MOUNTAINS AND LAKES
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descends from Mostar in Herzegovina and formed that famous nest of Illyrian pirates, the canal of the Narenta between Sabbioncello and the mainland. Farther south the mountains actually become the coast-line, and the eastern frontier of Dalmatia is visible from shipboard, as we pass along those arid slopes of grey limestone, beautiful at sunrise and sunset with delicate aerial colouring, but grim during the day, and often ominously purple-black under impending storm-clouds. A narrow strip of vegetation fringes the coast, till we come to the Sutorina and Castelnuovo, rich in subtropical flora, where the Dalmatian frontier takes a wide stretch northwards and inland, embracing the heights of Orjen and all that lovely gulf, the Bocche di Cattaro, returning to the sea again under Lov^en, the bulwark of Montenegro, and ends at Spizza, hard by Antivari.
   Of the lakes of Dalmatia there is not much to be said. The largest is the Lake of Vrana, which we shall visit from Zara. There are traces of other large lakes, such as the great plain near Dernis, now drained. Most of the lakes are brackish, and underground connection with the sea is suspected. Some are mere shallow swamps in winter, almost dry in summer. They are the home of innumerable wild duck of various kinds.