such is their preference
-for everything of English make."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Here Pero reminded me of the beer we had to
-drink, and that the time was drawing near when I
-was to present myself at the Palace for my audience.
-So we went off to the khan, where, having refreshed
-ourselves with some of Vienna's best, with a lump of
-virgin snow in it, I bid my guide good morning,
-and returned to the old Palace; when, having
-dressed myself, I crossed over to the new one to pay
-my respects to the Prince according to the orders
-received the day before.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Having penetrated through the outer gate, where
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_205' name='Page_205' href='#Page_205'>205</a></span>
-the guards, I thought, looked rather scowlingly
-on my strange attire—viz., a dark blue frock
-coat, light grey trousers, and patent leather boots,
-the whole topped with my Indian quilted helmet—I
-ascended to the hall door by half a dozen steps,
-where I was met by the Prince's own henchman, a
-brother of the Commandant of the Grahovo. He
-was yet taller than his brother, and must have
-been at least six feet eight inches. I do not say this
-quite by guess-work, though I did not actually
-measure him; but on a subsequent occasion I did
-measure an immense Montenegrin, and found him
-six feet seven inches without heels, and the henchman
-was decidedly taller than he.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Well, <i><span lang="fr_FR">pour revenir à nos moutons</span></i>, I followed my
-Goliath into the hall, which is small and low,
-terminating in a double staircase, that bending
-round from each side joins again in the middle to
-form but one flight, at the top of which I found
-myself in a vestibule with two more guards on duty,
-and from that I was ushered into a fine large and
-well proportioned room, handsomely furnished in
-Viennese style, and hung all round with good
-portraits of the Prince's father, the celebrated
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_206' name='Page_206' href='#Page_206'>206</a></span>
-Mirko, the Emperor and Empress of Russia, the
-Emperor and Empress of Austria, and many
-others.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Rooms open right and left off this. I was
-conducted into a smaller room to the right, where,
-after waiting for only a few seconds, the Prince
-came in. He addressed me in French, congratulating
-me on my courage for having ventured so far
-into his country, not on account of the difficulty
-of the road, "for all English are good mountaineers,"
-but from the bad name the country has in
-Europe.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Don't you know," said he, laughing, "<span lang="fr_FR">que nous
-sommes des ogres, et que nous mangeons les
-enfans</span>; however, you shall try how we cook them
-if you will dine here to-night at eight."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I thanked His Highness for his kindness, adding
-that I had never heard of their cannibal propensities,
-but in any case I should be happy to eat anything
-His Highness also would eat, and making my bow
-backed out of the saloon.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I then left my card for the Russian Consul, who
-was staying at the Palace, and afterwards went to pay
-the same compliment to Mr. Nico Matanovich, aide-de-camp
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_207' name='Page_207' href='#Page_207'>207</a></span>
-to the Prince; after which I returned to my
-quarters, to convert into a luncheon the repast which
-otherwise would have served for a dinner, but for
-the hospitality of His Highness.
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p4">
-<img src="images/grapes.jpg" width="100" height="121" alt="Decoration" />
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_208' name='Page_208' href='#Page_208'>208</a></span>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter p6">
-<img src="images/cornucopia.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<h2>
-CHAPTER XV.
-</h2>
-
-<p class="ch_summ">
-A POLYGLOT JUMBLE—WAR CUSTOMS OF THE MONTENEGRINS—DEATH
-IN BATTLE—FORAYS FOR THE PLUNDER OF CATTLE—EQUIPAGE
-OF A MONTENEGRIN SOLDIER—PILLAGE—MANNER
-OF FIGHTING—TACTICS—SIGNAL CRIES—ON BOARD
-SHIP—DECAPITATION OF WOUNDED PRISONERS.
-</p>
-
-<div>
-<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropi.jpg" width="100" height="112" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p class="drop-cap">
-I NOW discovered what a terrible
-nuisance it is to know only three or
-four languages, especially when one
-finds oneself in a country the language
-of which is a complete mystery. The attendant
-I had, who had been so thoughtfully provided
-for me by Mr. Matanovich, professed to
-speak Italian, and he did in fact know a few
-Italian words, but in his general conversation
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_209' name='Page_209' href='#Page_209'>209</a></span>
-with me, as was subsequently discovered and explained
-to me by Pero Pejovich, the language in
-which he spoke consisted pretty much of the following
-happy mixture: six-tenths of Montenegrin,
-three-tenths of Albanian and Turkish, with one-tenth
-Italian! With this polyglot jumble we got
-on fairly well, as far as hot water, coffee, pipe,
-tobacco, pranzo; and he learned to appreciate
-eventually the American word "skedaddle," but
-when our necessities required further intercourse,
-it was perfectly hopeless—language was utterly
-useless, and gesticulation the only chance of making
-oneself understood. But he was a willing poor
-beggar, and not more dishonest than the majority
-of his fellows. He had a wholesome terror of the
-Prince's rigorous punishment of theft. "<i><span lang="it_IT">Niente
-ladri in Montenegro</span></i>," he used to say, "<i>Principe
-terrible</i>," turning up his eyes and distorting his
-countenance to a fearful degree.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Now whilst my attendant is preparing and setting
-out my lunch, I may as well entertain my reader
-with an account of the customs in war, and mode
-of fighting of the Montenegrins, by the pen of
-M. Broniewsky, which is so graphic, and accords
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_210' name='Page_210' href='#Page_210'>210</a></span>
-so literally with what the Commandant Pero
-Pejovich related to me at different times, that I
-cannot think I could do better than transcribe
-it.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"A Montenegrin is always armed, and carries
-about during his most peaceful occupation a rifle
-(many of them now have breechloaders), pistol, or
-yataghan, and a cartouche-box. The Montenegrins
-spend their leisure time in firing at a target, and
-are accustomed to this exercise from their boyish
-years. Being inured to hardships and privations,
-they perform without fatigue, and in high spirits,
-very long and forced marches. They climb the
-steepest rocks with great facility, and bear with
-the greatest patience hunger, thirst, and every
-kind of privation. When the enemy is defeated
-and retiring, they pursue him with such rapidity
-that they supply the want of cavalry, which it
-is impossible to employ in their mountainous
-country.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Inhabiting mountains which present, at every
-step, passes where a handful of brave men may
-arrest the progress of an army, they are not
-afraid of a surprise, particularly as they have
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_211' name='Page_211' href='#Page_211'>211</a></span>
-on their frontier a constant guard, and the whole
-of their force can be collected within twenty-four
-hours upon the threatened point. When
-the enemy is in great force, they burn their
-villages, devastate their fields, and after having
-enticed him into the mountains, they surround
-and attack him in the most desperate
-manner.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"When the country is in danger, the Montenegrins
-forget all personal feelings of private advantage and
-enmity. They obey the orders of their chief, and
-like gallant Republicans, they consider it a happiness
-and a grace of God to die in battle. It is in
-such a case that they appear as real warriors; but
-beyond the limits of their country, they are savage
-barbarians, who destroy everything with fire and
-sword.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Their ideas about war are entirely different from
-those adopted by civilized nations. They cut off
-the heads of those enemies whom they take with
-arms in their hands, and spare only those who
-surrender before the battle. The property they take
-from the enemy is considered by them as their own,
-and as a reward of courage. They literally defend
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_212' name='Page_212' href='#Page_212'>212</a></span>
-themselves to the last extremity; a Montenegrin
-never craves for mercy; and whenever one of them
-is severely wounded, and it is impossible to save
-him from the enemy, his own comrades cut off his
-head. When at the attack of Clobuk, a little
-detachment of our troops was obliged to retreat,
-an officer of stout-make and no longer young fell
-on the ground from exhaustion. A Montenegrin
-perceiving it (the Montenegrins were fighting with
-the Russians against the French) ran immediately to
-him, and having drawn his yataghan, said 'You
-are very brave and must wish that I should cut off
-your head; say a prayer and make a sign of the
-cross.' The officer horrified at the proposition
-made an effort to rise, and rejoined his comrades
-with the assistance of the friendly Montenegrin.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"They consider all those taken by the enemy as
-killed. They carry out of the battle their wounded
-comrades on their shoulders; and be it said to their
-honour they acted in the same manner by our
-officers and soldiers.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Like the Circassians, they are constantly making
-forays in small parties, for the plunder of cattle,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_213' name='Page_213' href='#Page_213'>213</a></span>
-and consider such expeditions as feats of chivalry,
-(just as the Scotch Highlanders one hundred years
-ago). Being safe in their habitations, where
-nobody dares to molest them, they continue their
-depredations with impunity, disregarding the threats
-of the Divan, and the hatred of their neighbours.
-Arms, a small loaf of bread, a cheese, some garlic,
-a little brandy, an old garment, and two pair of
-sandals, made of raw hide, form all the equipage of
-a Montenegrin. On the march they do not seek
-any shelter from rain or cold. In rainy weather,
-the Montenegrin wraps up his head in his strooka,
-lies down on the ground, and sleeps very
-comfortably. Three or four hours' repose are
-quite sufficient for his rest, and the remainder
-of his time is occupied in constant exertion.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"It is impossible to retain them in the reserve;
-and it seems they cannot calmly bear the view of
-the enemy. When they have expended all their
-cartouches, they humbly request every officer they
-meet with to give them some, and as soon as they
-have received them, they run headlong into the
-further line. When there is no enemy in sight,
-they sing and dance, and go on pillaging, in which
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_214' name='Page_214' href='#Page_214'>214</a></span>
-we must give them the credit of being perfect
-masters; although they are not acquainted with
-the high sounding names of contribution, requisition,
-forced loan, &amp;c., &amp;c. They call pillage,
-simply 'pillage,' and have no hesitation in confessing
-it.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Their usual manner of fighting is as follows: If
-they are in great force, they conceal themselves in
-ravines, and send out only a small number of
-shooters, who by retreating lead the enemy into
-the ambush; here, after having surrounded him,
-they attack him, usually preferring on such occasions
-swords to fire-arms; because they rely
-on their personal strength and bravery, in which
-they generally have the advantage over their
-enemies. When their numbers are inferior, they
-choose some advantageous position on high rocks,
-where pronouncing every kind of abuse against
-their enemies, they challenge them to combat.
-Their attacks are mostly made during the night,
-because their principal system is surprise.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"However small their force may be, they always
-try to wear out the enemy by constantly harassing
-him. The best French <i><span lang="fr_FR">voltigeurs</span></i> in the advanced
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_215' name='Page_215' href='#Page_215'>215</a></span>
-posts were always destroyed by them; and the
-enemy's generals found it more advantageous to
-remain under cover of their cannon, of which the
-Montenegrins were not at all fond. However,
-they soon became accustomed to them, and supported
-by our rifles, they bravely mounted the
-batteries.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"The tactics of Montenegrins are confined to
-being skilful marksmen.... In a pitched battle
-their movements can be ascertained only by the
-direction of their standards. They have certain
-signal cries, which are uttered when they are to
-join in a compact body for attacking the weaker
-points of the enemy. As soon as such a signal
-is given, they rush furiously onwards, break
-into the squares, and at all events create a deal
-of disorder in the enemy's ranks. It was a terrible
-spectacle to see the Montenegrins rushing forward,
-with heads of slaughtered enemies suspended
-from their necks and shoulders, and uttering savage
-yells....
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"The Russian commander-in-chief had much
-difficulty in persuading them not to cut off the
-heads of their prisoners. He finally succeeded in
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_216' name='Page_216' href='#Page_216'>216</a></span>
-this (chiefly by paying them a ducat for every
-prisoner) but what he had more difficulty, with the
-assistance of the Vladika, in persuading them to do,
-was to embark for an expedition on board of ship—a
-thing which they had never done before.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Notwithstanding that they were treated with the
-greatest kindness, they proved very troublesome
-guests. Whenever the captains invited their chiefs
-to breakfast, they all entered the cabin, and having
-observed that more dishes were served to the
-officers than to common sailors, they wanted to
-have a similar fare. When the Fortress of Curzola
-was taken the feast of Easter was approaching; they
-gave the captain no repose, entreating him to
-return to Cattaro; but when it was explained to
-them that the vessel could not advance against
-the wind, they fell into great despondency.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"When at last the ship approached the entrance
-of Boccha di Cattaro and they caught a sight of
-their own black mountains, they uttered joyous
-exclamations, and began to sing and dance. On
-taking leave they affectionately embraced the captain
-and the officers, and invited those to whom they
-had taken a liking to pay them a visit. But when
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_217' name='Page_217' href='#Page_217'>217</a></span>
-the sailors told them they could not leave the ship
-without the permission of their superiors, they
-were much astonished, and said, 'If you like
-to do a thing, what right has another to forbid
-you?'"
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Does not the foregoing read like a chapter in
-"Waverley," or in "Rob Roy?" but though it is
-now a good many years since M. Broniewski wrote
-the foregoing, the Montenegrin is still much the
-same, with the exception of cutting off the heads
-of those killed in battle, which he has given up,
-principally, I believe, because he has had no fighting
-of late. But at the period of the last attempted
-invasion of Montenegro on the Grahovo side, by
-the Turks in, I think, 1862, heads were cut off
-as freely as ever, and were liberally paid for by
-the chieftains; the only difference was that instead
-of taking them to Cettigne to hang in festoons
-upon the round tower at the back of the monastery,
-they were allowed to rot on the battle-field among
-the rocks of the Grahovo where scores of them are
-to be seen lying about to this day.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_218' name='Page_218' href='#Page_218'>218</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p6">
-<img src="images/wroughtiron.jpg" width="400" height="87" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<h2>
-CHAPTER XVI.
-</h2>
-
-<p class="ch_summ">
-BATTLE BETWEEN TURKS AND MONTENEGRINS—ADDRESS OF
-PRINCE MIRKO—HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND CHARACTER—THE
-PROJECTS OF PRINCE DANIELO—PRINCE NICHOLAS I.—SPORT
-IN MONTENEGRO—INTERVIEW WITH THE PRINCE
-AND PRINCESS—NATIONAL COSTUME—SPLENDID ILLUMINATION.
-</p>
-
-<div>
-<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropi.jpg" width="100" height="112" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p class="drop-cap">
-I REGRET more than I can express
-having lost some interesting notes of
-several conversations I had with the
-Commandant Pedro Pejovich on the
-subject of the campaign of 1864(?); all the more
-as they were most graphically told me by him, who
-had been in the thick of the fight, and carried in
-his body, in the shape of severe wounds, proofs
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_219' name='Page_219' href='#Page_219'>219</a></span>
-of the active part he had borne in that campaign.
-One only I partially remember still, sufficiently
-well to venture to retail.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The Turks, apparently, were attacking the Montenegrins
-from the Herzegovina in the north of
-Montenegro. They numbered about twelve thousand
-men, together with a good force of Artillery;
-while the Montenegrins collected to oppose them
-were not more than two thousand; but whilst the
-Turks were in the plain fully exposed in sight
-of the Montenegrins, these sturdy mountaineers,
-finding covert behind each rock and bramble bush,
-were able to pick off the Turks with considerable
-effect. Still the disparity of force was too great,
-and at the end of the second day's fighting, although
-the Turks had not been able to make any impression
-on the position held by the Montenegrins,
-still the number of those killed and wounded bore
-a very large proportion to their numbers. At
-sunset the fight being over for the time, and sentries
-having been posted by the mountaineers as
-far forward as practicable to watch the Ottoman
-camp, Prince Mirko, father of the present Prince
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_220' name='Page_220' href='#Page_220'>220</a></span>
-of Montenegro, then in command of the Montenegrins,
-summoned all the chiefs to a brief council
-of war, and spoke thus:
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Two days we have been fighting the infidels,
-and the only result has been the losses we have
-sustained in killed and wounded. Another day of
-such fighting will leave us so crippled that the
-accursed Turks will walk over us into our homes
-and villages. There is but one plan which offers
-any hope, but if you adopt it and place faith in
-me, I promise you a complete victory before to-morrow's
-sun shall gild the tops of yonder
-mountains. To-morrow morning, one hour before
-daylight, be all ready to follow me, leave behind
-your rifles and ammunition, and follow me softly
-and stealthily, making no noise; so we shall pass
-the Turkish advanced sentries without their noticing
-us, and when sufficiently near I will call my cry,
-and then let you all rush forward with me, trusting
-solely to your yataghans, and give no
-quarter."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-This was carried out to the letter, and succeeded
-perfectly. The Turks, never imagining they would
-be attacked, kept a bad look-out. The Montenegrins,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_221' name='Page_221' href='#Page_221'>221</a></span>
-led on by the intrepid Mirko, rushed on the
-Turkish batteries, cutting the gunners' heads off,
-and having spiked the cannons attacked the
-remainder of the army with such impetuosity
-that they fled from the field in the utmost disorder.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-This was the last attack of the Turks against
-Montenegro, and I don't think they will ever try
-it again. Prince Mirko was dead before my visit
-to this country. I cannot therefore give any
-description of him personally, but from all I heard
-he must have been a very remarkable man in
-every way. Though small in stature and slight,
-contrary to the general build of the Montenegrins,
-who are mostly all very tall and powerful men,
-he had immense influence over the mountain-tribes;
-owing to his well known sagacity and his fierce
-courage, wherever Mirko would lead, the whole
-of Montenegro would follow. He had the eye of
-an eagle, and strength of will and determination
-are portrayed in every line of his face, as I have
-observed in his portrait which hangs in the Palace
-of Montenegro, as well as the photograph I have
-seen of him. But he was wise also; when Prince
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_222' name='Page_222' href='#Page_222'>222</a></span>
-Danielo (the predecessor of the present ruler) died
-by the hand of an assassin at Cattaro, his widow,
-the Princess Darinka, at once caused the present
-Prince, Nicholas I. (nephew of the murdered
-Danielo) to be proclaimed sovereign, passing over
-his father Mirko, who, owing to the great youth
-of his son, might have expected and claimed the
-succession; but as I said above, Mirko was wise
-as well as valorous. He knew that from his own
-warlike tendencies, how much soever he might be
-acceptable to his own mountaineers, his elevation to
-be ruler of Tchernagora would be displeasing to
-most of his neighbours in Austria, Servia, and
-Turkey. He therefore at once consented to his
-son's promotion, and generously was the first
-in Montenegro to do homage to the young
-Prince.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Up to the year 1850, when Prince Danielo
-succeeded to the throne of Montenegro, the country
-had always been ruled by a Prince-Bishop,
-styled the Vladika. This dignitary, generally, if
-not always, nominated his own successor in the
-person of a nephew or some other near relative,
-who, on the death of the Vladika at once took
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_223' name='Page_223' href='#Page_223'>223</a></span>
-holy orders and became in his turn Prince-Bishop.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Danielo, not wishing to give up the happiness
-of home and married life, and also perhaps with
-the hope of founding a dynasty of his own in
-Montenegro, which in the course of time might, by
-extension and the absorption of other principalities,
-become an important kingdom, repaired to St.
-Petersburgh on the death of the Vladika Peter II.,
-his uncle, and there obtained the full consent of
-the Emperor Nicholas to his effecting a division
-between Church and State. On his return journey
-to Cettigne he married at Trieste the Princess
-Darinka, hoping to have founded a line of princes
-to succeed him. His hopes however were destined
-to be blighted. Darinka had no children, and
-after reigning eight years, he was murdered at
-Cattaro as I have related above.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The young Prince, (Nicholas I.) who had
-already been betrothed almost in infancy, as is
-the custom among the upper classes in that
-country to a relation of his own, daughter of one
-of the principal Voyvodes in Montenegro, followed
-his studies under special direction in the Palace
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_224' name='Page_224' href='#Page_224'>224</a></span>
-of his ancestors; till one day the late Emperor
-Napoleon III., for reasons of his own, proposed to
-have the young Prince sent to Paris, there to be
-educated under his own eye; and the offer having
-been accepted, a French man-of-war without loss
-of time steamed into the Gulf of Cattaro and
-carried away the young Prince, together with two
-companions of his own age, sons of two of the
-principal Voyvodes of the country. Whatever care
-was bestowed upon the Prince's education, he
-amply profited by it; he is an excellent French and
-Italian, as well as German and Russian scholar.
-He is exceptionally well informed, and on a great
-variety of subjects; and voracious to a degree
-for more information, especially concerning English
-laws, customs, and manners, in all of which he
-takes the greatest interest, and is most anxious
-that Englishmen should visit his country. He was
-good enough to have me repeatedly at his house
-and at his hospitable board, and he never omitted to
-repeat to me.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"I shall always be glad to see English gentlemen
-in my country; tell them, when you go back,
-that if they are fond of shooting, they shall have
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_225' name='Page_225' href='#Page_225'>225</a></span>
-their choice of game, from an eagle to a blackbird,
-and from a bear to a squirrel; if they prefer
-fishing, I promise them trout such as they have
-never dreamt of,<a name='FA_8' id='FA_8' href='#FN_8' class='fnanchor'>[8]</a> and they shall have every
-assistance that I can afford them in the way
-of tents to camp out, and men to guide and help
-them."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-In appearance, the Prince is tall and remarkably
-handsome; his hair is black, he wears both beard
-and moustachios, contrary to the fashion of his
-country, where only the latter are worn, often of
-immense size and length. With a commanding
-appearance, he still has a most benevolent expression
-of countenance, due to the softness of a very fine
-pair of eyes, and his manners are most captivating.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_226' name='Page_226' href='#Page_226'>226</a></span>
-He is very dignified, but at the same
-time most kind, without being in the least
-patronizing, and I was told by those who knew
-him best that he has a most equable temper,
-and that an angry word seldom was heard from
-him.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I had been careful before leaving the Palace
-to set my watch exactly to their time, so as to
-ensure my punctuality in the evening; and at
-eight <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> to the minute, I found myself in the
-saloon of the Palace. The Russian Consul was
-there already; he was showing me the different
-portraits which hung round it, when the Prince
-walked in, in full Montenegrin costume, but
-without any ceremony; and a few minutes after
-a door was thrown open from the opposite side,
-when in walked the Princess, accompanied by the
-widow of Prince Mirko and attended by her
-lady-in-waiting, Mademoiselle Neukomm, all in
-full native costume.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Pero Pejovich had so often extolled the beauty
-of the Princess, that I was quite prepared to be
-disappointed, as is almost always the case, for
-anticipation seems invariably to exaggerate the
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_227' name='Page_227' href='#Page_227'>227</a></span>
-reality; but on this occasion it was just the reverse.
-I don't think I ever saw a more beautiful creature
-than the lady to whom I was then introduced;
-tall, pale, neither thin nor stout, but beautifully
-formed, and with exquisite hands and arms. She
-wore a diamond ornament on her head, half hidden
-by the masses of black hair among which it was
-nestled, and though it shone at times like a star
-from among a mass of stormy clouds, it could
-not subdue the light which shone from her glorious
-dark eyes.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Dinner was instantly announced, and we proceeded
-to the dining-hall, a room of good size
-and well-furnished. The dinner, a German one,
-was good, the wines better. The attendance consisted
-of two men in black and four in native
-costume. The Princess, who speaks French fluently,
-did the honours with most winning grace; and
-the Prince, by his affability, at once put every
-one at his ease. At dinner I sat on his left, his
-mother being on his right, with the Russian
-Consul <i>vis-à-vis</i>, principally, I suppose, to facilitate
-her enjoyment of the conversation, as she
-speaks only Slave.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_228' name='Page_228' href='#Page_228'>228</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-During the repast His Highness constantly
-asked me questions, sometimes about my impressions
-of Montenegro, which were easily enough
-answered, as I had nothing to recount of myself
-but enjoyment since I had entered his territory,
-having met with nothing but the most unbounded
-kindness and hospitality. But in his anxiety for
-knowledge, he often put questions which I found
-it difficult enough to reply to, and sometimes
-questions which I could not answer at all. Having
-spoken with admiration of the gorgeous costume
-of the Montenegrins, and how it set off their fine
-figures, he replied:
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Yes, it is very fine; but I should be delighted
-to abolish it, if it were possible; they spend a great
-deal too much money on it."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Being simply horrified at the idea of doing
-away with national dress, I could not avoid expressing
-myself unreservedly, and I said at once
-that depriving a country of its costume would be
-simply to destroy it.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Ah!" replied the Prince sharply, "you look
-upon us only from a picturesque point of view;
-in fact, you would like to keep us here like
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_229' name='Page_229' href='#Page_229'>229</a></span>
-a sort of menagerie of wild beasts, to come
-and look at us occasionally for your amusement."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The Prince was almost angry; but fortunately
-I had an analogous example to place before him,
-in our own Scottish Highlanders, who cling to
-their costume with such tenacity. I told him of
-our Highlanders, of our splendid Highland regiments,
-of how our Scottish nobility held by the
-national dress, and of how our precious Queen
-dressed all her boys in Highland costume; and
-yet we did not go to look at them as we would
-go to look at wild beasts in a zoological garden,
-but we regarded it with admiration, as an ancient
-national costume, associated in our minds with
-devoted loyalty, stirring times, and valiant deeds;
-as their own costume was also, which, I trusted,
-I should never live to see exchanged for a bad
-imitation of the present universally adopted French
-fashion, ending by saying that I was convinced
-that the supplanting of national costumes with
-imitations taken from our neighbours, was decidedly
-a backward step in civilization.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-He questioned me very closely upon the law of
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_230' name='Page_230' href='#Page_230'>230</a></span>
-primogeniture and entail in our country, and could
-not understand how such a law did not produce
-<i><span lang="fr_FR">des jalousies terribles, et d'autres inconvenances</span></i>. I
-endeavoured to explain to him the present law of
-English entail, and how it differed from the ancient
-Roman law of <i><span lang="la">fidéi-commis</span></i>, which still obtains in
-Scotland, where entails are for ever. Still he did
-not like our system of primogeniture, where the
-eldest son, in many instances, has £100,000 per
-annum, and all the other children £10,000 each,
-representing about £400 a year. He thought it
-terribly unfair; indeed he could not understand
-how they quietly submitted to it at all; and so we
-got through our dinner most agreeably without
-the least <i><span lang="fr_FR">gêne</span></i>, while the Prince's band played some
-excellent music outside, under the window. This
-band consisted entirely of Montenegrin lads, some
-quite young, and considering the short time they
-had been learning their new profession, was wonderfully
-good. The bandmaster was from Prague,
-an excellent musician, and as he was a Czech,
-he spoke a language very similar to Montenegrin,
-which contributed not a little to his
-success.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_231' name='Page_231' href='#Page_231'>231</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Having left the dining-room in company with
-the ladies, we all adjourned to the saloon, and
-from it to the terrace in front of the Palace, where
-the Prince having lit a cigarette, offered some to
-me and Mr. Yonin. As I hesitated to light mine,
-after having taken one, the Princess, who immediately
-guessed that my hesitation was owing to
-her being present, at once most kindly came forward
-and requested me to smoke "<i>de suite</i>" &amp;c.
-I therefore lit my cigarette at once, saying with a
-deep bow that I dared not disobey her commands.
-She then bid me watch, as presently a change
-would suddenly take place in the aspect of the
-scene.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-It was now quite dark, when suddenly a cannon
-was fired, and simultaneously, as if by magic, every
-window in the town, in the Palace opposite, in the
-monastery, in the terrace, and at every point where
-a candle could be stuck, was filled with lights, while
-the band played the grand Russian National Hymn,
-and the people shouted with all the power of their
-lungs, firing off their pistols in the air in every
-direction.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The illumination was so instantaneous that
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_232' name='Page_232' href='#Page_232'>232</a></span>
-the effect was charming, and coupled with the
-music, the enthusiastic cheering, and the booming
-of the cannon, which kept up a sort of
-"contrabasso" accompaniment to the whole, all
-contributed to produce a <i><span lang="fr_FR">coup de scène</span></i> never to
-be forgotten.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We now all withdrew to the drawing-room
-for coffee and tea, <i><span lang="fr_FR">à la Russe</span></i>, without cream and
-with a slice of lemon. I was not sorry to leave
-the balcony, for that firing of pistols in the
-air is not so innocent a pastime as might be
-imagined, as no Montenegrin ever dreams of
-loading his weapons with anything else than ball-cartridge.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The Prince again resumed his conversation with
-me about English customs and manners. He
-said, "I am told that in London one policeman,
-unarmed, can control a mob, while in Paris it is
-very different, as nothing short of loaded muskets
-and bayonets will do for the French."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I answered him that English mobs could be
-troublesome too, but that, generally speaking,
-owing to our constitutional respect for the majesty
-of the law, we came to look upon that solitary
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_233' name='Page_233' href='#Page_233'>233</a></span>
-unarmed policeman as an impersonation of it, and
-as such he was always sure of the active assistance
-of all respectable citizens in the execution of his
-duty.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-He then began to question me about the British
-constitution, and I never felt more posed. Irish
-mother-wit, however, came to the rescue, and I
-said, "To explain the British Constitution I should
-have to be a lawyer, but one of the great characteristics
-of it, so far as a layman like me can
-explain it, consists in what is called the Law of
-Habeas Corpus, by which no man can be imprisoned
-by any authority whatever without being immediately
-informed of the accusation against him, and
-brought up before the constituted authorities within
-twenty-four hours."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-He said he had heard of that before, and thought
-it a grand law, but under certain circumstances he
-considered it might be advantageous for the king
-to have the power of arresting dangerous characters,
-upon which I told him that in certain emergencies
-the law of Habeas Corpus had been suspended, but
-that could only be done by Act of Parliament, and
-not by the sovereign's authority.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_234' name='Page_234' href='#Page_234'>234</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"In short," said he, "your Chambers are the
-real sovereign, the King being only the outward
-and visible sign of regal authority."
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_235' name='Page_235' href='#Page_235'>235</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p6">
-<img src="images/dragons.jpg" width="400" height="86" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<h2>
-CHAPTER XVII.
-</h2>
-
-<p class="ch_summ">
-A WALK WITH THE PRINCE—SALUTATIONS OF THE CROWD—THE
-GUZLA—MONTENEGRIN DANCE—THE PRINCE'S ACCOUNT
-OF ITS ORIGIN—THE CAMP AT NIGHT—ADVENTURE WITH A
-MONTENEGRIN—DEVOTION OF THE PEOPLE TO THEIR PRINCE.
-</p>
-
-<div>
-<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropt.jpg" width="100" height="102" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p class="drop-cap">
-THE firing had now ceased, and the
-illumination was fading out by degrees,
-the band was still playing in
-front of the Palace, and the full
-moon was rising well up in the sky. The crowd
-had increased, as we could see from the window of
-the saloon, and the broad space in front of the
-Palace was literally paved with heads and up-turned
-faces. After looking a few minutes at that dense
-mass which was swaying to and fro and gradually
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_236' name='Page_236' href='#Page_236'>236</a></span>
-getting closer and closer, the Prince asked me
-what I thought of their behaviour. "Most wonderfully
-quiet, orderly, and well behaved; but I can't
-help looking upon them all as so many powder
-kegs. One cross word, an imaginary insult, a
-little too much drink, one of a thousand trifling
-incidents, might set a spark going, and it will
-be wonderful indeed if among these thousands of
-wild and lawless men some turmoil does not
-arise, and when their Oriental blood is once up, and
-arms are at hand and ready, blood will scarcely fail
-to flow."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Well," said the Prince, "I venture to say there
-won't be the smallest misadventure to-night, though
-I haven't a policeman near here, and there are
-probably twenty thousand armed men in and about
-Cettigne at this moment. Do you think there are
-many Sovereigns in Europe who could with safety
-walk about in such a crowd in one of their
-own capitals during a time of excitement such as
-this?"
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Not one, I should think," I replied.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Then," said he, "put on your hat and come
-along with me."
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_237' name='Page_237' href='#Page_237'>237</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I followed him into the lobby, where throwing a
-scarf about his shoulders he bid me follow him,
-first having told his henchman that he would go
-out alone.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-It was now about eleven <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>, and in a few minutes
-we were out shouldering our way in the thickest
-of the crowd, making for the spot where the band
-was playing. It was not long before he was
-recognised, right and left, and now began one of
-the most interesting scenes I ever witnessed.
-Where there had been a crowd so dense that
-progression seemed almost an impossibility, an ample
-space was formed, and then one by one men of
-all grades approached the Prince, and, according to
-their rank and station, one and all saluted him in
-the following way—they took off their caps, and
-those of the lowest grades took up the edge of his
-coat and "literally kissed the hem of his garment;"
-then those of somewhat better position kissed
-the same garment higher up; to others of higher
-rank still, the Prince extended his hand, which they
-kissed most reverently, and pressed to their foreheads
-three times; and lastly the Chiefs and Voyvodes,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_238' name='Page_238' href='#Page_238'>238</a></span>
-almost on an equality with him, doffed their
-caps, while His Highness did the same, and both
-holding each other's right hand pressed the side
-of their cheek against each other. And so I
-accompanied him, walking through that living mass,
-stopping every moment either to receive some
-act of homage, or to caress some bold little curly-headed
-fellow who had squeezed and wriggled
-himself in to get near to his Prince, and to
-whom His Highness would speak a few words,
-asking his name and age, and where he went to
-school, and what he could do, to the untold pride
-and joy of the parents who were watching. And
-so we shortly made the tour of the town, coming
-out on the plain right in front of the monastery
-where many groups were busily engaged in the
-performance of the national dance.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The lights had now gone out, and the illumination
-had faded away, but the moon nearly at the
-full was high up in the heavens, and shining as it
-does not, alas! shine in these islands. The band was
-gone, and the only music to be heard was the native
-<i>guzla</i>, accompanied by the monotonous chaunt of
-the vocalists, interrupted occasionally by the wild
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_239' name='Page_239' href='#Page_239'>239</a></span>
-piercing shriek of some dancer. The Prince made
-for one of the groups where apparently the
-dancing was most energetic, whilst I followed
-close on his heels. Being at once recognised,
-ample way was made for him, and I soon found
-myself alongside of him in the innermost circle of
-the ring.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Here I had full opportunity of observing the
-native Montenegrin dance, which, if not elegant,
-has certainly the merit of originality. How shall
-I describe it? In the area of that ring in which
-we found ourselves were five couple of dancers,
-who were being constantly renewed, men and
-women, as either became exhausted by their exertions.
-The dance itself did not seem to consist
-of any peculiar steps, but mainly in jumping with
-the arms extended horizontally, leaping as high
-as each one could opposite the other, and twirling
-round at the same time like dancing dervishes,
-whilst occasionally, as either man or woman had
-to give in from sheer exhaustion, they uttered a
-piercing shriek. Though somewhat savage and
-uncouth to behold, there still was a weird charm
-about that dance. The tall mountaineers looked
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_240' name='Page_240' href='#Page_240'>240</a></span>
-taller still from their long white surtouts in the
-bright moonlight, and as they sprang high into the air
-they appeared absolutely gigantic, while the glitter
-of the moon's rays on the metallic ornaments of
-their dress and their jewelled arms produced a
-strange and pleasing effect. From one group the
-Prince passed on to another, and so through all till
-about one in the morning, when he turned his steps
-towards the Palace,
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Our dance is not an elegant one," said the
-Prince, "but it is characteristic; it is called the
-Dance of the Eagles, and its origin is thus accounted
-for. Many years ago the Montenegrins had no
-national dance, when some of the young men said,
-'How is it all our neighbours have national dances
-of their own and we have none? Let us imagine
-and invent a dance; and, as our mountains are the
-country of the eagles, let us make it like eagles
-rising from the rocks, and let us scream like the
-young eagles.' And so they stretched out their
-arms and sprang into the air as high as they could,
-dancing their Eagle Dance, which from thenceforth
-became the national dance of the country."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-At the gates of the Palace I made my bow, and
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_241' name='Page_241' href='#Page_241'>241</a></span>
-the Prince, putting out his hand, wished me good
-night, saying, "I must see you again before you
-leave."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-In a few minutes I was in my room. I required
-no light, the moon was so brilliant. The night
-being warm, and not feeling at all sleepy from the
-excitement I had gone through, I lit a cigar, and
-leaning with my elbows on the window-sill, I looked
-out into the little plain where so shortly before I
-had been walking about. The turmoil had now
-greatly diminished, and in every direction I could
-see that preparations were being made to bivouac
-<i><span lang="fr_FR">à la belle étoile</span></i>. The horses that up to this time had
-been allowed to roam about here and there, cropping
-the scanty herbage, were now being collected and
-picketed one by one near the spot which had been
-selected by the owner for his own peculiar sleeping
-place; while the court-yard of the old Palace was
-also fully tenanted, and apparently by the same
-party I had watched in the early morning, and
-which, from the better style of their horses, the
-glitter of their equipments, and the appearance of
-their attendants, seemed to belong to some of
-the native chiefs.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_242' name='Page_242' href='#Page_242'>242</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-By degrees the different noises ceased, and in
-less than an hour the whole camp was steeped in
-silence. Such a contrast to the noise and turmoil
-of an hour before, when twenty thousand people,
-men, women and children, were shouting, dancing,
-and yelling at the top of their voices!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I put on my helmet, and with a short stick in
-my hand, simply to keep away any snarling dog
-that might be inclined to give trouble, I quickly
-crossed the court-yard and let myself out by the
-gate into the plain. The moon had barely passed
-the zenith, and shone almost perpendicularly on
-the prostrate groups, who, in different attitudes of
-sleep, were dotted all about; some wrapped up
-in their strookas, more from habit than necessity,
-as the air was warm; some turned on their faces,
-some on their back with their arms outstretched;
-but all profoundly asleep; and such was the
-silence that, but for the absence of blood and
-mutilated limbs and broken weapons, one could
-easily have imagined it the field of some hard-fought
-fight.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I was surveying the placid scene and standing
-close to a magnificent mountaineer who was sleeping
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_243' name='Page_243' href='#Page_243'>243</a></span>
-on his back, with his face fully upturned to the
-moon and his arms extended, when suddenly he
-awoke. In the twinkling of an eye he was on his
-feet and his hand on his yataghan. I don't
-imagine my life was the least in danger, even for
-a moment—but if it was, my helmet and my cigar
-saved me. However, I instantly saluted him in
-Slave, and with a "<i>Sbogo Gospodin</i>" he returned
-the compliment, at the same time putting out his
-hand he shook mine warmly, and pointing with
-the other to the ancient Palace, led me away
-towards it, talking softly the while and smiling;
-but unfortunately I could not understand, and the
-only response I could make was by offering him
-a cigar, which he at once lit at mine and pronouncing
-it "<i>dobre</i>" (good) puffed away at it
-with a will. At the great gate of the Palace he
-wished me good-night, when I begged of him by
-signs to take another weed, and so we parted.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The next morning being the day of the feast,
-I was awoke pretty early by the repeated firing
-of cannon just outside the gate of the Palace and
-in front of my window. I should have been
-glad to have slept a few hours longer, but the
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_244' name='Page_244' href='#Page_244'>244</a></span>
-noise was too great, and my so-called Italian-speaking
-servant coming in at the same moment,
-I jumped out of bed and called out,
-"<i><span lang="it_IT">Colazione</span>!</i>"
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I had not more than half finished, and was
-in the act of peeling some grand specimens of
-Albanian figs, when in walked Pero Pejovich,
-who came to tell me that the Prince and Princess,
-with all the notables and Voyvodes of Montenegro,
-would attend High Mass at ten, and that the
-<i><span lang="fr_FR">cortège</span></i> would pass under my windows and would
-be worth seeing. He added that if I liked he
-would take me into church and get me standing-room
-inside before they arrived; but he feared
-the crowd and the heat would be something fearful.
-Consequently, finding it quite hot enough
-already, I determined to remain where I was
-and enjoy the procession from my window.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I then told the Commandant of my adventure
-the night before. He scolded me awfully, but
-patted me on the back, as one would a child,
-and said I might have run some risk had I
-not been fortunately recognised as a guest of the
-Prince.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_245' name='Page_245' href='#Page_245'>245</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Only imagine," said he, "if anything had gone
-wrong, the honour of Montenegro might have been
-compromised."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We then lit our cigars, and while waiting for
-mass-time, fell, as usual, into conversation about his
-country and its usages.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"What do you think of our Prince, and the
-way he goes among the people? I saw you last
-night with him. Did you ever see such love,
-such devotion, as we all have for him? But he
-deserves it fully. There never was such a ruler
-as our Prince; we would all lay down our lives
-for him, and be proud of the honour. If he were
-to call us to arms, we could muster in twelve hours,
-here in this plain of Cettigne, twenty thousand
-able men, fully armed and equipped, ready to march
-on any point, and that without endangering Montenegro;
-for we should leave twenty thousand more
-behind us, not so well adapted for advancing in
-an enemy's country, but fully competent to guard
-our mountain passes and protect our strongholds."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I said I hoped such a contingency might never
-arise; but he shook his head. The Turks, he said,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_246' name='Page_246' href='#Page_246'>246</a></span>
-hated them too much not to seek, sooner or
-later, for a pretext to attack them, and then he
-added,
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"But the sooner the better; we never were so
-well prepared to meet them. The Turks pretend
-that Montenegro is an integral portion of the
-Ottoman Empire; we insist that we have always
-been free, and though often hard pressed by Ottoman
-forces, have never yet been conquered. What
-chance then is there of our coming to an understanding?
-My great grief, however, is to hear
-that England is against us and in favour of our
-enemies, and if it were not for the friendship which
-Russia has ever shown us, we might be exterminated
-by the infidels before you would lift a finger to
-prevent our utter annihilation. We cannot understand
-it, for we read of how England exerts herself
-always in favour of oppressed nationalities, and
-how she has even spent hundreds of millions of
-piastres to put down the slave trade; and yet she
-favours the Turks, who are the greatest supporters
-of slavery, against us, though our
-religions are almost identical, I am told.
-I wish more English would come to Montenegro.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_247' name='Page_247' href='#Page_247'>247</a></span>
-I think they would end by appreciating
-us."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-These words of the Commandant made a deep
-impression on me.
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p4">
-<img src="images/primrose.jpg" width="125" height="139" alt="Decoration" />
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_248' name='Page_248' href='#Page_248'>248</a></span>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter p6">
-<img src="images/flowers.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<h2>
-CHAPTER XVIII.
-</h2>
-
-<p class="ch_summ">
-FALSE IMPRESSIONS OF MONTENEGRO—AGRICULTURE ON A
-MINOR SCALE—FIELD-LABOURERS—MONTENEGRIN FACCHINI
-AT CONSTANTINOPLE—FEMALE LABOUR—PRODUCTION OF
-SUMACH—COMMERCIAL RELATIONS WITH OTHER COUNTRIES
-IMPEDED—IMPOSING PAGEANT.
-</p>
-
-<div>
-<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropt.jpg" width="100" height="102" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p class="drop-cap">
-TRULY very little is known about
-Montenegro and its mountaineers,
-and that little is very incorrect.
-They have been generally represented
-as wild, savage, bloodthirsty, thieving scoundrels,
-closely allied to Italian brigands and Greek palikari—if
-anything, worse than either. Fond of
-fighting for fighting's sake, and when not engaged
-in that amiable recreation, spending their time in
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_249' name='Page_249' href='#Page_249'>249</a></span>
-strutting about in their fine clothes, peacocking
-in the sunshine, while those too poor to have
-fine trappings whiled away the weary hours and
-forgot their fleas and their sorrows in the tones
-of their national <i>guzla</i>, while the women were left
-to do all the labour in the fields.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Such was certainly not my impression. The
-part of Montenegro through which I travelled,
-though sterile and barren to a degree, was a wonderful
-specimen of what man could do when driven
-to it. Every little nook, where the least bit of
-soil could be found, among that wilderness of rocks
-where stones had rained from Heaven, was carefully
-taken advantage of; the rocks adjoining these
-little nooks were often removed by the most
-laborious exertions, and in some instances earth
-was scraped up here and there, and carried in small
-baskets to these spots, in order to increase their
-depth of soil. I saw clearings of so small a
-size as barely to admit of <i>one potatoe plant</i> or
-three of maize, and little fields not <i>one yard</i> in
-diameter!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Hard at work, cultivating the soil, I saw not
-only women but plenty of sturdy mountaineers.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_250' name='Page_250' href='#Page_250'>250</a></span>
-At Niegosh I observed one of the Petrovichs, the
-handsome young fellow who entertained me on my
-way to Cettigne, superintending himself a number
-of men who were working in a field near his house;
-and the only difference I could observe between
-them and our own labourers was that they were
-all fully armed, although employed at the peaceful
-occupation of agriculture. They have not yet
-turned their yataghans into spades and reaping
-hooks, but they have done the next best thing by
-keeping the first at ease while energetically plying
-the others.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I have seen the Montenegrins in their own
-valleys and mountain fastnesses, and I utterly deny
-the charges brought against them. They are not
-lazy—leaving all the hard work to their women—that
-is utterly false, and the best proof I perhaps
-can give, lies in the self-asserting fact of the
-toiling colony of three thousand Montenegrin
-Facchini at Constantinople, well known as about
-the most hard-working and honest labouring men
-in that capital. It is true that they allow the
-women to do much of the heavy agricultural work,
-and carry heavy loads up and down the mountains;
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_251' name='Page_251' href='#Page_251'>251</a></span>
-but it must be remembered that for years past
-the Montenegrins, like the proscribed clans of
-Scotland in the last century, have been treated by
-their neighbours, the Turks, very little better than
-wild beasts. They would long ago have been
-exterminated, but for their indomitable courage and
-constant fighting, during which period, of necessity,
-the agricultural duties fell entirely on the decrepit
-old men and the women, as all men who were at
-all able to carry arms were engaged in fighting—and
-many of the women too! It must also be
-remembered that in all mountainous countries
-the women toil more heavily than in the plains,
-and even in civilized Italy hear what a distinguished
-Italian, Massimo d'Azeglio, writes:
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"For example, if a faggot of wood and a bunch
-of chickens have to be carried down to the shore
-from one of the villages half way up the mountain,
-the labour is thus distributed in the family. The
-wife loads herself with the faggot of wood which
-weighs half a hundredweight, and the husband will
-take the chickens which weigh a mere nothing."
-The Montenegrins are not, therefore, singularly
-and atrociously barbarous in this respect.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_252' name='Page_252' href='#Page_252'>252</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Considering the small extent of the Principality
-and its great sterility, it is wonderful the amount
-of produce they are able to export, even with the disabilities
-under which they labour, being entirely deprived
-of any seaboard, though clearly entitled to one.
-One of the most important of their natural products,
-one which under favourable circumstances might
-be increased a thousandfold is "sumach," a substance
-largely used in tanning the more expensive
-kinds of leather. A small amount is exported to
-Holland, none comes to England, but a small
-parcel I brought over with me was declared by
-competent judges to be equal to the best
-Sicilian, which is considered the best of all
-sumachs.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-They have vast forests of walnut trees which,
-under proper management and due facilities of
-exportation, might be rendered most productive,
-both as to walnut oil and timber for
-cabinet work. They export immense quantities
-of a small dried fish "<i><span lang="it_IT">scoranza</span></i>," much used
-in the neighbouring Catholic and Greek countries
-during their religious feasts; and without
-further wearying my readers, I will simply
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_253' name='Page_253' href='#Page_253'>253</a></span>
-add that but for the difficulties they labour
-under, they could export every one of the following
-articles in very considerable quantities:—
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Castradina (dried mutton and goat hams), honey,
-wax, goat and kid skins to any amount, as
-also martin, fox, and hare skins, together
-with many other substances I have forgotten.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The Prince is doing all he can to spread
-instruction among his people. He has established
-numberless schools, and as all over the Principality
-education is compulsory, in another generation
-the man or woman unable to read
-and write will be a phenomenon indeed in Montenegro.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The renewed booming of the cannon and the
-ringing of the convent bells now gave us warning
-that the Prince was going to hear Mass, and in
-a few seconds I saw the whole <i>cortège</i> pass on foot
-under my window. First a squad of guards, then
-His Highness the Prince leading the beautiful
-Princess, immediately accompanied by the Russian
-Consul in full uniform, and then a number of
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_254' name='Page_254' href='#Page_254'>254</a></span>
-Voyvodes in gorgeous costumes, while another
-squad of body-guards brought up the rear. They
-walked quickly past, and in a few minutes were
-lost completely to sight under the buttresses of the
-old Palace. The pageant was of short duration,
-but it was well worth seeing, even in that land of
-sunshine and gorgeous costumes.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Mass over, everyone turned in for his
-dinner and siesta. The Commandant of the
-Grahovo went to his own abode, and I followed the
-general example.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-In the afternoon some wonderful foot races were
-to be held, but not till near sunset, when the great
-heat of the day would be somewhat abated. I
-determined therefore to fill up the space between
-the end of my siesta and the visit to the races,
-with a call on Monsignor Roganovich, the
-Metropolitan of Montenegro. I had brought
-letters of recommendation to the Archimandrite of
-Cettigne, and in his company I went to the
-monastery to pay my respects. We entered by the
-great gate, after crossing the threshing floor, and
-having crossed the court we ascended by a
-very rough stone staircase, which landed us in a
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_255' name='Page_255' href='#Page_255'>255</a></span>
-sort of primitive cloister looking on a garden, on
-which opened the suite of rooms occupied by the
-Metropolitan.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We were at once shown in, and had not to
-wait many seconds before Monsignor Roganovich
-made his appearance. His reception was most
-cordial. He took me by the hand and made me
-sit on the divan by his side, expressing his regret
-that he could not converse with me except through
-an interpreter, owing to his not speaking any
-other language than Illyrian and Russian. We got
-on, however, remarkably well, thanks to the
-rapidity with which the Archimandrite almost
-guessed what I was going to say in Italian,
-translating it into Illyrian with equal rapidity.
-Coffee, as usual, was served up, unaccompanied
-however by the customary pipes, as the orthodox
-clergy are forbidden to smoke.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-And now as I am sipping my coffee, let me
-endeavour to describe what I saw as my eyes
-wandered about. The room itself was small and
-low, simply white-washed, with no other furniture
-than one small table in front of the divan, and
-four rush chairs of the homeliest description.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_256' name='Page_256' href='#Page_256'>256</a></span>
-Around the walls were a few coloured prints of
-saints, and the floor was utterly uncarpeted. All
-this simplicity, however, served to bring out in
-greater contrast and relief the portly figure of
-Monsignor Roganovich, as he sat on the divan
-in his ample cassock and gown of violet-purple
-silk. He was not a handsome man, strictly
-speaking, his was more a jolly countenance than
-a handsome one, still it was a face one liked to
-look at, with his grand black beard flowing
-down to his waist. He wore his hair in ample
-curls down his back as if it had never known
-the shears, and on his head the little Montenegrin
-cap of black silk. On his breast glittered the
-star of the Montenegrin order, and round his
-neck a massive gold chain, from which depended
-a Panagia or image of the Virgin and Child, nearly
-as large as a saucer, surrounded with large
-diamonds.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-His manners were courtly and his smile most
-pleasing, and he gave me the idea of one who
-would make an excellent companion for a little
-dinner party of four, and who would be more in
-his element on the Boulevard des Italiens at Paris,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_257' name='Page_257' href='#Page_257'>257</a></span>
-than in his monastic seclusion at Cettigne. We
-conversed for half an hour or so when I rose
-to take my leave, and he gave me the
-Apostolic Benediction, and embraced me on both
-cheeks. As we walked back to the Palace, the
-Archimandrite told me he took great interest
-in the schools, which he visited daily, examining
-and cross-examining the students, to
-see that they made good use of their
-time.
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p4">
-<img src="images/droop.jpg" width="300" height="109" alt="Decoration" />
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_258' name='Page_258' href='#Page_258'>258</a></span>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter p6">
-<img src="images/cornucopia.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<h2>
-CHAPTER XIX.
-</h2>
-
-<p class="ch_summ">
-FOOT RACES—MONASTERY OF OSTROG—OTTOMAN ADMINISTRATION—A
-COURSE À LA MONTAGNE—RACING WITHOUT BETTING—BEN
-TROVATO—A FLAT RACE—CONVERSATION ABOUT
-ENGLISH LAWS AND CUSTOMS—LAW OF HABEAS CORPUS.
-</p>
-
-<div>
-<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropi.jpg" width="100" height="112" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p class="drop-cap">
-IN the afternoon I went out into the
-plain to see the foot races, which
-the Prince had told me would be very
-amusing.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-On my way to the plain, where the races were
-to take place, I rambled again through the fair, and
-a second time got into conversation with the fellow
-that spoke English so well. We chatted together
-on many subjects, all more or less connected with
-the country; he praised the Montenegrins to no
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_259' name='Page_259' href='#Page_259'>259</a></span>
-end, and told me he would trust them to any
-amount, they were so thoroughly honest and
-scrupulous in their dealings. He wanted me
-to go with him, in a couple of days after
-the fair was over, to the monastery of
-Ostrog, but my time was not my own, and I
-could not give myself that additional pleasure.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-It was a great disappointment, however, as Ostrog
-is a wonderful place, cut out of the rock, not
-perched on one as some of the monasteries of
-Mount Athos are, but partly excavated at a great
-height out of the face of the rock, and partly
-built on a ledge which the upper part of the
-rock overhangs. It is approached by a narrow
-path cut into steps, where no more than two
-could walk abreast, and therefore easily defended by
-a handful of men against any number of assailants.
-There is an ample supply of water in it at all
-times, and it is always stored with a good supply of
-rations, and an immense quantity of ammunition.
-Except by starving out the garrison, it never could
-be taken.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-My companion wanted me then to go with him
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_260' name='Page_260' href='#Page_260'>260</a></span>
-into the interior of Northern Albania, where he was
-well known, and where under his protection and
-guidance I should have been perfectly safe; while
-his knowledge of the languages, both Oriental and
-English, would have enabled me to make many
-interesting inquiries. When I asked him about
-the administration of those countries by the
-Ottoman Government, and the opening up of the
-country by the projected railway from Adrianople
-to Novi-Bazar which has already been surveyed,
-he shrugged his shoulders, and then, with a toss of
-his head, said:—
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"Railways are all very good, but they are
-almost useless here. What we want is a good
-Government, and that we never shall have as long
-as this Christian country is ruled by the Turks.
-You talk of the progress of civilization among
-them; but you simply know nothing about them.
-I can speak, for I have lived with them and among
-them from childhood; and as to their civilization,
-it is simply a farce. Even at Stamboul, among the
-better educated, among those who have been to
-Paris and London, their civilization is nothing
-more than the gilding of Brummagem jewelry—the
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_261' name='Page_261' href='#Page_261'>261</a></span>
-slightest rubbing will cause the copper to
-blush out from beneath. Civilization indeed!
-See what a powerful navy they possess; but let
-Hobart Pasha go home and take with him all
-his European officers, men and engineers, leaving
-nothing behind but pure full-blooded Turks to
-man it, and the entire Ottoman navy would not
-be a match for the smallest British ironclad. In
-making this disparaging statement as to the so-called
-civilization of Turkey, I have selected the
-navy as an example because in old times the Turks
-were able to hold their own at sea, and showed
-a great aptitude in naval matters; but naval science
-has progressed and they have remained stationary.
