238 BIRD-HUNTING 



men, and had received a Martini bullet through the 

 arm, but in spite of the wound he had succeeded in 

 killing both his assailants. 



Another visitor we had once in the shape of a 

 Turkish tramp on his way to Scutari. He arrived 

 one wet afternoon perfectly plastered with mud from 

 head to foot, and wet through. We were rather a 

 large party that day, for several wayfarers had 

 dropped in, among them two boys not more than 

 sixteen and eighteen years old, both armed with 

 Martini rifles. I was glad to see that these boys 

 and the tramp were given a small table to themselves. 

 I had been looking forward with apprehension to 

 having to sit with him, for he was without exception 

 the dirtiest human being I had ever seen, and 

 scratched himself in a way that made me very 

 uncomfortable. They must have noticed it, for he 

 was allotted the stable to sleep in, a thing which 

 had never happened during my stay ; and after he 

 had departed next morning I noticed that they took 

 the mat on which he had sat outside and gave it a 

 good shaking. 



I was very glad of my indiarubber basin, and 

 they got used to my washing myself. At first in 

 these countries they do not think they are showing 

 you proper respect in allowing you to do so, but 

 hover around and try to pour water over your hands. 

 Their own ablutions are very scanty. After sleeping 



