With Cattaro in particular Ragusa was very often at war on account of the rivalry for the salt trade, and all intercourse with the Serbs on the shores of the Bocche was forbidden. On various occasions the Government issued decrees forbidding Ragusan merchantmen from setting sail without an armed convoy, and whenever news was brought to the city that corsairs had been sighted the armed galleys of the Republic were instantly got ready and sent in pursuit of the freebooters. The Venetians had undertaken the policing of the Adriatic, and the Ragusans were bound by treaty to contribute one or more ships for the purpose. Thus in 1326 they were thanked by the Venetian Senate for their past services in this direction, and requested to send two of their best galleys to the head of the Gulf.[214] Another risk which Ragusan traders ran was that their ships and goods might be seized and confiscated in foreign ports by the local authorities. Antivari, Dulcigno, Durazzo, and Trani were the worst offenders in this respect, but even at Venice and Alexandria the citizens of St. Blaize were not always safe. The sailor’s calling was consequently fraught with considerable danger and responsibility, and the return of a merchant ship from a long voyage was hailed as a great event, especially if it occurred at Christmastide or Easter. Then, as Prof. Gelcich says, “more than an occasion for domestic rejoicing, it was a national festival.... We can see with our mind’s eye the large crowd lining the quays watching the ships entering the harbour, each vessel trying to be the first to drop anchor, so as to receive the small gift of one _ipperpero_ awarded by the State for the achievement.”[215] On Christmas Eve all the sailors of the ships which happened to be in port that night carried a block of wood (_ceppum_)[216] to the castle, singing songs (_kolende_), and placed it on the Count’s hearth. The Count in return gave them each a cup of wine and two _ipperperi pro kolendis_. They also received two _ipperperi_ from the Salt Commission, and two more from the Cathedral treasury.[217] All ships, whether Ragusan or from cities with whom the Republic had a commercial treaty, “qui navigant more Raguseorum,” coming into port were exempt from the _stata_ or harbour dues, and only paid a small tax to the Count, the Archbishop, and the Cathedral treasury. With the proceeds of the latter the new Cathedral was built, declared by De Diversis and other writers to have been the finest church in all Illyria. Ships from countries with whom there were no treaties paid the _arboraticum_ and the _stata_.