A DESERTED VILLAGE. 177 



came to our assistance in the operation of 

 skinning, so that Platon and myself entered 

 Lachamul not long after mid-day, carrying 

 our spoils with us. Lachamul is the last 

 village before you enter upon the forest dis- 

 trict of Lekera, and it is from Lachamul, the 

 Ultima Thule of Svanetia, that the few hunters 

 and o;roTrers of maize who venture into the 

 forest go down. 



When we reached the villao;e, it was 

 empty and silent. The houses were closed 

 and scarcely a cur barked at us as we passed 

 through its streets. All the men were afield 

 and most of the women with them, busily 

 utilising what remained to them of open 

 weather. Trophies of the chase adorned the 

 plaster which covered the walls of one or two 

 of the best huts m the place. Here and 

 there a fine tiir's horn stood out from one of 

 the crevices in the "\vall, and here and there a 

 bear's paw nailed to the doorway bore testi- 



VOL. II. N 



