16 IN THE LAND OF THE BORA. 



streets prevails in Zara, and, I may add, contrasts 

 very oddly with the modern electric street-lamps. 



Zara has seen some hard knocks given and 

 received in its day, especially during the wars 

 between Huns and Venetians for the mastery of 

 Dalmatia. Dandolo took it by storm in the four- 

 teenth century, and destroyed about half of it. 

 It finally became Venetian territory in 1409. 

 Then the Turk appeared, and repeatedly besieged 

 it, but unsuccessfully, though it very nearly fell 

 twice, firstly in 1500, and again in 1570. In the 

 next century its troubles were varied by pesti- 

 lence, the plague twice committing fearful ravages 

 amongst the population. Its sieges ended with 

 the Napoleonic wars, when it endured two close 

 blockades (1809 and 1813) at the hands of its 

 present owners, the Austrians. As its fortifica- 

 tions are now dismantled, it may look forward to 

 more peaceful days in future. 



As I have just referred to the Venetian rule, I 

 may take this opportunity of saying that the Slav 

 population attribute the fearful devastation of the 

 Dalmatian forests indirectly to the great Eepublic. 

 The fact seems to be that their officials had a 

 nasty way of going about the country and marking 

 fine timber trees with the Hon of St. Mark. This 

 meant that the country people had to fell and 

 shape the trees, and, worse still, transport them 

 to the seashore to be used for galley-building. 



