Through Bosnia and Herzegovina With a Paint Brush

8/3/2019 Through Bosnia and Herzegovina With a Paint Brush

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Bosniaand

rush.MRS. B. R. WHITWELL.

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THROUGHBOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINAWITH A PAINT BRUSH.


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PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BYWILLIAM DRESSER AND SONS, DARLINGTON.


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Thrc hBosnia and Herzegovina


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A Street in Sarajevo, Bosnia.


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ThroughBosnia and Herzegovina

With a Paint Brush.

BYMRS. E. R. WHITWELL,

Author of "Spain as we found it," and"Through Corsica with a Paint Brush."

DARLINGTON :WILLIAM DRESSER AND SONS,

LONDON ISIMPKIN MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT AND CO,, LD.


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Preface.

The following sketches and notes wereoriginally intended as personal reminiscencesof a very interesting and enjoyable holidayspent in a country somewhat out of thebeaten track. But changes forecasted bythe authoress having become actual fact,and the countries described assuming aprominent feature of recent internationalconcern, it is hoped that the productionof this little volume will prove of suchinterest as warrants its publication beyondthe circle originally intended.

The Friarage,Yarm-on-Tees,

January, 1909.


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List of Illustrations.


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ThroughBOSNIA & HERZEGOVINAwith a Paint Brush.

TIRRING times are thesewhen the whole ofEurope has to give itsopinion, and I may saydecision, as to whetherAustria may snap upBosnia and Herze-

govina, and Bulgaria may assert her in-dependence and style her princeling a Tzar,which seems crowing rather loud and savoursof the bantam in the poultry yard ! However,we shall see what happens in the near future ;meanwhile I am thinking that a very interest-ing tour I made through these provinces withmy paint brush, may be attractive to thosewho take an interest in other nations and


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2 THROUGH BOSNIAother countries. Several books have alreadybeen written on Dalmatia, but I do not thinkany have been illustrated by the brush, andI have seen no books on Bosnia and Herze-govina, or that barren, wild country Monte-negro, with its range after range of rocky,jagged mountains.

I have been twice in Dalmatia, the firsttime we sailed on our yacht Vanadisfrom Venice, touching at Polaa stormypassage of eight hours. At Pola itself therewas not much for me to see beyond a fineRoman amphitheatre, two gates and twotemples. It is the centre of the Austriannaval base, and was bristling with iron-clads ; our Captain elected to steam calmlyin among them, but we had soon to make aretreat, piloted to the other side of theharbour by some Jack Tars, who were eachpresented with a cigar for the " ententecordiale ' ' of the nationsFrom Pola we went on to Abbazia, which


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AND HERZEGOVINA 3is an Austrian invalid watering place and, sadto say, was full of consumptives. It is quite apretty place, with a Casino, public gardens,and a wonderful artificial walk, a veritablesun trap for miles by the sea. On our arrivalwe found another yacht moored to the onlybuoythere is no harbour, so we had todrop our anchor hoping for a fine night, whichit was.The next morning I went ashore to sketch,

and the rest of the party went in the launchto Fiume, which had no attraction for me.A heavy thunderstorm that afternoon madethe streets very wet, but we bravely struggledto a cafe and listened to the Hungarian band,at the same time drinking some excellentcoffee with the milk nicely frothed up in ajug, and each person had his own little tray.The yacht which had secured the buoy theevening before, had taken its departure earlyin the morning, so we attached ourselves toit, and as the Captain remarked ' ' possession


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4 THROUGH BOSNIAwas nine tenths of the law," the other yachthad the privilege of taking turn in droppingher anchor for the night.Some of the peasant women were very

picturesque in costume, and wore a kind ofballet skirt, Hessian boots, and a red hand-kerchief tied round the head and floating atone side.Though as I said before, I have twice been

along the Dalmatian coast, I have not visitedany of the most interesting islands, and mystay at the various towns has been far tooshort to please me, but it could not be avoided,I was at the mercy of a yacht, and in orderto visit the principal towns in a country whichpossesses one small railway connecting twocoast towns and one inland town, it wasnecessary to allow myself to be whirled alongat the pleasure of others, who wanted not tolinger brush in hand.The historv of Dalmatia dates, I think, from

the year 180 B.C., when the tribe from which


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EveningAbbazia


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ddA gnin


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AND HERZEGOVINA 5it takes its name declared their independencefrom Gentius, King of Illyria, and establisheda republic. In 156 B.C. the Dalmatianswere attacked by the Romans and compelledto pay tribute, but it was not till the reign ofAugustus that their country became a Romanprovince. Under Tiberius, Dalmatia wasthoroughly Romanised, it gave to the worldthe Emperor Diocletian, who eventuallyretired to Salona, the new Dalmatian capital,where are still to be found the remains ofhis magnificence. It then fell into severalsuccessive hands, and in the seventh centuryit received the dominant element of itspresent population by the immigration ofthe Slavs invited by Heraclius.

In the ninth century the Croatian in-fluence was high, and Croatian princes wererecognised as kings of Dalmatia. In thetenth century Venice extended her power,which is still visible in the many beautifulbuildings seen all along this coast. About


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O THROUGH BOSNIAthe year 1018 the Doge took the title of Dukeof Dalmatia. Venice and Croatia struggledhard for supremacy during the eleventhcentury, and in 1091 the Hungarians oustedthe Croatians. The maritime cities of Zara,Trau, Spalato and Ragusa, had each theirseparate history, and attained much pros-perity by commerce and industry. Thesetowns sided with Venice and were at timesunder her control, until the treatment bythat great republic disgusted them and theywelcomed Louis of Hungary. Venetianauthority was, however, once more asserted,but in 1797, Dalmatia became part of theAustrian dominions to which she has belongedever since, with the exception of a Napoleonicperiod from 1805- 1814. The Austrians werenot popular, the feeling of the country beingextremely hostile, and in 1869 an insurrectionwas put down by force of arms.Water in Dalmatia is scarce, and the only

rivers are the Krka and the Cettina. Outside


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AND HERZEGOVINA. 7the towns is very little vegetation ; barley,wheat, maize, oats, rye, millet, beetroot,hemp and potatoes are all grown somewhere ;coasting for miles and miles nothing is seenbut pinky grey rock, and now and then abush, though as you go further south vege-tation becomes evident and vines are grown,the grapes producing a full, red wine whichis much exported to Bordeaux ; and olives,the oil of which is also exported.About eighty-nine per cent, of the natives

belong to the Servian race and speak a Slav-onic dialect, but there are a good manyItalians ; most of the natives understandItalian I found. The principal religion isRoman Catholic, there are also those whofollow the Greek Church. The Roman Cath-olic Archbishop has his seat at Zara, andSpalato, Sebenico, Lesina and Cattaro areBishoprics. Donkeys and goats abound,and there are some sheep. The peasantgrinds his corn and weaves his clothes athome


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8 THROUGH BOSNIALace making is a great industry amongst

Dalmatian women, and there is a specialschool at Spalato where the most beautifulpatterns taken from the Churches are copied.Sponges also are found near Sebenico.Anchovies and tumny fish are caught in largequantities and many other kinds of fish.Zara we reached on April 14th, but here

on this our first visit, we discovered noharbour, though next time we found theharbour was quite on the other side of thetown. As we did not relish the idea of tossingabout all night on the open sea, we decidedonly to stay a very short time just to visit thetown and then push on to Zara Vecchiafor the night.The town looks very new from the sea,

and appears to be composed of large whitemodern buildings with red roofs, one hotel," The Bristol, ' ' looked most imposing and new,but you must penetrate behind all this, whereyou will find the old town of Zara with its


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After a Storm Abbazia.


