221 



CHAPTEE XXIII. 



ACROSS BOSNIA. 



A FEW months after the trip described in chapter 

 xix., I was honoured with an invitation to confer 

 with the executive officers of the Government of 

 Bosnia-Herzegovina as to the disposal of the immense 

 tracts in those provinces which have now been game- 

 sanctuaries for over twenty years, and as to other 

 points, such as effective game preservation, and the 

 bringing to the knowledge of English sportsmen 

 this very superior shooting-ground. In accordance 

 with this invitation I went to Vienna, and there it 

 was arranged that I should make a personal inspec- 

 tion of the game reserves in Bosnia, those in the 

 Herzegovina being already familiar ground to me. 

 A domestic bereavement made it impossible for me 

 to go at that season (April), even if it had been 

 well suited for the purpose, which it was not. 



On the first of July, however, I left London, and 

 for the only time for many years I allowed myself 

 to be seduced from my allegiance to the Hook of 

 Holland route, and into taking a Dutch steamer 

 instead of an English. The result might have been 

 disastrous, for, the weather being thick, I was 



