ifolated by a regular communication o f the two rivers at the foot
o f the hill of Citluc, where, at prefent, there is marlhy ground,
and a canal fcarcely navigable. I f we chofe to go further back,
it would be requifite to examine the high land o f Mojiarjko
Blato, that is, the marihy lake of Moftar, from which it may
very juftly be aflerted that the river Narenta takes its rife.
The banks o f this river were, in former times, famous among
the profeflbrs o f pharmacy, to whom Nicander prefcribes to gather
the Iris there for the theriaca, And Theophraftus, cited
by Atheneus, gives the preference, over all other countries that
produce this plant, to the Illyric mountains at a diftance from
the fea; which agrees very well with Nicander, underftanding
thofe mountains from which the Narenta iflues.* And now I
am ipeaking about the ancients, I think it not improper to add,
that at Moftar., and other places o f Bojftna, the Turks make by
the infufion o f honey combs in water, and by means of fermentation,
a fort of hydromel called by them fcerbet, which corref-
ponds to that ofed by the ancient ‘faulantii, who inhabited the
fame country, and o f which the whole procefs is particularly
defcribed by the author o f a little work -rrepi Sccupao-luv uuouo-ftoiTuv
attributed to Ariflotle.-f' Our neighbours the Turks, who
would feel the greateft remorfe i f they drunk a glafs o f wine,
make
* Attain Dipnofopfc. Lik. k . cap. viii.
f They fay that the Illyrians called Taulmtii make wine of honey s they
** fqueefe1 the honey combs, after’ having thrown water upon them j they
*4 boil that till only the half remains j then they put it in earthen reiTels, being
** already very fweet to the tafte ; afterwards they put it in wooden buts, and
keep it a long time till it acquires the taile of good, wine.. This liquor is both
fweet and wholefome. They fay that the fame liquor has heen alfomade in
*] Greece, and that it cannot be diftinguiihed from old wine. A y TTCfl §CtVjA°
axueru-j,
make no fcruple o f drinking this fcerbet to excels. Nor are
they more fparing in the ufe of Rakia, which is. a fpirit drawn
from the huiks, after the grapes are preffed ; they have, befides,
various preparations o f boiled tnuft, with which they indulge
themfelves abundantly. The Mufcelez, and TiiiTii, are liquors
of this fort, and .very apt to intoxicate, but the probabilift
Turks have made themfelves eaiy on that head. The Mujcelez,
when old, requires to be difiolved in iome other liquor, before
it can be drunk, and refembles iome o f the wines o f the ancients.
\
» The large river of Narenta is not navigable for barks o f great
burden beyond the village o f Meritroich, but fmall barks and
boats go as far as Pocitegl, and no farther, as I have been told
by the inhabitants. Thofe writers, therefore, have certainly
been ill informed, who believed that velfels could go up the river
as far as Mftiar j from whence, were it practicable, the
Turks would undoubtedly convey their merchandize by water,
which would be much more commodious, and lefs expenfive
than the journeys they are obliged to make by land.
Themoftconfiderable article of fiihingin the Narentine'marihes
is eels, which come up the river from the fea in great plenty.
There is perhaps no other place in Dalmatia better calculated
for a regular eel fiihing fuch as that at Comacchio; and i f fuch a
profpeft were properly eftabliihed, and well managed, it would
doubtlefs keep a confiderable fum o f money within the date that
now anually goes out of it. Befides eels, there are various other
fpecies o f river fiih caught in the Narenta, and iome of the moft
delicious kinds. Trouts are not rare, and fometimes they eatch
f&lmon. Towards the mouths o f the river, and about the iiland
S s o i