re
not living under regulations. They waved American, Serbian and Croatian
flags, all of which the Italians attempted to seize; the most gorgeous
one, a Yugoslav flag of silk with gilt fringes, they tore up and divided
among themselves as a trophy. When the _Leonidas_ made fast, a
lieutenant leaped ashore and placed himself, holding a revolver, in
front of an American flag. The captain, according to some reports, had
his men standing to their guns, while others of the crew are said to
have been given hand-grenades; but whether by this method or another,
the turbulence on shore was calmed and the Italians seem to have invited
the captain to step off his boat. He preferred, however, to go to
another port; the populace came overland. One need not say that there
was jollification.... When the other American boats departed, a small
one remained at Kor[vc]ula. One day a steamer came from Metkovi['c],
having on board a few men of the Yugoslav Legion. The people of
Kor[vc]ula, not being allowed to take the men to their houses, came down
quietly to the harbour with coffee and bread, but the carabinieri drove
them away. These legionaries were emigrants to Australia and Canada, who
had come back to fight for the Entente, including Italy. The Italians
wanted to arrest them all on account of a small Croatian flag which one
of them was holding, but at the request of the American ship they
refrained. A certain Marko [vS]imunovi['c], who had gone to Australia
from the Kor[vc]ula village of Ra[vc]i[vs]ca, went over to speak to the
sailors on the American boat. Because of this the carabinieri took him
to the military headquarters. He was interned for several months in
Italy.
The long island of Hvar (Lesina) was not occupied until November 13. It
is interesting, by the by, to note how this island came to have its
names. In the time of the Greek colonists it was known as [Greek: ho
pharos], which subsequently became Farra or Quarra, leading to the name
Hvar, by which it is known to the Slavs. They also, in the thirteenth
century, gave it an alternative name: Lesna, from the Slav word
signifying "wooded," for the Venetians had not yet despoiled the island
of many of its forests. Lesna was the popular and Hvar the literary
name; and the Italians, taking the former of these, coined the word
Lesina, the sound of which makes many of them and of other people think
that this is an Italian island.[10] The question of Slav and Italian
geographica
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