During the ensuing night the rain descended in torrents, rendering the spongy ground on which we had bivouacked very much the reverse of a desirable resting-place.  In vain I waited for an improvement in the weather, which only became worse and worse; and eventually I started in pursuit of that portion of the troops which had left at early dawn in charge of the provisions for Niksich.  These consisted of 65,000 okes of meal and biscuit, with a few head of horned cattle.  The last commodity appeared to me to be scarcely necessary, as we met some hundreds of bullocks being driven out to graze in the valley, while the presence of our force rendered such a measure safe.  How these were generally supplied with forage I am at a loss to conjecture, since the Mussulman population were unable to venture more than one mile from the town, except in bodies of 500 armed men.  The distance to the town from the commencement of the valley is about six miles, through a broad and well-watered pasture land.  In parts this has been ploughed and devoted to the produce of grain, burnt stubble of which denoted the destructive ferocity of the neighbouring Montenegrins.  The new line of frontier recently defined by the European Commission scarcely tends to promote a pacific adjustment of existing difficulties.  On the contrary, the line of demarcation as it now is must inevitably lead to further complications.  Situated at the apex of a triangle, the town and plain of Niksich offer a tempting bait to the lawless brigands, who infest the mountains which form two of its sides, and who keep the unfortunate Mussulman population in terror of their lives.  At the south-eastern extremity of the plain stands the town of Niksich, a small, dirty, and irregular collection of buildings, all huddled together in the closest possible vicinity to the ruined fort, as though seeking the protection of its mouldering walls.  Of the origin of the fort I could learn little, save from an inscription over the arched entrance, from which it appears to have been built by the son of an old and influential Albanian chieftain about 200 years ago.  Two square towers, containing five pieces of ordnance, form the principal feature in the defensive works; but the whole place is in so ricketty a condition that, were a cannonade to be opened from its walls, they would inevitably come down about the ears of their defenders.  From the easternmost of these towers the town runs out some few hundred yards towards the Montenegrin frontier; but all egress upon that side is out of the question, as there is ever a bullet in readiness for anyone who may be so rash as to cross a certain green patch of grass, which appears to be accepted as the legitimate boundary of the two provinces, although not precisely specified as such.  At this point the Turkish sentries are withdrawn, but farther to the south a small white building serves as a guard-house, whence sentries are supplied to form a cordon round that portion of the frontier.  On arriving at