o f a Diploma o f King, D|bifcia, which ought to be among the
papers of my deceafed friend.
Infcriptions, both Roman, and Greek, have been found neat
the village of Puctpi, but they have- been- tranfported to Italy.
It,is probable, that, fo the diftriifcalled.'jhjiww,- the LaurentutH,,
of Procopius waSiilituated, as the,signification of both
WOfdsjindicates equally,.a¡place planted), with laurels. Natural
cavern? are very common in thefe, partSjf.and, ahndft in every
village, fome o f them are .f'orlillcd with walls, and fometimes
with, a, kind,of finall ¡ca.ft'l^s .of barbarous jages and architefture.
It ¡ft probable that ip former.times they, ferved as retiring places
ta.picatesj aS|thfy!afleryya.rdst,did,foi:.¡refuge to ¡the ¡inhabitants
ag^init(thp robbqr^es p.f the JJfoyshj,,>(,, , , ,, a , .
Three fubmarine fprings are to bp ice» near the fhofe of Ta-
f^'^Whiph n° ¡dppbt ■ arp iup.plie.d (with 1 water, either by ‘the
referypjrs.on the .other fide o f ¡the,,mountain, or by feme
■ofjthofe^riyep, which, not finding their way to the fea, fink
into^hepabyifes. .- ,,One o f thefe fprings 1 is called $'mgrdagliac,
i.\ e,jin k in g, on account o f the fetid lmell, which, as the inhabitants
lay,., it uies to fend out.s .The lands, in ¡the neighbourhood
are called Pakline, or p 'l^ s abounding ¡with pitphu, „They
fay that the ill finell o f this fpring. is n©t conilant, and we rilk
not much by taking their word for rt. This-is. .certainly, fact,
•that the fpring Smerdagiiac is not always perceived to bubble up
^ jt in g fn motion the furfijc(et.qf.tjie fpa it -.Ipmetimes.remains
quiet, whole, days; frequently, appears ,an.d ¡diiijppeai's more than
U K ffli?nf -%7 '; .pftpipus,, raipg.opj.tbpjpther fide of. the
mountain, and the,fub.te 1:ranean windipgs• through which thofe
¡T1: ^ ;hnd .their,,way to.tlipflyj, ampptjhap.s the caufps, of
afeffissfe® o 0 this
ibis inconftancy : and the bituminous fmell may perhaps proceed
from feme fubterraneous fire, or fermentation^ fometimes mot*
and fometimes lefs violent.
Not far diftant from Tucepi, the village of Podgora is fituated
on an eminence, and commands a very beautiful trait o f littoral
country, the moil fertile, and bed cultivated in thofe parts;
The finall promontory o f Dracevaz, that flretches into the fea
under this village, merits obfervation. Thè upper ftrata that
form it, are o f breccia, and the loWer, which are-of whetilorie,
have veins compofed o f cubick pieces, and placed like a wall.
Two o f thefe walls jut out enclofing a kind o f platform of earth
in the middle 5 the order o f the cubick pieces is inclined towards
the fea. Below Podgora a little brook arifes, which, at the end
of its very ihort courfe, turns the mills o f Jarecbine. Perhaps,
from this brook, irrcorredtly marked in fome chorographical map,
Gantelius was induced to place, between Podgorn and Drafnizé,
a river defcending from the neighbourhood o f Itnojki, from
whence it is quite impeffible that the waters could pafs over the
mountain Biocova. It is very probable however, that from
thence proceeds the fubmarine fpring called Vrugliza, or Mala
Vrullia, which fbews itfelf in thè bay near Drafnize. It rifes
very briikly at the foot o f a fteep part o f the hill, from the bottom
o f the fea, which, in that place, is confiderable, and draws
a great number o f fiih to it.
I went to Drajhize to fee a Roman infcriptlon that ought to
be there, but was difappointed by the uncivil Curate o f thè
place, who kept it concealed, for the ufual caufes o f fufpicion
and ignorance, which are very ftrong in that country âgainit
Grangers. I was obliged to content myfelf with-copying two
Q^q Sclavonic