408 The Karstlands of Western Yugoslavia. 



both by the Montenegrins themselves and also by the Turks, partly 

 to prevent ambush along their former northern frontier. Rainfall 

 and wind have completed the work of destruction by removing the 

 loose humus, producing a region of unrivalled barrenness. Districts 

 like the Sinjavina Planina, which were known to be well-wooded and 

 to contain numerous settlements less than 200 years ago, are to-day 

 dreai'Y stony wastes. 



The most powerful factor at the present day in the production 

 of the bare surfaces is the dry and cold wind, known as the " bora ", 

 which blows with extreme severity from the high uplands to the north 

 of the lUyrian wastes throughout the winter months. Bosnia, 

 which is little affected by the " bora ", is consequently not so bare 

 as regions nearer the coast and the majority of its uplands are thickly 

 covered with deciduous forests. Herzegovina, on the other hand, 

 the barren nature of which is proverbial, suffers considerably from 

 its effects. The necessity for a close study of the karst and its geology 

 was recognized many years ago by the former Austrian authorities. 

 The shortage of water in many summers is acute, for in some cases 

 a whole group of Herzegovinian or Dalmatian villages are dependent 

 on a single well. Springs and wells are also so infrequent on the 

 J^Iontenegrin karst that the few that exist have become famed in 

 national poetry, and have been the cause of endless dispute and 

 bloodshed in the past. By the construction of storage reservoirs, 

 and the irrigation of the floors of many of the poljes, the shortage 

 of water has been met in part, and what were formerly inland 

 marshes, unhealthy in summer time, have been converted into rich 

 agricultural districts. Afforestation has also been systematically 

 carried out along the Dalmatian coast for the last forty years, with 

 the result that much of the country between Ragusa and Spljet is 

 now covered with a luxuriant growth of beech and pine. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



(1) A. Heim, " Ueber die Karrenfelder " : Jahrb. d. Schiceiz. Alpencliibs, 



Bd. xiii, 1878, p. 421. 



(2) J. Cvijic, " Das Karstphanomen " : Geogr. Abhandl. v. A. Penck, 



Vienna, Bd. v, 1893. 



(3) J. Cvijic, " Moriahologische und Glaciale Studien aus Bosnian, etc. . . . 



Die Karstpoljen " : Abhandl. d. Geogr. Gesellsch., Vienna, Bd. iii, 

 1901. 



(4) E. A. Martel, " Les Abimes, etc. Exijlorations Souterraines effectuees 



de 1888 a 1893 en France, Belgiq^ue, Autriche et Grece " : Paris, 4to, 

 1894. 



(5) E. A. Marbel, " iSTouveau Traite des Eaux Souterraines " : Paris, 8vo, 



1921. 



(6) K. Hasserb, " Beitrage zur physischen Geographie von Montenegro ". 



Petermann's Mitteilungen, Erg. H. 115, Gotha, 1895, pp. 1-174. 



(7) A. Grand, " Die Karsthydrographie " : Geogr. Abhandl. v. A. Penck, 



Vienna, Bd. vii, 1903. 



(8) A. Grund, " Beitrage zur Morphologie des dinarischen Gebirges " : ibid., 



Bd. ix, 1910. 



(9) A. Chaix-Du-Bois, and A. Chaix, " Contributions a I'etude des lapies en 



Carniole " : Le Globe, Geneva, vol. xlvi, 1906, pp. 17-56. 



