164 SAVAGE SVANETIA. 



band of followers came with us to speed the 

 parting guests, and then we were left to our- 

 selves, silently plodding on into tlie quiet 

 glens of the mountains that separate Eadcha 

 from Svanetia. 



Just before the gloaming a whistle echoed 

 shrilly through the glen, and a tall shepherd 

 came racing down from some hut hidden in 

 the woods which clothed the slope above us. 

 By the kiss of greeting which he gave Simon 

 we concluded he was some relative of his, and 

 that he was a good fellow we felt certain when, 

 doffing his shako of sheepskin, he presented us 

 with a huge bowl of curds and whey. To 

 devour this at our leisure we retired to a little 

 fern-hung dell, where a bright mountain 

 stream sparkled up from a bed of moss, and 

 here at our guide's suggestion put down our 

 burdens and ate our evening meal. 



All round was absolutely silent : no harvest 

 cries came from the corn-lands, no birds' 



