The arrival of Dervisch Pacha with six battalions from Bieliki, which was now occupied by two battalions of redif, converted Gasko into the sole base of operations.  The rain, which had for the past few days fallen in torrents, would have enabled Omer Pacha to have commenced hostilities on a greater scale, but for the dearth of provisions, which should have reached the frontier long since.  It now became apparent that little could be done during the remaining months of the year, for nature had effected for the rebels whatever the indolence of the Turkish commanders had left undone.  The magnificent harvest of the preceding year, which the rebels had appropriated, and the extraordinary drought which had prevailed during the spring and summer of 1861, combined to diminish the Turkish prospects of success.  Moreover, the object of the Generalissimo was not so much to hunt down the rebels as to inspire them with confidence in the leniency of the Sultan’s rule, while he, at the same time, occupied the country in such force as to convince them of the necessity of eventual submission.  Already were the good effects of this measure manifested in the rapid return of the inhabitants to the surrounding villages.  Metokhia, Aphtoria, and Lubniak, all in the close vicinity of the Turkish camp, had been deserted by their occupants, who, like the majority in the plain of Gasko, are of the Mussulman religion.  These now returned to their desolated homes.

[Footnote P:  The French Consul at Scutari and member of the European Commission, a man as remarkable for talent as for cunning and love of intrigue.]

CHAPTER XIII.

Expedition to Niksich—­Character of Scenery—­Engineer Officers—­Want of Maps—­Affghan Dervish—­Krustach—­Wallack Colonel—­Bivouac—­Bashi Bazouks—­Pass of Dougah—­Plain of Niksich—­Town and Frontier—­Albanian Mudir—­Turkish Women—­Defects of Government by Mudir and Medjlis.

The ennui produced by a long halt after a series of consecutive marches had by this time taken such a hold on me, that with delight I heard Omer Pacha’s announcement of his intention to send a force with provisions for the town and garrison of Niksich, whose proximity to Montenegro placed them in the position of a beleaguered garrison, and rendered them dependent upon the government for the ordinary necessaries of life.  For this duty Osman Pacha was detached, taking with him seven battalions and four guns, which were subsequently reinforced by an eighth battalion from Krustach.  For the first three hours our route lay in the valley of Gasko, which looked green and fertile, though showing few signs of cultivation.  The ruins of a church were the only antiquarian relics which I noticed on the march.  At the extremity of the valley the pathway winds to the SE., having the rugged Piwa, looking bleak and bare, on the left, and the more wooded heights of Baniani on the right.  The configuration of the hills, and the sharp outline