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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



the: interior of many of the: churches are: stilt, covered with frescoes, 

 which, however, are more or less obliterated 



Among them we find portraits not merely of Greek saints, but traces even of pretentious 

 paintings. In this photograph we see specimens of such mural paintings. Those who are 

 familiar with Byzantine sacred painting will be able to detect a number of portraits of saints 

 by means of the nimbus. The characteristic Byzantine columns and arches will also be 

 noticed. In some cases the paintings are in very ancient style, while others are evidently more 

 recent. 



"The old men, who on account of their 

 age are no longer able to follow the 

 flocks, tie the tail of a bull round their 

 necks and thus commit suicide by suffer- 

 ing themselves to be dragged to death. 

 But, under the pretense of kindly solici- 

 tude, any one who wishes to do so may 

 place a rope about the neck of the man 

 who unduly postpones his suicide, and so 

 by means of this pointed reminder he is 

 forced to leave this life. 



"It is also their practice to put to death 



cripples and those who are afflicted with 

 an incurable disease, for they maintain 

 that the love of life is inexcusable in the 

 man who can do nothing to justify his 

 continuance in life. That is the reason 

 why all Troglodytes are sound in body 

 and are mostly in the prime of life ; for 

 men of more than sixty years of age are 

 not seen among them." 



Strabo mentions some further details 

 which he quotes from Artemidorus : 



"The food of the Troglodytes consists 



