114 IN THE LAND OF THE BORA. 



the history of the place. The site, he said, was 

 that of a very ancient castle, said, indeed, to be of 

 Eoman origin. Twenty years ago only a few 

 fragments of the old walls remained. Then the 

 Kusso-Turkish war, with its accompanying troubles 

 in Montenegro and Herzegovina, broke out. The 

 importance of Fort Opus will at once be seen 

 when I say that the Turkish frontier here runs in 

 a semicircle of only some seven miles' radius. 

 The present buildings were hastily run up and 

 garrisoned. After the occupation it was used for 

 some little time both as a military hospital and a 

 depot, then disused, and finally sold last year to 

 my informant for a little more than a hundred 

 pounds sterling, having cost the government 

 over seven thousand. The very fact shows 

 how much intention the Austrians have of 

 handing back the administered provinces to the 

 Sultan. 



From its present appearance, and having re- 

 gard to the fact that it is not twenty years old, 

 I should say it was built by contract, and was very 

 profitable to the builder. The entrance gate, as I 

 have already said, has fallen in ; the roof is off 

 the officers' quarters; one barrack room has 

 entirely disappeared ; and even the flagstones at 

 the top of the steps leading to the keep have 

 fallen in. The present owner intends to rebuild 

 it for residential purposes, but had it not passed 



