A QUEER HOST. 419 



crag before joining tlie Urucli. Here we saw traces of 

 human habitations, and a group of peasants, in quaint- 

 shaped wideawakes, employed in haymaking. 



Having been on the road for ten hours, we thought it was 

 time to stop, and instructed Paul to make enquiries of the 

 natives, and find out if they were disposed to allow us to 

 take up quarters for the night in the half-undergronnd hut 

 we noticed close by. The chief man among the peasants, 

 who talked a dialect Paul had the greatest difficulty in 

 comprehending, did not at first sight impress us favourably. 

 His expression of countenance strongly resembled the 

 masks worn by country bumpkins in a burlesque, and his 

 comical, not to say idiotic, appearance was heightened by 

 a quaint bell-shaped wideawake considerably the worse 

 for wear. At first there seemed some question whether a 

 welcome would be offered us, but any difficulty was soon 

 removed, and we proceeded together through the hayfield, 

 by the wall of which the parley had been held, to the door 

 of the hut. Being built against a steep slope, part of it 

 was underground, while the front projected from the hill- 

 side. The back was occupied by an extensive but gloomy 

 stable, which was entered through a perfectly clean cham- 

 ber, where our men passed the night ; as the weather was 

 fine, we preferred to pitch our tent outside. The pig-faced 

 peasant, against whom we had at first sight conceived such 

 an unjust prejudice, turned out a capital fellow. He brought 

 us not only fresh milk, but a peculiar species of liquor, 

 something between publichouse beer and sour cider, for 

 which we expressed the greatest admiration, taking care 

 at the same time privately to empty out the vessel con- 

 taining it, on the first opportunity. 



This was the fifteenth and last occasion that we slept 

 under canvas in the Caucasus, and as Eastern travellers 

 commonly base their ideas of tents on the spacious pavi- 



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