the narrow silver thread of a mountain stream
at the crossing of which Wun Thu's sporting warriors had levelled their
blunderbusses lashed to trees and warranted harmless to all but the men
behind them; the paper told of another rising led by Wun Thu. Wun Thu
had lain "doggo" for many years--at least he had done nothing to attract
the attention of Central Europe--yet here he was, a man of my age and on
the downward slope, following the post-war instinct of making
trouble--for himself chiefly, as his attempt failed. I feel sorry for my
old acquaintance; like so many of us of a former generation, he no
longer fits into the picture; he is probably too honest to succeed under
present-day conditions. However, Wun Thu has been banished to Ceylon,
and I am still writing about Prague. Even in this I am last and, I
willingly admit, least of a goodly company.

First in time of this goodly company is Cosmas of Prague, who wrote his
chronicles early in the twelfth century. There are yet earlier German
chronicles which make mention of the Bohemians, but the city of Prague
was not in the days in which they were written. Those German chronicles
suggest that the Bohemians who came into their land some time in the
sixth century were at one time tributary to the Avari, an Asiatic tribe
which had taken possession of the greater part of present-day Hungary,
and were rather a nuisance to Western Europe.

It will be remembered that Charlemagne had forceful argument with these
Avari; it had something to do with that worthy's trip to visit the
Empress of the East; there was a squabble about fares, river dues and
such matters. However, this is _vieux jeu_, and has nothing to do with
Prague. The Avari were devoted to the time-honoured practice of robbing
and ravishing their neighbours, among them the Bohemians. These latter
seem to have borrowed one Samo the Frank, a strong man, from one of the
northern Slavonic tribes, and as he proved a success, invited him to be
King over them.

Samo accepted the invitation, and is said to have founded the first
great Slavonic State with Bohemia as nucleus and a strong castle at
Vy[vs]ehrad, of which we shall have more to tell hereafter. The
neighbouring Franks became uneasy at Samo's increasing importance, and
under Dagobert, their King, invaded Bohemia, to be badly beaten at
Wogastisburg, which, according to Count Luetzow, was near the present
town of Cheb. Samo extended his territory after this victory,