New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1858-02-27

M1lDe, tAe port OF the BApd D sleht. s0nbAfy,
| tranquil place, which even eur arrival did not ap
pear to excite in the least. We halted here but
sbort time, and then sped away 10 Lesina, where
Titan is said to have been banished for some years,
through the strait where, 10 1911 four English
vessels defeated the French feet Of eleven touched
during the night at Curzola, and by the next SUD-
rise were at anchor in the harbor of Ragusa. This
is, Historically, the most interesting point on the
Dalmatian coast. A few scattering Greeks and
Ilyrsns founded here in the year 636, a little
Republc-not bigger than the estate of many D,
Enalph nobleman-Which survived the fall Of en-
pres, and the political storms ofBeary twelve hun
bred years. II was finally wiped out in January,
1905, by decree of Napoleon who bestowed upon
Marshal Marmont the commander Of the French
troops in Dalmatia, the title Of Duke Of Ragusa-
Tributary both to Venice and tae Ottoman Empire,
II still preserved its municipal Independence; and,
beside it's commerce, which al one time employed
800 vessels and 500 Sailors fund leisure to cult
vate literature and the scienca. C9ur de Lion,
returning from Palestine, was entertained a. .
guest by the Senate, after his shipwreck on the
| peigbboring island of Lscrom,, where he built .
church to commemorate his escape. The Republic
also sheltered King Sgismund Of Hungary, after
his defeat by Sultan Bajazet and three times
afforded succor to George Castnot, or ScaDderbeg
the last gallant ehieitain of thu Grecian Empire
Ragusa, in short, has stood unframed, like bit Of
moss in the forest while every tee has been blasted
or uprooted, and many chance sunbeam of history
has struck athwart its SECLUDED hfe. Napoleon,
the Destroyer and Builder, set lis foot upon it and
crushed it at last.
The captain gave us two hour for a rsmble on
the Shore and We set out for Oh Ragusa, which is
between two and three miles dsant. The present
port is landlocked basin, shut by sweeping hills
which are feathered to their symmits with olive
groves, while the gardens beowsparkle with their
boscage of orange and lemon tres. The hills are
dotted with country houses, man of them stately
structures of the republican tine, but all more or
less dilapdated. Marks of the French and subse-
quent Russian invasion are seen IN all sides. Roof
less houses neglected gardens, and terraced fields
lying fallow, gave melancholy ar Of decay to the
landscape. Climbing long bill from the hsr-
Dor, we crossed the comb Of promontOry, and
saw the sea before US, while down in hollow of
the coast, ON our left, swan in the blue morning
vspors the spires and fOrtresses d Old Rsgusa Far
above II, on TIC sunn1.it of the overlooking noun
tains shone tho white walls OF another tort the
road to which ascended the stee) slope in fourteen
zigzags. 1t was warm picture, full Of strong
color and sharp decided outline. Chmps of aloe
chung to the rocks below; orange, hung heavy over
the garden walls above, and in sunny spot some
young palms were growing. w, only succeeded
in reaching the outskirts of Ole Ragusa, whence
street, paved with slippery narbe, no horse is yet
allowed to set bis foot.
I did not find tho Ragusan ostumes-at least
those which saw-quite 80 picturesque as those
of the other DAmstian ports Tie race, heweyer,
is mainly the same. Indeed, has been ascer-
tanned that of all the inhabitants Of Dalmata, if
teen out Of sixteen are of Slavic blood. They are
medium-sized people, but tougi, hardy, and Of
considerable muscular strength. Their mode OF
life is quite primitive. Every family has its patri-
archai head, and the sons bring tleir wives home
to the psternal hut until tho natural increase
crowds them out of its narrow bounds. The
mother takes her lnweaned irfantto the field with
her, and lays il down on soN stons to Sleep They
still cultivate witches, and believe in demons and
magical spells. Among thu Morhks, the bride
groom until very recently, vas obliged to catch
his bride in public race ike Hypohtus or the
Tartar bachelors. Blood rvenge as among the
Corsicans exists il spite of tie law, and the wan
dering bard, singing the exploits Of his heroic an
cestors goes from village to village, as in the days
of Homer.
Continuing our voyage souhward along the
coast we reached in the Afternoon the Boca d. Cat
taro, the entrance to one Of thewildest and most
wonderful harbOrs in the world. Austria has held
On with the tenacty Of terrier all the Venetian
settlements along the Adriatic upon which she
could lay hands Look at the nap, and you will
see how, from lara to Budus shthss seized strip
of coast, between two and three hundred miles in
length, while its breath wavers between five and
thirty miles. Bosnia, the Herzegovina and Monte
negro have now communication with the sea,
except through Austrian ports. In two places this
strip is interrupted by narrow wedges of the Turk
ish territory, which come down to the sea-of
course at points where no seapot can be created.
Austria has taken good care of hat We swept
close uBut1 DctulDS yin vi mtiOW -unltu IOck,
up which rose, bastion over bStion, the heavy
white walls of fortress. The math of the bay is
somewhat less than a mile in breadth, with an
island, also fortified, lying athwar it, We entered
deep, land-locked bay, shut in ty mountains. In
the southeast rose lofty peak If the Montenesrn
Alps, its summit glitteriDg with now Where do
you suppose Ca,taro hesl" a4ed the captain.
k.-
said he; at is just under yon sn,wy peak" But