IF WE ENTER THE DOORWAY OF ANY OF THESE CONE-DWELLINGS, WE FIND 



OURSELVES IN A SPACIOUS CHAMBER, ABOUT WHOSE SIDES NICHES 



AND SHELVES FOR THE STORAGE OF HOUSEHOLD GOODS 



HAVE BEEN CUT INTO THE STONE 



But something not in the original plans of the architect has happened in the case of this 

 apartment; for in reality it consists of two chambers, one above the other. The floor of the 

 upper chamber has broken away, owing to the fact that it was left too thin to support the 

 weight demanded of it. Its outline may be traced easily. The stairways to the upper stories 

 are like wells or chimneys. They had no stairs, as we understand stairs, and one mounted 

 to an upper story by means of tinger-and-toe holes precisely like those which gave access to 

 the front entrance. Some of these cones have as many as nine stories, but most of them have 

 only two, three, or four stories. One can easily count the stories from the outside by means 

 of the windows. 



live upon a mixture of blood and milk, 

 which they first boil separately for a time 

 and then stir in together. After these 

 annual rains, when the pasture grounds 

 have become parched by the excessive 

 heat, they migrate to the marshy places, 

 where they fight with each other for the 

 possession of the pasture grounds. 



"They use for food only the old ani- 

 mals and those that begin to grow sickly. 

 It is for this reason that they do not 

 apply the name of parent to human be- 

 ings, but to bulls and cows, to rams and 

 sheep. These they call their fathers and 

 their mothers, because these animals, and 

 not the persons who begat and bore them, 

 furnish them with their daily food. 



"Private individuals use as a beverage 

 a decoction made from the thornbush, but 

 from some flower or other they make for 

 the sheikhs a drink that resembles the 

 meanest kind of must known in Greece. 



"They migrate with their herds from 

 pasture to pasture, and they avoid long 

 residence in one place. They wear a 

 clout about their loins, but otherwise they 

 go nude. All the Troglodytes practice 

 circumcision, as do the Egyptians ; but 

 those among them who from a misfor- 

 tune are said to be 'stunted' and have had 

 their privy parts shorn away with a razor 

 when they were still infants, pasture the 

 country that lies between the Straits. 



"Those of the Troglodytes who are 



299 



