XVII 
• THE BOAR 
137 
door. Wolves and jackals were howling close 
to our windows during the night, and wild hogs 
actually broke the fences and invaded the 
gardens, with an impudence that proved the 
difficulty of procuring their usual food. The 
game of the forests included bears (these had 
hybernated), wolves, boars, red-deer, roe-deer, 
pheasants, woodcocks; while snipe and ducks 
were found along the borders of the lake. 
Although Sabanja contained a considerable 
population, comprising Greeks and Armenians, 
in addition to the numerical superiority of Turks, 
they all harmonised, and occupied their separate 
quarters of the town without a symptom of that 
antagonism of race or religion which is so 
generally accepted as the rule. Friday, being 
the Mahometan Sabbath, was the favourable 
day for a general hunting party; the Turks 
turned out with great spirit and geniality, to 
act in the capacity of beaters, while all those who 
possessed guns were delighted at the opportunity 
of sharing in the sport. I never saw people who 
enjoyed themselves more thoroughly; the hunt 
drew all classes and races together in the best 
of humours, and although I accompanied such 
gatherings for a couple of months, I never saw 
an instance of quarrelling or discontent. The 
effendi who governed the town always sent on 
Thursday evening to ask the hour at which I 
proposed to meet, and on the Friday morning at 
9 o’clock, when I appeared at the rendezvous 
