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  THROUGH
  BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
  WITH A PAINT BRUSH.

  PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY
  WILLIAM DRESSER AND SONS, DARLINGTON.


[Illustration: A Street in Sarajevo, Bosnia.]




  Through
  Bosnia and Herzegovina
  With a Paint Brush.


  BY
  MRS. E. R. WHITWELL,

  Author of "SPAIN AS WE FOUND IT," and
        "THROUGH CORSICA WITH A PAINT BRUSH."


  DARLINGTON:
  WILLIAM DRESSER AND SONS,

  LONDON:
  SIMPKIN MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT AND CO., LD.




Preface.


The following sketches and notes were originally intended as personal
reminiscences of a very interesting and enjoyable holiday spent in a
country somewhat out of the beaten track. But changes forecasted by
the authoress having become actual fact, and the countries described
assuming a prominent feature of recent international concern, it is
hoped that the production of this little volume will prove of such
interest as warrants its publication beyond the circle originally
intended.

  THE FRIARAGE,
    YARM-ON-TEES,
      _January, 1909_.




List of Illustrations.


                                  FACING PAGE

  A Street in Sarajevo           Frontispiece

  Evening--Abbazia                          4

  After a Storm--Abbazia                    8

  The Porta Marina, Sebenico               16

  The Cathedral Porch, Trau                24

  A Street in Ragusa                       28

  Montenegro                               32

  Cettinje                                 36

  The Market Place, Cettinje               38

  The Fontana Onofrio, Ragusa              40

  The Old Bridge, Mostar                   50

  The Source of the Buna, near Mostar      58

  A Street in Sarajevo                     60

  Turkish Shops, Sarajevo                  64

  The Market Place, Sarajevo               68

  Jaice                                    72




  Through
  BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA
  with a Paint Brush.


Stirring times are these when the whole of Europe has to give its
opinion, and I may say decision, as to whether Austria may snap up
Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Bulgaria may assert her independence and
style her princeling a Tzar, which seems crowing rather loud and
savours of the bantam in the poultry yard! However, we shall see
what happens in the near future; meanwhile I am thinking that a very
interesting tour I made through these provinces with my paint brush,
may be attractive to those who take an interest in other nations and
other countries. Several books have already been written on Dalmatia,
but I do not think any have been illustrated by the brush, and I have
seen no books on Bosnia and Herzegovina, or that barren, wild country
Montenegro, with its range after range of rocky, jagged mountains.

I have been twice in Dalmatia, the first time we sailed on our yacht
_Vanadis_ from Venice, touching at Pola--a stormy passage of eight
hours. At Pola itself there was not much for me to see beyond a fine
Roman amphitheatre, two gates and two temples. It is the centre of the
Austrian naval base, and was bristling with ironclads; our Captain
elected to steam calmly in among them, but we had soon to make a
retreat, piloted to the other side of the harbour by some Jack Tars,
who were each presented with a cigar for the "entente cordiale" of the
nations.

From Pola we went on to Abbazia, which is an Austrian invalid watering
place and, sad to say, was full of consumptives. It is quite a pretty
place, with a Casino, public gardens, and a wonderful artificial walk,
a veritable sun trap for miles by the sea. On our arrival we found
another yacht moored to the only buoy--there is no harbour, so we had to
drop our anchor hoping for a fine night, which it was.

The next morning I went ashore to sketch, and the rest of the party
went in the launch to Fiume, which had no attraction for me. A heavy
thunderstorm that afternoon made the streets very wet, but we bravely
struggled to a cafe and listened to the Hungarian band, at the same
time drinking some excellent coffee with the milk nicely frothed up in
a jug, and each person had his own little tray. The yacht which had
secured the buoy the evening before, had taken its departure early
in the morning, so we attached ourselves to it, and as the Captain
remarked "possession was nine tenths of the law," the other yacht had
the privilege of taking turn in dropping her anchor for the night.

Some of the peasant women were very picturesque in costume, and wore a
kind of ballet skirt, Hessian boots, and a red handkerchief tied round
the head and floating at one side.

Though as I said before, I have twice been along the Dalmatian coast,
I have not visited any of the most interesting islands, and my stay at
the various towns has been far too short to please me, but it could
not be avoided, I was at the mercy of a yacht, and in order to visit
the principal towns in a country which possesses one small railway
connecting two coast towns and one inland town, it was necessary to
allow myself to be whirled along at the pleasure of others, who wanted
not to linger brush in hand.

