After a brief notice of the islands of Brazza and Solta--a notice,
however, sufficient for all useful purposes--we pass on to the
picturesque neighbourhood of the falls of the Kerka. Sir Gardner
speaks of the delay to which the passage by boat from Sebenico to
Scardona is subject, but does not exactly complain of it. In fact,
we can easily understand that, for the sake of the passenger, it
is expedient that some authoritative note should be taken of his
departure under charge of the particular boatmen who undertake his
convoy. We never did ascend to Kerka, but from what we have seen
of the class of men under whose guidance the expedition has to be
performed, we are disposed to vote the caution of the police to be
anything but superfluous. Every now and then one hears dreadful
stories of the atrocities of boatmen in convenient parts of the
Mediterranean; and there is good reason to be thankful that the
Austrians think it worth while to be so careful of strangers.
The people about Sebenico, through whose lands the course of
the lake leads, are spoken of as not paying much attention to
agriculture or to their fisheries; but it seems that they are
sedulously bent on raising grapes, and neglect no patch of ground at
all likely to be available for this purpose. The lake of Scardona
is considerably larger than that of Sebenico. On the shore here
the Romans had a settlement, of which scarcely any remains are
perceptible. They are, however, remarkable as affording a manifest
proof of the rise of the level of the lake, for some of them are
under water.
Scardona, we are told, does not occupy the site of the old Scardon,
which was a place of considerable importance under the empire. Some
have even imagined that the old city stood on the opposite bank of
the river. The town at present is small, but well furnished for the
convenience of strangers. It boasts an inn, at which Sir Gardner put
up for one night. He then proceeded to the falls, which are distant
from the inn a three-quarters-of-an-hour journey. As he intended
to ascend the river above the falls, he had to send to the monks
of Vissovaz to ask for a boat, and they readily complied with his
request. The falls do not seem to have been full on the occasion
of this visit--but, when full, the effect must be striking. They
are divided into two parts, and their picturesque effect is greatly
enhanced by the surrounding scenery.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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