lar
recess, like an immense shell, in the side of the hill, and at the two
projecting extremities the walls run down from the summit to the river,
the upper part being enclosed by a semicircular wall, terminated at each
end by a tower.'

Half way between Metcovich and Mostar is a little village, which boasts
an humble species of Khan.

Here I found the engineer in charge of the telegraph, a Dalmatian by
birth. His head-quarters are at Bosna Serai, but he was then making a
tour for the purposes of inspection and repair.

The telegraphic communication throughout the Ottoman Empire is now more
general than its internal condition would warrant us in supposing.
Indeed, in travelling through the country, one cannot fail to be struck
by the strange reversal of the general order of things. Thus, for
instance, both telegraph and railways have preceded the construction of
ordinary roads.

And therein lies one of the principal causes of the hopelessness of
Turkish civilisation; that it has been prematurely forced upon her, and
that, in order to keep a position among the European nations, she is
driven to adopt the highest triumphs of European intelligence without
passing through the intermediate stages by which they have been
acquired. The rapidly remunerative nature of a telegraphic service is
obviously sufficient reason for its being thus early established; but
its duties devolve entirely, not upon Turks, but upon the foreign
employes of the government. It is, moreover, little used by the
Mussulman population, and consequently tends but little to the
enlightenment of the masses. On the subject of roads, I shall have
occasion to speak hereafter, and must therefore beg the indulgent reader
to accompany me along the bridle-path which takes us to the capital of
Herzegovina.

Descending from the hills our progress became more rapid; yet, despite
this, it was some hours after sunset before we entered the suburbs. As
usual in a Turkish town, dogs and gravestones were to be found in
abundance, the latter with their turbanned heads looking spectral and
grim in the cold moonlight. Saving an occasional group of Mussulmans
sitting silent and pompous in the dusty road, the city appeared
perfectly deserted; and, as my now jaded ponies scrambled over the
ill-paved streets, I began to speculate on the probability of passing
the night _al fresco_. As may be conceived, then, it was with
considerable satisfaction that I found myself, chibou