164 BIRD-HUNTING 



good there I consented to leave as soon as we 

 could pack and make arrangements for horses for 

 the return journey. 



It was determined to ride to a small village on 

 the frontier which I had visited before, there being 

 there an undisturbed marsh, which I thought would 

 be the most likely place to find such shy birds as 

 those I was in search of. 



We had the usual difficulties on the journey, 

 increased by the fortnight's heavy rain. One deep 

 ford was so swollen that our progress was delayed 

 for some time, while we tried in vain to find a safe 

 place to cross. Eventually we succeeded in doing 

 so, but the horses were almost carried off their feet 

 by the heavy water. Then, while waiting for the 

 ferry over the Bojana, one of the men, a mountaineer 

 in charge of one of the pack-horses, met an enemy 

 who used some threats towards him. ' All right,' 

 said the man, who for a wonder carried no arms, 

 ' you can kill me if you like, as I am unarmed, but 

 if you do, 2,000 of my clan will come and have 

 their revenge.' 



There was no killing that day, and we pursued 

 our journey in peace, arriving at the same village 

 from which we had been turned away, in our search 

 for Pelicans, by the three armed men. 



My very first day's work was brought to an 

 abrupt close by a repetition of the same thing. 



