116 IN THE LAND OF THE BORA. 



The views from Gradina are very fine. To 

 the north-east the characteristic Dalmatian hills 

 shut in a plain some five miles across, all marsh, 

 of course, with several streams draining it ; whilst 

 further north the steamer channel winds up to 

 Metkovic, behind which a magnificent panorama 

 of the Turkish hills, many of them covered with 

 forest, is spread out. If one turns round, the view 

 is similar, hut ends with the open sea framed 

 between the high mountains of the Sabioncello 

 peninsula and the lower island of Lesina. The 

 sunsets here were particularly fine — gorgeous, in 

 fact. 



The little town of Fort Opus (or Opuzen) con- 

 tains nothing of interest, its very church being 

 modern. On the embankment, which serves as a 

 steamer quay, stands an obelisk commemorating 

 the completion of the work which resulted in the 

 permanent establishment of a steamer channel 

 and "the drainage of the marshes." This latter 

 phrase seems to smack rather of gratitude for 

 favours to come, as there are still so many square 

 miles of unprofitable bog, to which the pro- 

 portion of reclaimed land can only be very trifling. 

 Still, a few walks about the neighbourhood prove 

 that a considerable amount of the former marsh is 

 now vineyard or Indian cornfield, and the re- 

 clamation is continually extending. It can never 

 become anything like general until the principal 



