172 RETURN TO KERTCH. 



other weddings in the Greek Church, with its 

 crowns held over the heads of the principal parties, 

 and its symbolical knotting of the handkerchief. 

 But the supper and its ceremonies were strange to 

 me. During it the happy pair came in, not par- 

 takhig of it with the rest, but merely presenting 

 themselves to perform certain ceremonies. Of 

 these the first was to take a blessing from the old 

 people. This they did, turning in succession to 

 each of the four quarters of the earth. Refresh- 

 ments having been brought in, and all sitting 

 except the bride and groom, these latter handed to 

 each guest in turn a glass of wine or spirits, a cake 

 and a coloured handkerchief. The cake you eat, 

 the handkerchief you were expected to pocket as a 

 wedding gift from the ' nouveaux-maries,' and the 

 wine you drank ; but if in drinking it you were 

 maliciously inclined, it was open to you, without 

 appearing guilty of rudeness, to declare it was sour. 

 At the word ' gorko ' (sour) the wretched bride 

 and groom were obliged to exchange embraces in 

 public, and this as often as you chose to repeat the 

 sorry joke. In return for the cake, wine, and 

 kerchief, each guest was expected to place some 

 wedding gift on the tray for the young couple, and 

 in this instance the gifts were made in every case in 

 money. 



After these ceremonies had been concluded, the 

 chief actors retired, and left the guests to make 



