342 IN THE LAND OF THE BOEA. 



flow through tremendous clefts of rock, singularly- 

 wild and beautiful. On the far side of the Narenta 

 men were at work making a road, and reports of 

 blasting reached our ears at intervals during the 

 day. Opposite us another cleft showed where 

 the stream from Borke Lake falls into the river. 

 On a ridge above this beautiful little piece of 

 water stands a villa, the property of the (then) 

 Prefect of the Province, who has since been pro- 

 moted to be Administrative Director of the Central 

 Government at Sarajevo. I need hardly say that 

 this is the only house owned by any Western 

 European in the Eastern Herzegovina. 



A steep and bad track led us down to the 

 Kakitnica, which we crossed by a dangerous-look- 

 ing bridge some fifty feet wide, and as high above 

 the stream. It was formed of planks laid across 

 two single tree-trunks, and had no handrails of 

 any sort. A furlong further on, flap ! flap ! up 

 got a woodcock at my feet — the first of the year, 

 and very early for this country. 



Presently we separated, Duran with the hounds 

 going along the valley, whilst I followed Fezo up 

 a steep, bare limestone ridge into the dripping 

 covert above. Here melting snow, rock, rotten 

 ground, and slippery branches made as bad going 

 as can be conceived, but it was not the old man 

 who called a halt twice to get wind before we 

 reached the ridge, but myself. We climbed nearly 



