86 SAVAGE SVANETIA. 



door on the priest and keeps guard over the 

 door nntil the service is over. Then the guard 

 lets the priest out, locks the door behind him, 

 pockets the key, and goes home. 



Sitting by the fire turning over the maize 

 cakes, as the priest told me of the ways of his 

 flock, was a young Svan girl of about twelve, 

 whose face of mute wonder as she kept a timid 

 but watchful eye on the strangers was intelli- 

 gent and interesting, even if not absolutely 

 pretty. Seeing that 1 was noticing the child 

 the old priest told me that she was no 

 daughter of his, but a hand-maiden and 

 protege, who had entered his service until she 

 should be old enough to marry her fiancee. 



Marriao;e in Ushkiil is not as a rule an 

 event in the early life of either men or maidens. 

 Having a hard life before them in a stern and 

 unfruitful country, the natives seldom incur 

 the responsibilities of married life before they 

 have reached the comparatively ripe age of 