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i.


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AND HERZEGOVINA. 9narrow streets, with many Roman and Vene-tian remains, of the former two large Corin-thian columns still stand, one they say iswhere it was first erected. A plaque ofstone or marble let into a wall, on which amost graceful figure of a dancing girl wascarved, and there was also quite a museumof statues and other relics. The Duomo,with its beautiful facade, is distinctlyVenetian, and the Lion of St. Marc watchesat the gates of the town.

Zara, now, is specially celebrated for itsmareschino, where are two manufacturies.Our large party landing caused quite a

flutter amongst the inhabitants, some ofwhom were most picturesque, the womenwith bright red and yellow aprons, whitehead shawls embroidered in many colours,blue skirts and red stockings. Some of themen in blue trousers, all rucked up the leg,red, gold-embroidered jackets were thrownover one shoulder, sashes were gleaming


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10 THROUGH BOSNIAwith knives, &c, tucked in, and a curioustiny red cap with a black tassel crownedall. This cap looks ridiculously small perchedon the top of the head.The country here is bare sandy rock, with

a few shrubs dotted about, very barren allalong the shore, and on a dull day wouldlook very dreary no doubt, but with brightsunshine the sea is lovely, and the range ofsnow-capped mountains behind make acharming background. We did not land atZara Vecchia, and were off at sunrise toSebenico.A lovely little spot is Sebenico, at thefoot of those curious grey barren hills. Welanded, and passed through a quaint door-way, with picturesque figures going to andfro, then went up a few steps to narrowstreetsvery narrow indeed, but clean, withmany subjects for an artist, but alas ! notime for meonly an hour or two, and whatis that ! We wandered about the streets


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AND HERZEGOVINA. 11and many appeals were made as to whyI did not paint this and thatthe ques-tioners quite forgetting architectural subjectscannot be done in a minute, like the snapshotof a camera ! After gazing at many fascin-ating bits, I decided to attempt an old carveddoor in a narrow street, and forthwith began,to be distracted very shortly by two funeralspassing and re-passing, the mourners carryingeach a guttering candle held at any angle andwalking three abreast in the street five feetwide. My easel was once swept away by aboy, who, like most boys, did not look wherehe was going, luckily no damage was doneand I settled to work again, to be threetimes disturbed, I having to flatten myselfagainst the wall to let the mourners pass.I worked hard till dusk, then returned to theyacht.

I thought it a great pity we could not staya few days at Sebenico, but on we rushed,and I must go too this time. I longed to


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12 THROUGH BOSNIAstay and put all I saw on paper, of all thisbeautiful curious scenery, and at somefuture date, I hoped to be able to dawdlealong this coast at my own sweet will.One of our party bought a most curiousknife from a very handsome native, whoshowed the purchaser its various usestheknife was used to eat with, and shave with,&c, &c, the double pronged stiletto, whichoccupied the same sheath, was to dig into anenemy. This was about a foot long. Thesethe natives carry tucked into their belts.The Cathedral is very fine, Old Venetian,and had many fascinating corners for the artist.After lunch we went up a serpentine gorge,

so narrow, that every moment it seemed tocome to an end. The sides were pinky-greyhills, barren except for a few shrubs, thewhole colouring was most curious, the seabright blue-green, contrasting with the rockysides. A special pilot came on board forthis cruise, and he nearly ran us into some


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AND HERZEGOVINA 13rocks, not calculating how much room wetook to turn the corners. When we arrivedat the furthest limit that the yacht couldgo,

we took to the launch, and approachedthe Falls of Krka, where the water comesdown in tiers, very fine. Here electric lightis being made. We walked up to a heightfor a view looking back, which was mostextraordinary, the pinky-grey hills, with onelong strip of winding emerald green waterbetween.My second visit to Sebenico was under

more favourable circumstances, as I decidedto leave the yacht and put up at the HotelKrka with my courier.

La, La ! the cold on this my second visit,but charmed am I to be here once more at thismost fascinating little place, Sebenico, thistime to stay a few days, but oh ! the cold ! !I have never felt anything like it in England,the north-east wind, the Bora (the windof the dead) is blowing. I imagine it comes


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14 THROUGH BOSNIAoff the steppes of Russia, from its intensepiercing coldness. The sun is nice andwarm, if you can get out of the wind whichrises very decidedly every afternoon. Ilanded from the yacht in the morning,escorted by my guide. An elaborate pro-gramme was made out, and it was intendedwe should travel through Herzegovina andBosnia, visiting Jajce, Bajnaluka, Bihac(pronounced Beehatch), Novi, and Plitvice,where are wonderful lakes and cascades incontinuation from one to the other. Partof the journey we carried out, but not all,as will be seen later on.At Sebenico, they talk Italian and Slav;

Italian made me quite happy as it enabledme to converse with the natives. Thenational costumes here are most

fascinating,lovely brilliant colouring mixed in thewomen's head-gear and shawls, and someof the contadine that come in, with darkblue dresses striped with red, green and


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AND HERZEGOVINA 15orange, and embroideries of every hue, aremost striking. The men, too, dress verysmartly, and finish off their costumes withvery large silver buttons.

