everybody
stared at us as though we came from the moon.

We reached the bank opposite Alessio--a small Turkish-looking village
divided between a mud-bank and a hillside. We were about to turn over
the bridge when news was brought that a motor-boat belonging to Essad
was in San Giovanni harbour. We sent a policeman galloping on to stop
it, and followed as fast as our meagre horses would allow. We also heard
that a submarine had been in the port the day before and had tried to
torpedo the ships lying there--but had missed.

We cantered on, pressing along a stony road which was almost level with
the salt marshes on either side. San Giovanni appeared after about an
hour and a half. We rode down on to the beach. The motor-boat was
getting up anchor. We yelled to the skipper, but he understood no Serb;
so we translated through a Turk who was lounging about. The skipper said
that he could not embark us there as it was Montenegrin territory, but
that if we would go back to Alessio he would wait for us at the mouth of
the river and take us down that very night. This seemed too good to be
true and we hurried back, passing an Austrian torpedo which had run up
on the brown sand--a present from yesterday's raid. We turned the others
and cantered ahead to get a boat; reached the bridge once more and
crossed into Albania. Officials ran from all sides to stop us, but we
ignored them, dismounted, and ran to the side of the river where boats
were loading, overloading with passengers. The boatmen refused to take
us if we had no passes from the governor.

We hunted the governor's office up the hillside, panting in our haste.
We burst in upon him. He was a dirty man in an unclean shirt and unkempt
trousers.

"We want to go by the motor-boat," we explained.

"Who are you?" he asked, picking his teeth.

"We are the English about whom the governor of Scutari has telegraphed."

"I don't know anything about you," he said. His manner was ungracious.

"But," we said, "they assured us that they had telegraphed from
Scutari."

The telegraph clerk was brought, and denied that any message had come.

"Anyhow," said the governor, "the motor-boat is for Albanian soldiers
only, and has gone twenty minutes ago. I can do nothing for you without
authority from Durazzo."

We wandered dismally back through the town and were immediately
arrested by the bridge officials because we had not paid the toll rates.
We paid double to get rid of them.

We