PIOUS SAVAGES. 301 



tlie girls had the most savage faces, more like brute 

 animals than human beings. 



We told Paul he must set to work to get us some dinner, 

 and for this purpose it was necessary to purchase food of the 

 villagers, as we had eaten up the sheep killed at Gebi. 

 We were dismayed at being refused milk or cheese — 

 butter is unknown in this part of the country — on the 

 very unexpected ground of its being a fast-day of the 

 Church. Jibiani was scarcely the place where one would 

 have looked to find the outward forms of religion scrupulous- 

 ly^ observed, and the rule of fasting seemed to be peculiar, as 

 we were allowed to purchase fowls and eggs. There was 

 no fireplace or chimney in our bam, so, to avoid filling the 

 place with smoke, Paul endeavoured to do his cooking in 

 an open shed close by. Each little purchase, such as eggs 

 and firewood, had to be paid for separately, and at once ; no 

 change could be obtained, and although we were, fortu- 

 nately, fairly supplied with small ten and twenty-copeck 

 pieces, it was often difficult to make up the exact sums 

 called for. As a rule, in the Central Causasus, all the 

 natives, though preferring silver, will take the Russian 

 paper-money, only the notes must be new ; if in the 

 slightest degree torn, they are, in nine cases out of ten, 

 absolutely refused. 



Paul was much hampered in his movements by the crowd 

 of stupidly curious men and inquisitive children, and we 

 agreed that in future cooking must be done inside the 

 barn, even at the expense of a little discomfort from 

 smoke. The furniture of our quarters consisted of a long 

 wooden bench, and a laj^er of hay in one. corner, the thick- 

 ness of which was, at our request, doubled by a fresh im- 

 portation. There was no bolt to our door, and as long 

 as daylight lasted we were more or less troubled by visi- 

 tors, who dawdled in and out, and stood by the half-hour, 



