258 THE LESGH1AN MOUNTAINS. 



unguarded vaults and abstract the contents, the 

 wine is perfectly safe, as the community is too 

 small for theft to escape unnoticed. At the birth 

 of every man child the wealthy Armenian buys 

 and buries a large jar of wine, and this is not 

 unearthed until the son's coming of age or mar- 

 riage needs celebration. I should be glad to be 

 present at one of these feasts, as the wine of the 

 country only requires to be kept long enough to 

 render it excellent. 



Our own cellar on the march was all comprised 

 in a goat's-skin, about the size when full of an 

 ordinary pillow, with a wooden nipple at one 

 corner. This for safety's sake I always carried on 

 my own shoulders, and used for a pillow at night. 



Having refilled this portable cellar and thanked 

 our hosts, we resumed our ride across the table- 

 land to the hills beyond. The day was December 

 18, the air brisk and fresh, with scarcely any frost 

 in it so mild indeed that during the ride 1 noticed 

 several clouded yellow and small copper butterflies. 

 The only life on this table-land seemed to be that of 

 hawks and hooded crows, which were in great force. 

 Duels between kestrels and crows recurred con- 

 tinually, and to my surprise the crow generally had 

 the best of it. Once 1 came upon a grand specimen 

 of the falcon, and rode as near as J could to the 

 place where he was sitting, to get a shot at him, 

 hoping to add him to rny collection of birds. To 



