172 SAVAGE SVANETIA. 



placed village which I met with between Oni 

 and Djuaria, being on a very gradual slope on 

 th^ hillside, having a good southern aspect, and 

 being less shut in hj the neighbouring moun- 

 tains than most of its fellows. At Etseri there 

 are as many as two hundred and twenty houses, 

 and as the families are not split into different 

 households, at any rate until the death of the 

 head, each house may at a moderate compu- 

 tation be considered to hold fifteen people. 

 This would give a population of considerably 

 over three thousand, as against about one 

 thousand at Betcho. 



In vegetable produce Etseri stands alone 

 amongst the villages of the country side, a 

 very marvel of fertility, producing carrots, 

 cucumbers, and even melons and tomatoes. 



Needless to say, the inhabitants of Etseri 

 think no little of their village and themselves 

 as dwellers therein-. Customs they have, too, 

 peculiar to the royal village I am told, as for 