I took a room at the Hotel Krka; therooms are quite nice, but the Restaurantrather dirty. The landlady wanted to askme fourteen krones as pensionrather a lotfor this out of the way place, but as I cameoff a yacht, I am, no doubt, expected to payaccordingly ; however, I decided to takemy room, and then have my meals a lacarte, and by this means I exactly halvedthe pension terms. My first meal was com-posed of soup, veal, salad and cheese. Ihad not intended to have soup, as Iordered spagetti, which I naturally thoughtwould be macaroni and tomato sauce, andwas disgusted to find it the name of a soup.Wine was given free, and all the othercustomers seemed to drink it, but I foundit horribly bitter, and to take off the taste


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16 THROUGH BOSNIAI allowed myself a mareschinothe onlypart of my lunch I enjoyed ! At night Ihad macaroni in pieces three-quarters ofa yard long, these I found most difficult tonegotiate, as when I twirled it round myfork, and was about to put it in my mouth,the whole thing flew off like a spring. Ithink it took me twenty minutes to tacklethis dish.The streets here are very quaint, as the

town is built on the hill side, there are agreat many steps, At the entrance to thetown, near the Qua}', is a beautiful gate-way which I tried to draw, but the intensecold and wind soon sent me away. TheCathedral has fine doors east and north.My guide and I wandered about the townlooking for paintable spots of which thereare many, we went into the gardens whereis a statue to Tommaseo (the author), andin a fountain I saw a fat goldfish who seemedto look at me out of the corner of his eye,


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The Porta Marina, Sebenico.


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AND HERZEGOVINA. 17in surprise at a stranger. There are manyremains of old Venetian days, in old door-ways and on beautiful carvings, and I cameacross a fine lion of St. Mark let into thewall of a building : very old columns, Roman,are used as corner stones to many of thehouses. The streets are very narrow andthe houses high. May here would be acharming month, but the end of March isfar too early. My guide and I sat in thegardens for awhile in the sun, but the windsent us indoors, it rose so high and the dustblew in clouds.

I told my guide to come early nextmorning if it was fine ana warmer, but thepiercing wind still prevailed, so we waitedtill nine, and I drew the pretty view frommy window. I was longing to draw thegate which I had kept in view from myearlier trip down this coast and for whichparticular reason I came to Sebenico, how-ever we had no luck, and again I could do


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18 THROUGH BOSNIAnothing but wander in the streets. I sawsome wonderful Easter offerings, chickensmade of a sort of yellow bread, with two redpaste eggs reposing in their breasts, onecock's feather in the tail and another in thehead.

I took a few photographs of the fruitmarket, but the non-picturesque peoplewere very tiresome, coming immediately infront of my camera at the most criticalmoment. One man's waistcoat was coveredwith embroidery and masses of silver buttonsin clusters down the front and others at thesides ; they were very handsome buttons,large, round, and filagreed, and others wereflat. Those I have on my coat were a sourceof great interest, and as the natives talkItalian, they were a subject of much con-versation between them and myself.The bread market is very quaint, rows

and rows of long loaves of bread, which myguide says is sold very cheap to the poor


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AND HERZEGOVINA 19people. The vegetable market is close tothe bread market, but vegetables are fewjust now; where anything green came fromI was at a loss to know, as a fresh blade ofgrass even was nowhere to be seen, all is barerock and thoroughly winterly in appearance.On the second day I sallied forth to paint

my gate at 12-30, so as to sit in the sun andavoid the crowd of natives who had goneto their mid-day meal, and luckily did notseem in any hurry to come out after it. Onaccount of the cold I left early next day,instead of by the evening train. There areonly two trains, so I decided to leave by the7-20 a.m. I had hoped to be able to go toKnin, but we found it took too long for meto reach the yacht in time. Of course, asusual, we arrived ages too soon at the station.A small boy carried most of my luggage andmy guide the rest. The station was abouta mile from the hotel, there are no carriagesin the town, so walking is compulsory. The


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20 THROUGH BOSNIAtrain was already in the station, and I natur-ally wanted to get into it, but I was wavedback by an official, and was told I mustwait till the appointed time. At Petrovicwe changed trains, and I had time to sketchone or two natives, the woman wore verythick dark blue cloth with stripes of redapplique, and green and orange pipingsand strappings, with patches of wool em-broidery at intervals, and an apron of manycolours, edged with a hair fringe ; her headwas covered by a white embroidered cottonkerchief. Also a fine old man made animposing figure with his long brown coat,blue trousers hooked tightly at the ankle,his many coloured embroidered waistcoatand his silver buttons, and wide leather belt,in which were tucked weapons and pipes.He was smoking a long wooden pipe, holdingthe bowl in his hand, chatting to me whileI was sketching him.We came along the most arid country,


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AND HERZEGOVINA 21all stones, but lots of vines were growingapparently out of the stones, as I could seehardly any soil about them ; in some partsthere was more soil, and on the hillsidespatches of earth for vineyards. The railwaywinds in and out of the hills which are grey,and the only bit of colour to be seen was inthe costumes of the peasants, which was anagreeable relief from the great monotonyof stone. Men and women were very busydigging and attending to the vines. Wepassed Trau and Salona at some distance,at the latter are many Roman remains,which are beautifully situated over the bay.Salona was once the capital of RomanDalmatia and had a naval harbour, itsmassive walls were washed by the sea inthose days, but now it has receded far fromthe ruins. In the Roman Civil War, Salonaadhered to Caesar, and was beseiged byOctavius, Pompey's general. Much exca-vation is still going on, and the chief relics


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22 THROUGH BOSNIAare removed to the Museum at Spalato.Diocletian had a beautiful palace overlookingthis bay, which covered nine and a halfacres in extent. Diocletian was born nearRagusa.

This little railway ends at Spalato, wherewe once more joined the yacht.

Spalato is picturesquely encircled by loftyhills and lies in a fertile region on a peninsula.The town owes its name to a great palace

(palatium) of Diocletian, within the precintsof which a great part of the old town is built.The palace formed a little world of its own,with temples, baths, &c., of which the prin-cipal remains are more or less built over, asfor instance the Cathedral piazza, once theperistyle, has twelve Corinthian columns,some of which are built into the houses,while the south end is occupied by an im-posing vestibule with four columns of redgranite. This vestibule once led to theprivate state apartments and from it opensa Rotunda.


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AND HERZEGOVINA. 23The Cathedral, a fine edifice, enclosed

by a dilapidated colonnade (originally theMausoleum of Diocletian) is now dedicatedto the Virgin and St. Diomo. In the interiorare eight columns, twenty-three feet high,bearing an ambulatory, on which stand eightcolumns which were once crowned by statues.Between these columns at the top is a friezewith hunting scenes, portraits, and variousother figures. The pulpit and choir-stallsare also Romanesque : the columns of theformer with their capitols are very fine.The Baptistery was supposed to have beenthe private temple of Diocletian, dedicatedto Jupiter.The Porta Aurea is on the north and is

the palace gate facing the land. This gateis most imposing and impressive, no doubtbecause it has not been mixed up with modernbuildings, so you get a clear view of it.

