102 CASUALS IN THE CAUCASUS 



master queried when I lamented the lack of water : 

 " But why wash ? " 



When Kenneth arrived from his mountain trip and 

 saw the sort of scullery in which we were to be located, 

 a trois, for the night, he went out to seek a rival 

 establishment, and returned triumphant. We moved 

 over, very willingly, to a well-built auherge, filthily 

 dirty as to its inside and excessively under-staffed. 

 There was nobody to attend to our simplest needs, 

 and the situation ended in a general sauve qui pent. 

 Two other travellers were in like case, Georgians, who 

 were busily contriving meals and arranging shakedowns 

 of sorts in uninviting-looking bare rooms. They were 

 both princes, so, of course, we had to let them annex 

 the best locations and have first go in at the samovar. 



Finally, Cecily and I stood possessed of an apartment 

 boasting a dirty torn carpet, a hot-bed for insects, 

 two wooden trestle beds, cursed with the remains of 

 mattresses, which we evicted and placed on the landing, 

 where they were found and pounced upon by a per- 

 ambulating prince. 



Far from cleanliness being next to godliness here, 

 it was next to impossible. After a grieved request for 

 water addressed to space by Cecily, one of the royalties 

 bestirred himself, and gallantly produced from some- 

 where a little basin and a still smaller jug of tepid 

 water. With a friendly glance he bade my cousin hold 

 her fingers one at a time over the bowl, when he would 

 have pleasure in pouring the contents of the jug over 

 them. The solemn rite over, our friend disappeared 

 to provide a similar treat for me. This time, however, 



