THE ADRIATIG PROVINCES. 43 



proposes to call the Liburniun Carso, is almost as desolate in aspect as the Carso of 

 Trieste, Amongst its sinks is one of unusual size, an entire village, surrounded 

 by fields and orchards, oceuj)ying its bottom. The range of mountains which rises 

 upon the Liburnian Carso runs parallel with the coast of Dalmatia. Its average 

 height is 4,000 feet, whilst the height of its passes varies between 2,300 and 4,533 

 feet. None of the culminating summits pierce the zone of perennial snow, the 

 highest ainongst them being the Great Kapella (Klek, 5,394 feet) and the Vellebic 

 (Vaganski Yrh, 5,768 feet). The latter lies on the boundary between Croatia and 

 Dalmatia, close to the sea, and its summit, tinted in blue, purple, or rose colour, 

 according to the distance from which it is seen and the time of the day, is visible 

 from afar. It is the storm-breeder of the Dalmatian mariner. This mountain 

 forms a good natural boundary, for it presents great difficulties to a traveller, not 

 80 much because of its height, but owing to its formidable precipices. 



The deep valleys of the Zermanja and the Kerka separate the range of the 

 Vellebic from the Dinaric Alps, thus called from the principal summit, the 

 Dinara (5,942 feet). Beyond the wide valley of the Narenta the mountains rise 

 once more, and in the Orion (6,230 feet), on the frontiers of Montenegro, they 

 attain their greatest height in Dalmatia. 



The mountains along the coast of Croatia are partly Avooded, but those of 

 Dalmatia are almost naked. Claudius's Dalmatia frondosa exists no longer. When 

 Ragusa was founded the Slavs called it Dubrovnik, on account of the surrounding 

 forests. The Venetians, when they took possession of the country, found all the 

 timber they wanted, whilst now the wood required even for building the smallest 

 boat has to be imported. The inhabitants of the country accuse pirates of having 

 set fire to the forests. More likely they were destroyed by goatherds, as in the 

 Carso. The destruction of the forests of the Carso during the last century has been 

 estimated to have caused a loss equivalent to that of 582 square miles, with over 

 a million of inhabitants. Steaming along the coast of Dalmatia, the grey and 

 naked mountains resemble huge heaps of ashes. The reverse slopes, however, 

 are still wooded from the foot to the summit. 



EivERs AND Lakes, 



The plateaux of Carniola, Kapella, and Vellebic, and the mountains of Dalmatia, 

 constitute a strong strategic barrier, not only because of their height, but also 

 because of the want of water. The limestone of which they are composed quickly 

 sucks up the rain, and no other country in Europe abounds so largely in under- 

 ground rivers. These rivers have their waterfalls, their freshets, and other 

 phenomena, like rivers flowing on the surface. M, Schmidt and others, by 

 descending into the sinks and embarking in small boats upon mysterious water- 

 courses, have succeeded in mapping several of these subterranean river systems. 



Of all these rivers the Rieka, or Hecca, near Trieste, is the most famous. 

 Rising upon the Snowy Mountain, it flows for some distance through a narrow 

 canon, until it disappears beneath the rock, surmounted by the picturesque village 



