There was a noteworthy absence of any signs of military movements in the rural districts, and the peasants were apparently going about their usual peaceful avocations as unconcernedly as though the war were in another country instead of being a comparatively short distance away. In this respect, however, one felt that the motor journeys we were scheduled to make from centre to centre would prove exceedingly interesting, as they would afford us an insight of the conditions prevailing in the rear of the Front, not an unimportant factor in forming one’s impressions. In Verona, had one been holiday making, many hours might have been profitably spent in “doing” the place. As it was, my time was fully occupied from the hour we arrived till the moment we left, and it was, I am grieved to have to confess it, only by accident that I was able to snatch the time to see anything of the artistic treasures of the famous old city. As a matter of fact, you scarcely had a moment to yourself if you wanted to get any work done, as we only remained three days in Verona. The reason for thus curtailing our stay did not transpire. In this sector of the Front the most important operations in the Trentino were taking place, and the Austrians were straining every nerve in order to stay the victorious progress of the Italians, but the lightning rapidity of their advance had proved irresistible, and had forced a retirement to their second line. To dislodge them from this was the tack the Italians had before them when we were in Verona. The axis of the Trentino is obviously Trent, and in due course of time it will doubtless fall into the hands of the Italians, but the date of that event is on the knees of the gods. Meanwhile the focus of the operations in August 1915, was the fortified position of Roveretto, which has been described as the “strategic heart” of the Trentino, and which guards the Austrian portion of the valley of the Adige. Enclosed within several rings of entrenchments and an outer chain of modern forts of the most formidable character, it presented a redoubtable barrier to the advance of the Italians into the Trentino in this direction. But the lightning-like strategy of Cadorna upset all the plans of the Austrian generals and, formidable though these defences were, they were gradually being mastered. Fort Pozzachio, which might have proved the most serious obstacle of all, and have involved a long siege before it was captured, turned out to be little more than a dummy fortress in so far as defensive possibilities were concerned, and had to be abandoned at the commencement of the war. This step being decided on by the Austrians in consequence, as they stated in their _communiqué_, of its not being in readiness to offer any prolonged resistance if besieged.