-But so it is—their civilization is a dream; their
-finances a colossal sham; and their final exodus
-from Europe, I trust, is in the very nearest
-distance. In fact, if all the Christians in Ottoman
-employ—English, French, Armenian or Greek—were
-to abandon their several posts, Turkey
-would simply collapse in six months."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I don't say that these are my opinions, but
-simply the clearly expressed convictions of a
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_262' name='Page_262' href='#Page_262'>262</a></span>
-sharp trader who had long been intimate with
-European Turkey.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-It wanted not much more than an hour of
-sunset; the western crags threw long purple
-shadows along the plain of Cettigne, while the
-rocks which bound it on the east were steeped in
-the richest tints of gold, and russet, and purple.
-Up, near to the old Palace of the Vladikas, was
-a splendid group of native magnates with the
-Prince in the midst, while ranged in a row before
-them were about a hundred and fifty of the most
-athletic men in Montenegro—competitors all in a
-coming foot race for a splendid pair of silver-mounted
-pistols, offered by His Highness to him
-who should first lay his hands on them. The
-pistols were placed on a conspicuous rock a
-considerable way up the cliffs on the south-west
-side of the plain.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The competitors may have been placed at a
-distance of three hundred yards from the base of
-those cliffs; it was, therefore, partly a flat race
-and partly a "<i><span lang="fr_FR">course à la montagne</span></i>:" as the
-Prince said, "<i><span lang="fr_FR">En Angleterre vous avez les courses
-au clocher</span></i>, (steeple-chases) <i><span lang="fr_FR">ici nous avons les courses à la montagne</span></i>."
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_263' name='Page_263' href='#Page_263'>263</a></span>
-The men had divested themselves
-of their white coats, and their belts and
-armour. For an instant there was profound silence,
-and then, at a given signal, off they went at a
-good pace, keeping wonderfully together for the
-first two hundred yards or so; then the line began
-to get wavy, and with every stride more and
-more fell behind, till, when they arrived at the
-foot of the crags, there were not, perhaps, more
-than fifty that sprang up simultaneously to the
-cliffs. Then, indeed, began the real race, and
-the mountaineers took to it in right earnest,
-scaling the precipice like leopards. It was quite
-exciting to watch the rapidity with which they
-swung themselves from point to point, taking
-advantage of every cleft, every rootlet, that
-offered the least hold to either hand or foot.
-At last, three arrived almost simultaneously at
-the goal; but one, slightly in advance, made a
-vigorous spring—touched the pistols first—barely
-winning by a hand!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-It was, without exception, the prettiest thing
-by way of a race I ever saw. The whole scene
-was before you like a panorama; the costumes
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_264' name='Page_264' href='#Page_264'>264</a></span>
-of the runners and the spectators; the gorgeous
-tints of the setting sun; the enthusiasm of all,
-together with the shouts of the multitude, rendered
-it a scene never to be forgotten; and as I watched
-them clambering up the cliffs in front of me,
-guessing at the chances of the race, and mentally
-gambling with myself on who would be the winner,
-I could not help feeling a certain degree of surprise
-that no betting was going on in any part of that
-vast assemblage. The chances were so many, the
-combinations so varied, and the probabilities so
-constantly changing, that a fairer game to try the
-luck of Dame Fortune could not have been
-devised, and all the more, too, as all were honestly
-in earnest in striving for the prize. There were
-no dark horses, no sickened favourites, no hard-pulling
-jockeys to bewilder the backers; all was
-before you, fair and serene, and the excitement
-was tremendous when some one fine mountaineer,
-well in advance of the rest, maybe by five or
-six yards, would suddenly lose his foothold through
-the giving way of some small projection of rock
-to which, he was clinging, and after remaining
-suspended a short time by his hands above his
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_265' name='Page_265' href='#Page_265'>265</a></span>
-head, he would eventually have to let go his hold
-and drop down some few feet, losing all chance
-in the race; while those who had been nearest to
-him would redouble their efforts, and thus at
-times the one who at first starting had seemed
-the least likely to win would actually come to
-be in the first flight of the race; but he, in
-his turn, by some unlucky chance would slip,
-and another would as instantly get on before
-him. These constant changes of chances made
-the race a most exciting one; still not a bet among
-the multitude of lookers-on!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-One of the Prince's aide-de-camps having heard
-me express surprise at the absence of all betting,
-said, "Betting is quite a characteristic of you others
-(<i><span lang="fr_FR">vous autres</span></i>) in England. I am told you would
-bet on anything. I have heard a story of a poor
-girl who once threw herself off a bridge in
-London. The police-boat, fortunately, was near,
-and pulled away to her rescue, when two lords
-happening to pass by, stopped on the bridge for a
-bet as to whether the girl would be saved or
-not, and lost and won an immense sum on the
-event."
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_266' name='Page_266' href='#Page_266'>266</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I laughed, and replied,
-</p>
-
-<p>
-"<i><span lang="it_IT">Se non è vero è ben trovato</span>.</i>"
-</p>
-
-<p>
-After this we had a flat race for about a mile
-across the plains. So far as running went, it
-was a <i>flat</i> race indeed, and I have often seen better
-at an Irish country fair; but it was well worth
-seeing from the rich colouring of the costumes
-of those taking part in it, as they ran with their
-clothes on; and as every one was eligible to compete,
-and not Montenegrins alone, the effect was
-most singular and picturesque. The prize was
-in this case also a pair of silver-mounted Turkish
-pistols, given by the Prince, and I was
-glad to hear that the winner was a Montenegrin.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-In the evening I had the honour of dining at
-the Palace, when the Prince again asked me
-many questions concerning England, its habits
-and customs, of which, although he had read
-much in French books, he knew absolutely nothing.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We again spoke about the law of primogeniture,
-about which he could not exactly make up
-his mind, and could not understand how it did
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_267' name='Page_267' href='#Page_267'>267</a></span>
-not produce disastrous occurrences in families.
-He understood, however, quite well what I explained
-to him concerning the Law of Habeas
-Corpus, and again declared it to be a grand institution,
-<i>so far as the people were concerned</i>.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I left at a late hour, after spending a most
-delightful evening, and as I went back to my
-rooms to pack my small valise for my early start
-next morning, I felt an undefinable regret at
-leaving Tchernagora and its interesting mountaineers.
-I had enjoyed among them a courteous
-hospitality and a patriarchal welcome, the prominent
-characteristics of which will, I fear, before
-very long disappear under the pressure and <i><span lang="la">vis
-a tergo</span></i> of our so-called European civilization. I
-should like, above all things, to visit them again;
-but should it never be my lot to enjoy that
-pleasure, I cannot take leave of Montenegro
-without expressing my deep sense of the cordial
-reception I met with there on every side.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_268' name='Page_268' href='#Page_268'>268</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p6">
-<img src="images/putti.jpg" width="400" height="94" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<h2>
-CHAPTER XX.
-</h2>
-
-<p class="ch_summ">
-DEPARTURE FROM CETTIGNE—RUGGED ROAD—DELIGHTFUL
-VIEW—USEFUL OLD HELMET—NIEGOSH—EXCESSIVE HEAT—THE
-SCALA DI CATTARO—THE BOCCHESI—THE RUSSIAN
-CONSUL—SUNSET AT CATTARO—UNEXPECTED APPEARANCE
-OF PERO PEJOVICH.
-</p>
-
-<div>
-<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropa.jpg" width="100" height="108" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p class="drop-cap">
-AS the clock struck three in the morning
-of the 15th of July, 1873, the
-guide walked into my room to say
-it was time to start; at the same
-moment my servant brought me in a cup of
-<i><span lang="fr_FR">café-au-lait</span></i> with some hot toast. My toilette was
-soon made, and my breakfast swallowed, and I
-moved away from Cettigne as the clock chimed the
-half-hour after three.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_269' name='Page_269' href='#Page_269'>269</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-It was still night, but not dark, as the moon
-had not yet set, and a band of rose-coloured light
-streaked the Eastern horizon. We started at a
-rapid trot, startling the echoes up the solitary and
-deserted street of Cettigne, and we never slackened
-our pace till we came to the verge of the little
-plain in which it is situated, when the path up the
-ravine which led westward to the Adriatic became
-so rugged that we were compelled to walk our
-horses, and in less than half-an-hour more had
-to dismount and proceed on foot.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-In a short time we reached the crest of the
-range which encircles the Plains of Cettigne, and
-the track becoming less precipitous, we remounted;
-but before leaving the spot I turned my horse
-round to have a last look at that mountain capital
-where I had been so hospitably entertained, and
-where, most probably, I might never have the
-pleasure of being again.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I was now standing on the highest point of
-the pass, and I enjoyed a most delightful view.
-The sun was just in the act of rising. My back
-was to the Adriatic, while my face was turned
-to the East. At my feet lay the Plain of Cettigne,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_270' name='Page_270' href='#Page_270'>270</a></span>
-girt round on all sides with precipitous rocks and
-mountains. Beyond the plain, far in the hazy
-horizon—not foggy—but rendered slightly indistinct
-by a faint cobalt haze, I could see the Lake
-of Skodra glittering in the morning sun with
-the thin silver streak of the Zeta river losing itself
-in it, while in the still further distance I could
-perceive the faintest outline of the Albanian mountains.
-Right and left, as far as the eye could reach,
-nothing but rocky peaks and precipices met the
-view—nothing but rocks with here and there a few
-scanty bushes, on which were browsing large herds
-of goats tended by wild-looking men, carrying
-round their waist, as usual, the inevitable arsenal
-of weapons, and the long Albanian gun over their
-shoulders.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I would have lingered over this scene, and I
-was already thinking of getting down and sketching
-it, when the guide remonstrated against any such
-proceeding on my part. "It was very near the dog
-days," he said, "and to be caught by the noon-day
-sun on those bare rocks, was a thing to be avoided;"
-so I was compelled to move on, after giving
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_271' name='Page_271' href='#Page_271'>271</a></span>
-another long look at the picture to which I was
-about to turn my back.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The guide was right; the track was abominable,
-and we could only proceed at a slow pace. At the
-same time, the sun was gaining strength with
-every inch it rose above the horizon, and by
-the time we reached the <i>clachan</i> of Niegosh, its
-rays come down upon us like molten lead; but
-my old helmet was proof against them, and an
-excellent protection, while the faint breeze which
-came up from the Adriatic prevented all feeling of
-oppression.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-At Niegosh, where a week before I had
-been so kindly entertained by young Pejovich,
-we rested five minutes. I did not even dismount,
-but the guide went into the very primitive khan
-to light his pipe; but, by the way he smacked his
-lips on coming out, I suspect a glass of wodky
-was not forgotten, while the fire for his pipe
-was being handed to him.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-After a little, the path again became impracticable
-for riding, so I had to dismount and
-walk, though the heat was something marvellous
-(I afterwards heard from Signor Jackschich that
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_272' name='Page_272' href='#Page_272'>272</a></span>
-in Cattaro, in the shade, the thermometer
-stood at 33° Reaumur at four o'clock in the
-afternoon—about 105° Fahrenheit.) After some
-difficult scrambling, when I sorely felt the want
-of the stout arm of Pero Pejovich, we reached
-the fountain, and here we rested ten minutes;
-then having remounted, we soon arrived at the
-top of the <i>scala</i>, with the Adriatic before us and
-Cattaro hundreds of feet down below.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-It seemed now as if I should be at the end of
-my journey in a few minutes; the road was all
-before me, and I could count the zig-zags as they
-unfolded themselves on the face of the rock,
-still they seemed as if they would never come to
-an end. I counted one, two, three, twenty, thirty,
-fifty, up to one hundred bends, and still more
-appeared beneath me, so at last I gave it up
-through sheer exhaustion.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Everything, however, has an end eventually,
-and so the apparently interminable Scala di
-Cattaro came to an end also. How I got on
-during the last few turns and twists I forget—I
-was in a sort of doze; all I remember is
-finding myself suddenly among those heavenly
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_273' name='Page_273' href='#Page_273'>273</a></span>
-mulberry trees of the Esplanade, and hearing
-the friendly sound of Signor Jackschich's
-welcome.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Cattaro is innocent of either inn, hotel,
-khan, or caravansary, but good accommodation
-had been prepared for me inside the
-town. I therefore rode on to the gate where I
-had to dismount, as no horse is allowed to enter,
-just as no carriage <i>can enter</i> the narrow gateway.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The Bocchesi (as the natives call themselves)
-have one cause of heart-burning and envy,
-less than we in our country; there are
-no carriage-people in Cattaro to look down
-upon <i>you</i> who have to trudge on foot,
-and the nearest approach to anything of the
-sort is an antique sedan-chair mounted on wheels
-exactly like the celebrated old <i>push</i> at Hampton
-Court, which was occasionally brought into requisition
-on gala days, when such happened to be
-wet ones also.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Having reached my rooms I quickly made
-my toilet, and then returned to the mulberries,
-under whose welcome shade I made an excellent
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_274' name='Page_274' href='#Page_274'>274</a></span>
-breakfast and lunch in one, while many of the
-natives were taking their dinner.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-My further steps became now somewhat uncertain.
-I thought I should have found the
-steamer here to take me down the Adriatic,
-but I had miscalculated; it was not due till the
-following day. So I determined on resting in
-Cattaro till evening, and then riding across the
-isthmus (about eighteen miles only) to Budua,
-where Baron von Heydeg was quartered, and
-picking up the steamer when it would call there
-in a couple of days. I at once telegraphed to
-Heydeg that I was going, in order that the officer
-on guard might open the gates for me on
-arrival, as no one is let in or out of Budua
-after sunset, without an order from the Commandant.
-Then I went to my room, and
-being fairly tired, I threw myself on the bed and
-slept.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-It was about half-past three when I was awoke
-by some one knocking at my door, and to my
-surprise, in walked Mr. Yonin, the Russian Consul.
-I had forgotten to mention that we had agreed
-to travel from Cettigne together, and were to
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_275' name='Page_275' href='#Page_275'>275</a></span>
-have met in the street opposite the Palace at
-three <span class="smcap">a.m.</span>; but the servants had forgotten to call
-him, and when after waiting half an hour he did
-not come, and the guards on duty would not allow
-my guide to knock at the Palace gate, I started
-without him, thinking he had changed his mind.
-He had breakfasted late and then ridden to Cattaro
-in the middle of the day in order to catch the
-steamer for Ragusa that was to leave the same
-evening. I told him how long I had waited, and
-how I had tried in vain to get the sentinels to allow
-us to knock. He could only lament his misfortune,
-as, mopping his face, he added, "I
-assure you the heat on those bare rocks was something
-to be remembered all one's life." We then
-arranged to dine together at five o'clock before
-parting.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Punctual to the hour appointed, we met on
-the <i>marina</i>. The heat of the day had considerably
-diminished, for although the sun was still
-high in the horizon, it had long ago set for
-the good folks at Cattaro, as the city being
-built at the foot of the mountains looking to
-the West, and having a range of high cliffs in
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_276' name='Page_276' href='#Page_276'>276</a></span>
-front of it, behind which the sun sinks long before
-it dips into the Adriatic, sunset at Cattaro occurs
-hours earlier than at any other place on the
-Adriatic. In Summer this is a great advantage, as
-it enables the inhabitants to walk out in the
-shade on the <i>marina</i> at a much earlier hour, the
-opposite cliffs protecting them from the hot rays
-of the sun, and at the same time affording them a
-sort of twilight, elsewhere unknown in those
-latitudes; but in Winter it must be very gloomy,
-as the rising sun being shut out by the rocks
-and mountains of Montenegro till near eleven
-o'clock in the morning, and again disappearing so
-early in the afternoon, reduces the actual day
-to as short a space as in the latitude of St.
-Petersburg.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Availing themselves of the comparative coolness
-of the hour, the <i>beau monde</i> of that primitive
-little place, among which the Bishop and the
-Commandant of the garrison were conspicuous,
-had turned out for their evening promenade, and
-the esplanade presented quite a gay appearance. I
-ordered the horses for seven o'clock, and then we
-went to look for our dinner at the café; but here
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_277' name='Page_277' href='#Page_277'>277</a></span>
-something of a difficulty arose. The Bocchesi
-dine at twelve noon, or at one at latest, and sup
-at nine, no one ever thinking of a meal at five!
-so that nothing was ready. The cook, however,
-was equal to the emergency, and in fifteen minutes
-served us up a most excellent and varied dinner,
-to which we were about to sit down and do
-ample justice, when who should turn up but
-Pero Pejovich!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-He was returning to his post in the Grahovo,
-and found it easier to get to it by coming round
-to Cattaro first, then going by sea to Risano and
-thence, as it were, coming back on his own
-steps, thus going a round of something like four
-times the direct distance. This will convey some
-idea of the difficulties to be encountered in endeavouring
-to cross some of the rocky regions of
-Montenegro.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I was delighted at seeing him again; we all
-dined together, and enjoyed ourselves immensely
-notwithstanding the heat. After dinner, Pero
-Pejovich pulled out from among the ample folds
-of his sash some Trebigne tobacco, which had
-never seen the countenance of a Custom House
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_278' name='Page_278' href='#Page_278'>278</a></span>
-officer, and we set to work to make cigarettes,
-when we were joined by Signor Jackschich and
-Signor Radanovich, the Prince's Agent at Cattaro.
-Coffee and maraschino were brought out, fresh
-relays of cigarettes were manufactured, and we
-could have enjoyed ourselves for hours more,
-but the inexorable bell of the steamer rang out
-a summons that bade Mr. Yonin prepare for
-departure, while the increasing darkness served
-to remind myself that I had yet a journey
-before me ere I should be able to lie down to
-rest.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We stood up reluctantly, and in a body accompanied
-the Russian Consul to the steamer, and
-there bade him adieu, probably for ever; though
-who can tell? I have had at times the most
-unexpected <i><span lang="fr_FR">rencontres</span></i> in the most unlikely places.
-I first met him at Ragusa, where also I made
-my first acquaintance with Mr. Paton, now unfortunately
-no more; both very able and highly
-educated men, yet they seemed not to appreciate
-each other as they might have done, perhaps
-from the diametrical opposition of their political
-views.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_279' name='Page_279' href='#Page_279'>279</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Poor Paton is lost to us for ever, and we shall
-never have a better member of our Consular service;
-a shrewd, sagacious man, and a first-rate
-Oriental scholar.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-As to Mr. Yonin, I trust I may yet meet him,
-and renew some of the pleasant hours I spent with
-him.
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p4">
-<img src="images/grapes.jpg" width="100" height="121" alt="Decoration" />
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_280' name='Page_280' href='#Page_280'>280</a></span>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter p6">
-<img src="images/fish.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<h2>
-CHAPTER XXI.
-</h2>
-
-<p class="ch_summ">
-BEAUTIFUL ROAD—ATTACK OF FEVER—ARRIVAL AT BUDUA—BARON
-HEYDEG AND SIGNOR MARCO MEDIN—A RESTAURANT—OUR
-HOST—DOCTOR, DENTIST AND APOTHECARY—WALK
-ROUND THE FORTIFICATIONS—EXPLORATION OF BUDUA—THE
-PARTING GLASS.
-</p>
-
-<div>
-<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropt.jpg" width="100" height="102" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p class="drop-cap">
-THE twilight of Cattaro was fast
-merging into darkness when I returned
-with my companions to the
-esplanade, where my horses were
-ready to take me on to Budua. Our adieux were
-short but cordial, and in a few minutes I was
-cantering away in company with Signor Jackschich,
-who lives in a villa a couple of miles away from
-Cattaro.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_281' name='Page_281' href='#Page_281'>281</a></span>
-</p>
-
-<p>
-If the tracks and paths of Montenegro are
-rugged and wild, the beautiful road we were now
-travelling on made ample amends for the discomfort
-I had endured in riding during the last
-few days. As we passed Signor Jackschich's villa,
-I insisted on his remaining there, or his courtesy
-would have induced him to keep me company ever
-so much further on; so wishing him adieu for
-the twentieth time, I lit my cigar, and sticking
-spurs into my pony, cantered away on my road
-to Budua. The ride was not interesting. I started
-too late; I should have remembered that in those
-latitudes, except at Cattaro, there is no twilight.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-On leaving Cattaro the road is at first directly
-south, leading across the isthmus of the peninsula
-which forms the western shore of the gulf
-of that name. Having reached the sea, it continues
-to skirt the Adriatic, except in those places
-where to avoid rounding a headland it runs
-inland straight across the base of the promontory.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The night was fine, and we got on famously,
-but whether in consequence of the good dinner,
-or the genial sensation produced by the atmosphere,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_282' name='Page_282' href='#Page_282'>282</a></span>
-or the early hour I had risen in the morning,
-when it came to be about eleven o'clock an indescribable
-feeling of lassitude and intense sleepiness
-came over me. I would have given anything
-to lie down even for half-an-hour; but it was out
-of the question, as we were at that time crossing
-a sort of marsh, and there was not a dry spot
-to lie down on. So I was compelled to ride on;
-but I suspect I dozed, and then during those
-moments of extreme lassitude and prostration, when
-my vital powers were standing at their lowest, I
-fear I imbibed some of those zymotic germs,
-some malarious molecules, which a few days later
-manifested themselves by a smart attack of fever.
-Thanks, however, to a good constitution and a few
-doses of quinine, I was able to cut it short in three
-days, though it stuck to me for a little while
-longer in the shape of an indescribable sort of
-<i><span lang="fr_FR">malaise</span></i>.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-At one o'clock <span class="smcap">a.m.</span>, we reached the gates of
-Budua, where I was met by Baron Heydeg and
-Signor Marco Medin. Heydeg was an officer
-quartered with his regiment at Budua, whose
-acquaintance I had made at Pola, and with whom
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_283' name='Page_283' href='#Page_283'>283</a></span>
-I had subsequently travelled. Medin was a native
-of Budua, who had left his country many years
-before, had made money in California, had married
-there a buxom Irish girl, a native of Ballinrobe,
-and had now returned, a rich man, to end his days
-among his relations in Dalmatia.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-They had been waiting for me a long time, and
-had walked some miles on the road to Cattaro to
-meet me, but were beginning to think I was not
-going to keep my word.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We were soon seated together at a comfortable
-supper, and at half-past two <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> I was finally
-allowed to retire to my bed, which Medin had
-kindly procured for me in a private house—because
-here, as in Cattaro, there is no hotel of any
-kind.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Tired and sleepy as I was, I passed but an indifferent
-night, for, notwithstanding that my room
-had two large windows overlooking the sea, and that
-I kept them both open, the heat was perfectly
-stifling.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I was just thinking of going out the next
-morning about ten, when in walked the Baron
-and Signor Medin, and we at once adjourned for
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_284' name='Page_284' href='#Page_284'>284</a></span>
-breakfast at the same place where we had supped
-the previous night; I say place, as it was neither
-an inn nor a <i>café</i>. How shall I describe it? The
-following is the way we got at it, anyhow. In
-the main street of Budua, near to the land gate,
-on the left hand as you come in, you meet with
-five rugged stone steps, flanked by a shaky single
-iron railing. These lead up to a strong wooden
-door, which at some period, of its existence may
-have enjoyed the privilege of paint, but of which
-no trace remains at the present moment, not even
-enough to enable one to make a guess at the colour
-it once enjoyed.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Entering by this door, I found myself in a stuffy,
-dirty hall, "<i><span lang="it_IT">a terreno</span></i>" pervaded by a multitude of
-vile smells, one more awful than the other, but all
-so dovetailed and commingled that it was perfectly
-impossible to tell what the composition was.
-Turning sharp to the left, we mounted a steep
-stone staircase, at the top of which we were greeted
-by the same odour that had met us on entering,
-in which now the smell of assafœtida and
-garlic clearly predominated. We found ourselves
-in the kitchen of the establishment, over
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_285' name='Page_285' href='#Page_285'>285</a></span>
-which reigned supreme a good-humoured, fat
-German <i>Frau</i> of fifty or more, assisted by two
-bright-eyed, sharp-looking Dalmatian lads, begrimed
-with dirt and shining with grease and
-perspiration. The <i>Frau</i> piloted us through this
-kitchen, where the heat must have been 110°, if
-not more, and brought us into the dining-room,
-a pretty good-sized room with windows round the
-three sides of it, the furniture consisting solely of
-one long deal table down the middle, and a score
-of rush-bottomed chairs around it. At this table
-were seated a dozen or so of German officers
-demolishing their "early bit."
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I was here received by the <i><span lang="de_DE">Frau's</span></i> worse half,
-a portly man of sixty or thereabouts. His coat
-was off, but he had on instead a huge pair of silver
-spectacles. He at once showed me to my seat at the
-table, when I apologised, through the Baron, to
-the officers for disturbing them at their breakfast.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Notwithstanding the unpromising condition of
-things, the breakfast was excellent; but mine
-host in the shirt sleeves, with whom I kept up
-a running conversation in Italian, was even better.
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_286' name='Page_286' href='#Page_286'>286</a></span>
-An Italian by birth and education (for he was
-very well educated), he had rambled all over the
-Austrian dominions and the Turkish provinces in
-Europe. He had forgotten most of his native
-tongue without learning any other, and the jargon
-he spoke was something marvellous. Still, he
-varied this <i>pot-pourri</i> according to the nationality
-of those he addressed. The foundation was
-always Italian, but if he spoke to an Austrian
-the German element would predominate, while if
-he spoke to a Montenegrin the Slave would be
-in the ascendant. He was a most amusing character,
-and combined in himself the functions of
-doctor, dentist and apothecary, as well as that
-of keeper of a restaurant in Budua—hence the
-villainous combination of the odours of a scullery,
-a kitchen, and a pharmacy.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-In spite of his griminess and the vile odours,
-I had some very pleasant conversation with him.
-I found him very well informed, and he gave
-me a most interesting account of the last descent
-of the Montenegrins. He had a most unconquerable
-horror of my favourite mountaineers,
-and believed there could be no peace nor prosperity
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_287' name='Page_287' href='#Page_287'>287</a></span>
-in that part of the world until they should
-be all exterminated.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Having finished our breakfast, Heydeg and I
-strolled outside the walls to where the market is
-held under some magnificent old carob trees, and
-there, as at Cattaro, were numbers of Montenegrins
-disposing of their produce. Here we had some
-delicious fresh figs, and then lighting our cigars
-we went round the old fortifications, which are
-now only just sufficient for protection at night
-against any sudden incursion of the wild tribes
-of the interior. Then we had a good bathe in
-a most delicious little cove, entirely girt round
-with rocks, and with a sandy bottom that felt
-like velvet under our feet. We then again lit
-another cigar, and started on a tour of exploration
-through this old town.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Budua, situated at the extreme end of Dalmatia,
-in what used to be called Northern Albania, is
-the last Austrian city on the coast of the Adriatic.
-It is built on a low rocky promontory, and
-possesses no interest, save in its picturesque
-appearance, which it derives from its mediæval
-walls and machicolated towers—useless, indeed,
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_288' name='Page_288' href='#Page_288'>288</a></span>
-against a civilized enemy, but still offering some
-protection against possible irruptions from
-Albanian freebooters. It is especially picturesque
-as seen from the sea, with its rugged background
-of naked mountains. Immediately about it there
-is some cultivation on the narrow strip of land
-which lies between the mountains and the sea;
-and corn, vines, olive trees, and mulberries for the
-rearing of silk-worms, are diligently grown.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Inside, it is not attractive—its streets are
-extremely narrow, no more than six feet wide
-in many instances; they are, however, well paved,
-and would do well enough, were it not for the
-utter disregard to cleanliness and drainage. Still
-there are some wealthy people living there, and
-many of the houses are very good and substantial.
-There are several good shops, (perhaps
-the word stores would best describe them), where
-a brisk trade seemed to be carried on. The
-Baron and I poked our way through all the
-nooks and crannies of the place. We found
-nothing to invite attention, but a great deal to
-shock the sight, and even the sense of smell.
-So we hurried on and went to pay a visit to
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_289' name='Page_289' href='#Page_289'>289</a></span>
-my buxom Ballinrobe friend, who had not only
-quite forgotten her ancestral brogue, but had
-actually exchanged it for a decided American
-accent, which, to my ears, was not an improvement.
-She offered us neither English tea nor Irish
-whiskey punch, but gave us some delicious
-lemonade and maraschino; and showed by her
-manner that, if the brogue was gone, the hearty
-Irish welcome was there still.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-From thence I went with the Baron to his own
-little apartment, which opened on to an enchanting
-little terrace, covered over with a grand "<i>pergola</i>"
-of vines, under whose refreshing shade we smoked
-away the time till we should go to dinner.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-We had not been long enjoying an excellent
-repast at our pharmaceutical (deuced hard name
-to spell, by-the-by) restaurant when we were
-informed that the steamer for Corfu was entering
-the harbour, and would leave in two hours.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The time for parting had come at last, fresh
-bottles were tapped, and we all drank each others'
-health, and a happy journey to me amidst noisy
-demonstrations and much clinking of glasses.
-Dinner being at last completed, we all arose and
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_290' name='Page_290' href='#Page_290'>290</a></span>
-walked in a body to the Mole, where, my
-luggage having preceded me, I went at once on
-board. There was no time for lengthy adieux,
-the steamer was whistling, and almost while we
-were shaking hands she cast off her moorings, and
-we were off.
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter p4">
-<img src="images/i-056.jpg" width="150" height="112" alt="Decoration" />
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_291' name='Page_291' href='#Page_291'>291</a></span>
-</div>
-
-<div class="figcenter p6">
-<img src="images/flowers.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
-</div>
-
-<h2>
-CHAPTER XXII.
-</h2>
-
-<p class="ch_summ">
-TOWN OF ANTIVARI—FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF TURKEY—ORIENTAL
-PASSENGERS—VALUE OF A KNOWLEDGE OF ARABIC OR
-TURKISH—A MAHOMETAN MERCHANT AND HIS FAMILY—TURKISH
-TROOPS IN ALBANIA—TOWN AND FORTRESS OF
-CASTEL DURAZZO—RETURN TO TRIESTE—FAREWELL TO THE
-READER.
-</p>
-
-<div>
-<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropa.jpg" width="100" height="108" alt="" />
-</div>
-<p class="drop-cap">
-AFTER leaving Budua we kept close
-in shore, enjoying the wild rugged
-scenery of the Dalmatian coast till
-we reached Antivari, where we first came into
-immediate contact with the Turks on their own
-Ottoman soil. The first impression, I must confess,
-was certainly not a favourable one.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Should any one of my readers, with a bias in
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_292' name='Page_292' href='#Page_292'>292</a></span>
-favour of Ottomans and Ottoman rule, ever determine
-on visiting Turkey, let him not receive his
-first impression of that empire by a visit to
-Antivari. A few wretched hovels, a miserable
-white-washed house, with a small and dirty red
-flag over it; a group of miserably-dressed, vile-countenanced,
-ragamuffin-looking soldiers, in
-baggy blue trousers and crimson fezzes, constituted
-all the features of the place. The
-town of Antivari itself, I heard, was a few
-miles inland, but if one may judge of the town
-from its villainous port, it must be wretched in the
-extreme.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The steamer remained here a couple of hours
-to land goods and take in passengers, but as the
-heat was excessive and the prospect of the country
-most unpromising, I made no attempt to land. I
-did not however lack entertainment, and while I
-lounged over the bulwarks on the shady side
-of the steamer, I amused myself pitching half-francs
-into the water, which was of very considerable
-depth and of the clearest and limpidest
-blue, to half a score or so of lads and small boys
-who were swimming, and diving, and treading the
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_293' name='Page_293' href='#Page_293'>293</a></span>
-water in the most surprising manner; they seemed
-just as much at home in the sea as on the land,
-and fetched up the coins from the bottom as
-easily as I could have picked them up from the
-deck.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-When tired of looking at the swimmers, I
-turned to watch the new arrivals, of which we
-had a considerable number, all Orientals, and
-almost all deck passengers. The first which
-caught my eye, coming up the side of the steamer,
-was a wretched-looking, squalid creature, dressed
-in rags, but most picturesque withal. He was
-small, slight, and extremely dark, just short of
-black, but with distinctly Caucasian features, not
-a negroid by any means. He had a small
-bundle over his shoulders, and in his right
-hand he carried a short lance, with a very
-bright steel head, ornamented with a few lines
-of Damascene work in gold. His head was
-covered with a somewhat conical-shaped cap,
-encircled with a scanty and very ragged green
-turban, while at his side he carried a moderate
-sized bottle-gourd. He was a very singular
-looking being, and all I could make out through
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_294' name='Page_294' href='#Page_294'>294</a></span>
-the captain was that he thought he was a
-dervish returning home from visiting some
-sacred shrine in Mahomedan Europe. As
-to his home, he suspected from his costume
-it might be in Kurdistan, but it was very
-much guess work, as the Captain spoke neither
-Arabic nor Turkish.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Another interesting group consisted of three
-gaily dressed Orientals, in bag trousers tight at
-the knees, turban, and highly embroidered jackets.
-They made their way to the quarter-deck abaft
-the paddle box, and were about being summarily
-ejected by the steward in consequence of being
-deck passengers, when I interposed, and got him
-to let them stay for a while. They perfectly
-well understood that it was owing to my interference
-they were allowed to remain, and so we
-knocked up a sort of acquaintance, and carried
-on a lame, very lame conversation by the help
-of the youngest, who could speak a very few
-words of Italian. I could not make out any
-thing about them, whence they came, or whither
-they were going, but from their features I
-could easily see they were Asiatics, Arabs most
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_295' name='Page_295' href='#Page_295'>295</a></span>
-probably, and the youngest, who was also the
-lightest in colour, had three scars on each
-cheek, not unlike in shape to our broad
-arrow.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-How I longed for a knowledge of Arabic,
-how I envied Captain Burton! If he had been
-there we should at once have known all about them,
-and the dervish and everyone else, including a
-tall, handsome Soudani slave, who kept grinning
-and showing his teeth from ear to ear,
-while I was carrying on my lame conversation with
-the Arabs.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Up to this point, Italian and German had
-enabled me to get on famously; but now that
-I was getting among Asiatics, although I was
-still in Europe, I felt my utter helplessness,
-and the absolute necessity for a knowledge of
-the language of the Koran, for those who
-wish to visit the East with pleasure and
-profit.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The whole deck forward was encumbered
-with passengers. In one corner seated on a
-pile of luggage, but well bolstered up by rolls
-of Persian carpets, was a most truculent-looking
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_296' name='Page_296' href='#Page_296'>296</a></span>
-Oriental, attended by an intelligent-looking young
-negro, with a most astonishing Caucasian type
-of countenance. He wore nothing but a white
-calico sort of shirt with loose sleeves, and a
-string of red beads round his neck. He had
-none of the characteristics of the negro except
-the colour; had I known anything of Arabic, I
-could most probably have learnt something about
-his origin.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-In another corner of the deck a Mahomedan
-merchant (as I was informed he was) had contrived
-to screen off a place for himself and his
-family, one of whom, about three years old, was
-sprawling stark naked on a rug in the broiling
-sun, while a closely veiled female, his mother I
-suppose, was chasing small deer all over his person,
-which was closely spotted as if with measles—but
-they were only bites!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Quite at the prow of the vessel, somewhat apart,
-and separated from the rest, was a military officer,
-evidently of some considerable rank, if one could
-judge by the orders and stars fastened to his
-breast, his handsome hilted sabre, and his patent
-leather boots. He was a heavy morose-looking
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_297' name='Page_297' href='#Page_297'>297</a></span>
-man of about fifty, with close cropped black beard,
-blue Turkish uniform, and crimson fez. I was
-told he was a real pasha, and had with him a
-suite of two officers and half a dozen soldiers.
-He was only a deck passenger like the others;
-but whether he travelled so from poverty,
-from motives of economy, or from scorning to
-associate with the hated and <i>envied</i> Nazarenes,
-I cannot tell, though I strongly suspect
-that genuine impecuniosity was the real cause
-of it.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The Turkish troops I saw in this part of
-Albania were the most wretched specimens I
-ever witnessed, small, mean, dirty, disreputable-looking
-in the extreme, and their officers matched
-them to perfection. Having remarked on their
-appearance, I was told by the captain of the
-steamer not to form an opinion of the Ottoman army
-by such samples, as they always sent their worst
-regiments to Albania, and that these wretched
-troops, both officers and men, were always months in
-arrears of pay.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-At last every one was on board, the last package
-was hoisted over the side, and again we were
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_298' name='Page_298' href='#Page_298'>298</a></span>
-steaming down southwards. The afternoon was
-very enjoyable, the heat much less, and as
-the number of cabin passengers was small, we
-were able to have our supper on deck, which we
-enjoyed immensely.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-After the meal was concluded, I again went forward
-among the natives, and soon made friends
-with many of the dusky passengers by means of a
-few signs; but our conversation was not lively—signs
-and gesticulations and dumb show were the
-principal means of conversation—of language we
-made little or no use. Had I known ever so little
-of Arabic we could have got on fairly enough—the
-pantomime of these Orientals being so wonderfully
-expressive. So I returned to the quarter-deck,
-where I had some coffee with the captain, and then
-feeling tired, I went down to my <i>camerino</i>, and
-was soon asleep.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-On awaking the next morning I found we
-were at anchor opposite the town and fortress of
-Castel Durazzo, telling of its Venetian origin by
-its name. Here we remained a few hours, but the
-place did not look attractive, and as I did not feel
-quite "the thing," I did not go on shore, but
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_299' name='Page_299' href='#Page_299'>299</a></span>
-remained on deck looking at the motley groups as
-they passed up and down. Again we had the usual
-interchange of passengers and goods, and after a
-few hours' delay we were just about steaming
-away when the return steamer from Corfu came
-alongside of us.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-As chance would have it, it turned out to be
-the very boat which had brought me down to
-Cattaro; and no sooner did the captain spy me
-out on deck than he shouted that the quarantine had
-been declared at Corfu against all vessels coming from
-Trieste, and that if I went on I should be detained
-to perform fourteen days of quarantine in the
-Lazzaretto, instead of being allowed to continue
-my journey on to Constantinople. I asked him
-to come over, which he did at once, and having
-held a consultation with the other captain, who
-entirely agreed with him that I should most certainly
-be detained a fortnight at Corfu, and be
-compelled to perform my quarantine in the
-Lazzaretto, I determined on returning to Trieste.
-Fourteen days in a Lazzaretto anywhere would be
-a severe ordeal, but fourteen days of such an
-imprisonment during the dog-days at Corfu could
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_300' name='Page_300' href='#Page_300'>300</a></span>
-not possibly have been faced; it would not only have
-been a severe trial of patience in every shape and
-form, but might have been conducive to serious
-illness.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-There was no time to be lost, so my luggage
-was at once put into the captain's boat, and in a
-few minutes I again found myself on board the
-old steamer, where Giovanni, the steward, greeted
-me as if I had been an old friend.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-At sunset we steamed away northward from
-Castel Durazzo. The captain was delighted to
-see me again, and Giovanni was most affable,
-doing his utmost to promote my happiness.
-But like Rachel of old I would not be comforted,
-all my plans were thoroughly upset; I could not
-bring myself to make fresh arrangements. I was
-turning my back on my beloved South and I was
-retracing my steps—both things I utterly detested.
-But <i><span lang="it_IT">non ci era rimedio</span></i>, the quarantine and the
-Lazzaretto I could not face, so there was
-nothing else to do but resign oneself to the
-fates.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The next morning we came abreast of Budua,
-but I did not land as I did not feel well. I
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_301' name='Page_301' href='#Page_301'>301</a></span>
-screwed up my courage, however, and attempted
-a little sketch of its castle and harbour, with
-its blue sea and its background of rocky
-mountains. After a little, and just as we were
-leaving the place, I felt worse, so I took some
-medicine and went to lie down. In two hours
-more I was in high fever, with a racking pain
-in my head and back, and I felt my mind almost
-wandering. We reached the Bocche that evening,
-but the beauties of the Fjord were lost to me—I
-lay in my cabin prostrated. Giovanni came
-instantly to see me, trying to comfort me by
-telling me I had only caught "<i><span lang="it_IT">la febbre</span></i>," and
-that I should send for the doctor at Cattaro to
-get myself bled, and take quinine, when I should
-be all right. I think that the idea of Giovanni's
-bringing a doctor and having me bled, <i><span lang="la">nolens
-volens</span></i>, roused me up. I made myself some tea,
-and just as we reached Cattaro I felt much
-better—the fever had abated, and now, said I,
-is the time to take the quinine.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I had brought lots of it with me, so I measured
-out as much as I could pile upon a shilling, and
-bolted it. It certainly cut short the disease, as
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_302' name='Page_302' href='#Page_302'>302</a></span>
-the fever did not set in again; but I was not
-well for many days after, and even when I
-arrived at Trieste I felt quite weak and out
-of sorts.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The next morning early we left Cattaro, and
-in the afternoon got to Gravosa. I felt somewhat
-better, and hearing that Consul Paton, who was
-then alive, and his family were in a villa just opposite
-to where the steamer was moored, I took a boat and
-spent two delightful hours with them, till the
-steam-whistle told me how quickly the time
-had flown. I reluctantly made my adieux, and
-soon was steaming out of the harbour.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-It wanted scarcely an hour of sunset: the sun
-was low in the horizon—all the lights and
-shades were the more intensely marked, while
-the constantly changing tints, from brightest rose
-and golden yellow to the deepest violets and
-blues, created such a fairy scene that I would not
-venture to describe it.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-I was in the fullest enjoyment of that sunset,
-gazing on where the sun was just dipping into
-the sea, sending a flood of golden light along the
-surface from himself to us, when the captain
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_303' name='Page_303' href='#Page_303'>303</a></span>
-tapped me on the shoulder, saying, "<i><span lang="it_IT">Vada giù</span></i>, you
-had <i><span lang="it_IT">la febbre</span></i> last night; don't expose yourself
-to the air <i><span lang="it_IT">al tramonto</span></i>;" so I took his advice,
-and went down below, notwithstanding the heat,
-and so ended the 23rd day of July!
-</p>
-
-<p>
-The following day saw us at Lesina and at
-Curzola, and again at Lissa. The day after
-brought us abreast of Spalato, where again I
-enjoyed a couple of hours' ramble among those
-glorious ruins. Then we cruised through the
-countless islands near the mouth of the Quarnero,
-and finally reached Trieste, where, after having
-enjoyed two pleasant days with Captain Burton
-and his charming and talented lady, I turned my
-steps towards home.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-Here I take my leave of the reader. If he shall
-be disappointed with my style and my many shortcomings
-I shall not be surprised; but I shall be
-disappointed indeed if, following a somewhat
-similar track to the one I have been tracing,
-only penetrating, if possible, more into Servia
-proper, and going across it from the Danube to
-the Adriatic, he shall not feel himself amply repaid
-<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_304' name='Page_304' href='#Page_304'>304</a></span>
-by having taken my advice in visiting
-those countries which I have endeavoured to
-describe.
-</p>
-
-<p class="center p4">
-THE END.
-</p>
-
-<hr />
-
-<p class="center s05">
-London: Printed by A. Schulze, 13, Poland Street.
-</p>
-
-<div class='footnotes'>
-<h2 class="fntitle">
-FOOTNOTES:
-</h2>
-
-<p class='footnote' id='FN_1'>
-<span class='fnlabel'><a href='#FA_1'>[1]</a></span> Since writing the above I have obtained the following authentic
-description of this ship. The "Lissa" ironclad was built at Trieste.
-She is a full-rigged casemated ironclad of 5950 tons, 320 feet long, 60
-feet beam, and drawing 28 feet of water. Armoured with 6-inch Austrian
-plates, the armament consisting of ten 9-inch breech-loading
-Krupp guns in her maindeck casemate, and two 9-inch breech-loading
-Krupp guns on turn-tables in semi-circular overhanging casemates on
-the open deck, the guns being protected from above by a sort of
-central hurricane deck. The "Lissa" steams at the rate of twelve
-knots, and carries coals for 420 hours; among other improvements
-she has a powerful electric light placed on the bridge, and gimballed,
-so as to allow it to be thrown in any direction.
-</p>
-
-<p class='footnote' id='FN_2'>
-<span class='fnlabel'><a href='#FA_2'>[2]</a></span> Sir J. G. Wilkinson's "Dalmatia and Montenegro."
-</p>
-
-<p class='footnote' id='FN_3'>
-<span class='fnlabel'><a href='#FA_3'>[3]</a></span> Lady Strangford's "Eastern Shores of the Adriatic."
-</p>
-
-<p class='footnote' id='FN_4'>
-<span class='fnlabel'><a href='#FA_4'>[4]</a></span> In August, 1647, a Pasha of Bosnia, pouring an army of 30,000
-men into the lowlands, attempted the capture of Sebenico and its
-fort; but it was so well defended by the 6000 Venetians and German
-mercenaries of the garrison, that after twenty-six days' cannonade the
-Pasha was obliged to retire.
-</p>
-
-<p class='footnote' id='FN_5'>
-<span class='fnlabel'><a href='#FA_5'>[5]</a></span> The brave King Richard, having recruited himself at Ragusa, is
-said, by some, to have gone to Aquileia by sea, by others to have
-continued his journey by land; anyhow, it is pretty certain, that
-having stopped to take some refreshment at a way-side inn in the
-mountains of Dalmatia, or Styria, he incautiously handed a large
-gold piece to the landlady to change, and her suspicions being roused
-by this circumstance, she informed the authorities; and the end was
-that the King was seized by the treacherous Leopold of Austria, and
-imprisoned, as everyone knows. There is a tradition, however, which
-is not so well known, that shortly after his treacherous conduct
-to his brother-in-arms, Leopold of Austria, when out hunting, met
-with a severe injury to his right leg—surgery was not then what
-it is now—the limb mortified, and it was agreed on all hands
-that nothing could save the Prince's life but amputation. But who
-was to do it? No one would venture—when Leopold himself proposed
-that a sharp hatchet should be laid across his limb, and that,
-at his word of command, it should be struck with a ponderous mallet,
-when it was expected that the limb would be severed. The operation
-succeeded so far as the cutting went, but the bystanders were unable
-to staunch the blood, and the Prince bled to death—a fitting retribution
-for his treachery.
-</p>
-
-<p class='footnote' id='FN_6'>
-<span class='fnlabel'><a href='#FA_6'>[6]</a></span> The story, as well as I remember it, was as follows:—A probably
-well-meaning but decidedly weak-minded Protestant, bent on missionary
-work, arrived one day at Tangier. He had never been in
-the East, and did not know a word of Arabic. He was determined,
-however, to improve the opportunity by letting in a ray of Gospel
-truth into the minds of the benighted Mussulmans. That he did not
-know a word of their native language was no obstacle to this energetic
-missionary, he would employ an interpreter. Having found one in
-the person of a 'Gibraltar Jew,' he explained to him what he wanted;
-the bargain was soon struck, and the Jew undertook, for a consideration,
-to interpret for him on the next market day. He, however,
-advised the missionary to have a certain quantity of tobacco and coffee
-ready to treat the assembled hearers, as it was always customary to
-do so in that country whenever an important meeting was held—to
-which the missionary at once consented. The fact of the danger he
-would be running into himself, dragging his interpreter after him,
-from telling the most bigoted perhaps of all Mussulmans, that their
-religion was false, and their Prophet an emissary of the Evil One,
-never once entered into his head; but, fortunately for them both, the
-Jew had more brain than his employer. Market-day came, and the
-Jew had bespoke, in a couple of cafés, a large supply of coffee. The
-town and country people having been informed that an "Effendi
-Engleez" would make a great speech to them, they collected in large
-numbers in the market-place, where they squatted down round a
-hogshead, on which the missionary was mounted. He at once began
-in the usual terms—his religion was the only true one, and all those
-who differed from him went straight down head foremost into Gehenna,
-which the wise Jew translated thus: "The Effendi has come all the
-way from England to get cured; he is mad, but quite harmless, and
-if you only have patience, you will get plenty of coffee." And so the
-missionary went on ringing the changes on his subject, whilst the
-wiser Jew rang the changes on his; which, however, always ended in
-the stereotyped, "and you'll get plenty of coffee." The report, probably
-made to head-quarters by that enterprising missionary, would
-be interesting to read, especially by the light thrown upon it by the
-interpreter; and how many more missionary efforts might prove
-equally distressing could we but have together with the sermon the
-running commentary of a non-interested looker-on.
-</p>
-
-<p class='footnote' id='FN_7'>
-<span class='fnlabel'><a href='#FA_7'>[7]</a></span> I had taken exact measurements, but some of my notes were
-unfortunately lost—the above measurements are, therefore, only
-approximative.
-</p>
-
-<p class='footnote' id='FN_8'>
-<span class='fnlabel'><a href='#FA_8'>[8]</a></span> I was informed at Cettigne that trout were caught in the Moratcha
-of fifty or sixty pounds weight; not salmon, for the Moratcha
-does not go to the sea, and if it did go, there are no salmon in the
-Adriatic. Thinking it must be a joke, I asked several persons of
-standing, who all assured me that it was perfectly true. I regret that
-being unprovided with tackle, in addition to being short of time, I
-was unable to test the accuracy of these assertions, mainly in reference
-to my readers, because as to myself I have no reason whatever to doubt
-the truth, accuracy, and bona-fides of my informants; I fully accept
-what I heard from them, especially from my previous knowledge of
-the amazing number and size of the trout in the Servian rivers.
-</p>
-
-</div>
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-<pre>
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Rambles in Istria, Dalmatia and
-Montenegro, by R. H. R.
-
-*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAMBLES--ISTRIA, DALMATIA, MONTENEGRO ***
-
-***** This file should be named 57400-h.htm or 57400-h.zip *****
-This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
-        http://www.gutenberg.org/5/7/4/0/57400/
-
-Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed
-Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
-produced from images generously made available by The
-Internet Archive)
-
-Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will
-be renamed.
-
-Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
-law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
-so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
-States without permission and without paying copyright
-royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
-of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
-concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
-and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive
-specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this
-eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook
-for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports,
-performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given
-away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks
-not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the
-trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.
-
-START: FULL LICENSE
-
-THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
-PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
-
-To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
-distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
-(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
-Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
-www.gutenberg.org/license.
-
-Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-
-1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
-and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
-(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
-the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
-destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your
-possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
-Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
-by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the
-person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph
-1.E.8.
-
-1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
-used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
-agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
-things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
-paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this
-agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
-
-1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the
-Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
-of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual
-works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
-States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
-United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
-claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
-displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
-all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
-that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting
-free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm
-works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
-Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily
-comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
-same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when
-you share it without charge with others.
-
-1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
-what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
-in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
-check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
-agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
-distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
-other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no
-representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
-country outside the United States.
-
-1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
-
-1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
-immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear
-prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work
-on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the
-phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed,
-performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
-
-  This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-  most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
-  restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
-  under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
-  eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
-  United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you
-  are located before using this ebook.
-
-1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is
-derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
-contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
-copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
-the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
-redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project
-Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
-either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
-obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm
-trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
-with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
-must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
-additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
-will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works
-posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
-beginning of this work.
-
-1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
-License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
-work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
-
-1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
-electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
-prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
-active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm License.
-
-1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
-compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
-any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
-to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format
-other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official
-version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site
-(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
-to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
-of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain
-Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the
-full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
-
-1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
-performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
-unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
-
-1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
-access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
-provided that
-
-* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
-  the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
-  you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
-  to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has
-  agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
-  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
-  within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
-  legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
-  payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
-  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
-  Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
-  Literary Archive Foundation."
-
-* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
-  you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
-  does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
-  License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
-  copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
-  all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm
-  works.
-
-* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
-  any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
-  electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
-  receipt of the work.
-
-* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
-  distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
-
-1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than
-are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
-from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The
-Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm
-trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
-
-1.F.
-
-1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
-effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
-works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
-Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
-contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
-or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
-intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
-other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
-cannot be read by your equipment.
-
-1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
-of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
-Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
-liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
-fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
-LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
-PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
-TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
-LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
-INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
-DAMAGE.
-
-1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
-defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
-receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
-written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
-received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
-with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
-with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
-lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
-or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
-opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
-the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
-without further opportunities to fix the problem.
-
-1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
-in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO
-OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
-LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
-
-1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
-warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
-damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
-violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
-agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
-limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
-unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
-remaining provisions.
-
-1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
-trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
-providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in
-accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
-production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
-electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
-including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
-the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
-or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or
-additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any
-Defect you cause.
-
-Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
-electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
-computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
-exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
-from people in all walks of life.
-
-Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
-assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
-goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
-remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
-Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
-and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future
-generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
-Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
-www.gutenberg.org
-
-
-
-Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
-
-The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
-501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
-state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
-Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
-number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
-U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
-
-The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the
-mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its
-volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous
-locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt
-Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to
-date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and
-official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
-
-For additional contact information:
-
-    Dr. Gregory B. Newby
-    Chief Executive and Director
-    gbnewby@pglaf.org
-
-Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
-Literary Archive Foundation
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
-spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
-increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
-freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
-array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
-($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
-status with the IRS.
-
-The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
-charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
-States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
-considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
-with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
-where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
-DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular
-state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
-have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
-against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
-approach us with offers to donate.
-
-International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
-any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
-outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
-
-Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
-methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
-ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
-donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
-
-Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works.
-
-Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
-Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be
-freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
-distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of
-volunteer support.
-
-Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
-editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
-the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
-necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
-edition.
-
-Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search
-facility: www.gutenberg.org
-
-This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
-including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
-Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
-subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
-
-
-
-</pre>
-
-</body>
-</html>
+<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+    "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" />
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Rambles in Istria, Dalmatia, and Montenegro., by R. H. R..
