358 THE IMAGE OF WAE 



frequent halts being made to gather fresh pine 

 splinters, or to carefully stamp out fallen sparks. 

 This, I thought, is an English lesson, for in the 

 Sultan's woodlands they are a good deal more casual 

 as to the chance of a fire. 



At six o'clock it was just possible to walk without 

 a torch. We continued to descend the Ayias valley, 

 passing along the side of the hill known as Stavros 

 Kratimatou. On the other side of the valley lay the 

 convent of Khrysorrogiatissa, on which I turned my 

 glass at a distance of about a mile. It is a fine build- 

 ing, but built upon an absolutely bare hill, whereas 

 the monks of Kykkou have been careful to preserve 

 the pine-trees surrounding their domain. 



Our early start was not productive of any special 

 result, but at ten o'clock Mehemet found a ram pretty 

 cleverly in a long valley beyond the hill, and on the 

 very outskirts of the forest. It looked as if a stalk 

 was feasible. On the right hand — our side — of the 

 valley in which the moufilon lay, and down which the 

 wind was blowing, several ravines ran up at right 

 angles. We started on our way, and duly reached 

 the nearest ridge but one to the ram, and then 

 Mehemet could not find him. After at least twenty 

 minutes' peering and spying, I dropped the glass on 

 him lying down. I verily believe he had not moved, 

 and this shows the difiiculty of finding these wild 

 sheep with the glass. Bright as their colouring is at 

 this season, it harmonises perfectly with the autumnal 

 tints of half the bushes on the hillside ; and as for 

 the white marks, half the hillside is covered with 

 them — stones and dead pine branches shining in 

 the sun. 



This particular moufflon was a fairly good beast, 



