282 THE EARTH -CAVE OF A PRINCE. 



the divan was the fire-place, above it the aperture in 

 the roof. Behind the carpets there was a stir of life, 

 and every now and then we heard the voices of 

 women and children. The prince received us with 

 great ceremony and made us sit on the divan, whilst 

 he himself settled in front of it. After a short con- 

 versation through the medium of an interpreter, carried 

 on with all the forms of Oriental politeness, we were 

 desirous of departing, but our intention met with very 

 serious resistance. Soon after our entry we had heard 

 the bleating of a sheep, and at once surmised that it 

 was being slaughtered in our honour. In fact the 

 prince signified to us with a very grave countenance, 

 that he hoped we should not so offend him as to quit 

 his abode without having partaken of his hospitality. 

 We were therefore obliged to wait patiently till the 

 "skishlik" was ready, which was prepared before our 

 very eyes. This preparation took place in the usual 

 very primitive fashion. The flesh of the freshly 

 slaughtered sheep was cut into cubes of about the 

 size of a walnut, which were then arranged on an 



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iron ramrod with disks of fat from the fatty tail of 

 the animal interlarded. Meanwhile a wood-fire was 

 made between two stones, and when onlv the glowing; 



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embers remained of it, the prepared ramrods were 

 laid across the stones and frequently turned. A few 

 minutes after, the meal was ready, and each guest 

 took according to his fancy cubes from the garnished 

 ramrod presented to him. Such a "shishlik" ', if the 

 sheep is not too old and especially is quite recently 



