OF THE CHANTING PRIESTS. 297 



exercises sounded a deal more inhuman, than the 

 noise made by a pack of famished wolves. The 

 priests, however, appeared a good-natured set, and 

 soon spread an oxskin upon the loose dry grass, that 

 appeared to be collected in large quantities for the 

 purpose of forming soft beds for the holy fathers, 

 all of whom, with their pupils, occupied this 

 thatched apartment. I considered that it formed a 

 good counterpart of the character of the college of 

 Oxford in the days of King Alfred, and looked with 

 interest upon its inmates, when I reflected, that 

 probably their habits and feelings assimilated with 

 those of the earliest teachers of our celebrated 

 University. 



A bright fire of wood crackled upon the low 

 hearth, and I threw myself upon my littered couch 

 by its side. No inducement existed to tempt me 

 into the open air, for the sky had now become 

 covered with low grey clouds, whilst a heavy mist 

 hid the high romantic cliffs of Kundi, that close 

 around the head of the valley of Myolones. Some- 

 times a puff of wind rolled along before it, a huge 

 cloud of the condensed moisture, that for a few 

 minutes enveloped the precincts of the palace in a 

 dense fog. A thought of rain, however, did not 

 trouble me, for I was in most comfortable quarters, 

 on very good terms with the learned monks, and as 

 Walderheros had been sent for to the palace, and 

 returned with two bottles of the barilla tedge, I 

 enjoyed myself exceedingly. 



