34 SAVAGE SVANETIA. 



I met an old grey -beard, lame of one leg, with 

 his clothes and a pack on his back, wading 

 happily along, followed by two of the women 

 folk of his family ; and from time to time 

 throughout the day we came across parties of 

 village men and maidens, the latter exceed- 

 ingly tall and shapely, bare limbed, and with 

 petticoats held if anything higher than a 

 ballet-dancer's, and as little ashamed of them- 

 selves as Eve in Eden, The example was 

 infectious, and ere long I too was taking my 

 wetting as nature meant me to, keeping a 

 reserve of dry clothes to fall back upon m the 

 cool of the evening ; and though the others 

 stuck to their garments, they plunged just as 

 recklessly as I did into holes waist-deep in 

 their anxiety to get to a likely spot. 



Our best sport during the day was in a 

 strip of willow plantation, where, though the 

 shooting was of the hardest, it was as 

 pretty as any I have ever seen. Birds were 



