of S. Maria della Salute. In the wall by the entrance is a cannon-ball,
a memento of the English bombardment of 1813. On the quays there is to
be seen much the same mixture of types and costumes as at Trieste. The
country people wear a black loose coat with sleeves, over a kind of
sweater which hangs below it; the trousers resemble broad breeches with
a bit of loose stocking showing above the shoe. The rawhide shoes are of
the same kind as those worn at Grado, at Monte S. Angelo across the
water, and all over the country further south, pointed in shape and
turned up at the toes, generally brown, with the upper part covered with
lacing. On the men's heads are little caps, black, brown, or red.
While we were having dinner in the Piazza Adamich a military band came
and played two _morceaux_; after which they marched off to the
accompaniment of music, looking very picturesque, with the light from
candles in lanterns hanging from staves flashing from the brazen
instruments and lighting up the coloured uniforms against the dim
background of garden and distant house.
The islands of Cherso and Veglia divide the Quarrero into three
channels: that between Istria and Cherso, the Canale di Farasina;
between Cherso and Veglia, the Canale di Mezzo (becoming the Quarnerolo
further south); and between Veglia and the Croatian mainland, the Canale
di Maltempo or della Morlacca, in front of which the little island of S.
Marco lies. The scenery of the last-named channel is much finer than the
Quarnerolo, and its interest is enhanced because the steamer passes
Segna or Zengg, the rocky nest of the Uscocs, the pirates who were so
troublesome in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries; but its first
name, the Canal of Evil Weather, is an accurate description of what may
be expected, since here the "Bora" blows with the greatest fury, making
it the most dangerous part of the whole coast. There is scarcely enough
of interest in the town itself to make it worthy of a visit, since the
picturesque and horrible exploits of its savage inhabitants (which are
its chief title to fame) may be read in the histories of the Uscocs.
They were refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina, driven out by the Turks;
the word "Scochi" in Slav meaning exiles or fugitives. Their first
establishment was at Clissa, near Spalato, under Pietro Crussich, lord
of Lupoglavo in Istria. From this place they made raids on the Turks,
who at last collected an army and besieged the place for a year. The
castellan was killed in a sortie, and the castle surrendered in 1537.
They then retired to Segna, where they were received and paid by the
Emperor. The original band numbered only five or six hundred, but they
had with them many assistants, Dalmatians banished by the Venetians or
escaped from the galleys, and brigands of other nations, as well as
indigenous camp-followers. At first they only attacked the Turks, more
or less straightforwardly, but gradually became mere pirates. The
Venetians fought fruitlessly against them for some time, and finally
became embroiled with Austria over the question. They were most daring
in their enterprises. On January 19, 1599, eight hundred of them
disembarked at Portolungo and assaulted Albona. They had entered the
suburb, when the citizens rushed to arms, led by the valiant parish
priest Don Priamo Luciani Cristoforo Negri, and succeeded in beating
them off. They then retired on Fianona, which they took by surprise,
established themselves there, hoisted the Austrian flag, and obliged the
inhabitants to swear fealty to Austria. One man who refused, Gaspare
Calovanich, they flayed alive! Many other outrages were committed,
shipping was attacked, and sailors robbed. The war which followed only
ended with the peace of Madrid, September 26, 1617, by the provisions of
which the Uscocs were to be interned and scattered over the Austrian
provinces, and their ships destroyed; whilst the Venetians were to
restore conquered places to Austria. A few of the Uscocs who were left
at Segna went on in their evil ways, and in February, 1619, took a
Venetian ship with 4,000 zecchins-worth of cargo. The Republic made a
claim, and Austria punished them with death and restored the booty. This
was the last of their raids. Sir Gardner Wilkinson says that out of a
number hanged in 1618 nine were Englishmen, of whom six were gentlemen.
They are described as being without discipline, but ready to follow
their captains blindly. They feared no fatigue, climbed the rocks like
cats, slept in the open air, preferred tactics of surprise, and cared
for nothing but the satisfaction of their cupidity. Some were dressed
gipsy-fashion, with arms and breast bare. The bulk, however, wore a
dress resembling that of the Morlacchi--tight hose, shoes of cord or
rawhide, a red-brown waistcoat without sleeves, and a red felt cap on
the head. They wore their hair in long locks, with wild-looking
moustaches, had earrings of iron or silver, and their weapons were
semicircular axes, and knives which they carried in their girdles.