[Illustration: Evening--Abbazia]

[Illustration]

The history of Dalmatia dates, I think, from the year 180 B.C., when
the tribe from which it takes its name declared their independence
from Gentius, King of Illyria, and established a republic. In 156
B.C. the Dalmatians were attacked by the Romans and compelled to pay
tribute, but it was not till the reign of Augustus that their country
became a Roman province. Under Tiberius, Dalmatia was thoroughly
Romanised, it gave to the world the Emperor Diocletian, who eventually
retired to Salona, the new Dalmatian capital, where are still to be
found the remains of his magnificence. It then fell into several
successive hands, and in the seventh century it received the dominant
element of its present population by the immigration of the Slavs
invited by Heraclius.

In the ninth century the Croatian influence was high, and Croatian
princes were recognised as kings of Dalmatia. In the tenth century
Venice extended her power, which is still visible in the many beautiful
buildings seen all along this coast. About the year 1018 the Doge
took the title of Duke of Dalmatia. Venice and Croatia struggled hard
for supremacy during the eleventh century, and in 1091 the Hungarians
ousted the Croatians. The maritime cities of Zara, Trau, Spalato and
Ragusa, had each their separate history, and attained much prosperity
by commerce and industry. These towns sided with Venice and were at
times under her control, until the treatment by that great republic
disgusted them and they welcomed Louis of Hungary. Venetian authority
was, however, once more asserted, but in 1797, Dalmatia became part of
the Austrian dominions to which she has belonged ever since, with the
exception of a Napoleonic period from 1805-1814. The Austrians were not
popular, the feeling of the country being extremely hostile, and in
1869 an insurrection was put down by force of arms.

Water in Dalmatia is scarce, and the only rivers are the Krka and the
Cettina. Outside the 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 seen but pinky
grey rock, and now and then a bush, though as you go further south
vegetation becomes evident and vines are grown, the grapes producing a
full, red wine which is 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 Slavonic dialect, but there are a good many Italians; most
of the natives understand Italian I found. The principal religion is
Roman Catholic, there are also those who follow the Greek Church. The
Roman Catholic Archbishop has his seat at Zara, and Spalato, Sebenico,
Lesina and Cattaro are Bishoprics. Donkeys and goats abound, and there
are some sheep. The peasant grinds his corn and weaves his clothes at
home.

Lace making is a great industry amongst Dalmatian women, and there is
a special school at Spalato where the most beautiful patterns taken
from the Churches are copied. Sponges also are found near Sebenico.
Anchovies and tunny fish are caught in large quantities and many other
kinds of fish.

Zara we reached on April 14th, but here on this our first visit, we
discovered no harbour, though next time we found the harbour was quite
on the other side of the town. As we did not relish the idea of tossing
about all night on the open sea, we decided only to stay a very short
time just to visit the town and then push on to Zara Vecchia for the
night.

[Illustration: After a Storm--Abbazia.]

[Illustration]

The town looks very new from the sea, and appears to be composed of
large white modern buildings with red roofs, one hotel, "The Bristol,"
looked most imposing and new, but you must penetrate behind all
this, where you will find the old town of Zara with its narrow
streets, with many Roman and Venetian remains, of the former two large
Corinthian columns still stand, one they say is where it was first
erected. A plaque of stone or marble let into a wall, on which a most
graceful figure of a dancing girl was carved, and there was also quite
a museum of statues and other relics. The Duomo, with its beautiful
facade, is distinctly Venetian, and the Lion of St. Marc watches at the
gates of the town.

Zara, now, is specially celebrated for its mareschino, where are two
manufacturies.

Our large party landing caused quite a flutter amongst the inhabitants,
some of whom were most picturesque, the women with bright red and
yellow aprons, white head shawls embroidered in many colours, blue
skirts and red stockings. Some of the men in blue trousers, all
rucked up the leg, red, gold-embroidered jackets were thrown over one
shoulder, sashes were gleaming with knives, &c., tucked in, and a
curious tiny red cap with a black tassel crowned all. This cap looks
ridiculously small perched on the top of the head.

The country here is bare sandy rock, with a few shrubs dotted about,
very barren all along the shore, and on a dull day would look very
dreary no doubt, but with bright sunshine the sea is lovely, and the
range of snow-capped mountains behind make a charming background. We
did not land at Zara Vecchia, and were off at sunrise to Sebenico.

