XVIII
CATTARO AND THE BOCCHE
From Gravosa to Cap Ostro, at the entrance to the Bocche di Cattaro, is a sea journey of about thirty miles. After rounding Lapad and sailing between La Croma and Porto Cassone, we pass S. Giacomo, open the Val di Breno and see Ragusa Vecchia once again. Then the mountains come down close to the shore ; Dalmatia is reduced to a narrow strip of land between the mountain crests and the sea, bare of cultivation and monotonous. This stretch of coast-line is unprotected by flanking islands, and, lying open to the Adriatic, is frequently very stormy. But at Punta d’ Ostro we turn sharp to the left and enter the Bocche, our bow now pointing due north, between the lighthouse on the cape and the island of the Rondoni (the swallows), crowned by its massive fortifications—the Mamola fortress—which effectually
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