Happily for me while at Spalato somethingwent wrong with the yacht's boiler, this much


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24 THROUGH BOSNIArefreshed me by its kindness, and I decidedto take a little jaunt of my own to Trau, atown we had passed on our way, so to TrauI went, accompanied by the old courierAngelos. We chartered a carriage anddrove to this dear little place with a lovelyold Venetian Cathedral. At Spalato wehad a thunderstorm, and the weather stilllooked threatening, so after seeing the sightsof Trau, I settled down to work on the oldVenetian gate of the town. I had only timeto draw it that evening and hoped to returnnext day, as we had to stay the night atTrau, but alas ! it rained hard all night, andI was wondering if I should rise at day-breakor not, when I suddenly remembered thedoor and covered-in porch of the Cathedral.To this I started off in a downpour, butfound I could sit comfortably inside the porch,and there old Angelos found me in due course,hard at work, and there I sat till lunch time.

In the afternoon it cleared, and I went


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AND HERZEGOVINA 25on painting the gate, but the wind blewmy sketch twice off the easel, so I had togive it up and ordered the carriage to returnto Spalato. Two ruffianly looking youths cladin brown coats with hoods acted as coachmanand footman. When we reached the octroi,they had to throw back their coats for in-spection underneath ; as it was raining andthe hood was up, the douanier proceeded toexamine the inside of the carriage, andfound old Angelos and myself, at which hesaluted respectfully and waved us on.

I found the family also anxious to visitTrau, and next morning we all returned bysea, so much the better for my gate ! Thedrive is quite pretty, and it was a treat tosee green once more. On the way I passedseven villages all called Castello something,as Castelvecchio, Castelnuovo, &c, relicsof old feudal times, there being a castle inthe centre of each village with houses allround it. I longed to visit each, but hadno time.


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26 THROUGH BOSNIAThe men's costumes are very striking, blue

trousers open at the back of the ankle toten inches from the shoea string sandallittle brass hooks and eyes to fasten themwhen required, red sashes and tabs atthe waist, the sash in which the usualweapon reposes, brown jacket with crimsonvelvet slashes and fringe ornamentingthe front, piped with crimson all round, awaistcoat of red velvet with silver buttons,and the scarlet cap crowns all. Thewomen look well in dark blue, with ared band round the bottom of the skirt,coloured handkerchiefs on their heads ; somewore long blue coats piped with red and redbands embroidered down the sides, a sortof stocking-shoe embroidered in many coloursand an apron of red and yellow.The landlord at Trau was surprised andpleased to see me again for my frugal lunchof fried eggs, Parmesan cheese and radishes ;the yacht had anchored so far out, I could


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AND HERZEGOVINA 27not go back to it. I finished my work inhand, and then tried to draw the attentionof someone on the yacht, but it was no use,so I had to hire a boat from shore.

It was twelve hours run from Spalato toGravosa (the harbour of Ragusa). We camepast the islands of Lesina, Lissa, Curzola,and Sabioncello, and down the Canale diMelita. We thought of calling at the townof Curzola, which is well worth a visit, butas it was blowing hard, we deemed it wiserto push on.We reached Ragusa next morning aftera rolling night, and anchored opposite thetown ; but there was such a roll on, I wassure that none but the best sailors wouldcome to breakfast, so we moved into theport of Gravosa, two miles away.

Mr. T. and I walked to the town, he, poorman, politely carrying my satchel. On theway we passed many villas. The old townis entered by a charming old gate, called


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28 THROUGH BOSNIAPorta Pille ; old walls surround the town,which is also a fortress. Directly you enterthe gate a quaint fountain meets your gaze,and many figures in costumes are groupedabout it. We wandered on down the prin-cipal street of shops, in many of which werecollections of curiosities, embroideries, bags,belts, swords, old inlaid mother-of-pearlstocked guns, &c, the belts of enormousweight were studded with agates, and weresaid to have been worn by the women.Narrow streets, with innumerable steps,branched off from the main street ; severalchurches and two monasteries, the Franciscanwith a charming old courtyard.The Rector's Palace had a fine portico ;

these were among the things we saw, but Ihave no doubt that there were many otherswe did not see of equal interest, as my atten-tion was rivetted on one of the steep sidestreets, bright with all kinds of colouredclothing strung across it. I had hardly


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A Street in Ragusa


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I BOSNIA

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St. Biagio


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AND HERZEGOVINA. 41which it is permitted to walk by an orderfrom the commandant's office ; but wefound greater attractions. On passingthrough Porta Pille you enter the long widestreet called the Corso, and here on Sundaysthey run races, one of which we saw, twomen were running backwards and forwardsfor four miles. The Corso extends fromone end of the town to the other, and isflanked by the principal shops and some ofthe Churches.On the right, near the gate, is the large

fountain called Onofrio, which was built in1473, and here many picturesque figurescome to draw water. To the left is theFranciscan Church, with its fine cloisters andits Gothic portal. Rather lower down thestreet on the opposite side is the ServianChurch, at the east end of the Corso, in asquare, is the Church of St. Biagio. On theleft is the custom house, formerly the mint.This was built in the Venetian style, about


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42 THROUGH BOSNIA1520, and is adorned with a statue of St.Biag'io, it has also a handsome courtyard.Near, is the clock tower and the guard housewith an old fountain. Then comes thePalazzo Comunale and the Museum. TheRector's Palace with its fine colonnade ismost striking, and passing through the door-way is a beautiful courtyard surrounded bypillars, and a noble marble staircase possiblydating from the fifteenth century, but recently irestored.Walking further on you come to the Cathe-

dral, built in the seventeenth century. Fromhere we pass on to the market place, whichhas a beautiful old Venetian door ; there oneday I sketched under difficulties, with acurious crowd and a tearing wind, whichwhirled the dust round and round over meand my easel, in a very aggravating manner.Returning whence we came, we walked

along to the clock tower, which we passedunder, and immediately to our left was the


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AND HERZEGOVINA 43Dominican Monastery, up several flightsof steps.My first day was spent in shopping and

sight-seeing, the former consisted of buyingsome of the beautiful gold embroideries. Ifound what I think will make a beautifuldinner gown, the coat is embroidered nearlyall over with the most exquisite gold embroid-ery ; this coat is sleeveless, but belongingto it are sleeves which are also a mass ofembroidery, these are cut perfectly straight,so impossible to wear, but I think they canbe adapted by wearing them outside othersand allowed to fall loose. I also bought a goldembroidered man's waistcoat which makesa very smart trimming for a coat, or couldbe used for a winter gown. I found someold silver pins for hats, and a quaint jugwhich has a secret how to drink out of itwithout spilling the wine. It is very old,the wine comes up the handle, round the topof the jug to the lip, in which is a hole to


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44 THROUGH BOSNIAdrink, all the top of the jug is perforated,so it is necessary to know the secret to avoidspilling the wine. I added many other thingsto my collection and sent them on to theyacht to be brought home. These shops aretoo fascinating for words, there are so manythings you can't get at Liberty's, wonderfulto relate. There are quantities of old firearmsfor sale, old guns with inlaid stocks, pistolsof all sizes and shapes, &c, &c. The placewas full of visitors speaking in German tongue,but we saw no English, or even the everpresent American. There are many oldbuildings worth visiting, and the streetsare very quaint and picturesque, also verynarrow, stretching up the hillsides ; one widelong street down the centre of the town,where the principal shops are to be found.

