236 IX THE LAND OF THE BORA. 



Here again we passed through hundreds of 

 Bogumile graves, each covered with a great block 

 of stone, but of life there was no sign till we 

 reached Kusici village, whose graveyard, full of 

 turban-headed stones, proclaimed it to be Ma- 

 hometan. Here we saw the first ox-waggons. 

 These seem to be peculiar to the tableland we 

 were entering, at least I never saw them except in 

 the Nevesinje district. Of course they are very 

 rude constructions. The wheels are in four pieces, 

 and, as I found out afterwards, are natural curves. 

 All the young trees in these hills are bent by the 

 snow in winter, and on steep slopes retain a sharp 

 curve just above the ground till they are about 

 twenty years old, when the lower side grows down- 

 wards to meet the earth. When the curve reaches 

 its full development, the peasant cuts as many as 

 he requires, sixteen to each waggon, and taking 

 away the curved piece of each, perhaps two feet 

 long, leaves the rest of the wood to rot. I am 

 pretty sure the Zimlje waggons never even reach 

 the Nevesinje plain. At Kuslci, the Great Zimlje, 

 which is cultivated, begins, and we rode through 

 some miles of young corn, passing the Christian 

 villages of Sarica and Padezine to Dnopolje. 

 Sportsmen may note that the summer residence 

 of the Dnopolje villagers, called Smrcanj, is about 

 as good a site as any in the Velez for a chamois 

 shooting-camp. There is a very rough direct route 



