40 SAVAGE SVANETIA. 



have a yard attached, the yard is fenced in 

 with a neat barrier of woven reeds; reeds form 

 the mats that cover the floor ; reeds make the 

 baskets and many of the household utensils 

 of the family ; the good man of the house 

 catches the fish that form the staple of the 

 village food, in funnel-shaped traps made of 

 the very reeds wherein his victim had formerly 

 his holt : and alto2:ether the reeds become a 

 feature not only in the landscape which sur- 

 rounds them, but in the very life of the 

 peasants. 



The houses themselves, without exception, 

 are of one storey, having the floor divided into 

 two rooms — a living room which comprises 

 bed, dining, and sitting room all in one, and a 

 kitchen. The outside of the houses alone 

 admits of variation, and here the householder 

 gives his fancy full play, and paints his abode 

 in all the colours obtamable at the shop of the 

 colourman of Odessa. Most of the villagers in 



