Herzegovina; Or, Omer Pacha and the Christian RebelsArbuthnot, George
History
Herzegovina; Or, Omer Pacha and the Christian Rebels
Arbuthnot, George
Hercegovina (Bosnia and Hercegovina) -- History; Serbia
Arrived at the scene of operations, we lost little time in getting to
work. A still evening, and a moon obscured by light clouds, promised
well for sport; and we should doubtless have made a large bag had
ordinary precautions been taken. These, however, were not deemed
necessary by the majority of the party, who walked down in the open to
the river's edge, smoking and chattering as though they expected the
'dilly-dills to come and be killed' merely for the asking. The result, I
need not say, was our return almost empty-handed. Late in the evening we
assembled round a large fire, to eat the dinner which our servants had
already prepared; after which we courted sleep beneath the soothing
influences of tales of love and war as related by our Æsculapian friend,
who undeniably proved himself to have been a very Don Quixote. Early the
following morning we were again afoot, and a few partridges, hares, and
quail rewarded our exertions. Amongst the hills, where most of the game
was shot, I noticed several old Roman tombs. Many of these were merely
large shapeless blocks of stone, while others were of the proper
sarcophagus form, ornamented with sculptures of considerable merit. On
some were depicted men in armour, with shields and long straight swords,
while others had two men with lances aimed at a deer between them. The
absence of anything like moulding on the sides proves their great
antiquity. In its place we find a rather graceful pattern, vines with
leaves and grapes predominating; or, as in other cases, choruses of
women holding hands and dancing. In no instance did I detect anything
denoting immorality or low ideas, so prevalent in the sculptures of
intermediate ages. Amongst these tombs, as also on the sites of the
ancient towns, curiosities and coins are found. Of the last, small
Hungarian silver pieces, and large Venetian gold pieces, are the most
numerous; although Roman copper coins are by no means rare. Stones
engraved with figures of Socrates and Minerva were shown to me, as
having been found in the province, and it is only two years since, that
two golden ear-rings of fifteen drachms weight, and about the size of
pigeons' eggs, were dug up in the neighbourhood of Blato. About the same
time a ring was found, of which the Pacha obtained possession. It was of
iron, set with a stone only three tenths of an inch in diameter, on
which were most beautifully engraved no fewer than nine figures of
classical deities.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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