Altogether a fearsome crew to have to do with!
Segna belonged to the Counts Frangipani, whose eyrie was fixed at Castel
Muschio on the island of Veglia. It is near the northern end above a
wide bay on the sea side of a broken plateau, partly crowned with
fortress-walls, in front of which a few houses sparkle white in the sun.
Only one tower remains, with doors on first and second-floor level and a
S. Mark's lion in relief. The island was the ancient Curicta, near which
there was a sea-fight between the ships of Cæsar and Pompey in 49 B.C.,
when the Istrians took the part of the latter. The Cæsarian fleet under
Dolabella was destroyed, and Caius Antonius, Cæsar's general, was shut
up in Veglia, where he was encamped with two legions. The soldiers
constructed three rafts made of two rows of boats fastened together with
chains, and with a platform of beams upon them, and a great tower at one
end, by means of which the rowers were to be protected and the enemy
attacked. Octavian, Pompey's admiral, retired behind Cherso, but left
the channel fouled with ropes and chains fastened to the rocks. In the
afternoon the rafts which had been launched reached the narrow part of
the strait. The two smaller ones got through, but the largest stuck.
Octavian then attacked. On the big raft were one thousand Opitergian
colonists, under the captaincy of the tribune Vulteius. They fought till
night, when, seeing that their case was hopeless, they determined to die
rather than surrender. At dawn the struggle recommenced, the Istrians
joining in the attack. The end was the suicide of Vulteius and his
followers, and the surrender of the cohorts on the island.
From 1126 the islands of the Quarnero belonged to Venice, but the peace
of Zara in 1358 ceded Dalmatia to Hungary and Veglia with it; and, when
Ladislas sold Dalmatia to Venice in 1409, Veglia was excluded, being
formally ceded by the last Count Giovanni in 1480. Nicholas Frangipani,
who was count in 1409, had nine sons, and left his property equally
divided among them, so that there were nine counts of Veglia at the same
time. Giovanni, the eldest, to make himself secure against his brothers,
put himself under the protection of Venice in 1452, married a daughter
of Paolo Morosini, and published his will in 1453, by which he left the
island to the Republic if he died without issue, thus making it clear to
his brothers that he was determined that they should never have the
island, and that if they tried to take it by force he would be protected
by Venice. At the same time he swore to the inhabitants to preserve
their ancient laws and customs. He had no intention of keeping his word
in any particular, and played off Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary,
against Venice in the most unblushing manner, making traitorous
suggestions to both sides alike, and attacking the towns of either party
alternately. His subjects, being much oppressed, invited the Hungarian
general, Magiar Blas, to invade the island in 1480, saying that he would
be received as a Messiah. He came and attacked Castel Muschio; but the
count invoked the protection of Venice. A few days later Veglia was
bombarded by the Hungarians, the Venetian galleys not being able to
render much assistance. The people refused to fight, saying that they
preferred to have even Turks as rulers rather than their count. After
consultation with the Venetian officers they were summoned to the
Palazzo Pubblico; and the count told them that he was the servant of
Venice, and that they must swear fealty to the Republic and would be
protected. Accordingly the oath was taken by all, and the Hungarians
were obliged to make terms. They were allowed to return safely to the
mainland. The count then began to threaten those of his subjects who had
been in favour of the Hungarians, and many fled in fear. The
captain-general of the Venetians, as corrective, published an order
authorising the inhabitants to kill any of the count's people who
molested them. Count Giovanni bit his lips, determining to be revenged
when the captain-general had gone, but never had the chance, as he was
carried off to Venice, at which the Veglians rang the bells for joy. The
Venetians set matters in order; but the count wrote letters saying that
he would soon return to Veglia and punish all traitors; in consequence
of which the Veglians assured the governor that, should he do so, they
would either call in the Turks or leave the island waste and
uninhabited. To solve the difficulty the Venetians pensioned him off. He
became, however, soon dissatisfied with the amount and fled from Venice,
his disappearance being regretted by no one. He was an abominable
character, and among the evil deeds of which he was guilty was the
making of false seals to enable him to forge documents.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL, VEGLIA
_To face page 171_]
A considerable portion of the walls built by the Venetians round the
town still remains, overgrown with ivy, and the city is still entered by
the old gate-openings, the Porta di Su and the Porta Pisani, though the
actual gateways have disappeared. On one of the towers guarding the
latter is a rather fine relief of the Venetian lion. Close to the
cathedral is the castle of the Frangipani, two of the towers being
within the bishop's garden. The sea washes the rocks on which they are
built, and in time of storm the spray flies over the curtain wall.
