Jugoslovenski Rotar

population has always been entirely Croat. Owing to its mild climate and pine woods Rab is an important tourist centre. Let us take a walk through the town, visit the church of the Holly Virgin and look at some of the old buildings interesting on account of their architecture.

We have but a short time to stay, so let us continue our journey southwards. It is a beautiful sunny day, and such are almost all and every day from May to the middle of September. The sea-gulls follow the steamer and with their shrieks and antics it would almost seem that they beg for food. Let us throw them some pieces of bread. You will see how they dive through the air and greedily catch the food. All of a sudden delphines appear and playingly follow the steamer. They seem to be anxious to give evidence of their speed and agility, while the steamer continues to plough the smooth surface of the sea leaving a foamy track behind. We are passing numerous and beautiful islands, leaving on our left the sea of Novigrad with Obrovac and the magnificent fjord of the river Zrmanja, which has worked its way through rocks and precipices of the Velebit to the sea.

We are passing Zara, a city under Italian sovereignty, while the islands on the right are Yugoslav. Now we pass Biograd with its modern Hotel in whose neighbourhood is the lake of Vrana famous for its eels and other kinds of fish.

Through a narrow channel we now reach Sibenik, an important commercial centre known for its export of bauxite, gypsum and coal. We must have a look at the cathedral of Sibenik, which is one of the most interesting cathedrals in the world, on account of its style and of the figures of masters and masons, who built it and carved in stone. The cathedral is built entirely of stone and marble in accordance with the plans of a native architect. It is a symphony in stone. It was begun in late Gothic and finished in early Renaissance style (1431—1536). Since we are in Sibenik we ought not to miss to take a ride by car to the splendid waterfalls of Krka. And now let us hurry back to Sibenik and continue our journey to the South.

Again we are passing many islands, enjoying pure air and glorious sunshine, admiring the beauty and variation of scenery, while far away on the horizon begins to appear the city of Split. We must stop at Split to see the remnants of the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian. This Roman emperor getting tired of court and Government abdicated and retired to spend his last years in his imperial Palace in Split, which he built on such a large scale that later on the whole population of old Split found refuge from the invading barbarians within its protecting walls. Let us look at the peristyle of his Palace, at his Mausoleum, at the temple of Jupiter or Aesculapius. And now, stop for a moment, and admire in the peristyle the towering bronze statue of Gregory bishop of Nin, a work of the sculptor Rotarian Ivan Mestrovi¢é, — and you will seem almost to hear the bishop thundering against the use of a foreign language in the church and defending the Croat liturgy. The Croats are the only people who were able to obtain from the church of Rome the right to use in the church their own language. It may interest you to hear such a service in the Roman Catholic church.