+    </title>
+    <link rel="coverpage" href="images/title-page.jpg" />
+    <style type="text/css">
+
+body {
+    margin-left: 10%;
+    margin-right: 10%;
+}
+
+h1,h2 {
+    text-align: center;
+    clear: both;
+}
+
+h2 {
+    margin-top: 4em;}
+
+.fntitle {margin-top: 1em;
+        font-size: 1.1em;}
+
+p {
+    margin-top: .75em;
+    margin-bottom: .75em;
+    line-height: 1.3em;
+    text-align: justify;
+    text-indent: 1.75em;
+}
+
+p.post {text-indent: 0em;}
+
+.pagenum {
+    position: absolute;
+    left: 92%;
+    font-size: smaller;
+    text-align: right;
+    text-indent: 1.75em;
+}
+hr {
+    width: 33%;
+    margin-top: 4em;
+    margin-bottom: 0em;
+    margin-left: auto;
+    margin-right: auto;
+    clear: both;
+}
+
+hr.l15 {
+    width: 15%;
+}
+
+.center {
+    text-align: center;
+}
+
+.smcap {
+	font-variant: small-caps;
+}
+
+.figcenter {
+    margin: auto;
+    text-align: center;
+    margin-top: 4em;
+}
+
+.footnote {
+	margin-left: 10%;
+	margin-right: 10%;
+	margin-top: 1em;
+	font-size: 0.9em;
+          text-indent: 0em;
+}
+
+.footnotes {
+         margin-top: 6em;
+	border: dashed 1px;
+}
+
+.footnote .fnlabel {
+	position: absolute;
+	right: 84%;
+	text-align: right;
+}
+
+.fnanchor {
+    vertical-align: super;
+    font-size: .8em;
+    text-decoration:
+    none;
+}
+
+.poetry-container {  text-align: center; }
+
+.poem {
+    display: inline-block;
+	font-size: 95%;
+	margin-bottom: 1em;
+	text-align: left; }
+
+.poem p {
+	margin: 0;
+	padding-left: 3em;
+	text-indent: -3em; }
+
+
+.poem p.o1  {
+	margin-left: -.4em;
+}
+
+.p2   {margin-top: 2em;}
+.p4   {margin-top: 4em;}
+.p6   {margin-top: 6em;}
+
+.b20	{font-size:2.0em;}
+.s08 	{font-size:.8em;}
+.s05 	{font-size:.5em;}
+
+table {
+	margin-left: auto;
+	margin-right: auto;
+	empty-cells: show;
+}
+
+td {padding-left: 1em;
+    padding-right: 1em;
+    vertical-align: top;
+}
+
+.tdr {
+	text-align: right;
+          vertical-align: bottom;
+}
+
+.tdchap { text-align: center;
+          padding-top: .75em;}
+
+.tdh { text-indent: -1em;
+       text-align: left;
+       margin-left: 1em;}
+
+img.drop-cap
+{
+ float: left;
+ margin: 0 0.5em 0 0;
+}
+
+p.drop-cap:first-letter
+{
+ color: transparent;
+ visibility: hidden;
+ margin-left: -0.9em;
+}
+
+p.drop-cap {text-indent: .25em;}
+
+.tnbox {
+   margin-left: 5%;
+   margin-right: 5%;
+   margin-bottom: 8em;
+   margin-top: 4em;
+   text-align: center;
+   border: 1px solid;
+   padding: 1em;
+   color: black;
+   background-color: #f6f2f2;
+}
+
+ul.none {
+	list-style-type:none;
+          text-align: left;
+}
+
+.ch_summ {
+    font-size: .85em;
+    margin-left: 1em;
+    margin-top: 1.5em;
+    margin-bottom: 2.5em;
+    text-indent: -1em;
+    text-align: left;
+}
+
+.hidev {visibility: hidden;}
+
+@media print, handheld
+{
+    h1 {page-break-before: always;}
+
+    p {
+        margin-top: .5em;
+        text-align:  justify;
+        margin-bottom: .25em;
+    }
+
+    table {width: 100%; max-width: 100%;}
+
+}
+
+@media handheld
+{
+    body {margin: 0;}
+
+    hr {
+        margin-top: .1em;
+        margin-bottom: .1em;
+        visibility: hidden;
+        color: white;
+        width: .01em;
+        display: none;
+    }
+
+    .tnbox {
+        page-break-inside: avoid;
+        margin-left: 2%;
+        margin-right: 2%;
+        margin-top: 1em;
+        margin-bottom: 1em;
+        padding: .5em;
+    }
+
+    img.drop-cap
+    {
+      display: none;
+    }
+
+    p.drop-cap:first-letter
+    {
+      color: inherit;
+      visibility: visible;
+      margin-left: 0;
+    }
+
+    .poem  {
+           display: block;
+           margin-left: 5%;
+           margin-right: 10%;
+     }
+
+
+}
+
+    </style>
+  </head>
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+Project Gutenberg's Rambles in Istria, Dalmatia and Montenegro, by R. H. R.
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
+other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
+the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
+to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
+
+Title: Rambles in Istria, Dalmatia and Montenegro
+
+Author: R. H. R.
+
+Release Date: June 25, 2018 [EBook #57400]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAMBLES--ISTRIA, DALMATIA, MONTENEGRO ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="tnbox">
+<p class="center">
+<b>Transcriber's Note:</b>
+</p>
+<p>
+  Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have
+  been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
+</p>
+<p>
+  The following alternative spellings were identified and left
+  unchanged.
+</p>
+<ul class="none">
+<li>zigzags and zig-zags</li>
+<li>Broniewsky and Broniewski</li>
+<li>Petersburg and Petersburgh</li>
+<li>Niegosh and Niegosch</li>
+<li>Mahomedan and Mahommedan</li>
+<li>Roganovitch and Roganovich</li>
+<li>Vissegrad and Wissegrad</li>
+<li>trowsers and trousers</li>
+</ul>
+
+</div>
+
+<h1>
+RAMBLES IN ISTRIA, DALMATIA,<br />
+<span class="s05">AND</span><br />
+MONTENEGRO.
+</h1>
+
+<p class="post center b20 p6">
+RAMBLES IN ISTRIA,
+<br />
+DALMATIA AND MONTENEGRO.
+</p>
+<p class="post center p4">
+<span class="s08">BY</span>
+<br />
+R. H. R.
+</p>
+
+<p class="post center s08 p4">
+"<span lang="it_IT">Dirvi ch'io sia, saria parlar indarno.</span>"—<span class="smcap">DANTE.</span>
+</p>
+
+<p class="post center p4">
+<i>IN ONE VOLUME.</i>
+</p>
+<p class="post center p4">
+LONDON:<br />
+HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS.<br />
+13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.<br />
+1875.<br />
+<span class="s05"><i>All rights reserved.</i></span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p6">
+<img src="images/wroughtiron.jpg" width="400" height="87" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+PREFACE.
+</h2>
+
+<div>
+  <img class="drop-cap" src="images/drope.jpg" width="100" height="111" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p class="drop-cap">
+Every year more and more is the constantly
+recurring question ever put
+"Where shall we go to this Summer?"
+and every year the field for selection gets narrower
+and narrower.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In writing the following pages, my object has
+been less to make a book than to point out to those
+who are tired of the old beaten tracks, countries
+within easy reach of London, but seldom visited,
+and quite outside the lines affected by the typical
+tourist:—countries where at moderate expense and
+with total freedom from danger they may enjoy new
+scenery, receive fresh impressions, acquire new
+information; and if by so doing I shall have
+suggested to others one more field for exploration
+that shall afford them half the enjoyment which I
+experienced during my wanderings, I shall consider
+myself very amply rewarded.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p4">
+<img src="images/oak.jpg" width="141" height="52" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter p6">
+<img src="images/dragons.jpg" width="400" height="86" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+CONTENTS.
+</h2>
+
+<hr class="l15" />
+
+<table summary="Table of Contents">
+<tr>
+<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER I.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdh">
+A CONVERSATION—WHERE SHALL WE GO FOR A HOLIDAY TRIP—ATTRACTIONS
+OF LAPLAND—REMINISCENCES OF ITALY—THE
+GRAND TOUR IN FORMER DAYS—HOW TO STUDY HISTORY—DIFFICULTY
+OF FINDING NEW GROUND FOR TRAVEL—AN
+INTERESTING COUNTRY WITHIN FIVE DAYS OF TEMPLE
+BAR</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER II.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdh">MAN PROPOSES, BUT GOD DISPOSES—VIENNA—ST. STEPHEN'S
+CATHEDRAL—OLD CATHEDRALS—SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE—USES
+OF EAU DE COLOGNE—INSECT ATTACKS—THE UNIVERSAL
+EXHIBITION—THE GARDENS AND ACCESSORIES—THE
+LADIES OF VIENNA—NEW OPERA-HOUSE—ON THE
+DANUBE—A WEALTHY PRELATE—WISSEGRAD—ARRIVAL AT
+PESTH</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_14">14</a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_viii' name='Page_viii' href='#Page_viii'>viii</a></span></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER III.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdh">PESTH—HOTEL UNGARIA—BUDA—STORY OF AN ARTIST—PROSPERITY
+OF THE CITY—NEW BRIDGE OVER THE DANUBE—ST.
+MARGUERITE'S ISLAND—ANCIENT ROMAN BATH—CONDITION
+OF HUNGARY—FIELD FOR THE JUNIOR BRANCHES
+OF THE UPPER TEN THOUSAND—KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—THE
+TERMINATION OF TURKISH MISRULE—FUTURE OF
+THE DANUBIAN PRINCIPALITIES</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER IV.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdh">STEINBRÜCK—THE SÖMMERING—FIRST VIEW OF THE ADRIATIC—TRIESTE—SHOCKS
+OF EARTHQUAKE AT BELLUNO—AUSTRIAN
+IRONCLAD 'LISSA'—CAPTAIN R. BURTON—FLYING VISIT TO
+SAN CANZIANO—SUBTERRANEAN COURSE OF A MOUNTAIN
+STREAM—THE KARST—WILD SCENERY—A THUNDER-STORM—CHURCH
+OF SAN CANZIANO—STUD FARM</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_43">43</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER V.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdh">THE "SAN CARLO" AND HER PASSENGERS—A DALMATIAN'S
+REMARKS ON THE PRESERVATION OF HEALTH IN INDIA—DALMATIAN
+DIGGERS FROM AUSTRALIA—COAST OF ISTRIA—PIRANO—CATHEDRAL
+OF PARENZO—ROVIGNO—POLA—THE
+AMPHITHEATRE—PICTURESQUE SIGHT—GIOVANNI ASTONISHED—MONTENEGRIN
+COSTUME—ZARA—EXTREME
+HEAT</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_61">61</a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_ix' name='Page_ix' href='#Page_ix'>ix</a></span></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER VI.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdh">DEPARTURE FROM ZARA—SEBENICO—PLEASANT COMPANIONS—NOBLE
+HARBOUR—THE CATHEDRAL—CURIOUS ROOF—CORAL
+FISHERY—SPALATO—SALONA—DIOCLETIAN'S PALACE—MR.
+PATON'S DESCRIPTION OF IT—BEAUTIFUL SPECTACLE—THE
+PORTA FERREA—QUAINT DWELLINGS—AMBROSIAL TOBACCO</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_79">79</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER VII.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdh">A TYPE OF SHYLOCK—SCENE IN THE STREET—VARIED COSTUMES—MORLACCHI—TURKS
+FROM THE HERZEGOVINA—WOMEN OF
+SPALATO—INSPECTION OF THE CITY—THE PORTA AUREA—COURT
+OF THE VESTIBULE OF THE PALACE—INTERIOR OF
+THE CATHEDRAL—ILLUSTRIOUS MEN OF SPALATO—MARK
+ANTONY DE DOMINIS—ST. JEROME—THE MORLACCHI</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_94">94</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER VIII.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdh">ISLAND OF LISSA—NAVAL BATTLES—A BRIDAL PARTY TAKEN ON
+BOARD—LESINA—FORTRESS OF SAN NICOLO—THE LOGGIE—FORT
+SPAGNUOLO—ISLAND OF CURZOLA—LA CHROMA—BEAUTIFUL
+SCENE—RICHARD CŒUR DE LION—CATHEDRAL OF
+RAGUSA—EARTHQUAKE OF 1667—TERRIBLE CONFLAGRATION—PRINCE
+MAXIMILIAN</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_107">107</a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_x' name='Page_x' href='#Page_x'>x</a></span></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER IX.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdh">THE PADRE ANSELMO—HIS LIFE AND LABOURS AMONG THE
+AMERICAN INDIANS—THE PIONEERS OF CIVILIZATION—AMERICAN
+INDIANS AND NEGROES—PADRE ANSELMO ON PROTESTANT
+AND CATHOLIC MISSIONS—NATIVE CHRISTIANS IN
+INDIA—POPE PIUS IX. ONCE A MISSIONARY—CARDINAL P—.—PORT
+OF GRAVOSA—RAGUSA</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_125">125</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER X.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdh">ATTRACTIONS OF DALMATIA—INTERESTING EXCURSION—ISLAND
+OF LACHROMA—CLIMATE—A. A. PATON, ESQ., FORMERLY
+CONSUL-GENERAL AT RAGUSA—AN ITALIAN DINNER—EPIDAURUS—THE
+CANAL OF CATTARO—TERRITORY OF RAGUSA—TOWER
+OF PERASTO AND FORT OF SANTA CROCE—STRANGELY
+BUILT CHURCH—A PALAZZO—SAN GIORGIO AND LA MADONNA—PICTURE
+ATTRIBUTED TO ST. LUKE</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XI.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdh">CITY OF CATTARO—SIGNOR JACKSCHICH—STREETS AND PIAZZAS—WALKS
+AND FORTIFICATIONS—PUBLIC WALK—CAFÉ AND
+GARDENS—SONOROUS STONE—A MONTENEGRIN CHIEF—A
+HAPPY BEGGAR BOY</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_154">150</a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_xi' name='Page_xi' href='#Page_xi'>xi</a></span></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XII.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdh">MONTENEGRIN TRADERS—LE SCALE DI CATTARO—A GORGEOUSLY-ATTIRED
+MONK—OUR CARAVAN—MONTENEGRINS OF
+THE PRINCE'S BODY-GUARD—INTERESTING VIEW—ABSENCE
+OF TREES ON THE DALMATIAN COAST—A HOME FOR GERMAN
+EMIGRANTS—TURKISH MISRULE IN EUROPE—A FUTURE EMPIRE—A
+MAN FIT TO RULE</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_164">164</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XIII.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdh">THE PRINCE OF MONTENEGRO—UNJUST DEPRIVATION OF TERRITORY—ORIGIN
+OF THE NAME OF THE COUNTRY—A FRIEND
+IN NEED—VILLAGE OF NIEGOSCH—PANORAMA SEEN FROM
+THE TOP OF THE PASS—WILD-LOOKING HERDS AND FLOCKS—MONTENEGRIN
+LEGEND—ARRIVAL AT CETTIGNE—THE
+VLADIKA'S PALACE—THE TREE OF JUSTICE—TOWER OF CETTIGNE</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_177">177</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XIV.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdh">INSECT POWDER OF MONTENEGRO—DESCRIPTION OF THE MONASTERY—ENCAMPMENTS—FESTIVAL
+OF ST. PETER—A SAINT
+BY THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE—PICTURESQUE SCENE—BOSNIAN
+CAFÉ—THE NATIONAL INSTRUMENT—A TRAVELLED
+DALMATIAN—TALL MONTENEGRINS</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_194">194</a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_xii' name='Page_xii' href='#Page_xii'>xii</a></span></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XV.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdh">A POLYGLOT JUMBLE—WAR CUSTOMS OF THE MONTENEGRINS—DEATH
+IN BATTLE—FORAYS FOR THE PLUNDER OF CATTLE—EQUIPAGE
+OF A MONTENEGRIN SOLDIER—PILLAGE—MANNER
+OF FIGHTING—TACTICS—SIGNAL CRIES—ON BOARD
+SHIP—DECAPITATION OF WOUNDED PRISONERS</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_208">208</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XVI.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdh">BATTLE BETWEEN TURKS AND MONTENEGRINS—ADDRESS OF
+PRINCE MIRKO—HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND CHARACTER—THE
+PROJECTS OF PRINCE DANIELO—PRINCE NICHOLAS I.—SPORT
+IN MONTENEGRO—INTERVIEW WITH THE PRINCE
+AND PRINCESS—NATIONAL COSTUME—SPLENDID ILLUMINATION</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_218">218</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XVII.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdh">A WALK WITH THE PRINCE—SALUTATIONS OF THE CROWD—THE
+GUZLA—MONTENEGRIN DANCE—THE PRINCE'S ACCOUNT
+OF ITS ORIGIN—THE CAMP AT NIGHT—ADVENTURE WITH A
+MONTENEGRIN—DEVOTION OF THE PEOPLE TO THEIR
+PRINCE</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_235">235</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XVIII.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdh">FALSE IMPRESSIONS OF MONTENEGRO—AGRICULTURE ON A
+MINOR SCALE—FIELD-LABOURERS—MONTENEGRIN FACCHINI
+AT CONSTANTINOPLE—FEMALE LABOUR—PRODUCTION OF
+SUMACH—COMMERCIAL RELATIONS WITH OTHER COUNTRIES
+IMPEDED—IMPOSING PAGEANT</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_248">248</a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_xiii' name='Page_xiii' href='#Page_xiii'>xiii</a></span></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XIX.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdh">FOOT RACES—MONASTERY OF OSTROG—OTTOMAN ADMINISTRATION—A
+COURSE À LA MONTAGNE—RACING WITHOUT BETTING—BEN
+TROVATO—A FLAT RACE—CONVERSATION ABOUT
+ENGLISH LAWS AND CUSTOMS—LAW OF HABEAS CORPUS</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_258">258</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XX.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdh">DEPARTURE FROM CETTIGNE—RUGGED ROAD—DELIGHTFUL
+VIEW—USEFUL OLD HELMET—NIEGOSH—EXCESSIVE HEAT—THE
+SCALA DI CATTARO—THE BOCCHESI—THE RUSSIAN
+CONSUL—SUNSET AT CATTARO—UNEXPECTED APPEARANCE
+OF PERO PEJOVICH</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_268">268</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XXI.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdh">BEAUTIFUL ROAD—ATTACK OF FEVER—ARRIVAL AT BUDUA—BARON
+HEYDEG AND SIGNOR MARCO MEDIN—A RESTAURANT—OUR
+HOST—DOCTOR, DENTIST AND APOTHECARY—WALK
+ROUND THE FORTIFICATIONS—EXPLORATION OF BUDUA—THE
+PARTING GLASS</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_280">280</a></td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdchap" colspan="2">CHAPTER XXII.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr>
+<td class="tdh">TOWN OF ANTIVARI—FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF TURKEY—ORIENTAL
+PASSENGERS—VALUE OF A KNOWLEDGE OF ARABIC OR
+TURKISH—A MAHOMETAN MERCHANT AND HIS FAMILY—TURKISH
+TROOPS IN ALBANIA—TOWN AND FORTRESS OF
+CASTEL DURAZZO—RETURN TO TRIESTE—FAREWELL TO THE
+READER</td>
+<td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_291">291</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<p class="post">
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_1' name='Page_1' href='#Page_1'>1</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p6">
+<img src="images/fish.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<p class="center p2 b20 post">
+RAMBLES IN ISTRIA, DALMATIA,
+<br />
+<span class="s05">AND</span>
+<br />
+MONTENEGRO.
+</p>
+
+<hr class="l15" />
+
+<h2>
+CHAPTER I.
+</h2>
+
+<p class="ch_summ">
+A CONVERSATION—WHERE SHALL WE GO FOR A HOLIDAY TRIP—ATTRACTIONS
+OF LAPLAND—REMINISCENCES OF ITALY—THE
+GRAND TOUR IN FORMER DAYS—HOW TO STUDY HISTORY—DIFFICULTY
+OF FINDING NEW GROUND FOR TRAVEL—AN
+INTERESTING COUNTRY WITHIN FIVE DAYS OF TEMPLE BAR.
+</p>
+
+<div>
+<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropl.jpg" width="100" height="104" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p class="drop-cap">
+"LET us go to Lapland!" was the
+exclamation which rang on my ear,
+as I was entering my club, one
+fine morning in the early part of June, 1873.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Lapland!" said I, "what put that into your
+head?"
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_2' name='Page_2' href='#Page_2'>2</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," replied my friend M—, in his rich, good-humoured
+voice, slightly flavoured with Hibernian
+Doric. "I hear that somebody has written a
+book about it. I have been everywhere else
+in Europe—and it is quite the place to go to
+now, you know. We shall pic-nic on Cape North
+and then drive across to Spitzbergen in reindeer
+sledges on the ice, it will be awfully jolly!"
+and his joyous laugh echoed through the hall.
+"Do come, like a good fellow," said he, "there
+will be just the four of us, R—, C—, yourself,
+and I, and you really must not say no, for
+we none of us can speak a word of anything
+but English, while you speak every language
+under the sun. So agree to it at once; let us
+all meet here to dinner, to-morrow at six, and then
+off by the mail to Calais."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At first I thought that M— was chaffing;
+but having now been joined by R— and
+C—, who at once chimed in on the same
+subject, I said,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Have you any idea about Lapland, my
+dear M—, do you know anything about it?
+and what do you expect to see there?"
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_3' name='Page_3' href='#Page_3'>3</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh, dear me, yes," replied he, "it is a
+country in the North of Europe, surrounded on
+all sides either by land or by water, and inhabited
+by men who are four feet six high, and the
+darlingest little women just four feet nothing.
+They go to church on Sundays, riding on reindeer,
+and shoot Polar bears with bows and
+arrows! Oh dear, yes, I know all about Lapland."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Not at all a bad account," said I, "but
+what writes Captain Hutchinson in his book?
+Is his description of Lapland very captivating?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well," answered M—, "I confess I have
+not read his book; but go abroad I must,
+London is getting too stupid, and I have been
+everywhere else in Europe; and I want to see
+a country out of the beaten track, something I
+have not yet seen."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Now, my dear fellow," said I, "though I
+have not been exactly in Lapland, I have been
+in Finland, and that, you know, is just next
+door to it; and knowing what the mosquitoes
+are in those swampy northern latitudes, nothing
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_4' name='Page_4' href='#Page_4'>4</a></span>
+could induce me to visit those countries again
+in Summer, except for very cogent reasons
+indeed. But come now, tell me where have
+you been, that you say you have seen every
+other country in Europe?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well," answered M—. "I have been twice
+to Italy, up and down, and done it as thoroughly
+as any man could do it. I have been—"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Stop a wee," said I, "how have you <i>done</i>
+Italy? let me see, suppose we just begin in the
+middle, let us take Florence—no doubt you
+were there."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Oh dear, yes, and such a jolly place, where
+one could live and love for ever! oh, yes,
+</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="o1">"'Of all the fairest cities of the world,</p>
+<p>None is so fair as Florence!'</p>
+</div></div>
+
+<p class="post">
+"If it were not for the heat, and having been
+there twice already, it would beat going to see
+the sun at midnight, which we shall see in
+Lapland, old fellow. We shall see the sun
+going right round the horizon, neither rising
+nor setting—not a bit—but going just as
+in the old riddle we had when we were
+children, 'going round and round the house, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_5' name='Page_5' href='#Page_5'>5</a></span>
+never touching the house.' So now no more
+'shirking and lurking,' but let's be off to
+Lapland, and if there are a few mosquitoes, we
+can take plenty of flea-powder to protect us;
+there now, I'll stand the flea-powder—a whole
+pound's worth," and the laugh of that excellent
+fellow rings in my ears still.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here R— joined in the conversation; he had
+never been to Italy, and his curiosity was raised
+by the enthusiastic expressions of my friend
+M—, in regard to Florence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Do tell us something about that place,
+where you could live and love for ever," said
+he.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well, what <i>can</i> I tell you?" replied M—.
+"Florence was the capital of Tuscany, and is
+situated on the banks of the river Arno, and it
+is a most delightful place. What more do you
+want? There is the charming Mrs. —, and
+her equally charming daughter, whose house opens
+just as the opera closes; and once there, one
+never thinks of leaving till three o'clock in
+the morning at soonest. Then there are the
+Cascine, the Café Doney, and the club, and my
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_6' name='Page_6' href='#Page_6'>6</a></span>
+friend G. M—y; and then the churches and
+the galleries, and the <span lang="it_IT">pietre dure</span>, &amp;c., &amp;c., I
+did every one of them."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Where did you go when you left Florence?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"To Rome, naturally."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"So all you know about Tuscany and Central
+Italy resolves itself into the Cascine, the Café
+Doney, and our friend G. M—y. Did you
+not even visit Siena on your way to Rome?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No, for, being fond of the sea, I went to
+Rome by Civita Vecchia."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"When you were at Civita Vecchia, did it not
+come into your head to visit the birth-place of
+the Tarquins—Corneto? only a short drive from
+Civita Vecchia, and one of the most interesting
+places in Italy."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I never even heard of it," said M—.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was going to say <i><span lang="la">ex uno disce omnes</span></i>, this is
+how <i><span lang="fr_FR">la jeunesse doré</span></i> of the present time travel on
+the continent—to finish their education, by the way!
+but my remark would be of too sweeping a
+character, for there are many exceptions to be met
+with occasionally. Still, though travelling is multiplied
+a thousand-fold compared with what it used to
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_7' name='Page_7' href='#Page_7'>7</a></span>
+be even only a century ago, it is doubtful, I think,
+if travelling is as fruitful of good results in our
+days as it used to be in the days of our grandfathers,
+when, under the guidance of a well qualified
+tutor, young men used to take the "grand
+tour" with a view to completing their education,
+the foundation and groundwork of which had been
+laid first in our public schools, and then in
+our great universities. Now my friend M—
+was a charming fellow, well educated to a certain
+point, pleasant, agreeable, and good-tempered; he
+had travelled a good deal, and yet I may safely
+say he had seen nothing, and simply because he
+had not prepared himself for travelling with a
+view to thoroughly seeing the countries he intended
+visiting, and obtaining the information they could
+bestow. And how many are there that just travel
+in the same way! How many are there among
+those who yearly flood the approaches to the
+Eternal City who do more than lounge about the
+galleries, the Campo Vaccino, or the Pincian Hill!
+and who, if asked about the City of Veii (for
+instance) will simply open their eyes and say they
+never heard of it, where is it? Why, my good
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_8' name='Page_8' href='#Page_8'>8</a></span>
+fellow, Veii was a great city, and its inhabitants
+among the most civilized and luxurious in the
+world, long before Rome was built. What! before
+Rome was built? he will say; and then if some
+mild reminiscence of the kind comes across his
+memory, he may, perhaps, recall some fleeting
+visions of Agamemnon and Mycenæ, taking it
+for granted that Veii, if anterior to Rome, must
+have been in Greece; but when informed that
+Veii was the rival of Rome, that its ruins were
+within twenty miles of the Eternal City, he will
+possibly get angry and think you are chaffing him.
+He, no doubt, may have heard of Etruria, but
+probably in his mind it was jumbled up with
+Minton's pottery; if associated with Wedgewood,
+it will be a point in his favour. He may probably
+have heard of Etruscan cities and Etruscan vases,
+but all his information in this line is terribly hazy;
+and so he dawdles through his sojourn at Rome,
+goes on to Naples, perhaps to Palermo and Malta,
+returning to England by the P. and O. steamer,
+imagining that he has seen, or <i>done</i>, Italy, as he
+terms it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It so happened that I had made arrangements
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_9' name='Page_9' href='#Page_9'>9</a></span>
+for another tour, and was thus unable to join my
+three friends in their intended expedition; but the
+following Winter M— and I went to the
+continent together, we spent four months in Italy,
+that Italy he had so thoroughly "done" twice
+before! and to his amazement, he had to confess
+that in his previous journeys he had simply wasted
+his time and his money.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We visited numberless out of the way places,
+having made Florence our head-quarters for
+Central Italy, and there under the guidance of
+Micali's <i><span lang="it_IT">Antichi Popoli Italiani</span></i>, we dived into the
+history of Italy, beginning with the misty periods
+synchronous with the siege of Troy, illustrating
+them as we went along by visits to the ancient
+cities and cemeteries of Etruria, and thence through
+those glorious Middle Ages and their unparalleled
+works of art, which can nowhere be so well studied
+as in Italy! It was a surpassing pleasure to him,
+no doubt, to see for the first time all those wondrous
+things; but it was almost as great a delight
+to me to witness his raptures, his astonishment,
+as city after city came under our examination—Fiesole,
+Volterra, Chiusi, Cortona. This last,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_10' name='Page_10' href='#Page_10'>10</a></span>
+especially, struck him with astonishment, a city
+co-eval with Ilium, and still in our days a city
+preserving its ancient name, while of Ilium, <i><span lang="la">periêre
+ipsæ ruinæ</span></i>, and its very existence questioned, till the
+researches of the indefatigable Schliemann brought
+monuments to light within the last few months
+which have clearly identified the spot, and proved
+to a demonstration that Ilium really had existed,
+and that the siege of Troy was not simply a
+myth, a poet's dream!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I well remember helping him to measure the
+immense blocks of the ancient walls of Cortona,
+fitted with such wonderful exactness that the
+blade of a penknife can even at present be scarcely
+pushed in between them, and which still remain
+<i><span lang="la">in situ</span></i> without mortar or other cement, though
+probably thirty centuries have rolled on since those
+walls were erected by the ancestors of their present
+inhabitants. How I remember the interest he
+took in scanning from the hill which looks over the
+rippling water of the Trasymene Lake, pointing
+out the probable spot where those false-hearted
+Romans had rested whilst the battle was raging
+below, only to be overtaken, however, on the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_11' name='Page_11' href='#Page_11'>11</a></span>
+morrow by Hannibal and his victorious legions,
+who made them pay so dearly for their
+treachery.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"This is the way I like to study history, and
+this is the way never to forget it," said he. "I
+hated the very names of Tacitus and Livy, but
+how delightful I think them now!" and so we
+did <i>do</i> Italy from Agrigentum to the Alps, and
+from the Adriatic to the Mediterranean, and many
+queer out-of-the-way places we visited, and such
+scores of sketches we carried away; and a
+more delightful trip never was made before or
+since.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Captain Hutchinson, in his introduction to
+"Try Lapland," writes, "The difficulty of finding
+new ground for travel is increasing every year
+for those who, with but a limited time at their
+disposal, are yet tired of the beaten paths of
+Ramsgate or Scarborough, Switzerland or the Rhine,
+and pant after lands fresh and fair, of which they
+have never seen the photograph—where the
+gorgeous hotel with its elongated bills, and the
+pertinacious touter with his cringing greasy manners,
+are alike unknown."
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_12' name='Page_12' href='#Page_12'>12</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now to a great extent that pleasant writer
+is correct; but the man who rushing away from
+the turmoil and bustle of London life, whether he
+be lawyer, merchant, or physician, seeking for
+fresh air and scenery, but as far away as possible
+from those hackneyed tracks infested by the
+typical tourist, both English and Transatlantic,
+and by poor Marryat's "shilling-seeking, napkin-holding,
+up-and-downstairs son of a sea-cook"
+of an hotel waiter, need not go to the Arctic
+Circle to find all the above-named advantages, unless,
+indeed, he is bent on also seeing the sun at
+midnight, and his own body a prey to the
+mosquitoes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Within five days of Temple Bar, or as we
+soon shall have to say, where Temple Bar once
+stood, there are as splendid countries to explore, as
+fine ruins to contemplate, as glorious scenery and
+as gorgeous costumes to admire, as the heart of man
+can wish for; and if the reader will trust himself
+with me for a little while, excusing the many shortcomings
+he will meet with in these pages, I will
+lead him over a trip I took last Summer which I
+think will fully repay him, though he will often
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_13' name='Page_13' href='#Page_13'>13</a></span>
+have to make great allowances and deal leniently
+with the Author, who for the first time in his
+life rushes into print, just for the same reason
+that the stars shine above us, because he has
+nothing else to do! But if through publishing
+this little book he shall have opened up a new
+field of travel to those who yearly require to
+recruit their strength of body and of mind by
+a ramble in foreign lands, if he shall have added
+one more possible source of enjoyment to those
+within the reach of the many, he will consider
+himself amply repaid for whatever trouble he may
+have been put to in its compilation.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p4">
+<img src="images/oak.jpg" width="141" height="52" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+<p>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_14' name='Page_14' href='#Page_14'>14</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p6">
+<img src="images/cornucopia.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+CHAPTER II.
+</h2>
+
+<p class="ch_summ">
+MAN PROPOSES, BUT GOD DISPOSES—VIENNA—ST. STEPHEN'S
+CATHEDRAL—OLD CATHEDRALS—SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE—USES
+OF EAU DE COLOGNE—INSECT ATTACKS—THE UNIVERSAL
+EXHIBITION—THE GARDENS AND ACCESSORIES—THE
+LADIES OF VIENNA—NEW OPERA-HOUSE—ON THE
+DANUBE—A WEALTHY PRELATE—WISSEGRAD—ARRIVAL AT
+PESTH.
+</p>
+
+<div>
+<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropi.jpg" width="100" height="112" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p class="drop-cap">
+I STARTED from London for my
+holiday trip early in the month of
+June, 1873. The route I had laid
+out for myself on my departure was
+not exactly that which I eventually adopted,
+for nothing is truer than that man proposes,
+but God disposes. I had intended visiting the
+Crimea, and then crossing over the Straits of
+Kertch, I meant to have rambled over
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_15' name='Page_15' href='#Page_15'>15</a></span>
+the Caucasus, finishing my trip with a visit to
+the Monastery of Echmiadzin, at the foot of Mount
+Ararat.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But it was not to be; I got as far as Pesth,
+when the cholera, which was then very active,
+not to say raging in Hungary, barred my further
+passage down the river into the Lower Provinces
+of the Danube, by threatening me with a
+quarantine of eleven days in a dirty lazzaretto,
+at a temperature of at least 90° in the shade. I
+would have risked the cholera, but I could not
+face the loss of eleven days in the limited time
+I had at my disposal, nor could I contemplate
+at all the horrors of an Oriental lazzaretto.
+All my plans were therefore upset; still
+the result was eventually satisfactory, as I
+think I shall be able to prove in the following
+pages.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After leaving London, I made straight for
+Vienna, by Brussels and Cologne, where I remained
+only a few hours, during which I visited
+for the twentieth time and more that exquisite
+specimen of ecclesiastical structure, its unrivalled
+Cathedral; every time I see it I admire it more
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_16' name='Page_16' href='#Page_16'>16</a></span>
+and more, I think there are none to equal it,
+while most certainly none surpass it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+St. Peter's at Rome is a magnificent building,
+astonishes one by its size and its rich adornments,
+but it fails to impress one from a religious point of
+view. It might be a church, or it might be a grand
+reception room, a <i><span lang="fr_FR">salle des ambassadeurs</span></i>, or a colossal
+ball-room—whereas the Cathedral of Cologne is a
+church, a place of worship, and nothing else. I suppose
+there is something in the pure Gothic architecture
+conducive to this impression. There is
+but one other church I know of in the world
+which has the same solemn awe-producing effect,
+perhaps in a greater degree even than the Cathedral
+of Cologne, and that is Santa Maria del Fiore,
+the Cathedral of Florence. I have been hundreds
+of times in that grand old edifice, but
+never without feeling an overwhelming sense of
+solemnity and awe. It was not only the low
+murmuring notes of the organ sounding the
+responses at eve to the plaintive litanies of the
+Virgin, nor the deep tones of the full accompaniment
+to the <i><span lang="la">Miserere mei Deus</span></i> in the
+Passion Week, which produced it, for I was
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_17' name='Page_17' href='#Page_17'>17</a></span>
+perhaps oftener there when all was silent, than
+during festive times, as I have always had the
+greatest objection to going into Catholic churches
+during service, gaping about and sight-seeing, to
+the evident annoyance and discomfort of the
+worshippers—a habit which, I regret to say,
+many of our country people too often indulge
+in, greatly to our detriment, especially in the
+less frequented places of the continent, where
+the people have come to regard us as heathens,
+and constantly to say of us, "<span lang="it_IT">Non sanno meglio,
+non sono Cristiani</span>."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was something more than all this which
+ever filled me with a feeling of intense devotion
+when I entered that grand old building.
+The severe simplicity of the structure, with no
+tawdry ornamentation to obtrude itself and take
+off the attention, may have played an important
+part in giving birth to solemn thoughts, together
+with the height and size of the three enormous
+pilasters which alone support the roof—the lofty
+arches, the vast depth and gloom of the aisles,
+the intensity of the shade, the deep silence
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_18' name='Page_18' href='#Page_18'>18</a></span>
+made still more impressive by an occasional foot-fall—all
+would combine to proclaim this a house
+of prayer, and nothing else; a Temple in the
+fullest and most unequivocal sense of the word,
+offering to the old and the broken-spirited, to
+the infirm and to all who sought it in prayer, an
+assurance of tranquillity, consolation, and peace!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having enjoyed my oft-repeated visit, and purchased
+a large supply of Eau de Cologne from
+the Farina <i><span lang="de_DE">gegenüber dem Julichs Platz</span></i>, (and don't
+you believe that the others make it near as good),
+I got in the train for Munich and for Vienna.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I think I see a smile, slightly perhaps savouring
+of a sneer, from some of my readers of the
+masculine gender, at my purchase of a large
+supply of Eau de Cologne; but just let them
+hold hard, till they shall have endured the trials
+of hot winds and dusty roads in the daytime,
+stuffy cabins and the ordinary accompaniment of
+flea invasions and other entomological attacks in
+the night-time; and then if they have the luck
+to have any of it with them, they will discover
+the use of Eau de Cologne in allaying pain and
+irritation.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_19' name='Page_19' href='#Page_19'>19</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Travellers in all Eastern countries should have
+with them a supply of good Eau de Cologne,
+not for scenting their pocket-handkerchiefs only,
+but principally as a remedy. Some people suffer
+more, some suffer less from insect attacks; but
+I have seen a man, a strong, stout, brawny
+Britisher, set nearly wild by flea-bites, and I
+shall never forget his appearance, as he stood
+before me one morning, after passing a restless night
+in a very wild region in the South of Europe, like
+a patient with small-pox, and scratching away at
+himself for bare life. I am sure he would have
+been in a high fever that night, had I not
+bathed him with a mixture of equal parts of
+Eau de Cologne, laurel water, and sal-volatile.
+So don't forget it, kind reader, if ever in your
+travels you are likely to be in countries infested
+with insect tribes; whatever their nature may be,
+whether the mosquito which flieth, the flea which
+hoppeth, or t'other thing which crawleth, my nostrum
+will be found a sovereign remedy against them all.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Although the Vienna Exhibition was fully
+open, and that numbers were flocking from all
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_20' name='Page_20' href='#Page_20'>20</a></span>
+parts to that most charming capital, which has
+so justly acquired the epithet of "<span lang="fr_FR">le Paradis
+des Hommes</span>," I was fortunate in having but
+one companion in the train all the way, and
+thus we both were enabled to extend our limbs
+and sleep as comfortably as in our beds. It is
+wonderful the amount of comfort one can
+obtain through life by the judicious distribution
+of a few cigars accompanied by a little
+silver!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At Vienna, I went—as I always do—to the
+Archduke Charles' Hotel; a little old-fashioned,
+perhaps, but unquestionably the best hotel in
+Vienna, and where the cooking is always undeniable.
+During my short stay, I went every
+day to the Universal Exhibition—the world's
+fair! but don't be afraid that I mean to weary you by
+dragging you with me through those confusing
+avenues of "all sorts," where nothing that was
+wanted could be found, and everything we wanted
+not was sure to be everlastingly obtruding itself
+before our eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I confess that the Vienna Exhibition disappointed
+me; whereas the Paris one of 1867 left me
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_21' name='Page_21' href='#Page_21'>21</a></span>
+nothing to desire; and all owing to the want
+of order and system in the one instance—while
+in the other, the arrangement was so perfect
+that there was not the smallest difficulty in
+getting at anything one wanted to find
+out.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But if the exhibitional department was less
+perfect in its arrangement at Vienna than at
+Paris, the gardens and the outside accessories
+were far more beautiful at the former than the
+latter; while Strauss's delightful band always
+afforded an hour's luxurious enjoyment in the cool
+of the afternoon, till the fearful braying of the steam
+trumpet, (they called it a Telephone, I think) drove
+one out into the Prater. Then the restaurants
+and cafés of the different Nationalities were so
+well got up and so picturesquely scattered about
+the Gardens, as were also the several buildings
+characteristic of the different Nations, and among
+which was pre-eminent for elegance of form,
+design, and execution, the kiosk of the Pasha of
+Egypt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And then the Viennese ladies! I know I
+should have mentioned them the first, I confess
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_22' name='Page_22' href='#Page_22'>22</a></span>
+it; <i><span lang="la">confiteor, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa</span></i>, but,
+gentle reader, it was from sheer diffidence! I did
+not know how to approach the subject, I felt
+myself totally incompetent, and indeed I do so
+now! To say that at Vienna there are more
+lovely women to be seen than in any other
+city in Europe, is not saying one half. There
+are loads of pretty women to be seen in Dublin
+of a fine Sunday afternoon, especially among the
+middle and lower classes; but at Vienna they
+are not only lovely, but terribly attractive, and
+winning, and seductive; there are none like them
+anywhere else!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the fine arts department there were many
+beautiful things to be seen; but as I promised not
+to drag the reader round the World's Fair, I shall
+keep my word, and shall only call his attention
+to two statues which greatly attracted me, one
+was a bronze figure of a Hindoo charming a
+cobra, the other a Negro running away, both
+figures perfectly alive!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I went twice to the opera, once to hear
+Meyerbeer's "Africaine," which disappointed me;
+and once to see a grand ballet, I think it was
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_23' name='Page_23' href='#Page_23'>23</a></span>
+called "Eleonora," which did not. I had not
+been for several years at Vienna, and had, therefore,
+not seen the new Opera House. I was
+greatly struck with its size and beauty; it is
+unquestionably the finest theatre in Europe, and
+the arrangements are perfect. But Vienna is
+now undergoing such a process of transformation,
+and to such an extent, that in a few years
+those who knew it ten or twelve years ago will
+be utterly unable to recognise it. Even now it is
+one of the finest capitals in Europe, but at the
+rate it is progressing, it bids fair to surpass in
+a short time every other city, when the Viennese
+will really be able to give utterance with truth to
+their old saying, "<span lang="de_DE">Gibt nur eine Kaiserstadt, gibt
+nur ein Wien</span>!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a very delightful week in Vienna, which
+seemed indeed far too short a time to bestow
+upon the most enjoyable capital in Europe, I
+took my passage in a steamer to Pesth, starting
+at six <span class="smcap">a.m.</span>, and arriving at my destination at about
+the same hour in the evening. The steamer was
+a very fine one, the accommodation excellent,
+the cuisine not good, but then I had been
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_24' name='Page_24' href='#Page_24'>24</a></span>
+terribly spoilt at the Erz-Herzog Karl; probably
+had I been at a worse hotel, I would not have
+found so much fault with the cookery on board
+the steamer. The company on board was
+worse than the cookery—in all my rambles
+I don't think I ever met so unprepossessing
+a lot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The large steamers that navigate the Danube
+don't come up to Vienna, but lie off the Island
+of Lobau, to which passengers are carried in a
+smaller steamer. The morning I started was
+drizzling and chilly in the extreme, in marked
+contrast with the weather of the previous week,
+which had been intensely hot; and when I sat
+down on the deck of the little steamer which was
+to take me down a branch of the Danube to the
+main steamer, I was glad to avail myself of my
+top-coat and rugs. In a short time we reached
+the larger vessel, and, having all got on board, we
+started at a good round speed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From Vienna to Gran, the Danube is uninteresting
+so far as scenery is concerned. Its enormous
+volume of muddy water, wider than the Thames
+at Westminster, though still upwards of nine
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_25' name='Page_25' href='#Page_25'>25</a></span>
+hundred miles from its entrance into the Black
+Sea, flows through a vast flat country; an interminable
+front of sallows and alders on the one
+side, and an interminable plain on the other,
+dotted all over with countless herds of white
+cattle with long black horns like the Tuscan
+oxen, and endless troops of horses; and as I
+gazed on the mighty flood of turbid waters,
+the old Italian nursery rhyme came back to my
+memory.
+</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="o1">"<span lang="it_IT">Tre Ombroni fanno un Arno</span>,</p>
+<p><span lang="it_IT">Tre Arni fanno un Tevere</span>,</p>
+<p><span lang="it_IT">Tre Tevere fanno un Pò</span>,</p>
+<p><span lang="it_IT">E tre Pò di Lombardia</span></p>
+<p><span lang="it_IT">Fanno un Danubio di Turchia</span>."</p>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>
+We passed by Pressburg where the two sides
+of the river are united by a bridge of boats. We
+only remained a short time and I had no opportunity
+of going ashore, so that I could form but
+a very inaccurate opinion of the place; it seemed
+to me from its outward look as not now prosperous,
+but had quite the appearance of having seen
+better days.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a time we came to Komorn, the celebrated
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_26' name='Page_26' href='#Page_26'>26</a></span>
+fortress; if I had not been told, "There is
+Komorn," I might almost have passed it without
+observing it, so protected from sight are its bastions
+by the immense earthworks in front of them. Still
+down we steamed, and still the same country
+right and left met our view, till we came to Gran,
+the seat of the Prince-Primate of Hungary,
+perhaps one of the wealthiest prelates in the world,
+possessing no less an income than £90,000
+per annum.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here the scenery began to improve; the Cathedral
+of Gran, though in itself unclassical, and one that
+in any other place might be passed by unnoticed,
+yet served to relieve the monotony of the view.
+The river, which up to this had flowed through
+boundless plains, became suddenly contracted, and
+consequently swifter as the high lands approached
+the edge of it; and now with every revolution
+of the paddles the scenery improved, till
+on reaching Vissegrad it became absolutely
+lovely. Instead of the interminable plains, we now
+had precipitous mountains on either side, some
+clad with forest down to the water's edge, some
+bare, ragged, and rocky, but all lovely, quite
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_27' name='Page_27' href='#Page_27'>27</a></span>
+equal to the finest parts of the Rhine, not
+even lacking a Drachenfels in the beautiful ruins
+of the ancient castellated palace of the Kings of
+Hungary, the favourite retreat of the learned
+Matthias Corvinus.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Nature has done everything to beautify this
+favoured spot, but man, as is too often the case,
+has done his best to mar it. At the foot of the
+cliff, the top of which is crowned by the ancient
+residence of the Kings of Hungary, on a beautifully
+wooded spot between the mountain and the rushing
+Danube, some enterprising German has erected,
+<i><span lang="la">horribile visu</span></i>, three villa residences, in the correct
+suburban style, a few yards distant from one
+another. Regardless of expense, everything about
+them, including themselves, is radiant with white-wash,
+except where green paint asserts its place.
+At first I thought it must be an hotel or pension,
+with two <i>succursales</i>; but no, the skipper assured
+me they were country houses, and seemed astonished
+when I said the man that built them deserved
+to be hanged in front of them; he could not
+comprehend me, he thought them lovely!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Often during my subsequent travels I thought
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_28' name='Page_28' href='#Page_28'>28</a></span>
+of that lovely country between Gran and Vissegrad;
+such exquisite scenery, so diversified; such a
+combination of rolling pastures, of glorious hills
+clad with forests, backed by rugged mountains,
+with that grand old Danube rushing through the
+midst; such shooting and fishing, all in a
+compact locality, and only four hours by rail from
+Vienna; such a spot for a country residence
+could scarcely be equalled, and certainly not
+surpassed. If it were within ten hours of
+London, what a fabulous price it would command!
+but here no one seems to have
+placed any value on it since the days of Matthias
+Corvinus.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After going through this gorge, the Danube
+spreads itself out again, and the scenery becomes
+tame and uninteresting, and continues so till one
+reaches Pesth, where I arrived somewhat later
+than I expected.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_29' name='Page_29' href='#Page_29'>29</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p6">
+<img src="images/dragons.jpg" width="400" height="86" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+CHAPTER III.
+</h2>
+
+<p class="ch_summ">
+PESTH—HOTEL UNGARIA—BUDA—STORY OF AN ARTIST—PROSPERITY
+OF THE CITY—NEW BRIDGE OVER THE DANUBE—ST.
+MARGUERITE'S ISLAND—ANCIENT ROMAN BATH—CONDITION
+OF HUNGARY—FIELD FOR THE JUNIOR BRANCHES
+OF THE UPPER TEN THOUSAND—KEEPING UP APPEARANCES—THE
+TERMINATION OF TURKISH MISRULE—FUTURE OF
+THE DANUBIAN PRINCIPALITIES.
+</p>
+
+<div>
+<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropi.jpg" width="100" height="112" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p class="drop-cap">
+I DROVE to the Hotel Ungaria, to
+which I had been recommended, and
+where a most comfortable apartment
+and an equally good dinner gave me an <i><span lang="fr_FR">avant-goût</span></i>
+of a comfortable night's rest, in which I was
+no wise disappointed; and I can safely recommend
+the Ungaria as one of the finest and most
+comfortable hotels in Europe, without at the same
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_30' name='Page_30' href='#Page_30'>30</a></span>
+time being extravagant in its charges. The only
+drawback I found was with the person of the porter,
+a most respectable man no doubt, but he could
+not speak either French or English; and I had
+to carry on all my consultations respecting my
+intended future progress with the hall-porter of
+the "Königin von England" hotel, close by.
+If that man could only be installed at the Ungaria,
+that hotel would be as near perfection as
+possible.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The windows of my bedroom at the Ungaria
+opened out on a balcony which gave me a
+splendid view of the "blue Danube," which, however,
+I never saw of any other shade but mud
+colour. Across the river, and just opposite, I
+could see the ancient city of Buda, with the royal
+residence in front, and a little to the left, on
+the top of the hill, the celebrated fortress which
+played so important a part during the last
+Hungarian civil war. A little to my right was
+the grand suspension bridge, guarded at each
+end by two colossal couchant lions, about which
+the following improbable anecdote was related to
+me.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_31' name='Page_31' href='#Page_31'>31</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The artist who executed them forgot to put
+tongues into their mouths, to loll out in proper
+heraldic fashion, and when the defect was pointed
+out to him as the lions were uncovered, he took
+it so to heart that he at once put an end to
+himself by plunging headlong into the river!
+Now when "le grand Vatel" committed suicide,
+because the turbot did not arrive in time for
+the dinner of the Most Christian King, there
+was some show of reason in the act, Vatel's
+credit was in some degree pledged to that dinner;
+but not one man in ten thousand would
+have noticed whether these lions had tongues
+or not.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pesth seems, like Vienna, to be undergoing a
+process of rebuilding, and that on a scale of
+considerable magnificence. I was told that its
+commerce was daily increasing, and, certainly, to
+judge from the immense number of vessels
+moored in the river, the ceaseless passing up
+and down of immense steamers, the piles of
+merchandize, and the constant bustle on the
+quays, a very considerable amount of business
+must be done there. The grand suspension
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_32' name='Page_32' href='#Page_32'>32</a></span>
+bridge which spans the Danube being found
+insufficient for the increasing traffic, a new one
+is in process of construction, to be built of
+iron on piers, and not a suspension bridge. It
+is to cost an immense sum, and will require
+to be well protected against the action of the
+ice on the one hand, while on the other it
+may become the source of considerable danger
+to the low land in its neighbourhood by
+arresting the free passage downwards of the
+ice, if not well looked after. I went to see
+the works at the central pier, and remained there
+some time watching the men at the bottom of
+the immense caisson out of which a donkey
+engine was incessantly pumping water; outside it,
+the river was running like a mill race at not
+less than eight miles an hour, and I was
+assured that the depth at that spot was fully forty
+feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After visiting the works at the new bridge,
+I went to St. Marguerite's Island, on which
+is a park beautifully laid out, and which forms
+one of the favourite promenades of the pleasure-loving
+inhabitants of Pesth. As it can only
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_33' name='Page_33' href='#Page_33'>33</a></span>
+be approached by boat, it is frequented only
+by pedestrians; but in order to cater for all
+tastes and gratify those who enjoy a jaunt,
+there is a tramway running the whole length
+of the island. There are also some capital
+restaurants, and several bands play every evening
+in fine weather.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is another park on <i><span lang="it_IT">terra firma</span></i>, an
+imitation of the Prater at Vienna, but it is
+small and shabby. There were a good many
+people strolling about it when I went, but
+I did not see even one middling-good turn-out,
+and though one constantly hears of the
+beautiful horses and rare horsemanship of the
+Hungarians, I was doomed to be disappointed in
+both cases.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Crossing over the suspension bridge one gets
+into the old town of Buda or Ofen, in which
+are situated the Royal residence, the Government
+offices, and some of the palaces of the native
+magnates.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is a fine street by which one can drive
+to the upper part of the town, which is considerably
+above the level of the Danube; but for
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_34' name='Page_34' href='#Page_34'>34</a></span>
+pedestrians there is an easy, cheap, and quick
+method of getting to the summit, by means of a
+small counterpoised railway, which carries one up
+and down very rapidly at an exceedingly moderate
+rate. There is a fine view from the top, and
+several fine old palaces, but the most interesting
+thing in the town of Buda is the old Roman
+bath erected over some sulphurous springs, celebrated
+for the cures they perform. It is in exactly
+the same condition as in the days of ancient Rome,
+and consists of a large vaulted apartment lit by a
+circular opening in the centre of the cupola, and
+containing a large hexagonal piscina with an
+ambulatory all round. None bathe there save the
+lower classes—men, women, and children promiscuously;
+in the immediate neighbourhood,
+however, there are some very well appointed
+baths which are considerably patronized, and
+bear a high reputation for the cure of skin
+disease.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From all I could collect during the brief stay
+I made at Pesth, Hungary in general must be
+in a very progressive condition; and from the
+numbers of agricultural machines and implements,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_35' name='Page_35' href='#Page_35'>35</a></span>
+all of English construction, which I saw everywhere
+stacked upon the quays, not only at Pesth
+but at many other stations on the Danube,
+including large numbers of steam-thrashing and
+winnowing machines, a vigorous attempt is evidently
+being made to exploit the unbounded fertility of
+perhaps the richest soil in Europe. Land, however,
+is still cheap in Hungary, probably in consequence
+of the extreme love of pleasure of its
+inhabitants, who preferring to spend their days
+in the society of Vienna, Paris, or Pesth, draw
+exorbitantly on their revenues, till at last compelled
+to sell their lands in order to meet their engagements.
