_February 13th._—Priedio, 24 miles. “We passed through a mountainous gorge, on each side of which is a small castle, one of them in ruins, the other still in good repair, called Vratar.[442] Here Duke Stephen kept a guard-house, where all travellers had to pay a toll. The castles are built into the living rock; they are reached by a road by which only one person at a time can pass, and could easily be defended by twenty men against a whole army.” _February 14th._—Orach, 28 miles, passing through Cozza (Foča), “a large settlement with good houses in the Turkish style, many shops and merchants. Here resides the Sandjak of the Duchy, who has all Servia under his authority. By this spot all goods going from Ragusa to Constantinople must pass, as also those from Constantinople to Ragusa. No horse worth over 1000 _aspers_ (20 ducats) is allowed to cross the river, but if any traveller brings one he must either spend more in bribes than the horse itself is worth, or sell it for what it will fetch.” _February 15th._—The first guard-house on the Kovaz Mountain, 25 miles. _February 16th._—Plevlje, 34 miles, “which is not an unattractive place for this country. Here five years ago a caravan of Venetian merchants of about one hundred horses was attacked by evil persons, who killed and wounded many, two Venetian nobles, Nani and Cappello, being among the dead. Watch against the brigands is kept in the following manner: one man from the village goes through the woods beating a drum and looking out to see if any person is lurking about, and this sound informs travellers that the passage is secure. The villages which provide these watchmen are free of taxes.” _February 17th._—Priepolje, 24 miles. “Here and at Plevlje, which are both very large and pleasant towns for this country, the people are all Christians;[443] but in the house where we lodged we found a woman with seven children, the eldest of whom had turned Turk (Muhamedan), and this because the Sultan Selim, wishing to increase the number of Turks, imposed a heavy poll-tax, called the Talotz, on all the Christians, but he exempted those families who made one of their sons a Turk. This induced many to free themselves thus from the tax; but the Sultan did not carry out the whole of his promise, and maintained the Talotz on all save those who actually turned Turks themselves.” _February 18th._—“Reached Vuatz, 32 miles, passing by St. Sava, where there is a very large monastery of Servian caloyers, who dress and live in the Greek fashion, but speak Slavonic. They show to travellers the body of St. Sava, which is still in a perfect state of preservation. They receive more alms from the Turks and the Jews than from the Christians.[444] At the mount of the Morlak (Molatschidi) ends the Sandjak of Servia and that of Bosnia begins, in which is Senice.”