]26 SAVAGE SVANETIA. 



wet, treating mountain rivulets knee-deep 

 with absolute indifference, are innocent of 

 umbrellas and waterproofs, and yet are 

 untouched by colds or rheumatism. 



Breakfast time this morning brought with 

 it a terrible revelation for my poor friend, to 

 whom meat seemed an absolute necessity. 

 Our interpreter had trusted implicitly to our 

 guide's assurances that we should bag game 

 before nightfall, and the wretched little fowl 

 which we had crucified in the flames last 

 night was the only scrap of meat in camp, so 

 that we had to be content with maize-bread 

 and water for breakfast, Platon having left 

 our kettle behind, as well as other stores. 



From about seven until two we followed 

 the course of the little river Tchosura along 

 the base of wooded hills, in which the clear- 

 ings became rarer and rarer as we proceeded, 

 until about a couple of versts before crossing 

 the Dombouri — a feat performed on a single 



