A QUAINT INTERIOK. 223 



from which we had just made our escape — probably one 

 of the most out-of-the-way corners of the Caucasus — we 

 commenced the long but pleasant descent which led down 

 into the lower valley. The hillsides were gay with flowers ; 

 near the snow we found gentians of two sorts, the common 

 Alpine variety, and one of a duller blue ; farther on masses 

 of the white Caucasian rhododendron, interspersed with 

 pink ox-eyed daisies and orange-coloured j^oppies, made 

 us remark the curious difference in hue of the same flowers 

 at home and in the Caucasus. 



The village at which we determined to make our mid- 

 day halt is built on a naiTOw hog's-back, projecting be- 

 tween two streams. The people seemed a shade more 

 civilised than those we had left, and we were soon received 

 in the house of one of the villagers. A large and dark 

 entrance, in which all sorts of implements were stored, 

 led to a more cheerful room, one side of which opened 

 on a balcony overlooking the torrent. The articles of 

 furniture in the Ossete houses are few but quaint ; the 

 greatest amount of pains is bestowed on the cradles and 

 armchairs. The former are elaborately ornamented ; the 

 latter are broad and shallow, with a low carved back 

 suited for Darby and Joan to sit in together, but quite 

 incapable of being used as places of rest. The tables are 

 in shape something between three-legged stools and the 

 low velvet-covered pieces of furniture now in fashion in 

 London. In an inner room there were two raised couches, 

 over which the arms of the master of the house were hung 

 up against the wall. A large herd of horses was feeding 

 in the meadows on the opposite side of the river, where 

 we also noticed a cluster of men whose number gradually 

 increased during our stay. We met with nothing but 

 civility from oui' hosts, and our horsemen were treated most 

 liberally; when one of them had tossed off his fourth tumbler 