+Nice estates within twenty miles of Pesth,
+with good substantial dwelling-houses, and all the
+necessary offices for farming, with varied soil,
+vineyard, pasture, tillage, and forest, can be had
+sufficiently cheap to ensure a clear return of five
+per cent, free of taxes, for the capital laid out
+on them! A vast number of the agricultural
+community in Hungary are Jews, and it is perhaps
+the only country in Europe where we find the
+children of Israel as tillers of the soil; and I was
+assured by many in Pesth that they make by
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_36' name='Page_36' href='#Page_36'>36</a></span>
+far the most satisfactory tenants—though naturally
+they require looking after occasionally, as well as
+their <i>soi-disant</i> Christian brethren.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When one reflects on the countless acres of the
+richest land in creation, which to a great extent
+are still unoccupied and uncultivated in the eastern
+and south-eastern regions of Europe, one cannot
+help regretting that some of our surplus population
+do not try a venture in those countries. I
+am thinking principally of that most unfortunate
+and ill-used portion of society belonging to the
+upper classes, and which, from circumstances beyond
+its control, is suffering from positive want in its
+struggles to keep up a respectability as necessary
+for its existence as the very air it breathes. The
+labourer, the artisan, the skilled workman are well
+off at the present time in our country; wages are
+very high and the friendly societies, to one of
+which almost every workman belongs, provide for
+them amply in cases of sickness, and in some
+cases even contribute something to the family
+when the illness terminates in death—not to
+mention the numerous hospitals and asylums, all
+open to the labouring classes, but which are
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_37' name='Page_37' href='#Page_37'>37</a></span>
+all virtually closed to those I am now speaking
+of.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The working classes, with few exceptions, are
+all well off at present, and require none of our
+sympathy except when in affliction, when the richest
+and poorest come to the same level. They can
+afford to supply all their wants out of their
+wages, and lay out <i>one fifth</i>, and in many cases
+<i>one fourth</i>, and even <i>one third</i> (I am assured by
+good authorities) in drink, for the gratification
+of the only pleasure which they are capable
+of enjoying; for proof of which the police
+reports throughout the country will bear ample
+evidence.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But I will tell who really deserve all our
+sympathy and all our aid, the junior branches of
+our upper ten thousand—the families of officers,
+poor clergymen, poor lawyers, &amp;c., &amp;c., all
+struggling for dear life against difficulties of every
+kind; those are the classes who claim the greatest
+share of our sympathy, and to whom the regions
+above mentioned offer advantages unequalled any
+where else.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I remember when the Canterbury settlement
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_38' name='Page_38' href='#Page_38'>38</a></span>
+was established in New Zealand, it was intended
+in a great measure to provide for the classes I
+have alluded to above; but the distance was too
+great, the mere cost of going out was a most
+serious drawback, at the very least <i>ten times</i> the
+amount required to land one bag and baggage in the
+centre of Hungary, or better still in Servia, among
+some of the most beautiful scenery in the world,
+the richest soil, the best climate, and the finest
+fishing and shooting that could be desired, where
+game laws and river preserves and licences are
+still utterly unknown.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I hate croaking; still, if one hears rumbling
+noises underground for any space of time, one
+is justified in apprehending an earthquake. For
+several years I have been hearing these subterranean
+noises, and year after year they have
+become more and more threatening, and the
+earthquake must come at last. But as a volcanic
+eruption, acting as a safety valve, often saves a
+country from the effects of a physical earthquake,
+so the timely exodus of an excessive
+population may save a country from a moral
+one.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_39' name='Page_39' href='#Page_39'>39</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By the very nature of my profession, I have
+innumerable times been willingly or unwillingly
+let into the secrets of the private affairs of
+scores of families; and I have watched with
+perfect dismay the misery, the poverty, the utter
+wretchedness that were screened from the eyes of
+the world by the decent exterior which was kept
+up in order to preserve appearances.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If with Asmodeus we could but lift up the
+roofs of a few thousands of houses in these
+prosperous islands and see the difficulties, the
+make-shifts, and the make-believes which are
+resorted to, and that in many cases where one would
+least expect them, it would make our very hearts
+bleed at all the anxiety, all the wretchedness, all
+the scalding tears which would be disclosed—all
+brought about by that great delusion "keeping
+up appearances." Well, all this living under false
+pretences, which is the distinguishing characteristic
+and the great evil, the real "social evil" of the
+present time cannot go on for ever. It is an
+evil of long standing, no doubt, but it has gone
+on increasing from year to year, like a falling
+avalanche, with constantly increasing velocity.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_40' name='Page_40' href='#Page_40'>40</a></span>
+The earthquake must come at last, if not averted
+by an emigration <i><span lang="fr_FR">en masse</span></i> of those educated
+classes to which I have alluded above; and
+the best, finest, healthiest, most fertile, and most
+accessible country, outside the British dominions,
+I hold to be, roughly speaking, that tract of
+Southern Europe bounded on the North by the
+Saave, on the South by the Bosphorus, on the
+East by the Danube, and on the West by the
+Adriatic.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But, my dear Sir," I think I hear some
+reader say, "that is Turkey in Europe!" No
+doubt it is, but the Turks won't be there for
+ever, their time is nearly run out; the period of
+their wretched misrule over the Christian populations
+of Europe is nearly accomplished, and I
+still hope to live long enough to see those
+barbarous hordes recrossing the Bosphorus into
+Asia Minor, on their way back to the Steppes of
+Khiva and Bokhara, from whence they originally
+emigrated. They have ever shown themselves
+irreclaimable barbarians throughout. Look at the
+present condition of European Turkey, after centuries
+of Ottoman dominion; contrast it with the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_41' name='Page_41' href='#Page_41'>41</a></span>
+nascent state of Roumania, which only quite lately
+succeeded in shaking off its Moslem chains. Let
+us look at both countries, as they present themselves
+opposite to each other on the banks of
+the Danube. On the left bank of that river we
+have Giurgevo in Roumania, the port of Bukharest,
+where, notwithstanding centuries of slavery and
+misgovernment, the natives, now under the government
+of an enlightened Christian Prince, are all
+activity and progress—while on the right bank at
+Rustchuk, just opposite, in dark contrast to the
+Christian, who is trying to turn to account all
+the advantages of his country, the indolent, uncivilized
+Turk is still lazily dozing away,
+leaning against his ancient painted and bedizened
+araba, drawn by a pair of patient oxen,
+waiting for the chance of some solitary, silent
+traveller!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A new era is dawning, however, over these
+south-eastern regions, but much of their prosperity
+and future happiness may depend on the model
+they will propose for themselves in their efforts
+at civilization; whether the brilliant glitter of
+Parisian veneering and varnish, or the less attractive,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_42' name='Page_42' href='#Page_42'>42</a></span>
+but more solid advantages of British institutions.
+A great future is before the Danubian
+Principalities, may they use their opportunities with
+wisdom, and may they prosper!
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_43' name='Page_43' href='#Page_43'>43</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p6">
+<img src="images/flowers.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+CHAPTER IV.
+</h2>
+
+<p class="ch_summ">
+STEINBRÜCK—THE SÖMMERING—FIRST VIEW OF THE ADRIATIC—TRIESTE—SHOCKS
+OF EARTHQUAKE AT BELLUNO—AUSTRIAN
+IRONCLAD 'LISSA'—CAPTAIN R. BURTON—FLYING VISIT TO
+SAN CANZIANO—SUBTERRANEAN COURSE OF A MOUNTAIN
+STREAM—THE KARST—WILD SCENERY—A THUNDER-STORM—CHURCH
+OF SAN CANZIANO—STUD FARM.
+</p>
+
+<div>
+<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropt.jpg" width="100" height="102" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p class="drop-cap">
+THAT odious and useless mediæval
+institution, the quarantine, having
+barred my passage into the Lower
+Provinces of the Danube, I determined
+to go to Trieste, then proceed by sea
+to Constantinople, and thence to the Caucasus,
+but it was written differently in the book of
+Fate!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The line to Trieste was full of interest; during
+the first portion of the journey I passed quite
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_44' name='Page_44' href='#Page_44'>44</a></span>
+close to Lake Balaton, celebrated for its fish, and
+then after traversing some wonderfully rich plains,
+dotted here and there with patches of forest, and
+covered with herds of cattle, horses, and geese,
+which are kept here in vast numbers for the
+sake of their feathers, arrived at Steinbrück at
+one <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>, where I dined. Here, at the junction
+of the Saane and the Saave, the scenery became
+truly magnificent; we had been for some time
+following the banks of the Saane, and the
+mountains had been getting closer and higher
+with every mile we made, till at last they
+actually came down to the river, allowing a bare
+passage to the railway which followed its every
+bend.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having finished our mid-day meal at Steinbrück—where
+the Pesth line joins on to that
+miracle of engineering, the celebrated railway
+between Vienna and Trieste—we resumed our
+journey, the scenery retaining its grand features,
+till having topped the Sömmering, we came on
+to the desert Karst and got our first peep of
+the salt water—the glorious Adriatic. Nothing
+could exceed the wild grandeur of the country
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_45' name='Page_45' href='#Page_45'>45</a></span>
+on both sides of the railway, as the engines (for
+we had two of them) slowly panted up those
+steep inclines, winding in and out through the
+gorges of the Sömmering, now plunging into a
+tunnel to traverse the heart of a mountain, and
+now crossing a viaduct between two cliffs, over a
+precipice hundreds of feet in depth. Once at the
+top, our pace increased considerably, and by eight
+o'clock I found myself comfortably installed at
+my hotel at Trieste, on the evening of the 29th
+of June.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a most refreshing night, I descended
+the next morning to the café on the ground
+floor of the hotel, and then heard for the first
+time of the severe shocks of earthquake at
+Belluno and its neighbourhood, which had been
+felt even in Trieste. Several lives had been
+lost, and one church nearly shaken to the
+ground.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After breakfast I went to pay my respects to
+our excellent consul, Captain Burton, and then
+hearing that the Austrian ironclad "Lissa" was
+outside the harbour, I took a boat and went to
+have a look at her. She is a fine vessel with a
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_46' name='Page_46' href='#Page_46'>46</a></span>
+long projecting prow, and looks well in the water.
+Having sent up my card, I was received and shown
+over the ship by Lieutenant Count Petruski, who
+was most kind in pointing out every thing of
+interest connected with it. I think he said she
+mounted 12 rifled fifteen-ton guns of our
+Woolwich Infant type, and was furnished with
+a galvanic apparatus, by means of which the
+captain could fire a whole broadside at a time.
+Although she was only in after a cruise, and
+consequently not in the best of trim for exhibition,
+I was much gratified by all I saw. The men were
+a very fine set of fellows, the state cabins and
+officers' cabins particularly neat and nice, and
+should these lines ever fall beneath the eye of
+Count Petruski or any of his brother officers on
+board the "Lissa" I beg them all to receive my
+warm thanks for their kindness to me that day.
+I spent a couple of very pleasant hours on
+board, and as Count Petruski spoke excellent
+English, it made our interview all the more
+agreeable.<a name='FA_1' id='FA_1' href='#FN_1' class='fnanchor'>[1]</a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_47' name='Page_47' href='#Page_47'>47</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Trieste is anything but an interesting place;
+though a couple of days may be spent pleasantly
+enough visiting the neighbourhood, especially if one
+has the advantage of the acquaintance and company
+of our consul, Captain R. Burton; the Burton
+of Harar, of Mecca, and of Medina; the
+<i><span lang="la">facile princeps</span></i> of modern travellers and pleasant
+companions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Why is Captain Burton kept at Trieste? It is
+not a difficult post, nor one requiring a man with
+exceptional qualifications; and it does seem a
+misapplication if not a waste of <i>force</i> to keep a
+man like Burton at Trieste, when he could be of
+so much greater use elsewhere. The thorough
+and intimate knowledge that he possesses of
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_48' name='Page_48' href='#Page_48'>48</a></span>
+Oriental character, his perfect mastery of Arabic,
+together with the knowledge he has of Persian
+and scores of other languages, not to mention the
+experience he has acquired of Oriental affairs,
+customs and idiosyncrasies, all go to point him
+out emphatically as the right man in the wrong
+place at Trieste. I spent some very pleasant hours
+in his company during my short stay in that
+city, and shall never forget the kindness I
+experienced both from him and la bella
+Contessa, his most charming and accomplished
+lady.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thus far, my observations have been of a
+strictly selfish nature. I know Captain Burton's
+capabilities, I feel that he is utterly thrown away
+where he is, and I want a <i><span lang="la">quid pro quo</span></i> for my
+money—consequently I want to see him in some
+post where his talents and exceptional qualifications
+may be of some profit to me. The reader will
+perceive that I am strictly selfish and utilitarian,
+and that in writing as above I have not been
+led away by sentimentality in any shape. Had I
+been in the opposite vein, I could have said,
+I met at Trieste Captain R. T. Burton, who
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_49' name='Page_49' href='#Page_49'>49</a></span>
+undoubtedly is the greatest of <i>living</i> travellers, and
+also second to none in that great phalanx of
+explorers, who from time to time have devoted
+their lives to carrying civilization to the most
+remote corners of the earth. He opened up
+Eastern Africa, and most probably discovered in
+Lake Tanganyika the mysterious sources of the
+Nile. He directly opened up the path and led
+the way which was subsequently trodden by Speke,
+Grant, Stanley, Cameron, and others; indirectly
+he pointed out the way to Baker, Schweinfurth and
+Gordon. To Richard Burton then is due the
+discovery of this <i>New Africa</i>, this great Lake
+Region, so fertile and so rich in the centre of a
+continent which fifty years ago was believed
+to be one vast uninhabitable desert. What has been
+his reward? He has been made consul at Trieste.
+Here is an inducement to our ardent British
+youth! I hear there is some talk of making him
+a K.C.B.; for myself, I wouldn't give a roll of
+ginger-bread for the distinction; however, let him
+have it by all means, but let us see him also
+removed to some more useful sphere of action
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_50' name='Page_50' href='#Page_50'>50</a></span>
+where his exceptional talents and his great
+knowledge of Oriental languages may be of
+service to us. Let him be sent to Africa
+again—to Morocco for instance—at the first
+vacancy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having still to wait a couple of days for the
+departure of the steamer which was to take me
+on my trip down the coast of Dalmatia, I employed
+my time in paving a flying visit to San Canziano,
+where a good-sized river, after meandering down
+a deep ravine like any other Christian stream,
+suddenly plunges into the bowels of the earth,
+and after a mysterious course of many miles, reappears
+again at the surface under a different
+name, previous to losing itself in the
+Adriatic.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The little hamlet of San Canziano is about
+twenty miles from Trieste, it consists of a very small
+and meanly built church, with a good campanile
+however, with two sweetly-toned bells—why is
+it that ours are always so unmusical and woody?—a
+small wretched Presbytery, a roadside pot-house
+where nothing could be got for love or money,
+and half a dozen dilapidated houses. The drive
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_51' name='Page_51' href='#Page_51'>51</a></span>
+however, was very pleasant, for the weather was
+warm and at the same time cloudy, so that we
+were never inconvenienced by the sun. The road,
+on leaving Trieste, goes by easy windings over a
+mountain clothed with oak, so beautifully kept,
+that it gives the idea of driving through some
+private park. On reaching the top we came into
+the open, and had a glorious view of the Styrian
+mountains on the one side, and the Adriatic on the
+other. After driving for a short time on the
+level, we again commenced ascending and soon got
+into the "Karst," as it is called; a wild barren
+tract where little or nothing appears to grow,
+and where rocks and stones seem to have rained
+down from heaven, not unlike some other spots I
+visited subsequently in Dalmatia, and notably in
+Montenegro. But this bleak and barren spot
+owes its absolute desolation, not so much to the
+rocky nature of its soil, as to the Bora, a north-east
+wind, which often sweeps across it with the force
+of a West Indian hurricane.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In many places on the road, traverses of immensely
+thick stone walls had been erected for
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_52' name='Page_52' href='#Page_52'>52</a></span>
+protection against the fury of the wind, but
+notwithstanding all, the Karst is sometimes impassable
+when the Bora blows in real earnest,
+and heavy-laden waggons which have tried to
+cross it at such times, have been turned over
+and over like "leaves in Autumn weather."
+After travelling for some short time along this
+elevated plateau, we again began to descend, and
+soon reached our destination, where, having eaten
+the lunch I had brought with me, I started on
+foot, under the guidance of a native who could
+speak nothing but Styrian, to seek the mysterious
+river.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In less than half an hour's walk, I found
+myself on a grass-covered plateau of some miles
+in extent, fringed in the distance by lofty hills,
+dotted with clumps of fir trees, and after a few
+minutes more walking in an easterly direction,
+I suddenly came on a perpendicular precipice,
+upwards of five hundred feet in depth, which
+completely barred my further progress. The cliff
+on which I stood rose in a narrow valley, or
+glen, or cleft, as if the crust of the earth had
+cracked here for a few miles. This cleft, nearly of
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_53' name='Page_53' href='#Page_53'>53</a></span>
+uniform depth, was not of uniform width; in
+some places it was so narrow that the smooth river
+which glided through it completely filled it from
+side to side, while in other places a sufficient strip
+of soil remained between the river and the cliff to
+admit of some amount of cultivation, and here
+and there a cottage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This strange cleft, or valley, or crack in the
+plateau through which the river flows is of a most
+irregular outline, going zig-zag, in and out, just
+like the cracks one sees in a dried up pond at the
+end of a hot Summer in England. I was standing
+where this precipitous crack barred the way, by
+running exactly at right angles across the path, and
+here right under me at a depth of about five hundred
+feet, the river which could be seen coursing from a
+considerable distance at the bottom of the cleft,
+suddenly leapt into a cavern and disappeared
+beneath my feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having made a rapid sketch of this extraordinary
+landscape—or, more correctly speaking, having
+tried to convey on paper some faint idea of what
+the place was like—I again followed the guide, who
+now, turning his back on the precipice, led me
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_54' name='Page_54' href='#Page_54'>54</a></span>
+in a westerly direction, and brought me in a few
+minutes to the brink of a fearful-looking circular
+chasm, about fifty yards in diameter, with precipitous
+rocky sides, and from the bottom of which
+could be heard the distant roar of the river
+rushing among the rocks. The guide threw some
+large stones down this yawning gulph, disturbing
+some thousands of rock-pigeons who build their
+nests in the nooks and crannies of the rocks, and
+having timed the fall of one of these stones by
+listening for its splash in the subterranean river,
+I noted about seven seconds as the time it took
+in falling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I now accompanied the guide through the little
+hamlet of San Canziano, and still going westward
+came just beyond the village on another chasm,
+of oblong form, about six hundred yards one way,
+and three hundred and fifty yards the other way,
+while in depth it was no more than about fifty
+yards. It looked to me as if this opening had been
+made by the subsidence or falling-in of the roof
+of some cavern, of which the limestone rock of
+these mountains, as well in Styria as in Dalmatia
+is so full. The sides of this depression were not
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_55' name='Page_55' href='#Page_55'>55</a></span>
+precipitous except in some places, and an easy
+descent led me to the bottom, across which stretched
+from side to side a fantastic ridge of rock pierced
+by a natural arch about the middle, and under
+which an opening in the rock gave entrance to
+another cavern, through which anyone desirous of
+exploring it could without much difficulty, but at the
+cost of some fatigue and the risk of some falls,
+descend by a series of about six hundred high and
+slippery ledges of rock to where again the river
+makes its appearance after its subterranean course.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As the day was pretty well advanced, and as
+the weather, which had been cloudy all the morning
+seemed now to be threatening rain, I thought it
+wisest not to venture on going further, although the
+guide had provided himself with candles for the
+descent. So I scrambled up the sides of the
+chasm, and was making for the roadside inn where
+the carriage was waiting for me, when the storm-clouds,
+which had been gathering thicker and thicker
+for some time, broke out at last into such a deluge
+of rain, accompanied by thunder and lightning,
+that I was glad to take refuge under the archway
+of the belfry of San Canziano, and from thence into
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_56' name='Page_56' href='#Page_56'>56</a></span>
+the church itself, the door of which was opened
+for me by a queer little old dried-up chip of a
+sexton.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I am sure he said to me, "Pray take shelter in
+here from the rain," though as he spoke Styrian
+I could not understand a word, but his looks and
+gestures were as eloquent as words. Having
+walked into the little church, first taking off my
+hat, the little sexton became quite eloquent, and
+pointed out with evident satisfaction to every
+part of the chapel, which was poor and desolate in
+the extreme. Four white-washed walls, a wretched
+altar piece of wood painted in a few gaudy colours, and
+a crimson damask baldachino in tatters, which, stowed
+away in a corner, served to shelter the "Santissimo"
+when carried about in procession, two or three
+benches, a confessional box, and a lighted lamp
+hanging in front of the altar, constituted <i><span lang="fr_FR">toute la
+baraque</span></i>! but the poor little old man seemed delighted
+with himself and everything around him,
+and kept repeating in a shrill voice the only Italian
+word he apparently possessed "<i>Bella</i>," "<i>Bella</i>," to
+which I responded as in duty bound, "<i><span lang="it_IT">molto
+bella</span></i>," and I trust I may be forgiven the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_57' name='Page_57' href='#Page_57'>57</a></span>
+cram; for I never told a bigger one in all my
+life!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The floor of this little church was formed of
+large flag-stones, in some of which iron rings were
+inserted, while in others there only remained the
+marks of where rings had formerly been; some had
+inscriptions, and I should have been interested in
+hearing something of the ancient tenants of these
+graves, but here the sexton and I came completely
+to a dead lock. "<i>Bella</i>" could serve my friend
+no longer, still he understood perfectly what I
+required, so when he sat down on a bench, pointing
+to me to do the same, I complied at once, and all
+the more willingly as the rain was still coming down
+in torrents.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The old fellow then commenced, and, pointing
+with his skinny finger to the central slab, entered
+at once into what, I presume, must have been a
+full, true, and complete history of the tenants of that
+grave, descanting probably on their virtues, and
+dealing gently with their faults; but alas! I could
+not understand one word. At last, I suppose the same
+thought must have struck "Old Mortality," for
+he suddenly stopped and bursting into a shrill,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_58' name='Page_58' href='#Page_58'>58</a></span>
+unearthly, and most discordant laugh, pointed to
+the sky which was now clearing, and held out
+his palsied hand, when I discovered he knew
+another word, not Slave, nor Italian, but this
+time German, "<i>Geschenk!</i>" I gave him the only
+bit of silver I possessed, an English sixpence, and
+left him seemingly contented.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The clouds had all melted away, and the sun
+shone brilliantly when I left the little roadside
+tavern of San Canziano to return to Trieste; but,
+as I wanted to visit a stud-park which the Emperor
+of Austria keeps in this part of his dominions, we
+took another route on my return journey. The
+country we now drove through was prettier than what
+we had traversed in the morning, and the road
+passed through some fine oak woods, which constantly
+prompted one to look out for a mansion,
+the country appeared so park-like—but in
+vain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a drive of an hour or so we came to
+the stud-farm, a collection of large buildings,
+consisting of several dwelling-houses, a spacious riding-house
+for exercising the horses in severe weather,
+three large stables intended to accommodate three
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_59' name='Page_59' href='#Page_59'>59</a></span>
+hundred mares, and one lofty vaulted stable
+fitted with nice large loose boxes in which were
+kept the sires. The mares were all out at grass
+together with their foals, so that I did not see them,
+as I should have had to drive some miles in a
+different direction, and turn my back on Trieste
+in order to visit them. The sires I did see, but
+as they were not led out I could not form as
+accurate an opinion of them as I should have
+wished. They seemed, however, small, and not
+exactly the style of horse we would select in
+this country with a view to supplying our cavalry.
+The loose-boxes were commodious and the stable
+was well-ventilated; the weather being extremely
+hot the windows were closed with <i>tatties</i>, which
+served the double purpose of keeping away the
+flies, which always seek the light, and keeping
+the stable cool. The stable was fairly clean,
+but the grooming did not come up to our ideas.
+On the whole I was disappointed, and as for
+the produce, I should think that nothing but the
+very lightest of light cavalry horses could be
+expected from them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We returned to Trieste by nine o'clock, coming
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_60' name='Page_60' href='#Page_60'>60</a></span>
+by the old post-road from Vienna, and passing
+by that wonderful quarry of limestone slabs, perhaps
+the largest in the world.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_61' name='Page_61' href='#Page_61'>61</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p6">
+<img src="images/cornucopia.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+CHAPTER V.
+</h2>
+
+<p class="ch_summ">
+THE "SAN CARLO" AND HER PASSENGERS—A DALMATIAN'S
+REMARKS ON THE PRESERVATION OF HEALTH IN INDIA—DALMATIAN
+DIGGERS FROM AUSTRALIA—COAST OF ISTRIA—PIRANO—CATHEDRAL
+OF PARENZO—ROVIGNO—POLA—THE
+AMPHITHEATRE—PICTURESQUE SIGHT—GIOVANNI ASTONISHED—MONTENEGRIN
+COSTUME—ZARA—EXTREME HEAT.
+</p>
+
+<div>
+<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropo.jpg" width="100" height="94" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p class="drop-cap">
+On the 2nd of July I was up betimes.
+I had taken my place for Zara on
+board the 'San Carlo,' a small coasting
+steamer which trades down the Dalmatian side of
+the Adriatic, going in and out among that archipelago
+of islands which fringe the coast of
+Dalmatia from the mouth of the Guarnero to the
+entrance of the Gulf of Cattaro. It was a small,
+slow, and dirty little steamer, but it stopped
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_62' name='Page_62' href='#Page_62'>62</a></span>
+everywhere going on its way, and that was just
+what I wanted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Small as the vessel was, we had plenty of
+passengers, and a strange lot they were. We had
+two Capuchin monks going to Ragusa, one of them
+a most interesting man of whom I shall have more
+to say by and by; his lay brother, a simple,
+ignorant monk, and no more. We had a tall,
+handsome Dalmatian from Spalato, returning home
+to end his days in opulence and comfort after
+spending twenty years in India, where he had
+accumulated an independence which in Dalmatia
+will be considered a large fortune. He spoke
+English remarkably well. Being struck by his
+hale and robust looks, I asked him how he had
+managed to preserve his health so well after residing
+for twenty years in India. "Many of them," added he,
+"in unhealthy localities." "Simply by not drinking,"
+he answered. "I don't mean to say that I was
+a water-drinker—not at all, for I believe that
+water-drinking is nearly as bad as spirit-drinking,
+and indeed I think I have observed that
+those who were 'teatotallers' died even sooner
+than drunkards. But I never drank anything
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_63' name='Page_63' href='#Page_63'>63</a></span>
+before breakfast, I drank nothing but good, full-bodied
+claret, and I never took more than two
+bottles of it a day, and seldom so much; I smoked,
+but always in moderation, and I never had a day's
+illness during those twenty years. India is not a
+bad climate, it is the reckless habits of Europeans
+that make it apparently so."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had two other Dalmatians from Sebenico,
+who also were returning home after residing many
+years abroad. These two had been in Australia;
+one had been a digger, and seemed the reverse of
+well-off; the other had kept a store at some gold-diggings,
+and had apparently made plenty of money.
+Both spoke English well, and the last one brought
+with him from Australia an Irish wife, who had
+emigrated to the Antipodes all the way from
+Lurgan. She was a fine comely young woman
+of about twenty-six, and was overjoyed at finding
+I knew her native place. In the afternoon I made
+some tea in my portable kitchen, and gave her a
+cup of it with some preserved milk, which she
+declared the most delicious thing she had tasted
+for many a long day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The rest of our passengers consisted of country
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_64' name='Page_64' href='#Page_64'>64</a></span>
+people returning to their homes along the
+coast of Istria and Dalmatia, after having been
+to Trieste to dispose of the produce of their
+lands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As the clocks struck five, we steamed out of
+Trieste on one of the finest mornings that could
+be imagined. The sea was as smooth as a mirror,
+and of the most intense blue. How often we
+stopped as we went down the coast of Istria I
+cannot tell, as we were constantly heaving to
+for the convenience of passengers going on shore
+in boats which put off to receive them; we did stop
+however at Capo d'Istria, and then at Pirano,
+where I was able to take a rough sketch of that
+most picturesque little town, with its beautiful
+mediæval castle perched on the cliff behind
+it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we came to Parenzo, where I should very
+much have liked to go ashore for a couple of
+hours to look at the cathedral, of which I had
+heard so much, but unfortunately the little business
+the steamer had to transact was done in a few
+minutes, and the Captain would not delay (probably
+because my bribe was insufficient), so I had
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_65' name='Page_65' href='#Page_65'>65</a></span>
+to comfort myself with the hope of seeing it on
+some future occasion, when I trust to be able
+again to visit all those spots which interested me
+so much then, as also many other places in the
+same countries, which accidental circumstances prevented
+me from seeing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Cathedral of Parenzo, which I was so
+anxious to see, and which had been described to
+me by a friend at Trieste as a <i><span lang="it_IT">meraviglia</span></i>, was
+founded by Bishop Eupatius, and completed in the
+year 526; it is therefore as old as St. Sophia of
+Constantinople, and older than any other Cathedral
+in Europe. "It is said to have a semicircular
+apse behind the altar, with the Bishop's throne,
+and seats on either side for the clergy, instances of
+which are now so rarely to be met with."<a name='FA_2' id='FA_2' href='#FN_2' class='fnanchor'>[2]</a>...
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"At the east end is a round apse, as glorious
+in its mosaics as St. Mark's, or St. Sophia. Every
+part of the wall and rounded roof is covered with
+mosaics, &amp;c. A group of nine saints and angels
+surrounding the Blessed Virgin and Child, on a
+golden background, is exquisitely done. Heads of
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_66' name='Page_66' href='#Page_66'>66</a></span>
+saints adorn the arches, all are beautiful. Below
+these, to about ten feet high, the walls are inlaid
+with whole shells of mother-of-pearl let into a dark
+brown stone; it looks just like a piece of Damascus
+furniture, and though rude it is effective and
+beautiful.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The flooring of the whole church is of course
+mosaic, in Byzantine patterns, the same as in
+Murano and St. Mark's; but one can scarcely
+look at anything after the wall mosaics, save the
+capitals of the columns. The pillars themselves
+are of a fine brown marble; the capitals are
+identically the same as those in Santa Sophia,
+one more exquisitely under-cut than the other
+into lace-work of leaves, flowers, birds, &amp;c.;
+they are perhaps a little bolder than those of
+St. Sophia, but full of life and spirit, not a line
+wasted nor a thought thrown away. I longed
+to sketch them, but I could only hope they may
+one day be photographed; Jerusalem and Constantinople
+alone can rival them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The Baldacchino is exceedingly curious and fine,
+as are also the very ancient altar hangings.
+There is a splendid altar front, of solid silver
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_67' name='Page_67' href='#Page_67'>67</a></span>
+gilt, of the Renaissance date. The interest appertaining
+to this is that it is placed at the <i>back</i>
+of the altar for high mass, facing the Bishop,
+who is seated <i>behind the altar</i>, as at Torcello;
+this is an ancient and I believe unique privilege.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The Chapel of St. Andrew, at the north-east
+corner of the church, is very interesting and
+curious. There has been a porch or cloister at the
+west entrance, but only two or three columns
+remain of it. I venture to think this church
+is well worth a special journey from England to see.
+I could think of nothing else the rest of the day,
+although our onward voyage was full of beauty."<a name='FA_3' id='FA_3' href='#FN_3' class='fnanchor'>[3]</a>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We then came to Rovigno with its beautiful
+campanile, and here again I could not get half
+an hour to go on shore to look at it, though
+I believe there is not much more to be seen
+beside it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At three <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> we came in sight of the harbour
+of Pola—the Portsmouth of Austria;—but Pola
+itself we could not see, as it lies at the bottom
+of a bay communicating with the sea by a deep
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_68' name='Page_68' href='#Page_68'>68</a></span>
+and winding channel, apparently well defended by
+numerous forts which surround it. The harbour
+itself is of very considerable dimensions, and so
+deep that the largest vessels can come alongside
+the quays.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Although so important a place, there did not
+appear to be much life or bustle about it. The
+country around it is flat and marshy, and sometimes
+in the year very unhealthy. It must have
+been, however, an important place in the days of
+ancient Rome, judging from the size of its amphitheatre,
+and the beauty of the Temple and
+triumphal arches which still remain, and which
+constitute after all the great attractions of Pola.
+They are quite close to the landing, so they can be
+visited with the utmost facility during the stay
+which the steamer generally makes there. The
+amphitheatre alone is worth a special visit, as the
+exterior of it is perfect, and at a short distance does
+not even look like a ruin. It dates from the third
+century and is very fine. It consists of a basement
+story about four hundred and thirty feet in
+length, by three hundred and fifty feet in width,
+surmounted by two tiers of arches, with half columns
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_69' name='Page_69' href='#Page_69'>69</a></span>
+of the Tuscan order between each, all about eighty
+feet high.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Beautifully preserved as is the exterior, the
+condition of the interior is most disappointing,
+as nothing remains of the internal arrangement
+except on one side, the one furthest from the
+sea, where there are still a few seats cut in
+the rock, some even bearing what most probably
+were the initials of their owners carved into
+them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What can have caused this utter ruin of all
+the accommodation for the spectators? Have the
+natives from time to time removed the building
+materials from the inside, for the purpose of
+building the modern town? not daring to lay
+a sacrilegious hand on the shell of the building
+itself, which bore no semblance to a ruin, while
+at the same time they treated the interior as
+a quarry! or were the seats made of woodwork,
+and destroyed by fire, as some have
+imagined?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The steamer always remains long enough to
+permit the traveller to visit the amphitheatre and
+the temples, as well as the triumphal arches, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_70' name='Page_70' href='#Page_70'>70</a></span>
+to take a stroll through the Piazza. I did so, and
+still further improved the passing hour by eating an
+excellent dinner <i>al fresco</i> under a <i>pergola</i> of vines at
+the <i>Trattoria</i> of the place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was just dark as I got on board again, having
+been warned by the unmusical steam-whistle that
+the vessel would soon be under way again. Just
+before starting, a military band came to play
+before the Commandant's house, which is on the
+quays just opposite to where the steamer was
+moored. It being now dark, the band was
+accompanied by a score of soldiers carrying a
+peculiarly shaped lantern fastened to the top of a
+pole, to enable the men to see their music. At
+first as the band came marching down the quays
+with their lights dancing high up in the air before
+and behind, I could not make out what it was,
+and only for the liveliness of the music I might
+have thought it was a funeral, the whole thing was
+very picturesque and the music excellent. At last
+we got under way and steamed out of the
+harbour on our way to the coast of Dalmatia,
+across the Gulf of the Quarnero, so well known
+for its dangerous navigation and so much dreaded
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_71' name='Page_71' href='#Page_71'>71</a></span>
+even by the hardy sailors of the Adriatic, when
+swept by the fierce impetuous Bora.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Fortunately for me, who am not the most
+intrepid of mariners, and who prefer admiring a
+tempestuous sea from off a rocky vantage point
+upon the shore, to tossing on its stormy waves,
+the dreaded Quarnero was as smooth as a millpond.
+The night was magnificent; the heavens
+cloudless, and studded with countless stars, but
+scarcely as bright as I have seen them at other
+times, owing to the intense brilliancy of the
+moon now nearly at the full. The track of the
+steamer was clearly marked out far in the rear
+by a broad phosphorescent wake, while the water
+which was dashed off from the paddles seemed like
+liquid fire.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The cabins were all occupied, so I had to make
+my bed on deck; but even if I could have got
+one, I never could have slept below, it was so
+hot and stuffy. I was soon settled for the night;
+a doubled-up rug laid lengthwise on the deck
+was my bed, and my dressing-bag was my pillow.
+It was so warm that I required no covering save
+my light tweed suit, and I was no sooner down
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_72' name='Page_72' href='#Page_72'>72</a></span>
+than I was fast asleep. I don't know how long
+I slept; but I would have slept still longer, if I
+had not been awoke by the steamer stopping to
+put down and take up passengers and goods at
+some place on the coast of Dalmatia.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had safely crossed the mouth of the Quarnero,
+the moon had set, and the blue black vault of
+heaven was studded with countless stars sparkling
+like diamonds. The steamer was hove to a little
+distance from the shore, while scores of boats, each
+with a coloured lantern at the prow, came and
+went, making as pretty a scene as can be imagined;
+but for all that, after sitting up and admiring it
+for a few minutes, I lay down again on my rug,
+and falling asleep never awoke again till the sun was
+high in the heavens the next morning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By degrees the passengers one by one came on
+deck, when by making interest with Giovanni, the
+steward, I obtained the use of a <i>camerino</i> (cabin)
+to make my toilet in. Having completed my
+ablutions I called in Giovanni to empty my tub,
+for as the <i>camerino</i> was extremely small it was
+next to impossible to stand in it, unless with one's
+feet in the water. Never was steward so astonished
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_73' name='Page_73' href='#Page_73'>73</a></span>
+and so puzzled as Giovanni was at the sight of
+my flimsy mackintosh tub; he had no idea of how
+to take it up to empty it, he was afraid to touch
+it until I had taken it up on three sides and showed
+him how to lift it, when he was so delighted
+with the whole arrangement that he placed it
+on the table of the cabin just as it was, and
+fetched down the passengers to see the ingenious
+English device. By the time it had been well
+examined and then emptied, I was up and dressed.
+When I came out of the <i>camerino</i>, I showed the
+assembled company how it could be rolled up
+into the smallest compass, and stowed away in a
+travelling bag.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was no regular breakfast on board,
+but everyone as he wanted it got a cup of
+coffee and a bit of bread or a biscuit; preserved
+milk also could be had, but of butter there was
+none.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our passengers had somewhat varied since leaving
+Trieste. We had deposited many on the coast of
+Istria as we went along, and taken up others in
+their place. We had a remarkable Oriental-looking
+woman, plain perhaps, and yet handsome, a
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_74' name='Page_74' href='#Page_74'>74</a></span>
+Montenegrin of rank, a cousin of the present
+Prince, dressed in full native costume. She was
+on her way to her native country to petition
+the Prince to permit certain of his cousins, who
+had been expatriated for political causes, to return
+to their homes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The costume of the Montenegrin women is not
+becoming; even this handsome woman, and the
+beautiful Princess whom I subsequently had the
+honour of seeing at Montenegro, failed to render
+it attractive to my eyes, whereas the costume of the
+men is eminently becoming. This lady's dress
+consisted of a sort of white chemise of fine lawn,
+tight, but gathered very full round the neck,
+without any frill, and open down the front for
+six or eight inches, where it was closed by a row
+of very small buttons. This white garment, which
+reached down to the ankles, was fastened round
+her waist by a massive silver belt, made in compartments
+three inches by four and joined together
+by hinges. Each compartment was highly ornamented
+with rich <i><span lang="fr_FR">repoussé</span></i> work in <i><span lang="it_IT">alto rilievo</span></i>, and
+from a side-piece hung down several ornaments of
+the châtelaine species, while from the other side
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_75' name='Page_75' href='#Page_75'>75</a></span>
+depended an exquisite little dagger in a sheath of
+silver <i><span lang="fr_FR">repoussé</span></i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sleeves of this white garment were tight
+at the shoulders, but grew wider and wider as
+they approached the wrist, where they were
+upwards of two feet six inches in diameter. They
+were bordered with a rich margin of embroidery
+in gold and silver thread, mingled with red and
+blue silk, in excellent taste, and the same embroidery
+was continued up the external seam of the
+sleeve on the outside of the elbow up to the
+shoulder. From below the silver belt she wore
+a large apron of rich black silk coming down to
+her ankles, and over all a peculiar white cloth
+coat without sleeves, the typical garment of the
+Montenegrins, both male and female. This coat
+was made of a very soft white cloth, so close and
+yet soft and pliable, that although sitting next to
+her and touching it with my finger, I could not at
+once determine if it was cloth or some sort of
+beautifully tanned leather. As I said before, this
+coat was without sleeves or collar, but scooped
+tight to the back of the neck. In front it did
+not come further forward than about half way
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_76' name='Page_76' href='#Page_76'>76</a></span>
+between the point of the shoulders and the middle
+of the neck, and then straight down like a sack
+till just below the calf of the leg. This coat was
+bound right round the whole way with a narrow
+pattern of embroidery in the same style as round
+the sleeves of the muslin dress, and in addition
+had a row of very small round silver buttons down
+the front on one side. On her head she wore a
+very large black Indian silk kerchief fastened into
+her hair with pins, and hanging down behind her
+back as low as her waist.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The costume is decidedly ugly, though containing
+the elements of great beauty, if only put
+together with taste and harmony. Nothing, for
+instance, can be more attractive and becoming than
+that black kerchief, be it of silk, gauze or lace,
+when gracefully put on the head, as the women
+of Spain or Genoa know so well how to wear it;
+but the Montenegrin arrangement is as clumsy
+and inelegant in the women as it is manly and
+picturesque in the men.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had on board also several Austrian officers
+going to join their quarters, some to Zara and
+some to Cattaro, Budua, and Kosmatch. Very
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_77' name='Page_77' href='#Page_77'>77</a></span>
+nice, pleasant, gentlemanlike fellows they were,
+some of them speaking French, but all able to
+converse freely in Italian, and all well-informed,
+agreeable companions. Acquaintances are made
+much more easily abroad than in England, so we
+were soon quite at home together, and what with
+chatting, smoking and walking up and down the
+deck, we quickly passed over the time, till at ten
+o'clock <span class="smcap">a.m.</span>, we came in front of Zara, celebrated
+in ancient times for its long siege, when "in
+1346 Marino Faliero earned his laurels by the
+most daring assault," and in modern times for its
+excellent Maraschino!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Zara is an important place even at the present
+time. It is the capital of Dalmatia, and the seat
+of the Archbishop of the province. It is well-built,
+clean, and tolerably well-paved, and well-worth
+a visit. The time, however, allowed by
+the stay of the steamer is amply sufficient to
+enable one to see it; but the heat was so great
+that I felt more inclined to stay on board smoking
+cigarettes under the awning of the steamer than
+to go on shore. The prospect of some <i><span lang="fr_FR">café à la
+glace</span></i>, however, which I knew was to be obtained
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_78' name='Page_78' href='#Page_78'>78</a></span>
+in the Piazza, added to the more important fact
+that I was to receive here a letter for the Archimandrite
+of Montenegro, induced me to shake off
+my apathy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having landed on the quay, I passed through
+the gate over which is sculptured the grim effigy
+of the Lion of St. Mark, everywhere seen down
+the Eastern shores of the Adriatic wheresoever the
+Venetians had established their authority, I proceeded
+to execute my plans; but the heat was so
+intense that I was glad to come back to the steamer
+where I imagined it was something less stifling.
+But this day was unusually hot and close, and
+with the exception of one at Cattaro, when the
+thermometer registered at four o'clock <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>,
+105° Fahrenheit, was the hottest I experienced in
+all my journey.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_79' name='Page_79' href='#Page_79'>79</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p6">
+<img src="images/wroughtiron.jpg" width="400" height="87" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+CHAPTER VI.
+</h2>
+
+<p class="ch_summ">
+DEPARTURE FROM ZARA—SEBENICO—PLEASANT COMPANIONS—NOBLE
+HARBOUR—THE CATHEDRAL—CURIOUS ROOF—CORAL
+FISHERY—SPALATO—SALONA—DIOCLETIAN'S PALACE—MR.
+PATON'S DESCRIPTION OF IT—BEAUTIFUL SPECTACLE—THE
+PORTA FERREA—QUAINT DWELLINGS—AMBROSIAL TOBACCO.
+</p>
+
+<div>
+<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropa.jpg" width="100" height="108" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p class="drop-cap">
+AT about one o'clock <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> we steamed
+away from Zara while we were at
+dinner, and at five <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> reached Sebenico.
+Should I ever travel again in
+that part of the world, I think I should try to go
+from Zara to Sebenico by land in order to see the
+ruins of Asseria, which I learnt afterwards were
+well worth a visit; but the journey should in that
+case be undertaken earlier in the year, to avoid the
+oppressive heats.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_80' name='Page_80' href='#Page_80'>80</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The afternoon between leaving Zara and arriving
+at Sebenico passed quickly away, for I had the
+advantage of two most agreeable companions; one
+the capuchin monk, the other a charming young
+fellow, an officer in an Austrian Jäger regiment,
+Baron Heyd von Heydeg.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Capuchin was a most interesting man, and
+we chatted many an hour together by moonlight on
+the deck, when every one else had gone to sleep,
+when I used to chaff him about the rules of his
+order, which forbid the smoking of tobacco, while
+they permit the use of snuff without any restriction.
+He used to take it most good-humouredly,
+and laughed as if his sides would split
+when I would refuse to take a pinch of his snuff
+unless he smoked one of my cigarettes. I verily
+think I should have brought him round at last,
+had he not been constantly under the surveillance,
+and in mortal "<i><span lang="it_IT">soggezione</span></i>" of his lay
+brother.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Heyd was a different fellow altogether, but
+most agreeable. He was going to join his regiment,
+then quartered at Budua. We travelled
+together as far as Cattaro, and I met him subsequently
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_81' name='Page_81' href='#Page_81'>81</a></span>
+both at Cettigne and Budua, where I
+went expressly to pay him a visit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The time sped swiftly and most agreeably in
+spite of the heat, and at five o'clock <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> we
+steamed through the narrow tortuous opening,
+bordered by steep rocky sides, which leads into
+the bay, at the further end of which stands
+Sebenico. It is a noble harbour, and so deep
+that a frigate can lie alongside the quay. At
+the narrowest part of its entrance, the approach
+is defended by what a few years ago would have
+been considered a masterpiece of fortification, but
+which at present would offer too fair a target to
+our projectiles to afford any great protection against
+an enemy. It is still worth a visit, as its casemates
+are perhaps among the finest in the world.
+It was engineered and built in 1546, by the celebrated
+architect San Micheli. The entrance to the
+fortress is surmounted by the usual Venetian Lion
+with the following inscription:—
+</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poem">
+<p>"<span lang="la">Pax tibi Marce Evangelista meus</span>."<a name='FA_4' id='FA_4' href='#FN_4' class='fnanchor'>[4]</a></p>
+</div></div>
+<p>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_82' name='Page_82' href='#Page_82'>82</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having landed with Baron Heyd, who had been
+quartered there some time before, for cicerone, I proceeded
+to inspect the Duomo, or cathedral, the
+principal object of interest there. Some people
+are lost in admiration of this cathedral, I really
+could not see much about it to admire, and the two
+statues on its façade representing Adam and Eve
+(they might as well be Gog and Magog) are simply
+detestable. But the roof of the cathedral is a
+curiosity in itself, and worth the journey. It
+is of its kind unique, and though it is said to
+be perfectly safe, and I suppose must be so,
+having continued so for so many years, still I could
+not help feeling a sense of insecurity as long as I
+was in the church, and enjoyed great relief when I
+finally came out of it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This roof is simply a semi-cylinder made of
+enormous slabs of stone joined edge to edge, but
+so beautifully adapted and fitted one into the
+other that, without any other support save what
+they afford each other, they form the vault of this
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_83' name='Page_83' href='#Page_83'>83</a></span>
+cathedral. I trust they may never crack; but I,
+for one, could never say my prayers with comfort
+under such a roof.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having taken a ramble through the streets, which
+were clean and contained many fine mansions, we
+went up to the fort on the hill behind the town,
+and which commands the whole place, where we
+passed a pleasant hour with the officers of the
+garrison.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My time being limited, I was unable to make
+an expedition from Sebenico, which under different
+circumstances I should certainly have undertaken,
+that is to the falls of the Kerka and the monastery
+above them. My friend, the Capuchin, who had
+travelled a good deal both in Europe and America,
+and had a good eye for the picturesque, told me
+they were well worth seeing; but like many
+other interesting spots down that coast, I
+must only hope to visit them at some future
+time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At dusk we returned to the steamer, though
+we knew it would not leave till the following
+morning early, and we could have spent a most
+pleasant night on shore; but Sebenico shuts its
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_84' name='Page_84' href='#Page_84'>84</a></span>
+gates at sunset, and then till the following sunrise
+no one can come in or go out, and had we
+attempted it we should only have lost our
+passage.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having partaken of an excellent supper, I
+returned to the deck, where, as was my wont, I
+sat down beside my friend the Capuchin, who
+always took a cup of coffee with me though he
+would not consent to smoke. We chatted till very
+late, when he went down to his <i>camerino</i>, and I
+settled myself on deck as usual for my night's sleep.
+It turned out awfully hot, as the steamer remained
+till break of day in the harbour of Sebenico, but
+what must it have been in the cabin?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the very earliest dawn we left our moorings,
+and steamed out of the harbour by its well guarded
+entrance. Just outside we passed a group of small
+islands, among which is established a considerable
+coral fishery. The coral is not however of the
+finest quality, mostly of the common deep red
+kind, and is principally sold on the spot or at
+the fair of Sinigaglia in the Romagna on the
+opposite or Italian side of the Adriatic.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The dawn was just merging into daylight, when
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_85' name='Page_85' href='#Page_85'>85</a></span>
+we steamed out of that land-locked harbour. It
+had been stiflingly hot as long as we had lain still
+alongside the quay, but the moment we came out
+into the open sea, the
+</p>
+
+<div class="poetry-container">
+<div class="poem">
+<p class="o1">".&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. <span lang="it_IT">Aura messaggiera</span> .&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.</p>
+<p><span lang="it_IT">Ad annunziar che se ne vien l'Aurora</span>,"</p>
+</div></div>
+
+<p class="post">
+came with a most refreshing breeze, so light, however,
+as not even to raise a "cat's paw" on the
+glassy waters, but still deliciously cool and invigorating.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The steward was not long manufacturing me a
+good cup of coffee, after which, having made
+myself comfortable in a capital arm-chair, I again
+went to sleep, not to awake until Giovanni summoned
+me again, "<span lang="it_IT">per far colazione</span>."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the course of the morning we reached
+Spalato, a beautiful and most interesting place,
+where an artist could with advantage spend many
+days. It was celebrated in ancient times for the
+gorgeous palace which the Emperor Diocletian
+built for himself after abdicating the Empire in
+303 <span class="smcap">a.d.</span>, and the magnificent remains of which
+still form the glory of the present city. After a
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_86' name='Page_86' href='#Page_86'>86</a></span>
+reign of twenty years, "Diocletian executed his
+memorable resolution of abdicating the Empire,"
+and acquired the glory of giving to the world the
+most remarkable, if not the first, example of a
+resignation which has not been very frequently
+imitated by succeeding monarchs. Withdrawing
+to Salona, he passed the last nine years of his life
+in seclusion—the building of a palace in the
+neighbourhood, and the superintendence of his
+garden, occupying his leisure hours. The
+satisfaction he derived from these pursuits is
+sufficiently proved by his well-known answer to
+Maximian, when urging him to re-assume the
+purple, "If I could show you the cabbages I have
+planted with my own hands at Salona, you would
+no longer urge me to relinquish the enjoyment of
+happiness for the pursuit of power."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This immense palace, which covered very nearly
+nine English acres of ground, was almost a perfect
+square terminating at the four corners by a quadrangular
+tower. Its faces were directed as nearly
+as possible to the four cardinal points—the southern
+side being pointed to the shore and facing the sea.
+It still exists in good preservation and forms a grand
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_87' name='Page_87' href='#Page_87'>87</a></span>
+object of attraction to the visitor entering the
+harbour. Two streets intersected each other at
+right angles nearly in the centre of it, which has
+lately been completely excavated and is now fully
+exposed to view.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The following description by the late Mr. Paton
+(author of "Highlands and Islands of the Adriatic,"
+one of the most charming books ever printed)
+will convey to the reader a far clearer impression
+than anything I could pen; I therefore make
+no apology for inserting it here, and whoever
+should wish to go still deeper into the matter
+and learn all that is to be learned concerning
+this palace, I refer him to Mr. Adams' book
+"Spalato Restored," which is a perfectly exhaustive
+treatise on the subject.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"At the outset we are struck with the enormous
+extent of the palace, which is not less
+than nine acres and a half; so that even Constantine
+Porphyrogenitus speaks of it with admiration,
+as one of the greatest edifices then extant.
+In the time of Diocletian, his great retinue and
+a pretorian cohort could be lodged with convenience
+in it. Sixteen towers gave strength and elegance
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_88' name='Page_88' href='#Page_88'>88</a></span>
+to the edifice, of which the largest were those
+at the four corners. The back of the edifice looked
+to the north-east on the land-side, and there was the
+principal entrance, the Porta Aurea, or golden gate,
+which led to the Peristylium, a great court of
+granite columns; and the cross street which intersected
+the principal passage at right angles was
+terminated at each end by gates, the one the
+Porta Ferrea, or iron gate, the other the Porta
+Ænea, or gate of brass, which are so called to this
+day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"This peristylium, or court of granite columns,
+was flanked by two temples; the greater of Jupiter,
+and the smaller of Esculapius; the former, a
+lofty octagon, was ascended by a stair of fifteen
+steps; an uneven number being generally found in
+the temples of the ancients, that, beginning to
+move with the right foot, they might, of course,
+place it first upon the uppermost step in order to
+enter the temple—a form which was accounted
+respectful in approaching the Deity. From the
+peristylium, or court of granite columns, the Roman
+entered the principal inhabited part of the palace;
+first was the porticus of Corinthian order, then the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_89' name='Page_89' href='#Page_89'>89</a></span>
+circular dome-covered vestibulum, with the Lares
+and Penates; then the atrium, or quadrangular
+hall, ninety-eight by forty-five with its arms and
+trophies dedicated to ancestry; and last of all
+the crypto-porticus, or grand gallery, looking to
+the south-west, thus facing the sea, and forming
+a noble promenade of five hundred and fifteen feet
+in length, in which, during the heat of Summer
+or inclemency of Winter, the Emperor could take
+exercise. This crypto-porticus was the principal
+feature of the palace, and the well-known taste
+of Diocletian leads us to suppose that the choicest
+statuary and paintings of the Old World must have
+adorned its walls. The relics of Pompeii give
+some idea of the classic fancy in ornament, the
+harmonizing contrasts in colour, and the consummate
+skill in tessellation employed in the domestic
+architecture of the ancients; and if we relieve these
+splendours with the latest fascination in the
+unpretending forms of Greek statuary, how puny
+is the utmost magnificence of Versailles compared
+with the dwelling of the retired Roman!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Such was the Palace of Diocletian; what now
+remains of the edifice? The shell or outer wall,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_90' name='Page_90' href='#Page_90'>90</a></span>
+of which the best preserved part is the grand
+gallery facing the sea; for Spalato like its
+contemporary Baalbec being used as a fortification,
+the rough stone and mortar of the middle-age
+battlements surmount in many places the massive
+normal masonry of the Roman Empire....
