Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-05-29
Special Correspondence of The

CATTARO. Dalmatia, April o6, 1910.
! There was another little republic o
twenty-five or thirty thousand inhaoi
tants. all told. down here on the Dial
matian coast in the middle ages, and, lik'
that OF Ragusa which 1 wrote abou
the other day. it was under the protee
| ton of the doges OF Venice. 10 existed
for several hundred years. PRACTICAL!
independent state. whose rulers wer'
elected by ballot with an educational ant
property test for the electors. 1t was {
sort Of toy government, but composed
Of very serious citizens who exercised
| a considerable influence in this part Of
| the world and conducted a commerce
with the farthest seas. They were fa'
nous sailors who came from Cattaro, and
like the whalers Of New Bedford, the!
became rich and brought home luxurie:
from the strange countries they visited
| silks from China, teas from japan ane
spices from the East India islands. Ant
| today, in the homes of some of the ole
| families may be found curious seashells
Asiatic costumes and other mementoe:
| of foreign nations which these sea rover.
brought back as curiosities to entertain
their families and their friends.
| Cattaro sits serenely at the end OF g
| ford as grand as any in Norway, ano
the scenery that sur
| Grandeur of rounds it is the grandesi
on the Dalmatian coast
'ne oeo"eAy' 1t has been compared ia
vorably with Smyth's channel on the
Pacific coast of Chile, and with the
nP 10 Ole wit
coast of Norway, and / am sure the
scenery is as grand as at any or those
places. although there are no glaciers.
What 1 have called ford is labeled or
the maps as ''Bocche di Cattaro.' 1t is
an arm Of the Adriatic sea, penetrating
far into the mainland Of Dalmatia and
divided into lakes Or large basins by mar
row canals of very deep water. which IN
ancient times were protected by having
heavy chains of iron strung across them
to keep out invaders. That sort Of de-
Tense was sufficient in days when the
only fighting ships were propelled by
sails or oars. but the PROV OF any Or
binary modern gunboat would have part
ed them promptly.
Cattaro is about four and a hall
hours sail from Ragusa and the seen
cry is worth, seeing the entire distance
We left Ragusa at o'clock in the
morning and within an hour the little
steamer was threading it's way through
an archipelago which protects the
coast. and is composed of small rocky
islands of picturesque outlines. On the
mainland several mountain ranges rise
one behind the other, and that in the
background is covered with snow
Some of the peaks rise directly from
q a nj 0OC
feet, and they are very bold and steep
The incessant beating of the waves
has worn out the soft places and left
grottoes and fantastic forms of rock
Mexico and Arizona, where the winds
and the weather have played tricks
with nature. The sides of the cliffs are
illuminated with many colors, deep
shades Of orange predominatinS, where
the chemicals or minerals contained
in the rock have been brought to the
surface. In many places they are as
brilliant as the walls of the canyon
of the Yellowstone or the Colorado.
We were admiring these freaks of ma
ture, when the steamer made sudden
turn and entered a
Ancient narrow passage pro.
.n :. tected by an enormous
lighthouse that looks like church with a
lamp in the steeple where the bell ough,
to be. We are not allowed to forget thai
we are in Austria, and the name of the
cape is the name of the nation. But that
is not needed to remind one, for the bat
teries which command the entrance to
the Bocche di Cattaro are worthy of the
Hapsburgs.
Immediately opposite the entrance to
the bay is q venerable old town called
Ca stelnuovO-which in English means
New Castle. 1t was new once. no doubt,
but that was long, long time ago. when
the Venetians occupied the same position
and influence in the worlds affairs that
England and Germany do today. Several
venerable piles of masonry which cling to
the steep mountainsides were built by the
Venetians away back in thirteen hundred
and something. to keep out invaders. They
are now in ruins, but their wounds are
concealed by ivy. the first we have seen in
this part of the world, and the decorative
effect is very successful.
There was a battle here in 1870 when
the republic of Cattaro. becoming an
noyed at the injustice of its protectors
the Venetians, asked the intervention OF
King Ludwig OF Hungary he came
and was able to capture but not to hold
Cattaro, so he ceded it to King Tyrko OF
Bosnia, who took possession and founded
the town that stands today. Tyrko's sue
cessors remained in possession until 1920
when the Venetlans recovered possession
and permitted the people living along this
bay TO resume their autonomy.
But that is practically modern history
II YOU want to know about what hap
pened in the early times about this beau
iifuI body of water, which. by the way,
is about the same shape and size as the
Lake of Luzerne, in Switzerland. you Will
have to 20 back several centuries before
the Christian era, and some of the stories
Of those days are very interesting: For
example, Caesar sent ENJOYS to Teuta.
Queen of Illyria, who reigned here III
the wear 22S B. c., to find out what they
could about her country and her subjects
Suspecting that their inquistfveness was
not entirely disinterested, she had the en-
VOWS nut 70 death. 1t was sixty years be-
fore the Romans found out what mad
happened to them, and then caesar, IN
3. G. 1853 sent up an army, brought tne
last King Of Illyria-who. by the way,
was a grandson of the fierce Teuta-a