Friday and Saturday mornings I spent inpainting the cloisters of the DominicanMonastery, and I persuaded one of the youngmonks to pose for me, sitting near the well.


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AND HERZEGOVINA. 45In the afternoon Miss B. and I walked aboutthe quaint old streets and saw many attrac-tive bits for the brush, and then had coffeeat a cafe and sat on the terrace, but the windwas cold, as we were not in the sun whichis hot. Certainly the weather as to the in-tense cold had somewhat improved, and wefound it unnecessary to wear so many coatsand woolly things as before, which was ablessing.The peasants were very picturesque, and

there is a great variety of costume both inmen and women, some of course very shabby,and one wonders how their rags hold together.All these towns are wonderfully clean andabout here all the people look clean, thoughthey may be very ragged. The monks atthe monastery were very interested in mywork, and crowded on to the balcony aboveme, chattering like magpies. Sunday, Iwent to high Mass, and in the afternoon tooka carriage to drive to San Giacomo, a disused


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46 THROUGH BOSNIAmonastery. Karabaich sat on the box withmy sketching materials. Carriages are hor-ribly expensive, at the rate of about twoshillings a mile. Unfortunately we took itfor granted that we could get on to the terrace,and allowed the carriage to go away withinstructions to return in three hours. Alas !the doors were all locked, and though wefound out where the custodian lived, he hadgone to the town, so as it was not very far towalk to the Villa Adrian, Karabaich and Idecided to look at it on our way back on foot,as we could not spend three hours doingnothing by the wayside. The Villa Adrianis a pension, a charming situation withseveral terraces down to the sea ; all is quitenew except some of the columns used in thepergolas. I made various enquiries about thepension, but was not pleased with the ideaof always schinken (ham) for supper, andthe rooms I saw did not impress me favour-ably either. In ten years' time the garden


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AND HERZEGOVINA 47will be lovely, no doubt, and in the summerwhen the leaves are out it must now be quitenice.The next day we went to the much talkedof Island of Lacroma, to which a small launch

conveys you, and you pay the sum of twokrones to go and return, and another kroneto the solitary Dominican monk who inhabitsthe island. Lacroma used to belong to theEmperor Maximilian, and then to PrinceRudolf, but it was then considered so unluckythat the Emperor handed it over to theDominicans. I asked the monk if he hadseen any ghosts, at which he was muchamused. Part of the Monastery can bewandered over, and the gardens would becharming if well planted with flowers. Thesegardens, of which there are several, are sur-rounded by high hedges, and box bordersenough to delight any one. The rooms of themonastery are bare, but over each bedroomdoor is a rhyme in German, such as :


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48 THROUGH BOSNIA" Freund in der DrothFreund in der TodtFreund hintern RuckenDas sind drei starke Bnicken,"and another

1 ' Schweig und MeigWerk und LeidJedes Ding hat seine Zeit."

and so on over each door.I saw many prints of Queen Victoria,

Prince Albert, and other Royalties, alsoseveral engravings of old English picturesby famous artists. The island is itselfcovered with small fir and cypress trees, andhas many shady walks. We had some timeto wait for the return launch, and amusedourselves by sketching the monk ; Miss B.took a photo of him and promised him acopy. On our return the town was gay withpeople of all nationalities and costumes tosee a great race being run down the principalstreet, by two men who ran for an hour and


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AND HERZEGOVINA. 49a half without stopping. I sat at the feacand sketched some of the people.

After dinner there was nothing to be doneor to see in the town, and as the drawing-rooms soon became very stuffy, I went offto my room after supper.One afternoon while we were amusing

ourselves by turning over, and I am afraidpurchasing, some of the fascinating goodsin one of the shops, we found a bridegroommaking purchases for his bride elect, whowas attended by her mother and aunt aschaperones. Both bride and bridegroomcame from the Canali district, where thewomen wear a very charming costume ofbright colours. On the head is a little redand gold embroidered cap, over it a whiteembroidered accordian pleated handkerchief,embroidered vest and bolero, with tassels ofgold coloured silk on sleeves and bodice, awhite apron with a deep embroidered hem,probably a bright blue accordian pleated


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50 THROUGH BOSNIAskirt with a border of some other colour.About the bodice and waist are many ribbonsas ornament, and a sash of many coloursround the waist. We saw a good many sodressed on Easter Sunday in the town.On April 4th we left Ragusa in drenching

rain, which began the day before and con-tinued all the journey to Mostar, but washappily fine after our arrival about 7-30.This is a journey of eight hours through themountains of rugged grey stone. The rail-way goes up a great height and winds in andout of the hills, the view is more grand thanbeautiful. The train stops at many littlestations for the sole reason of allowing thetravellers to have drinks, we concluded, asat many places we stayed ten minutes forapparently no reason except that we sawthe travellers flocking into a bar.

Herzegovina, since 1878, has been underthe titular dominion of the Turkish Sultan,but the administration of Austria-Hungary.


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The Old Bridge, Mostar.

I


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n.

ar, butit 7-30.ugh t

ad

little

-


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AND HERZEGOVINA 51It is bounded on the north and east byBosnia, south by Montenegro, and west byDalmatia, and only just touches the Adriaticat Sutterina. Some districts, those of Niksichand Domitor, have been placed by the Treatyof Berlin under the Government of the Princeof Montenegro.The greater part of the population belong

to the Greek Church. Then come about70,000 Mohamedans, some Roman Catholics,Jews, and Gipsies. The Mahomedan popu-lation are those that strike the eye most,probably because of the men's picturesquedress, and the bazaars which one makes apoint of visiting.The people live chiefly in hamlets, and

there are only about five towns ; the capitalof Herzegovina is Mostar.Over the river Narenta, at Mostar, is a

fine old Roman bridge which connects twoparts of the town.The river Narenta is the principal river,


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52 THROUGH BOSNIAand along its valley lies the most cultivation,olives, mulberries, figs, melons, grapes, rice,and maize are grown. In some places thereare forests of beech and pine. Many of themountains reach to a height of 8,500 feetnear the Montenegrin frontier. There aremany sheep and goats, out of the wool ofwhich the long white thick coats are madethat you see hanging at shop doors in thehamlets all the way to Mostar. There is ahigh road from Serajevo in Bosnia, throughHerzegovina to the Adriatic.We visited these parts in April, but it wasfar too early for comfort, and I should notrecommend anyone to attempt it before June.

