Page:EB1911 - Volume 18.djvu/797

 of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the N.W. and N.; by the Ottoman empire both in the sanjak of Novibazar, on the N. and N.E., and also in the vilayets of Kossovo and Scutari on the N.E., E. and S.E. Its area, as officially estimated after the treaty of Berlin had been enforced in 1880, amounts to 3255 sq. m., or considerably less than half the size of Wales. The present frontier, which was not finally delimited till 1881, ascends the Boyana river from its mouth as far as Lake Sass (Shas), then follows the river Megured to the summit of Mount Bratovitza, reaching Lake Scutari at a spot opposite the island of Goritza Topal. Crossing the lake north-east to a point a little south-east of Plavnitza, and leaving the territory of the Hoti and Klementi tribes to the south, and the districts of Kutchka Kraina to the north, it passes north of the districts of Plava and Gusinye and reaches the western end of the Mokra Planina, where it turns to the north-west. After crossing the Lim at its junction with the Skula, it coincides with the old frontier for some distance; then reaching the Tara at Maikovatz, it follows the course of that river to its junction with the Piva: turning southwards, it reaches the old frontier once more at Klobuk, and, passing between the district of Grahovo and the Krivoshian Mountains, approaches to within a few miles of the Bocche di Cattaro: then, following the maritime mountain ridges for a considerable distance, it rejoins the coast a little south of Spizza.

Physical Features.—Montenegro, which forms the meeting-point of the Dalmatian, Bosnian and Albanian ranges, seems at first a mere chaos of mountains. It is, however, naturally divided into three parts, each with its own character. (1) Fertile and well-watered plains, not unlike those of Lombardy, border the river Zeta, and after its junction with the Moratcha extend along the course of that river to Lake Scutari. A fringe of similar lowland forms the maritime plain extending between the Sutorman range and the mouth of the Boyana. (2) Westward, under the shadow of Lovchen, is the Katunska, or “Shepherds’ Huts,” the cradle of Montenegrin liberty. This region presents a surface of hard crystalline rock, bare and calcined, with strata sinking to the south-west at an angle often of 70°. The rocks have been split by atmospheric agencies into huge prismatic blocks, and the cracks have been gradually worn into fissures several fathoms deep. In some places the interior of the stony mass is hollowed out into galleries and caves, some of great length; during the rainy season subterranean landslips frequently produce local earthquakes, extending over an area of 10 or 12 m. The small basins of Cettigne and Niegush are practically the only cultivable districts in this region. (3) Over the entire north stretch the massive mountain chains which link the Herzegovinian Alps to those of Albania, the scenery recalling that of Switzerland or the Tirol. In the north-west there are finely wooded tracts extending north of Nikshitch to the Dormitor mountain group. The Dormitor district contains rich grassy uplands dotted with numerous small lakes, from which it derives its name of Yezera (the lakes); the rivers Tara and Piva flow through magnificent gorges clothed with rich forests, and unite near the extreme north of the frontier. On the north-east are the high but rounded Brda Mountains, covered with virgin forest or Alpine pastures, and broken here and there by jagged dolomitic peaks. In the district of the Vasoyevitchi, which surrounds the little town of Andriyevitza, is the fine double peak of Kom, and, a little to the south-west, the summit of Maglitch, commanding a magnificent view over the wooded valley of Gusinye to the great Prokletia range in Albania. The contrast between the rich undulating landscape of the northern regions and the sterile calcined rocks of Montenegro proper is very remarkable.

The Montenegrin mountain system is divided into four masses: (1) the group enclosed by the Tara and Piva rivers with Dormitor, one of the highest mountains in the peninsula (9146 ft.), Yablonov Vrkh (7113 ft.), and the Vrkhove Pochoratz (6601 ft.); (2) the group between the Zeta and the Moratcha with Ostri-Kuk (7546 ft.), Vlasulya (7533 ft.), Brnik

(6860 ft.) and Maganik (6621 ft.); (3) the ranges between the Moratcha and Tara with Sto (7323 ft.) and Gradishte (7156 ft.); and (4) those between the upper Tara and the upper Lim with Kom, the second highest mountain in the country (Kom Kutchki, 8032 ft., Kom Vasoyevitchki, 7946 ft.), separating the districts of the Vasoyevitchi on the north-east from that of the Kutchi on the south-west, and Visi tor (6936 ft.) on the frontier. In Montenegro proper the only prominent summit is Lovchen (5653 ft.), between Cettigne and the western frontier. Between Lake Scutari and the sea is the Sutorman range with the fine pyramidal summit of Rumiya (5148 ft.)

overhanging Antivari. The prevailing formations of the north and east are Palaeozoic sandstones and schists, with underlying trap Throughout Montenegro the following have been identified: (1) Palaeozoic schists, (2) Wirfen strata of Lower Trias, (3) Trap of the Palaeozoic and Wirfen strata, (4) Triassic limestone, (5) Jurassic limestone, (6) Cretaceous limestone, (7) Flysch, in part certainly Eocene, (8) Neogenic or younger Tertiary formations.

The watershed between the Adriatic and the Black Sea crosses the country from west to east in a very irregular line, the southern districts being drained by the Zeta-Moratcha river system, which finds its way to the Adriatic by Lake Scutari and the Boyana, while the streams from the northern districts form the headwaters of the Drina, which reaches

the Danube by way of the Save. The Zeta, rising in Lake Slano, near Nikshitch, is remarkable for its subterranean passage beneath a mountain range 1000 ft. high. At Ponor, not far from that town, the water vanishes in a deep chasm, reappearing at a distance of several miles on the other side of the mountains. Its whole course to its junction with the Moratcha is about 30 m. Rising in the Yavorye Planina, the Moratcha sweeps through mountain gorges till it reaches the plain of Podgoritza; then for a space it almost disappears among the pebbles and other alluvial deposits, nor does it again show a current of any considerable volume till it approaches Lake Scutari. In the neighbourhood of Duklé and Leskopolye it flows through a precipitous ravine from 50 to 100 ft. high. In the dry season it is navigable from the lake to Zhabliak. The whole course is about 60 m. Of the left-hand tributaries of the Moratcha the Sem or Tzem deserves to be mentioned for the magnificent cañon through which it flows between Most Tamarui and Dinosha. On the one side rise the mountains of the Kutchi territory on the other the immense flanks of the Prokletia range—the walls of the gorge varying from 2000 to 4000 ft. of vertical height. Lower down the stream the rocky banks approach so close that it is possible to leap across without trouble. The Sem rises in northern Albania, and has a length of 70 m. The Rieka issues full-formed from an immense cave south-east of Cettigne and falls into Lake Scutari. The three tributaries of the Drina which belong in part to Montenegro are the Piva, the Tara, and the Lim, respectively 55, 95 and 140 m. in length. The Tara forms the northern boundary of the kingdom for more than 50 m., but the Lim flows beyond the border after the first 30 m. of its course. The western half of Lake Scutari, or Skodra, belongs to Montenegro;