Cascate di Kerka

"Our drive across this uncultivated tableland had lasted two hours, when we found ourselves standing at the mouth of the Kerka, where it falls into the Gulf of Sebenico. On the other side of the gulf was Scardona - an unhealthy place on the borders of a marsh, which, however, could be easily drained and freed from malaria. We got into a rough country boat, and were rowed up the river for nearly an hour. The water here is very deep, and runs between barren stony cliffs, which reflected a very burning sun most unpleasantly upon us. We landed under the shade of fine walnut trees, and in full view of the falls. They are beautiful - not so much from their height as from the wide crescent-shaped expanse of cascade, tumbling over rocks which are so crowded with trees and vegetation that the snowy foaming water seems bursting through the foliage. They are remarkably picturesque: and their beauty lies entirely in themselves, for they owe nothing to the surrounding scenery. I was very sorry not to go higher and see the lake and the various convents on the borders of the river, but the heat was far too great to think of it. The maestral or west wind chose to rise for the last three weeks each day at noon, and it made the afternoons intolerable with its heavy, hot, sudden blasts" (pp. 261-262).