In Italy there were some 30,000 more Yugoslav prisoners, part of whom had been captured by the Serbs and then conducted into Albania after the collapse of the Serbian Army, whence they were afterwards shipped to Italy. In consequence of the serious crisis of effectives which paralysed the Serbian Army in Macedonia, the Serbian Government, then established at Corfu, made application to that of Italy that all the prisoners of Yugoslav race should be given into its charge. Negotiations were instituted with this object, but the Italian Government raised objections of various kinds. There was at first some hesitation in handing them over to the Serbs for fear of reprisals by Austria against our own prisoners. It also transpired that at least a large part of them had no desire to go to fight in Macedonia, especially those who were not Orthodox. Furthermore, the Serbian Government committed the _gaffe_ of sending as its representative to visit the prisoners in question an officer of the Serbian Army, who was a Slovene from Opcina near Trieste and consequently a future Italian citizen. On the eve of the general offensive in Macedonia the negotiations had led to no result, and the Serbian Government made a show of great irritation against us, attributing our reluctance to ill-will against the Yugoslav nation. But as a matter of fact, while the Serbian G.H.Q. at Salonica and the Government at Corfu were officially and ostentatiously insisting that the prisoners should be consigned to them, I learned from Serbian officers in very close touch with the leading generals that the latter were by no means too anxious to swell the ranks of their army with elements whose loyalty was regarded with considerable doubt. A few days before the offensive, one of those officers admitted to me in confidence: “Just now our Command is so fully occupied with preparations for the coming action that it has no time to think about the prisoners in Italy. And then we do not particularly trust these semi-Austrian gentry.” The difficulties raised by us were the object of complaints made to the other Allies regarding our conduct, but in truth the Serbian Government was by no means sorry to have an excuse for dropping the scheme.