IN THE LAND OF THE BORA. 29 



certain hill, I gave the place one more thorough 

 trial. I left camp about 3.45 a.m., and stumbled 

 up the roads (?) leading up the hill to our west- 

 ward, by the light of a waning moon. In twenty 

 minutes I had reached the "staircase struck by 

 lightning," and followed a steep track up to a 

 saddle between two peaks. The ground here 

 became a mass of loose stones of varying sizes, but 

 mostly about half as large as one's hand ; no 

 vegetation grew among them. This led me to a 

 punch-bowl-shaped hollow, some quarter-mile 

 across, which I, although possessing no pretensions 

 to geological knowledge, was at once able to put 

 down as the crater of a long-extinct volcano. Only 

 three peaks remained to show the original height 

 of its edges. In the centre I could see some stone 

 dikes — a sure sign of cultivation ; but as there was 

 not light enough to shoot, I sat down for a quarter 

 of an hour. I had good hopes of sport, as the dogs 

 were already feathering busily about. 



At daylight I advanced, and found a small group 

 of vineyards before me. The dogs at once com- 

 menced keenly to try them, but I was not fated to 

 have any sport on Pasman. What the scent was 

 they kept on picking up here and there, and also 

 every fifty yards throughout my walk, I could not 

 then imagine. Now, judging by the light of later 

 experience, I feel sure that it was where stone-hens 

 had been feeding about, and had I then known that 



