42 



AUSTEIA-HUNGAEY. 



of time they yielded harvests. This, however, is an exception. Standing upon 

 the edge of the plateau, near Basso vizza, or on the Opcina (1,294 feet), we are 

 struck by the contrast presented by the smiling coast region and the forbidding 

 plateau. On the one hand we look upon the blue waters of the Adriatic, upon 

 sinuous bays fringed by rows of houses, upon towns and villages embosomed in 

 verdure ; on the other upon a rocky waste, without rivers, springs, or vegetation. 

 The line separating the verdant slopes from the reddish plateau is clearly 

 defined. 



That portion of the Carso which we see to the north of Trieste, and which 

 extends to the north-west and south-west, runs parallel with the general axis of 



Fig. 25.— The Vellebi<5. 

 Scale 1 : 110,000. 



I5°20 



2 Miles. 



"Western Illyria. The range of hills surmounting the plateau runs m the same 

 direction. The " Snowy Mountain " (Sneznica, or Schneeberg, 5,893 feet) must 

 be looked upon as bounding the Triestine Carso in the south, for close to it rises 

 the river, for the most part subterranean, which drains the stony plateau. The 

 Snowy Mountain is entitled to that designation, for in some of its crevices 

 snow is found throughout the year. The " Hungarian Gate " lies to the west of 

 it, and near by the old battle-field of Grobrick, now traversed by a railroad. Not 

 far beyond it rises the Monte Maggiore, or Caldiera (4,572 feet), the culminating 

 point of Istria, presenting a steep fiice towards the Gulf of Quarnero. 



The limestone plateau to the south of the Snowy Mountain, which M. Lorenz 