Herzegovina seems to have changed handsmany times within the last 400 years, at onetime belonging to Hungary, and then toBosnia, then Turkey conquered it ; earlier,too, the Venetians seemed to have a look in.Of its history under the Turks there seemsto be no particular records. Feudalism,


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AND HERZEGOVINA 53under Mahomedan guise continued to survivehere. The Spahis, begs, or agas, weremediaeval lords who had apostatized to Islam.They kept their ancestral castles, bannersand title deeds, and patents of nobility.They enacted feudal service from their serfsand retainers. One of these Mahomedannobles, Ali, Aga of Stolac, did such goodservice for the Sultan in his struggle withthe Bosnian magnates, that he was madeVizier of Herzegovina, which was freed fora while from Bosnian government. Thereform of Sultan Mahmoud did not by anymeans remove the grievances of the popula-tion of Herzegovina. The serfs had now tosatisfy the extortion of imperial excisementas well as from their feudal lords. The begsand agas extorted from them forced labourand a third of the produce ; the centralgovernment levied a tithe, which at the dateof the outbreak had become an eighth. Threekinds of cattle tax : the tax for exemption


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54 THROUGH BOSNIAfrom military service levied on every infantin arms, forced labour in the roads, forcedloan of horses, a heavy tax on grapes andtobacco, and a variety of lesser taxes crushedthe Christian peasants ; but more gallingstill the manner in which these taxes wereextorted the iniquitous assessment of taxfarmers and excisemen and the brutallicense of the Zaptiehs quartered on recal-citrant villagers. All this caused the insur-rection of 1875, the villagers of Nevinsinge(which takes its name from a plateaunear Mostar) who were unable to bear theextortions and outrages committed by theZaptiehs and bashi-basouks, rose againsttheir oppressors. The insurrection spreadrapidly through Herzegovina and on toBosnia, and for a year the Herzegoviniansunder their leaders held out against all theforces of Turkey, and in two struggles in thegorge of Muratovizza the Turks lost over2,000 men. In July, 1876, principalities


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AND HERZEGOVINA. 55joined in the struggle ; the Russo-Turkishwar followed, and by the treaty of Berlin,the government of Herzegovina and Bosniawas confided to Austria-Hungary, whileNiksich and the country about Mount Dor-mitor were detached from Herzegovina andannexed to Montenegro.

Curiously enough, that at this presenttime, when all the states around are agitating,not one word comes in protest from eitherof these two states, Herzegovina or Bosnia.

In July, 1878, the Austrian troops crossedthe Herzegovinian frontier, and this newsroused the Mahomedan fanatics to a desperateeffort.On August 2nd the Mahomedans of Mostar,

believing themselves betrayed by the Turk-ish government, rose

en masse, murderedthe Turkish governor and officials. TheAustrians pressed forward, and crushingsome ineffectual efforts at resistance, enteredMostar on the 5th August. Since the com-


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56 THROUGH BOSNIApletion of the occupation, the governmentof the province has been under the militarygovernor at Sarajevo, controlled by theForeign Office at Vienna. The Sultan has,up to now, remained the sovereign de jure,so that the present declaration of Austriais not likely to involve any alteration ofgovernment from what has gone on allthese last thirty years.At Mostar there is quite a comfortable

hotel called Hotel Narenta, with a Restaurantattached, where you can order what youlike in the way of food, without having tosit through a weary supperwhich took anhour at Ragusa,and we found the cookingmuch better too. Two ladies can travelalone in these parts quite well, if they canspeak Italian and German, and at the Hotelsthey all speak English. I have my guide,Karabaich, who carries my sketching thingsand keeps off the crowdall of which is aconvenience, but not a necessity so far.


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AND HERZEGOVINA 57Next day we wandered into the town, which

was a mass of mud. It rained at intervals,but we managed to see the old town with theTurkish Bazaar, which consists of tiny shops ;nothing much tempted us to buy, thoughit was interesting to look at them. Thereare many little Mosques dotted about withtiny minarets. It was too wet to sketch,so memory must suffice. I thought of takinga drive, but the downpour began after lunch.We wondered how much longer it wouldlast ! !

The stamps of Herzegovina are most fas-cinating with little views on them, they canbe had from the value of a quarter of afarthing upwards, each stamp has a differentview on it. and they are double the size of anordinary stamp, so take up a good deal ofroom on an envelope.Here we were much impressed by the

women's ungainly costume with their hideousbaggy trousers, generally of some black


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58 THROUGH BOSNIAmaterial, the whole of the upper part of thebody and head is swathed in the feridjeh,and they waddle along very similar to ducks,the back view being most laughable.

I have painted one in my view of thebridge of Mostar.

I made the excursion by carriage to thesource of the Buna, about eight miles fromMostar ; happily it ceased raining and I wasable to sketch the source which wells upfrom the ground apparently, but is one ofthe curious rivers of these countries whichin an extraordinary way rind their waythrough a mountain. A windmill andmosque came picturesquely into my fore-ground, and the rich deep blue of the wateradded to its charm.

I was sorry we had such wretched weatherat Mostar.About seven o'clock next day the sun

came out very kindly for our journey toSarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, and before


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The Source of the Buna, near Mostar.


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of I

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AND HERZEGOVINA 59leaving Mostar we paid another visit to thetown, into other streets ; but the pic-turesque ones are all Turkish. The betterclass women wear a most curious feridjeh,with a bonnet attached to it very like anelongated Quaker's bonnet ; no one can seeunder it, but they see out of a chink. Thisdomino is generally all black or dark blue.Many of the women wore trousers undertheir skirts, the latter they tucked up veryhigh to keep them out of the mud.Going along in the train we saw many

curious houses and scenes. The houses haveall very deep roofs of wood and often thewhole house is wood, there are no properchimneys, the smoke coming out at fourlittle windows in the roof. Ploughing wasin full force, and six oxen are often yokedto a plough driven by a woman in Turkishtrousers and sort of shawl over her head ;sometimes the trousers were scarlet and theshawl white, and sometimes the whole cos-


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60 THROUGH BOSNIAtume would be yellow. The little girls andboys, looking after the flocks of sheep withbeautiful long white wool, were dressed inbrown sort of riding breeches, the boy wear-ing a fez and the girl a kerchief on thehead, the only distinction of sex.

Bosnia, the other state claimed by Austria,which is very mountainous, is bounded onthe south by Albania and Montenegro, eastby Servia, north and west by the Austriandominions, and has an area of about 24,024miles. A large proportion is forest land,and valuable as it furnishes timber and fuel.Plums are largely grown and exported asprunes ; maize and wheat are the principalcrops, but barley, oats, hemp, rice, are grown ;cattle, sheep and goats are plentiful, andlarge droves of pigs are fed in the oak forests.The whole valley of the Bosnia is said tobe a coal bed, and copper is worked in severalplaces, also at Inatch is a very valuablecimmabar mine. Marble, too, is found and


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A Street in Sarajevo.