Our prowlings around the walls attracted the attention of two guards,
who, after following us for some time, stopped us to question our
proceedings. The production of the Statthalter's letter which I carried
with me satisfied them that we had no nefarious designs, and it was
returned to me with the remark (made rather regretfully, I thought) that
it was all "in order." Travellers will find it advantageous to obtain
some kind of "permit" if their tastes are likely to lead to the
exhibition of unusual curiosity in relation to buildings and their
surroundings.
[Illustration: VEGLIA, SHOWING THE CASTLE TOWERS]
The cathedral, erected in 1133 in thanksgiving for a great victory over
Corsairs gained with the assistance of Venice, was therefore dedicated
to S. Mark. It consists of nave and aisles with an apse of five sides of
an octagon, which bears the date of 1688. The nave arcade is
semicircular, the arches varying in height, some being stilted, and
rests upon sixteen columns of granite, Istrian stone, red marble of the
island, and pavonazzetto. Several are in more than one piece, one or two
are made up to the requisite height with another stone, and two are
octagonal. Most of them have but the slightest projection for base, the
level of the pavement having apparently been raised. Most of the caps
have Byzantine thistly acanthus worked with great use of the drill, one
has quaint gambolling beasts and birds within arched forms in place of
foliage, which show imitation of Oriental ornamental forms, and one,
which has hollows for inlays of squares and diamonds, bounded by the
leaf shapes, is exactly like one in the pergola of the director's house
at Salona, which came from the campanile, Spalato. There is a fine early
Renaissance choir-screen with an ambo at each side, made of the red
variegated marble of the island; an angel of white marble supports the
book-rest. To the north of this screen is a rather late Gothic chapel
with apse of three sides and lierne vaulting. It has octagonal wall
shafts and shields as bosses, with devices upon them, and the arms of
the Frangipani. The place of the altar still shows on the pavement, and
it has been suggested that the silver pala belonged to this chapel. Two
more chapels open from the south aisle through Venetian slightly ogee
arches, with saints at the top emergent from leaves, and a cable
moulding within and dentils without. In one, the columns have been
replaced by Renaissance half-columns; in the other, the
fourteenth-century shafts still remain. In the choir are two fine Gothic
tomb slabs, commemorating a fourteenth-century bishop and an arch-priest
(1494), and other slabs with coats of arms in high relief.
[Illustration: SOUTH PORTION OF CHOIR-SCREEN, CATHEDRAL, VEGLIA
_To face page 173_]
The silver pala is preserved just within the west door upon the south
wall, behind glass in tolerably large sheets, so that it can be easily
studied. The present _parroco_ replaced the old heavy wooden framing by
one of lighter construction. It is thought to have been a triptych
originally. Each of the wings has ten figures in two rows of five, one
above the other--twenty in all. On the right S. Peter occupies the
middle of the top row with S. John the Baptist below; on the left are S.
