population, of about thirty-five souls to the square mile.[D] A glance
at any map, imperfect in detail as those yet published have been, will
convey a tolerable idea of the nature of the country.

The ranges of mountains which intersect the greater part of the province
are a portion of the Dinaric Alps. Along the Dalmatian and Montenegrin
frontiers these are barren and intensely wild, and in many places, from
the deep fissures and honeycomb formation of the rocks, impassable to
aught save the chamois, the goat, or the indigenous mountaineer.

Proceeding inland, the country assumes a more habitable aspect: plains
and pasture-lands capable of high cultivation are found at intervals,
while even the mountains assume a more fertile appearance, and have a
better depth of soil, which is well adapted for the cultivation of the
olive and the vine. Dense forests, too, of average growth cover the
mountain sides as we approach the Bosnian frontier, which, although
inferior to those of Bosnia itself, would prove most remunerative to the
government were they properly worked. But, unfortunately, the principle
of isolation which the Porte has adopted with regard to these remote
provinces, together with the want of enterprise among its inhabitants,
the result of four hundred years of indolence on the one hand and
oppression on the other, renders it problematical whether their ample
resources will ever be developed. Should Turkey, however, arise from her
lethargy, should genuine civilisation spread its branches over the land,
we may then confidently anticipate a glorious future for her
south-Slavonic provinces, doubting not that they will some day become
'the noblest jewel in their monarch's diadem.'

To convey an accurate idea of a province so little known as the
Herzegovina, it will be best to enumerate the various physical features