CROATIA. 



351 



Croatia, have seldom an opportunity of regaling themselves with 

 "■ "V™"' it, except on great feast days. A liquor made from 

 pears and barberries often supplies its place, and in gene- 

 ral they content themselves with water or milk. In the 

 wine districts, wine is in general use, but the produce of 

 their vineyard seldom lasts above five or six months, 

 never almost until the new vintage, 

 haracter. The moral character both of the Croats and Illyrians, 

 is a mixture of good and bad qualities, frequently found 

 even among the most uncivilized and savage tribes. 

 They are hospitable, frugal, patient of fatigue and hun- 

 ger, and always ready to oblige and assist one another ; 

 but they are, on the other hand, revengeful, indolent, 

 intemperate, deceitful, and addicted to robbery. On the 

 mountains, every one who arrives during a repast, is obli- 

 ged to partake; and the master of a family would con- 

 sider it an indelible reproach, were the traveller, or even 

 a beggar, allowed to depart without tasting his hospitali- 

 ty. When compelled to endure hardship and depriva- 

 tion, the Croat submits with cheerfulness ; but he is in 

 general a stranger to every kind of industry. He passes 

 the greatest part of the clay in doing nothing, whiie the 

 women are continually exposed to the most laborious 

 drudgery. " A stranger," says M. Demian, " is surpri- 

 sed to meet among the mountains of Wellabit and Ka- 

 pella, a woman of Licca, with a large bag upon her head, 

 a child upon her back, and another in her arms, journe} r - 

 ing ten or twelve leagues a-day, and at the same time 

 singing and spinning on the distaff, while her husband 

 walks by her side without the slightest burden, sole- 

 ly occupied in smoking his pipe." The Croat is honest 

 and faithful in all his dealings with his own countrymen, 

 but an enemy to every other nation. Towards his su- 

 perior he is submissive and cringing, when he wishes to 

 gain any thing ; but when he expects nothing, he is in- 

 solent and disobedient. The severity of military disci- 

 pline has rendered the Illyrian particularly cunning and 

 suspicious; and he is more inclined to robbery and bri- 

 gandage than the Croat. He is also more addicted to 

 intemperance, and the common seasons of dissipation 

 are a marriage, a family feast, called Kesznoime, the an- 

 niversary of a saint, and a funeral. A marriage feast 

 will often last several weeks, and will sometimes swallow 

 up half a year's income. A funeral is almost equally ex- 

 pensive ; and the father of a family, even when his wife, 

 his mother, or his child, is lying in the agonies of death, 

 will be busily employed in borrowing money from his 

 neighbours, in order to purchase Dalmatian wine for the 

 approaching entertainment. The marriage and funeral 

 ceremonies are the same throughout the whole country ; 

 and though the Croats and Illyrians have customs pecu- 

 liar to their respective origins and religions, yet they 

 agree in these, which, indeed, in most countries, general- 

 ly fix the national character, 

 anufac- ^ n Croatia, the arts and manufactures are almost corn- 



res, pletely neglected, and except in the principal cities and 



towns, where a few of the more simple and common 

 trades are practised, there is scarcely a professed artist 

 or manufacturer to be found in the country. Every pea- 

 sant makes his own furniture, his own clothes, and even 

 his husbandry utensils ; and throughout the whole of 

 military Croatia, containing a population of more than 

 376,000, there are only 2102 handicraftsmen who live 

 by their trade. Its principal manufactures are confined 

 to the city of Fiume, in which are made annually about 

 35,000 quintals of refined sugar, and 1400 timers of li- 

 queurs, both of which are mostly consumed in the Aus» 



trian provinces; 850 quintals of tanned leather; 000 Croatia, 

 quintals of wax; 3000 quintals of cordage, manufactured 'T"""' 

 of Italian hemp; 2000 measures of potash ; 10,000 quin- 

 tals of snuff, equal to the best of Dunkirk; besides hati, 

 delf-ware, and some cloth. There are also a sail, an- 

 chor, and cordage manufactory at Zengg ; a paper-mill 

 near Agram ; glass-houses at Szusicza, and near Waras- 

 din ; a pottery at Ivanitsh ; iron-forges at Tschuber and 

 at Merzladovicza, and a copper-forge at Szamabor; a 

 considerable number of saw-mills, of which there are 

 nineteen in the military district of Carlstadt; and dock- 

 yards for building coasting-vessels at Buccari, Fiume, and 

 Porto Re. 



From the account that has been given of the produc- 

 tions and manufactures of Croatia, it cannot be expected, 

 that, after supplying its own wants, it will have any great 

 superfluity to spare to its neighbours. With the excep- inland 

 tion of wood, cattle, and a little corn, therefore, its com- commerce. 

 merce consists chiefly in exchanging the commodities and 

 productions of other countries. Kostainicza, a frontier 

 town on the banks of the Unna, is the great staple of its 

 land commerce, which indeed is but inconsiderable. It 

 draws from Turkey raw hides, which pass into Aus- 

 tria, dressed sheep-skins, furs, vine-shoots, honey, lint- 

 seed, a great number of cattle and pigs, destined for Italy 

 and the Austrian states, and some horses, amounting in 

 all, between the years 179* and 1803, to 649,626 flo- 

 rins and 1 5 kreutchers ; while Croatia in return, gives 

 in the same time, a small quantity of schliwowitza, hemp, 

 mercery, steel, earthen-ware, copper utensils, linen, opan- 

 keti or Croatian shoes, salt, sieves, soap, and tobacco, to 

 the value of only 58,532 florins 56 kreutchers; making 

 a balance in favour of the Turks of 591,283 florins S9 

 kreutchers. The oxen which come from Sclavonia, 

 Hungary, and Bosnia, are fed on the pastures of Croa- 

 tia, and are generally bought by the merchants of Car- 

 niola, and carried to Venice. The number of pigs 

 and horned cattle exported, in 1082, from the military 

 district of Warasdin amounted to 6,138 head, and were 

 valued at 114,966 florins. The merchants of Ivanich 

 carry on a considerable traffic in honey and wax, which 

 they send to Oedenburg and Upper Austria ; and Aus- 

 tria draws also a little corn from the counties of Waras- 

 din and Agram. 



The maritime commerce of Croatia, however, is more Maritime 

 important. Hungarian corn is its principal export, which commerce, 

 is brought up the Save as far as Sissek, and then con- 

 veyed by the Culpa to Carlstadt, which is the great em- 

 porium of Hungarian produce. It is then transported 

 by the Caroline road to Fiume, or by the Josephine road 

 to Zengg. In 1794, there were loaded at its principal 

 sea-ports 100,000 bushels of wheat, 200,000 bushels of 

 oats, chiefly for Dalmatia, Genoa, Trieste, and Cadiz ; 

 and between the years 1800- and 1804, about 60,000 

 quintals of corn were annually transported from Carlstadt 

 to Zengg. Another valuable article of their maritime 

 commerce is tobacco, which is exported, partly manu- 

 factured and partly in leaves, to Genoa, Ancona, and 

 Naples. In 1780, its exportation amounted to 24,905 

 quintals; but, in 1792, this quantity was diminished to 

 10,918 quintals. It has of late years, however, been 

 again on the increase. Wood forms another important 

 object of exportation ; and were the means of convey- 

 ance in any degree commensurate with the immense fo- 

 rests which cover this country, Croatia could vie with 

 any nation in Europe in this lucrative trade ; but for 

 want of proper roads, very little of its excellent timber 



