40 AUSTEIA-HUNGARY. 



Dalmatia is the poorest province of the empire, in spite of its extent, its many 

 harbours, and its delicious climate. Its population is thinly sown. In Istria 

 and Gorizia, on the other hand, the coast and the plains at the foot of the arid 

 plateau of the Carso are densely peopled. 



A rugged platform, upon which rise ramifications of the Alps, extends from 

 three-cornered Terglou towards the south and south-east, until it joins the Shar 

 and other mountain masses of the Thraco-Hellenic peninsula. In Istria, however, 

 this platform, divided into well-defined plateaux, only supports masses of rocks, 

 hilly ranges, and a few isolated summits, amongst which the Nanos, or Monte Ré 

 (4,248 feet), thus called because Alboin, King of the Lombards, planted his sword 

 upon it in sign of conquest, is the most remarkable. This plateau, still known 

 by its Celtic name of Carso (in German Karst), that is, "land of stones," com- 

 pletely separates the fertile littoral region from the fields irrigated by the Save and 

 its tributaries. Only one pass leads across it, that of Ober-Laibach, the Nauportus 

 of Strabo (1,214 feet). It was through this pass the Roman legions pursued 

 their way to the north-east, and the Italians still look upon it as forming the 

 natural frontier of Italy. 



The Carso, with its piled-up stones and grotesquely shaped rocks, presents a 

 unique appearance. No glacier has ever crept across its surface, which is neverthe- 

 less covered with rocks of all sizes, such as we find in valleys invaded by moraines. 

 Walls, obelisks, and rock masses resembling uncouth statues, rise above the chaos 

 of limestone. Once we leave the roads constructed at much expense, progress 

 through this stony waste becomes difficult, if not impossible. " Sinks " of all shapes 

 and dimensions abound, some of them presenting the appearance of amphi- 

 theatres surrounded by rows of seats. These sinks* swallow up all the rain that 

 falls, when they are converted into temporary lakes, unless the water immediately 

 disappears in the bowels of the earth. The soil suspended in the water is deposited 

 upon the bottom of the sink, and these hidden spots are carefully cultivated by the 

 inhabitants, for upon the open plateau, owing to high winds and arid soil, cultiva- 

 tion is not practicable. 



Sinks are met with in all limestone regions of cretaceous age. A portion of 

 those of Istria are supposed by some to be due to an irruption of mineral water, 

 which decomposed the limestone. The red earth, which fills up all the crevices 

 in the rocks of Istria — Istria liossa — is pointed at in support of this theory. This 

 earth hardly contains a trace of organic matter, and seems to have been derived 

 from the subterranean chemical laboratory of nature. 



In former times the whole of the Carso was covered with oak forests. At the 

 close of the last century the Forest of Montona still covered a considerable area in 

 Central Istria, and smaller woods existed on the heights commanding the western 

 coast of the Gulf of Trieste. A few remnants of these ancient forests survive to 

 the present day, the most considerable, near the village of Tomai, being known as 

 the " Paradise of the Carso." Elsewhere considerable tracts are covered with 

 heather, mastic, juniper, and turpentine trees, and rock -roses. The flora of the 



* Called Foibe by the Italians, Loliiie by the Slovenes, Inç/latidors by the Frluliuns. 