+Within the town, fragments of Roman architecture
+are scattered thickly enough, but so obscured and
+mingled with modern houses as to present a mass
+of confusion."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Did we stop short here, the reader might well
+imagine that beyond the shell, the walls which
+surrounded the palace, nothing has been preserved;
+such however is not the case, and I shall now
+endeavour to describe what I saw in Spalato the
+morning that I steamed into its harbour, when from
+the deck of my vessel I gazed on that sea studded
+all over with numberless boats spreading the most
+fantastic sails to the gentlest of breezes!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The prevailing form, if not the only one, was the
+lateen in all its varieties, most of the boats carrying
+but one. But such colours and such devices
+painted on them! things that would look simply
+outrageous at Cowes or Ryde, how lovely they
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_91' name='Page_91' href='#Page_91'>91</a></span>
+seemed there! Some were striped from above
+downwards with every colour of the rainbow, but
+only two colours to each sail and these always
+harmoniously contrasted; others of one uniform
+colour, with some fantastic ornament in sharp
+contrast in the middle; while some, all of one colour
+had at the topmost angle of the lateen a representation
+of the sun generally in burnished gold with its
+rays coming down a long way over the sail. The
+glittering golden sea, those fairy-looking boats
+gliding over it, the picturesque costumes of the
+sailors, the whole scene bathed in that golden light
+was a fit preparation for my introduction to the rare
+beauties of Spalato itself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As we slowly approached the quay, there was
+ample time to admire the long façade of Diocletian's
+Palace, with the tall and elegant campanile which
+rises inside it on the right, and the strong hexagonal
+machicolated tower on the left. The lofty steeple
+on the right, a very Giralda of elegance and
+airiness—the dungeon on the left a sturdy emblem
+of the iron-fisted middle ages.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After some customary formalities, during which
+I feasted my eyes on the picturesque groups that
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_92' name='Page_92' href='#Page_92'>92</a></span>
+crowded on the quay, permission was finally given
+to go ashore; when crossing as quickly as could be
+the narrow intervening space, I plunged through the
+Porta Ferrea into the vaulted passage which on this
+side gives entrance to the city of Spalato; and now
+commence the real difficulties of description, but
+having undertaken it I must only try, trusting to the
+kind forbearance of my readers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This vaulted entrance is narrow, perhaps not twelve
+feet wide, but very lofty and formed of immense
+blocks of stone put together with wonderful
+accuracy. After following it a little way, it opens
+out into a spacious round hall rising up to a
+considerable height, this portion being unroofed;
+from it open out several streets, all running about
+here and there, crossing and recrossing each other
+as if in search of light and air. The dwellings
+in these streets are full of quaint artistic beauty;
+at one point one meets a massive wall of square-cut
+blocks dating from the days of Diocletian, against
+which, perhaps, is built up a modern house with
+wrought-iron balconies of the most delicate
+workmanship; further on, an outside staircase of
+rude stone steps, partly covered with a roof of
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_93' name='Page_93' href='#Page_93'>93</a></span>
+russet tiles, leads to a door some thirty feet above
+our heads, from which a flying buttress crosses
+over to an opening in an ancient wall beyond, where
+a modern habitation has been constructed in some
+mediæval donjon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Each turn brings a new surprise, and so one
+passes on till one comes to the piazza, and this
+day being a festival, it swarmed with natives from
+all the surrounding <i><span lang="it_IT">campagne</span></i>. The reader must
+now come with me to the <i><span lang="fr_FR">café</span></i>, where under a
+thick awning and surrounded by a screen of
+oleanders and orange-trees in full bloom, we shall
+take a <i><span lang="it_IT">granita di caffé</span></i> (a water-ice flavoured with
+coffee), and study the moving panorama before us,
+whilst we slowly puff away a cigarette made with
+the ambrosial tobacco of Trebigna—a kind still
+unknown in London and in Paris!
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p4">
+<img src="images/oak.jpg" width="141" height="52" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter p6">
+<img src="images/fish.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_94' name='Page_94' href='#Page_94'>94</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+CHAPTER VII.
+</h2>
+
+<p class="ch_summ">
+A TYPE OF SHYLOCK—SCENE IN THE STREET—VARIED COSTUMES—MORLACCHI—TURKS
+FROM THE HERZEGOVINA—WOMEN OF
+SPALATO—INSPECTION OF THE CITY—THE PORTA AUREA—COURT
+OF THE VESTIBULE OF THE PALACE—INTERIOR OF
+THE CATHEDRAL—ILLUSTRIOUS MEN OF SPALATO—MARK
+ANTONY DE DOMINIS—ST. JEROME—THE MORLACCHI.
+</p>
+
+<div>
+<img class="drop-cap" src="images/drops.jpg" width="100" height="118" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p class="drop-cap">
+SITTING down cross-legged on the
+very oldest and dirtiest of rugs, and
+just outside our fragrant hedge of
+oleander, is to be seen an old Jew,
+the finest type of a Shylock that could be imagined;
+with ample, heavy, flowing beard, aquiline nose
+with sharp cut nostril, and deep-set piercing eyes
+shadowed by an ample turban. He has before him,
+on his rug, a collection of arms, pistols of the old
+approved Turkish form and yataghans of every
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_95' name='Page_95' href='#Page_95'>95</a></span>
+price, from the common horn-handled weapon in a
+wooden sheath to the jewel-hilted Kharjar in a
+sheath of <i><span lang="fr_FR">repoussé</span></i> silver. Around is a motley
+group of countrymen, all talking at the top of
+their voices in their several languages, whilst
+examining and praising or depreciating the weapons
+there for sale, just as they are either simple <i><span lang="fr_FR">flâneurs</span></i>
+in the square, or really intending purchasers. The
+varieties of costume rendered this picturesque
+group most interesting, there were Morlacchi from
+the neighbouring mountains with full blue Turkish
+trowsers fast to the knee; gold embroidered
+crimson jackets without sleeves, and gaiters to
+match; the whole finished off by an immense Albanian
+scarf of many colours wound round the waist,
+holding a perfect armoury of weapons in the front.
+On the head most of them wore a small red fez,
+others wore a turban, but it was not put on like
+the Jews, they did not seem <i><span lang="fr_FR">au fait</span></i> in settling it;
+but whatever head-gear they adopted they all were
+decorated with a tail—a genuine plaited tail coming
+down their backs with such luxuriance that it might
+have been the envy of any Celestial. I could not
+bring myself to like it—though report says that
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_96' name='Page_96' href='#Page_96'>96</a></span>
+the Morlacchi are wonderfully attached to their
+tails, and cherish and pet them somewhat in the
+manner of our old tars in the days of Collingwood
+and Nelson.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There were Turks from the Herzegovina, ill-looking,
+badly-clad, scowling Mussulmans, who
+would willingly have earned ten paras by sending
+a Christian to his latter home, but still gorgeous
+in their tatters and vermin. There were Christian
+Albanians with their white fustanellas, high aquiline
+nose, glittering eyes, and false smile, in dress
+somewhat similar to the Morlacchi, but wearing a
+smaller fez with a long blue tassel. Conspicuous
+above them all was a Risanese from the Gulf of
+Cattaro, in full Montenegrin costume; but with
+a green instead of the white characteristic coat, all
+overladen about the breast and shoulders with
+plates of solid gold of considerable thickness,
+especially over the shoulders, where they would,
+if required, afford some protection from the blow of
+a sabre.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mingled with the men were several women—some
+very good-looking—with golden-brown hair
+and dark eyes and eyelashes; their hair in plaits,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_97' name='Page_97' href='#Page_97'>97</a></span>
+not hanging but coiled round their heads, which
+were further adorned with Turkish piastres and
+other coins. The dress is a mixture of red, white,
+and blue artistically combined, with coral and
+coins twisted round their necks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The noise of this Babel of tongues was deafening,
+and the scene not to be described. One wretched,
+tattered old man, but armed to the teeth like the
+rest, long tried to persuade me to buy a hank
+of onions, and would not be gainsaid when told by
+one of the waiters of the <i><span lang="fr_FR">café</span></i> that I was a traveller
+and did not require onions; what better or more
+portable provisions could I carry with me in my
+travels than onions? said he.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having finished my <i><span lang="it_IT">granita</span></i>, I again started
+to explore the city; this time under the guidance of
+a most obliging gentleman, well versed in the
+antiquities of the place, and to whom I had brought
+an introduction. We first went outside the city
+to inspect the grand Porta Aurea. This had only
+lately been thoroughly excavated, and even in its
+present dilapidated condition, not so much the
+effect of time as of the plundering propensities of
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_98' name='Page_98' href='#Page_98'>98</a></span>
+man, is still most beautiful and grand. What
+must it have been before the eight columns which
+decorated its front were taken away to adorn some
+modern church?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From the Porta Aurea, we again got into the
+city, proceeding straight to the court of the vestibule
+of the Palace, where all that is best worth seeing
+in Spalato is collected together. Here in front of
+us was the façade of the peristyle, consisting of
+four large and beautiful granite columns, supporting
+a triangular pediment, and which occupied the
+whole breadth of the court. On each side were
+a row of six Corinthian columns, equally large, and
+also of rose-coloured Egyptian granite, supporting
+not an architrave as is generally the case, but a
+series of arches which sprang from their capitals.
+On the right was the smaller temple, dedicated to
+Esculapius, now converted into a baptistry, and dedicated
+to St. John. On the left, the Temple of
+Jupiter—now the Cathedral of Spalato, by the side
+of which rises that most elegant campanile, the
+Giralda of Spalato, only one hundred and ninety-nine
+feet high, since the two upper stories were
+thrown down by lightning.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_99' name='Page_99' href='#Page_99'>99</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The interior of the Cathedral does not offer
+much to admire—nevertheless its general effect is
+sufficiently imposing. But it is outside in the court,
+the present piazza, that all the beauty of the place
+reveals itself. It is not a ruin—of the sixteen
+original granite columns not one has been displaced,
+and this portion of the Palace of Spalato
+is as in the days when Diocletian came into his
+Temple to pray. Can the reader believe that all
+this is really within five days of London?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dalmatia has been the birthplace of many men
+of letters and science, and Spalato can boast of
+having even given a Protestant Dean to our royal
+Windsor, in the person of the celebrated Mark
+Anthony de Dominis, once Catholic Archbishop
+of Spalato, whose life and death would furnish
+materials for a sensational novel. As his history
+is not commonly known, it may, perhaps, interest
+some of my readers to hear it now.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was born about the year 1570, and educated
+at the Illyrian College of the Jesuits, in Loretto,
+from whence he passed to Padua, where he became
+Professor of Mathematics. In the year 1600, he
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_100' name='Page_100' href='#Page_100'>100</a></span>
+was created Bishop of Segna, and in 1602 he was
+raised to the Archbishopric of Spalato, where,
+during the terrible plague of 1607, he nobly distinguished
+himself by his liberality to the poor, and
+his fearless and humane attendance on the sick in
+the administration of his sacerdotal duties—emulating
+the courage and devotion, under similar
+circumstances, of Borromeo of Milan. He occupied
+the Archiepiscopal throne of Spalato for fourteen
+years, during which period his time was divided
+between the performance of his ecclesiastical duties,
+and the investigations of science. He converted
+the upper part of the Palace, at Spalato, into a
+Laboratory and an Observatory, and the window
+is still shown where he is supposed to have made
+the discovery of the prismatic colour of light, "by
+the falling drops of water;" which discovery, including
+a description of the nature of the rainbow,
+he published to the world in a work printed at
+Venice in 1611. His fickleness in matters of
+religion, however, proved his ruin; his Chapter
+accused him of heretical opinions, upon which he
+withdrew to Venice at the close of 1615, having
+previously vacated his See in favour of his nephew
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_101' name='Page_101' href='#Page_101'>101</a></span>
+Sforza Ponsoni. During his residence in that city,
+he wrote a work in favour of the Republic, which
+was condemned by the Inquisition, when he determined
+on withdrawing, for safety, to a Protestant
+country.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He went first to Heidelberg, and thence came
+to England in the suite and at the invitation of
+Sir Henry Wotton, Ambassador of James I. to the
+Venetian Republic. In England, he published and
+dedicated to James I. a history of the Council of
+Trent, which had been lent him, it is said, by its
+author, Fra Paolo Sarpi. He also edified the
+Protestant public by an open recantation of his
+religion in St. Paul's Cathedral, and then published
+a work against the Papacy, entitled, "Scoglio del
+Naufragio Christiano." He was particularly well
+received in England; and was patronized by the
+King, who made him Dean of Windsor. He
+seems, however, to have expected more, and to
+have been disappointed at not getting a bishopric;
+and on Gregory XV., who was a friend and relative
+of his, succeeding him to the Papal throne,
+he changed his religion again, and yielding to the
+solicitations of the Pope, conveyed to him through
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_102' name='Page_102' href='#Page_102'>102</a></span>
+the Spanish Ambassador, who promised him a Cardinal's
+Hat, he returned to Rome in 1622.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Gregory XV. received him kindly, and as long
+as he lived De Dominis remained unmolested, but
+at his death Pope Urban VIII., who succeeded
+him, saw no reason to extend his protection over
+the ex-Protestant Dean of Windsor; he was accused
+of heresy, handed over to the tender mercies of
+the Holy Inquisition, and thrown into a dungeon
+of the Castle of St. Angelo, where he died in 1625—it
+is supposed by poison, and his body was subsequently
+burned, together with his writings, in the
+Campo dei Fiori.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+De Dominis was a very distinguished philosopher,
+and we must not be too severe when judging him
+by the light of the present day. There can be
+no doubt that the change from Popery to the Reformed
+religion was principally due, not to a feeling
+of animosity against the Church of Rome, as many
+have maintained, but chiefly to those doubts
+concerning the truth of the things taught by
+that church, and to its conduct in persisting to
+refuse the results of the investigations of science,
+as evinced by its treatment of Galileo and others.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_103' name='Page_103' href='#Page_103'>103</a></span>
+His return to the church is more difficult to
+account for on generous grounds; but he, himself,
+is stated to have said that by becoming a
+Cardinal he might be of greater use in effecting a
+reformation in that community to which he had
+originally belonged. The Holy Inquisition had
+hoped to have enjoyed the satisfaction of publicly
+roasting, "<span lang="la">ad majorem Dei gloriam</span>," a professor of
+Natural Science, a renegade Catholic Archbishop and
+a Protestant Dean all in one; but some charitable
+friend robbed that holy confraternity of its anticipated
+triumph by passing in some poison to the
+unfortunate De Dominis, who learnt too late that
+Rome never changes, "<span lang="it_IT">che il Lupo perde il pelo, il
+vizio no</span>" and that according to Papal ethics to keep
+faith with heretics is at best a grievous sin.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Spalato, in common with the rest of Dalmatia,
+has given birth to many able men, among which
+they claim even St. Jerome, the most learned of
+the ancient fathers and the talented author of the
+noblest translation of the Bible; but I fear on
+insufficient grounds, as all the authorities I have
+looked into seem to make him a Pannonian and
+not an Illyrian; Carrara, however, claims him as
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_104' name='Page_104' href='#Page_104'>104</a></span>
+a compatriot in his "<span lang="it_IT">Uomini Illustri di Spalato</span>."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Within a few miles of Spalato are the ruins of
+Salona, I had not time to visit them. There is not
+comparatively very much of interest to be seen
+above ground, but I believe that methodically
+conducted diggings have yielded some valuable
+results. It was the Roman capital of Dalmatia and
+was destroyed by the Avars in 640, when the
+inhabitants who escaped from the slaughter took
+refuge in Spalato and there founded the new city,
+by grouping themselves around and under the
+protection of the Palace of Diocletian.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The majority of the inhabitants of Spalato are
+Roman Catholics, with an admixture of Greeks and
+a good number of Jews, who wear the turban and
+the Oriental costume, and are principally descended
+from those who were expelled from Spain in 1493.
+For many centuries they were subjected to the same
+indignities as in other Christian countries, and compelled
+to inhabit the Ghetto where they used to be
+locked up at night; but such practices have long
+been abolished in Dalmatia, and the Jews of Spalato
+have enjoyed for many years the same privileges as
+the other citizens of that place.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_105' name='Page_105' href='#Page_105'>105</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My stay at Spalato was much too short for
+enjoyment; I saw indeed most that was to be seen
+there, but it was not much more than a glance,
+and I longed to be sketching amongst those picturesque
+nooks.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having several times mentioned the Morlacchi,
+it will, I think, be interesting to my readers to
+know something about them. Again I have to
+regret that I was unable to visit them in their
+villages, and that the only information I can give
+of them is, that they are inhabitants of the wild
+mountainous district lying to the East of Dalmatia.
+They are a fine race of men, though much smaller
+and inferior to the Montenegrin; their women, on
+the contrary, are often very beautiful, and they
+have many strange customs in their dealings with
+foreigners which would make an excursion into
+the fastnesses of their mountains of more than
+ordinary interest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+With the Lowland Dalmatians and the inhabitants
+of the towns on the coast, the name of
+Morlacchi is always associated with plunder and
+cattle-lifting, just as in Scotland a hundred years
+ago every Highlander, in the eyes of a Lowlander,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_106' name='Page_106' href='#Page_106'>106</a></span>
+was a cateran and a robber; but I heard from
+people that had been among them, that they are
+very hospitable, and that their country can be
+freely traversed in any direction without the
+smallest danger. They are Catholics and apparently
+of the same stock as the Montenegrins, though these
+latter are schismatic Greeks.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p4">
+<img src="images/i-056.jpg" width="150" height="112" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter p6">
+<img src="images/flowers.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_107' name='Page_107' href='#Page_107'>107</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+CHAPTER VIII.
+</h2>
+
+<p class="ch_summ">
+ISLAND OF LISSA—NAVAL BATTLES—A BRIDAL PARTY TAKEN ON
+BOARD—LESINA—FORTRESS OF SAN NICOLO—THE LOGGIE—FORT
+SPAGNUOLO—ISLAND OF CURZOLA—LA CHROMA—BEAUTIFUL
+SCENE—RICHARD CŒUR DE LION—CATHEDRAL OF
+RAGUSA—EARTHQUAKE OF 1667—TERRIBLE CONFLAGRATION—PRINCE
+MAXIMILIAN.
+</p>
+
+<div>
+<img class="drop-cap" src="images/drope.jpg" width="100" height="111" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p class="drop-cap">
+EARLY in the afternoon we left Spalato,
+and steaming away from the coast we
+stood out to sea, making for Lissa, a
+large island of the Adriatic, celebrated
+in the days of the first Napoleon for the stout
+sea fight in which, on the 13th of March 1811,
+Captain Hoste, (afterwards Sir William Hoste),
+with four ships mounting 156 guns, utterly defeated
+the French fleet of twenty-seven sail, mounting 284,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_108' name='Page_108' href='#Page_108'>108</a></span>
+having on board 500 troops. In 1808 we occupied
+Lissa, and having established free trade and other
+institutions, the island improved so much under our
+administration that in less than three years from
+the time we occupied it the population had risen
+to 12,000 inhabitants (at present it has scarcely
+5000).
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The French were naturally sorely tried by the
+advantageous position we occupied in front of their
+coast, and the very good use we made of our
+opportunities of pushing our commerce in every
+direction. They determined therefore on expelling
+us from Lissa and the Adriatic, as from the smallness
+of our armament there they had no doubt as
+to their success. Swiftly and silently they fitted out
+an expedition at Ancona, which under the command
+of the brave Captain Dubourdieu arrived at Lissa
+on the 13th March, 1811. It consisted of four
+44 gun frigates, ten 32 gun corvettes, one 16 gun
+brig, a schooner, ten gun-boats, and a xebeque, in
+all 284 guns.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The British Squadron consisted of only four
+ships, the 'Amphion,' 'Active,' 'Cerberus,' and
+'Volage,' mounting but 156 guns all told, but it
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_109' name='Page_109' href='#Page_109'>109</a></span>
+was commanded and manned by British seamen!
+the result could not be doubted, and although
+Dubourdieu fought like a gallant sailor as he was,
+the victory remained with us. Our losses were
+severe, and in a quiet retired little nook, on the
+left hand as one enters the land-locked harbour of
+Lissa, are buried those who fell in that engagement;
+while on the right hand side is another
+burial place, where under a handsome sepulchral
+monument lie the remains of those Austrians who
+fell in the latest naval engagement at Lissa when a
+few years ago the Italian Navy, the pet toy, an
+expensive one by the by, of King Victor Emmanuel,
+was all but annihilated by the Austrians under
+Admiral Tegethoff.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At Lissa we remained a very short time, so
+short that I had not even time to go ashore, though
+I should have very much liked to visit the burial
+place of those brave English sailors who fell in the
+naval action of 1811. The business of the
+steamer, which seemed principally to consist in
+shipping a bridal party, was soon concluded, and
+after a very short stay we were again under full
+steam for Lesina, another island of the same
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_110' name='Page_110' href='#Page_110'>110</a></span>
+archipelago, but much smaller and closer in to the
+Dalmatian coast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The bridal party we had taken on board consisted
+of the bride and bridegroom, both very plain and
+very much, even tawdrily over-dressed in Parisian
+costume, and with remarkably dirty hands and
+otherwise unwashed appearance. A bishop with
+a couple of priests in attendance on his reverence,
+and half-a-dozen relations and friends of the newly-married
+couple, who seemed principally to study
+not to take any notice of each other but went
+about making themselves generally agreeable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The groom most kindly insisted on my smoking
+his cigars (and villainously bad they were,
+but had I declined them he would have been
+awfully offended) and drinking his maraschino,
+which fortunately was as good as his cigars were
+bad, whilst the bride, luckily for me, persistently
+avoided me, probably from fear of heretical contamination,
+and exclusively devoted her attentions
+to the Bishop and his priests.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a few hours steaming through the smoothest
+and bluest of seas, in full view of the grand mountains
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_111' name='Page_111' href='#Page_111'>111</a></span>
+of Dalmatia, in due time we arrived at
+Lesina a little before sunset. This island is said
+to derive its name from being somewhat shaped
+like an awl, in Italian <i><span lang="it_IT">lesina</span></i>. It is just a thin strip
+of land forty-two miles long, blunt at one end
+(which represents the handle) and sharp at the
+other. I doubt, however, the correctness of its
+etymology, and am inclined to think that its
+present name is more probably derived from its
+ancient one of "Pharos Insula," often reduced by
+elision into simply "Insula;" now the anagram
+of "Insula" is "Lusina," a word much more in
+harmony with the genius of the Italian language,
+and from Lusina to Lesina is but a shade. I think
+I am fortified in this etymology by the fact of
+at least two other instances in the Adriatic
+of this identical transposition of letters, and
+the conversion of Insula to Lusina, in the names
+of two islands near the Quarnero, named
+respectively Lussin Grande and Lussin Piccolo,
+which are evidently the anagram of Insula Grande
+and Insula Piccola.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We arrived just in time to enjoy the effect of
+the setting sun upon that rocky landscape and the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_112' name='Page_112' href='#Page_112'>112</a></span>
+exquisitely pretty town at the foot of the mountain,
+and sufficiently early to be able to take a
+rapid sketch just as the sun was beginning to sink
+behind the tower which rises to the west of the
+town. The fort behind and above the town was
+still in full sunlight, as was also the more distant
+fortress of San Nicolo, brought forcibly into relief
+by a bank of dark purple clouds which were massed
+behind it. Down below, close to the water's
+edge, lay the town bathed in a flood of amber light,
+partly caused by the reflection of the golden sunset
+beyond, and partly by the colouring of the town
+itself, the houses of which are all painted with the
+warmest tints.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the middle of the town, close to the water's
+edge, are the "Loggie" or Portico, an elegant
+building, which in the olden times of Venetian
+supremacy was used by the merchants as an exchange
+to transact business in, as well as a hall of
+justice for the administration of the laws, and at
+the back a room is still shown where criminals
+and suspected persons underwent the question by
+torture.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Immediately behind and above the Loggie rises
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_113' name='Page_113' href='#Page_113'>113</a></span>
+Fort Spagnuolo, built by Charles V, connected
+with the town below by two long crenelated walls,
+enclosing in front a considerable space planted thick
+with colossal aloes (<i>Agave Americana</i>), which in
+case of assault would, in olden times, have offered
+a very considerable impediment to the advance of
+troops.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The island of Lesina is barren, and its commerce
+very insignificant; it grows, however, an immense
+quantity of rosemary, from which is distilled a
+celebrated essential oil <i>Oleum Anthos</i>, and the <i>Aqua
+Regia</i>, or rosemary water, which are both largely
+exported.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was dark when we left; shaping our way for
+Curzola where we arrived about midnight. My
+friend, the Capuchin, who sat chatting with me
+till we arrived there, regretted I could not
+see it by daylight, as contrary to the other
+islands, which are conspicuous for their barrenness,
+Curzola is well wooded, and is celebrated
+for the size and magnificence of its pine
+trees.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We did not make any long delay here, and
+were soon threading our course again between the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_114' name='Page_114' href='#Page_114'>114</a></span>
+islands and the mainland in the direction of
+Ragusa, but I know nothing about them. The
+Monk wished me good-night and went to his
+cabin, when again I took my usual place on deck,
+and was soon as comfortably asleep on that oaken
+plank as if I had been in the most luxurious bed
+in England.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was awakened from my night's sleep by my
+friend the Capuchin monk, who had been my
+travelling companion all the way from Trieste.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Get up, my lazy friend," said he, touching me
+with his foot. "We shall soon be entering
+the port of Gravosa; and there," stretching, out his
+arm towards the Dalmatian coast, "is the island of
+Lachroma, once the property of the unfortunate
+Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, and in ancient times
+a harbour of refuge to your great King Richard,
+Cœur-de-Lion."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hard though my bed had been, for nothing but
+my doubled up old rug had interposed between
+myself and the deck, I had slept profoundly, "<i><span lang="fr_FR">à la
+belle étoile</span></i>," and far more comfortably than if I had
+condescended to take my place in the dirty and
+stuffy <i><span lang="it_IT">camerino</span></i> down below, where all the other
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_115' name='Page_115' href='#Page_115'>115</a></span>
+passengers, including my friend the Capuchin
+and his lay-brother, fearing bad smells, fleas, and
+other small game much less than the delicious
+night-air of the balmy Adriatic, had carefully stowed
+themselves away the previous night. I was up in
+an instant, and I shall not easily forget the sight
+that greeted my eyes from the deck of the little
+'San Carlo.'
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were about three miles from the shore; the
+sun, though high above the horizon, had not yet
+acquired sufficient force to destroy the freshness of
+the morning breeze which delicately rippled the
+surface of the sea, making it in the sunshine like
+a sheet of frosted gold, while in the shade it was
+like liquid sapphire. On my left rose the wild,
+rocky cliffs of Dalmatia, rendered still more desolate-looking
+by the almost total absence of vegetation;
+while in front and on my right, stretching
+away to the extreme verge of the horizon, were
+the sparkling waters of the Adriatic, thickly
+studded with countless islets, to the nearest of
+which, Lachroma, the Monk had drawn my
+attention.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It is now many years," said the Capuchin,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_116' name='Page_116' href='#Page_116'>116</a></span>
+"since your great crusading King found a refuge
+in that island."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I was not aware that King Richard was shipwrecked
+here," said I. "I knew that he met with
+a terrific storm in this sea on his return from
+Palestine, but I always imagined he had been
+wrecked near the top of the Adriatic, on
+the coast of Istria, in the neighbourhood of
+Aquileia."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes," replied the Monk, "it is not generally
+known that it was on the rocks of Lachroma that
+Cœur-de-Lion was cast away; and it is strange how
+this error should have crept into history and held
+its ground and place in every standard work,
+including your own invaluable Cyclopædias. But
+we have ample proofs of the truth of what I am
+telling you, and documentary evidence to establish
+the accuracy of my assertion; for your King, in
+gratitude to Divine Providence for delivering him
+from shipwreck, vowed to build a church in
+honour of the Blessed Virgin, on whatever land
+he should first set foot, and having safely landed
+at Lachroma, he proceeded to make good his vow
+by committing to the abbot and monks of a
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_117' name='Page_117' href='#Page_117'>117</a></span>
+Benedictine monastery, which already existed on
+the island, the task of building this church, to
+defray the expenses of which the good King devoted
+no less than 100,000 <i><span lang="la">nummi argentei</span></i>, which sum
+he borrowed from his British lieges. But the
+Rettore of Ragusa (so the President of that ancient
+Republic was styled), having heard of King
+Richard's shipwreck opposite his city, went to visit
+him in state, with all the magistrates and councillors
+of the Republic, and invited him to Ragusa, where
+he was received with every demonstration of
+respect, and all the hospitality and attention due
+to so distinguished a guest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+King Richard, pleased at the reception given
+him by the Republicans, and charmed by the
+attractive graces of the Ragusan ladies, rested there
+for some time; and then at the suggestion of these
+fair ones and the urgent entreaties of the authorities,
+who promised to obtain a dispensation for him from
+the Pope, he altered the terms of his donation, and
+founded in Ragusa itself the church to the Blessed
+Virgin which he had originally vowed on the
+island of Lachroma; on the condition, however, that
+the Benedictine Abbot of Lachroma, assisted by the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_118' name='Page_118' href='#Page_118'>118</a></span>
+monks of his convent, should have the privilege
+and the right to celebrate mass in this church in
+Ragusa every year on the day of the feast of the
+Purification. The gift of Richard Cœur-de-Lion
+having been further increased by donations from the
+inhabitants, this votive church grew into that
+celebrated cathedral which for so many years held
+the first rank among all the churches of Illyria.<a name='FA_5' id='FA_5' href='#FN_5' class='fnanchor'>[5]</a>
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_119' name='Page_119' href='#Page_119'>119</a></span>
+At last, however, came one fatal morning, the 6th
+of April, 1667, when Ragusa was all but annihilated
+by an earthquake. In a few moments all the
+principal edifices in the town were laid low, including
+the Cathedral of King Richard, and upwards of six
+thousand inhabitants, more than one-fifth of the
+entire population were buried in the ruins. There
+was not a family in the whole city which had not
+one or more to mourn for. Several of my ancestors
+perished, and among others a lineal ancestor of my
+mother, Simone Ghetaldi, then Rettore of the
+Republic; he and several senators were assembled
+in the Council Chamber, and about to receive the
+visit of a Dutch Embassy (which had stopped at
+Ragusa on its way to Constantinople, to which
+court it was accredited) when they were all engulphed;
+not one escaped, and it is supposed that
+at that spot the earth must have opened and closed
+over them again. The Archbishop barely escaped
+with his life by jumping out of a window as the
+floors of his palace were giving way beneath him,
+and more than nine-tenths of the clergy perished.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_120' name='Page_120' href='#Page_120'>120</a></span>
+We preserve in our family a manuscript which
+gives an accurate account of this terrible catastrophe;
+as a youngster, I was often made to copy
+it out, and I therefore know it almost off by
+heart. It tells how the morning of the 6th of
+April, 1667, broke calm and bright, and that the
+atmosphere was still and serene, without anything
+to indicate the approaching danger, when suddenly,
+without any premonitory sound, about two hours
+after sunrise, while most of the inhabitants were
+still in their houses, or in the churches hearing
+early mass, the earth shook so violently that in a
+few minutes the whole town was in ruins, with the
+exception of the fortress, and a few other buildings,
+the walls of which were enormously thick. In
+addition to the destruction caused by falling houses,
+large rocks came toppling down, detached from the
+mountain, which, as you see, apparently overhangs
+the city. This added greatly to the terror and
+devastation. So far as we know there was but
+<i>one shock</i>, and it lasted only a few seconds; but no
+where and at no time was so much damage done thus
+instantaneously.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Many harrowing scenes were recounted, but
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_121' name='Page_121' href='#Page_121'>121</a></span>
+perhaps the most terrible of all was that of a school
+of boys which was swallowed up beneath the ruins.
+All the unfortunate lads perished, most of them
+by a miserable lingering death, and for days their
+moans and cries for help and water could be heard
+by their distracted friends, without the possibility
+of giving them any relief. One would have
+thought this a sufficient visitation for poor Ragusa,
+but calamities never come singly. A fire broke out
+on the same day, and towards evening a strong
+wind arose and fanned the flames, thus increasing
+the conflagration beyond the power of control.
+Night came on, and the whole side of the mountains
+was illuminated by the flames of the burning city.
+Then the wild mountaineers, the Morlacchi, came
+down in swarms to pilfer and snatch whatever they
+could from the universal wreck. The scenes then
+enacted defied all powers of description. The fires
+were burning with exceptional brightness and fury,
+in consequence of the conflagration having reached
+the stores of oil, tallow and tar accumulated in
+the Arsenal and elsewhere. Groups of Morlacchi,
+undeterred by the crumbling walls and the scorching
+rafters, could be seen flitting about among ruins
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_122' name='Page_122' href='#Page_122'>122</a></span>
+regardless of the danger! Occasionally some such
+group having ventured too far, would disappear
+with a fearful scream into some yawning gulf;
+while in another spot two parties of the same
+plunderers might be seen in deadly conflict, fighting
+with their long straight knives over their unlawful
+booty. It was a fearful night.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But all this is ancient history; there is another
+tragic episode connected with Lachroma. Another
+calamity is brought to our minds when we look
+upon its shores. Poor Prince Maximilian!—alas!
+alas! he was a good and kind man,—and that noble
+unfortunate Princess Charlotte! I had the honour
+of being in their company more than once, both in
+Europe and Mexico; they were so good, so affable,
+so happy, till in an evil hour they allowed
+themselves to be led away by ambition. The Prince
+seemed all along to have had a presentiment of evil.
+I was told by one who was present, that
+nothing could be more melancholy than his
+departure from Miramar, and the leave-taking
+when he was waited on by a deputation from Trieste
+was the most painful scene he ever witnessed. The
+Prince was completely overcome, and fairly broke
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_123' name='Page_123' href='#Page_123'>123</a></span>
+down on this occasion. After his assassination
+the island was sold, and now I hear it is for sale
+again."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The good old Monk was silent for a few minutes,
+and then gently putting his hand on my shoulder,
+he said,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You are English, <i><span lang="it_IT">non è vero</span></i>? You are not
+American? I would not say a hurtful word to
+mortal, but I cannot help thinking that the President
+of the United States was nearly as much to
+blame as the Mexican savage for the murder of
+Maximilian; one word from the United States'
+President would have saved the Emperor's
+life."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But what about the French Emperor?" I
+asked; "he who got the poor Prince into the
+scrape, and then left him to get out of it as best
+he could?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah; true—true," repeated the Monk. "<i><span lang="it_IT">e quell'altro
+birbaccione di Bazaine</span></i>! Ah! Providence will
+overtake them all. But look, see how beautiful
+Ragusa is, how picturesque! Although I am only
+a poor Capuchin monk, I feel proud of my native
+city—<i><span lang="it_IT">che mi son Raguséo</span></i>!" he exclaimed, breaking
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_124' name='Page_124' href='#Page_124'>124</a></span>
+out into his native Venetian dialect. "Though
+most of my life has been spent far away in foreign
+missions, I still cling with fondness to my native
+shores, and feel thankful, most thankful," he
+repeated, bending his head, "that it has pleased His
+Holiness and our General to order me back here
+again at last."
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_125' name='Page_125' href='#Page_125'>125</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/putti.jpg" width="400" height="94" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+CHAPTER IX.
+</h2>
+
+<p class="ch_summ">
+THE PADRE ANSELMO—HIS LIFE AND LABOURS AMONG THE
+AMERICAN INDIANS—THE PIONEERS OF CIVILIZATION—AMERICAN
+INDIANS AND NEGROES—PADRE ANSELMO ON PROTESTANT
+AND CATHOLIC MISSIONS—NATIVE CHRISTIANS IN
+INDIA—POPE PIUS IX. ONCE A MISSIONARY—CARDINAL P—.—PORT
+OF GRAVOSA—RAGUSA.
+</p>
+
+<div>
+<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropi.jpg" width="100" height="112" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p class="drop-cap">
+I FELT an unusual degree of regret,
+thinking I should so soon lose the
+company of Padre Anselmo; we had
+come all the way together from Trieste,
+and had spent many pleasant hours in genial conversation,
+flavoured from time to time with spicy,
+sharp, but good-humoured polemics, during which
+the Padre never lost his temper, and I had not
+always the best of the argument.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was a very remarkable man, of an ancient
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_126' name='Page_126' href='#Page_126'>126</a></span>
+noble Ragusan family, evidently pious, yet wonderfully
+large-minded. I shall always remember with
+pleasure the conversations we had together on the
+deck of the 'San Carlo,' by the bright Italian moonlight,
+on those deep, smooth waters of the Adriatic
+that sparkled with phosphorescence at every stroke of
+the paddle-wheel. He was aware I was a Protestant,
+and though he had been a missionary for many
+years he knew how to avoid polemics whenever
+it was fit. He had been in South America and
+in North America; in the plains of the Amazon
+and the Orinoco, and among the Sierras of
+Mexico.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I asked him about his success among the Indians,
+and after reflecting for a little he gave me a most
+interesting account of his life's labours among
+them. I carefully noted down each night in my
+diary, after we had parted, the principal headings
+of his narrative, and some day I may give to the
+public an account of the labours, trials, and sufferings
+of this good and conscientious monk.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In answer to my question as to the amount of
+success he had obtained during his long intercourse
+with American Indians, he said,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_127' name='Page_127' href='#Page_127'>127</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"There is a most extraordinary difference in
+intelligence between the different tribes, even among
+those living close together; some are wonderfully
+more intelligent than others, and, strange to say,
+I found them better the farther they were removed
+from the influence of civilization. A great deal
+might be made of them were it not for the evil
+influence of the traders who come among them—the
+most pernicious of whom I invariably found
+were those coming from the United States. These
+traders, pioneers of civilization—as they called
+themselves—were almost invariably men without
+any religion or principle; awful blasphemers, their
+oaths were too terrific! They generally consisted
+of the veriest scum and offscourings of commercial
+cities; they showed the poor savages the very worst
+examples, for fair trading was unknown to them,
+and lying, overreaching, and brow-beating were
+their chief characteristics, while of drunkenness and
+unblushing debauchery they were terrible examples.
+I was once asked by a chief why we came so
+far to teach them, and left our own people untaught."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Padre Anselmo also told me that some of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_128' name='Page_128' href='#Page_128'>128</a></span>
+natives had some idea of the Divinity, and
+were very teachable, not like the Negroes of
+the West Coast of Africa among whom he had
+laboured a short time. He contrasted the capabilities
+of both races, and shaking his head,
+added,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I fear it will take hundreds of centuries of incessant
+teaching, and that more by example than by
+word of mouth, before any good will come from
+missions among the Negroes; they seem utterly
+incapable of understanding any of the attributes of
+God. They look upon him invariably as one to
+be feared, and propitiated by gifts and sacrifices,
+so that he may be induced, if possible, to do them
+no harm."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A chief came to him one night by stealth, "but
+not like Nicodemus," as the worthy Monk added;
+he brought various presents to the mission, some
+of considerable value, consisting of native rings of
+twisted gold. He whispered under his breath to
+the Monk,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You white man know everything, and you say
+your God rules everything. Tell me where I can
+find him, that I may kill him! he is a bad god—he
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_129' name='Page_129' href='#Page_129'>129</a></span>
+has killed my favourite wife, and now I must
+kill him!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Negro was foaming at the mouth from
+impotent rage, and his fearful language, together
+with the rolling of his eyes and the contortions
+of his body, impressed the Monk at first with the
+idea that he was an impersonation of the Evil One.
+Yet this chief had till then been the most promising
+of all those natives on whom he had been wasting
+his time, his patience, and his doctrine. In vain
+the Missionary tried to reason with the demoniac
+chief; his words made no impression, and the
+savage, failing to discover from the Monk the whereabouts
+of the white man's God, returned to his
+village, where he burned his own national fetish,
+and then cut off the heads of half-a-dozen
+wretches, having first charged them with messages
+to be delivered to his wife in dead-man's-land!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One evening Padre Anselmo and I, after
+making ourselves snug on a pile of sacks near
+the binnacle, were talking about missionary
+work, when he spoke to me about our Protestant
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_130' name='Page_130' href='#Page_130'>130</a></span>
+missions, and asked me many questions
+concerning them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"You work your missions differently from the
+way we do ours; you pay your missionaries well,
+and even allow them, I have been told, to trade
+at times, and to buy and sell and follow different
+callings. I have also heard that you send missionaries
+abroad without any particular regard to
+their capabilities, for instance as to their knowledge
+of the language of the country they are sent to.
+Now all our missionaries are strictly prepared
+for the country where they are intended to labour,
+and are not sent out until they have acquired
+a good knowledge of the language of that country.
+How do you find your system to work? Have
+you had much success in the East Indies during
+the hundred years you have had the opportunity of
+working in them?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I imagined I could detect something of a smile
+playing about the corners of his mouth as he made
+these remarks, and just as I was about to reply,
+a scene came to my mind of which I had read or
+heard an account somewhere, of an English
+missionary addressing an Arab audience in Tangier
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_131' name='Page_131' href='#Page_131'>131</a></span>
+through the medium of a Gibraltar Jew, for the
+missionary was utterly innocent of any language
+but his own London English, and my innate
+appreciation of the ridiculous so overcame my
+sense of what was proper and decorous that I
+laughed myself nearly into fits.<a name='FA_6' id='FA_6' href='#FN_6' class='fnanchor'>[6]</a> However,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_132' name='Page_132' href='#Page_132'>132</a></span>
+having recovered my equanimity, I replied, "I
+did not know very much about the matter; but
+I had always heard that, generally speaking, the
+native Christians were the greatest blackguards
+in India, the least objectionable being certainly
+the Goanese Catholics," at which the good old monk
+seemed highly pleased.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His ideas of missionary work were peculiar and
+interesting. "We should always," he said, "treat
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_133' name='Page_133' href='#Page_133'>133</a></span>
+savages and the utterly uneducated, whether at
+home or abroad, who are scarcely better than
+savages, like little children, like very little children
+in intelligence, yet endowed with the passions and
+vices of grown up men. One should therefore,
+if possible, never try to teach them things beyond
+their understanding, but make their practical
+civilization proceed <i><span lang="la">pari passu</span></i> with their religious
+training—instilling morality before preaching
+doctrine and dogma, both teachings being backed
+up by unexceptionable example. "These are not
+my own ideas," added Padre Anselmo, "they are
+the precepts of the wonderful man who preceded
+me in the Amazon Mission, the present Pontiff,
+His Holiness Pope Pius IX., whose equal will never
+again occupy the chair of St. Peter."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What! was the Pope ever a missionary?" I
+asked with astonishment. I knew he had been a
+soldier, and had been even assured that in his early
+days he was initiated a Freemason in a Lodge
+in Sicily; there was nothing very extraordinary
+in his having been a missionary, but I had never
+heard of it before, and was therefore taken by
+surprise.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_134' name='Page_134' href='#Page_134'>134</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Indeed he was," replied Padre Anselmo,
+"and a very zealous and hard-working missionary,
+whose memory is reverenced to this day,
+among many a wild tribe on the banks of the
+Amazon."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Then we began to talk politics, that is to say I
+talked, the Monk only listened, till musingly I said,
+"I wonder who will succeed him in the Chair of
+St. Peter?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Whoever he may be," replied the Monk,
+"he will have a difficult task coming after such
+a man."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Have you been lately at Rome?" said I.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I was there two months ago," he replied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What then do you think of Cardinal P—?
+do you know him?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Monk fixed his eyes on me for a moment,
+as if he would have read my most inmost thoughts,
+and then speaking very slowly, said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"That Sicilian Monk has long been aiming at
+the Tiara; he lives within himself, has no confidant,
+no intimate friend, has no talents, only plenty
+of doggedness, <i><span lang="it_IT">vorrebbe Papeggiare</span></i>, but no,
+never will he occupy the Pontifical chair, never!"
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_135' name='Page_135' href='#Page_135'>135</a></span>
+and the Monk, for a minute looked me full in the
+face.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were now getting quite close to the town,
+which is built on the narrow strip of land that
+lies between the Adriatic and the Dalmatian
+mountains, that here rise up almost perpendicularly
+behind it. The morning mists were
+clearing off, and the hazy outlines of the towers
+and ramparts, the cupolas and steeples, together
+with the bright colouring of the sails of the
+felucas and trabaccoli gliding out of the harbour,
+threading their way through the many islands
+scattered outside it, formed a picture that might be
+realized by a painter but of which I will not
+attempt the description.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were now fairly in the port of Gravosa, and
+the steamer was surrounded by native boats conveying
+eager candidates for the privilege of carrying ourselves
+and luggage to the shore. The real port is
+at Ragusa itself, sheltered and protected by the
+ancient bastions and towers of the city, but, though
+amply deep enough for its ancient galleys, and for
+those argosies (so named after this very city of
+Ragusa) which in ancient times monopolized with
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_136' name='Page_136' href='#Page_136'>136</a></span>
+Venice the commerce of the world, it is not now
+large enough or deep enough to accommodate our
+modern practical, though inelegant fire-ships. It
+has consequently been abandoned for the port of
+Gravosa, which is not only large, safe, and
+commodious, but also exquisitely beautiful, though
+inconveniently distant, being nearly a mile from
+the city. An excellent road, however, originally
+made by the French and subsequently improved by
+the Austrians, communicates between the two
+places, and numerous small carriages drawn by
+one or two horses are constantly in readiness to
+convey for a trifle those who do not wish to walk
+to Ragusa.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The two monks and I were soon on shore,
+and there I reluctantly parted with them; they
+went on foot towards their convent, while I
+took a small one-horse carriage and started off to
+the city.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Away we went at full gallop skirting the
+harbour, till the rising ground at the end of the
+little valley compelled our lively little horse to a
+slower rate of progression. We soon however
+topped the hill, when we again came in view of
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_137' name='Page_137' href='#Page_137'>137</a></span>
+the sea on our right hand, while on our left were
+numbers of villas peeping out through masses of
+oleanders and gigantic aloes, whose flower stems,
+like colossal candelabra, fifteen to twenty feet
+in height, gave a peculiarly exotic character to the
+scene. Many of these villas were in ruins, and
+others more or less damaged, still bearing evidence
+of the French occupation at the beginning of this
+century, and of their expulsion by the Russian and
+Montenegrin troops.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ragusa was now fairly again in sight, and a noble
+city it is, and how picturesque! so far as its greatness
+is concerned, Ragusa is now but the shadow
+of what it was in bygone days. Its political importance
+has faded away—its commercial supremacy is
+a thing of the past; but its local beauty, its domes,
+its campaniles, its lofty cut-stone palaces, its
+churches and public buildings, its exquisitely clean
+streets, its balmy air, its azure sea and its pleasant
+society—all these are things real and of the present.
+But Ragusa is not a place to be described, it must
+be seen and studied to be appreciated. See it from
+the land, or from the sea—wander through its
+narrow, quaint, artistic streets, ramble round its
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_138' name='Page_138' href='#Page_138'>138</a></span>
+walls and ramparts, and you will find it from every
+point of view a most remarkable place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This grand old city, into which neither horse
+nor carriage is ever allowed to enter, was founded
+about the beginning of the seventh century, not
+very long after the foundation of Venice. Both
+cities were Republics, rivals in commerce and
+in the arts, and their people were incessantly at
+war with one another. But though Venice, by
+degrees, was able to subdue and include in her grasp
+almost the entire Eastern coast of the Adriatic, she
+never succeeded, either by cajolery or brute force,
+in conquering the Ragusans, who maintained their
+freedom till 1806; when, after existing as an independent
+State for upwards of a thousand years,
+during which time it had remained as an advanced
+post of European civilization on the borders of
+wild Bosnia and fierce Albania, it fell with Venice,
+Genoa, and the other free communities of Europe
+which Napoleon I. wiped off the map of the
+world.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All down the coast of the Adriatic may be seen
+the winged Lion of St. Mark, wherever the encroaching
+ambition of the Venetians enabled them
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_139' name='Page_139' href='#Page_139'>139</a></span>
+to establish themselves; but in Ragusa you will
+seek that grim Venetian effigy in vain. Ragusa
+never was conquered by her great rival!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The carrettella came spinning, at the rate of a
+hunt, down the hill, at the bottom of which is the
+entrance to Ragusa, and turning sharp round at
+a speed that threatened to upset us bag and baggage
+into the middle of the road, pulled up suddenly
+on the right, where a very primitive hotel offers
+the only prospect of refreshment to the chance traveller
+in those parts; though, for such as intend
+remaining some little time, good accommodation
+can be obtained within the city. The hotel is most
+picturesquely situated on the very edge of the sea,
+opposite to the fortifications "<i>di mare</i>," and has in
+front a considerable plantation of beautiful Paolonias,
+then in full blossom; on the opposite side
+is the café, where of a Summer's evening congregate
+the rank and fashion of Ragusa to enjoy their
+ices and lemonade, and listen to the excellent band
+of the Austrian regiment quartered there, and whatever
+gossip, scandalous or otherwise, that may be
+buzzing about. And very enjoyable it must be!
+fine climate, pleasant society, lovely scenery, easy
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_140' name='Page_140' href='#Page_140'>140</a></span>
+access to the rest of Europe, either East or West,
+and cheap living—what more could be desired?
+I would not ask for more.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p4">
+<img src="images/primrose.jpg" width="125" height="139" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter p6">
+<img src="images/cornucopia.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_141' name='Page_141' href='#Page_141'>141</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+CHAPTER X.
+</h2>
+
+<p class="ch_summ">
+ATTRACTIONS OF DALMATIA—INTERESTING EXCURSION—ISLAND
+OF LACHROMA—CLIMATE—A. A. PATON, ESQ., FORMERLY
+CONSUL-GENERAL AT RAGUSA—AN ITALIAN DINNER—EPIDAURUS—THE
+CANAL OF CATTARO—TERRITORY OF RAGUSA—TOWER
+OF PERASTO AND FORT OF SANTA CROCE—STRANGELY
+BUILT CHURCH—A PALAZZO—SAN GIORGIO AND LA MADONNA—PICTURE
+ATTRIBUTED TO ST. LUKE.
+</p>
+
+<div>
+<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropi.jpg" width="100" height="112" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p class="drop-cap">
+IT has always been a source of much
+astonishment to me, seeing the facility
+with which these parts can be reached
+from Trieste, that so few of the
+ubiquitous English—indeed, I might say none of
+them,—ever visit them, or any of the other many
+beautiful and interesting localities which crowd the
+Eastern shores of the Adriatic. I really believe
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_142' name='Page_142' href='#Page_142'>142</a></span>
+those countries are not visited because they are
+in a certain sense unknown. I trust, however, that
+some of my readers who may perchance be tired
+of those hackneyed tours which, year after year,
+are undertaken by the travelling multitudes, will
+try a venture some day in Dalmatia.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Starting from Trieste in one of the many coasting
+steamers which trade to Corfu, stopping at every
+place on the Eastern shores of the Adriatic from
+Capo d'Istria downwards, and making excursions
+from each into the interior, anyone fond of everything
+beautiful and picturesque, whether in nature
+or in art, would have the most delightful trip
+imaginable; and if getting out at Cattaro he will
+scale those wonderful mountains which seem ever
+on the point of toppling over on that devoted city,
+and penetrate into Montenegro, coming back to the
+Adriatic by the Lake of Scutari (or Skodra as it
+<i>ought</i> to be called) in Northern Albania, he will
+have made an excursion in the heart of Europe,
+within seven days from London, and in the short
+space of five weeks, which for beauty of country,
+wildness of scenery, novelty of life, and magnificence
+of native costumes cannot be equalled from
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_143' name='Page_143' href='#Page_143'>143</a></span>
+Spain to the Caucasus, or from Norway to the
+Lebanon!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having made my adieux to Mr. Paton, our Consul
+at Ragusa, to whom as well as to Persich Effendi,
+the Ottoman Consul, I was largely indebted for
+much kind advice, as well as for a personal introduction
+to Mr. Yonin, Russian Consul at Ragusa,
+who subsequently at Cattaro and at Cettigne proved
+a kind friend and most valuable and charming
+companion, I returned on board and was soon
+steering south again. We steamed quite close
+inland, and had an excellent view of the ancient
+fortifications of Ragusa and its old harbour,
+only frequented at present by the felucas and
+trabaccoli which carry on the coasting trade of the
+country.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We also passed close to the island of Lachroma.
+The Russian Consul, Mr. Yonin, told me it was
+for sale and would probably go cheap. I can't
+conceive a spot on earth where a man tired of the
+bustle of life and the feverish excitement and turmoil
+of cities could more delightfully spend the
+remainder of his days. There is a fairly good
+house on the island, which is itself beautifully
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_144' name='Page_144' href='#Page_144'>144</a></span>
+wooded and laid-out. It is sufficiently near to
+Ragusa to enable one to obtain everything one
+could require from that city, it is right in the
+gangway of all the steamers going up and down
+the Adriatic, within five days of London, and
+with such a number of communications with the
+outer world that it would be seclusion only as long
+as one wished it to be so.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As to the climate, none more beautiful could
+be desired—sufficiently warm to grow figs, grapes,
+and oranges, yet daily tempered in Summer by
+the delicious sea-breeze of the Adriatic, which
+prevents the heat from ever being oppressive, while
+of Winter there is barely the name—the thermometer
+seldom going down to frost.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sea teems with fish of the most delicious
+kinds, some of which are totally unknown among
+us; the dentale coronato, for instance, the true
+sardine, and the rosy mullet, the woodcock of the
+sea, which here grows to an immense size—while
+from the mainland one can always obtain at
+wonderfully low prices abundance of small mountain
+mutton, poultry, and game.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I never was in any place that took my fancy like
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_145' name='Page_145' href='#Page_145'>145</a></span>
+Ragusa and Lachroma—so lovely, so picturesque,
+so secluded, and yet so accessible!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Since my return to England I have heard with
+deep regret of the loss we have sustained by the
+death of A. A. Paton, Esq., our Consul-General at
+Ragusa. The country has to regret in him an able
+and industrious servant, while literature has to
+mourn for one of its most gifted votaries, as his
+works on Egypt, Servia, and the Adriatic will
+amply attest; but only those who had the pleasure
+of his acquaintance can at all venture to measure
+the loss which his death must be in his own family
+circle!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now the bell rings, and Giovanni bustles up
+and down the deck, intimating, "<i><span lang="it_IT">che'l pranzo ze
+pronto</span></i>," so down we all plunged into the saloon,
+where a good dinner, as usual, welcomed us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As the coast is uninteresting, besides which
+I don't want to go on deck at present, I may as
+well tell you of what our Italian dinner consisted.
