died down into nothing. It was--so I was told--the master gun, the vast
42 centimetre giant which brought down the pride of Liege and Namur.
The Austrians have brought one or more from Innsbruck. The Italians
assure me, however, as we have ourselves discovered, that in trench
work beyond a certain point the size of the gun makes little matter.

We passed a burst dug-out by the roadside where a tragedy had occurred
recently, for eight medical officers were killed in it by a single
shell. There was no particular danger in the valley however, and the
aimed fire was all going across us to the fighting lines in the two
passes above us. That to the right, the Valley of Buello, has seen some
of the worst of the fighting. These two passes form the Italian left
wing which has held firm all through. So has the right wing. It is only
the centre which has been pushed in by the concentrated fire.

When we arrived at the spot where the two valleys forked we were
halted, and we were not permitted to advance to the advance trenches
which lay upon the crests above us. There was about a thousand yards
between the adversaries. I have seen types of some of the Bosnian and
Croatian prisoners, men of poor physique and intelligence, but the
Italians speak with chivalrous praise of the bravery of the Hungarians
and of the Austrian Jaeger. Some of their proceedings disgust them
however, and especially the fact that they use Russian prisoners to dig
trenches under fire. There is no doubt of this, as some of the men were
recaptured and were sent on to join their comrades in France. On the
whole, however, it may be said that in the Austro-Italian war there is
nothing which corresponds with the extreme bitterness of our western
conflict. The presence or absence of the Hun makes all the difference.

Nothing could be more cool or methodical than the Italian arrangements