and the beginning of November; by which time the Narenta had flooded the plain, and laid the roads on its banks under water; and I was detained at Metcovich four days, awaiting the answer from Mostar.

At length the Vizir's letter arrived, assuring me of a welcome, and giving me permission to make whatever observations I wished, at the capital of Herzegóvina. The Vizir also promised to send his Frank proto-medico, to meet me on the road.

The only difficulty now was to procure horses; which, in consequence of the quarantine regulations, I was advised to obtain from Turkey, to meet me at the frontier. A letter was therefore despatched to the Governor of Gabella, and I held myself in readiness to depart, at a moment's notice. In the hopes of receiving a reply, either in the shape of a letter, or the horses, I went to the Bazaar of Unka; but finding neither of them, and suspecting that the Turk was not disposed to facilitate my journey, I resolved on going next day, to demand an answer in person.

To beguile time, I amused myself all that afternoon, in witnessing the proceedings of the bazaar. It is held four times a week, on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, and is attended by pantalooned Morlacchi on one side, and by ample robed men from Turkey on the other. The latter are however mostly Christians. Unka itself consists of a few houses, which are uninhabited,

except on market days; when the chief employés of the custom-house, and the Sanitá, attend at their office to levy duties, and prevent contact between the Turks and Dalmatians. Two sets of railings, with a vacant space between them, keep off the plague; and a sergeant's guard attends, to enforce obedience.

During the feverish season, some armed Morlacchi do this duty; the Austrian detachment, which consists of about thirty men, not coming to Metcovich till the 1st of November, and leaving it again on the 1st of June. At night, the guard returns to the village; and three Morlacchi* alone remain, to prevent the tables and other woodwork being stolen, by people short of fuel and honesty.

The principal article of trade is salt, sold in great quantity to the Turks, who sometimes take 500, and even 800, horse-loads. It is poured down long wooden troughs; which, moving on a pivot, discharge it across the two barriers, into the Turkish sacks †, on the other side. Susceptible goods from Turkey are put into quarantine; and persons who are suspected of being poor, or are known to have come from Herzegóvina, are confined in the Lazaretto on the opposite shore; which consists of a few huts, thoroughly ventilated, and fully capable of de

* Formerly fifteen were always on guard there.

† The Turkish custom-house officers take one Zwanziger (eight-pence) duty, on each sack.

stroying any plague symptoms, by killing the patient with cold.

I had no opportunity of visiting the ruins, said to be about two or three hours distant from Metcovich, on the road to Ragusa. They are in a small lake, called Lago di Kouti (Couti), and in summer are plainly seen below the surface; showing, like those at Vido, the increased level of the water, since the time of the Romans.

Next morning came, and still no answer from Gabella. I therefore left Metcovich, by the southern bank of the river, intending to cross over when opposite the town; horses having been lent me at the village, on condition that I would avoid all contact with the Turks, and send them back, on reaching the ferry of Gabella.

On the way, we passed through the small hamlet of Dogliane *, under the hills, near which are some large tombstones; probably of the same early Christian time, as those I afterwards met with, in other parts of Dalmatia, and in Herzegóvina. On one of these were sculptured a sword, and a shield with a crescent at one corner; and the border was ornamented with a scroll pattern, and the rope moulding usually found on these monuments. It was four feet high, six long, and two broad. The crescent is curious, and is frequently found on these old tombs; but few have so near an approach to armorial bear

* From Dogl, "low," applied to it from its position.

ings as this; and what is still more singular, very few have the cross, or any other Christian symbol.*

We wound round the hills; and in an hour and a half, after leaving Metcovich, came to the Turkish hamlet of Dracevo; where Aboo Sharwal† was settling the affairs of his farm, and, with all the dignity of an Osmanli, commanding the admiration of his attendants, and the dread of the peasantry. Our appearance excited his curiosity; and he beckoned us to come, and give an account of ourselves, and our proceedings; which, to his infinite surprise and disgust, we showed no inclination to do; for as I had promised to send back the horses without the plague, and avoid all communication with the Turks, I thought it unnecessary to gratify the wishes of this august personage; and as he was some way off, we neglected all the signs of authority made by him, to arrest our progress.

We soon afterwards turned the corner of the hills, and reached a point of land, occupied by a ruined tower; which, with the town of Gabella on the opposite shore, once commanded the passage of the river. Here we expected to find a ferry-boat; but the river was so rapid and swollen, that it had ceased to ply in this part, and no where was any

one to be seen.

Taking care to detain the horses, and ensure a

* See the road from Imoschi, Chap. VIII., woodcut, fig. 1. †"The father of wide trowsers,” as the Turks are called in the East.

retreat if necessary, I sent in every direction, to look for the absent boat; and if screaming and shouting could have availed, we should have had an abundance. All were for returning to Metcovich; but this was not my view of the case; and at length espying a small bark, at some distance, laden with sheaves of Indian corn, I despatched a messenger to persuade the boatman, by the promise of a better job, and good pay, to unload his cargo, and ferry us across to Gabella. He was not long in making up his mind, and down the stream he came, to the foot of the tower; the landing-place of those by-gone heroes, who once garrisoned it, and plundered the peasants they were supposed to protect.

I now began to think myself on my way to Mostar; and sitting down patiently in the water, or in the boat, which was much the same, we paddled over the fields, to avoid the sweeping current, which would in all probability have taken us back to Metcovich; till we came to another round tower, on the bank opposite the east side of Gabella, where we were stopped by a Turk, in a small skiff, who was in all the anger becoming an Osmanli. He abused the boatman, for no very intelligible reason; and if I had never seen a Turk before, I should have supposed that nothing could have quenched his ire, short of the death of the offender, or his own fall overboard into the water; but his tongue proving a rapid conductor of rage, he was soon pacified, and