200 IN THE LAND OF THE BORA. 



before. The moon, which had reached its last 

 quarter that night, was riding high in a nearly 

 clear sky, and gave rne every reason to suppose 

 that the clerk of the weather, at any rate, in- 

 tended to behave kindly to me on this my first 

 day's chamois-shooting. I was the more lucky 

 because we had had almost continuous rain since 

 the New Year, which came in with cold rain, 

 falling as snow a few hundred feet above the 

 town. For the last few days, however, the 

 weather had been warmer, and most of the lower 

 snow had been melted or washed off. Still, we 

 might reasonably hope to find chamois at a low 

 elevation. Seeing the day promised well, I turned 

 in again for another hour's snooze. 



At seven o'clock I left the house, and found 

 Miller waiting for me with a carriage. We were 

 soon rolling through the town, meeting en route 

 most of the local notables on their way to the 

 Greek church, from whence every January 18 

 the bishop and clergy, followed by Prefect, Sub- 

 Prefects, generals, officers, and officials of every 

 grade, proceed to the Narenta Bridge to bless the 

 waters. A very turbulent and muddy receptable 

 for holy water it was this morning, we thought, 

 as we passed one of its bends a mile out. 



We soon overtook a carriage containing the 

 district forester and two other guns, and pro- 

 ceeded together to a well-known han some four 



