IN THE LAND OF THE BORA. 119 



very same time the woman who was helping 



E killed another, which boldly invaded the 



cook-house in the fort. Mine was an olive-brown 

 little beast, quite a distinct species from that 

 which I had killed near Almissa. 



Two days after our arrival we had a novelty in 

 the shape of a sharp shock of earthquake, which 

 brought the plaster down from the old buildings 

 round the tent. On the day we left there was 

 another. The first shock was followed by a 

 succession of heavy thunderstorms, which reduced 

 the temperature to decidedly cool in the mornings, 

 but later in the day the sun was hot enough. 



The natives were unwilling to allow a stranger 

 to go alone in one of their canoes, but finally the 

 landlord of a wine-shop at the foot of the hill lent 

 me his. His risk certainly was not very great, as 

 these craft cost about twelve shillings. An eager 

 crowd assembled to see the Inglesk start, and was, 

 I fancy, considerably disgusted to see me dis- 

 appear comfortably and safely round the corner, 

 not to return for some half a dozen hours. 



Wandering thus about these fens, even though 

 the gun lie idle for hours in the bottom of the 

 canoe, is pure delight to a lover of nature like 

 myself. There are half a dozen waterways avail- 

 able for such craft, and towards the eastern end 

 of the marshes, towards Neum, in Herzegovina, 

 open out a succession of broads, most of them 



