Istria is in great part a dry and stony land, but there are valleys with streams and woods. It slopes to the west and south with a tolerably continuous declivity, so that the base of the triangular peninsula is on the whole the highest part. Much of the vegetation is greyish, and the rocks also are generally a pale grey. It is divided into three districts, named, from, the prevailing colour of the ground, white, yellow, and red. The first is the stony portion, the grey limestone of the Karst; next the yellow sandstone formation which begins at Trieste and extends through middle Istria; and then the southern portion where the white limestone is underneath, and clay of a red ochreous colour occurs in streaks. Round Pisino and Pinguente and between them are fields, meadows, and even woods, with plenty of streams which burst from the sandstone, while limestone hills jut out here and there. Pisino lies on the edge of "yellow" Istria, and hills rise around it; on the south side is a hill of the red land; and the houses are on an outcrop of the white limestone. The Foiba runs along the junction of the two formations. Middle Istria undulates from about 1,200 ft. to 900 ft. above the sea, while Lower Istria is but 500 ft. The hills are lower and less steep, there is more cultivation, and the villages and towns look more prosperous.

COAST TOWNS

The shore (except for the deltas of a few streams) has no flat portions, and the banks (scarcely cliffs), though generally perpendicular and difficult to climb, are not at all lofty. The coast is broken into bays by projecting tongues of land, making harbours of differing degrees of safety, with an enormous number of small islands, many of which are mere rocks, obliging the steamers to keep some considerable distance from the land. The first navigable passage between them and the coast is the Canal of Fasana, within the Brioni Islands. The view from the sea shows rough steep stretches of bank with picturesque harbour towns; the stone walls and towers, the tall campanile, generally reminiscent of that of S. Marco, Venice, the white houses, the grey of the bare shores and the varied greens of the surrounding country, with its woods, fields and gardens, harmonise pleasantly, especially in the afternoon and evening light. Nearly every town has an upper or more ancient portion built for security on a hill which was once an island, and a newer part close to the water. From the outer harbour the "mandracchio," the inner harbour, opens with the fish-market close by. The "piazza," in and near which are the municipio, the loggia, and the patricians' palaces, is generally approached by one of the steep streets, many of which are on the natural rock and impassable for wheeled vehicles. Above the coastline the hills of the interior rise in bluer distance, with here and there a town crowning a lesser elevation. Montona appears, cresting its isolated hill above the Quieto, and Buie, the look-out of Istria, while to the south-east the blue mass of Monte Maggiore is hidden or disclosed as the clouds gather and disperse.

Beyond the harbour of Pola is the low point of Promontore, where the coastline turns and runs north-east. All around the harbour forts are seated on points of vantage, some older, some very modern; and little villages occupy those elevations left vacant by the military authorities. To the south are the large islands of Cherso and Veglia. At the mouth of the Bado valley lies the little port of that name, around which are many tiny islands. From Caorano, near the mouth of the canal of the Arsa, the land begins to rise, and with Punta Nera, an outlying spur of the chain of Monte Maggiore, the coast becomes rocky and precipitous, from 950 ft. to 3,200 ft. high, furrowed by valleys running down to the sea. The villages are high above the water, and there is little green except in the lower parts, the grey of the rock being varied only with brushwood. Albona may be taken as a typical example of the situation of these villages, being high above its harbour, Rabaz. As the boat approaches nearer the shore the range of cliffs plunging down into the green water is impressive. Towards Abbazia the red soil becomes more abundant, the hills are terraced, and vegetation is more luxuriant, great chestnuts and bay-trees appear, and cypresses when Lovrana is reached. This north shore of the Quarnero, stretching to Fiume, is the Riviera of Austria. The Dinaric Alps surround it from Monte Maggiore, and the Liburnian Karst to the Velebits. In this district hedges of bay flourish, and in the Villa Angiolina park may be seen many varieties of trees in blossom or fruit, which luxuriate in the sheltered situation. The view from the harbour at Fiume in the afternoon is delightful, the mass of Monte Syss on Cherso guarding the entrance to the Quarnero on one side, while the many spurs of the Monte Maggiore range on the other troop to the sea, blue in the shadow, and paling and lowering with greater distance.