A lovely little spot is Sebenico, at the foot of those curious grey
barren hills. We landed, and passed through a quaint doorway, with
picturesque figures going to and fro, then went up a few steps to
narrow streets--very narrow indeed, but clean, with many subjects for
an artist, but alas! no time for me--only an hour or two, and what is
that! We wandered about the streets and many appeals were made as to
why I did not paint this and that--the questioners quite forgetting
architectural subjects cannot be done in a minute, like the snapshot of
a camera! After gazing at many fascinating bits, I decided to attempt
an old carved door in a narrow street, and forthwith began, to be
distracted very shortly by two funerals passing and re-passing, the
mourners carrying each a guttering candle held at any angle and walking
three abreast in the street five feet wide. My easel was once swept
away by a boy, who, like most boys, did not look where he was going,
luckily no damage was done and I settled to work again, to be three
times disturbed, I having to flatten myself against the wall to let the
mourners pass. I worked hard till dusk, then returned to the yacht.

I thought it a great pity we could not stay a few days at Sebenico, but
on we rushed, and I must go too this time. I longed to stay and put
all I saw on paper, of all this beautiful curious scenery, and at some
future date, I hoped to be able to dawdle along this coast at my own
sweet will.

One of our party bought a most curious knife from a very handsome
native, who showed the purchaser its various uses--the knife was used to
eat with, and shave with, &c., &c., the double pronged stiletto, which
occupied the same sheath, was to dig into an enemy. This was about a
foot long. These the 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 to come to an end. The sides were pinky-grey hills, barren
except for a few shrubs, the whole colouring was most curious, the sea
bright blue-green, contrasting with the rocky sides. A special pilot
came on board for this cruise, and he nearly ran us into some rocks,
not calculating how much room we took to turn the corners. When we
arrived at the furthest limit that the yacht could go, we took to the
launch, and approached the Falls of Krka, where the water comes down
in tiers, very fine. Here electric light is being made. We walked up
to a height for a view looking back, which was most extraordinary, the
pinky-grey hills, with one long strip of winding emerald green water
between.

My second visit to Sebenico was under more favourable circumstances,
as I decided to leave the yacht and put up at the Hotel Krka with my
courier.

La, La! the cold on this my second visit, but charmed am I to be here
once more at this most fascinating little place, Sebenico, this time
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 wind of the dead)
is blowing. I imagine it comes off the steppes of Russia, from its
intense piercing coldness. The sun is nice and warm, if you can get
out of the wind which rises very decidedly every afternoon. I landed
from the yacht in the morning, escorted by my guide. An elaborate
programme was made out, and it was intended we should travel through
Herzegovina and Bosnia, visiting Jajce, Bajnaluka, Bihac (pronounced
Beehatch), Novi, and Plitvice, where are wonderful lakes and cascades
in continuation from one to the other. Part of 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 enabled me to converse with the natives. The national costumes here
are most fascinating, lovely brilliant colouring mixed in the women's
head-gear and shawls, and some of the _contadine_ that come in, with
dark blue dresses striped with red, green and orange, and embroideries
of every hue, are most striking. The men, too, dress very smartly, and
finish off their costumes with very large silver buttons.

I took a room at the Hotel Krka; the rooms are quite nice, but the
Restaurant rather dirty. The landlady wanted to ask me fourteen krones
as pension--rather a lot for this out of the way place, but as I came
off a yacht, I am, no doubt, expected to pay accordingly; however, I
decided to take my room, and then have my meals a la carte, and by this
means I exactly halved the pension terms. My first meal was composed
of soup, veal, salad and cheese. I had not intended to have soup, as
I ordered spagetti, which I naturally thought would be macaroni and
tomato sauce, and was disgusted to find it the name of a soup. Wine
was given free, and all the other customers seemed to drink it, but I
found it horribly bitter, and to take off the taste I allowed myself a
mareschino--the only part of my lunch I enjoyed! At night I had macaroni
in pieces three-quarters of a yard long, these I found most difficult
to negotiate, as when I twirled it round my fork, and was about to put
it in my mouth, the whole thing flew off like a spring. I think it took
me twenty minutes to tackle this dish.

[Illustration: The Porta Marina, Sebenico.]

[Illustration]

The streets here are very quaint, as the town is built on the hill
side, there are a great many steps. At the entrance to the town, near
the Quay, is a beautiful gateway which I tried to draw, but the intense
cold and wind soon sent me away. The Cathedral has fine doors east and
north. My guide and I wandered about the town looking for paintable
spots of which there are many, we went into the gardens where is a
statue to Tommaseo (the author), and in a fountain I saw a fat goldfish
who seemed to look at me out of the corner of his eye, in surprise
at a stranger. There are many remains of old Venetian days, in old
doorways and on beautiful carvings, and I came across a fine lion of