+We first had an excellent Julienne soup, with
+abundance of grated Parmesan for such as appreciated
+it; next was served the "<i><span lang="it_IT">fritto</span></i>," according
+to old Italian custom, which always enumerates the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_146' name='Page_146' href='#Page_146'>146</a></span>
+following dishes, to succeed each other in an
+orthodox dinner:—<span lang="it_IT">minestra, fritto, lesso, umido,
+arrosto, dolce, frutta</span>, and, when in season, slices
+of melon, or fresh figs, served up immediately after
+the soup, to be eaten with thin slices of raw ham
+or Bologna sausage. Figs being in season they
+were not wanting, so conforming to the usage of
+the country I ate some with raw Bologna sausage,
+and learnt fully to appreciate the strange compound,
+which I afterwards always indulged in whenever I
+had a chance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The <i><span lang="it_IT">fritto</span></i> was delicious (assuredly nowhere else
+can they fry as in Italy); it consisted of <span lang="it_IT">zucchettine</span>
+and <span lang="it_IT">fiori</span>, <i>i.e.</i>, young unexpanded gourd flowers
+and very young gourds not bigger thin an egg,
+cut in thin slices, dipped in the thinnest of batter
+and fried quite crisp and golden brown, and served
+dry without a particle of grease. Then came a dish
+of <i><span lang="it_IT">gnocchi alla Milanese</span></i>, a superb dish, but difficult
+to explain; imagine the ingredients of a colossal
+<i><span lang="fr_FR">vol-au-vent à la financière</span></i>, replete with livers, cocks'
+combs, unborn eggs, &amp;c., &amp;c., surrounded by a
+bastion of a peculiar preparation, made of maize-flour,
+and the whole bathed in tomato sauce and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_147' name='Page_147' href='#Page_147'>147</a></span>
+sprinkled right over with grated Parmesan, "<i><span lang="it_IT">proprio
+da far riavere i morti</span></i>," as the <i>chef</i> exclaimed to me
+after dinner, when, handing him a cigar, I complimented
+him on his <i><span lang="it_IT">gnocchi</span></i>. Then came the <i><span lang="it_IT">arrosto</span></i>
+which consisted of veal and fowls, and after
+that a splendid <i><span lang="it_IT">piatto dolce</span></i> of stewed peaches
+in an artistic cage of caramel sugar, ornamented
+with strange devices of most delicious marzapane.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having slowly worked our way through this
+sumptuous repast, we went on deck, where coffee
+was served with its usual accompaniment of
+Maraschino, both sweetened and unsweetened,
+together with the inevitable smoke, which contrary
+to reason, as one would think, is even more
+comforting in hot countries like the Levant,
+than it is in cold damp regions like Holland.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have a dim recollection of the captain tapping
+me on the shoulder and telling me something about
+Ragusa Vecchia and Epidaurus as we were
+steaming down the coast; but I was in too dreamy
+a state to pay much attention to him at the time,
+and as I knew the coast was uninteresting, I told
+him to call me as soon as we should come in sight
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_148' name='Page_148' href='#Page_148'>148</a></span>
+of the Bocche and Castelnuovo, and dozed away
+again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I afterwards learnt that this Epidaurus, about
+which I was rather fretting for having refused to
+stir from my siesta to look at it, was really not
+worth seeing, though an ancient city, having been
+founded by a Greek colony somewhere about 700
+years <span class="smcap">b.c.</span>, more or less; but all its antiquities had
+been removed long ago.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was between three and four in the afternoon
+when I awoke of my own accord, thus anticipating
+the captain, who was just coming to tell me that
+we were about entering the canal of Cattaro, as it
+is called, but which to our ear is far better
+described by the name of Fjord of Cattaro. It
+is to all intents and purposes a Fjord, being an
+arm of the sea running up for eighteen miles into
+land, between high precipitous cliffs; and if there
+is not a glacier at the end of it, but only a quaint
+Dalmatian town with the most picturesque fort and
+fortifications in the world, it does not alter the
+character of the inlet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The entrance to this Fjord, called "le Bocche di
+Cattaro," is guarded on the right by the Fort of
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_149' name='Page_149' href='#Page_149'>149</a></span>
+Castelnuovo, and on the left is bounded by a narrow
+strip of Turkish territory, a portion of Herzegovina,
+which here comes down to the Adriatic, separating
+the Circolo of Ragusa from that of Cattaro. By
+some strange political arrangement, or oversight
+more probably, another narrow strip of Turkish
+territory comes down to the Adriatic on the
+north of Ragusa, completely isolating that ancient
+Republic which finds itself thus entirely surrounded
+by Ottoman territory on three sides, while on the
+fourth it is bounded by the Adriatic.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The country about the entrance of the Bocche di
+Cattaro is fine, well wooded and planted with olive
+trees, through which can be seen numerous habitations,
+while many of the rugged heights are crowned
+with semi-fortified churches, which served as places
+of refuge to the women and children in troublous
+times.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Proceeding onwards, the scene varies and the
+trees lessen in numbers, though the landscape
+loses nothing of its beauty, as by the constant
+windings of the Fjord the changes are continuous
+and rapid, and the many villages built on the
+edge of the water, and sharply reflected in it,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_150' name='Page_150' href='#Page_150'>150</a></span>
+add one more charm to the picture. At one point
+the Fjord is barely half a mile across, when suddenly
+it expands into a lake of many miles in circumference,
+where all the navies of the world could lie
+in safety. But now the scene changes again and
+the Fjord becomes a narrow tortuous channel,
+bounded on either side by naked rocky cliffs. Like
+the rest of the coast of Dalmatia it is, however,
+very beautiful. About half way between Castelnuovo
+and Cattaro, the Fjord expands and divides
+right and left forming two bays, that of Risano
+to the left, and that of Cattaro to the right;
+while in front rise the almost perpendicular crags of
+Montenegro, at the foot of which, with barely
+room to build on, so near does the mountain
+come to the edge of the water, stands the town
+of Perasto with the ancient fort of Santa Croce just
+above it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This place must have been of considerable
+importance within late years, still I never saw such
+a picture of poverty and desolation. The houses
+are not in ruins, but look dilapidated; the windows
+are broken in, the jalousies hanging by one hinge
+and in pieces, while in many places the roofs are
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_151' name='Page_151' href='#Page_151'>151</a></span>
+stripped of their tiles. The position of Perasto
+cannot be surpassed; built on a promontory
+facing the west, it has the lake-like expansion
+of the Gulf of Cattaro in front and does not
+consequently labour under the disadvantage Cattaro
+suffers from, by having a chain of mountains in
+front of it to the westward, which deprive it of
+the sun in Winter before two o'clock in the afternoon.
+The style of the houses in Perasto shows
+that not long ago it could boast of an opulent
+population, which is further exemplified by the
+fortress built at the expense of the town—by its
+lofty steeple and by its churches. One in particular
+caught my eye from the steamer, <i>it had no façade</i>,
+not that it had fallen into ruin, neither had it been
+shaken down by an earthquake, but was built so;
+open to the weather with a half cupola something
+like one of those little roadside shrines dedicated
+to the Virgin which we meet with constantly in
+Italy and other Catholic countries, only on a very
+much larger scale.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I felt quite interested in Perasto, it looked so
+picturesque, so noble, so poor! One house
+especially struck my fancy, but the word house
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_152' name='Page_152' href='#Page_152'>152</a></span>
+does not convey its appearance, it was what an
+Italian would call a palazzo. The entrance was
+evidently from a back street, while the side which
+faced the water consisted of a <i>loggia</i> of many
+pilasters and arches, into which opened the rooms
+of the ground floor, while above it were tiers
+of large and handsome windows. In front of the
+<i>loggia</i> was a paved terrace, from which a series
+of steps, the whole length of the house, led down
+to the water. It was uninhabited and in fact
+going rapidly to ruin! I fancied to myself what
+a little paradise one could make of it; I saw in
+my mind's eye a row of orange trees growing on
+that terrace, a yacht moored close into those
+steps, and life and bustle in those chambers
+where all was now silence and decay. What can
+have brought such desolation on Perasto? I
+asked several people but I could get no satisfactory
+answer! some blamed Austria, some <i><span lang="it_IT">il commercio</span></i>;
+I suppose I could have bought the fee simple of that
+house in Perasto for a £10 note.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In front of Perasto are two small islands—San
+Giorgio and La Madonna. In the church of
+La Madonna is to be seen an ancient picture
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_153' name='Page_153' href='#Page_153'>153</a></span>
+of the Virgin, attributed as usual to the artistic
+efforts of the Evangelist Luke, who evidently,
+from what I have seen of his works of art in
+different places, was not possessed of much talent
+in that line. Tradition states that the picture was
+transported in 1452, by an unknown hand, from
+Negropont to this rock; and being seen amidst
+lighted candles by some fishermen, it was removed
+to the church of Perasto. The next night it
+returned to the island; and the same action having
+been repeated three times, it was presumed that the
+picture preferred remaining there; thus they built
+a church for it, which no doubt turned out a profitable
+speculation.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p4">
+<a name="thistle" id="thistle"></a>
+<img src="images/thistle.jpg" width="200" height="52" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter p6">
+<img src="images/wroughtiron.jpg" width="400" height="87" alt="Decoration" />
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_154' name='Page_154' href='#Page_154'>154</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+CHAPTER XI.
+</h2>
+
+<p class="ch_summ">
+CITY OF CATTARO—SIGNOR JACKSCHICH—STREETS AND PIAZZAS—WALKS
+AND FORTIFICATIONS—PUBLIC WALK—CAFÉ AND
+GARDENS—SONOROUS STONE—A MONTENEGRIN CHIEF—A
+HAPPY BEGGAR BOY.
+</p>
+
+<div>
+<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropt.jpg" width="100" height="102" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p class="drop-cap">
+TURNING our backs now on that
+branch of the Fjord which leads to
+Risano, we steamed due south in
+the direction of Cattaro. Nothing
+could exceed the wild grandeur of this portion of
+the Gulf. The right hand shore was now entirely
+in the shade, while the crags on the left being
+exposed to the full glare of the afternoon sun
+showed a play of colours too beautiful to describe.
+Had these cliffs been clothed with varied foliage
+interspersed with the rocks, they would have
+formed a picture unequalled in any other place on
+the globe.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_155' name='Page_155' href='#Page_155'>155</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was six o'clock when we moored alongside the
+quay of Cattaro, one of the most picturesque cities
+of the whole Adriatic, so I had plenty of time to
+walk about and see the place as well as to make
+arrangements for my advance into Montenegro
+on the following day, as I was anxious to proceed
+at once to Cettigne, in order to be present at the
+festival of St. Peter, during which a fair is held,
+to which congregate thousands, not only from Montenegro,
+but from all the surrounding countries.
+Thanks, however, to Persich Effendi, the Ottoman
+Consul at Ragusa, to whom I had brought an
+introduction from the Ottoman Ambassador at
+Vienna, I found everything already prepared for
+my trip. The agent of the Austrian Lloyd at
+Cattaro, Signor Jackschich to whom I can never
+feel too much obliged, had already procured for
+me a guide and two horses, thus saving me all
+trouble, and allowing so much more time to look
+about me at Cattaro. As soon as we had obtained
+<i><span lang="fr_FR">pratique</span></i>, the formality of which we carried out
+regularly at every place we touched, though, in
+reality, it was a farce, Signor Jackschich came on
+board, and having introduced himself and told me
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_156' name='Page_156' href='#Page_156'>156</a></span>
+what he had arranged, placed himself at my
+disposal for the rest of the evening. We at
+once went on shore, and traversing the Mall,
+which lies between the quays and the walls of
+the city, and which serves as the promenade of
+the <i>Bocchesi</i>, we passed through the principal gate
+of Cattaro, and entered the precincts of the fortifications.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here, as in most other cities in Dalmatia, no
+horse, or vehicle of any kind (except sedan chairs)
+is allowed to enter. The streets in consequence are
+beautifully clean, and the piazza, which is paved
+in squares of alternate coloured marble, is more
+like the floor of the hall of an Italian palace than
+anything else. The streets are narrow, as might
+have been surmised, but there are some very fine
+old houses, some exquisite bits of art hidden
+away in nooks and corners which one would have
+loved to sketch had there been time, half built up
+porticoes with oleanders peeping over them, and
+bits of lovely hammered iron work of the Renaissance
+period. But I had no time, so after making
+a rapid tour through the little city, we came out
+on the promenade, as I was anxious to have another
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_157' name='Page_157' href='#Page_157'>157</a></span>
+view of Cattaro, from the outside, before it
+became too dark.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My friend Paton does not render half justice to
+this city in his charming book, "The Highlands
+and Islands of the Adriatic;" but he is so in love
+with Ragusa—and, if truth must be told, so am I—that
+he has nothing to say for Cattaro; it is
+true he saw it in Winter, when it must be a dismal
+place. But Cattaro, for all that, deserves a visit,
+and anyone fond of sketching will spend, with
+profit, several days in and about the place. It is
+situated at the extreme end of the Fjord of that
+name, on a very narrow ledge of land at the foot
+of the most precipitous cliffs facing the west,
+up which it extends for a short space. It
+is surrounded by the ancient Venetian walls, bastions
+and fortifications, and crowned by a fort
+perched on the very summit of the rock, a thousand
+feet above the city. Looking at it from
+below, it seems scarcely balanced on the cliff, and
+one expects to see it come tumbling down every
+moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The fortifications of the town are connected by
+crenelated walls with the fort itself on two sides,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_158' name='Page_158' href='#Page_158'>158</a></span>
+thus inclosing a considerable space on the face of
+the mountain, something in the shape of a triangle,
+of which the town would form the base, and the
+fort the apex, which is still garrisoned, and many
+a harmless rusty old cannon can be seen peeping
+through the embrasures. Having returned from
+the opposite side of the water, where I had gone
+the better to see the fortifications, we took a walk
+up and down the esplanade between the water and
+the walls, to look at the <i>beau monde</i> on their boulevard,
+and then adjourned to the café on the same
+esplanade to have some ices <i>al fresco</i>, and make
+our final arrangements for the following morning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The public walk at Cattaro is very well laid
+out, and the most is made of the very contracted
+space at command. Two rows of large trees extend
+along the walls on each side of the gate, above
+which is to be seen, as usual, the Lion of St. Mark.
+Not so natural, perhaps, as Edwin Landseer's animals
+at the foot of Nelson's column; but, certainly,
+a more dignified beast than the one with straight
+tail which until lately kept watch and ward over
+Trafalgar Square from the top of Northumberland
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_159' name='Page_159' href='#Page_159'>159</a></span>
+House. At the northern end of the Mall is the
+café, and round about it the grounds are laid out
+in gardens, where, under the shade of gigantic
+oleanders and mulberry trees, little round tables,
+made of enormously thick slabs, resting on short
+central pillars, for all the world like Brobdingnagian
+mushrooms, are laid out and surrounded with
+stools for the accommodation of all comers. The
+stone of which these round tables are made is
+powerfully sonorous, and if lightly struck, even
+with one's knuckles, gives out a beautiful soft
+tone. If cut into lengths and properly poised,
+excellent rock harmoniums could be made of
+it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here I fell in again with the Russian Consul,
+who introduced me to one of the finest specimens
+of men I ever saw, a Montenegrin chief, by name
+Pero Pejovich, commandant of the Grahovo (pronounced
+Graho), who had come from Risano in a
+boat, and was bound for Montenegro to be present
+at the Feast. He was dressed in full gala
+Montenegrin costume, <i>plus</i> the Risano jacket of
+crimson cloth without sleeves, thickly embroidered
+with gold, and on it the medals and decorations
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_160' name='Page_160' href='#Page_160'>160</a></span>
+he had gained in battle. At another table were
+seated, also in full costume, two Montenegrin ladies
+of a family who had been exiled for political causes,
+and who were waiting at Cattaro in hopes of
+obtaining an amnesty which would permit them
+to return to their homes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sun had set, and the short twilight had
+nearly merged into darkness; the great heat of the
+day was now tempered by a delicious balmy feeling,
+as the cooler air from the mountains came
+down to mingle with that of the lower strata; the
+musical hum of the many voices, the exquisite
+Trebigne tobacco in our cigarettes, the delicious
+coffee, all conspired to make that evening one of
+the most delightful I ever passed. I got another
+chair, and stretched my legs on it; the natives
+stared—no Oriental ever thinks of stretching his
+legs—the acme of comfort for him is to tuck them
+under him. I felt supremely happy, and expressed
+myself so.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I could live here for ever," I said to Signor
+Jackschich.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Nay," rejoined Pero Pejovich, "but wait till
+it rains, and you will soon wish to run away from
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_161' name='Page_161' href='#Page_161'>161</a></span>
+Cattaro. I have known it rain here for six weeks
+without stopping for a moment."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At this juncture, the band of the Austrian regiment
+quartered here came on the scene, with the
+same lamp arrangement I had seen at Pola, and
+for upwards of an hour played the most delicious
+music to our intense delight. The Consul
+now reminded me that we should have to start
+betimes the following morning, if we wanted
+to avoid being roasted in the middle of the day
+on the rocks of Montenegro. But the sense of
+enjoyment was too great, and I could not bear to
+break the spell of the hour which I was enjoying
+to the fullest. That I should have an excuse for delaying
+a little longer, I began to talk in Italian to a
+little beggar boy who had quietly been asking me
+for something the whole evening, not with noisy
+importunate appeals, but by the eloquent look
+of about the finest pair of eyes that ever were
+seen.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Don't take any notice of the young ruffian,"
+said Signor Jackschich, "he is the plague of the
+town, and the worry of his father. He won't
+work, and he is in every mischief that is going."
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_162' name='Page_162' href='#Page_162'>162</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But I don't tell lies—neither do I steal," retorted
+the bold young brat, who could be no
+more than eight or nine. "It is too hot to work,
+and as to going home to sleep <i><span lang="it_IT">la dentro</span></i>," he
+said, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb
+to the town, "when I can enjoy the cool nights
+under these trees <i><span lang="it_IT">al fresco</span></i>, I would rather not!"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He spoke excellent Italian, and his manner was
+dignified and self possessed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"<i><span lang="fr_FR">Diable</span>!</i>" said Yonin, "<i><span lang="fr_FR">nous avons ici un philosophe</span>!</i>"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Can you speak German or French, little chap?"
+I said.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No," he replied in Italian, "<i><span lang="it_IT">non parlo che Illirico
+ed Italiano</span></i>."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I gave him coins to the amount of about a franc;
+but when he saw so much money in the palm of
+his hand—an amount which, to his eyes, seemed
+perfectly fabulous—his first impulse was to hold
+it out to me again, thinking I was joking with
+him; but when I assured him it was <i><span lang="it_IT">veramente tutto
+per lui</span></i>, he cut three capers in the air, and rushed
+away to where some other children were, to show
+his treasures and recount his good fortune. Of
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_163' name='Page_163' href='#Page_163'>163</a></span>
+all the subjects of the Emperor of Austria, in all
+his vast dominions, I venture to say that the
+happiest on that night was that little beggar brat
+in the secluded little city of Cattaro at the far
+end of his empire in the extreme point of Dalmatia.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p4">
+<img src="images/i-056.jpg" width="150" height="112" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter p6">
+<img src="images/dragons.jpg" width="400" height="86" alt="Decoration" />
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_164' name='Page_164' href='#Page_164'>164</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+CHAPTER XII.
+</h2>
+
+<p class="ch_summ">
+MONTENEGRIN TRADERS—LE SCALE DI CATTARO—A GORGEOUSLY-ATTIRED
+MONK—OUR CARAVAN—MONTENEGRINS OF
+THE PRINCE'S BODY-GUARD—INTERESTING VIEW—ABSENCE
+OF TREES ON THE DALMATIAN COAST—A HOME FOR GERMAN
+EMIGRANTS—TURKISH MISRULE IN EUROPE—A FUTURE EMPIRE—A
+MAN FIT TO RULE.
+</p>
+
+<div>
+<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropa.jpg" width="100" height="108" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p class="drop-cap">
+AT the earliest peep of day on the
+morning of the 9th of July, I arose
+from the deck of the steamer on
+which I had slept for so many pleasant
+nights, notwithstanding its hardness. Thanks
+to the kind attention of Giovanni, the steward, a
+cup of hot and tolerably good coffee was not
+wanting to fortify me against the effects of the
+morning air. He wanted me to add a small glass
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_165' name='Page_165' href='#Page_165'>165</a></span>
+of maraschino unsweetened "<i><span lang="it_IT">per scacciar l'aria
+cattiva</span></i>," as he said in his Venetian dialect, but not
+being addicted to <i>pegs</i>, I contented myself with the
+coffee and a few biscuits.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The faintest tinge of rose showing in the East
+over the rocks which hang over Cattaro, seeming
+ever to threaten it with instant ruin, barely enabled
+me at first to distinguish objects on the mole
+alongside of which our steamer was moored; but
+as the light increased I could make out, under the
+shadow of the trees which form the boulevard and
+public promenade of the Bocchesi, the stalwart
+figures of a dozen Montenegrins who had come
+down from Cettigne to accompany the Russian
+Consul on his way to the festival of St. Peter, and
+the court of the illustrious Prince who now so
+wisely rules those splendid mountain tribes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Modestly drawn up on one side of them I could
+see my own portion of the caravan, consisting of
+only two horses, one to carry myself, the other to
+carry my luggage, all under the direction of the
+excellent guide provided for me the day before by
+the kindness of Signor Jackschich.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Everything was now ready and myself in the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_166' name='Page_166' href='#Page_166'>166</a></span>
+saddle, when the Russian Consul made his appearance,
+and we finally started just as the dawn
+was quickening into day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Skirting by the bastions which defend Cattaro
+on the sea side, we crossed the bridge that spans
+the little mountain torrent which here empties itself
+into the sea, and turning sharply to the right we
+passed through the open market-place where the
+Montenegrins come down to sell their farm-produce
+to the Bocchesi; but who, owing to the somewhat
+evil name they have unfairly acquired, are never
+allowed to penetrate into the city unless they first
+deliver up their arms at the military post outside,
+just as we do at Aden with the Arabs of the surrounding
+districts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having crossed the market-place, we reached in
+a few minutes the base of the rocks, and at once
+commenced ascending that wonderful road zig-zagged
+across the face of the mountain, and known
+by the name of "<i>Le scale di Cattaro</i>." Here we
+joined an additional party, also journeying to
+Cettigne for the festival of St. Peter, and among
+them was conspicuous the handsome Montenegrin
+Chieftain, Pero Pejovich, commandant of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_167' name='Page_167' href='#Page_167'>167</a></span>
+Grahovo, whose pleasant acquaintance we had made
+the evening before under the mulberry trees of
+Cattaro.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was also in the same group a monk, a
+most picturesque looking individual, but certainly
+most unclerical-looking. He was dressed in a
+costume very much resembling the Montenegrin
+fashion, only of sombre colours, and had his jerkin
+trimmed with furs instead of embroideries. He
+wore on his head a sort of black fez, from under
+which his sable curls fell hanging on his neck, while
+his full beard, innocent of trimming, flowed amply
+on his chest. His face was handsome and swarthy,
+and had a not unkind expression. In figure he was
+slight, and of medium height. He came from a
+monastery in the Herzegovina, a province of Turkey
+in Europe lying co-terminous to Montenegro on its
+Northern border, and which, strange enough,
+comes down at one point to the very sea at the
+opening of the Fjord of Cattaro, thus thrusting
+itself into and dividing the Austrian sea-board of
+Dalmatia into two.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What was he coming to Montenegro for? Simply
+to be inducted abbot of his own monastery, which
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_168' name='Page_168' href='#Page_168'>168</a></span>
+ceremony by right should have been performed
+by the Greek Patriarch at Constantinople; but
+although Herzegovina is subject to the Sultan, yet
+all the Christian mountaineers of that region, though
+not Montenegrins by blood, are Montenegrins at
+heart, and all look to the Metropolitan at Cettigne
+as their spiritual head, while to the Prince they
+look up as the only sovereign to whom they owe
+absolute allegiance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The abbot elect rode a beautiful, small grey
+<i>entero</i>, wonderfully quick and sure-footed, caparisoned
+with gorgeous trappings, consisting of a
+large blue saddle-cloth embroidered with gold, over
+which lay an immense saddle of crimson velvet
+studded with large gilt-headed nails. The bridle
+was of the same Oriental style, while the bit was
+something to be looked at, both as regards size,
+ornament and power.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Abbot sat his <i>entero</i>, as if riding at the
+head of a party of Baschi-Bazouks would be quite
+as much, if not more to his liking, than leading
+the chaunts at matins and vespers in his own
+monastery. There was nothing fierce about his
+countenance, but there was a sort of "stand and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_169' name='Page_169' href='#Page_169'>169</a></span>
+deliver" look about his whole get up, that would
+have made one feel somewhat anxious had one
+chanced to meet him <i><span lang="it_IT">a quattr'occhi</span></i> in some lonely
+pass.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our caravan consisted in all of about twenty-five
+persons, as we had been joined by several
+parties all bent on the same excursion, to partake
+of the rejoicings at Cettigne. First marched four
+Montenegrins of the Prince's body-guard, splendid
+specimens of their race, the shortest over six feet
+high, with rich ruddy complexions, deeply bronzed
+by exposure in all weathers, with dark grey or
+blue eyes, dark brown, almost black hair, cut short,
+close shaved beard and large moustachios, and
+fine, open, manly countenances. They wore the
+national costume of the country, namely, loose
+baggy blue trousers, made very full and confined
+under the knee by a strap, below that, their
+legs were encased in tight-fitting white woollen
+gaiters, fastened by a row of close-set small
+metallic buttons all along the back, from the heel
+to below the knee, while on their feet they
+wore a peculiar pointed shoe of undressed leather,
+the upper of which is contrived of numberless
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_170' name='Page_170' href='#Page_170'>170</a></span>
+small thongs plaited up the middle over the
+instep, which afford wonderful pliancy and power
+of grasping to the feet, and are quite characteristic
+of this region; a sleeveless crimson jacket, and
+over all the well-known long surtout of fine white
+cloth, without a collar, fastened round the waist
+by an enormous silken scarf as much as eighteen
+feet long, and which supported in front a perfect
+armoury of weapons. First a yataghan three feet
+long with richly ornamented sheath and handle,
+then two highly ornamented Turkish pistols nearly
+as long, then a poniard, and lastly a special pair
+of tongs for lifting fire into their smoking pipes,
+which, excepting when on duty, were never out
+of their mouths. But as if such an armoury
+were insufficient, they carried at their sides a
+formidable-looking, highly curved Turkish sabre,
+and over their shoulder a long, rakish, Albanian-looking,
+breech-loading gun. This last they were
+ever shifting in position, although the favourite
+mode of carrying it seemed to be across the
+shoulders, something like the way young ladies at
+properly conducted schools are made to shoulder
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_171' name='Page_171' href='#Page_171'>171</a></span>
+their backboards, with their hands hanging over
+the stock and barrel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We all followed pell-mell, sometimes in single
+file, sometimes by twos, according as the inequality
+of the path or its width, either prevented or
+admitted of it, while the remainder of the guard
+brought up the rear. So up we climbed, zigzag
+after zigzag, some of us above and some of us
+below until we reach the top of the <i>scala</i>
+where Austrian territory ceases and Montenegro
+begins.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sun was now well up above the Eastern
+horizon, when the sudden cessation of the road
+gave us notice of our change of territory, and
+looking round towards the Adriatic to which we
+mostly had been turning our backs during the
+ascent, we saw a view that I don't know which
+would be most difficult, whether to sketch or to
+describe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I think we must have been at least three
+thousand feet above the sea. At any rate,
+owing to the steepness of the rocks on which
+we stood, together with the clearness of the atmosphere,
+the city of Cattaro seemed perpendicularly
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_172' name='Page_172' href='#Page_172'>172</a></span>
+beneath us, while the coast of Dalmatia, the entire
+canal of Cattaro with all its windings and the
+many towns scattered on its coast, the forts at its
+mouth, and the blue Adriatic beyond, seemed laid
+out like a map at our feet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The path, up which we had been toiling ever
+since we left the town, lay in zigzags before
+us like a white ribbon stretched out upon the
+face of the precipice. It reminded me somewhat
+of the pass of the Gemmi in Switzerland, but
+was far more beautiful, while the bird's-eye view
+of the town, with its fortress and its fortifications,
+was most novel and astonishing. Perched as
+we were almost perpendicularly over Cattaro,
+and thus looking right down over their heads,
+we could see its inhabitants only like black
+specks moving about its miniature squares and
+streets, while the old fortress with its crenelated
+walls and its antiquated bastions, rising out of the
+bluish haze which hung over the chasm that
+yawns between the rock on which it is built
+and the one on which we were standing, made
+such a picture as Turner would have loved to
+study.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_173' name='Page_173' href='#Page_173'>173</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was one of the most beautiful and extraordinary
+sights I ever saw, and only lacked the
+presence of foliage to make it perfect. But
+total absence of timber is the characteristic of
+the entire coast of Dalmatia, a fact much to be
+regretted not only for the loss it is to the
+country from a picturesque point of view, but
+principally from the economical aspect of the
+question—as well-managed forests would be of
+immense value both from the timber they would
+yield, and the increased humidity they would
+afford to that arid region, where a sufficient rainfall
+would increase the fertility, and consequently
+the revenue more than a hundredfold.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If some of the millions which are yearly
+wasted by the Austrian Government, as well as
+by others too, in building ironclads and exploding
+torpedoes, and in many other equally unreproductive
+undertakings, were spent on the coast of
+Dalmatia in planting olive trees on the side of
+those mountains as far up as they could flourish,
+then walnut trees, then chestnut trees, and
+finally oaks and firs, I think I can safely assert
+that in thirty years the full cost of the first
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_174' name='Page_174' href='#Page_174'>174</a></span>
+outlay would be repaid, while the benefit to the
+country at large would be incalculable.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is not in a book like this that the best
+modes for bringing about the cultivation of the
+Dalmatian shores of the Adriatic are to be discussed,
+but that it could be done and should be done, is
+undoubted; and not in Dalmatia alone, but also
+to the east of that country, in the lands beyond
+the Vellebitch, through Servia, and all that vast
+tract of country subject now to the impoverishing
+influence of Turkish mal-administration.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It always makes me sad when I think of those
+rich countries lying fallow for want of hands to
+cultivate them, and a good government to encourage
+industry, and when I see shipload after shipload
+of hard-working industrious Germans leaving
+Hamburg, Bremen, and other German ports,
+risking the perils, the inconveniences, and the
+expenses of their voluntary exile, traversing
+thousands of miles of ocean route to reach at
+last an unknown country, from which it is
+doubtful if they will ever have a chance of returning
+to their Fatherland; when those fertile lands
+of Servia lie at the very threshold of their
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_175' name='Page_175' href='#Page_175'>175</a></span>
+country, with no sea to intervene, and only a few
+days of rail and river to go over. But the present
+state of things cannot continue for ever; and even
+now promising signs of amendment are not wanting.
+The monstrous anomaly of some of the richest
+lands of Christian Europe being still in this
+nineteenth century under the misrule of barbarous
+Asiatic hordes, whilst millions of wretched Christian
+inhabitants are kept in the most abject servitude,
+must ere long be done away with; and all those
+countries, Servia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Roumelia,
+and all lying between the Danube and the Adriatic
+must before very long be amalgamated under some
+one chief. Who the man may be upon whom the
+noble responsibility may fall of governing this
+future empire, it is impossible now to conjecture,
+for the several countries which would go to form
+this new dominion are still scattered and disorganized;
+but the great bond of a common
+language will soon unite them again, when the time
+comes, and probably that is not distant, for now we
+do in weeks what our forefathers did in centuries.
+When that moment shall come, I venture to
+hope, in the interest of this new country, that one
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_176' name='Page_176' href='#Page_176'>176</a></span>
+totally unconnected with the present contending
+clans may assume the direction of affairs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I know the man but I shall not name him.
+Handsome in person, brave, courteous, highly
+educated, and unsullied by any of those Eastern
+vices which so frequently shock our Western
+susceptibilities—equally unconnected with either
+the Kara Georgevich or the Obrenovich parties—his
+elevation to the throne of Servia would put a
+stop to that system of hereditary vendetta which
+seems for the present too deeply rooted in both
+those clans to permit us to hope in its extinction at
+least for a time, while it would extend to those
+countries the benefits of that wise administration
+which he has already so ably initiated in his own
+country. But I must pull up my hobby-horse
+sharp; he is already in full gallop, and if he once
+gets the bit between his teeth, he will never check
+his mad career till he stops at the gates of
+Stamboul.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_177' name='Page_177' href='#Page_177'>177</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p6">
+<img src="images/fish.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+CHAPTER XIII.
+</h2>
+
+<p class="ch_summ">
+THE PRINCE OF MONTENEGRO—UNJUST DEPRIVATION OF TERRITORY—ORIGIN
+OF THE NAME OF THE COUNTRY—A FRIEND
+IN NEED—VILLAGE OF NIEGOSCH—PANORAMA SEEN FROM
+THE TOP OF THE PASS—WILD-LOOKING HERDS AND FLOCKS—MONTENEGRIN
+LEGEND—ARRIVAL AT CETTIGNE—THE
+VLADIKA'S PALACE—THE TREE OF JUSTICE—TOWER OF CETTIGNE.
+</p>
+
+<div>
+<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropd.jpg" width="100" height="106" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p class="drop-cap">
+DURING my stay in Montenegro, I
+had the honour of several private
+conversations with the Prince of that
+interesting country, and I was astonished
+at the amount of practical knowledge he
+possessed, and the advanced views he entertained,
+with regard to commerce, administration, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_178' name='Page_178' href='#Page_178'>178</a></span>
+political economy. But he is cramped up in every
+way, Montenegro has no outlet, and though his
+native mountains come so near to the Adriatic that
+a man could almost spring from them into the
+sea, still there is everywhere a narrow strip of
+land between them and that sea, which effectually
+excludes him from direct commercial or other intercourse
+with the rest of the world.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This strip of land, in some places only a few
+yards wide, belongs to Austria and forms part of
+the Province of Dalmatia. During the reign of
+Napoleon I. the Principality of Montenegro extended
+for a short period to the sea shore, and Cattaro was
+occupied by the Montenegrins till the 14th June,
+1814, when it was most unjustly taken away from
+them again and incorporated with the Austrian
+Empire by the Congress of Vienna. An act of
+injustice all the more flagrant, that the Turkish
+territory was allowed to come down to the sea at
+the opening of the Gulf of Cattaro, dividing the
+territory of Ragusa from that of Cattaro, and thus
+affording the Mahommedan rulers of a Christian
+land advantages which are denied to the neighbouring
+Christian Principality.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_179' name='Page_179' href='#Page_179'>179</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But whilst I am admiring the scene before me
+and pondering over the wrongs and the resources of
+these interesting countries, I must not forget that
+the sun is every moment getting higher in the
+heavens, and that it is important to get on with
+our journey, in order to avoid being out on those arid
+rocks during the heat of the day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Our caravan was now in motion again, but the
+road having almost ceased to exist, we had to proceed
+more cautiously, picking our way among loose
+stones and boulders, sometimes following a sort of
+path, and sometimes climbing up the dried up
+water-courses of Winter torrents. After another
+short interval of clambering, we reached a fountain
+where everyone considered it his duty to dismount
+and drink, as did also our cattle. When we had
+refreshed ourselves with copious draughts from that
+cool spring we again faced up the mountain, but
+this time on foot, as owing to the steepness and
+ruggedness of the rocks, it was not deemed
+advisable to attempt it on horseback.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Except climbing up the cone of Vesuvius, where
+one generally makes two steps in advance and three
+steps backwards, I never met anything more trying
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_180' name='Page_180' href='#Page_180'>180</a></span>
+than some parts of this ascent into Tchernagora
+or the "Black Mountains," as the natives called
+this region, and which was rendered by the Venetians
+into "Montenegro," the name it retains to
+this day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sun was becoming extremely hot, and I
+should have found it considerably difficult to keep
+my place, but for the occasional assistance afforded
+me by the powerful hand and arm of my Prince
+of Mountaineers, Pero Pejovich, who whenever
+I came to some rugged impediment which seemed
+to tax my energies more than usual, would quickly,
+with one hand passed under my arms close below
+my shoulder, lift me bodily over it, with his broad
+good-humoured face beaming with smiles; and
+when I tell you, gentle reader, that I sometimes
+weigh <i>more</i> but never less than fourteen stone, I
+leave you to calculate the strength of my amiable
+giant.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had now topped the worst of our ascent,
+and remounting our horses commenced a short descent
+to a little plain surrounded by steep, rugged, barren
+rocks seemingly the bed of some ancient dried up
+lake. At the further extremity of this little plain
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_181' name='Page_181' href='#Page_181'>181</a></span>
+could be seen half-a-dozen scattered houses forming
+the village of Niegosch, the birth-place of the
+Prince of Montenegro, as well as the cradle of his
+race, from which they take their patronimic of
+Petrovich Niegosch.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We rode up straight to the principal house where
+we were expected and received by a young
+Petrovich, a cousin of the Prince, a very handsome
+young fellow, with whom unfortunately I could
+only have conversation by the help of Pero
+Pejovich, who speaking Italian as well as Montenegrin,
+always proved himself a most valuable
+interpreter.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We made a very short stay here, as we wanted
+to reach Cettigne before the middle of the day; so
+having partaken of some excellent coffee, served up
+with toast and such clotted cream as I never before
+tasted out of Devonshire, and having admired the
+gorgeous arms which hung round young Petrovich's
+room, each of which had some story attached to it,
+all being trophies taken in battle from the Turks,
+we mounted our horses, and again plunging into
+a ravine recommenced the difficult ascent.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a short but arduous climb, we at length
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_182' name='Page_182' href='#Page_182'>182</a></span>
+reached the top of the pass and the highest point
+between Cattaro and Cettigne. Here a wonderful
+panorama spread itself out before us—not beautiful,
+perhaps, but grand in its way. Right, left, and
+front, nothing could be seen but barren, grey
+mountain tops—except right in front of us, where
+at a short distance lay the valley of Cettigne, also
+apparently the bed of an ancient Alpine lake.
+Beyond that plain the bleak and rocky mountains
+closed in again; and beyond them, far in
+the hazy distance, shining in the noon-day sun,
+could be seen the glittering lake of Scutari,
+or more properly of Skodra, in Northern
+Albania.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A scene like this could scarcely be conceived, such
+a wilderness of rocks, such a picture of sterility,
+had never met my eyes. Peak after peak, desolate
+and barren, rose in every direction, as far as the
+sight could reach; and as the point on which
+we stood must have been more than four thousand
+feet above the sea, the distance we could
+see in that bright clear atmosphere may be
+imagined.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The rocks of which those mountains are formed
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_183' name='Page_183' href='#Page_183'>183</a></span>
+looked ashy grey in the bright sunlight, except here
+and there in some of the ravines where a scanty,
+scrubby vegetation, struggling for existence, offered
+a precarious subsistence to considerable flocks of
+small wild goats, herded by still wilder-looking
+children. These grey rocky masses, when it rains,
+become of a dark slate colour, nearly black, and
+hence arose the name of the country, Tchernagora.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To account for the presence of such immense
+quantities of stones in their country, the Montenegrins
+have a legend which says that after the Creator
+had made this earth, the Devil was permitted to go
+and scatter stones all over it. He carried the stones
+in a bag over his shoulder, but as he passed in his
+flight over their country, the bag suddenly
+burst, and thus a greater share of stones fell
+to their lot than they were fairly entitled
+to.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I don't know which was the most fatiguing, the
+climb up to the top of the pass, or the scramble
+down; I think the latter, and if I did reach the
+bottom without a fall or a sprained ankle, I owe
+it all to my excellent fellow-traveller, Pero Pejovich,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_184' name='Page_184' href='#Page_184'>184</a></span>
+who kept a sturdy hold of me all through, and
+saved me, I am sure, from many an ugly
+tumble.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At last we found ourselves in the little plain of
+Cettigne, and putting spurs to our small horses
+cantered over the turf till we reached the first
+houses of the straggling street which constitutes the
+capital of one of the most interesting countries in
+Europe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The next travellers who visit Cettigne will find
+there good accommodation in a spacious hotel,
+which was all but completed before I left; but
+when I was there, nothing existed in the shape of
+an inn except a couple of very wretched khans,
+where it would have been difficult to get rest,
+owing to the activity of the insect population and
+the total absence of every accommodation. Thanks
+to the liberal hospitality of His Highness, I was
+provided, by his orders, with apartments in the
+ancient fortified palace of the Vladikas, or Prince-Bishops
+of Montenegro, to which I was conducted
+by one of His Highness's aide-de-camps, who
+had come to meet me. This gentleman had been
+educated in France, at the Military School of St.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_185' name='Page_185' href='#Page_185'>185</a></span>
+Cyr, spoke French like a Parisian, and was most
+kind in never allowing me to want for anything.
+Guessing that I did not know a word of Slave, he
+had most thoughtfully appointed a man in the
+town, who could speak a few words of Italian, to
+attend me during my stay, and to provide me daily
+with food from a sort of very primitive restaurant
+in the place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having rested a couple of hours after eating an
+early dinner, according to the fashion of southern
+countries, I received a visit from Mr. Nico Matanovich,
+the gentleman alluded to above, and to
+whom I was indebted for the comfort with which
+I was installed, who in company with the Russian
+Consul (who was residing at the new Palace with
+the Prince), came to propose a walk about the
+place as soon as the sun should be somewhat nearer
+to the horizon. Having ordered up coffee, as is
+always expected in these countries, Mr. Nico Matanovich
+conveyed to me the agreeable information
+that His Highness would receive me the following
+day at eleven o'clock in the morning. In reply,
+I begged he would present my humble respects to
+His Highness, and my unbounded thanks for
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_186' name='Page_186' href='#Page_186'>186</a></span>
+the handsome manner in which I was treated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sun being now sufficiently low, we sallied
+forth to take a turn round the place, and see what
+was to be seen. But before I leave my quarters,
+let me try to give some idea of the Vladika's
+Palace, where I was lodged. This quaint old
+building consists of a quadrangle of about a hundred
+and fifty paces<a name='FA_7' id='FA_7' href='#FN_7' class='fnanchor'>[7]</a> either way, surrounded by a
+very massive and high wall, pierced by two large
+roofed-in gateways, one in front and one at the
+side, and having at each corner a round squat
+tower with a conical roof, reminding one somewhat
+of those that surround, at intervals, the Kremlin at
+Moscow. Running midway from side to side, and
+dividing this enclosure into about two equal parts is
+the palace itself, which consists of two stories, the
+second of which is divided into a series of chambers,
+each about sixteen feet square and ten feet high,
+all opening into each other, and communicating
+also at the back with a wide corridor which goes
+the whole length of the building. The windows,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_187' name='Page_187' href='#Page_187'>187</a></span>
+of which there are two to each room, look into
+the front compartment of the quadrangle, while
+the windows of the corridor look on the back.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The entrance is by a hall door from which one
+ascends at once to the upper story, by means of a
+massive wooden staircase formed of solid beams of
+timber roughly hewn. The lower story has been
+turned partly into an arsenal, principally filled with
+ancient weapons taken from the Turks, and partly
+into a Government school; the upper rooms are
+occupied at one end by the Archimandrite and
+some other officials—the rest are untenanted. In
+the centre of the front court-yard is a deep well of
+the most delicious water, and so cold that I used
+it to cool my wine and beer with nearly as much
+success as if I had been using snow. The back
+compartment was a kitchen-garden and orchard.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Leaving the old Palace by the side gate which
+opens upon one of the two streets that constitute
+the town of Cettigne, we found ourselves opposite
+to the new Palace lately built by the Prince—the
+style of which I in no wise admire, though I do
+not doubt it is comfortable enough inside; but it
+has no character whatever, and looks insignificant
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_188' name='Page_188' href='#Page_188'>188</a></span>
+when compared with the old Palace. If the money
+spent on building the new had been judiciously
+laid out in adding to the old, a truly fine Palace
+could have been erected, with all the old characteristics
+preserved, which the eyes of the people,
+as well as of travellers, would have had an historical
+stamp as the abode of all the old Vladikas, those
+ancient Prince-Bishops—Bishops of the Church
+Militant—who for many years had valiantly defended
+their country, their liberty, and their faith
+against the unceasing attacks of the Infidels.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Opposite this gate, and just midway in the very
+broad street between the old and the new Palace,
+stands a large carob tree, with a stone bench of
+roughly hewn blocks round its trunk, and here in
+Summer from about nine o'clock every morning
+the Prince sits for some hours administering justice.
+I often watched him with the greatest interest from
+a window in the old Palace. It was like acting a
+chapter in the Old Testament—Deborah judging
+Israel under a palm tree, "between Ramah and
+Beth-el in Mount Ephraim!" Beyond the "Tree
+of Justice" one came to the new Palace, a homely
+structure, as I said before, and of no pretence.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_189' name='Page_189' href='#Page_189'>189</a></span>
+At the gate two sentries of the Prince's bodyguard,
+in full Montenegrin costume, mount guard,
+and are constantly relieved every hour, their
+barracks being exactly opposite. The process of
+relieving guard is very simple—two privates walk
+out of the barracks with their long breechloaders
+over their shoulders "<i><span lang="fr_FR">à volonté</span></i>," and take their
+station on each side of the gateway of the Palace,
+while the other two walk back into barracks,
+and that is all.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We now turned our backs on the "Tree of Justice,"
+and walked up the street, which is but short,
+until we came to the main street which crosses it
+at right angles. This main street is not paved, but
+is wide, and the houses on each side, though
+seemingly poor and wretched in the extreme in our
+eyes, are, most probably, comfortable enough in
+theirs; and as they do not even possess a word in
+their language to denote "comfort," what we would
+consider such, would, perhaps, be only considered
+by them an uneasy restraint.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Turning now to the right we walked to the
+end of the street, where is the new hotel with
+the post and telegraph office. The hotel, as I
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_190' name='Page_190' href='#Page_190'>190</a></span>
+previously said, was not yet opened, though the
+building was completed, and when supplied with
+beds, tables, and chairs will be a very creditable
+affair, incomparably better than any hotel in
+Dalmatia. Near the hotel, a little to the left, is
+another modern institution, evincing in no small
+degree the enlightened anxiety of the Prince for
+the advancement of his country. It is a <i><span lang="fr_FR">Pensionnat
+de demoiselles</span></i> for the education of the daughters of
+the better classes, both of Montenegro and the
+surrounding countries; it can accommodate forty
+pupils, and is superintended by a charming and
+highly accomplished Russian lady, assisted by
+efficient governesses. The charge being very small,
+only £20 per annum, it must be largely subsidized
+by His Highness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Being vacation time, I had not the satisfaction
+of seeing any of the boarders, much to the regret
+of Mademoiselle Pakievitch, who kindly showed
+me all over the institution, which was admirably
+neat and clean. She was anxious that I should
+have heard some of the pupils speak English and
+French. "I think you would have been both
+pleased and surprised," said she. The majority
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_191' name='Page_191' href='#Page_191'>191</a></span>
+spoke Illyrian, Russian and German, while several
+were proficient in addition with both English and
+French, and one with Albanian also. The institution
+is under the special patronage of the Empress of
+Russia, who takes the greatest interest in it, and constantly
+sends presents to it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Keeping now a little to the right, and following
+the path which leads to the town of Rieka,
+we soon came to the foot of the crags which on
+that side close in with an impassable barrier the
+little plain of Cettigne. We now turned sharp
+round and set our faces towards the town, as the
+lengthening shadows warned us that the sun was
+already setting behind the mountains which we had
+traversed in the morning. The smooth plain
+covered with short grass was delightful to walk
+over, though one had to be careful of one's steps
+owing to the many wells with which it is dotted
+for the purpose of getting water for the cattle,
+and which, quite level with the ground and without
+the semblance of a parapet, might have swallowed
+one up before one would have had time to see
+them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Right before us, standing a little to the left and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_192' name='Page_192' href='#Page_192'>192</a></span>
+just beyond the old palace, could be seen in the
+distance the ancient monastery which in old times
+used to be occupied by the Archimandrite, in the
+days when the Vladika used to inhabit the palace;
+but now that Church and State are separated, it is
+occupied by Monsignor Roganovitch, the Metropolitan
+of Montenegro.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Just above it, perched upon a rock and standing
+out in bold relief against the glowing sky, could
+be seen the old tower of Cettigne, an ancient piece
+of masonry which until three or four years ago
+used to be constantly decorated with the heads of
+Turks killed and decapitated in their several
+skirmishes and forays. This barbarous custom
+has now been abandoned, never to be resumed again
+it is to be hoped, and the present Prince, further to
+turn away the thoughts of the natives from the
+barbarous habit of their forefathers, has caused a
+belfry to be erected on the top of the tower wherein
+is placed a large bell, which is only rung in cases
+of great alarm to gather the tribes. The bell is
+very heavy, and much ingenuity and labour were
+required to transport it on men's backs from Cattaro
+to Cettigne.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_193' name='Page_193' href='#Page_193'>193</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By the time we got back to the Palace it
+was dark, so wishing good night to my kind
+friends I made a frugal supper and went to
+bed.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p4">
+<img src="images/primrose.jpg" width="125" height="139" alt="Decoration" />
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_194' name='Page_194' href='#Page_194'>194</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter p6">
+<img src="images/putti.jpg" width="400" height="94" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+CHAPTER XIV.
+</h2>
+
+<p class="ch_summ">
+INSECT POWDER OF MONTENEGRO—DESCRIPTION OF THE MONASTERY—ENCAMPMENTS—FESTIVAL
+OF ST. PETER—A SAINT
+BY THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE—PICTURESQUE SCENE—BOSNIAN
+CAFÉ—THE NATIONAL INSTRUMENT—A TRAVELLED
+DALMATIAN—TALL MONTENEGRINS.
+</p>
+
+<div>
+<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropi.jpg" width="100" height="112" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p class="drop-cap">
+I AWOKE early the next morning,
+having slept most luxuriously on a
+spring mattress and totally unmolested
+by fleas, thanks to the ample supply
+of flea-powder thoughtfully strewn by my attendant,
+between the mattress and the undersheet.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The insect powder of Montenegro is celebrated,
+you must know, in Eastern and Southern Europe,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_195' name='Page_195' href='#Page_195'>195</a></span>
+and I can vouch for its excellence. It consists
+simply in the small dried flower of some species of
+Pyrethrum, which when wanted for use is ground
+in a coffee-mill and strewed about the bed. The
+plant is found abundantly all over Montenegro,
+and owes its greater virtue to the fact of being
+grown in very arid soil, untempered by the slightest
+moisture, and exposed to scorching suns—everything
+about it therefore is in the most concentrated
+form, and hence its efficacy; it is a very considerable
+article of commerce, and is largely exported to
+Russia and the Levant.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was not therefore due to insect attacks that I
+was so early disturbed from my slumbers on
+the following morning; still I was disturbed, and
+that by the momentarily increasing hum of
+many voices and general bustle of the thousands
+who were flocking to Cettigne for the festival
+which was to take place on the morrow; but the
+great day of the feast throughout the south of
+Europe is invariably the day before the feast, "<span lang="it_IT">la
+vigilia del Santo</span>," as the wording goes. The day
+of the feast itself one confesses, goes to mass, and
+does the proper; all the fun and the rollicking
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_196' name='Page_196' href='#Page_196'>196</a></span>
+is generally the day before. So I got up, and
+pushing open the outside green shutters which
+secured my windows, I looked into the courtyard of
+the Palace, and over the walls beyond into the little
+plain, which was gradually filling with numberless
+men, women, and children, some on horseback,
+more on foot, but all gorgeously attired.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The sun was now getting high on the horizon,
+and the scene before me was becoming more and
+more animated and interesting. In the open space
+under my window, within the high enclosure of
+the Palace wall, men were busy picketing a dozen
+horses, evidently from the costliness of their trappings
+belonging to Chiefs and Woyvodes. While
+under a group of carob trees, in one corner of
+the enclosure, were spread several rugs on which
+were sitting cross-legged some of the owners
+of those quadrupeds, with their clumsy high-backed
+saddles behind them, passively smoking their
+chibouks while their attendants busied themselves
+preparing coffee.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Close on my right and just beyond the old Palace
+was the monastery, which, owing to the lateness of
+the hour the evening before, I had been unable to
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_197' name='Page_197' href='#Page_197'>197</a></span>
+examine. Like the old Palace it is a sort of semi-fortified
+building, constructed more for safety than
+for comfort. On the right hand, as the observer
+looks at it in front, is the church, and next to it a
+tall, square, and very modern tower erected to the
+memory of the Vladika Peter, who is buried on the
+top of a somewhat difficult peak to the south-west
+of Cettigne and about six miles distant. The body
+of the monastery comes next, conspicuous by two
+rows of arched openings placed one over the other,
+and to the left of them again are the apartments
+of the Metropolitan. The whole is surrounded by
+a high wall, enclosing a primitive garden in which
+are located a large number of beehives, (upwards of
+a hundred). This wall is pierced by one large
+gateway, roofed over and secured by a massive
+door, in front of which is the circular-paved
+thrashing floor, so characteristic of the East. Every
+thing about the monastery is of the simplest and
+rudest construction, and the church is utterly unadorned,
+not from choice, I am assured, but from
+necessity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the monastery itself are many shady corners
+that would well repay a few hours spent in transferring
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_198' name='Page_198' href='#Page_198'>198</a></span>
+them to one's portfolio, and just at the
+entrance inside the building, is a most extraordinary
+chasm in the rock, through which a piercing cold
+wind is constantly blowing, coldest when the
+weather is hottest; and so intense is the cold in
+that opening that it is used in Summer as an
+ice-house for the cooling of wine and the preserving
+of food. This phenomenon has never been satisfactorily
+explained, because it is not only that the
+cavity is cold, but a strong sharp cutting wind
+rushes out of it. I shall not attempt to account for
+it, but will leave it as a problem for sharper wits
+than mine to solve.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As the day waxed older the number of arrivals
+increased on the plain of Cettigne, till by eight
+o'clock in the morning it was dotted all over
+with picketed horses and temporary encampments
+of all sorts. Having had my simple breakfast of
+coffee, milk, and toast without butter—which is
+quite unknown there though cream is plentiful—but
+accompanied by a good plate of Albanian figs,
+I went out with Pero Pejovich, who came to fetch
+me to visit the fair. For this festival of St. Peter
+offers a double stimulus to the inhabitants of the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_199' name='Page_199' href='#Page_199'>199</a></span>
+surrounding country for a visit to Cettigne—a
+religious ceremony and a considerable fair. And it
+may be right for me to observe that this St.
+Peter, Patron of Montenegro, in whose honour
+this great gathering annually takes place, is a saint
+<i><span lang="la">sui generis</span></i>—indeed I was on the point of saying,
+when I detected and checked myself, that he was
+a saint <i><span lang="la">extra palum ecclesiæ</span></i>; for he is neither St.
+Peter the Apostle, nor St. Peter the Martyr, nor
+St. Peter the Hermit, nor even St. Peter Igneus,
+who in a fit of zeal for the maintenance of the
+laws relating to the temporalities of the church,
+walked through the flames at Settimo in the
+eleventh century, to establish a case of simony
+against another Peter, one Peter of Pavia, then
+Bishop of Florence; nor any other canonical St.
