ΟΙ UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE BEING A REPRINT ENTIRE OF THE LAST (1879) EDINBURGH AND LONDON EDITION B. Lab-9108.79 Botan, Lab 1898 June 23 HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY TRANSFERRED FROM BOTANICAL MUSEUM LIBRARY FEB. 26, 1934 LIBRARY OF UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE. DALMATIA, a narrow strip of territory extending along the Adriatic Sea, and bounded on the n. by Istria and Croatia, on the e. by Bosnia and Herzegovina. Lat. 42° 15'-44° 54′ 11., long. 14° 30'-19° e. It forms, with its adjacent islands, the most southern crownland of the Austrian empire. Area, 4881 square miles; pop. (1869), 456.961. The coast of D. is everywhere steep and rocky, and the adjacent series of islands, divided by picturesque straits and channels, are of a like character. Numerous bays intersecting the coast form excellent havens and landing places. Offsets from the Dinaric Alps traverse the interior, and attain in Mount Orien, the highest culminating point, an elevation of 5332 feet; the Velebich Mountains, separating D. from Croatia, and which belong to the Julian Alps, have a height of more than 5000 feet. The mountains of D., for the most part composed of limestone, present a bleak and barren aspect, with many romantic chasms and fissures, through which dash impetuous mountain streams. The chief rivers, none of which, however, are of any importance, are the Zermagna, Kerka, Cettina and Narenta, the second and third of which are broken in several places by beautiful cascades and falls. The lakes are numerous, but, with the exception of Lake Vrana-which is separated from the Adriatic by only a narrow tongue of land, and the waters of which are brackish-they are periodical, drying up in summer, and filling their beds in late autamn. A large part of the whole area of D. consists of moor and morass, yet in summer there is often a great scarcity of water. The climate is in general warmer than that of any other part of Austria, the African sirocco being occasionally felt on its shores. The min erals are limestone, coal, gypsum, &c. Agriculture is in a backward state. About one-ninth of the land is arable, and produces wheat, barley. oats, maize, rye, and potatoes. Wine and olives are also produced. More than half of the land is in pasture, and wood occupies about a fifth. The islands are not very fertile, but supply good timber for ship-building. Cattle-rearing, sea-faring, and the fisheries on the coast, are the chief kinds of industry. The live-stock in 1872 consisted of 673,600 sheep, 280,650 goats, 6000 mules, 16,000 asses, 17,000 horses, and 26.300 pigs. The annual value of the exports and imports is £1,500,000. The exports consist principally of wine, oil, brandy, hides, wool, wax, honey, and fruits. Of the whole population it is computed that about 55,000 are Italians, 1000 Albanians, 1000 Germans, 500 Jews, and the remainder consists of Southern Slavonians-chiefly Dalmatians and Morlaks. The Dalmatians are a fine race of men-bold and brave as seamen and soldiers-and formerly were the main support of the military power of Venice. But it must be added that they are deceitful and rapacious, while their love of independence is extreme. They speak the Illyrian-Servian or Herzegovinian dialect; but the language used in the government offices, especially in Spalatro, is the Italian. The Morlaks-who inhabit the interior, the mountainous districts, and the Turkish sanjak of Hersek-are also good soldiers, hospitable and faithful to the 1 |