54 IN THE LAND OF THE BORA. 



easily. I should perhaps explain that the balloon 

 tents have no pole ; a tackle holds down the apex 

 to an iron driven deep into the earth. We learnt 

 afterwards that the spot where our tent was placed 

 had once been a well, supplied, of course, by infil- 

 trations of sea-water, but used for watering the 

 cattle, nevertheless. 



The nature of the land and the want of water 

 are the two drawbacks to camping in Dalmatia — 

 both, as our experience shows, to be overcome 

 with patience ; only the latter generally prevents 

 one's going more than half a mile from a village. 

 As for the former, it must be owned that we made 

 a great mistake in bringing wooden tent-pegs ; 

 they should be iron. In this particular camp 

 perhaps wood did better. 



Our first excursion from Zablace was naturally 

 Sebenico. We made use of our usual conveyance 

 — a fishing-boat — to get there. We had an easy 

 run down to Fort Nicolo. This work has been 

 somewhat modernized, but of course the days of 

 stone fortifications are over. The old gate — a 

 replica of the Porta Terra Ferma at Zara — has 

 been spared, and above it the lion of St. Mark 

 still recalls the days of the great Mediaeval Ee- 

 public. Perhaps the most interesting part of our 

 voyage was the rock-bound channel which leads 

 to the splendid harbour. Although very narrow 

 — so much so as to make it almost impossible for 



