natural
rock and impassable for wheeled vehicles. Above the coastline the hills
of the interior rise in bluer distance, with here and there a town
crowning a lesser elevation. Montona appears, cresting its isolated hill
above the Quieto, and Buie, the look-out of Istria, while to the
south-east the blue mass of Monte Maggiore is hidden or disclosed as the
clouds gather and disperse.

Beyond the harbour of Pola is the low point of Promontore, where the
coastline turns and runs north-east. All around the harbour forts are
seated on points of vantage, some older, some very modern; and little
villages occupy those elevations left vacant by the military
authorities. To the south are the large islands of Cherso and Veglia. At
the mouth of the Bado valley lies the little port of that name, around
which are many tiny islands. From Caorano, near the mouth of the canal
of the Arsa, the land begins to rise, and with Punta Nera, an outlying
spur of the chain of Monte Maggiore, the coast becomes rocky and
precipitous, from 950 ft. to 3,200 ft. high, furrowed by valleys running
down to the sea. The villages are high above the water, and there is
little green except in the lower parts, the grey of the rock being
varied only with brushwood. Albona may be taken as a typical example of
the situation of these villages, being high above its harbour, Rabaz. As
the boat approaches nearer the shore the range of cliffs plunging down
into the green water is impressive. Towards Abbazia the red soil becomes
more abundant, the hills are terraced, and vegetation is more luxuriant,
great chestnuts and bay-trees appear, and cypresses when Lovrana is
reached. This north shore of the Quarnero, stretching to Fiume, is the
Riviera of Austria. The Dinaric Alps surround it from Monte Maggiore,
and the Liburnian Karst to the Velebits. In this district hedges of bay
flourish, and in the Villa Angiolina park may be seen many varieties of
trees in blossom or fruit, which luxuriate in the sheltered situation.
The view from the harbour at Fiume in the afternoon is delightful, the
mass of Monte Syss on Cherso guarding the entrance to the Quarnero on
one side, while the many spurs of the Monte Maggiore range on the other
troop to the sea, blue in the shadow, and paling and lowering with
greater distance.

[Illustration: WINE-BOATS IN THE FIUMARA CANAL, FIUME

_To face page 163_]

XIV

FIUME AND VEGLIA

Fiume is one of the few towns along the coast