Paul and S. Nicholas in the corresponding places. All the figures stand
on brackets. The upper centre is occupied by the Madonna and Child
standing on the crescent moon; below is the Coronation of the Virgin;
the other four niches have figures of angels, three half-lengths in
each, one above the other. SS. Jerome and George are recognisable among
the other saints. The heads are much too large, and the figure-work is
coarse. The niches are trefoiled and ogee-headed, with crockets and
finials and octagonal colonnettes between, springing from corbels, and
crowned with imbricated pinnacles; they have piercings resembling window
tracery, with rosettes between each repetition. The bar which divides
the two ranges of figures, and the frame have very beautiful triple rows
of vine-scrolling in exceedingly low relief, which is quite lost at a
little distance. An inscription gives the name of Peter Grimani and the
date of 1742; but this must refer to a restoration, as the style
suggests the fifteenth century, and would agree quite well with the date
1405, when one of the Frangipani is recorded to have established the
chapel of S. Vito in the cathedral. The treasury now contains nothing of
importance--at least, inquiries only produced a showy processional cross
of the seventeenth century.
The cathedral is entered from an archway beneath the campanile; on the
other side of the arch is the church of S. Quirinus, a Romanesque
building in two stories. The lower portion is now a wine-store; the
upper, reached by steps, is vaulted like a crypt, nine spans resting on
four low columns. It has been modernised, but the three apses are
untouched externally, crowned with a corbelled arcuated cornice, the
centre one being the largest. The cathedral has a doorway on the south
side not now used; the round arch has a torus moulding, pilaster strips,
and caps beneath a gabled hood, made of the local marble and bleached by
the sun to a delightful varied yellow.
[Illustration: IN THE HARBOUR, BESCA NOVA
_To face page 175_]
Close to the Porta di Su is another Romanesque church--S. Maria. The
interior has been modernised, though a few caps resembling those in
the cathedral remain; but the tower (at the west end) has two stories,
with two circular-headed windows with buttress between unspoilt. At the
other side of the road is S. Francesco, which has a tower of five
stories near the east end, and long trefoil-headed windows. The
high-altar-piece in this church (a Madonna with saints) is ascribed to
Pordenone (1531), and there is an interesting pulpit with five marquetry
panels, S. Francis receiving the stigmata in the centre, and
personifications of four Christian graces in the others, good work of
the seventeenth century.
The Venetian clock-tower, now a café, bears the date 1493 on a panel of
the winged lion above the pointed arch, but must be earlier than that
date, as it also bears the Frangipani escutcheon. The loggia was behind
it. In this piazza are carved panels from a Venetian well or fountain,
with an inscription of 1558 ascribing its erection to Antonio Gradenigo,
swags of flowers and fruit, a S. Mark's lion with a tower by the sea,
&c.; and in the walls here and there are encrusted a few antique
inscriptions.
A walk of about forty minutes brings one to the shore of Val Cassione, a
nearly semicircular bay with only a narrow entrance from the Quarnerolo.
The water is generally smooth like a pond, the mountain of Treskavac,
which rises to the north-east, sheltering it. The island of Zoccolante,
girdled with ilex and maples, lies opposite the village of Ponte, and on
it is the Franciscan monastery of Cassione. A pergola shelters the path
from the boat-house to the porch, and the cloister is full of flowers
and bushes. The church has an altar-piece by Girolamo da S. Croce,
signed and dated 1535, and a Raffaellesque Virgin and sleeping Child.
The library contains a few early printed books. Throughout the island,
except in this convent and in the town of Veglia, the Slav liturgy,
granted by Pope John VIII. (872-882), is in use.
[Illustration: THE HARBOUR OF BESCA NOVA
_To face page 176_]
The usual route to Castel Muschio and Veglia is from Fiume, but one of
our visits was made from Arbe to Besca Nova, a most picturesque and
equally evil-smelling port, sheltered by widely stretching rocky points
(one of which bears the appropriate name of Punta Scoglia), which rise
to mountainous masses behind the little town, with a modern cemetery
chapel on one of the lower spurs. The houses straggle round the curve of
the shore, with groups of trees here and there, and little creeks
running up into the land, crossed by narrow bridges; the streets, mere
alleys often, scarcely permitting two persons to pass each other, rise
to a church round which they cluster more thickly. At this end of the
town the houses cling to the side of the hill above and below the
street, and are approached by steps which descend to the front, though
there are also doors on the street level convenient for elopements, and
wonderful great chimneys of great originality and variety. There were a
good many boats in the harbour, and we had an excellent opportunity of
seeing it from all points of view, for the pier at which the steamer
stops is at one horn of the bay, and it is a walk of a quarter of an
hour to the indifferent inn. We asked a couple of gentlemen who were
coming out if we could get anything to eat there, and they replied: "Oh
yes, if you go at once." We found, however, that we must order what we
wanted and wait until it was cooked, so we left the civil _padrona_ to
her labours, and immediately were mobbed by a crowd of children to whom
strangers were a godsend. A gendarme approached and asked for our
credentials, but, being satisfied that we were not dangerous, offered to
assist us in any way he could, and we found that the children
disappeared for a time. I made inquiries of him as to a couple of
pictures ascribed to Vivarini and Basaiti, which I understood were
in the town, but he knew nothing about them. The Vivarini is a Madonna
enthroned with two child angels at her feet, with three saints on either
side of her and angels holding the baldacchino.
