ODDS AND ENDS. 103 



open glade In which our tents were erected, and 

 disappeared under the ilex and lofty fir trees 

 into the valley below — a spot lovely in its 

 loneliness. 



Part of our individual commissariat consisted 

 of two or three live fowls, which were supposed 

 to lay an egg for one's breakfast in the morning, 

 or, failing that, to furnish our dinner, which latter 

 meal usually consisted of roast chicken, eaten 

 with the coarse brown bread, and washed down 

 with the wine, of the country, a rough kind of 

 claret, but excellent withal ; raisins and almonds 

 for dessert, with a glass of pink ''mastic" to 

 finish off with. Very good it was, though 

 simple, and our appetites were excellent ! 



My hens w^ere bad layers, and all but one had 

 been converted into the evening meal ! This 

 little hen, however, survived, and always roosted 

 just inside the door of my bell tent, close to the 

 head of my bed. 



One lovely night, as I lay awake looking 

 through the tent door up the steep mountain 

 sides (which shone like silver in moonlight 

 bright as day, so that one could almost imagine 

 oneself in fairyland, so sublime and peaceful 

 was the scene), suddenly, from up amongst the 



