CHAPTER XIX

THE GULF OF QUARNERO

The Home of the Bora—Fiume—Abbazia—The Home of the Torpedo—Descendants of the Uscocs.

In summer or fall it is a pleasant boat trip of six hours from Zara to Fiume, which is prettily situated at the north-eastern end of the Gulf of Quarnero. But in the winter and early spring, at which seasons the “Bora,” or north-east wind, is prevalent, keep an eye on the barometer! It is at this north-eastern end of the Gulf, in the mountains back of Fiume, that this dreaded wind is born. Accumulating velocity with every blast, it sweeps down upon the sea with relentless fury, carrying everything before it, overturning carts, upsetting horses in the streets and putting a quietus, for the time being, on all navigation within range.

The western channels and the western slopes of the islands are better protected from the destructive gusts of the “Bora,” but the channels nearest to the Croatian coast are swept by its full fury. Along the eastern shores of these channels the soil is rendered as sterile as the sands of the desert, for the wind cuts the spray from the surface of the water and carries it inland in great clouds, completely obscuring the shore line from the sea, and destroying the tender sprouts of early cereals by depositing upon them the injurious salty sediment. In 1873, while a train was rounding one of the many curves on the line from Agram to Fiume, the “Bora” came up suddenly and blew it from the rails.

The little town of Segna seems to suffer the most from this wind; at any rate many of the stories of the extraordinary violence with which it blows originated there. Some historians tell us that in Segna during the raging of a “Bora” it is unsafe to venture out-of-doors; that it lifts weak or aged adults and little children from the ground and dashes them against the walls of the houses; that those who are obliged to go to the basin where the ships lie must crawl snake-like on the ground to avoid being picked off their feet and hurled into the sea. It is a common occurrence for horses heavily loaded to be thrown down in the market-place of Segna, and although the roofs of all houses are weighted with stones they are often lifted and carried away.

“But it’s an ill wind that blows nobody good” and, therefore, the “Bora” was hardly considered wholly unwelcome by the pirates, the Uscocs, who once infested the islands of the bay, finding their safety in the dangers of navigation thereabouts which deterred better ships but less able seamen from hunting them down and sinking their puny craft.

Strangely incongruous with its soporific atmosphere is the bustle and business of Fiume. Finally united to Hungary in 1870, Fiume has grown from a mere seaport town to a thriving manufacturing and shipping city of thirty-nine thousand inhabitants. To-day it is in the class with the Austrian city of Trieste, on the opposite side of the Istrian Peninsula; one of the most cosmopolitan ports in the world. The scene along the docks is interesting, for Fiume is the home port of fleets of coasters which ply up and down the Adriatic, of great steel cargo and passenger ships making scheduled sailings to the Levant, to the coasts of Africa, to the Straits Settlements and the Far East, to North and South America.

A few miles to the west of Fiume, nestling snugly on the edge of the bay at the foot of massive Mount Maggiore, lies a fashionable little sea-side resort, patronized by the upper crust of Austrian aristocracy, Abbazia. Here, under the trees or on the porch of the Casino, the élite of the land sips its liquor and smokes its slender cigarettes while the military band interprets the latest Viennese musical success.

And almost within an arm’s reach of Abbazia, just a few yards off in the bay, is one end of the target range of an ever-busy manufacturing plant, whose product has tended more to evolutionize warfare than any device ever invented, the Whitehead torpedo factory. On this range the great fish-like instruments of destruction are tested thoroughly, their parts adjusted and tested again, to assure their deadliness, before shipment to the arsenals of the powers supplied. At one end of the range is the firing station, and in a long line, stretching away toward Abbazia, are the several floating targets, each manned by a signalman with a red flag, under the centres of which the torpedoes must eventually be made to dart before they are ready for delivery. Industrious little power boats shoot up and down the bay collecting the “dead” torpedoes, which, having spent their energy, turn finally from their course and splash about on the surface of the water like wounded porpoises, to tow them back to the launching station for an adjustment of their parts.

What if a torpedo would come to the surface prematurely and hit one of the targets? Some do, and rip great holes in the wooden decks, causing the signalmen to execute some nimble acrobatics, but there is never any danger from explosion, because the “war-heads” of the torpedoes have not yet been put in place; all they carry are the steering-gears and the little compressed air engine. Once in a while, owing to a serious defect in the steering-gear, one will run amuck a few seconds after it has been discharged. Then is the time for the launches to be on the _qui vive_, for there is no telling what direction the torpedo will take. One of them once made a bee-line for the stone wall which skirts the bay in front of the factory. Like a leaping salmon it mounted this at one bound, bounced along the top for a few yards, demolishing stone-work and making the wall appear as if it had been struck by a thirteen-inch shell, and then plunged into the bay, tearing around this way and that until it made its final death-leap and lay peacefully upon the surface of the water. Then, like a naughty but remorseful boy, it was towed back and given a good spanking in the form of an overhauling of its parts.

