Piwa closed in upon us on the left, and a black impenetrable mountain seemed to bar our farther progress. After three quarters of an hour's ascent we were glad to halt. Clambering to a grassy knoll, we made a frugal meal of the hardest of biscuit soaked in muddy water, the only food, by the way, which the troops tasted from the time of leaving Gasko until their return. These biscuits are manufactured at Constantinople, and are so hard as to be uneatable unless soaked; they, however, form a good substitute for bread, which is seldom to be procured. But we must not linger too long, for already the sun is high in the heavens. On, on, once more, brave little horses and unflinching men; your labours will soon be rewarded: and thus they toiled on, until, with sobbing flanks and perspiring brows, the highest requisite point was reached. Stretching away to our right front was a grassy glade, looking like velvet after the stony wilderness we had just left: a pine wood on the left gave it all the appearance of an English park, which was only dispelled by the extraordinary sight which now met the eye. Behind a dip in the ground were collected a considerable body of irregular horse and foot, who were awaiting our approach in all the magnificence of banners, kettledrums, sackbuts, psalteries, and all kinds of possible and impossible instruments of music. No sooner did we approach than away they went, horse and foot, shouting and blowing and waving their flags. The idea seemed contagious, for it was instantaneously followed by Osman Pacha and everyone who bestrode any kind of beast, prominent amongst whom the Affghan might be seen, flourishing his lance well to the fore. The glade opened out into a valley of inconsiderable size, which has witnessed more than one encounter between the Christians and Turks. Only the previous winter an engagement took place, in which the Turks, notwithstanding that they remained masters of the position, had from forty to fifty men put _hors de combat_. The timber here was of far finer growth than any I had yet seen, and the numerous oaks and elms lying with uptorn roots betokened the violence of the storms which rage. Many of them were lying midway across our line of march, and it was found necessary to remove them to admit of a free passage. This was soon effected, though perhaps with a little more noise than is consistent with English ideas of order. We had by this time entered the Pass of Dugah, formed by the extremities of Piwa on the left, and Banian on the right. The slopes on either hand are wooded, that of Banian to much the greatest extent. It is some fifteen miles in length, and consists of a series of open spaces, connected by narrow defiles, whose bottoms resemble the bed of a dry stream. The scenery is generally pretty, and abounds with interest from its being a constant bone of contention between the rival factions. As a defensive position it is undoubtedly