e 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