+Peter I ever heard of, but simply St. Peter of
+Montenegro, the old Vladika Peter I., Prince-Bishop
+of Montenegro, not yet canonized by any
+ecclesiastical authority or other licensing body, as I
+was assured, but simply a saint in virtue of the will of
+the people, the Plebiscite of Montenegro, who insisted
+<i><span lang="it_IT">autoritate nostra</span></i> on having him for their patron
+saint. He probably deserved to be canonized just as
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_200' name='Page_200' href='#Page_200'>200</a></span>
+well, and perhaps better than many another saint,
+and if history tells truth, certainly better than his
+namesake, the so-called Peter the Martyr, for he
+wisely, mildly, and virtuously ruled in Montenegro
+for fifty-three years, viz., from 1777 to 1830, and
+the mountaineers are fully justified in reverencing
+his memory.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Passing my arm through that of Pero Pejovich,
+who seemed to know and be known of everyone,
+I began my expedition through a crowd of men,
+women and children, that every moment grew
+denser and denser. It was the most picturesque
+scene that could be imagined; all the neighbouring
+and surrounding countries had sent their contributions
+to the fair—Bosnians, Servians, Herzegovinians,
+Morlacks, Dalmatians, Albanians, Roumelians,
+Turks, Greeks, Croats, Italians, &amp;c.; but
+conspicuous among them all for height of stature
+and nobility of countenance were the Montenegrins
+themselves. I think that, even independent
+of their costume, I could have always singled
+them out by their ruddy though sunburnt complexions,
+grey or blue eyes, and open honest
+countenances.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_201' name='Page_201' href='#Page_201'>201</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We went to a booth where arms were sold,
+and I was astounded at the number, variety, and
+richness of the weapons that were not only displayed,
+but were actually sold. They seemed to
+me dear. I should have much liked to purchase
+a handsome yataghan with silver hilt and in a
+sheath of <i>repoussé</i> silver. It was a very handsome
+weapon, and was made by a celebrated artificer of
+Skodra, but the price was sixteen Napoleons, which
+was more than I liked to give, and I suspect I could
+get one just like it in Tichborne Street for half the
+money.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From the armourer we went to a tailor's booth,
+where piles of costumes of different nationalities
+were exposed for sale; Morlack suits, Albanian
+suits, and Montenegrin suits, some of cloth and
+some of velvet, but all more or less embroidered
+in gold, and some literally overladen with plates
+of silver gilt. From thence we went to a Bosnian
+<i>café</i> of the most primitive kind; a couple of large
+blankets stretched over a few poles made a
+pretence of shelter, and on the ground were
+a few Turkish rugs on which we squatted, while
+a very ugly and dirty gipsy-looking woman was
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_202' name='Page_202' href='#Page_202'>202</a></span>
+boiling coffee outside over a small fire of sticks
+contrived between two stones; nothing could be
+more primitive. So we sat and smoked, and in
+due time drank our coffee, which was simply
+abominable. I remember it was, though I was
+not minding it much, being occupied at the time
+with listening to a man performing on the national
+instrument, the <i>guzla</i> (pronounced goozla), whilst
+a girl was singing a low, monotonous, plaintive
+air.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The <i>guzla</i> is not an instrument which offers
+much scope to the performer; it is simply a very
+primitive fiddle, with only one string, played upon
+with an equally primitive bow; still it was surprising
+the amount of harmony the man contrived
+to scrape out of it. The song, as Pero Pejovich
+told me, was all about the old story, love and
+war, while the music, as is almost always the
+case among barbarous nations, was in a minor
+key.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having paid for our coffee and thrown a
+few paràs to the minstrels, we sallied forth
+again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"And now, friend Pero," I said, "I should
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_203' name='Page_203' href='#Page_203'>203</a></span>
+like to see some of your Montenegrin beauties. I
+have seen lots of fine men this morning; but as to
+the women, friend Pero, they are a caution.
+I never saw so many ugly ones congregated together."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My conductor smiled, shrugged his shoulders,
+and looked me in the face; he did not know exactly
+whether he ought not to be angry. However, his
+habitual good-humour prevailed, and with a loud
+laugh, he said:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"<i><span lang="it_IT">Avete ragione, son brutte come il Demonio</span>.</i> But
+wait, only wait till you see the Princess; she is a
+pure Montenegrina, and beautiful enough for the
+whole nation." And he spoke truth!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We now wandered away again towards a sort
+of native inn or khan, where he said we should get
+some good Vienna beer to wash away the taste
+of that abominable coffee. As we were passing
+some booths, where a variety of cheap Manchester
+goods were being displayed with some English Delft
+ware of the very commonest description, I was
+hailed with a "How d'ye do, stranger?" from a
+dapper, wide-awake-looking little man, who came
+out and spoke such excellent English that I took
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_204' name='Page_204' href='#Page_204'>204</a></span>
+him to be a Briton or an American; but he was
+neither; he was a Dalmatian from Sebenico, who
+had been a great deal in England and America,
+and spoke English as fluently as his native Illyrian.
+I had a long chat with him, and asked him how trade
+was, and if he was doing well.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"No," he replied; "they don't know what trade
+is in these countries, they have too many restrictions;
+and yet," said he, "you won't go into the poorest
+cabin that you won't find one of these," handing
+me a wretched sample of English pottery with a
+vile brown pattern on it; "such is their preference
+for everything of English make."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here Pero reminded me of the beer we had to
+drink, and that the time was drawing near when I
+was to present myself at the Palace for my audience.
+So we went off to the khan, where, having refreshed
+ourselves with some of Vienna's best, with a lump of
+virgin snow in it, I bid my guide good morning,
+and returned to the old Palace; when, having
+dressed myself, I crossed over to the new one to pay
+my respects to the Prince according to the orders
+received the day before.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having penetrated through the outer gate, where
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_205' name='Page_205' href='#Page_205'>205</a></span>
+the guards, I thought, looked rather scowlingly
+on my strange attire—viz., a dark blue frock
+coat, light grey trousers, and patent leather boots,
+the whole topped with my Indian quilted helmet—I
+ascended to the hall door by half a dozen steps,
+where I was met by the Prince's own henchman, a
+brother of the Commandant of the Grahovo. He
+was yet taller than his brother, and must have
+been at least six feet eight inches. I do not say this
+quite by guess-work, though I did not actually
+measure him; but on a subsequent occasion I did
+measure an immense Montenegrin, and found him
+six feet seven inches without heels, and the henchman
+was decidedly taller than he.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Well, <i><span lang="fr_FR">pour revenir à nos moutons</span></i>, I followed my
+Goliath into the hall, which is small and low,
+terminating in a double staircase, that bending
+round from each side joins again in the middle to
+form but one flight, at the top of which I found
+myself in a vestibule with two more guards on duty,
+and from that I was ushered into a fine large and
+well proportioned room, handsomely furnished in
+Viennese style, and hung all round with good
+portraits of the Prince's father, the celebrated
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_206' name='Page_206' href='#Page_206'>206</a></span>
+Mirko, the Emperor and Empress of Russia, the
+Emperor and Empress of Austria, and many
+others.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rooms open right and left off this. I was
+conducted into a smaller room to the right, where,
+after waiting for only a few seconds, the Prince
+came in. He addressed me in French, congratulating
+me on my courage for having ventured so far
+into his country, not on account of the difficulty
+of the road, "for all English are good mountaineers,"
+but from the bad name the country has in
+Europe.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Don't you know," said he, laughing, "<span lang="fr_FR">que nous
+sommes des ogres, et que nous mangeons les
+enfans</span>; however, you shall try how we cook them
+if you will dine here to-night at eight."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I thanked His Highness for his kindness, adding
+that I had never heard of their cannibal propensities,
+but in any case I should be happy to eat anything
+His Highness also would eat, and making my bow
+backed out of the saloon.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I then left my card for the Russian Consul, who
+was staying at the Palace, and afterwards went to pay
+the same compliment to Mr. Nico Matanovich, aide-de-camp
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_207' name='Page_207' href='#Page_207'>207</a></span>
+to the Prince; after which I returned to my
+quarters, to convert into a luncheon the repast which
+otherwise would have served for a dinner, but for
+the hospitality of His Highness.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p4">
+<img src="images/grapes.jpg" width="100" height="121" alt="Decoration" />
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_208' name='Page_208' href='#Page_208'>208</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter p6">
+<img src="images/cornucopia.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+CHAPTER XV.
+</h2>
+
+<p class="ch_summ">
+A POLYGLOT JUMBLE—WAR CUSTOMS OF THE MONTENEGRINS—DEATH
+IN BATTLE—FORAYS FOR THE PLUNDER OF CATTLE—EQUIPAGE
+OF A MONTENEGRIN SOLDIER—PILLAGE—MANNER
+OF FIGHTING—TACTICS—SIGNAL CRIES—ON BOARD
+SHIP—DECAPITATION OF WOUNDED PRISONERS.
+</p>
+
+<div>
+<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropi.jpg" width="100" height="112" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p class="drop-cap">
+I NOW discovered what a terrible
+nuisance it is to know only three or
+four languages, especially when one
+finds oneself in a country the language
+of which is a complete mystery. The attendant
+I had, who had been so thoughtfully provided
+for me by Mr. Matanovich, professed to
+speak Italian, and he did in fact know a few
+Italian words, but in his general conversation
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_209' name='Page_209' href='#Page_209'>209</a></span>
+with me, as was subsequently discovered and explained
+to me by Pero Pejovich, the language in
+which he spoke consisted pretty much of the following
+happy mixture: six-tenths of Montenegrin,
+three-tenths of Albanian and Turkish, with one-tenth
+Italian! With this polyglot jumble we got
+on fairly well, as far as hot water, coffee, pipe,
+tobacco, pranzo; and he learned to appreciate
+eventually the American word "skedaddle," but
+when our necessities required further intercourse,
+it was perfectly hopeless—language was utterly
+useless, and gesticulation the only chance of making
+oneself understood. But he was a willing poor
+beggar, and not more dishonest than the majority
+of his fellows. He had a wholesome terror of the
+Prince's rigorous punishment of theft. "<i><span lang="it_IT">Niente
+ladri in Montenegro</span></i>," he used to say, "<i>Principe
+terrible</i>," turning up his eyes and distorting his
+countenance to a fearful degree.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Now whilst my attendant is preparing and setting
+out my lunch, I may as well entertain my reader
+with an account of the customs in war, and mode
+of fighting of the Montenegrins, by the pen of
+M. Broniewsky, which is so graphic, and accords
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_210' name='Page_210' href='#Page_210'>210</a></span>
+so literally with what the Commandant Pero
+Pejovich related to me at different times, that I
+cannot think I could do better than transcribe
+it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"A Montenegrin is always armed, and carries
+about during his most peaceful occupation a rifle
+(many of them now have breechloaders), pistol, or
+yataghan, and a cartouche-box. The Montenegrins
+spend their leisure time in firing at a target, and
+are accustomed to this exercise from their boyish
+years. Being inured to hardships and privations,
+they perform without fatigue, and in high spirits,
+very long and forced marches. They climb the
+steepest rocks with great facility, and bear with
+the greatest patience hunger, thirst, and every
+kind of privation. When the enemy is defeated
+and retiring, they pursue him with such rapidity
+that they supply the want of cavalry, which it
+is impossible to employ in their mountainous
+country.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Inhabiting mountains which present, at every
+step, passes where a handful of brave men may
+arrest the progress of an army, they are not
+afraid of a surprise, particularly as they have
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_211' name='Page_211' href='#Page_211'>211</a></span>
+on their frontier a constant guard, and the whole
+of their force can be collected within twenty-four
+hours upon the threatened point. When
+the enemy is in great force, they burn their
+villages, devastate their fields, and after having
+enticed him into the mountains, they surround
+and attack him in the most desperate
+manner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"When the country is in danger, the Montenegrins
+forget all personal feelings of private advantage and
+enmity. They obey the orders of their chief, and
+like gallant Republicans, they consider it a happiness
+and a grace of God to die in battle. It is in
+such a case that they appear as real warriors; but
+beyond the limits of their country, they are savage
+barbarians, who destroy everything with fire and
+sword.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Their ideas about war are entirely different from
+those adopted by civilized nations. They cut off
+the heads of those enemies whom they take with
+arms in their hands, and spare only those who
+surrender before the battle. The property they take
+from the enemy is considered by them as their own,
+and as a reward of courage. They literally defend
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_212' name='Page_212' href='#Page_212'>212</a></span>
+themselves to the last extremity; a Montenegrin
+never craves for mercy; and whenever one of them
+is severely wounded, and it is impossible to save
+him from the enemy, his own comrades cut off his
+head. When at the attack of Clobuk, a little
+detachment of our troops was obliged to retreat,
+an officer of stout-make and no longer young fell
+on the ground from exhaustion. A Montenegrin
+perceiving it (the Montenegrins were fighting with
+the Russians against the French) ran immediately to
+him, and having drawn his yataghan, said 'You
+are very brave and must wish that I should cut off
+your head; say a prayer and make a sign of the
+cross.' The officer horrified at the proposition
+made an effort to rise, and rejoined his comrades
+with the assistance of the friendly Montenegrin.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"They consider all those taken by the enemy as
+killed. They carry out of the battle their wounded
+comrades on their shoulders; and be it said to their
+honour they acted in the same manner by our
+officers and soldiers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Like the Circassians, they are constantly making
+forays in small parties, for the plunder of cattle,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_213' name='Page_213' href='#Page_213'>213</a></span>
+and consider such expeditions as feats of chivalry,
+(just as the Scotch Highlanders one hundred years
+ago). Being safe in their habitations, where
+nobody dares to molest them, they continue their
+depredations with impunity, disregarding the threats
+of the Divan, and the hatred of their neighbours.
+Arms, a small loaf of bread, a cheese, some garlic,
+a little brandy, an old garment, and two pair of
+sandals, made of raw hide, form all the equipage of
+a Montenegrin. On the march they do not seek
+any shelter from rain or cold. In rainy weather,
+the Montenegrin wraps up his head in his strooka,
+lies down on the ground, and sleeps very
+comfortably. Three or four hours' repose are
+quite sufficient for his rest, and the remainder
+of his time is occupied in constant exertion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"It is impossible to retain them in the reserve;
+and it seems they cannot calmly bear the view of
+the enemy. When they have expended all their
+cartouches, they humbly request every officer they
+meet with to give them some, and as soon as they
+have received them, they run headlong into the
+further line. When there is no enemy in sight,
+they sing and dance, and go on pillaging, in which
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_214' name='Page_214' href='#Page_214'>214</a></span>
+we must give them the credit of being perfect
+masters; although they are not acquainted with
+the high sounding names of contribution, requisition,
+forced loan, &amp;c., &amp;c. They call pillage,
+simply 'pillage,' and have no hesitation in confessing
+it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Their usual manner of fighting is as follows: If
+they are in great force, they conceal themselves in
+ravines, and send out only a small number of
+shooters, who by retreating lead the enemy into
+the ambush; here, after having surrounded him,
+they attack him, usually preferring on such occasions
+swords to fire-arms; because they rely
+on their personal strength and bravery, in which
+they generally have the advantage over their
+enemies. When their numbers are inferior, they
+choose some advantageous position on high rocks,
+where pronouncing every kind of abuse against
+their enemies, they challenge them to combat.
+Their attacks are mostly made during the night,
+because their principal system is surprise.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"However small their force may be, they always
+try to wear out the enemy by constantly harassing
+him. The best French <i><span lang="fr_FR">voltigeurs</span></i> in the advanced
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_215' name='Page_215' href='#Page_215'>215</a></span>
+posts were always destroyed by them; and the
+enemy's generals found it more advantageous to
+remain under cover of their cannon, of which the
+Montenegrins were not at all fond. However,
+they soon became accustomed to them, and supported
+by our rifles, they bravely mounted the
+batteries.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The tactics of Montenegrins are confined to
+being skilful marksmen.... In a pitched battle
+their movements can be ascertained only by the
+direction of their standards. They have certain
+signal cries, which are uttered when they are to
+join in a compact body for attacking the weaker
+points of the enemy. As soon as such a signal
+is given, they rush furiously onwards, break
+into the squares, and at all events create a deal
+of disorder in the enemy's ranks. It was a terrible
+spectacle to see the Montenegrins rushing forward,
+with heads of slaughtered enemies suspended
+from their necks and shoulders, and uttering savage
+yells....
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"The Russian commander-in-chief had much
+difficulty in persuading them not to cut off the
+heads of their prisoners. He finally succeeded in
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_216' name='Page_216' href='#Page_216'>216</a></span>
+this (chiefly by paying them a ducat for every
+prisoner) but what he had more difficulty, with the
+assistance of the Vladika, in persuading them to do,
+was to embark for an expedition on board of ship—a
+thing which they had never done before.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Notwithstanding that they were treated with the
+greatest kindness, they proved very troublesome
+guests. Whenever the captains invited their chiefs
+to breakfast, they all entered the cabin, and having
+observed that more dishes were served to the
+officers than to common sailors, they wanted to
+have a similar fare. When the Fortress of Curzola
+was taken the feast of Easter was approaching; they
+gave the captain no repose, entreating him to
+return to Cattaro; but when it was explained to
+them that the vessel could not advance against
+the wind, they fell into great despondency.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"When at last the ship approached the entrance
+of Boccha di Cattaro and they caught a sight of
+their own black mountains, they uttered joyous
+exclamations, and began to sing and dance. On
+taking leave they affectionately embraced the captain
+and the officers, and invited those to whom they
+had taken a liking to pay them a visit. But when
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_217' name='Page_217' href='#Page_217'>217</a></span>
+the sailors told them they could not leave the ship
+without the permission of their superiors, they
+were much astonished, and said, 'If you like
+to do a thing, what right has another to forbid
+you?'"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Does not the foregoing read like a chapter in
+"Waverley," or in "Rob Roy?" but though it is
+now a good many years since M. Broniewski wrote
+the foregoing, the Montenegrin is still much the
+same, with the exception of cutting off the heads
+of those killed in battle, which he has given up,
+principally, I believe, because he has had no fighting
+of late. But at the period of the last attempted
+invasion of Montenegro on the Grahovo side, by
+the Turks in, I think, 1862, heads were cut off
+as freely as ever, and were liberally paid for by
+the chieftains; the only difference was that instead
+of taking them to Cettigne to hang in festoons
+upon the round tower at the back of the monastery,
+they were allowed to rot on the battle-field among
+the rocks of the Grahovo where scores of them are
+to be seen lying about to this day.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_218' name='Page_218' href='#Page_218'>218</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p6">
+<img src="images/wroughtiron.jpg" width="400" height="87" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+CHAPTER XVI.
+</h2>
+
+<p class="ch_summ">
+BATTLE BETWEEN TURKS AND MONTENEGRINS—ADDRESS OF
+PRINCE MIRKO—HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND CHARACTER—THE
+PROJECTS OF PRINCE DANIELO—PRINCE NICHOLAS I.—SPORT
+IN MONTENEGRO—INTERVIEW WITH THE PRINCE
+AND PRINCESS—NATIONAL COSTUME—SPLENDID ILLUMINATION.
+</p>
+
+<div>
+<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropi.jpg" width="100" height="112" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p class="drop-cap">
+I REGRET more than I can express
+having lost some interesting notes of
+several conversations I had with the
+Commandant Pedro Pejovich on the
+subject of the campaign of 1864(?); all the more
+as they were most graphically told me by him, who
+had been in the thick of the fight, and carried in
+his body, in the shape of severe wounds, proofs
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_219' name='Page_219' href='#Page_219'>219</a></span>
+of the active part he had borne in that campaign.
+One only I partially remember still, sufficiently
+well to venture to retail.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Turks, apparently, were attacking the Montenegrins
+from the Herzegovina in the north of
+Montenegro. They numbered about twelve thousand
+men, together with a good force of Artillery;
+while the Montenegrins collected to oppose them
+were not more than two thousand; but whilst the
+Turks were in the plain fully exposed in sight
+of the Montenegrins, these sturdy mountaineers,
+finding covert behind each rock and bramble bush,
+were able to pick off the Turks with considerable
+effect. Still the disparity of force was too great,
+and at the end of the second day's fighting, although
+the Turks had not been able to make any impression
+on the position held by the Montenegrins,
+still the number of those killed and wounded bore
+a very large proportion to their numbers. At
+sunset the fight being over for the time, and sentries
+having been posted by the mountaineers as
+far forward as practicable to watch the Ottoman
+camp, Prince Mirko, father of the present Prince
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_220' name='Page_220' href='#Page_220'>220</a></span>
+of Montenegro, then in command of the Montenegrins,
+summoned all the chiefs to a brief council
+of war, and spoke thus:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Two days we have been fighting the infidels,
+and the only result has been the losses we have
+sustained in killed and wounded. Another day of
+such fighting will leave us so crippled that the
+accursed Turks will walk over us into our homes
+and villages. There is but one plan which offers
+any hope, but if you adopt it and place faith in
+me, I promise you a complete victory before to-morrow's
+sun shall gild the tops of yonder
+mountains. To-morrow morning, one hour before
+daylight, be all ready to follow me, leave behind
+your rifles and ammunition, and follow me softly
+and stealthily, making no noise; so we shall pass
+the Turkish advanced sentries without their noticing
+us, and when sufficiently near I will call my cry,
+and then let you all rush forward with me, trusting
+solely to your yataghans, and give no
+quarter."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was carried out to the letter, and succeeded
+perfectly. The Turks, never imagining they would
+be attacked, kept a bad look-out. The Montenegrins,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_221' name='Page_221' href='#Page_221'>221</a></span>
+led on by the intrepid Mirko, rushed on the
+Turkish batteries, cutting the gunners' heads off,
+and having spiked the cannons attacked the
+remainder of the army with such impetuosity
+that they fled from the field in the utmost disorder.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was the last attack of the Turks against
+Montenegro, and I don't think they will ever try
+it again. Prince Mirko was dead before my visit
+to this country. I cannot therefore give any
+description of him personally, but from all I heard
+he must have been a very remarkable man in
+every way. Though small in stature and slight,
+contrary to the general build of the Montenegrins,
+who are mostly all very tall and powerful men,
+he had immense influence over the mountain-tribes;
+owing to his well known sagacity and his fierce
+courage, wherever Mirko would lead, the whole
+of Montenegro would follow. He had the eye of
+an eagle, and strength of will and determination
+are portrayed in every line of his face, as I have
+observed in his portrait which hangs in the Palace
+of Montenegro, as well as the photograph I have
+seen of him. But he was wise also; when Prince
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_222' name='Page_222' href='#Page_222'>222</a></span>
+Danielo (the predecessor of the present ruler) died
+by the hand of an assassin at Cattaro, his widow,
+the Princess Darinka, at once caused the present
+Prince, Nicholas I. (nephew of the murdered
+Danielo) to be proclaimed sovereign, passing over
+his father Mirko, who, owing to the great youth
+of his son, might have expected and claimed the
+succession; but as I said above, Mirko was wise
+as well as valorous. He knew that from his own
+warlike tendencies, how much soever he might be
+acceptable to his own mountaineers, his elevation to
+be ruler of Tchernagora would be displeasing to
+most of his neighbours in Austria, Servia, and
+Turkey. He therefore at once consented to his
+son's promotion, and generously was the first
+in Montenegro to do homage to the young
+Prince.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Up to the year 1850, when Prince Danielo
+succeeded to the throne of Montenegro, the country
+had always been ruled by a Prince-Bishop,
+styled the Vladika. This dignitary, generally, if
+not always, nominated his own successor in the
+person of a nephew or some other near relative,
+who, on the death of the Vladika at once took
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_223' name='Page_223' href='#Page_223'>223</a></span>
+holy orders and became in his turn Prince-Bishop.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Danielo, not wishing to give up the happiness
+of home and married life, and also perhaps with
+the hope of founding a dynasty of his own in
+Montenegro, which in the course of time might, by
+extension and the absorption of other principalities,
+become an important kingdom, repaired to St.
+Petersburgh on the death of the Vladika Peter II.,
+his uncle, and there obtained the full consent of
+the Emperor Nicholas to his effecting a division
+between Church and State. On his return journey
+to Cettigne he married at Trieste the Princess
+Darinka, hoping to have founded a line of princes
+to succeed him. His hopes however were destined
+to be blighted. Darinka had no children, and
+after reigning eight years, he was murdered at
+Cattaro as I have related above.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The young Prince, (Nicholas I.) who had
+already been betrothed almost in infancy, as is
+the custom among the upper classes in that
+country to a relation of his own, daughter of one
+of the principal Voyvodes in Montenegro, followed
+his studies under special direction in the Palace
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_224' name='Page_224' href='#Page_224'>224</a></span>
+of his ancestors; till one day the late Emperor
+Napoleon III., for reasons of his own, proposed to
+have the young Prince sent to Paris, there to be
+educated under his own eye; and the offer having
+been accepted, a French man-of-war without loss
+of time steamed into the Gulf of Cattaro and
+carried away the young Prince, together with two
+companions of his own age, sons of two of the
+principal Voyvodes of the country. Whatever care
+was bestowed upon the Prince's education, he
+amply profited by it; he is an excellent French and
+Italian, as well as German and Russian scholar.
+He is exceptionally well informed, and on a great
+variety of subjects; and voracious to a degree
+for more information, especially concerning English
+laws, customs, and manners, in all of which he
+takes the greatest interest, and is most anxious
+that Englishmen should visit his country. He was
+good enough to have me repeatedly at his house
+and at his hospitable board, and he never omitted to
+repeat to me.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"I shall always be glad to see English gentlemen
+in my country; tell them, when you go back,
+that if they are fond of shooting, they shall have
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_225' name='Page_225' href='#Page_225'>225</a></span>
+their choice of game, from an eagle to a blackbird,
+and from a bear to a squirrel; if they prefer
+fishing, I promise them trout such as they have
+never dreamt of,<a name='FA_8' id='FA_8' href='#FN_8' class='fnanchor'>[8]</a> and they shall have every
+assistance that I can afford them in the way
+of tents to camp out, and men to guide and help
+them."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In appearance, the Prince is tall and remarkably
+handsome; his hair is black, he wears both beard
+and moustachios, contrary to the fashion of his
+country, where only the latter are worn, often of
+immense size and length. With a commanding
+appearance, he still has a most benevolent expression
+of countenance, due to the softness of a very fine
+pair of eyes, and his manners are most captivating.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_226' name='Page_226' href='#Page_226'>226</a></span>
+He is very dignified, but at the same
+time most kind, without being in the least
+patronizing, and I was told by those who knew
+him best that he has a most equable temper,
+and that an angry word seldom was heard from
+him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had been careful before leaving the Palace
+to set my watch exactly to their time, so as to
+ensure my punctuality in the evening; and at
+eight <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> to the minute, I found myself in the
+saloon of the Palace. The Russian Consul was
+there already; he was showing me the different
+portraits which hung round it, when the Prince
+walked in, in full Montenegrin costume, but
+without any ceremony; and a few minutes after
+a door was thrown open from the opposite side,
+when in walked the Princess, accompanied by the
+widow of Prince Mirko and attended by her
+lady-in-waiting, Mademoiselle Neukomm, all in
+full native costume.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Pero Pejovich had so often extolled the beauty
+of the Princess, that I was quite prepared to be
+disappointed, as is almost always the case, for
+anticipation seems invariably to exaggerate the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_227' name='Page_227' href='#Page_227'>227</a></span>
+reality; but on this occasion it was just the reverse.
+I don't think I ever saw a more beautiful creature
+than the lady to whom I was then introduced;
+tall, pale, neither thin nor stout, but beautifully
+formed, and with exquisite hands and arms. She
+wore a diamond ornament on her head, half hidden
+by the masses of black hair among which it was
+nestled, and though it shone at times like a star
+from among a mass of stormy clouds, it could
+not subdue the light which shone from her glorious
+dark eyes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Dinner was instantly announced, and we proceeded
+to the dining-hall, a room of good size
+and well-furnished. The dinner, a German one,
+was good, the wines better. The attendance consisted
+of two men in black and four in native
+costume. The Princess, who speaks French fluently,
+did the honours with most winning grace; and
+the Prince, by his affability, at once put every
+one at his ease. At dinner I sat on his left, his
+mother being on his right, with the Russian
+Consul <i>vis-à-vis</i>, principally, I suppose, to facilitate
+her enjoyment of the conversation, as she
+speaks only Slave.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_228' name='Page_228' href='#Page_228'>228</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+During the repast His Highness constantly
+asked me questions, sometimes about my impressions
+of Montenegro, which were easily enough
+answered, as I had nothing to recount of myself
+but enjoyment since I had entered his territory,
+having met with nothing but the most unbounded
+kindness and hospitality. But in his anxiety for
+knowledge, he often put questions which I found
+it difficult enough to reply to, and sometimes
+questions which I could not answer at all. Having
+spoken with admiration of the gorgeous costume
+of the Montenegrins, and how it set off their fine
+figures, he replied:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Yes, it is very fine; but I should be delighted
+to abolish it, if it were possible; they spend a great
+deal too much money on it."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Being simply horrified at the idea of doing
+away with national dress, I could not avoid expressing
+myself unreservedly, and I said at once
+that depriving a country of its costume would be
+simply to destroy it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Ah!" replied the Prince sharply, "you look
+upon us only from a picturesque point of view;
+in fact, you would like to keep us here like
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_229' name='Page_229' href='#Page_229'>229</a></span>
+a sort of menagerie of wild beasts, to come
+and look at us occasionally for your amusement."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Prince was almost angry; but fortunately
+I had an analogous example to place before him,
+in our own Scottish Highlanders, who cling to
+their costume with such tenacity. I told him of
+our Highlanders, of our splendid Highland regiments,
+of how our Scottish nobility held by the
+national dress, and of how our precious Queen
+dressed all her boys in Highland costume; and
+yet we did not go to look at them as we would
+go to look at wild beasts in a zoological garden,
+but we regarded it with admiration, as an ancient
+national costume, associated in our minds with
+devoted loyalty, stirring times, and valiant deeds;
+as their own costume was also, which, I trusted,
+I should never live to see exchanged for a bad
+imitation of the present universally adopted French
+fashion, ending by saying that I was convinced
+that the supplanting of national costumes with
+imitations taken from our neighbours, was decidedly
+a backward step in civilization.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He questioned me very closely upon the law of
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_230' name='Page_230' href='#Page_230'>230</a></span>
+primogeniture and entail in our country, and could
+not understand how such a law did not produce
+<i><span lang="fr_FR">des jalousies terribles, et d'autres inconvenances</span></i>. I
+endeavoured to explain to him the present law of
+English entail, and how it differed from the ancient
+Roman law of <i><span lang="la">fidéi-commis</span></i>, which still obtains in
+Scotland, where entails are for ever. Still he did
+not like our system of primogeniture, where the
+eldest son, in many instances, has £100,000 per
+annum, and all the other children £10,000 each,
+representing about £400 a year. He thought it
+terribly unfair; indeed he could not understand
+how they quietly submitted to it at all; and so we
+got through our dinner most agreeably without
+the least <i><span lang="fr_FR">gêne</span></i>, while the Prince's band played some
+excellent music outside, under the window. This
+band consisted entirely of Montenegrin lads, some
+quite young, and considering the short time they
+had been learning their new profession, was wonderfully
+good. The bandmaster was from Prague,
+an excellent musician, and as he was a Czech,
+he spoke a language very similar to Montenegrin,
+which contributed not a little to his
+success.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_231' name='Page_231' href='#Page_231'>231</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having left the dining-room in company with
+the ladies, we all adjourned to the saloon, and
+from it to the terrace in front of the Palace, where
+the Prince having lit a cigarette, offered some to
+me and Mr. Yonin. As I hesitated to light mine,
+after having taken one, the Princess, who immediately
+guessed that my hesitation was owing to
+her being present, at once most kindly came forward
+and requested me to smoke "<i>de suite</i>" &amp;c.
+I therefore lit my cigarette at once, saying with a
+deep bow that I dared not disobey her commands.
+She then bid me watch, as presently a change
+would suddenly take place in the aspect of the
+scene.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was now quite dark, when suddenly a cannon
+was fired, and simultaneously, as if by magic, every
+window in the town, in the Palace opposite, in the
+monastery, in the terrace, and at every point where
+a candle could be stuck, was filled with lights, while
+the band played the grand Russian National Hymn,
+and the people shouted with all the power of their
+lungs, firing off their pistols in the air in every
+direction.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The illumination was so instantaneous that
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_232' name='Page_232' href='#Page_232'>232</a></span>
+the effect was charming, and coupled with the
+music, the enthusiastic cheering, and the booming
+of the cannon, which kept up a sort of
+"contrabasso" accompaniment to the whole, all
+contributed to produce a <i><span lang="fr_FR">coup de scène</span></i> never to
+be forgotten.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We now all withdrew to the drawing-room
+for coffee and tea, <i><span lang="fr_FR">à la Russe</span></i>, without cream and
+with a slice of lemon. I was not sorry to leave
+the balcony, for that firing of pistols in the
+air is not so innocent a pastime as might be
+imagined, as no Montenegrin ever dreams of
+loading his weapons with anything else than ball-cartridge.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Prince again resumed his conversation with
+me about English customs and manners. He
+said, "I am told that in London one policeman,
+unarmed, can control a mob, while in Paris it is
+very different, as nothing short of loaded muskets
+and bayonets will do for the French."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I answered him that English mobs could be
+troublesome too, but that, generally speaking,
+owing to our constitutional respect for the majesty
+of the law, we came to look upon that solitary
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_233' name='Page_233' href='#Page_233'>233</a></span>
+unarmed policeman as an impersonation of it, and
+as such he was always sure of the active assistance
+of all respectable citizens in the execution of his
+duty.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He then began to question me about the British
+constitution, and I never felt more posed. Irish
+mother-wit, however, came to the rescue, and I
+said, "To explain the British Constitution I should
+have to be a lawyer, but one of the great characteristics
+of it, so far as a layman like me can
+explain it, consists in what is called the Law of
+Habeas Corpus, by which no man can be imprisoned
+by any authority whatever without being immediately
+informed of the accusation against him, and
+brought up before the constituted authorities within
+twenty-four hours."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He said he had heard of that before, and thought
+it a grand law, but under certain circumstances he
+considered it might be advantageous for the king
+to have the power of arresting dangerous characters,
+upon which I told him that in certain emergencies
+the law of Habeas Corpus had been suspended, but
+that could only be done by Act of Parliament, and
+not by the sovereign's authority.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_234' name='Page_234' href='#Page_234'>234</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"In short," said he, "your Chambers are the
+real sovereign, the King being only the outward
+and visible sign of regal authority."
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_235' name='Page_235' href='#Page_235'>235</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p6">
+<img src="images/dragons.jpg" width="400" height="86" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+CHAPTER XVII.
+</h2>
+
+<p class="ch_summ">
+A WALK WITH THE PRINCE—SALUTATIONS OF THE CROWD—THE
+GUZLA—MONTENEGRIN DANCE—THE PRINCE'S ACCOUNT
+OF ITS ORIGIN—THE CAMP AT NIGHT—ADVENTURE WITH A
+MONTENEGRIN—DEVOTION OF THE PEOPLE TO THEIR PRINCE.
+</p>
+
+<div>
+<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropt.jpg" width="100" height="102" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p class="drop-cap">
+THE firing had now ceased, and the
+illumination was fading out by degrees,
+the band was still playing in
+front of the Palace, and the full
+moon was rising well up in the sky. The crowd
+had increased, as we could see from the window of
+the saloon, and the broad space in front of the
+Palace was literally paved with heads and up-turned
+faces. After looking a few minutes at that dense
+mass which was swaying to and fro and gradually
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_236' name='Page_236' href='#Page_236'>236</a></span>
+getting closer and closer, the Prince asked me
+what I thought of their behaviour. "Most wonderfully
+quiet, orderly, and well behaved; but I can't
+help looking upon them all as so many powder
+kegs. One cross word, an imaginary insult, a
+little too much drink, one of a thousand trifling
+incidents, might set a spark going, and it will
+be wonderful indeed if among these thousands of
+wild and lawless men some turmoil does not
+arise, and when their Oriental blood is once up, and
+arms are at hand and ready, blood will scarcely fail
+to flow."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Well," said the Prince, "I venture to say there
+won't be the smallest misadventure to-night, though
+I haven't a policeman near here, and there are
+probably twenty thousand armed men in and about
+Cettigne at this moment. Do you think there are
+many Sovereigns in Europe who could with safety
+walk about in such a crowd in one of their
+own capitals during a time of excitement such as
+this?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Not one, I should think," I replied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Then," said he, "put on your hat and come
+along with me."
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_237' name='Page_237' href='#Page_237'>237</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I followed him into the lobby, where throwing a
+scarf about his shoulders he bid me follow him,
+first having told his henchman that he would go
+out alone.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was now about eleven <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>, and in a few minutes
+we were out shouldering our way in the thickest
+of the crowd, making for the spot where the band
+was playing. It was not long before he was
+recognised, right and left, and now began one of
+the most interesting scenes I ever witnessed.
+Where there had been a crowd so dense that
+progression seemed almost an impossibility, an ample
+space was formed, and then one by one men of
+all grades approached the Prince, and, according to
+their rank and station, one and all saluted him in
+the following way—they took off their caps, and
+those of the lowest grades took up the edge of his
+coat and "literally kissed the hem of his garment;"
+then those of somewhat better position kissed
+the same garment higher up; to others of higher
+rank still, the Prince extended his hand, which they
+kissed most reverently, and pressed to their foreheads
+three times; and lastly the Chiefs and Voyvodes,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_238' name='Page_238' href='#Page_238'>238</a></span>
+almost on an equality with him, doffed their
+caps, while His Highness did the same, and both
+holding each other's right hand pressed the side
+of their cheek against each other. And so I
+accompanied him, walking through that living mass,
+stopping every moment either to receive some
+act of homage, or to caress some bold little curly-headed
+fellow who had squeezed and wriggled
+himself in to get near to his Prince, and to
+whom His Highness would speak a few words,
+asking his name and age, and where he went to
+school, and what he could do, to the untold pride
+and joy of the parents who were watching. And
+so we shortly made the tour of the town, coming
+out on the plain right in front of the monastery
+where many groups were busily engaged in the
+performance of the national dance.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The lights had now gone out, and the illumination
+had faded away, but the moon nearly at the
+full was high up in the heavens, and shining as it
+does not, alas! shine in these islands. The band was
+gone, and the only music to be heard was the native
+<i>guzla</i>, accompanied by the monotonous chaunt of
+the vocalists, interrupted occasionally by the wild
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_239' name='Page_239' href='#Page_239'>239</a></span>
+piercing shriek of some dancer. The Prince made
+for one of the groups where apparently the
+dancing was most energetic, whilst I followed
+close on his heels. Being at once recognised,
+ample way was made for him, and I soon found
+myself alongside of him in the innermost circle of
+the ring.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here I had full opportunity of observing the
+native Montenegrin dance, which, if not elegant,
+has certainly the merit of originality. How shall
+I describe it? In the area of that ring in which
+we found ourselves were five couple of dancers,
+who were being constantly renewed, men and
+women, as either became exhausted by their exertions.
+The dance itself did not seem to consist
+of any peculiar steps, but mainly in jumping with
+the arms extended horizontally, leaping as high
+as each one could opposite the other, and twirling
+round at the same time like dancing dervishes,
+whilst occasionally, as either man or woman had
+to give in from sheer exhaustion, they uttered a
+piercing shriek. Though somewhat savage and
+uncouth to behold, there still was a weird charm
+about that dance. The tall mountaineers looked
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_240' name='Page_240' href='#Page_240'>240</a></span>
+taller still from their long white surtouts in the
+bright moonlight, and as they sprang high into the air
+they appeared absolutely gigantic, while the glitter
+of the moon's rays on the metallic ornaments of
+their dress and their jewelled arms produced a
+strange and pleasing effect. From one group the
+Prince passed on to another, and so through all till
+about one in the morning, when he turned his steps
+towards the Palace,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Our dance is not an elegant one," said the
+Prince, "but it is characteristic; it is called the
+Dance of the Eagles, and its origin is thus accounted
+for. Many years ago the Montenegrins had no
+national dance, when some of the young men said,
+'How is it all our neighbours have national dances
+of their own and we have none? Let us imagine
+and invent a dance; and, as our mountains are the
+country of the eagles, let us make it like eagles
+rising from the rocks, and let us scream like the
+young eagles.' And so they stretched out their
+arms and sprang into the air as high as they could,
+dancing their Eagle Dance, which from thenceforth
+became the national dance of the country."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At the gates of the Palace I made my bow, and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_241' name='Page_241' href='#Page_241'>241</a></span>
+the Prince, putting out his hand, wished me good
+night, saying, "I must see you again before you
+leave."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In a few minutes I was in my room. I required
+no light, the moon was so brilliant. The night
+being warm, and not feeling at all sleepy from the
+excitement I had gone through, I lit a cigar, and
+leaning with my elbows on the window-sill, I looked
+out into the little plain where so shortly before I
+had been walking about. The turmoil had now
+greatly diminished, and in every direction I could
+see that preparations were being made to bivouac
+<i><span lang="fr_FR">à la belle étoile</span></i>. The horses that up to this time had
+been allowed to roam about here and there, cropping
+the scanty herbage, were now being collected and
+picketed one by one near the spot which had been
+selected by the owner for his own peculiar sleeping
+place; while the court-yard of the old Palace was
+also fully tenanted, and apparently by the same
+party I had watched in the early morning, and
+which, from the better style of their horses, the
+glitter of their equipments, and the appearance of
+their attendants, seemed to belong to some of
+the native chiefs.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_242' name='Page_242' href='#Page_242'>242</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+By degrees the different noises ceased, and in
+less than an hour the whole camp was steeped in
+silence. Such a contrast to the noise and turmoil
+of an hour before, when twenty thousand people,
+men, women and children, were shouting, dancing,
+and yelling at the top of their voices!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I put on my helmet, and with a short stick in
+my hand, simply to keep away any snarling dog
+that might be inclined to give trouble, I quickly
+crossed the court-yard and let myself out by the
+gate into the plain. The moon had barely passed
+the zenith, and shone almost perpendicularly on
+the prostrate groups, who, in different attitudes of
+sleep, were dotted all about; some wrapped up
+in their strookas, more from habit than necessity,
+as the air was warm; some turned on their faces,
+some on their back with their arms outstretched;
+but all profoundly asleep; and such was the
+silence that, but for the absence of blood and
+mutilated limbs and broken weapons, one could
+easily have imagined it the field of some hard-fought
+fight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was surveying the placid scene and standing
+close to a magnificent mountaineer who was sleeping
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_243' name='Page_243' href='#Page_243'>243</a></span>
+on his back, with his face fully upturned to the
+moon and his arms extended, when suddenly he
+awoke. In the twinkling of an eye he was on his
+feet and his hand on his yataghan. I don't
+imagine my life was the least in danger, even for
+a moment—but if it was, my helmet and my cigar
+saved me. However, I instantly saluted him in
+Slave, and with a "<i>Sbogo Gospodin</i>" he returned
+the compliment, at the same time putting out his
+hand he shook mine warmly, and pointing with
+the other to the ancient Palace, led me away
+towards it, talking softly the while and smiling;
+but unfortunately I could not understand, and the
+only response I could make was by offering him
+a cigar, which he at once lit at mine and pronouncing
+it "<i>dobre</i>" (good) puffed away at it
+with a will. At the great gate of the Palace he
+wished me good-night, when I begged of him by
+signs to take another weed, and so we parted.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The next morning being the day of the feast,
+I was awoke pretty early by the repeated firing
+of cannon just outside the gate of the Palace and
+in front of my window. I should have been
+glad to have slept a few hours longer, but the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_244' name='Page_244' href='#Page_244'>244</a></span>
+noise was too great, and my so-called Italian-speaking
+servant coming in at the same moment,
+I jumped out of bed and called out,
+"<i><span lang="it_IT">Colazione</span>!</i>"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had not more than half finished, and was
+in the act of peeling some grand specimens of
+Albanian figs, when in walked Pero Pejovich,
+who came to tell me that the Prince and Princess,
+with all the notables and Voyvodes of Montenegro,
+would attend High Mass at ten, and that the
+<i><span lang="fr_FR">cortège</span></i> would pass under my windows and would
+be worth seeing. He added that if I liked he
+would take me into church and get me standing-room
+inside before they arrived; but he feared
+the crowd and the heat would be something fearful.
+Consequently, finding it quite hot enough
+already, I determined to remain where I was
+and enjoy the procession from my window.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I then told the Commandant of my adventure
+the night before. He scolded me awfully, but
+patted me on the back, as one would a child,
+and said I might have run some risk had I
+not been fortunately recognised as a guest of the
+Prince.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_245' name='Page_245' href='#Page_245'>245</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Only imagine," said he, "if anything had gone
+wrong, the honour of Montenegro might have been
+compromised."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We then lit our cigars, and while waiting for
+mass-time, fell, as usual, into conversation about his
+country and its usages.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"What do you think of our Prince, and the
+way he goes among the people? I saw you last
+night with him. Did you ever see such love,
+such devotion, as we all have for him? But he
+deserves it fully. There never was such a ruler
+as our Prince; we would all lay down our lives
+for him, and be proud of the honour. If he were
+to call us to arms, we could muster in twelve hours,
+here in this plain of Cettigne, twenty thousand
+able men, fully armed and equipped, ready to march
+on any point, and that without endangering Montenegro;
+for we should leave twenty thousand more
+behind us, not so well adapted for advancing in
+an enemy's country, but fully competent to guard
+our mountain passes and protect our strongholds."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I said I hoped such a contingency might never
+arise; but he shook his head. The Turks, he said,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_246' name='Page_246' href='#Page_246'>246</a></span>
+hated them too much not to seek, sooner or
+later, for a pretext to attack them, and then he
+added,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"But the sooner the better; we never were so
+well prepared to meet them. The Turks pretend
+that Montenegro is an integral portion of the
+Ottoman Empire; we insist that we have always
+been free, and though often hard pressed by Ottoman
+forces, have never yet been conquered. What
+chance then is there of our coming to an understanding?
+My great grief, however, is to hear
+that England is against us and in favour of our
+enemies, and if it were not for the friendship which
+Russia has ever shown us, we might be exterminated
+by the infidels before you would lift a finger to
+prevent our utter annihilation. We cannot understand
+it, for we read of how England exerts herself
+always in favour of oppressed nationalities, and
+how she has even spent hundreds of millions of
+piastres to put down the slave trade; and yet she
+favours the Turks, who are the greatest supporters
+of slavery, against us, though our
+religions are almost identical, I am told.
+I wish more English would come to Montenegro.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_247' name='Page_247' href='#Page_247'>247</a></span>
+I think they would end by appreciating
+us."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These words of the Commandant made a deep
+impression on me.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p4">
+<img src="images/primrose.jpg" width="125" height="139" alt="Decoration" />
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_248' name='Page_248' href='#Page_248'>248</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter p6">
+<img src="images/flowers.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+</h2>
+
+<p class="ch_summ">
+FALSE IMPRESSIONS OF MONTENEGRO—AGRICULTURE ON A
+MINOR SCALE—FIELD-LABOURERS—MONTENEGRIN FACCHINI
+AT CONSTANTINOPLE—FEMALE LABOUR—PRODUCTION OF
+SUMACH—COMMERCIAL RELATIONS WITH OTHER COUNTRIES
+IMPEDED—IMPOSING PAGEANT.
+</p>
+
+<div>
+<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropt.jpg" width="100" height="102" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p class="drop-cap">
+TRULY very little is known about
+Montenegro and its mountaineers,
+and that little is very incorrect.
+They have been generally represented
+as wild, savage, bloodthirsty, thieving scoundrels,
+closely allied to Italian brigands and Greek palikari—if
+anything, worse than either. Fond of
+fighting for fighting's sake, and when not engaged
+in that amiable recreation, spending their time in
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_249' name='Page_249' href='#Page_249'>249</a></span>
+strutting about in their fine clothes, peacocking
+in the sunshine, while those too poor to have
+fine trappings whiled away the weary hours and
+forgot their fleas and their sorrows in the tones
+of their national <i>guzla</i>, while the women were left
+to do all the labour in the fields.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Such was certainly not my impression. The
+part of Montenegro through which I travelled,
+though sterile and barren to a degree, was a wonderful
+specimen of what man could do when driven
+to it. Every little nook, where the least bit of
+soil could be found, among that wilderness of rocks
+where stones had rained from Heaven, was carefully
+taken advantage of; the rocks adjoining these
+little nooks were often removed by the most
+laborious exertions, and in some instances earth
+was scraped up here and there, and carried in small
+baskets to these spots, in order to increase their
+depth of soil. I saw clearings of so small a
+size as barely to admit of <i>one potatoe plant</i> or
+three of maize, and little fields not <i>one yard</i> in
+diameter!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Hard at work, cultivating the soil, I saw not
+only women but plenty of sturdy mountaineers.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_250' name='Page_250' href='#Page_250'>250</a></span>
+At Niegosh I observed one of the Petrovichs, the
+handsome young fellow who entertained me on my
+way to Cettigne, superintending himself a number
+of men who were working in a field near his house;
+and the only difference I could observe between
+them and our own labourers was that they were
+all fully armed, although employed at the peaceful
+occupation of agriculture. They have not yet
+turned their yataghans into spades and reaping
+hooks, but they have done the next best thing by
+keeping the first at ease while energetically plying
+the others.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have seen the Montenegrins in their own
+valleys and mountain fastnesses, and I utterly deny
+the charges brought against them. They are not
+lazy—leaving all the hard work to their women—that
+is utterly false, and the best proof I perhaps
+can give, lies in the self-asserting fact of the
+toiling colony of three thousand Montenegrin
+Facchini at Constantinople, well known as about
+the most hard-working and honest labouring men
+in that capital. It is true that they allow the
+women to do much of the heavy agricultural work,
+and carry heavy loads up and down the mountains;
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_251' name='Page_251' href='#Page_251'>251</a></span>
+but it must be remembered that for years past
+the Montenegrins, like the proscribed clans of
+Scotland in the last century, have been treated by
+their neighbours, the Turks, very little better than
+wild beasts. They would long ago have been
+exterminated, but for their indomitable courage and
+constant fighting, during which period, of necessity,
+the agricultural duties fell entirely on the decrepit
+old men and the women, as all men who were at
+all able to carry arms were engaged in fighting—and
+many of the women too! It must also be
+remembered that in all mountainous countries
+the women toil more heavily than in the plains,
+and even in civilized Italy hear what a distinguished
+Italian, Massimo d'Azeglio, writes:
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"For example, if a faggot of wood and a bunch
+of chickens have to be carried down to the shore
+from one of the villages half way up the mountain,
+the labour is thus distributed in the family. The
+wife loads herself with the faggot of wood which
+weighs half a hundredweight, and the husband will
+take the chickens which weigh a mere nothing."
+The Montenegrins are not, therefore, singularly
+and atrociously barbarous in this respect.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_252' name='Page_252' href='#Page_252'>252</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Considering the small extent of the Principality
+and its great sterility, it is wonderful the amount
+of produce they are able to export, even with the disabilities
+under which they labour, being entirely deprived
+of any seaboard, though clearly entitled to one.
+One of the most important of their natural products,
+one which under favourable circumstances might
+be increased a thousandfold is "sumach," a substance
+largely used in tanning the more expensive
+kinds of leather. A small amount is exported to
+Holland, none comes to England, but a small
+parcel I brought over with me was declared by
+competent judges to be equal to the best
+Sicilian, which is considered the best of all
+sumachs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They have vast forests of walnut trees which,
+under proper management and due facilities of
+exportation, might be rendered most productive,
+both as to walnut oil and timber for
+cabinet work. They export immense quantities
+of a small dried fish "<i><span lang="it_IT">scoranza</span></i>," much used
+in the neighbouring Catholic and Greek countries
+during their religious feasts; and without
+further wearying my readers, I will simply
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_253' name='Page_253' href='#Page_253'>253</a></span>
+add that but for the difficulties they labour
+under, they could export every one of the following
+articles in very considerable quantities:—
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Castradina (dried mutton and goat hams), honey,
+wax, goat and kid skins to any amount, as
+also martin, fox, and hare skins, together
+with many other substances I have forgotten.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Prince is doing all he can to spread
+instruction among his people. He has established
+numberless schools, and as all over the Principality
+education is compulsory, in another generation
+the man or woman unable to read
+and write will be a phenomenon indeed in Montenegro.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The renewed booming of the cannon and the
+ringing of the convent bells now gave us warning
+that the Prince was going to hear Mass, and in
+a few seconds I saw the whole <i>cortège</i> pass on foot
+under my window. First a squad of guards, then
+His Highness the Prince leading the beautiful
+Princess, immediately accompanied by the Russian
+Consul in full uniform, and then a number of
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_254' name='Page_254' href='#Page_254'>254</a></span>
+Voyvodes in gorgeous costumes, while another
+squad of body-guards brought up the rear. They
+walked quickly past, and in a few minutes were
+lost completely to sight under the buttresses of the
+old Palace. The pageant was of short duration,
+but it was well worth seeing, even in that land of
+sunshine and gorgeous costumes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mass over, everyone turned in for his
+dinner and siesta. The Commandant of the
+Grahovo went to his own abode, and I followed the
+general example.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the afternoon some wonderful foot races were
+to be held, but not till near sunset, when the great
+heat of the day would be somewhat abated. I
+determined therefore to fill up the space between
+the end of my siesta and the visit to the races,
+with a call on Monsignor Roganovich, the
+Metropolitan of Montenegro. I had brought
+letters of recommendation to the Archimandrite of
+Cettigne, and in his company I went to the
+monastery to pay my respects. We entered by the
+great gate, after crossing the threshing floor, and
+having crossed the court we ascended by a
+very rough stone staircase, which landed us in a
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_255' name='Page_255' href='#Page_255'>255</a></span>
+sort of primitive cloister looking on a garden, on
+which opened the suite of rooms occupied by the
+Metropolitan.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were at once shown in, and had not to
+wait many seconds before Monsignor Roganovich
+made his appearance. His reception was most
+cordial. He took me by the hand and made me
+sit on the divan by his side, expressing his regret
+that he could not converse with me except through
+an interpreter, owing to his not speaking any
+other language than Illyrian and Russian. We got
+on, however, remarkably well, thanks to the
+rapidity with which the Archimandrite almost
+guessed what I was going to say in Italian,
+translating it into Illyrian with equal rapidity.
+Coffee, as usual, was served up, unaccompanied
+however by the customary pipes, as the orthodox
+clergy are forbidden to smoke.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And now as I am sipping my coffee, let me
+endeavour to describe what I saw as my eyes
+wandered about. The room itself was small and
+low, simply white-washed, with no other furniture
+than one small table in front of the divan, and
+four rush chairs of the homeliest description.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_256' name='Page_256' href='#Page_256'>256</a></span>
+Around the walls were a few coloured prints of
+saints, and the floor was utterly uncarpeted. All
+this simplicity, however, served to bring out in
+greater contrast and relief the portly figure of
+Monsignor Roganovich, as he sat on the divan
+in his ample cassock and gown of violet-purple
+silk. He was not a handsome man, strictly
+speaking, his was more a jolly countenance than
+a handsome one, still it was a face one liked to
+look at, with his grand black beard flowing
+down to his waist. He wore his hair in ample
+curls down his back as if it had never known
+the shears, and on his head the little Montenegrin
+cap of black silk. On his breast glittered the
+star of the Montenegrin order, and round his
+neck a massive gold chain, from which depended
+a Panagia or image of the Virgin and Child, nearly
+as large as a saucer, surrounded with large
+diamonds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+His manners were courtly and his smile most
+pleasing, and he gave me the idea of one who
+would make an excellent companion for a little
+dinner party of four, and who would be more in
+his element on the Boulevard des Italiens at Paris,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_257' name='Page_257' href='#Page_257'>257</a></span>
+than in his monastic seclusion at Cettigne. We
+conversed for half an hour or so when I rose
+to take my leave, and he gave me the
+Apostolic Benediction, and embraced me on both
+cheeks. As we walked back to the Palace, the
+Archimandrite told me he took great interest
+in the schools, which he visited daily, examining
+and cross-examining the students, to
+see that they made good use of their
+time.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p4">
+<img src="images/droop.jpg" width="300" height="109" alt="Decoration" />
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_258' name='Page_258' href='#Page_258'>258</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter p6">
+<img src="images/cornucopia.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+CHAPTER XIX.
+</h2>
+
+<p class="ch_summ">
+FOOT RACES—MONASTERY OF OSTROG—OTTOMAN ADMINISTRATION—A
+COURSE À LA MONTAGNE—RACING WITHOUT BETTING—BEN
+TROVATO—A FLAT RACE—CONVERSATION ABOUT
+ENGLISH LAWS AND CUSTOMS—LAW OF HABEAS CORPUS.
