I Was Quickly Observed, And Being Quite Alone, With The Exception Of My Dogs, A Turkish Woman, To Whom I Made A Salaam, Ran Into A Neighbouring House And Sent Her Husband With A Chair, That I Might Sit Beneath An Almond-Tree.

A few Turks gathered round me and insisted with much politeness that I should enter the house of the owner of the chair.

It was a rough dwelling, but I was kindly welcomed, and cheese, bread, and curds were quickly arranged before me, together with a gourd-shell of clear cold water, from the spring which issued from the rocks in the gorge about fifty feet below the house. To the disappointment of my host I was obliged to decline all his offerings, except a draught of cold water, as I had breakfasted before leaving the camp. The Turk now showed me his gun, which he explained was of little use, as he could not afford a game licence, but he offered to show me a spot where hares were abundant. The shooting-season was long since closed, therefore partridges and francolins were sacred, but I should have had no scruples in bagging a hare for a stew. My guide conducted me over very likely ground down into ravines with bush-covered sides, then upon the hill-tops, and among patches of cultivation where the hares had played sad havoc in nibbling the wheat and barley; but we found none. My dogs hunted every bush in vain, and the burning sun had dried out every vestige of scent.

Enter page number Go  Previous Next
Page 248 of 524
Words from 67535 to 67795 of 143016