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AND HERZEGOVINA 61there are saline springs. The principalexports are timber, fruit, cattle, wool, lamb-skins, furs of wild animals, wax and honey.Nearly all the trading is with Austria. Latelyseveral roads have been made that connectsome of the principal towns. The provinceis divided into seven Sandjaks. The peopleare Servians, but principally Mahomedans,as is seen in passing many graveyards by theside of the railway, sadly dilapidated spots,the gravestones of which for men are com-posed of a column, crowned by a carvedturban or fez, generally toppling sidewaysover in a melancholy manner and leaningtowards another column. A large part ofthe south has an Albanian population.Mahomedanism is not only predominant,

but often enforced ; education is very neg-lected, though there are a good many schools.The population of Bosnia is about 1,592,000.

The early inhabitants were Illyrians, and forthe first time they are mentioned in the


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62 THROUGH BOSNIAhistory was 34 B.C. In the Roman period,of which nothing remains, and at the end ofthe fourth century, Roman sway was over-come by the invasion of the Goths, thenfollowed Croatians, then Servians. The south-west part became Christian under Justinian(527-565) and the rest of it by Servianapostles, Cyril and Methodius, about a.d. 880.From a.d. 940 and onwards, Bosnia wasgoverned by elective princes or "bans,"who afterwards became feudatories of theHungarian kings.

In a.d. 1377, the ruling Ban assumed thetitle King Stephen Tvertko I. In the reign ofhis eighth successor, Stephen Tomashewitch,Bosnia was conquered by Sultan MahommedII., this was in 1463. In 1528, the banet ofJaice, and in 1592 the north-west part ofBosnia was taken by Turkey, and becamethe chief theatre of long wars betweenAustria and Turkey, which at length wereended by the peace of Sistova in 1791. The


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AND HERZEGOVINA. 63oppressive Turk left very little peace, causingthe Christians to revolt repeatedly, par-ticularly in 1850 and 1875 ; and in 1878, theTreaty of Berlin handed Bosnia with Herze-govina over to the government of Austria.A great deal has been done by way of im-provements, such as new roads connectingimportant towns, the railway, also goodgendarmes keep order.

I do not think the Bosnian is at all dis-satisfied, in fact I understand that at a largemeeting at Sarajevo of the Servian Indepen-dent Party, which consists chiefly of peasants,they decided to send a deputation of sixtypersons to thank the Emperor of Austriafor the annexation of Bosnia and Herze-govina, and to assure His Majesty of theirloyalty. One half of the deputation wouldconsist of peasants, and the rest of the clergyand townsmen. The propositions of Austria-Hungary being, that the complete autonomywhich would be introduced into Bosnia and


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64 THROUGH BOSNIAHerzegovina would be based on the threeruling elements of the population, whichmust receive their proper representation inthe Diet. To ensure this free developmentof the country, as well as religious peace, eachof the three denominations would elect acertain number of deputies, but no one wouldbe obliged to elect a member of his ownpersuasion. In addition to the Diet, districtcouncils would also be created. It is thoughtthat these arrangements may be carried outin the Spring.The chief town, Sarajevo, is picturesquewith its numerous minarets, and there are

nine bridges over its river, the Miljavka.Sad to say we found ourselves very near

the snow at Sarajevo, and from the inces-sant rain the streets were ankle-deep in mudin the Bazaars. We wandered out in theafternoon with our skirts not quite so highas the trousered ladies, but still we weredetermined they should be out of the mud.


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Turkish Shops, Sarajevo.


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AND HERZEGOVINA. 65Of course sketching and photography werenot to be thought of, the only thing we coulddo was to patter along and see as much ofinterest as possible. In the little shopscopper was being beaten into trays, jugs,ash-trays, coffee pots and cup holders, alsothere were silver and enamel things for sale ;I bought a couple of silver hat-pins. I sawbuckles, brooches, studs, earrings, &c, allmade of silver in patterns or designs carriedout on the article for sale. There werequantities of shoemakers and saddlers allhard at work. Stalls of sweet sellers whohave a round table on which to display theirwares laid out in sections. The lemonadesellers and coffee sellers carried their jugsand glasses, calling as they walked, very likeCairo. People wore goloshes or pattens ofwood, some of the latter of which Miss B.was very anxious to purchase, but I ratherfrightened her, saying she might fall on hernose as she was not used to them, and no


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66 THROUGH BOSNIAdoubt they would be awkward to walk withat first, so she refrained from buying a pair.We plodded along for some time, then re-turned to a warm cafe, where we had deliciouscoffee with beaten up cream, so grateful andwarming !The cold at Sarajevo was so great that I

felt very tempted to go straight to Budapestand give up my tour to Plitvice after all.

It is no pleasure to be even out of doorsin this damp depressing weather, but unfor-tunately the morning that was to decide mebroke forth into sunshine once more, and Idecided to go on. No green was to be seenon any bushes, and the rivers were all inflood ; however, as I had a guide on purposefor this trip, I wanted to go if possible.My bedroom had such a depressing outlook

that I asked to change it. A tumbledownTurkish hotel was not elevating to spiritsI found, and beside that there seemed to bea general rubbish heap ; in fact, I had my


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AND HERZEGOVINA. 67doubts as to whether it was healthy, over-looking such a place. Though it is alwaysan effort to change rooms, I made up mymind it must be done, and changed verymuch for the better, moving into quite a newpart of the hotel, which was very sweet andclean after what I had just left.The next day was a glorious warm one

and my spirits rose again, so I decided to gothe original excursion to Jajce, and on.Miss B. , who did not like driving and roughingit, decided she would go direct to Budapest,and home by Vienna, leaving me on Tuesdayevening. The journeys in these mountainousregions are very long and the trains creepvery slowly; each little journey in distancesince we left Ragusa has taken seven oreight hours, but the whole way is interesting.

" Early, Karabaich and I wandered forthwith my camera, and in hopes of finding aplace to sketch, which seemed hopeless inthe Bazaars, as the streets are very narrow,


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68 THROUGH BOSNIAwith crowds of people and ponies laden withwood passing along ; those laden with hayrequire the width of the street to themselves,and woe betide the passer-by if he does notstep back into a doorway. After lunch wewent out to sketch, and found a quiet streetwhich was also picturesque. Karabaichwas busy keeping off the crowd who had"spotted" me. The boys soon discoveredsomething out of the ordinary was going on,and the little girls were made to stand backby the boys, I fancy, but I was too busy topay much attention, and finally got a mostsuccessful sketch with some Turkish ladiesflitting by in the picture ; these I had to drawin very hurriedly, as they, like all Easterns,consider it bad luck to have a portrait taken,and many of the groups in the market rapidlydispersed when they detected my camera.The people one sees in these parts are

remarkably plain, though many of the menare tall and well made, and of fine physique.