+</p>
+
+<div>
+<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropi.jpg" width="100" height="112" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p class="drop-cap">
+IN the afternoon I went out into the
+plain to see the foot races, which
+the Prince had told me would be very
+amusing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On my way to the plain, where the races were
+to take place, I rambled again through the fair, and
+a second time got into conversation with the fellow
+that spoke English so well. We chatted together
+on many subjects, all more or less connected with
+the country; he praised the Montenegrins to no
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_259' name='Page_259' href='#Page_259'>259</a></span>
+end, and told me he would trust them to any
+amount, they were so thoroughly honest and
+scrupulous in their dealings. He wanted me
+to go with him, in a couple of days after
+the fair was over, to the monastery of
+Ostrog, but my time was not my own, and I
+could not give myself that additional pleasure.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was a great disappointment, however, as Ostrog
+is a wonderful place, cut out of the rock, not
+perched on one as some of the monasteries of
+Mount Athos are, but partly excavated at a great
+height out of the face of the rock, and partly
+built on a ledge which the upper part of the
+rock overhangs. It is approached by a narrow
+path cut into steps, where no more than two
+could walk abreast, and therefore easily defended by
+a handful of men against any number of assailants.
+There is an ample supply of water in it at all
+times, and it is always stored with a good supply of
+rations, and an immense quantity of ammunition.
+Except by starving out the garrison, it never could
+be taken.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My companion wanted me then to go with him
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_260' name='Page_260' href='#Page_260'>260</a></span>
+into the interior of Northern Albania, where he was
+well known, and where under his protection and
+guidance I should have been perfectly safe; while
+his knowledge of the languages, both Oriental and
+English, would have enabled me to make many
+interesting inquiries. When I asked him about
+the administration of those countries by the
+Ottoman Government, and the opening up of the
+country by the projected railway from Adrianople
+to Novi-Bazar which has already been surveyed,
+he shrugged his shoulders, and then, with a toss of
+his head, said:—
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Railways are all very good, but they are
+almost useless here. What we want is a good
+Government, and that we never shall have as long
+as this Christian country is ruled by the Turks.
+You talk of the progress of civilization among
+them; but you simply know nothing about them.
+I can speak, for I have lived with them and among
+them from childhood; and as to their civilization,
+it is simply a farce. Even at Stamboul, among the
+better educated, among those who have been to
+Paris and London, their civilization is nothing
+more than the gilding of Brummagem jewelry—the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_261' name='Page_261' href='#Page_261'>261</a></span>
+slightest rubbing will cause the copper to
+blush out from beneath. Civilization indeed!
+See what a powerful navy they possess; but let
+Hobart Pasha go home and take with him all
+his European officers, men and engineers, leaving
+nothing behind but pure full-blooded Turks to
+man it, and the entire Ottoman navy would not
+be a match for the smallest British ironclad. In
+making this disparaging statement as to the so-called
+civilization of Turkey, I have selected the
+navy as an example because in old times the Turks
+were able to hold their own at sea, and showed
+a great aptitude in naval matters; but naval science
+has progressed and they have remained stationary.
+But so it is—their civilization is a dream; their
+finances a colossal sham; and their final exodus
+from Europe, I trust, is in the very nearest
+distance. In fact, if all the Christians in Ottoman
+employ—English, French, Armenian or Greek—were
+to abandon their several posts, Turkey
+would simply collapse in six months."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I don't say that these are my opinions, but
+simply the clearly expressed convictions of a
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_262' name='Page_262' href='#Page_262'>262</a></span>
+sharp trader who had long been intimate with
+European Turkey.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It wanted not much more than an hour of
+sunset; the western crags threw long purple
+shadows along the plain of Cettigne, while the
+rocks which bound it on the east were steeped in
+the richest tints of gold, and russet, and purple.
+Up, near to the old Palace of the Vladikas, was
+a splendid group of native magnates with the
+Prince in the midst, while ranged in a row before
+them were about a hundred and fifty of the most
+athletic men in Montenegro—competitors all in a
+coming foot race for a splendid pair of silver-mounted
+pistols, offered by His Highness to him
+who should first lay his hands on them. The
+pistols were placed on a conspicuous rock a
+considerable way up the cliffs on the south-west
+side of the plain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The competitors may have been placed at a
+distance of three hundred yards from the base of
+those cliffs; it was, therefore, partly a flat race
+and partly a "<i><span lang="fr_FR">course à la montagne</span></i>:" as the
+Prince said, "<i><span lang="fr_FR">En Angleterre vous avez les courses
+au clocher</span></i>, (steeple-chases) <i><span lang="fr_FR">ici nous avons les courses à la montagne</span></i>."
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_263' name='Page_263' href='#Page_263'>263</a></span>
+The men had divested themselves
+of their white coats, and their belts and
+armour. For an instant there was profound silence,
+and then, at a given signal, off they went at a
+good pace, keeping wonderfully together for the
+first two hundred yards or so; then the line began
+to get wavy, and with every stride more and
+more fell behind, till, when they arrived at the
+foot of the crags, there were not, perhaps, more
+than fifty that sprang up simultaneously to the
+cliffs. Then, indeed, began the real race, and
+the mountaineers took to it in right earnest,
+scaling the precipice like leopards. It was quite
+exciting to watch the rapidity with which they
+swung themselves from point to point, taking
+advantage of every cleft, every rootlet, that
+offered the least hold to either hand or foot.
+At last, three arrived almost simultaneously at
+the goal; but one, slightly in advance, made a
+vigorous spring—touched the pistols first—barely
+winning by a hand!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was, without exception, the prettiest thing
+by way of a race I ever saw. The whole scene
+was before you like a panorama; the costumes
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_264' name='Page_264' href='#Page_264'>264</a></span>
+of the runners and the spectators; the gorgeous
+tints of the setting sun; the enthusiasm of all,
+together with the shouts of the multitude, rendered
+it a scene never to be forgotten; and as I watched
+them clambering up the cliffs in front of me,
+guessing at the chances of the race, and mentally
+gambling with myself on who would be the winner,
+I could not help feeling a certain degree of surprise
+that no betting was going on in any part of that
+vast assemblage. The chances were so many, the
+combinations so varied, and the probabilities so
+constantly changing, that a fairer game to try the
+luck of Dame Fortune could not have been
+devised, and all the more, too, as all were honestly
+in earnest in striving for the prize. There were
+no dark horses, no sickened favourites, no hard-pulling
+jockeys to bewilder the backers; all was
+before you, fair and serene, and the excitement
+was tremendous when some one fine mountaineer,
+well in advance of the rest, maybe by five or
+six yards, would suddenly lose his foothold through
+the giving way of some small projection of rock
+to which, he was clinging, and after remaining
+suspended a short time by his hands above his
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_265' name='Page_265' href='#Page_265'>265</a></span>
+head, he would eventually have to let go his hold
+and drop down some few feet, losing all chance
+in the race; while those who had been nearest to
+him would redouble their efforts, and thus at
+times the one who at first starting had seemed
+the least likely to win would actually come to
+be in the first flight of the race; but he, in
+his turn, by some unlucky chance would slip,
+and another would as instantly get on before
+him. These constant changes of chances made
+the race a most exciting one; still not a bet among
+the multitude of lookers-on!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One of the Prince's aide-de-camps having heard
+me express surprise at the absence of all betting,
+said, "Betting is quite a characteristic of you others
+(<i><span lang="fr_FR">vous autres</span></i>) in England. I am told you would
+bet on anything. I have heard a story of a poor
+girl who once threw herself off a bridge in
+London. The police-boat, fortunately, was near,
+and pulled away to her rescue, when two lords
+happening to pass by, stopped on the bridge for a
+bet as to whether the girl would be saved or
+not, and lost and won an immense sum on the
+event."
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_266' name='Page_266' href='#Page_266'>266</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I laughed, and replied,
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"<i><span lang="it_IT">Se non è vero è ben trovato</span>.</i>"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After this we had a flat race for about a mile
+across the plains. So far as running went, it
+was a <i>flat</i> race indeed, and I have often seen better
+at an Irish country fair; but it was well worth
+seeing from the rich colouring of the costumes
+of those taking part in it, as they ran with their
+clothes on; and as every one was eligible to compete,
+and not Montenegrins alone, the effect was
+most singular and picturesque. The prize was
+in this case also a pair of silver-mounted Turkish
+pistols, given by the Prince, and I was
+glad to hear that the winner was a Montenegrin.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the evening I had the honour of dining at
+the Palace, when the Prince again asked me
+many questions concerning England, its habits
+and customs, of which, although he had read
+much in French books, he knew absolutely nothing.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We again spoke about the law of primogeniture,
+about which he could not exactly make up
+his mind, and could not understand how it did
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_267' name='Page_267' href='#Page_267'>267</a></span>
+not produce disastrous occurrences in families.
+He understood, however, quite well what I explained
+to him concerning the Law of Habeas
+Corpus, and again declared it to be a grand institution,
+<i>so far as the people were concerned</i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I left at a late hour, after spending a most
+delightful evening, and as I went back to my
+rooms to pack my small valise for my early start
+next morning, I felt an undefinable regret at
+leaving Tchernagora and its interesting mountaineers.
+I had enjoyed among them a courteous
+hospitality and a patriarchal welcome, the prominent
+characteristics of which will, I fear, before
+very long disappear under the pressure and <i><span lang="la">vis
+a tergo</span></i> of our so-called European civilization. I
+should like, above all things, to visit them again;
+but should it never be my lot to enjoy that
+pleasure, I cannot take leave of Montenegro
+without expressing my deep sense of the cordial
+reception I met with there on every side.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_268' name='Page_268' href='#Page_268'>268</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p6">
+<img src="images/putti.jpg" width="400" height="94" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+CHAPTER XX.
+</h2>
+
+<p class="ch_summ">
+DEPARTURE FROM CETTIGNE—RUGGED ROAD—DELIGHTFUL
+VIEW—USEFUL OLD HELMET—NIEGOSH—EXCESSIVE HEAT—THE
+SCALA DI CATTARO—THE BOCCHESI—THE RUSSIAN
+CONSUL—SUNSET AT CATTARO—UNEXPECTED APPEARANCE
+OF PERO PEJOVICH.
+</p>
+
+<div>
+<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropa.jpg" width="100" height="108" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p class="drop-cap">
+AS the clock struck three in the morning
+of the 15th of July, 1873, the
+guide walked into my room to say
+it was time to start; at the same
+moment my servant brought me in a cup of
+<i><span lang="fr_FR">café-au-lait</span></i> with some hot toast. My toilette was
+soon made, and my breakfast swallowed, and I
+moved away from Cettigne as the clock chimed the
+half-hour after three.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_269' name='Page_269' href='#Page_269'>269</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was still night, but not dark, as the moon
+had not yet set, and a band of rose-coloured light
+streaked the Eastern horizon. We started at a
+rapid trot, startling the echoes up the solitary and
+deserted street of Cettigne, and we never slackened
+our pace till we came to the verge of the little
+plain in which it is situated, when the path up the
+ravine which led westward to the Adriatic became
+so rugged that we were compelled to walk our
+horses, and in less than half-an-hour more had
+to dismount and proceed on foot.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In a short time we reached the crest of the
+range which encircles the Plains of Cettigne, and
+the track becoming less precipitous, we remounted;
+but before leaving the spot I turned my horse
+round to have a last look at that mountain capital
+where I had been so hospitably entertained, and
+where, most probably, I might never have the
+pleasure of being again.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was now standing on the highest point of
+the pass, and I enjoyed a most delightful view.
+The sun was just in the act of rising. My back
+was to the Adriatic, while my face was turned
+to the East. At my feet lay the Plain of Cettigne,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_270' name='Page_270' href='#Page_270'>270</a></span>
+girt round on all sides with precipitous rocks and
+mountains. Beyond the plain, far in the hazy
+horizon—not foggy—but rendered slightly indistinct
+by a faint cobalt haze, I could see the Lake
+of Skodra glittering in the morning sun with
+the thin silver streak of the Zeta river losing itself
+in it, while in the still further distance I could
+perceive the faintest outline of the Albanian mountains.
+Right and left, as far as the eye could reach,
+nothing but rocky peaks and precipices met the
+view—nothing but rocks with here and there a few
+scanty bushes, on which were browsing large herds
+of goats tended by wild-looking men, carrying
+round their waist, as usual, the inevitable arsenal
+of weapons, and the long Albanian gun over their
+shoulders.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I would have lingered over this scene, and I
+was already thinking of getting down and sketching
+it, when the guide remonstrated against any such
+proceeding on my part. "It was very near the dog
+days," he said, "and to be caught by the noon-day
+sun on those bare rocks, was a thing to be avoided;"
+so I was compelled to move on, after giving
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_271' name='Page_271' href='#Page_271'>271</a></span>
+another long look at the picture to which I was
+about to turn my back.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The guide was right; the track was abominable,
+and we could only proceed at a slow pace. At the
+same time, the sun was gaining strength with
+every inch it rose above the horizon, and by
+the time we reached the <i>clachan</i> of Niegosh, its
+rays come down upon us like molten lead; but
+my old helmet was proof against them, and an
+excellent protection, while the faint breeze which
+came up from the Adriatic prevented all feeling of
+oppression.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At Niegosh, where a week before I had
+been so kindly entertained by young Pejovich,
+we rested five minutes. I did not even dismount,
+but the guide went into the very primitive khan
+to light his pipe; but, by the way he smacked his
+lips on coming out, I suspect a glass of wodky
+was not forgotten, while the fire for his pipe
+was being handed to him.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After a little, the path again became impracticable
+for riding, so I had to dismount and
+walk, though the heat was something marvellous
+(I afterwards heard from Signor Jackschich that
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_272' name='Page_272' href='#Page_272'>272</a></span>
+in Cattaro, in the shade, the thermometer
+stood at 33° Reaumur at four o'clock in the
+afternoon—about 105° Fahrenheit.) After some
+difficult scrambling, when I sorely felt the want
+of the stout arm of Pero Pejovich, we reached
+the fountain, and here we rested ten minutes;
+then having remounted, we soon arrived at the
+top of the <i>scala</i>, with the Adriatic before us and
+Cattaro hundreds of feet down below.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It seemed now as if I should be at the end of
+my journey in a few minutes; the road was all
+before me, and I could count the zig-zags as they
+unfolded themselves on the face of the rock,
+still they seemed as if they would never come to
+an end. I counted one, two, three, twenty, thirty,
+fifty, up to one hundred bends, and still more
+appeared beneath me, so at last I gave it up
+through sheer exhaustion.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Everything, however, has an end eventually,
+and so the apparently interminable Scala di
+Cattaro came to an end also. How I got on
+during the last few turns and twists I forget—I
+was in a sort of doze; all I remember is
+finding myself suddenly among those heavenly
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_273' name='Page_273' href='#Page_273'>273</a></span>
+mulberry trees of the Esplanade, and hearing
+the friendly sound of Signor Jackschich's
+welcome.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Cattaro is innocent of either inn, hotel,
+khan, or caravansary, but good accommodation
+had been prepared for me inside the
+town. I therefore rode on to the gate where I
+had to dismount, as no horse is allowed to enter,
+just as no carriage <i>can enter</i> the narrow gateway.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Bocchesi (as the natives call themselves)
+have one cause of heart-burning and envy,
+less than we in our country; there are
+no carriage-people in Cattaro to look down
+upon <i>you</i> who have to trudge on foot,
+and the nearest approach to anything of the
+sort is an antique sedan-chair mounted on wheels
+exactly like the celebrated old <i>push</i> at Hampton
+Court, which was occasionally brought into requisition
+on gala days, when such happened to be
+wet ones also.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having reached my rooms I quickly made
+my toilet, and then returned to the mulberries,
+under whose welcome shade I made an excellent
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_274' name='Page_274' href='#Page_274'>274</a></span>
+breakfast and lunch in one, while many of the
+natives were taking their dinner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+My further steps became now somewhat uncertain.
+I thought I should have found the
+steamer here to take me down the Adriatic,
+but I had miscalculated; it was not due till the
+following day. So I determined on resting in
+Cattaro till evening, and then riding across the
+isthmus (about eighteen miles only) to Budua,
+where Baron von Heydeg was quartered, and
+picking up the steamer when it would call there
+in a couple of days. I at once telegraphed to
+Heydeg that I was going, in order that the officer
+on guard might open the gates for me on
+arrival, as no one is let in or out of Budua
+after sunset, without an order from the Commandant.
+Then I went to my room, and
+being fairly tired, I threw myself on the bed and
+slept.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was about half-past three when I was awoke
+by some one knocking at my door, and to my
+surprise, in walked Mr. Yonin, the Russian Consul.
+I had forgotten to mention that we had agreed
+to travel from Cettigne together, and were to
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_275' name='Page_275' href='#Page_275'>275</a></span>
+have met in the street opposite the Palace at
+three <span class="smcap">a.m.</span>; but the servants had forgotten to call
+him, and when after waiting half an hour he did
+not come, and the guards on duty would not allow
+my guide to knock at the Palace gate, I started
+without him, thinking he had changed his mind.
+He had breakfasted late and then ridden to Cattaro
+in the middle of the day in order to catch the
+steamer for Ragusa that was to leave the same
+evening. I told him how long I had waited, and
+how I had tried in vain to get the sentinels to allow
+us to knock. He could only lament his misfortune,
+as, mopping his face, he added, "I
+assure you the heat on those bare rocks was something
+to be remembered all one's life." We then
+arranged to dine together at five o'clock before
+parting.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Punctual to the hour appointed, we met on
+the <i>marina</i>. The heat of the day had considerably
+diminished, for although the sun was still
+high in the horizon, it had long ago set for
+the good folks at Cattaro, as the city being
+built at the foot of the mountains looking to
+the West, and having a range of high cliffs in
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_276' name='Page_276' href='#Page_276'>276</a></span>
+front of it, behind which the sun sinks long before
+it dips into the Adriatic, sunset at Cattaro occurs
+hours earlier than at any other place on the
+Adriatic. In Summer this is a great advantage, as
+it enables the inhabitants to walk out in the
+shade on the <i>marina</i> at a much earlier hour, the
+opposite cliffs protecting them from the hot rays
+of the sun, and at the same time affording them a
+sort of twilight, elsewhere unknown in those
+latitudes; but in Winter it must be very gloomy,
+as the rising sun being shut out by the rocks
+and mountains of Montenegro till near eleven
+o'clock in the morning, and again disappearing so
+early in the afternoon, reduces the actual day
+to as short a space as in the latitude of St.
+Petersburg.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Availing themselves of the comparative coolness
+of the hour, the <i>beau monde</i> of that primitive
+little place, among which the Bishop and the
+Commandant of the garrison were conspicuous,
+had turned out for their evening promenade, and
+the esplanade presented quite a gay appearance. I
+ordered the horses for seven o'clock, and then we
+went to look for our dinner at the café; but here
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_277' name='Page_277' href='#Page_277'>277</a></span>
+something of a difficulty arose. The Bocchesi
+dine at twelve noon, or at one at latest, and sup
+at nine, no one ever thinking of a meal at five!
+so that nothing was ready. The cook, however,
+was equal to the emergency, and in fifteen minutes
+served us up a most excellent and varied dinner,
+to which we were about to sit down and do
+ample justice, when who should turn up but
+Pero Pejovich!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+He was returning to his post in the Grahovo,
+and found it easier to get to it by coming round
+to Cattaro first, then going by sea to Risano and
+thence, as it were, coming back on his own
+steps, thus going a round of something like four
+times the direct distance. This will convey some
+idea of the difficulties to be encountered in endeavouring
+to cross some of the rocky regions of
+Montenegro.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was delighted at seeing him again; we all
+dined together, and enjoyed ourselves immensely
+notwithstanding the heat. After dinner, Pero
+Pejovich pulled out from among the ample folds
+of his sash some Trebigne tobacco, which had
+never seen the countenance of a Custom House
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_278' name='Page_278' href='#Page_278'>278</a></span>
+officer, and we set to work to make cigarettes,
+when we were joined by Signor Jackschich and
+Signor Radanovich, the Prince's Agent at Cattaro.
+Coffee and maraschino were brought out, fresh
+relays of cigarettes were manufactured, and we
+could have enjoyed ourselves for hours more,
+but the inexorable bell of the steamer rang out
+a summons that bade Mr. Yonin prepare for
+departure, while the increasing darkness served
+to remind myself that I had yet a journey
+before me ere I should be able to lie down to
+rest.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We stood up reluctantly, and in a body accompanied
+the Russian Consul to the steamer, and
+there bade him adieu, probably for ever; though
+who can tell? I have had at times the most
+unexpected <i><span lang="fr_FR">rencontres</span></i> in the most unlikely places.
+I first met him at Ragusa, where also I made
+my first acquaintance with Mr. Paton, now unfortunately
+no more; both very able and highly
+educated men, yet they seemed not to appreciate
+each other as they might have done, perhaps
+from the diametrical opposition of their political
+views.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_279' name='Page_279' href='#Page_279'>279</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Poor Paton is lost to us for ever, and we shall
+never have a better member of our Consular service;
+a shrewd, sagacious man, and a first-rate
+Oriental scholar.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As to Mr. Yonin, I trust I may yet meet him,
+and renew some of the pleasant hours I spent with
+him.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p4">
+<img src="images/grapes.jpg" width="100" height="121" alt="Decoration" />
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_280' name='Page_280' href='#Page_280'>280</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter p6">
+<img src="images/fish.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+CHAPTER XXI.
+</h2>
+
+<p class="ch_summ">
+BEAUTIFUL ROAD—ATTACK OF FEVER—ARRIVAL AT BUDUA—BARON
+HEYDEG AND SIGNOR MARCO MEDIN—A RESTAURANT—OUR
+HOST—DOCTOR, DENTIST AND APOTHECARY—WALK
+ROUND THE FORTIFICATIONS—EXPLORATION OF BUDUA—THE
+PARTING GLASS.
+</p>
+
+<div>
+<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropt.jpg" width="100" height="102" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p class="drop-cap">
+THE twilight of Cattaro was fast
+merging into darkness when I returned
+with my companions to the
+esplanade, where my horses were
+ready to take me on to Budua. Our adieux were
+short but cordial, and in a few minutes I was
+cantering away in company with Signor Jackschich,
+who lives in a villa a couple of miles away from
+Cattaro.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_281' name='Page_281' href='#Page_281'>281</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If the tracks and paths of Montenegro are
+rugged and wild, the beautiful road we were now
+travelling on made ample amends for the discomfort
+I had endured in riding during the last
+few days. As we passed Signor Jackschich's villa,
+I insisted on his remaining there, or his courtesy
+would have induced him to keep me company ever
+so much further on; so wishing him adieu for
+the twentieth time, I lit my cigar, and sticking
+spurs into my pony, cantered away on my road
+to Budua. The ride was not interesting. I started
+too late; I should have remembered that in those
+latitudes, except at Cattaro, there is no twilight.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On leaving Cattaro the road is at first directly
+south, leading across the isthmus of the peninsula
+which forms the western shore of the gulf
+of that name. Having reached the sea, it continues
+to skirt the Adriatic, except in those places
+where to avoid rounding a headland it runs
+inland straight across the base of the promontory.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The night was fine, and we got on famously,
+but whether in consequence of the good dinner,
+or the genial sensation produced by the atmosphere,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_282' name='Page_282' href='#Page_282'>282</a></span>
+or the early hour I had risen in the morning,
+when it came to be about eleven o'clock an indescribable
+feeling of lassitude and intense sleepiness
+came over me. I would have given anything
+to lie down even for half-an-hour; but it was out
+of the question, as we were at that time crossing
+a sort of marsh, and there was not a dry spot
+to lie down on. So I was compelled to ride on;
+but I suspect I dozed, and then during those
+moments of extreme lassitude and prostration, when
+my vital powers were standing at their lowest, I
+fear I imbibed some of those zymotic germs,
+some malarious molecules, which a few days later
+manifested themselves by a smart attack of fever.
+Thanks, however, to a good constitution and a few
+doses of quinine, I was able to cut it short in three
+days, though it stuck to me for a little while
+longer in the shape of an indescribable sort of
+<i><span lang="fr_FR">malaise</span></i>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At one o'clock <span class="smcap">a.m.</span>, we reached the gates of
+Budua, where I was met by Baron Heydeg and
+Signor Marco Medin. Heydeg was an officer
+quartered with his regiment at Budua, whose
+acquaintance I had made at Pola, and with whom
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_283' name='Page_283' href='#Page_283'>283</a></span>
+I had subsequently travelled. Medin was a native
+of Budua, who had left his country many years
+before, had made money in California, had married
+there a buxom Irish girl, a native of Ballinrobe,
+and had now returned, a rich man, to end his days
+among his relations in Dalmatia.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+They had been waiting for me a long time, and
+had walked some miles on the road to Cattaro to
+meet me, but were beginning to think I was not
+going to keep my word.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were soon seated together at a comfortable
+supper, and at half-past two <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> I was finally
+allowed to retire to my bed, which Medin had
+kindly procured for me in a private house—because
+here, as in Cattaro, there is no hotel of any
+kind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Tired and sleepy as I was, I passed but an indifferent
+night, for, notwithstanding that my room
+had two large windows overlooking the sea, and that
+I kept them both open, the heat was perfectly
+stifling.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was just thinking of going out the next
+morning about ten, when in walked the Baron
+and Signor Medin, and we at once adjourned for
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_284' name='Page_284' href='#Page_284'>284</a></span>
+breakfast at the same place where we had supped
+the previous night; I say place, as it was neither
+an inn nor a <i>café</i>. How shall I describe it? The
+following is the way we got at it, anyhow. In
+the main street of Budua, near to the land gate,
+on the left hand as you come in, you meet with
+five rugged stone steps, flanked by a shaky single
+iron railing. These lead up to a strong wooden
+door, which at some period, of its existence may
+have enjoyed the privilege of paint, but of which
+no trace remains at the present moment, not even
+enough to enable one to make a guess at the colour
+it once enjoyed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Entering by this door, I found myself in a stuffy,
+dirty hall, "<i><span lang="it_IT">a terreno</span></i>" pervaded by a multitude of
+vile smells, one more awful than the other, but all
+so dovetailed and commingled that it was perfectly
+impossible to tell what the composition was.
+Turning sharp to the left, we mounted a steep
+stone staircase, at the top of which we were greeted
+by the same odour that had met us on entering,
+in which now the smell of assafœtida and
+garlic clearly predominated. We found ourselves
+in the kitchen of the establishment, over
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_285' name='Page_285' href='#Page_285'>285</a></span>
+which reigned supreme a good-humoured, fat
+German <i>Frau</i> of fifty or more, assisted by two
+bright-eyed, sharp-looking Dalmatian lads, begrimed
+with dirt and shining with grease and
+perspiration. The <i>Frau</i> piloted us through this
+kitchen, where the heat must have been 110°, if
+not more, and brought us into the dining-room,
+a pretty good-sized room with windows round the
+three sides of it, the furniture consisting solely of
+one long deal table down the middle, and a score
+of rush-bottomed chairs around it. At this table
+were seated a dozen or so of German officers
+demolishing their "early bit."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was here received by the <i><span lang="de_DE">Frau's</span></i> worse half,
+a portly man of sixty or thereabouts. His coat
+was off, but he had on instead a huge pair of silver
+spectacles. He at once showed me to my seat at the
+table, when I apologised, through the Baron, to
+the officers for disturbing them at their breakfast.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Notwithstanding the unpromising condition of
+things, the breakfast was excellent; but mine
+host in the shirt sleeves, with whom I kept up
+a running conversation in Italian, was even better.
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_286' name='Page_286' href='#Page_286'>286</a></span>
+An Italian by birth and education (for he was
+very well educated), he had rambled all over the
+Austrian dominions and the Turkish provinces in
+Europe. He had forgotten most of his native
+tongue without learning any other, and the jargon
+he spoke was something marvellous. Still, he
+varied this <i>pot-pourri</i> according to the nationality
+of those he addressed. The foundation was
+always Italian, but if he spoke to an Austrian
+the German element would predominate, while if
+he spoke to a Montenegrin the Slave would be
+in the ascendant. He was a most amusing character,
+and combined in himself the functions of
+doctor, dentist and apothecary, as well as that
+of keeper of a restaurant in Budua—hence the
+villainous combination of the odours of a scullery,
+a kitchen, and a pharmacy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In spite of his griminess and the vile odours,
+I had some very pleasant conversation with him.
+I found him very well informed, and he gave
+me a most interesting account of the last descent
+of the Montenegrins. He had a most unconquerable
+horror of my favourite mountaineers,
+and believed there could be no peace nor prosperity
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_287' name='Page_287' href='#Page_287'>287</a></span>
+in that part of the world until they should
+be all exterminated.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Having finished our breakfast, Heydeg and I
+strolled outside the walls to where the market is
+held under some magnificent old carob trees, and
+there, as at Cattaro, were numbers of Montenegrins
+disposing of their produce. Here we had some
+delicious fresh figs, and then lighting our cigars
+we went round the old fortifications, which are
+now only just sufficient for protection at night
+against any sudden incursion of the wild tribes
+of the interior. Then we had a good bathe in
+a most delicious little cove, entirely girt round
+with rocks, and with a sandy bottom that felt
+like velvet under our feet. We then again lit
+another cigar, and started on a tour of exploration
+through this old town.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Budua, situated at the extreme end of Dalmatia,
+in what used to be called Northern Albania, is
+the last Austrian city on the coast of the Adriatic.
+It is built on a low rocky promontory, and
+possesses no interest, save in its picturesque
+appearance, which it derives from its mediæval
+walls and machicolated towers—useless, indeed,
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_288' name='Page_288' href='#Page_288'>288</a></span>
+against a civilized enemy, but still offering some
+protection against possible irruptions from
+Albanian freebooters. It is especially picturesque
+as seen from the sea, with its rugged background
+of naked mountains. Immediately about it there
+is some cultivation on the narrow strip of land
+which lies between the mountains and the sea;
+and corn, vines, olive trees, and mulberries for the
+rearing of silk-worms, are diligently grown.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Inside, it is not attractive—its streets are
+extremely narrow, no more than six feet wide
+in many instances; they are, however, well paved,
+and would do well enough, were it not for the
+utter disregard to cleanliness and drainage. Still
+there are some wealthy people living there, and
+many of the houses are very good and substantial.
+There are several good shops, (perhaps
+the word stores would best describe them), where
+a brisk trade seemed to be carried on. The
+Baron and I poked our way through all the
+nooks and crannies of the place. We found
+nothing to invite attention, but a great deal to
+shock the sight, and even the sense of smell.
+So we hurried on and went to pay a visit to
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_289' name='Page_289' href='#Page_289'>289</a></span>
+my buxom Ballinrobe friend, who had not only
+quite forgotten her ancestral brogue, but had
+actually exchanged it for a decided American
+accent, which, to my ears, was not an improvement.
+She offered us neither English tea nor Irish
+whiskey punch, but gave us some delicious
+lemonade and maraschino; and showed by her
+manner that, if the brogue was gone, the hearty
+Irish welcome was there still.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+From thence I went with the Baron to his own
+little apartment, which opened on to an enchanting
+little terrace, covered over with a grand "<i>pergola</i>"
+of vines, under whose refreshing shade we smoked
+away the time till we should go to dinner.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We had not been long enjoying an excellent
+repast at our pharmaceutical (deuced hard name
+to spell, by-the-by) restaurant when we were
+informed that the steamer for Corfu was entering
+the harbour, and would leave in two hours.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The time for parting had come at last, fresh
+bottles were tapped, and we all drank each others'
+health, and a happy journey to me amidst noisy
+demonstrations and much clinking of glasses.
+Dinner being at last completed, we all arose and
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_290' name='Page_290' href='#Page_290'>290</a></span>
+walked in a body to the Mole, where, my
+luggage having preceded me, I went at once on
+board. There was no time for lengthy adieux,
+the steamer was whistling, and almost while we
+were shaking hands she cast off her moorings, and
+we were off.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter p4">
+<img src="images/i-056.jpg" width="150" height="112" alt="Decoration" />
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_291' name='Page_291' href='#Page_291'>291</a></span>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter p6">
+<img src="images/flowers.jpg" width="400" height="81" alt="Decoration" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>
+CHAPTER XXII.
+</h2>
+
+<p class="ch_summ">
+TOWN OF ANTIVARI—FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF TURKEY—ORIENTAL
+PASSENGERS—VALUE OF A KNOWLEDGE OF ARABIC OR
+TURKISH—A MAHOMETAN MERCHANT AND HIS FAMILY—TURKISH
+TROOPS IN ALBANIA—TOWN AND FORTRESS OF
+CASTEL DURAZZO—RETURN TO TRIESTE—FAREWELL TO THE
+READER.
+</p>
+
+<div>
+<img class="drop-cap" src="images/dropa.jpg" width="100" height="108" alt="" />
+</div>
+<p class="drop-cap">
+AFTER leaving Budua we kept close
+in shore, enjoying the wild rugged
+scenery of the Dalmatian coast till
+we reached Antivari, where we first came into
+immediate contact with the Turks on their own
+Ottoman soil. The first impression, I must confess,
+was certainly not a favourable one.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Should any one of my readers, with a bias in
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_292' name='Page_292' href='#Page_292'>292</a></span>
+favour of Ottomans and Ottoman rule, ever determine
+on visiting Turkey, let him not receive his
+first impression of that empire by a visit to
+Antivari. A few wretched hovels, a miserable
+white-washed house, with a small and dirty red
+flag over it; a group of miserably-dressed, vile-countenanced,
+ragamuffin-looking soldiers, in
+baggy blue trousers and crimson fezzes, constituted
+all the features of the place. The
+town of Antivari itself, I heard, was a few
+miles inland, but if one may judge of the town
+from its villainous port, it must be wretched in the
+extreme.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The steamer remained here a couple of hours
+to land goods and take in passengers, but as the
+heat was excessive and the prospect of the country
+most unpromising, I made no attempt to land. I
+did not however lack entertainment, and while I
+lounged over the bulwarks on the shady side
+of the steamer, I amused myself pitching half-francs
+into the water, which was of very considerable
+depth and of the clearest and limpidest
+blue, to half a score or so of lads and small boys
+who were swimming, and diving, and treading the
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_293' name='Page_293' href='#Page_293'>293</a></span>
+water in the most surprising manner; they seemed
+just as much at home in the sea as on the land,
+and fetched up the coins from the bottom as
+easily as I could have picked them up from the
+deck.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When tired of looking at the swimmers, I
+turned to watch the new arrivals, of which we
+had a considerable number, all Orientals, and
+almost all deck passengers. The first which
+caught my eye, coming up the side of the steamer,
+was a wretched-looking, squalid creature, dressed
+in rags, but most picturesque withal. He was
+small, slight, and extremely dark, just short of
+black, but with distinctly Caucasian features, not
+a negroid by any means. He had a small
+bundle over his shoulders, and in his right
+hand he carried a short lance, with a very
+bright steel head, ornamented with a few lines
+of Damascene work in gold. His head was
+covered with a somewhat conical-shaped cap,
+encircled with a scanty and very ragged green
+turban, while at his side he carried a moderate
+sized bottle-gourd. He was a very singular
+looking being, and all I could make out through
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_294' name='Page_294' href='#Page_294'>294</a></span>
+the captain was that he thought he was a
+dervish returning home from visiting some
+sacred shrine in Mahomedan Europe. As
+to his home, he suspected from his costume
+it might be in Kurdistan, but it was very
+much guess work, as the Captain spoke neither
+Arabic nor Turkish.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Another interesting group consisted of three
+gaily dressed Orientals, in bag trousers tight at
+the knees, turban, and highly embroidered jackets.
+They made their way to the quarter-deck abaft
+the paddle box, and were about being summarily
+ejected by the steward in consequence of being
+deck passengers, when I interposed, and got him
+to let them stay for a while. They perfectly
+well understood that it was owing to my interference
+they were allowed to remain, and so we
+knocked up a sort of acquaintance, and carried
+on a lame, very lame conversation by the help
+of the youngest, who could speak a very few
+words of Italian. I could not make out any
+thing about them, whence they came, or whither
+they were going, but from their features I
+could easily see they were Asiatics, Arabs most
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_295' name='Page_295' href='#Page_295'>295</a></span>
+probably, and the youngest, who was also the
+lightest in colour, had three scars on each
+cheek, not unlike in shape to our broad
+arrow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+How I longed for a knowledge of Arabic,
+how I envied Captain Burton! If he had been
+there we should at once have known all about them,
+and the dervish and everyone else, including a
+tall, handsome Soudani slave, who kept grinning
+and showing his teeth from ear to ear,
+while I was carrying on my lame conversation with
+the Arabs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Up to this point, Italian and German had
+enabled me to get on famously; but now that
+I was getting among Asiatics, although I was
+still in Europe, I felt my utter helplessness,
+and the absolute necessity for a knowledge of
+the language of the Koran, for those who
+wish to visit the East with pleasure and
+profit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The whole deck forward was encumbered
+with passengers. In one corner seated on a
+pile of luggage, but well bolstered up by rolls
+of Persian carpets, was a most truculent-looking
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_296' name='Page_296' href='#Page_296'>296</a></span>
+Oriental, attended by an intelligent-looking young
+negro, with a most astonishing Caucasian type
+of countenance. He wore nothing but a white
+calico sort of shirt with loose sleeves, and a
+string of red beads round his neck. He had
+none of the characteristics of the negro except
+the colour; had I known anything of Arabic, I
+could most probably have learnt something about
+his origin.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In another corner of the deck a Mahomedan
+merchant (as I was informed he was) had contrived
+to screen off a place for himself and his
+family, one of whom, about three years old, was
+sprawling stark naked on a rug in the broiling
+sun, while a closely veiled female, his mother I
+suppose, was chasing small deer all over his person,
+which was closely spotted as if with measles—but
+they were only bites!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Quite at the prow of the vessel, somewhat apart,
+and separated from the rest, was a military officer,
+evidently of some considerable rank, if one could
+judge by the orders and stars fastened to his
+breast, his handsome hilted sabre, and his patent
+leather boots. He was a heavy morose-looking
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_297' name='Page_297' href='#Page_297'>297</a></span>
+man of about fifty, with close cropped black beard,
+blue Turkish uniform, and crimson fez. I was
+told he was a real pasha, and had with him a
+suite of two officers and half a dozen soldiers.
+He was only a deck passenger like the others;
+but whether he travelled so from poverty,
+from motives of economy, or from scorning to
+associate with the hated and <i>envied</i> Nazarenes,
+I cannot tell, though I strongly suspect
+that genuine impecuniosity was the real cause
+of it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Turkish troops I saw in this part of
+Albania were the most wretched specimens I
+ever witnessed, small, mean, dirty, disreputable-looking
+in the extreme, and their officers matched
+them to perfection. Having remarked on their
+appearance, I was told by the captain of the
+steamer not to form an opinion of the Ottoman army
+by such samples, as they always sent their worst
+regiments to Albania, and that these wretched
+troops, both officers and men, were always months in
+arrears of pay.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At last every one was on board, the last package
+was hoisted over the side, and again we were
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_298' name='Page_298' href='#Page_298'>298</a></span>
+steaming down southwards. The afternoon was
+very enjoyable, the heat much less, and as
+the number of cabin passengers was small, we
+were able to have our supper on deck, which we
+enjoyed immensely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+After the meal was concluded, I again went forward
+among the natives, and soon made friends
+with many of the dusky passengers by means of a
+few signs; but our conversation was not lively—signs
+and gesticulations and dumb show were the
+principal means of conversation—of language we
+made little or no use. Had I known ever so little
+of Arabic we could have got on fairly enough—the
+pantomime of these Orientals being so wonderfully
+expressive. So I returned to the quarter-deck,
+where I had some coffee with the captain, and then
+feeling tired, I went down to my <i>camerino</i>, and
+was soon asleep.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+On awaking the next morning I found we
+were at anchor opposite the town and fortress of
+Castel Durazzo, telling of its Venetian origin by
+its name. Here we remained a few hours, but the
+place did not look attractive, and as I did not feel
+quite "the thing," I did not go on shore, but
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_299' name='Page_299' href='#Page_299'>299</a></span>
+remained on deck looking at the motley groups as
+they passed up and down. Again we had the usual
+interchange of passengers and goods, and after a
+few hours' delay we were just about steaming
+away when the return steamer from Corfu came
+alongside of us.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+As chance would have it, it turned out to be
+the very boat which had brought me down to
+Cattaro; and no sooner did the captain spy me
+out on deck than he shouted that the quarantine had
+been declared at Corfu against all vessels coming from
+Trieste, and that if I went on I should be detained
+to perform fourteen days of quarantine in the
+Lazzaretto, instead of being allowed to continue
+my journey on to Constantinople. I asked him
+to come over, which he did at once, and having
+held a consultation with the other captain, who
+entirely agreed with him that I should most certainly
+be detained a fortnight at Corfu, and be
+compelled to perform my quarantine in the
+Lazzaretto, I determined on returning to Trieste.
+Fourteen days in a Lazzaretto anywhere would be
+a severe ordeal, but fourteen days of such an
+imprisonment during the dog-days at Corfu could
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_300' name='Page_300' href='#Page_300'>300</a></span>
+not possibly have been faced; it would not only have
+been a severe trial of patience in every shape and
+form, but might have been conducive to serious
+illness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was no time to be lost, so my luggage
+was at once put into the captain's boat, and in a
+few minutes I again found myself on board the
+old steamer, where Giovanni, the steward, greeted
+me as if I had been an old friend.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+At sunset we steamed away northward from
+Castel Durazzo. The captain was delighted to
+see me again, and Giovanni was most affable,
+doing his utmost to promote my happiness.
+But like Rachel of old I would not be comforted,
+all my plans were thoroughly upset; I could not
+bring myself to make fresh arrangements. I was
+turning my back on my beloved South and I was
+retracing my steps—both things I utterly detested.
+But <i><span lang="it_IT">non ci era rimedio</span></i>, the quarantine and the
+Lazzaretto I could not face, so there was
+nothing else to do but resign oneself to the
+fates.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The next morning we came abreast of Budua,
+but I did not land as I did not feel well. I
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_301' name='Page_301' href='#Page_301'>301</a></span>
+screwed up my courage, however, and attempted
+a little sketch of its castle and harbour, with
+its blue sea and its background of rocky
+mountains. After a little, and just as we were
+leaving the place, I felt worse, so I took some
+medicine and went to lie down. In two hours
+more I was in high fever, with a racking pain
+in my head and back, and I felt my mind almost
+wandering. We reached the Bocche that evening,
+but the beauties of the Fjord were lost to me—I
+lay in my cabin prostrated. Giovanni came
+instantly to see me, trying to comfort me by
+telling me I had only caught "<i><span lang="it_IT">la febbre</span></i>," and
+that I should send for the doctor at Cattaro to
+get myself bled, and take quinine, when I should
+be all right. I think that the idea of Giovanni's
+bringing a doctor and having me bled, <i><span lang="la">nolens
+volens</span></i>, roused me up. I made myself some tea,
+and just as we reached Cattaro I felt much
+better—the fever had abated, and now, said I,
+is the time to take the quinine.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I had brought lots of it with me, so I measured
+out as much as I could pile upon a shilling, and
+bolted it. It certainly cut short the disease, as
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_302' name='Page_302' href='#Page_302'>302</a></span>
+the fever did not set in again; but I was not
+well for many days after, and even when I
+arrived at Trieste I felt quite weak and out
+of sorts.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The next morning early we left Cattaro, and
+in the afternoon got to Gravosa. I felt somewhat
+better, and hearing that Consul Paton, who was
+then alive, and his family were in a villa just opposite
+to where the steamer was moored, I took a boat and
+spent two delightful hours with them, till the
+steam-whistle told me how quickly the time
+had flown. I reluctantly made my adieux, and
+soon was steaming out of the harbour.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It wanted scarcely an hour of sunset: the sun
+was low in the horizon—all the lights and
+shades were the more intensely marked, while
+the constantly changing tints, from brightest rose
+and golden yellow to the deepest violets and
+blues, created such a fairy scene that I would not
+venture to describe it.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was in the fullest enjoyment of that sunset,
+gazing on where the sun was just dipping into
+the sea, sending a flood of golden light along the
+surface from himself to us, when the captain
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_303' name='Page_303' href='#Page_303'>303</a></span>
+tapped me on the shoulder, saying, "<i><span lang="it_IT">Vada giù</span></i>, you
+had <i><span lang="it_IT">la febbre</span></i> last night; don't expose yourself
+to the air <i><span lang="it_IT">al tramonto</span></i>;" so I took his advice,
+and went down below, notwithstanding the heat,
+and so ended the 23rd day of July!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The following day saw us at Lesina and at
+Curzola, and again at Lissa. The day after
+brought us abreast of Spalato, where again I
+enjoyed a couple of hours' ramble among those
+glorious ruins. Then we cruised through the
+countless islands near the mouth of the Quarnero,
+and finally reached Trieste, where, after having
+enjoyed two pleasant days with Captain Burton
+and his charming and talented lady, I turned my
+steps towards home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here I take my leave of the reader. If he shall
+be disappointed with my style and my many shortcomings
+I shall not be surprised; but I shall be
+disappointed indeed if, following a somewhat
+similar track to the one I have been tracing,
+only penetrating, if possible, more into Servia
+proper, and going across it from the Danube to
+the Adriatic, he shall not feel himself amply repaid
+<span class='pagenum'><a id='Page_304' name='Page_304' href='#Page_304'>304</a></span>
+by having taken my advice in visiting
+those countries which I have endeavoured to
+describe.
+</p>
+
+<p class="center p4">
+THE END.
+</p>
+
+<hr />
+
+<p class="center s05">
+London: Printed by A. Schulze, 13, Poland Street.
+</p>
+
+<div class='footnotes'>
+<h2 class="fntitle">
+FOOTNOTES:
+</h2>
+
+<p class='footnote' id='FN_1'>
+<span class='fnlabel'><a href='#FA_1'>[1]</a></span> Since writing the above I have obtained the following authentic
+description of this ship. The "Lissa" ironclad was built at Trieste.
+She is a full-rigged casemated ironclad of 5950 tons, 320 feet long, 60
+feet beam, and drawing 28 feet of water. Armoured with 6-inch Austrian
+plates, the armament consisting of ten 9-inch breech-loading
+Krupp guns in her maindeck casemate, and two 9-inch breech-loading
+Krupp guns on turn-tables in semi-circular overhanging casemates on
+the open deck, the guns being protected from above by a sort of
+central hurricane deck. The "Lissa" steams at the rate of twelve
+knots, and carries coals for 420 hours; among other improvements
+she has a powerful electric light placed on the bridge, and gimballed,
+so as to allow it to be thrown in any direction.
+</p>
+
+<p class='footnote' id='FN_2'>
+<span class='fnlabel'><a href='#FA_2'>[2]</a></span> Sir J. G. Wilkinson's "Dalmatia and Montenegro."
+</p>
+
+<p class='footnote' id='FN_3'>
+<span class='fnlabel'><a href='#FA_3'>[3]</a></span> Lady Strangford's "Eastern Shores of the Adriatic."
+</p>
+
+<p class='footnote' id='FN_4'>
+<span class='fnlabel'><a href='#FA_4'>[4]</a></span> In August, 1647, a Pasha of Bosnia, pouring an army of 30,000
+men into the lowlands, attempted the capture of Sebenico and its
+fort; but it was so well defended by the 6000 Venetians and German
+mercenaries of the garrison, that after twenty-six days' cannonade the
+Pasha was obliged to retire.
+</p>
+
+<p class='footnote' id='FN_5'>
+<span class='fnlabel'><a href='#FA_5'>[5]</a></span> The brave King Richard, having recruited himself at Ragusa, is
+said, by some, to have gone to Aquileia by sea, by others to have
+continued his journey by land; anyhow, it is pretty certain, that
+having stopped to take some refreshment at a way-side inn in the
+mountains of Dalmatia, or Styria, he incautiously handed a large
+gold piece to the landlady to change, and her suspicions being roused
+by this circumstance, she informed the authorities; and the end was
+that the King was seized by the treacherous Leopold of Austria, and
+imprisoned, as everyone knows. There is a tradition, however, which
+is not so well known, that shortly after his treacherous conduct
+to his brother-in-arms, Leopold of Austria, when out hunting, met
+with a severe injury to his right leg—surgery was not then what
+it is now—the limb mortified, and it was agreed on all hands
+that nothing could save the Prince's life but amputation. But who
+was to do it? No one would venture—when Leopold himself proposed
+that a sharp hatchet should be laid across his limb, and that,
+at his word of command, it should be struck with a ponderous mallet,
+when it was expected that the limb would be severed. The operation
+succeeded so far as the cutting went, but the bystanders were unable
+to staunch the blood, and the Prince bled to death—a fitting retribution
+for his treachery.
+</p>
+
+<p class='footnote' id='FN_6'>
+<span class='fnlabel'><a href='#FA_6'>[6]</a></span> The story, as well as I remember it, was as follows:—A probably
+well-meaning but decidedly weak-minded Protestant, bent on missionary
+work, arrived one day at Tangier. He had never been in
+the East, and did not know a word of Arabic. He was determined,
+however, to improve the opportunity by letting in a ray of Gospel
+truth into the minds of the benighted Mussulmans. That he did not
+know a word of their native language was no obstacle to this energetic
+missionary, he would employ an interpreter. Having found one in
+the person of a 'Gibraltar Jew,' he explained to him what he wanted;
+the bargain was soon struck, and the Jew undertook, for a consideration,
+to interpret for him on the next market day. He, however,
+advised the missionary to have a certain quantity of tobacco and coffee
+ready to treat the assembled hearers, as it was always customary to
+do so in that country whenever an important meeting was held—to
+which the missionary at once consented. The fact of the danger he
+would be running into himself, dragging his interpreter after him,
+from telling the most bigoted perhaps of all Mussulmans, that their
+religion was false, and their Prophet an emissary of the Evil One,
+never once entered into his head; but, fortunately for them both, the
+Jew had more brain than his employer. Market-day came, and the
+Jew had bespoke, in a couple of cafés, a large supply of coffee. The
+town and country people having been informed that an "Effendi
+Engleez" would make a great speech to them, they collected in large
+numbers in the market-place, where they squatted down round a
+hogshead, on which the missionary was mounted. He at once began
+in the usual terms—his religion was the only true one, and all those
+who differed from him went straight down head foremost into Gehenna,
+which the wise Jew translated thus: "The Effendi has come all the
+way from England to get cured; he is mad, but quite harmless, and
+if you only have patience, you will get plenty of coffee." And so the
+missionary went on ringing the changes on his subject, whilst the
+wiser Jew rang the changes on his; which, however, always ended in
+the stereotyped, "and you'll get plenty of coffee." The report, probably
+made to head-quarters by that enterprising missionary, would
+be interesting to read, especially by the light thrown upon it by the
+interpreter; and how many more missionary efforts might prove
+equally distressing could we but have together with the sermon the
+running commentary of a non-interested looker-on.
+</p>
+
+<p class='footnote' id='FN_7'>
+<span class='fnlabel'><a href='#FA_7'>[7]</a></span> I had taken exact measurements, but some of my notes were
+unfortunately lost—the above measurements are, therefore, only
+approximative.
+</p>
+
+<p class='footnote' id='FN_8'>
+<span class='fnlabel'><a href='#FA_8'>[8]</a></span> I was informed at Cettigne that trout were caught in the Moratcha
+of fifty or sixty pounds weight; not salmon, for the Moratcha
+does not go to the sea, and if it did go, there are no salmon in the
+Adriatic. Thinking it must be a joke, I asked several persons of
+standing, who all assured me that it was perfectly true. I regret that
+being unprovided with tackle, in addition to being short of time, I
+was unable to test the accuracy of these assertions, mainly in reference
+to my readers, because as to myself I have no reason whatever to doubt
+the truth, accuracy, and bona-fides of my informants; I fully accept
+what I heard from them, especially from my previous knowledge of
+the amazing number and size of the trout in the Servian rivers.
+</p>
+
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Rambles in Istria, Dalmatia and
+Montenegro, by R. H. R.
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAMBLES--ISTRIA, DALMATIA, MONTENEGRO ***
+
+***** This file should be named 57400-h.htm or 57400-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/5/7/4/0/57400/
+
+Produced by Melissa McDaniel and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will
+be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
+law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
+so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
+States without permission and without paying copyright
+royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
+of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm
+concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
+and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive
+specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this
+eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook
+for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports,
+performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given
+away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks
+not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the
+trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.
+
+START: FULL LICENSE
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
+Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at
+www.gutenberg.org/license.
+
+Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+
+1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
+destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your
+possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
+Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
+by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the
+person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph
+1.E.8.
+
+1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
+paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this
+agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the
+Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
+of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual
+works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
+States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
+United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
+claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
+displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
+all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
+that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting
+free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm
+works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
+Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily
+comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
+same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when
+you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
+in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
+check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
+agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
+distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
+other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no
+representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
+country outside the United States.
+
+1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
+immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear
+prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work
+on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed,
+performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
+
+  This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
+  most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
+  restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
+  under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
+  eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
+  United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you
+  are located before using this ebook.
+
+1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is
+derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
+contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
+copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
+the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
+redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
+either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
+obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm
+trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
+additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
+will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works
+posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
+beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
+any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
+to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format
+other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official
+version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site
+(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
+to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
+of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain
+Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the
+full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+provided that
+
+* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+  the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+  you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
+  to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has
+  agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
+  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
+  within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
+  legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
+  payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
+  Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
+  Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
+  Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+  you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+  does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+  License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
+  copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
+  all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm
+  works.
+
+* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
+  any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+  electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
+  receipt of the work.
+
+* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+  distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than
+are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
+from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The
+Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
+Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
+contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
+or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
+intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
+other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
+cannot be read by your equipment.
+
+1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
+with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
+with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
+lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
+or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
+opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
+the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
+without further opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO
+OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
+LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
+damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
+violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
+agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
+limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
+unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
+remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in
+accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
+production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
+including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
+the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
+or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or
+additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any
+Defect you cause.
+
+Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
+computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
+exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
+from people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future
+generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
+Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at
+www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
+U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the
+mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its
+volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous
+locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt
+Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to
+date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and
+official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
+
+For additional contact information:
+
+    Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+    Chief Executive and Director
+    gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
+DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular
+state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
+donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate
+
+Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be
+freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
+distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of
+volunteer support.
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
+the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
+necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
+edition.
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search
+facility: www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+</body>
+</html>
author	nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>	2025-02-08 06:24:22 -0800
committer	nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org>	2025-02-08 06:24:22 -0800
commit	84bc3e4729eb6a99aeb06a4d36c577c82ebc7ddd (patch)
tree	b460ee791facb256220650336da6cfc9e461b175
parent	c09ff59304c1155b430ab1ef19ffe889b412f15c (diff)