130 SAVAGE SVANETIA. 



back tliere and then to Gebi, witli orders to 

 return as soon as possible with meat and 

 wine, after which ^ve rose and followed Simon 

 up a steeper ascent than ever to the quarters 

 he had mentally assigned to us. An hour 

 and a half or two hours' walking and climb- 

 ing by goats' tracks up the steep hillside, 

 brought us to where a huge blackened stone 

 projected into the path, and here our guide 

 dropped his load and sat down with the air of 

 a man who had reached his own hall door. 



A peep beyond the big stone revealed a 

 tiny cave, in which perhaps four men and a 

 fire might be packed, if each took up the least 

 space possible and no one minded getting 

 singed. Here the blackened roof, the bedding 

 of old straw, some game bones, and a couple 

 of broken pitchers, clearly indicated a favourite 

 haunt of Simon's ; and in these cramped 

 quarters, a fire having been lit, Frank and I 

 were soon installed with our interpreter. The 



