ceiving, in return, 140 oaks, for the bridge he is building, over a tributary stream of the Narenta, in the plain of Metcovich. He distributes the plants, to all the peasants who will rear them; and pays them one sequin, for the greatest number grown in the year. The government, too, gives young plants, gratis, for the same purpose. The mulberry trees are all of the white kind, and are planted for the silk-worms; the rearing of which has, till lately, been much neglected in Dalmatia. Among other wise measures adopted by the Pretore, are the filling up of the stagnant pools about the town, and the introduction of a more general cultivation of the land; which have already had the effect of diminishing the fever, and dysentery, that prevail in the hot season. He has also made every peasant plant a vine by his house, at Fort Opus; for the double purpose of preventing their stealing each others grapes, and of adding to the beauty of the cottages. Another good system is his employing, on the public works, all persons condemned to prison; thereby rendering them more useful to society, than if in confinement punishing them for their offences, by the degradation of an exposure; and affording an example, to deter others from similar crimes. وتا The people of Fort Opus have a method of preserving olives, different from that commonly practised. They gather the fruit when ripe, and put them into a tepid oven, until slightly dried; and salt having been mixed with them, they are ready But they are not prepared with salt for use. water, or vinegar, nor bottled, as in Italy. At Ternovo*, a suburb of Fort Opus, about a quarter of a mile to the southward, is a Greek church; close to which is a large mulberry tree, measuring from fifteen to sixteen feet round the trunk, and about forty feet high. In this suburb are a priest, and some other members of the Greek Church; but Fort Opus itself has only one family of that persuasion. It may appear incredible, that neither the Dalmatians, nor the Austrians, have yet made a single mill in this district, and that all the corn is actually sent from Fort Opus, and Metcovich, to Strúké, in the Turkish territory, to be ground; though there are most convenient spots, in the valley of the Narenta, for erecting windmills, and a stream strong enough for water-mills. It is sufficiently inconvenient to be dependent on the Turkish millers, who live across the frontier, many miles off, for all the flour they want; but when the plain is flooded, and the communication intercepted, or in time of plague, when a strict quarantine is established, the people of the Narenta have no means of grinding their corn, without sending it to Salona, or to Imoschi, (one distant about thirty * Perhaps from Tern, "a thorn"; the name given to the Rhamnus infectorius. five, the other seventy miles), at a great loss of time and money. When there is no plague, the quarantine is avoided: individuals coming from Turkey are then alone amenable to the health-office regulations; while those who buy, or receive, flour, are, for convenience sake, exempt; which shows the hypocritical pretences, and injustice, of political quarantine laws. The expenses on 100 okas of wheat, costing seven florins and forty carantani*, may be reckoned at one florin, for carriage and grinding; which is three times what it would be, if ground on the spot, and is rather more than thirteen per cent. That the peasants of Dalmatia should not erect mills is natural enough, as they have not means, sufficient to bear the expense; but that the Austrians should be so blind to their own interest is truly surprising; and the fact I have already mentioned †, of the only mills erected on the most convenient of streams, the Kerka, being of Turkish time, is not very creditable to the paternal govern ment. The small boats of the Narenta are of rude construction. They have no gunwale, and have merely two shelving sides, meeting in a point at the bottom, like a trough; so that when getting in, if you do not step exactly in the middle, they upset, or, at least, every thing they contain falls out into the water. They are rowed with paddles, either by a single man, *Fifteen shillings and four-pence English. or by one at each end. There is also a smaller boat, or punt, intended for one person, but frequently occupied by two or three, if willing, and accustomed, to sit perfectly quiet; and generally paddled by women; which, being flat-bottomed, of very thin wood, or sometimes merely a trunk of a tree hollowed out, about thirteen feet long, and three broad, is so light, that it can be carried about, like an old British coracle. While at Fort Opus, I wrote a letter to the Vizir of Herzegóvina, proposing a visit to his capital, and requesting permission to draw, and measure, the famous bridge of Mostar, without any interruption from the people, or the authorities of the city. And the Pretore having undertaken to forward it, with a strong recommendation, I set off for Metcovich, the last town on the frontier, to await the answer. Ascending the Narenta, in one of the trough-like boats, with two paddlers, I passed in an hour's time the Torre di Norin*; on a point of land, where the small stream of Norino joins the Narenta. This tower was built by the Turks; and, pierced with embrasures for cannon, it commands the river. It was taken by the Venetians, under Pietro Valier, in 1685 †; and the following year, Cornaro obliged the Turks to retire from before it, and * According to the Venetian mode of cutting off the final vowel. Called also Narin, or Narino. † See the History. c 2 : from Fort Opus; which, from that time, remained in the hands of the Venetians. The river's banks are overgrown with reeds, wild vines, alders, willows, and thick bushes; and, on approaching Metcovich, it winds so much, that I found it far more expeditious to leave the boat, and walk to the village, along the excellent road, made by the French, during their occupation of Dalmatia. From this point to Metcovich is about one mile; and the whole distance from Fort Opus by land is about five. As the Sindaco, to whom I had a letter, was absent at a marriage, I was lodged at the house of his deputy, to whom I was indebted for much civility during my stay. The marriage caused great bustle and animation, in the village; and on the return of the cortège, the display of flags, and an incessant discharge of guns and pistols, continued for several days. Metcovich contains about 500 inhabitants, who are mostly Morlacchi, fifty or sixty of whom are of the Greek Church. It stands on the slope of a rocky hill, overlooking the level, and extensive, plain of the Narenta; which is the most fertile part of Dalmatia, and only requires draining and cultivation, to call forth all the capabilities of its productive soil. As in all Dalmatian villages, the houses are scattered; and Metcovich covers more ground than its consequence, or the number of its inhabitants, require. It has a small inn, of the accommodation in which I can say nothing. I |