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The Market Place, Sarajevo.


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AND HERZEGOVINA 69The Bosnian costume is very ugly, the womenwear enormously wide black trousers downto their feet, these being so voluminousmust be much in the way in wet weather,and become very muddy and damp aboutthe ankles. The material used has everyappearance of black sateen.

After a journey of seven hours fromSarajevo, Karabaich and I arrived at Jajce.The railway winds in and out, and in and outof the mountains. It was fine all day untilI went out to paint the wonderful waterfall.This is a charming old town, full of quaintwood roofed houses and mosques, the min-arets are even made of wood. There seemto be many Turks living here, and in theseparts I passed many dilapidated graveyardson my way, and every village has a mosqueor two. Many of the women are veiled ;it must be a horrid bore to have to go aboutso muffled up, and what must it be in summer !

At Jajce in the old days, the Kings of


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70 THROUGH BOSNIABosnia had their castle, and the town wasfortified and surrounded by walls ; the ruinsof walls and castles still remain. Nextmorning was again wet and I did not go out,finally we had a short shower, but afterlunch it cleared. The landlord asked meif I would like to visit a Turkish lady. Ofcourse I was delighted, and he accompaniedme with Karabiach on the box, to a villageabout seven miles off, where a friend of hiswould take me into a Turkish house. Wedrove up to a " Theehutte ' ' and were muchrefreshed and warmed by some deliciouscoffee, then I sallied forth with the landlady'sservant girl as interpreter, to call, as of coursethe landlord from Jajce could not evenapproach the doorstep ! I could only speakGerman and the Turkish lady Bosnian, sowithout an interpreter our conversationwould have been very limited. It was theproper thing to take presents with you, forthe mother and children. I was at a loss to


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AND HERZEGOVINA 71know where the presents were to be got inthat tiny village, but the little maid tookme to a shop, where we bought sweets forthe children and a piece of soap, scentedstrongly with pachouli, for the lady. Armedwith these we arrived on the doorstep. Intothe house we walked without knockingnodoubt we were expectedand climbed somevery steep stairs, went along a landing andentered a very comfortable sitting-room,with a divan all round it. There were oneor two chairs, but the grandmother whocame in to show some of her crotchet work,squatted on her heels on the floor. Onelittle girl with hair of a most curious redcame into the room. I heard afterwards itwas dyed, and certainly the colour was mostunnatural and never seen in genuine redhair. The grandmother wore a wig of thiscolour, and a tiny baby of one year also hadit. I asked about this of the tea houselandlady, and she told me they will dye a


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72 THROUGH BOSNIAbaby's hair of even a month old. Severallittle boys peeped at me through a crack inthe door, but they would not come in, so Igave the sweets to the girl, which she secretedinside the cupboard bed in the room, and themother tucked her soap hurriedly awaysomewhere about her person. The roomwas very clean and neat, with rugs on thefloor, and a quantity of coloured stuffspiled in one corner. A stove pipe camethrough the floor to warm it, but alsoI saw a curious stove in the corner, whichlooked as though it was ornamented withbottle ends in cement of some kind. Themother had been very good-looking ; sheremarked on my teeth with envious eyes asthey were all there, and she had lost a goodmany of hers. The windows of the housewere latticed, except those looking on to theriver, where no one could see into the room.Mrs. Turk was very interested in my weddingring, which she proposed to keep as a souvenir,


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Jaice.


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AND HERZEGOVINA. 73but I expressed much regret that I couldnot part with it, as it was the English customto wear our wedding rings for the rest of ourlives, and my husband might be angry if Igave it away. No doubt she wondered whatI was doing travelling alone, but she did notask me. After a cup of Turkish coffee I left.I was really highly entertained by my visit.The road runs along by the river whichhas cataracts and falls, and little mills built

of wood, standing over the water, theseare reached by a plank, and are used forgrinding corn. We passed an inland lake onthe way, the Lake of Jesero.

In this part, it is the custom to kiss yourhanda performance I particularly dislike,and I now carefully retain my gloves whenI think it may take place. It can't be helped,and to draw it hurriedly away would causegreat offence.Next morning was not very fine, but we

started in a carriage about 7-30 to drive to


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74 THROUGH BOSNIABajnaluka, a nine hours' drive. On the way,where we lunched and the horses rested, thelandlord told me that this year the wolveshad come down as low as his house, but ashe had no gun, he had to wait till they choseto go away.

At Bajnaluka there is not much to see.Karabaich and I wandered about and founda few Turkish shops and stalls. The peopleare hideously ugly, clothed in quantities ofrags, so they may be warm.A train at 7 a.m. brought us to Novi (theend of the world we called it) . Here we wereto find a carriage to take us to Plitvice, butthe only decent one refused to go, and theothers were so falling to bits I was sure weshould never reach our destination, so I hadreluctantly to give up the expedition and goon to Vienna. Had we known what a deso-late spot Novi was, we should not haveattempted to alight ; but unfortunately wecould not get on till evening, as there was


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AND HERZEGOVINA. 75no train. To anyone wishing to travel inthese parts, I recommend them to wait tillJune. At Agram I dismissed my guide,and so ends my trip through these unfre-quented parts.One or two little remarks I must make

before I close, one is on the honesty of thepeople. My umbrella, which is a valuableone, not only in keeping off the constantrain, but because it has a gold duck on thestick, which I value very much, I suddenlymissed one day at Sarajevo while sketching;getting a sudden shock as to what had becomeof my umbrella when I had been deep in mypaint box, I appealed to Karabaich, whohad been keeping off a crowd of urchins. ' ' Itis all right, lady, ' ' he explained, in Italian, ' ' Iput it by that fence behind,' ' and sure enoughit was still there, though the fence was twentyyards behind me and a large crowd in between.My luggage, too, was often left for ages on atable in the waiting-room quite unguarded, it


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76 THROUGH BOSNIAwas all there on our return. I am afraid Ishould not have such confidence in mynative land!A word in praise, too, I must add of my

guide Karabaich. Should any of my readerswant a guide, I can certainly recommendhim as being most attentive, of very niceappearance and manners, and thoroughlyhonest. He is a native of Pola and is a pilotby trade, he also has a boat trading in wine ;his name and the town will always find him,as he is well known there. He speaksGerman, Italian, and Slav, and possiblyother languages, but I did not require them.


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Through Bosnia and Herzegovina With a Paint Brush

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