10 SAVAGE SVANETIA. 



as the mutton for wliich we were waiting was 

 still alive, Frank and I persuaded our host to 

 take us up to see the interior of his fortress. 



With some difficulty we scrambled up to 

 the entrance, and with bent heads crept in. 

 Once in, we were told not to move for a 

 while until Simon got us a light, and we did 

 not reo'ret our obedience when the light of his 

 pine torch showed us a floor of holes, with 

 here and there a rafter. From the floor 

 above hung a quantity of game skins, prin- 

 cipally chamois and ibex, whilst in a corner 

 was a great pile of their bleached bones. On 

 the next floor was a collection of horns which 

 made our mouths water. Everywhere long 

 strings of chamois and ibex horns were 

 arranged in rows, and on the next floor the 

 same sight met our eyes. Here and there, 

 too, hung the gall bladders of bears and ibex, 

 the former almost the only horse medicine 

 these people use, the latter being kept for all 