In the city of Fiume there are many types—Croatians, Austrian army and navy officers, Italians, Dalmatians, Germans, Englishmen—and all work hard accumulating fortunes, large or small as the case may be; but those who seem to be amassing the largest private estates in proportion to their labours, if one may judge from their daily net receipts, are the piratical porters of the town, who swoop down from all points of the compass upon the unsuspecting traveller. It is safe to say that these are the lineal descendants of the Uscocs of old, having only adopted more modern methods of piracy than those employed by their ancestors,—for from whom else might they have inherited their predatory proclivities? These _must_ have been handed down from father to son, for they are too well developed to admit of mere accidental discovery. Every time one of these porters looks at your luggage he commits petty larceny, in thought, if not in deed. The charge for carrying a small grip from the dock to the hotel, a distance of a hundred feet, may be any amount from the equivalent of twenty-five cents up, and the wise traveller is gulled but once. Some one tried to explain to me why the Fiume porters were allowed to charge any amount they pleased, but it seemed a very unsatisfactory excuse. Suffice it to say that the price demanded for carrying one grip is one _krone_, with one, two or three _kronen_ added, according to the nationality of the patron. For example: to carry one grip for an Austrian, one _krone_; for a German, two _kronen_; for an Englishman, three _kronen_; for an American, four _kronen_. It seems that the farther away one lives the more it costs one to have one’s baggage transferred in Fiume. A Chinaman with two grips would go bankrupt in this town in no time.

With a farewell salute to Fiume and her activity, manufacturing, shipping and piratical, we sailed out across the waters of the harbour of this, the western sea-gate to the Balkan Peninsula, homeward bound.

After having wandered over this virgin touring territory, a territory with a future as well as with an eventful past, a territory of big things in war and in peace; after having revelled in its type-pictures and its remarkable scenery, mingled with its unsophisticated peoples and marvelled at its history and its struggles for mere existence, we were struck with thoughts, as we came suddenly from the land of simplicity upon the preying porters of Fiume, at once akin to and conflicting with those of a certain author, who, in an early book of travel, concludes the narration of an experience as follows:

“After having walked eleven hours without having traced the print of a human foot, to my great comfort and delight, I saw a man hanging upon a gibbet; my pleasure at the cheering prospect was inexpressible, for it convinced me that I was in a civilized country.”

THE END.

INDEX

Abbazia, 284.

Alexander, King. _See_ Obrenovitch.

Alexander, Prince, of Bulgaria, 121.

Alexander, the successor of Philip, 113.

Assen I, 117.

Assen II, 117.

Assenide Dynasty, The, 117.

Belgrade, 21.

Belgrade, Market Day in, 34.

Black Death, The, 188.

Bocche di Cattaro, The, 202.

Bora, The, 282.

Boris, Tzar, 117.

Bosnia, Comparison of conditions in, 145.

Bosnia, Railway travel in, 149.

Brod, 145.

Buda-Pesth, 12.

Bulgari, The, 113.

Bulgaria, Conversion of, to Christianity, 117.

Bulgaria, Emancipation of, 118.

Bulgaria, History of, 111.

Bulgaria, Progress of, 112.

Bulgaria, Turkish atrocities in, 118.

Bulgarian, The, uprising of 1908; its cause and effect, 122.

Castelnuovo, 204.

Cattaro, Description of, 207.

Cattaro to Cettinje, Road from, 229.

Cettinje, Description of, 239.

Christianity, Bulgaria’s conversion to, 117.

Constantinovitch, Katrine, 48.

Conveniences of travel through the Balkans, 8.

Curzola, The sea battle near the island of, 250.

Cyril, 117.

Dalmatia, Routes of travel to, 177.

Danilo II of Montenegro, 217.

Dervish dance, Description of a, 160.

Diocletian, Palace of, at Spalato, 252.

Draga, Queen, of Servia. _See_ Maschine.

Dragoleftsky, 108.

Dushan, King, of Servia, 117.

English language, Frequency of the, through the Balkans, 7.

Ferdinand, Prince, of Bulgaria, 122.

Ferdinand, Tzar, of Bulgaria, 125.

Fiume, Description of, 284.

German language, The, 4.

Gravosa, 179.

Greek efforts to conquer Bulgaria, 114.

Hapag ticket, 3.

Helena, Queen, of Italy, 217.

Hungarian language, The, 12.

