Herzegovina | Page 9

by rains in the mountains and the
melting snow, and a rise of twelve feet in three or four hours is by no
means uncommon. As a source of communication it might be
invaluable to the province, but in its present state it is perfectly useless,
since the hardness of its waters renders it unfit for irrigation. It has
many tributary streams, amongst the most important of which are the
Boona, Bregava, Rama, Radopolie, Trebitza, and Cruppa.
On its right bank, and some miles above the mouth, is a small town,
which rejoices in the imposing name of Fort Opus, albeit it possesses
neither walls, fortifications, nor other means of defence. As the night
was already far advanced when we arrived, I resolved to stay there a
few hours before continuing the row to Metcovich, which I should
otherwise have reached before daylight, and have been compelled to lie
off the town during the damp hours of morning. Neither sentry nor
health officer appeared to interdict our landing; and having found a
miserable outhouse, which served as a cabaret, I was preparing to
snatch a few hours' sleep as best I might, when an Hungarian corporal,
employed in the finance department, came to the rescue, and undertook
to find me a bed. Of its quality I will abstain from speaking; but such as
it was, it was freely given, and it took much persuasion to induce the
honest fellow to accept any remuneration. His post can hardly be a
pleasant one, for malaria and fever cause such mortality, that the station
is regarded much in the same light as is the gold coast of Africa by our
own government servants. As a set-off against these disadvantages, my
friend was in receipt of 2_d._ per day additional pay. May he pass

unscathed through the ordeal!
By 2 A.M. I had again started, and reached Metcovich at 5 A.M. on
September 5. Here M. Grabrich, the principal merchant of the place,
put me in the way of procuring horses to take me to Mostar, about nine
hours distant. My destination becoming known, I was beset with
applications for my good offices with Omer Pacha. Some of these were
petitions for contracts for supplying the army, though the greater
number were demands for arrears of payment due for the supply of
meal, and the transport of horned cattle and other provisions to the
frontier. One of the complainants, a Greek, had a grievance of a
different and much more hopeless nature. He had cashed a bill for a
small amount offered him by an Irish adventurer. This, as well as
several others, proved to be forgeries, and the money was irretrievably
lost. Although travelling under an assumed name, and with a false
passport, I subsequently discovered the identity of the delinquent with
an individual, whom doubtless many who were with Garibaldi during
the campaign of the Two Sicilies will call to mind. He was then only
remarkable for his Calabrian costume and excessive amount of swagger.
When at Niksich I learned that he had escaped through that town into
Montenegro, and he has not, I believe, since been traced.
No punishment can be too severe for a scoundrel who thus brings
English credit into disrepute, and disgraces a name which, although
little known in these regions, is deservedly respected.
From Metcovich the traveller may proceed to Mostar by either bank of
the river. I was recommended to take the road on the northern side,
which I did, and ten minutes' ride brought us to the frontier, where a
custom-house official insisted upon unloading the baggage so recently
arranged. In vain I remonstrated, and brandished my despatches with
their enormous red seals in his face. His curiosity was not to be so
easily overcome. When he had at length satisfied himself, he permitted
us to depart with a blessing, which I acknowledge was far from
reciprocated. The first place of any importance which we passed is
Gabella. It stands on an eminence overhanging a bend of the river, by
whose waters three of its sides are washed. In former days it was

defended by two forts, whose guns swept the river in either direction,
and commanded the approach upon the opposite bank. In A.D. 1694 it
was taken by Cornaro, and remained in the hands of the Venetians until
A.D. 1716, when they evacuated it, blowing up the greater part of its
defences.
Immediately above the town, the Narenta traverses the plain of Gabella,
which is one of the largest and most productive in the country.
The plains of Herzegovina are in reality nothing more than valleys or
basins, some of which are so hemmed in by hills, that the streams
flowing through them can only escape by percolation, or through
subterranean channels. This last phenomenon