540 
MOUNTAIN OF KEREFTO. 
usual contribution from their substance to assist in entertaining a 
stranger, but furnished the hospitality of our reception entirely 
from his own. During my sojourn, I observed a constant cheer¬ 
ful employment amongst the women ; and when the business of 
preparing food for their families was over, they set themselves 
down to spinning, working carpets, &c. The butter set before 
us was particularly sweet and creamy; and on examining the 
process of producing it, I found only the simple machine of a 
skin; which, after being stripped of its outward hair, and ren¬ 
dered air-tight, they nearly filled with cream, and then suspended 
from a supported beam, where two of them pulled it backwards 
and forwards in unremitted motion until the mass was formed. 
The little river that ran past the encampment, is called the 
Sarock, and its course marks the division between Azerbijan 
and this part of Courdistan. 
August 28th. — On my departure this morning, my host re¬ 
fused most determinately any pecuniary consideration whatever 
for our ample entertainment, and with difficulty accepted even a 
silk handkerchief for one of his wives. We set off at five 
o’clock, under a rosy sky glowing from the east, and reflected 
brightly from the crowd of young faces at the tent-doors watch¬ 
ing our departure. Our course lay up the valley due south; 
and in about three quarters of an hour we reached the foot of 
the high and rocky mountain of Kerefto, to visit whose internal 
labyrinths had been one main object of this journey. Towards 
its sloping summit rises a stupendous mass of high rock, over¬ 
looking for miles the less towering heads of its gigantic neigh¬ 
bours. After an ascent of ten or fifteen minutes, we halted at a 
tenantless village of six houses, or rather holes, for they were 
literally dug into the side of the hill. Near them ran a pretty 