[Illustration: THE MAIN STREET, BESCA NOVA
_To face page 177_]
On our return to the inn the question of a carriage to Veglia engaged
our attention. There was an officer of some kind in the room, who had
taken one of the three carriages which appear to compose the transport
of Besca Nova and declined to share it. The second was under repair, one
of its wheels being in the hands of the wheelwright on the ground in
front of the inn. The third had been engaged by two Italian gentlemen,
father and son, and its appearance suggested doubts as to whether it
would take five persons and our luggage over the backbone of the island.
There was a diligence, but it started at 2 a.m., and the drivers tried
to persuade us to sleep at Besca, saying they could take us on at 6 a.m.
The _déjeuner_ we had had, however, inspired so little confidence that
we determined to get on to Veglia that night, sharing the third carriage
with the Italians, though in the end we did not benefit very much by the
arrangement. As the shadows began to lengthen, the horses were put to,
the harness being supplemented with bits of rope in some places, and we
packed ourselves and our belongings into the carriage, finding our
fellow-travellers very pleasant companions. The narrow road runs up a
rocky valley, at first with a considerable space of cultivated land on
each side, vineyards and grain occupying the greater part; and before
long Besca Valle came in sight, a barbarous-looking village, with
curious reed-thatched huts for styes and cart-hovels, and with
whitewashed walls to the houses which stood upon unparapeted terraces
supported on great arches used for storage of different kinds. In the
church of S. Lucia, some distance away, is the earliest Glagolitic
inscription known. Our driver appeared to be on familiar terms with most
of the population, and was continually calling out greetings to people
some distance from the road.
The valley narrowed and the rocks rose higher, the clear bright green
Fiumera foamed and tumbled in its rocky bed, and we passed a picturesque
mill astride of it, backed up with trees. Soon the driver called our
attention to a great rock hanging from the cliff which seemed as if its
fall from the height was merely a matter of moments, but which had
looked so, he said, for years. The continuous climb was interrupted by a
wooded depression through which the road wound; it then crossed the
stream and commenced a long ascent continuing for more than a mile,
which we negotiated on foot. As we rose higher the view expanded, and we
found it pleasant to turn and gaze at it, warm in the sunset-glow. The
Velebit Mountains, with their summits hidden in the clouds, blushed a
beautiful warm rose colour, while Arbe and the nearer island of
Pervicchio which shelters the harbour, rather more orange in colour,
contrasted with the pale sapphire of the sea, each increasing the
brilliancy of the other. The shadowed valley at our feet, with mill,
stream, and dark trees, enhanced the brightness of the distance and of
the final glow upon Besca Nova, where the curve of its houses embraced
the bay with chains of orange and cream colour.
A solitary horseman passed us while we were surmounting the stony waste
through which the higher portion of the road winds, a greyish and
reddish variegated marble used in buildings in the island, and just at
the summit we met the diligence on its way to Besca. The sunset was
superb, the glow of the sky reflected in the sea, with Cherso dark
against it and the shores of Veglia laid out below us, showing Ponte
and the Convent of Cassione, and Veglia beyond almost hidden in trees.
As we descended the long slope the colour faded from the sky, and long
before we reached the town of Veglia nothing could be discerned but the
silhouettes of branch and leaf against the sky.
[Illustration: CHIMNEYS AT BESCA NOVA
_To face page 178_]
XV
OSSERO AND CHERSO