Jablaniča, 169.

Jezero, The battle of, 221.

Kara George, and his assassination, 45.

Karageorgevitch, Peter, Accession to the throne of, 71.

Kara Mahmoud, 216.

Konjiča, 166.

Kossovo, Battle of, 118.

Kraglievaz, Island of, 270.

Kristatz, Battle of, 221.

La Croma, The Island of, 184.

Lazar, Tzar, Emperor of Servia, 212.

Maschine, Draga, 54.

Maschine, Draga, Burial of, and Alexander, 71.

Maschine, Draga, Marriage of, and Alexander, 57.

Maschine, Draga, Meeting of, and Alexander, 55.

Maschine, Draga, Murder of, and Alexander, 61.

Maschine, Draga, Prediction of the assassination of, 81.

Maschine, Draga, Prediction of the social ascendency of, 80.

Maschine, Nikola and Nikodim, Murder of, 68.

Methodius, 117.

Michael, Prince. _See_ Obrenovitch.

Milan, Prince. _See_ Obrenovitch.

Milo, Pope, of Montenegro, 223.

Milosh, Prince. _See_ Obrenovitch.

Montenegrin, The, Army, 215.

Montenegrin bravery, Anecdotes of, 221.

Montenegrin, The, national costume, 218.

Montenegrins, The, 212.

Montenegro, History of, 212.

Montenegro, Modern, 227.

Mostar, Description of, 170.

Murad I, Sultan, 117.

Natalie, Queen, of Servia, 49.

Nikephoros Phakos, Emperor, 114.

Nikola, Prince, of Montenegro, 217.

Nikshitch, Siege of, 223.

Nisch, Hotels in, 97.

Nisch, Tower of skulls in, 101.

Njegushi, 237.

Novakovics, Murder of the brothers, 75.

Novi-Bazaar, 149.

Obrenovitch, Alexander, 49.

Obrenovitch, Alexander, Burial of, and Draga, 71.

Obrenovitch, Alexander, Marriage of, and Draga, 57.

Obrenovitch, Alexander, Meeting of, and Draga, 55.

Obrenovitch, Alexander, Murder of, and Draga, 61.

Obrenovitch, Alexander, Prediction of the assassination of, 81.

Obrenovitch, Michael, 47.

Obrenovitch, Michael, Prediction of the murder of, 79.

Obrenovitch, Milan, the First, 47.

Obrenovitch, Milan, the Second, 49.

Obrenovitch, Milosh, the First, 46.

Obrenovitch, Milosh, the Second, 48.

Orient Express, The, 142.

Passports, 19.

Pawlowitch, General, Murder of, 68.

Peter I, of Montenegro, 216.

Peter II, of Montenegro, 238.

Petrovich, George (Kara-George), 45.

Philip, 113.

Podgoritza, 227.

Prince-Bishops of Montenegro, 216.

Promontorium Diomedis, 270.

Ragusa, Description of, 180.

Ragusa, The Great Earthquake of, 193.

Ragusa, History of, 187.

Ravna, 175.

Registration, The Servian method of, 20.

Rundreise ticket, The, 2.

Russian intrigue in Bulgaria, 121.

Russian invasion of Bulgaria, The first, 117.

Saint Simeon, Story of, 272.

Salona, Description of, 261.

Sarajevo, Description of, 151.

Sebenico, 270.

Segna, 283.

Servian, The, army, 29.

Servian customs, 37.

Servian exports, 29.

Servian nation, Rapid rise of the, 27.

Servian national dance, 38.

Servian national drink, 29.

Servian race-meets, 30.

Servians, The, 24.

Shishman III, Tzar, 117.

Simeon, Tzar, 114.

Slavs, Population of Bulgaria by the, 113.

Sophia, Description of, 107.

Sophia, Hotels in, 106.

Sophia, Market day in, 130.

Sviatoslav, 114.

Thraco-Dacians, 113.

Thraco-Illyrians, 113.

Thraco-Macedonians, 113.

Tzaribrod, 102.

Uscocs, The, 284.

Uskoplje, 175.

Vespasian, Annexation of Bulgaria by, 113.

Vladika, or Prince-Bishops, 216.

Ylidze, 159.

Zara, Description of, 271.

Zinisces, Emperor, 114.

Zlarin, Island of, 270.

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Transcriber’s Notes

In the Index:—

Uskoplje — page 174 has been changed to 175. (Page 74 is a blank page in the original.)

Montenegro, Modern — page 226 has been changed to 227. (Page 226 is a blank page in the original.)

Montenegrin, The, Army — page 213 has been changed to 215. (Page 213 shows an illustration.)

Hyphenation has been standardised.