xvn THE BOAR 317 



A scramble of 24 miles upon good ponies may be amusing occa- 

 sionally, but when baggage must be conveyed, the matter becomes 

 serious. Even the pack animals fell down with their loads, in the 

 places where contractors had failed, and where the broken bridges 

 necessitated a descent into the treacherous torrent-bed. A ride to 

 Sabanja was a journey in those days, full of misery to horse and 

 rider, but the result of this difficulty of access was in favour of the 

 game, as the ubiquitous Briton had not included it among his 

 "beaten tracks," or happy hunting-grounds. 



Sabanja is a large town, situated exactly at the foot of the 

 nfountains, within half a mile of the lake, which at that spot is 

 about four miles in width. Although the opposite shore is moun- 

 tainous, the numerous slopes are cultivated in terraces, where 

 mulberry trees are grown for silkworms, and fruit in great variety 

 for the supply of Ismid and Constantinople. 



On the Sabanja side, the mountains and valleys were unbroken 

 forest, and the cultivation was confined to the level ground in the 

 immediate neighbourhood of the town ; this was apportioned into 

 fields, where vines, apples, figs, pears, quinces, and mulberries were 

 planted in rows, between which were crops of cereals, in somewhat 

 rude imitation of the method pursued in Italy. 



I had sent a messenger some days before us to engage a few 

 rooms, in the absence of any public place of entertainment ; we 

 therefore rode through the Turkish quarter, then through the 

 Greek, and at length, after nearly half a mile up the street, we 

 arrived upon the extreme verge of the town, where the wild forest 

 abruptly terminated within a few yards of the adjacent houses. 

 This was the end of the Armenian quarter, and we entered the 

 dwelling which had been engaged for our reception. The ground- 

 floor was occupied by a cow and her calf; this looked propitious, 

 as the milk was close at hand. There was a flat-stepped ladder, 

 which led through a ceiling of rough plank ; upon ascending this, 

 we arrived upon a very clean landing, with a couple of small rooms, 

 and a kitchen close at hand. This was all very nice ; we could see 

 the cow by looking perpendicularly through the broad crevices 

 between the boards which formed the floor ; we could also smell 

 her, and hear the calf. 



There are no chimneys in Turkish houses. A large brazier of 

 charcoal warms the room most thoroughly; but great caution is 

 necessary in the use of this simple apparatus, as the charcoal must 

 be in a complete glow before it is admitted to the room. Without 

 this precaution the inmates would be asphyxiated. It was the 

 winter (December) of I860 when we were at Sabanja, and a few 



