SHELLUH HOUSES. 



215 



village, whose inhabitants had all turned out of doors to 

 gaze on the Christian strangers who, from some inscrutable 

 motive, had come a second time to their secluded valley, 

 and now seemed resolved to fix their abode there. 



A house, the best in the village we were told, had been 

 prepared for us by the simple process of turning out its 

 inmates, and to this we were at once conducted. On 

 the ground floor were two quite dark and low cellars or 



HOtM s Al Arii LMl 



dens, seemingly filthy, but which we were not inclined to 

 explore. Ascending by some rickety steps, we reached 

 the upper floor, the larger part of which was occupied by 

 a rude open verandah, at each end of which was a little 

 closet about seven feet square, one of which was occupied 

 by Maw, while the other was used as a kitchen, the open 

 verandah serving as our sitting-room, and as night quarters 

 for Hooker and Ball. As usual in the Shelluh houses, the 

 doors were only about four feet, and the rooms and verandah 



